What Impact is:

Impact is defined as “an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia” (Higher Education Funding Council for England).

There are ten main types of impact on research, as per Reed’s The Research Impact Handbook.

• Understanding and awareness – research helping people understand an issue better
• Attitudinal – research helped changing in attitudes
• Economic – research leading to cost savings, or costs avoided; or increases in revenue, profits or funding
• Environmental – benefits arising from research aid habitat conservation and ecosystems
• Health and well-being – research led to better outcomes for individuals or groups
• Policy – your research contributed to new or amended guidelines or laws
• Decision-making and behavior impacts
• Cultural – changes in prevailing cultural values, attitudes and beliefs
• Other social impacts – improvement in human rights
• Capacity or preparedness – research that helps others better cope with changes that might otherwise have a negative impact.

Select the following button to know more about Research Impact like bibliometrics or beyond in measuring scholarly interest to reveal how research is being shared and discussed within the academic community and beyond.

Try out this “Measuring Scholarly Research Impact Info Kit” to understand the process in assessing your scholarship impact.