A three-dimensional framework for quantifying knowledge intersection intensity: from a micro perspective

Interdisciplinary interactions are crucial for generating high-impact knowledge and fostering practical innovations. Thus, it is important to assess the extent of disciplinary crossover and identify areas of intense interdisciplinary collaboration. Current research predominantly focuses on macro-level interdisciplinary measurements, emphasizing collaboration networks and citation analyses of literature. Still, there are limitations in effectively identifying interdisciplinary domains and exploring the fine-grained knowledge structures and intricate interaction mechanisms at a micro level. To address this, our paper proposes a three-dimensional analytical framework to explore disciplinary intersection points from the keyword level, achieving systematic quantification of interdisciplinary interaction intensity. This framework integrates semantic parsing, hierarchical structuring, and network analysis. It begins by employing semantic models to capture profound knowledge associations. Then, it quantifies the potential distances and dissemination capabilities of knowledge by analyzing direct and indirect disciplinary connections within hierarchical and network structures. Lastly, it employs entropy weighting to comprehensively and flexibly evaluate the strength of these interactions. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated through cases involving Library and Information Science (LIS) and six other disciplines, showing the trend of broad and diversified expansion of disciplinary knowledge domains over time. Compared with traditional assessment indicators, our proposed methodology provides a dynamic and fine-grained perspective for evaluating interdisciplinary collaborations, aligning more closely with the intricacies of real-world academic ecosystems.