Paper short abstract:

In this paper we compare the research that is related to the SDGs with the rest of the published research. We measure potentially their potential impacts. Are there specific characteristics that make some research more likely to be SDG-related and that funders should target?

Paper long abstract:

We ask the following questions. Are there specific characteristics that make some research more likely to be SDG-related and that funders should target? Are there characteristics of SDG-related research that makes it more likely to be used in industry or policy reports? Does SDG-related research also appear in "excellent” publications using standard bibliometric measures?

Research related to social challenge SDGs, is more used in policy, potentially more impactful in society, and is the most multidisciplinary. Despite this, and despite being of at least as high quality as the average publication in WoS, it attracts less funding than average, and does not benefit from the same level of collaborations across countries. Research related to social functions and technical solutions SDGs is the most focused on basic sciences and technology applications, and the closest to industry. However, it does not attract much public or policy interest. Research related to natural environment and health SDGs is highly used in policy and society, attracts the most funding, and is most likely to be co-authored internationally and to be open access. SDG-related research, on average, is published in top cited journals as the WoS average

Taken together, the results indicate a need for greater public funding for research that focuses on the complex social determinants of sustainability, to complement, rather than follow, private funding