The questions being asked: Academic research, the media, and regulators

Academic research should strive to increase our understanding of the world we live in, and as such open the door for improvements in this world. With this goal in mind, this piece represents a call for academics to jointly consider their research agenda and the audience for this research. This audience might include people working in industry or policy makers. Closer connections between academia and broader audiences contribute to research that informs debates on the salient issues of today, higher quality studies on these issues, and greater impact. To provide insight on the relation between academic research and the most salient current issues, I compare topics of focus within academic journals with topics of focus in industry articles and regulatory publications. I identify gaps and suggest areas for future research.