Defining and evaluating the impact of cross-disciplinary conservation research
Date
12/2010Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordAltmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
Cross-disciplinary research is advocated as a way of improving understanding of the complexity of environmental problems; cross-disciplinary projects, centres and academic institutes have increased. However, there is confusion over the nature of cross-disciplinary research. Through review of papers defining themselves as cross-disciplinary that aim to address conservation problems, and by standardizing the definition of cross-disciplinary research, it is possible to evaluate the potential research impact on peers and practitioners. When papers were reclassified by authors, those reclassified as transdisciplinary were perceived to have a greater impact on practitioners, and those reclassified as non cross-disciplinary had the greatest impact on colleagues. Having clear definitions for types of cross-disciplinary research would help establish a firm foundation, not only for improving research quality, but also for evaluating research impact. While the number of cross-disciplinary studies is increasing, cross-disciplinary research falls short of integrating disciplinary methods in much depth and does not have much impact on participants outside of academia.
Citation
Evely , A C , Fazey , I , Lambin , X , Lambert , E , Allen , S & Pinard , M 2010 , ' Defining and evaluating the impact of cross-disciplinary conservation research ' , Environmental Conservation , vol. 37 , no. 4 , pp. 442-450 . https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892910000792
Publication
Environmental Conservation
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0376-8929Type
Journal article
Rights
(c) Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010. Available from http://journals.cambridge.org/ENC
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.