Service's scientific community: a social network analysis (1995‐2010)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to characterize and discuss the collaborative network formed by researchers that published about services in the top journals in Operations, Marketing, and Human Resources Management, and provide further comparison with major Service journals. Design/methodology/approach – The method used was designed documentary research using papers published in the top three relevant international journals specific to Operations, Marketing, and Human Resources from 1995 to 2010. Papers were selected using a search of the ABI/Inform Global (Proquest) database on the word “service” in the title, abstract, or keywords. Additionally, it included two major Service journals. A total of 1,481 papers and 2,457 authors composed the Social Network Analysis (SNA). Findings – The co‐authorship network revealed that the social structure is highly fragmented. However, its main component can be classified as “small world”, indicating that authors are connected to others outside their group through a small number of intermediaries. This type of structure is favorable both to knowledge flow and development. Practical implications – The results may be valuable to the community of researchers interested in the theme of Services, as well as in the fields of Operations, Marketing, and Human Resources to identify researchers and research groups. Thus, it can serve as guidance for publishers, colleges, and companies in the search for scholars in the service subject. Originality/value – The paper uses SNA to investigate the interaction/collaboration of co‐authors using authorship as the unit of analysis.