Identifying Interdisciplinary Areas of Research at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman through an Evaluation of Thematic Maps

This research was conducted to identify the interdisciplinary areas of research at Kerman's Shahid Bahonar University by evaluating thematic maps. The methodological approach in this research is consistent with scientometric studies and based on data collection in descriptive research. The statistical population of the present study includes all the articles published by the researchers at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The articles were indexed at Web of Science database (WOS) for the period 2005-2015. The data were saved on a computer in Plain Text format. At this stage of research, 3273 records related to Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman were collected within the desired time frame. At the second stage, TXT collector software was deployed to combine all the output files into a single file that can be transferred to scientometric software platforms. Finally at the third stage, the data were pre-processed using Bib excel software. Then, VOS viewer and Pajek software tools were used to draw up the scientific production process, and analyze & record the indicators respectively. Drawing the scientific map of the University of Bahonar indicates that its highest interdisciplinary output involves the thematic areas of energy and fuel with chemical engineering, mathematics with applied mathematics, mechanics with thermodynamics, materials science with materials engineering, mechanical engineering with mechanics, particle physics with astronomy and astrophysics, mechanical engineering with thermodynamics, building technology with civil engineering, interdisciplinary mathematics, and interdisciplinary engineering. In terms of degree centrality, the fields of electrical engineering, fuel & energy, and chemical engineering have the highest degree centrality, and are considered to be the centers of excellence for interdisciplinary research. In terms of betweenness centrality, such research domains as environmental studies, computer science, biochemistry and molecular biology have the highest between ness centrality in the interdisciplinary research network of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman They are intermediate research areas in interdisciplinary research. A comparison of the growth rate of scientific output at Shahid Bahonar University suggests that it can be considered among the prolific universities, but it is a poor institute in terms of interdisciplinary research.