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<body><div><div style="text-align: center; "> <b><a href="http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28235.23849">The Measurement of “Interdisciplinarity” and “Synergy” </a></b></div><div style="text-align: center; "><b><a href="http://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28235.23849">in Scientific and Extra-Scientific Collaborations</a></b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Abstract</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div id="xc9d14c24411b49bbb48c8a177253221e">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;tab-stops:center 220.5pt 225.0pt right 459.0pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><font size="3">Problem-solving
often requires crossing boundaries, such as those between disciplines. In collaborations
with third parties, however, “interdisciplinarity” is not an objective in
itself, but a means for creating “synergy.” Synergy means that the whole offers
more possibilities than the sum of its parts. We discuss recent advances in the
operationalization and measurement of “synergy” and “interdisciplinarity”; the
measurements require precision in the definitions. First, one can consider “interdisciplinarity”
as composed of variety, diversity, and disparity (Stirling, 2007). The recently
developed diversity indicator <i>DIV</i>* improves
on previous operationalizations by measuring these three dimensions
independently. Although policy-makers often call for “interdisciplinarity,” they
may mean “synergy.” The measurement of “synergy,” however, requires a different
methodology. An increase in the number of options above the sum of the options
in subsets can be measured as redundancy; that is, the number of
not-yet-realized options. Increasing redundancy reduces the relative
uncertainty; for example, in niches. The operationalization of the two concepts
as different outcome indicators enables us to distinguish analytically between the
effects and the effectiveness of government or management interventions in research
priorities.<o:p xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"></o:p></font></p></div></div><div id="signature_old"><div id="x9f02ddda1b4f48e"><div id="x78c9f4c0540648e7b564d127ae9a7d74"><div id="signature_old"><div id="x068ffe68e305459"><div id="xd031ae4a00354d21ab008b16080cd048"><div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">Loet
Leydesdorff,<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[1]</span></sup></sup></a></span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">* and </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 32px;">Inga Ivanova</span><a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px;"><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[2]</span></sup></sup></a></div><div><div id="x72e719ff231e462694cdc1d983165d1c">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><br /></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">** apologies for cross-postings<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height:115%"><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></a>
*corresponding author; Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR),
University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam, The Netherlands; <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="mailto:loet@leydesdorff.net">loet@leydesdorff.net</a></span> ; ORCID: 0000-0002-7835-3098.<b><o:p xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"></o:p></b></p>
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<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height:115%;tab-stops:center 3.0in"><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[2]</b></span></b></span></a>
Institute for Statistical
Studies and Economics of Knowledge,<sup> </sup>National Research University
Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE), 20 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000,
Russia; and School of Economics and Management, Far Eastern Federal University,
8, Sukhanova St., Vladivostok 690990, Russia; <a href="mailto:inga.iva@mail.ru">inga.iva@mail.ru</a> ; ORCID:
0000-0002-5441-5231.</p><p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height:115%;tab-stops:center 3.0in"><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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