International scientific collaboration has increased both in volume and importance. In this article, the authors study the interpretation of macro-level data on international coauthorship collaboration. They address such questions as how one might explain countryto-country differences in the rates of international coauthorship, networks of international scientific collaboration among countries, and patterns of international collaboration in scientific fields. Attention is drawn to cognitive, social, historical, geopolitical, and economic factors as potential determinants of the observed patterns. They present a methodology that gives one a measure, independent of size, of countries'propensities to collaborate internationally.The first collaborative scientific paper was published in 16f5,' and the number of collaborative papers has increased ever since, first slowly, then dramatically after the middle of the eighteenth century. Beaver and Rosen noted collaborative linkages across national borders as early as the nineteenth century.' These linkages increased toward the end of the century, and international collaboration has grown in importance throughout the present century.

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This article explores the newly founded European Research Council's (ERC) peer review system and its ability to sustain its mission to promote excellent, groundbreaking research. The article explores the extent to which the selection of groundbreaking research is constrained by inherent limitations in peer review by analysing the informal practices of ERC peer reviewers. This article notes that controversy and uncertainty are central characteristics of potentially groundbreaking research proposals. The selection of truly innovative research is constrained by the boundaries on current knowledge, against which the value of proposed research is judged; these boundaries affect the extent to which peer review panellists feel they can take risks in their judgments and the rules of interpretation and deliberation they adopt. The role of customary interpretative rules is to limit the risks involved in decision making. Predicting the outcomes of peer review in controversial situations is difficult, however, as contingent factors play an important role.

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Bibliometrics has been increasingly applied to research evaluation in recent years. This article reviews studies which supply data to assess the validity and accuracy of citation indicators as a measure of performance. To illustrate the points raised, the article also examines results obtained by case studies on Nordic cancer and cardiovascular research. It concludes that citations measure recognition of a piece of work by the international scientific community, but are also influenced by publication structures, citation conventions and social relations in the scientific community. Citation analysis complements peer review by supplying evidence to assess its accuracy and reliability.