Someone recently asked a question about how to assess invitations to collaborate, for
example on a research project or a review paper for publication.
Hi. I m Karen McKee and today I'm going to tackle the topic of scientific collaboration
and what to consider before making a decision.
This is an important topic for researchers and authors, and it's critical to have a plan
in place for dealing with such invitations.
Many scientists develop collaborations that are not only professionally productive but
personally rewarding.
So, it's important to be open to collaborations and to seek them out yourself.
But it's equally important to be selective in choosing your collaborators.
Here are a few questions I consider when deciding to collaborate with someone.
The first step is to gather information about the person.
Are they employed by an academic, government, or private institution?
In what capacity?
The answer to these questions should be apparent in their correspondence with you.
If they fail to provide such basic information in an email, for example, or give a vague
response to your query about their current status, then that's not a good sign.
Are they known and respected in the field and am I familiar with their work?
In many cases, I ve known collaborators initially only through their publications or have heard
them speak at meetings.
If not, I conduct an online search of their publications.
A quick search on Web of Science, Google Scholar Citations, or ResearchGate should provide
such a list.
If they've not published anything, then there needs to be some other strong reason to collaborate
with them such as a needed skill that you lack.
Do you know them personally or had a face-to-face conversation with them?
Many collaborations arise from meeting people at conferences or when a researcher visits
your institution to give a seminar or spend a sabbatical.
Or you may collaborate with a fellow student or committee member while in graduate school.
Several of my collaborations developed this way.
I knew them and thus could better assess what it would be like to work with them.
Even meeting someone once can give you a good idea about whether you can work well with
them.
Did they contact me out of the blue or were they referred by a mutual colleague?
Now, there's nothing wrong with someone contacting you without a referral.
And a mutual colleague may introduce you to someone who turns out to be the collaborator
from hell.
But usually, you are on safer ground if trusted colleagues can vouch for a potential collaborator.
Have they collaborated (successfully) with other scientists?
This question can be answered by looking at a person's publication record.
If most or all their publications are single-authored, then you should seek additional confirmation
about them from colleagues.
Is the proposed research project or paper topic important or of particular interest
to me?
Obviously, you don't want to participate in a project that is not likely to yield an important
insight or contribute substantially to your body of work.
However, if the proposed project or paper is of interest to you, it may be worth your
time.
Do they bring a unique perspective or expertise to the project?
Do they possess a special analytical skill or writing ability that you do not have?
If so, a collaboration with them may expand your research capability.
Do I have the time to participate?
This is an important consideration requiring some careful thought and assessment of your
current time commitments as well as an estimate of how much time the new project will require.
Will accepting this invitation interfere with completion of on-going projects or jeopardize
meeting other obligations?
If so, perhaps see if you can postpone things until you have wrapped up current projects.
Do I need permission from superiors to pursue such collaborations?
In some situations, a researcher, such as a postdoc, may need to run the invitation
by a supervisor or some other authority before responding.
If you don't get permission, perhaps you can collaborate in the future when you are in
a different position.
Were they clear and specific about what the proposed project will entail?
You need to know how the workload will be shared, what funding amount is required, what
the expected timeline is, who the other participants are, and what the authorship order will be
on any resultant publication.
If they fail to provide such details or are vague about these points, you should be wary.
Do they have their own funding or are they looking to me for support?
If they propose a collaboration that requires funding from you, this could be a red flag.
But it s not necessarily a reason to turn them down.
However, it may indicate the need for more thought and investigation.
Are they responsive to my questions about the proposed collaboration?
If they fail to reply promptly and fully to your questions, that likely tells you how
they will behave in a collaboration.
Finally, trust your gut.
Your subconscious can often pick up on things that your conscious mind misses.
If you feel uncomfortable or uneasy, it s a good idea to pay attention to such feelings
and try to pin down why you feel this way.
Well, those are some of the main questions to ask when pondering an invitation to collaborate.
The resultant information won't necessarily guarantee success.
There are always events and personality clashes that cannot be anticipated.
But as you work with more people, you should develop a sense of who will work out and who
will not.
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