For collaborative research to be successful, understanding and solving collaboration problems is of paramount importance. However, theory-driven research on this issue at a general level is scarce. Drawing from two micro-oriented approaches (i.e., club theory and commons theory) and relying on self-governance as the basic principle for addressing collaboration problems, we aim to develop theoretically informed, concise and generalizable catalogs of problems and solutions based on the experiences and expectations of research collaboration participants. A series of expert interviews (N = 18) were conducted with leading researchers in Germany. Seven typical problems (e.g., lack of commitment or fairness) and 12 possible solutions (e.g., continuous evaluation or creating cognitive common ground) that can be applied within the self-regulatory framework were identified. The results provide a useful framework to further investigate problems and solutions as well as interlinkages between the two, and to improve research collaboration.

In recent years, collaboration has become the norm in scientific knowledge production. Like other forms of collaboration, research collaborations (RCs) face specific problems that can jeopardize success. Against this background, the present study sought to gain a deeper understanding of the relevance of different collaboration problems and the interconnections among these problems. Building on previous insights into the most current problems, we addressed four major issues: (1) researchers' perceived relative relevance of collaboration problems in their projects (in terms of their occurrence), (2) differences in these perceptions based on the type of RC (e.g., number of subprojects and collaboration mode) and (3) on the characteristics of researchers, and (4) the co-occurrence of collaboration problems. Based on a representative survey of leading participants of RCs funded by the German Research Foundation (n = 5,326), we found that researchers experienced collaboration problems (e.g., fairness and communication problem) only to a small degree, and there were almost no differences regarding their perceived relevance. Furthermore, there were almost no significant differences concerning the perceived relevance of these problems depending on the type of RC or the individual researchers. However, the findings did reveal specific patterns of co-occurrence (e.g., relationship and difference problem). The results suggest that previous research may have overstated the relevance of collaboration problems in RCs. Instead, it seems that at least in Germany, collaborative research works better than one might assume.