Designing a national science and technology evaluation system based on a new typology of international practices

- A five-level typology for national S&T evaluation systems is proposed.
- This typology transparently classifies S&T evaluation systems.
- The country's context is considered as a key factor.
- An evolutionary development is required for obtaining the desired S&T evaluation system.

This paper aims to provide a new classification of national science and technology (S&T) evaluation systems. This evaluation system will consider five analytical dimensions extracted from international practices consisting of the following: evaluation system function, evaluation interactions framework, evaluation organization, evaluation model of funding, and process of result evaluation. The classification proposed in the present paper is intended for application in detecting the current position of and expanding suitable evaluation systems based on the countries' native context as a national analysis tool (especially for late-comer countries). Therefore, in the case of Iran, we reviewed both the existing and optimized modes of national science and technology evaluation systems. The results show that the existing evaluation system in Iran is not optimized, so evolutionary changes are required for obtaining the desired system goals. Policy results of the mentioned classification as well as national science and technology evaluation systems are considered. In general, it appears that such a descriptive analytical typology can be applicable for all countries. However, the classification is specifically applied for designing an optimized S&T evaluation system in Iran.