Big Team Science for language science: opportunities and challenges
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The present paper advocates for incorporating Big Team Science practices into the language sciences. Big Team Science is a promising mode of collaborative research in which top-down coordination directs efforts by a large number of researchers from different institutions towards a common scientific goal. The redistribution of resources and division of labor enabled by Big Team Science may enable researchers to increase methodological rigor, systematically explore claims across a wider sample of languages, and to diversify both the languages studied and the researchers engaged. However, implementing Big Team Science practices is not without challenges, some of which are unique to the language sciences. We suggest strategies and best practices for adapting to these challenges, including theoretical and methodological pluralism, variation in conditions among data collection sites, and navigating a trade-off between maximizing methodological rigor and ability to engage with the most inclusive, typologically broad language samples.
Source: Linguistics
Authors: Matthew Faytak, Šárka Kadavá, Chenzi Xu, Onur Özsoy, Pius W. Akumbu, Mark Amengual, Amalia Arvaniti, Malte Belz, Dorotea Bevivino, Amanda Cardoso, Joseph Vincent Casillas, Tiphaine Caudrelier, Aleksandra Ćwiek, Marie Dokovova, Indranil Dutta, Ander Egurtzegi, Hadley Forst, Paul Foulkes, Rowena Garcia, Martine Grice, Adriana Hanulíková, Sam Hellmuth, Kamil Kaźmierski, Xiang Li, Janne Lorenzen, Miki Mori, Jennifer Rose Nycz, Reenu Punnoose, Leticia Quesada Vázquez, Teja Rebernik, Brygida Sawicka-Stępińska, Zed Sehyr, Jane Setter, Malin Spaniol, Iñigo Urrestarazu-Porta, Alexandra Vella, Cong Zhang, Marzena Iwona Zygis, Erin Michellè Buchanan, Timo B. Roettger
Institutions: University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Radboud University Nijmegen, Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics, Nanyang Technological University, University of Oxford, University of Cologne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Langage, langues et cultures d'Afrique, University of California, Santa Cruz, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle, University of British Columbia, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Nicolaus Copernicus University, University of Strathclyde, Jadavpur University, Centre de Recherche sur la Langue et les Textes Basques, University of Arizona, University of York, University of the Philippines Manila, University of Freiburg, Heidelberg University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Nanfang College Guangzhou, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, University of Reunion Island, Georgetown University, Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad, Universidad Nebrija, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie, Chapman University, University of Reading, University Hospital Cologne, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, University of the Basque Country, University of Malta, Newcastle University, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, University of Oslo
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204534360