Abstract: Research co-authorship is an important way of scientific collaboration. iSchool members are world’s top information schools. Exploring the research co-authorship among iSchool members is of great significance to fully understand the research collaboration in library and information field. Based on the paper of 22 iSchools indexed by Web of Science, this study used scientometrics method, social network analysis and author contribution elements to explore the internal collaboration pattern and overall collaboration pattern of iSchools. The research found: a) The overall collaboration degree and collaboration amplitude of these 22 iSchools are generally high, but the internal collaboration among the 22 iSchools doesn’t make up the main part of their overall research collaboration and there is a gap between the 22 iSchools with regard to collaboration degree. b) From 2010-2014 to 2015-2019, the structure of internal collaboration is more uniform, the breadth and intensity of the internal collaboration has been significantly improved, the main collaboration institution of iSchools changed with the growth of time. c) The research pattern based on author contribution elements of iSchools varied, with four main types: substantive contribution pattern, leadership contribution pattern, supporting contribution pattern and advising contribution pattern.

Key words: iSchools, Research co-authorship, Author contribution element, Social network analysis, Scientific cooperation