The USSR has adopted a unified state policy on science & technology as a means of enabling research to contribute as fully as possible to the interests of society. This policy includes criteria for selecting research goals, strategic guidelines, & choices of investment directions. Models for a long-term science policy are presented & compared as guides to planning for the next century. 1 Table, 2 Photographs, 12 References. W. H. Stoddard
Recognizing the need for the integration of 'technological' & 'social' assessment of scientific development into a single system of science management, particularly in the socialist countries, 'science policy' in Russia is viewed. General theoretical conclusions are drawn from the experience gained in scientific & technological development in order to control this process more effectively by the use of social means of action. State science policy is examined from its inception in the USSR when its urgent objective requirements were analyzed & embodied in important instruments of state by V. I. Lenin. The criteria to be satisfied by Soviet science policy included: serving the interests of the people in its widest sense; concentration on key problems of scientific & technological progress; team approach to scientists' work; internationalism & humanism of science, consistently endeavoring to bring about fruitful international cooperation; & homogeneity of the country's science & technology. New elements of science policy include a shift in emphasis from a quantitative to a qualitative approach & an assessment of the size of the scientific community & the social characteristics of the organization & management of Soviet science. Data are given on the rates of increase in the number of institutions & in the different categories of scientific personnel, on the overall structure of Soviet scientific personnel, classifying scientific bodies according to their specialty & specific role. The achievement of the general, long-term goal of Soviet science management is thought to be dependent on the solution of 3 central & interdependent problems of science management which are examined: the "goal orientation of science, scientific potential, effectiveness of science." In addition, the links between science-policy studies & the complex of sciences with which they closely interact are considered. Separate & brief mention is made of 2 scientific fields, psychology & law, in which cooperation between these & science policy studies has already begun. Law can be expected to make useful contributions to formulation of norms for the relationships between scientific groups & individuals within such groups, the elaboration of a system of fundamental state laws relating to science; psychology might be able to establish valuable criteria for assessing qualities of specialist scientific manpower, etc. In short, the social assessment of science is seen as an inseparable & important component of the scientifically based management of the social development of society. 5 Tables, 5 Figures. E. Loomis.
