Comment on Kronegger, Ferligoj and Doreian

Abstract

The paper by Kronegger et al. (2011) DOI 10.1007/s11135-011-9484-3 makes an important contribution to help us understand the dynamics of scientific collaboration in an area of Europe that has in recent history gone through a period of significant change. The existence of a rich dataset which on the face of it seems comprehensive and complete together with detailed attribute data provided the authors with a rich source of information which they have exploited using network analytic techniques. The work is clearly laid out and very well constructed. The six hypotheses they present are clear and precise and they set out about examining these with consummate skill using tools and techniques developed by the authors. The fact this data extends over a long time period means the dynamical aspects of the changes can be readily seen. Of course it would have been good to have some comparisons from countries that had not been through such radical changes. Independence in 1991 and the move towards European integration in 2004 exactly coincides with the expansion of the internet and the use of electronic communication. It is not clear whether it is the developments in technology or the political changes that account for the increase in collaboration, although clearly a combination of both is the most likely explanation. Data from a country that had more stability over this period would have helped put this in context, but such data may simply not be available. One of the hypotheses has a very strong causal statement, namely H4, which states that increase in collaboration is mainly because of the pressure towards internationalization. This causal aspect, whilst it may have been felt by some of the authors, is not actually directly addressed in the paper and so I do not think that conclusion can be drawn explicitly. The article makes a number of comparisons between the disciplines but I think more consideration should have been given to the nature of the articles within certain disciplines. For example, there is a very different culture within physics between the theoretical physicists whose work is closer to mathematics and the experimental physicists who typically work on large collaborative experiments, resulting in papers with a large number of co-authors. Equally a mathematician in pure mathematics would typically write a sole authored paper