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Abstract:

Since the rise of the modern university academics increasingly specialize. While some scientists maintain their identity as generalists, most tend to specialize in a small set of methods and theories. On the other hand, it also became increasingly attractive to label scientific research as ‘interdisciplinary’. In times of increasing specialization, calls for problem solving through knowledge integration are never far away. The basic idea that specialization positively contributes to both competition and innovation is gradually complemented by more critical accounts of the disciplinary structure in science. Forces that pull in the direction of synthesis balance the intellectual division of labor. It is often assumed that specialized interdisciplinary fields such as risk studies can be considered as a paradigmatic examples of this counterforce. Against this background, in this presentation we will build on previous reflexive studies on the history of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) (see Thompson et al. 2005) but we will thereby focus on and compare the scholarly communication in two of its flagship journals: Risk Analysis and Journal of Risk Research. Specific attention will first be paid to the evolution and most recent distribution of journal articles by scientific discipline. Second, using journal relatedness data we will examine the features of the citation networks of both journals and the ties between risk studies and other fields of research. Third and finally, we will examine in more detail whether the interdisciplinary nature of risk studies varies according to specific risk topics and subfields of risk research. Keywords: risk studies, scholarly communication, interdisciplinarity, specialization