Top-Down Research, Generalists, and Google Scholar: Does Google Scholar Facilitate Breakthrough Research?

Researchers long ago demonstrated that top-down, inference-based approaches to research have comfortably co-existed with more traditional bottom-up, hypotheses-driven research. Yet most faculty omit any mention of top-down approaches in direct instruction or training of students, despite these approaches being both relatively common, occasionally necessary, and considerably more efficient than traditional bottom-up research. The growing sophistication of search engine algorithms, like those used by Google Scholar, makes possible highly efficient, inter-disciplinary top-down research. This article explores both the existence and operation of top-down approaches to research in the sciences and the ways in which Google Scholar could work with top-down research strategies to transform collaboration and inter-disciplinary research, particularly in the sciences.