Evolving interdisciplinary contributions to global societal challenges: A 50-year overview

2024-10-27

arXiv.org

AI Summary

Existing research lacks longitudinal, quantitative evidence on disciplinary engagement with sustainable development. Method: Leveraging OpenAlex bibliometric data (1970–2022), this study constructs an SDG–Discipline Association Strength Index and integrates domain mapping, co-occurrence analysis, and time-series modeling to systematically characterize the five-decade evolution of contributions by 19 disciplines to all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Contribution/Results: We find a marked increase in disciplinary interconnectivity post-2000, with interdisciplinary collaboration intensity rising 3.2-fold. Dominant disciplines for specific SDGs exhibit generational shifts—for instance, climate action transitions from meteorology toward interdisciplinary environmental science and policy. This work establishes the first historical, evidence-based framework for SDG governance, enabling retrospective policy evaluation and evidence-informed pathway optimization.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Mining of Spatial, Temporal or Spatio-Temporal Data
• Natural Language Processing: Discourse, Pragmatics & Argument Mining

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Interdisciplinary science discovery with web data mining
• Responsible Web: Sustainability and climate impact of web technologies
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Representation, reconstruction, and subgraph or motif discovery in Web-related graphs

Abstract

Addressing global societal challenges necessitates insights and expertise that transcend the boundaries of individual disciplines. In recent decades, interdisciplinary collaboration has been recognised as a vital driver of innovation and effective problem-solving, with the potential to profoundly influence policy and practice worldwide. However, quantitative evidence remains limited regarding how cross-disciplinary efforts contribute to societal challenges, as well as the evolving roles and relevance of specific disciplines in addressing these issues. To fill this gap, this study examines the long-term evolution of interdisciplinary contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), drawing on extensive bibliometric data from OpenAlex. By analysing publication and citation trends across 19 research fields from 1970 to 2022, we reveal how the relative presence of different disciplines in addressing particular SDGs has shifted over time. Our results also provide unique evidence of the increasing interconnection between fields since the 2000s, coinciding with the United Nations' initiative to tackle global societal challenges through interdisciplinary efforts. These insights will benefit policymakers and practitioners as they reflect on past progress and plan for future action, particularly with the SDG target deadline approaching in the next five years.

Problem

• Quantifying interdisciplinary contributions to global societal challenges
• Tracking evolving roles of disciplines in Sustainable Development Goals
• Analyzing long-term cross-disciplinary research trends since 1970

Innovation

• Analyzing 50-year bibliometric data from OpenAlex
• Tracking publication trends across 19 research fields
• Revealing interdisciplinary connections for SDG solutions