IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v120y2019i2d10.1007_s11192-019-03111-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the development of China’s leadership in international collaborations

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Quan

    (Wuhan University
    Wuhan University
    Université de Montréal)

  • Philippe Mongeon

    (Université de Montréal
    Leiden University
    Aarhus University)

  • Maxime Sainte-Marie

    (Université de Montréal)

  • Rongying Zhao

    (Wuhan University
    Wuhan University)

  • Vincent Larivière

    (Université de Montréal
    Leiden University)

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between leadership, team size, and citation impact in China’s international research output from 1980 to 2016, measured in terms of number of authors, institutions, countries, and citations. Distinction is here made between leading and non-leading Chinese international collaborations, which respectively refer to papers whose first or corresponding author is affiliated to a Chinese institution and papers co-authored by researchers from a Chinese institution but whose first and corresponding authors are not. Analysis at the individual, institutional, and country level show that while average team size by paper increases over the period, the main collaboration mode remains bilateral at the country level. We also observe a positive relationship between team size and research impact up to a certain point, but Chinese-led international collaborations tend to imply smaller teams and have lower impact than non-leading collaborations.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Quan & Philippe Mongeon & Maxime Sainte-Marie & Rongying Zhao & Vincent Larivière, 2019. "On the development of China’s leadership in international collaborations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 707-721, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:120:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03111-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03111-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-019-03111-1
    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/s11192-019-03111-1?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. Zhang, Pei-Pei & Kan Chen, & He, Yue & Zhou, Tao & Su, Bei-Bei & Jin, Yingdi & Chang, Hui & Zhou, Yue-Ping & Sun, Li-Cheng & Wang, Bing-Hong & He, Da-Ren, 2006. "Model and empirical study on some collaboration networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 360(2), pages 599-616.
    2. Jia Zheng & Zhi-Yun Zhao & Xu Zhang & Dar-Zen Chen & Mu-Hsuan Huang & Xiao-Ping Lei & Ze-Yu Zhang & Yun-Hua Zhao, 2012. "International scientific and technological collaboration of China from 2004 to 2008: a perspective from paper and patent analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 91(1), pages 65-80, April.
    3. Yves Gingras & Mahdi Khelfaoui, 2018. "Assessing the effect of the United States’ “citation advantage” on other countries’ scientific impact as measured in the Web of Science (WoS) database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 517-532, February.
    4. Ali Gazni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Fereshteh Didegah, 2012. "Mapping world scientific collaboration: Authors, institutions, and countries," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(2), pages 323-335, February.
    5. Ali Gazni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Fereshteh Didegah, 2012. "Mapping world scientific collaboration: Authors, institutions, and countries," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(2), pages 323-335, February.
    6. Manganote, Edmilson J.T. & Araujo, Mariana S. & Schulz, Peter A., 2014. "Visualization of ranking data: Geographical signatures in international collaboration, leadership and research impact," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 642-649.
    7. Liming Liang & Ling Zhu, 2002. "Major factors affecting China's inter-regional research collaboration: Regional scientific productivity and geographical proximity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 55(2), pages 287-316, August.
    8. Yi Bu & Ying Ding & Xingkun Liang & Dakota S. Murray, 2018. "Understanding persistent scientific collaboration," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(3), pages 438-448, March.
    9. Tohidi, Hamid & Tarokh, Mohammad Jafar, 2006. "Productivity outcomes of teamwork as an effect of information technology and team size," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 610-615, October.
    10. Chang, Tung-Lung S. & Chuang, Cheng-Min & Jan, Wen-Shiung, 1998. "International collaboration of law firms: Modes, motives and advantages," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 241-262, October.
    11. Xianwen Wang & Shenmeng Xu & Zhi Wang & Lian Peng & Chuanli Wang, 2013. "International scientific collaboration of China: collaborating countries, institutions and individuals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(3), pages 885-894, June.
    12. Vincent Larivière & Yves Gingras & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Andrew Tsou, 2015. "Team size matters: Collaboration and scientific impact since 1900," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 66(7), pages 1323-1332, July.
