09/02/2026, 21:44 Collaborative editing - Wikipedia

Collaborative editing
Collaborative editing is the process of multiple people editing the same document
simultaneously. This technique may engage expertise from different disciplines, and
potentially improve the quality of documents and increase deals.[1]

Good choices in group awareness, participation and coordination are critical to successful
collaborative writing outcomes.[2][3]

Overview Collaborative editing in Google Docs. All users

connected to the document can edit its text directly,
The typing might be organized by dividing the writing into sub-tasks assigned to each group and can also post comments in the right-hand sidebar.
member, with the first part of the tasks done before the next parts, or they might work
together on each task.[4][5] The writing is planned, written, and revised, and more than one
person is involved in at least one of those steps.[6] Usually, discussions about the document's structure and context involve the entire group.[7]

Most usually, it is applied to textual documents or programmatic source code. Such asynchronous (non-simultaneous) contributions are very
efficient in time, as group members need not assemble in order to work together. Generally, managing such work requires software;[8] the most
common tools for editing documents are wikis, and those for programming, version control systems.[9] Most word processors are also capable of
recording changes; this allows editors to work on the same document while automatically clearly labeling who contributed what changes. New
writing environments such as Google Docs provide collaborative writing/editing functionalities with revision control, synchronous/asynchronous
editing.

Wikipedia is an example of an open collaborative editing project on a large scale, which can be both good and bad. Because of the large
contributions by the public, Wikipedia has one of the widest ranges of material in the world. Editing disagreements may devolve to content and
conduct disputes on Wikipedia. Open access also leads to online 'graffiti', in which members of the public can submit incorrect information or
random rubbish, sometimes referred to as vandalism. Collaborative writing can lead to projects that are richer and more complex than those
produced by individuals. Many learning communities include one or more collaborative assignments. However, writing with others also makes

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the writing task more complex.[10]

There is an increasing amount of research literature investigating how collaborative writing can improve
learning experiences. [11] Correct access management systems can prevent duplicated information.[12] Access management systems require access
to a server, often online.[13] Online collaboration can be more difficult due to issues such as time zones.[14]

See also
Collaborative real-time editor
Collaborative writing

References
1. Tomlinson, Bill; et al. (2012). Massively distributed authorship of 4. Sharples, M. (1993). "Adding a Little Structure to Collaborative
academic papers. 2012 ACM annual conference on Human Factors Writing" ([Link]
in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts. Austin, Texas, USA. -4_5). CSCW in Practice: An Introduction and Case Studies.
pp. 11–20. doi:10.1145/2212776.2212779 ([Link] Computer Supported Cooperative Work. pp. 51–67.
2F2212776.2212779). hdl:2117/171295 ([Link] doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2009-4_5 ([Link]
7%2F171295). 1-4471-2009-4_5). ISBN 978-3-540-19784-3.
2. Lowry, Paul Benjamin; Curtis, Aaron Mosiah; Lowry, Michelle René 5. Rimmershaw, Rachel (1992). "Collaborative Writing Practices and
(2004). "A Taxonomy of Collaborative Writing to Improve Empirical Writing Support Technologies" ([Link]
Research, Writing Practice, and Tool Development" ([Link] 1007/978-94-011-2674-8_3). Computers and Writing. Vol. 21.
m/abstract=666141). Journal of Business Communication. 41 (1): pp. 15–28. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-2674-8_3 ([Link]
66–99. doi:10.1177/0021943603259363 ([Link] 07%2F978-94-011-2674-8_3). ISBN 978-94-010-5183-5.
F0021943603259363). 6. Ede, Lisa S.; Lunsford, Andrea A. (1990). Singular Text/Plural
3. Dillon, A. (1993). "How Collaborative is Collaborative Writing? An Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Authoring ([Link]
Analysis of the Production of Two Technical Reports" ([Link] [Link]/books?id=rQfEEhdKBnMC). Carbondale: Southern Illinois
[Link]/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4471-2007-0_5). In Sharples, M. University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-1447-8.
(ed.). Computer Supported Collaborative Writing. Computer 7. Beck, E. E. (1993). "A Survey of Experiences of Collaborative
Supported Cooperative Work. London: Springer-Verlag. pp. 69–85. Writing" ([Link]
doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2007-0_5 ([Link] -0_6). Computer Supported Collaborative Writing. Computer
1-4471-2007-0_5). ISBN 978-3-540-19782-9. Supported Cooperative Work. pp. 87–112. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-
2007-0_6 ([Link]
ISBN 978-3-540-19782-9.

