Hypothetical situation.

I collaborate with some researchers from Group A. I do some effortless (i. e. not extremely time-consuming) stuff, like setting/monitoring experiments and actually writing the paper; my actions are kind of sparse, which gives me time to work on something else simultaneously. I’ve recently got the opportunity to work on a project with Group B. Group B is stronger and is working on cooler things that are also more relevant to me.

But there are some complications:

1. Company A is also my employer (and Group A is its research department). They didn’t hire me to do pure research, I just have the spare time and the passion for it.
2. Group B is an academic one (i. e. its members can be affiliated with any organization), but a lot of its researchers happen to be working at the research department of Company B.
3. In fact, Group A silently hates Group B because its core members separated from A a few years ago (to work at Company B).

Generally, working in multiple teams is a big no-no in industry, but is it okay in academia?

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