This opening article in the special issue provides a reflexive overview of the nature and purpose of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy research at present, and makes a case for a collective and critical reflection on the means and ends of our research. The complex interaction between the past, present and future in the STI policy research field is one of the key themes of this article and of the special issue more generally. We first attempt to problematise what current STI policy research is, and then expand on the goals of the special issue. Besides summarising each article, we also discuss how these articles, individually and collectively, provide an overview of a number of epistemic, normative and practical challenges that confront us, articulating the main features of each of these. We end with a call for a sustained, critical and extensive 'conversation' among researchers in our field about the nature and purpose of STI policy research and the challenges we face.
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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Research Policy.
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