| Sumario: | This article examines the perspective of social workers in Child Protection Services (CPS) on children's and young people's (CYP) right to participate in research while ensuring their right to protection. This study aims to understand how CPS social workers manage the balance between participation and protection and perceive their roles as gatekeepers. Researchers describe accessing CYP in research settings as often challenging, and gatekeepers are criticised for not fully understanding CYP's right to participate in research. Excluding CYP can lead to inaccurate second-hand accounts of their experiences. Data were collected from 17 Icelandic social workers through five semi-structured focus group interviews and analysed thematically. The findings indicate that many social workers find it challenging to prioritise and support CYP participation while ensuring their protection. Due to their vulnerability, some believe that CYP may not handle the stress of participation. Others argue that CPS managers should be responsible for facilitating research access. A few social workers suggested alternative methods like reviewing case files or speaking with adults who had received support from CPS when they were younger. This study concludes that to enhance CYP participation in research, researchers must articulate their aims and relevance while demonstrating their experience working with CYP.
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