As part of its Knowledge Mobilization Institutional Strategy, the Office of the Vice-President, Research (OVPR) aims to better support researchers in planning knowledge mobilization activities and assessing their research impact. This article is meant to guide your knowledge mobilization planning when developing a research proposal for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Table 1 provides examples of knowledge mobilization strategies and indicators that may be relevant to your research.
In general, SSHRC recommends that your knowledge mobilization plan address the following elements:
For whom?
Identify knowledge users who will benefit from your research results and the role users will play in the research project and knowledge mobilization, if applicable.
Why?
Describe the needs of knowledge users and what your research results might change for them.
What? When? How?
Identify and describe the knowledge mobilization strategies that will support these changes and explain when and how they will be achieved.
What is success?
Identify indicators or other ways to assess whether your knowledge mobilization strategies have had the anticipated outcomes.
Table 1: Examples of knowledge mobilization strategies and indicators
KMb Objectives |
KMb Strategies |
Indicators to Assess KMb Outcomes |
To advance knowledge |
Products
Events and networking
|
|
To inform, share or raise awareness |
Products
Events and networking
|
|
To promote a change of attitude |
Products
Events and networking
|
|
To mobilize or create engagement |
Events, networking and capacity building
|
|
To influence a decision or policy or defend a position |
Events, networking and capacity building
|
|
To improve practices or promote behavioural change |
Products
Events, networking and capacity building
|
|
Best practices
If you are doing research in the social sciences or humanities, you can consult the SSHRC knowledge mobilization guidelines. Recommendations include:
- Planning meetings with your knowledge users at the project planning stage
- Creating knowledge mobilization products that meet the needs of knowledge users, ideally in conjunction with them
- Putting in place multiple ways to share knowledge, including measures to evaluate how it will be used
- Determining the roles and responsibilities of all participants at the outset of the project, including those of partners and knowledge users, as appropriate
- Demonstrating you have the resources and the institutional support to implement your knowledge mobilization plan
- Using open access publishing platforms to increase the visibility of your research results (email the uOttawa library for more on open access publishing)
- Where appropriate, developing a plan for the management, storage and preservation of research data based on the Tri-Agency Policy Statement on Digital Data Management. (email the uOttawa library for more on research data management)
CIHR has also developed a Knowledge Translation Planning Guide for Health Research.
Several other tools and templates are available to help you develop your knowledge mobilization plan. Two of note include:
- Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health KMb toolkit
- Hospital for Sick Children Knowledge Translation Planning Template
Finally, the OVPR has recently developed a checklist to assist researchers in developing your knowledge mobilization plans for SSHRC and CIHR applications. For a copy of this checklist in English or French, email Marie-Eve Girard, knowledge mobilization adviser. Marie-Eve can also provide advice on developing or implementing your knowledge mobilization plan.
References
Barwick, M. A. (2008, 2013, 2019). Knowledge translation planning template. Ontario: The Hospital for Sick Children. Retrieved December 9, 2020 from https://www.sickkids.ca/en/learning/continuing-professional-development/knowledge-translation-training/knowledge-translation-planning-template-form/.
Gervais, M.-J., Souffez, K., & Ziam, S. (2016). « Quel impact avons-nous ? Vers l’élaboration d’un cadre pour rendre visibles les retombées du transfert des connaissances ». Revue francophone de recherche sur le transfert et l’utilisation des connaissances, 1(2), 21. doi: 10.18166/tuc.2016.1.02
Guidelines for effective knowledge mobilization. (2019, June 17). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Retrieved December 9, 2020 from https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/policies-politiques/knowledge_mobilisation-mobilisation_des_connaissances-eng.aspx.
Guide to knowledge translation planning at CIHR: Integrated and end-of-grant approaches. (2015, March 19). Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Retrieved December 9, 2020 from https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/45321.html.
Morton, S. (2015). “Progressing research impact assessment: A ‘contributions’ approach.’” Research Evaluation, 24(4), 405–19. doi:10.1093/reseval/rvv016.