Skip to Main Content
Back to Directory

Caroline S. Wagner

Faculty Emeritus

Caroline S. Wagner conducts research in the field of science and technology and its relationship to policy, society and innovation, with a particular focus on international collaboration.

Wagner received a doctorate in science and technology dynamics from Amsterdam School of Communications Research, University of Amsterdam, a Master of Arts in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College.

A distinguished Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a former elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Wagner joined Ohio State in 2011. She engaged with students at all levels, from a freshman seminar on the history of space to doctoral students in public policy analysis. Her favorite class was Leadership in Public and Nonprofit Sectors, where she taught and guided the future leaders of our nation by bringing her own experience working in science and technology roles with the White House and the U.S. Congress into the classroom. She was director of the Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy, a research center within the Glenn College, from 2011 to 2015.

She serves on the Societal Impacts of Science and Technology committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was recently tapped as the leader of the evaluation team for the new NSF-backed center, Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE). She serves on the International Working Group for the National Science Foundation’s Research on Research Security program and, with the National Academy of Sciences, the Subcommittee on U.S.-China Collaboration.

Wagner served as a consultant to the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. For the Royal Society of London, Wagner advised and co-wrote the 2011 report “Knowledge, Networks and Nations.” She served for 10 years as the editor of the journal Science and Public Policy.

Her expertise led to her selection for the Expert Panel on International Science, Technology, Innovation and Knowledge Partnerships for the Council of Canadian Academies on a report called “Navigating Collaborative Futures.” The 2024 assessment examined best practices and identified key elements of a rigorous, data-enabled approach to selecting international science, technology and innovation.  

Prior to joining Ohio State’s faculty, Wagner was a policy analyst working with and for government in a career that spanned more than 30 years and three continents. At The RAND Corp., she was deputy to the director of the Science & Technology Policy Institute, a research center serving the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. This position included crafting and coordinating research projects related to science and technology subjects across a number of disciplines and locations. Wagner’s role was to act as project manager, writer and policy analyst on more than 12 major projects for RAND. Also, with RAND, Wagner served at RAND Europe’s office in Leiden, Netherlands, where she consulted for the European Commission. 

She also worked twice as staff member for the U.S. Congress — as a professional staff member for the House Committee for Science, Space and Technology, and as an analyst for the then-Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. With the U.S. State Department, Wagner was stationed for two years at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, as an economic officer reporting on technological change in Asia. She previously served as an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Knowledge creation, dissemination and application are at the core of Wagner’s research. She is particularly interested in collaborative efforts to conduct research, development and innovation. Public policy towards investments in science, technology and new economy are at the center of her work, and this extends to developing countries that seek to use knowledge as the basis for growth. 

She authored two books: “The New Invisible College: Science for Development,” in 2008, and “The Collaborative Era in Science: Governing the Network,” in 2018.

Wagner engaged with students at all levels, from a freshman seminar on the history of space, to doctoral students in public policy analysis. Her favorite class was Leadership in Public and Nonprofit Sectors, where she taught and guided the future leaders of our nation and where she brought her own experience working with the White House and the U.S. Congress into the classroom. 

Wagner served as a consultant to the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. For the Royal Society of London, Wagner advised and co-wrote the 2011 report “Knowledge, Networks and Nations.”  She served for 10 years as the editor of the journal Science and Public Policy. 

From Disciplinary Depth to Interdisciplinary Breadth: The Case of Public Administration
The American Review of Public Administration
January 17, 2025

This article examines the evolution and academic status of Public Administration (PA) as a field of study.

The Trap of Securitizing Science
Issues in Science and Technology
December 09, 2024

In response to China’s rise, Western governments are acting to limit scientific collaboration—but these measures will not increase economic competitiveness and could inhibit the practice of science itself.

19th International Conference on Scientometrics & Informetrics (ISSI) 2023 Editorial
Scientometrics
November 28, 2024

Caroline Wagner served as a conference organizer for the 2023 conference on International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) and as co-editor of the special issue of Scientometrics containing the top papers from the conference. 

China shows science is not dependent on liberal democracy
LSE Impact Blog
September 10, 2024

The literature on research policy often assumes a dynamic interplay between democratic nations, science and innovation. Caroline S. Wagner suggests that at least in the case of China, science depends more on state capacities, a situation which may in turn have an impact on the current composition of global science.

