Research Impact Resources

Getting started

The FutureLearn Resource Impact Resources guide is designed to provide you with all Open access resources for the FutureLearn course on research methodology.

How does research change the world?

The impact of research is rarely obvious. It can take years to eventuate and is often kept in reports that are difficult to access.

Explore some of these articles for insight into how research can impact the world.

  1. Research that can change our world
  2. Research does solve real-world problems — experts must work together to make it happen
  3. Academics can change the world — if they stop talking only to their peers
  4. How to develop research with impact
  5. The challenges of measuring social impact using altmetrics

Official measures of research impact

In academia, ‘measuring impact’ means showing evidence of the impact of research. The types of evidence that can show the full impact of research are complex. Academic researchers refer to the following guidelines to help with measuring impact. They could also help you as a practitioner researcher.

  1. ARC Research Impact Principles and Framework
  2. UK Economic and Social Research Council — What is impact?

Some context for Australian researchers:

  1. Focusing research to make a difference
  2. Q&A: What is the REF and how is the quality of university research measured?
  3. Thinking for money: Moral questions for Australian research

Some of the problems with the official measures:

  1. The ‘impact’ of research carries weight (but ripples matter more)

The challenges for academics to show the impact of their research:

  1. Universities to explain benefit of research to ‘end users’

Investigate impact

Showing the impact of your research will help you understand the outcomes. It can also help to justify undertaking projects in future.

For your research consider:

  1. Who benefits from what I have to say?
  2. Which individuals or groups will gain or suffer from the results of the research? This is a standard part of an ethics application, but you can also think about it in relation to impact outcomes.
  3. Who will use your research? The many meanings of research utilisation
  1. How should you measure impact? When measuring research, we must remember that ‘engagement’ and ‘impact’ are not the same thing
  2. Telling a story about your research: High impact: How the story of research can be told better

Examples of demonstrating research impact:

  1. Research Councils UK Pathways to Impact
  2. Research Excellence Framework 2014 Impact Case Studies (UK)
  3. What REF case studies reveal on measuring research impact
  4. Measuring outcomes
  5. Maximising the impact of academic research
  6. Optimize your impact
  7. Ten principles to guide research evaluation

Your research impact

It’s important that you can track and assess the impact of your research now and into the future.

If you want to make a plan, think about some of these elements to help you. These examples are from this article:

  1. What is the aim of measurement? I.e. what is impact?
  2. What do you want to establish by measuring impact?
  3. What will impact mean for your project?
  4. When is the best time to check?
  5. What is the time frame?
  6. Who is/are the assessor/s?
  7. Are you counting ‘bad’ as well as ‘good’ impacts?

Some more examples:

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