Association between co-authorship network and scientific productivity and impact indicators in academic medical research centers: A case study in Iran

Reza Yousefi-Nooraie¹^,2 , Marjan Akbari-Kamrani² , Robert A Hanneman³ and Arash Etemadi⁴

¹Center for Academic and Health Policy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

²Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

³Department of Sociology, University of California, Riverside, USA

⁴Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

author email corresponding author email

Health Research Policy and Systems 2008, 6:9doi:10.1186/1478-4505-6-9


Published:	16 September 2008

Abstract

Background

We aimed to examine the co-authorship networks in three successful Iranian academic research centers, in order to find the association between the scientific productivity and impact indicators with network features in a case study.

Methods

We searched for English articles of the three research centers. We drew co-authorship maps of each center and calculated social network measures.

Results

The collaboration networks in centers shared many structural features, including a "star-like" pattern of relations. Centers with more successful scientific profile showed denser and more cooperative networks. Key figures in each center were interviewed for their understandings of the reasons for the emergence of these patterns.

Conclusion

Star shape network structure and dependency on a single big member is a common feature observed in our case study. Scientific output measures correlate with the network structure of research centers. Network analysis seems a useful method to explore the subtle scientific contexts in research organizations.