Co-author solicitation thread

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, Charles writes:

Any philosopher here interested in co-authoring papers in political philosophy? Could we have a fixed thread in which people interested in this kind of opportunity could 'advertise' their work in progress or projects?

Co-author responded:

I would discourage people from just collaborating with scholars they have not had contact with before. Co-authoring is a very intimate relationship. Even though I have published with people I have never met in person, I established a relationship of sorts - building trust with them - before we embarked on a collaborative project.

I'm not sure why 'co-author' thinks the fact that co-authoring involves a relationship of trust is a reason not to run a thread like this. The way I see it, there are already too many barriers to co-authoring in philosophy: principally, the barrier that not that many people seem to do it, but also the barrier that a lot of people may not be in a very good position to develop the kinds of pre-existing relationships that 'co-author' alludes to here. For example, people who work in very small, non-prestigious departments may have difficulties networking or finding co-authors. So, I see no clear reason not to run a thread of the sort Charles requested. It may not work work very well (who knows!), but no one will ever know if we don't try. Personally, I've sometimes had paper ideas that I thought might be good ones, which I thought a co-author might be able to help with, but which I gave up on because I didn't know anyone who I thought might be good to approach as a co-author. This sort of thing seems to me unfortunate, and probably a situation that others face. So, I say, why not give a thread like the one Charles asked for a go? It might give people an opportunity to seek out and create the kinds of productive relationships 'co-author' mentioned.

In any case, I hereby open this thread for individuals interested in co-authoring to put feelers out. Please feel free to broadly describe your area of focus or the kind of philosophical issue you're working on, and whatever information about yourself you think may be helpful. I would caution commenters against being too open with what you're working on, as you never know whether there may be bad actors out there looking to poach others' ideas. However, if you're just vague enough, perhaps a thread like this may be helpful!

Comments

[Gradstudentanon]

I have a related query regarding co-authorship.

At my institution I have noticed a handful of grad students co-authoring works with their dissertation supervisors. I would like to ask whether the publications that result benefit the grad student on the job market. Do hiring committees view published works by junior applicants co-authored with their supervisors as equal in merit to works not co-authored with supervisors?

If not, would the grad students be better off not co-authoring pieces with their supervisors? If the answer to this question is yes, then is it poor practice of supervisors to co-author with grad students?

[Mike]

Re: Gradstudentanon, I think consideration of a host of pragmatic issues will decide the matter for you before you need to start thinking about the absolute strategic goodness of coauthoring with your supervisor. For example, do you have the time to coauthor something with them? are they asking you to coauthor with them? do you and them have a wicked idea that just needs to be written up? are you struggling to write publishable stuff on your own, so that coauthoring with them might be a good way to learn how to write a publishable paper? I suspect that if you focus on the opportunities and issues at hand, this question will sort itself out.

Just a quick thought. I'm not disagreeing with the value or purpose of this thread, but a helpful strategy for coauthoring seems to be to read your friends' work, even if those friends are just other graduate students. (And I'm being loose with "friends", including people you chatted with once at the APA.) If you find interesting overlap or opportunities for engagement, you can (naturally) ask them if they're interested in coauthoring. I get that those who are several years out and in a research desert may not have this option, but it's probably a good strategy for many. It may seem obvious, but I know that I didn't even think of it when I was a graduate student. I was (wrongly) focused on reading the work of "superstars" and (to my detriment) didn't seriously think about engaging or collaborating with the work of my low-level peers.

[Dan Dunleavy]

So I'm not a philosopher, but rather a social science researcher with philosophical interests. I'm an avid reader of this and related blogs and have taken graduate level philosophy courses.

I primarily do work in behavioral health (mental health and substance use). I've been considering delving further into the philosophy of psychiatry (esp. around diagnosis and treatment) and around issues of evidence within the context of the current scholarly publication system.

I'd be happy to discuss further with anyone who has interest. Sometimes I hear philosophers lament that there work isn't more in-tune with scientific practice and I often lament that the social sciences are not more philosophically minded. This might be a good opportunity to do some mutually collaborative, interdisciplinary work.

[Marc]

I've coauthored a book and around half a dozen papers. Among my coauthors are people in English, psychology, and math. I have co-authored with a college drop-out a lawyer and a (non-academic) relative. Each is different. I've never co-authored with a stranger, though I have tried and it failed for lack of momentum, but I am still trying and I have reached out to total strangers. Sometimes you will be the one doing more work, sometimes the other person will and sometimes it will be 50-50. All are rewarding. It is much better having two brains and sets of experience working on something than just your own.

[Michel Xhignesse]

I think this thread is a great idea! I hope it takes off.

For my part, I have a few too many writing obligations at the moment (including a few co-authored projects that I really need to get out the door!). But if someone out there isn't in any rush and can wait a few months, I'm happy to collaborate on projects in or crossing paths with aesthetics and the philosophy of art.