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Sheffield BRC PPIE Team Publish Editorial Calling for Greater Visibility of PPIE in Health Research

A new editorial by Grace Edwards and Professor Ade Adebajo from the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre has been published in the European Society of Medicine, highlighting the gap in how Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) is shared and recognised across the research community.

The article, titled “Elevating Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in Research: Highlighting the publication gap, ensuring the under-served do not become the under-published,” describes how much high‑quality PPIE work remains confined to local initiatives or “grey literature,” limiting its reach and impact in academic and clinical research settings.

Despite PPIE becoming widely recognised as essential to improving the quality, relevance, and equity of health research, Edwards and Adebajo argue that the lack of formal publication contributes to ongoing structural barriers, including inconsistent funding, reduced visibility for under‑served communities, and limited opportunities to share best practice across the sector.

The authors call for stronger recognition of PPIE as a publishable and valued component of research, urging journals, institutions, and research teams to champion transparent reporting and dissemination. They also highlight emerging evidence demonstrating the meaningful contributions PPIE can make to both primary research and evidence synthesis.

The Sheffield BRC is proud to see this work published open access, helping to drive forward a national and international conversation about the vital role of patients and the public in shaping impactful research.

📄 Read the full article: https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/7246/99193549932

The Sheffield BRC PPIE Rolling Call Funding Scheme enables access to pump priming funding to support PPIE activity locally, prioritising working with underserved communities and creative techniques. Our next award will focus on the BRC overarching medium and long term objectives.

Please send completed funding request forms to grace.edwards2@nhs.net.