title: Bridging the gap between science and policy: an international survey of scientists and policy makers in China and Canada.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bridging the gap between science and policy is an important task in evidence-informed policy making. The objective of this study is to prioritize ways to bridge the gap.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was based on an online survey of high-ranking scientists and policy makers who have a senior position in universities and governments in the health sector in China and Canada. The sampling frame comprised of universities with schools of public health and medicine and various levels of government in health and public health. Participants included university presidents and professors, and government deputy ministers, directors general and directors working in the health field. Fourteen strategies were presented to the participants for ranking as current ways and ideal ways in the future to bridge the gap between science and policy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over a 3-month survey period, there were 121 participants in China and 86 in Canada with response rates of 30.0 and 15.9 %, respectively. The top strategies selected by respondents included focus on policy (conducting research that focuses on policy questions), science-policy forums, and policy briefs, both as current ways and ideal ways to bridge the gap between science and policy. Conferences were considered a priority strategy as a current way, but not an ideal way in the future. Canadian participants were more in favor of using information technology (web-based portals and email updates) than their Chinese counterparts. Among Canadian participants, two strategies that were ranked low as current ways (collaboration in study design and collaboration in analysis) became a priority as ideal ways. This could signal a change in thinking in shifting the focus from the "back end" or "downstream" (knowledge dissemination) of the knowledge transfer process to the "front end" or "upstream" (knowledge generation).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our international study has confirmed a number of previously reported priority strategies to bridge the gap between science and policy. More importantly, our study has contributed to the future work on evidence-based policy making by comparing the responses from China and Canada and the current and ideal way for the future. Our study shows that the concept and strategies of bridging the gap between science and policy are not static but varying in space and evolving over time.
authors: Injury Prevention Research Centre, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, China. Bernard.Choi@utoronto.ca.|School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Bernard.Choi@utoronto.ca.
authors: Bernard C K
authors: BC
authors: Choi
authors: Injury Prevention Research Centre, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, China. lpli@stu.edu.cn.
authors: Liping
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Injury Prevention Research Centre, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, China. laoyaoguai6@163.com.
authors: Yaogui
authors: Y
authors: Lu
authors: Population and Public Health Program, British Columbia Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver, BC, Canada. rita.zhang@phsa.ca.
authors: Li R
authors: LR
authors: Zhang
authors: Injury Prevention Research Centre, Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, China. 1320217027@qq.com.
authors: Yao
authors: Y
authors: Zhu
authors: Pak Consulting, Ottawa, ON, Canada. DrAnitaPak@hotmail.com.
authors: Anita W P
authors: AW
authors: Pak
authors: School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. yue.chen@uottawa.ca.
authors: Yue
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. jlittle@uottawa.ca.
authors: Julian
authors: J
authors: Little
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002681:China; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011050:Policy Making