Search results for "Science studies"

Overcoming the “lost before translation” problem: An exploratory study

2019

This paper draws on Stokes’ (1997) framework to position the disconnection between theory and practice as a knowledge production problem. In this sense, we argue that a better understanding of different academic profiles is extremely important to focus efforts on those academics that may overcome the ‘lost before translation’ problem. Our data, that come from a survey of researchers affiliated to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), provide a good opportunity to explore the factors that might increase or impede the likelihood that researchers engage in research that reconciles the quest for fundamental understanding with the consideration of use (Pasteur’s profile), rather than in …

The Principle of Stasis: Why drift is not a Zero-Cause Law

2016

This paper analyses the structure of evolutionary theory as a quasi-Newtonian theory and the need to establish a Zero-Cause Law. Several authors have postulated that the special character of drift is because it is the default behaviour or Zero-Cause Law of evolutionary systems, where change and not stasis is the normal state of them. For these authors, drift would be a Zero-Cause Law, the default behaviour and therefore a constituent assumption impossible to change without changing the system. I defend that drift's causal and explanatory power prevents it from being considered as a Zero-Cause Law. Instead, I propose that the default behaviour of evolutionary systems is what I call the Princ…

The relationship between interdisciplinarity and distinct modes of university-industry interaction

2019

Abstract Interdisciplinary research (IDR) has raised increasing expectations among scholars and policymakers about its potential to produce ground-breaking scientific contributions and satisfy societal demands. While existing research highlights that novel connections across fields is beneficial for scientific contributions with high academic impact, comparatively less is known about whether IDR is positively associated to scientists’ engagement with non-academic actors. To investigate this, we examine whether there is a systematic relationship between scientists’ IDR-orientation and their interactions with industry. We conceptually distinguish four stylized modes of interaction (firm creat…

How connected are the major forms of irrationality? : an analysis of pseudoscience, science denial, fact resistance and alternative facts

2017

Science is a fact-finding practice, but there are many other fact-finding practices that apply largely the same patterns of reasoning in order to achieve as reliable information as possible in empirical issues. The fact-finding practices form in their turn a subcategory of rational discourse, a wider category that also encompasses argumentation on non-empirical issues. Based on these categories, it is easy to see the relationship between on the one hand pseudoscience, on the other hand fact resistance, disinformation, and fallacies of reasoning. The flaws in argumentation are similar, and the main difference is whether or not the subject matter falls within or without the realm of science.

Digital preservation in institutional repositories: a systematic literature review

2021

Purpose This paper aims to carry out a literature review on the implementation of digital preservation policies, strategies and actions by institutional repositories. The objective is to identify, out of the published experiences, at which level they are fulfilling the function of ensuring the long-term availability of the deposited materials. Design/methodology/approach Using a systematic literature review methodology, a total of 21 articles from international refereed journals published between 2009 and 2020 are reviewed. Findings The research production on this subject is very limited. The scarce number of published articles proves that the interest of repository managers has been focus…

La Vinculación Ciencia-Sociedad: Estereotipos y Nuevos Enfoques

2016

[ES]: La importancia social de la ciencia ha evolucionado notablemente desde mediados del siglo XX, dando lugar a un cambio en el enfoque y desarrollo de la actividad científica. En este contexto, se ha producido un aumento notable de los estudios que analizan en profundidad los procesos de intercambio y transferencia de conocimiento que se producen entre los investigadores y los agentes sociales, en gran medida para su promoción desde las políticas científicas e institucionales. Este artículo describe la evolución de los enfoques sobre las relaciones ciencia-sociedad y analiza los principales elementos de los procesos de intercambio y transferencia de conocimiento mediante un estudio empír…

The conversion of the atom : nuclear science and ideology in Francoist Spain

2016

At the beginning of the atomic age, Francoist Spain launched an expensive project to develop, research and use nuclear energy. Scientists, the military and high-ranking officials in the administration mobilised to materialise a technoscientific dream with an international scope. The modernity of nuclear science contrasts with the reactionary ideology of the regime, but the paradox is only apparent because until now there has not necessarily been any historical relationship between science and democracy. The drive towards nuclear technoscience reveals the mutual construction of science and politics during the Cold War era and the different ways to appropriate and exploit the atom during the …

Dirección de tesis doctorales como reflejo de la Biblioteconomía y Documentación académica española: actores y temas

2020

Doctoral dissertations enable the transfer of research skills and capacities to future generations and the consolidation of lines of research in a given area of knowledge. The field of Library and Information Science in public universities in Spain is characterized by the supervision of doctoral theses by academics in the area. We identified active professors during the 2019–2020 academic year, their date of appointment as civil servants within the public university system, the dissertations that they supervised, and their participation in papers published in scientific journals. The analysis included 644 theses. About a quarter (23%) of university faculty have never supervised a doctoral t…

IPR gender gaps: a first look at utility model, design right and trademark filings

2018

This study extends the analysis of the gender gap in patenting into design rights, utility model (UMs) and trademarks (TMs), which are complementary methods for protecting intellectual property. The analysis is descriptive and uses register data from the Finnish patent and registration office covering the years 1982–2013. A persistent gender gap is found for all intellectual property rights. The gap has narrowed over time for national patent, design right and TM filings but not for UM filings. It is found that, in comparison to men, women are relatively less often single inventors or designers and more often members of inventor or designer teams. peerReviewed

2019

Impact is increasingly important for science policy-makers; science policy studies has reacted this heightened urgency by studying these policy-interventions meaning that policy has developed more quickly than theory. This has led to the prevalence of a ‘common sense’ impact definition: research’s societal impact are direct economic effects, such as income generated by licenses, patents and spin-out companies. These indicators are recognised as weak proxies for research’s societal benefits, and in response, science policy has undertaken a huge descriptive effort to more precisely define impact. SSH disciplines have been highly active in this because economic metrics are very poor measures o…