Collaboration in academic research teams: integrating non-academic members

Purpose The present study aims to deepen the understanding of the determinant factors of non-academic collaborations within the context of Spanish public universities. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the open science perspective, the study examines how gender diversity, knowledge diversity within academic research teams and contextual factors influence the formation of non-academic collaboration (a broader range of external agents beyond firms). It employs hierarchical multiple and negative binomial regressions in a sample of 277 Spanish academic research teams to specifically assess research excellence, defined as institutional research performance, which is measured by SciVal as the volume of publications in the top 10% of field-weighted citation impact [FWCI] over a five-year period. Findings The results confirm the relevance of research team knowledge diversity in fostering openness to collaboration with non-academic external agents, supporting evidence from the literature on diversity management. Surprisingly, the hypotheses regarding gender diversity and research excellence are not supported. Originality/value Moving beyond traditional helix models and adopting an open science perspective, this paper offers new insights into the key factors shaping how academic research teams generate external networks with non-academic agents.