... Different scholars have been reflecting on how to design, conduct and report research that addresses public health emergencies in a timely manner (Abeysinghe and Leppold, 2023;Ambrogi et al., 2023;London et al., 2018;Lysaght et al., 2022;O'Mathúna, 2015;O'Mathúna and Upadhaya, 2022), while being ethically, socially and scientifically sound (Canario Guzmán et al., 2017;Folayan et al., 2016;Saxena et al., 2021;Singh et al., 2022). Furthermore, different research and policy papers have looked at how research ethics committees (RECs) can carry out sound and meaningful reviews in emergency contexts (Alirol et al., 2017;Bain et al., 2018;Ekmekci et al., 2023;IJkema et al., 2021;Maketa et al., 2022;Palmero et al., 2021;Saxena et al., 2019;Schopper et al., 2017;Tansey et al., 2017), to ensure the protection of the research participants and of their communities, without delaying relevant research (Burgess et al., 2023;De Crop et al., 2016;Faust et al., 2021;Ramesh et al., 2022;Sisa et al., 2021;Wright et al., 2023). Our paper will focus on an element that seems to be recurrent in the literature on research ethics and research ethics review in (public health) emergencies, namely, the role of RECs in promoting meaningful engagement with the community. ...