Identifying practices for meaningful health research partnerships: series of rapid environmental scans

Research coproduction is central to meaningful, equitable knowledge translation, yet partnerships lack practical, actionable guidance for implementation. The Integrated Knowledge Translation (IKT) Guiding Principles articulate values for partnership but remain difficult to operationalize in practice.

To descriptively synthesize reported research-partnership practices across seven domains and inform the development of actionable guidance that aligns with the IKT Guiding Principles. Scan topic domains include: (1) reporting (2), communication and meetings (3), training and education (4), conflict management (5), co-authorship (6), agreements, and (7) collaborative product ownership.

We conducted seven rapid environmental scans. The protocol was co-developed with partners and registered on Open Science Framework. MEDLINE (Ovid) and PsycINFO were searched and supplemented by targeted reference lists and grey-literature searches. Eligibility required a research partnership between at least one researcher and one research user. Dual verification was used for screening and data extraction. Data were synthesized descriptively; effectiveness was not assessed.

Across the seven scans, the literature reported concrete practices within each domain. Common reporting practices included describing context, governance, roles, and reflexivity. Communication guidance emphasized formal plans/charters, inclusive facilitation, pre-/post-meeting routines, multiple formats, and culturally grounded approaches. Training programs integrated technical skills with relational competencies (trust, reflexivity, cultural humility), co-learning models, mentorship, and experiential methods. Conflict guidance promoted early role/decision clarity, embedded communication norms, routine reflection, and stepwise procedures. Co-authorship practices favored contribution-based models, written agreements, partner inclusion/collective authorship, and capacity-building. Agreements functioned as living documents covering governance, conflict, authorship/IP, data stewardship, and ethical/cultural principles. Ownership was framed as negotiated, co-determined, and procedurally explicit.

Reported practices cluster into relational processes and structural mechanisms that jointly support equitable collaboration. This synthesis offers a foundational, practice-oriented map to inform future tools and guidance for implementing the IKT Guiding Principles. Future work should examine the transferability and effectiveness across contexts, and the institutional enablers of sustained partnership.

Not applicable.