A model for publishing with community partners as part of community-based participatory research: Case studies from Native American tribal communities

Background: Trustworthy, well-written reports, particularly written from a community perspective, are required to further the fields of translational science and community-based participatory research (CBPR).  As such, communities are increasingly being called upon to share their expertise within the published literature.  However, the process of engaging community and academic partners in co-writing and publishing is poorly understood.

Methods/Results: We developed a culturally-responsive process of tapping into the implementation expertise of Native American public health practitioners implementing environmental interventions to address obesity and smoking within three tribal communities across the United States.  The process first involved the development and documentation of a community narrative or story of their efforts.  They were then interviewed utilizing targeted questions or “prompts” in the Freirean tradition to solicit any key components required in a scientific manuscript that were not mentioned in their community narratives. The community narratives, supplemented with details critical to a scientific manuscript (e.g. sample size; sampling strategy) were then translated into the scientific manuscript format through an iterative process, grounded in the principles of cultural humility and participatory evaluation, and negotiated to capture a story of value to both scientific and community audiences. 

Conclusions: Community participation in the publication process is critical in sustaining funding for programs and expanding them, which often depends on providing evidence for decision-maker funders in the form of peer-review publications. Funding agencies aiming to increase the reach and translation of their efforts may seek to implement this type of mentoring and training as part of their funding requirements.