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Title
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How do boundary-crossing researchers contribute to the interdisciplinary knowledge flows? Evidence from physics
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Author
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Abstract
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| It is generally acknowledged that scientists who cross the boundary of disciplines are likely to produce novel outputs. The mobility of scientists to new fields is often accompanied by knowledge flows in the same direction. However, previous studies that provide empirical evidence on the knowledge exchanges caused by boundary-crossing activities are limited. Also, it has seldom been investigated how boundary-crossing scientists induce knowledge exchange. This paper analyzes how boundary-crossing physicists contribute to interdisciplinary knowledge flows, taking physicists as a case study for a 20-year comprehensive view. We find that 64.53% of boundary-crossing physicists publish papers in applied sciences. Such boundary-crossing activities lead to interdisciplinary knowledge flows even beyond physics and target fields (fields physicists migrated to). Through boundary crossing, physicists produced highly interdisciplinary papers, which are also cited by diversified domains. We also found that boundary-crossing publications led by physicists can bring more knowledge from physics to their target fields. Yet other boundary-crossing publications that physicists act as co-authors possess more interdisciplinary knowledge bases and also attract multidisciplinary audiences. Considering the contribution boundary-crossing physicists made in fostering interdisciplinary research and knowledge flows, the funding bodies are encouraged to break the limitation of disciplinary barriers and establish more grant schemes to support them. |
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Language
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English
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Source (book)
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Proceedings of ISSI 2023 : 19th International Conference of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics, July 2-5, 2023, Bloomington, IN, USA
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Publication
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Zenodo
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2023
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DOI
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10.5281/ZENODO.8305942
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Volume/pages
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1
, p. 545-556
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Full text (open access)
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