Scientists often collaborate with other scientists within and outside their research groups to share results and research ideas and create manuscripts and presentations.

Traditional methods of collaboration can be inconvenient and even hinder productive cooperation. Many groups collaborate mostly by sending emails back and forth between participants. The result is that an author receives many versions of the same document back from all collaborators which may result in confusion, on top of wasting valuable time. 

GoogleDocs and Zoho make it much easier and more efficient to collaborate online.

GoogleDocs is a web-based program by that allows you to share and collaborate on text documents, spreadsheets and presentations online. Zoho has three separate web-based applications that allow you to collaborate on text documents (Zoho Writer), spreadsheets (Zoho Sheet) and presentations (Zoho Show).


What do I need to start collaborating online?

• A computer
• Access to the internet
• Javascript enabled (click here for more information)
• A Google account for GoogleDocs. If you have a Gmail account already, this is a built in Google account
• A Zoho account for Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet, and Zoho Show

How do I collaborate online?

• Once you have logged into your GoogleDocs or Zoho account, you can create a new document from scratch or upload an existing document.
• Next, you can choose who you want to collaborate on the documents with you. Just enter their email addresses and send them an invitation.
• Once your colleagues receive your invitation, they simply create an account and login to start editing.
• Everyone can view and make changes on the document at the same time. It also keeps track of exactly who changed what.  Zoho even allows you to revert to previous versions of the document. 
• You even have the option of publishing your work as a webpage that you can share with the whole world, or just a few people.

What other points should I consider?

• All collaborators must have a Google or Zoho account in order to edit documents.
• Google and Zoho are web-based programs, so their performance depends on the performance of your computer and internet connection.
• The major weakness of both applications is their presentation software. If you are creating a presentation using this software, be aware that you cannot export it to MS PowerPoint format. This limits the usability of these applications to the production of presentations that will be published online or printed.
• GoogleDocs and Zoho Writer, Sheet, and Show are beta products, so there will be bugs. Google has a group dedicated to GoogleDocs that assists new users and talks about known bugs. Zoho has forums dedicated to Writer, Sheet, and Show.

Additional Resources

The following video explains the benefits of GoogleDocs and how to get started: