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1 – 10 of over 74000
Article
Publication date: 14 March 2016

Miriam Palacios-Callender, Stephen Andrew Roberts and Thomas Roth-Berghofer

The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that collaboration was a key characteristic of Cuban science to maintain their scientific capacity during a period of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that collaboration was a key characteristic of Cuban science to maintain their scientific capacity during a period of economic restrictions and an important feature of Cuban science policy and practice for the benefit of society.

Design/methodology/approach

Collaboration was studied through Cuban scientific publications listed in PubMed for the period 1990-2010. The search was carried out using the advanced search engine of PubMed indicating < Cuba > in the affiliation field. To identify participating institutions a second search was performed to find the affiliations of all authors per article through the link to the electronic journal. A data set was created to identify institutional publication patterns for the surveyed period. Institutions were classified in three categories according to their scientific production as Central, Middle or Distal: the pattern of collaboration between these categories was analysed.

Findings

Results indicate that collaboration between scientifically advanced institutions (Central) and a wide range of national institutions is a consequence of the social character of science in Cuba in which cooperation prevails. Although this finding comes from a limited field of biomedical science it is likely to reflect Cuban science policy in general.

Originality/value

Using bibliometric tools the study suggests that Cuban science policy and practice ensure the application of science for social needs by harnessing human resources through national and international collaboration, building in this way stronger scientific capacity.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 72 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2009

Maarten van Gils, Geert Vissers and Jan de Wit

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the types of R&D‐activities within science‐based firms and the knowledge transfer channels used for industry‐science

1443

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the types of R&D‐activities within science‐based firms and the knowledge transfer channels used for industry‐science collaboration. Rooted in a contingency approach, it seeks to identify patterns in the organization of knowledge transfer and to disclose ways that may support R&D‐managers in achieving effective knowledge transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is an exploratory study in order to obtain a deep understanding of the relationship. At first, both the types of R&D‐activity and the knowledge transfer channels were conceptualized based on an extensive literature review. Second, data were collected by means of semi‐structured interviews with 17 (assistant) R&D‐managers of ten large European chemical firms.

Findings

The analysis suggests that almost each of the knowledge transfer channels used for industry‐science collaboration has a more or less unique link to a specific type of R&D‐activity. An empirically based model is developed that visualizes the linkages. In addition, explanations for observed links are proposed.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical analysis reported focuses on multinational firms in the science‐based European chemical industry, because they invest heavily in R&D and are hence more interested in collaboration with scientific partners. Further research is needed to determine the model's applicability in other empirical settings, both within and outside science‐based industries.

Practical implications

The paper provides R&D‐managers with a model that may support them in deciding how to organize their collaboration with scientific partners based on the type of their internal R&D‐activity to achieve effective knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first studies that empirically assesses the relationship between the types of R&D‐activities in firms and the knowledge transfer channels that are used for industry‐science collaboration.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 August 2022

Ran An and Wei Shan

Scientific collaboration is becoming a common pattern in the social organization of knowledge production. The paper tries to figure out the relationship between scientific…

Abstract

Purpose

Scientific collaboration is becoming a common pattern in the social organization of knowledge production. The paper tries to figure out the relationship between scientific collaboration team size and scientific output.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on ESI database from year 2009–2019, the paper describes changes of collaboration team size from one author to more than 10 authors in 22 disciplines. Kernel density estimation and multidimensional kernel density estimation method are used to calculate optimal collaboration team size and appropriate collaboration team size in 22 disciplines. As bandwidth is one of the major issues in construction of kernel density estimation, the paper uses five different algorithms to calculate bandwidth. The method with the lowest mean absolute percentage error is chosen. Robustness test is conducted based on different sets of data.

Findings

The results show that scientific collaboration becomes more widely and deeply. As time goes by, collaboration team size is becoming larger and larger. Natural science disciplines have larger collaboration team size and faster growth rate than social science disciplines. Considering both qualitative and quantitative measures, the paper proves the universality of optimal and appropriate scientific collaboration team size among 22 disciplines and calculates the specific number.

