T. Van Leeuwen et R. Tijssen, Interdisciplinary dynamics of modern science: analysis of cross-disciplinary citation flows, RES EVALUAT, 9(3), 2000, pp. 183-187
The references in research papers provide empirical data on knowledge flows
within and between scientific disciplines. Many citations refer to papers
that are published in scientific journals covering adjacent scientific disc
iplines. We have used this information source to explore - at the global le
vel - the extent to which disciplines are interrelated through these cross-
disciplinary citation links. Irt this paper we describe the main features o
f the bibliometric methodology. The first results of this study provide new
macro-level data on the interdisciplinarity, of modern science and identif
y a few disciplines, such as meteorology and atmospheric sciences, in which
research has become noticeably more interdisciplinary.