Tracking direct and indirect impact on technology and policy of transformative research via ego citation network

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The disseminating of academic knowledge to nonacademic audiences partly relies on the transition of subsequent citing papers. This study aims to investigate direct and indirect impact on technology and policy originating from transformative research based on ego citation network. Design/methodology/approach Key Nobel Prize-winning publications (NPs) in fields of gene engineering and astrophysics are regarded as a proxy for transformative research. In this contribution, we introduce a network-structural indicator of citing patents to measure technological impact of a target article and use policy citations as a preliminary tool for policy impact. Findings The results show that the impact on technology and policy of NPs are higher than that of their subsequent citation generations in gene engineering but not in astrophysics. Research limitations The selection of Nobel Prizes is not balanced and the database used in this study, Dimensions, suffers from incompleteness and inaccuracy of citation links. Practical implications Our findings provide useful clues to better understand the characteristics of transformative research in technological and policy impact. Originality/value This study proposes a new framework to explore the direct and indirect impact on technology and policy originating from transformative research.