Because, after all… impact is the point
A valuable dataset can remain inside an academic paper. A significant discovery can fail to reach the policymakers, journalists, funders, businesses or communities who could use it. Research creates potential value.
Communication, engagement and knowledge exchange help convert that potential into influence.
Start before the research is finished
This changes the research process. Instead of asking at the end:
"How can we publicise this?"
Researchers should ask at the beginning:
"Who could use this research, and what would they need from us?"
Define impact before defining the communications plan
For another, public understanding. For another, institutional change.
UKRI's ESRC impact toolkit distinguishes between different routes including knowledge exchange, public engagement, commercialisation, policy influence, media relations and publication. (UK Research and Innovation)
That is important because there is no universal "research impact strategy."
There is only an impact strategy appropriate to the research and its intended users.
Identify the people who can use the findings
Not demographics.
Decision-makers. Ask:
Who could do something differently because of this research?
A policymaker may need three findings and a recommendation.
A journalist may need a clear news angle. A business leader may need commercial implications. A community organisation may need accessible explanations. A researcher may need the methodology.
One research project can therefore require several communication products.
Find the argument inside the evidence
Consider the difference: "Our analysis found a statistically significant relationship between X and Y." versus: "The findings suggest that policymakers may be overlooking a factor that could materially affect the success of the programme."
The second statement does not abandon scientific rigour. Instead, it answers the audience's next question:
Why should I care?
That is the job of research translation.
Do not simplify the research into meaninglessness
Build a research narrative
The problem
What issue matters?
The evidence
What did the research discover?
The significance
Why does the finding matter?
The implication
What might need to change?
The action
What should the audience do next?
Create different products from the same research
It could become:
Research report
The complete evidence and methodology.
Executive summary
The central findings for senior decision-makers.
Policy brief
The findings and implications for policymakers.
Media release
The newsworthy development.
Opinion article
The argument behind the findings
Explainer
A plain-language explanation.
Infographic
The key data visually presented.
Presentation
The findings adapted for stakeholders.
Short video
The researcher explaining the significance.
Give journalists a reason to care
That story might involve:
Why now?
Why does this matter?
Who is affected?
What has changed?
Give policymakers something they can use
It should identify:
Credibility matters.
Build relationships before publication
Relationships should develop during the research process. UKRI explicitly describes public engagement as a two-way process and encourages researchers to listen to public perspectives throughout their work. (UK Research and Innovation) This can improve the research itself.
Stakeholders may identify:
Measure what changed
They are not impact. Media coverage is useful. It is not automatically impact. Social-media impressions are useful.
They are not impact. The important questions are:
Build an impact chain
Excellent research without translation may remain inaccessible. Excellent translation without engagement may reach the wrong audience.
Engagement without action may create awareness without change.
Action without evaluation makes impact difficult to demonstrate.
The chain needs to be considered as a whole.
A practical research-impact plan
Research deserves an audience
The challenge is increasingly one of translation. A research finding has limited public value if the people who could use it cannot understand it, find it or act on it. That does not mean researchers should become marketers. It means institutions should take responsibility for building the bridge between expertise and society.
UKRI's current guidance makes the same principle explicit: public engagement can strengthen research quality, relevance, trust and the likelihood that research addresses societal challenges. (UK Research and Innovation)
The goal of research communication should therefore be bigger than visibility. It should be usefulness.
The most successful research communication makes knowledge easier to find, easier to understand and easier to act upon. That is how evidence becomes public impact.