Changes or Transition? Analysing the Use of ICTs in the Sciences

Current changes in the science system, conceptualized as cyberscience, Mode 2 knowledge production or Triple Helix, have been debated heavily these last decades. This paper rearticulates these debates by studying the ways in which the emergence and use of ICTs have conditioned changes in the science system. We analyse these changes, based on empirical studies and theoretical conceptualizations, as an interaction at three levels: researching, scientizing and politicking. The analysis suggests that the main result of the use of ICTs in sciences is an additional layer of communication, providing heterogeneity on top of established patterns and allowing a recombination of new and established elements. Concepts of radical discontinuity in sciences are rejected and policy implications are offered on the basis of the analysis. © SAGE Publications 2008.