Keywords

What This Chapter Is About

Research collaborations offer numerous professional opportunities as well as challenges, especially for early career researchers. This is why it is important to know the rights and responsibilities of researchers in collaborations. The aim of this chapter is to help early career researchers apply principles of good research practices of European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity in collaborative working, including interdisciplinary and international collaborations. We will indicate potential problems that can arise in different stages of collaborations. We will also provide recommendations with regard to determining your roles and responsibilities in collaborations, procedures on handling research misconduct, and possible publication disputes.

Case Scenario: Starting a Research Collaboration

This hypothetical scenario was adapted from a narrative concerning the links between collaborative working and research integrity. The original case scenario is developed by the Members of The Embassy of Good Science and is available at the Embassy of Good Science. The case below is published under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, version 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

During a scientific conference, two researchers, who come from different research backgrounds, show interest in the topic that you are currently working on. When you discuss the topic with them in more details during the break, you start to see the benefits from working together. You all live in different countries and are at different career stages – you have just earned your doctoral degree, while the other two researchers are more experienced in their fields. The three of you drafted and submitted a grant proposal but are not sure how to proceed.

Questions for You

  1. 1.

    Who should submit the proposal, through which university?

  2. 2.

    Do all three need to get ethics approval to work on the project?

  3. 3.

    What will happen if their work has practical applications?

  4. 4.

    How should they go about answering these questions?

  5. 5.

    Are there other important questions that should be asked as well?

Planning Collaborative Research

Collaboration on a research project offers numerous professional opportunities and benefits for a career of an early-career researcher, but it also may pose some professional challenges or problems regarding the whole research process and relations between the collaborators. These problems can affect various aspects of the research project, and should be addressed already at the planning stage of the project (Box 6.1).

Box 6.1 What Should Be Addressed in Planning a Collaborative Research Project?

  • Goals and outcomes of the project

  • Roles and responsibilities of each partner in the collaboration

  • Data collection, sharing, and storage

  • Modifying potential changes in research design

  • Collaborators responsible for drafting publications

  • Criteria which will be used for identifying contributing authors

  • Collaborators responsible for submission of reports and other requirements

  • Collaborators responsible for speaking in public for the collaboration

  • Solutions of potential disputes over intellectual property rights and ownership issues

  • Potential changes and the end of collaboration

Therefore, it is particularly important that you, as an early-career researcher, know your rights and responsibilities, especially if you participate in interdisciplinary and international collaborations. You should also be familiar with the project application procedure, otherwise, you should ask the project leader(s) and senior responsible officers at your organisation for help.

If this is your first time participating in such a collaborative research project, you may not be sure what your responsibilities are, what problems you might come across, and how you can solve them.

Good research practice from the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity:

  • All partners in research collaborations agree at the outset on the goals of the research and on the process for communicating their research as transparently and openly as possible.

Although there is no single model that would guarantee successful research collaborations, there are some recommendations that may be useful. One of the most important things to know before you start a collaboration is that you and all your research partners should reach an agreement around research goals. Some difficulties may arise in this matter so, to achieve agreement, communication is the key. All partners must agree on the goals and outcomes and negotiate every change together.

What Are Potential Problems in Collaborative Research?

One of potential problems is not determining the roles and responsibilities of each collaborating partner clearly. A grant proposal may not clearly specify the tasks for each individual partner, which may leave you rather confused about what it is that you will actually bring to the table, what you can expect from this collaboration, and what your partners can expect from you. Given that you and your partners may have different research backgrounds, you can expect to see a diversity of viewpoints in the understanding of research goals, use of methodology, vocabulary, and publication outputs. Since this is your first collaboration, you may not feel that you can completely trust your partners and, given that you are at the early stage of your career, they might ignore your opinions and inputs on certain matters. Because of this lack of trust, you may also hesitate to express your opinion or ask for help.

What should you do? There are ten simple rules you should follow if you want a successful collaboration:

  1. 1.

    Do not be lured into just any collaboration.

  2. 2.

    Decide at the beginning who will work on what tasks.

  3. 3.

    Focus on your tasks.

  4. 4.

    Be open and honest.

  5. 5.

    Feel respect, get respect.

  6. 6.

    Communicate.

  7. 7.

    Protect yourself from a collaboration that turns sour.

  8. 8.

    Always acknowledge and cite your collaborators.

  9. 9.

    Seek advice from experienced scientists.

  10. 10.

    If your collaboration satisfies you, keep it going.

Build trust to address every issue openly and avoid disputes. Practical suggestions and recommendations concerning conflict resolutions can be of help you in this matter:

  • Be consistent in your statements.

  • Make minor concessions showing efforts to meet the needs of other partners in research.

  • Show humbleness.

  • Ask other partners in research for help.

  • Show an interest in helping other partners in research reach their goals and objectives.

  • Give a partner in research return of benefits previously than expected.

  • Allow clauses in collaborative agreements that will yield punishment or costs if you do not follow through on your promises.

  • Do not make unrealistic promises.

  • Update agreements during the project in case of some changes, for example in roles and responsibilities of some partners.

  • Show understanding for concerns of your partners in research, even if you do not agree with those concerns.

Good research practice from the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity:

  • All partners in research collaborations take responsibility for the integrity of the research.

All partners in a research study should formally agree on expectations and standards concerning research integrity, as well as on the procedures for handling potential violations at the very beginning of a new collaboration. The responsibility should be collective as well as individual. As individuals, we are aware of our research integrity responsibilities, which includes fostering collegial behaviour. Collectively, responsible research includes acknowledging and respecting the existence of various practices and norms that are customary in certain research areas and defining in collaboration agreements how these will be handled. As research integrity standards may vary across countries and research areas, it is important that a research collaboration has good oversight and governance to implement adequate policies and procedures, ensuring compliance, avoiding and resolving potential conflicts, and handling misconduct. If the collaborators do not agree on good oversight or clear rules for handling potential conflicts, this can lead to problems in collaboration. The project leaders are responsible for ensuring appropriate processes, structures, and clear rules that would be applied in resolving these issues.

According to the guidance on collaborative research – “Investigating Research Misconduct Allegations in International Collaborative Research Projects: A Practical Guide,” developed by OECD Global Science Forum, it is important to create and sign an agreement addressing the promotion of responsible conduct of research and describing the policies and procedures that would be used in case of alleged misconduct.

If you decide to sign an agreement, you can use a boilerplate text from the Coordinating Committee of the OECD Global Science Forum (Box 6.2), which should be a part of the formal documents of the collaborative project.

Box 6.2 Example of Agreement on Collaborative from the Investigating Research Misconduct Allegations in International Collaborative Research Projects: A Practical Guide

We, [specify the partners], agree:

To conduct our research according to the standards of research integrity, as defined in “Investigating Research Misconduct Allegations in International Collaborative Research Projects: A Practical Guide” ( www.oecd.org/sti/gsf ) and other appropriate documents, including: [specify national codes of conduct and disciplinary or national ethical guidelines that apply];

That any suspected deviation from these standards, in particular alleged research misconduct, will be brought to the immediate attention of [specify all designated contact point(s)] and investigated according to the policies and procedures of [to be filled in with the body with primary responsibility], while respecting the laws and sovereignty of the states of all participating parties;

To cooperate in and support any such investigations; and

To accept (subject to any appeal process) the conclusions of any such investigation and to take appropriate actions.

The partners should without delay take appropriate actions in case of alleged breach of research integrity. The main issue in international collaborations is how to cope with different laws and regulations existing in countries that participate in the research project. As recommended by the “Practical Guide,” investigations of violations of research integrity should be carried out in accordance with the policies and procedures of the institution “with primary responsibility” and at the same time respecting the laws of the countries of all participating partners. There is some practical guidance that may help you as an early-career researcher if you suspect a breach of research integrity. What if the alleged perpetrator is a more experienced collaborating partner and you find it difficult to confront them? Who should you turn to?

Inform your Supervisor

As your supervisor guides you through the project, you should share with them your suspicions. This option is probably the best one because you inform a more experienced person who can either help you or take on to handle the situation. Your supervisor is also the best person to come for help if you are the victim of a breach of research integrity.

Inform Your Research Group Leader

If you do not have a supervisor and you participate in a larger and more complex project, you will probably have a research group leader responsible for managing the research at your research site. If you suspect that one of the partners, whether in your or other research group, has committed a violation or that you are the victim of the breach of integrity, you should consult them about what steps you should take.

Inform the Project Leader

If you do not have a supervisor or the project in which you participate does not involve a large number of researchers, you should contact the project leader(s) and senior responsible officers at your organisation and share your suspicions with them.

Good research practice from the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity:

  • All partners in research collaborations are properly informed and consulted about submissions for publication of the research results.

Experts in the matters of authorship have stressed the importance of defining the authorship policies at the beginning of any collaborative research. This concerns particularly interdisciplinary and international collaborations, as research areas and geographical regions may differ in authorship criteria.

For authorship criteria in general, you can consult the chapter on Publication and Dissemination.

As for interdisciplinary and international collaborations, you should consult the Montreal Statement which addresses certain aspects of publication and authorship issues in joint research projects. The Statement suggests that:

  • All partners should agree on how publication and other dissemination decisions will be made.

  • All partners should agree on standards for authorship and acknowledgments. Contributions of all partners, especially, junior partners, should be recognised in publications.

One of the potential problems is defining authorship criteria as they vary across research areas, for instance authorship criteria are different in social sciences and humanities than those in medicine and some research fields in physics. Apart from that, authorship criteria also vary across journals within the same disciplinary field. This can lead to misunderstandings and disputes between the collaborating partners, which is why authorship criteria should be defined before the beginning of research. It could also happen that you, as an early-career researcher, end up doing most of the work on a research paper and not get credit for authorship or you may find your name on a publication without your knowledge and consent. You and your colleagues also may have misunderstandings about the publication outputs. For example, you might want to publish every new finding, whereas your partners in research would maybe want to wait and publish all results in one large publication. What you should do?

If you are not the only author, you must obtain consent from other authors for publication.

If you do not get credit for your contribution or find your name on a paper you have not given your consent to, you should speak up! As a novice researcher you may fear that addressing these issues and perhaps taking actions would put at risk your reputation and career. In such situations, it is always advisable to speak to your supervisor first.

As will all other aspects of collaborative research, discuss your publication plans before you start your research.

Share the credit. Some experts strongly advise developing a system which would provide proper credit to all researchers on the project. This means answering the questions:

  • How will authorship be organized?

  • Who will be responsible for writing the manuscript(s), and what will be their emphasis?

  • If there are patents created, who is included on the patent?

We hope you will have great and productive collaborations in your research!