International research collaboration: contemporary trends and trajectories from GCC Countries

There has been a phenomenal increase in the mobility of researchers and research-students between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the rest of the world. However, this emerging phenomenon remains largely under-researched. Drawing on empirical examination, the paper provides insights into ongoing international research collaboration in the Gulf region. The context is examined using bibliometric studies to analyse published research outputs from contemporary Standard International Database (Scopus) for the period 2004 to 2013. The findings revealed that USA is the most paramount research collaborating country. Simultaneously, Egypt is the second most important country and the only nearest neighbour of the top fifteen countries with which GCC countries collaborate with, whilst other countries follow with significant differences. Additionally, GCC countries’ international research collaboration focuses mainly on the academic arena of physical sciences followed by life sciences with compelling variations.