Mark Reed

My new book, The Researcher's Guide to Influencing Policy comes out 20th September! Get your copy here: tkqlhce.com/click-10125883…

Watch the video of my free training on how to Fast Track Your Impact. If you were signed up to attend, check your inbox today for a link to the slides, free book, follow-on course and other resources, and discount codes! youtube.com/watch?si=YI528…

So, next time you are planning your impact, do not just ask who can help disseminate research: ask what each partner is uniquely able to do. link.springer.com/article/10.100… (message me if you don't have access)

Museums create public experience, libraries connect knowledge to use, and archives provide trusted records and memory. In this sense, impact is less of a pipeline and more a set of complementary roles and relationships.

New analysis of REF2014 and REF2021 case studies by Wang Zuorong et al shows how libraries, museums and archives enable research to generate impact in different ways.

Rare free opportunity to join my influencing policy course (based on my book, The Researcher's Guide to Influencing Policy). Get practical tips and an opportunity to reflect deeply on what it means to use your evidence responsibly to affect policy change eventbrite.co.uk/e/influencing-…

Making evidence work: How can "embedded researchers" support decision-making in local government? New paper from The York Policy Engine wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-13…

Join my most popular impact training course free (funded by EU) next month! linkedin.com/events/forpeat…

Free online course - Introduction to Creative Public Engagement (part of Being Human Festival) Thursday 5 March 2026, 11.00-12.00 beinghumanfestival.org/introduction-c…

Read the paper (open access): doi.org/10.1080/257411… #ResearchImpact #REF2029 #KnowledgeExchange #PracticeResearch #ResearchCulture

- Use form intelligently: alongside metrics, capture process, digital traces, testimonies, and repeat engagements to show credible pathways of influence.

REF impact writing often assumes a neat chain: research → engagement → outcome → impact. Creative practice rarely behaves that way.

Why this matters: If impact is treated as “extra-curricular”, it will be done by those who can afford the time, networks, and security. That is an equality issue as much as an impact issue. Read the paper (open access) doi.org/10.17356/ieejs… #ResearchImpact #ECRs

Women more frequently raised practical barriers such as limited support, limited funding, low energy, and difficulties communicating to non-academic audiences. Men more often highlighted politics and the weak rewards for impact within career progression.

New paper by Karolina Lendák-Kabók et al. looks at how early career researchers in the social sciences understand research impact and what changes when gender is taken seriously.