Revealing existing and potential partnerships: affinities and asymmetries in international collaboration and mobility

Abstract

This study provides a preliminary analysis of the international profiles in collaboration and mobility using the seven countries indicated in the US executive order of January 27, 2017. The objective of this research is to analyze the flow of knowledge between countries and the relative importance of specific countries in order to inform evidence-based science policy. The work serves as a proof-of-concept of the utility of asymmetry and affinity indexes for collaboration and mobility. Comparative analyses of these indicators can be useful for informing immigration policies and motivating collaboration and mobility initiatives. Our analysis reinforces many of the established understandings of collaboration and mobility relationships—emphasizing the importance of geographic and cultural similarities. The analysis also explores the varied lenses on the importance of particular countries, when viewed from egocentric and relational perspectives. Our analysis suggests that comparisons of collaboration and mobility from an affinity perspective can identify gaps for mobility initiatives, given established scientific relationships. This approach can inform international immigration policies, but can also serve to identify potential partnerships at other levels of analysis (e.g., institutional, sectoral, or by state/province).