As my publishing gained momentum, a famous senior scholar (FSS) offered a bit of unsolicited advice.
We were attending a smaller conference. I suspect they were a bit bored, as few of the usual suspects attended.
So it was my chance to talk to this person.
Honestly, I was a bit of a fanboy.
So as they started to talk, I was all ears.
FSS: what are you working on?
Me: I'm looking at a new project with ...
FSS: Oh, is that the xyz study?
Me: Um. How did you know about that?
FSS: Oh, well, they asked me to join & I turned them down.
Me: What?
FSS: It was a lot of work with little possibility of a return.
I expressed disbelief. The dataset was unique. It had all the elements of a great project.
FSS: Look. If it was easy, you would not be invited. You have to look academic #gifthorses in the mouth.
He opined that usually, once data is collected, it's a bad idea to join the project - bc it meant there were problems in the data or on the team.
FSS suggested three sets of questions to evaluate a potential collaboration.
First, what is the track record of the person?
FSS looked at where, when, & with whom they published.
Collaborators who had published well were preferable.
They understood the risk of #submission & the effort to complete a #revision.
So if well published, the collaboration might work.
If not, think very carefully, esp. if the person was approaching tenure.
FSS cautioned that pre-tenure coauthors could be neurotic, bc they were afraid.
Second, what is their motivation?
FSS actively questioned why they were sought out as a #collaborator.
They recommended asking:
(1) who is on the team? had team members quit? Why?
(2) what skills do you need? Where will you find them?
(3) how long had the paper been in progress? Why wasn't it done?
(4) where has the paper been under review?
By asking who, what, how, & where, you could get a feel for why you were needed.
If the game had been afoot too long or involved too many people, it was likely a #brokenproject.
Third, what #decisionrights are they offering?
FSS counseled me to never be a figurehead.
FSS wanted the right to ask:
(1) for more #datacollection if needed.
(2) to completely #reframe the paper.
(3) to decide when the #paper could be submitted.
FSS noted there was no point in #collaboration if you did not have input, so make sure you could have an impact, before ever joining a #team.
By considering history, motivation, & willingness to share control, FSS argued that you could predict if the collaboration would be successful.
He was right.
Once I applied FSS's questions, I became better at surfacing challenges and opportunities of joining a project, esp. once the data was in, which made my collaborations more successful.
Give applying them a shot. You won't regret it!
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