Research Excellence Framework Impact Case Research Articles

In Search of Scholarly Impact

In Search of Scholarly Impact

How research data deliver non-academic impacts: A secondary analysis of UK Research Excellence Framework impact case studies.

This study investigates how research data contributes to non-academic impacts using a secondary analysis of high-scoring impact case studies from the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF). A content analysis was conducted to identify patterns, linking research data and impact. The most prevalent type of research data-driven impact related to "practice" (45%), which included changing how professionals operate, changing organizational culture and improving workplace productivity or outcomes. The second most common category was "government impacts", including reducing government service costs and enhancing government effectiveness or efficiency. Impacts from research data were developed most frequently through "improved institutional processes or methods" (40%) and developing impact via pre-analyzed or curated information in reports (32%), followed by "analytic software or methods" (26%). The analysis found that research data on their own rarely generate impacts. Instead they require analysis, curation, product development or other forms of significant intervention to leverage broader non-academic impacts.

Evidencing impact: a case study of UK academic perspectives on evidencing research impact

ABSTRACTThe principle that research should demonstrate impact is now a central driver in UK research policy, with some describing the UK as having undergone a ‘culture change’ in regards to evidencing the value and contribution of academic research (Watermeyer, R. 2012. “From Engagement to Impact? Articulating the Public Value of Academic Research.” Tertiary Education and Management 18 (2): 115–30). This article takes a case study approach, examining one university faculty in depth in relation to research impact. Comprising an analysis of 18 Research Excellence Framework impact case studies submitted by the faculty in 2014, alongside a survey of 68 faculty staff and PhD students, and interviews with four research centre or group leaders, the case study explores the perceived benefits and challenges of evidencing research impact amongst a range of disciplines, as well as the ‘transferable’ skills which researchers utilise in evidence gathering.