IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i15p9000-d869067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Research Topic Specialization of Universities in Information Science and Library Science and Its Impact on Inter-University Collaboration

Author

Listed:
  • Lei Hou

    (School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China)

  • Jiashan Luo

    (School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China)

  • Xue Pan

    (School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China)

Abstract

Universities significantly empower the development of science and technology, and inter-university research collaborations have been one of the major approaches. Considering each university has its expertise regarding research topics in a given discipline, the present paper examines the specialization of university research and its impact on inter-university collaborations. Based on a keyword network constructed via research articles in Information Science and Library Science, 10 research topics are identified. Accordingly, the research topic diversity of a university and the research topic similarity between two universities are quantified. The universities with diverse research topics are found to be more collaborative. A further collaboration network analysis based on the Quadradic Assignment Procedure reveals the important role of research topic similarity on the closeness and impact of collaborations. The different research topic specializations largely prevent close collaborations between two universities, but on the other hand, have the potential to form a complementary combination of knowledge leading to more impactful research output. The analysis and results highlight the important role of research topic specialization and provide insights for the university- or department-level strategy for research collaborations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Hou & Jiashan Luo & Xue Pan, 2022. "Research Topic Specialization of Universities in Information Science and Library Science and Its Impact on Inter-University Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9000-:d:869067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9000/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9000/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruneel, Johan & D'Este, Pablo & Salter, Ammon, 2010. "Investigating the factors that diminish the barriers to university-industry collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 858-868, September.
    2. Otávio José Guerci Sidone & Eduardo Amaral Haddad & Jesús Pascual Mena-Chalco, 2017. "Scholarly publication and collaboration in Brazil: The role of geography," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(1), pages 243-258, January.
    3. Kong, Xiangjie & Mao, Mengyi & Jiang, Huizhen & Yu, Shuo & Wan, Liangtian, 2019. "How does collaboration affect researchers’ positions in co-authorship networks?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 887-900.
    4. Zhu, Nibing & Liu, Chang & Yang, Zhilin, 2021. "Team Size, Research Variety, and Research Performance: Do Coauthors’ Coauthors Matter?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4).
    5. Bishop, Kate & D'Este, Pablo & Neely, Andy, 2011. "Gaining from interactions with universities: Multiple methods for nurturing absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 30-40, February.
    6. Vieira, Elizabeth S. & Cerdeira, Jorge & Teixeira, Aurora A.C., 2022. "Which distance dimensions matter in international research collaboration? A cross-country analysis by scientific domain," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    7. Drivas, Kyriakos & Kaplanis, Ioannis, 2020. "The role of international collaborations in securing the patent grant," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    8. Alexander Berman & Alba Marino & Ram Mudambi, 2020. "The global connectivity of regional innovation systems in Italy: a core–periphery perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(5), pages 677-691, May.
    9. Fiorenzo Franceschini & Domenico Maisano & Luca Mastrogiacomo, 2013. "Evaluating research institutions: the potential of the success-index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(1), pages 85-101, July.
    10. Kolade, Oluwaseun & Adegbile, Abiodun & Sarpong, David, 2022. "Can university-industry-government collaborations drive a 3D printing revolution in Africa? A triple helix model of technological leapfrogging in additive manufacturing," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Wagner, Caroline S. & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2005. "Network structure, self-organization, and the growth of international collaboration in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1608-1618, December.
    12. Micael Rosa Parreira & Karine Borges Machado & Ramiro Logares & José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho & João Carlos Nabout, 2017. "The roles of geographic distance and socioeconomic factors on international collaboration among ecologists," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(3), pages 1539-1550, December.
    13. Yi Bu & Ying Ding & Jian Xu & Xingkun Liang & Gege Gao & Yiming Zhao, 2018. "Understanding success through the diversity of collaborators and the milestone of career," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(1), pages 87-97, January.
    14. David Minguillo & Mike Thelwall, 2015. "Research excellence and university–industry collaboration in UK science parks," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 181-196.
    15. Lingfei Wu & Dashun Wang & James A. Evans, 2019. "Large teams develop and small teams disrupt science and technology," Nature, Nature, vol. 566(7744), pages 378-382, February.
    16. Xi Yu & Krishna P. Paudel & Dongmei Li & Xiaolei Xiong & Yanyu Gong, 2020. "Sustainable Collaborative Innovation between Research Institutions and Seed Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.
    17. Perkmann, Markus & King, Zella & Pavelin, Stephen, 2011. "Engaging excellence? Effects of faculty quality on university engagement with industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 539-552, May.
    18. Jin, Jason Lu & Wang, Liwen, 2021. "Resource complementarity, partner differences, and international joint venture performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 232-246.
    19. Chen, Kaihua & Zhang, Yi & Zhu, Guilong & Mu, Rongping, 2020. "Do research institutes benefit from their network positions in research collaboration networks with industries or/and universities?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 94.
    20. An Zeng & Ying Fan & Zengru Di & Yougui Wang & Shlomo Havlin, 2021. "Fresh teams are associated with original and multidisciplinary research," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 1314-1322, October.
    21. Ping Ni & Xinying An, 2018. "Relationship between international collaboration papers and their citations from an economic perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 863-877, August.
