Table 1.

Challenges and costs in coproduced research

	Challenges which may arise	Costs
Developing mixed research teams	Stakeholders not homogenous, and can disagree ‘Usual suspects’ can take over, where coproductive discussions are dominated by certain individuals	The research process may take more time compared to a traditional research process Shared decision-making is threatened when process dominated by certain voices or interests
Framing research questions	Stakeholders and researchers may have different priorities and values Useful research can lack originality Research can be co-opted by partners, for example, to justify status quo or historical decisions	Damage to interpersonal or organisational relationships Damage to research careers Damage to researcher independence and credibility
Collecting data	Researchers may pressure stakeholders to allow their organisational resources to be used to facilitate data collection –e.g. using staff time or applying pressure for site access	Damage to interpersonal or organisational relationships, particularly with more powerful stakeholders
Analysing and interpreting data	Stakeholders may want to know which participant agreed to participate or what they contributed to the dataset Stakeholders may want to help analyse the data	Violation of research ethics obligations Researcher needs to train stakeholders and format data in an appropriate way to conform with research ethics obligations
Formulating recommendations	May be little agreement about the importance of research Researchers may be pressed to frame findings in particular ways	Findings are misrepresented Damage to researcher independence and credibility
Disseminating research	Researchers or stakeholders may be prevented from sharing unwanted findings Stakeholders may want to share findings before researchers are ready	Damage to researcher independence and credibility Damage to the credibility of the research process
Implementing change	Tension between advocating for research, or advocating for policy/practice changes Researchers show little interest in providing assistance with implementation efforts	Can damage relationship with practice or policy colleagues Implementation of research findings fail