Problem: Community-engaged research (CEnR) is a complex, collaborative process that presents many challenges and requires investment of time and commitment by both community and university research partners.
Purpose: This paper describes the experience of a group of university and community members developing a set of guidelines for the ethical conduct of CEnR projects.
Key points: The paper outlines the process of guideline development and lessons learned from this collaborative effort, which was based upon approaches and methods of community-based participatory research (CBPR).
Conclusions: The guidelines are included and may serve as a framework to be individualized by other partnerships. Our experience shows that the very process of review, revision, and engagement is extremely helpful in creating a framework that works for the specific communities and for establishing working relationships among the partners so that all stakeholders feel ownership and investment in the framework and the collaborative research efforts.