Abstract
This paper analyses the scientific cooperation between German and Chinese institutions in the field of the life sciences on the basis of co-publications published between 2007 and 2011 in Web of Science covered sources. After analyzing the global output of publications in the life sciences, and identifying China’s most important international partners on country level, this study focuses on a network and cluster analysis of German–Chinese co-publications on an institutional level. Cleaning and standardizing all German and Chinese addresses, a total of 531 German and 700 Chinese institutions were identified that co-published together in the period under analysis. Disaggregating the institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences made it possible to obtain more meaningful information on existing co-publication structures. Using VOSviewer the German–Chinese collaboration network in the life sciences is visualized and clusters of similar institutions identified. The seven most important clusters of German–Chinese co-publications partners are briefly described providing background information for funding agencies such as the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research or researchers in the life sciences, who wish to establish collaborations with German or Chinese institutions.
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Notes
A survey of Chinese publication data in Web of Science (SCI, SSCI, A&HCI, CPCI-S, document types: article, proceedings paper, review) in the period from 2000 to 2010 showed that the proportion of international co-publications in overall Chinese output decreased each year from 2000 (19.7 %) to 2009 (14.9 %), and only rose again to 18.8 % in 2010. As a comparison, in 2010 the proportion of international co-publications was 45.5 % in Germany and 28.7 % in the USA.
In keeping with the address abbreviations used within this analysis, PICB will be referred to as “CAS-SIBS-MPG Partner Inst Computat Biol Shanghai” in all tables and figures.
Press release from Mainz University, 30 September 2011. http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/48426.php. Accessed 10 October 2012.
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The research was conducted when Stefanie Haustein was still at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Central Library, 52425 Jülich (Germany).
Appendix
Appendix
Web of Science Categories identified as relevant to the life sciences
Agricultural Engineering; Agriculture, Dairy Animal Science; Agriculture, Multidisciplinary; Agronomy; Allergy; Anatomy & Morphology; Andrology; Anesthesiology; Anthropology; Behavioral Sciences; Biochemical Research Methods; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Biodiversity & Conservation; Biology; Biophysics; Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems; Cell Biology; Cell Tissue Engineering; Chemistry, Medicinal; Chemistry, Organic; Clinical Neurology; Critical Care Medicine; Dentistry & Oral Surgery Medicine; Dermatology; Developmental Biology; Ecology; Emergency Medicine; Endocrinology & Metabolism; Engineering, Biomedical; Engineering, Environmental; Entomology; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies; Ethics; Evolutionary Biology; Fisheries; Food Science & Technology; Forestry; Gastroenterology & Hepatology; Genetics & Heredity; Geriatrics & Gerontology; Gerontology; Health Care Sciences & Services; Health & Policy Services; Hematology; Horticulture; Immunology; Infectious Diseases; Integrative & Complementary Medicine; Limnology; Materials Science, Biomaterials; Medicine, General & Internal; Medicine, Research & Experimental; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; Microbiology; Mycology; Neuroimaging; Neurosciences; Nursing; Nutrition & Dietetics; Obstetrics & Gynecology; Oncology; Ophthalmology; Ornithology; Orthopedics; Otorhinolaryngology; Parasitology; Pathology; Pediatrics; Peripheral Vascular Disease; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Physiology; Plant Sciences; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychology, Applied; Psychology, Biological; Psychology, Clinical; Psychology, Developmental; Psychology, Experimental; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging; Rehabilitation; Reproductive Biology; Respiratory System; Rheumatology; Social Sciences, Biomedical; Substance abuse; Surgery; Toxicology; Transplantation; Tropical Medicine; Urology & Nephrology; Veterinary Sciences; Virology; Zoology.
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Barth, M., Haustein, S. & Scheidt, B. The life sciences in German–Chinese cooperation: an institutional-level co-publication analysis. Scientometrics 98, 99–117 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1147-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1147-9