A Trioethnographic Exploration of Co-Authoring in Higher Education: Perspectives of a PhD Student, a Supervisor, and an Editor

As co-authoring becomes more prevalent internationally and across disciplines, there is a pressing need to examine the experiences of co-authors to understand how differing author identities and hierarchies may affect each author’s experience. This trioethnographic study, in which three researchers explored their experience of co-authoring through dialogic inquiry, offers a critical, reflective analysis of three publication stakeholders: a doctoral student, a doctoral supervisor, and a journal editor. Key findings emerge under two themes: ‘Working together benefits us all’ and ‘Working together isn’t always easy.’ While co-authoring fosters synergy, motivation, collegiality, and professional growth, it also surfaces challenges related to working styles, power dynamics, and cultural differences. These findings urge the authors to question existing beliefs about power imbalances within co-authoring relationships and challenge the expectations placed on PhD students and supervisors, with the aim of achieving more inclusive and sustainable publishing practices. Methodologically, this study promotes trioethnography as a legitimate approach to investigate relationships across cultural and geographical borders.