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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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Impact Practitioners

Lessons for capacity building in developing countries

12/09/2024

Blog post

This 49-page report by Isabel Vogel offers a synthesis of the discussions at a workshop held by the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) on…

Research to Action Admin

Evidence into policy

Recognising Africa’s evidence actors

09/09/2024

Blog post

Maya Angelou, civil rights activist and novelist, said: “If you’re going to live, leave behind a legacy. Make an impact on the world that can…

Bruce Chidi

Evidence into policy

Youth-focused initiatives: Young Lives

06/09/2024

Blog post

Led by the University of Oxford, Young Lives is a unique longitudinal study of poverty and inequality that has been following the lives of 12,000…

Inés Arangüena

Engaging the public

Don’t wait for ‘big funding’ to tackle the climate crisis

04/09/2024

Blog post

Climate change is a critical issue that affects the entire world, with Africa feeling its impact profoundly. Participants of the recent Climate Change and Health…

Divine Adongo

Engaging policy audiences

Africa’s use of evidence: challenges and opportunities

02/09/2024

Audio & Video

Africa Evidence Week 2024 got off to an exciting start! I had the pleasure of attending one of the very first sessions – a video…

Bruce Chidi

Impact Practitioners

Five ways to improve policy engagement

02/09/2024

Blog post

This 28-page report by the Institute for Government (IfG) sets out how universities, research councils and funding councils can improve the way they support policy…

Research to Action Admin

Targeting policy actors

Youth-focused initiatives: SheDecides.

30/08/2024

Blog post

SheDecides is a diverse global political movement fighting for a world where every woman, girl, and young person has autonomy over their body, life and…

Inés Arangüena

Impact Practitioners

Monitoring and Evaluation tools for Advocacy and Influencing

29/08/2024

Guides & Tutorials

This 31-page guidance document by CARE lays out the most helpful tools and resources for the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) process in advocacy and…

Research to Action Admin

Using digital tools

Harnessing AI in the Evaluation Life Cycle

28/08/2024

Audio & Video

Are you keen to incorporate AI into your evaluation work, but not sure where or how to start? On 25 July 2024, Brad Krueger and…

Inés Arangüena

Engaging policy audiences

Nothing about us without us

23/08/2024

Blog post

“If you’re going to come up with solutions to the problems of Africa don’t come up with policies and programmes that don’t include the voices…

Megan Lloyd-Laney

Evidence into policy

Youth-focused initiatives: GAGE programme

23/08/2024

Blog Posts

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) is a ten-year mixed-methods longitudinal research and evaluation study managed by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) running, between 2015…

Inés Arangüena

Impact Practitioners

Impact to Implementation: measurement, partnerships and storytelling

22/08/2024

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This 5-page article, authored by Lisa Carson, Catherine Althaus, Helen Sullivan, and Brigid van Warooy, serves as an introduction to the AJPA symposium titled ‘Generating…

Research to Action Admin

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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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