Table 3 Reported barriers of knowledge translation (KT) as reported by low- and middle-income country LMIC) researchers

 Short window for responding to policy demands

[49, 50, 51, 57, 59, 67, 70, 77, 78, 80]

 High turnover of government officials and politicians

[49, 50, 53, 59, 62, 64, 67, 81, 85, 127]

 Unfavourable political environment

[49, 50, 53, 58, 60,61,62, 64, 67, 68, 70, 74, 80, 81, 127]

 Policy implementation challenges

[49, 50, 53, 58, 64, 78, 80, 81]

 Target audiences lack knowledge/understanding and skills related to research and policy development

[31, 49, 50,51,52, 55, 57,58,59, 64, 67, 68, 78, 82, 84, 86]

 Limited access to and/or inadequate relevant evidence

[31, 48, 50,51,52, 58, 60, 61, 70, 77, 78, 87, 88, 127]

 Inadequate interaction between researchers and policy-makers

[37, 49,50,51,52, 74, 77, 88]

 Researchers’ inadequate research and KT skills

[31, 49, 50, 52, 55, 61, 67, 72, 78, 87, 127]

 Researchers’ fear of, or limited engagement of, media

[52, 67, 74, 77]

 Challenges with simplifying research findings

[49, 50, 55, 59, 60, 64, 67, 71, 74]

 Researcher not interested in KT

[48, 49, 59,60,61]

 Inadequate institutional support and incentives for KT

[31, 32, 43, 44, 49,50,51, 63, 67, 74, 78]

 Limited funding for production of relevant research and KT activities

[31, 32, 37, 44, 49,50,51,52, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 67, 78, 80, 81, 89]