The correlation between scientific collaboration and citation count at the paper level: a meta-analysis

Hongquan Shen, Juan Xie (), Jiang Li and Ying Cheng
Additional contact information
Hongquan Shen: Nanjing University
Juan Xie: Nanjing University
Jiang Li: Nanjing University
Ying Cheng: Nanjing University

Scientometrics, 2021, vol. 126, issue 4, No 32, 3443-3470

Abstract: Abstract Collaboration has been widely investigated as a prevalent research activity. However, no consensus has been reached about the relationship between scientific collaboration and citation count. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively examine the strength and consistency of this relationship, using meta-analytic methods and measuring scientific collaboration by co-authorship. After the literature search and initial selection, 361 relevant papers were found. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 92 papers involving 340 effect sizes were included. A random-effect meta-analysis showed a significant positive and weak correlation between scientific collaboration and citation count (r = 0.146). Tests of publication bias and heterogeneity revealed that the result was reliable. In addition, disciplines, countries, document types and citation sources were found to influence the correlation as moderators significantly. Practical recommendations for research administrators and researchers were provided, including encouraging collaboration and maintaining a cost-benefit balance in collaboration.

Keywords: Scientific collaboration; Co-authorship; Citation count; Meta-analysis; Moderators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-021-03888-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11192-021-03888-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03888-0

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().