When do Researchers Collaborate? Toward a Model of Collaboration Propensity in Science and Engineering Research

This exploratory study compares two approaches to understanding the “collaboration propensity” of individual researchers. On the one hand, social comparisons of disciplines would suggest that collaboration is a function of orientation toward individual versus collective responsibility for discovery. A contrasting approach would hold that collaboration depends on the work researchers are engaged in—when it is useful to collaborate, they will do so regardless of the social climate. Results presented here suggest that this latter approach is potentially more powerful but that there are complexities in measurement and operationalization that urge a more nuanced treatment of collaboration propensity. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.