Ethical research impact doesn’t happen by default. It takes intention, planning, and the right tools.

If you want to learn more and build your skills, book our Ethics of Engagement and Impact training course 🔗 fasttrackimpact.com/impact-ethics

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🕰️ Design for lasting impact

Short-term wins don’t guarantee meaningful change. Plan for sustainability, handover, and long-term benefit, not just metrics.

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📊 Maintain accountability and evaluate engagement and impact

Be transparent about who is responsible for what. Use rigorous methods to evaluate whether impact claims hold up and for whom.

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🌍 Seek to ensure equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

Responsible impact means dismantling barriers to participation, not reproducing them. Who is at the table? Who is not?

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🛑 Manage risk and reduce the potential for harm

Don’t assume good intentions are enough. Impact work can cause harm if risks aren’t identified and managed from the outset.

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⚖️ Engage ethically with all relevant parties

Respect autonomy. Communicate clearly. Share decision-making. Engagement must be more than consultation: it must be an ethical partnership.

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🤝 Build capability and capacity to engage as equals.

Support everyone affected by impact work, especially marginalised groups, to participate meaningfully. Equal footing requires resources, access, and time.

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As researchers, we’re asked to show how our work makes a difference. But an impact that matters also needs to be ethical. This paper sets out six guiding principles for navigating that responsibility.

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