A study on the election factors of an ACM Fellow based on the co-authorship relations

Prior research on successful groups of scientists has predominantly focused on recipients of top international awards, while investigations into the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow award - an esteemed academic honor in the field of Computing Machinery - have been relatively scarce. This article seeks to address this gap by examining the relationship between the success of ACM Fellows and their co-authorship characteristics with previous Fellows. Using a sample of ACM Advanced Member Grades from 2015 to 2020 in four sub-domains, relevant indicators were selected to measure the cooperative relationship between candidates and previous Fellows. The relationship between successful elected ACM Fellows and their co-authorship with previous Fellows was analyzed using correlation analysis and binary logistic regression methods. The results indicate that a cooperative relationship with previous Fellows is indeed beneficial for the candidate's selection as a potential ACM Fellow. Several significant factors impact the probability of becoming a Fellow, including (a) the contribution ratio of previous Fellows to Fellow candidates, (b) the number of cooperative previous Fellows towards the Fellow candidate, (c) the degree of cooperation with previous Fellows, and (d) the propensity to cooperate with "growing together type" Fellows. Additionally, the impact of the nature of the collaboration on the campaign varies across different sub-fields. The findings not only suggest a potential closing on the Fellowship circle, but also serve as a safeguard against biases and opportunistic tendencies that may undermine the recognition of deserving Fellows.