Science-society interactions. Exploring the link between open research practices and knowledge transfer

The societal relevance and impact of the publicly funded research have become a crucial dimension of policy makers agendas, as evidenced by research funding schemes aimed at stimulating the societal orientation of scientific research. Debates and concerns about the gap between research and practice in the academic literature are longstanding. The disconnection between research and practice has been attributed to knowledge production and knowledge transfer problems. Most studies addressing the research-practice gap have mainly focus on analysing knowledge transfer mechanisms, usually disregarding knowledge production processes. We propose to take on step back and look onto the research practices with potential to create societally relevant knowledge and its link with knowledge transfer mechanisms. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the extent to which societally relevant research practices (i.e., open research practices) are related to different modes of knowledge transfer.