Creating an impact record

Creating a record

1. Click on the plus button to the top right of the screen:

There are two sections that are needed to be filled in. The sections are 'Tell us more' and 'Attach Evidence'.

IMPORTANT: You must click 'Save' (not, 'Done', 'Add', or 'Link') in order to save your work.

2. To create a record from an end-to-end process perspective, you need to click through both sections. Of the two topic areas, the “Tell us more” section is the only one that contains mandatory fields. This means that to create a record that will populate in your library, you only need to complete the first section. You can return at a later stage to complete and add further detail within an Impact record.

3. For privacy reasons, do not create an Impact record if it involves national security. Sensitive evidence (such as confidential commercial information) can be password protected and shared only with authorised individuals. If you are unsure how to store sensitive information, please contact the Impact team.

4. There are several buttons that say “Done”, “Add” or “link”. To save you applications progress you need to click the save button located at the bottom of the page.

5. Elements times out after 15 minutes of the application not being used. Once the mandatory fields marked with the red asterix are completed, save the impact record. Please refer to the mandatory fields tab above to understand what is mandatory.

Mandatory Fields (Individual user)

1. Mandatory fields are indicated by a red asterix:

2. Further guidance on completing the record:

What is your relationship with this Impact record?
You will need to select either the ‘Lead Contributor’ or ‘Contributes to’ option. A Lead Contributor is typically the person running the project, usually the one who secured the grant. Contributors may include Research Fellows, PGR students, or professional services staff who are connected to the Impact or have responsibility for updating the record.
Relationship privacy
The only available option is ‘Private’, and this cannot be changed. This means the record can only be reviewed by the Impact record creator and any additional users added by the creator. The record can also be accessed by the Impact team (R&IS), Impact Directors, and Department Impact Officers. Users cannot override this setting by making the relationship public or internally visible.
Working Title
Add a title that clearly links your research and the resulting impacts. This is a mandatory field.
Details of Impact
Add a short summary (approximately 100 words) outlining the impacts and beneficiaries that have developed (or are being developed) from your research. This is a mandatory field.
National security
If the Impact record is associated with national security, please do not create a record. For sensitive evidence (e.g. confidential commercial information), this can be password-protected and shared only with authorised parties. If you have concerns about storing sensitive information (such as commercially sensitive data), please contact the Impact team.

IMPORTANT: You must click 'Save' in order for your work to be saved

3. Ensure you click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page :

End Result: You will now have an Impact record within your library.

Mandatory Fields (Creating a record on behalf of someone else)

1. There may be times when a delegate needs to create a record on behalf of another person. This means that the first mandatory step slightly differs. Please refer to the screenshot below :

2. The next steps are the same as if you were creating your own record. Please refer to the "Mandatory Fields" (Individual user)" tab to understand the next steps.

Additional Details (Optional)

1. You can add further detail to your impact record once the mandatory fields have been completed. The fields that you are able to additionally complete are the following :

Start Date (Optional)	The estimated date when the project or impact(s) commenced. If the project or impact(s) have not yet commenced, the date can be an estimate, or this can be left blank and added at a later date.
End Date (Optional)	The date at which no further impact was generated or evidenced. If the impact is ongoing, please set a future date enabling a sufficient period for impact to be generated. e.g. 1 - 5 years into the future. This can be updated once the record is created. This can be left blank if you cannot provide a reasonable estimate of the end date.
Narrative of events (Optional)	Add an overview of any significant events including the date the event occurred. For example – “1/1/2026 – Impact happened with X beneficiary leading to Y change.” You can add further entries at any point. You can record 'Evidence' separately at the next stage.
Impact country	The country/ countries in which the impact took place, or countries affected.
Locality	Assign whether the impact itself was local, national or international.
Continued case	Impact submitted to a previous REF exercise

Adding Additional Steps (Optional)

1. In order to add a further lead contributor or contributor please refer to the screenshot below:

2. When you need to add a narrative of events to your impact record, type it into the 'Narrative of events' box and click the 'Add' button which will have turned green:

3. You should have a narrative saved and it should look like the below:

4. You can change the order of events at any time using the six dots highlighted below to drag the items up or down:

5. Click on the box to bring up a menu for the locality, and select more than one. To add an impact country, start typing the name of the country and click on the relevant name when it appears.

6. If you wanted highlight whether this record relates to a REF impact case submitted to a previous REF, select 'Yes' for continued case:

IMPORTANT! Don't forget to click 'Save'