PHD Discussions Logo

Ask, Learn and Accelerate in your PhD Research

Question Icon Post Your Answer

Question Icon

How can a co-authorship network analysis reveal patterns of national and international collaboration within a research domain?

I'm mapping the collaborative landscape of my domain. While we often assume international collaboration is widespread, I need a methodological way to visualize and quantify this. I want to move beyond anecdotes to see if research is primarily nationally insular or globally integrated.

 

All Answers (1 Answers In All)

By Pragati Answered 1 year ago

In my own bibliometric studies, I have seen co-authorship networks cut through assumptions. You load your data into VOSviewer or Sci2, and the spatialization is revealing. Tightly-knit, dense clusters often represent strong national "invisible colleges." The long, bridging links between these clusters are your international ties. I would recommend calculating metrics like the E-I index to quantify the proportion of external (international) versus internal (domestic) links. This gives you a firm, statistical grasp on the collaboration geography of your field.

Your Answer