Identifying interdisciplinarity through the disciplinary classification of co-authors of scientific publications

TL;DR

This study uses a bibliometric approach to analyze interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists in Italy by examining co-authors' disciplinary affiliations across a large dataset of publications from 2004-2008.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative method to identify common interdisciplinary combinations based on co-authors' disciplinary affiliations in scientific publications.

Findings

Identified the most frequent interdisciplinary field combinations.

Mapped the distribution of interdisciplinary collaborations across disciplines.

Provided insights for research policy and institutional management strategies.

Abstract

The growing complexity of challenges involved in scientific progress demands ever more frequent application of competencies and knowledge from different scientific fields. The present work analyzes the degree of collaboration among scientists from different disciplines in order to identify the most frequent "combinations of knowledge" in research activity. The methodology adopts an innovative bibliometric approach based on the disciplinary affiliation of publication co-authors. The field of observation includes all publications (173,134) indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) for the five years 2004-2008, authored by all scientists in the hard sciences (43,223) at Italian universities (68). The analysis examines 205 research fields grouped in nine disciplines. Identifying the fields with the highest potential of interdisciplinary collaboration is useful to inform research polices at national and regional levels, as well as management strategies at the institutional level.