Examining psychology of science as a potential contributor to science policy

TL;DR

This paper advocates for integrating the psychology of science into science policy, highlighting its potential to offer new insights into resource allocation and a more realistic understanding of science.

Contribution

It introduces the psychology of science as a valuable, yet underdeveloped, discipline to inform and enhance science policy frameworks.

Findings

Psychology of science is emerging as a promising interdisciplinary field.

A psychological approach can improve resource allocation strategies.

Proposes a more realistic conception of science from a psychological perspective.

Abstract

The psychology of science is the least developed member of the family of science studies. It is growing, however, increasingly into a promising discipline. After a very brief review of this emerging sub-field of psychology, we call for it to be invited into the collection of social sciences that constitute the interdisciplinary field of science policy. Discussing the classic issue of resource allocation, this paper tries to indicate how prolific a new psychological conceptualization of this problem would be. Further, from a psychological perspective, this research will argue in favor of a more realistic conception of science which would be a complement to the existing one in science policy.