When it comes to best-practice approaches to demonstrating research impact, impact is specific and is addressed on a case-by-case basis.
“Talk through your research with as many people and professional support staff as possible, including me!” Impact Facilitator Catherine McElhone said. “Think about how you provide evidence of impact and give examples for how change has happened. Think about what story you are trying to tell.”
When evidencing impact, always consider:
- focus: know what you want to achieve; intended outcomes should clarify the types of evidence you need
- proportionality: aim to capture evidence to support key claims of impact, not every detail along the way
- timing: show a progression of impact from early stages to demonstrable ‘benefits’ e.g. surveys before and after
- relationships: be clear about what you might need from collaborators and partners early on e.g. testimonials or regular updates
Practical methods to evidence impact include:
- focus groups
- interviews
- surveys
- creative methods.
Other examples include audience surveys, testimonials, media coverage, cost saving reports and statistics.
“Altmetrics is another fantastic tool for evidencing impact as it uses the DOI from your papers and tracks where your paper has been referenced or shared globally,” Catherine said. “It shows the non-academic engagement with your research that can contribute to your impact.”
Impactful researchers at UTS
Catherine highlighted the work of Professor Laurie Berg at UTS and her research around migrant workers. The team set up the Migrant Justice Institute as a collaboration between UTS and UNSW that has generated many new protections for migrant workers.
“Laurie and her team can identify and show how their research is having impact because there is a direct link between legislation changes and their research,” Catherine said. “An example has been invitations by government to co-design new visa requirements for migrant workers.”
Laurie’s methods of evidencing impact from her research include:
- invitations as knowledge providers
- policy citations
- surveys
- testimonials from next users.
Another example demonstrating a different method of evidencing impact comes from Professor Shauna Murray and her research around early warning systems to make seafood safer.
Shauna evidences her impact through:
- economic analysis
- testimonials
- open access/data rates
- surveys.
Tools to help record your impact
Catherine recommends using online tools to record impact.
“Overton is a great tool that shows where university researchers have been cited for policy. Which is another way of evidencing impact,” Catherine said.
You can also record your impact in Symplectic Elements as an impact journal and collaborate on records of impact with everyone within UTS working on the same project.
“This only needs to be a sentence. You don’t need to provide lots of information every time you create a record of impact,” Catherine said. “It’s about collecting these little pieces to be able to tell the full story in the future.”
Watch Fundamentals of Research Impact: Evidencing Impact
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