How the ARI database and Overton Engage Can Strengthen Your Policy Impact
If you want to make your research to be noticed by policymakers, two tools are essential starting points: the ARI (Areas of Research Interest) database and Overton Engage. Both help academics spot where government needs evidence, and to connect research with real policy questions.
The ARI database is a one-stop catalogue of research priorities published by UK government departments and public bodies. It lists specific questions and topics where policy teams are actively seeking evidence, and links to related funded research where available. The site also highlights a handy “Next Steps” box on each entry, showing how to contact the relevant policy team. In short, ARIs make it straightforward to identify where your discipline aligns with government priorities and to focus impact activities accordingly.
Professor Dame Angela McLean, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, describes ARIs as “a mechanism to improve engagement between policy officials, funders and experts in the UK and provide a clear indication of government priorities in tackling societal issues.” This centralised tool can also surface related UKRI-funded research, helping researchers build on existing evidence rather than duplicating it.
Overton Engage complements ARIs by letting you track how research features in policy literature, and by surfacing active calls for evidence and engagement opportunities. Overton draws on a vast global collection of policy documents, allowing users to see where work like theirs has been cited in reports, parliamentary papers, guidance or think-tank outputs, and who is using that evidence.
Overton’s guidance also demonstrates practical ways to use the platform to showcase policy influence, set alerts for new citations, and generate reports for impact statements or funding applications.
Importantly for Manchester Met researchers, Overton Engage is available free to staff, giving direct access to search, alerts and citation mapping (check with your research office for sign-up details). Using Overton alongside ARIs enables you both to find where policymakers need evidence and to demonstrate how your research is already shaping debate.
Taken together, ARIs and Overton Engage help researchers target outreach, tailor grant or policy-facing summaries, and build evidence that their work meets real government needs — making it easier to move from research to real policy influence.
