We Need to Talk about Impact
Why Social Policy Academics need to Engage with the UK's Research Impact Agenda
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2115809 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katherine E Smith (0000-0002-1060-4102, University of Edinburgh), Ellen Stewart (0000-0003-3013-1477, University of Edinburgh) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 109-127 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0047279416000283 |
| OpenAlex | W2398159942 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 44 |
| References cited | 31 |
Of all the social sciences, social policy is one of the most obviously policy-orientated. One might, therefore, expect a research and funding agenda which prioritises and rewards policy relevance to garner an enthusiastic response among social policy scholars. Yet, the social policy response to the way in which major funders and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are now prioritising 'impact' has been remarkably muted. Elsewhere in the social sciences, 'research impact' is being widely debated and a wealth of concerns about the way in which this agenda is being pursued are being articulated. Here, we argue there is an urgent need for social policy academics to join this debate. First, we employ interviews with academics involved in health inequalities research, undertaken between 2004 and 2015, to explore perceptions, and experiences, of the 'impact agenda' (an analysis which is informed by a review of guidelines for assessing 'impact' and relevant academic literature). Next, we analyse high- and low-scoring REF2014 impact case studies to assess whether these concerns appear justified. We conclude by outlining how social policy expertise might usefully contribute to efforts to encourage, measure and reward research 'impact
Excellence · Impact assessment · Inequality · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Relevance (law) · Social impact · Social policy · Social research · Social science · Societal impact of nanotechnology · Sociology · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Health Policy Implementation Science · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Psychology · Public Administration
Navigating boundaries in coproduced research
Academic knowledge brokering in local policy spaces
Everyday stories of impact
Reconsidering symbolic use
The Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (Cape) programme in England
What works to promote research-policy engagement
Facilitating knowledge transfer during Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout
Impact”, research and slaying Zombies
The impacts of higher education institutions on sustainable development
The dos and don’ts of influencing policy
Rethinking policy ‘impact’
Researching for societal impact
Towards ‘policy responsible’ language testing
Platforms and Institutions in the Post-Pandemic University
Understanding and evidencing a broader range of ‘successes’ that can occur at the interface of marine science and policy
Research agenda on social policy
Research funding in Turkiye
How do museums and galleries help academics create societal impact? An analysis of the UK REF2021 impact case studies
Low carbon energy and international development
The impact agenda and the study of British politics
The rise of impact in academia
The politics of research impact
The political economy of politics and international studies impact
Co-option, control and criticality
The worlds of social work writing
Re-thinking research impact
There, across the border – political scientists and their boundary-crossing work
The Politics of Environmental Knowledge
Institutional hierarchies and research impact
Research End-User Perspectives about Using Social Work Research in Policy and Practice
Australian Social Work Research
Critical research impact
Politics and International Relations
Impotence Through Relevance? Faustian Bargains, Beyond Impact and the Future of Political Science
Health, faith and therapeutic landscapes
Governing by narratives
Taking health geography out of the academy
How universities facilitate city network socialization through knowledge exchange on immigrant integration
Research partnerships across international contexts
We're not hard-to-reach, they are!' Integrating local priorities in urban research in Northern England
Leaping the Abyss
Performing Trustworthiness
Understanding lay perspectives on socioeconomic health inequalities in Britain
Back to the future? What we can learn from the 2nd generation of Social Policy academics
The Impact of the Social Sciences
Beyond Evidence-Based Policy in Public Health
Evidence based policy
Health policy-makers' perceptions of their use of evidence
Knowledge Exchange Processes in Organizations and Policy Arenas: A Narrative Systematic Review of the Literature
Essay: Using ‘Linkage And Exchange’ To Move Research Into Policy At A Canadian Foundation
Assessment, evaluations, and definitions of research impact
Diffusion of Innovations in Service Organizations
The Student's Companion to Social Policy
The Political Uses of Expert Knowledge
Impacted geographers
The perils of ‘impact’ for academic social science
Connecting evidence and policy
Black magic’ and ‘gold dust’
Whose side are we on and for whom do we write? Notes on issues and challenges facing those researching and evaluating public policy
Linking research and policy in Dutch healthcare
Evidence-based policy’ and the government of the criminal justice system - only if the evidence fits
The Many Meanings of Research Utilization
Policy Research in the Context of Diffuse Decision Making
Geographies of impact
Tools of the Trade
The Manufacture of Knowledge
| Unique citing works | 44 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,4 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 36 |