Global health science leverages established collaboration network to fight COVID-19

TL;DR

This study analyzes how the global health science network responded to COVID-19, showing rapid expansion of coronavirus research within the existing global structure, highlighting both its stability and limitations for peripheral countries.

Contribution

It reveals the structural dynamics of the global health science network during COVID-19, emphasizing its stability and the implications for scientific inclusivity and learning.

Findings

Coronavirus research expanded rapidly within the global health network

The global health science system proved structurally stable during the pandemic

Peripheral countries face reduced learning opportunities due to core-periphery stability

Abstract

How has the science system reacted to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic? Here we compare the (growing) international network for coronavirus research with the broader international health science network. Our findings show that, before the outbreak, coronavirus research realized a relatively small and rather peculiar niche within the global health sciences. As a response to the pandemic, the international network for coronavirus research expanded rapidly along the hierarchical structure laid out by the global health science network. Thus, in face of the crisis, the global health science system proved to be structurally stable yet versatile in research. The observed versatility supports optimistic views on the role of science in meeting future challenges. However, the stability of the global core-periphery structure may be worrying, because it reduces learning opportunities and social capital of scientifically peripheral countries -- not only during this pandemic but also in its "normal" mode of operation.