The relationship between scientists' research performance and the degree of internationalization of their research (1811.01776v1)

Abstract: Policy makers, at various levels of governance, generally encourage the development of research collaboration. However the underlying determinants of collaboration are not completely clear. In particular, the literature lacks studies that, taking the individual researcher as the unit of analysis, attempt to understand if and to what extent the researcher's scientific performance might impact on his/her degree of collaboration with foreign colleagues. The current work examines the international collaborations of Italian university researchers for the period 2001-2005, and puts them in relation to each individual's research performance. The results of the investigation, which assumes co-authorship as proxy of research collaboration, show that both research productivity and average quality of output have positive effects on the degree of international collaboration achieved by a scientist.

• The paper investigates the relationship between individual scientists' research performance (productivity, quality) and their international collaboration using Italian university data from 2001-2005.
• Analysis showed strong positive correlations between researcher productivity (total and fractional) and the intensity of international collaboration.
• While average quality also correlated with collaboration intensity, the results suggest that boosting researcher productivity may be a stronger driver of international collaboration efforts.

Analysis of the Correlation Between Research Performance and International Collaboration

This paper presents a detailed bibliometric paper designed to investigate whether there exists a relationship between a scientist's research performance and the degree of internationalization of their research. The paper leverages Italian university researchers in hard science disciplines over the span of 2001-2005 as the primary dataset. The unit of analysis is the individual researcher rather than aggregated research products, marking a departure from many prior studies on research collaboration and internationalization.

Overview and Methodology

The authors employ co-authorship with foreign colleagues as a proxy for international collaboration and use several bibliometric indicators to measure research performance and international collaboration. Specifically, six indicators are constructed: three performance indicators—productivity, fractional productivity, and average quality—and three international collaboration indicators—intensity, rate, and amplitude.

• Productivity (P) assesses the total number of publications authored by a scientist during the observed period.
• Fractional Productivity (FP) evaluates contributions to publications adjusted by the number of coauthors.
• Average Quality (AQ) reflects impact through citations compared to the average for publications of the same type, year, and subject category.

For international collaboration:

• International Collaboration Intensity (ICI) quantifies publications with at least one co-author from a foreign organization.
• International Collaboration Rate (ICR) is defined as the proportion of cross-national publications to total publications.
• International Collaboration Amplitude (ICA) measures the number of different foreign nations involved in a scientist's cross-national publications.

The paper applies regression analyses to explore the relationship between research performance and collaboration metrics, providing insights into whether higher productivity and quality enhance international collaboration.

Key Findings and Results

The analysis reveals several significant correlations:

• Strong correlations were found between productivity (both P and FP) and international collaboration intensity (ICI), suggesting that more productive researchers are more likely to have higher numbers of cross-national publications.
• The correlation between average quality and intensity of international collaboration was significant but not as strong, indicating some influence of the quality of research outputs in fostering international collaborations.
• The propensity to engage in international collaborations, as measured by ICR, showed weaker correlations with research performance indicators, highlighting that the motivation or tendency to collaborate internationally may be less directly tied to productivity and quality than the absolute volume of collaborations is.

The regression analysis underscored that productivity impacts the intensity of international collaboration more profoundly than average quality does. However, for collaboration propensity, productivity and average quality have comparable influence.

Regression models such as binary logistic and ordered logistic regressions have been utilized, confirming that both productivity and quality are predictors of international collaboration rates, although the effect sizes vary.

Implications and Future Research Directions

The findings align with intuitive expectations that more prolific researchers will exhibit broader international collaborative ties. This relationship suggests that initiatives aimed at increasing researcher productivity may also catalyze international collaboration efforts. Furthermore, the paper invites further empirical validation at disaggregated levels, such as different scientific disciplinary sectors or geographic variations among foreign collaborators.

The paper offers valuable insights for policy makers seeking to promote international research collaboration and provides a foundation for investigating the dynamics between research performance metrics and international partnerships. Future research might delve into how other factors—such as institutional support, funding policies, and technological infrastructure—interact with individual performance to influence cross-national collaborations.

Overall, this paper underscores the importance of personal research performance as a driver of international collaboration in academia, advocating for enhanced focus on individual achievement in fostering global scientific partnerships.