The Changing Impact of Geographic Distance: A Preliminary Analysis on the Co-author Networks in Scientometrics (1983-2013)

The geographic distance impact has been discussed by scholars for years. The intent of this paper is to investigate the changing pattern of this impact. Moreover, since the development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) can affect remote scholarly collaboration, the author also examines its relationship with the changing pattern. The author uses Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM) to study the co-author networks in Scientometrics which is a peer reviewed journal in the field of Information Science. The Result shows that the negative impact of the distance tends to decrease over time. Moreover, the trend of such impact is somehow coincident with the development of ICTs.