Is science becoming more interdisciplinary? Measuring and mapping six research fields over time

Abstract

In the last two decades there have been studies claiming that science is becoming ever more interdisciplinary. However, the evidence has been anecdotal or partial. Here we investigate how the degree of interdisciplinarity has changed between 1975 and 2005 over six research domains. To do so, we compute well-established bibliometric indicators alongside a new index of interdisciplinarity (Integration score, aka Rao-Stirling diversity) and a science mapping visualization method. The results attest to notable changes in research practices over this 30 year period, namely major increases in number of cited disciplines and references per article (both show about 50% growth), and co-authors per article (about 75% growth). However, the new index of interdisciplinarity only shows a modest increase (mostly around 5% growth). Science maps hint that this is because the distribution of citations of an article remains mainly within neighboring disciplinary areas. These findings suggest that science is indeed becoming more interdisciplinary, but in small steps -drawing mainly from neighboring fields and only modestly increasing the connections to distant cognitive areas. The combination of metrics and overlay science maps provides general benchmarks for future studies of interdisciplinary research characteristics.

Scientometric Mapping as a Strategic Intelligence Tool for the Governance of Emerging Technologies.

“…If one looks at the disciplinary position of the technology it is likely to be assuming that integration of disparate knowledge is relevant as, for example, it has been perceived to be the case of nanotechnologies (e.g. Porter and Rafols, 2009;Schummer, 2004) and in RNAi (Leydesdorff and Rafols, 2011), but not necessarily in HPV or TPMT testing technologies. In the absence of a clear understanding of the technology, one is advised to explore the phenomenon by using several perspectives, because one does not know in advance which one may turn out to be useful for understanding the relations of the emergence in place, or because the area in which the action is occurring is shifting over time.…”

What Happened to the Crossdisciplinarity of Technology-Enhanced Learning in 2004?

“…One of the most developed approaches that takes into account the dynamic structure of journals belonging to scientific disciplines and the citations inside and outside the discipline has been proposed by Leydesdorff [6]. Another important component of the analysis is the integration score proposed by Porter & Rafols [7]. This integration score is based on the idea that the level of interdisciplinarity can be assessed by an analysis of three different aspects:…”

An Exploration of the Sub-Register of Chemical Engineering Research Papers Published in English

“…The prevailing form of communication-and documentation-of research is scientific journal publication, and publishing in co-authorising teams is now the dominant modus operandi [1,4]. Researchers and scientists are under constant pressure to publish their results [5], as this would enhance their employment prospects and career development, their funding and consultancy prospects and their professional reputation [6,7]. Chemical engineering researchers are further challenged by the multifaceted nature of their discipline, since they are called to communicate their findings to a wider audience of fellow scientists, both during a manuscript's writing process and discourse moves), on the other.…”

“…The prevailing form of communication-and documentation-of research is scientific journal publication, and publishing in co-authorising teams is now the dominant modus operandi [1,4]. Researchers and scientists are under constant pressure to publish their results [5], as this would enhance their employment prospects and career development, their funding and consultancy prospects and their professional reputation [6,7]. Chemical engineering researchers are further challenged by the multifaceted nature of their discipline, since they are called to communicate their findings to a wider audience of fellow scientists, both during a manuscript's writing process and Although the acceptance of a manuscript for publication is an achievement, only high-quality publications in high-ranking scientific journals are widely accepted by the scientific community, authors' affiliations, and employment and funding bodies [10,11] For instance, the European Commission has formally recognised the importance of bibliometric indicators for policy purposes and is deeply engaged in and strongly encourages scientometric analysis [7].…”

“…Researchers and scientists are under constant pressure to publish their results [5], as this would enhance their employment prospects and career development, their funding and consultancy prospects and their professional reputation [6,7]. Chemical engineering researchers are further challenged by the multifaceted nature of their discipline, since they are called to communicate their findings to a wider audience of fellow scientists, both during a manuscript's writing process and Although the acceptance of a manuscript for publication is an achievement, only high-quality publications in high-ranking scientific journals are widely accepted by the scientific community, authors' affiliations, and employment and funding bodies [10,11] For instance, the European Commission has formally recognised the importance of bibliometric indicators for policy purposes and is deeply engaged in and strongly encourages scientometric analysis [7]. The substantial number of predatory publishers [12,13], the increasing rate of generation of scientific findings, the globalisation of scientific communication through electronic media, the different sets of regulations regarding manuscript length, peer review and evaluation have increased the importance of determining and assessing the value of a publication.…”