Co-Authorship Networks of Iranian Researchers' Publications on the Field of Management during a Half-Century (1969-2018)

As one of the main bibliometric concepts, co-authorship has been thoughtfully considered in recent years. Despite many bibliometric studies on the co-authorship in different scientific fields and worldwide countries/regions, Iranian researchers' collaboration in the management field has not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the co-authorship networks in the management papers contributed by Iranian researchers indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) during the recent halfcentury (years, 1969-2018). Bibliometric data on 5414 papers were extracted from WoS and analyzed in Excel, UCINET, and VOSviewer to measure bibliometric indicators, the map needed co-authorship networks, and depict time-based maps and keyword clustering. Findings showed that co-authored papers increased from two items in 1973 to 721 items in 2018. Expert Systems with Applications, African Journal of Business Management, and International Journal of Production Research were ranked first to third in co-authored papers. Top 20 authors published about 17% of papers (946). Islamic Azad University, University of Tehran, and the Amirkabir University of Technology ranked first to third. Most co-authorship frequencies were made from 2012 to 2014. The first to third ranks of collaborating countries were the USA, Canada, and England. Six main keyword clusters were formed, including main topics in the field. In conclusion, Iranian researchers increasingly co-authored in management, especially during the last decade, and published in various journals that some top ones are prestigious journals. However, some gaps need to be bridged by the low contribution of research institutes and universities countrywide and the limited number of authors with high productivity and low collaboration with neighbor countries and influential universities worldwide.