Academic Productivity and Research Impact

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Table of Contents

Meaning and Nature of Impact
Types of Impact
Importance of Impact
Pathways to Impact
Assessment of Impact
Indicators of Impact
Planning for Impact
Reference List

Meaning and Nature of Impact

Research has significant effects on the environment, society, culture and economy of a nation. Greenhalgh et al. (2016) describe research impact as & when the knowledge generated by our study contributes to, benefits and influences society, culture, our environment and the economy (p. 3). In other words, research impact refers to the outcomes that a given study yields, which surpass academia. The nature of research impact depends on the subject of study.

One can interpret the valuable impacts of research in two perspectives: societal and academic. According to Greenhalgh et al. (2016), academic outcomes include collaborations, the discovery of novel ways of comprehending the universe, publications and involvement in peer reviews. Societal results encompass the advantages that community derives from research, which include better services, improved welfare, quality products and healthy life.

Types of Impact

The impact can be classified into numerous groups and may comprise of both societal and economic effects. Milat, Bauman and Redman (2015) allege that the various kinds of research impact include cultural, economic, environmental, health, political, scientific, technological, social and training. The cultural impact facilitates comprehension of ideas, values and beliefs that a society or nation upholds.

The economic impact refers to fiscal benefits that a study may have on a country or a particular organisation. For instance, research may facilitate economic development or productivity growth. Environmental impact is the outcome that research may have on ecological management, pollution control and meteorology. Health impact refers to the contribution of research on life expectancy, public health and quality of life (Watermeyer 2014).

Political impact depicts the role that research plays in policy formulation and implementation and national stability. Scientific impact is the contribution of research to the accumulation of technical knowledge and capacity building. Research has a noteworthy impact on society because it influences societal behaviours, community welfare and shapes social practices. Technological impact refers to the role of research in the development of novel products and services. On the other hand, training impact is the effect of research on pedagogical instruments and curricula development.

Importance of Impact

As aforementioned, impact refers to the benefits that society or nation accrues from a study. Dinsmore, Allen and Doldy (2014) maintain that investors consider the effects of a study before deciding to devote their resources. One of the reasons why the impact is important is because it influences the allocation of funds. Researchers must compile an impact summary when seeking resources. This summary should identify the parties that are likely to benefit from the intended study.

Dinsmore, Allen and Doldy (2014) claim that impact promotes accountability in the utilisation of research funds. State officials use impact data to account for and defend the use of public resources in research. Today, liability to tax-payers has resulted in governments insisting on impact delineation and public participation in research. Dinsmore, Allen and Doldy (2014) argue that impact is critical to advocacy, particularly if Research Council wishes to secure continued funding. The government and private donors must know the potential benefits of anticipated research for them to release funds.

Pathways to Impact

The pathways to impact allow researchers to understand what they require doing to guarantee that their studies yield the expected outcomes. They help researchers to investigate, from the beginning and during the entire study, the parties that are likely to profit from their research and what they must do to ensure that they achieve the correct goals. Carpenter, Cone and Sarli (2014) argue that a valuable pathway to impact declaration must be project-specific, focus on possible results and flexible.

Researchers should make sure that they establish and work with stakeholders who are likely to benefit from a particular study. Moreover, they must understand the needs of these parties and find ways in which the proposed study can help to satisfy them. Investigators should delineate the planning and running of allied activities such as timing, budget, skills, staff, deliverables and viability. The figure below shows an example of pathways to impact.

RCUK pathways to impact

Assessment of Impact

Payback model is the common approach that most researchers use to assess the impact of their studies. This assessment criterion considers the resources, dissemination, primary outputs, processes, benefits, secondary outputs and the ultimate results of research. According to Agarwal et al. (2016), the payback model facilitates knowledge production, career development and implementation of research findings. This model entails the use of semi-structured questions to determine the impact of proposed research followed by bibliometric examination and authentication procedures.

Indicators of Impact

Indicators of impact help researchers to evaluate the success of their studies. In other words, the indicators are a gauge of the degree to which an investigator has attained research goals. As per Fairclough and Thelwall (2015), indicators of impact are easy to formulate because they are derived from the urgent changes that a researcher seeks to achieve. Examples of indicators of impact include changes in knowledge, awareness and skills. They can also entail policy changes, behavioural transformation, community development and improvement in service delivery or usage.

Planning for Impact

Planning for impact involves four essential steps, which are predicting the outcome, preparation, getting definite about the effects and realising results and scrutinising success. Envisioning impact requires identifying the aspects of a study that might be helpful in the future. It also entails determining the value of ones research to the economy, national policies or social behaviours (Rowan 2016). To envision impact, one must consider the stakeholders that might be interested in their study. Planning for impact requires conducting a stakeholder assessment and compiling an impact plan. It is imperative to consider all parties that might profit or be disadvantaged by research. The figure below shows a stakeholder analysis template.

Stakeholder analysis template. — *Stakeholder analysis template*

An impact plan contains a list of the objectives of each outcome, the stakeholders that a researcher expects to engage, the primary information that the study should relay and how it will be delivered (Rowan 2016). It also clarifies how an investigator will measure the success of a study, the dangers associated with distinct impact and how to alleviate them.

Getting specific involves determining the activities that will facilitate the realisation of the identified impact. It also entails identifying individuals who are conversant with impact activities and learning from them. Rowan (2016) posits that it is imperative to list the stakeholders who can be instrumental to the achievement of the target impact. A researcher should commit to liaising with these stakeholders to enable them achieve the preferred impact. In the course of pursuing the desired impact, it is important to gather data that can aid a pollster to know if their processes are drawing them closer to the expected results. Establishing a network of support can enable an investigator to attain lasting impacts.

Reference List

Agarwal, A, Durairajanayagam, D, Tatagari, S, Esteves, SC, Harlev, A, Henkel, R, Roychoudhury, S, Homa, S, Puchalt, NG, Ramasamy, R, Majzoub, A, Ly, KD, Tvrda, E, Assidi, M, Kesari, K, Sharma, R, Banihani, S, Ko, M, Abu-Elmagd, M, Gosalvez, J & Bashiri, A 2016, Bibliometrics: tracking research impact by selecting the approach metrics, Asian Journal of Andrology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 296-309.

Carpenter, CR, Cone, DC & Sarli, CC 2014, Using publications metrics to highlight academic productivity and research impact, Academic Emergency Medicine, vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 1160-1172.

Dinsmore, A, Allen, L & Doldy, K 2014, Alternative perspectives on impact: the potential of ALMs and alternative to inform funders about research impact, PLoS Biology, vol. 12, no. 11, pp. 1-11.

Fairclough, R & Thelwall, M 2015, National research impacts indicators from Mendeley readers, Journal of Informetrics, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 845-859.

Greenhalgh, T, Raftery, J, Hanney, S & Glover, M 2016, Research impact: a narrative review, BMC Medicine, vol. 14, no. 78, pp. 1-8.

Milat, AJ, Bauman, AE & Redman, S 2015, A narrative review of research impact assessment models and methods, Health Research Policy and Systems, vol. 13, no. 18, pp. 1-9.

Rowan, F 2016, Planning for impact: a stepwise process. Web.

Watermeyer, R 2014, Issues in the articulation of impact: the responses of UK academics to impact as a new measure of research assessment, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 359-377.

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