From new drug therapies and energy production to the development of computer chips science has been the basis for many of the world’s most significant technological advancements. However, while innovation drives the field of science, business is all about profit and ensuring shareholders are satisfied. Traditionally, the business and science worlds have been viewed as separate entities. Both are interconnected, and it’s impossible to separate their impact on business from the impact of research.
While businesses are focused on profits, the long-term effects of its decisions can have major environmental, social and economic effects. Science is also concerned about the impact of its decisions and its decisions, particularly those regarding the exploitation of resources and sustainability. A smart business, for instance, will exploit natural resources at a level that science determines as sustainable, but the greed of some businesses has resulted in over-exploitation and environmental catastrophe.
We have coded the intended results and the results of these strategies. (TL was the first to do the coding and AG coded 20% of papers). We discovered that companies employ five macro-level strategies that work collectively to minimize the perceived credibility of unfavourable research and increase the credibility of favourable science. These strategies are operationalised by meso strategies that, over time, skew the evidence base to the favor of industry. This has three distal effects to discredit the potential harms that are caused by the use of industry products and practices; to encourage policies that are in favour of industry; and to boost the consumption, sales, and use of industry-related products.
