How research funding agencies support science integration into policy and practice

A key challenge facing health services research and science policy is understanding and optimizing the integration of science into both policy and the practices of professionals. 

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This paper investigates how health research funding agencies support the integration of science into policy and practice.There is confusion and misunderstanding about terms such as knowledge transfer, knowledge translation, implementation and research utilization, and even more so, about such concepts as ‘moving knowledge into action’. Only a few fields of research—notably health service research and knowledge transfer research —have investigated science integration into policy and practice (SIPP).

The overall objective of this paper is to determine what are the intentions, actions, and benefits of the integration of science into policy and practice in health-related funding agencies throughout the world. This comparisons will help answer questions like: What kind of visibility do funding agencies give to SIPP? How do funding agencies promote SIPP? What impacts do funding agencies have on practice and policy?