A dvocates of co-production encourage collaboration between professional researchers and those affected by that research, to ensure that the resulting science is relevant and useful. Opening up science beyond scientists is essential, particularly where problems are complex, solutions are uncertain and values are salient. For example, patients should have input into research on their conditions, and first-hand experience of local residents should shape research on environmental-health issues. But what constitutes success on these terms? Without a better understanding of this, it is harder to incentivize co-production in research. A key way to support co-pro- duction is reconfiguring that much-derided feature of academic careers: metrics. Current indicators of research output (such as paper counts or the h-index) conceptualize the value of research narrowly. They are already roundly criticized as poor measures of quality or usefulness. Less appreciated is the fact that these metrics also leave out the societal relevance of research and omit diverse approaches to creating knowledge about social problems. Peer review also has trouble assessing the value of research that sits at discipli- nary boundaries or that addresses com- plex social challenges. It denies broader social accountability by giving scientists a monopoly on determining what is legiti- mate knowledge 1 . Relying on academic peer review as a means of valuing research can discourage broader engagement. This privileges abstract and theoretical research over work that is localized and applied. For example, research on climate- change adaptation, conducted in the global south by researchers embedded in affected communities, can make real differences to people’s lives. Yet it is likely to be valued less highly by conventional evaluation than research that is generalized from afar and then published in a high-impact English- language journal. NOT GOOD ON PAPER There are now many examples of work co-produced by local partnerships that address health inequalities or environmen- tal and social injustice. Today’s ‘publish or perish’ system in academia vastly under- values outputs from such projects, which often don’t come in the shape of a paper. Examples challenging this include the feature film Pili (2018), a ground-breaking co-production project. The women of Miono in west Tanzania make up the ensemble cast of non-actors, 65% of whom are HIV posi- tive; their real stories provide the basis for the film. It came together as part of a research project on global health, led by political economist Sophie Harman at Queen Mary, University of London, that aimed to give a voice and visibility to unseen women on the periphery of world politics. Another example of co-production that would be underrated by conventional meas- ures is the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy’s Fab Lab Network. This open community of scientists, engineers, educators, students and artists of all ages is located across more than 1,000 laboratories in some 100 countries. Fab Labs is, in part, a distributed research lab that aims to democratize access to the tools, education and means for invention, to create opportunities to improve lives. Consider also the Morris Justice Project. Residents of the Bronx in New York City worked with the City University of New York’s Public Science Project to challenge the New York Police Department’s ‘stop and frisk’ policy, which had been rolled out to prevent gun violence. Running since 2011, the project combines research, community participation and action. It showed that people in the Bronx were stopped by police 4,882 times in the first year. More than half of the stops involved physical force, but less than one-tenth resulted in an arrest or summons — and only eight guns were found. The research contributed to a city-wide movement, Communities United for Police Reform, to ensure that debates challenging existing policies were informed by robust and locally informed research. This co-produced work helped to reform legislation and supported several landmark class-action lawsuits. Another example is the Resource Center for Raza Planning at the University of New Craft metrics to value co-production To assess whether research is relevant to society, ask the stakeholders, say Catherine Durose, Liz Richardson and Beth Perry. Traffic around the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, where city plans aim to improve the quality of life. ANUCHA SIRIVISANSUWAN/GETTY CO-PRODUCTION OF RESEARCH A Nature special issue nature.com/collections/coproduction Nature 32 | NATURE | VOL 562 | 4 OCTOBER 2018 COMMENT ©2018SpringerNatureLimited.Allrightsreserved.