Jensen, E. A. & Reed, M. (2019 and 2022). Investigating the link between research data and impact (Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports) Australia Research Data Commons. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3518454
The Institute for Methods Innovation – a research charity registered in the United States and United Kingdom – was commissioned by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) to investigate how research data contributes to non-academic impacts, drawing on existing impact case studies from the UK Research Excellence Framework.
Project overview
The research involved analysing impact cases from the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF). These cases were sifted to only review high scoring cases with a strong emphasis on ‘data’. Relevant text to this research was extracted from the larger impact narratives. A content analysis was conducted to identify patterns, linking research data and impact in the narratives. This analysis achieved a high level of reliability, based on established methodological standards.
Who benefited from the research data-linked impact?
Professionals (50%), Government, Policy, or Policymakers (42%) and Industry / Business (38%) were the most common types of beneficiaries from the research data-linked impact. This finding is partly explained by a two-step flow of research data-linked impact that ultimately reaches publics or wider non-academic stakeholders. While intermediaries such as professionals, policymakers and industry are primary beneficiaries or users of the research data-based impact, they in turn use what they have gained to develop insights, services, products and policies that deliver broader public impacts.
