Impact of collaborative research on academic science

Over the past 15 years, we have witnessed, according to some analysts, a trend toward greater heterogeneity in scientific research and a growing affiliation of university researchers with extra-university partners. To this end, governments have actively promoted through diverse policy mechanisms greater collaboration and exchange between universities, businesses and governments. This paper assesses the extent to which collaborative research in Canada influences the nature of scientific production and the level of international scientific collaboration. Beliefs that collaborative research is detrimental to academic research do not seem empirically grounded. However the situation must continue to be monitored.