Membership nominations in international scientific assessments

Leifeld, P. and Fisher, D. R. (2017) Membership nominations in international scientific assessments. Nature Climate Change, 7, pp. 730-735. (doi: 10.1038/nclimate3392)

Abstract

International scientific assessments are transnational knowledge-based expert networks with a mandate to advise policymakers. A well-known example is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), which synthesized research on ecosystem services between 2001 and 2005, utilizing the knowledge of 1,360 expert members. Little, however, is known about the membership composition and the driving forces behind membership nominations in the MA and similar organizations. Here we introduce a survey data set on recruitment in the MA and analyse nomination patterns among experts as a complex network. The results indicate that membership recruitment was governed by prior contacts in other transnational elite organizations and a range of other factors related to personal affinity. Network analysis demonstrates how some core individuals were particularly influential in shaping the overall membership composition of the group. These findings add to recently noted concerns about the lack of diversity of views represented in international scientific assessments.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Leifeld, Professor Philip
• Authors: Leifeld, P., and Fisher, D. R.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
• Journal Name: Nature Climate Change
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 1758-678X
• ISSN (Online): 1758-6798
• Published Online: 25 September 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature
• First Published: First published Nature Climate Change 7:730-735
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher