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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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1
Introduction

In recent years, as science becomes increasingly international and collaborative, the importance of projects that involve research teams and research subjects from different countries has grown markedly. Such teams often cross disciplinary, cultural, geographic, and linguistic borders, as well as national ones. Successfully planning and carrying out such efforts can result in substantial advantages for both science and scientists. The participating researchers, however, also face significant intellectual, bureaucratic, organizational, and interpersonal challenges.

To examine the issues involved in carrying out such projects, in 2006 the National Research Council’s (NRC) Committee on International Collaborations in Social and Behavioral Sciences convened a workshop that resulted in a 2008 report entitled International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: Report of a Workshop. Participants in that workshop enumerated the many benefits of work that takes advantage of the expertise, energy, contacts, and insights of researchers from more than one country. In addition, participants identified a number of obstacles that can hamper or even prevent success and sought ways to increase the chances that such projects will succeed. Building on that effort, a second workshop was convened in September 2013 to examine in greater detail a number of the practical issues raised at the earlier gathering. The current report summarizes the discussions at the 2013 Workshop on Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“Research undertaken in international collaborations has the potential to inform theory, methods, education and training, policy, and practice,” states the report on the 2006 meeting. “The processes constituting these collaborations, which can be seen as complex forms of joint activity, deserve attention along with their scientific results.”1

These ideas—the distinctive and significant scientific benefits of international research and the equally distinctive and significant challenges and obstacles experienced by those who work to carry out such research—formed the basis for the 2013 workshop’s discussions. The 2006 meeting concentrated

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1 National Research Council (NRC). International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: Report of a Workshop (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2008), 1. Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12053.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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on delineating challenges; however, the 2013 workshop devoted its major attention to examining approaches designed to anticipate, forestall, and overcome those difficulties, and especially to methods, procedures, and organizational fea-tures shown to be successful in paving the way toward productive international collaborations.

Broadening perspectives, expanding possibilities, and sheer practicality rank high among the advantages of international collaboration cited in the 2008 report. Unlike the “lone frog in a deep well,” which has “a superb view…of an extremely circumscribed patch of sky,” the 2008 report says, participants in international collaborations develop much broader perspectives on research projects. This often leads to more conceptually complex research questions and answers and more discoveries than when researchers work only with their compatriots.2

A second advantage is the ability to answer questions that simply cannot be answered within the boundaries of a single country, such as rare diseases or other phenomena and comparative studies of human behavior, development, family structure, education, or similar areas.3 A third reason for collaborating internationally instead of “parachuting into a foreign research setting” to do “hit-and-run research” is practicality; on average, international projects produce superior research results, the report continues.4 Beyond that, international collaborations have the potential to build research capacity useful for answering future questions.

The specific obstacles to successful international collaborations that the 2006 workshop identified are, however, anything but trivial. They include often exceptionally long periods of time needed for planning and developing projects because researchers must resolve such important issues as locating appropriate collaborators, obtaining adequate funding, and developing research designs acceptable to people from different intellectual disciplines, cultural traditions, and institutional settings. Many intellectual, bureaucratic, and political questions must be worked out. In addition, all international collaboration may involve communication difficulties among would-be collaborators, not only because of linguistic differences but also because of differing cultural styles and unequal power positions that might exist.

Questions surrounding protection of human subjects and other ethical issues can be particularly complex and intense, given different countries’ formal requirements for clearances and consent, as well as their differing informal understandings of various questions. Privacy, ownership, and handling of datasets can also be problematic across national borders, as is the risk of bias in “constructs, methods, instruments, samples, measures, or administration,”

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2 NRC, International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 4-5.

3 NRC, International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 6-7.

4 NRC, International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 9-10.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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according to the 2008 report.5 Publication and dissemination also raise questions involving the sometimes disparate practices of different nations regarding authorship and ideas of who should get credit and/or ownership of the products of research.

The National Research Council workshops are not the only high-level efforts that look into the issues of international collaborative research, noted Pam Flattau, adjunct research staff member at IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute. In 2005, she said, the National Science Board, the National Science Foundation’s governing board, organized a task force on international science. As a result, a series of research roundtables was held around the world, resulting in a February 2008 report.6 This effort highlighted the role that the federal government can play in fostering international research collaborations. Approaches suggested included establishing what Flattau termed “coherent and integrated U.S. international strategic priorit[ies].”

Other suggestions included involving multiple U.S. government entities through lead officials named at each agency; coordinating between the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the State Department to develop strong international partnerships; doing more to foster intellectual exchange through support of brain circulation rather than brain drain; and cooperation with the private sector to develop international scientific standards.

ORGANIZATION OF WORKSHOP AND REPORT

The NRC workshop chronicled in this report focused on ways to overcome the challenges inherent in international collaborative research for behavioral and social scientists and educational researchers. It took place in September 2013 as a follow-up to the 2006 NRC event, which had examined the overall landscape of international collaborative research. Organized by an NRC-appointed workshop committee under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Psychological Science, the 2013 workshop was designed to provide participants the opportunity to discuss ways that universities and collaborative projects have tried to deal with challenges and issues similar to those raised in the 2006 workshop.

At the opening session, Judith Torney-Purta, professor of human development and quantitative methodology at the University of Maryland and cochair of the 2013 workshop committee, discussed the need for such exchanges. Although international collaborations have become more frequent in the behavioral and social sciences, she said, they remain less common than in other sciences and in mathematics or computer science. In addition, the fact that

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5 NRC, International Collaborations in Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 20.

