International collaboration in scientific research in Vietnam: an analysis of patterns and impact

The present study sought to examine the trend and impact of international collaboration in scientific research in Vietnam during the period after the introduction of the a reform policy and the normalization of relations with the United States. Using the Thomson Reuters' Web of Science data (2001-2015) we found that 77% of Vietnam's scientific output (n = 18,044 papers) involved international collaborations, with the United States and Japan researchers being the most frequent partners. The proportion of international collaborations has decreased slightly over time at the expense of an increased rate of domestic collaborations. The rate of growth in Vietnam's scientific output was 17% per annum, and three-quarters of the growth was associated with international collaborations rather than purely domestic production. Moreover, internationally coauthored papers received twice the average citation as domestic papers. Of note, papers with overseas corresponding author had higher citation rate than papers with domestic corresponding author. These data suggest that the vast majority of scientific papers from Vietnam was attributable to international collaboration, and this had a positive impact on the quality and visibility of Vietnam science. The data also indicate that Vietnam is in the growth phase of building up research capacity.