Dubious cross-national affiliations obscure the assessment of international research collaboration

Assessing international research collaboration through cross-national papers is a common practice but may be compromised by dubious affiliations lacking clear evidence of substantial collaboration. In this study, we analyze cross-national papers indexed in SCIE, SSCI, and A&HCI databases, published between 2012 and 2021, and affiliated respectively with pairs of four nations: the US, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our findings reveal that at least 27 % of them exhibit dubious affiliations, with the proportion potentially rising above 60 % in SCIE papers between the United Kingdom and Australia. This underscores the need to address the potential impact of these papers. We also find that academic practice, cultural proximity, and geopolitical tension have affected the prevalence of different types of dubious affiliations across disciplinary categories and nation pairs. Moreover, papers with dubious affiliations are more prevalent in collaborations among Western nations compared to those involving China. A particular type of dubious affiliations, known as Solo Show, is especially pronounced between the US and China, highlighting the distinctive nature of their pattern of collaboration.