Big Science, co-publication and collaboration: getting to the core

International collaboration in science has risen considerably in the last two decades (UNESCO, 2010). In the same period Big Science collaborations have proliferated in physics, astronomy, astrophysics, and medicine. Publications that use Big Science data draw on the expertise of those who design and build the equipment and software, as well as the scientific community. Over time a set of 'rules of use' has emerged that protects their intellectual property but that may have the unintended consequence of enhancing co-publication counts. This in turn distorts the use of co-publication data as a proxy for collaboration. The distorting effects are illustrated by means of a case study of the BRICS countries that recently issued a declaration on scientific and technological cooperation with specific fields allocated to each country. It is found that with a single exception the dominant research areas of collaboration are different to individual country specializations. The disjuncture between such 'collaboration' and the intent of the declaration raises questions of import to science policy, for the BRICS in particular and the measurement of scientific collaboration more generally. (Author)