Differences in publication and dissemination practices between disciplinary and transdisciplinary science and the consequences for research evaluation

Abstract

Modern science has become a highly diversified social system. Its diversity is not only attributable to the multitude of specialized subjects but also to different research styles. Disciplinary and transdisciplinary research coexist side by side. In transdisciplinary science non-scientists participate actively in research projects. Although it has become a very important part of science today, much of the practice in research evaluation is still based on the standards and customs of traditional disciplinary science. Our comparative analysis of three research fields: economics and botany, representing disciplinary science, and sustainability research, representing a more transdisciplinarily oriented field, showed that there are significant differences in publication and dissemination practices. From these facts we derive some conclusions about how research evaluation should be modified in order to be able to assess the results of transdisciplinary research adequately.

What future for the European social sciences and humanities?1

“…This is certainly wrong, as academic research has a potential for innovation in theory and methodology. Furthermore, as Kaufmann and Kasztler note, a lot of research labeled ''transdisciplinary'' is in fact based on traditional disciplinary research work, the conclusions from which are subsequently discussed with stakeholders outside academia (Kaufmann and Kasztler 2009, with references to Weingart 1999and Pregernig 2006. The European Union has acknowledged the importance of scientific research by devising the European Research Council as a supplement to the traditional task-oriented Framework Programmes.…”

Collaboration between Heterogeneous Practitioners in Sustainability Research: A Comparative Analysis of Three Transdisciplinary Programmes

“…The literature on TD contains numerous publications on the barriers to and incentives for the participation of academic researchers, on the mismatch between TD research and existing scientific institutions [9,30], and on the discrepancies between the ideal form of TD and TD in practice [31,32]. A lot of work has been done to develop approaches for the quality assurance and evaluation of this kind of research [5,33]. Relatedly, numerous scholars have elaborated on the precise definition of the concept and on indicators of transdisciplinarity [34][35][36].…”

Geography and Social Sciences in Transdisciplinary Science

“…Such changes in the science give rise to concerns whether this externalism, which is now more easily observable in science, will not result in approving large numbers of works of inferior quality. Such concern is underpinned by the belief that external factors have an ambivalent infl uence on the development of science as they can both foster its development and its decline (Such and Szcześniak, 1999;Kaufmann and Kasztler, 2009).…”