On the extinction of the single‐authored paper: The causes and consequences of increasingly collaborative applied ecological research

Barlow, Jos; Stephens, Philip A.; Bode, M. F.; Cadotte, Marc W.; Lucas, Kirsty; Newton, Erika; Núñez, Martín A.; Pettorelli, Nathalie

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13040

Cited by 42 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our findings are consistent with those of other studies (Coccia & Wang , Logan , Barlow et al . ) that have observed increases in the number of authors per article. It has been speculated that the rising number of authors per article is a consequence of ‘big science’ in which authors collaborate to address broad ecological questions (Gordon , Hampton et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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confidence: 97%

“…In recent years, there has been an increase in the frequency of multiauthored publications in several scientific disciplines, including ecology, suggesting greater collaboration among scientists (Coccia & Wang 2015, Barlow et al 2018. The benefits of collaboration include increased author inclusivity (Uriarte et al 2007), research that is broader in scope and scale (Hampton et al 2013), and even increases in citation rates or other metrics of article impact (Hampton & Parker 2011, Nomaler et al 2013, Smith et al 2014.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The changing nature of collaboration in tropical ecology and conservation

Perez

Hogan

2018

Biotropica

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Collaboration can improve conservation initiatives through increases in article impact and by building scientific understating required for conservation practice. We investigated temporal trends in collaboration in the tropical ecology and conservation literature by examining patterns of authorship for 2271 articles published from 2000 to 2016 in Biotropica and the Journal of Tropical Ecology. Consistent with trends in other studies and scientific disciplines, we found that the number of authors per article increased from 2.6 in 2000 to 4.2 in 2015 using a generalized linear model (glm). We modeled changes in multinational collaboration in articles using a glm and found that the mean number of author‐affiliated countries increased from 1.3 (±0.6 SD) to 1.7 (±0.8 SD) over time and that increases were best explained by the number of authors per article. The proportion of authors based in tropical countries increased, but the probability of tropical–extratropical collaboration did not and was best explained solely by the number of authors per article. Overall, our analyses suggest that only certain types of collaboration are increasing and that these increases coincide with a general increase in the number of authors per article. Such changes in author numbers and collaboration could be the result of increased data sharing, changes in the scope of research questions, changes in authorship criteria, or scientific migration. We encourage tropical conservation scientists continue to build collaborative ties, particularly with researchers based in underrepresented tropical countries, to ensure that tropical ecology and conservation remains inclusive and effective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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confidence: 97%

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confidence: 99%

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The changing nature of collaboration in tropical ecology and conservation

Perez

Hogan

2018

Biotropica

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“…One approach to this question is to consider studies that have investigated what underlies longevity and success, and to see if those qualities identified as important also apply to scientists and their careers. For social animals – which scientists surely are 26–30 – interacting with peers is a crucial component of lifetime fitness 31–40 and lifespan 41–43 . Several mechanisms have been proposed for how increased sociality could improve fitness and longevity, and that could be relevant to scientists and their careers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociality enhances survival in science, especially for female researchers

Wal

Thorogood

Horrocks³

2020

Preprint

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Intense competition for limited opportunities means the career path of a scientist is a challenging one, and female scientists in particular are less likely to survive in academia. Collaboration is a key factor in scientific advances, and in social species enhanced sociality improves fitness and longevity. Yet whether sociality influences career progression and survival in science, and how this might differ between genders, is largely unknown. We built authorship social networks from publication records to test how sociality predicts career progression and survival in a cohort of biologists contributing to three international conferences in the 1990s. We show that sociality has the strongest effect for female researchers but, regardless of gender, publishing with many diverse co-authors significantly reduces time to become a principal investigator and increases career duration. Publishing repeatedly with co-authors also enhances career progression in both genders, but reduces career length for men. These findings demonstrate that the value of collaboration extends beyond scientific advances, and can directly benefit the career progression and longevity of research scientists themselves. Efforts to encourage researchers at all levels to invest in collaborations, particularly with female researchers, will help to close the gender gap in science and academia.

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“…Publishing research articles in peer-reviewed journals is the primary mechanism by which these research teams disseminate findings to the broader scientific community, as well as the primary currency for promotion and recognition of individuals. Publishing with science teams has distinct benefits for both the researcher and science; collaborative manuscripts are more likely to be accepted in scientific journals and have higher citation rates once published, presumably reflecting higher quality and impact (Fox et al 2016, Barlow et al 2018. Diverse collaborative teams are better problem solvers and produce higher quality science products Page 2004, Campbell et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for effective collaborative manuscript development in interdisciplinary science teams

et al. 2018

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Science is increasingly being conducted in large, interdisciplinary teams. As team size increases, challenges can arise during manuscript development, where achieving one team goal (e.g., inclusivity) may be in direct conflict with other goals (e.g., efficiency). Here, we present strategies for effective collaborative manuscript development that draw from our experiences in an interdisciplinary science team writing collaborative manuscripts for six years. These strategies are rooted in six guiding principles that were important to our team: to create a transparent, inclusive, and accountable research team that promotes and protects team members who have less power to influence decisionmaking while fostering creativity and productivity. To help alleviate the conflicts that can arise in collaborative manuscript development, we present the following strategies: understand your team composition, create an authorship policy and discuss authorship early and often, openly announce manuscript ideas, identify and communicate the type of manuscript and lead author management style, and document and describe authorship contributions. These strategies can help reduce the probability of group conflict, uphold individual and team values, achieve fair authorship practices, and increase science productivity.

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On the extinction of the single‐authored paper: The causes and consequences of increasingly collaborative applied ecological research

Cited by 42 publications

References 27 publications

The changing nature of collaboration in tropical ecology and conservation

The changing nature of collaboration in tropical ecology and conservation

Sociality enhances survival in science, especially for female researchers

Strategies for effective collaborative manuscript development in interdisciplinary science teams

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