Research Project Management Best Practices

Perfect Practices and Perils in
Research Project Management
Vanitha Swaminathan
University of Pittsburgh
Tom Brown
Oklahoma State University

Two Quick Thoughts…
• The research process is messy and non-linear
(and therefore fraught with peril…)

• The research process is messy and non-linear
(and therefore fraught with peril…)
• Project management is a learned skill
(and learning best practices can be helpful)
Two Quick Thoughts…

• Survey of leading scholars
• Open-ended survey (N=25)
Questions:
(1) Please identify two or three issues you have faced
while managing research projects.
(2) Please provide your recommended solutions to the
issues you have faced in managing research projects.
Perfect Practices and Perils of
Research Project Management

Typical research projects involve multiple stages
Idea
Generation
Lit
Review
Study
design
Data
collection
Analysis
Writing
Paper

Working with Co-authors
KEY ISSUES
(1) Selecting Co-authors
(2) Communication
(3) Timing Issues
(4) Working Styles/ Skills

(1) Working with Co-authors: Selecting Co-authors
• Only work with hard-working/motivated
colleagues.
• Have different projects with different co-
authors, so that your work does not come to a
stand still. Even as a PhD student, make sure
to have one project with a team that does not
include your advisor.

(2) Working with Co-authors: Communication
• A clear author hierarchy can help with the
arguments; but the best process remains to
talk about it. Presenting existing papers that
support your view can also help.
• Upfront and often - perhaps during each
round of review - discuss team members' roles
and responsibilities (who is first author? what
does that entail?)
• Setting expectations [is important].

(3) Working with Co-authors: Timing Issues
• Don't leave yourself hanging. Be polite, but
stay in control of the process. Instead of just
sending them the paper and review notes and
ask them to proof it carefully and provide edits
by a certain date, make it clear that you will
move on after that date. Say something like
"Here is the revised manuscript and review
notes that we will submit on XX. I know you
have a lot on your plate, but we would love to
have your feedback -- we can incorporate
anything you send by XX."

(3) Working with Co-authors: Timing Issues
• Be upfront about time constraints. Let others
know when you will have the work done and
meet those goals.
• Communicate clearly and directly with co-
authors what they have to deliver when.
Works or does not work depending on the co-
author. Again also deadlines can help to keep
co-authors on track.

(4) Working with Co-authors: Working Styles/Skills
• Portfolio management. Move with the faster
co-author while showing patience to the
slower co-author. Attempts to slow the fast or
prod the slow results in nothing but frustration
for everyone.
• Identify co-author strengths and assign
responsibility accordingly, e.g., some are good
at data analysis, others are good at writing,
others are the best "finishers" (formatting,
referencing, submitting, dealing with reviews)

Managing Projects
KEY ISSUES
(1) Choice of Project
(2) Number of Projects
(3) Time Management
(4) Organization

(1) Managing Projects: Choice of Project
• To make sure that both the co-author AND the
project itself are both something that you
want to spend time with/on. If the project is
not interesting, or if the co-author has
different working style there could problems
down the line.

• Sometimes I have gotten greedy and worked
on projects that go nowhere - one of the
reasons is that the topic itself was much too
far away from what I would have liked to work
on ideally but the desire to work with a
particular co-author made me accept the
project. I think it is okay to be picky.

• After reading countless current articles of
great rigor and almost no relevance, I guess I
need to become an Associate Editor or Editor
as attempts to facilitate change from the
outside have been unsuccessful. Rigor seems
to be the current editorial standard.
Managerial Implications are rarely a priority.
Moreover, many of our constituent groups
seek relevance while our accrediting bodies
and administrators seek publications in the
Journal of ... It's a game with few winners.

(2) Managing Projects: Number of Projects
• I am beginning a concerted effort to “lead”
fewer projects. I’d like to take a management
approach, where I lead some and provide
advice and guidance on others.
• I guess timing the different projects is crucial.
Have just the right number that you can
manage and maybe feel just a little bit
pushed. Too few means the pipeline is too
short and the productivity might be low; too
many means that you cannot put in the kind of
effort that you should be on all the projects.

(3) Managing Projects: Time Management
• Better time management, blocking days in
agenda for working on research. But this is
particularly challenging in teaching intense
times. Sometimes it also helps to have some
deadlines where progress has to be made, for
instance conference presentations. Also
special issues with a fixed submission date
help here.

(3) Managing Projects: Time Management
• Provide disproportionate time to projects that
are closest to submission/resubmission. Do
data collection during teaching semesters.
• The best I have been able to do is not let other
job responsibilities crowd out research
projects.

(4) Managing Projects: Organization
• Work first on a PowerPoint "presentation"
(because its not really a presentation, its
merely an evolving plan of the project), and
then meeting regularly, either face-to-cafe or
online, to build on and flesh out the
PowerPoint presentation, until it looks like
something that one might present at a
conference or to summarize a journal article.
Then one has a good picture of what the final
paper will look like, and the real work can
begin"

(4) Managing Projects: Organization
• Keep a detailed list of "next steps" for each
project including small things (e.g., "double
check the accuracy of the Smith reference") as
well as large things (e.g., "re-run analysis with
new data") so that no window of time is
wasted. When one project is on a coauthor's
desk, put your head down and plow through
your list on another project.

Why Choose to Co-author?
• Better ideas (two heads are better than one)
• Share the workload
• Focus on strengths
• More fun
• Speeds up projects (IF schedules are coordinated)
• Allows more ongoing projects
• Potential for deepening friendships
22

Best Practices
(but… do as I say, not as I do)
• Identify everyone’s role in advance (including who will be
first author/leader)
• Develop a timeline in advance
• If collecting a large dataset (with possible multiple
publications), specify who gets to use data and under
what conditions
• When you find a great partner…foster that relationship
for all it’s worth!
• Communicate, communicate, communicate …and then
communicate some more
23

Worst Practices
• Don’t agree to a research partnership unless you have
the time to be a good partner
– Corollary: Don’t take on too many projects
• Don’t agree to a research partnership just because a
friend is asking
• NEVER force yourself onto a project because of your
stature or position
– Corollary: When pressured by a faculty member with
power over you, ___________.
• Don’t take advantage of your research partners
24

Research Project Management Best Practices

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