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Dictionary termTrack EStablev2026.2

Co-production (research)

Research carried out as an equal partnership between researchers and those who are intended to use, benefit from or be affected by the research, in which knowledge is generated together.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A community organisation and university co-develop research questions, share data ownership, and co-author outputs.
Is an instance
A funder ringfences resources for co-production roles distinct from researcher salaries.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
Labelling a project 'co-produced' when communities were consulted on a pre-set research question.
Not an instance
Co-production framing without shared decision-making power or resource allocation.

Editorial commentary

Co-production emphasises power-sharing, mutual learning and joint authorship of research questions, design, conduct, analysis and dissemination. Foundational frameworks include Edgar Cahn's co-production tradition, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research's co-production guidance, and the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement's framing. Five principles commonly identified: sharing of power, including all perspectives and skills, respecting and valuing the knowledge of all those working together, reciprocity, and building and maintaining relationships. Distinct from consultation (which gathers input) and engagement (which informs).

References

NIHR 'Guidance on co-producing a research project' 2021. Cahn ES 'No more throw-away people: The co-production imperative' 2000.

Also known as

Co-produced research · Coproduction

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Co-production (research)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-production-research" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-production-research",
  "name": "Co-production (research)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-production-research",
  "description": "Research carried out as an equal partnership between researchers and those who are intended to use, benefit from or be affected by the research, in which knowledge is generated together.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/engagement-impact-sdg#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-production-research",
  "sameAs": [
    "Co-produced research",
    "Coproduction"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:57",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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