Researchers are all about being progressive, and in most instances, they find a breakthrough when it is confined to the pages of academic journals. The key concern for modern researchers is the possibility of closing the gap between the laboratory bench or the survey results and the desks of professionals in policy, industry, and community leaders. Turning your peer-reviewed article into actionable policy is not going to come easy.
At Fast Publication, we enable the researcher to go beyond the number of citation. Our concentration is on the strategies, which bring academic rigor into the effect and concrete alteration of the policy. These can be the active strategies that help your published work to get the impact it deserves to the people.
Get to Know Your Audience: Who Makes the Decisions
In order to create an impact on a policy, one has to first find out the individuals or groups that can change the situation according to your research. A policy maker is not an homogenous group of individuals; they consist of lawmakers, government agency employees, non-profit leaders, and business leaders.
- Determine the Key Players: Discover which governing body, agency, or organisation is authorized to act on your particular findings. As an example, environmental protection agencies and city planning commissions are the target audiences of research on air quality.
- Get Their Language: Policymakers do not have the time and interests that scholars have. They need plain, brief, and straight forward summaries of the issue, your solution and the expected cost/benefit. Do not use complicated language and abstract discussions. Concentrate on the implications.
- Answer the “So What?”: Each interaction has to explain the policy relevancy of your research. Why should they care now? What is your research solution to a burning societal issue or a major opportunity?
Fast Publication Strategy: A clear communication strategy is the initial achievement of successful translation of policies. We assist you to distill your message in such a way that it will appeal to the decision-makers instantly.
Strategic Communication: Re-use of your Findings
A journal article is an academic article that is aimed at specialists; a policy brief is an action-oriented one. You need to take the initiative to re-package your research results in forms that are accessible and useful to policy makers.
Preparing a Two-Page Policy Brief:
This is the most essential tool of translation. It should contain:
- Executive Summary (The Core Message): A single paragraph containing the statement of the key finding and the key policy suggestion.
- The Evidence (The Data): A summarized, graphically inspired presentation of your main results, frequently in the form of a few simple charts or bullet points.
- The Action (The Recommendation): The policymaker needs to undertake this list of 2-3 specific, practical steps.
- Take advantage of Visuals and Infographics: Large text is an obstacle to policy action. Share bulky information by using high-impact graphics. A long results section is nothing compared to an infographic of the pre and after consequences of your intended change in policy.
- Write Op-Eds and Media Summaries: Be proactive and seek to write opinion pieces (op-eds) in large newspapers or policy blogs. This will get your study out into the mainstream discourse and wake up policy makers to your competence.
Fast Publication Vision: We believe in pro-active publication. Your communication effort is not the moment you start publishing.
Build Bridges: Stakeholder Relationship Building
The impact of policy hardly occurs in a vacuum and it needs building trust and partnership with non-academic partners.
- Engage Stakeholders Early: This involves you inviting interested policymakers, community leaders, and industry professionals to hold seminars or even personal briefings on your paper, only for you to publish it officially later. Disclosure of early results makes them feel a sense of ownership and prepares them for the policy implications.
- Collaborate with Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs): Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups can be an effective policy broker. They are well versed politically and have contacts. Collaboration with an organization whose mission is similar to your study offers a broad advocacy platform to your findings.
- Be involved in the Consultations and Testimony: Track government committee, or commission requests of evidence. A direct and formal way of research finding its way into a legislative process is by providing written or oral testimony based on your peer-reviewed research.
Fast Publication Understanding: Relationships are superior to papers. We would like researchers to consider themselves as qualified advisors which take an active part in the societal discussion.
Your Policy Impact Action Plan
When policymakers transfer research into policy, they engage in a process of deliberate communication and relationship building. It demands discipline, sanity and a relentless determination to see the real world result.
- Distill: In a word (no jargon) summarize your research.
- Repackage: Turn the journal article into a Policy Brief and provide practical recommendations.
- Target: Determine the policy actor, or department of government, that has caused the problem.
- Connect: Provide expertise consultation or testify to advocacy groups.
These strategies will put your research on the other side of the academic realm and properly convey its importance in making decisions, communities, and positive, permanent change in the lives of people. Fast Publication is your way to count on your research. Do you prepare to turn your knowledge into power?
