“Distant relatives” or “Close neighbors”: social capital in the international research cooperation network of academic talents: taking China as an example

• In Event: Global Knowledge Networks: Exploring Social Capital and Knowledge Dynamics Across Borders

Proposal

Research Background
In the era of global science, cross-national, cross-regional, and cross-institutional scientific research cooperation is becoming increasingly common, with collaborative research through international co-authored papers as the prevailing paradigm (Wagner et al.,2015), especially in the science and engineering disciplines. International research cooperation networks offer advantages such as fostering scientific elites, enhancing research capabilities, and contributing to the rapid development of countries or regions. The center of gravity of growth in science and technology has moved away from the US and Japan, passing the European Union towards China (Zhou and Glänzel, 2010). As of 2022, China ranked second globally in terms of the total number of published international co-authored papers, with Chinese scholars responsible for 68.3% of these papers (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, 2022). This data demonstrates the substantial contribution made by Chinese scholars to the international academic community. Academicians, as prominent representatives and pillars of China's scientific talent pool, possess a strong demonstration effect and a well-defined academic career development pathway. Hence, examining academicians' international research cooperation networks is of great significance for young scholars’ growth and the scientific development of institutions, regions, and countries.

Theoretical or conceptual framework
Based on the partner selection mechanism in social network theory, combined with the Strong and weak relation theory and the perspective of relational sociology, the research at the micro level of international research cooperation networks mainly focuses on how individual factors and organizational factors affect the formation of relationships (Borgatti, Ofem, 2010). Research collaboration networks provide an important category of analysis that reflects not only scholars’ academic interactions but also their interpersonal relationships (Wang, 2016). Among relationship studies, social capital theory, grounded in the resource theory perspective, highlights how a network of relationships offers valuable resources to its members, including connections and interactions (Jie et al.,2021). Scholars who publish co-authored articles create personal co-authorship networks that, when interconnected based on co-authors, form larger networks comprising individual co-authors (Ding, 2011). Social interactions within this network enable members to share valuable resources, in the form of information, understanding, and knowledge, collectively termed social capital. This study draws from Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) definition of social capital, which encompasses actual and potential resources embedded in the relational networks, and divides it into structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions, which provides a framework for examining scholars’ research collaboration networks.

Research Questions
This study aims to explore the social capital present within academicians' international research cooperation networks, guided by two research questions: First, what are the characteristics of academicians' international research cooperation networks? Second, how does social capital in the network change at different career stages?

Research Methods
19 academicians from Chinese universities were chosen as research samples. A mixed research method of sequential interpretation is adopted, including CV analysis, bibliometrics, social network analysis (SNA), and interviews.
Firstly, academic resumes were collected, including study experience, work experience, etc., serving as data for academic mobility experience in cognitive capital. Secondly, scientific papers of academicians were collected through the Web of Science, which were encoded to present publication qualifications, willingness and quality of international scientific cooperation in the cognitive dimension, proportion of international scholars in the core cooperation network in the relational dimension. Furthermore, the structural dimensions provided data on centrality measures and structural holes by SNA. Finally, Select typical cases for one-on-one semi-structured interviews.

Conclusions
First, the international research cooperation networks of academicians have a strong personal character. The network of academicians is very diverse, which is related to identity, discipline, the experience of transnational mobility, and institutional mobility. According to the proportion of willingness to cooperate in international research, these 19 academicians can be divided into four types: "international", "local", "near-international" and "near-local", and the social capital ownership status of different types of academicians is different.
Second, there are subtle differences between different types of academicians in the three types of social capital. In terms of structural capital, academicians demonstrated strong network activity, high communication efficiency, and significant influence, playing a crucial intermediary role in the network structure. The distribution of international scholars within the core collaborative network was uneven, the long-term close interaction among mentor, alumni, and colleague relationships promotes the accumulation and exertion of relational capital. Differences in cognitive capital are inextricably linked to their transnational mobility experiences, which have an important impact on the maintenance of old social capital and the expansion of new social capital.

Reference
Borgatti, S. P., & Ofem, B. (2010). Social network theory and analysis. Social Network Theory and Educational Change, 17, 29.
Ding, Y. (2011). Scientific collaboration and endorsement: Network analysis of coauthorship and citation networks. Journal of informetrics, 5(1), 187-203.
Institute of Scientific and technical information of China. 2022. Statistical report of scientific and technological papers in China. https://stm.castscs.org.cn/u/cms/www/202212/29180350w9yt.pdf.
Jie, F., Chen, X., Dou, T. (2021). Publication collaboration and research impact: evidence from universities in China. Studies in Science of Science, 39(05):777-785. (in Chinese)
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of management review, 23(2), 242-266.
Wagner, C. S., Park, H. W., & Leydesdorff, L. (2015). The continuing growth of global cooperation networks in research: A conundrum for national governments. PloS one, 10(7), e0131816.
Wang, D. (2016). Structural Networks and Intermediary Behavior in Scientific Collaboration. Scientific and technical literature publishing, 11. (in Chinese)
Zhou, P., & Glänzel, W. (2010). In-depth analysis on China’s international cooperation in science. Scientometrics, 82(3), 597-612.

Author

• XIN ZHAO, Shanghai Jiao Tong University