Implementation of a Gameboard Approach for Team-Based Manuscript Development

Research is often conducted in teams, which allows for greater collaboration across disciplines and institutions. However, the team-based approach can present challenges for manuscript writing, including ineffective management, clashing writing styles, and varying levels of coauthor involvement.1 Unclear communication can result in confusion regarding the division of tasks, decreased productivity, and a manuscript that may be redundant or missing important information.2 These obstacles may extend and delay the writing process or prevent manuscript submission. Publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals is a vital way to disseminate research findings. Therefore, it is crucial to make collaborative writing easier for teams to share their research and advance knowledge in their respective fields. To streamline the collaborative writing process, we present the gameboard method, a strategy to organize and distribute responsibility for writing sections for a final manuscript (Figure).The gameboard was developed at Duke University (by author B.G.) to train students, nurses, and clinical researchers in team-based scientific writing. The gameboard was designed to encourage collaboration and efficiency in manuscript development by breaking the writing process into small steps with explicit instructions for creating a manuscript’s introduction, purpose, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections, standard to scientific writing (Figure). We first piloted the gameboard for a community-based quality improvement project titled Closing the Gap on Health Disparities and Outcomes in Hypertension. The project had many first-time student researchers and was an asynchronous research experience, with both online and in-person activities that resulted in limited time when the whole group was together for collaborative writing. Similar to real-world writing in hospital-based clinical research teams, the gameboard was used to ease the scientific writing process by distributing sections of the manuscript for students to work on independently and creating a seamless process to bring the sections back together into one cohesive story.On the gameboard, individuals/teams are listed in the first column as an identifier for each row. Then, each individual/team selects a part of the story to draft for their respective paper(s). The purpose of the gameboard is to ensure an equitable distribution of the workload to create a draft manuscript. Once the manuscript is drafted, individuals go through the section-specific instructions to finalize each component and mark it accordingly on the gameboard. The gameboard rules specify references, figures, tables, and other formatting guidelines. As researchers progress through the scientific process, they can note their own progress and view the group’s overall progress. The first individual/team to finish their row “wins” the game (see the Table). To encompass the collaborative writing process, the gameboard incorporates peer review, check-ins, and a final review date to ascertain approval from each team member. This process seeks to give autonomy to each player within a group dynamic (see the Table for further instructions).The goal of the gameboard is to facilitate a systematic approach to the manuscript-development process so that minor setbacks common to collaborative efforts—such as challenges beginning the assignment; varying team member expectations for section length, content, and deadlines; and differences in team members’ understanding of formatting requirements and journal guidelines—can be minimized. Through the use of a systematic approach, expectations, deadlines, and formatting requirements can be easily articulated and clarified upfront. In addition, all team members are able to contribute on their own time, more or less equally, and the gameboard grid ensures that all sections are addressed thoroughly, integrated logically, and written well through the use of team-based section reviews.A common barrier to team writing is allocating sections and ensuring that all aspects of the research are fully described and incorporated into the manuscript.3 Another common barrier is unclear communication, which can result in confusion regarding the division of tasks, whereby each team member works on their own parts but the team as a whole neglect to update the group on individual progress, leading to frustration and decreased productivity. The gameboard addresses this problem by outlining the portion each team member is responsible for and attaching very clear expectations per section. The gameboard grid allows team members to self-select or assign themselves to the different sections of the manuscript at the outset, so the expectations of each individual are clear to the entire group. This encourages accountability within the team and creates a systematic approach to assigning roles for manuscript development. The grid also includes color coding, which effectively allows for an expedited editing process and serves as a checkpoint for the path to publication.In addition to a systematic approach to help circumvent common writing barriers, good leadership is essential in team writing, as writing a multiauthored manuscript requires collaboration and significant time investment from all coauthors. Without an effective management style, group conflict may arise or the writing process may be extended or come to a standstill. On the other hand, a good management style fosters communication, efficiency, and productivity, helping to sustain team cohesion during challenges.4 Existing literature recommends that the leader use a consensus-building versus directive approach, so that the viewpoints of all coauthors are included; recommended management strategies include dynamic duo (co-leads dividing work evenly), board of directors (small group delegating to all authors), round table (all members engaged in tasks and decision-making), and organized chaos (lead author manages the manuscript process and delegates tasks).4 The gameboard approach for team-based manuscript development and dissemination lends itself to good leadership, as it provides a mechanism for the leader to create an engaging environment; fosters constant communication; and promotes productivity, accountability, and transparency. Leaders are able to stay involved throughout the writing process, informing coauthors about feedback and updates asynchronously through the productivity grid for manuscript completion (Figure). This constant feedback loop gives coauthors support as they are writing and moves the paper forward. It also has the added benefit of reducing the need to devote meeting time to updates that can be made offline.The gameboard method gamifies the writing process by dividing coauthors into teams that compete with one another in a “manuscript relay” to complete their sections in order to win. Transforming manuscript development into a game makes the process fun versus burdensome. Since the gameboard can be viewed by all coauthors, it promotes transparency and holds players accountable; everyone can track their own progress as well as that of the rest of the team. Furthermore, this method makes it easy to recognize individual contributions to the overall progress. The friendly competition rules provide a way to determine author order among the full team while also encouraging timely submission for publication.Manuscript development is often a daunting process that requires focus, teamwork, and constant communication, all of which can be difficult to sustain.3 The gameboard breaks the process into smaller steps, asking team members to complete the 5 tasks within specific bounds instead of asking the team to complete each of the sections all at once. Writing in small steps requires the team to stick to clear expectations, pause after each small step for group review, and use time more productively by allocating frequent check-ins for peer input and validation.2Many difficulties can arise and stymie team-based scientific writing, namely confusion around leadership, writing habits, and instructions. The gameboard rules remove role confusion and provide thoughtful expectations for the writing team. The leader can avoid conflicts and repetition in writing between team members, alleviating the stress of uncertainty regarding section distribution for members. In sum, the gameboard method provides an effective strategy to assist the writing process, one that may benefit other teams in scientific writing, especially projects with students or new researchers.

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