Current status and future perspectives of collaboration in surgical research: A scoping review of the evidence.

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nSurgery is rapidly changing in terms of techniques, education, and methods of conducting research. To keep up with this pace, surgeons have recently focused on collaborative research projects. The aim of this review was to investigate practices for collaborations in surgical research.\n\n\nMETHODS\nA scoping review was conducted according to the guidelines proposed by Peters et al. Publications on patterns of collaboration in surgical research between January 2000 and December 2020, irrespective of the study design or language of publication, which were indexed in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, were included. A research librarian assisted in choosing the search terms and conducting the search. The very broad nature of the subject necessitated a pragmatic search strategy, with primary focus on reviews about collaboration. A new form of crowd science was used that explored collaborations using social media and online shared documents.\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe search identified 38 studies that covered different aspects of collaboration in surgical research. Global, specialist, trainee-/student-led, and patient-led collaboratives are growing in number and size. Implementation of information technologies in surgical collaboration is still limited. The review identified attempts to include researchers from low- and middle-income countries in these collaborations, but these were at the early stages.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nThere are many patterns of collaboration in surgical research. Involvement of low- and middle-income countries will lead to capacity building in these countries, fast recruitment for surgical trials, and more generalizability of trial results. Due to the complex nature of surgical research, implementation of information technologies might improve the quality of research.