Measuring the Concept of Responsible Research and Innovation and its Role in Alleviating or Solving Societal Issues

Purpose: Responsible research and innovation is a transparent and interactive process involving active participants in the fields of science, technology, and innovation. This process emphasizes moral acceptability, sustainability, and social desirability, holding all stakeholders accountable to one another. The goal is to institutionalize scientific and technological advancements within society and to address or mitigate societal challenges associated with these innovations. Given the growing complexity of social systems, the escalating nature of their problems and challenges, and the necessity for societies to address these issues, the role of research and innovation in tackling societal challenges is increasingly vital. In this context, the contributions of universities, research institutes, think tanks, and other scientific organizations are essential. Responsible research and innovation is a policy framework designed to align research and technological innovation with societal values. It engages various stakeholders in a multidimensional dialogue on key issues, including ethics, scientific education, open access to science, and social participation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the evolution of the concept of responsible research and innovation and its effectiveness in addressing or mitigating societal problems.
Method: The present study is a comprehensive scientometric analysis in the field of innovation and responsible research. In the initial phase, the concept of research and innovation was examined using data from the Web of Science and an analysis of authoritative ISI articles published over the last three decades. In the next step, following the initial screening and identification of relevant articles based on their titles, abstracts, and content, the final articles were analyzed using an analytical process package called Bibliometrics in R software. This analytical process package is a tool for quantitative research in the field of scientometrics, designed for the statistical analysis of articles extracted from citation databases. These statistical analyses, which were also employed in the present study, focused on examining scientific collaborations among researchers, co-citations, and synergies between scientific activities. Finally, based on the qualitative assessment of the selected and screened articles, the results obtained were compared with those from the scientometric analysis, leading to the introduction of new concepts.
Findings: The analyses conducted in this study show that different groups are interdependent in terms of responsibility and the importance of being in tune between them is emphasized. In addition, basic concepts such as public participation, sustainability, ethics, governance, and responsible research and innovation are evolutionary concepts in this field of knowledge from literature. In this study, selected articles identified from different textual dimensions and the emergence of new concepts were analyzed, and finally, 33 concepts were identified in 8 different themes. Also, based on scientometric analysis and word occurrence analysis, 10 frequently used words were identified. Finally, a joint review identified and introduced 5 key concepts for this field. These 5 concepts include public participation, sustainability, ethics, governance, and responsible research and innovation.
Conclusion: This study showed that the literature on responsible research and innovation has grown and evolved with a significant trend in recent years. The findings of this study can provide a clear path for the evolution of the field of innovation and responsible research, both at the level of academic research and corporate experiences and also provide deep insights into the path of evolution of the field of research and innovation and its responsibility towards society. According to the results of the quantitative and scientometric analyses of this study, the emergence of concepts such as nanotechnology and synthetic biology indicates the scope of responsible research in technological sectors and indicates the transition of research paradigms towards ethics and sustainable development. These analyses also help to understand the historical origins, trends, and future directions of responsible research and innovation, and provide valuable guidance for politicians and individuals interested in promoting innovative planning and policies.