Knowledge utilization: international agricultural research communication

The international agricultural research system has provided the technological base for most of the unprecedented increases in food production in the developing countries over the past two decades. -- Rice is the principal cereal grain consumed by most of the world's population, and the International Rice Research Institute, located in the Philippines, has developed new varieties which have contributed significantly towards meeting expanding food needs. -- The generation of scientific and technological information is the prime task of agricultural research, and the communication of such information occurs as a precursor to its utilization. An intricate scientific communication network exists for this purpose. -- Science places important, but not sole, emphasis on the communication of information and knowledge by way of publication. -- The principal aims of this case study were to achieve a deeper understanding of the formal scientific communication network emanating through publications which had been originated by scientists at the Institute, and to clarify the nature of the subsequent utilization of rice science knowledge. The investigation employed citation analysis methodology. -- The study identified the primary importance of basic research as a background to applied science, and information contained in significant research publications was shown to be utilized later by other scientists in support of their own research investigations. -- Publication of international agricultural science ordinarily follows late in an extended sequence which follows the completion of experiments, and the early, and typically oral, dissemination of scientific findings. -- Proceeding with the final publication of information gained from research can be viewed as a process of assimilation, wherein the experimental results and conclusions, should, by implication, be accepted as valid scientific knowledge. -- The communication of scientific information is a critical component in the utilization of international agricultural research knowledge.