International cooperation in the geographical sciences

Abstract

This chapter analyses the international cooperation network of the articles in the 307 mainstream SCI/SSCI-listed geographical journals, the independent research and international cooperation situation of the top 20 countries as reflected in published research articles, and the research fields where China and its major cooperating countries (regions) are active. International cooperation is a general trend in geographical sciences’ research. The pattern of international cooperation is characterized by that the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Canada and Australia lead the cooperation network and that the countries such as China and Brazil are taking the central position in the network as a fast pace. In the past 30 years China has cooperated with 141 countries (regions). In the last five years this number is 6.7 times that for 1986–1990. China cooperates most with the USA, taking 46 % of all cooperatively written articles with foreign researchers. Environmental pollution and global change are two major topics attracting cooperation between China and the USA, the UK, and Germany. Geographical information science, human geography and paleoenvrionment are research fields especially important for cooperation with the USA, the UK and Germany, respectively.