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8. Ignat, Claudia-Lavinia; Norrie, Moira C. (2003). "Customizable 12. Fernald, D. H.; Duclos, C. W. (2005). "Enhance your team-based
Collaborative Editor Relying on treeOPT Algorithm" ([Link] qualitative research" ([Link]
[Link]/books?id=F_3RxNdMUNQC&dq=collaborative+editing& C1466909). Ann Fam Med. 3 (4): 360–4. doi:10.1370/afm.290 (http
pg=PA315). In Kuutti, Kari; Karsten, Elja Helena; Fitzpatrick, s://[Link]/10.1370%2Fafm.290). PMC 1466909 ([Link]
Geraldine; Dourish, Paul; Schmidt, Kjeld (eds.). ECSCW 2003: [Link]/pmc/articles/PMC1466909). PMID 16046570 ([Link]
proceedings of the Eighth European Conference on Computer [Link]/16046570).
Supported Cooperative Work. Kluwer. p. 315. ISBN 1-4020-1573-9. 13. Duque, Ricardo B.; Ynalvez, Marcus; Sooryamoorthy, R.; Mbatia,
9. Stetson-Tiligadas, Susan M. (24 January 2022). "Building Up to Paul; Dzorgbo, Dan-Bright; Shrum, Wesley. "Collaboration Paradox:
Collaboration: Evidence on Using Wikis to Scaffold Academic Scientific Productivity, the Internet, and Problems of Research in
Writing" ([Link] Developing Areas" ([Link]
ew/288). Journal of Academic Writing. 6 (1): 134–144. ttp://[Link]/[Link]) (PDF). Archived from the original (htt
doi:10.18552/joaw.v6i1.288 ([Link] p://[Link]/[Link]) (PDF) on 2016-12-25. Retrieved
288). 2011-10-01.
10. "Collaborative Writing" ([Link] 14. "Collaboration Structure, Communication Media, and Problems in
08/[Link] Online Writing Scientific Work Teams" ([Link]
Guide, New Century College. Archived from the original ([Link] html). Jcmc. [Link]. 2006-12-31. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1083-
[Link]/nccwg/[Link]) on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 6101 ([Link]
2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
11. Calvo, R. A.; O'Rourke, S. T.; Jones, J.; Yacef, K.; Reimann, P.
(2011). "Collaborative Writing Support Tools on the Cloud" ([Link]
[Link]/10.1109/TLT.2010.43). IEEE Transactions
on Learning Technologies. 4: 88–97. doi:10.1109/TLT.2010.43 (http
s://[Link]/10.1109%2FTLT.2010.43).

Sources
Kuutti, Kari, Eija Helena Karsten, Paul Dourish, Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Kjeld Schmidt. (2003). ECSCW 2003: proceedings of the Eighth
European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (14–18 September 2003, Helsinki, Finland). London: Kulwer. ISBN 978-1-
4020-1573-1; OCLC 52784895 ([Link]
Speck, Bruce W. (2008). Collaborative Writing: An Annotated Bibliography. Charlotte, North Carolina: IAP (Information Age Publishing).
ISBN 978-1-59311-285-1

External links
Learning materials related to Collaborative play writing at Wikiversity
Group Fiction: How to Write Fiction as a Group ([Link]
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