In terms of both resources and output, the UK research sector is under serious strain. For the United Kingdom to continue to be a leader in the increasingly competitive space of global research and innovation (R&I), the machinery of the system should be tested and updated.
'The important thing is to never stop questioning.'
Albert Einstein
This is where metascience comes in. Metascience—the study of science itself using scientific methods—aims to examine all parts of the science system to understand how they can be done more effectively, efficiently, and fairly.
For years now, there has been a push in the United Kingdom for the country to spend more on research and development (R&D). However, pumping money into a faulty system leads to suboptimal results. In recent years, parts of the R&I system have become more stretched and less efficient. The science produced has been found to be less groundbreaking than in previous eras and a substantial proportion of papers go uncited, leading to questions about how much these papers add to the sum of academic knowledge.
Metascience in the United Kingdom
Metascience is a field of study that is agnostic to discipline and methodology and so has the potential to bring together a variety of ways to study how science is done.
The United Kingdom is no stranger to the study of science and research systems. Initiatives like the Research on Research Institute and the Innovation Research Caucus have investigated the strengths and weaknesses of the way that science is conducted in the United Kingdom. True to its aspirations to remain a global leader in R&I, last year the UK government made its own commitment to the cause by launching a new joint UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology Unit dedicated solely to using metascience to optimise the practice and results of science. RAND Europe has provided technical support to the unit since its inception as part of a broad consortium of research organisations and individual experts, including delivering projects on research assessment, peer review, and how to structure interdisciplinary research teams.
A year on from its launch, in July the UK Metascience Unit published its inaugural progress report. 'A year in metascience' showcases some of the ambitious and diverse ways the unit is investing in the most pressing issues affecting the United Kingdom's R&I system. This includes, among other things, assessing peer review processes, supporting evidence generation on the financial sustainability of the research sector, and exploring how best funding can support interdisciplinary research. By accessing data, processes, and expertise from UKRI, the largest funder of research in the country, the Unit has been able to run randomised control trials on peer review processes and host a data sandpit using huge amounts of administrative funding data available to researchers.
The Metascience Unit has embraced the fact that changes to systems cannot be solved through singular approaches. Its approach of generating evidence through a wide range of mechanisms including grants, research, competitions, and engagement allows it to explore and share what can work across multiple areas.
What's Next for UK Metascience?
The Metascience Unit has made substantial strides in exploring the major challenges facing the United Kingdom's research system. With only a year under its belt and a complex system to explore, there are still many opportunities for the unit and the wider field to take on.
Across research funding, performance, and dissemination processes, there are multiple opportunities for inefficiencies to creep in. With over £70 billion spent on research each year in the United Kingdom across millions of R&D workers and hundreds of funders, the amount of potential deadweight or duplication across the system is high. For example, failed research projects are often not published and so the same problems may be repeated by other researchers. The unit could explore how funders and research organisations can collaborate more effectively, streamline processes, and leverage technology to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and that research outcomes are maximised for societal benefit.
Science dissemination is also top of the agenda. In an age of instantaneous, aggregated, and personalised communication, the primary method of sharing insights from science is through content published in journals. Despite calls to move beyond such traditional forms of publication, the old way prevails, and the volume of published research articles continues to grow each year. An understanding of how genuine, sustainable transformation to the system can take place is needed.
Despite calls to move beyond such traditional forms of publication, the old way prevails, and the volume of published research articles continues to grow each year.
Lastly, the significant role of AI in society cannot be ignored. The use of AI in research funding systems poses huge opportunities but also huge risks. For example, AI can streamline the grant application process by analysing vast amounts of data to select promising research proposals that align with funding priorities whilst avoiding duplication. The lack of transparency and accountability in the process, however, could perpetuate biases and prioritize past success rather than novelty and innovation. As with all areas of AI research and policy, the field is moving rapidly, so establishing ways of sharing learning before bad practice is embedded across the system is critical.
For the United Kingdom to remain a leader in R&I, it must ensure it is not just doing more science—but better science. Building on the first year of the Metascience Unit will be key to ensuring that the UK science community continues to deliver positive impact for the UK population and the wider world.
