“Real impact”: Challenges and opportunities in bridging the gap between research and practice – Making a difference in industry, policy, and society

Yogesh K. Dwivedi, Anand Jeyaraj, Laurie Hughes, Gareth H. Davies, Manju Ahuja, Mousa Ahmed Albashrawi, Adil S. Al-Busaidi, Salah Al-Sharhan, Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Levent Altinay, Shem Amalaya, Sunil Archak, María Teresa Ballestar, Shonil A. Bhagwat, Anandhi Bharadwaj, Amit Bhushan, Indranil Bose, Pawan Budhwar, Deborah Bunker, Alexandru CapatinaLemuria Carter, Ioanna Constantiou, Crispin Coombs, Tom Crick, Csaba Csáki, Yves Darnige, Rahul Dé, Rick Delbridge, Rameshwar Dubey, Robin Gauld, Ravi Kumar Gutti, Marié Hattingh, Arve Haug, Leeya Hendricks, Airo Hino, Cathy H.C. Hsu, Netta Iivari, Marijn Janssen, Ikram Jebabli, Paul Jones, Iris Junglas, Abhishek Kaushik, Deepak Khazanchi, Mitsuru Kodama, Sascha Kraus, Vikram Kumar, Christian Maier, Tegwen Malik, Machdel Matthee, Ian P. McCarthy, Marco Meier, Bhimaraya Metri, Adrian Micu, Angela-Eliza Micu, Santosh K. Misra, Anubhav Mishra, Tonja Molin-Juustila, Leif Oppermann, Nicholas O'Regan, Abhipsa Pal, Neeraj Pandey, Ilias O. Pappas, Andrew Parker, Kavita Pathak, Daniel Pienta, Ariana Polyviou, Ramakrishnan Raman, Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete, Paavo Ritala, Michael Rosemann, Suprateek Sarker, Pallavi Saxena, Daniel Schlagwein, Hergen Schultze, Chitra Sharma, Sujeet Kumar Sharma, Antonis Simintiras, Vinay Kumar Singh, Hanlie Smuts, John Soldatos, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Jason Bennett Thatcher, Cristina Vanberghen, Ákos Varga, Polyxeni Vassilakopoulou, Viswanath Venkatesh, Giampaolo Viglia, Tim Vorley, Michael Wade, Paul Walton

Research output: Journal article publicationEditorial

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Achieving impact from academic research is a challenging, complex, multifaceted, and interconnected topic with a number of competing priorities and key performance indicators driving the extent and reach of meaningful and measurable benefits from research. Academic researchers are incentivised to publish their research in high-ranking journals and academic conferences but also to demonstrate the impact of their outputs through metrics such as citation counts, altmetrics, policy and practice impacts, and demonstrable institutional decision-making influence. However, academic research has been criticized for: its theoretical emphasis, high degree of complexity, jargon-heavy language, disconnect from industry and societal needs, overly complex and lengthy publishing timeframe, and misalignment between academic and industry objectives. Initiatives such as collaborative research projects and technology transfer offices have attempted to deliver meaningful impact, but significant barriers remain in the identification and evaluation of tangible impact from academic research. This editorial focusses on these aspects to deliver a multi-expert perspective on impact by developing an agenda to deliver more meaningful and demonstrable change to how “impact” can be conceptualized and measured to better align with the aims of academia, industry, and wider society. We present the 4D model - Design, Deliver, Disseminate, and Demonstrate - to provide a structured approach for academia to better align research endeavors with practice and deliver meaningful, tangible benefits to stakeholders.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102750
JournalInternational Journal of Information Management
Volume78
Early online date4 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Academic impact
  • Implications for practice
  • Relevance
  • Research benefits
  • Research contribution
  • Research impact

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Information Systems
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Information Systems and Management
  • Marketing
  • Library and Information Sciences
  • Artificial Intelligence

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