Bridging borders or widening gaps? The dynamics of European scientific collaboration networks

Ferligoj, Anuška (author), Batagelj, Vladimir (author), Cugmas, Marjan (author), Mali, Franc (author)

The study explores a dynamic co-authorship network among European countries between 1990 and 2023 that arose from an interplay of geographical, linguistic, and historical factors which influenced the scientific collaboration. In the analysis, bibliometric data from OpenAlex are used in Indirect Blockmodeling (IB) and Dynamic Stochastic Blockmodeling (DSBM) to examine patterns in three critical periods: rise of the Internet (1994–2003), enlargement of the EU (2004–2013), and the European Research Area (ERA) initiatives (2014–2023). The findings reveal exponential growth in the number of co-authored publications, an overall increase in intra-cluster collaboration, notably in the Balkan, Scandinavian, and Western clusters, coupled with persistent regional disparities. Despite EU policy interventions, collaborations between Western and non-Western regions remain limited. The study shows the need for targeted measures to ensure scientific networks across Europe are more inclusive and balanced.

• Language: English
• Keywords: temporal co-authorship network, European countries, EU research policy, stohastic blockmodeling, blockmodeling, OpenAlex
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 7005-7030
• Numbering: Vol. 130, iss. 12
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177245
• UDC: 001.891
• ISSN on article: 1588-2861
• DOI: 10.1007/s11192-025-05499-5
• COBISS.SI-ID: 260663299
• Publication date in RUL: 18.12.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scientometrics
• Shortened title: Scientometrics
• Publisher: Springer Nature, Akadémiai Kiadó Zrt
• ISSN: 1588-2861
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512525593

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: časovna mreža soavtorstva, evropske države, raziskovalna politika EU, stohastično bločno modeliranje, OpenAIex, bločno modeliranje, stohastična analiza