Abstract: The topics concerning the fundamental theory, methodology, research methods, and techniques have gained much attention among LIS communities globally. It is effective to visualize science evolution through a deep understanding of theoretical research and the history of the research field. Our purpose is to clarify the philosophy of LIS, to define the location of LIS in the science society, and to recognize the fundamental theory of LIS. We proposed a concept of “Research Towards Discipline Integration” from the perspective of the science of science, and introduced the mechanism of this concept and its relative status in the transforming process of a discipline. In this way, we concluded:
(1) Discipline development generally intermixes knowledge divergence and convergence. The balance of knowledge status and driving force has produced five development statuses of research patterns, namely specialization, reconstruction, transformation, differentiation, and integration. (2) LIS research shows the diversity in the development of theories and methods corresponding to these five types. LIS communities have insisted on the foundation of being a branch of social science and serving society. LIS has been built within the vision with a systematic and holistic view. (3) Practically, what should be done is the consistency of the belief in the driving force for scientific research. LIS communities could embrace the diverse challenges from the science society by making use of theoretical and methodological foundations based on the idea of “from the integration to the integration”.