6 National Science Board. International Science and Engineering Partnerships: A Priority for U.S. Foreign Policy and Our Nation’s Innovation Enterprise NSB 08-04 (February 14, 2008). Available at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2008/nsb084.pdf.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
×

most psychological and educational research has been conducted in English-speaking countries has often created bias, she said.

She next indicated the links between the 2013 workshop and its predecessor, which had identified four phases in international collaborative projects, each of them presenting distinct challenges. The 2013 program’s schedule aimed to allow participants to identify innovations in infrastructure and planning appropriate to each of the four phases. Specifically, each session of the workshop focused on a specific phase, with Sessions 3 and 4 both focusing on the same phase:

  • Session 1: Elements of the Organizational Infrastructure in the Behavioral and Social Sciences that Facilitate International Research Collaborations
  • Session 2: Building Infrastructure for Initiation and Planning of International Research Collaborations
  • Session 3: Issues in the Conduct of Internationally Collaborative Research
  • Session 4: Issues in the Conduct of Internationally Collaborative Research (continued) Group 1: Electronic Data Collection and Privacy Group 2: Issues in Relation to IRBs [institutional review boards]
  • Session 5: Reviewing Dissemination of the Products of Internationally Collaborative Research and Issues Raised by All Presentations.

Torney-Purta next reminded the group that the summary of the 2006 workshop had addressed the following areas: advanced research training, mentoring, national research centers, communication, cultural issues, data management, publications, dissemination, and funding.

Oscar Barbarin, professor of psychology at Tulane University and a cochair of the 2013 workshop, then addressed the group even more specifically about the workshop’s overall purpose: to identify approaches for solving some of the most persistent problems that impede international collaborative research. Such problems include tenure and training policies that preclude the involvement of graduate students and junior faculty, insufficient funding for appropriate dissemination, IRB policies, the challenge of identifying potential collaborators, and challenges in new web-based environments.

Acknowledging funding from the Spencer Foundation, Torney-Purta added that the workshop might consider how to use international collaborative research to inform educational improvement. In addition, Barbarin emphasized that the participants had been invited to explore what can be learned from comparing solutions to the challenges of international collaborative research from different types of institutions, professional associations, and projects.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
×

Beyond attending the workshop itself, Torney-Purta added, workshop participants were also invited to attend “The Science of Science Communication II,” a colloquium sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, during the morning of the workshop’s first day. It discussed a number of issues related to disseminating results of scientific research. The communication conference’s two keynote speakers were psychologists who are members of the National Academy of Sciences, Susan Fiske and Douglas Medin (who was also a member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Psychological Science).7

Given this background, the 2013 workshop moved ahead to consider a variety of approaches to fostering international collaboration so that behavioral scientists can realize the many potential advantages and overcome the challenges of working with a range of international research partners. The workshop consisted of four plenary sessions featuring expert panels or speakers presenting their views on a significant issue. In addition, the topic “Issues in the Conduct of Internationally Collaborative Research” featured a plenary session in Session 3 and, as Session 4, two simultaneous, expert-led, break-out discussions of particularly crucial, sensitive, and technically challenging issues. These discussion topics were (1) collection and privacy of data collected by electronic means and (2) protection of human subjects, particularly as it relates to the functioning and requirements of institutional review boards dealing with international projects. After the two parallel discussions, the entire group reassembled for Session 5, the final plenary session, which was planned to focus on two themes: the major issues likely to arise in the dissemination of internationally collaborative research, and the group’s overall impressions and final thoughts about effective strategies for building infrastructure and improving policies and procedures. The workshop was not intended to produce consensus recommendations, but rather a range of ideas that might guide future work.

The current report focuses on the major themes and issues raised in the workshop’s presentations and discussions rather than on presenting a chronological account of the proceedings. Participants’ remarks therefore appear where they are relevant to the topics being discussed in the report rather than when they occurred during the workshop. There are other issues relevant across scientific disciplines that were not addressed by workshop participants and therefore are not included in this report.8

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7 National Research Council. The Science of Science Communication II: Summary of a Colloquium (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2014). Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18478.

8 Another NRC report that addresses similar issues is National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. Examining Core Elements of International Research Collaboration: Summary of a Workshop (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2011). Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13192.

Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
×
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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction." National Research Council. 2014. Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18970.
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In recent years, as science becomes increasingly international and collaborative, the importance of projects that involve research teams and research subjects from different countries has grown markedly. Such teams often cross disciplinary, cultural, geographic and linguistic borders as well as national ones. Successfully planning and carrying out such efforts can result in substantial advantages for both science and scientists. The participating researchers, however, also face significant intellectual, bureaucratic, organizational and interpersonal challenges.

Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences is the summary of a workshop convened by the National Research Council's Committee on International Collaborations in Social and Behavioral Sciences in September 2013 to identify ways to reduce impediments and to increase access to cross-national research collaborations among a broad range of American scholars in the behavioral and social sciences (and education), especially early career scholars. Over the course of two and a half days, individuals from universities and federal agencies, professional organizations, and other parties with interests in international collaboration in the behavior and social sciences and education made presentations and participated in discussions. They came from diverse fields including cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, comparative education, educational anthropology, sociology, organizational psychology, the health sciences, international development studies, higher education administration, and international exchange.

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