Study Review Rubric

The Community Coalition for Equity in Research has developed the following health equity review rubric to help guide researchers through several stages of the study process:  planning, recruitment and consent, participation, and dissemination. This rubric is used to guide structured feedback of each research project that is reviewed by the coalition and can also be used by researchers to monitor their own work. The rubric enables researchers to gauge strengths and weaknesses of their studies by demonstrating how to incorporate an equity lens into their studies. We encourage all researchers to use the rubric below when planning a study.

Planning Considerations
  • Study goals address issues of health equity
  • Diverse study team
  • Researcher demonstrates established relationships with community partners
  • Established mechanisms to ensure accountability to community partners (e.g., transparent conversations on budgets, roles, deliverables, ownership, authorship)
Recruitment and Consent Considerations
  • Study recruitment activities and language are welcoming, inclusive and promote belonging
  • Study consenting process ensures people have time to consider and fully understand activities, risks, and benefits before deciding to participate
  • Involvement of trusted patient advocacy/community groups that serve diverse populations in recruitment
  • Appropriate incentives and compensation
  • Diversity of study participants (e.g., race, ethnicity, sexual orientation) reflected in study staff conducting recruitment
  • Recruitment materials are accessible (e.g., reading level, plain language, limited jargon, multiple languages, appropriate images, various formats)
  • Consent materials are accessible (e.g., reading level, plain language, limited jargon, multiple languages)
  • Enrollment plan allows for analysis by demographic group
  • Enrollment plan matches demographics of clinical population
Participation Considerations
  • Study design, experimental and control groups, and all key outcomes are clearly defined
  • Participant burden is clear and minimizes harms
  • Costs of participation (e.g., transportation, meals) are covered
  • Study exclusions are well justified
  • Measures and methods are free from assumptions about participation (e.g., family structure and dynamics, housing, technology access, and skills)
  • Opportunities for participation in ways that are tailored to low resource communities of color, leverage trusted partners, and consider the social and emotion needs of participants
Dissemination Considerations
  • Dissemination plan considers real-world translation, and includes practitioner and community audiences
  • Clear plan for return of results (e.g., which results will be shared with which participants, quality and framing of results disclosed)
  • Return of results process is timely and incorporates needs, preferences, and values of stakeholders
  • Dissemination products are accessible (e.g., reading level, plain language, limited jargon, multiple languages)
  • Plans and budget to support community partners in dissemination activities