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Grant support

This paper draws froma pilot activity carried out in the frame of the research project `Charting Impact Pathways of Investment inResearch Infrastructures' addressed to develop a framework describing the socio-economic impact of research infrastructures and co-financed by theEuropean Union'sHorizon 2020 research and innovation programunder the grant agreement No 777563, whose financial support is gratefully acknowledged. Further details can be found at: https://ri-paths.eu/.

Analysis of institutional authors

Lopez, GgAuthor

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April 5, 2021
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From scientific experiments to innovation: Impact pathways of a Synchrotron Light Facility

Publicated to:Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics. NULL- - 2021-09-01 (), DOI: 10.1111/apce.12322

Authors: Catalano, Gelsomina; Garcia Lopez, Gaston; Sanchez, Alejandro; Vignetti, Silvia;

Affiliations

‎ ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, Barcelona, Spain - Author
‎ Ctr Ind Studies CSIL, Milan, Italy - Author
‎ Univ Autonoma Madrid, Ctr Microanal Mat, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Research infrastructures are commonly used by scientific and industrial communities to conduct research and experiments which translate in the creation of new knowledge. This knowledge may generate different outcomes (e.g., publications, patents) and find applications in different sectors and domains, ultimately triggering innovation developments. However, the pathway from knowledge creation to innovation is complex: it is split among different players, from the scientific community to industrial actors (even those not directly involved in the experiments) and may take time and significant investments. The objective of this paper is to assess innovation impacts arising from a Research Infrastructure and specifically tracing and describing the pathways according to which these impacts may materialize. The example used is the ALBA Synchrotron Light source facility located in Barcelona and in operation since 2012. The paper builds on the evidence collected through two surveys to direct and indirect users of ALBA (overall 384 questionnaires collected), in-depth interviews as well as an analysis of patents' citations. It draws from a pilot exercise carried out in the framework of the Horizon 2020 Ri-Paths project. It contributes to the broader discussion on the socio-economic impact assessment of Research Infrastructures and relevant methodologies and metrics.

Keywords

Impact assessmentInnovation pathwaysResearch infrastructures

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Sociology and Political Science.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 3.61, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-07, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 5

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-07:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 17.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 18 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.85.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Italy.