Top 6 Platforms to Look for Freelance Research in All Fields of Knowledge

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More and more scientists get involved in the gig economy. They're ready to consult organizations that launch new products, carry out necessary research or aim to innovate. Employers aren't limited anymore to professionals from their area and don't have to hire full-time specialists they require.

It would be smarter to rely on freelance research than hire consultants in your in-house team for the following reasons:

• Access to hundreds of talents, with high level of expertise
• Cost-efficiency and flexibility of payment options
• Ideal opportunities for on-demand research and one-off requirements
• Minimum paperwork
• No need to set up an HR department in your company and pay full-time salaries to expensive specialists

These advantages are especially important for SMBs and startups.

From the point of view of a freelance researcher, this approach has the following benefits:

• Access to a larger pool of projects
• Opportunities to broaden their experience and network of professional contacts
• Extra income

In this article, we'll tell you about the services that match science freelancers with employers.

Demand for High Quality Scientific Content

The demand for high quality scientific content has increased significantly over the years, leading to the emergence of the most evolved research freelance service – scientific writing for research reports. This type of freelance service involves experienced writers who specialize in creating research-based content that adheres to the highest standards of quality. Furthermore, research-based content often requires extensive research and analysis, which can be easily accomplished with the help of these professional freelance writers. They are also well-versed in the latest trends and technologies in their respective fields. With the help of these freelance writers, businesses and organizations can produce high-quality research reports without compromising on accuracy or reliability.

Overview of Top Research Freelance Platforms

There are two types of platforms where you can find a freelancer researcher:

• The first type enables you to find any kind of remote expert or employee, including a research professional. Upwork.com and Guru.com belong to this category.
• The second type specializes exclusively in science tasks. Kolabtree.com, Collabwith.co, Clora.com and Sciamp.com can serve as the most well-known examples.

Below, we'll share brief descriptions of all the above-mentioned web resources as well as list their respective pros and cons.

Freelance Researcher Jobs on Versatile Freelancer Platforms

Not all freelancer platforms feature researcher work opportunities. UpWork and Guru are the two best options among those that offer scientist work.

It's a good place to find experts in microbiology, nanotechnology, bioinformatics and several other spheres. While you'll be searching for them, the system will suggest "similar scientific" options to you, such as grammar, algebra or academic proofreading. Freelancers from the scientific sector of this service have amassed over 900 client reviews in total, most of which are positive.

Pros

• Intuitive interface
• High security
• Transparent payments

Cons

• Only basic services are available: consultations and technical writing
• Lack of scientists qualification verification
• Lack of dedicated transaction control

It's a huge platform with over 800,000 employers from different corners of the globe. In total, Guru has transferred over $250 million to freelancers and has paid over 1 million invoices. Its database features over 35,000 science experts.

Pros

• Extensive range of payment options
• Low fees
• 24/7 support

Cons

• Too many irrelevant offers
• Lack of scientists qualification verification
• Lack of dedicated transaction control

Freelance Research Jobs on Specialized Platforms

Such web resources were launched to foster collaboration in the academic environment and between this environment and business.

Scientists with research experience and relevant design experience have the advantage of being able to conduct research more effectively. This is because they have the knowledge and expertise necessary to carry out a well-planned and structured research project. They understand the importance of performing basic research, qualitative research, and the design of experiments. They are also familiar with the various types of data analysis and are able to interpret the results correctly. With their experience and knowledge, businesses can obtain more accurate research results that can be used to improve the quality of products and services.

Specialised research freelance platforms offer an advantage over regular freelance work platforms due to their specialised project management and research experience. Such platforms are able to identify trends that may not be seen in regular freelance work. They may also be able to better assess the needs of assigned projects and recommend the best solutions to meet those needs.

It's a new platform whose target audience is scientists and researchers from all spheres of knowledge. Sciamp is much more than a website to look for scientific writing tasks. The customer can order both R&D in its entirety, as well as its stages, including experiments, manufacturing of unique parts and prototypes, etc. It operates under the control of the international scientific community. Expert council assesses the results in case of disputes and scientific advisers help customers write terms of reference and accept the results. You'll be able to not only look for projects or experts but also just collaborate with other researchers, run a free blog, announce events and offer grants.

Pros

• Extensive range of knowledge areas and types of services
• Lack of geographical limits (the rapidly developing Asian markets are well-represented)
• Opportunity to hire a scientific adviser to help you negotiate the contract, manage it and accept the results
• Expert control block for the arbitration of disputes on transactions — the control is provided by narrow specialists
• Open marketplace — the ads will be indexed all over the Internet, users get the promotion of their applications without SEO knowledge
• Handy privacy settings
• Simplicity of getting engaged in barter collaborations
• Escrow payments that serve as a completion guarantee
• Copyright protection feature

Cons

• Sciamp is a young platform that needs to keep expanding its user base
• The personal account remains a bit too simplistic

It's one of the most established brands in its niche. People come here to offer and receive the following services:

• Write medical and scientific materials (commerce writers and editors)
• Consult on science-related aspects
• Help with regulatory issues
• Formulate and develop products
• Carry out statistical analysis, data analysis and other data science tasks

In 2022, Kollabtree won NASA's $175 million open innovation multi-contract.

Pros

• Your project details remain confidential until you decide to reveal them to the chosen researchers
• To select the right professional, you can call the candidates before hiring them
• The Kollabtree support crew can handle the interviews on your behalf at no cost
• Whenever you need a consultation, feel free to reach out to the support team 24/7
• A dedicated account manager will help you with all the stages of your project
• When monitoring the progress of your project, you'll be able to benefit from milestones and timesheets
• The payments are secure and flexible: partial payments and escrow funds are available and you can increase the scope of work and fee at any moment

Cons

• The primary focus is made on biopharmaceutics and medicine while the representation of all the other areas remains substandard
• A large part of services is limited to consultations charged at an hourly rate

This one was conceived to bridge the gap between organizations and the academic environment. Here, you can discover the following opportunities:

• Marketplace with collaboration offers
• Platform that digitizes the collaboration process
• Workshops with an emphasis on innovation
• Consulting
• Custom memberships for organizations
• Events: from C-level board meetings to hackathons

The main page of Collabwith is not too informative. It encourages you to sign up to be able to explore the content.

Pros

• An extensive scope of activities to choose from, including internships, whitepapers, case studies, strategy checks, technology transfers and many more
• A user base of over 1500+ academics, startups, innovation professionals and organizations
• Helpful support

Cons

• Outdated design
• User activity keeps steadily decreasing
• Poor visibility of the marketplace
• The platform is drifting away from science into merch and accompanying services

Clora's smart matching algorithms will suggest researchers to you who precisely match your demands in expertise. You'll be able to select candidates according to their education, skills, location, availability, product experience and therapeutic area. This platform accentuates the fact that it attracts more experienced freelancers, compared to many of its competitors.

Pros

• Comprehensive interface
• Fast search
• Flexibility

Cons

• Narrow focus on biopharma only
• Poor visibility of the marketplace
• Services boil down to consultations charged at an hourly rate

Conclusion

Whenever you need to conduct research, find a science writer or research consultant, you'll be able to choose from a variety of dedicated web platforms. All the options that we've listed in this article have their respective competitive benefits and are worth your attention. However, we recommend you should check sciamp.com in the first place. It's a new and rapidly developing project that has good odds of becoming the leader in its niche.