Bibliometric Analysis Asia-Pacific Research Area ... - JuSER

Central Library
Figures 116 and 117 show the international co-publications by the eleven countries. In 1998,
the countries analysed published with 140 countries throughout the world; ten years later, they
were involved in scientific cooperations with 169 countries. The network diagrams therefore
have 151 and 180 dots representing the countries, respectively. The strength of the connections
between the dots reflects how intense cooperation between the different countries actually is.
The more joint publications, the thicker the lines between the country dots. The general position
of the countries reflects their importance in the network: If a country dot is central, then this
country cooperates in networks with many other countries. The closer the dots are in the centre,
the more pronounced their connections with each other.
When 1998 and 2007 are compared, it becomes clear that the South-East Asian countries have
drawn closer together. This is reflected by the fact that networks within the research area have
increased. This trend also verifies the above-mentioned growth rates. The density of the
networks between these countries and those outside the area studied also increased between
1998 and 2007. This cannot be explained by the overall increase in publications as the number
of co-publications was relativised with respect to the output of each country. Moreover, another
trend also becomes visible: scientific publications are increasingly being published by a number
of authors – including those in different countries. Pronounced networks with countries outside
the research area analysed include those with the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, France
and the Netherlands.
The analysis of network diagrams clearly reveals that networks within the region analysed are
becoming more intense and that cooperations with countries outside this research area are
being dismantled.
141