Originality/value

The paper tries to investigate the law of scientific collaboration team size variation and provide a full picture of evolution of collaboration team size among 22 disciplines in 10 years. The paper first applies distribution method to figure out the relationship between scientific collaboration team size and scientific output and provides optimal collaboration team size and appropriate collaboration team size.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 75 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2016

Mario Karlovcec, Dunja Mladenic, Marko Grobelnik and Mitja Jermol

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for conceptualizing science based on collaboration and competences of researchers.

1053

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for conceptualizing science based on collaboration and competences of researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is conducted by exploratory analysis of collaboration and competences using case studies from humanistic, engineering, natural sciences and a general topic.

Findings

The findings show that by applying the proposed approach on bibliographic data that readily exist for many national sciences as well as for international scientific communities, one can obtain useful new insights into the research. The approach is demonstrated with the following exploratory findings: identification of important connections and individual researchers that connect the community of anthropologists; collaboration of technical scientists in the community of anthropologists caused by an interdisciplinary research project; connectivity, interdisciplinary and structure of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and a community based on a general topic; and identifying research interest shift described with concretization and topic-shift.

Practical implications

As demonstrated with the practical implementation (http://scienceatlas.ijs.si/), users can obtain information of the most relevant competences of a researcher and his most important collaborators. It is possible to obtaining researchers, community structure and competences of an arbitrary research topic.

Social implications

The map for collaboration and competences of a complete science can be a crucial tool for policy-making. Social scientists can use the results of the proposed approach to better understand and direct the development of science.

Originality/value

Originality and value of the paper is in combining text (competences) and network (research collaboration and co-authoring) approaches for exploring science. Additional values give the results of analysis that demonstrate the approach.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2020

Xiujuan Chen, Zhiqiang Zhang and Jinjing Guo

The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical basis and data support for researchers to choose appropriate international partners, provide a basis for Chinese research…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical basis and data support for researchers to choose appropriate international partners, provide a basis for Chinese research funding agencies, such as National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to formulate international research collaboration (IRC) strategies and policies and provide recommendations for the improvement of the internationalization level of China's basic scientific research.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on existing research, this study took output of “Major International (Regional) Joint Research Project” (MIJRP) funded by NSFC and participated by Chinese scholars in the meantime as the analysis object, proposed hypotheses and constructed the indicators of IRC and research output (RO). In addition, the mathematical statistics was used to compare the RO of China's IRC and nonIRC, and the statistical analysis model was used to measure the influence on RO of collaboration country's research capacity, research collaboration between China and US, scope of international research collaboration and reprint author country.

Findings

The RO of China's IRC is higher than that of nonIRC; research capacity of collaboration country has no inevitable effect on the RO of China's IRC; the RO of China's IRC participated by Americans is higher than that without American scholars; expanding the scope of China's IRC to some degree can increase RO; the RO of China's IRC led by foreigners is higher than that led by Chinese. In particular, China–US IRC and foreign scholars acting as the reprint author are two major factors for the RO of China's IRC.

Originality/value

Most of the traditional research on IRC are based on the co-author papers, and this study tried to analyze the characteristics and regularities on IRC from a new view of international collaboration projects, which can be a supplement to the traditional international collaboration research on co-author papers.

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Jiming Hu, Ruhua Huang and Yubo Wang

The purpose of this paper is to visualize the collaboration network among regions in library science (LS) in China. Using various methods and tools of social network analysis and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to visualize the collaboration network among regions in library science (LS) in China. Using various methods and tools of social network analysis and geographical visualization, results were obtained, showing the structure and patterns of research collaborations in topological and geographical views, as well as the geographical distributions of contribution.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes all studies published in the top journal in library science in China from 2006 to 2015. First, co-occurrence data representing collaborations among regions was extracted from author affiliations. Second, the topological network of collaboration was generated by applying social network analysis tools and descriptive statistics, network indicators of the collaboration network and research communities were calculated. Third, the topological network was projected into a geographical map with corresponding coordinates and distances using geographical tools. Finally, the topological network maps and the geographical maps were produced for visualization.

