Sino-Canadian Collaborations in Stem Cell Research: A Scientometric Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundInternational collaboration (IC) is essential for the advance of stem cell research, a field characterized by marked asymmetries in knowledge and capacity between nations. China is emerging as a global leader in the stem cell field. However, knowledge on the extent and characteristics of IC in stem cell science, particularly China’s collaboration with developed economies, is lacking.Methods and FindingsWe provide a scientometric analysis of the China–Canada collaboration in stem cell research, placing this in the context of other leading producers in the field. We analyze stem cell research published from 2006 to 2010 from the Scopus database, using co-authored papers as a proxy for collaboration. We examine IC levels, collaboration preferences, scientific impact, the collaborating institutions in China and Canada, areas of mutual interest, and funding sources. Our analysis shows rapid global expansion of the field with 48% increase in papers from 2006 to 2010. China now ranks second globally after the United States. China has the lowest IC rate of countries examined, while Canada has one of the highest. China–Canada collaboration is rising steadily, more than doubling during 2006–2010. China–Canada collaboration enhances impact compared to papers authored solely by China-based researchers This difference remained significant even when comparing only papers published in English.ConclusionsWhile China is increasingly courted in IC by developed countries as a partner in stem cell research, it is clear that it has reached its status in the field largely through domestic publications. Nevertheless, IC enhances the impact of stem cell research in China, and in the field in general. This study establishes an objective baseline for comparison with future studies, setting the stage for in-depth exploration of the dynamics and genesis of IC in stem cell research.

Social Network Analysis of 50 Years of International Collaboration in the Research of Educational Technology

“…The following indicators were used to measure the possible relationships. Salton’s measure of research collaboration strength between two countries (Ali-Khan, Ray, McMahon, & Thorsteinsdóttir, 2013; Glänzel, Janssens, & Thisjs, 2009): where N i is the total number of contributions of country i, N j is the total number of contributions of country j, and N ij is the total number of joint contributions by country i and country j. N i + N j : sum of total contributions by country i and total contributions by country j. 2012 Import and export volume of all commodities between country i and country j (Im/Export): We based our computation on the data from United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (2013). Distance: theoretical great-circle distance between two capitals of country i and country j. NetUser: mean of the Internet users per 100 people in country i and country j in 2011 (The World Bank, 2012).…”

Indo-Korean Co-Publications: An Analysis Using Asymmetric (α) Index

“…In particular, in order to have an intuitively clearer representation with a mathematical meaning (see, Eqs. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]), the authors proposed to use the graphical metric based on the 'square surface areas' which represents subsurface structural boundary for the documents published by 'A' or 'B' systems, and the co-publication produced together.…”

“…In particular, it is well known that the number of co-publications is typically employed as an indicator of collaboration in a wide range of subjects at every level. It is quite clear that many studies have appeared in the academic literature with their attention focused on the national trend of co-publication productivity on the most varied subjects [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . Ali-Khan et al [8] provided a scientometric analysis of the China-Canada collaboration in stem cell research publications indexed in Scopus database and examined collaboration levels, collaboration preferences, scientific impact, the collaborating institutions in China and Canada, areas of mutual interest, and funding sources and found that China-Canada collaboration is rising steadily; enhanced the impact of collaborated publications as compared to papers authored solely.…”

“…It is quite clear that many studies have appeared in the academic literature with their attention focused on the national trend of co-publication productivity on the most varied subjects [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . Ali-Khan et al [8] provided a scientometric analysis of the China-Canada collaboration in stem cell research publications indexed in Scopus database and examined collaboration levels, collaboration preferences, scientific impact, the collaborating institutions in China and Canada, areas of mutual interest, and funding sources and found that China-Canada collaboration is rising steadily; enhanced the impact of collaborated publications as compared to papers authored solely. Egghe and Leydesdorff [15] revealed the relation between Pearson's correlation coefficient and Salton's cosine measure based on the different possible values of the division of the -norm and the -norm of a vector; where they analysed author co-citations among 24 informetricians and constructed two matrices: the asymmetric occurrence matrix and the symmetric co-citation matrix; and got a threshold value for the cosine of which none of the corresponding Pearson correlations would be negative.…”

Emerging Structure of Stem Cell Research in India: An Analysis of Publication Output, 1990-2014

“…[17] This field is characterized by its highly collaborative nature and number of scientific disciplines interrelated by stem cell research lends it an exciting yet complicated character. [9,18,13] There are few studies on the intellectual structure of stem cell research in developing countries. [19] and the only scientometric analysis of stem cell research in India has been conducted by Karpagam et al [20] This study explores the trends in Stem Cell research in India during 1990-2014 using Scopus database.…”