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Development and interdisciplinarity: A citation analysis

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  • Mitra, Sophie
  • Palmer, Michael
  • Vuong, Vu

Abstract

Development is often defined as an inherently interdisciplinary field of study. Yet there has been limited examination of this interdisciplinarity. Using Web of Science data, we present citation patterns since 1990 between leading journals of two fields of development, development economics and development studies, and other social science disciplines (economics, geography, political science and sociology). We find negligible interdisciplinary interactions in development, with the bulk of cross-disciplinary citations taking place between development economics, development studies, and economics. There is an increasing trend since the mid-2000’s in the number of citations between development economics and development studies. We explore a number of potential contributing factors and conclude that the most likely explanation is rising numbers of economists publishing in development studies journals in response to increasing relative competition in development economics journals. While there appears to be growing communications among different fields of development cross-citation rates remain low at two–three percent of total citations and are driven by select journals. Overall, results suggest that development is not an interdisciplinary field of study as measured by flows of citations.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitra, Sophie & Palmer, Michael & Vuong, Vu, 2020. "Development and interdisciplinarity: A citation analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:135:y:2020:i:c:s0305750x20302023
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105076
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    Cited by:

    1. , Aisdl, 2020. "The rise of research on development economics in Vietnam: Analyses and implications for the public and policymakers from SSHPA 2008-2020 dataset," OSF Preprints 9nbyr, Center for Open Science.
    2. Harrison, Richard T., 2023. "W(h)ither entrepreneurship? Discipline, legitimacy and super-wicked problems on the road to nowhere," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    3. Giorgos Meramveliotakis & Manolis Manioudis, 2021. "History, Knowledge, and Sustainable Economic Development: The Contribution of John Stuart Mill’s Grand Stage Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Ho, Manh-Toan, 2020. "The rise of research on development economics in Vietnam: Analyses and implications for the public and policymakers from SSHPA 2008-2020 dataset," Thesis Commons msy6e, Center for Open Science.
    5. Yangping Zhou, 2021. "Self-citation and citation of top journal publishers and their interpretation in the journal-discipline context," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6013-6040, July.
    6. Manh-Toan Ho & Ngoc-Thang B. Le & Manh-Tung Ho & Quan-Hoang Vuong, 2022. "A bibliometric review on development economics research in Vietnam from 2008 to 2020," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 2939-2969, October.
    7. Lorenz Gschwent & Bjorn Hammarfelt & Martin Karlsson & Mathias Kifmann, 2024. "The Rise of Health Economics: Transforming the Landscape of Economic Research," Papers 2410.06313, arXiv.org.
    8. Matthias Aistleitner & Stephan Puehringer, 2023. "Biased Trade Narratives and Its Influence on Development Studies: A Multi-level Mixed-Method Approach," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(6), pages 1322-1346, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Development; Interdisciplinarity; Development studies; Development economics; Social sciences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • Y8 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines

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