Climate change and interdisciplinarity: a co-citation analysis of IPCC Third Assessment Report

Abstract

This study addresses whether interdisciplinarity is a prominent feature of climate research by means of a co-citation analysis of the IPCC Third Assessment Report. The debate on interdisciplinarity and bibliometric measures is reviewed to operationalize the contested notion of interdisciplinarity. The results, based on 6417 references of the 96 most frequently used journals, demonstrate that the IPCC assessment of climate change is best characterized by its multidisciplinarity where the physical, biological, bodily and societal dimensions are clearly separated. Although a few fields and journals integrate a wide variety of disciplines, integration occurs mainly between related disciplines (narrow interdisciplinarity) which indicate an overall disciplinary basis of climate research. It is concluded that interdisciplinarity is not a prominent feature of climate research. The significance of this finding is explored, given that the problem scope of climate change necessitates interdisciplinarity. Ways to promote interdisciplinarity are suggested by way of conclusion.

Mapping Human Dimensions of Climate Change Research in the Canadian Arctic

“…This kind of assessment is consistent with what Petticrew (2001) terms a 'narrative review,' the strengths of which in a climate change context are widely noted (Ravindranath 2010). Nevertheless, critiques in recent years have highlighted the lack of transparency in methods of searching, selecting, and synthesizing relevant scholarship with implications for replicability and validation; disciplinary bias towards the physical sciences; dominance of a western scientific worldview; limitations of consensus seeking; and the time required to complete such comprehensive assessments (Hulme 2010;van der Sluijs et al 2010;Bjurstrom and Polk 2011;Ford et al 2011a.…”

“…Notwithstanding, scholarship would benefit from broader engagement of the social sciences and humanities, with perspectives from economists, legal experts, and political scientists largely absent. As Bjurstrom and Polk (2011) note, the presence or absence of certain disciplinary perspectives has implications for the issues policymaking addresses and how.…”

Investigating JEEM Empirically: A Story of Co-Authorship and Collaboration

“…15 As research has become more demanding in terms of both skill and financial expense, a critical mass of expertise and reputation is now necessary in order to obtain external funding. Bjurström and Polk (2011), for example, argue that environmental and resource economics are characterized by a high degree of interdisciplinary research. Thus, two effects are likely: First, a funding institution will give money only to a group of people.…”

“…Environmental and resource economics is characterized by a high degree of interdiscplinarity (see e.g. Bjurström and Polk, 2011). As a consequence, there is an increased likelihood of collaborative research and jointly written publications.…”

Análisis de la relación entre disciplinas a través del uso de tesis doctorales. El caso de Televisión, Radio, Cine y Fotografía en España

“…Así por ejemplo, se estudian las citas que se intercambian entre disciplinas. Los artículos y las revistas han sido el objeto de estudio principal de estos estudios de interdisciplinariedad, utilizando principalmente técnicas de "Bibliographic Coupling" (Larsen, 2007), "Citation" (Leydesdorff, 2007a), "Co-citation" (Bjurström & Polk, 2011) y "Author Co-citation" (Tsay, Xu & Wu, 2003). Para ello se han analizado principalmente los patrones de citación entre revistas, la asignación a una o más categorías del JCR, el estudio de las palabras clave, o un trabajo reciente y algo más complejo que mide la relación (relación de interdisciplinariedad) a través de la publicación en revistas científicas entre universidades (García, Rodríguez-Sánchez, Fernández-Valdivia, Robinson-García & Torres-Salinas, 2012).…”