Researchfish is an online outcomes and impact tracking platform operated by Elsevier publishing. Funders such as the Wellcome Trust, UKRI and British Heart Foundation use Researchfish to assess the impact of the research projects they fund.

From January 2024, the Health Research Board will use Researchfish to track outputs, outcomes and impact over time for all HRB-funded projects. Researchfish will allow Principal Investigators (PI’s) to easily report on outcomes, and to link their portfolio of research projects.

The value of the HRB’s current research funding commitment is in the region of €200 million. As this is public money, there is an onus on the HRB to account to government and other stakeholders, including the public, for the funds it allocates and the returns on the research that it supports. Therefore, it is imperative that the HRB measures the extent to which this portfolio of funding is achieving the HRB mission and delivering the intended benefits. This is achieved through the HRB's Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities.

A new Monitoring and Evaluation Implementation Plan, which was approved by the HRB Board in May 2023, pointed to the need for an evaluation tool that would enable HRB to collect longitudinal output, outcome and impact data from our investments to learn from and communicate about the impact of our funding. The move to Researchfish is a part of a larger plan at the HRB to streamline reporting for grants and lower the burden for grant holders whilst discharging our responsibility as a public body to effectively demonstrate accountability for public money.

The HRB will require award recipients to submit outcomes information to the Researchfish platform on an annual basis, during a submission period.

To do this, PI’s will need to create a Researchfish account and complete an outcomes report.

While Researchfish allows for real-time monitoring of outputs and outcomes and researchers are encouraged to update their report throughout the year, there will be a specific six-week window every year where researchers will need to submit their information on the platform. PIs will need to report their outputs and outcomes on Researchfish on an annual basis, up to five years after a HRB award has concluded.

The next Researchfish submission period is 24 January 2024 to 11 March 2024.

Researchers will need to log on to Researchfish and submit their report not later than 12 noon, Monday 11 March 2024. 

All awards that have ended since 1 January 2019 and those that are active on or before 1 September 2023 are required to submit a report via Researchfish during the January to March 2024 submission period.

The HRB and Researchfish will send emails alerting PIs of the upcoming submission period between 27 November 2023 and 8 December 2023. The emails will be sent to the address associated with your HRB award and will include instructions for setting up your Researchfish account.

To create a Researchfish user account, you must receive an invitation email from Researchfish to set up your account.

If you are required to submit a report in the January 2024 submission period, you will receive an email from Researchfish inviting you to set up your account between 27 November 2023 and 8 December 2023.

If you cannot find your original invitation email, a new invitation can be requested by following the steps in Invitation Help in the Help and Support section of the Researchfish website.

A video guide to submitting a report on Researchfish is available at https://eval.researchfish.com/help-videos. 

Generally, yes, but please see the HRB’s communications about your specific award(s).The HRB will tell you whether a submission is mandatory or optional for each award that you hold.

The HRB will commit to collecting data on outcomes and impacts generated from awards for up to five years after an award has ended. This is because the HRB recognises that many outcomes and impacts materialise years after an award has ended and not capturing this data would mean that researchers do not have the opportunity to present a full picture of the impact generated through their HRB investment.

All researchers will need to submit a report annually. However, where there are no new outcomes to submit you can select the “not applicable this year” for any mandatory questions.  

If you feel it is unlikely that there will be further outcomes from your award, please email your HRB point of contact to discuss closing out your award.

The HRB may grant a one-year exemption from completing a Researchfish return for PIs who are unable to complete a return. Common reasons for exemptions include:  

• Parental leave
• Long term sick leave
• Maternity Leave
• Fieldwork where no internet access will be available

If this applies to you, please notify your HRB contact as soon as possible.

Exemptions will only be applied if you are unable to complete for the full duration of the submission period. Please note that Researchfish allows for PIs to delegate completion of the report to members of their team. While a team member may enter information to Researchfish, it is only the PI who is authorised to finally submit the information.  

