IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v8y2021i1d10.1057_s41599-021-00922-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collaboration in the time of COVID: a scientometric analysis of multidisciplinary SARS-CoV-2 research

Author

Listed:
  • Eoghan Cunningham

    (University College
    University College)

  • Barry Smyth

    (University College
    University College)

  • Derek Greene

    (University College
    University College)

Abstract

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 illness it causes have inspired unprecedented levels of multidisciplinary research in an effort to address a generational public health challenge. In this work we conduct a scientometric analysis of COVID-19 research, paying particular attention to the nature of collaboration that this pandemic has fostered among different disciplines. Increased multidisciplinary collaboration has been shown to produce greater scientific impact, albeit with higher co-ordination costs. As such, we consider a collection of over 166,000 COVID-19-related articles to assess the scale and diversity of collaboration in COVID-19 research, which we compare to non-COVID-19 controls before and during the pandemic. We show that COVID-19 research teams are not only significantly smaller than their non-COVID-19 counterparts, but they are also more diverse. Furthermore, we find that COVID-19 research has increased the multidisciplinarity of authors across most scientific fields of study, indicating that COVID-19 has helped to remove some of the barriers that usually exist between disparate disciplines. Finally, we highlight a number of interesting areas of multidisciplinary research during COVID-19, and propose methodologies for visualising the nature of multidisciplinary collaboration, which may have application beyond this pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Eoghan Cunningham & Barry Smyth & Derek Greene, 2021. "Collaboration in the time of COVID: a scientometric analysis of multidisciplinary SARS-CoV-2 research," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00922-7
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00922-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-021-00922-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-021-00922-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mason Youngblood & David Lahti, 2018. "A bibliometric analysis of the interdisciplinary field of cultural evolution," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Keisuke Okamura, 2019. "Interdisciplinarity revisited: evidence for research impact and dynamism," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. X. Cai & C. V. Fry & C. S. Wagner, 2021. "International collaboration during the COVID-19 crisis: autumn 2020 developments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(4), pages 3683-3692, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Mason Youngblood & David Lahti, 2018. "Correction: A bibliometric analysis of the interdisciplinary field of cultural evolution," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-2, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo & Flavia Costa, 2022. "How the Covid-19 crisis shaped research collaboration behaviour," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(8), pages 5053-5071, August.
    2. Danilo Silva Carvalho & Lucas Lopes Felipe & Priscila Costa Albuquerque & Fabio Zicker & Bruna de Paula Fonseca, 2023. "Leadership and international collaboration on COVID-19 research: reducing the North–South divide?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4689-4705, August.

    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. Lucy Semerjian & Kunle Okaiyeto & Mike O. Ojemaye & Temitope Cyrus Ekundayo & Aboi Igwaran & Anthony I. Okoh, 2021. "Global Systematic Mapping of Road Dust Research from 1906 to 2020: Research Gaps and Future Direction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-21, October.
    2. David N. Matzig & Clemens Schmid & Felix Riede, 2023. "Mapping the field of cultural evolutionary theory and methods in archaeology using bibliometric methods," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Gedas Baranauskas & Agota Giedrė Raišienė & Renata Korsakienė, 2020. "Mapping the Scientific Research on Mass Customization Domain: A Critical Review and Bibliometric Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Patrick E. Savage, 2019. "Cultural evolution of music," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Hussain, Syed Mujahid & Ahmad, Nisar & Ahmed, Sheraz, 2023. "Applications of high-frequency data in finance: A bibliometric literature review," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Mariana Madruga de Brito & Danny Otto & Christian Kuhlicke, 2021. "Tracking Topics and Frames Regarding Sustainability Transformations during the Onset of the COVID-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Nikoleta E. Glynatsi & Vincent A. Knight, 2021. "A bibliometric study of research topics, collaboration, and centrality in the iterated prisoner’s dilemma," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Arash Najmaei & Zahra Sadeghinejad, 2023. "Green and sustainable business models: historical roots, growth trajectory, conceptual architecture and an agenda for future research—A bibliometric review of green and sustainable business models," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 957-999, February.
    9. Sónia Rolland Sobral, 2021. "Teaching and Learning to Program: Umbrella Review of Introductory Programming in Higher Education," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(15), pages 1-23, July.
    10. Gabriel Aguirre-Fernández & Chiara Barbieri & Anna Graff & José Pérez de Arce & Hyram Moreno & Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, 2021. "Cultural macroevolution of musical instruments in South America," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Quan-Hoang Vuong & Quang-Khiem Bui & Viet-Phuong La & Thu-Trang Vuong & Viet-Ha T. Nguyen & Manh-Toan Ho & Hong-Kong T. Nguyen & Manh-Tung Ho, 2018. "Cultural additivity: behavioural insights from the interaction of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in folktales," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Bakır, Mahmut & Özdemir, Emircan & Akan, Şahap & Atalık, Özlem, 2022. "A bibliometric analysis of airport service quality," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Frimpong J. Alex & Gangfeng Tan & Philip K. Agyeman & Prince O. Ansah & Isaac O. Olayode & Jamshid V. Fayzullayevich & Shuang Liang, 2022. "Bibliometric Network Analysis of Trends in Cyclone Separator Research: Research Gaps and Future Direction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    14. Gao, Qiang & Liang, Zhentao & Wang, Ping & Hou, Jingrui & Chen, Xiuxiu & Liu, Manman, 2021. "Potential index: Revealing the future impact of research topics based on current knowledge networks," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    15. Guoqiang Liang & Ying Lou & Haiyan Hou, 2022. "Revisiting the disruptive index: evidence from the Nobel Prize-winning articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(10), pages 5721-5730, October.
    16. Meijun Liu & Sijie Yang & Yi Bu & Ning Zhang, 2023. "Female early-career scientists have conducted less interdisciplinary research in the past six decades: evidence from doctoral theses," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. 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).
    18. Gallus, Jana & Bhatia, Sudeep, 2020. "Gender, power and emotions in the collaborative production of knowledge: A large-scale analysis of Wikipedia editor conversations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 115-130.
    19. Peter Sjögårde & Fereshteh Didegah, 2022. "The association between topic growth and citation impact of research publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(4), pages 1903-1921, April.
    20. Shuo Xu & Liyuan Hao & Xin An & Hongshen Pang & Ting Li, 2020. "Review on emerging research topics with key-route main path analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 607-624, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00922-7. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.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.