Understanding The Diversity Of University Research Knowledge Structures And Their Development Over Time

Public research in universities is today under high pressure to contribute to society and economic development (D’Este & Patel 2007, Tijssen et al. 2009). Universities are seen as knowledge centres, which means they create new knowledge (Ankrah et al. 2013, Perkmann et al. 2013), provide expertise, and foster innovation (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff 1997).

Universities are knowledge centres and provide expertise, solutions or innovations and inventions (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff 1997). Accordingly, a key function of universities is knowledge dissemination through different research output types, such as (journal) publications, patents, newspaper articles and so on.

This dissemination is often measured through various proxy indicators. Two main approaches can be distinguished: one focusing on research output from academics for academics, such as (journal) publications (Tijssen et al. 2002, Waltman 2016), and the other investigating research output that fosters universityindustry exchange, including patents, license agreements and spin-outs (Drucker & Goldstein 2007).

However, current methods and empirical studies often focus only on academic or nonacademic implications. This separation leads to the absence of recognition of the inter-relation between the different types of research output, resulting in an underassessment of the true impacts of research (Cohen et al. 2002).