A theoretical framework of collaborative authorial voice: Cognitive, social, and textual dimensions

Journal article, 2026

Authorial voice in academic writing reflects how writers construct and assert authority within their disciplinary communities. While voice has so far been examined through linguistic, sociocultural, metadiscourse and other perspectives, existing frameworks have largely focused on individual authorship, overlooking the complexities of collaborative writing. This study introduces a comprehensive multidimensional theoretical framework that integrates intrapersonal (cognitive, metacognitive, and emotional), interactional (negotiation and power dynamics), and behavioral (textual enactment) dimensions to trace how authorial voice is constructed in collaboration. Through a longitudinal case study, this paper examines how voice is shaped through distributed cognitive processes, feedback negotiations, and textual positioning. Findings reveal that authorial voice is not a fixed attribute but a cognitively developmental, socially situated, and rhetorically negotiated construct. Co-authors and gatekeepers play a central role in shaping voice, sometimes enabling agency, other times constraining it. By applying this theoretical framework to collaborative writing for publication, this study offers a novel lens for analyzing voice as a distributed and dialogic developmental phenomenon. The framework advances theorizing beyond individual-centered accounts and offers methodological guidance for studying voice across drafts, actors, and feedback channels in collaborative research contexts.