Developing an Index of National Research Capacity
Quantitative Science Studies
September 03, 2024

Can national research capacity be measured?

Co-Creating Maps and Atlases Rivals: How Scientists Learned to Cooperate Lorraine Daston Columbia Global Reports
Science
October 10, 2023

Caroline Wagner explores the importance of cooperation in the creation of two major scientific resources.

China’s use of formal science and technology agreements as a tool of diplomacy
Science and Public Policy
August 01, 2023

Caroline Wagner studies the use of diplomatic tools by China's government in pursuit of foreign policy goals.

One-year in: COVID-19 research at the international level in CORD-19 data
Plos One
May 25, 2022

Professor Caroline Wagner studies the difference in COVID-19 research internationally.

A Discussion of Measuring the Top-1% Most-Highly-Cited Publications: The Case of China
Scientometrics
May 14, 2022

Caroline Wagner examines China's most highly-cited articles, how this measures against the United States, and how field normalizations may skew the results.

Drop in China-USA International Collaboration
ISSI Newsletter
March 01, 2022

Professor Caroline Wagner examines publication data among ‘big three’ players following reports of withdrawal of Chinese researchers from collaboration with the United States in response to political conflict,

The Publicness of Publicly Funded Research
Science and Public Policy
August 04, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner examines key US legislative initiatives during the post–World War II history of public policy related to the ownership of publicly funded research-based knowledge. 

China’s Scholarship Shows Atypical Referencing Patterns
Scientometrics
July 09, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner analyzes reference pairs in articles to search for unexpected referencing combinations at the journal–journal level

Are University Rankings Statistically Significant? A Comparison among Chinese Universities and with the USA
Journal of Data and Information Science
May 01, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner addresses the question of whether differences are statistically significant in the rankings of Chinese universities.

What Do China’s Scientific Ambitions Mean for Science—and the World?
Issues in Science and Technology
April 05, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner looks at how China has transformed its capacity for scientific research. 

Topic Evolution, Disruption and Resilience in Early COVID-19 Research
Scientometrics
March 20, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner explores how the trajectory of and research community around the coronavirus research was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flows and Networks in Global Innovation System Among Top R&D Nations
BRG Institute
March 08, 2021

This study examines how flows of people and information reveal dynamics about the global information system.

Improved Clusterings and Visualizations of 11,359 Journals in the JCRs 2015
Scientometrics
March 02, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner's publication raises a number of questions such as how to collect data of citations related to a given journal; conduct social network analysis on journals related to citations; and produce diagram properly and quickly on a dashboard.

International Collaboration During the COVID-19 Crisis: Autumn 2020 Developments
Scientometrics
February 14, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner examines how international COVID-19 research collaborations have shifted during the pandemic. 

Democracy, Complexity, and Science: Exploring Structural Sources of National Scientific Performance
Science and Public Policy
January 01, 2021

Professor Caroline Wagner explores the effect of democratic governance on scientific performance using panel data on 124 countries between 2007–2017. We find evidence supporting the democracy–science hypothesis.

Consolidation in a Crisis: Patterns of International Collaboration in Early COVID-19 Research
PLoS One
July 21, 2020

Professor Caroline Wagner seeks to understand whether a catastrophic and urgent event, such as the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerates or reverses trends in international collaboration

Measuring the Impacts of Research Investments: Beyond the Economic Approach
Social Science Research Network
January 22, 2020

Professor Caroline Wagner uses data to identify possible measures for the social benefits of research.

Global Science for Global Challenges
Handbook on Science and Public Policy
June 28, 2019

Professor Caroline Wagner explores the application of complex systems theory to understand the rapid growth of international collaboration, particularly as it can be applied to global challenges. 

International Research Collaboration: Novelty, Conventionality, and Atypicality in Knowledge Recombination
Research Policy
June 01, 2019

Professor Caroline Wagner tests for novelty and conventionality in international research collaboration.

The Collaborative Era in Science
November 01, 2018

This book, written by Caroline Wagner, argues that the global network of science has ushered in a new era of collaboration that is changing the playbook for science policy.

Measure of National Return in International Science Cooperation
STI 2018 Conference Proceedings
September 11, 2018

This article suggests a measure for the impact of international collaboration in science

Office

210U Page Hall

Expertise

Network Analysis; Complex Systems Theory; Bibliometrics; Federal Budgeting