GRSGLOBAL RESEARCH
& STRATEGY GROUPالعربية

GRS editorial · Partnerships

What to Settle Before a Research Partnership

A practical checklist for scope, roles, data, publication and decision rights.

HomeInsightsWhat to Settle Before a Research Partnership

Partnerships

A practical starting point.

A practical checklist for scope, roles, data, publication and decision rights. This guide offers a starting method for teams developing research and institutional decisions. Adapt it to the question, context and relevant scientific, ethics and data requirements.

Step 01

Agree the purpose

Write down the shared question, intended outputs, timing and users of the results. A general memorandum can express intent, but a specific project needs a scope, resource commitments and named points of contact.

Step 02

Clarify governance

Decide who approves methods, ethics, communications, budget changes and final publication. Identify conflicts of interest and escalation routes. Protect researchers’ ability to report defensible findings, including findings a partner did not expect.

Step 03

Set data and rights terms

Identify who controls data, who may access it, the permitted uses, retention and security arrangements. Distinguish pre-existing intellectual property from newly created outputs. Check any personal-data or cross-border requirements with appropriate advisers before collection.

Step 04

Plan the end from the start

Specify review periods, authorship, acknowledgement, release timing, termination and what happens to data and unfinished work. A short written decision log during delivery can prevent later confusion. Local legal review is appropriate for a binding agreement.

Illustrative application

What this could look like.

Two universities planning a shared survey should decide who recruits participants, which ethics committee reviews the protocol, where data will be stored and who may publish analyses. The project schedule should include the time required for permissions. A partnership announcement alone does not resolve any of these operational rights or duties.

Put it into practice

A short working checklist.

  1. Write the precise decision or research question this work should support.
  2. Record the sources, methods, stakeholders and permissions needed before proceeding.
  3. Agree who reviews the output and how limitations will be communicated.
  4. Set a date to revisit the decision when evidence or conditions change.

GRS Group editorial guide · Published 24 September 2026 · Informational guidance, not an empirical study or formal professional advice.

Related research

Continue with the centre and knowledge model.

Global Public Policy & Government Research Center   Research & Knowledge   All guides

Further reading

Another practical guide.