Open AccessAnalysing Institutions Interdisciplinarity by Extensive Use of Rao-Stirling Diversity Index
Author(s) -
Lorenzo Cassi,
Raphaël Champeimont,
Wilfriedo Mescheba,
Élisabeth de Turckheim
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0170296
Subject(s) - index (typography) , diversity (politics) , multidisciplinary approach , stirling engine , field (mathematics) , diversity index , bibliometrics , interdisciplinarity , computer science , data science , sociology , library science , social science , engineering , mathematics , world wide web , ecology , anthropology , biology , mechanical engineering , species richness , pure mathematics
This paper shows how the Rao-Stirling diversity index may be extensively used for positioning and comparing institutions interdisciplinary practices. Two decompositions of this index make it possible to explore different components of the diversity of the cited references in a corpus of publications. The paper aims at demonstrating how these bibliometric tools can be used for comparing institutions in a research field by highlighting collaboration orientations and institutions strategies. To make the method available and easy to use for indicator users, this paper first recalls a previous result on the decomposition of the Rao-Stirling index into multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity components, then proposes a new decomposition to further explore the profile of research collaborations and finally presents an application to Neuroscience research in French universities.