Distribution of Co-Author Pairs’ Frequencies of the Journal of Information Technology

Abstract

Lotka’s Law originally calculated only the frequencies of single or first authors. However, given the growth and popularity of scientific collaboration, the distribution of co-author pairs’ frequencies should also be considered. Based on the previous researchers’ results, this article will demonstrate that the distribution of co-author pairs’ frequencies can be reflected by a social gestalt and that there are different shapes of this social gestalt. Results for the distribution of co-author pairs in journals are shown for the co-authorship data of the Journal of Information Technology (1994–2007).