Localism may actually reduce citizen voice because information on citizen redress is either not collected or ignored

Citizen redress is essential for any government committed to administering accountable and efficient public sector services. However, as Jane Tinkler argues, the introduction of more complex provider networks in the Big Society threatens the already unrecognised potential of citizen voice in providing a system of checks and balances

How radical is “radical efficiency”?: can it still be useful in a time of cuts?.

With some Whitehall departments facing 25 per cent budget cuts over the next five years, there should be a good market in government for the promise of “Radical Efficiency” in a recent report by the Innovation Unit for NESTA. Yet Jane Tinkler and Patrick Dunleavy find there are only some good but small ideas (reliant perhaps on more prosperous times) – but no far-reaching response to the problems of innovating in big-scale government that could really cut costs without damaging services.

BIS report on UK Research Councils: Drop in income sees fewer researchers supported but more knowledge created.

Jane Tinkler breaks down the key findings from the UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) report on the impact of research council funding over the last year. With income cuts playing a significant role, the number of principal investigators and research fellowships with research council funding have both gone down. Interestingly, output productivity of funded researchers has actually increased in this time, with a massive 16 per cent increase in the number of refereed publications since 2008/09

Rather than narrow our definition of impact, we should use metrics to explore richness and diversity of outcomes.

Impact is multi-dimensional, the routes by which impact occur are different across disciplines and sectors, and impact changes over time. Jane Tinkler argues that if institutions like HEFCE specify a narrow set of impact metrics, more harm than good would come to universities forced to limit their understanding of how research is making a difference. But qualitative and quantitative indicators continue to be an incredible source of learning for how impact works in each of our disciplines, locations or sectors

Surviving work as an academic in the age of measuring impact

Views that academics can avoid the problems of work and aren’t experienced in the ‘real world’ are wrong, writes Jane Tinkler. Precarious employment, balancing teaching, research and publishing demands and demonstrating impact are very real pressures. Indeed, it is through lasting, trusting partnerships with business that researchers can truly have influence beyond academia

The Impact of Social Sciences Project by the numbers: encouraging real-time impact recording.

The Impact of Social Sciences blog emerged from a three-year research project devoted to a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the complexity of academic impact. To not let any impact-relevant knowledge dissolve away, Jane Tinkler takes a look back at the outputs, outcomes and connections made throughout the research process. Whilst these figures help to establish a real-time understanding of academic research, she points to the necessity of a more systematic way of recording such insights

Announcing the Nine Dots Prize – tackling social issues through creative thinking

Today marks the launch of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize, a new award that aims to encourage creative thinking in tackling contemporary societal issues. Jane Tinkler, Senior Prize Manager, explains the rationale behind the establishment of the award, outlines its eligibility criteria and reveals details of the winner’s prize

Book review: The impact agenda: controversies, consequences and challenges by Katherine E. Smith, Justyna Bandola-Gill, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer

In The Impact Agenda, Katherine E. Smith, Justyna Bandola-Gill, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer bring together research about the impact agenda and its policies into one critical discussion to highlight why it creates the controversies, consequences and challenges of the book’s subtitle. Calling on the UK academic community to seize the opportunity to reshape the impact agenda in more positive and sustainable ways, the book’s valuable synthesis and analysis is worthwhile reading for anyone interested in this topic, recommends Jane Tinkler