Research Translation Tools & Templates

LASER PULSE has developed the following resources to assist in your collaborative efforts toward research translation. Please view the files below and consider referencing or completing as part of your development project.

Getting Started With Embedded Research Translation Guide

The Getting Started with Embedded Research Translation Guide is a 9-page resource that pulls together the essential elements of Embedded Research Translation (ERT) under the umbrella of ERT principles and promising practices. The guide breaks down the application of ERT by project phase and includes a detailed checklist of promising practices and tools to be applied to each of the ERT pillars. The final page offers a condensed one-page checklist for getting started with ERT.

Enhancing Research Translation – An Interactive Toolkit for Developers

Enhancing Research Translation in International Development: A Collection of Skills-Building Tools for Researchers, is a compendium of LASER PULSE resources that were originally designed as individual tools to primarily aid researchers in planning for and conducting research translation. Based on gaps in publicly available research translation tools and guidance, as well as needs expressed by LASER PULSE projects, LASER PULSE developed a series of tools, templates, and guidance materials to assist in research translation planning and implementation. This is not a comprehensive toolkit for research translation since it does not capture other materials that are easily found online or were not expressed as specific needs by LASER PULSE projects. However, it does reflect the experiences of a large USAID-funded program in developing the most needed resources to support 40+ research for development projects across the world.

Guiding Questions to Plan for Research Translation: A workbook to develop a research translation strategy, an implementation plan, and a monitoring and evaluation plan for research impact in international development

This workbook is developed by LASER to provide a concise process to develop a research translation strategy and plan for evidence utilization in international development. Academic researchers, development practitioners, and donors can use this workbook to strategize and plan for research impact. This workbook provides a process to develop a research translation strategy, plan for the implementation of a research translation project, and plan to monitor and evaluate research impact.

Promising Practices for Embedded Research Translation: a toolkit to improve partnerships, processes, products, and dissemination

The Promising Practices for Embedded Research Translation is a collection of 24 practices to improve the capacity of researchers and practitioners to implement LASER PULSE’s Embedded Research Translation model. Through our analysis of the evidence and knowledge from 187 peer reviewed articles and practitioner reports, we identified practices and tools that have led to positive outcomes in collaborative research translation projects. The toolkit is organized by the four pillars of the LASER PULSE’s Embedded Research Translation model: partnership, process, product, and dissemination. Each pillar is a separate chapter within the toolkit, further broken down into five sections: ERT definitions, evidence, promising practices, tools, and case studies. We recommend that these promising practices and tools are tailored to each project’s specific context.

Research Translation Implementation Planning Template

The Research Translation Implementation Planning Template guides teams through the four stages of Research Translation: Partnership, Process, Translation Product, and Dissemination. The template is meant to be utilized after team formation and during the process of determining partner roles and developing work plans. It will inform the early-stage planning process and guide future planning with activities and thought processes critical in effectively translating research into practice. Projects are encouraged to revisit this planning template to see how tracked progress reflects initial planning and whether the implementation plan needs revision to guide future work.

Communications Strategy Template

The Communications Strategy Template is intended for use specifically for projects that require a robust communications strategy, but is a useful tool for any project to effectively strategize toward communicating messages effectively. This template guides your project in completing a plan for communications strategy and deliverables. It will guide you through sections on audiences, resources, barriers, goals and objectives, messages, products and channels, and ultimately evaluation. We intend for projects to consult this template early on to begin thinking about communications audiences and objectives. Complete with partner input and revisit during the course of the project.

Policy Brief Template

The Policy Brief Template is a dual-purpose document for projects to (1) use the formatting of the template for their own briefs and (2) read through guidance on key considerations in writing a brief along with the types of content to utilize in a brief. It both informs policy brief development and offers a template to do so. Work through this template with your team toward distilling key points into a targeted, actionable document with important policy implications or recommendations.

Project Summary Template

The Project Summary Template is a dual-purpose document for projects to (1) use the formatting of the template for their own briefs and (2) read through guidance on key considerations in writing a brief along with the types of content to utilize in a brief. It both informs brief development and offers a template to do so. Work through this template with your team toward informing key stakeholders with actionable project findings.

How to Plan for and Utilize a Brief

The How to Plan for and Utilize a Brief guide highlights what to focus on during your planning stages for creating a briefing document, and subsequently how to use the brief once it’s been completed.

Utilizing Accessible Language in Research Translation

The Utilizing Accessible Language in Research Translation guide focuses on justification for and methods to use more accessible language to increase clarity in communication for research translation. This narrative will be complemented by an online training module.

Embedded Research Translation Stakeholder Analysis

LASER PULSE has developed the Embedded Research Translation Stakeholder Analysis to provide guidance for how to identify key stakeholders and involve them meaningfully in a research project. This guidance includes two tools, a Stakeholder Map and a Stakeholder Engagement Plan, that should be utilized at the beginning of the research project and revisited throughout the research process.

Community Engagement Toward Impact in Research Translation

As you plan for implementing research translation projects, one of the most critical components to consider is the extent to and methods by which you engage communities. Learn more about how to make your partnerships mutually beneficial, reflective of local knowledge, bi-directional, and sustainable.

Harnessing the Power of Nudge in Research Translation

Nudging is a powerful tool in research translation to help your project reach impact. Learn about behavioral economics and the justification for nudging, as well as processes to select and implement a nudge toward achieving a target behavior. Use this resource to accompany the learning module on Harnessing the Power of Nudge in Research Translation.

Effective Storytelling in Research Translation

Storytelling isn’t just for writers of fiction. As you engage in your research translation projects, developing the ability to effectively tell stories about your work will help your findings inform non-technical experts in ways they understand. Learn more about how to apply key storytelling components and use basic storytelling tips to better assist how you communicate about your project to reach greater impact.

Adapted Ladder of Abstraction Worksheet

This form, adapted from S.I. Hayakawa’s Ladder of Abstraction, allows you to clarify your thinking about developing and organizing stories to aid in the communications side of research translation. Include your story concepts as labels along a continuum from abstract to concrete, with consideration for questions that address how vs. why. Use this form to develop and organize a story about your research translation project.

Impacting Policy Change: A Brief Guide for Researchers

Researchers are increasingly tasked to demonstrate the impact of their research on practice and policy. For research translation projects, this engagement on a policy level is critical. Learn about the background for the research to policy gap, as well as strategies to plan, do, push, and learn to increase the likelihood of impacting policy.

Dissemination Planning Tool

Use this tool in collaboration with your partners to determine critical dissemination activities and approaches early in your research translation project. Explore critical components at Early Stage, Mid-Project, and Project’s End, including strategy development, stakeholder mapping, target audience identification, product development, event planning, and more. Reassess this template with partners to guide you as you begin to implement your dissemination activities.