Q&A with Rob Fisher, Series Editor for Emerald Connexions

In your experience what are the benefits and opportunities offered by interdisciplinary research?

- To see the world through other people?s eyes.
- To see your own work through eyes of others.
- To share methods, tools and approaches.
- To have your eyes opened to new horizons and possibilities.
- To watch the potential transformation of knowledge, experience and practice.

What challenges and barriers do you face when working across disciplines?

Precisely what this question presumes, namely, that being interdisciplinary is something that belongs primarily or exclusively to the academic world! Everyone, in the course of daily life, is living an interdisciplinary life. Driving a car is a discipline: it has its own methods and tools; cooking a meal is a discipline ? it has its own methods, tools; being a plumber, or an electrician, or a brick layer are all disciplines. The challenge is getting people to appreciate that being interdisciplinary is so much wider than they presently believe. The traditional barrier to academic interdisciplinary research is the blinkered belief that people doing interdisciplinary work are the jacks of all trades (disciplines) and the masters of none. In other words, they sacrifice depth for width.

Do interdisciplinary researchers need a different skill-set to those working in single disciplines? What are the main skills you would mention as being important?

Yes, that is definitely the case. The two key interdisciplinary foundations are:
Humility - because you recognise you have just one piece of a very large puzzle.
Inclusivity - because if you accept that everyone is involved in interdisciplinary living, we need to be open and receptive to learning from *all* areas of life.

How do you find researchers from other disciplines to partner with on interdisciplinary research projects?

I work to create projects where people from across all spectrums can share common ground. It is important to get researchers to adjust their starting points, and to stop them feeling threatened by being part of a larger project.

Is engagement with stakeholders or end-users any different in interdisciplinary research/work?

Absolutely not; the equality of all players is foundational to good interdisciplinary practices.

How do you decide where to publish interdisciplinary research (given that different disciplines would likely gravitate to different out lets)? Are there existing 'natural' homes for this (or is this a gap in the market we can exploit)?

Avoid traditional academic publishers. In my experience they don't know: what to do with 'true' interdisciplinary work; how to classify it; how to market it; nor how to sell it.

Nor, it seems to me, do they particularly want to. There needs to be a fundamental re- education of the publishing market if progress is to be made in interdisciplinary thinking. I think you need to work with a publisher for whom some markets may not be 'native' and who are willing to shake things up a bit by being unconventional. There is a ghastly phrase business people use which sums it up nicely - disruptors. Market disruptors who are prepared to gamble on an innovative style of publishing which shows diversity and inclusivity.

What would your 5 top tips be for those about to start working on an interdisciplinary project?

- Have a vision.
- Think big, think wide.
- Take the lead.
- Make it easy for people to join.
- Make it easy for people to leave.

Imagine someone is sat at a table, scribbling or drawing or writing on a piece of paper. Someone sees them, walks over, looks over their shoulder and sees what they are doing. They get excited. They draw up a chair to the same table and start scribbling, drawing, writing. Another person sees what is happening, comes and looks over their shoulders, gets excited, draws up a chair.

That's how you get good interdisciplinary work started. Do something which piques people's interest and then excites them enough to want to join in.