The idea of having a "Compare" Forum focusing on the above title was first discussed with one of the Editors of "Compare" during a PhD defence in Oslo in 2011. The PhD dissertation itself was linked to a larger project in which researchers from the North (Norway) and the South (South Africa) had been collaborating in educational research for over 10 years. Despite the fact that North-South collaboration is not a new issue on the agenda (King 1985) it is still a timely topic to explore, particularly given the recent growth and moves towards North-South-South collaboration or even "South-South Cooperation in Education and Development" (Chisholm and Steiner-Khamsi 2009). Thus, any discussion of research collaboration, whether North-South or South-South, is seen as an ideal topic for comparative education, particularly when exploring why there should be collaboration at all and if so what are some of the challenges. Ultimately, this Forum allows researchers from very different backgrounds (geographically and academically) the opportunity to explore some of the issues of collaboration between researchers/academics in the North and the South. The four contributions to this Forum have taken different perspectives towards the issue, albeit there are some commonalities. All would see North-South or South-South collaboration as something useful, but also challenging. Ultimately all of the contributors see the need for collaboration in order to promote real North-South dialogue and understanding. This "Compare" forum is comprised of the following articles: (1) Introduction (Halla B. Holmarsdottir); (2) North-South-South Collaboration: Internationalising Higher Education, Capacitating the South or Furthering Donor Agendas? (Zubeida Desai); (3) Challenging Hegemonic Knowledge Production through North-South Collaboration (Louis Royce Botha and Anders Breidlid); (4) Research Partnerships between the North and the South: Experiences from School-Based Health Promotion Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (Sheri Bastien, Wanjiru Mukoma, Mangi J. Ezekiel, and Arnfinn Helleve); and (5) North-South-South Collaboration: Old Ideas in New Boxes? (Halla B. Holmarsdottir, Alawia I. Farag, and Vuyokazi Nomlomo). (Contains 2 notes.)