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Crafting and evaluating Broader Impact activities: a theory‐based guide for scientists
Author(s) -
Skrip Megan M
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/140209
Subject(s) - outreach , craft , foundation (evidence) , public relations , point (geometry) , political science , engineering ethics , management science , engineering , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , law , history
To secure research funding from grant‐awarding agencies such as the US National Science Foundation, scientists – despite not typically being trained in non‐technical communication or public engagement – must competitively formulate so‐called Broader Impacts activities. Dissemination activities are often proposed as Broader Impacts of research, but what characteristics of these activities truly indicate their potential to be “broad” or “impactful”? How can the “impacts” of very different activities be fairly compared during peer review? Combining the experiences of successful practitioners with communication theory, I have synthesized a five‐point framework that could help both proposers and reviewers craft and compare Broader Impacts dissemination activities. This “Broader Impacts Impact Framework” summarizes best practices in communication and outreach, and can be easily used by scientists during proposal writing and review. This framework focuses on five main factors: who, why, what, how, and with whom.