  A bibliometric approach is explored to tracking international scientific
migration, based on an analysis of the affiliation countries of authors
publishing in peer reviewed journals indexed in Scopus. The paper introduces a
model that relates base concepts in the study of migration to bibliometric
constructs, and discusses the potentialities and limitations of a bibliometric
approach both with respect to data accuracy and interpretation. Synchronous and
asynchronous analyses are presented for 10 rapidly growing countries and 7
scientifically established countries. Rough error rates of the proposed
indicators are estimated. It is concluded that the bibliometric approach is
promising provided that its outcomes are interpreted with care, based on
insight into the limits and potentialities of the bibliometric approach, and
combined with complementary data, obtained, for instance, from researchers
Curricula Vitae or survey or questionnaire based data. Error rates for units of
assessment with indicator values based on sufficiently large numbers are
estimated to be fairly below 10 per cent, but can be expected to vary
substantially among countries of origin, especially between Asian countries and
Western countries.
