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The purpose of this paper is to characterize library and information science (LIS) as fragmenting discipline both historically and by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory about the organization of sciences and Fuchs’ (1993) theory about scientific change.

The study combines historical source analysis with conceptual and theoretical analysis for characterizing LIS. An attempt is made to empirically validate the distinction between LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.

The origin of fragmentation in LIS due the contributions of other disciplines can be traced in the 1960s and 1970s for solving the problems produced by the growth of scientific literature. Computer science and business established academic programs and started research relevant to LIS community focusing on information retrieval and bibliometrics. This has led to differing research interests between LIS and other disciplines concerning research topics and methods. LIS has been characterized as fragmented adhocracy as a whole, but we make a distinction between research topics LIS context, L&I services and information seeking as fragmented adhocracies and information retrieval and scientific communication (scientometrics) as technologically integrated bureaucracies.

The paper provides an elaborated historical perspective on the fragmentation of LIS in the pressure of other disciplines. It also characterizes LIS as discipline in a fresh way by applying Whitley’s (1984) theory.

Purpose – The chapter provides a review of the debates about the discipline of public administration and public management as art, craft, and science. Thus, the chapter includes a conceptualization of public administration and a discussion of public administration and public management research, scholarship, and practice. The review of the discipline includes a historical perspective and contemporary debates of public administration, new public management (NPM), public sector management, and governance in order to discuss the future trajectories and trends of the discipline.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A range of historical, seminal, and recently published scholarly works are reviewed and discussed, including also an analysis based on primary and secondary research of journal databases, conference proceedings, academic schools, and websites relevant to the discipline.

Findings – The study of government in various guises – whether public administration, public management, governance, public policy – will continue to develop, evolve, and fascinate scholars and practitioners. There will be a continued interest and study of the business of government with three possible trends: (1) a narrow focus on technocratic, managerial approaches in an attempt to provide solutions for more effective and efficient government; (2) a multidisciplinary approach to addressing complex social problems or “wicked policy” problems across narrow specialized interests for “greater principles” of society; and (3) methodological pluralism in the study of government, which may add to the depth or fragmentation of the discipline.

Research limitations/Implications – The research is limited to a review with some primary and secondary research. It provides scholars and practitioners with the conceptualization of public administration, public management and governance. The chapter provides a critical perspective of the state of research and scholarship with an argument that academics need to move beyond parochial debates within the discipline and provide practitioners with empirically based solutions to increasingly complex social and “wicked policy” problems.

Practical implications – This chapter provides scholars, students, and practitioners with (1) a conceptual understanding of public administration, public management, NPM and governance; (2) a historical and contemporary perspective of the discipline; and (3) a critical perspective of research and scholarship that will provide a debate on the state of discipline.

Originality/Value – The chapter is a synthesis and review of the discipline in terms of research and scholarship drawing upon international perspectives to provide a critical debate for scholars and practitioners.

Market orientation (MO) is at the center of the marketing discipline and has been the focus of one of the longest and richest research efforts in the field. This paper aims to study the development of the MO research area and changes in its nature, and the implications these have for MO research in particular as well as for the marketing discipline as a whole.

The study is guided by sociology of science research and studies of the history of the marketing discipline. It is based on a review of all MO articles and references in the period 1957‐2005.

The findings reveal three periods in the development of MO research: 1950s‐late 1970s, late 1970s‐early 1990s, and early 1990s until today. In terms of diffusion over time, MO research has diffused from marketing mostly to management, from generalist to specialist journals, from higher to lower quality journals, and from the USA only to Europe. Over time more scholars have become involved in MO research and the number of co‐authored MO articles has increased. The paper also finds that the MO research knowledge base and impact continue to be limited to marketing and management.

While the study involves a large effort to collect longitudinal data on MO publication activity, its main limitation is its descriptive nature.

Unlike previous research in marketing that has typically studied articles, authors and reference data to gain insight into the intellectual developments of specific marketing journals, here the authors use these sources for studying the structure and evolution of a specific and important research area such as MO. Also, the study is based on rich and longitudinal data, enabling a variety of longitudinal analyses. The link between the MO area and the marketing discipline is of value, showing how the development of MO mirrors key developments in the marketing discipline at large and is influenced by many of the same forces that shape the discipline.

With the continuous change of research contents and methods of intelligence science, its integration with other disciplines is also deepening. The purpose of this paper is to further explore the interdisciplinary research characteristics of intelligence science in theoretical depth and application value.

