Academic User Guide

Updated Jan. 21, 2019. Effective Jan. 25, 2019.

How it Works:

Academic users access to a public list of community-sourced research projects to encourage community-based research at the directed learning, graduate student and faculty levels.

Any private listings are only accessible through a verified account.

Step 1: Review

The project list contains all active projects available for collaboration. The list can be refined by researcher level (Faculty; Masters Student; PhD Student) and by discipline (Archaeology; Anthropology; History; Geography; Indigenous Studies). Clicking on an item brings up more information including project descriptions, dates, contact information, and available community resources. Projects can be large (requiring multiple coordinated researchers) or small (providing a single example or field site for a graduate student). This list will be updated regularly. When you find a project that interests you proceed to Step 2: Contact.

Step 2: Contact

Before beginning a portal project, a researcher MUST contact the designated community liaison to request to participate. The researcher should provide a brief letter of introduction along with a curriculum vitae to the liaison. Multiple researchers may compete for the same project and there is no requirement that a community collaborate with a particular researcher. Once a researcher has been selected by a community it is expected that they will establish a clear set of expectations and desired research outcomes (could take the form of a formal research agreement). Intellectual property, privacy, access, and other foreseeable sensitive issues should all be considered within these negotiations and before research begins. Institutional Research Ethics Review and, if necessary, community ethics requirements should be accomplished concurrently with the negotiation of these research expectations.

Step 3: Research

Research begins once the ethical parameters of the project have been defined and understood by both parties. Researchers will likely be expected to check-in with their community liaisons at various points as they progress. The liaison will also be the conduit to any community resources which can include privileged access to individuals and/or documentation, mentorship, logistical support, academic grant support, and perhaps even alternative grant funding sources (i.e., Ontario Trillium Foundation). The research expectations should include various other considerations such as whether the liaison wishes to review draft theses or is interested in any raw data. As with any applied or community-based research, the coordination between academic and non-academic realms is of great importance and, within the context of these projects, can be a great learning experience for graduate students. Portal Administration should also be informed of research commencing and any successful grant applications.

Step 4: Research Outcomes

When research ends both researcher and community assess the resulting outcomes. As part of the initial project design phase with Portal Administration, communities are made aware of the academic requirements of the researchers they are soliciting. Academic papers, theses and dissertations are generally expected outcomes of these projects and need to be confirmed as such as part of the initial negotiation of research expectations. In addition to any other outcomes, the Research Portal provides a digital space in which to communicate and commemorate the research project and its outcomes. The community and the researcher decide on the content of this space which is then created by Portal Administration. Digital media (images, videos, files), links to documents (theses, publications), a non-technical project synopsis, and testimonials from project participants are expected elements of this curated space. This outcome page serves to communicate research to intended audiences including wider community membership and academic circles. The outcome page can also be featured as a line item on CVs and grant applications providing clear evidence of research successes.

Please Note:

Users of the Research Portal agree to these conditions.