{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T08:16:34Z","timestamp":1783066594358,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783036800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783036800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013342","name":"NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013342","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Res Involv Engagem"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Public involvement is increasingly mandated in health and medical research in the UK. With a push for its implementation from major funding bodies over the past few decades, we aimed to understand its current role in research through the lens of researchers \u2013 has it become embedded into their research or is it mostly a tokenistic exercise? In this qualitative interview project, we add to the growing body of literature on this topic by exploring researchers\u2019 experiences with public involvement to better understand their views, motivations and attitudes towards these practices.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In 2025, 15 semi-structured online interviews were conducted with biomedical researchers in the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre about their experiences of public involvement. The interviews were conducted for evaluation purposes and were carried out by undergraduate medical students as part of their research methods training. Thematic and inductive analysis was used to identify key themes across the data. The project was supported by a community partner, who helped in the development of the interview guide and data analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Funding mandates played a significant role in researchers\u2019 motivations for conducting public involvement and appear to have created a distinction between an imposed model of public involvement, in which it is \u2018unreflective\u2019 and \u2018box-ticking\u2019, and an organic model in which it is \u2018sincere\u2019 and \u2018meaningful\u2019. Participants highlighted the discrepancies between funders\u2019 expectations and the realities of academic research, including the limited resources available for public involvement. The feasibility and desirability of public involvement in different research areas was also questioned, especially in non-clinical research. Although researchers frequently reported that doing public involvement made them see the value of it, most of the impacts they identified were intangible rather than tangible.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Strengthening meaningful public involvement requires further investment from funders and institutions, along with a more tailored approach for different research areas rather than a \u2018one-size-fits-all\u2019 orientation. We support calls for an expanded view of impact that treats it as a dialogue between researchers and the public rather than an intervention with measurable effects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s40900-026-00901-9","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T07:24:19Z","timestamp":1783063459000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["\u201cIf the funders said to me that I have to dress in orange, I would dress in orange\u201d: findings from qualitative interviews on researchers\u2019 experiences of public involvement"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Lili","family":"Gyop\u00e1r","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kirsten","family":"Bell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Viveka","family":"Guzman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Habiba","family":"Haque","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amna","family":"Rida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paapa","family":"Baffoe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dave","family":"Varughese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen","family":"Ward","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"901_CR1","unstructured":"NIHR. Going the Extra Mile. 2015. https:\/\/www.nihr.ac.uk\/going-the-extra-mile Accessed 2 Dec 2025."},{"key":"901_CR2","unstructured":"NIHR. UK Standards for Public Involvement. 2025 https:\/\/sites.google.com\/nihr.ac.uk\/pi-standards\/home Accessed 11 Dec 2025."},{"key":"901_CR3","unstructured":"NIHR. The Shared Commitment to Public Involvement. 2025 https:\/\/www.nihr.ac.uk\/shared-commitment-public-involvement.\u00a0Accessed 2. Dec 2025."},{"key":"901_CR4","unstructured":"UKRI. MRC public partnerships strategy 2024 to 2027. 2025. https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/publications\/mrc-public-partnerships-strategy\/mrc-public-partnerships-strategy-2024-to-2027\/. Accessed 11 Dec 2025."},{"key":"901_CR5","unstructured":"MRC & NIHR. Understanding public involvement in non-clinical research. UK Research & Innovation. 2025. https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/opportunity\/understanding-public-involvement-in-non-clinical-research\/. Accessed 2 Dec 2025."},{"key":"901_CR6","unstructured":"Staley K. Exploring impact: public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research. INVOLVE; 2009."},{"key":"901_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"637","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1369-7625.2012.00795.x","volume":"17","author":"J Brett","year":"2014","unstructured":"Brett J, Staniszewska S, Mockford C, Herron-Marx S, et al. Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: a systematic review. Health Expect. 2014;17:637\u201350.","journal-title":"Health Expect"},{"issue":"1","key":"901_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1186\/s40900-025-00748-6","volume":"11","author":"W Lammons","year":"2025","unstructured":"Lammons W, Buffardi AL, Marks D. Measuring impacts of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE): a narrative review synthesis of review evidence. 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Health Expect. 2014;19:592\u2013601.","journal-title":"Health Expect"},{"key":"901_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1573","DOI":"10.2147\/PPA.S135457","volume":"11","author":"SL Carroll","year":"2017","unstructured":"Carroll SL, Embuldeniya G, Abelson J, McGillion M, Berkesse A, Healey JS. Questioning patient engagement: Research scientists\u2019 perceptions of the challenges of patient engagement in a cardiovascular research network. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2017;11:1573\u201383.","journal-title":"Patient Prefer Adherence"},{"key":"901_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"721","DOI":"10.1111\/hex.12883","volume":"22","author":"A-M Boylan","year":"2019","unstructured":"Boylan A-M, Locock L, Thomson R, Staniszewska S. About sixty per cent I want to do it: Health researchers\u2019 attitudes to, and experiences of, patient and public involvement (PPI)\u2014A qualitative interview study. 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The impact of public involvement in health research: what are we measuring? Why are we measuring it? Should we stop measuring it? Res Involv Engagem. 2020;6:63.","journal-title":"Res Involv Engagem"},{"key":"901_CR34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1186\/s40900-019-0147-1","volume":"5","author":"K Staley","year":"2017","unstructured":"Staley K, Barron D. Learning as an outcome of involvement in research: what are the implications for practice, reporting and evaluation? Res Involv Engagem. 2017;5:14.","journal-title":"Res Involv Engagem"},{"key":"901_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1186\/s40900-015-0008-5","volume":"1","author":"K Staley","year":"2015","unstructured":"Staley K. Is it worth doing? Measuring the impact of patient and public involvement in research. 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However, all interviewees consented to participate in the project and to the results being made publicly available in a journal article, and were offered the opportunity to review and comment on the manuscript prior to submission.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"All listed authors consented to publication.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"106"}}