Scholars like any other? An inquiry into productivity and citations in the field of contemporary China studies

Social scientists have extensively studied the relationships between co-authorship, scholarly productivity, and reputation, but few studies have examined these phenomena in the field of contemporary China studies. This article aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of co-author networks on productivity and citations. It draws its conclusions by analyzing 2784 articles published between 2011 and 2021 in nine major international journals dedicated to contemporary China. The findings reveal unique trends among specialists on contemporary China, characterized by low average productivity and a broad publication distribution across disciplinary journals. The study also demonstrates a positive correlation between co-authorship, network connections, productivity, and citations, emphasizing the role of mentoring strategies and extra-mural collaborations in enhancing productivity. Furthermore, the formation of “invisible colleges” within the main networks is observed, influencing the literature and citation landscape. However, these invisible colleges are not monopolizing publishing opportunities if compared with other fields of knowledge.