Communication Strategies for Effective Collaborations: A best practices framework
Goals
Develop a “communications strategy” for collaborative teams that can serve as a framework of discussion points prior to formulating a collaboration agreement
Prepare a list of standards to cover including data sharing, authorship, and communication
Create guidance targeted toward different stakeholders
Demonstrate the value and challenges of using this iterative framework
This project is designed as a framework for discussion among team members on critical topics that will be encountered during the course of their collaboration. Questions and challenges will be presented for review with relevant links to tools, examples, and case studies covered in corresponding ICOR projects. These discussions will confer an understanding of current and aspirational open research practices, and form the basis of the team’s collaboration agreement.
Deliverables
Document covering topics, questions, and challenges to be discussed by newly funded/organized team members as a means of communicating and formulating effective collaborative practices
List of open research standards to cover with links to resources from the ICOR initiative and others
Guidance for funders and researchers on why, how, and when and when implementing this framework can strengthen collaborative, open research
Data and case studies of teams that have used this or a similar framework effectively, including examples of resulting collaborative agreements that have been formulated
What’s Needed
Feedback from funders and researchers (including both allies and skeptics) on the text and the guidance of when and how to use the framework
Successful and unsuccessful case studies from funders and/or collaborative teams to include in the framework
Methods to collect additional data and anecdotes (positive and negative) from those using the framework to inform changes to the framework
Links
Collaboration and Open Science Framework Working Document
This working document details the Communications Strategy – the framework that lists specific questions and points for discussion first in the establishment of the collaboration, then in the followup to the initial communication, and finally in ongoing communications among collaborators. This document will also attempt to define minimum standards for best practices in open science such as data sharing, authorship, and communication.
