Benefits of international collaboration in computer science: a case study of China, the European Union, and the United States

Co-authored publications can bring positive results for those who participate, such as gaining additional expertise, accessing more funding or increasing the publication impact. China, the European Union, and the United States have been collaborating between each other throughout the years in the field of Computer Science. These collaborations varied over time, as well as they impacted the regions in different ways. In this paper, we collected the publications from these territories across 31 years on the topic of Computer Science and studied them focusing on how the regions have approached co-authorship. In particular, we have analyzed the number of collaborations during that period, the impact of those papers measured as the number of citations, and the topics that have been researched. We conclude that China’s focus on Computer Science fields has led it to be the most productive region in recent years; plus, it has benefited from the American and European reputation, by increasing its citation rates when collaborating with them. On the other hand, the EU and the US have benefited from Chinese interest in computer science, increasing the number of publications together.