Unfinished grants, unending progress: The impact of unfinished research grants on scientific innovation

Abstract

Scientists may not fulfill the objectives delineated within their research proposals subsequent to the receipt of funding. The extent to which unfinished grants enhance scientific knowledge remains an open question. Drawing upon a dataset from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RGC) that encompasses the years 2010 to 2020, and is distinguished by its inclusion of self-reported grant completion rates, this study seeks to assess the potential contributions of research grants that were not fully completed to the progress of scientific knowledge. The analysis is conducted by leveraging the RGC's detailed records of project completion rates. The results indicate that, notwithstanding a relative lack in productivity and impact, there is no evidence that unfinished grants generate knowledge that is less disruptive than that produced by completed grants. Consequently, it is suggested that funding bodies should consider revising their assessment criteria to recognize the intrinsic merit of grants that are traditionally labeled as unfinished, thus providing more flexibility for the exploration of novel research domains within the grant allocation process.