Conceptual frameworks and empirical approaches used to assess the impact of health research: an overview of reviews

How to assess the impact of research is of growing interest to funders, policy makers and researchers mainly to understand the value of investments and to  increase accountability. Broadly speaking the term “research impact” refers to the contribution of research activities to achieve desired societal outcomes. The aim of this overview is to identify the most common approaches to research impact assessment, categories of impact and their  respective indicators.