Societal impact of research: assessment and prospects

The last three decades have seen a slow but steady process of reorganization in public research, combining global competition and budget cuts, demands for transparency and accountability, evaluation and funding. As a result of this reorganization, the missions of academic research are gradually evolving from a science that prioritizes the development of knowledge to one that must be "useful" and demonstrate its impact on society. Evaluation criteria, which used to be based primarily on the quality and scientific impact of research work, have now been broadened to include consideration of the full range of societal benefits that this work makes possible.

However, because of the very broad spectrum that the term "societal impact" can encompass, questions continue to surround its definition. What's more, since these impacts have to be demonstrated, the way in which they can be measured raises just as many questions, and is the subject of numerous studies. This article traces the factors that led research evaluation to include societal impact among its criteria, and reviews the current state of knowledge and some of the methodologies currently in use. It also looks at the changing role of scientometrics in the measurement of societal impact, and the prospects for the evolution of research evaluation that are gradually emerging.