[Excerpts taken from the article “Research on research gains steam” by Dalmeet Singh Chawla, published in Chemical and Engineering News]

“The use of scientific methodology to study science itself is called metascience. The discipline has become mainstream in recent years, tackling some of the thorniest problems science faces, including a lack of reproducibility of academic literature, biases in peer review, and the fair allocation of research funding.”

“On Sept. 30, metaresearch got another boost when an international coalition of policymakers, funders, universities, publishers, and researchers launched the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), which will be dedicated to tackling metascience questions on a mass scale.”

“James Wilsdon, a research policy scholar at the University of Sheffield and the institute’s founding director, says that the scientific community is “woefully underinvesting” in metascience given the benefits it could have for the “efficiency, dynamism and sustainability” of the research enterprise.”

“The four founding partners of the institute are the biomedical research charity Wellcome Trust, Leiden University’s Centre for Science and Technology Studies, research technology firm Digital Science, and the University of Sheffield.”

“Wilsdon says a consortium of additional strategic partners, including public and private organizations from 11 nations, are already onboard, and conversations are underway with more potential partners.”

“The three broad headings under which RoRI is spearheading its initial projects are decision-making, careers, and culture. Wilsdon thinks the first few initiatives are likely to focus on investigating how funding applications pass peer review and how research money is allocated, including testing different funding models.”

To read the article, click here.