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Interdisciplinary papers supported by disciplinary grants garner deep and broad scientific impact
Minsu Park1,2,3,4, Suman Kalyan Maity2,3,4, Stefan Wuchty5,6,7,8
1Division of Social Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE.
PNAS Nexus
|March 20, 2026
Summary
Interdisciplinary grants produce more interdisciplinary papers but fewer overall. Surprisingly, papers from disciplinary grants achieve higher impact than those from interdisciplinary grants, suggesting value in deep disciplinary expertise.
Area of Science:
- Research Evaluation
- Bibliometrics
- Science Policy
Background:
- Interdisciplinary research is crucial for innovation and addressing complex societal issues.
- Grant funding significantly shapes scientific advancement and interdisciplinary work.
- The effectiveness of interdisciplinary grants in producing high-impact outcomes is under-examined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess if interdisciplinary grants effectively foster high-impact interdisciplinary research.
- To compare the impact of research funded by interdisciplinary versus disciplinary grants.
- To explore factors influencing the impact of interdisciplinary research.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 350,000 grants from 164 agencies across 26 countries (1985-2009).
- Examination of 1.3 million resulting publications.
- Bibliometric analysis to measure research impact and interdisciplinarity.
Main Results:
- Interdisciplinary grants yield more interdisciplinary papers but fewer papers overall.
- Interdisciplinary papers funded by interdisciplinary grants have lower impact than those from disciplinary grants.
- Highly interdisciplinary papers funded by disciplinary grants receive more citations.
Conclusions:
- Disciplinary grants may be more effective in driving high-impact interdisciplinary research.
- Deep disciplinary expertise and investment are crucial for interdisciplinary advances.
- Rethinking funding strategies to leverage disciplinary strengths for interdisciplinary innovation is suggested.
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