The Impact of Research Funding on Knowledge Creation and Dissemination: A study of SNSF Research Grants

TL;DR

This study assesses how SNSF research grants influence researchers' publication quantity, quality, and dissemination, showing that funding increases publication output, enhances citation impact, and promotes broader dissemination of research findings.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the causal effects of research funding on publication output, impact, and dissemination using detailed applicant and proposal data.

Findings

Funding increases publication output by about one article over three years.

Funded research shows higher citation metrics and altmetrics.

Funding promotes both quantity and quality of research dissemination.

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of competitive project-funding on researchers' publication outputs. Using detailed information on applicants at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and their proposals' evaluation, we employ a case-control design that accounts for individual heterogeneity of researchers and selection into treatment (e.g. funding). We estimate the impact of grant award on a set of output indicators measuring the creation of new research results (the number of peer-reviewed articles), its relevance (number of citations and relative citation ratios), as well as its accessibility and dissemination as measured by the publication of preprints and by altmetrics. The results show that the funding program facilitates the publication and dissemination of additional research amounting to about one additional article in each of the three years following the grant. The higher citation metrics and altmetrics of publications by funded researchers suggest that impact goes beyond quantity, but that funding fosters quality and impact.