I heard a talk today where the panelist said that they were writing a "collaborative paper," which, she said, was the same as a "corroborative paper."

The definition for "corroborative" is "tending to strengthen or confirm," while that of "collaborative" is "accomplished by working together, especially in a joint intellectual effort."

Do you think these 2 words can be used synonymously?

I think she was using rhetoric. Or maybe she was confused.

Quote "...Do you think these 2 words can be used synonymously?..."

No.

Yeah, what RE said!

I guess it might be both, a collaborative effort to corroborate previous work.

They don't mean the same thing though. I suspect the person just didn't understand the words.

quote:

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Do you think these 2 words can be used synonymously?

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To corroborate the earlier replies, no.

Just as I thought! Thanks, guys. This is why I like this site.

To collaborate is to work together. To corroborate is to provide supporting evidence or to confirm. See the synonyms under confirm.

Tinman