James T. Collins (born 1946 in Chicago) is an American linguist who works on comparative linguistics, lexicography, and sociolinguistics.

Collins specializes primarily in Austronesian languages.

He is also Professor Emeritus in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Northern Illinois University.

Collins did extensive research on the languages of Indonesia, especially in the regions of Maluku, Kalimantan, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sarawak.

Some of Collins' works include publications on the languages of Borneo (1990), Java, Bali, Sri Lanka (1995), Sumatra, and Eastern Indonesia (1996).