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How small is the center of science? Short cross-disciplinary cycles in co-authorship graphs

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  • Chris Fields

Abstract

Cycles that cross two or more boundaries between disciplines in the co-authorship graph for all of science are used to set upper limits on the number of co-authored papers required to cross 15 disciplines or subdisciplines ranging from macroeconomics to neurology. The upper limits obtained range from one (discrete mathematics, macroeconomics and nuclear physics) to six (neuroscience). The 15 disciplines or subdisciplines examined form a “small world” with an average separation of only 2.0 co-authorship links. It is conjectured that the high-productivity, high average degree centers of all scientific disciplines form a small world, and therefore that the diameter of the co-authorship graph of all of science is only slightly larger than the average diameter of the co-authorship graphs of its subdisciplines.

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  • Chris Fields, 2015. "How small is the center of science? Short cross-disciplinary cycles in co-authorship graphs," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1287-1306, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:102:y:2015:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-014-1468-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1468-3
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    Cited by:

    1. A. I. M. Jakaria Rahman & Raf Guns & Loet Leydesdorff & Tim C. E. Engels, 2016. "Measuring the match between evaluators and evaluees: cognitive distances between panel members and research groups at the journal level," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 1639-1663, December.
    2. Eli Rudinow Saetnan & Richard Philip Kipling, 2016. "Evaluating a European knowledge hub on climate change in agriculture: Are we building a better connected community?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 1057-1074, November.
    3. Chris Fields, 2015. "Co-authorship proximity of A. M. Turing Award and John von Neumann Medal winners to the disciplinary boundaries of computer science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(3), pages 809-825, September.

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