Scientists’ perspectives concerning the effects of university patenting on the conduct of academic research in the life sciences

This paper explores scientists’ perspectives on the possible “unintended effects” of university patenting on the definition of academic research agendas, and the norms of open science. Based on a survey of life science researchers in Denmark, we found that a substantial proportion of scientists were skeptical about the impact of university patenting. The most skeptical respondents were scientists oriented towards basic research (particularly the less productive ones), recipients of research council grants, scientists with close relations to industry, and full professors. Highly productive scientists were less concerned. Our results have implications for understanding the ultimate success or failure of academic patenting policies, including how increased university patenting may be affecting how scientists conduct academic research.