Resources
DTES RESEARCH
ACCESS PORTAL
We believe university researchers and community members have a lot to learn from one another.
Community-based research (CBR) is a collaborative process and good CBR benefits everyone involved. The below resources can help community groups/organizations and university-based researchers learn more about how to do CBR and provide you with tools to start.
We’ve organized this information to help you with CBR from start to finish, beginning with groundwork, then planning your research, sharing findings, and lastly, mobilizing knowledge within communities.
Don’t see the guidance you need? Please email us at mrai.info@ubc.ca and we can help you find more resources.
How to Plan a Community-Campus Research Partnership
Build collaborative relationships, ensure representation, clarify contributions
“Thinking about Working with External Researchers?” Checklist
Centre for Community Based Research
A handy check-list for communities and community organizations considering working with outside researchers.
“G.R.O.W + L.I.F.T. Checklist”
Community-Based Research Centre
The Community-Based Research Centre CBRC prepared a tool for (primarily) university researchers to check how effectively their research is serving the communities/community organizations they (hope to) work with.
“First Nations Health Authority Researcher Guides”
First Nations Health Authority
The Researcher Guides section of the FNHA’s “Research Resources” page includes multiple guides for researchers seeking to approach First Nations with a research proposal.
“Empowering Informed Consent” Pamphlet
Hives for Humanity
A convenient card-style pamphlet about developing ongoing informed consent for CBR.
“Community Resource Handbook: A Guide to Community-Engaged Research”
Simon Fraser University CERi
A practical and accessible guide designed for community-serving organizations, students, and researchers who aim to advance community interests through research. The handbook provides a framework to guide the development of community engaged research projects, focusing on ethics, research methods, procedures, and potential challenges.
“Distanced Community-Based Research”
Simon Fraser University CERi
SFU’s Community-Engaged Research initiative (CERi)’s webinars on how to continue community-centered research during a pandemic (with links to YouTube video recordings).
“Principles for Researchers Working with VANDU”
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
This page presents a list of principles for researchers working with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), a liberation movement of people who use drugs. It also discusses research agreements.
How to Make Research Accessible
Create stigma-free materials and share beyond journal articles
“What Are Creative Commons and Open Licenses?”
BC Campus
A quick explanation of Creative Commons and Open licenses, provided by BC Campus – OpenEducation. This organization also offers additional information on open educational resources.
“COVID-19 Language Guide”
BC Centre for Disease Control
This tool provides language guidelines designed to make COVID-19 written and digital content more inclusive. Inclusive messaging makes it more likely for people to see the content as relevant to their situation and experiences, therefore increasing the chances they will act on it.
“Share Your Work” Guide
Creative Commons
Creative Commons, a global body that provides open-copyright licences, offers free, simple, and standardized ways to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works to be shared publicly.
“Community-Based Participatory Research and Integrated Knowledge Translation: Advancing the Co-creation of Knowledge”
Co-authored by: Janet Jull, Audrey Giles, Ian Graham
By better understanding the similarities and differences between CBR and knowledge translation, researchers and community-based knowledge users can leverage best practices.
“How to Talk About People Who Use Drugs”
Manitoba Harm Reduction Network
A compact checklist to create stigma-free media products and write respectfully about people who use drugs.
“Knowledge Mobilization Resources”
Research Impact Canada
Research Impact Canada offers a range of tools, trainings, and more on knowledge mobilization, including plain language checklists, needs assessment tools, and examples of Research Snapshots (article summaries).
“Guide to Communicating Research Beyond Academia”
Research Retold
Two chapters of this guide can be downloaded for free; the website also lists the resources mentioned in the guide, including software to create visual summaries, database with free icons, and other data visualization tools.