Inter- and intra-domain knowledge flows: Examining their relationship with impact at the field level over time

Abstract

Just as innovations often succeed in fields beyond their original domains, this study explores whether the same applies to scientific discoveries. We investigate the flow of knowledge across scientific disciplines by analyzing connections between 2015 cited publications indexed in the Web of Science and their citing counterparts. Specifically, we measure the rates of knowledge dissemination within and across different fields. Our study addresses key questions about disparities between inter- and intra-domain dissemination rates, the relationship between dissemination types and scholarly impact, and the evolution of these patterns over time. These findings enhance our understanding of knowledge flows and provide practical insights with significant implications for evaluative bibliometrics.