How to successfully run a collaborative research project

Read the full guide here.

In a recent survey of early-career researchers, those surveyed put a large priority on collaboration. Over 60% of respondents expressed an interest in additional collaborative opportunities, but stated they lacked the funding and opportunities to pursue them. 

Another recent survey put a spotlight on the benefits of collaborative research projects. Scientists said that working on a collaborative research project allowed them to receive mentorship from more experienced scholars, and that it resulted in more rigorous and sophisticated studies due to internal scrutiny of methodological and analytical choices. Respondents hailed international collaborations in particular for giving researchers access to previously inaccessible samples and contexts. Cross-border studies allowed researchers to challenge conventional methods and assumptions, expand their scholarly reach and network, and—vitally—experience a unique sense of cultural and academic enrichment and fulfillment.

Cross-border collaboration frequency, per Ravasi et. al (2024).

In a world where large, international research teams working on cross-border studies is more common than ever before, researchers and scientists will be tempted to dive straight into the world of collaborative research. But a successful collaborative research project is far more complicated than it might seem on the surface.

Read on for four essential strategies scientists can use to make their collaborations successful, and reap their many benefits—even in the Trump era of slashed science spending.

1. Choose the right partners

Whether or not team members actually complement each other can be the difference between a successful and a struggling collaboration.

Members should be compatible or at least similar in terms of working style, communication preferences, and their standards of rigor and ethics. However, members should contrast in terms of their areas of expertise and what they will be contributing to the project; duplicate skill sets are typically to be avoided.

In order to choose the right teammates, the first step is to get to know potential partners. Rather than immediately diving into a major collaborative project, start with a smaller joint effort like organizing a workshop or writing a teaching case. Through that, you can examine whether or not you get along with the others—and crucially, whether or not you can trust them. As one survey respondent said, “If a collaborator isn’t willing or able to listen to your ideas and treat you with respect and patience, the experience will be miserable, and the project will suffer.”

This “test stage” process of collaboration allows you to see if your work styles are a good match and if you and your team share similar levels of motivation for the project. If team members don’t share views about deadlines, meetings, or speed of progress, frustration and disaster are bound to follow.

Another important factor to consider arises when senior and junior scholars team up on research projects. While junior scholars are often tempted to find a senior scholar to collaborate with for their expertise and prestige, if the veteran doesn’t have experience working with younger scholars—or is overloaded with other responsibilities, resulting in a slower timeline—it may not be a match made in heaven.

In review, here are the top things to consider when choosing team members:

• Compatible communication preferences: type of communication (in-person, calls, Slack) and frequency (regularly, daily, weekly)
• Cohesive working styles: Balance of dominant and supportive, big-picture and detail-oriented, logical and empathetic, strategic and pragmatic members
• Rigor and work ethic: Aligned on pace of project and volume of work
• Compatible desired outcomes

2. Clearly define goals and roles

Once you’ve found your teammates, each member, and the team as a whole, needs well-defined goals and expectations. That starts with the expected outcomes of the project: what is the ideal end result of the collaboration? Publication in a high-profile journal is not only risky, but carries a slower timeline, which could be less than ideal to some team members. Each researcher should be honest, transparent, and unafraid to express what their hopes are for the project, ideally shooting for outcomes that align with their individual career goals.

Author count frequency, per Ravasi et. al (2024).

Next, the team will need to determine each member’s expected role and contribution to achieving the goal. In a large-scale survey of researchers, one of the most frequent collaboration complaints was when certain co-authors or team members “limited their participation to making comments in the margins.”

Veteran researchers recommended asking and answering the following questions about each collaborator on a project:

• What is the team member going to be held accountable for by the end of the project?
• When is each team member available? How much, how often, and until when will the team member be working on the project?
• What outcome is the team member supposed to produce?
• What will be the authorship order?

Roles and responsibilities aren’t limited to the hard science. One, or multiple team members, also needs to be the “broker,” or the one who facilitates communication, keeps track of progress, and supports cross-fertilization between different areas of the project.

Lastly, although authorship order is an uncomfortable question, setting expectations early goes a long way. Any initially decided order, however, should be open to revision based on individual members’ degrees of contribution during the project.

3. Make a plan

The success of any project depends on a clear, tight schedule to push busy team members to prioritize the project when necessary. A collaborative research plan is fundamentally the same as an individual one, and includes the following:

• Specific project goals
• Research methods to achieve project goals
• A list of the necessary resources
• Allocation of tasks for individual team members
• A thorough project background and summary
• Timeline: Target dates for each key task and step
• Options or targets for publication or presentation of research

Once your team has a timeline, the next step is to put the deadlines and meetings on all members’ calendars and to-do lists. Some veteran researchers recommended using short-term goals that can be accomplished in two-week “sprints.” This process forces projects to keep moving forward and allows for regular check-ins. If some steps are faster or slower than expected, short-term goals can be realigned and reshuffled for the next two-week sprint.

4. Build systems and culture

Anchored by a sound plan, your collaborative research project is well on its way to success. But without solid systems in place—technology for communication, data-sharing, and organizing the project—or without a strong team culture—one that is inclusive, productive, and creative—even the best of plans can go awry.

With an established plan for communication in place, teams can choose the type of technology that best suits their needs. Slack for chatting and shooting ideas back and forth throughout the day, Zoom for regular scheduled check-ins, and so on.

Researchers should also consider using software to manage the research process. There are platforms that fit your project’s specific needs, such as Elemental Machines or LabArchives for collaborative lab management or Trello for task organizing.

Importantly, collaborators should make use of secure methods for data storage, access, and sharing. There are platforms such as SciNote for data storage and intellectual property protection; MediaLab for lab policies, documentation, and compliance; and MediGrid for multi-study medical analysis.

Research teams also need to establish a positive working culture. Scientists agree that productivity and outcomes were superior when lab mates get along and like spending time together. Some clear indicators of a good working culture are as follows:

• Emotional engagement – Team members stop and listen to one another speak, and are interested in both the project and what the others have to say.
• Social sensitivity – Members are aware of the needs and preferences of others on the team, and are willing to help others or compromise for the sake of the group.
• Effective communication – Team members are willing to engage in genuine and regular communication. Interaction, talking, and listening are balanced evenly across team members.
• Team functioning – The team is regularly assessed for its strengths and weaknesses, and members are willing and able to listen to feedback and make improvements.

For larger or longer projects, some experts recommend using teamwork exercises in order to improve the interpersonal skills of team members. Scientists also recommend celebrating milestones and accomplishments of the team together, as well as setting clear diversity, equity, and inclusion guidelines.

Conclusion

Research shows that the two biggest factors behind high-performing collaborative research teams are that they are diverse and that members have strong interpersonal skills.

Kendra S Cheruvelil et. al identified five different components of diversity, all of which are equally important: career stage (earlier or later), degree of familiarity with members (familiar or unacquainted), team role (broker, generalist, or specialist), discipline, and viewpoint. More so than superficial differences, these types of diversity are what matter for scientists working out a challenging research project.

There are many difficult, complex parts of running a collaborative research project. But perhaps it can be encouraging to remember that such a big part of your project’s success will come down to the interpersonal skills of team members. If your team is emotionally engaged, socially sensitive, compassionate, and working in sync—it won’t mean that your team is guaranteed success, but that’s about as close as any team can get.