ABSTRACT As researchers, we desire that our research has impact. One of the major ways that assurance researchers can have an impact is to inform or influence the development or revision of assurance standards. This foreword shows how such research undertaken using different research methods can be constructed to impact and inform standard‐setting and regulation. It outlines the process for engaging the regulators and standard‐setters, reviews the papers that were presented as part of this process and are included in this special issue and highlights how different research methodologies can come together to inform different aspects of the agendas of sustainability assurance regulators and standard‐setters.
Simnett et al. (Mon,) studied this question.