Hed-Core Academic Commons

How The Commissioned Research Works

How The Commissioned Research Works

Our hub coordinates commissioned research and evaluation projects that turn evidence into practical guidance for policy and practice. This page explains the full process: from initial idea, through project design and delivery, to final outputs and use.

It is written for:

  • Commissioners and partners (organisations, programmes, initiatives) who want to request work.
  • Researchers and evaluators who will lead or contribute to projects.
  • Policymakers and practitioners who will use the outputs.

1. Before you request a project

Commissioned research works best when the purpose and scope are clear from the start. Before submitting a request, it helps to think through:

  • Why this work is needed
    What decision, process or problem is this meant to support?
  • What kind of evidence would be most useful
    For example: a rapid review, a case study, an evaluation of an existing initiative, a policy brief, an OER module for training, etc.
  • Who needs to be involved
    Which organisations, teams or stakeholders should contribute or be consulted?
  • What is realistic in your timeframe
    Deep, multi‑country studies take longer than short, focused reviews or rapid assessments.

If you are unsure, you can still submit an initial idea, and the group admins can help you refine it.

2. Submit a project request

All project requests start in the Commissioned Research group on the site.

  1. Go to the Commissioned Research group.
  2. Open the forum topic 01_Project Requests.
  3. Read the pinned topic Project Request Form (read first).
  4. Copy the form into a new reply and fill in:
    • Title of proposed work
    • Commissioner / partner
      • Organisation
      • Contact person and email
    • Brief description (2–4 sentences)
    • Objectives / key questions (bullet points)
    • Expected outputs (for example: policy brief, full report, dataset, OER module, presentation, training session)
    • Indicative timeline (start date, key milestones, expected completion)
    • Any constraints or special requirements, such as:
      • Confidentiality or data protection needs
      • Specific methods or approaches required
      • Co‑commissioners or multiple partners
      • Language requirements
  5. Post your reply.

This creates a clear, written record of the request that can be referred to throughout the project.

3. Review and scoping

After a request is posted:

  • A group admin or designated review team checks the request for:
    • Clarity of purpose and questions
    • Feasibility within the proposed timeline
    • Alignment with the hub’s focus and capacities
  • If needed, they will ask follow‑up questions in the same forum thread or contact you directly.
  • In some cases, a short scoping call or exchange may be arranged to refine:
    • The main questions
    • The type and depth of analysis
    • The most useful format of outputs (for example, a short brief vs a full report).

Once the scope is agreed, the project is formally accepted and moves to the “running” phase.

4. Set up the project thread

For each accepted project:

  1. A new thread is created in 02_Running Projects with the same title as the request.
  2. The first post in this thread:
    • Summarises the project (title, commissioner, objectives).
    • Links back to the original request in 01_Project Requests.
    • Lists the agreed outputs and timeline.
  3. This thread becomes the main “log” for the project:
    • Key steps (design, data collection, analysis, drafting) are noted as short updates.
    • Links to working documents, drafts and interim outputs are shared here.
    • Questions, decisions and agreed changes are documented.

Commissioners, partners and project leads can all follow and contribute to this thread, so there is a shared, transparent record of how the work progresses.

5. Carrying out the work

The actual research or evaluation work may involve activities such as:

  • Reviewing existing evidence (documents, reports, datasets).
  • Conducting interviews, focus groups or surveys (if part of the scope).
  • Analysing data and synthesising findings.
  • Drafting reports, briefs, or other outputs.
  • Getting feedback from commissioners and key stakeholders.

Depending on the project, existing groups (for example, OER and Pedagogical, Policymakers Dialogues, or others) may be used for:

  • Drafting and reviewing specific documents.
  • Testing materials (e.g. OER modules) with relevant audiences.
  • Discussing implications for policy or practice.

Even when work happens across multiple groups, the Commissioned Research group remains the central tracking point: all projects are logged and summarized there.

6. Quality assurance and finalisation

Before a project is considered complete:

  • Draft outputs are reviewed for:
    • Clarity and coherence
    • Accuracy and appropriate use of evidence
    • Relevance to the original questions and intended users
  • Feedback from commissioners and key stakeholders is incorporated.
  • Final versions of documents are prepared (for example, a full report and a shorter policy brief).

Any agreed changes or limitations are noted in the project thread, so future readers understand the context and caveats.

7. Sharing final outputs

When the project is finished:

  1. A short summary is posted in 03_Final Outputs & Reports, including:
    • Project title and commissioner/partner
    • Brief description of the work and its purpose
    • List of final outputs (report, brief, dataset, OER, presentation, etc.)
    • Links to final files stored in Docs/Files (for example, under 04_Commissioned_Reports).
    • Later: a link to the repository record when the repository layer is active.
  2. The summary is written so that someone who was not involved in the project can quickly understand:
    • What was done
    • Why it matters
    • What the main findings or recommendations are
    • How the outputs can be used or adapted.

These entries become part of the hub’s public record of completed work.

8. Using and adapting outputs

Final outputs are intended to be directly usable by:

  • Policymakers, to inform decisions, strategies and reforms.
  • Practitioners, to improve programmes and daily practice.
  • Trainers and educators, as part of curricula or professional development (especially OER modules).
  • Other researchers, as a basis for further studies or syntheses.

Where open licenses are used (for example, Creative Commons), outputs can be:

  • Shared widely, with clear attribution.
  • Adapted to different contexts (with appropriate acknowledgement).
  • Integrated into training materials, guidelines or toolkits.

Any license or usage conditions are stated in the final outputs and in the repository record (once the repository layer is active).

9. Roles and responsibilities

Typical roles in a commissioned project include:

  • Commissioner / partner
    • Defines the need and high‑level questions.
    • Provides context, access to information or stakeholders as needed.
    • Reviews drafts and gives feedback.
    • Supports use and dissemination of final outputs.
  • Project lead / principal investigator
    • Leads the design and delivery of the work.
    • Ensures methodological rigour and ethical standards.
    • Coordinates the team and timeline.
    • Oversees drafting and finalisation of outputs.
  • Group admins / coordinators
    • Help refine requests and scope projects.
    • Ensure the workflow is followed (request → running → final outputs).
    • Support documentation and quality assurance.
    • Link projects to relevant groups and, later, to the repository.
  • Contributors and reviewers
    • Provide expertise, data, case examples or critical feedback.
    • May come from existing groups (e.g. OER, policymakers, practitioners).

Clear roles reduce confusion and make collaboration smoother.

10. How this fits into the wider hub

The commissioned research process is one part of a larger Commons:

  • Groups (Layer 2) are used for discussion, drafting and peer input.
  • Commissioned Research (Layer 4) is the “production line” for real projects and applied work.
  • Repositories (Layer 3) will store final, citable versions of outputs with persistent identifiers and metadata.
  • Outputs & Dissemination topics in each group highlight relevant work for their communities.

Together, these layers ensure that knowledge is not only produced, but also organised, visible and reusable.

11. Getting help

If you are:

  • Unsure how to frame your request,
  • Unclear about which type of output would be most useful, or
  • New to the hub and its processes,

You can:

  • Post a question in the Commissioned Research group forum.
  • Contact a group admin or coordinator directly.
  • Propose a short scoping conversation to clarify ideas before submitting a formal request.

The goal is to make it straightforward to turn good questions into high‑quality, usable evidence.

Commissioned Research Roles and Expectations

See also