Networks and other collaborations are central to the public sector's ability to respond to their diverse responsibilities, from international development and regional governance, to policy development and service provision.

Joris Voets is an associate professor in the Department of Public Governance and Management at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium.

Robyn Keast is a professor in the School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross University, Australia.

Christopher Koliba is a professor in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at University of Vermont, USA, Co-Director of the Social Ecological Gaming and Simulation (SEGS) Lab and fellow at the Gund Institute on the Environment.

1. A methodological perspective on network and collaboration research 2. Researching networks through sequential explanatory design 3. The case study in researching networks and collaborative arrangements 4. Survey approach 5. Narrative inquiry in public network research 6. Q methodology 7. Researching inter-organizational collaboration using RO-AR 8. Process tracing 9. Social and dynamic network analysis 10. Qualitative comparative analysis in public network research 11. Using agent-based models to study network and collaborative governance 12. Practitioners: what do they want to know? 13. Network and collaboration research futures 14. Cross-cutting themes and opportunities for network and collaboration research