Tropical deforestation: Does researchers' direct engagement with decision makers yield more policy impact and what are trade-offs with scientific independence?

Recent publications are critical about the impact that forest governance research has on halting tropical deforestation. They suggest more engagement of scientists with decision-makers in order to increase research impact. But current theories of science communication point out that engagement with decision-makers and independence of researchers occur at the expense of each other, which is an impediment to analytical science. In our commentary we compile how the authors of recent publications deal with this dilemma and pose the question if possibly enhanced impact can justify or necessitate more engagement. We show that the assumption whereas more impact can be generated through more direct engagement is mostly based on essays, comments, or reviews and hardly on empirical findings. In a Special Focus we therefore use the existing data set of (Karcher et al., 2021) for a first quantitative empirical evaluation on the subject and show that more direct engagement is not necessarily related to more impact. We conclude that more specific empirical research is needed that comparatively assesses researchers' independence for different modes of engagement. This needs to consider different policy contexts and levels as well as stages of research projects and should rely on standardized measures to evaluate their success. For the moment, we provide a number of recommendations that can help to navigate the dilemma between engagement and independence. They include awareness raising within the scientific community, clear and transparent specification of the different roles that researchers can play, links with independent scientific reviewers, diversification of funding sources, and consideration of power and interests of policymakers which can be study objects and research partners at the same time.

Automated summary

Recent publications are critical of the impact of forest governance research on halting tropical deforestation. They suggest increased engagement between scientists and decision-makers to enhance research impact. However, current theories of science communication indicate a trade-off between engagement with decision-makers and researchers' independence, which hinders analytical science. Our commentary examines how recent publications address this dilemma and raises the question of whether enhanced impact justifies or necessitates greater engagement. We find that the assumption linking more impact to more direct engagement is predominantly based on essays, comments, or reviews rather than empirical evidence. In a quantitative empirical evaluation using existing data, we demonstrate that increased direct engagement does not necessarily lead to greater impact. We conclude that further empirical research is needed to assess researchers' independence under different modes of engagement, taking into account various policy contexts, levels, and stages of research projects. Standardized measures should be employed to evaluate the success of engagement strategies. In the meantime, we provide recommendations to navigate the engagement-independence dilemma, including raising awareness within the scientific community, specifying researchers' roles clearly and transparently, involving independent scientific reviewers, diversifying funding sources, and considering the power and interests of policymakers as study objects and research partners simultaneously.