Please visit our ongoing survey, which offers you the opportunity to provide your perspective on accountability. This will feed into our evaluation framework.

Research-generators – think-tanks, institutes, and universities – are vital for good governance. Their status as providers of essential information can afford researchers tremendous influence over government decisions.  Their impact on a country’s growth and progress – whether developed or developing – can therefore be extensive. Given their influence and potential impact, it is important that they are accountable to those on whom they will have an impact.

To ensure their influence is legitimate, research organisations must be responsive and accountable to a variety of stakeholders: their donors, their members, policy-makers, the research community and internal stakeholders. Balancing a range of different stakeholder interests presents research organisations significant challenges.

The report “Accountability Principles for Research Organisations”:

• develops a framework for analysing accountability from a normative and instrumental perspective;

• allows think-tanks and research institutes to identify and balance their stakeholders;

• presents guidelines to assist the practical implementation of accountability principles.

The second phase of APRO is currently underway. This builds on a thorough review of tools, currently under development. It involves working in partnerships with research organisations to develop a set of practical recommendations based on practical discussions. We are very excited to be working with six exciting and diverse partners:

• the Center for Governance and Development (CGD), Nairobi, Kenya is a policy research and advocacy not-for-profit organization working to institutionalise democratic culture and promote democratic governance and sustainable development;

• the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), Buenes Aires, Argentina is a private, non-profit organization that strives to create a more just, democratic, and efficient State in Argentina to improve the quality of life for all Argentine citizens;

• Co-operation for Peace and Unity Afghanistan (CPAU), Kabul, Afghanistan is an Afghan not-for-profit research think-tank and an institution working for the promotion of knowledge and awareness of peace, social justice and human rights; 

• ForestAction, Kathmandu, Nepal is a Non-governmental Organisation in the field of natural resource management, environmental governance and livelihoods;

• Habitat for Humanity, (Latin American and Caribbean) San Jose, Costa Rica and Recife, Brazil, is a nongovernmental, non-profit organization which promotes community development through housing solutions, including through influencing policy;

• Centro Latinamericano para el Desarrollo Rural (RIMISP) Santiago, Chile, is a regional non-profit organization whose goal is to promote organizational learning and innovation in public and private policies, projects and programs, in ways that advance social inclusion, equity, well-being and vibrant democracies in Latin American rural societies.

A project brief outlining the research process and collaboration with these organisations may be found here.

Publications:

• Accountability Principles for Research Organisations Executive Summary 

• Accountability Principles for Research Organisations Full Report

• Accountability Principles for Research Organisations Toolkit

• Who do you work for? A briefing paper considering the accountability to those an organisation claims to be benefiting in its research.

• Stretched in all directions: a briefing paper analysing the demands, pulls and pressures acting on policy-research organisations