Cooperation in health: mapping collaborative networks on the web.

Area of Science:

• Health research
• Webometrics
• Social network analysis

Background:

• Leading health research institutions play a vital role in global health.
• Understanding their online presence and interconnections is essential for international collaboration.
• Webometric analysis provides insights into the digital relationships between institutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map and analyze the web-based relationships among leading global health research institutions.
• To investigate the hyperlink exchange patterns and network centrality of these institutions.
• To identify disparities in web connectivity, particularly between Northern and Southern hemisphere institutions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres (CCs) as a basis for sample selection.
• Extracted data from 768 active CCs across 89 countries, focusing on 190 health science institutions in 42 countries.
• Employed webometric techniques, specifically interlinking analysis, to generate a social network analysis matrix.

Main Results:

• US and European institutions (e.g., CDC, NIH, INSERM) exhibit the highest web connectivity and hyperlink attraction.
• Karolinska Institute (KI-SE) acts as a network bridge but has limited general web recognition.
• A significant disparity exists in hyperlink exchange between North and South: 99.49% of Northern hyperlinks are North-North, while Southern institutions primarily link North (98.46%).

Conclusions:

• Recommends strengthening web integration policies and increasing hyperlink exchange to foster global health cooperation.
• Advocates for enhanced web networking to better reflect international health collaboration.
• Suggests that improved web visibility can legitimize and promote existing South-South collaboration networks.