Re-thinking new knowledge production:A literature review and a research agenda

This paper offers a systematic reflection on the Gibbons-Nowotny notion of 'Mode 2 knowledge production'. We review its reception in scientific literature and compare it with seven alternative diagnoses of changing science systems. The 'Mode 2' diagnosis identifies a number of important trends that require further empirical efforts, but it suffers from severe conceptual problems. It is time to untie its five major constitutive claims and investigate each separately. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.