Ever wondered if, how and why policy briefs made a difference? There are many guides that will tell you how to write an effective policy brief, but is the wording and design what makes a difference? Well, partly. This blog is not about writing policy briefs as such. Because if you intend to make an im​​pact, it really is more than that. Writing the brief is just a small part of the work. A policy brief is only worth what you do with it. But don’t worry. This blog will help gu

Earlier this year, HEFCE published a searchable database of impact case studies, collected as part of its evaluation of UK research under their Research Excellence Framework (REF). We took a 5% sample of impacts on social (including health), economic and environmental policy, and classified the different pathways to impact that the researchers identified (you can read the full results in the table below). The most commonly cited impact pathways make interesting reading: 1.