Attrition in Digital Self-Management Interventions for Patients With Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD): Mixed Methods Systematic Review.

Interdisciplinary research is increasingly important for advancing science. Early‐career researchers (ECRs) play a central role in driving this progress and bridging gaps between fields. Inspired by a recent ECR‐focused multidisciplinary symposium, this editorial reflects on the importance of ECR engagement across disciplines and highlights examples of current interdisciplinary research. Recent technological advancements have accelerated biological discovery and yielded unprecedented amounts of data (D'Argenio, ; Vitorino, ). However, this scientific progress has revealed ever‐growing complexity and elicited endless new questions. In recent decades, there has been an exponential growth in scientific publication (Bornmann et al., ; Pautasso, ) with modern scientific reports containing increasingly large datasets, diverse methodologies and requiring longer times to publish (Vale, ). While scientific discovery historically centred on the esteem of individual genius, the value of teamwork is undeniable in modern science. Evidence of the shift towards collaborative science is reflected in the increase in co‐authorship on publications (Vale, ; Zhou and Nunes Amaral, ). Indeed, there has been a sharp rise in the number of publications with 10 or more authors from the 1960s onwards (Zhou and Nunes Amaral, ), and leading journals such as and show a two‐ to four‐fold increase in authors per paper since the 1980s (Vale, ). Furthermore, publications authored by a team of researchers tend to be more highly cited than publications by solo authors, suggesting a higher scientific impact of collaborative studies (Wuchty et al., ). Alongside the rise of collaborative science, interdisciplinary research has gained prominence. This is evidenced by research publications increasingly citing studies outside of their own discipline (Van Noorden, ) and high‐impact journals increasingly publishing interdisciplinary articles (Zhou and Nunes Amaral, ). Indeed, team diversity is associated with creativity and the emergence of new knowledge (Berliant and Fujita, ; Guimera et al., ; Pennington, ). Beyond improving the quality of science, interdisciplinary research advances professional development by challenging researchers to refine their ability to communicate concepts, become aware of the boundaries of their own discipline, stimulates learning, broadens perspectives and promotes innovative thinking (Mahringer et al., ). Moreover, interdisciplinary biomedical studies are more likely to be cited by patents, suggesting higher translational potential (Ke, ).