Science and Technology Studies (STS/WTS) falls within both the social sciences and the humanities and covers a diverse interdisciplinary field including political sciences, innovation studies, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, and bibliometrics. Researchers also frequently work with peers in domains beyond the social sciences and humanities, for example in science, medicine and technical sciences. STS has various theoretical approaches and research traditions that employ a variety of different textual, historical and social science methods. In the Netherlands, the domain is organised by research school WTMC.
Target groups
STS is international in orientation. In addition, scholars maintain close ties with professionals in the field and policy organisations There are also close links with professional practices and policy organisations on various topics, including science policy and innovation, education, sustainability, infrastructure and health. These connections are shaped by policy consultancy work, expert contributions to political discussions, books, articles in journals, essays in edited volumes, blogs and participation in public debates.
Products and communication
- Academic publications take the shape of books and essays in edited volumes, as well as articles in Dutch and international journals. Many researchers engage in public debates, which makes that many of the products are hybrid in nature and target both academic readers and broad groups of interested general readers.
- International publications are in English. Publications in Dutch are also common. These tend to be hybrid publications intended for professional/academic and general readers.
- Review processes are highly important in the context of international publications, usually in the form of peer reviews. Other review forms are also used, for example editorial reviews and expert reviews by partners in civil society.
Processes and strategies
- Communication with professionals, but above all with a broad group of interested members of the public, is important. Researchers communicate by producing hybrid publications (including books), participating in public debates, writing articles in popular periodicals (e.g. weeklies) and literary media, and blogging, in addition to policy consultancy work and drafting advisory reports.
- Researchers in STS publish both alone and with other authors. Individual STS researchers vary widely in publication strategy, including choice of journals and other outlets and authorship, and in some cases follow the standards of adjacent disciplines within WTS or disciplines that WTS researchers collaborate with.
Domain-specific aspects of quality and relevance
The aforementioned diversity and active relationship with society are characteristic of STS. This means that quality assessment should take into account diverse activities (including participatory processes and debates) and outputs (including articles, policy advice, hybrid publications, newspaper articles, catalogues and exhibitions).
Relevance of quantitative indicators for use and marks of recognition
Much of the research conducted in STS is published in indexed journals. Bibliometric indicators may therefore be useful, provided that the publication channels are indexed representatively for the relevant research subdomains.