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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Evidence into policy

Africa Evidence Week 2024

19/08/2024

Blog post

Africa Evidence Week 2024 is now in full swing! This year it is a virtual celebration of African Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM) and the decision-makers who…

Inés Arangüena

Knowing your audience

“Nothing about us without us”: Youth inclusion in research

12/08/2024

Blog post

There are 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10-24; the largest generation of youth ever. 600 million of these are young women. Although…

Inés Arangüena

Stakeholder mapping

Youth Inclusion and Engagement Resource List

12/08/2024

Key Resources

The world today has an ever increasing population of young people. With 1.8 billion youths between the ages of 10 and 24, they are the…

Inés Arangüena

Impact Practitioners

Reviewing ethical reporting practice in violence research

12/08/2024

Blog post

In this 9-page article from BMJ Global Health, the authors talk about the importance of making sure we follow the right ethical rules when collecting…

Research to Action Admin

Targeting practitioners

International Programme Officer, Water Witness – Deadline 19 August

07/08/2024

Job opportunity image Blog Posts

Opportunity type: Job opportunity Organisation: Water Witness Location: Edinburgh, UK preferred (although flexible working arrangements may be considered) Deadline: 12 noon 19th August 2024 Salary: £34,073.70…

Research to Action

Impact Practitioners

The Tree of Participation: a framework for inclusive decision-making

05/08/2024

Blog post

This 20-page article by Karen Bell and Mark Reed presents a new conceptual model of inclusive participatory decision-making known as ‘the Tree of Participation’ (ToP)….

Research to Action Admin

Impact Practitioners

Ten lessons for influencing policy

25/07/2024

Blog Posts

This 16-slide presentation by Sir Peter Gluckman, the chair for the International Network of Government Science Advice (INGSA)  is all about successfully using evidence to…

Research to Action Admin

Impact Practitioners

Considering new approaches to the M&E of policy research

18/07/2024

Blog Posts

This 63-page paper written by Ingie Hovland for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is all about how to monitor and evaluate (M&E) policy research. It…

Research to Action Admin

Impact Practitioners

Improving the effectiveness of educational knowledge brokering 

11/07/2024

Blog post

In this 46-page article by Lucy Rycroft-Smith, the focus is on connecting research to practical use in education, and finding ways to bridge the gap…

Research to Action Admin

Impact Practitioners

A guide to research evaluation frameworks

04/07/2024

Blog Posts

This 40-page paper by the RAND Corporation is a guide to research evaluation frameworks (REFs) and tools. Through these frameworks, the study explores the challenges…

Inés Arangüena

Featured

Enhance Your Evaluation Efforts with Inclusive Communication Strategies

03/07/2024

unknown-contenttypes

Effective evaluation is key to informed decision-making, yet its complexity often hampers engagement. The resource “Demystifying Evaluation: Communication Strategies for Making Evaluation More Engaging and…

Isobel Fisher

Impact Practitioners

Six mechanisms to strengthen citizen engagement in public service governance

27/06/2024

Blog Posts

This six-page systematic review brief by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) seeks to determine whether engaging citizens in the planning, management and oversight…

Inés Arangüena

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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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