The impact of collaborating with prolific authors within a specific journal on researchers’ performance in that journal: a case study of <i>scientometrics</i>

Purpose Authors with a high publication output in a particular journal may be influential figures in their research field, demonstrating high productivity. Their frequent publishing behavior in a given journal at least reflects a submission preference, and whether this preference affects their collaborators’ research performance in that journal warrants attention. Design/methodology/approach In this study, we aim to examine the impact of collaboration with prolific authors within the SCIENTOMETRICS journal on an author’s research performance in the same journal. We identified 128 high-producing authors in SCIENTOMETRICS based on Price’s Law and located their collaborators. We then proposed collaboration indicators and publication indicators to measure collaboration and its impact. Subsequently, we conducted Spearman correlation analysis and employed a negative binomial regression model to analyze the relationship between collaboration and research performance. Findings Finally, we draw three observations: (1) The publications and academic impact of collaborators are significantly higher than those of non-collaborators. (2) The proportion of collaboration with prolific authors is negatively correlated with a collaborator’s publications and academic impact. This phenomenon suggests that collaborators with a high proportion of collaboration tend to have fewer publications. (3) The number of collaborating prolific authors and the stability of collaboration are positively correlated with a collaborator’s publications and academic impact. Originality/value Existing literature on submission behavior has primarily examined journal-level attributes (e.g. impact factor, scope), whereas the potential relationship between researchers’ prior publication history and subsequent submission choices remains understudied. In this context, studying the impact of collaborating with prolific authors within a specific journal on researchers’ performance in that journal provides valuable insights.