ABSTRACT
In this chapters, the authors outline eight elements common to 4* impact case studies (ICS): long-term research and impact context; quality/significant research funding; clear engagement/an embedded role in implementation/researcher-practitioner unity; resource/financial commitment to impact; quotes as evidence and presentation; breadth/range/multiplicity/cumulative effect; creating something new/transformative for beneficiaries; news media engagement and public engagement. The 4* ICSs included evidence of a clear commitment of resources by the beneficiaries — an indication of the benefit and their welcome for the research. Investment in translating research into impact could be financial, or the commitment of resources, or the generation of further money and resources. The more extensive the quotation, the stronger the sense of impact — and the more skilfully that the quotation was used structurally to give emphasis in the presentation, the more immediately convincing and intense was the sense of world-leading impact.
