Impact and the excellence of your research idea are two sides of the same coin. Impact is not a tangent to “the research” but rather is simply a different way of talking about why a certain research project is important and should be funded. For this reason, it is rarely a good idea to write an impact statement or similar as a standalone effort, but important to have this in your thoughts at the earliest stages and throughout the process of developing your idea. For some this is automatic in their thinking, for others it needs development and practice in thinking a bit more systematically and analytically. With this in mind, there are various areas to focus on as you develop these skills:
1. In depth analysis of your specific field, and its wider contextualising field.
How well can you place your new idea in the context of the literature? If you can’t identify highly ranked journal articles highlighting the importance of the very questions that you plan to address, or, emphasising the need for the next steps that you plan to take, perhaps there is a need to think more deeply about the project idea. Similarly, the identification of the “need” might come from the policy world and you build part of your case based upon policy documents, also making sure you have the scientific bases covered and know the literature. What is the advancing frontier of knowledge? How does your work fit with that? How can you be more informed, and more aligned with these advances in science and, where relevant, the demands from policymakers?
2. Use specific impact planning tools
There are many well tested tools that can help you to analyse what, how, where, and why your research delivers benefit to society. For example, an impact canvas supports a process where you reflect on who the beneficiaries of your research might be and how you will engage with them to be sure that your research is of use, including how you might evidence this during or at the end of your project. If you struggle to find such beneficiaries, it could be a sign that you need to revisit the idea. This process encourages reflection on the assumptions that you are making in terms of why your particular topic is important and warrants support by a funder. In this sense impact is about planning the research process from the initial framing of the question through to dissemination of the findings, and in doing so reflecting upon your own assumptions around the research problem as well as how knowledge is used in society.
Impact planning template: link
Stakeholder analysis template: link
Impact canvas: link
3. Impact narratives
Perhaps you need more inspiration and examples to understand what impact might look like in your specific field. In that case you might find “impact case studies” or “impact narratives” useful. These take the form of a short story or narrative that describes how research resulted in a real-world practical change. Several large databases of these impact studies exist which can be a useful source of ideas regarding how to frame and communicate your own impact.
https://impact.ref.ac.uk/casestudies/
https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/impact