| 1. |
- Aliakbar, Akbaritabar, et al.
(author)
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The impact of a national research assessment on the publications of sociologists in Italy
- 2021
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 48:5, s. 662-678
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article investigates the impact of the second national research assessment (VQR 2004–10), which was performed in 2011 by the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes, on publication strategies by sociologists in Italy. We reconstructed all publications from Italian sociologists in Scopus between 2006 and 2015, that is five years before and after the assessment. We also checked academic tenure and promotions during the assessment. Our results showed the potentially distortive effect of institutional signals on publications given that Italian sociologists published more in journals that were considered influential for assessment, some, however, being of doubtful quality. Our findings would suggest that the use of informed peer review and ad hoc journal ranking could stimulate adaptive responses based on strategic journal targeting to ensure publication.
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| 2. |
- Armeni, Kristijan, et al.
(author)
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Towards wide-scale adoption of open science practices : The role of open science communities
- 2021
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 48:5, s. 605-611
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite the increasing availability of Open Science (OS) infrastructure and the rise in policies to change behaviour, OS practices are not yet the norm. While pioneering researchers are developing OS practices, the majority sticks to status quo. To transition to common practice, we must engage a critical proportion of the academic community. In this transition, OS Communities (OSCs) play a key role. OSCs are bottom-up learning groups of scholars that discuss OS within and across disciplines. They make OS knowledge more accessible and facilitate communication among scholars and policymakers. Over the past two years, eleven OSCs were founded at several Dutch university cities. In other countries, similar OSCs are starting up. In this article, we discuss the pivotal role OSCs play in the large-scale transition to OS. We emphasize that, despite the grassroot character of OSCs, support from universities is critical for OSCs to be viable, effective, and sustainable.
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| 3. |
- Borrás, Susana, et al.
(author)
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The design of transformative research and innovation policy instruments for grand challenges : The policy-nesting perspective
- 2022
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 49:5, s. 659-672
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several countries have created policy instruments seeking to direct research and innovation (R&I) toward addressing societal challenges. However, the design of such instruments might not always live up to their proclaimed transformative rationale. The aim of this paper is to examine empirically this matter. In a unique cross country comparison of four Grand Challenge-oriented R&I programs in the Nordic countries, we ask to what extent the design of new policy instruments for grand challenges are nested according to the rationale of transformative R&I policy. The findings show that, while all have individual transformative elements, they only exhibit weak or medium degrees of nesting. At a time of increasing transformative ambition of R&I policies, our findings make an important contribution to understanding and addressing the complexity of designing R&I transformative policy instruments.
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| 4. |
- Brett, Nancy, et al.
(author)
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From global climate goals to local practice-mission-oriented policy enactment in three Swedish regions
- 2023
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 50:4, s. 603-618
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As the national and supranational levels of government embrace the concept of missions to solve wicked problems, the importance of understanding how missions move from one level of governance to another becomes essential. In this paper, we present a comparative case analysis of evolving regional biogas systems to consider how global missions on climate action are enacted in local practice. Referring to wickedness in terms of contestation, complexity, and uncertainty of both problems and solutions, we examine how such framings affect the operationalisation of the missions. Our results indicate that in the process of local translation, wickedness often increases, but additional wickedness does not always worsen the outcomes.
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| 5. |
- Carlsson, Vanja, 1985, et al.
(author)
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“It is controlling, but you don’t really care.” : Researchers’ perceptions of legitimation of research policy
- 2024
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Starting from the tension between scientific autonomy and state governing in research policy, the aim of this article is to examine how researchers who apply for funding in Sweden perceive the legitimate grounds for a new research policy in which sex and gender perspectives are integrated as criteria in assessing scientific quality. Our results show that researcher’s perception of themselves, and of the purpose of research, is compatible with dominant ideals in contemporary academic landscape, where knowledge is treated as a deliverable to external stakeholders or to meet politically formulated goals. However, according to researchers, the legitimate sources of policy influence originate from their own profession or the common interest of the people, explicitly expressed by citizens. Researchers are questioning, and find strategies to avoid, top-down state governing.
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| 6. |
- Cocos, Marta, 1988-, et al.
