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CountryGroupThere is general consensus among the internationalcommunity that all three groups of countries should beaccorded special attention in the post-2015 developmentagenda in order to build their resilience and achievesustainable development 487 . Rio Principle 6 articulated thatthe special situation and needs of the LDCs shall be givenspecial priority, while Chapter 17 (G) of Agenda 21underlined the special needs of SIDS 488 . Paragraphs 178-180, 181, 182 of the Rio+20 outcome document, “TheFuture We Want 489 , focused on special challenges of LDCs,LLDCs and SIDS. Special emphasis on these groups ofcountries has also been given in the report of the OpenWorking Group on Sustainable Development Goals, both inthe introduction and in targets accompanying the proposedSDGs 490 .6.1.3. Publications relevant to the sustainabledevelopment agenda in the three groups ofcountriesInternational publications considered in this chapter,including UN flagship publications, cover the period from2004-2014. Despite the limited time period, the magnitudeof publications is on the order of thousands and noexhaustive lists exist. Therefore, the chapter considers asample of publications that have been deemed relevant forthese groups of countries. 491 The criterion used was thatthey are larger international publications, especiallyrecurring ones, and that they are relevant by treating issuesof priority for the whole group or groups of countries andnot specific to only one country. Many national, subregionaland regional publications exist which were notconsidered in the Chapter this year, but would meritanalysis in future editions of the GSDR.One of the challenges encountered during this analysis wasan imprecision in the use of the terms LDCs, LLDCs and SIDSin non-UN publications and in the way studies areconducted about them.Most of the data-heavy international publications are doneby the United Nations system or related entities like theWorld Bank. Their findings are often referenced inpublications done by the scientific community. Likewise,United Nations flagship reports across the board engagescientific sources outside the United Nations for theirresearch and reports. Based on the samples of publicationsanalysed for this report, there are more United Nationspublications that cover LDCs and LLDCs than SIDS; on theother hand, SIDS seem to stimulate significant academicresearch and publications. Both types of publications oftentake a sectoral rather than an integrated, cross-sectoralapproach. Analysis found that most publications cover oneor two proposed SDGs and very few cover more than threeor four (see Table 6-1). Generally, the publications analysedhere tend to cover better SDG areas that were alreadyincluded in the scope of the MDGs, with a focus on socialissues (see Annex 1).Table 6-1. Coverage of number of proposed SDGs in publications for the three groups of countries in special situationsNumber of Publications Addressing Goals# of Goals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17CoveredLDCs 3 7 8 4 3 1 1 3 2 1 2LLDCs 1 5 5 5 2 1 2 1 1SIDS 20 6 3 1 1 1Source: Author’s elaborationNote: The number of publications shows how many goals were covered by a publication, not which goals are covered. The coverage of goals is addressed insubsequent sections6.1.4. Existing points of contact between science andpolicyEvidence-based policymaking is not generally wellinstitutionalised in the countries in special situations,though there are exceptions to this rule. There is an overalllack of formal mechanisms for the integration of scientificknowledge into policy. 492Policy-makers in developing countries would like to havescientific findings complemented by policy-relevantrecommendations, presenting a range of possible policyoptions for their consideration 493 .Consultation with policy makers in the formulation ofscientific research agendas is key to ensuring science’sultimate policy relevance. Those agendas, in the end, areinfluenced strongly by funding, and in many of thesecountries there is a large foreign component thereof. Thequestion then is how far external funders’ researchpriorities are aligned with the needs of national policymakers.According to some perspectives, over the past 15 years, theemphasis on poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) andon the MDGs has meant that research on social areas ofpolicymaking was boosted, especially in areas such ashealth, education, water and sanitation. Agriculture,industrial policy, long-term planning, and science-106