The inter-institutional and intra-institutional multi-affiliation authorships in the scientific papers produced by the well-ranked universities

The phenomenon of multi-affiliation in scientific authorship has increasingly garnered attention in scholarly communication. This study examines the extent and implications of multi-affiliation, distinguishing between intra-institutional and inter-institutional multi-affiliations, including their subtypes based on national and international affiliations. Utilizing data from the Web of Science, the study analyzes scientific papers from well-ranked global universities over a decade (2013–2022). The results indicate a significant prevalence of multi-affiliation, with 22.54 % of authorships and over half of the papers exhibiting at least one instance of multi-affiliation. The study finds notable variations in multi-affiliation trends across countries and subject fields. The findings raise critical questions about the impact of multi-affiliation on research evaluation and university rankings, suggesting a need for refined bibliometric measures and author guidance on affiliations to account for this growing trend.