Background: Research quality is often discussed in terms of excellence, emphasising replicability and trustworthiness. Practice-based research instead emphasises implementability and practical impact, and thus, may reflect other values and logics and challenge how high-quality practice-based research is defined. The aim of this study is to explore…

Background: Although research-to-policy (R2P) fellowships are increasingly used to facilitate mobility, promote knowledge-exchange, and support evidence-based policy making, the evaluation of these initiatives in terms of (multi-level) impacts and broader 'ecosystem effects' remains under-researched. Aims and objectives: The aim of this article is…

Background: This paper provides insights into 'Policy to Research' (P2R) Fellowships and related programmes within the 'relationship' model of academic-policy engagement, which provide structured opportunities for policy officials to interact with academic researchers. Aims and objectives: Information is provided on P2R Fellowship and similar…

Background: Fuse was established in 2008 as one of five public health research centres of excellence in the UK funded by the UK Clinical Research Centres collaboration. The centre works across five universities in the North East of England. This is an innovative collaboration and enables the pooling of research expertise. A prime focus of the…

The COVID-19 crisis has put the question of the political uses of science back at the centre of public debates. In the last few years, the focus on using scientific knowledge in parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) institutions has predominantly been to the advantage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In contrast, our…

Background: There has been little applied learning from organisations engaged in making evidence useful for decision makers. More focus has been given either to the work of individuals as knowledge brokers or to theoretical frameworks on embedding evidence. More intelligence is needed on the practice of knowledge intermediation. Aims and…

Background: Interest in using arts-informed approaches within research to increase stakeholder engagement is growing; however, there is little work describing how these approaches are operationalised across contexts. This article addresses that gap by exploring the use of arts-informed approaches across three projects. Aims and objectives: We…

Background: 'Embedded research' (co-locating researchers within non-academic organisations) is advocated as a way of developing more effective services through better creation and application of knowledge. Aims and objectives: The existing literature on embedded initiatives has largely been descriptive. There has been less in the way of analysis,…

Background: There is limited research on how knowledge translation of a domestic violence (DV) research network is shared. This lack of research is problematic because of the complexity of establishing a research network, encompassing diverse disciplines, methods, and focus of study potentially impacting how knowledge translation functions. Aims…

Background: Embedded research involves co-locating researchers within non-academic organisations to better link research and practice. Embedded research initiatives are often complex and emergent with a range of underlying intents, structures and processes. This can create tensions within initiatives and contributes to ongoing uncertainty about…

Background: In participatory research approaches, co-researchers and university researchers aim to co-produce and disseminate knowledge across difference in order to contribute to social and practice change as well as research. The approaches often employ arts-based research methods to elicit experiential, embodied, affective, aesthetic ways of…

Background: Little is known about how knowledge brokers (KBs) operate in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to translate evidence for health policy and practice. These intermediaries facilitate relationships between evidence producers and users to address public health issues. Aims and objectives: To increase understanding, a mixed-methods…

Background: A number of ways to conduct research are designed to maximise the likelihood that evidence from research is quickly transferred into practice. This includes action research and partnership research between researchers and policy makers. Such approaches focus research effort on questions of highest relevance to practice and policy so as…

This article provides an appraisal of collaborative conceptual modelling (CCM) as a tool for research translation. First developed by Newell and Proust (2012), CCM draws on the tools and frameworks of systems thinking as a way of addressing transdisciplinary problems. We applied CCM in two separate workshops - one discussing 'Digital Cities', and…

Background: Conceptualisations of what it means to use evidence in policymaking often appear divided between two extremes. On the one side are works presenting it as the implementation of research findings - particularly evaluations of intervention effect. In contrast stand theoretically informed works exploring the multiple meanings of evidence…