New indicators for capturing the balances and roles of nations in the global knowledge exchange system

• A set of indicators are developed to assess the balance of knowledge flows. • We distinguish local and global flows and account for self-citations. • We apply double-fractionalization to capture international co-authorships. • Our indicators enable direct comparison of knowledge exchange roles of nations. • Empirical data reveals the trend of globalization and interdependence. The assessments of national involvement in the global system for exchange of knowledge traditionally focus on each cou