An Analysis of the Laws, Regulations and Upstream Documents in the Field of Higher Education from the Perspective of Faculty Members’ Scientific Cooperation

The aim of this study was to analyze the laws, regulations and upstream documents in the field of higher education from the perspective of scientific cooperation. This descriptive – analytical research used content analysis and documentary study as the research strategy. In the current study, upstream documents and regulations were analyzed and considered the research sample. Data collection tools included checklists and researcher-made forms. Descriptive analysis methods were used for data analyses, investigating alignments regarding scientific collaborations. The results indicated that a great number of upstream documents support different kinds of scientific cooperation and are aligned with scientific cooperation but do not have the necessary executive guarantee.  The official documents that support scientific cooperation but do not have the necessary executive guarantee are Comprehensive Scientific Map of Iran, Islamic-Iranian Model of Progress, and the 2025 Horizon of IRAN. In contrast, another document has significant role in the activities of faculty members and has an executive guarantee and the power of punishment and rewards. Nevertheless, it sometimes plays as a barrier for scientific collaborations. In other words, it is not very compatible with teamwork and scientific cooperation.