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Novel, original, and business as usual : Contributing in the humanities

Hellström, Tomas LU (2022) In Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 21(4). p.339-357
Abstract

This paper focuses on how contributions are argued in research proposals in the humanities. Due to standardizing tendencies in research funding towards formats characteristic of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, there has been concern that the humanities are marginalized. In this study, ‘contribution statements’ were identified in proposals funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation across the humanistic disciplines. These statements were systematically analyzed in terms of type and structure of contributions advanced. The results suggest that the humanities differ from the sciences in terms of specificity of focus, a high level of ‘acceptable serendipity’ in proposed outcomes, but that these... (More)

This paper focuses on how contributions are argued in research proposals in the humanities. Due to standardizing tendencies in research funding towards formats characteristic of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, there has been concern that the humanities are marginalized. In this study, ‘contribution statements’ were identified in proposals funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation across the humanistic disciplines. These statements were systematically analyzed in terms of type and structure of contributions advanced. The results suggest that the humanities differ from the sciences in terms of specificity of focus, a high level of ‘acceptable serendipity’ in proposed outcomes, but that these disciplines structurally tend to adhere to the same types of research contribution arguments as STEM. A better understanding of the way in which humanities scholars frame contributions offers insight into how these fields change and how they relate to developments in the science policy and funding landscape.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
contribution, evaluation, funding, Humanities, impact, research
in
Arts and Humanities in Higher Education
volume
21
issue
4
pages
339 - 357
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85132904624
ISSN
1474-0222
DOI
10.1177/14740222221108857
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
105b6134-06ea-44c1-b993-4afdf8cf21d5
date added to LUP
2022-08-26 14:34:19
date last changed
2023-01-16 10:16:37
@article{105b6134-06ea-44c1-b993-4afdf8cf21d5,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper focuses on how contributions are argued in research proposals in the humanities. Due to standardizing tendencies in research funding towards formats characteristic of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, there has been concern that the humanities are marginalized. In this study, ‘contribution statements’ were identified in proposals funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation across the humanistic disciplines. These statements were systematically analyzed in terms of type and structure of contributions advanced. The results suggest that the humanities differ from the sciences in terms of specificity of focus, a high level of ‘acceptable serendipity’ in proposed outcomes, but that these disciplines structurally tend to adhere to the same types of research contribution arguments as STEM. A better understanding of the way in which humanities scholars frame contributions offers insight into how these fields change and how they relate to developments in the science policy and funding landscape.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hellström, Tomas}},
  issn         = {{1474-0222}},
  keywords     = {{contribution; evaluation; funding; Humanities; impact; research}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{339--357}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Arts and Humanities in Higher Education}},
  title        = {{Novel, original, and business as usual : Contributing in the humanities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14740222221108857}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/14740222221108857}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}