
Research Project Criteria for ServCollab Affiliation
Project Topics

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A project must be consistent with ServCollab’s mission to serve humanity through research collaborations that catalyze reducing human suffering, improving human well-being, and enabling well-becoming.
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It must include authentic/original research questions that advance service research.
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It must have clear implications and relevance for societal impact and human well-being for various stakeholders.
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Ideally, projects should develop long term research agendas for reducing human suffering, improving human well-being, and enabling well-becoming.
Project Rigor
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A project must use appropriate theories, frameworks, and concepts that fit the purpose of serving humanity. Because humanity is remarkably complex, using and adapting theories/frameworks from other disciplines is highly encouraged.
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It must have a robust methodology. Using multi-method studies and novel methodologies is highly recommended.
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It must meet the highest ethical research standards for human subjects research. Any documented violations would result in loss of ServCollab affiliation.
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Research studying understudied populations and contexts is highly recommended.
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A project can be conceptual, empirical, or both.

Research Teams

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A project team should be diverse and inclusive because such teams better represent the whole of humanity.
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Ideally, research project teams are multi-country, multidisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder including non-academic partners from nonprofit organizations, for profit corporations, or government agencies.
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Research projects should seek to expand research capacity by encouraging inclusion of early career researchers.
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Project teams must practice collaborative research processes. Hence, each project team should establish clear and strong collaboration ground rules for succeeding together.