This paper examines the role of interdisciplinary research for the development of knowledge perta... more This paper examines the role of interdisciplinary research for the development of knowledge pertaining to local issues. Using Colombian publications from 1991 until 2011 in the Web of Science, we investigate the relationship between the degree of interdisciplinarity and the local focus of the articles. We find that a higher degree of interdisciplinarity in a publication is associated with a greater emphasis on local issues. In particular, our results support the view that research that combines cognitively disparate disciplines, what we refer to as Distal Interdisciplinarity, is associated with more local relevance of research. In contrast we find that research that involves a clear disciplinary focus with some, but limited engagement with neighbouring disciplines, generates less local knowledge. We conclude by arguing that public research initiatives that aim to appropriate the socio-economic benefits from publicly funded research should not focus exclusively on research excellence, which tends to be treated in disciplinary terms and citation counts as reflected in national research assessment exercises. Implications for policy are offered with attention to policies for capturing the societal benefits of publicly funded research, and implicitly, research assessment exercises.
Towards Transformative Governance? Responses to mission-oriented innova-tion policy paradigms, 2012
Interdisciplinary research has been fostered globally by different policies and organisations. Ho... more Interdisciplinary research has been fostered globally by different policies and organisations. However, there is a debate about the benefits of interdisciplinarity in research and society. There is a widespread argument by policy makers and scholarly works that interdisciplinary research has the potential to generate new approaches to solving complex societal problems as well as promoting local science and technology capabilities. Yet, evaluations of research outputs continue to be made from points of view that favour mono- ...
This paper examines the role of interdisciplinary research for the development of knowledge perta... more This paper examines the role of interdisciplinary research for the development of knowledge pertaining to local issues. Using Colombian publications from 1991 until 2011 in the Web of Science, we investigate the relationship between the degree of interdisciplinarity and the local focus of the articles. We find that a higher degree of interdisciplinarity in a publication is associated with a greater emphasis on local issues. In particular, our results support the view that research that combines cognitively disparate disciplines, what we refer to as Distal Interdisciplinarity, is associated with more local relevance of research. In contrast we find that research that involves a clear disciplinary focus with some, but limited engagement with neighbouring disciplines, generates less local knowledge. We conclude by arguing that public research initiatives that aim to appropriate the socio-economic benefits from publicly funded research should not focus exclusively on research excellence, which tends to be treated in disciplinary terms and citation counts as reflected in national research assessment exercises. Implications for policy are offered with attention to policies for capturing the societal benefits of publicly funded research, and implicitly, research assessment exercises.
Towards Transformative Governance? Responses to mission-oriented innova-tion policy paradigms, 2012
Interdisciplinary research has been fostered globally by different policies and organisations. Ho... more Interdisciplinary research has been fostered globally by different policies and organisations. However, there is a debate about the benefits of interdisciplinarity in research and society. There is a widespread argument by policy makers and scholarly works that interdisciplinary research has the potential to generate new approaches to solving complex societal problems as well as promoting local science and technology capabilities. Yet, evaluations of research outputs continue to be made from points of view that favour mono- ...
Abstract
In many countries research evaluations confer high importance to mainstream journals,
w... more Abstract In many countries research evaluations confer high importance to mainstream journals, which are considered to publish excellent research. Accordingly, research evaluation policies discourage publications in non-mainstream journals under the assumption that they publish low quality research. This approach has prompted a policy debate in low and middle income countries with financial and linguistic barriers to access mainstream journals. A common criticism of the current evaluation practices is that they can hinder the development of certain topics that are not published in mainstream journals – although some of them might be of high local relevance. In this article we examine this issue by exploring the role of non-mainstream journals in scientific communication. We asked researchers from agricultural sciences, business and management, and chemistry in Colombia about their reasons to publish in non-mainstream journals. We found that researchers publish in non-mainstream journals because they: 1) offer a space for initiation into publishing (training); 2) provide a link between articles in mainstream journals and articles read by communities with limited access to them (knowledge- bridging); 3) publish topics that are not well covered by mainstream journals (knowledge gap-filling). Therefore, publication of ‘low scientific quality’ articles does not sufficiently explain the role of non-mainstream journals. The results suggest that research evaluation policy in low and middle income countries should consider assigning greater value to non-mainstream journals given their role in disseminating potentially useful knowledge, in particular regarding local or regional issues.
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Papers by Diego Chavarro
In many countries research evaluations confer high importance to mainstream journals,
which are considered to publish excellent research. Accordingly, research evaluation
policies discourage publications in non-mainstream journals under the assumption that
they publish low quality research. This approach has prompted a policy debate in low
and middle income countries with financial and linguistic barriers to access mainstream
journals. A common criticism of the current evaluation practices is that they can hinder
the development of certain topics that are not published in mainstream journals –
although some of them might be of high local relevance. In this article we examine this
issue by exploring the role of non-mainstream journals in scientific communication. We
asked researchers from agricultural sciences, business and management, and chemistry
in Colombia about their reasons to publish in non-mainstream journals. We found that
researchers publish in non-mainstream journals because they: 1) offer a space for
initiation into publishing (training); 2) provide a link between articles in mainstream
journals and articles read by communities with limited access to them (knowledge-
bridging); 3) publish topics that are not well covered by mainstream journals (knowledge
gap-filling). Therefore, publication of ‘low scientific quality’ articles does not sufficiently
explain the role of non-mainstream journals. The results suggest that research evaluation
policy in low and middle income countries should consider assigning greater value to
non-mainstream journals given their role in disseminating potentially useful knowledge,
in particular regarding local or regional issues.