IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v129y2024i12d10.1007_s11192-024-05182-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does interdisciplinarity improve research performance? An empirical study of faculty members at Chinese universities

Author

Listed:
  • Xi Yang

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Xinyue Lin

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Xin Ma

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is increasingly recognized for its potential to advance scientific frontiers and address global challenges. However, its impact on scientific research is uncertain, due to numerous obstacles stemming from the established disciplinary systems. This study investigates faculty members from China’s State Key Laboratories (SKLs) of universities and explores how interdisciplinarity relates to their subsequent research performance. The findings reveal that interdisciplinarity does not significantly impact faculty members’ research performance, but it does contribute to the quality of research outcomes. Specifically, previous interdisciplinarity in the knowledge integration stage aids faculty in publishing articles in high-impact journals, while in the knowledge dissemination stage, it leads to more articles in high-impact journals and highly-cited articles. However, the study discovers that interdisciplinarity has not led to an increase in the applicability of research outcomes, underscoring the potential limitations of interdisciplinary research in tackling development challenges within the Chinese context. The paper proposes several insights for enhancing interdisciplinary research based on these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Xi Yang & Xinyue Lin & Xin Ma, 2024. "Does interdisciplinarity improve research performance? An empirical study of faculty members at Chinese universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(12), pages 7645-7666, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05182-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-024-05182-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-024-05182-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-024-05182-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05182-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.