How to Maintain an Effective Collaboration<\/h2>\n
Once you have found a potential collaborator, you will want to give your project the best chance of success. To begin with, you will need to make sure that you have found the right person. Are their aims the same as yours? Together, do you have the skills and resources to make the project a success? Do you both understand the possible risks? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then you are off to a good start.<\/p>\n
Once you have agreed to collaborate with another researcher, you need to take care of your collaboration. One way to do this is by ensuring good communication, as mentioned above. Here are a few more tips:<\/p>\n
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- Agree on goals and priorities for each researcher. It is important to do this before the project starts. That way, everyone understands what is expected of them. It is also a good idea to agree on how any disagreements or conflicts will be handled.<\/li>\n
- Find a champion<\/strong>: This could be a senior person who understands how the project will benefit your organization. If your collaborator can find one too, even better. Your champion can offer advice and encouragement if you have problems with your project. This support will help to make sure your project is a success.<\/li>\n
- Measure success<\/strong>: Agree early on how you will measure success. When planning, it is a good idea to set some early targets. This will help to ensure that your project gets off to a good start. Early successes will also help motivate your team.<\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t be afraid to end the collaboration. Of course, this should be a last resort \u2013 especially because setting up a collaboration needs a large investment of time. But if you have tried your best to sort things out, and it isn\u2019t working, don\u2019t be afraid to end it. This helps avoid wasting any more time and money.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Avoiding Fake Collaborations<\/h2>\n
Have you ever been a part of a \u201cfake\u201d collaboration? Fake collaborations<\/a> occur when a researcher puts their name on a project, but either has no real involvement, or only carries out their own independent work. Researchers might do this to help win funding, for example, by adding a more senior scientist to the team. Senior researchers might establish a collaboration, but leave the actual work to junior colleagues.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, researchers might not realize they are part of a fake collaboration. Different scientific disciplines tend to do things in different ways; a collaboration may become \u201cfake\u201d due to a lack of communication. This might only become clear when a funding proposal is rejected. The roles of the different contributors to a project need to be clear if it is to avoid appearing fake.<\/p>\n
The Publisher\u2019s View<\/h2>\n
From the point of view of a publisher, effective collaborations can be a great benefit to academic publishing<\/a>. This is particularly true now that open access publishing is becoming common. Publishers themselves need to collaborate with researchers, libraries, and funders to ensure that open access requirements are met. Elsevier, for example, has faced challenges relating to the rise of open access<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Research has shown that articles from groups with strong collaborations are likely to have a higher impact factor. In addition, international collaborations now account for a high proportion of published articles: 86% in 2014. This is only likely to increase. International collaborations have other benefits, such as giving researchers from low-income countries access to better resources. Clearly, such collaborations can benefit both researchers and publishers.<\/p>\n
Have you been a part of an international collaboration? What was your experience? Is there anything you could have done better? Share your thoughts in the comments below.<\/p>\n
- Measure success<\/strong>: Agree early on how you will measure success. When planning, it is a good idea to set some early targets. This will help to ensure that your project gets off to a good start. Early successes will also help motivate your team.<\/li>\n
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