Media Coverage and the Commercial Diffusion of Scientific Knowledge

科学研究对企业的技术进步至关重要，但科学知识的商业利用面临重大挑战。尽管有科学知识，但如果它被商业化应用，它往往仍然被困在象牙塔里。该项目的重点是向企业传播科学信息，以及为专家量身定制的科学论文的复杂性所造成的障碍。这种复杂性妨碍了非专家和公众的理解和有效利用。简化科学信息并将其传播给更广泛的受众，有可能促进科学的商业传播。为了探索这一点，研究人员调查的作用，媒体报道（科学新闻稿的支持），这一直在文献中强调的商业化的科学。该项目解决了三个关键的研究问题：（一）什么是媒体报道的因果关系的影响，推动商业化，在多大程度上？(b)哪些类型的科学家和公司从媒体报道中受益？（c）科学媒体报道推动商业传播的机制是什么？为了回答这些问题，研究人员编制了一个独特的数据集，该数据集将来自100多家美国研究机构的科学新闻稿与生物学领域的科学文章以及与商业应用相关的专利论文引用进行了匹配。他们采用创新的研究设计进行因果推理，利用大学新闻信息办公室的能力限制，为类似质量的文章产生新闻稿可能性的随机变化。通过研究媒体报道如何以及何时能够促进传播，该项目将为应对有限的科学商业化挑战提供宝贵的见解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Scientific research is vital for technological advancements in firms, yet the commercial utilization of scientific knowledge faces significant challenges. Despite the availability of scientific knowledge, it often remains trapped in the ivory tower, if it is ever applied commercially. This project focuses on the diffusion of scientific information to firms, and the barrier created by the complexity of scientific papers tailored for experts. This complexity hampers comprehension and effective utilization by non-experts and the public. Simplifying scientific information and communicating it to a broader audience can potentially enhance the commercial diffusion of science. To explore this, the researchers investigate the role of media coverage (supported by scientific press releases), which have been underemphasized in the literature on the commercialization of science.The project addresses three key research questions: (a) What is the causal impact of media coverage on driving commercialization, and to what extent? (b) Which types of scientists and firms benefit from media coverage? and (c) What are the mechanisms through which scientific media coverage drives commercial diffusion? To answer these questions, the researchers have compiled a unique dataset that matches scientific press releases from over 100 US research institutions with scientific articles in the field of biology and patent-to-paper citations related to commercial applications. They employ an innovative research design for causal inference, leveraging capacity constraints at university press information offices to generate random variation in press release likelihood for articles of similar quality. By examining how and when media coverage can facilitate diffusion, this project will contribute valuable insights to addressing the challenge of limited scientific commercialization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.