An index to measure the international collaboration of developing countries based on the participation of national institutions: The case of Latin America

Abstract

International collaboration is an important ingredient of present-day scientific research. Latin America, for instance, is increasing its production of internationally coauthored publications and, the number of national institutions involved in this activity. An index developed to measure international collaboration by taking into account individual institutional participation resulted in a positive average increase in the production of developing countries (DCs) research. Nonetheless, the degree of institutional participation varies between field and with respect to the country in question. Giving weight to individual institutional participation, could motivate DCs scientists to enhance their role in the international science of the region. Likewise, this index could be developed as “quality indicator” of national institutional performance.