(author)
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What we know about research policy mix
- 2020
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 47:2, s. 235-245
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The research policy (RP) arena has been transforming in recent years, turning into a policy mix encompassing the diversity of policy instruments embedded in, and following different policy rationales and aims. Its complexity defies attempts for complex comparative analysis and eventually, a better understanding of what kind of (mixes of) funding instruments work better than others and in which situations. In this article, we address this gap by developing a conceptual framework that allows us to build the policy mix idea into the analysis of research funding instruments (RFIs), by relying on four dimensions: policy rationales, implementation modalities, policy actors, and the funding instruments interactions. We base our work on a careful literature review, especially drawing on the work of researchers who have developed similar frameworks in other policy areas, bringing it together with that of RP scholars, capturing the issues that are key to analyzing and understanding RFIs.
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| 7. |
- Donati, Letizia, et al.
(author)
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A legitimacy approach to social innovation initiatives at universities
- 2022
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 50:2, s. 194-205
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A striving for research excellence and the implementation of third mission activities in the form of technology transfer have become standard practices at modern higher education institutions. The recent call for universities to include social innovation in their third mission and the apparent lack of involvement of universities in this area indicate that social innovation is not yet perceived as a legitimate activity by the academic community. We examine why this is the case and disentangle the legitimation journey of social innovation in research-intensive environments.
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| 8. |
- Edquist, Charles, et al.
(author)
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Functional procurement for innovation, welfare, and the environment
- 2020
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1471-5430 .- 0302-3427. ; 47:5, s. 595-603
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Public procurement accounts for a very large share of most economies worldwide. This conceptual article argues that the key to achieving more innovations when pursuing public procurement is to describe problems to be solved or functions to be fulfilled (functional procurement) instead of describing the products to be bought (product procurement). Contracting authorities need to identify the problems that policy should address. The new products (innovations) solving the problems are to be designed by the potential innovators/suppliers, not by public procurers. Hence, the societal needs and problems must be translated and transformed into functional requirements. Functional procurement is allowed in European regulations, and therefore, there are no legal obstacles to use it for innovation policy purposes. Furthermore, it leads to increased competition not only among potential suppliers of similar products, but also among different products that solve the same problem.
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| 9. |
- Jonsson, Anna, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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Unboxing knowledge in collaboration between academia and society : A story about conceptions and epistemic uncertainty
- 2022
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 49:4, s. 583-597
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Policymakers increasingly emphasize knowledge collaboration between academia and society as important means to generate innovations and solve complex issues. However, while recent literature on such collaboration suggests that knowledge needs to be integrated and generated across disciplines and sectors, there are surprisingly few studies that define what is meant by ‘knowledge’ or focus on the process of generating knowledge. Subsequently, the aim of this paper is to unbox ‘knowledge’ in knowledge collaboration by focusing specifically on how knowledge is understood by heterogenous actors during the process of generating knowledge. We build on insights from an in-depth case study and contribute to the literature on knowledge collaboration by bringing in theory on boundary work that specifically addresses the knowledge generation process. We argue that to better meet the expectations of collaboration, there is a need for more discussions and focus on the participating stakeholders’ heterogenous epistemological as well as ontological understanding.
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| 10. |
- Morisson, Arnault, et al.
(author)
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Policy entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial strategies, and institutional contexts in Interreg Europe
- 2023
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In: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 50:4, s. 670-680
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In their efforts to affect policy change, policy entrepreneurs employ a series of strategies, which have been well documented in the literature. However, little is known regarding the relationship between the types of strategies policy entrepreneurs use and the institutional contexts in which they operate. The Interreg Europe programme aims to promote policy changes and thus offers a space for policy learning and experimentation to policy entrepreneurs. Using a mixed methodology that includes a survey addressed to the sixty-five Interreg Europe projects in research and innovation during the programming period 2014–20 and twelve follow-up semi-structured interviews, this article explores the strategies used by policy entrepreneurs in different institutional contexts. The study, rare in the policy entrepreneurship scholarship with its quantitative aspects, highlights the most widely-used strategies by policy entrepreneurs in research and innovation policy changes. Findings suggest that the strategy of storytelling is more widely used in high-innovator regions than in low-innovator regions and in Northern European regions compared to Southern European regions. Moreover, policy entrepreneurs who employ the storytelling strategy find it easier to introduce a policy change.
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