Interdisciplinary collaborative writing for publication with exiled academics: The nature of relational expertise. (English)

This work explores the experience of collaborative academic writing with researchers in Centre-Periphery contexts, following the development and delivery of a workshop with exiled Syrian academics domiciled in Turkey who have been carrying out research in interdisciplinary teams. The teams were at the writing for publication stage of their projects working with their UK-Turkey-based academic mentors, and us as workshop leaders. In exploring the processes involved in writing in such groups, we identified a key dimension to successful collaborative writing – that of relational expertise. We found that authorial identity played a significant role in the process of writing and that relational expertise was evidenced through confidence in knowledge, positive attitudes to others’ knowledge and willingness to negotiate. We argue that explicit articulation of authorial identity and power differences are necessary first steps in establishing interdisciplinary collaborative writing groups in Centre-Periphery contexts.