This special issue is a bridging effort to bring together science policy and academic research productivity analysis by focusing on knowledge production, diffusion and commercialization policies and practices. The discussion addresses two major issues: (1) the changing national science policies and their influence on knowledge management in universities; and (2) the impact of policies and organizational characteristics on academic knowledge production, diffusion and commercialization. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the key debates on the two issues as well as to present the articles included in the special issue.