‘Getting out of the closet’: scientific authorship of literary fiction and knowledge transfer

Abstract

Some scientists write literary fiction books in their spare time. If these books contain scientific knowledge, literary fiction becomes a mechanism of knowledge transfer. In this case, we could conceptualize literary fiction as non-formal knowledge transfer. We model knowledge transfer via literary fiction as a function of the type of scientist (academic or non-academic) and his/her scientific field. Academic scientists are those employed in academia and public research organizations whereas non-academic scientists are those with a scientific background employed in other sectors. We also distinguish between direct knowledge transfer (the book includes the scientist's research topics), indirect knowledge transfer (scientific authors talk about their research with cultural agents) and reverse knowledge transfer (cultural agents give scientists ideas for future research). Through mixed-methods research and a sample from Spain, we find that scientific authorship accounts for a considerable percentage of all literary fiction authorship. Academic scientists do not transfer knowledge directly so often as non-academic scientists, but the former engage into indirect and reverse transfer knowledge more often than the latter. Scientists from History stand out in direct knowledge transfer. We draw propositions about the role of the academic logic and scientific field on knowledge transfer via literary fiction. We advance some tentative conclusions regarding the consideration of scientific authorship of literary fiction as a valuable knowledge transfer mechanism.

Rethinking the Role of Productive Interactions in Explaining SSH Research Societal Impacts: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Productive Science System Dynamics

“…Societal interests may influence on scientific practices, with mechanisms by which scientific researchers become aware of societal partners' interests and needs (Gläser, 2019;Kitcher, 2001;Laudan, 1978). Societal partners may influence scientific decisions by contributing to shared knowledge activities that produce knowledge from which they may later benefit (Olmos-Peñuela et al, 2015;Azagra-Caro et al, 2020). A productive interaction is a moment of coupling in these well-ordered science systems, where scientific actors encounter societal actors and in which new kinds of scientific and societal value may emerge (Benneworth & Olmos-Peñuela, 2018;Gläser, 2019).…”

Academic artists’ engagement and commercialisation

“…Therefore, art commercialisation and engagement indicate depth of commitment to art (in the sense of Laursen & Salter, 2006), the same as creativity research considers commercialisation as a sign of commitment to art (Carson et al, 2005). A focus on science quality involves more work and/or more overtime working which detract from depth of commitment to art, represented by art commercialisation and engagement, which may be stigmatising vis-à-vis quality peers (Azagra-Caro, et al, 2020a;Becker, 1963;Lam, 2010). This depth will make science quality a barrier to be a commercial or engaged academic artist.…”

“…These societal actors may attach more importance to art since most do not read many scientific articles. This would explain why university researchers might confine their art to 1 3 their spare time, whereas for non-university researchers it may be part of their profession (Azagra-Caro, et al, 2020a).…”

“…Our third dependent variable is engaged academic artist, which is equal to 1 if the academic artist diffuses knowledge through art. The survey used the 12-item Science Through Art Questionnaire (STAQ, see Appendix Table 6), based on the case study in Azagra-Caro, et al (2020a). It includes items on direct knowledge diffusion (degree to which the researcher uses art for diffusing scientific knowledge), indirect knowledge diffusion (degree to which the researcher diffuses scientific knowledge by word-of-mouth with art business people, other artists and the public) and reverse knowledge diffusion (degree to which the researcher gets ideas from art business people, other artists and the public for future scientific production).…”

“…Knowledge Transfer Studies have emphasised the need to explore novel transfer channels (Hayter et al, 2020), but art remains underexplored. Azagra-Caro, et al (2020a)'s work on scientific writers categorised fiction writing as a non-formal knowledge transfer mechanism. Through qualitative and case-study evidence, they proposed that organisational logic plays a role, and that university researchers are less likely to transfer knowledge through fiction than non-university researchers.…”