Promoting men’s participation in research: A narrative review of successful strategies

Introduction: Over the past two decades, research on men’s lived experiences has significantly increased. However, their voices remain underrepresented in areas such as reproduction and parenting. This raises questions about their willingness to participate in studies targeting them and the effectiveness of researchers’ methods to engage them. This article aims to describe various strategies to enhance men’s engagement in research.

Method: A narrative review was conducted by consulting the CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Cairn-info databases, as well as the Sofia search tool. Additional publications were identified using the snowball method and reverse citation tracking. Results: 31 publications were selected and analyzed. Effective strategies for engaging men were gathered and explained according to three key stages: recruitment, maintaining engagement, and data collection. Discussion: This review highlights the lack of concrete methodological strategies to anticipate and overcome obstacles in studies involving men. Increased transparency of methodological aspects in future publications could improve knowledge and practices for mobilizing men in research.