Boundary research: Tools and rules to impact emerging fields

Abstract

Boundary research can be risky, but it can also move academic disciplines into wider areas of influence. To help reduce the risk and increase the reward, this article describes new tools that boundary researchers can use to get started, published, and promoted. These include writing for surprising impact, positioning their research against a larger theme, developing a research impact matrix for promotion, and estimating a 10-year citation record. These tools can help move a boundary research area from fringe to focus.

The Behavioral Science of Eating: Encouraging Boundary Research That Has Impact

“…T he behavioral science of eating has typically been an area of boundary research-it operates at the intersection of multiple disciplines and has often been applied (Wansink and van Ittersum 2016). In contrast, most traditional research in academic journals is centrist.…”