• Gregory A Aarons, Chariz Seijo, Amy E Green, Joanna C Moullin, Henna Hasson, von Thiele SchwarzUlricaUMedical Management Centre, Dept. of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.​School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 721 23, Västerås, Sweden., Sigrid James, Mark G Ehrhart, Simon Ducarroz, Nick Sevdalis, and Cathleen Willging.
• Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive (0812), La Jolla, CA, 92093-0812, USA. gaarons@ucsd.edu.
• BMC Res Notes. 2019 Nov 29; 12 (1): 778.

ObjectiveInternational collaboration in science has received increasing attention given emphases on relevance, generalizability, and impact of research. Implementation science (IS) is a growing discipline that aims to translate clinical research findings into health services. Research is needed to identify efficient and effective ways to foster international collaboration in IS. Concept-mapping (CM) was utilized with a targeted sample for preliminary exploration of fostering international collaboration. Concept-mapping is a mixed-method approach (qualitative/quantitative) particularly suited for identifying essential themes and action items to facilitate planning among diverse stakeholders. We sought to identify key factors likely to facilitate productive and rewarding international collaborations in implementation research.ResultsWe identified eleven dimensions: Strategic Planning; Practicality; Define Common Principles; Technological Tools for Collaboration; Funding; Disseminate Importance of Fostering International Collaboration in IS; Knowledge Sharing; Innovative & Adaptive Research; Training IS Researchers; Networking & Shared Identity; Facilitate Meetings. Strategic Planning and Funding were highest rated for importance and Strategic Planning and Networking and Shared Identity were rated most feasible to institute. Fostering international collaboration in IS can accelerate the efficiency, relevance, and generalizability of implementation research. Strategies should be developed and tested to improve international collaborations and engage junior and experienced investigators in collaborations advancing implementation science and practice.

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