Through interviews with academics and practitioners who have successfully collaborated on research projects, as well as through a review of the literature on collaborative efforts, this chapter identifies three themes of successful collaboration, as well as the difficulties and benefits of such collaboration. The chapter begins by addressing the barriers that accompany attempts to conduct collaborative research. These are the sharing of control of the research process, the time and trust required to make collaboration effective, differences between disciplines involved, and the skills of researchers and practitioners. This discussion of obstacles in collaborative research is followed by the presentation of four case studies in collaborative research on woman battering. These case studies are followed by an overview of best practices in successful collaborations. This section of the chapter first outlines three basic underlying assumptions that commonly appear in published accounts of collaborative research and were identified by the individuals interviewed. These include using woman-centered advocacy as a metaphor for the research process, viewing both researchers and those studied as equal partners in the research enterprise, and assuming that research is value-based. After reviewing these underlying assumptions, this section identifies practical actions that implement these assumptions in the research process. These are the provision of equal access to funding, the involvement of survivors and practitioners from the beginning, the offering of incentives for all parties, the establishment of ongoing communication, agreement on basic standards for research and practice prior to the research, being purposeful about roles in the research process, being flexible in problem solving, spending time together in each other's domain and in neutral ones, and making research products useful. The chapter concludes by citing the following benefits of collaboration: improved research questions, enhanced research implementation, the blending of complementary talents, enhanced legitimacy and use of research, enhanced accountability to battered women and their advocates, and connection to a larger social movement. 66 references