Closing the Gap Knowledge Mobilisation FAQ

Introduction

In 2020, we spoke to our Closing the Gap Network Plus funded projects, to ask them what they knew about knowledge mobilisation, and what questions they had. We used this feedback to inform workshops with researchers about how to do, and how to research knowledge mobilisation. We recognised that the questions raised weren’t specific to Closing the Gap, and so we wanted to make a resource for anyone working in research to access, should they have the same questions.

Knowledge mobilisation is an evolving field, and like any discipline there are different viewpoints within it. This is intended only as an introduction to the topic, and we can only skim the surface of some of the more complex issues. We do not provide this guidance as a suggestion that this is the right or only way to approach knowledge mobilisation.

We encourage you to both explore the suggested reading and go beyond this, to develop your own understanding as it relates to your discipline or area of work. We hope that this resource nevertheless helps provide some clarity and suggestions about common issues.

We’re keen to receive feedback, so if you use this resource, please get in touch and let us know if it helped and how it could be improved.

The questions we cover:

General resources and further reading

This is a list of papers relevant to knowledge mobilisation compiled by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

The Knowledge Mobilisation Alliance is a network of current and former NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellows. Their website includes links to papers, examples of knowledge mobilisation activity, and guides and resources.

This is the Canadian Institute of Health Research guide, using their preferred term ‘knowledge translation’.

Journals which publish papers on knowledge mobilisation include:

  • Health Expectations
  • Evidence and Policy
  • Research For All
  • Health Research Policy and Systems
  • Research Involvement and Engagement
  • Implementation Science/ Implementation Science Communications

This FAQ resource was prepared in November 2021 by Dr Sarah Knowles, Prof Rachel Churchill and Dr Emily Peckham.