Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A vaccine developed through university research that is adopted into national immunisation policy, reducing disease incidence (policy impact) while also generating licensing revenue (economic impact) -- reportable as one project with several separate impact narratives.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A highly cited theoretical physics paper that changes how other physicists model a phenomenon has strong academic impact but, absent documented use beyond the research community, would not on its own support a research-impact case study.
Editorial commentary
Research impact is defined in the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) as “an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.” That “beyond academia” clause is the load-bearing part of the definition: it is what separates research impact from academic impact, which captures uptake within the research system itself (citations, method adoption, training). This entry works as a hub across that family of related-but-distinct terms rather than restating each one.
The impact types this term routes to
“Research impact” is not itself a single measurable category — funders and assessment frameworks typically ask for evidence across several distinct impact types, each with its own evidence base and methodological literature:
- Societal impact — social, community and civic effects: shifts in public attitudes, practice or wellbeing.
- Economic impact — quantified financial effects: jobs, revenue, cost savings, return on investment.
- Policy impact — influence on legislation, regulation, or public-service practice.
- Academic impact — uptake within the research community itself, often evidenced alongside, but conceptually separate from, the three types above.
These categories are not mutually exclusive — a single project can generate societal, economic and policy impact simultaneously — but funders that request separate narratives for each (REF impact case studies do this explicitly) are treating them as genuinely distinct dimensions that each need their own evidence, not one combined score.
Evidencing impact
Because impact effects are diffuse, multi-causal, and often emerge over long timescales, evidencing research impact rarely relies on a single metric. Established approaches include theory-of-change mapping from research to outcome, the Wellcome Trust “payback” framework (Buxton and Hanney), and the SIAMPI “productive interactions” approach. See REF impact case study for the narrative case-study format, and impact evaluation and pathway to impact for the surrounding methodology.
Where this is formally assessed
In the UK, research impact is assessed through the REF: see REF for the framework overview, and REF 2021 and REF 2029 for how the impact element’s weighting and structure differ between cycles. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) also maintains its own impact framework for grant applicants outside the REF cycle.
References
- REF panel criteria and working methods (ref.ac.uk). Buxton M, Hanney S, “Medical research: what’s it worth?”, Wellcome Trust. UKRI Research Impact framework.
Also known as
Impact (research) · External research impact
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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