Skip to main content

Table 5 Overarching principles of research partnerships

From: A review of reviews on principles, strategies, outcomes and impacts of research partnerships approaches: a first step in synthesising the research partnership literature

No Principles Subcategory
1a Partners build and maintain relationships based on trust, credibility, respect, dignity, and transparency Relationship between researchers and stakeholders
1b Partners acknowledge, reward and value the diverse expertise of the partnership and its members
1c Partners share in decision-making and leadership of different research activities
1d The partnership addresses power dynamics within the team and aim to promote equity, self-determination and/or social justice
1e The partnership ensures representation and/or inclusivity and addresses disciplinary and sectoral issues
2a Partners co-produce knowledge and meaningfully engage stakeholders at different phases of the research process Co-production of knowledge
2b Partners ensure that all members of the partnership have ownership over the data and resulting knowledge products
2c Partners strive to balance the need for scientific rigour alongside the practical need for actionable knowledge
2d Partners ensure the long-term implementation of the findings in real world settings and systems
3a Partners carefully plan and regularly reflect on their strategic approach to collaboration Meaningful stakeholder engagement
3b Partners are flexible and creative in the collaborative research activities and tailor the approach
3c Researchers and stakeholders benefit from the partnership
3d The partnership identifies the stakeholder’s needs and makes sure that the research is relevant for the stakeholders
4a Partners build capacity among all members of the partnership Capacity-building, support and resources
4b Partners ensure bidirectional exchange of skills, knowledge and capacity between members of the partnership
5a The partnership fosters regular, open, clear and honest communication between its members Communication between researchers and stakeholders
6 Partners address ethical issues related to the collaborative research activities Ethical issues of collaborative research activities
  1. Note: Partners include both researchers and stakeholders. We synthesised the overarching principles from 98 principles. The steps taken to synthesise these overarching principles are described in OSF–Table IV. To help organise these principles, we grouped them into six subcategories. The principles are numbered for feasibility reasons. The order of the principles does not relate to the frequencies
Back to article page

Health Research Policy and Systems

ISSN: 1478-4505

Contact us