The author’s team is developing ways to connect policymakers with university-based researchers – and studying what happens when these academics become the trusted sources, rather than those with special interests who stand to gain financially from various initiatives.

Overton spoke with Jonathan Breckon to learn about knowledge brokerage, influencing policy and the potential for technology and data to streamline the research-policy interface.

These 10 tips will help you build your brand and the reach of your scholarship, with the goal of finding your position within the wider context of your research area and leveraging change.

Kathryn Oliver discusses the recent launch of the United Kingdom’s Areas of Research Interest Database. A new tool that promises to provide a mechanism to link researchers, funders and policymakers more effectively collaboratively and transparently.

Recent experiences have not been very positive. The vast majority of proposals seem to conflate impact with research dissemination (a heroic leap of faith – changing the world one seminar at a time), or to outsource impact to partners such as NGOs and thinktanks.

When communicating with a policymaker, especially one with whom you disagree, you want to stop them from discounting your opinion. One way to do this is by citing quality evidence to support your position.

In the concluding article from their measuring impact in the business field series, Usha Haley and Andrew Jack ask: Who does this system of research benefit, and how do we throw a wider net?

Now more than ever, writes Maura Scott, as business professors, we must generate and disseminate knowledge that can help inform and promote business, as well as society’s greater good.

From a journal editor’s perspective, top journals play a central role in recognizing societal impact of research.