Understanding Scientific Collaboration in the Research Life Cycle: Bio- and Nanoscientists’ Motivations, Information-Sharing and Communication Practices, and Barriers to Collaboration EunKyung Chung Department of Library and Information Science, Ewha Womans University, 11-1 Seodaemun-Gu Daehyun-Dong, Seoul 120-750, Korea. E-mail: echung@ewha.ac.kr Nahyun Kwon Department of Library and Information Science, Myongji University, 34 Geobukgol-ro, Seodaemun-Gu, Seoul 120-728, Korea. E-mail: nahyun.kwon@gmail.com Jungyeoun Lee Research Institute for Social Science, Ewha Womans University, 11-1 Seodaemun-Gu Daehyun-Dong, Seoul 120-750, Korea. E-mail: jyonlee@gmail.com This study aims to identify the way researchers collabo- rate with other researchers in the course of the scientific research life cycle and provide information to the designers of e-Science and e-Research implementa- tions. On the basis of in-depth interviews with and on-site observations of 24 scientists and a follow-up focus group interview in the field of bioscience/ nanoscience and technology in Korea, we examined sci- entific collaboration using the framework of the scientific research life cycle. We attempt to explain the major motivations, characteristics of communication and information sharing, and barriers associated with scientists’ research collaboration practices throughout the research life cycle. The findings identify several notable phenomena including motivating factors, the timing of collaboration formation, partner selection, communication methods, information-sharing practices, and barriers at each phase of the life cycle. We find that specific motivations were related to specific phases. The formation of collaboration was observed throughout the entire process, not only in the beginning phase of the cycle. For communication and information-sharing practices, scientists continue to favor traditional means of communication for security reasons. Barriers to col- laboration throughout the phases included different priorities, competitive tensions, and a hierarchical culture among collaborators, whereas credit sharing was a barrier in the research product phase. Introduction Within the context of the growing complexity of research, collaboration has been considered one of the most crucial and common phenomena in the science community. Because the fields of science have been highly segmented with narrow foci, it has become necessary for researchers to work with others on complicated, complex, and multidisci- plinary research questions and agendas that cannot be solved within an individual domain. Indeed, a substantial number of bibliometric and informetrics studies show that scientific research collaborations have become common over the past two decades (Cronin, 2005). Moreover, coauthored research articles are recognized as more influential than single- authored articles in several fields, such as biotechnology, microbiology, and ecology (Leimu & Koricheva, 2005; Persson, Glänzel, & Danell, 2004). Moreover, there have been substantial efforts to promote collaborative research projects by providing the infrastructure for collaboration (Barga, Andrews, & Parastatidis, 2007; Nomura et al., 2008). As considerable research (Beaver, 2001; Nentwich, 2008) has suggested, digital technologies have had signifi- cant effects on research environments as a result of efforts to Received April 23, 2013; revised February 4, 2015; accepted February 4, 2015 © 2015 ASIS&T • Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/asi.23520 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ••(••):••–••, 2015