Strengthening research capabilities: "The first author is important" — Focus on research papers: Benchmarks for Japanese, British, and German universities published by NISTEP

The presence of researchers who can lead international joint research in specific fields is essential for improving the research capabilities of a university. The National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) has released the 2023 University Benchmarks for Japan, the U.K., and Germany, focusing on research papers. As international co-authorship networks expand, focusing on the first authors of papers reveals that having researchers who can lead international collaborations in a particular field is a factor that boosts the number of international co-authored papers at a given university.

Researcher Akiyoshi Murakami, who conducted the analysis, said, "Such researchers are present even at small and medium-sized universities. Sending young researchers in the field abroad will nurture talent, build international networks, and increase the number of international co-authored papers. I hope that this report will be used for management to take advantage of the strengths of our own universities in Japan."

The report focuses on the first authors of papers regarding the analyzed universities. It classifies papers of the analyzed university whose first author is at the same university into three categories, namely, papers whose co-authors are only from the author's home university, domestic co-authored papers, and international co-authored papers. Papers of the analyzed university whose first author is at a different university were also classified into the same three categories. The analysis examined the structure of research papers published by the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Tohoku University, five universities in the U.K., and two universities in Germany, which have published numerous research papers. The analysis showed that no significant difference exists in the number or proportion of papers led by the author's home university (where the first author is from the same university) between Japan, the U.K., and Germany. However, in Japan, the proportion of internationally co-authored papers led by the author's home university was small, and there were more domestic co-authored papers.

Based on these results, the relationship between the number of internationally co-authored papers led by the author's home university and the number of papers led by foreign institutions (in which the author's home university is involved) was examined for universities that have published more than 500 papers over a 10-year period, and it was found to be linear. The number of co-authored papers led by foreign institutions per international co-authored paper led by the author's home university has been increasing over time. As of 2021, the U.K., Germany, and Japan had 2.8, 2.5, and 2.2, respectively.

Looking at the ratio of the number of top 10% papers in the top universities in Japan, the U.K., and Germany by the category of first author (Q-value: paper attention), the Q-value is highest for international co-authored papers led by the author's home university, followed by international co-authored papers led by domestic institutions and papers led by foreign institutions. In particular, in the U.K., papers led by domestic institutions have higher Q-values than those led by foreign institutions. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Q-values of papers led by the author's home university are lower than those of the U.K. and Germany and even international co-authored papers led by domestic institutions have lower Q-values. Analysis of the distribution of Q-values aggregated across all papers and international co-authored papers led by the author's home university for the analyzed universities shows that for all papers, British and German universities have Q-values distributed in the 10%−25% range, while several Japanese universities have Q-values distributed in the 10% range or lower. Meanwhile, regarding the distribution of Q-values of international co-authored papers led by the author's home university, various Japanese universities have higher Q-values compared to all papers.

From these findings, it is clear that for Japanese universities, increasing the number of international co-authored papers led by the author's home university will increase the number of papers and Q-values. Furthermore, the report ranks the top 10 Japanese universities in terms of the number of international co-authored papers led by the author's home university in 19 natural science fields and classifies the top-ranked universities in Japan in 179 subject categories (subfields; see table). The report will be of use in understanding and strengthening each university.