This paper summarizes and explores in two aspects. The first is a large number of literature review, mainly combined with the historical characteristics of the development of intelligence science researches in China and international comparison. The second is to refine the discipline construction ideas suitable for the development of contemporary intelligence science.

From the perspective of the historical development of discipline relevance, the development characteristics and positioning of intelligence science in China are introduced, with the comparison of many disciplines including information technology, library science, information science, data science, management science and other disciplines. In order to better meet the practical needs of intelligence service in the new era, this paper mainly analyzes the construction method of intelligence science research system and the relocation of intelligence science research content.

This paper summarizes the historical characteristics and international comparison of the development of intelligence science in China. It proposes the development characteristics and orientation of intelligence science in China from the perspective of historical development of discipline relevance. It also proposes the discipline construction ideas suitable for the development of contemporary intelligence science.

The purpose of this paper is to measure the degree of interdisciplinary collaboration in Big Data research based on the co-occurrences of subject categories using Stirling’s diversity index and specialization index.

Interdisciplinarity was measured utilizing the descriptive statistics of disciplines, network indicators showing relationships between disciplines and within individual disciplines, interdisciplinary communities, Stirling’s diversity index and specialization index, and a strategic diagram revealing the development status and trends of discipline communities.

Comprehensively considering all results, the degree of interdisciplinarity of Big Data research is increasing over time, particularly, after 2013. There is a high level of interdisciplinarity in Big Data research involving a large number of disciplines, but it is unbalanced in distribution. The interdisciplinary collaborations are not intensive on the whole; most disciplines are aggregated into a few distinct communities with computer science, business and economics, mathematics, and biotechnology and applied microbiology as the core. Four major discipline communities in Big Data research represent different directions with different development statuses and trends. Community 1, with computer science as the core, is the most mature and central to the whole interdisciplinary network. Accounting for all network indicators, computer science, engineering, business and economics, social sciences, and mathematics are the most important disciplines in Big Data research.

This study deepens our understanding of the degree and trend of interdisciplinary collaboration in Big Data research through a longitudinal study and quantitative measures based on two indexes. It has practical implications to study and reveal the interdisciplinary phenomenon and characteristics of related developments of a specific research area, or to conduct comparative studies between different research areas.

The purpose of this paper is to explore what an academic discipline is and to apply and discuss this definition using facilities management as an example. The paper addresses an academic world that is facing the challenge of developing research and education in response to emerging disciplines and dealing with changes in the higher education system. Institutions are also confronted with the aim of the European Commission to “enhance the performance and international attractiveness of Europe's higher education”.

A structured framework with six criteria outlining an academic discipline was applied to describe the state of the art of facilities management on the basis of systematical literature research. A survey was conducted with 215 contributions from the European Facility Management Network (EuroFM) and additionally 41 Master theses and 25 scientific papers were studied to gain up-to-date insights.

This paper provides a methodical approach on how to analyse and describe emerging disciplines. In addition, an overview of the state of the art in facilities management is shown.

The methodological approach for the analysis of academic disciplines was tested using the example of FM. Before transferring the same methodology to other disciplines, researchers are advised to test and further develop the methodology for other disciplines.

This paper includes implications for the development and discussion of emerging disciplines in the academic world.

This paper contributes to a better understanding of academic disciplines and how they emerge.

The purpose of this research is to track the evolution of logistics research with a focus on the methods and orientation of the research from the past to the present. Specifically, this paper investigates the evolution of logistics research methodologies in an attempt to address previous calls for a paradigm discussion aimed at assessing the current direction and proposing a future direction for research in the logistics discipline.

The authors chose a previously established framework which describes and evaluates alternative research paradigms. A content analysis of articles in selected journals allows published research of the logistics discipline to be evaluated and categorized. The categorization process uses a two‐dimensional framework which then allows the authors to classify research into cells in a matrix which represent a variety of research paradigms.

The results illustrate that the methodologies employed in logistics have evolved during the period of analysis. The logistics discipline appears to focus on survey‐based research in an attempt to examine attitudinal and behavioral aspects of logistics interactions. Significant amounts of research are also conducted with simulation and mathematical modeling while case study and action research methods comprise a relatively small but growing portion of published logistics research. Nevertheless, the results of the research support the conclusion that the logistics discipline is diversifying its research efforts and expanding the array of issues addressed.

