Tips for how to frame your research to get greater engagement with potential user communities and get more notice for what you are doing

1. SIX TIPS FOR
RESEARCH IMPACT
BUILDING YOUR PATHWAYS TO IMPACT
CATHERINE MANTHORPE
UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
©2015 CATHERINE MANTHORPE

2. ‘Research is too
important to go
into a scholarly
journal to die’
Eleanora Belfiore, Associate Professor of Cultural
Policy, Warwick

3. The
difference
that
research
makes to
the world

4. Top tip #1:
Make sure your
research outputs
can be discovered

6. Top tip #2:
Think about who the
audience(s) for your research
is (are), how to reach it
(them) and start building
relationships

7. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
THERE?
How much detail do they
need?
WHAT’S THEIR
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE?
Do they understand the wider context
of my research?
Do they know what others in the field
say about this topic?
What do they know already?
How up to date is their knowledge of
this topic?
Do they work in the same field as me?
Are they specialists in this field?
WHAT IS THEIR
PURPOSE FOR
LISTENING/READING?
How willing will the audience be to
accept the ideas I present?
What do they want/need to know?
Do they understand the
relevance/importance of this work?
What will they do with the
ideas/information in my writing
afterwards?

8. Top tip # 3:
Address areas of
policy/social/economic/
cultural/business interest

9. INNOVATE UK – Technology Strategy
Board : 8 Great Technologies
• Big data revolution and energy
efficient computing
• Satellites and commercial
applications of space
• Robotics and autonomous systems
• Life sciences, genomics and
synthetic biology
• Regenerative medicine
• Agri Science
• Advanced materials and
nanotechnology
• Energy and its storage
AHRC
• Care for the future
– thinking forward
through the past
• Digital
transformations in
the Arts and
Humanities
• Science in Culture
• Translating culture

10. Develop expertise in your field and
be a trustworthy source of evidence
Get decision
makers involved in
your research
Join relevant
committees and
insert your findings
into decision
making

11. Top tip #4: Write with
different voices
(and where your audience is reading)

12. Top tip #5: This is not a linear
process
Do
researc
h
Publish
it
Impact
?

13. There is no such thing as ‘I am not
ready to publish my findings’.
Establish
hypothesis
Share it
Refine
hypothesis
Write
about it
Get some
attention

14. Top tip #6: Use social
media
“If you want your
research to be
found you need to
engage with social
media” (Nick Scott, ODI)

15. Ideas travel
through
networks and
relationships

16. How good is your impact?
OUTSTANDING
Very
considerable
Considerable
Modest

17. You are not alone –
impact ‘infrastructure’
Research
Institutes
and
University
School
Research
Group
You
e.g:
• Heritage Hub
• FoodNet
• Patient
participation
groups
Marketing
Exec
Business
Developme
nt
Coordinator
Funding
‘Research
Office’
Marcomms
Small grant
schemes
Training
Events

18. Resources and
acknowledgements
 Best current resource for understanding link between
research and impacts are the REF2014 case studies
now published on the HEFCE website:
http://results.ref.ac.uk/
 Thanks to:
 Jodi Nelson for her slide share (hyperlink on slide 15)
 Becker Medical Library Model for Assessment of
Research Impact https://becker.wustl.edu/impact-
assessment/model