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A Multidisciplinary Research Programme (MRP) is being developed since 1989 in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Spain, to support cross-disciplinary research projects. This paper analyses the incidence of interdisciplinarity in the UCM scientific publications over the period 1990-96 and tries to determine the success of the Programme at fostering cross-disciplinary research. Interdisciplinary in the UCM is measured through the collaboration of authors from different institutional addresses within the UCM, both in scientific publications and in research projects. Publications jointly signed by the different teams that collaborate in the projects were identified as an indicator of the success of the Programme in integrating disciplines, hrterdisciplinary collaboration within the UCM showed an upward trend over time. Publications of MRP groups showed a higher interdisciplinary collaboration rate than the rest of the UCM (17% vs.9%). Dramatic repercussions of the Programme were not expected due to its limited magnitude, but it worked as a catalyst, enhancing interdisciplinary relations within the UCM. The interest of such a programme is supported by its effects, both direct effects on granted teams and indirect on the whole UCM community.

Interdisciplinarity is analyzed in three different research areas: Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Cardiovascular System and Materials Science, by means of data collected from a survey to Spanish scientists. The study focuses on three different and complementary dimensions. First, diversity in personal training and research specialization of scientists is analyzed both in the field and within the research teams. Secondly, research practices and behavior of the groups are considered, taking into account the use of cross-disciplinary knowledge or techniques and the collaboration with scientists from other disciplines. The third dimension refers to the cognitive inputs and outputs of the research activity and focuses on the diversity of subjects of the journals used for publication and for reference by the research teams. Interdisciplinarity emerges in research areas as a double edge process: either as a process of jumping into a new area with people of different disciplines, in coherence with the traditional disciplinary research teams, or as a process of specialization in field traditionally dominated by a single group of disciplinary backgrounds, in which researchers from different areas join the research teams. Thus specialization-fragmentation-hybridization come all-together.

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A study of the structure and scientific activity of the most productive Spanish research teams in two biomedical subfields, Pharmacology & Pharmacy and Cardiovascular System (SCI), during the period 1990-93 was carried out through bibliometric indicators. The teams were characterized according to their size, production, productivity, research level and expected impact factor of their output, collaboration pattern and interdisciplinarity. Main differences between both subfields were analyzed and explained by their different clinical/basic character. The study was undertaken to identify structural or dynamic features of teams associated with good scientific performance.

Purpose -Research with stem cells is a biomedical venture with great scientific impact, and whose development flows over into many other areas. This article presents a dual analysis of Spain´s scientific output in this field during the period 1997-2007.Design/methodology/approach -We used, on the one hand, bibliometric indicators of a basic nature, and on the other hand, techniques for the visualization and analysis of networks of scientific information based on a study of KeyWords Plus. Findings -The Output is mainly concentrated in Cataluña and Madrid, and hospitals are the most productive centres (followed by health institutes), where the main authors are affiliated. Main categories are Hematology, Oncology and Biophysics. The outstanding areas of study we identified revolve around the therapeutic use of transplant of hematopoietic progenitors, the processes of generation, proliferation and differentiation of lines of cells, and the study of neurosciences.Originality/value -This study provides an overview of Spanish research involving stem cells, detecting and representing the main areas of research. We consider the potential of KeyWords Plus in combination with the proposed methodology as particularly useful for the analysis and delimitation of a scientific domain.