Mathias M. Siems (University of Edinburgh – School of Law) has posted The Taxonomy of Interdisciplinary Legal Research: Finding the Way Out of the Desert on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
According to the 19th century jurist Julius von Kirchmann "law is like a wanderer in the desert" because "three words changed by the law-maker may render entire libraries useless". This sentence is based on the assumption that academic lawyers are only interested in what law-makers actually do. Interdisciplinary research is, of course, different. So, if we go beyond traditional legal research, we may be able to find a way out of the desert. This paper suggests a new taxonomy with which this can be achieved. In particular, it distinguishes between basic and advanced approaches. Basic interdisciplinary research uses the same questions as starting points as traditional legal research; however, it also considers other academic disciplines to answer these questions. Advanced interdisciplinary research goes further. It can either deal with research questions that are not about the law as such (type 1), or incorporate scientific methods into legal thinking (type 2), or combine both (type 3).