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Background  Public involvement is central to health and social research policies, yet few systematic evaluations of its impact have been carried out, raising questions about the feasibility of evaluating the impact of public involvement.

Objective  To investigate whether it is feasible to evaluate the impact of public involvement on health and social research.

Methods  Mixed methods including a two‐round Delphi study with pre‐specified 80% consensus criterion, with follow‐up interviews. UK and international panellists came from different settings, including universities, health and social care institutions and charitable organizations. They comprised researchers, members of the public, research managers, commissioners and policy makers, self‐selected as having knowledge and/or experience of public involvement in health and/or social research; 124 completed both rounds of the Delphi process. A purposive …