Atlas of Science Collaboration, 1971-2020

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive visualization and analysis of global scientific collaboration patterns across 15 natural science disciplines from 1971 to 2020, highlighting national and international trends using open data.

Contribution

It offers an extensive, data-driven atlas of scientific collaborations over five decades, visualized through maps and diagrams, based on open data from OpenAlex.

Findings

Identification of key collaboration trends over time

Visualization of national and international collaboration patterns

Insights into the evolution of scientific partnerships

Abstract

The evolving landscape of interinstitutional collaborative research across 15 natural science disciplines is explored using the open data sourced from OpenAlex. This extensive exploration spans the years from 1971 to 2020, facilitating a thorough investigation of leading scientific output producers and their collaborative relationships based on coauthorships. The findings are visually presented on world maps and other diagrams, offering a clear and insightful portrayal of notable variations in both national and international collaboration patterns across various fields and time periods. These visual representations serve as valuable resources for science policymakers, diplomats and institutional researchers, providing them with a comprehensive overview of global collaboration and aiding their intuitive grasp of the evolving nature of these partnerships over time.