Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Interdisciplinary Directions

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Project Description: We envision a smart online discovery tool which helps users discover relevant information they did not even know existed-let alone how to find-which enables them to learn things they didn t know they didn t know. This highly interdisciplinary reference resource reviews and summarizes knowledge about key social and behavioral science topics and outlines emerging trends in specific fields. Moreover, by using hyperlinks, it dynamically directs users to other articles that bear directly on a topic of interest. The hyperlinks will create an intelligent multidimensional system of cross-referencing, leading users to consider a topic from multiple levels of analysis and from different disciplinary perspectives they may not have considered. Articles will be forward-looking in that each will only briefly review and summarize the current state of knowledge on a given topic, then focus on mapping emerging trends and identifying promising new lines of research. This new resource is especially timely given that increasing spamming and gaming of the Internet has led search engines such as Google to become increasingly less effective. This reference work will allow users to search efficiently and effectively within the social and behavioral sciences while promoting interdisciplinary understanding of individual topics.Features & Benefits: This project represents a unique collaboration between SAGE Publications and members of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Initial release of this continually updated online subscription reference work comprises five million words on both classic and cutting-edge social and behavioral science research topics and will be followed by bi-annual updates. To-the-point articles of 2,500 and 5,000 words each are formatted according to a common template: a) abstract and introduction; b) a description of what is presently known about the subject; c) discussion of key issues of research and emerging areas of study; d) discussion of promising future directions for research; and e) references and further readings. Authors include established scholars as well as rising stars worldwide, among them scholars who have participated in the CASBS Fellowship program at Stanford. Our Consultants approach to selecting trends ensures that in addition to perspectives from the core social and behavioral disciplines, articles will draw on relevant humanistic disciplines, biology, the neurosciences and other fields of study as they interact with the social and behavioral sciences, thereby contributing to a broader interdisciplinary perspective on key topics. Thoughtfully constructed hyperlinks embedded in each article lead users to other articles presenting different disciplinary perspectives on a topic and/or different levels of analysis. Users have the ability to identify, capture, and download all related articles of interest. The electronic platform allows linking outside the product to works cited within articles if those works are available electronically within the collection of the user s library. Additional features under consideration include video clips and animations illustrating processes central to a topic, links to data sets and scientific visuals, ability to create custom course packs of selected articles, and ability to access content with mobile devices.