IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v96y2013i3d10.1007_s11192-013-0963-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International collaboration in scientific publishing: the case of West Africa (2001–2010)

Author

Listed:
  • Eustache Mêgnigbêto

    (Bureau d’Etudes et de Recherches en Science de l’information (BERSI)
    University of Antwerp, Information and Library Sciences)

Abstract

Bibliographic data of publications indexed in Web of Science with at least one (co-)author affiliated to any of the 15 West African countries and published from 2001 to 2010 included are downloaded. Analyses focused one collaboration indicators especially intra regional collaboration, intra African collaboration and collaboration with the world. Results showed that the rate of papers with only one author is diminishing whereas the rate of papers with six and more authors is increasing. Nigeria is responsible for more than half the region’s total scientific output. The main African partner countries are South Africa (in the Southern Africa, Cameroon (in the Central Africa), Kenya and Tanzania (in the Eastern Africa). The main non African partner countries are France, USA and United Kingdom, which on their own contributed to over 63 % of the papers with a non West African address. Individual countries have higher international collaboration rate, except Nigeria. West African countries cooperated less with each other and less with African and developing countries than they did with developed ones. The study suggests national authorities to express in actions their commitment to allot at least 1 % of their GDP to science and technology funding. It also suggests regional integration institutions to encourage and fund research activities that involve several institutions from different West African countries in order to increase intra regional scientific cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Eustache Mêgnigbêto, 2013. "International collaboration in scientific publishing: the case of West Africa (2001–2010)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 96(3), pages 761-783, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:96:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-013-0963-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-013-0963-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-013-0963-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-013-0963-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abbasi, Alireza & Hossain, Liaquat & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2012. "Betweenness centrality as a driver of preferential attachment in the evolution of research collaboration networks," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 403-412.
    2. Jonathan Adams, 2012. "The rise of research networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 490(7420), pages 335-336, October.
    3. A. Maxime Dahoun, 1999. "Black Africa in the science citation index," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 46(1), pages 11-18, September.
    4. Dilruba Mahbuba & Ronald Rousseau, 2010. "Scientific research in the Indian subcontinent: selected trends and indicators 1973–2007 comparing Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with India, the local giant," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 403-420, August.
    5. Katz, J. Sylvan & Martin, Ben R., 1997. "What is research collaboration?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Haiyan Hou & Hildrun Kretschmer & Zeyuan Liu, 2008. "The structure of scientific collaboration networks in Scientometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(2), pages 189-202, May.
    7. Anastassios Pouris & Anthipi Pouris, 2009. "The state of science and technology in Africa (2000–2004): A scientometric assessment," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(2), pages 297-309, May.
    8. Anastassios Pouris, 2010. "A scientometric assessment of the Southern Africa Development Community: science in the tip of Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 85(1), pages 145-154, October.
    9. Hannes Toivanen & Branco Ponomariov, 2011. "African regional innovation systems: bibliometric analysis of research collaboration patterns 2005–2009," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 471-493, August.
    10. Nelius Boshoff, 2009. "Neo-colonialism and research collaboration in Central Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(2), pages 413-434, November.
    11. Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha & Jan Resenga Maluleka, 2011. "Knowledge production through collaborative research in sub-Saharan Africa: how much do countries contribute to each other’s knowledge output and citation impact?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(2), pages 315-336, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Muhammad Imran Qureshi & Saquib Yusaf Janjua & Khalid Zaman & Mohammad Saeed Lodhi & Yasir Bin Tariq, 2014. "Internationalization of higher education institutions: implementation of DMAIC cycle," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(3), pages 2295-2310, March.
    2. Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2022. "International research collaboration in Africa: a bibliometric and thematic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2747-2772, May.
    3. Yang Bai, 2018. "Has the Global South become a playground for Western scholars in information and communication technologies for development? Evidence from a three-journal analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2139-2153, September.
