Measuring knowledge transfer between fields of science

In this paper we report on the results of an exploratory study of knowledge exchange between disciplines and subfields of science by means of bibliometric methods. The goal of this analysis is twofold. On the one side we further explore the possibilities to study knowledge exchange between different disciplines by analysing cross-disciplinary citations in journal articles. A second topic is a discussion of measures which may be useful to quantify the rate of knowledge transfer between fields and the importance of work in a given field or for other disciplines. Two measures are applied, which appear to be proper indicators of impact of research on other fields. Among the disciplines, Multidisciplinary sciences and Basic life sciences rank highest on indicators of interdisciplinary impact. Within the discipline of physics, publications in the subfield of 'Atomic & Molecular Physics' appear to have the most impact in other disciplines. The indicators of interdisciplinary impact maybe applied at other levels as well, for instance universities or institutes.