RESEARCH OUTPUT AND TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION IN PHYSICS SUBFIELDS - A MULTIDIMENSIONAL-ANALYSIS

This paper compares the profiles of research output and transnational cooperation (as revealed through multicountry publications) of thirty six countries in ten subfields of Physics during the period 1981-1985. The data for comparative analysis were taken from Braun et al.1 Since raw counts of publications are confounded by the size of the countries and the size of the research fields, this comparison is made, using relative indicators - activity index and collaboration index. The structures of research output and transnational cooperation are analyzed through Correspondence Analysis, which leads to the identification of countries with similar profiles (of research output and transnational cooperation) and the spatial representation of countries and Physics subfields. The configurations of research output and transnational cooperation are compared to assess the concordance between the policies of these countries for research and transnational cooperation in Physics.