In recent years a global network of science has emerged as a result of thousands of individual scientists seeking to collaborate with colleagues around the world, creating a network which rises above national systems. The globalization of science is part of the underlying shift in knowledge creation generally: the collaborative era in science. Over the past decade, the growth in the amount of knowledge and the speed at which it is available has created a fundamental shift¿where data, information, and knowledge were once scarce resources, they are now abundantly available. Collaboration, openness, customer- or problem-focused research and development, altruism, and reciprocity are notable features of abundance,