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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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What international crisis coverage reveals about the aid system

Regular readers of this website do not need to be told that evidence is important. It is essential in shaping both our...

The Future of Evidence: UNICEF’s Blueprint for Smarter Research

For anyone involved in leveraging research to make a meaningful impact, the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti has long been a...

Why research users are central to research impact

If you want your research to make a difference, you need to think about who will use it.  The Research Impact Academy...

Whose knowledge counts in development research?

Who truly shapes the global academic landscape? In this academic article, Sarah Cummings and Paul Hoebink pull back the curtain on a...

How can research support volunteering?

As the funding landscape tightens, organisations in the Third Sector – that is organizations that are neither government (public sector) nor business...

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Featured

Make your scientific posters sing

13/08/2009

Blog Posts

Conferences are an important way to share new research findings and connect with other researchers. The ‘poster session’ is now a mainstay of the conference…

Abdourahmane Idrissa

Featured

Customise your tiny URLs and track click statistics

06/08/2009

Blog Posts

As websites have become more complex, the length of web addresses (URLs) has grown, and they have become increasingly unwieldy. Hot links and hyperlinks are…

Abdourahmane Idrissa

Featured

Brevity – the soul of communication?

03/04/2009

Blog Posts

One of the key challenges that all researchers face is how to get policymakers to take note of their findings. No two policymakers are quite…

Abdourahmane Idrissa

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Most Recent Posts

  • What international crisis coverage reveals about the aid system
  • The Future of Evidence: UNICEF’s Blueprint for Smarter Research
  • Why research users are central to research impact
  • Whose knowledge counts in development research?
  • How can research support volunteering?
What does it mean to do research in “difficult places”? 🌍

Jon Harle’s blog series looks at South Sudan, Liberia, and the Somali regions—exploring both the challenges and the possibilities of using evidence in fragile contexts.

Follow the link in our bio to read all three articles 🔗

#ResearchMatters #EvidenceForImpact #GlobalDevelopment #FragileStates #KnowledgeInCrisis #ResearchInDifficultPlaces

What does it mean to do research in “difficult places”? 🌍

Jon Harle’s blog series looks at South Sudan, Liberia, and the Somali regions—exploring both the challenges and the possibilities of using evidence in fragile contexts.

Follow the link in our bio to read all three articles 🔗

#ResearchMatters #EvidenceForImpact #GlobalDevelopment #FragileStates #KnowledgeInCrisis #ResearchInDifficultPlaces

Looking back at the #R2AArchive this week...

We have landed upon this 2013 piece by Jorge Benavides on what it really takes to turn research into policy.

Based on his work in Guatemala, Benavides shares 5 key lessons for influencing change:
👉 Politics matters – research alone won’t cut it.
👉 Timing is everything – wait for the right window.
👉 Choose allies wisely – coalitions amplify your impact.
👉 Play the long game – real change takes time.
👉 Frame it smartly – make it a win–win.

His takeaway? Evidence is essential—but without artful engagement, it won’t move the needle.

🔗 Read more: https://ow.ly/tfxp50WAE1s (or via #R2AArchive link on Linktree) 🔗

#PolicyChange #ResearchToAction #EvidenceMatters #PolicyInfluence

Looking back at the #R2AArchive this week...

We have landed upon this 2013 piece by Jorge Benavides on what it really takes to turn research into policy.

Based on his work in Guatemala, Benavides shares 5 key lessons for influencing change:
👉 Politics matters – research alone won’t cut it.
👉 Timing is everything – wait for the right window.
👉 Choose allies wisely – coalitions amplify your impact.
👉 Play the long game – real change takes time.
👉 Frame it smartly – make it a win–win.

His takeaway? Evidence is essential—but without artful engagement, it won’t move the needle.

🔗 Read more: https://ow.ly/tfxp50WAE1s (or via #R2AArchive link on Linktree) 🔗

#PolicyChange #ResearchToAction #EvidenceMatters #PolicyInfluence

🗞️ How we tell stories matters.
Our latest blog reflects on Patrick Gathara’s critique of humanitarian storytelling—and how media narratives can uphold the very power structures aid aims to dismantle.

🔍 Big questions:
🧩 Should journalists rethink the stories they tell about crisis?
🧩 Can media and humanitarians work together ethically?

A thoughtful read for anyone passionate about:
🌍 Decolonising aid
📰 Ethical journalism
📣 Amplifying local voices

🔗 Link in bio to read the full blog!
#DecoloniseAid #MediaEthics #HumanitarianNarratives #TheNewHumanitarian #StorytellingMatters #ResearchToAction

🗞️ How we tell stories matters.
Our latest blog reflects on Patrick Gathara’s critique of humanitarian storytelling—and how media narratives can uphold the very power structures aid aims to dismantle.

🔍 Big questions:
🧩 Should journalists rethink the stories they tell about crisis?
🧩 Can media and humanitarians work together ethically?

A thoughtful read for anyone passionate about:
🌍 Decolonising aid
📰 Ethical journalism
📣 Amplifying local voices

🔗 Link in bio to read the full blog!
#DecoloniseAid #MediaEthics #HumanitarianNarratives #TheNewHumanitarian #StorytellingMatters #ResearchToAction


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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