A commentary on the pluralistic goals, logics of action, and institutional contexts of translational team science

Abstract

Teams have emerged as a pivotal form for organizing science efforts. Team goals and issues such as goal alignment are generally considered to be essential to team success. However, given the interdisciplinary and pluralistic goals associated with translational science, team goals become a challenging area for studies that cannot be reconciled without attention to the broader institutional contexts of translational teams. In this commentary, we draw attention to how different goals in team science can be rooted in the broader institutional context and associated logics of action. For the science of team science (SciTS) to impact practice, it is imperative that we be clear about the logic of team goals and their relation to preferred patterns of organizing. We conclude with a reflection on how contextual issues should be at the foreground of SciTS along with the other important issues of team science.