<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Purpose</h3><p>This study aims to explore the trend and status of international collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and to understand the hot topics, core groups, and major collaboration patterns in global AI research.</p></sec><sec><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>We selected 38,224 papers in the field of AI from 1985 to 2019 in the core collection database of Web of Science (WoS) and studied international collaboration from the perspectives of authors, institutions, and countries through bibliometric analysis and social network analysis.</p></sec><sec><h3>Findings</h3><p>The bibliometric results show that in the field of AI, the number of published papers is increasing every year, and 84.8% of them are cooperative papers. Collaboration with more than three authors, collaboration between two countries and collaboration within institutions are the three main levels of collaboration patterns. Through social network analysis, this study found that the US, the UK, France, and Spain led global collaboration research in the field of AI at the country level, while Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates had a high degree of international participation. Collaboration at the institution level reflects obvious regional and economic characteristics. There are the Developing Countries Institution Collaboration Group led by Iran, China, and Vietnam, as well as the Developed Countries Institution Collaboration Group led by the US, Canada, the UK. Also, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) plays an important, pivotal role in connecting the these institutional collaboration groups.</p></sec><sec><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>First, participant contributions in international collaboration may have varied, but in our research they are viewed equally when building collaboration networks. Second, although the edge weight in the collaboration network is considered, it is only used to help reduce the network and does not reflect the strength of collaboration.</p></sec><sec><h3>Practical implications</h3><p>The findings fill the current shortage of research on international collaboration in AI. They will help inform scientists and policy makers about the future of AI research.</p></sec><sec><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>This work is the longest to date regarding international collaboration in the field of AI. This research explores the evolution, future trends, and major collaboration patterns of international collaboration in the field of AI over the past 35 years. It also reveals the leading countries, core groups, and characteristics of collaboration in the field of AI.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeThis study aims to explore the trend and status of international collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and to understand the hot topics, core groups, and major collaboration patterns in global AI research.Design/methodology/approachWe selected 38,224 papers in the field of AI from 1985 to 2019 in the core collection database of Web of Science (WoS) and studied international collaboration from the perspectives of authors, institutions, and countries through bibliometric analysis and social network analysis.FindingsThe bibliometric results show that in the field of AI, the number of published papers is increasing every year, and 84.8% of them are cooperative papers. Collaboration with more than three authors, collaboration between two countries and collaboration within institutions are the three main levels of collaboration patterns. Through social network analysis, this study found that the US, the UK, France, and Spain led global collaboration research in the field of AI at the country level, while Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates had a high degree of international participation. Collaboration at the institution level reflects obvious regional and economic characteristics. There are the Developing Countries Institution Collaboration Group led by Iran, China, and Vietnam, as well as the Developed Countries Institution Collaboration Group led by the US, Canada, the UK. Also, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) plays an important, pivotal role in connecting the these institutional collaboration groups.Research limitationsFirst, participant contributions in international collaboration may have varied, but in our research they are viewed equally when building collaboration networks. Second, although the edge weight in the collaboration network is considered, it is only used to help reduce the network and does not reflect the strength of collaboration.Practical implicationsThe findings fill the current shortage of research on international collaboration in AI. They will help inform scientists and policy makers about the future of AI research.Originality/valueThis work is the longest to date regarding international collaboration in the field of AI. This research explores the evolution, future trends, and major collaboration patterns of international collaboration in the field of AI over the past 35 years. It also reveals the leading countries, core groups, and characteristics of collaboration in the field of AI.

Global Collaboration in Artificial Intelligence: Bibliometrics and Network Analysis from 1985 to 2019

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Data Engineering and Knowledge Service

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the trend and status of international collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and to understand the hot...

Global Collaboration in Artificial Intelligence: Bibliometrics and Network Analysis from 1985 to 2019

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 07, 2020

Page range: 86 - 115

Received: Jan 31, 2020

Accepted: Jun 11, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2020-0027

Keywords
Artificial intelligence, International collaboration, Collaboration pattern, Bibliometric analysis, Social network analysis

© 2020 Haotian Hu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Global Collaboration in Artificial Intelligence: Bibliometrics and Network Analysis from 1985 to 2019

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Sep 07, 2020

Page range: 86 - 115

Received: Jan 31, 2020

Accepted: Jun 11, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2020-0027

KeywordsArtificial intelligence, International collaboration, Collaboration pattern, Bibliometric analysis, Social network analysis

© 2020 Haotian Hu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Artificial intelligence, International collaboration, Collaboration pattern, Bibliometric analysis, Social network analysis