Contributions and recognition of patient partners in pediatric health research: A rapid scoping review protocol

Patient-Oriented Research (POR) is an increasingly common approach that actively engages patients and families in the research process. Despite their significant contributions, patient-partners are rarely credited in academic publications through formal acknowledgment or authorship, and the lack of standardized documentation of their participation makes it difficult to locate patient-engaging studies. There is a limited understanding of how patient-partners are currently being engaged particularly within pediatric health research, and whether their involvement is adequately recognized. Clarifying these processes will strengthen POR in pediatrics to foster more meaningful collaboration and ultimately help improve health outcomes for children and their families. The objective of this rapid scoping review is to: 1) assess the prevalence of acknowledgement and authorship of patient partners in pediatric health research; 2) understand how patient partners contribute through the research process; and 3) assess how patient engagement is identified in publications. We will search MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid) and CINAHL (EBSCOhost). In addition, we will search key sources of POR literature. Findings from this scoping review can be used to inform future patient-oriented research and guide the appropriate recognition of patient partner authors.•This rapid scoping review will map how patient partners are recognized for their contributions to pediatric research and how they are engaged throughout the research process•Aim is to provide an evidence base to guide appropriate recognition of patient partner authors.