About Common Inquiry
Common Inquiry is an independent English-language journal about research done with people rather than on them: participatory action research, community-based research, citizen science, community data, research ethics with communities and the co-production of knowledge. It is written for community organisers, residents, students, researchers and practitioners who want clear, sourced and practical guides.
What we publish
- Methods: participatory action research, the principles of community-based participatory research, photovoice, participatory mapping and typologies of participation.
- Citizen science and data: what citizen science is, data quality, community air monitoring, Indigenous data sovereignty and open and community data.
- Ethics and partnerships: research ethics with communities, informed consent, paying community researchers and partnership agreements.
- Co-production and impact: co-production of knowledge, public involvement in health research, science shops, evaluation and community-led housing research.
How articles are researched
- Primary and official sources first. Peer-reviewed articles and books, legislation, guidance from public agencies, research funders, universities and international organisations such as UNESCO and the WHO. Each article lists its sources; links to public, non-commercial sources are clickable, and other references are given in full so that you can find them.
- Dated facts. Laws, guidance and funding rules change. We give the year of each document and say when rules took effect.
- No invented details. A case study, a quote, a number or a named participant reaches the page only once it can be sourced. Our bylines carry one name, Common Inquiry.
- Not legal or professional advice. Our guides explain practices and rules in general terms. For your own project, consult your ethics committee, institution, funder or a qualified adviser.
- Open to correction. Each article is dated, and a fresh "Updated" date shows when a reader's correction or a change in guidance has been taken in.
Independence
No university, research network, funder or company has a stake in Common Inquiry. The journal sells nothing and carries no advertising, affiliate links or sponsored content; its legal identity is recorded in the legal notice.
About this domain
From around 2016 until 2026, the domain peoplesknowledge.org hosted the website of People's Knowledge — Participatory, Transdisciplinary and Transformative Approaches to Research, an English-language network concerned with participatory research between communities and universities. Common Inquiry is a new and separate publication. It has no connection with that network, its founders, members or partner institutions, and it does not speak for them. We have not reused any of the former site's text, publications, images, logos or branding; every article here was written from scratch from the sources it cites. Some old addresses on this domain may lead to the closest article in this journal, or to the home page, because other websites still link to them.
Contact and corrections
If a reference has gone out of date or a summary misreads its source, the contact page explains how to tell us.