Skip to main content
Log in

The how and why of academic collaboration: disciplinary differences and policy implications

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines how and why academics in different parts of the academy collaborate. In this paper we argue that: (1) There is a useful analytical distinction to be made between collaboration (fluid and expressive) and Collaboration (concrete and instrumental); (2) These two are not mutually exclusive and their use varies between disciplines; and (3) This distinction is an informative one for policy making that aims to encourage collaboration. Two interview based studies were used to explore the differences in collaborative practices across disciplines. The first was small and confined to a single university (n = 36) and the second was a larger study conducted in three countries (n = 274). Cross tabulations and analysis of open ended questions demonstrated many differences across the humanities, sciences and social sciences in collaboration. The C/collaboration distinction proves useful in understanding different disciplinary approaches to research, and in pointing to implications for research policy and funding. Attempts to increase collaborative research through Collaboration only, may well have deleterious effects on both collaboration and Collaboration. Research policy and funding should bear these differences in mind when seeking to stimulate collaborative research, so as to gain better outcomes across a range of disciplines.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This Faculty does not include two large social science disciplines—behavioural science and economics.

References

  • AHRC. (2009). Research funding guide. London: Arts and Humanities Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biglan, A. (1973). The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 195–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., & Corley, E. (2004). Scientists’ collaboration strategies: Implications for scientific and technical human capital. Research Policy, 33, 599–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., Dietz, J., et al. (2001). Scientific and technical human capital: An alternative model for research evaluation. International Journal of Technology Management, 22, 716–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DAAD. (2010). Funding for joint research collaboration (downloaded on 19 November 2010 from http://www.research-in-germany.de/research-funding/funding-programmes/48600/daad-funding-for-joint-research-collaboration.html).

  • de Solla Price, D. J., & Beaver, D. (1966). Collaboration in an invisible college. American Psychologist, 21, 1011–1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Favero, M. (2005). The social dimension of academic discipline as a discriminator of academic dean’s administrative behaviors. The Review of Higher Education, 29(1), 69–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donovan, C. (2005). The governance of social science and everyday epistemology. Public Administration, 83, 597–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ERA-Can. (2010). Canadian fundingInternational opportunities for Canadians. Downloaded on 19 November 2010 from http://www.era-can.ca/en/Canadian_Funding_%E2%80%93_International_Opportunities_for_Canadians_87.html.

  • Farber, M. (2005). Single-authored publications in the sciences at Israeli universities. Journal of Information Science, 31(1), 62–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frame, J. D., & Carpenter, M. P. (1979). International research collaboration. Social Studies of Science, 9, 481–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fry, J. (2006). Scholarly research and information practices: A domain analytic approach. Information Processing and Management, 42, 299–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, N. (2000). Doing psychological research: Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hicks, D. (2004). The four literatures of social science. In H. F. Moed, W. Glanzel, & U. Schmoch (Eds.), Handbook of quantitative science and technology research: The use of publication and patent statistics in studies of S&T systems (pp. 473–496). Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey, P. (2003). Smoothing the waters: Observations on the process of cross-disciplinary research collaboration. Social Studies of Science, 33, 539–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jha, Y., & Welch, E. W. (2010). Relational mechanisms governing multifaceted collaborative behavior of academic scientists in six fields of science and engineering. Research Policy, 39, 1174–1184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S. (2000). Scale-independent indicators and research evaluation. Science and Public Policy, 27, 23–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S., & Martin, B. R. (1997). What is research collaboration? Research Policy, 26, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., & Bozeman, B. (2005). The impact of research collaboration on scientific productivity. Social Studies of Science, 35, 673–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. M. (2007). Research networks in the Faculty of Arts. Melbourne: University of Melbourne, Faculty of Arts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. M. (2010). Connecting and cooperating: Social capital and public policy. Sydney: UNSW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J. M., & Ross, S. (2011). Research funding systems in Australia, New Zealand and the UK: Policy settings and perceived effects. Policy and Politics, 39(3), 379–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maglaughlin, K. L., & Sonnenwald, D. H. (2005) Factors that impact interdisciplinary natural science research collaboration in Academia. Paper presented at the International Society for Scientometrics and Informatrics (ISSI) 2005 Conference. Stockholm, 24–28 July 2005.

  • Meadows, A. J. (1974). Communication in science. London: Butterworths.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meadows, A. J. (1997). Communicating research. Bradford: Emerald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melin, G. (2000). Pragmatism and self-organization. Research collaboration on the individual level. Research Policy, 29, 31–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. E. J. (2001). Scientific collaboration networks: I. Network construction and fundamental results. Physical Review E, 64, 016131 (1–8).

    Google Scholar 

  • RCUK. (2010). Science budget. London: Research Councils UK. Downloaded on 21 April 2010 from http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/aboutrcs/funding/scibudget.

  • Rigby, J., & Edler, J. (2005). Peering inside research networks: Some observations on the effect of the intensity of collaboration on the variability of research quality. Research Policy, 34, 784–794.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, M. G., & Davey, L. M. (1995). Gender differences in network relationships in academia. Women in Management Review, 10(6), 20–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorsteinsdóttir, O. H. (2000). External research collaboration in two small science systems. Scientometrics, 49(1), 145–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Rijnsoever, F. J., & Hessels, L. K. (2011). Factors associated with disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration. Research Policy, 40, 463–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, C. S., & Leydesdorff, L. (2005). Network structure, self-organization, and the growth of international collaboration in science. Research Policy, 34, 1608–1618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, R. (2003). Competition and pluralism in the public sciences: The impact of institutional frameworks on the organisation of academic science. Research Policy, 32, 1015–1029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This paper draws on data from two research projects. The first, in 2007 was supported by a small research grant from the University of Melbourne. The second is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant (DP0877973). We would like to thank Peta Freestone and our teams of interviewers at each of the universities, and all those who agreed to be interviewed. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Research Society for Public Management annual conference in Dublin in April 2011.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jenny M. Lewis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lewis, J.M., Ross, S. & Holden, T. The how and why of academic collaboration: disciplinary differences and policy implications. High Educ 64, 693–708 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9521-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-012-9521-8

Keywords

Navigation