IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v105y2015i3d10.1007_s11192-015-1635-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The structure and dynamics of networks of scientific collaborations in Northern Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio Landini

    (MEDAlics
    Bocconi University)

  • Franco Malerba

    (Bocconi University)

  • Roberto Mavilia

    (MEDAlics
    Bocconi University)

Abstract

We examine the structure and dynamics of network of scientific international collaborations within North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt) using both publishing and patent data. Results show that the region has undergone a sustained process of internationalization, which has translated in both an expansion of the network of scientific collaborations and a relative increase in the research output of international teams. At the same time we find the existence of a very limited degree of scientific integration at the regional level, i.e. within Northern Africa. Among the countries examined, Egypt seems to be the most active one in terms of size of research output as well as number and variety of international collaborations. Moreover, Egypt is the most central node of the regional research network and this centrality has considerably grown over time. This increased importance of Egypt as regional research hub is associated with a remarkable increase in the centrality of Saudi Arabia within Egypt’s research network. This holds across a variety of research fields as well as in terms of applied science (as shown by patent data). Overall, these results suggest that the region is undergoing a deep transformation in the structure and composition of scientific collaborations.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Landini & Franco Malerba & Roberto Mavilia, 2015. "The structure and dynamics of networks of scientific collaborations in Northern Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 1787-1807, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:105:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1635-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1635-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-015-1635-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-015-1635-1?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. Donald Deb. Beaver, 2001. "Reflections on Scientific Collaboration (and its study): Past, Present, and Future," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 52(3), pages 365-377, November.
    2. Jonathan Adams, 2012. "The rise of research networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 490(7420), pages 335-336, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Olle Persson & Wolfgang Glänzel & Rickard Danell, 2004. "Inflationary bibliometric values: The role of scientific collaboration and the need for relative indicators in evaluative studies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 60(3), pages 421-432, August.
    5. Jonathan Adams & Karen Gurney & Daniel Hook & Loet Leydesdorff, 2014. "International collaboration clusters in Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 547-556, January.
    6. Nelius Boshoff, 2010. "South–South research collaboration of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 481-503, August.
    7. Blaise Cronin & Debora Shaw & Kathryn La Barre, 2004. "Visible, less visible, and invisible work: Patterns of collaboration in 20th century chemistry," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 55(2), pages 160-168, January.
    8. Barabási, A.L & Jeong, H & Néda, Z & Ravasz, E & Schubert, A & Vicsek, T, 2002. "Evolution of the social network of scientific collaborations," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 311(3), pages 590-614.
    9. Frenken, Koen & Hardeman, Sjoerd & Hoekman, Jarno, 2009. "Spatial scientometrics: Towards a cumulative research program," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 222-232.
    10. Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha & Jan Resenga Maluleka, 2011. "Knowledge production through collaborative research in sub-Saharan Africa: how much do countries contribute to each other’s knowledge output and citation impact?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(2), pages 315-336, May.
    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. Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2022. "International research collaboration in Africa: a bibliometric and thematic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2747-2772, May.
    2. Marco Liverani & Kayla Song & James W. Rudge, 2023. "Mapping emerging trends and South–South cooperation in regional knowledge networks: A bibliometric analysis of avian influenza research in Southeast Asia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1667-1683, October.
    3. Similo Ngwenya & Nelius Boshoff, 2020. "Participation of ‘international national organisations’ in Africa’s research: a bibliometric study of agriculture and health in Zimbabwe," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 533-553, July.
    4. Elizabeth S. Vieira & Jorge Cerdeira, 2022. "The integration of African countries in international research networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(4), pages 1995-2021, April.
    5. Similo Ngwenya & Nelius Boshoff, 2022. "Different manifestations of ‘context’: examples from a bibliometric study of research in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(7), pages 3911-3933, July.
    6. Radhamany Sooryamoorthy, 2018. "The production of science in Africa: an analysis of publications in the science disciplines, 2000–2015," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 317-349, April.
    7. Massimiliano Ferrara & Roberto Mavilia & Bruno Antonio Pansera, 2017. "Extracting knowledge patterns with a social network analysis approach: an alternative methodology for assessing the impact of power inventors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(3), pages 1593-1625, December.
    8. Angelou, K. & Maragakis, M. & Kosmidis, K. & Argyrakis, P., 2021. "The evolution of triangular research and innovation collaborations in the European area," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).

    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. 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.
    2. Jyoti Dua & Hiran H. Lathabai & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2023. "Measuring and characterizing research collaboration in SAARC countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1265-1294, February.
    3. 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).
    4. Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2022. "International research collaboration in Africa: a bibliometric and thematic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2747-2772, May.
    5. J. Sylvan Katz & Guillermo Armando Ronda-Pupo, 2019. "Cooperation, scale-invariance and complex innovation systems: a generalization," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 1045-1065, November.
    6. 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.
    7. Zaida Chinchilla-Rodríguez & Anuska Ferligoj & Sandra Miguel & Luka Kronegger & Félix Moya-Anegón, 2012. "Blockmodeling of co-authorship networks in library and information science in Argentina: a case study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(3), pages 699-717, December.
    8. Laurent R. Bergé, 2017. "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(4), pages 785-815, November.
    9. Lemarchand, Guillermo A., 2012. "The long-term dynamics of co-authorship scientific networks: Iberoamerican countries (1973–2010)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 291-305.
    10. Elizabeth S. Vieira & Jorge Cerdeira, 2022. "The integration of African countries in international research networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(4), pages 1995-2021, April.
    11. Graf, Holger & Kalthaus, Martin, 2018. "International research networks: Determinants of country embeddedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1198-1214.
    12. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    13. Dosso, Mafini & Cassi, Lorenzo & Mescheba, Wilfriedo, 2023. "Towards regional scientific integration in Africa? Evidence from co-publications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    14. Mickael Benaim & Jean-Alain Héraud & Valérie Mérindol, 2016. "Scientific connectivity of European regions: towards a typology of cooperative schemes," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(3), pages 155-176.
    15. Candelaria Barrios & Esther Flores & M. Ángeles Martínez & Marta Ruiz-Martínez, 2019. "Is there convergence in international research collaboration? An exploration at the country level in the basic and applied science fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 631-659, August.
    16. Nelson Casimiro Zavale & Patrício Vitorino Langa, 2018. "University-industry linkages’ literature on Sub-Saharan Africa: systematic literature review and bibliometric account," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 1-49, July.
    17. Matthew Harsh & Ravtosh Bal & Alex Weryha & Justin Whatley & Charles C. Onu & Lisa M. Negro, 2021. "Mapping computer science research in Africa: using academic networking sites for assessing research activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 305-334, January.
    18. Jonathan Adams & Karen Gurney & Daniel Hook & Loet Leydesdorff, 2014. "International collaboration clusters in Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 547-556, January.
    19. Mehmet Ali Koseoglu, 2016. "Mapping the institutional collaboration network of strategic management research: 1980–2014," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(1), pages 203-226, October.
    20. Caroline S. Wagner & Travis A. Whetsell & Loet Leydesdorff, 2017. "Growth of international collaboration in science: revisiting six specialties," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1633-1652, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research collaboration; Scientific research; North Africa; Patents; Network analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C80 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    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:spr:scient:v:105:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1635-1. 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: http://www.springer.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.