1 CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement Principles and Guidelines for Community-University Research Partnerships

Purpose: The principles and practices described here are intended to facilitate forming an enduring, collaborative and beneficial research relationship between the Community and University. We believe that implementation will allow for partnerships that reflect mutual respect and cooperation. Background: A research partnership between the University and the Community is ideally part of a larger collaboration that includes the interests of each partner and spans a wide range of activities. The University and the Community recognize that they often embody different cultures and missions. Nonetheless, the University and Community realize that combining their unique resources and perspectives can further the goals of both parties. The Community contributes valuable in-depth understanding of community norms as well as concerns related to research participation held by members of the Community. The Community further brings knowledge of sources of data and potential applications of the research findings to community settings. The University brings research resources and expertise to the partnership as well as the potential to attract additional resources. The University also provides opportunities for the Community to gain experience and develop the capacity to plan and conduct research independently. What follows is a statement of principles (not formal policy) that reflects the ideal of community-based participatory research. While in some community-based research, such as multi-site clinical trials, it will be difficult to embody all of these principles, all such studies should make every effort to embrace them. We believe that an evolution of research toward the participatory model will benefit both communities and researchers, and we hope that academic and community partners will increasingly follow as many of the principles as possible. Definitions: The terms 'Community', 'Community Research ' and 'Community Partner ' are widely used and variably defined in both the professional and lay literature. For the purposes of this Statement we have chosen to create definitions that encompass their meanings as broadly a