{"id":517240,"date":"2024-08-20T14:31:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T17:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=517240"},"modified":"2024-08-20T14:41:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T17:41:58","slug":"brazilian-research-serves-as-a-reference-for-public-policies-in-several-countries-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/brazilian-research-serves-as-a-reference-for-public-policies-in-several-countries-study-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian research serves as a reference for public policies in several countries, study shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research papers produced in Brazil \u2014 particularly in fields such as climate change, the Amazon, and biofuels \u2014 are among the most widely cited in public-policy proposals and reports in countries such as the US, the UK, and Germany. According to data compiled from Overton, an international database of policy documents and associated research, a total of 25,391 papers authored by S\u00e3o Paulo\u2013based researchers were cited in 33,398 policy documents from 1,017 different government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and think tanks across 123 countries from 2013 to 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur interest is in examining the societal benefits from S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s research output beyond academia, and this database offers insights into how this research has shaped public policy for the benefit of society,\u201d explains agricultural scientist Connie McManus, international relations manager at FAPESP. She conducted the study in collaboration with Niels Olsen C\u00e2mara, an immunology researcher at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) and an advisor to FAPESP\u2019s Scientific Board. \u201cOur findings underscore the significant influence that S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s researchers have over public policies in Brazil and globally,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Among the intergovernmental bodies regularly citing research out of S\u00e3o Paulo are the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), and the World Bank. Interestingly, among the top 25 sources referencing Brazilian studies, 23 are international, with only two domestic sources \u2014 the Federal Government and the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), a government-policy think tank under the Ministry of Planning. \u201cIPEA\u2019s core mission is precisely to produce data to inform improvements to public policies. Our research draws heavily on this data,\u201d explains economist Fernanda De Negri, who heads the Center for Research on Science, Technology and Society at IPEA.<\/p>\n

Brazil trails the US, the European Union, the UK, Germany, Canada, and France in the number of public-policy references to research conducted in S\u00e3o Paulo. McManus suggests that Brazilian government agencies may not be basing their public policies on scientific research to the same extent that organizations in other countries are. \u201cPerhaps our researchers should seek to publish their findings in a language that will support greater uptake by policymakers,\u201d she proposes.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso \/ Revista Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>
\n

The survey also explores the topics of Brazilian research that are most widely cited in foreign policy documents. In engineering and technology, subjects like biofuels and greenhouse gas emissions are the most commonly cited. In natural and social sciences, the Amazon is a recurrent theme. In medical sciences, studies on tropical diseases and the adverse effects of ultra-processed foods are among the most highly cited, while in agriculture, research on tilapia, citrus, eucalyptus, and the genetics of pests such as Xylella fastidiosa<\/em> is the most prevalent. Lastly, the study identified the most widely cited researchers from institutions in S\u00e3o Paulo in international policy documents. Topping the list, with 137 cited documents, is Paulo Artaxo from the USP Institute of Physics, renowned for his work on aerosols and his contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). \u201cBrazilian research holds significant influence in international reports, and there are research domains in which we are globally leading authorities,\u201d says Artaxo, noting, for instance, Brazil\u2019s contributions to climate-change research. \u201cBrazil is second only to the US in terms of the number of researchers providing inputs into IPCC reports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several names on the list feature prominently in prestigious academic rankings, such as Clarivate Analytics\u2019s annual Highly Cited Researchers list. Among them is Carlos Augusto Monteiro from the School of Public Health at USP, a pioneer in research on ultra-processed foods (see interview<\/em><\/a>), with 130 citations; Pedro Henrique Brancalion, an authority in tropical forest restoration at USP\u2019s Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture (ESALQ), with 82 citations; and psychiatrist Andr\u00e9 Brunoni from the School of Medicine at USP, who leads studies on depression, with 70 citations (see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP issue n\u00ba 310<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

McManus and Olsen C\u00e2mara also compiled data on Brazil\u2019s overall performance in the Overton database, which mirrored their findings for S\u00e3o Paulo in terms of citing institutions and countries and the domains in which Brazil is most influential. \u201cThis comes as no surprise, given that S\u00e3o Paulo researchers have accounted for over 40% of Brazil\u2019s science output in recent years,\u201d notes McManus. Research produced through international collaborations had a 71% higher likelihood of being cited in reports.<\/p>\n

Sociologist Ana Cl\u00e1udia Niedhardt Capella, a public policy expert and researcher at S\u00e3o Paulo State University (UNESP) in Araraquara, notes that in recent years Brazil\u2019s science output has been increasingly targeted toward solving complex societal issues, ranging from inequality to challenges related to violence, healthcare access, and education. Not only has there been a surge in academic capacity, but governments are also increasingly looking to enhance their policies and return on investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartening to learn that Brazilian public-policy research has garnered international acclaim, yet we still have ground to gain,\u201d remarks Capella. \u201cWe must deepen collaborations between researchers and policymakers to ensure that the research we produce is not only increasingly used to inform policymaking in Brazil, but is also more attuned to the public issues on governments\u2019 agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Survey highlights the influence of articles by scientists from the state of S\u00e3o Paulo","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":517245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[256],"coauthors":[98],"class_list":["post-517240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policies-st-en","tag-public-policies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517240"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":529157,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517240\/revisions\/529157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517240"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=517240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}