As scientific collaboration is a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly important, studies on scientific collaboration are numerous. Despite the proliferation of studies on various dimensions of collaboration, there is still a dearth of analyses on the effects, motives and modes of collaboration in the context of developing countries. Adopting Wallerstein's world-system theory, this paper makes use of bibliometric data in an attempt to understand the pattern of collaboration that emerges between South Africa and Germany. The key argument is that we can expect the collaborative relationship between South Africa and Germany to be one that is shaped by a centre-periphery pattern. The analyses show that a theory of scientific collaboration building on the notion of marginality and centre-periphery can explain many facets of South African-German collaboration, where South Africa is a semi-peripheral region, a centre for the periphery, and a periphery for the centre.
Using bibliographic records from the Science Citation Index, the paper examines the publication of South African scientists. The analysis shows that collaboration research in South Africa has been growing steadily and the scientists are highly oriented towards collaborative rather than individualistic research. International collaboration is preferred to domestic collaboration while publication seems to be a decisive factor in collaboration. The paper also looks at the collaboration dimensions of partnering countries, sectors and disciplines, and examines how collaboration can be predicted by certain publication variables. Characteristic features are evident in both the degree and nature of collaboration which can be predicted by the number of countries involved, number of partners and the fractional count of papers.
We examine the ways in which the research process differs in developed and developing areas by focusing on two questions. First, is collaboration associated with productivity? Second, is access to the Internet (specifically use of email) associated with reduced problems of collaboration? Recent analyses by Lee & Bozeman (2005) and Walsh & Maloney (2003) suggest affirmative answers to these questions for US scientists. Based on a comparative analysis of scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and the State of Kerala in south-western India ( N 918), we find that: (1) collaboration is not associated with any general increment in productivity; and (2) while access to email does attenuate research problems, such difficulties are structured more by national and regional context than by the collaborative process itself. The interpretation of these results suggests a paradox that raises issues for future studies: those conditions that unsettle the relationship between collaboration and productivity in developing areas may undermine the collaborative benefits of new information and communication technologies.
International collaboration among scientists has been passionately advocated by many in the developing world. Among the several conditions that support collaboration among members of a dispersed scientific community, Internet technology is crucial. We examine the relationships among electronic communication, collaboration, and productivity in South Africa, a country that has undergone remarkable change in the sphere of science and technology. We surveyed 275 scientists in selected research institutes and universities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal to address the questions: Is greater use of the Internet associated with international collaboration? Are collaboration and Internet use associated with publication in national and foreign journals? The results show that: (1) Internet use, as measured by time spent on email, is positively associated with collaboration; (2) collaboration is not generally related to publication productivity; and (3) there is little evidence that South African academics benefit from international collaboration. While scientists who use email intensively are slightly more productive, this is not the case for foreign productivity in the case of academic scientists.
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