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Recipients of the Research Impact Award
2024 Press Release

Research Impact Award

sponsored by Rutgers University

Purpose of the Award

This award will make more visible the dimensions of the societal contribution of Information Science and provide role models and examples for new scholars wishing to translate research into practical benefits for others. An award for outstanding research impact will shape and nourish Information Science as a discipline by encouraging future research that has important impact. This, in turn, will support researchers’ career development, as impact is highly valued by academic institutions and governments when assessing research contributions and research quality.

We use the term “impact” to refer to the application of research to a community that can benefit from the findings and the outcomes of that application. We realize that other terms such as knowledge exchange, knowledge mobilization, and translational research are used synonymously. What is intended with this award is ultimately the channeling through which findings of research have an impact on broad communities (which can be transdisciplinary). There should be a demonstrable positive change and understanding of the research which may lead to a transition from enquiry into practice. Existing awards (especially the Award of Merit and Research in Information Science Award) touch on practice, but only as part of a portfolio of activities.

The award will be offered to individuals or teams who have translated Information Science research into outcomes with demonstrated societal impact. The nomination will include a description of the research, the nature of its impact, the process of impact creation, evidence of the scale and significance of the impact and lessons learned from impact creation.

Eligibility

The nominee must meet the following qualifications:

  • For this award, “information science” is considered to include all the communication activities and information science and technology fields noted in the first paragraph of Article II, “Purpose,” of the ASIS&T Constitution and Bylaws, published on the ASIS&T website.
  • Persons involved in information science research or developmental programs which include research are eligible for the award. Nominees can be the creators of the original research, but do not have to be. If they did not create the original research, nominees must have taken important steps to translate the original research into practice.
  • The award is to be made for individual(s), not organizations.
  • For this award, “impact” is considered to include translation of the research beyond academia, benefiting organization partners, community partners and/or end users. It also includes ensuring the outputs of the research benefit these groups (e.g. through open access publication, communicating the research findings clearly to non-experts etc.).
  • Nominees (or one member if a team nomination) must be current members in good standing of ASIS&T
  • In cases where a contribution has been made by a research (or interpretor(s) of research) team, a team nomination may be made.
  • Prior award winners, current members of the Awards & Honors Committee, jury members and current members of the Board of Directors are not eligible.

Nominations will be carried forward for the succeeding two years unless withdrawn by the nominator.

Selection Criteria

Nature of impact:

  • There is clear evidence that the research has engaged one or more organization partners, community partners and/or end users in creating research impact beyond academia;
  • The application clearly links the impact to one or more of ASIS&T’s ABC core values (Access, Belonging, Community);

Process of impact creation:

  • The process of impact creation and the role organization partners, community partners and/or end users is clearly described;

Scale and significance of impact:

  • The application clearly demonstrates the benefits of the research to organization partners, community partners and/or end users;
  • The scale of the impact is significant and supported by sound evidence;

Lessons learned from impact creation:

  • There are clear lessons learned from impact creation that might help future ASIS&T members create impact from their research.

Nominations Process

Nominations should be self-nominations. We encourage self-nominations from across the ASIS&T community, particularly from underrepresented groups.

Nominations must be submitted by 11:59 pm US Pacific Time on the deadline date via the designated online portal.

Nominations must include the following only:

  • Name, affiliation, and contact information of nominee;
  • A narrative (2 pages max., Helvetica size 11 font or similar, plus references) describing the:
    • Nature of the impact of the research: What was the impact of your research; which organizations and/or end-user communities beyond academia benefited from the research and how did they benefit?; Which of ASIS&T’s ABC core values (Access, Belonging, Community) does the impact reflect? For example, does your research provide more equitable information access? Does it foster belonging among underrepresented groups? Does it nourish the Information Science community? How?
    • Process of impact creation: How did you create the impact?: What activities resulted in the impact you have described?
    • Scale and significance of the impact: What evidence do you have to support your case for making impact? What does this evidence say about the scale and significance of the impact?
    • Lessons learned from impact creation: What transferrable lessons did you learn that might help future ASIS&T members create impact from their research?

Jury

A jury of five members (including the Jury Chair), one of whom is the immediate Past-Chair of the Research Engagement Committee (REC), and one alternate shall be appointed by the Awards & Honors Committee at the recommendation of the Jury Chair. One jury member will be appointed by the funding sponsor of the award. (Rutgers 2024-2029) Jury members must:

  • Be a member in good standing of ASIS&T;
  • Not be a member of any other ASIS&T committee (with the exception of the immediate Past-Chair of REC);
  • Not submit a nomination for the award in the year of their jury service; and
  • Declare any conflict of interest related to any nominee for the award and recuse themselves from the jury should the conflict be deemed significant by the Jury Chair (in which case the alternate would be appointed).

Selection Process

  • The jury will utilize both asynchronous scoring and synchronous discussion to arrive at a final decision as to who wins any award.
  • Through the evaluation platform or system, jury members will rate each nominee on a scale of 10 (highest) to 1 (lowest) on each of the five criteria listed above. Jury members should also submit a brief synopsis summarizing the most exemplary accomplishments of that nominee.
  • The jury chair shall tally the votes, with each of the five categories weighted as designated. In the event of a tie that cannot be resolved through synchronous discussion, the jury chair will identify an additional jury member to break the tie. This new jury member will evaluate only the tied nominations and will rate them using the same criteria used by the other jurors.
  • The jury chair shall use the qualitative feedback from the jury as well as their own judgment to write a ~ 250-word citation stating the rationale for making the award.

Nature of the Award

The ASIS&T Research Impact Award was established in 2023. The Award is sponsored by Rutgers University and is administered by the Awards & Honors Committee. The award consists of a cash prize of US$1,000 and funding for the selected researcher (or a team representative in case of awarding a team) to attend the ASIS&T Annual Meeting (NTE US$1,500). The winner(s) shall be given the opportunity present  the body of work as a webinar following the Annual Meeting.

Presentation of the Award

The award shall be presented at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting.

Important Dates

Jury Appointment: March 15
Submission Deadline: April 1
Selection Deadline: June 1