Retrospectively evidencing research impact using online data mining

Higher education institutions in the UK and elsewhere are under increasing pressure to measure the impact of their research, which can include how the research has increased scientific engagement among the general public. For various reasons, the need for evidence can arise months, or even years, after a particular research discovery has been made. Furthermore, the right kind of evidence is needed to indicate genuine changes in behaviour, knowledge or attitudes among a given target audience, which can be difficult to obtain after time has passed. In this article, we present a number of strategies for retrospective evidencing of ‘what happened and who cared’, illustrating their use to measure public engagement with example discoveries from up to five years ago.