Translational research in the science policy debate: a comparative analysis of documents

Translational research (TR) can be viewed as a prominent concept that reflects expectations of societal relevance and has become an important issue in science policy. This article analyses the framings of TR in the policy discourse by comparing policy papers in the USA and some European countries. Problem frames in favor of TR are interpreted as expressions of specific conceptions of science, being either organizational or professional. Based on a qualitative content analysis, different policy documents relating to TR between 2003 and 2013 in the USA and Europe are compared. I found that TR in the USA is more strongly framed as a professional problem whereas in Europe, TR is framed as an organizational problem. It is argued that these different framings of TR have consequences for conceptions of societal relevance and steering in TR.