Findings

The levels of contribution are very unbalanced between regions, and overall research collaboration is low. Beijing, Hubei and several other areas are central and significant regions in China; other regions are mostly connected with central ones through direct collaborations. Research collaborations in LS research in China are mostly distributed in the east and south of China, being centralized in the “Beijing–Hubei–Shanghai” triangle zone, as well as within the triangle’s extending zones. Finally, there are three distinct research communities that connect closely within themselves and loosely between them. The Beijing community is relatively centralized in geography, while other communities are scattered.

Originality/value

This study applied various methods and tools of social network analysis and geographical mapping analysis to reveal the collaboration structure and patterns among regions in LS research in China. Visualized maps in topological and geographical views help shed new light on research efforts.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2023

Carlos Lopez Carrasco and Simone Belli

In this article, the authors explore the emotional dimension of the strategies that researchers carry out to foster collaboration within research groups in science.

Abstract

Purpose

In this article, the authors explore the emotional dimension of the strategies that researchers carry out to foster collaboration within research groups in science.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have carried out fieldwork based on semi-structured interviews with members of high-performance research groups, supported by the analysis of ethnographic observations in the local work contexts of several of these groups.

Findings

As a result, the authors start from the representations of the principal investigators interviewed about collaboration, as a dynamic between the individuals involved and the group, to describe two forms of leadership strategies: ego-centered or group. Hence, the authors highlight that the emotional work of IPs consists of combining both strategies by activating and deactivating affection, warmth and spontaneity in interactions. The authors conclude by reviewing the contributions and some potential lines of study.

Research limitations/implications

The main contributions and conclusions must be regarded considering several limitations of our work. First, the authors have focused on high-performance groups, so it would be expected that the research groups that do not have the support of European Research Council (ERC) do not present the observed dynamics. Concerning the analysis, the authors have focused on the link between situational (personal interaction) and organizational scales. Although the authors have attended social factors that imply the structure and changes of the professional sector of science (Whitley, 2000, 2014), future publications will allow the authors to delve into relationships on a broader scale, associating collaboration patterns and discursive positions. The authors will focus on (1) roles and social profiles and (2) features of scientific culture and its recent configuration.

Practical implications

The authors affirm that the emotional field is key to understanding how groups and individuals respond to these profound changes. In their work, scientific professionals do not only act based on rational and instrumental criteria but also driven by habits, affective networks and inertia of their organizational cultures. In this paper, the authors provide theoretical and practical keys to understand the complexity that collaboration creates within research groups as a contradictory reality that consists of a constant movement of individuals and the group.

Social implications

As many of the interviewees expressed, there are no adequate spaces to learn and reflect on leadership and collaboration in science. The authors are science workers who are responsible for imagining and deciding how the authors want their research groups to function. Institutions must ensure the means so that this task can be carried out. Hopefully, this article will contribute to this irrevocable project.

Originality/value

The authors’ aim is to understand how well-known groups operate in their field, with a high level of resources and productivity, in order to identify and promote cutting-edge strategies in different scientific branches. Moreover, the authors want to recognize the importance of institutional infrastructures. For this reason, giving them a place in the framework of management studies allows to submit this issue to public debate for a wide audience of social scientists. Moreover, this permits to inquire about cross-disciplinary subjects, such as social and organizational psychology, sociology of work, studies about science and management studies.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 January 2015

Guang Ying Mo, Zack Hayat and Barry Wellman

This study aims to understand the extent to which scholarly networks are connected both in person and through information and communication technologies, and in particular, how…

