Collaboration Coefficient of Researchers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in International Publications

   Introduction: Collaboration between researchers at domestic and international level is an extensive form of scientific collaboration emphasizing the importance and benefits of collaborative research. This study was aimed at investigating the rate of collaboration between researchers in Tehran University of Medical Sciences with their counterparts in other countries and institutions in the Web of Science publications.

  Methods: This was a survey using scientometrics indicators. The instrument of the study was the Web of Science in which the scientific products of Tehran University of Medical Sciences including 5781 records were investigated between 2006 and 2010.To determine the collaboration between researchers, collaboration coefficient formula was used.

  Results: The authors’ collaboration coefficient mean was 0.64 showing their high interest in collaborative research. Investigation into scientific products showed that the rate of scientific collaboration was lower at the international level (22%) than the domestic level. The results showed that the researchers in Tehran University of Medical Sciences had scientific collaboration with 69 countries. The lowest annual growth rate (3.7) was related to international collaboration. Main partners of Tehran University of Medical Sciences were the USA, UK, and Canada, respectively. Based on the number of co-authors, the highest collaboration rate belonged to the documents with five to eight authors. This rate increased from 33% in 2006 to 45% in 2010.

  Conclusion: The findings indicated that co-authorship and collaboration in the period studied is on the rise for Tehran University of Medical Sciences suggesting researchers’ interest in scientific collaboration.