Andrea Magda Nagy
University of Pannonia, Hungary
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/EMAN.2018.1012
2nd International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2018 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Ljubljana – Slovenia, March 22, 2018, CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; Faculty of Management Koper, Slovenia; Doba Business School – Maribor, Slovenia; Integrated Business Faculty – Skopje, Macedonia; Faculty of Management – Zajecar, Serbia, ISBN 978-86-80194-11-0
Abstract
The competitiveness of higher education institutions depends greatly on the ability to integrate in the international higher education and scientific community. Building international collaborations with other countries’ institutions has become priority for most universities, colleges. One aspect of these collaborations is the scientific cooperation with scientists from other countries’ institutions. One way to measure these links is by using the affiliation of co-authored publications (see for example Glänzel, Schubert and Czerwon, 1999).
This study focuses on the co-authored publications of Hungarian, Romanian and Slovenian top universities. The affiliations of co-authored publications are used as proxies for international scientific collaborations. Data is retrieved from the Web of Science database. Higher education institutions are chosen using the QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia University Rankings (2018).
A higher number of publication cooperation can indicate a deeper involvement of the university in the international scientific community. This can have positive effects on the scientific profile of the institution, but can also help attract talented students both from within the country and abroad. All these can greatly improve the competitiveness of the university. International collaborations measured through publications, although showing a growing trend is still lagging behind the number of links of higher education institutions of Western Europe or the United States of America. Using publication data, the most important scientific partners of the analysed institutions are shown. Higher education institutions of Hungary, Romania and Slovenia tend to collaborate more with institutions from Western Europe or the United States of America rather than building scientific relations with institutions from neighbour countries.
A higher number of publication links can indicate a deeper integration in the international scientific community. This can help institutions of analysed countries to increase their international visibility and competitiveness. Decision makers should support the formation of international scientific cooperations, as these collaborations can not only improve the institutions’ economic and scientific performance, but can also enhance the education system of a country.
Key words
higher education institutions, international collaborations, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania