Skip to main content
Log in

Evolutionary stages and multidisciplinary nature of artificial intelligence research

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper analyzed the growth and multidisciplinary nature of Artificial Intelligence research during the last 60 years. Web of Science coverage since 1960 was considered, and a descriptive research was performed. A top-down approach using Web of Science subject categories as a proxy to measure multidisciplinarity was developed. Bibliometric indicators based on the core of subject categories involving articles and citing articles related to this area were applied. The data analysis within a historical and epistemological perspective allowed to identify three main evolutionary stages: an emergence period (1960–1979), based on foundational literature from 1950s; a re-emergence and consolidation period (1980–2009), involving a “paradigmatic” phase of development and first industrial approach; and a period of re-configuration of the discipline as a technoscience (2010–2019), where an explosion of solutions for productive systems, wide collaboration networks and multidisciplinary research projects were observed. The multidisciplinary dynamics of the field was analyzed using a Thematic Dispersion Index. This indicator clearly described the transition from the consolidation stage to the re-configuration of the field, finding application in a wide diversity of scientific and technological domains. The results demonstrated that epistemic changes and qualitative leaps in Artificial Intelligence research have been associated to variations in multidisciplinarity patterns.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Data available at https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Multidisciplinarity_of_Artificial_Intelligence_Research_dataset/15411231

Code availability

Not applicable.

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the program “Scientometrics, Complexity, and Science of Science”, at the Complexity Science Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). We would like to thank Dr. Javier García-García for reviewing an earlier version of this article.

Funding

Not applicable.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

All authors have substantial contributions to the conception of the work. Initial drafting of the work was done by RAJ; the remaining authors did critical revisions and completed the manuscript. All authors agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. All authors read and approved the final draft of the manuscript and are aware that this paper is submitting to this journal.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ricardo Arencibia-Jorge.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Arencibia-Jorge, R., Vega-Almeida, R.L., Jiménez-Andrade, J.L. et al. Evolutionary stages and multidisciplinary nature of artificial intelligence research. Scientometrics 127, 5139–5158 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04477-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04477-5

Keywords

Navigation