How we think about and act on the usefulness of scientific research has epistemological and political implications: what knowledge consists of, how it comes about and to what ends. In this... Show moreHow we think about and act on the usefulness of scientific research has epistemological and political implications: what knowledge consists of, how it comes about and to what ends. In this dissertation, I situate the usefulness of scientific research in concrete places for knowledge exchange. The exchange of knowledge within and between environments is shaped by many spatial factors: from architectural designs, physical proximity and material infrastructures to city planning, regional development and geopolitics. And not only knowledge travels: also spatial models for research organisation circulate. Focusing on ‘utility spots’ instead of prominent scientists, dominant disciplines or powerful organisations is proposed as a fruitful way to highlight the intersection of political, societal, economic, cultural and scientific developments. In this dissertation I propose and develop the utility spot concept as spatio-historical approach to the epistemology of useful scientific research. This allows me to relate different utility concepts to the histories of science, universities, science policy, and the geopolitics of the Atlantic world in the second half of the twentieth century. Future research into previous, current and future organisation of scientific research with societal value could focus on the politics of proximity (in multiple dimensions) at various utility spots. Show less
Purpose: This paper describes an alternative way of assessing journals considering a broader perspective of its impact. The Area-based connectedness (ABC) to society of journals applied here... Show morePurpose: This paper describes an alternative way of assessing journals considering a broader perspective of its impact. The Area-based connectedness (ABC) to society of journals applied here contributes to the assessment of the dissemination task of journals but with more data it may also contribute to the assessment of other missions.Design/ Methodology/ Approach: The ABC approach assesses the performance of research actors, in this case journals, considering the characteristics of the research areas in which they are active. Each paper in a journal inherits the characteristics of its area. These areas are defined by a publication-based classification. The characteristics of areas relate to 5 dimensions of connectedness to society (news, policy, industrial R&D, technology and local interest) and are calculated by bibliometric indicators and social media metrics. Findings: In the paper, I illustrate the approach by showing the results for a few journals. They illustrate the diverse profiles that journals may have. We are able to provide a profile for each journal in the Web of Science database. The profiles I present show an appropriate view on the journals’ societal connectedness.Research limitations: The classification I apply to perform the analyses is a CWTS in house classification based on Web of Science data. As such the application depends on the (updates of) that system. The classification is available at www.leidenranking.com.Practical implications: The dimensions of connectedness discussed in this paper relate to the dissemination task of journals but further development of this method may provide more options to monitor the tasks/mission of journals. Originality/ value: The ABC approach is a unique way to assess performance or impact of research actors considering the characteristics of the areas in which output is published and as such less prone to manipulation or gaming. Keywords: Non-scientific impact of research; ABC to society; Societal impact; Bibliometric mapping; Publication-level classification Show less
