Wilson sets out to throw some light on the well-known, but under-researched, issue of the way those involved in R&D frequently do not use known relevant information in their research. The author is particularly concerned with the exclusion of information because of “information overload” and with exclusion by deliberate policy. As an information scientist, Wilson naturally needs to understand why the information his (library) profession exists to provide is so often discarded by those for whom it is intended.

Wilson suggests that the conventional analysis, known as the efficient market hypothesis, which assumes that a rational process of R&D will use all available information, does not fit the facts. Hence he introduces a distinction between global efficiency, which is a kind of ideal R&D process conforming to the conventional model, and production efficiency. The difference between the two resembles the notions of optimizing and satisficing in operations research.

I am surprised that the author makes no reference to cost. Most R&D is carried out on the basis of finite grants or restricted budgets. They, as much as anything, constrain the researcher from going to the ultimate in using available relevant information. No reference is made to the well-known problem of having to contain the research effort within tight budgets. Global efficiency, as defined by Wilson, can only be achieved in the absence of tight cost constraints.

Wilson’s paper is valuable in drawing our attention to an important set of issues in R&D. His discussion is interesting and provides a useful platform for further research and debate.