How Scholars Collaborate on Data Assets Research: A Systematic Comparative Analysis of Chinese and International Publications

In the era of data elements, it is extremely necessary and practically important to analyze network characteristics and evolutionary trends in academic research collaboration in the field of data assets research, which can provide valuable insights for promoting deep cooperation of scholars and enhancing their collaborative efficiency. However, existing studies on data assets research rarely delve into key differentiating characteristics and core thematic priorities between Chinese and international samples of collaboration networks. Based on bibliometric methods and social network analysis, a systematic comparative analysis between Chinese collaboration networks and international collaboration networks is conducted via CiteSpace software by using core literature from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science Core Collection, developed by Clarivate Analytics (WoS). Through observation, we find that the number of publications in this field has reached a preliminary scale with distinct differences in research focus and collaborative features between cooperation networks in China (CNCs) and international cooperation networks (ICNs). In recent years, Chinese samples have primarily focused upon research themes related to data value realization, such as data rights confirmation, data assets accounting, and data trusts. The overall connectivity of CNCs seems relatively weak, and a stable core author group has not formed, while collaborations in CNCs are predominantly localized and short-term. In contrast, international samples in recent years have mainly addressed the contextual application of data assets, exhibiting a collaboration network characterized by multi-center, interdisciplinary, and cross-institutional synergy, while core authors in ICNs are closely interconnected and their connectivity and structure are generally stronger than those of CNCs.