Interdisciplinary working in public health research: a proposed good practice checklist

Abstract

Interdisciplinary work has the potential to advance public health science but the numerous challenges should not be underestimated. Use of a checklist, such as BASICS, when planning and managing projects may help future collaborations to avoid some of the common pitfalls of interdisciplinary research.

Assessing the capacity for conflict and health research in Lebanon: a qualitative study

“…Interdisciplinary research is crucial in understanding and resolving complex public health problems especially in conflict [39,80]. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are required to provide an enhanced understanding of the causes and consequences of conflicts while emphasizing personal experiences and narratives of those struggling from these conflicts is important [81,82].…”

A critical realist synthesis of cross-disciplinary health policy and systems research: defining characteristic features, developing an evaluation framework and identifying challenges

“…A dominant theme in the literature is the challenge of developing a shared concept of cross-disciplinary HPSR. The most commonly cited conceptual challenges were a difficulty in developing a shared research question and purpose [23,56,64,65,67,68,70,81], disagreement about research methods [56,57,67,68], challenges in maintaining disciplinary balance [56,57,66,67,70], and the prevalence of disciplinary capture superimposed by traditional health disciplines on contributory disciplines [23,24,56,64,65,70]. The latter is noted to create politics of hierarchy of disciplines for CDR in the field [26,29].…”

“…Difficulty in developing a shared conceptual framework [29,30,56,67,68,70,80,81] Establishing a CDR learning platform [30,53,67,70,76,82,83] Developing a well thought-out rationale for cross-disciplinary research [54,55,57,60,67] Mentoring for early career researchers [27,53,54,70,76] Disagreement about research methods [56,57,61,67,68,80,82] Piloting multiple methods [53,57,68,76,84] Seeking inputs/counsel from (experienced) external advisors [61,81,85,86] Challenges in maintaining disciplinary balance as the study progresses [56,57,66,67,70,81,87] Sustaining interaction, ...…”

“…Frequent communication breakdowns and disenchantment among team members [19,23,52,66,73,81] Keeping to a shared cross-disciplinary communication plan from the onset [23,57,60,73,92] Ensuring frequent interaction and meetings among team members [23,60,73,81,85] Using interactive media to develop team communication platforms [23,60,73,79] Challenge of accommodating discipline-specific languages of participating disciplines and stakeholders [19,56,59,67,93] Focusing more on development of a shared language than capturing each discipline's specific tone [19,26,67,85,87] Challenge of finding media suitable to participating disciplines and stakeholders [19,56,59,67] Using various communication mediums and strategies [19,26,81] Conflicts over authorship and publication of research output [19,58,59,67,68] Formulating authorship guidelines from the onset of the project [19,…”

Experiências Interdisciplinares Como Incentivo a Pós-Graduação: Um Relato De Caso / Interdisciplinary Experiences as a Post-Graduate Incentive: A Case Report

“…Apesar da proliferação de pesquisas interdisciplinares nos últimos anos, orientações sobre os desafios encontrados e as formas de evitar ou superar esses desafios são escassos e muitas vezes se originam fora do campo da saúde pública (GAVENS et al, 2018;MORLEY;CASHELL, 2017). Um outro cenário deste quadro é a implementação de estratégias de incentivo a pós-graduação dentro das atividades interdisciplinares, como por exemplo o incentivo à produção científica em anais de congressos ou equivalentes (HALL et al, 2006;MAHDIZADEH;HEYDARI;KARIMI MOONAGHI, 2015).…”