The Future of Practice Research

Due to the way practice is produced and the diversity of its forms, practice research can be more challenging to present than other more traditional text-based outputs such as journal articles, collections or monographs. Recent AHRC-funded sector-wide scoping projects PR-Voices and SPARKLE have confirmed previous work and recommendations in this area from PRAG-UK, concluding that Practice Research continues to face significant challenges in terms of its identification, discoverability, visibility and parity with ‘standard’ outputs. Institutions currently respond individually to the requirement for assessment of Practice Research within assessment exercises such as REF, and the imperative of Open Access principles for the sharing of Practice Research. No standard repository system or principles of universal identification or systematic interoperability exists as yet. As such, this remains a new and developing infrastructure challenge for the entire HE sector.

In addition, staff recruited into academic contexts from practitioner backgrounds need support to be able to collate, organise and present high quality research in ways that align with the sector’s understanding of what constitutes high-quality research.

On 9th June 2025, Manchester Met were delighted to host a one-day event to consider these important issues for the Higher Education sector. Please see the full video of the symposium plenary addresses here:

For any queries or to be added to our mailing list please email the Practice Research Support Team AHPRS@mmu.ac.uk

This event has been supported by Research Culture development funding from Research England.