The results are based on a thorough literature review along with the use of well established research frameworks and methodologies. Nevertheless, the research focuses on analyzing the content of logistics discipline research in specific outlets and during specific periods of time. Therefore, while the authors believe the results provide a useful guide for assessing the evolution of research in the discipline, it is not all‐inclusive in nature.

Based on our research results in general logistics, researchers appear to be responding to the evolution of the discipline by expanding their efforts to conduct applied research. It appears that common interests are being identified and in many cases, academicians and practitioners are working together to build an alliance designed to benefit the discipline by building on the strengths of each group.

Research plays an important role in furthering any discipline by enhancing our understanding of issues pertinent to those studying and practicing the discipline. This paper helps academicians and practitioners of the logistics discipline to better understand the direction of the profession and to assist us in shaping the future of the discipline.

The overall aim of this paper was to examine the impact of the Australian research assessment exercise on the research approaches (positivist/non-positivist) favoured by accounting disciplines in Australia. Our key research question examined how the outputs and foci of research in elite accounting disciplines changed over a 16-year period. Our analysis was informed by Bourdieu's notions of academic elitism and symbolic violence.

We analysed all papers published in 20 major accounting journals across a 16-year period by Australian accounting disciplines that were highly rated in the research assessment exercise. We also compared our results from this group against two case study accounting disciplines that were not rated as “world class”.

Our key finding is that the introduction of a research assessment exercise in Australia has resulted in research outputs of elite accounting disciplines over this period being increasingly focused on positivist rather than non-positivist research. Our findings evidence a narrowing of accounting disciplines' research agendas and foci across the period.

Our findings highlight a considerable narrowing of the research agenda and paradigms in accounting disciplines that is not in the public interest. Our findings also have implications for the literature on academic elitism. The narrowing of the research agenda and greater foci on positivist research exhibited in our findings demonstrates the role of dominant elites in controlling the research agenda through a research assessment exercise.

A practical implication is that proper research, regardless of the approach used, must be appropriately recognised and accepted by Accounting Disciplines, not ostracised or discouraged. Research implications are the breadth of accounting research should be celebrated and concentration eschewed. Australian accounting discipline leaders should not fall for the illusion that the only good research is that which is published in a small number of North American positivist journals.

Our findings provide insights into Bourdieu's work through demonstrating how dominant players have successfully exploited an external regulatory mechanism, a research assessment exercise, to strengthen their position within a field and exert control over the research agendas of accounting disciplines. Previous work by Bourdieu has not directly examined how actors utilise these outside forces as instruments for shaping their own field.

Argues that the subject matter involved in the process of knowledge transfer needs also to be an integral part of the discourse and that this consideration is of particular relevance within the business school community of higher education. Further argues that the development of the subject matter taught is in danger of becoming irrelevant to the needs of the customers purported to be served and, hence, at best marginalised and at worst excluded, from the discourse of education. States that the trend in management teaching and research to increased specialism and self‐referential legitimation is ultimately self‐defeating because the needs of the customers involved are changing from specialisation to generalisation. Concludes that, consequently, academics in the management metadiscipline are in fact legitimating their own irrelevance and marginalisation and that the discourse of teaching management subjects needs to include not just academics, and their needs and desires, but also those of their customers.

This paper aims to reveal the interdisciplinarity of information science (IS) from the perspective of the evolution of theory application.

Select eight representative IS journals as data sources, extract the theories mentioned in the full texts of the research papers and then measure annual interdisciplinarity of IS by conducting theory co-occurrence network analysis, diversity measure and evolution analysis.

As a young and vibrant discipline, IS has been continuously absorbing and internalizing external theoretical knowledge and thus formed a high degree of interdisciplinarity. With the continuous application of some kernel theories, the interdisciplinarity of IS appears to be decreasing and gradually converging into a few neighboring disciplines. Influenced by big data and artificial intelligence, the research paradigm of IS is shifting from a theory centered one to a technology centered one.

This study helps to understand the evolution of the interdisciplinarity of IS in the past 21 years. The main limitation is that the data were collected from eight journals indexed by the Social Sciences Citation Index and a small amount of theories might have been omitted.

This study identifies the kernel theories in IS research, measures the interdisciplinarity of IS based on the evolution of the co-occurrence network of theory source disciplines and reveals the paradigm shift being happening in IS.