    4. Wang, Xuefeng & Huang, Meng & Wang, Hongyuan & Lei, Ming & Zhu, Donghua & Ren, Jie & Jabeen, Munazza, 2014. "International Collaboration Activity Index: Case study of dye-sensitized solar cells," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 854-862.
    5. Matthew Harsh & Ravtosh Bal & Alex Weryha & Justin Whatley & Charles C. Onu & Lisa M. Negro, 2021. "Mapping computer science research in Africa: using academic networking sites for assessing research activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 305-334, January.
    6. Pengfei Wang & Nguepi Tsafack Elvis & Hua Cheng, 2024. "Structural Characteristics and Evolution of the Dual Network of Patent Technology Collaboration and Innovation in China–Japan–ROK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Jiang Li & Yueting Li, 2015. "Patterns and evolution of coauthorship in China’s humanities and social sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(3), pages 1997-2010, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nelson Casimiro Zavale & Patrício Vitorino Langa, 2018. "University-industry linkages’ literature on Sub-Saharan Africa: systematic literature review and bibliometric account," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(1), pages 1-49, July.
    2. Frederick Owusu-Nimo & Nelius Boshoff, 2017. "Research collaboration in Ghana: patterns, motives and roles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1099-1121, March.
    3. Matthew Harsh & Ravtosh Bal & Alex Weryha & Justin Whatley & Charles C. Onu & Lisa M. Negro, 2021. "Mapping computer science research in Africa: using academic networking sites for assessing research activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 305-334, January.
    4. Eustache Mêgnigbêto, 2013. "Scientific publishing in West Africa: comparing Benin with Ghana and Senegal," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(3), pages 1113-1139, June.
    5. Lili Wang & Xianwen Wang & Niels J. Philipsen, 2017. "Network structure of scientific collaborations between China and the EU member states," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 765-781, November.
    6. Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2022. "International research collaboration in Africa: a bibliometric and thematic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2747-2772, May.
    7. Elizabeth S. Vieira & Jorge Cerdeira, 2022. "The integration of African countries in international research networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(4), pages 1995-2021, April.
    8. Hannes Toivanen & Branco Ponomariov, 2011. "African regional innovation systems: bibliometric analysis of research collaboration patterns 2005–2009," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 471-493, August.
    9. Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha, 2020. "Towards a Knowledge Specialisation Index for Sub-Saharan Africa: an Informetrics Study," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 373-389, March.
    10. Toluwase Asubiaro, 2019. "How collaboration type, publication place, funding and author’s role affect citations received by publications from Africa: A bibliometric study of LIS research from 1996 to 2015," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1261-1287, September.
    11. Li, Feng & Miao, Yajun & Yang, Chenchen, 2015. "How do alumni faculty behave in research collaboration? An analysis of Chang Jiang Scholars in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 438-450.
    12. Sameer Kumar & Jariah Mohd. Jan, 2014. "Research collaboration networks of two OIC nations: comparative study between Turkey and Malaysia in the field of ‘Energy Fuels’, 2009–2011," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 387-414, January.
    13. Dosso, Mafini & Cassi, Lorenzo & Mescheba, Wilfriedo, 2023. "Towards regional scientific integration in Africa? Evidence from co-publications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    14. Radhamany Sooryamoorthy, 2018. "The production of science in Africa: an analysis of publications in the science disciplines, 2000–2015," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 317-349, April.
    15. Marian-Gabriel Hâncean & Matjaž Perc & Jürgen Lerner, 2021. "The coauthorship networks of the most productive European researchers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 201-224, January.
    16. Ponomariov, Branco & Toivanen, Hannes, 2014. "Knowledge flows and bases in emerging economy innovation systems: Brazilian research 2005–2009," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 588-596.
    17. Radhamany Sooryamoorthy, 2010. "Medical research in South Africa: a scientometric analysis of trends, patterns, productivity and partnership," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(3), pages 863-885, September.
    18. Jyoti Dua & Vivek Kumar Singh & Hiran H. Lathabai, 2023. "Measuring and characterizing international collaboration patterns in Indian scientific research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(9), pages 5081-5116, September.
    19. Nelius Boshoff, 2010. "South–South research collaboration of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 481-503, August.
    20. Sergi Lozano & Xosé-Pedro Rodríguez & Alex Arenas, 2014. "Atapuerca: evolution of scientific collaboration in an emergent large-scale research infrastructure," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1505-1520, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:96:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-013-0963-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.