Frascati manual 2015 : guidelines for collecting and reporting data in research and experimental development: the measurement of scientific, technological and innovation activities.

The Frascati Manual is firmly based on experience gained from collecting R&D statistics in both OECD and non-member countries. It is a result of the collective work of national experts in NESTI, the OECD Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators. This group, with support from the OECD Secretariat, has worked over now more than 50 years as an effective community of practitioners to implement measurement approaches for the concepts of science, technology and innovation. This effort has resulted in a series of methodological manuals known as the “Frascati Family”, which in addition to this manual includes guidance documents on the measurement of innovation (the Oslo Manual), human resources devoted to science and technology, patents, and technological balance of payments, but most importantly, it has provided the basis for the main statistics and indicators on science and technology that are currently used.