Awards are added to Researchfish by the HRB on a rolling basis. As such, a new award may not appear in the system immediately. Alternatively, your award may be listed against a different individual (e.g. a previous PI). 

Contact email: evaluation@hrb.ie if you cannot see an award that you expect to see among your Researchfish records.

Similariily, if, the details relating to an award/grant associated with your account are incorrect, you should contact email evaluation@hrb.ie in the first instance, as Researchfish are unable to change award details.

If you have issues with the Researchfish system, please contact support@researchfish.com

HRB will use data provided through the Researchfish platform to facilitate greater oversight and governance of HRB investments and report upstream and outwards on the impact of HRB investment. Researchfish data will be used to report at a scheme, cohort or portfolio level but will not be used to monitor individual awards. Researchfish impact data will be used for activities such as: 

• Demonstrating accountability for public money by identifying and communicating the value of HRB’s contribution to the Health Research ecosystem in Ireland.  

• Allowing the HRB to advocate for more funding in health research in areas that need it the most.  

• Allocating resources to schemes and portfolios in an evidence informed manner, generating positive societal and economic outcomes. 

Yes, HRB award holders will need to submit an Annual Report in addition to the Researchfish report. A more streamlined version of the HRB Annual Report is being developed for 2024 to ensure there is no duplication with Researchfish. Annual Reports 2024 will be followed as per the usual process, including the submission of a financial report. While the Annual Report focuses on monitoring the delivery of an award in relation to scientific progress, Researchfish collects important evaluation information on outputs, outcomes and impacts generated from the HRB award.  

HRB is hosting two virtual information sessions for Host Institutions and PIs to provide more information on the Researchfish process and the next submission period. Please sign up at the links below to attend an information session relevant to you- 

Health Research Board (HRB) - Researchfish Webinar for Host Institutions | Researchfish  (28th November 2023, 11am) 

Health Research Board (HRB) - Researchfish Webinar for Researchers | Researchfish  (4th December 2023, 10am) 

Award holders who have completed their HRB award and have submitted an End of Grant report may still need to submit a Researchfish report. (If your award ended on or after 01/01/2019). However, in these cases, we are only asking you to report on any additional outputs, outcomes and impacts that have generated from your HRB award since your End of Grant submission. You do not need to re-submit information already submitted to the HRB via an End of Grant Survey. We are aware that outputs, outcomes and impacts from Health Research projects take time to materialise and therefore, this is an opportunity to capture any development on your award since your last submission to the HRB.  

The HRB End of Grant report was completed by all award holders who had an HRB award finish in the preceding year. Questions in the report were built based on the Buxton and Hanney Payback framework. Award holders were asked to complete this End of Grant report just once, capturing a snapshot of outputs, outcomes and impact generated by the HRB award at the point of reporting. Researchfish now replaces the HRB End of Grant report. Award holders will be asked to submit information on outputs, outcomes and impacts generated from their award every year and up to five years after their award has ended. Reporting every year will ensure that award holders can record information as and when an output or outcome has occurred, instead of reporting in bulk after the award has ended. Reporting for up to 5 years after an award has ended will ensure that any important outcomes and impacts generated from the HRB award are captured for longitudinal analysis of impact. Further, Researchfish integrates with external data sources to allow data to be imported or re-used if it exists elsewhere, to reduce the amount of manual entry and where possible enhance the data, which wasn’t possible with the previous End of Grant Report.  

The following awards are not required to submit a Researchfish report within the first submission period- 

• Awards that ended before 01/01/2019 

• Awards that started after 01/09/2023 

• Summer Scholarship Awards 

• Conference and Events Scheme Awards  

Researchfish is GDPR compliant. Please click on the links below for more information related to data processing- 

Privacy Policy | Elsevier Legal 

Cookie Notice | Elsevier Legal 

Terms of Use | Researchfish 

Accessibility Statement | Researchfish 

• Researchfish online help centre
• Researchfish User Guide For Researchers

email: Support@researchfish.com

email: Evaluation@hrb.ie