    13. Tianwei He, 2009. "International scientific collaboration of China with the G7 countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 80(3), pages 571-582, September.
    14. Lili Yuan & Yanni Hao & Minglu Li & Chunbing Bao & Jianping Li & Dengsheng Wu, 2018. "Who are the international research collaboration partners for China? A novel data perspective based on NSFC grants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 401-422, July.
    15. Gustavo Crespi & Aldo Geuna & Lionel Nesta, 2007. "The mobility of university inventors in Europe," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 195-215, June.
    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. Yang Liu & Jinyuan Ma & Huanyu Song & Ziniu Qian & Xiao Lin, 2021. "Chinese Universities’ Cross-Border Research Collaboration in the Social Sciences and Its Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Quan-Hoang Vuong & Tung Manh Ho & Thu-Trang Vuong & Ha Viet Nguyen & Nancy K. Napier & Hiep-Hung Pham, 2017. "Nemo Solus Satis Sapit : Trends of Research Collaborations in the Vietnamese Social Sciences, Observing 2008–2017 Scopus Data," Publications, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2021. "Characterizing research leadership on geographically weighted collaboration network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4005-4037, May.
    4. Li, Feng & Miao, Yajun & Yang, Chenchen, 2015. "How do alumni faculty behave in research collaboration? An analysis of Chang Jiang Scholars in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 438-450.
    5. Fenggao Niu & Junping Qiu, 2014. "Network structure, distribution and the growth of Chinese international research collaboration," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1221-1233, February.
    6. Xie, Qing & Zhang, Xinyuan & Kim, Giyeong & Song, Min, 2022. "Exploring the influence of coauthorship with top scientists on researchers’ affiliation, research topic, productivity, and impact," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    7. Wagner, Caroline S. & Whetsell, Travis A. & Mukherjee, Satyam, 2019. "International research collaboration: Novelty, conventionality, and atypicality in knowledge recombination," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1260-1270.
    8. Kaile Gong & Ying Cheng, 2022. "Patterns and impact of collaboration in China’s social sciences: cross-database comparisons between CSSCI and SSCI," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(10), pages 5947-5964, October.
    9. Cathelijn J F Waaijer & Benoît Macaluso & Cassidy R Sugimoto & Vincent Larivière, 2016. "Stability and Longevity in the Publication Careers of U.S. Doctorate Recipients," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Seokbeom Kwon & Jan Youtie & Alan Porter & Nils Newman, 2024. "How does regulatory uncertainty shape the innovation process? Evidence from the case of nanomedicine," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 262-302, February.
    11. Jinyuan Ma & Fan Jiang & Liujian Gu & Xiang Zheng & Xiao Lin & Chuanyi Wang, 2020. "Patterns of the Network of Cross-Border University Research Collaboration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    12. Ali Gazni & Vincent Larivière & Fereshteh Didegah, 2016. "The effect of collaborators on institutions’ scientific impact," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 1209-1230, November.
    13. Lipeng Fan & Yuefen Wang & Shengchun Ding & Binbin Qi, 2020. "Productivity trends and citation impact of different institutional collaboration patterns at the research units’ level," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1179-1196, November.
    14. Caroline S. Wagner & Xiaojing Cai & Satyam Mukherjee, 2020. "China’s scholarship shows atypical referencing patterns," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2457-2468, September.
    15. Vanja Pupovac, 2021. "The frequency of plagiarism identified by text-matching software in scientific articles: a systematic review and meta-analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 8981-9003, November.
    16. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    17. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo & Flavia Costa, 2019. "A gender analysis of top scientists’ collaboration behavior: evidence from Italy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(2), pages 405-418, August.
    18. Zaida Chinchilla-Rodríguez & Cassidy R Sugimoto & Vincent Larivière, 2019. "Follow the leader: On the relationship between leadership and scholarly impact in international collaborations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, June.
    19. Qinwei Cao & Manqing Tan & Peng Xie & Jian Huang, 2022. "Can emerging economies take advantage of their population size to gain international academic recognition? Evidence from key universities in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(2), pages 927-957, February.
    20. Osório, António (António Miguel), 2019. "The value and credits of n-authors publications," Working Papers 2072/376026, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.

    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:120:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03111-1. 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.