Looking at the concept and dimensions of science and technology diplomacy: A meta-synthesis approach

In spite of the widespread attention of politicians and scholars in the field of science and technology diplomacy in recent years, it seems there is no consensus on this interdisciplinary concept. Naturally, understanding a concept and its constituent parts is necessary for deal with it wisely. In this paper, it has been attempted to provide a conceptual framework for the configuration of the science and technology diplomacy, using the meta-synthesis approach and the systematic analysis of scientific literature in this field. For this purpose, identifying 120 related sources and conducting the necessary methodological steps, 58 sources were finally analyzed. Meta-synthesis on previous studies shows that the developed academic concepts about science and technology diplomacy can be classified under the four main pillars including the what (nature), the why (purpose), the how (implementation considerations), and the which (outcomes and effects). Additionally, more details of the identified dimensions were extracted as subcategories. For example, the implications of science and technology diplomacy consist of sub-categories of diplomacy and foreign policy, science and technology, economics, security, and soft power. These different dimensions of science and technology diplomacy will provide scholars with a platform for the development of academic literature based on proposed dimensions and will provide policy makers and decision makers with a reasonable logic to begin planning and evaluating actions taken.