Commentary: Suggestions for guidance by academics who collaborate with digital companies – a commentary on Bourgaize et al. (2025)

TL;DR

The paper suggests creating clear guidelines for academic researchers working with digital companies to ensure transparency and fairness, especially in education and youth mental health.

Contribution

The paper introduces a framework for responsible academic–industry collaboration with specific guidance on contracts, data sharing, and stakeholder inclusion.

Findings

Clear institutional support and contractual guidance are needed for transparent academic–industry collaborations.

Researchers face challenges like limited legal support and suppression of negative results.

A centralized data repository with shared principles is recommended to improve evidence-based decision-making.

Abstract

Our collective article argues for the development of a clear, shared guidance to support responsible collaborations between academic researchers and digital technology companies, particularly in the fields of education and youth mental health. Drawing on longstanding experience in edtech research, we argue that effective academia–industry collaboration requires clearer institutional support, with explicit guidance at both the contractual and community engagement levels to ensure transparency, fair reporting and the inclusion of all stakeholders. We highlight the challenges researchers face, such as limited legal support and difficulties in publishing negative results, and the need for strong contractual safeguards that protect against the suppression of negative results, define data ownership and set transparent terms for data use, publication timelines and study termination. We also advocate for formalized data‐sharing protocols and a centralized, anonymized data repository governed by shared principles, enabling more rigorous cross‐study analyses and supporting funders, researchers and policymakers in making evidence‐based decisions.