Scientific Collaboration

CHAPTER 14
Scientific Collaboration
Diane H. Sonnenwald Goteborg University and University College of Bords, Sweden
Introduction
Scientific collaboration is increasing in frequency and importance. It has the potential t o solve complex scientific problems and promote various political, economic, and social agendas, such as democracy, sustainable development, and cultural understanding and integration. Bibliometric studies over the past two decades have shown a continuous increase in the number of co-authored papers in every scientific discipline, as well as within and across countries and geographic areas (Cronin, 2005; Cronin, Shaw, & La Barre, 2003, 2004; Grossman, 2002; Moody, 2004; National Science Board, 2004; Wagner & Leydesdorff, 20051.l Subauthorship, as measured by the number of colleagues thanked in acknowledgment sections of papers, has also increased consistently (Cronin, 2005; Cronin et al., 2003, 2004). In general, coauthored publications are cited more frequently than single-authored papers (Persson, Glanzel, & Danell, 2004). Increasingly, public and private research funding agencies require interdisciplinary, international, and inter-institutional collaboration. Examples include the National Science Foundation Science & Technology Center (/odl oidprogramslstc) and IndustryKJniversity Cooperative Research Center (/eng/iucrc) programs, as well as the European Science Foundation Sixth Framework Programme (http://europa.eu.int/comml research/fp6/index-en.cfrn?p=O). As a research topic, scientific collaboration has been discussed in diverse disciplines including information science, psychology, management science, computer science, sociology, research policy, social studies of science, and philosophy, as well as each discipline in which scientific collaboration occurs. In some instances, specialized communities that focus on specific aspects of collaboration have emerged. For example, scientometrics investigates patterns of collaboration using quantitative methods such as co-authorship statistics. This research can be found in journals such as Scientometrics and the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) as well as in conference proceedings of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) and the American Society for Information Science
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644 Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
and Technology (ASIST). The computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and social informatics research communities examine how information and communications technology (ICT) affects cooperation and work in a variety of contexts, including science. This research is often published in proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, the ACM Conference on Supporting Group Work, the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and ASIST conferences, as well as such journals as ACM ?Fansuctions on Computer-Human Interaction, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, and JASIST. Research within the domain of social studies of science considers the development of science, technology, and medicinl nature. Publication venues include the 4s conference and the journals Social Studies of Science and Science, Technology, & Human Values. Discussions of research policy regarding collaboration can be found in conferences such as the Triple Helix conference and in the journals Research Policy and Science Public Policy. Thus, there is not one single body of literature that focuses on collaboration but rather a strand of literature that cuts across many disciplines and forums. The diversity of research on scientific collaboration means that a variety of terminologies, research approaches, and methods can be found in the literature. Scientific collaboration is also referred to as research collaboration, R&D collaboration, and team science. Terms that are used to categorize scientific collaboration include “university-industry collaboration”; “inter-,” “multi-,” “trans-” and “cross-disciplinary collaboration”; “international scientific collaboration”; “intradisciplinary” or “disciplinary collaboration”; “science-society collaboration”; “remote and interinstitutional collaboration”; “large-scale collaboration” (also known as “big science’’ or “teams of teams”); and “participatory” or “universitycommunity collaboration” (Ziman, 2000). These categories are neither universally defined nor mutually exclusive. For example, the terms “inter-”and “multi-disciplinary collaboration” may be used interchangeably by some authors yet defined as different and distinct concepts by others. An international scientific collaboration may also be an interdisciplinary collaboration, and it may be difficult to ascertain how each component of the collective contributed to the scientific process. Research methods that are used to investigate scientific collaboration include bibliometrics, interviews, observations, controlled experiments, surveys, simulations, self-reflection, social network analysis, and document analysis. The variety of both terminological designations and research methods, together with the diversity of publication forums, presents considerable challenges to understanding scientific collaboration. Those studying collaboration can find it difficult to know where to begin and when to end their literature searches. Researchers may focus on previous research conducted within their own fields and be unaware of results found in others; furthermore, they may have a difficult time