For further definitions, see 

• Klein, J. T. (2010). A Taxonomy of Interdisciplinary. In R. Frodeman, J. T. Klein, and C. Mitcham (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinary, pp. 15-30. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
• A Beginning Bibliography in this website's Resource Library, in particular areas.

Interdisciplinary Research

"Interdisciplinary research (IDR) is a mode of research by teams or individuals that integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice."

There are four primary drivers of interdisciplinary today:

1. the inherent complexity of nature and society
2. the desire to explore problems and questions that are not confined to a single discipline
3. the need to solve societal problems
4. the power of new technologies.

Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. (2004). Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, pp. 2, 40.

Interdisciplinary Studies (Education):

"Broadly speaking, interdisciplinary studies may be defined as a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single disciplines or profession. Whether the context is an integrated approach to general education, a women's studies program, or a science, technology, and society program, IDS draws on disciplinary perspectives and integrates their insights through construction of a more comprehensive perspective."

Klein, J. T., and Newell, W.H. (2997). "Advancing Interdisciplinary Studies." In J. G. Gaff and J. L. Ratcliff (Eds.). Handbook of the Undergraduate Curriculum: A Comprehensive Guide to Purposes, Structures, Practices, and Change, pp. 393-415.San Francisco: Jossey Bass,

Transdisciplinary Research in Team Science

"Transdisciplinarity is a process in which team members representing different fields work together over extended periods to develop shared conceptual and methodologic frameworks that not only integrate but also transcend their respective disciplinary perspectives. Transdisciplinary collaborations perhaps have the greatest potential to produce highly novel and generative scientific outcomes, but they are more difficult to achieve and sustain than unidisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary projects due to their greater complexity and loftier aspirations for achieving transcendent, supra-disciplinary integrations."

Stokols, D. Hall, K., Taylor, B.K., Moser, R.P. (2008). Overview of the Field and Introduction to the Supplement. Am J Prev Med, 35(2S): S79.