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Interdisciplinarity Metric Based on the Co-Citation Network

Author

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  • Juan María Hernández

    (Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management, and Institute TiDES, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)

  • Pablo Dorta-González

    (Department of Quantitative Methods in Economics and Management, and Institute TiDES, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)

Abstract

Quantifying the interdisciplinarity of a research is a relevant problem in the evaluative bibliometrics. The concept of interdisciplinarity is ambiguous and multidimensional. Thus, different measures of interdisciplinarity have been propose in the literature. However, few studies have proposed interdisciplinary metrics without previously defining classification sets, and no one has used the co-citation network for this purpose. In this study we propose an interdisciplinary metric based on the co-citation network. This is a way to define the publication’s field without resorting to pre-defined classification sets. We present a characterization of a publication’s field and then we use this definition to propose a new metric of the interdisciplinarity degree for publications (papers) and journals as units of analysis. The proposed measure has an aggregative property that makes it scalable from a paper individually to a set of them (journal) without more than adding the numerators and denominators in the proportions that define this new indicator. Moreover, the aggregated value of two or more units is strictly among all the individual values.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan María Hernández & Pablo Dorta-González, 2020. "Interdisciplinarity Metric Based on the Co-Citation Network," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-8, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:8:y:2020:i:4:p:544-:d:342443
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. A Cecile J W Janssens & Michael Goodman & Kimberly R Powell & Marta Gwinn, 2017. "A critical evaluation of the algorithm behind the Relative Citation Ratio (RCR)," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-5, October.
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    3. B Ian Hutchins & Xin Yuan & James M Anderson & George M Santangelo, 2016. "Relative Citation Ratio (RCR): A New Metric That Uses Citation Rates to Measure Influence at the Article Level," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Wagner, Caroline S. & Roessner, J. David & Bobb, Kamau & Klein, Julie Thompson & Boyack, Kevin W. & Keyton, Joann & Rafols, Ismael & Börner, Katy, 2011. "Approaches to understanding and measuring interdisciplinary scientific research (IDR): A review of the literature," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 14-26.
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    7. P. Dorta-González & M. I. Dorta-González, 2013. "Comparing journals from different fields of science and social science through a JCR subject categories normalized impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(2), pages 645-672, May.
    8. Silva, F.N. & Rodrigues, F.A. & Oliveira, O.N. & da F. Costa, L., 2013. "Quantifying the interdisciplinarity of scientific journals and fields," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 469-477.
    9. Rafols, Ismael & Leydesdorff, Loet & O’Hare, Alice & Nightingale, Paul & Stirling, Andy, 2012. "How journal rankings can suppress interdisciplinary research: A comparison between Innovation Studies and Business & Management," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 1262-1282.
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