Evaluating Defense Basic Research Portfolios Through Patent-Paper Linkages

Abstract

This paper develops a reproducible, open-data method for evaluating how defense-funded basic research diffuses into downstream technological development. It addresses a persistent problem in public research evaluation: decision-makers can observe research inputs and scientific outputs, but they lack standardized and traceable indicators of the contributions of funded research to later technological application. To help fill this gap, the paper links scientific publications funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Office of Naval Research to downstream patented inventions and patent assignees using OpenAlex, PatentsView, and the Reliance on Science dataset. Focusing on publications from 2010 to 2015, it constructs agency-level indicators of technological uptake, including total patent citations, distinct citing patents, distinct assignees, and citations per publication. The findings show that roughly one quarter of patent-linked uptake across all agencies is associated with firms in the defense industrial base, suggesting a stable level of defense relevance across portfolios. These results position patent-paper linkages as a practical tool for research portfolio evaluation.