Outline of academic disciplines

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An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of knowledge, taught and researched as part of higher education. A scholar's discipline is commonly defined by the university faculties and learned societies to which they belong and the academic journals in which they publish research.

Disciplines vary between well-established ones in almost all universities with well-defined rosters of journals and conferences and nascent ones supported by only a few universities and publications. A discipline may have branches, which are often called sub-disciplines.

The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to academic disciplines. In each case, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy (e.g., Humanities) is a group of broadly similar disciplines; an entry at the next highest level (e.g., Music) is a discipline having some degree of autonomy and being the fundamental identity felt by its scholars. Lower levels of the hierarchy are sub-disciplines that do generally not have any role in the structure of the university's governance.

Also regarded as a Social science

Linguistics listed in Social science

Also regarded as a Social science

Also listed in Applied science

Also regarded as the separate, an entry at the highest level of the hierarchy

Also regarded as a social science

Main articles: Outline of futures studies and Futures studies

Also regarded as a formal science

Also a branch of electrical engineering

Also regarded as a social science

Also listed in Humanities

• Abbott, Andrew (2001). Chaos of Disciplines. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-00101-2.
• Oleson, Alexandra; Voss, John (1979). The Organization of knowledge in modern America, 1860–1920. ISBN 0-8018-2108-8.
• US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). National Center for Education Statistics.

• Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2000): Developed by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics to provide a taxonomic scheme that will support the accurate tracking, assessment, and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity.
• Complete JACS (Joint Academic Classification of Subjects) from Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in the United Kingdom
• Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC 2008) (web-page Archived 2010-12-12 at the Wayback Machine) Chapter 3 and Appendix 1: Fields of research classification.
• Fields of Knowledge, a zoomable map allowing the academic disciplines and sub-disciplines in this article be visualised.
• Sandoz, R. (ed.), Interactive Historical Atlas of the Disciplines, University of Geneva