Is the commercialisation of scientific research affecting the production of public knowledge?: Global trends in the output of corporate research articles

Abstract

Judging by the large R&D-active companies that have slimmed down their research labs in recent years, it would seem that corporate research is increasingly managed as an economic asset that is predominantly driven by market forces and ruled by IPR strategies. Has this development significantly affected industry’s basic research and interactions with research communities in the public sector? This paper examines the global trends in an underdeveloped source of information on corporate science: their research articles published in the international scientific and technical journals. Statistical analysis of some 290,000 corporate research articles published in 1996–2001 indicate that, contrary to large increases in patenting and growth in patent citations to research literature, the numbers of research articles that list author affiliate addresses in the corporate sector have declined steadily, especially for those articles authored exclusively by industrial researchers. More detailed analysis of trends in the bio-pharmaceuticals sector and semiconductors sector show sector-specific publication trends and patterns related to specifics of their innovation processes. Overall, these observations provide factual evidence indicating that corporate research is in an on-going process of structural change characterised by a stronger emphasis on the appropriation and commercialisation of in-house research results.