The aim of useful science is to contribute to the general repository of knowledge. This is the main goal of every research journal, but it’s not the only objective. A well-written article could be misinterpreted, or even be erroneously judged unsuitable for publication because of the lack of value (for instance, where research has been in a hurry to translate into practical applications).
The pursuit of knowledge that is pure should not be restricted in the name of relevance. In fact, practical questions can motivate new pure research (as for instance, in the case of Michael Faraday’s electrical research, that were inspired by his interest in lightning).
We also know that technology applications can come from many sources. For example an medical mission to Easter Island focused on the population’s remarkable resistance to tetanus. However, an additional transfer of soil samples from the site to Ayerst Pharmaceuticals spurred further investigations into natural antimicrobials.
These examples prove that the distinction between pure research’ and “applied” research is a false one. A more productive criterion is to encourage the development of a broad variety of practical applications that can be developed from the results of scientific research as well as improve the skills of scientists to see the potential of their research. This is one of the major goals of the field of translational ecology. It seeks to transform the basic/applied science paradigm by explicitly including key stakeholders in the generation and application of knowledge from science (Enquist et al. 2017).
