We propose institutional mobility indicators based on researchers’ mobility flows in 22 major fields of science across 1,130 Leiden Ranking institutions from 64 countries.

We base our indicators on data from the Dimensions database and Global Research Identifier Database. We use researchers’ first and last affiliations to estimate the extent authors have moved across institutions as well as countries. For each institution, we quantify the shares of researchers with the same affiliation (insiders), those who came from another institution within the country (domestic outsiders), and those coming from a different country (foreign outsiders).

Institutions in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe have the highest share of insiders, whereas institutions in Northern America and Western and Northern Europe have a higher share of foreign outsiders. Foreign outsiders are most common in small and wealthy countries. No disciplinary differences are observed, as captured by the field classification scheme of Dimensions.

V. Machàcek, M. Srholec, M.R. Ferreira, N. Robinson-Garcia, R. Costas, Researchers’ institutional mobility: bibliometric evidence on academic inbreeding and internationalization, Science and Public Policy (2021) scab064.