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On the uncertainty of interdisciplinarity measurements due to incomplete bibliographic data

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  • María del Carmen Calatrava Moreno

    (Vienna University of Technology)

  • Thomas Auzinger

    (Vienna University of Technology
    IST Austria)

  • Hannes Werthner

    (Vienna University of Technology)

Abstract

The accuracy of interdisciplinarity measurements is directly related to the quality of the underlying bibliographic data. Existing indicators of interdisciplinarity are not capable of reflecting the inaccuracies introduced by incorrect and incomplete records because correct and complete bibliographic data can rarely be obtained. This is the case for the Rao–Stirling index, which cannot handle references that are not categorized into disciplinary fields. We introduce a method that addresses this problem. It extends the Rao–Stirling index to acknowledge missing data by calculating its interval of uncertainty using computational optimization. The evaluation of our method indicates that the uncertainty interval is not only useful for estimating the inaccuracy of interdisciplinarity measurements, but it also delivers slightly more accurate aggregated interdisciplinarity measurements than the Rao–Stirling index.

Suggested Citation

  • María del Carmen Calatrava Moreno & Thomas Auzinger & Hannes Werthner, 2016. "On the uncertainty of interdisciplinarity measurements due to incomplete bibliographic data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(1), pages 213-232, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:107:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-016-1842-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-016-1842-4
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    6. Roland Barthel & Roman Seidl, 2017. "Interdisciplinary Collaboration between Natural and Social Sciences – Status and Trends Exemplified in Groundwater Research," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, January.

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