In public health departments across America, teams are building partnerships and networks in their communities to help address the social determinants of health and other upstream community health factors. However, there’s very little in the literature that provides a data-based perspective on network best practices or key principles. In this paper, we conducted A Systemic Review of Collaboration and Network Research in the Public Affairs Literature. Cognizant of the above identified issue, our goal with the paper was specifically to inform network-building and partnership in public health departments.

Paper Objectives. We explored and analyzed how findings from public affairs research can inform public health research and practice, specifically in the area of inter-organizational collaboration, one of the most promising practice-based approaches in the public health field.

Our Methods. We conducted a systematic review of the public affairs literature by following a grounded theory approach. We coded 151 articles for demographics and empirical findings (n = 258).

The Results. Three primary findings stand out in the public affairs literature: network structure affects governance, management strategies exist for administrators, and collaboration can be linked to outcomes. These findings are linked to priorities in public health practice.

Our Conclusions. Overall, we found that public affairs has a long and rich history of research in collaborations that offers unique organizational theory and management tools to public health practitioners. Read the Full Paper, “A Systemic Review of Collaboration and Network Research in the Public Affairs Literature,” below, and download it for any non-commercial purposes. Visit our Resource Library or Network Science Research Page for more articles and resources.