Table 1

Practical actions for fostering cross-disciplinary research and the number of publications that mentioned each action

Practical actions for fostering cross-disciplinary research (CDR)	Number of publications that mention each action (n=63)
At the individual level
1. Personal attributes	25
1.1 Receptive to new ideas and willing to learn from others	17
1.2 Courageous to push disciplinary boundaries	7
1.3 Dealing with the unknown	4
1.4 Aware of and coping with negative emotions generated while conducting CDR	10
2. Motivation to conduct CDR	10
2.1 A strong belief in the added value of CDR	8
2.2 Creative outputs and better theories and analyses generated through CDR	5
2.3 Better understanding of one’s own disciplines by doing CDR	1
3. Commitment and confidence in teamwork	15
3.1 An individuals’ willingness to work collaboratively	8
3.2 Individual commitment to conduct CDR	8
3.3 Individuals’ confidence to explore and initiate CDR	4
4. Career progression	4
4.1 A large publication record within a primary discipline	3
4.2 The continuity and development of CDR networks and communities	1
At research team/programmatic level
1. Good leadership	26
1.1 Explicit knowledge integration goals	3
1.2 Integrative and clear vision	12
1.3 Leaders’ personal quality Trustworthiness, transparency and openness Recognising complementary expertise, understanding differences and managing expectations Communication skills, team-building skills	10
1.4 Organising and expanding collaborative networks	5
1.5 Disengaging partners that cannot find ways to work together productively	4
2. Establishing a cross-disciplinary team	23
2.1 Clearly identified roles	4
2.2 A balanced team of experienced and early-career researchers	2
2.3 A central administration team providing leadership and administrative support	5
2.4 Research brokers to facilitate communication among disciplines	8
2.5 Collaborations based on pre-existing networks	11
3. Working as a cross-disciplinary team	42
3.1 Defining and framing research problems collaboratively	5
3.2 Working to a common conceptual framework	8
3.3 Conflict prevention and management through communication and open discussions, by internal agreed approaches, and turning competing demands into opportunities for growth	15
3.4 Identifying and minimising academic and discipline hierarchy	11
3.5 Engaging local stakeholders, especially through a continuous participatory approach, joint field trips and with the support of a communications specialist	6
3.6 Mentoring early-career researchers	6
3.7 Nurturing trust within CDR teams and from funding agencies and hosting institutions	12
4. Cross-disciplinary communications	32
4.1 Constructing a shared understanding with developing a shared language as a milestone, through mutual learning, and by team-level reflection	19
4.2 Having regular meetings, from informal ones to formal ones, either in-person or through virtual meetings and electronic communication	27
At institutional/funder level
1. Institutional support	10
1.1 Promoting a CDR culture	2
1.2 Establishing institutional structures such as CDR centres	2
1.3 Creating a common administration infrastructure	5
1.4 Initiating and maintaining CDR mentorship schemes	4
1.5 Disseminating CDR funding information	2
1.6 Facilitating networking and matching research collaborators	4
2. Academic career pathways	6
2.1 Structuring and implementing faculty incentives valuing CDR appropriately	6
3. Providing institutional resources	21
3.1 Institutional seed money	10
3.2 Meeting venues and tools for research management	5
3.3 Shared space, that is, offices, buildings, campuses, study sites	14
4. Funders’ power and influence	16
4.1 Dedicated funding for CDR, especially long-term and seed funding, or by promoting CDR in funding calls	9
4.2 Commission research on CDR communication and co-ordination	4
4.3 Flexible review processes for funding applications	4
4.4 Linking researchers across disciplines	4
4.5 Engaging with universities and publishers for better recognition of CDR	1
4.6 Engaging policy makers when the research is policy relevant	1