    22. Mike Thelwall & Nabeil Maflahi, 2020. "Academic collaboration rates and citation associations vary substantially between countries and fields," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(8), pages 968-978, August.
    23. Estrada, Isabel & Faems, Dries & Martin Cruz, Natalia & Perez Santana, Pilar, 2016. "The role of interpartner dissimilarities in Industry-University alliances: Insights from a comparative case study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 2008-2022.
    24. Leung, Ricky C., 2013. "Networks as sponges: International collaboration for developing nanomedicine in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 211-219.
    25. Hou, Lei & Pan, Yueling & Zhu, Jonathan J.H., 2021. "Impact of scientific, economic, geopolitical, and cultural factors on international research collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    26. Zhang, Yi & Chen, Kaihua & Fu, Xiaolan, 2019. "Scientific effects of Triple Helix interactions among research institutes, industries and universities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 86, pages 33-47.
    27. Yuan Chih Fu & Marcelo Marques & Yuen-Hsien Tseng & Justin J. W. Powell & David P. Baker, 2022. "An evolving international research collaboration network: spatial and thematic developments in co-authored higher education research, 1998–2018," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(3), pages 1403-1429, March.
    28. Østergaard, Christian Richter & Drejer, Ina, 2022. "Keeping together: Which factors characterise persistent university–industry collaboration on innovation?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    29. Erjia Yan & Ying Ding & Qinghua Zhu, 2010. "Mapping library and information science in China: a coauthorship network analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(1), pages 115-131, April.
    30. Abramo, Giovanni & D'Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2022. "Revealing the scientific comparative advantage of nations: Common and distinctive features," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    31. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2020. "Knowledge spillovers: Does the geographic proximity effect decay over time? A discipline-level analysis, accounting for cognitive proximity, with and without self-citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hou, Lei & Pan, Yueling & Zhu, Jonathan J.H., 2021. "Impact of scientific, economic, geopolitical, and cultural factors on international research collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    2. Jyoti Dua & Vivek Kumar Singh & Hiran H. Lathabai, 2023. "Measuring and characterizing international collaboration patterns in Indian scientific research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(9), pages 5081-5116, September.
    3. Kazuki Nakajima & Kazuyuki Shudo & Naoki Masuda, 2023. "Higher-order rich-club phenomenon in collaborative research grant networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2429-2446, April.
    4. He, Vivianna Fang & von Krogh, Georg & Sirén, Charlotta & Gersdorf, Thomas, 2021. "Asymmetries between partners and the success of university-industry research collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    5. Esther Wit-de Vries & Wilfred A. Dolfsma & Henny J. Windt & M. P. Gerkema, 2019. "Knowledge transfer in university–industry research partnerships: a review," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1236-1255, August.
    6. Xuli Tang & Xin Li & Feicheng Ma, 2022. "Internationalizing AI: evolution and impact of distance factors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 181-205, January.
    7. Nasirov, Shukhrat & Joshi, Amol M., 2023. "Minding the communications gap: How can universities signal the availability and value of their scientific knowledge to commercial organizations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    8. Liu, Meijun & Jaiswal, Ajay & Bu, Yi & Min, Chao & Yang, Sijie & Liu, Zhibo & Acuña, Daniel & Ding, Ying, 2022. "Team formation and team impact: The balance between team freshness and repeat collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    9. Byeongdeuk Jang & Jae-Yong Choung & Inje Kang, 2022. "Knowledge production patterns of China and the US: quantum technology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(10), pages 5691-5719, October.
    10. Zihanxin Li & Guilong Zhu, 2021. "Knowledge Transfer Performance of Industry-University-Research Institute Collaboration in China: The Moderating Effect of Partner Difference," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-22, November.
    11. Vieira, Elizabeth S. & Cerdeira, Jorge & Teixeira, Aurora A.C., 2022. "Which distance dimensions matter in international research collaboration? A cross-country analysis by scientific domain," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    12. Yongli Tang & Kazuyuki Motohashi & Xinyue Hu & Angeles Montoro-Sanchez, 2020. "University-industry interaction and product innovation performance of Guangdong manufacturing firms: the roles of regional proximity and research quality of universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 578-618, April.
    13. Atta-Owusu, Kwadwo & Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2021. "What drives university-industry collaboration? Research excellence or firm collaboration strategy?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Sebastian Kobarg & Jutta Stumpf-Wollersheim & Isabell M. Welpe, 2018. "University-industry collaborations and product innovation performance: the moderating effects of absorptive capacity and innovation competencies," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1696-1724, December.
    15. Baier-Fuentes, Hugo & Guerrero, Maribel & Amorós, José Ernesto, 2021. "Does triple helix collaboration matter for the early internationalisation of technology-based firms in emerging Economies?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    16. Ma, Guoshuai & Yuhua, Qian & Zhang, Yayu & Yan, Hongren & Cheng, Honghong & Hu, Zhiguo, 2022. "The recognition of kernel research team," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    17. Chen, Kaihua & Zhang, Yi & Zhu, Guilong & Mu, Rongping, 2020. "Do research institutes benefit from their network positions in research collaboration networks with industries or/and universities?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 94.
    18. Marian-Gabriel Hâncean & Matjaž Perc & Jürgen Lerner, 2021. "The coauthorship networks of the most productive European researchers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 201-224, January.
    19. Beck, Mathias & Junge, Martin & Kaiser, Ulrich, 2017. "Public Funding and Corporate Innovation," IZA Discussion Papers 11196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Yu, Shuo & Alqahtani, Fayez & Tolba, Amr & Lee, Ivan & Jia, Tao & Xia, Feng, 2022. "Collaborative Team Recognition: A Core Plus Extension Structure," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9000-:d:869067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.