Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities. In this study, we examine whether the activeness of research collaboration between university–government–industry can also enact as a way to measure the research performance aside from the typical indicators such as number of published articles or citations resulted from universities. Also this study focuses to analyze whether such performance differs according to universities’ characteristics and disciplines. For the analysis of the study, we gathered publication and citation data (2000–2009) of 46 Korean universities that are actively involved in research and analyzed their science citation index-expanded and the social sciences citation index (SSCI) data. Notable findings include (1) Several low ranked universities have shown rapid improvement with their research performance despite the rigid hierarchical characteristic of Korean higher education system, (2) Although universities in Korea are involved in various kinds of collaboration methods, it was evident that such dynamic is not necessarily reflected in existing hierarchy structure, (3) Academic relations with education oriented universities and research oriented universities have different dynamics and patterns in research collaboration, (4) In terms of the collaborative publication rate, private universities collaborate more actively amongst university sector whereas public universities collaborate more with government and industry. (5) Due to the nature of the social science subject itself, it was found that the research in SSCI is inevitably more based on the researcher’s independence, hence more international collaboration was found amongst researchers in natural science and engineering subjects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi, A., Altmann, J., & Hwang, J. (2010). Evaluating scholars based on their academic collaboration activities: Two indices, the RC-index and the CC-index, for quantifying collaboration activities of researchers and scientific communities. Scientometrics, 83(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abramo, G., D’angelo, C. A., & Solazzi, M. (2011). The relationship between scientists’ research performance and the degree of internationalization of their research. Scienctometrics, 86(3), 629–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (2009). Peripheries and centers: Research universities in developing countries. Asia Pacific Education Review, 10(1), 15–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordons, M., Gomez, I., Fernandez, M. T., Zulueta, M. A., & Mendez, A. (1996). Local, domestic and international scientific collaboration in biomedical research. Scientometrics, 37(2), 279–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi, S. (2012). Core-periphery, new clusters, or rising stars? International scientific collaboration among ‘advanced’ countries in the era of globalization. Scientometrics, 90(1), 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, W., & Shin, J. C. (2013). Teaching and research in contemporary higher education: An overview. In Shin, J., Arimoto, A., Cummings, W. K., & Teichler, U. (Eds.). (forthcoming). Teaching and research in contemporary higher education: Systems, activities, nexus, and rewards.

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (1997). Universities and the global knowledge economy: A triple helix of university-industry-government relations. London: Francis Pinter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (2000). The dynamics of innovation: From national systems and “Mode 2” to a triple helix of university-industry-government relations. Research Policy, 29(2), 109–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., Webster, A., Gebhardt, C., & Terra, B. (2000). The future of the university and the university of the future: Evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm. Research Policy, 29, 313–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenken, K., Ponds, R., & van Oort, F. (2010). The citation impact of research collaboration in science-based industries: A spatial-institutional analysis. Papers in Regional Science, 89(2), 351–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gazni, A., & Didegah, F. (2011). Investigating different types of research collaboration and citation impact: A case study of Harvard University’s publications. Scientometrics, 87(2), 251–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glanzel, W., & de Lange, C. (2002). A distributional approach to multinationality measures of international scientific collaboration. Scientometrics, 54(1), 75–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Y. (2008). Locating active actors in the scientific collaboration communities based on interaction topology analyses. Scientometrics, 74(3), 471–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S., & Hicks, D. (1997). How much is a collaboration worth? A calibrated bibliometric model. Scientometrics, 40(3), 541–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S., & Martin, B. R. (1997). What is research collaboration? Research Policy, 26(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, R. (2004). The university in the global age. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, K. S., Park, H. W., So, M., & Leydesdorff, L. (2012). Has globalization strengthened South Korea’s national research system? National and international dynamics of the triple helix of scientific co-authorship relationships in South Korea. Scientometrics, 90(1), 163–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landry, R., Traore, N., & Godin, B. (1996). An econometric analysis of the effect of collaboration on academic research productivity. Higher Education, 32(3), 283–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narin, F., Stevens, K., & Whitlow, E. S. (1991). Scientific cooperation in Europe and the citation of multinationally authored papers. Scientometrics, 21(3), 313–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, H. W., & Leydesdorff, L. (2010). Longitudinal trends in networks of university-industry-government relations in South Korea: The role of programmatic incentives. Research Policy, 39(5), 640–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, S. R., & Toutkoushian, R. K. (2006). Institutional research productivity and the connection to average student quality and overall reputation. Economics of Education Review, 25(6), 605–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saphiro, M. A. (2012). Receiving information at Korean and Taiwanese universities, industry, and GRIs. Scientometrics, 90(1), 289–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saxenian, A. L. (1994). Regional advantage: Culture and competition in Silicon Valley and route 128. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmoch, U., & Schubert, T. (2008). Are international co-publications an indicator for quality of scientific research? Scientometrics, 74(3), 361–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, J. C. (2009). Classifying higher education institutions in Korea: A performance-based approach. Higher Education, 57, 247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, J. C., & Cummings, W. (2010). Multilevel analysis of academic publishing across disciplines: Research preference, collaboration, and time on research. Scientometrics, 85, 581–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, J. C., Lee, S. J., & Kim, Y. (2012). Knowledge-based innovation and collaboration: A triple-helix approach in Saudi Arabia. Scientometrics, 90(1), 311–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shin, J. C., Toutkoushian, R. K., & Teichler, U. (2011). University rankings: Theoretical basis, methodology, and impacts on global higher education. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smeby, J. C., & Try, S. (2005). Departmental contexts and faculty research activity in Norway. Research in Higher Education, 46(6), 593–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song, C.-H. (2003). Interdisciplinarity and knowledge inflow/outflow structure among science and engineering research in Korea. Scientometrics, 58(1), 129–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes, T. D., & Hartley, J. A. (1989). Coauthorship, social structure and influence within specialities. Social Studies of Science, 19(1), 101–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tijssen, R. J. W., van Leeuwen, T. N., & van Wijk, E. (2009). Benchmarking university-industry research cooperation worldwide: Performance measurements and indicators based on co-authorship data for the world’s largest universities. Research Evaluation, 18(1), 13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Raan, A. F. J. (1998). The influence of international collaboration on the impact of research results-some simple mathematical considerations concerning the role of self-citations. Scientometrics, 42(3), 423–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2010-330-B00232).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Yangson Kim, Hee Jin Lim & Soo Jeung Lee

Authors
  1. Yangson Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hee Jin Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Soo Jeung Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Soo Jeung Lee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, Y., Lim, H.J. & Lee, S.J. Applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities. Scientometrics 99, 97–115 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1095-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1095-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation