Creating collaborative capacity in early career research writers

Abstract

Given evidence of enhanced productivity and citations achieved by collaborative writers, it is important for researchers to develop collaborative capacity (Abramo, D’Angelo & Di Costa 2009; McCarty, Jawitz, Hopkins & Goldman 2013). Our theoretical paper defines the concepts of Collaborative Capacity and Informed Research and incorporates them within a Collaborative Research Culture Framework. We also present five stories that illustrate how elements of the Framework, including Collaborative Capacity, can help the collaborative research writer to overcome challenges and engage successfully in collaborative opportunities. One story focuses on a student and supervisor collaboration to highlight the role of trust and respect; another describes how student collaborations can enrich and enable informal, formal and sanctioned networks; a third describes the innovation, inclusion and initiative achieved through writing collaboratively; a fourth demonstrates how leadership capacity facilitates the creation of a successful edited book, and the last examines how writers as informed researchers can engage with critical communities and resources. All the stories occur in global and cross-disciplinary contexts and exemplify the potential for developing new collaborative writing approaches. While the stories are generic they are loosely based on collegially shared or reported experiences. The power of adopting a narrative approach in this paper is that it allows the exploration of the particular in ordinary, everyday instances (Clandinin 2013; Donnelly, Gabriel, Özkazanç‐Pan & Kara 2013). The stories demonstrate how a writer can develop Collaborative Capacity, by showing leadership and being an informed researcher, supporting access to different networks, genres and media that progress their research endeavours within and across disciplines and sectors (e.g., government, industry, community and the non-profit). We conclude that the Framework enables strategic reflection by those seeking to successfully collaborate through development of Collaborative Capacity.