Returns of research funding are maximised in media visibility for excellent institutes

Bibliographic Data

ID22235608
AuthorsMarta Entradas (0000-0001-7146-9912, Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, corresponding author), J M Santos (0000-0001-6414-6891, Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa)
Year2021
Volume8
Issue1
Publication date2021-09-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/s41599-021-00884-w
OpenAlexW3200446936
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited30

This paper investigates public communication activity across research institutes with varying levels of excellence in research, and how competitive funding affects this activity. With competing funding trends requiring plans for public engagement in the funded research, a question arising is whether institutes capturing higher amounts of funding return the most value for public communication. Using international data from N = 1550 institutes in six countries, we first compare public communication activity among excellent and less-than-excellent institutes. We then investigate the relationship between competitive funding and public communication across levels of excellence. We find that the returns of funding are maximised in media interactions in excellent institutes when compared to the less excellent, but not in public events. This suggests that returns of research funding may not result in the expected outcomes for increased ‘public engagement in science’ if institutions are guided by instrumental goals

Business · Excellence · Political science · Public engagement · Public funding · Public relations · Advertising and Communication Studies · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Computer Science · Public Administration · scientometrics and bibliometrics research

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