Are indicators of faculty members’ credibility associated with how often they present research evidence to public or partly government-owned organisations? A cross-sectional survey

This study provides an empirical test of the assumption that the credibility of the messenger is one of the factors that influence knowledge mobilisation among policy makers. This general hypothesis was tested using a database of 321 social scientists from the province of Quebec that combines survey and bibliometric data. A regression model was used to study the association between indicators of faculty members’ credibility and the number of times they have presented research evidence to public or partly government-owned organisations over an 18-month period. Overall, empirical results provide new evidence supporting the credibility hypothesis.