The UK's global research outlook: what does the data say?

The evidence shows that international co-authorship correlates with more highly cited research. The field-weighted citation impact* of all UK research publications is 1.58, a figure that jumps to 1.88 for UK publications co-authored with an international partner. A similar correlation is apparent in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 results, which found that the proportion of UK university research which is world-leading grew from 30% in 2014 to 41% in 2021, a period that saw a rapid growth in the proportion of international collaborative research publications. 

Who are we collaborating with? 

Given their dominant position as the largest producers of research publications, it comes as no surprise that the US and China are at the top of the list of the UK’s most frequent collaboration partners. When we look at the rate of growth in co-authorship between 2018-21 with top-20 partners, co-authorship with India (38.2%) and China (34.7%) grew far more rapidly than with any other system, reflecting the rapid growth in total research output in both countries. At a regional level, Europe remains by far our most frequent partner; 13 of the top 20 partner systems are other European countries. 

Which subject areas collaborate with international partners most frequently? 

Researchers from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subject areas tend to co-author a higher proportion of publications with international partners, with earth and planetary sciences topping the list (78.6%). This is linked to the high number of internationally collaborative projects and research infrastructures in these fields, like CERN and the Square Kilometre Array, and the prevalence of publications with large numbers (tens or more) of co-authors from multiple different countries. 

How is it funded? 

Looking beyond bibliometric analysis to funding data, we can see that not all international collaboration is the result of specific international awards. While over 60% of research publications are produced with an international co-author, only around one fifth of the research income that universities receive comes from an international source. This implies that a lot of international collaboration is the result of UK funding awards or institutional investment in their own international partnerships. 

The largest single source of funding for internationally collaborative projects is the EU, primarily via its Horizon programmes, which provides over half of all international research income. However, the amount of funding coming from these programmes has gradually started to decrease, as uncertainty over the UK’s future status as an associated country has grown. If the UK does not associate to Horizon Europe, we can expect to see a wholesale reconfiguration of the funding landscape, with a rapid drop-off in EU funding and, by extension, total funding from international sources. 

*a measure of how many citations publications receive compared with similar publications, with 1.00 being the global average.

You can read our full analysis of international research and innovation trends, as well as other dimensions of international higher education, in our new International Facts and Figures publication.