The Social Capital of Global Ties in Science: The Added Value of International Collaboration

Abstract

International collaboration in scientific research continues to build and receive recognition in the academic scientific community (Narin 1991; Hicks and Katz 1996; Persson, Glänzel et al. 2004). Scientists develop collaborative ties in order to access new knowledge, access to equipment, and other reasons (Melin 2000). Studies of international collaborative ties suggests that productive scientists self organize across international boundaries (Wagner and Leydesdorff 2005), demonstrating a deliberate decision to work internationally. In the academic setting, understanding ties between individuals has been addressed through co-authorship and citation patterns using bibliometric data (for recent examples, see (Hicks, Breitzman et al. 2000; Chen and Hicks 2004; Geisler 2005; Li, Chen et al. 2007; Larsen 2008). Bibliometric studies have been important in examining patterns and outcomes related to collaboration and publications, as well as scientific impact. They have also been valuable in tracking the globalization of science. Using publication and citation data, studies have addressed the changing nature of scientific fields (Wagner and Leydesdorff 2005) and the growth of collaborative activities in science (Narin 1991; Luukkonen, Persson et al. 1992; Georghiou 1998 among others). In this paper we explore the forms of the international cooperation of men and women academic scientists in six STEM fields. Individuals who are well connected both internally and externally are seen as valuable resources for their organizations due to the informational boundary spanning role they play.