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Science of Team Science (SciTS) is a field of scientific philosophy and methodology focused on understanding and improving cross-disciplinary collaboration in research. The field encompasses conceptual and methodological strategies to understand how scientific teams can be organized to work more effectively.[1] SciTS initiatives are concerned with understanding and managing factors that facilitate or hinder the effectiveness of collaborative science, as well as evaluating its outcomes.[2][3][4]
Since the 1990s, interest in and large-scale funding for team-based research initiatives has increased, driven by efforts to address complex problems through cross-disciplinary collaboration.[2][5][6][7] Some argue that this trend reflects the growing recognition that addressing multifaceted challenges—such as climate change and public health issues—benefits from partnerships among scientists and practitioners from diverse fields.[5][6][8] One SciTS literature review highlighted team science as essential to interprofessional collaborative research[9] and called for its integration into health professions education and clinical practice at the University of Minnesota's NCIPE.
The interdisciplinary nature of SciTS initially emerged from practical concerns raised by funding agencies, which sought to assess the performance of team science, understand its added value, evaluate the return on investment in large research initiatives, and inform scientific policy.[2] The term "science of team science" was first introduced in October 2006 at a conference called The Science of Team Science: Assessing the Value of Transdisciplinary Research, hosted by the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.[10] The SciTS field was further developed in a supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published in July 2008. Two years later, the First Annual International Science of Team Science (SciTS) Conference was held on April 22–24, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois, organized by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute.
In 2013, the National Academy of Sciences established a National Research Council Committee on the Science of Team Science to evaluate the current state of knowledge and practice in SciTS.[11] A committee report was later published in 2015.[12]
In 2023, Patrick Forscher and colleagues published a review identifying the benefits of big team science, noting that innovations facilitate the collection of larger samples and support efforts toward reproducibility and generalizability.[13][14] However, concerns exist that team science could increasingly influence funding priorities, potentially shifting emphasis from applied to more theoretical research areas, as well as leading to unsuccessful large-scale projects.[15] Forscher's recommendations included creating an advisory board and structured bylaws, formalizing feedback mechanisms from contributors, engaging in mentoring, and separating idea generation from project implementation.[14]
The definition of a successful team may differ depending on the stakeholder.[2] SciTS uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the antecedent conditions, collaborative processes, and outcomes associated with team science, as well as the organizational, social, and political context that influences team science.[2]
A 2018 review of literature on SciTS published between 2006 and 2016 identified 109 articles. It reported that 75% of these articles used pre-existing data (e.g., archival data), 62% used bibliometrics, over 40% used surveys, and over 10% used interview and observational data.[16]
↑ "The Science of Team Science". National Academies Web Server sites.nationalacademies.org. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
↑ Committee on the Science of Team Science; Board On Behavioral, Cognitive; Division of Behavioral Social Sciences Education; National Research, Council; Cooke, N. J.; Hilton, M. L. (July 15, 2015). Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/19007. ISBN978-0-309-31682-8. PMID26247083.
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