Abstract

Impact is everything, the rest is just research. I have paraphrased the Barbie movie’s tagline to illustrate the increase pressure on universities to demonstrate the impact of their research on the real world. It seems that after years of research being conceived within the confines of the ivory tower, research is now all about real world impact. These changes have open new challenges for RMAs around quantification, metrics and evaluation. RMAs need to navigate this complex research ecosystem, complying with funders, without alienating academics, many of whom, see the impact agenda as a threat to academic freedom and values.

However, since the REF was first introduced in the UK, a lot of work has been done to develop responsible and inclusive metrics. Impact supporters argue that for too long researchers have not consulted with the people who stood to benefit from research, and that academic work ought to positively impact on wider, non-academic audiences. In the movie, Barbie is told she must go to the real world, she is reluctant at first but Weird Barbie, a wise outcast, tells her: “You have to want to know”. Academics, researchers, and RMAs have to want to know the impact publicly funded research has on the real world, despite the challenges this might present.

RMAs should work with researchers to make sure that metrics are not problematic and serve a purpose to all stakeholders involved. It also important that there is still a place for blue-sky research. Impact does not necessarily need to undermine academic freedom. Autonomy is achieved not by excluding society from the selection of problems, nor by researchers’ self-exclusion from the use of knowledge. Impact evaluation could enhance researchers’ autonomy if it allows for a more ‘polyphonic’ narrative about the purpose and relevance of funded research outside Academialand.