The impact of transnational co-authorship on the scientific quality of academic researchers-Case Studies: Slovenia, Poland and Romania

Abstract The aim of this article is to contribute to the discussion about whether the scientific impact of an academic researcher (measured through bibliometrics indices as Hirsch score, citation scores or quantitative data about publications) can be accounted for by the presence of co-authors and the characteristics of the personal networks they are embedded in. With my study, I intend to demonstrate that there is statistical evidence between international co-authorship, measured through the number and the characteristics of international co-authors and the scientific impact of the researcher. Recent studies using bibliometrics and scientometrics approach shows that papers published with international co-authors may result in a higher citation rate than the ones written in a purely national manner (with national co-authors) (Glanzel & Schubert, 2001; Schmoch & Schubert, 2008). In the literature that addresses these issues, the main focus is put on international co-authorship, but my opinion is that the concept has undergone a series of methodological changes. I address these changes as a trend towards a transnational perspective. I explored the personal networks of university researchers, from three academic communities in the field of sociology. I analyzed the data using hierarchical regression models. This article is based on secondary data analysis starting from the data Hâncean used in 2016 (Hâncean & Perc, 2016). The data provided attribute and relational data for the focal nodes and their corresponding alters from Web of Science platform. Given the theoretical framework proposed by previous research (Adams, 2012; Hâncean & Perc, 2014; Glanzel & Schubert, 2004), I expected the scientific impact of an author to be positively influenced by the impact of the personal network he is embedded in. After running the analysis, the presence of transnational co-authors has a moderate impact on the citation distribution, especially for the Romania case. The biggest impact on the citation distribution, for all academic communities I included in the analysis, are the number of publications and the average number of co-authors’ citations. The description and the exploration of the data in all three communities of academic sociologists (Romania, Poland and Slovenia) will be used later in order to show new ways in which knowledge is transferred through the lens of a transnational perspective.