What Experienced Collaborators Say About Collaborative Writing

TLDR

Collaboration is variably defined, making it difficult to assess research projects accurately or to use their findings effectively. The study defines a specific type of interactive writing through intensive interviews with twenty collaborative writers. Shared‑document collaboration is characterized by joint document creation, substantive interaction, shared decision‑making, and is typified by labor‑intensive, specialization, and synthesis groups. Conclusions are illustrated with examples drawn from the interviewed writers' experiences.

Abstract

As currently used, collaboration refers to a variety of interactive writing expe riences, making it difficult or impossible to assess research projects accurately or to use their findings effectively. This paper presents a definition of one vari ety of interactive writing based on intensive interviews with twenty collaborative writers. Shared-document collaboration involves collaborators producing a shared document, engaging in substantive interaction about that document, and sharing decision-making power and responsibility for it. The paper also describes a typology of shared-document collaborative groups: labor intensive, specialization, and synthesis. Throughout, conclusions are supported with examples drawn from the experiences of the writers inter viewed.