The Paper Chase: A Team Science Training Exercise

Over the past few decades of psychological research, there has been an important increase in both the application of multidisciplinary or collaborative science and in training and research that emphasizes social justice and cultural humility. In the current article, we report on the use of the “Paper Chase” as a team science training and research experience that also facilitates cultural humility in research and when working in teams. The Paper Chase is a synchronous writing exercise originally conceptualized by a cohort of health service psychology interns to reduce lag time between article writing and submission (Schaumberg et al., 2015). The Paper Chase involves a group of trainees coming together for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 9 or more hours) with the aim of writing and submitting a full article for publication. In the current article, we extend a previous report on the Paper Chase by formally linking the training experience to the four phases of team science: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation. We also discuss ways in which the Paper Chase as a training experience can promote cultural humility. Finally, we provide updated recommendations for successfully completing a Paper Chase project. Overall, the authors of this article who were predoctoral psychology interns across two recent cohorts at one academic medical center reported positive experiences from the Paper Chase. In addition, the present study suggests that the Paper Chase can be used as one activity that facilitates critical training in team science.