Collaboration revealed through sub-authorship: A scientometric study of acknowledgments in Brazilian articles from web of science

Abstract

Objective: The research explores scientific collaboration patterns in some areas of knowledge through acknowledgments of a non-financial nature identified in 2009-2016 Brazilian articles indexed in the Web of Science (WoS). Methods: Exploratory and descriptive study which employs quantitative (scientometric) and qualitative (content analysis) techniques to manually identify and categorize data on sub-authorship collaboration from publications with acknowledgements from journals categorized by the WoS in the following disciplines: Economics, Hematology, Horticulture and Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications. In this study, the category conceptual/PIC - Peer Interactive Communication support, considered a specific type of acknowledgment, was analyzed in greater detail. Results: Scientometric indicators show that the patterns of sub-authorship vary across disciplines. The predominance of acknowledgments for intellectual and/or conceptual support in disciplines with theoretical and applied social orientation such as Economics and Interdisciplinary applied Mathematics, reflects the role of intellectual and/or conceptual contributions within invisible colleges. On the other hand, the relevance of acknowledgments for technical/instrumental support in disciplines with technical and experimental orientation such as Horticulture and Hematology reveals the intensity of interdependence ties between researchers and specialists (taxonomists, laboratory technicians, etc.) within these communities. The considerable number of individuals acknowledged for intellectual and/or conceptual support may not represent a highly connected network, but it symbolizes the existence of factual collaborative ties between authors and sub-authors, especially in the field of Economics. Conclusions: It concludes that the types of acknowledgments identified in Brazilian science can represent the different forms of interaction and connectivity that are required for the production of new knowledge by discipline/area and revels important evidence of “invisible” or “hidden” collaboration in terms of institutional/moral, technical/instrumental, editorial, conceptual and/or intellectual support.