From the Editor's Desk
Author
Holly Zink, PhD, MSA
University of Kansas
It is my privilege to introduce the Spring 2026 issue of the Journal of Research Administration and to do so as the journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. I step into this role with deep respect for the journal’s history and a clear commitment to strengthening its position as a rigorous, globally representative scholarly forum for research administration, both as a profession and as a field of study.
The articles in this issue span North America, Europe, and Africa—with contributions from the United States, Canada, Denmark, Uganda, and Portugal—illustrating the increasingly international scope of research administration scholarship. Collectively, they examine policy shifts, institutional systems, professional identity, research impact frameworks, and the craft of grant writing. Taken together, they reflect a profession navigating regulatory complexity while refining its strategic and intellectual foundations.
We begin at the policy level with the Narrative Literature Review, Federal Policies on Research Security, and the Shifting Balance of Legal Liability for Nondisclosure (Bell, 2026), authored in the United States. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent research security legislation and the implementation of Common Forms, highlighting the shifting liability landscape from institutions to individual researchers. By tracing legislative history and examining fraud statutes and the implications of the False Claims Act, Bell (2026) situates research administrators within an evolving compliance environment that demands both legal literacy and a strategic institutional response.
From national policy, we move to institutional construction in Building Research Infrastructures from Ground Zero in Biomedical Laboratory Science at Six Bachelor’s Degree University Colleges: A Decade of Danish Experience, an Original Article authored by Smith et al. (2026) from Denmark. This study presents a decade-long, national case study of infrastructure development within professional bachelor’s degree institutions. The authors identify decentralized leadership, protected research time, student engagement, and collaborative structures as key drivers of sustainable research productivity, offering a replicable framework for institutions seeking to cultivate a research culture where none previously existed.
Continuing the global systems perspective, the Original Article, Intellectual Property: Levels of Awareness Among Researchers and Research Managers at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (Kakeeto et al., 2026), authored in Uganda, presents a needs assessment that reveals critical gaps in intellectual property management awareness and policy implementation. The findings underscore the importance of institutional clarity, training, and governance structures to support innovation and commercialization in emerging research ecosystems.
Shifting toward research impact and proposal design, the Original Article, A Framework to Characterize Broader Impact Activities (Graef et al., 2026), authored in the United States, offers a theory-informed model grounded in program logic and theory of change. Through content analysis of funded proposals, the authors provide investigators and administrators with a structured framework for analyzing audience engagement and societal benefit across funding contexts. This work strengthens the conceptual vocabulary for articulating impact—an increasingly central expectation in global funding landscapes.
The issue then turns squarely to the evolving professional role of research administrators. In the Original Article, Job Demands, Resources, and Extra-Role Behavior: Supporting Research Administrators’ Interests in Research Development Activities (Bauer et al., 2026), the authors, based in the United States, apply the Job Demands–Resources model to examine how research administrators engage in research development activities. Their mixed-methods findings reveal a strong interest in strategic engagement but also highlight institutional barriers, including time constraints, competing expectations, and gaps in leadership support. The article offers practical insight into capacity-sensitive integration of research development practices within administrative roles.
Expanding the professional identity conversation internationally, the Original Article, Research Managers and Administrators at Public Non-Research Performing Organizations: A Case of Identity Crisis? (Santos et al., 2026), authored in Portugal, applies Bourdieu’s Theory of Distinction to examine research managers and administrators working outside traditional research-performing institutions. The study illustrates how accumulated professional capital, networks, and work experience shape identity and positioning within research and innovation ecosystems. By focusing on public non-research-performing organizational contexts, Santos et al. (2026) broaden the conceptualization of research administration beyond university-centric models.
We conclude with the Technical Report, Aristotle and Grant Writing: The Role of Persuasion in Writing a Successful Grant Application (Mosier, 2026), authored in Canada. Drawing from classical rhetoric—Ethos, Pathos, and Logos—Mosier (2026) provides a conceptually grounded yet practical framework for enhancing grant persuasiveness. By examining both overt and covert layers of communication in proposal narratives, this report reminds us that, beyond policy and infrastructure, lies craft: the strategic use of persuasion to advance competitive research proposals.
Across continents and contexts, this issue reflects a profession operating simultaneously at the levels of law, institutional design, professional identity, and strategic communication. Research administration today is no longer confined to transactional compliance; it is integrative, interpretive, and increasingly central to institutional competitiveness and societal impact.
As Editor-in-Chief, my strategic priority is to position JRA as the leading scholarly forum for research administration globally. This includes elevating methodological rigor, expanding international authorship, advancing conceptual frameworks, and strengthening the bridge between scholarship and day-to-day professional practice. We will continue to welcome empirical research, narrative reviews, technical reports, and reflective inquiry that deepen theoretical understanding while offering actionable insight. In an era defined by regulatory complexity, global collaboration, and technological acceleration, JRA must serve not only as a repository of knowledge but as a catalyst for professionalization, innovation, and leadership within the research enterprise.
I am deeply grateful to our authors and editorial board for their commitment to advancing this field. I look forward to the conversations this issue will generate—and to building the next chapter of the Journal of Research Administration together.
Holly Zink, PhD, MSA
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Research Administration