Linking the dimensions of policy-related research on obesity: a hybrid mapping with multicluster topics and interdisciplinarity maps

Mapping the intellectual structure and dynamics of complex, multidisciplinary domains has long been a challenging task for bibliometrics. Research subjects with outstanding social relevance are typically of this sort, being multifaceted and requiring a synthesis of various field-specific perspectives. Among such subjects, our work addresses policy-related research on obesity, and aims to uncover how this multilevel issue is represented in policy studies through its dense thematic interrelations, and at the interfaces of various research areas participating in the discourse. In doing so, we propose an analytic framework combining so-called hybrid methods of science mapping with the (traditional) use of alluvial diagrams, resulting in what we refer to as “multicluster topics” and “interdisciplinarity maps”. Therefore, the contribution of this paper can be considered both at the subject and at the methodological level.