Establishing best practices guidelines for collaborative research in global surgery: developing a Delphi survey

Collaborative research in global surgery has resulted in the rapid development of the field via knowledge creation and dissemination, research capacity building, and direct improvements in the delivery of clinical care. Yet the establishment and maintenance of trans-boundary collaborations carries significant risk to health systems, clinicians, patients, and researchers, particularly if such collaborations are not developed thoughtfully and with appropriate guardrails. In recent years, there has been significant growth in the literature on the pervasiveness and impact of neocolonialism on global health research. To harness the benefits of global surgery research collaboration while mitigating these risks, we reviewed the literature, collaboratively developed best practice statements, and iteratively refined these. Eighty-one best practice statements were developed across six themes: establishing partnerships, managing power imbalances, addressing equity in funding, ensuring high ethical standards in Human Subjects Research, maintaining quality and rigor in scientific work, and long-term planning. These statements will form the basis of a Delphi process to establish a robust set of guidelines for best practice in collaborative global surgery research.