Table 1 Key terms and definitions

Health research partnership [1, 2]

‘Partnerships involving individuals, groups, or organizations engaged in collaborative health research activity involving at least one researcher (e.g., an individual affiliated with an academic department, hospital or medical centre), and any partner actively engaged in any part of the research process (e.g., decision or policy maker, health care administrator or leader, community agency, charities, network, patients, industry partner, etc.).’

A health research partnership may encompass a diverse set of research activities, including (but not limited to) integrated knowledge translation (IKT), community-based participatory research (CBPR), action research or participatory action research (PAR), collaborative research, co-design and academic-community partnerships

Tool [1, 3]

‘An instrument (survey, measures, assessments, questionnaire, inventory, checklist, list of factors, subscales or similar) that can be used to assess the outcome or impact elements or domains of a health research partnership.’

Outcome (adapted from University of Waterloo, 2018) [1, 4]

‘…factor(s) described in the study methods used to determine a change in status as a result of interventions, can be measured or assessed as component(s) of the study, and are not futuristic’; including both process and summative outcomes

Impact [1, 5]

‘…effects, influences, or changes to the economy, society, public policy or services, individuals, teams, organizations, health, the environment, or quality of life, beyond academia.’

Context [1, 6]

‘The physical, organizational, institutional, and legislative structures that enable and constrain, and resource and realize, people and procedures.’