Issues in the articulation of ‘impact’: the responses of UK academics to ‘impact’ as a new measure of research assessment

This paper reflects on the emergence of an impact agenda and its incorporation as a feature of the academic contract in UK universities. It focuses on the depositions of senior academic managers across a range of social science research centres, as they critically reflect upon their organizational strategy for capturing and communicating the socio-economic impact of their research. Their testimonies articulate manifold issues in impact capture yet focus mainly on a disjuncture between an impact discourse mobilised by research funders/regulators and the daily practice of academics. Respondents nevertheless identify the potential of ‘impact capture’ as an obligation that enriches the perceptual horizons of research and the critical reflexivity of academics as knowledge workers.