Uslovi za razvoj društvenih i humanističkih nauka
CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Author(s): Snežana Smederevac
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Philosophy, Social Sciences
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: funding; open science; scientific evaluation; interdisciplinarity
Summary/Abstract: Scientists and decision makers have an important role in the scientific development and recognition of the role of scientific outputs in society. The position of social sciences and humanities in Serbia reflects the general international trends, with increasing appeals for the change of their scientific and societal status. The role of social sciences and humanities in staying up to date with general trends in science and solving significant social problems, could be possible only if appropriate conditions are created for their development. The first condition should be a change in funding and quality control of scientific research. These processes are closely linked, since funding without quality control can lead to poor research practices or trivialization of research topics. Decision makers and funders need to set clear goals which they want to achieve by investing in science. The second condition is to increase the visibility of the social sciences and humanities scientific outputs. The basic principle of open science is increased visibility of scientific research. Open science includes open data, pre-registra- tion of research and many other topics which create a paradigm shift in the accessibility of scientific research and arts. Openness to solving social problems should be the backbone of core missions of universities and scientific institutions. The third condition is redefining criteria for the evaluation of scientific work. The amount of published and counted papers is becoming an insufficiently convincing criterion for scientific evaluation. A responsible system of evaluation in science should take into account the specificity of each scientific discipline, the altmetrics, the results of interdisciplinary or cross-cultural research, and qualitative criteria. The traditional division of sciences into natural and social ones faces a number of challenges, in which solving important social problems is possible only with intense interdisciplinary cooperation. The progress of science depends equally on decision makers, funders, scientific institutions and researchers, who can create conditions for overcoming a dogmatic approach to science, dysfunctional differences between scientific disciplines, non-transparency, mere counting of the results of scientific works, and the neglect of science’s main goal: scientific contribution.

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