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Responsible impact planning should ask what could go wrong, who might be harmed and what will happen after the funding ends. This new paper by Jan vom Brocke and colleagues provides a practical 40-question checklist for planning, delivering, measuring and communicating impact.

Developed through a workshop with 55 researchers, it tests six recurring issues: whether the problem matters, who has helped shape the research, whether intended users can act on the outputs, whether the work can adapt, what risks it creates and whether its benefits will last.

Some of the most useful questions include: - Have the people affected by the problem helped shape the research? - What will intended users be able to do differently? - What evidence would indicate failure or unintended harm? - Who will maintain the outputs after the project ends?