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We often talk about how to get research into policy, but there is far less discussion about how we get evidence into practice within NGOs and non-profits. A paper shows that evidence use is heavily shaped by relationships and organisational constraints in professional practice.

The authors found that the most common factors influencing whether evidence gets used are the relationships between researchers and practitioners, the relevance of the evidence itself, and the capacity and resources of the organisations trying to use it.

Researchers need to engage with practitioners early in research to jointly define questions, invest in long-term partnerships and translate research into formats, like policy briefs or plain-language summaries, especially for organisations where time and resources are stretched.

Interestingly, the paper points out that factors relating to researchers themselves (like our own skills and awareness) are rarely studied in relation to impacts on professional practice, suggesting we may need to look closer to home when reflecting on the science-practice gap.