TY - JOUR T1 - Funders' Perspectives on Supporting Implementation Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-21-00497 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - e2100497 AU - Ana Cardoso-Weinberg AU - Chris Alley AU - Linda E. Kupfer AU - Garry Aslanyan AU - Michael Makanga AU - Fabio Zicker AU - Ole F. Olesen Y1 - 2022/04/28 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/10/2/e2100497.abstract N2 - Key MessagesImplementation research (IR) is an emerging research area that helps research and public health programs achieve impact at scale. We sought to collate and share health research funders' experiences with funding of IR activities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).We identified and grouped the funders' strategies into 7 approaches that are considered important when supporting IR in LMICs.Our analysis offers broad direction and guidance to funding agencies and related partner organizations on important elements to consider when funding and implementing IR in LMICs. Ultimately, this work could help improve the impact of research investments in LMICs.Odeny et al. identified 73 unique definitions of implementation science.1 However, almost all definitions of implementation science and research referred explicitly or implicitly to the gap between knowledge and evidence from research findings (i.e., something theoretical) and use, delivery, and application (i.e., something that is actually done).Reflecting ongoing debates about definitions, we found funders of implementation research (IR) to be hesitant to rely on any single definition of implementation science. Therefore, we do not suggest that funders of implementation science have exclusively used any single definition but rather seek to convey an appreciation of the significant breadth of definitions that exist. That said, for clarity, in this commentary, IR is understood to be a field of science that helps to ensure research findings are adopted into practice.1Implementing research findings into practice is necessary to achieve a return on research investments and improve health outcomes in the broader community.2 Nevertheless, a chasm often remains between the development of efficacious health interventions and their optimum delivery in real-life settings. This gap is particularly present in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where, for example, massive amounts of routine data are collected within public health systems such as by ministries … ER -