A systematic review of collaborative digital platforms: structuring the domain and research agenda

This article reviews the emerging literature on collaborative digital platforms, a stream of research focused on platforms that spur the collaboration of participants of various kinds and aim at some benefits beyond financial gains. Based on a systematic literature review, we organize and synthesize the literature on the topic in three sub-streams of research: digital platforms that spur collaboration, platform cooperativism, and open cooperatives. The first sub-stream refers to digital platforms aiming to stimulate participants’ collaboration. These platforms may be owned by a central actor or sponsored by public agencies. The second sub-stream of research conforms to digital platforms organized around cooperative principles, i.e., participants are the platform owners and governors. The third sub-stream—open cooperatives—refers to a novel and radical form of digital cooperation based on open source and open data, where members collaborate without strong regulations. The literature analysis allows us to structure the domain and push the boundaries of the field by identifying several avenues for future studies, which are organized concerning theory, methods and context, as well as some specific topics that demand special attention.