Table 4 Emergent subthemes (and percentage of survey respondents who mentioned each subtheme) by a priori theme

Why researchers should share results

1) Ownership and reciprocity at the participant level (45.7%)

2) Benefits to research/science (31.1%)

3) Closure (26.2%)

4) Benefits to participants/community/public (16.9%)

5) Ethical obligation (15.4%)

6) Reciprocity at the societal level (9.0%)

7) Participants not otherwise receiving results (3.0%)

Why researchers should not share results

1) Health literacy/participants’ comprehension (17.0%)

2) Participants did not ask for results (16.3%)

3) Inconclusive or incomplete results (15.6%)

4) Participant harm (13.6%)

5) Bias or harm research (8.2%)

6) Therapeutic misconception (4.8%)

7) Participant privacy (2.7%)

8) Published results are enough (2.7%)

9) Low participant involvement (2.0%)

Barriers researchers encounter

1) Logistical barriers (68.9%)

2) Researcher barriers (38.1%)

3) Systems barriers (30.8%)

4) Financial barriers (23.0%)

5) Regulatory barriers (10.9%)