The evaluation of research performance increasingly relies on quantitative indicators determined by national science policies. We focus on two dimensions of research performance - productivity and excellence - as defined in the evaluation methodology of the Slovenian Research Agency. Our analysis focuses on the effects of two science policy factors - co-authorship collaboration and researcher funding - on the productivity and excellence of Slovenian researchers at the level of research disciplines. A multilevel analysis using a hierarchical linear model with regression analysis was applied to the data with several nested levels. As many variables have a semi-continuous distribution, a statistical model was used to address them. The results show a very strong positive effect of international co-authorship collaboration on productivity and excellence, while fragmentation of funding shows a negative impact only on excellence. We also include interviews with excellent Slovenian researchers regarding their views on scientific excellence and quantitative indicators.
COBISS.SI-ID: 34302813
Scientific collaboration (SC) has become a widespread feature of modern research work. While many social network studies address various aspects of SC, little attention has so far been given to the specific factors that motivate researchers to engage in SC at the individual level. In our article, we focus on the types and practices of SC that researchers in Slovenia engage in. We consider this topic by adopting a quantitative and qualitative methodological approach. The former was conducted through a web survey among active researchers, and the latter through in-depth interviews with a selected group of top researchers, i.e. intellectual leaders. Results show the extent of individual SC depends on the perceptions of researchers of the benefits of SC. Qualitative interviews additionally provide broader reflections on certain policy mechanisms that could better motivate Slovenian scientists to scientifically collaborate in the international arena.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35977565
Although research collaboration has been studied extensively, we still lack understanding regarding the factors stimulating researchers to collaborate with different kinds of research partners including members of the same research center or group, researchers from the same organization, researchers from other academic and non-academic organizations as well as international partners. Here, we provide an explanation of the emergence of diverse collaborative ties. The theoretical framework used for understanding research collaboration couples scientific and technical human capital embodied in the individual with the social organization and cognitive characteristics of the research field. We analyze survey data collected from Slovenian scientists in four scientific disciplines: mathematics; physics; biotechnology; and sociology. The results show that while individual characteristics and resources are among the strongest predictors of collaboration, very different mechanisms underlie collaboration with different kinds of partners. International collaboration is particularly important for the researchers in small national science systems. Collaboration with colleagues from various domestic organizations presents a vehicle for resource mobilization. Within organizations collaboration reflects the elaborated division of labor in the laboratories and high level of competition between different research groups. These results hold practical implications for policymakers.
COBISS.SI-ID: 34829149
Kronegger et al. (2011) studied the co-authorship networks of four scientific disciplines in Slovenia and identified the most typical collaboration structure with three basic positions: multi-core, semi-periphery and periphery. Cugmas et al. (2015) confirmed the assumed structure in all Slovenian scientific disciplines and addressed the question of the stability of the cores obtained. The presentation addresses the measurement of the stability of the cores obtained assuming different operationalisations of the stability of cores. Several modified Rand and Wallace indices are presented and compared based on empirical coauthorship networks of selected Slovenian scientific disciplines in two time periods.
COBISS.SI-ID: 34098525
Rand (1971) proposed what has since become a well-known index for comparing two partitions obtained on the same set of units. The index takes a value on the interval between 0 and 1, where a higher value indicates more similar partitions. Sometimes, e.g. when the units are observed in two time periods, the splitting and merging of clusters should be considered differently, according to the operationalization of the stability of clusters. The Rand Index is symmetric in the sense that both the splitting and merging of clusters lower the value of the index. In such a nonsymmetric case, one of the Wallace indexes (Wallace, 1983) can be used. Further, there are several cases when one wants to compare two partitions obtained on different sets of units, where the intersection of these sets of units is a non-empty set of units. In this instance, the new units and units which leave the clusters from the first partition can be considered as a factor lowering the value of the index. Therefore, a modified Rand index is presented. Because the splitting and merging of clusters have to be considered differently in some situations, an asymmetric modified Wallace Index is also proposed. For all presented indices, the correction for chance is described, which allows different values of a selected index to be compared.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35596637