Impact
Research impact is the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research (Australian Research Council).
Collect data and information that demonstrates a measurable effect or benefit of your research.
3. Impact of non-traditional research outputs
Understand the impact evidence you can collect for your non-traditional research outputs (NTROs). Use our impact evidence suggestions to:
- add evidence requirements and select quality indicators to support government reporting in UQ eSpace
- document your impact evidence in Impact Tracker.
Non-traditional research outputs
NTROs are activities or artefacts that arise from your research.
They include creative works, live performances, recorded or rendered creative works, curated or produced exhibitions or events and research reports commissioned by external bodies.
Impact evidence suggestions
Browse the following suggestions of impact evidence for each NTRO category. These examples are not exhaustive and are a guide only.
General Engagement and Impact Indicators
These indicators may apply to any of the NTRO types:
- media coverage
- online attention through social media
- invited presentations
- enhancement of behaviours or activities (such as health behaviours)
- changes in knowledge, understanding, attitudes or beliefs
- cost-effective intervention or reduction in costs
- partnership with community or group to address a community-based need
- changes or additions to curriculum, teaching materials or teaching bibliographies
- development of a guideline, textbook or statement issue
- improvements in outcome (e.g. effectiveness, performance, quality or consistency)
- development of mobile applications
- improvement in health outcomes, quality of life, and/or reduction of prevalence, burden, morbidity or mortality
- development or influence of education materials
- generation of new products or businesses
- descriptions of public engagement such as evaluation data or user feedback
- evidence of sustainability such as ongoing engagement, a significant increase in participation, continuing sales, downloads or use of resources
- contributions to expert panels and policy committees, or advice to government
- formal partnership agreements or research collaborations
- consultancies to public or other bodies that utilise research expertise
- evidence of engagement including membership and activity involvement
- changes to professional standards and behaviour
- acknowledgements in annual reports or other publications of NGOs, charities, and other civil society organisations
- independent testimonials
- third-party evidence of changed policies, practices, processes, strategies
- influence or change to legislation and policy.
Original Creative Works
| Work type | Impact evidence suggestions |
|---|---|
Creative Work – Design/Architectural e.g. realised or unrealised building and design projects, digital outputs of architectural and design projects |
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Creative Work – Textual (Book) e.g. novels, play scripts, art reviews, essays, books of poetry Creative Work – Textual (Book Chapter) e.g. essays, poems, art reviews, short stories and other literary works published as a book chapter Creative Work – Textual (Journal Article) e.g. essays, poems, art reviews, short stories, design reviews and other literary works published as a journal article Written creative work that is not eligible to be submitted as a book, book chapter, or journal article e.g. standalone literary work or critical reviews/reflections, policy notes. |
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e.g. photograph, painting, fine arts, sculpture or installation, crafts |
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Creative Work – Musical Composition e.g. original scores, notated/re-interpreted scores, audio compositions |
Note: Evidence of impact for interactive compositions or performances or recordings of musical work may be found for those separate outputs (below). |
Does not fit the other Orignal Create Work research output types, e.g. works that offer a new contribution to broad cultural or social debates, works that develop or extend historical, theoretical, political or design debates. |
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Live Performance of Creative Work
| Work type | Impact evidence suggestions |
|---|---|
Live Performance of Creative Work – Music e.g. performance of a new work or new repertoire, such as a world premiere, developed in partnership with the composer Live Performance of Creative Work – Dance e.g. performance of a new work or new repertoire, such as a world premiere Live Performance of Creative Work – Plays, Drama, Theatre e.g. performance of a new work for live theatre, such as a world premiere Live Performance of Creative Work – Interarts e.g. experimental live performances using hybrid forms or new combinations of performance genres Live Performance of Creative Work – Other e.g. live performance works that do not fit other types in this section |
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Recorded or Rendered Creative Work
| Work type | Impact evidence suggestions |
|---|---|
Recorded or Rendered Creative Work – Music, Dance, Theatre e.g. recorded performance of a new work or repertoire, such as a world premiere, or a repertoire that has been newly discovered/edited by performers |
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Recorded or Rendered Creative Work – Audio or Visual e.g. use of innovative production techniques in films, documentaries, video-based podcasts, moving or still image-based or screen-based work, or audio-visual presentations Reordered or Rendered Creative Work – Digital e.g. 3D or multidimensional models, creative and interactive computer applications, digital games/apps and computer programs Recorded or Rendered Creative Work - Interarts e.g. experimental audio recordings, collaborative recordings across disciplines |
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Recorded or Rendered Creative Work – Web Exhibition e.g. recorded or rendered work where the eligible researcher is the creator of the web-featured work, online/digital works that incorporate new presentation techniques, approaches in online media or platforms Recorded or Rendered Creative Work - Other Does not fit the other Recorded or Rendered Create Work research output types e.g. audio essays, creative and scholarly audio podcasts or documentaries. |
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Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event
| Work type | Impact evidence suggestions |
|---|---|
Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event – Exhibition or Event The curation and/or production of creative works or artefacts exhibited in a recognised gallery, museum or similar venue, in order to:
Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event – Other (Scholarly Disciplines) Does not fit the other Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event research types – e.g. objects presented together for the first time, existing groups of objects presented via new and innovative cultural methodologies, interpretations or approaches. |
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Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event – Festival The curation of a festival bringing together creative works or artefacts and live performance, in order to:
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Curated or Produced Exhibition or Event – Web Exhibition e.g. digital repositories, interactive and searchable databases, digital reference works, digital archives |
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Research Reports
| Work type | Impact evidence suggestions |
|---|---|
Research Report for an External Body – Public sector A research report, review or document commissioned by an Australian, state, territory, local, foreign, or international government body or organisation. Research Report for an External Body – Industry A research report or review that has been undertaken for a company, commercial enterprise, industry organisation, industry peak body, or an employer/employee association. Research Report for an External Body – Not-for-profit A research report or review that has been undertaken for a discipline recognised body, enterprise or organisation operating in the not-for-profit sector. Research Report for an External Body – Other A research report or review undertaken for an organisation not covered by the other sub-categories, including papers and educational materials, such as commissioned policy papers, annual reports, training manuals or clinical practice guidelines. Research Report – Other or Citation Only:
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Note: there may be cases where the evidence (metadata) for a “research report – internal or citation only may not be publicly available, as is outlined in the UQ eSpace guide. |
Add an NTRO to UQ eSpace
You need to manually add your NTRO to UQ eSpace, including:
- uploading a copy, or representation, of the work
- your Creator research statement
- relevant quality indicators.
To be eligible for research assessment exercises, each NTRO must include at least one piece of evidence that demonstrates the work or a full representation of the work, e.g. a book, book chapter, research report, an event program or digital recording.
See the Non-traditional research outputs section of our UQ eSpace guide for detailed information on NTRO categories and their requirements.
Document additional evidence
You can store additional impact evidence in Impact Tracker or request a correction to a record within UQ eSpace.
Impact Tracker
Use Impact Tracker to collect ongoing evidence of the impact of your work to build a comprehensive story about your research. See how to add project evidence in Impact Tracker.
The evidence can be used for:
- Grant applications
- Academic promotion
- Academic annual review process
- Other project reports.
UQ eSpace
Request a correction to update your works in UQ eSpace:
- Upload additional evidence files
- Request an update of your creator research statement.
Contact the Librarian team for expert advice.
Use Impact Tracker to plan, capture and report on the impact and engagement of your research.
Policies and frameworks