Mietchen Daniel
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Berlin, Germany.
PLoS Biol. 2014 Dec 30;12(12):e1002027. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002027. eCollection 2014 Dec.
Central to research funding are grant proposals that researchers send in to potential funders for review, in the hope of approval. A survey of policies at major research funders found that there is room for more transparency in the process of grant review, which would strengthen the case for the efficiency of public spending on research. On that basis, debate was invited on which transparency measures should be implemented and how, with some concrete suggestions at hand. The present article adds to this discussion by providing further context from the literature, along with considerations on the effect size of the proposed measures. The article then explores the option of opening to the public key components of the process, makes the case for pilot projects in this area, and sketches out the potential that such measures might have to transform the research landscape in those areas in which they are implemented.
研究资金的核心是研究人员向潜在资助者提交以供审查的资助申请，期望获得批准。一项针对主要研究资助者政策的调查发现，资助审查过程在透明度方面仍有提升空间，这将增强公共研究支出效率的合理性。在此基础上，有人呼吁就应实施哪些透明度措施以及如何实施展开辩论，并提出了一些具体建议。本文通过提供文献中的更多背景信息以及对所提议措施的效应大小的考量，为这一讨论增添了内容。文章随后探讨了将该过程的关键部分向公众开放的选项，论证了在这一领域开展试点项目的理由，并勾勒出此类措施在其实施地区可能对研究格局产生变革的潜力。
