Table 3 Plain language authorship guidelines

What should you expect to do as a patient partner co-author?

Read and discuss information (e.g., the research protocol) that will help you understand the research findings.

Share your skills (e.g., experience as a patient) to help interpret and report research findings.

Suggest places you think would be suitable for sharing the research findings. Many conferences and journals support patient co-authors and patient-focused research.

Provide feedback while preparing the manuscript (e.g., reading a draft, sharing your comments) and approving the final version.

Sign a written Authorship Agreement at the start of the project. The agreement should describe your rights and responsibilities and state that no one can interfere with these rights.

Report research findings in a complete, accurate, and timely way. Whether you think the findings are good, bad, or uncertain, you must report them truthfully.

Follow good publication practice (GPP) guidelines.

Report your name, role, and financial or nonfinancial relationships you have that could be seen as influencing the publication.

What should you expect from the research team to support your role as a patient partner?

Designate a research team member to assist patient partners throughout the writing and submission process and provide support for any barriers.

Reimburse patient partners to cover travel costs of being a co-author and in some cases, compensate patient partners for authorship contributions. Authors are not necessarily paid for writing time, but can be, though this would need to be reported to journals if so.

Respect the confidentiality and privacy of patient partners collaborating in the research and include a thank you to the patient group in the publication.

Incorporate the feedback provided in a way such that patient partner co-authors’ contributions are valued similarly to other research team members’ contributions.