Internationale Forschungskollaborationen

The rise of international research collaborations indicates the evolution of increasingly complex global issues and thus affects academia in its entirety. Our literature review aims to identify disciplinary, topical, regional, and communicative patterns in the context of international collaborative research. From a social science perspective, this paper illustrates the core discourse on international collaborative research based on articles in key journals in the fields of science studies and higher education research. Additionally, a broader systematic quantitative and qualitative analysis is carried out for an expanded, cross-disciplinary dataset of scholarly publications listed in Scopus for the period 2009 to 2016.
Starting in the 2000s, many quantitative, predominantly bibliometric studies survey and map international research collaborations. Only few contributions systematically consider the evolution, formation and effects of international collaborations. Especially in the natural and life sciences the need for more international collaborations is firmly stated increasingly. Against this background we ask: What are the specific claims related to cross-border collaborations precisely? What can be learned from hands-on insights out of international research networks? Such thorough analyses seem to remain a desideratum in the fields of science studies and higher education research.
Our exploratory study reveals the lack of knowledgeable insights to identify the pertinent characteristics of international collaborative research. Further in-depth analyses are crucial. Thus, to gain a more detailed general understanding of the specific research modes and in order to provide information for science and funding policy decisions.

Download INCHER Working Paper 14