When we talk about “research impact,” many people immediately think of citations and publications. While these are important, they represent only one part of a much bigger picture. Impact is multi-dimensional — it includes how you shape your field as a scholar, but also how your work connects with people, informs decisions, strengthens communities, and contributes to meaningful change.

In practice, this means that impact can take many forms. For some, it’s about informing policy or regulatory frameworks through evidence that shapes decisions. For others, it might mean engaging the public, sparking conversations, and shifting how people think about an issue. Some researchers build tools, technologies, or data platforms that enable entirely new kinds of work. Others focus on mentoring, partnership building, or creating collaborative structures that support broader capacity development.

Every researcher’s impact mix looks different — and it should. There’s no one formula. What matters is clarity and intentionality: knowing where you want to make a difference, and aligning your outputs and actions accordingly. That might mean publishing in a high-impact journal and writing a plain-language explainer for a community audience. It could mean co-developing a policy brief with partners, or strategically building relationships with networks that can amplify your work.

The challenge is that most researchers are never really given a structured way to think about this. Funding agencies and institutions often emphasize impact, but the guidance can feel vague or overly bureaucratic. What’s missing is a practical strategy that connects your unique strengths, your research, and the audiences or systems you want to influence.

This is where I come in. I work with researchers and teams to map out their key impact dimensions, prioritize strategically, and design practical actions that make their work visible and meaningful — beyond citations.

Whether your goals are to shape policy debates, build collaborations, engage new publics, or grow your scholarly influence, a clear strategy helps you focus your energy where it matters most.

If you’re ready to explore what impact could look like for you, let’s talk. See Contact Me.