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Science and technology studies: exploring the knowledge base

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 11:56 authored by Ben MartinBen Martin, Paul NightingalePaul Nightingale, Alfredo Yegros-Yegros
Science and Technology Studies (STS) is one of a number of new research fields to emerge over the last four or five decades. This paper attempts to identify its core academic contributions from the perspective of the authors of chapters in authoritative ‘handbooks’ and the references they cite. Besides identifying the most prominent publications, institutions and authors, we examine whether the core contributions can be broken down into identifiable clusters. The study also analyses the impact of these contributions by exploring the research fields, journals, and geographical location of the researchers that have cited the STS core contributions in their own work. Together, these analyses reveal a number of phases in the development of STS with periods of convergence and divergence of the field, including the gradual separation of quantitative studies of science and technology from the main body of STS. The paper ends with some conclusions about the evolution of STS, such as the role of ‘institution builders’ in developing new research fields and the structures required to hold them together.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Research Policy

ISSN

0048-7333

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

7

Volume

41

Page range

1182-1204

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-07-03

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2012-06-19

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