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Author collaboration and impact: A note on citation rates of single and multiple authored articles

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Abstract

The acceptance rate of articles which are collaboratively authored tends to be higher than that for single-authored papers, thereby suggesting a generally positive relationship between collaboration and quality. The analysis of ten-year citation rates of 270 randomly selected articles in three applied fields likewise shows a similar relationship, with somewhat higher citation frequencies for multi-authored papers than for single-authored ones. The relationships persist whether self-citations are included or excluded. However, these differences are not statistically significant for articles in clinical psychology or in educational measurement. Only multi-authored articles in management science show a statistically significant higher citation rate. Other aspects of the collaborative process and effects are discussed.

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Smart, J.C., Bayer, A.E. Author collaboration and impact: A note on citation rates of single and multiple authored articles. Scientometrics 10, 297–305 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02016776

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