Ho-Dae Chong1 ․ Jong-Kil Kim2

Received: 1 August 2023 / Accepted: 10 October 2023 /
Published online: 1 December 2023 Ⓒ Korean Social Science Research Council 2023

Abstract This study aims to go beyond simply showing the increasing trend of collaboration
in academia to explore what factors influence research collaboration. Assuming an affinity
between the degree of homogeneity in researcher attributes and the tendency to collaborate, we
examine how the degree of homogeneity in majors and shared research interests among
researchers, the degree of ease of communication based on belonging to the same institution,
and the social ties between collaborators based on alum relationships affect research outcomes.
Using a cohort of social scientists conducting funded research, we analyze the density and
strength of inter-researcher homogeneity based on their attributes and demonstrate that there is
a correlation between the reputation of the journal in which a paper is published and the degree
of inter-researcher homogeneity. If you want to make an impact on a journal at the ‘local’ level,
it is more effective to collaborate with researchers from the same discipline. Conversely, to make
a notable impact at the ‘cosmopolitan’ level, it is more efficient to work with heterogeneous
researchers. We propose that a moderate level of cohesion or homogeneity among researchers,

4.Ho-Dae-Chong-Jong-Kil-Kim.pdf