Summary

• Research in the humanities, social sciences, and fine and creative arts has impact but defining, measuring, and comparing these impacts is an enormous challenge.  
• This research contributes to a free and democratic society, public policy, quality of life, social cohesion, business innovation, the environment, creativity, commercial and economic activity, administrative and institutional development. Studying this impact leads to a better appreciation of the role of the humanities and social sciences in enriching society.
• This document proposes five broad ways this research has impact and a basket of indicators for each that can be used to measure them. These are presented on the second page of this summary.
• The intent is that organizations involved in measuring the impact of research in the humanities, social sciences, and fine and creative arts will be able to draw from these indicators to develop their methodology. Not all indicators will necessarily be used at any one point in time, but instead they provide a suite of indicators which can be deployed in various combinations depending on the type of impact being studied and the expertise, time, and budget available.
• The indicators in this document are not intended to be used to compare individual researchers, or to be relevant to tenure and promotion decisions, but to allow the exploration and, where appropriate, the comparison of research impact at aggregated levels - whether at the university, regional, national, or international scale.
• This is a living document. This draft focuses most on the conceptual background. With feedback and experience in implementation it is hoped that future versions of this document will be able to include some Canadian-specific “how-to” guidance.