The measurement of international scientific collaboration

The paper concludes that, in an analysis of collaborative links, it is essential to use both absolute and relative measures, which normalize differences in country size.

Abstract

A growing science policy interest in international scientific collaboration has brought about a multitude of studies which attempt to measure the extent of international scientific collaboration between countries and to explore intercountry collaborative networks. This paper attempts to clarify the methodology that is being used or can be used for this purpose and discusses the adequacy of the methods. The paper concludes that, in an analysis of collaborative links, it is essential to use both absolute and relative measures. The latter normalize differences in country size. Each yields a different type of information. Absolute measures yield an answer to questions such as which countries are central in the international network of science, whether collaborative links reveal a centre — periphery relationship, and which countries are the most important collaborative partners of another country. Relative measures provide answers to questions of the intensity of collaborative links.