Documentation, Informaiton & Knowledge ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 81-91,51.doi: 10.13366/j.dik.2023.04.081

• Library, Document & Communication • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Free Exploration or Organized Research: Connotation, Types and Characteristics of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration

ZENG Yueliang1, SI Li2   

  1. 1.School of Information Management, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079;
    2. Center for Studies of Information Resources, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072
  • Online:2023-07-10 Published:2023-08-16
  • Contact: Correspondence should be addressed to ZENG Yueliang, Email:zengyueliang2014@163.com, ORCID: 0000-0003-2460-7133
  • Supported by:
    This is an outcome of the Youth Project "Research on the Operation Mechanism and Guarantee Strategy of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration from the Perspective of Ecosystem Theory"(21CTQ023)supported by National Social Science Foundation of China.

Abstract: [Purpose/Significance] Systematic analysis of the connotation, types and characteristics of interdisciplinary research collaboration will provide reference for related practice and theoretical research and better promote knowledge innovation. [Design/Methodology] Adopting the method of literature analysis and network survey, this paper analyzes the concepts of interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary research and research collaboration, puts forward the connotation of interdisciplinary research collaboration, and summarizes its types. [Findings/Conclusion] From the perspective of organizational structure and operation, in the current research environment, interdisciplinary research collaboration can be divided into three types according to the motivation and scale of the collaboration, namely, individual demand-driven collaboration, research project-based collaboration, and collaboration within the organization of interdisciplinary research entities. Each of these types has different characteristics and application scenarios. Combined with the "Organized Research" strategy, the study assumes that individual demand-driven collaboration highlights the characteristics of free exploration and is a basis and flexible mode of independent innovation for researchers, however, in terms of organizational management and effectiveness guarantee, the research project-based collaboration and collaboration within organizations of interdisciplinary research entities are more in line with the complicated trends of scientific research and the needs of social development in the new era. [Originality/Value] The basic theoretical analysis of interdisciplinary research collaboration in this paper will lay the foundation for its further in-depth research and organizational management practices.

Key words: Interdisciplinary research collaboration, Interdisciplinary research, Research collaboration, Collaboration type