Into collaborative research and co-authorship: experiences and reflections

Abstract

There are different types of collaborative relationships in academic settings: some between supervisors and students and others with peers or colleagues. There is also collaboration involving genuine participation and others with only minimal involvement. In this paper, we explore some common queries and doubts in the academic collaboration by documenting our experience of collaboration in one research project. We reflect on how we were being questioned about the co-authorship, what we gained throughout our collaboration over the years and the obstacles we need to tackle in the process. We share our puzzles on sensitive issues as authorship and ethical practices, with an intention to invite further reflections and discussions by other collaborative researchers and to deepen our understanding of the experiences and implications in collaborative research relationships among peer researchers.

Keywods:

• academic collaboration
• co-authorship
• narrative inquiry
• research relationship

Notes

1. In this particular section, Yu and Lau described the experiences of their collaborative relationship over the years and thus ‘we’ and ‘our’ are referring specifically to these two authors where appropriate.

2. A pseudonym is used for the school principal in this study.