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From people with HIV selecting which trials get funded to smallholder farmers guiding weather monitoring, the people affected by research are increasingly getting involved in it. They are shaping how projects are conceived, supported, done, reviewed, disseminated and rated — as partners in research. This special issue looks at the promise and the pitfalls of research coproduction for the societies, stakeholders and scientists now working shoulder to shoulder.
As one advocate describes it: “It’s about getting everybody round the table so you’re valuing the knowledge everybody has.”
Nature talks to co-production expert Tina Coldham about how involving the public in decision-making can help scientists to broaden their reach and improve their research.