Effects of international collaboration and knowledge moderation on China's nanotechnology research impacts

Purpose – Recent studies report that China is becoming a leading nation in the quantity of scientific output, including in the emerging field of nanotechnology. In nanotechnology, bibliometric measures based on citations also indicate improvements in the research impacts of Chinese scientific papers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of international collaboration, including the role of knowledge moderation through Chinese researchers who collaborate in both domestic and international scientific cooperation, on the impacts of Chinese nanotechnology research publications. Design/methodology/approach – Using a nanotechnology publication dataset, bibliometric analysis and statistical testing are adopted to explore the issues raised in the study. Findings – International collaboration, through direct collaboration and indirectly through Chinese knowledge moderators, has a positive impact on the quality of Chinese research, controlling for language, discipline, research capacity, and other factors. Originality/value – The concept of a Chinese knowledge moderator is introduced to identify Chinese researchers who bridge scientific worlds by publishing scientific papers with both domestic and international colleagues. This concept is operationalized to capture the indirect impacts in China of international knowledge linkages and spillovers including those associated with overseas Chinese researchers and with overseas returnees.