The analysis of bibliometric networks, such as co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and co-citation networks, has received a considerable amount of attention. Much less attention has been paid to the construction of these networks. We point out that different approaches can be taken to construct a bibliometric network. Normally the full counting approach is used, but we propose an alternative fractional counting approach. The basic idea of the fractional counting approach is that each action, such as co-authoring or citing a publication, should have equal weight, regardless of for instance the number of authors, citations, or references of a publication. We present two empirical analyses in which the full and fractional counting approaches yield very different results. These analyses deal with co-authorship networks of universities and bibliographic coupling networks of journals. Based on theoretical considerations and on the empirical analyses, we conclude that for many purposes the fractional counting approach is preferable over the full counting one.

There is a widespread perception that pharmaceutical R&D is facing a productivity crisis characterised by stagnation in the numbers of new drug approvals in the face of increasing R&D costs. This study explores pharmaceutical R&D dynamics by examining the publication activities of all R&D laboratories of the major European and US pharmaceutical firms during the period 1995-2009. The empirical findings present an industry in transformation. In the first place, we observe a decline of the total number of publications by large firms. Second, we show a relative increase of their external collaborations suggesting a tendency to outsource, and a diversification of the disciplinary base, in particular towards computation, health services and more clinical approaches. Also evident is a more pronounced decline in publications by both R&D laboratories located in Europe and by firms with European headquarters. Finally, while publications by Big Pharma in emerging economies sharply increase, they remain extremely low compared with those in developed countries. In summary, the trend in this transformation is one of a gradual decrease in internal research efforts and increasing reliance on external research. These empirical insights support the view that large pharmaceutical firms are increasingly becoming 'network integrators' rather than the prime locus of drug discovery.

The present paper proposes a method for detecting, identifying and visualizing research groups. The data used refer to nine Carlos III University of Madrid departments, while the findings for the Communication Technologies Department illustrate the method. Structural analysis was used to generate co-authorship networks. Research groups were identified on the basis of factorial analysis of the raw data matrix and similarities in the choice of co-authors. The resulting networks distinguished the researchers participating in the intra-departmental network from those not involved and identified the existing research groups. Fields of research were characterized by the Journal of Citation Report subject category assigned to the bibliographic references cited in the papers written by the authorfactors. The results, i.e., the graphic displays of the structures of the socio-centric and coauthorship networks and the strategies underlying collaboration among researchers, were later discussed with the members of the departments analyzed. The paper constitutes a starting point for understanding and characterizing networking within research institutions.

There is a widespread perception that pharmaceutical R&D is facing a productivity crisis characterised by stagnation in the numbers of new drug approvals in the face of increasing R&D costs. This study explores pharmaceutical R&D dynamics by examining the publication activities of all R&D laboratories of the major European and US pharmaceutical firms during the period 1995-2009. The empirical findings present an industry in transformation. In the first place, we observe a decline of the total number of publications by large firms. Second, we show a relative increase of their external collaborations suggesting a tendency to outsource, and a diversification of the disciplinary base, in particular towards computation, health services and more clinical approaches. Also evident is a more pronounced decline in publications by both R&D laboratories located in Europe and by firms with European headquarters. Finally, while publications by Big Pharma in emerging economies sharply increase, they remain extremely low compared with those in developed countries. In summary, the trend in this transformation is one of a gradual decrease in internal research efforts and increasing reliance on external research. These empirical insights support the view that large pharmaceutical firms are increasingly becoming 'networks integrators' rather than the prime locus of drug discovery.Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, bibliometrics, outsourcing, Europe, globalisation, research network, innovation, collaboration Highlights  We analyse the publications by R&D laboratories of the top 15 pharmaceutical firms.  We observe a slow decline in their total number of publications and field share.  A more pronounced decline in publications by R&D laboratories located in Europe.  There is more external collaboration and research in non-traditional disciplines.  The results suggest that Big Pharma firms are increasingly network integrators.