York University’s Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Unit produces clear-language research summaries that concisely communicate research results to non-academic audiences.
These summaries support research dissemination, allowing research findings to have a broader impact on decision-making, policy development and professional practice. This unique institutional capacity was recently featured in The Globe and Mail and was the subject of a presentation at the 2009 Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences. There is a template of the research summary series, titled ResearchSnapshot, available on the KMb Unit’s Web site.
The KMb Unit is currently creating a new batch of summaries for 2010. While summaries can be written to support any York research findings, the unit is focusing on research related to the priorities of the United Way of York Region, one of its major partners, for 2010.
These priorities include:
- helping youth to grow up strong;
- enabling individuals and families to achieve economic independence;
- improving the well-being of individuals and communities.
To be eligible for the research summary process, research must:
- be finished research, not projects in progress;
- be developed based upon a written output, such as a report, book or thesis;
- meet some form of peer review, such as a book or chapter in an edited book, peer-reviewed publication, such as a journal, publication, or thesis.
- have findings that can help inform public policy or professional practice.
Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation, invites interested researchers to participate in this project. Those interested should contact the KMb Unit at kmunit@yorku.ca with materials describing their research, such as a journal article, book chapter, poster or conference presentation.
A research assistant in the KMb Unit will use these materials and in some cases will conduct an interview to develop a brief, clear-language summary of the research project, which will be submitted for review and sign-off. The researcher will also be asked to give consent to having the summary shared on the Knowledge Mobilization Web site.
By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.