The Scientometric Measurement of Interdisciplinarity and Diversity in the Research Portfolios of Chinese Universities

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity is a hot topic in science and technology policy. However, the concept of interdisciplinarity is both abstract and complex, and therefore difficult to measure using a single indicator. A variety of metrics for measuring the diversity and interdisciplinarity of articles, journals, and fields have been proposed in the literature. In this article, we ask whether institutions can be ranked in terms of their (inter-)disciplinary diversity.

Keywords

• diversity
• balance
• disparity
• variety
• measurement
• interdisciplinarity
• comprehensiveness
• portfolio