Influencing policy

Super researchers and Erin Brokovich: changing policy with research

When speaking at the recent Overseas Development Institute (ODI) event on Knowledge to Policy: making the most of development research”, Fred Carden mentioned how researchers had once commented to him that not everyone can be "like Erin Brokovich". This quote, though made in jest, is actually very helpful in understanding some of the key questions that were raised during the event about what we mean by research, whose role is it to communicate this research and who/where are the policy-makers.

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How research brokers and intermediaries support evidence-based pro-poor policy and practice: ( Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa , 2010); The 'Locating the Power of In-between conference' in Pretoria, South Africa in July 2008 shone a spotlight on the role research brokers and intermediaries play in evidence-based pro-poor policy and...
The need for an holistic approach to assure ageing is integrated in all policy fields: ( Project on Population Ageing, Economic Commission for Europe , 2009); This policy brief looks at how governments can integrate ageing-related issues into all policy fields in order to bring societies and economies in harmony with demographic change. It also addresses th...
How do researchers in the life sciences use information and how can this be improved?: ( Research Information Network , 2009); This report by the RIN and the British Library provides an insight into how information is used by researchers across life sciences. It describes research which sought to capture the day-to-day pat...
How to generate evidence-based policy change: ( J. Young (ed);E. Mendizabal (ed) / Research and Policy in Development, ODI , 2009); Donors spend billions of dollars on development research each year, but what is the impact on policy? This Briefing Paper summarises ODI’s work on understanding how policy processes operate i...
Strengthening of national research and information systems should be a key component of health and health research programmes: ( Andrew Kennedy;Carel IJsselmuiden / Bulletin of the World Health Organization : the International Journal of Public Health , 2008); This paper, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, argues that in most low- and middle-income countries, foreign-funded initiatives determine national health research agendas, ...
The role of civil society organisations in biomedical research: ( Anant Bhan;Jerome A. Singh;Ross E. G. Upshur / Public Library of Science Medicine , 2007); While several publications have addressed the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in social science research in health, their role in biomedical research has not been widely discussed. This ...
Opportunities for scaling up neglected-disease drug development: ( Mary Moran / Public Library of Science Medicine , 2005); Whereas only 13 new drugs have been developed for neglected tropical diseases since 1975, this paper, published in PLoS Medicine, notes that this is as a result of current perception that these diseas...
Developing national health research strategies to build capacity in Africa: ( Joses M Kirigia;Charles Wambebe / BioMed Central , 2006); This paper, published by BioMed Central, takes stock of some aspects of national resources for health research in the countries of the WHO African Region. The authors also identify current constraints...
Increased interest in health systems has translated into increased support for health policy and systems research: ( Sara Bennett;Taghreed Adam;Christina Zarowsky / The Lancet , 2008); ...
Open licenses promise significant value for funders, grantees and for the public good: ( P. Malone / Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University , 2009); This document examines the extent to which charitable foundations are aware of and have begun to use open licenses such as Creative Commons or the GPL. It highlights examples where found...