Abstract
This paper addresses the relationship between age and international research collaboration. The main research question is: do younger researchers collaborate more internationally than their senior colleagues? A common assumption is that younger generations are generally more internationally oriented than older generations. On the other hand, senior researchers may have larger international networks compared to younger colleagues. The study is based on data for 5,600 Norwegian researchers and their publication output during a three-year period (44,000 publications). Two indicators for international collaboration are used: The share of researchers involved in international collaboration measured by co-authorship and the average proportion of publications with international collaboration per researcher. These indicators reflect two different dimensions of international collaboration. Although the findings are not consistent across age cohorts and indicators of internationalization, the overall trend is that international collaboration tends to decline with increasing age. This holds both at aggregate levels and within groups of academic positions. However, the generational differences are not very large, and other variables such as the field of research explain more of the differences observed at an individual level.
Highlights
The extent of international research collaboration has increased significantly in recent decades [1, 2]
We find substantial differences across academic positions where beta coefficients tend to increase by academic rank
The main finding of this study is that there are age differences in international collaboration, with the youngest researchers being more international compared to older researchers, but Generational differences in international research collaboration that these differences are not consistent across fields
Summary
The extent of international research collaboration has increased significantly in recent decades [1, 2]. The majority of scientific publications are internationally coauthored. In Norway, this proportion has grown from approximately 20 per cent during the 1980s to more than 60 per cent in recent years (Web of Science indexed publications). New information and communication technologies, reduction in transportation costs and more funding being competitive (often relying on high degrees of specialization and/or requirements for international collaboration) have been suggested [3]. The inclination to engage in international collaboration may result from such factors. We study international research collaboration as such a practice.
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