(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-02-18)
Hong, Wei; Walsh, John P.
Scholars have grown concerned that the commercialization of academic science is
increasing secrecy at the expense of cooperation and information sharing. Using data
from comparable surveys of academic scientists in three fields (experimental biology,
mathematics and physics), we test whether scientists have become more competitive and
more secretive over the last 30 years. We also use the recent survey to test a multivariate
model of the effects of scientific competition and commercialization (patenting, industry
funding and industry collaboration) on scientific secrecy. We find that secrecy has
increased, and has increased particularly for experimental biologists. Only 13% of
experimental biologists in 1998 felt safe discussing their ongoing research with all others
doing similar work. Our multivariate analysis shows that this secrecy is most related to
concerns about being anticipated (scientific competition). We find that patenting is
associated with increased secrecy among mathematicians and physicists, but not for
experimental biologists. We find that industry funding is associated with more secrecy,
while industry collaboration is associated with less secrecy, across fields. Our results
suggest that the recent concern over increasing scientific secrecy has merit. However, this
increased secrecy seems to result from a combination of increasing commercial linkages
and increased pressures from scientific competition. Our research highlights the central
role that scientists’ competition for priority plays in the system of science and that, while
such competition spurs effort, it also produces negative effects that recent trends toward
commercialization of academic science seem to be exacerbating.