fachlandschaft

Fachlandschaft, literally "subject landscape," is a German term used to describe the organized knowledge domain of a particular field. It encompasses the thematic scope, subfields, and the social and institutional fabric that surround a domain as it is practiced, studied, and communicated. A fachlandschaft includes topics and methods, key concepts and terminology, as well as the researchers, research groups, funders, universities, and other institutions that contribute to the field. It also covers the information infrastructure that supports the domain, such as journals, conference series, data repositories, classification systems, and standardization efforts, as well as the discourse that shapes its development.

In library and information science, research policy, and knowledge management, the concept is used to analyze how knowledge is organized and how it evolves over time. Mapping a fachlandschaft helps identify dominant subfields, emerging topics, and interrelationships between disciplines, as well as gaps and potential areas for collaboration or funding. The boundaries of a fachlandschaft are not fixed; they shift with scientific advances, interdisciplinarity, and social or economic needs.

Methods for analyzing fachlandschaften include bibliometric analyses, science mapping, co-authorship and citation networks, topic modeling, and examination of publication and funding patterns. Examples include the broader biological sciences as a fachlandschaft and digital humanities as an interdisciplinary fachlandschaft bridging humanities with information technology.

Understanding fachlandschaften supports strategic planning, research assessment, and information management by providing a structured view of a field's structure and dynamics.