Mapping the multidisciplinary field of public health services and systems research

Public health services and systems research (PHSSR) is the field of study charged with evaluating the public health system. PHSSR currently lacks a clear identity integrating the many theories, approaches, and disciplines contributing to the field.

Experts in PHSSR were consulted to identify 11 key published PHSSR studies. With these articles as a starting point, a newly developed citation data collection system was used to collect a sample of 2986 documents connected to the key articles through citation linkages. Data were collected in October 2009.

Citation network methods and latent position cluster modeling were used to examine the network of documents. A subset of 108 documents comprising the backbone of the network was identified through main-path analysis. Four unique clusters were identified within the main path. The core cluster consisted of older articles focused on local health department activities, partnerships, and effectiveness. The three non-core clusters focused on public health law, behavioral interventions, and national performance standards. Although all non-core clusters cited the core, there was little crosstalk among the non-core clusters, a pattern consistent with multidisciplinary fields.

PHSSR appears to be a multidisciplinary field with research happening in silos across different research areas. Developing transdisciplinary research connections across PHSSR is necessary to meet national PHSSR goals.