Do types of collaboration change citation? A scientometric analysis of social science publications in South Africa

• Published in: Scientometrics Vol. 111; no. 1; pp. 379 - 400
• Main Author: Sooryamoorthy, Radhamany
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-04-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic publications; Citation analysis; Collaboration; Computer Science; Information Storage and Retrieval; Library Science; Scientometrics; Social sciences; South Africa; South Africa; Citation; Social sciences; Collaboration
• ISSN: 0138-9130; 1588-2861
• DOI: 10.1007/s11192-017-2265-6

Scientometric studies have, by and large, focused on the features of the hard sciences rather than the soft sciences. Prior research has been highly centered around natural science disciplines and not many studies have dealt with the social sciences. This applies to Africa as well. However, attempts to investigate the features and tendencies in the social sciences are gradually emerging. This is the first paper to explore the social sciences in South Africa, examining the interrelationships between the types of collaboration and the impact of research publications as measured in the count of citations. Extracting Web of Science data from its Social Science Citation Index (from 1956 to present) for sampled years between 1970 and 2015 (
n
 = 4991), the analysis explains citations in terms of the type of collaboration, international partners and subject areas. The highlights of this analysis are that the social sciences in South Africa have certain distinguishing characteristics that determine the production and impact on knowledge.