This article introduces a set of evidence-based principles to guide evaluation practice in contexts where evaluation knowledge is collaboratively produced by evaluators and stakeholders. The data from this study evolved in four phases: two pilot phases exploring the desirability of developing a set of principles; an online questionnaire survey that drew on the expertise of 320 practicing evaluators to identify dimensions, factors or characteristics that enhance or impede success in collaborative approaches in evaluation (CAE); and finally a validation phase involving a subsample of 58 evaluators who participated in the main phase. The principles introduced here stem from the experiences of evaluators who have engaged in CAE in a wide variety of evaluation settings and contexts and the lessons they have learned. They are understood to be interconnected and loosely temporally ordered. We expect the principles to evolve over time, as evaluators learn more about collaborative approaches in context. With this in mind, we pose questions for consideration to stimulate further inquiry.
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