A study on the factors impeding research productivity finds that beyond funding, several other factors need to be addressed to increase the research output.
In June 2022, the European Commission (EC) published a study ‘on factors impeding the productivity of research and the prospects for open science policies to improve the ability of the research and innovation system’. The study analyses factors that can hinder the research and focuses on prospects for Open Science practices to improve research productivity. It also assesses the ability of research and innovation systems to transform financial investments in research into valuable outputs and societal outcomes. The study is based on a literature review on research productivity, an exploratory survey of 52 experts and a workshop with eight experts to identify policy recommendations.
According to the literature review, there are three main approaches to define research productivity: i. a scientometric framework in which the research productivity is studied as the ratio of research inputs (e.g. funding and human capital) to knowledge codified in biographical outputs (publications and patents), ii. an innovation framework, where research productivity is examined as the ratio of research inputs to innovation outputs (e.g.technologies, patents and ideas); and finally, iii. a social impact framework that studies research productivity in the relation between research inputs and their effects on society. The present study was based exclusively on the innovation framework due to the current priorities of the EC policies.
The report identifies five categories of factors that hinder research productivity: i. inefficient R&D routines; ii. market pressures that drive innovation away from social welfare; iii. R&D incentives that do not promote high-risk research; iv. the fast-expanding endless frontier of new knowledge needed for innovations; and v. difficulties in combining different areas of knowledge. The study explains that two of the five identified categories are especially hindering research productivity: The first one is R&D incentives that promote incremental, low-risk and short-term research with no clear impact on societal well-being, something that is linked to current regulations, market and non-market evaluations of research and the extreme specialisation of research. The second one is inefficient R&D routines and processes due to regulations and the slow uptake of innovative tools and methods.
To improve research productivity, the report provides the following policy recommendations:
- Increased R&D funding is needed to increase research productivity. However, beyond funding, other factors are required, for example, the facilitation of human capital and access to talents, better planning and design of research funding, and the dissemination of organisational and technical innovation to enhance the efficiency of R&D routines. Moreover, the facilitation of collaboration between researchers, organisations, disciplines and sectors is needed as well as the comprehension of the effects of incentives and policies in motivating researchers to expand the knowledge frontiers.
- The design of research funding priorities should be changed and become more focused on societal challenges. This may push innovations/ideas to be more beneficial for society and increase research productivity beyond research efficiency. Still, the focus on societal challenges should be complementary to the increasing exploration of ideas with a little likelihood of success but with a potential of high impact and novelty, including inter- and transdisciplinary research.
- Changes in research evaluation practices and the measurement of research productivity are needed, combining efficiency and societal impact. Research evaluation systems need to be adopted according to the research objectives as there cannot be one approach for all. Evaluations based on bibliometrics can be one element, but good practices that are explained, for example, in the Leiden Manifesto and the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), should be used. Bibliometrics are especially relevant for reputation and recognition, but not for novelty, risk or societal transformation.
- Open Science (OS) policies and practices may also increase research productivity, but need to receive adequate support. As OS practices can be costly for researchers and organisations, there is a need to address this market failure by facilitating open access practices in organisations through administrative support or access to research data infrastructures.
- Systematic changes in the value chain of research and development practices: Coordination among funders, researchers and research users to change research practices, priorities and evaluation systems is needed. Additionally, it would be essential to understand research productivity from the innovation but also the social impact perspectives rather than from a pure efficiency perspective.