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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Engaging the public

Playing to their strengths: Honing media skills for research communication

26/01/2015

Audio & Video

by Shilpi Tripathi. Young faculty and researchers at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) come from some of the best universities globally, bringing…

Research to Action

Evidence into policy

The Advocacy Skills workshop: A participant’s view

21/01/2015

Blog Posts

by Sukanya Bhaumik, Programme Officer, PAC As a part of our PEC programme, our facilitator (Ms Aditi Kapoor) conducted 3 workshops including the Advocacy Skills…

Research to Action

Featured

Lessons from 2014: What Policy Makers want from Researchers

19/01/2015

Blog Posts

2014 saw a growing number of studies attempting to answer the question: What do Policy Makers really want from researchers? This post argues that if we can answer this question then research communication will be far more successful.

Laura ffrench-Constant

Featured

The dos and don’ts of successful media engagement

15/01/2015

Blog Posts

Media engagement can seem like a minefield to the uninitiated scientist. Getting 2015 off to a positive start, Research Media’s Ben McCluskey offers a helping hand, highlighting some of the common pitfalls and providing guidelines for getting engagement right.

Research Media

News

Our best bits 2014

07/01/2015

News

2014 was a busy time for the R2A team and we are grateful for all the ongoing interest in the initiative and the excellent content provided by our partners and contributors. We have created a snapshot of our best bits from over the course of the year just in case you missed them!

Featured

Visualising science: the infographic  

12/12/2014

Blog Posts

Research Media explains why infographics are becoming the tool of choice when it comes to impactful science communication to policy makers and the public.

Research Media

Evidence into policy

Q&A: Spotlight on the Zimbabwe Evidence-Informed Policy Network (ZeipNet)

01/12/2014

Blog Posts

Nyasha Musandu recently sat down with Ronald Munatsi, Director of ZeipNet, to discuss their role in facilitating the mainstreaming of evidence into policy-making processes in Zimbabwe.

Nyasha Musandu

Engaging the public

Can science be open to everyone?

19/11/2014

Blog Posts

Dr Ben Skuse investigates how social media platforms like ResearchGate and increasingly ambitious citizen science projects like the Encyclopedia of Life are spurring a new inclusive scientific culture that embraces the public in the scientific process – open science

Research Media

Engaging the public

Research Uptake Symposium and Training Exchange

14/11/2014

News & Opportunities

The Research Uptake (ResUp MeetUp) Symposium and Training Exchange has issued two exciting calls for proposals to contribute to the forthcoming event. The event will convene in Nairobi, Kenya from 9-12 February 2015.

Research to Action

Featured

PEC programme concludes, but a toolkit remains

07/11/2014

Templates & Toolkits

The Think Tank Initiative’s Policy Engagement and Communications programme has produced a toolkit that contains resources and materials to help plan, package and disseminate research. It includes reflections from think tanks and mentors.

Shubha Jayaram

Featured

The final curtain: Policy Brief Week 2014

31/10/2014

Audio & Video

Thanks to everyone who has been following Policy Brief Week 2014 here on R2A. It’s been a great week with lots of interesting content and discussion on the site and through social media. We hope everyone feels like they know a little bit more about writing effective policy briefs.

Research to Action

Featured

Is the age of the Policy Brief over?

30/10/2014

Blog Posts

What does the ever increasing availability of an internet connection mean for a policy brief? Policy Briefs have become a popular means for researchers to speak to policy audiences, but there are reasons to suggest that their popularity may be declining.

Laura ffrench-Constant

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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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  • Paula Fray
  • Shubha Jayaram
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