Scientific excellence is one of the main sources of wealth and economic development in modern society. This is due to the knowledge generated by scientists, which is the result of an interaction between cognitive, emotional and social factors. Indeed, emotional factors and the way of relating to one’s surroundings are linked to the ability to make plans to achieve proposed goals. This study aims to study the relationships between personality traits, emotional intelligence (EI) and positive and negative affect among the scientific population. There were 7,463 researchers that took part, who have authored publications included in the Web of Science (WoS) from 2013 to 2016. The results show significant relationships between EI, personality traits and affects, and the weight of personality traits in predicting EI, with an R2 close to 40%. Furthermore, positive affect positively moderates the relationship between the desirability of personality traits and EI, whereas negative affect moderates this relationship negatively. The results are discussed as regards the importance of handling positive emotional states in order to regulate emotional experiences with a view to increasing productivity, via the publications considered in the WoS.