Yet, it is clear that practicing science in the 21st century requires an unprecedented level of teamwork, to meet the demands for specialized skills posed by modern scientific and social problems. The Strength in Numbers is an attempt to understand—and, indeed, harness for social good—what the authors term a “revolution” characterized by “the growth in the sheer number of collaborators, but also … a greater mix in the number and disciplinary diversity of collaborators.”

The authors surveyed more than 600 scientists (mostly tenured professors) from 108 US universities across various disciplines about their experiences with collaborative research. They suggest an “aggregate model” for evaluating a research collaboration’s effectiveness, which they use to build multifaceted assessments of scientific teams from their survey data.

The book succeeds on several counts. The diversity of scientific disciplines that the survey encompasses is remarkable, especially given the amount of effort required to organize the subjective experiences of researchers across disciplines, each with its own norms for such things as attribution, authorship, and publication. Also commendable is the authors’ determination to maintain a subjective tone in presenting their findings.

It is unfortunate, then, that the authors devote much of the rest of the book to discussing authorship and suggesting remedies for teams experiencing disagreements over research credit. The preoccupation with citations and authorship somewhat undermines the book’s objective of providing a more holistic view of modern scientific collaborations that can contribute to social good.

Read the full article about The Strength In Numbers by Sukrit Silas & Kali Allison at Stanford Social Innovation Review.