Don’t Waste Your Time and Funding: Why Dissemination Matters as Much as Content

Key features in a nutshell

• To avoid wasting time and funding on unread policy publications or poorly attended events, researchers and knowledge mobilizers must plan dissemination strategies from the very beginning
• Effective dissemination combines several reinforcing strategies: stakeholder mapping and personalized outreach, media and social media, personal networks, and the dissemination channels of partner organizations

What is the issue?

Researchers who are invited by policymakers to conduct commissioned research, participate in expert bodies, attend parliamentary hearings, or speak at policy events enjoy direct access to decision makers — a significant advantage. Researchers new to policy engagement, however, face a different challenge: gaining visibility among policymakers in the first place.

The risk is real. A well-researched policy publication that no policymakers read or a carefully organized policy event that attracts only other researchers, represents a significant loss of time and resources. The solution is not to only focus on content; it is to plan dissemination from the very beginning of a project, with the same care and deliberateness as the research itself. The following strategies are possible:

Strategy 1: Stakeholder mapping and personalized outreach

Researchers or knowledge mobilizers can identify their target audience by browsing the organizational charts and websites of relevant policymaking institutions: local and regional governments, national ministries and agencies, parliaments, political parties, EU institutions, and international organizations. From this, they can build a targeted mailing list.

The effort required varies enormously depending on the scope of the topic. A policy publication on cycling behavior in a single neighborhood may be relevant to only a handful of policymakers – mapping them might take a few hours. A publication on cycling behavior across 214 cities in 25 European countries may be relevant to policymakers at the local, national, and EU level. Mapping them and researching their contact details could take weeks or months.

Wherever possible, researchers should avoid sending a single generic message to all recipients. Personalized outreach, even when based on a common template, is far more effective. The same policy report on cycling, for example, might be relevant to very different audiences for very different reasons:

• A ministry of transportation responsible for traffic regulation, road planning, and signage
• A ministry of education looking to address cycling in school curricula
• A mayor’s office seeking to position the city as a cycling-friendly destination for tourists
• Members of parliament advocating for active lifestyles and long-term public health

Each of these recipients deserves a message that speaks directly to their remit and interests. Researchers should use a personal hook in every message: one sentence that explains why this particular publication or event is relevant to this particular recipient.

Finally, every outreach message should include an explicit offer of availability: researchers should state that they are happy to arrange a virtual meeting or phone call to discuss the findings in more detail.

Strategy 2: Media, social media, and dissemination platforms

Press releases remain a relevant tool for increasing the visibility of publications and events, particularly when issued through an institution’s communications office. Announcing policy publications or events via social media can also be effective – researchers and knowledge mobilizers can connect with policymakers directly and invite them to follow their personal or institutional accounts. Specialized policy platforms such as EU Agenda or Euractiv reach many policymakers and policy professionals and can be used to announce events or publications.

Strategy 3: Personal networks

Colleagues, collaborators, and alumni contacts who are well connected with policymakers are a valuable dissemination resource. Researchers and knowledge mobilizers can ask trusted contacts to introduce them to relevant policymakers, forward publications or event invitations to their networks, or share content on social media. A personal recommendation from a trusted intermediary is often more effective than a cold outreach message.

Strategy 4: Dissemination channels of partner organizations

Research institutions, think tanks, NGOs, foundations, and associations that already enjoy high visibility among policymakers can serve as important dissemination partners. Researchers and knowledge mobilizers should explore whether these organizations publish guest contributions in their newsletters or publication series, a well-placed guest article can reach a far larger and more relevant audience than putting a policy brief on the institutional website.

Inviting experts from think tanks, NGOs, foundations, or other organizations to participate in policy events also serves a dual purpose: it adds diversity and credibility to the event, and it expands its reach, as invited guests typically share event information through their own social media channels and communications networks.

Combining strategies

The strategies above are not mutually exclusive, they reinforce one another. Researchers and knowledge mobilizers should assess the resources they can realistically invest in dissemination and select the combination of strategies that best fits their topic, target audience, and institutional context.

Tasks and resources

Researchers

Researchers sometimes underestimate the importance of dissemination. The most important mindset shift is this: producing scientific evidence is not enough. Researchers should plan at least some dissemination activities themselves, particularly personalized outreach to policymakers they know or have identified through stakeholder mapping.

Knowledge mobilizers

Knowledge mobilizers play a central role in making dissemination efficient and sustainable. Once a stakeholder map has been built and a mailing list created, it can be maintained and reused for future activities. Knowledge mobilizers should develop reusable templates for email messages, social media posts, and press releases that can be adapted to each new publication or event. They should also help researchers identify partner organizations like think tanks, NGOs, foundations, and associations that can extend the reach of their work.

Do you want to know more about the policy engagement toolkit?

Do you want to share your experience in policy engagement? Do you think about contributing to the policy engagement toolkit? Feel free to contact Tome Sandevski at science-policy@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de

Resources and further reading

Baron, Nancy (2010), Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter. Island Press.

Swann, Michelle (2012), Writing Professional Emails: The Step-by-Step Guide.

Willis, Christina C. (2020), Sustainable Networking for Researchers and Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2535500.