Collaborative or team writing is the process of producing a written work as a group where all team members contributed to the content and the decisions about how the group will function. Technological developments and new tools enhance the capacity for research collaboration.
Benefits of collaborative writing include:
- Has been found to increase both quality and quantity of publications produced.
- Increased likelihood that papers will be accepted to a high impact factor journals and increased citations of papers.
- Has been found to shorten turn-around times and timelines associated with paper preparation.
- Increase access to sources and resources, including funding and datasets.
- Generating cross-fertilization of ideas, encourages critical thinking and a deeper understanding of others.
- Helps develop own researcher’s knowledge base and form a network of colleagues.
- Leads to higher achievement and promotes excellence.
Challenges may include:
- Potential misunderstanding between team members as a result of lack of non-verbal cues
- Collaborators may face attribution challenges that include issues related to order of authorship, individual contributions, working with students, and opportunism and plagiarism.
