Assessing research impact: Australian Research Council criteria and the case of Family Wellbeing research

Publication date: Available online 14 January 2019Source: Evaluation and Program PlanningAuthor(s): Komla Tsey, Leigh-ann Onnis, Mary Whiteside, Janya McCalman, Megan Williams, Marion Heyeres, Siu Man (Carrie) Lui, Helen Klieve, Yvonne Cadet-James, Leslie Baird, Catherine Brown, Felecia Watkin Lui, Daniel Grainger, Zona Gabriel, Nigel Millgate, Ben Cheniart, Tahalani Hunter, Hong-Bo Liu, Yang Yingbong, Li YanAbstractResearchers worldwide are increasingly reporting the societal impact of their research as part of national research productivity assessments. However, the challenges they encounter in developing their impact case studies against specified government assessment criteria and how pitfalls can be mitigated are not reported. This paper examines the key steps taken to develop an Aboriginal Family Wellbeing (FWB) empowerment research impact case study in the context of an Australian Research Council (ARC) pilot research impact assessment exercise and the challenges involved in applying the ARC criteria. The requirement that researchers demonstrate how their institutions support them to conduct impactful research has the potential to create supportive environments for researchers to be more responsive to the needs of users outside academia. However, the 15 year reference period for the associated research underpinning the reported impact and the focus on researcher’s current institutional affiliation constitute potential constraints to demonstrating the true impact of...
Source: Evaluation and Program Planning - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research