Research to Action

The Global Guide to Research Impact

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    This list of how to’s provides an essential guide for a number of key communication and engagement activities that will help make your research travel.

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Looking back, peering forward: our 2025 journey

As 2025 draws to a close, we’d like to take a moment to pause and look back on the past year at...

Why development research needs a new publishing paradigm

The promise of open access once offered a path toward equity in development research. However, as highlighted in a recent INASP policy...

Kathryn Oliver on rethinking evidence use

Back in October, Professor Kathryn Oliver delivered an insightful lecture on one of the big questions in our field. Individuals, organisations, and...

Job Opportunity: Director at the Africa Evidence Network (AEN)

More than a decade ago, a group of people passionate about generating and using evidence in Africa, for Africa, got together over...

Evidence is everybody’s story

In a world drowning in data, the promise of ‘evidence-based practice’ often feels distant. For many, evidence remains something that is done...

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Featured

Think Tanks at the crossroads of evidence: What next?

12/11/2018

Blog Posts

This week’s Think Tank Initiative Exchange (#TTIX2018), taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, will build on a decade of TTI lessons, experiences and insights on the…

Research to Action

Using digital tools

Want to make an app? 3 considerations for NGOs

09/11/2018

Blog Posts

Chances are you’ve already used a mobile app today: your phone’s weather alert, the game of Candy Crush you played on your commute or even…

Thomas Worley

Making your research accessible

Getting to grips with the politics of research collaboration

07/11/2018

Blog Posts

There’s a common story in development research. It goes like this. If academics from the global North, researchers from the global South, and CSOs participate…

Karen Brock

Featured

How to combat hate speech on Facebook

05/11/2018

Blog Posts

Concern about the influence of social media, particularly Facebook, on international societal and political climates is a growing issue in today’s digital culture. From political…

Amanda Peterson

Featured

Four critical organisational features that impact policy and practice

24/10/2018

Blog Posts

Research organisations are changing the make-up of their teams in order to increase the likelihood of their research having an impact on policy and practice….

Marie Löf

Chris Cvitanovic

Making your research accessible

LSE Impact Blog – Editor

23/10/2018

The LSE Impact Blog is an award-winning, highly popular blog aimed at academics, researchers, and higher education and scholarly communications professionals. It publishes regular blog posts…

Research to Action

Strategic communication

Building new relationships: The right strategy, at the right time

15/10/2018

Blog Posts

Building relationships is all about communication. Building new relationships beyond your existing networks challenges you to look hard at both who you are and who…

Azita Shamsolahi

Knowing your audience

R2A: Polling our audience

10/10/2018

Blog Posts

Research to Action has crowdsourced answers to questions relating to research communications and impact. In the spirit of sharing to continually improve strategies and outcomes, here…

Research to Action

Strategic communication

Innovation expands access to Nicaraguan Sign Language

26/09/2018

Blog Posts

During International Week of the Deaf, Sign On For Literacy prize winner Manos Unidas shares how technology is transforming access to education for deaf children…

Brittany Anderson

Featured

Running R2A’s social media: What I’ve learned

20/09/2018

Over the last two years I have had the privilege of being the custodian of Research to Action’s lively social media accounts. Last month’s blog…

Laura ffrench-Constant

Engaging policy audiences

People matter, not papers: Watching policymakers acquire knowledge in Indonesia

17/09/2018

Funders support (non-governmental) think tanks, assuming they will influence government policy by (amongst other things) producing and sharing short, punchy written outputs like policy briefs…

Ajoy Datta

Featured

‘Life Is Too Short to RTFM’ wins Ig Nobel for Literature

14/09/2018

Blog Posts

A little light humour for a Friday… The latest round of Ig Nobel Prizes was given out last night, and for those of us in…

Research to Action

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Most Recent Posts

  • Looking back, peering forward: our 2025 journey
  • Why development research needs a new publishing paradigm
  • Kathryn Oliver on rethinking evidence use
  • Job Opportunity: Director at the Africa Evidence Network (AEN)
  • Evidence is everybody’s story

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re pausing to reflect at Research to Action (R2A) ✨

This year, 27,000+ readers from 188 countries joined us in exploring how research can better inform action — reading, sharing, and asking thoughtful questions along the way 🌍📚

Despite a challenging year for international development, our community leaned into conversations about:
📊 Impact and learning
🔄 Knowledge brokering & evidence use
🤖 AI and the future of research

What inspired us most was how you engaged — with curiosity, care, and a commitment to making evidence matter.

✨ Looking ahead, we remain focused on creating space for reflection, learning, and meaningful exchange — together.

Thank you for being part of the journey. Here’s to another year of curiosity and impact 💛

🔗 Link in bio to read our full reflection

#ResearchToAction #EvidenceInPractice #ResearchImpact #KnowledgeSharing #EndOfYearReflection #GlobalCommunity

In our latest blog Inés Arangüena breaks down the Researcher Impact Framework (RIF) — a super practical way to show the real-world impact behind research, not just the publication count.

✨ Why it’s worth a read:
💡 Clearly explain the difference your work makes
📚 Connect outcomes to real evidence + activity
🤝 Highlight impact through collaboration, knowledge sharing & community
📊 Use metrics that actually matter (not just journal impact factors!)

If you’re a researcher, communicator, or anyone trying to share the story behind your work… this framework is a game-changer.

🔗 Link in bio to read the full blog!

#ResearchImpact #KnowledgeTranslation #DataDrivenStorytelling #AcademicCommunications #ImpactNarratives Trinity College Dublin

In our latest blog Inés Arangüena breaks down the Researcher Impact Framework (RIF) — a super practical way to show the real-world impact behind research, not just the publication count.

✨ Why it’s worth a read:
💡 Clearly explain the difference your work makes
📚 Connect outcomes to real evidence + activity
🤝 Highlight impact through collaboration, knowledge sharing & community
📊 Use metrics that actually matter (not just journal impact factors!)

If you’re a researcher, communicator, or anyone trying to share the story behind your work… this framework is a game-changer.

🔗 Link in bio to read the full blog!

#ResearchImpact #KnowledgeTranslation #DataDrivenStorytelling #AcademicCommunications #ImpactNarratives Trinity College Dublin

Revisiting a 2022 article by Tebby Leepile this International Week of Science and Peace. It dives into the challenge of scaling implementation science: too big becomes unsustainable, too small makes little impact. 🌍🔬

How do we find the balance that leads to real change?

Full article in linktree just click #R2AArchive 🔗

#ScienceForPeace #InternationalWeekOfScienceAndPeace #ImplementationScience #SustainableDevelopment #ScaleUpImpact  #FromDataToImpact  #InnovationForGood

Revisiting a 2022 article by Tebby Leepile this International Week of Science and Peace. It dives into the challenge of scaling implementation science: too big becomes unsustainable, too small makes little impact. 🌍🔬

How do we find the balance that leads to real change?

Full article in linktree just click #R2AArchive 🔗

#ScienceForPeace #InternationalWeekOfScienceAndPeace #ImplementationScience #SustainableDevelopment #ScaleUpImpact #FromDataToImpact #InnovationForGood


About Us

Research To Action (R2A) is a learning platform for anyone interested in maximising the impact of research and capturing evidence of impact.

The site publishes practical resources on a range of topics including research uptake, communications, policy influence and monitoring and evaluation. It captures the experiences of practitioners and researchers working on these topics and facilitates conversations between this global community through a range of social media platforms.

R2A is produced by a small editorial team, led by CommsConsult. We welcome suggestions for and contributions to the site.

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