The scholarship of application

Abstract

The scholarship of application encompasses a broad range of different types of scholarship in the sciences and humanities that involves translation of new knowledge to practical applications to solve problems of individuals and of society. The authors discuss this form of scholarship broadly, but focus on how it applies to patient-oriented research and to service performed by physicians. They distinguish between a clinician's use of his or her expertise (not scholarship) and a clinician's activities such as systematically assessing the effectiveness of different techniques and communicating the findings in a way that allows others to benefit (scholarship). They (1) review the importance of scholarship of application (i.e., society depends on the application of new knowledge), with special attention to the benefits to academic institutions; (2) discuss incentives for such scholarship (e.g., readiness of funding for directly applicable research) and disincentives (e.g., shortcomings in methods; lower prestige); (3) explain how it should be evaluated (create a more expansive peer-review process); (4) explain how it should be rewarded (rewards should be similar to those given for other forms of scholarship); and (5) describe how it should be nurtured (rigorous training in methodology, protected time for research, tangible support). They conclude that the interdependence of academic institutions and of society requires that the scholarship of application be conducted with rigor and relevance, and that institutions must develop strategies to promote applied scholarship.