SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE & TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES: ASSOCIATED RESULTS INTO PASTEUR'S QUADRANT

Abstract

The article concentrates on two theoretical models associated to the planning of scientific and technological research as well as to the architecture of national systems of C&T: 1) the model proposed by Vannevar Bush in 'Science, the Endless Frontier', published in 1945, in which he states that basic research and applied research constitute different phases of the process of production of scientific and technological knowledge; 2) the model proposed by Donald E. Stokes in 'Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation', published in 1997 and currently being divulged and adopted at American academic communities and policy-making agencies. The text has the objective of disclosing the model proposed by Stokes, owing to its importance as a tool for analysis and to the possibility of its application for a better understanding of the research in those areas in which technological progress is directly related (as dependent) to cognitive advancements. Biological fixation of nitrogen is the research area used as empirical sample. The article suggests that scientometric data, such as the production of scientific works and their citation rates, as well as the journal status and the language in which the articles were published, could be used to identify the level of attachment of such research area to the science reward system. Key words: science, technology, basic research, applied research.