ReviewJournal of the Royal Society of Medicine2011
Is it time to drop the 'knowledge translation' metaphor? A critical literature review.
Review in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 158 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
158 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effectiveness of knowledge-sharing techniques and approaches in research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR): a systematic review.Health research policy and systems · 2024Pooled it
- Bridging the Silos: A Comparative Analysis of Implementation Science and Improvement Science.Frontiers in health services · 2021Pooled it
- Evidence map of knowledge translation strategies, outcomes, facilitators and barriers in African health systems.Health research policy and systems · 2019Pooled it
- The Role of the Nurse Scientist as a Knowledge Broker.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2019Pooled it
- A systematic review of frameworks for the interrelationships of mental health evidence and policy in low- and middle-income countries.Health research policy and systems · 2018Pooled it
- 10 years of mindlines: a systematic review and commentary.Implementation science : IS · 2015Pooled it
- "Many miles to go …": a systematic review of the implementation of patient decision support interventions into routine clinical practice.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2013Pooled it
- Artificial intelligence predictive analytics in heart failure: results of the pilot phase of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Trial
- "This is how we should work" - healthcare professionals' past uncertainty and present confidence in management of fibromyalgia.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- Professional Change and Identity in Contemporary Physiotherapy: A Six-Domain Conceptual Framework.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Article
- A paradigm shift for health equity in implementation science.BMC health services research · 2026Review
- Examining the roles, relationships and power dynamics shaping universal health system policy processes in high- and upper-middle-income countries: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Implementing clinical practice guidelines into action: a qualitative study of managing knowledge translation in primary care organisations.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Learning about learning health systems: Strengthening theory through continuous evaluation and improvement.Learning health systems · 2025Article
- Developing a role for patients and the public in the implementation of health and social care research evidence into practice: the PIPER study (Pathways to Implementation for Public Engagement in Research) realist evaluation protocol.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Review
- An emerging knowledge exchange framework: Leadership insight into a key capacity-building impact in a large urban, trauma-informed initiative supporting resiliency and promoting equity.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Enhancing the Innovation Ecosystem: Overcoming Challenges to Introducing Information-Driven Technologies in Health Care.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- A Critical Interpretive Literature Review of Phronesis in Medicine.The Journal of medicine and philosophy · 2025Review
- Factors influencing sustainable E-participation in public service delivery: A case of rail infrastructure project.Heliyon · 2025Article
- Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Nursing Workforce Management and Policymaking: Bridging Philosophy and Practice.Journal of nursing management · 2025Article
98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The literature on 'knowledge translation' presents challenges for the reviewer because different terms have been used to describe the generation, sharing and application of knowledge and different research approaches embrace different philosophical positions on what knowledge is. We present a narrative review of this literature which deliberately sought to highlight rather than resolve tensions between these different framings. Our findings suggest that while 'translation' is a widely used metaphor in medicine, it constrains how we conceptualise and study the link between knowledge and practice. The 'translation' metaphor has, arguably, led to particular difficulties in the fields of 'evidence-based management' and 'evidence-based policymaking' - where it seems that knowledge obstinately refuses to be driven unproblematically into practice. Many non-medical disciplines such as philosophy, sociology and organization science conceptualise knowledge very differently, as being (for example) 'created', 'constructed', 'embodied', 'performed' and 'collectively negotiated' - and also as being value-laden and tending to serve the vested interests of dominant élites. We propose that applying this wider range of metaphors and models would allow us to research the link between knowledge and practice in more creative and critical ways. We conclude that research should move beyond a narrow focus on the 'know-do gap' to cover a richer agenda, including: (a) the situation-specific practical wisdom (phronesis) that underpins clinical judgement; (b) the tacit knowledge that is built and shared among practitioners ('mindlines'); (c) the complex links between power and knowledge; and (d) approaches to facilitating macro-level knowledge partnerships between researchers, practitioners, policymakers and commercial interests.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.