Table 1 Respectful research practices

Researcher cultural competency and awareness of historical context

• Recognize and respect traditional sovereignty and self-determination [18, 41, 46, 47]

• Learn about Indigenous histories and cultures, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations and the colonial context [18, 22, 40, 41, 46, 47]

• Be mindful of sources of knowledge. Ideally, knowledge about an Indigenous community should come from the community itself. [46, 47]

Researcher critical self-reflexivity

• Self-examine your values and motivations for doing this research [18, 22, 40, 45, 46]

• Acknowledge that your worldview and knowledge base is specific to yourself, and that there may be other ways of thinking and knowing [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Consider broader power systems and how they impact the research and its context and what can be done to redistribute power to the community within and outside of the research [18, 22, 41, 45, 46]

• Position yourself as a co-learner, while acknowledging how your position may be leveraged to support the community (e.g., disseminating findings to government) [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

Community involvement

• Community input is critical in carrying out respectful research [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Community input should be considered in every phase of the project: developing research questions, methodology, data collection, synthesizing findings and sharing the results [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Consider who is included when discussing the 'community'. The Chief and Band Council governance structure used in some Indigenous communities are a colonial legacy and subject to frequent turnover, so having a wider view of community is warranted. Consider whether women, youth, and Elders are being included and consulted [18, 22, 45, 46]

• Work with the community to establish an advisory group for either the specific project or for all research activities in the community, if it is within the interest of the community [22, 40, 46, 47]

Community benefits

• Research must be relevant to communities [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Balance research and activities for all partners’ benefit [18, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Consider how research addresses community needs and whether research can be adjusted to meet additional community needs or provide additional benefits [18, 40, 45, 46]

• Hire and train community members for the project to build community capacity [18, 40, 41, 46]

• Compensate research participants fairly [18, 40]

• Protect participants and communities from negative impacts of the research [18, 40, 41, 45, 46]

• Consider whether long-term relationships are being built with the community [18, 40, 41, 45, 46]

Two-Eyed Seeing

• Actively involve, and share decision-making power between, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous research partners [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Acknowledge and use both Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews [18, 22, 40, 41, 45,46,47]

• Develop an advisory group or other mechanism to engage deeply and share power with Indigenous partners at all stages, including defining needs and early planning [35, 38, 42]

• Be committed to listening, co-learning, and a variety of knowledges [22, 34, 38, 42]

• Foster culturally safe spaces through reflexivity and inclusion of Indigenous traditions [35, 42]

• Include methods that explore relationships with Traditional Knowledge (e.g., stories, crafts) [22, 42]

• Ensure that consent and sharing of knowledge is done ethically, as validated by communities in addition to institutional ethics processes [35, 42]

• Consider what action may follow from the research for both communities and researchers [22, 35, 42]