Scientific Collaboration Network Analysis: A Brazilian Computer Science Graduate Programs Case

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-469721/v1

Abstract

Scientific collaboration networks can present different views of researchers’ interaction. The analysis of these networks allows research transparency focusing on the understanding of how science evolves in different contexts. In this article, we present a scientific collaboration network analysis using social network metrics as average degree, connected components, betweenness and closeness centralities applied to five Brazilian Computer Science graduate programs. An online artifact built upon the design science research paradigm, namely SCI-synergy, was developed to ease the analysis involving publication data available on the Digital Bibliography & Library Project (DBLP) from the graduate program members allied to the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), the State University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), and the University of Brasília (UnB). The objective is to analyze the scientific collaboration network of each program focusing on the researchers’ collaboration to understand patterns considering intra- and inter-program relationships. The analysis covers two database updates of 2019 and 2021. Results show that intra-program relationships are not always bigger among the highest-ranked programs in CAPES. Nevertheless, UFMG presents a greater total of cooperation among the five programs indicating research leadership and good inter-program collaboration patterns. We advocate that the collaboration network analysis using an online artifact can be useful to understand patterns of all the Brazilian Computer Science graduate programs to discover new research perspectives to be improved, avoided or even applied to other contexts.

Full Text

This preprint is available for download as a PDF.