Collaboration, when viewed as a nonhierarchic endeavor based on a sharing of power and authority, may not be an ideal model for interdisciplinary research. A cooperative venture in which participants willingly join in planning, making decisions about, and implementing a project supervised by a principal investigator is historically the successful structure for interdisciplinary research. A holistic model of mutually respectful cooperation in a hierarchic team is a more realistic goal for interdisciplinary research efforts.