A collaboratively-derived science-policy research agenda

The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 7; no. 3; p. e31824
Main Authors:	Sutherland, William J, Bellingan, Laura, Bellingham, Jim R, Blackstock, Jason J, Bloomfield, Robert M, Bravo, Michael, Cadman, Victoria M, Cleevely, David D, Clements, Andy, Cohen, Anthony S, Cope, David R, Daemmrich, Arthur A, Devecchi, Cristina, Anadon, Laura Diaz, Denegri, Simon, Doubleday, Robert, Dusic, Nicholas R, Evans, Robert J, Feng, Wai Y, Godfray, H Charles J, Harris, Paul, Hartley, Sue E, Hester, Alison J, Holmes, John, Hughes, Alan, Hulme, Mike, Irwin, Colin, Jennings, Richard C, Kass, Gary S, Littlejohns, Peter, Marteau, Theresa M, McKee, Glenn, Millstone, Erik P, Nuttall, William J, Owens, Susan, Parker, Miles M, Pearson, Sarah, Petts, Judith, Ploszek, Richard, Pullin, Andrew S, Reid, Graeme, Richards, Keith S, Robinson, John G, Shaxson, Louise, Sierra, Leonor, Smith, Beck G, Spiegelhalter, David J, Stilgoe, Jack, Stirling, Andy, Tyler, Christopher P, Winickoff, David E, Zimmern, Ron L
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 09-03-2012 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Business schools Climate change Conservation Decision making Decision Making, Organizational England Environmental management Food Interdisciplinary Communication Laboratories Medicine Museums Policy research Professionals Public policy Public Policy - trends Research Design Science Science Policy Scientists Social and Behavioral Sciences Society Transparency Voting Zoology England Massachusetts California
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Summary:	The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or itself becomes a matter of public controversy, or both. We suggest that identifying key unanswered questions on the relationship between science and policy will catalyse and focus research in this field. To identify these questions, a collaborative procedure was employed with 52 participants selected to cover a wide range of experience in both science and policy, including people from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. These participants consulted with colleagues and submitted 239 questions. An initial round of voting was followed by a workshop in which 40 of the most important questions were identified by further discussion and voting. The resulting list includes questions about the effectiveness of science-based decision-making structures; the nature and legitimacy of expertise; the consequences of changes such as increasing transparency; choices among different sources of evidence; the implications of new means of characterising and representing uncertainties; and ways in which policy and political processes affect what counts as authoritative evidence. We expect this exercise to identify important theoretical questions and to help improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those working at the interface of science and policy.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Conceived and designed the experiments: WJS MB RD KSR SO CPT. Performed the experiments: WJS LB JRB JJB RMB MB VMC DDC AC ASC DRC AAD CD LDA SD RD NRD RJE WYF HCJG PH SEH AJH JH AH MH CI RCJ GSK PL TMM GM EPM WJN SO MMP SP JP RP ASP BP GR KSR JGR LS LS BGS DJS JS ACS CPT DEW RLZ. Wrote the paper: WJS LB JRB JJB RMB MB VMC DDC AC ASC DRC AAD CD LDA SD RD NRD RJE WYF HCJG PH SEH AJH JH AH MH CI RCJ GSK PL TMM GM EPM WJN SO MMP SP JP RP ASP BP GR KSR JGR LS LS BGS DJS JS ACS CPT DEW RLZ.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0031824