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Improving fitness: Mapping research priorities against societal needs on obesity

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  • Cassi, Lorenzo
  • Lahatte, Agénor
  • Rafols, Ismael
  • Sautier, Pierre
  • de Turckheim, Élisabeth

Abstract

Science policy is increasingly shifting towards an emphasis in societal problems or grand challenges. As a result, new evaluative tools are needed to help assess not only the knowledge production side of research programmes or organisations, but also the articulation of research agendas with societal needs. In this paper, we present an exploratory investigation of science supply and societal needs on the grand challenge of obesity – an emerging health problem with enormous social costs. We illustrate a potential approach that uses topic modelling to explore: (a) how scientific publications can be used to describe existing priorities in science production; (b) how policy records (in this case here questions posed in the European parliament) can be used as an instance of mapping discourse of social needs; (c) how the comparison between the two may show (mis)alignments between societal concerns and scientific outputs. While this is a technical exercise, we propose that this type of mapping methods can be useful to domain experts for informing strategic planning and evaluation in funding agencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Cassi, Lorenzo & Lahatte, Agénor & Rafols, Ismael & Sautier, Pierre & de Turckheim, Élisabeth, 2017. "Improving fitness: Mapping research priorities against societal needs on obesity," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 1095-1113.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:11:y:2017:i:4:p:1095-1113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2017.09.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Lin & ZHAO, Wenjing & Liu, Jianhua & Sivertsen, Gunnar & HUANG, Ying, 2020. "Do national funding organizations properly address the diseases with the highest burden? - Observations from China and the UK," SocArXiv ckpf8, Center for Open Science.
    2. Lin Zhang & Wenjing Zhao & Jianhua Liu & Gunnar Sivertsen & Ying Huang, 2020. "Do national funding organizations properly address the diseases with the highest burden?: Observations from China and the UK," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1733-1761, November.
    3. Chavarro, Diego & Taborda, Jaime Andres Perez & Ávila, Alba, 2021. "Connecting brain and heart: artificial intelligence for sustainable development," SocArXiv gj5kr, Center for Open Science.
    4. Wallace, Matthew L. & Ràfols, Ismael, 2018. "Institutional shaping of research priorities: A case study on avian influenza," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1975-1989.
    5. Anna Kiss & Péter Fritz & Zoltán Lakner & Sándor Soós, 2020. "Linking the dimensions of policy-related research on obesity: a hybrid mapping with multicluster topics and interdisciplinarity maps," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 159-213, January.
    6. Huang, Cui & Yang, Chao & Su, Jun, 2021. "Identifying core policy instruments based on structural holes: A case study of China’s nuclear energy policy," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    7. Diana Maynard & Benedetto Lepori & Johann Petrak & Xingyi Song & Philippe Laredo, 2020. "Using ontologies to map between research data and policymakers’ presumptions: the experience of the KNOWMAK project," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1275-1290, November.
    8. Wouter van de & Alfredo Yegros-Yegros & Tim Willemse & Ismael Rafols, 2023. "Priorities in research portfolios: exploring the need for upstream research in cardiometabolic and mental health," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(6), pages 961-976.
    9. Ismael Rafols, 2025. "Towards multiple ontologies in science mapping. A tribute to Loet Leydesdorff," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(6), pages 3229-3255, June.
    10. Madsen, Emil Bargmann & Aagaard, Kaare, 2020. "Concentration of Danish research funding on individual researchers and research topics: Patterns and potential drivers," SocArXiv j874c, Center for Open Science.
    11. Diego Chavarro & Jaime Andrés Perez-Taborda & Alba Ávila, 2022. "Connecting brain and heart: artificial intelligence for sustainable development," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7041-7060, December.
    12. Cassi, Lorenzo & Lahatte, Agénor & Rafols, Ismael & Sautier, Pierre & de Turckheim, Élisabeth, 2017. "Improving fitness: Mapping research priorities against societal needs on obesity," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 1095-1113.
    13. Confraria, Hugo & Wang, Lili, 2020. "Medical research versus disease burden in Africa," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    14. Ciarli, Tommaso & Ràfols, Ismael, 2019. "The relation between research priorities and societal demands: The case of rice," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 949-967.
    15. repec:osf:socarx:ckpf8_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Chao Yang & Cui Huang, 2024. "Target-oriented policy diffusion analysis: a case study of China’s information technology policy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(3), pages 1347-1376, March.
    17. Madsen, Emil Bargmann & Andersen, Jens Peter, 2024. "Funding priorities and health outcomes in Danish medical research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).

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