There is no explicit definition of what makes an impact case study 4* quality. Case studies are evaluated by the REF panels and are assessed in terms of their reach and significance.

Reach refers to how widely the impact was felt. This doesn’t solely refer to population size or geographic scope, but is concerned with how many different types of individuals, groups, or organisations have been affected by your research. It does not mean that bigger numbers are better; instead, it is useful to think about this in terms of the extent your research has reached those that could benefit from it.

The following questions can help define the reach:

• Did your research reach different types of people? (e.g., policymakers, NGOs, local authorities, cultural institutions, teachers, businesses, specific communities or groups).
• Did it influence systems at different levels? (e.g., local or national policy, company workplace practices, curriculum frameworks, funding systems, supply chains, regulatory approvals).
• Did it cross into different sectors? (e.g., education, health, technology, social care, policy, civic life).

Significance refers to how much of a difference the impact made to the beneficiaries. This is about the depth and the value of the change your research has brought about: whether that is changing someone’s understanding, influencing a policy, transforming working practices, or helping bring about economic benefits. It is useful to think about this in terms of the difference your research has made: how did it enable or shift something that matters to the people, organisations, or systems that it reached.

The following questions can help define the significance:

• How important was the change to the beneficiaries?
• Did it involve an immediate shift or did things improve incrementally?
• What did these changes enable? (e.g., did it enable new thinking, change practices, improve wellbeing, or shape policy?).

This reach and significance needs to be clearly evidenced. The strongest cases underpin each claim with varied forms of evidence, ensuring that nothing is assumed or implied.

Each case will have different types of evidence; there is no ‘one size fits all’. But in all cases the evidence should ideally be:

• independently verifiable and show an attributional link to the research
• co-produced with the beneficiaries, meaning that it is not just gathered about them but with them, reflecting their voices, experiences, and perspectives
• aligned and commensurate with the claim that you are making.

Evidence can loosely be split into three different categories. Examples provided below are not exhaustive but give a sense of the different ways to gather strong evidence to support your claims:

Documentation

These are references to your research in documentation that can show its influence on or changes to guidance, legislation, regulation, policies, practices, processes, standards, protocols, or related decision-making and outcomes. These might include:

• evidence of the use of your research in policy or public debates through citations in parliamentary processes, via Hansard, committee reports or policy documents
• memoranda of understanding or partnership agreements; evidence of the formation of new collaborations, networks, or community-led activities
• surveys, focus groups or consultations that provide insights into the impact and effectiveness of any changes implemented in a given area
• organisational documents that show changes to routines or governance
• ‘before and after’ assessments, interviews, or case narratives that show changes to knowledge, attitudes, working practices or lived experience.

Testimonial

These are statements that can corroborate your specific impact claims, provided by key users and beneficiaries of your research to show what you have contributed and its impact:

• RQI's top tips for requesting testimonials [PDF 142.92KB]
• Suggested text for requesting testimonials for REF2029 [DOCX 16.64KB]

Quantitative

These are measures of change that can show how your research has led to a tangible change or benefit. These might include:

• measures of improved performance, productivity, waste reduction, sales or cost-effectiveness; increased employee satisfaction; reduced employee turnover rates
• improved patient outcomes; patient treatment numbers; enhanced availability of healthcare facilities
• job creation in different sectors; company turnover; amount of capital investment secured
• user numbers; workshop or training attendance; software downloads; web analytics
• ‘before and after’ data to show the tangible change the research has made.

Claims of reach and significance are often at their strongest when they use a combination of these different types of evidence to corroborate each other.

A good place to see this in practice is to look at previous 4* case studies in your area. These examples of 4* case studies will give you a sense of what a strong, well-evidenced case study looks like.

You can find the most up-to-date information and FAQs relating to REF2029 on RQI’s REF2029 Information Hub.