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Interdisciplinarity and impact: the effects of the citation time window

Author

Listed:
  • Shiji Chen

    (Hangzhou Dianzi University)

  • Yanhui Song

    (Hangzhou Dianzi University)

  • Fei Shu

    (Hangzhou Dianzi University)

  • Vincent Larivière

    (Université de Montréal, Canada Observatoire des Sciences et des Technologies (OST), Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche sur la Science et la Technologie (CIRST), Université du Québec à Montréal)

Abstract

The relationship between interdisciplinarity and citation impact is affected by many factors, and the citation time window is a crucial factor. Our study examines the effect of the citation time window on the relationship between interdisciplinarity and scientific impact. All journal articles published in 2006 in Web of Science (WoS) are considered. The relationship between interdisciplinarity and scientific impact is explored by conducting a year-by-year negative binomial regression analysis with different interdisciplinarity indicators. Three diversity single-property indicators (namely variety, balance, and disparity) and three typical composite interdisciplinarity indicators (Rao-Stirling index (RS), Leinster–Cobbold diversity indices (LCDiv), and DIV) are used in this study. The results show that evaluating the scientific impact of interdisciplinarity requires a sufficiently long citation time window. However, the length of the citation time window is different for different interdisciplinarity indicators. A 4-year citation time window is necessary when the variety indicator is used, whereas balance and disparity require at least 11-year and 13-year citation time windows, respectively. The citation time window is the same (at least 5 years) for the three composite interdisciplinarity indicators (RS, LCDiv, and DIV). The recommended length of the citation time window is based only on this study and may be affected by the data set, regression model, and discipline classification system.

Suggested Citation

  • Shiji Chen & Yanhui Song & Fei Shu & Vincent Larivière, 2022. "Interdisciplinarity and impact: the effects of the citation time window," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2621-2642, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:127:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s11192-022-04338-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-022-04338-1
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