Mapping highlights potential for more interdisciplinary collaboration in sustainability research

A mapping of publications from Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University shows a broad range of research linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The results also show how the universities complement one another — and point to opportunities for further collaboration.

Magnus Breitholtz, professor, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University

The mapping of publications from the three universities was commissioned by Stockholm Trio for Sustainable Actions, a collaboration for Agenda 2030 within Stockholm Trio. Bibliometric analysts at the three universities have compiled an overview of publications issued by the universities between 2018 and 2023. The aim is to map research linked to the Sustainable Development Goals and facilitate collaboration.

“The idea is to develop a tool to help the public engage with the research being carried out in the field of sustainability,” says Magnus Breitholtz, a professor at Stockholm University (SU) and chair of the collaborative initiative.

Includes 7 of 17 goals

The bibliometric method used was developed at the University of Bergen. As the method is not yet fully developed, it covers only seven of the 17 global sustainable development goals, or 44 of the 168 targets. The fact that only certain sustainable development goals are included in the analysis means that a great deal of research, particularly at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Stockholm University (SU), is missed in the searches, and the results are therefore limited.

Of around 15,000 publications, approximately 10,500 were published by Karolinska Institutet (KI), 1,700 by KTH and 3,000 by SU.

”Sustainable development goal 3 – “Good Health and Well-being” – is undoubtedly the most significant of the 17 goals in terms of research worldwide. It is therefore no coincidence that this goal dominates, particularly as one of the Stockholm trio’s universities, KI, is among the world’s largest producers of medical research publications,” says Gabor Schubert, bibliometric analyst at SU.

Interpretations shape the analysis

According to bibliometricians, the fact that Sustainable development goal 3 is a high-output research area may also contribute to KI’s dominance. Furthermore, the sustainable development goals are formulated in a way that leaves room for different interpretations.

“Research related to a specific sustainability goal cannot be easily defined or operationalised. Depending on how the goal is interpreted and subsequently operationalised, the results of an analysis can vary considerably,” says Peter Bjurström, a bibliometric analyst at KI.

The Bergen method was used specifically because it was necessary in order to capture the sub-goals for goal 3.

”Almost everything KI publishes falls under objective three, and KI publishes in large volumes, so without the sub-objectives it is difficult to see anything relevant there. Another reason was that the Bergen method is openly available, reasonably well documented and adapted to the Web of Science database, and we had to use the WoS web interface because the universities have different database licences,” Schubert says.

Complementary strengths

Although the method is not yet fully developed and there is still some work to be done to refine it, Magnus Breitholtz finds the results interesting.

“What we can say based on the analysis is that there isn’t a great deal of collaboration in the articles we’ve identified, but it’s also fair to say that the research projects complement one another. Certain research groups at KI work on specific types of objectives compared to KTH and SU. And perhaps that is how it should be; it need not be a bad thing. Universities excel in different areas. At the same time, this shows that we have an enormous scientific breadth within the Stockholm trio and that there is a solid foundation for more interdisciplinary collaboration between our universities,” Breitholtz says.

Developing a search tool

The next step is to see whether it is possible to adapt the so-called Bergen method to cover all the global Sustainable development goals, in order to provide a comprehensive overview. This is also a prerequisite for developing a comprehensive search tool that researchers can use to find research and collaboration partners.

“The ideal solution would be to develop some form of software that makes it easier for the wider world to easily find out which researchers are doing what in the field of sustainability at our three universities,” Breitholtz says.