Taylor Bishop Scott
Assistant Research Professor; Co-Director, Research-to-Policy Collaboration
Introduction & Projects
Taylor Bishop Scott is a community psychologist who is situated at the intersection of research and policy.
As Director of Research Translation in the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative at Penn State University, Dr. Scott consults on various strategies for bridging research and policy and leads scholarly research that sheds light on the best practices for research translation, science communication, and facilitating productive interactions between researchers and policymakers.
As a Co-director of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration, Dr. Scott directs activities that broker connections between researchers and legislative offices. She has worked closely with decision-makers to use research evidence in the real world for more than a decade, primarily focused on child-serving systems including mental health, child welfare, public housing, and education.
Dr. Scott also directs a policy training program for junior scholars via the Research-to-Policy Collaboration and routinely provides policy training workshops for researchers across the U.S. Her work has been supported by the William T. Grant Foundation, National Science Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute.
Prevention-related Projects
Recent Publications
Trends and opportunities for bridging prevention science and US federal policy
Scott, J.T., Prendergast, S., Demeusy, E., McGuire, K., & Crowley, M. (2022). Prevention Science, 23, 1333-1342.
How substance use prevention research gets used in United States federal policy
Long, E. C., Scott, J. T., Craig, L. E., Prendergast, S., Pugel, J., & Crowley, D. M. (2022). Addiction, 117(8), 2235-2241.
Crowley, D. M., Scott, J. T., Long, E. C., Green, L., Giray, C., Gay, B., Israel, A., Storace, R., McCauley, M., & Donovan, M. (2021). Cultivating researcher-policymaker partnerships: A randomized controlled trial of a model for training public psychologists. American Psychologist, 76(8), 1307–1322. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000880
Crowley, D.M., Connell, C.M., Noll, J., Green, L., Scott, T., Giray, C. (2021). Legislating to prevent adverse childhood experiences: Growth and opportunities for evidence-based policymaking and prevention. Prevention Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01292-x
Long, E.C., Pugel, J., Scott, J.T., Charlot, N., Giray, C., Fernandes, M.A., & Crowley, D.M. (2021). Rapid-cycle experimentation with state and federal policymakers for optimizing the reach of racial equity research. American Journal of Public Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306404
Long, E.C., Smith, R.L., Scott, J.T., Gay, B., Giray, C., Storace, R., Guillot-Wright, S., & Crowley, D.M. (2021). A new measure to understand the role of science in U.S. Congress: Lessons learned from the Legislative Use of Research Survey (LURS). Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426421X16134931606126
Lawmakers' use of scientific evidence can be improved
Crowley, D. M., Scott, J. T., Long, E. C., Green, L., Israel, A., Supplee, L., Jordan, E., Oliver, K., Guillot-Wright, S., Gay, B., Storace, R., Torres-Mackie, N., Murphy, Y., Donnay, S., Reardanz, J., Smith, R., McGuire, K., Baker, E., Antonopoulos, A., McCauley, M. & Giray, C. (2021). Lawmakers’ use of scientific evidence can be improved. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9), e2012955118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012955118
Evidence‐based human trafficking policy: Opportunities to invest in trauma‐informed strategies
Scott, J. T., Ingram, A. M., Nemer, S. L., & Crowley, D. M. (2019). American Journal of Community Psychology, 64(3-4), 348–358.
Translating prevention research for evidence-based policymaking: Results from the Research-to-Policy Collaboration pilot
Crowley, D. M., Scott, T., & Fishbein, D. (2017). Translating prevention research for evidence-based policymaking: Results from the Research-to-Policy Collaboration pilot. Prevention Science, 19(2), 260–270. PMCID: PMC5803346
Bringing rigor to the use of evidence in policymaking: Translating early evidence
Crowley, D. M., & Scott, T. (2017). Bringing rigor to the use of evidence in policymaking: Translating early evidence. Public Administration Review, 77(5), 650–655. https://doi.org/10.1111.puar.12830
Related News
October 27, 2022
Bills with research language more likely to advance through legislative process
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July 26, 2022
Advancing the relevance of research to policymakers during times of crisis
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September 09, 2021
New survey measures the role of science in U.S. Congress
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June 03, 2021
SPR 'Abstract of Distinction' award goes to Research-to-Policy Collaborative
A symposium organized by Assistant Research Professor and Co-Director of the Research-to-Policy Collaborative (RPC) Taylor Scott won an 'Abstract of Distinction' Award at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) held June 2-4.
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February 22, 2021
Helping Congress get the most from research
Research-to-Policy Co-Directors Max Crowley and Taylor Scott are quoted in this Penn State News story.
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January 20, 2021
Despite advances, behavioral health legislation still lags behind
Max Crowley, Director of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative (EIC), and Taylor Scott, Co-Director of the EIC, are quoted in this story from Penn State News.
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September 08, 2020
NSF funding to bolster research communication strategies project
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) is expanding a project to better respond to legislators’ needs for social and behavioral research related to the coronavirus pandemic with new funding from the National Science Foundation.
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June 10, 2020
Bridging Research and Policy During a Pandemic: Adjusting social science’s policy strategies in response to COVID-19
From a blog post written by Taylor Scott and Cagla Giray for the COVID-19 "Expert Insights" blog hosted by the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State.
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September 26, 2018
New behavioral intervention aims to improve research-to-policy translation
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Max Crowley, assistant professor of human development and family studies and director of the Penn State Administrative Data Accelerator, has received a $500,000 award from the William T. Grant Foundation to evaluate the impact of behavioral intervention for increasing collaboration between researchers and congressional offices.
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May 15, 2018
Penn State delegation advocates for social sciences in Washington, DC
A group of Penn State researchers recently attended the Consortium of Social Science Association’s (COSSA) 2018 Science Policy Conference and Social Science Advocacy Day in Washington, DC.
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