The ‘gatekeeper’ hypothesis and the international transfer of scientific knowledge

Abstract

This paper deals with the question of problem selection by scientists, in particular scientists residing and working in small national communities. Do such scientists take their cue from the immediate environment and accept as their task the application of knowledge to national development? Or do they consider themselves members of an international scientific fraternity and adopt the problems defined by the leading luminaries at the major centers? The data presented here were collected in one small scientific community, that of the Republic of Ireland. We conclude that an Irish scientist's integration with foreign colleagues (and presumably his willingness to accept their influence) is a function of (1) the relevance of his/her work to the Irish economy i.e. the existence or non-existence of local rewards, and (2) the state of paradigm development in his/her field. If work on national problems is rewarded, then this alone can be expected to wean a scientist away from excessive reliance on foreign colleagues.