BACKGROUND Healthcare research funders may undertake various roles to facilitate implementation of research findings. Their ability to enact such roles depends on several factors, knowledge of implementation being one essential requirement. However, previous studies do not assess the type or level of knowledge about implementation that research funders possess. This paper therefore presents findings from a qualitative, inductive study of the implementation knowledge of research funders. Three aspects of this knowledge are explored, namely how research funders define implementation, their level of self-assessed implementation knowledge and the factors influencing their self-assessment of implementation knowledge. METHODS Research funders (n = 18) were purposefully selected from a sample of research funding organisations in Sweden (n = 10). In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded and transcribed verbatim. An inductive method using a systematic coding procedure was employed to derive the findings. RESULTS The research funders defined implementation as either an outcome or a process, with the majority believing that implementation of healthcare research results demands a process, although its complexity varied in the research funders' view. They perceived their own level of implementation knowledge as either limited or substantial, with a majority regarding it as limited. Clinical research experience, clinical experience and task relevance were singled out as the clearest factors affecting the self-assessment of their own implementation knowledge. CONCLUSIONS This study, the first to focus on implementation knowledge of research funders, demonstrates that they are a category of policy-makers who may possess knowledge, based on their previous professional experience, that is comparable to some important findings from implementation research. Consequently, the findings not only pinpoint the relevance of professional experience, but also reveal a lack of awareness and knowledge of the results of implementation research among research funders in charge of healthcare research.

中文翻译：

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对研究资助者的实施知识的归纳探索。

背景技术医疗保健研究出资者可以担当各种角色以促进研究结果的实施。他们扮演这种角色的能力取决于几个因素，实施知识是一项基本要求。但是，先前的研究并未评估研究资助者拥有的关于实施的知识类型或水平。因此，本文提出了对研究资助者的实施知识进行定性，归纳研究的结果。对该知识的三个方面进行了探讨，即研究资助者如何定义实施，他们对实施知识进行自我评估的水平以及影响其对实施知识进行自我评估的因素。方法从瑞典（n = 10）的研究资助组织样本中有目的地选择研究资助者（n = 18）。进行了深入的半结构化访谈，进行了逐字记录和转录。采用系统编码程序的归纳法被用来推导发现。结果研究资助者将实施定义为结果或过程，大多数人认为实施医疗研究结果需要过程，尽管研究资助者认为其复杂性各不相同。他们认为自己的实施知识水平有限或很高，大多数人认为这是有限的。临床研究经验，临床经验和任务相关性被选为影响其实施知识自我评估的最明显因素。结论本研究首次关注研究资助者的实施知识，证明他们是决策者的一类，他们可以根据其以往的专业经验掌握知识，这些知识可以与实施研究中的一些重要发现相提并论。因此，这些发现不仅指出了专业经验的相关性，而且还揭示了负责医疗研究的研究资助者对实施研究结果的认识和知识的缺乏。