[D] Should unpublished research material be kept close and guarded, and how often does academic or IP theft occur during research?

I’m working on a research project where I’ve gotten to the point of confirmation and I’m working on the proof. The POC works and the results give extremely strong evidence supporting the proposed method across various datasets.

Here’s the heart of the problem: I’m not in academia, I’ve never attempted publication, and I have limited credentials. I’m in the public sector with close relationships with certain academic organizations and national labs, as well as a host of experienced folks in the operational workspace. The research is self-driven and self-motivated but is built off of years of personal experience and a literal ton of white papers, so I’m aware of the SOTA and other similar approaches (which will be included in the paper).

I’d like to reach out to some folks in various capacities, maybe even reach out to the local university, to ask for guidance, recommendations, and review. I’m absolutely open to bringing in a partner for co-authorship as long as they contribute or provide mentorship. I just have zero sense as to the risk of doing so. I don’t feel like theft is a common problem but theft is a spectrum–it could happen at any point with any level of granularity. I understand that it might sound like I’m conflating IP/copyright/patent theft but I’m not. I want other people to use the proposed method, to add on to it, to enhance it, to reference it in other work, or to just use it operationally, but to do so after it’s been published or made available.

If anyone has any advice on this, I’d love to hear it.