This is a past event
In 1912 the North of Scotland College of Agriculture applied to the Development Commission, which was set up to administer funds voted by Parliament to benefit the rural economy, for funding to undertake research into animal nutrition.
The Commissioners, having instructed the College to re-apply in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen, agreed to support the establishment of a research institute in animal nutrition provided that match funding was obtained from elsewhere. The decisive matching donation came from John Quiller Rowett.
From the start, therefore, the Rowett Research Institute undertook science in the service of policy: primarily agricultural but also, and increasingly, food and health. However, the Institute also emphasised the contribution that its research made to the scientific literature. Between 1925 and 1954 it published ten volumes of collected papers, reprinting almost all scientific journal papers (co-) written by Institute staff. Reprints appeared only in limited editions of the collected papers in 1955 and 1956 and ceased thereafter; but, from 1955 to 1998 the Institute’s annual report included a bibliography of staff publications.
This paper examines characteristics of journal papers with Rowett Research Institute affiliation published since 1920. It looks at collaboration and disciplinary focus, and compares publication volumes to staff numbers, research income and staff costs. The results, tentative at this stage, reveal interesting continuities. They also start to provide an empirical basis for reflecting on some frequently made, but less often evidenced, claims about how journal papers and scientific research have changed over time.
- Speaker
- David Watts (University of Aberdeen)
- Venue
- via Teams