On the relation between the degree of internationalization of cited and citing publications: A field level analysis, including and excluding self-citations

TL;DR

This study examines how the internationalization level of Italian scientific publications influences citation patterns, revealing that international collaborations increase citation likelihood and cross-border citing behaviors.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the relationship between research internationalization and citation dynamics at the field level, including and excluding self-citations.

Findings

Internationalized research teams are more likely to be cited.

Domestic research cites mostly domestic publications.

International collaborations are cited more by foreign publications.

Abstract

The growing complexity of scientific challenges demands increasingly intense research collaboration, both domestic and international. The resulting trend affects not only the modes of producing new knowledge, but also the way it is disseminated within scientific communities. This paper analyses the relationship between the "degree of internationalization" of a country's scientific production and that of the relevant citing publications. The empirical analysis is based on 2010-2012 Italian publications. Findings show: i) the probability of being cited increases with the degree of internationalization of the research team; ii) totally domestic research teams tend to cite to a greater extent totally domestic publications; iii) vice versa, publications resulting from international collaborations tend to be more cited by totally foreign publications rather than by publications including domestic authors. These results emerge both at overall and at discipline level. Findings might inform research policies geared towards internationalization.