Abstract

This study aims to understand the extent to which scholarly networks are connected both in person and through information and communication technologies, and in particular, how distance, disciplines, and motivations for participating in these networks interplay with the clusters they form. The focal point for our analysis is the Graphics, Animation and New Media Network of Centres of Excellence (GRAND NCE), a Canadian scholarly network in which scholars collaborate across disciplinary, institutional, and geographical boundaries in one or multiple projects with the aid of information and communication technologies. To understand the complexity in such networks, we first identified scholars’ clusters within the work, want-to-meet, and help networks of GRAND and examined the correlation between these clusters as well as with disciplines and geographic locations. We then identified three types of motivation that drove scholars to join GRAND: practical issues, novelty-exploration, and networking. Our findings indicate that (1) scholars’ interests in the networking opportunities provided by GRAND may not easily translate into actual interactions. Although scholars express interests in boundary-spanning collaborations, these mostly occur within the same discipline and geographic area. (2) Some motivations are reflected in the structural characteristics of the clusters we identify, while others are irrelevant to the establishment of collaborative ties. We argue that institutional intervention may be used to enhance geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary collaboration.

Details

Communication and Information Technologies Annual
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-454-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Rongying Zhao and Xuqiu Wei

Collaboration is an important way for scientific research. It attracts a large number of researchers, and forms a series of measurement evaluation indicators. The purpose of this…

Abstract

Purpose

Collaboration is an important way for scientific research. It attracts a large number of researchers, and forms a series of measurement evaluation indicators. The purpose of this study further enriches the evaluation system of collaboration and provides new indicators to measure collaboration ability at author level in order to identify the most appropriate potential partners.

Design/methodology/approach

The papers published during the period 2006-2015 and collected from Web of Science Core Collection in library and information science (LIS) are regarded as data source. And it defines and measures the collaborative rate, collaborative breadth and collaborative depth at author level.

Findings

The authors’ research shows that collaboration is an important way in the scientific research activities in LIS. Unfortunately, most author’s collaborative breadth and the collaborative depth are lower than mean. Therefore, the author’s scope and stability of collaboration is further strengthened in future. Authors can identify the most appropriate potential partners according to author’s research purpose and the region of the collaborative breadth – the collaborative depth.

Originality/value

It further enriches the evaluation system of collaboration and provides new indicators to evaluate collaboration ability at author level. Authors can identify the most appropriate potential partners according to author’s collaboration ability.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2018

Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha

The purpose of this paper is to map and visualise collaboration patterns and citation impact of the library and information science research in sub-Saharan Africa between 1995 and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to map and visualise collaboration patterns and citation impact of the library and information science research in sub-Saharan Africa between 1995 and 2016.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were extracted from the Thomson Reuters’ citation indexes using the name of the country in an advanced search platform. The search was limited to documents designated as articles. Data were analysed using the VosViewer software to obtain network maps and frequencies of occurrence.

Findings

The findings reveal that publication and citation impact of LIS research in sub-Saharan Africa has continued to grow since 1995; foreign countries have immensely contributed to the evolution and development of LIS research in the region; research collaboration occurs both regionally and internationally, with the latter being the most prominent; South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are the most active participants in LIS research collaboration in the region; and that on average, international collaboration in LIS research in sub-Saharan Africa attracts more citations than other types of collaboration.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited to the data indexed in the Web of Science citation indexes and focused on sub-Saharan African countries only.

Practical implications

Collaboration is said to lead to increased research output and impact, hence the need for sub-Saharan African researchers and institutions to initiate strategies that will create conducive environments for research collaboration. There is need for collaborative ventures between LIS practitioners and educators as well as increased cooperation among LIS schools within and outside of sub-Saharan African countries. Partnerships involving students and programmes such as research fellowship, post-doctoral researchers as well as visiting researchers may complement any existing strategies that can be pursued to increase collaborative research in LIS in the region.

Originality/value

The paper, while drawing lessons from previous papers, adopted a variety of techniques to examine collaboration patterns and impact of LIS research over a longer period of publication time, i.e. 1995 to 2016, and a larger geographic scope.

Details

Library Management, vol. 39 no. 6-7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

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