Organizational Factors That Influence University-Based Researchers’ Engagement in Knowledge Transfer Activities

Knowledge transfer has become a priority for universities and other publicly funded research institutions. However, researchers working in these settings report certain structural barriers to engaging in knowledge translation activities. This article describes these barriers, situating them in the disjunction between current expectations and the historical tradition of disciplinary authority in academia. The authors review some of the organizational solutions that have been proposed to address this disjunction. This analysis of barriers and solutions suggests that five domains of organizational policy and practice—promotion and tenure, resources and funding, structures, knowledge transfer orientation, and documentation—may be critical to promoting researchers’engagement in knowledge transfer.