The value of research funding for knowledge creation and dissemination: A study of SNSF Research Grants

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of competitive project funding on researchers’ publication outputs. Using detailed information on applicants at the Swiss National Science Foundation and their proposal evaluations, we employ a case-control design that accounts for individual heterogeneity of researchers and selection into treatment (e.g. funding). We estimate the impact of the grant award on a set of output indicators measuring the creation of new research results (the number of peer-reviewed articles), its relevance (number of citations and relative citation ratios), as well as its accessibility and dissemination as measured by the publication of preprints and by altmetrics. The results show that the funding program facilitates the publication and dissemination of additional research amounting to about one additional article in each of the three years following the funding. The higher citation metrics and altmetrics by funded researchers suggest that impact goes beyond quantity and that funding fosters dissemination and quality.

Scientific laws of research funding to support citations and diffusion of knowledge in life science

“…(Ayoubi et al, 2019 ). Heyard et al ( 2021 ) analyze the relationship between funding and authors’ altered metrics scores and show that funded studies got more public attention than other studies.…”

Research performance and scholarly communication profile of competitive research funding: the case of Academy of Finland

“…Among borderline applicants (those with lowest scores above the funding threshold and those with highest scores below the funding threshold), non-funded applicants typically had higher publication productivity and citation impact after the funding decision than funded applicants. Heyard and Hottenrott (2021) expanded the scope of analysis from scientific effects of research funding to cover also the wider dissemination of research results by including altmetric indicators in their study of the applicants of the Swiss National Science Foundation funding. They found that SNSF funding increases the publication productivity and citation impact of the grantees compared to the researchers who did not receive the funding.…”

Global Research Funding and Development

“…A research fund is a grant or financial assistance provided to an investigator or researcher to enable him or her meet certain research expenses (Fig. 1) to ensure that the aim of the research is attained for the progress of the society (Gläser and Serrano-Velarde, 2018;Heyard and Hottenrott, 2021;Severin and Egger, 2021). Since the 19 th century, after the 2 nd world war, the research system has been regulated by universities and research organizations (Heyard and Hottenrott, 2021).…”

“…1) to ensure that the aim of the research is attained for the progress of the society (Gläser and Serrano-Velarde, 2018;Heyard and Hottenrott, 2021;Severin and Egger, 2021). Since the 19 th century, after the 2 nd world war, the research system has been regulated by universities and research organizations (Heyard and Hottenrott, 2021). The encouragement of policies of funding agencies, scientific theory, and methodology improvements results in the intellectual development of science.…”