The Electronic Journal: A Vehicle for Interdisciplinary Exploration
Abstract: scientific and scholarly publishing has traditionally provided vehicles for the dissemination of research findings in highly specialised areas defined as academic disciplines. The term discipline refers to an area or body of knowledge that is studied in a university or specialised institute (such as mathematics, philosophy, physics, history, geography, or languages). A discipline has the function of advancing knowledge and technique, and also acting as a gatekeeper for the admittance of new practitioners. Yet when examples from aerospace, medicine, veterinary science, or ITC are studied, it becomes clear that there are challenges still beyond the reach of the specialist discipline. As science and scholarship address these challenges, it becomes apparent that research will fall outside the scope of the traditional disciplinary journal. What are needed are new journals of multidisciplinary research, and the electronic format enables new journals to provide a welcome opportunity to carry out this function because of its speed, range and low cost, though there are many obstacles to be overcome, such as credibility, permanency and vulnerability to intellectual property theft or abuse. One such journal is the Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, and its mission, range and depth will be analysed.
Keywords: Electronic Journal, Academic Discipline, Interdisciplinarity, Multidisciplinarity
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Dr. William W. Bostock
Senior Lecturer, School of Government
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Ref: B07P0116