That's quite a tricky area, GM. I have to say that where I was inspired by a discussion with someone, or they actually suggested something, that I have included in my thesis I have been very careful to credit them. For example, I had a very interesting discussion with Filippo Santoni di Sio about criminal responsibility and multiple personality disorder, and I've referenced this discussion. Partly just out of common courtesy. I also did a more general acknowledgement of people I'd had discussions with during my research.
We are all inspired by chats we've had with other academics, but I'd say he should at least acknowledge you.

No worries :)
I will contribute my own experiences so far shortly. I'm thinking about doing a survey on ECRs' experiences with academic publishers.

I'd like to publish a monograph on my specialist area of research as, like many doctoral researchers, I am now an expert in the niche area that my thesis deals with. A monograph will get a wider readership than my thesis, given that I will have greater freedom to make a work people will want to read and find useful in their professional practice.
So far I've had two offputting responses. The first was not entirely negative. It was a request to have a more experienced author write with me. I have no absolute objection to this, but it's completely unnecessary. I wonder how the eminent professor (in his 70s) got his break in publishing? Has he forgotten what it was like to be an early career researcher?
The second was far less constructive. After quite some time, I got an email from the commissioning editor. Instead of dealing with the merits of my proposal (which seemed pitched to the right sort of niche publisher), the email contained an unrequested critique of my CV and how it was totally unsuited for submission to an academic publisher. The details of my book proposal seem to have been irrelevant to the decision-making process.
The commissioning editor has actually got a law degree, so presumably could make a value judgment on the subject matter if he so chose. Why the format of my CV was so crucial to his decision mystifies me. It just seems strange to have such a superficial assessment of the merits of a book proposal. It serves to obstruct the production of fresh, new ideas from young and enthusiastic academics. But it might require taking a risk or two. Maybe that's the problem?

It probably depends on the discipline. Plus it's not usually the ideas that's the key to success, but hard work, application and funding! I think anyway.

Totally agree about the existence of "imposter syndrome", and don't think you should drop out. I also think that most of academia isn't quite as expert as one might think as an undergraduate. My experience of learning about grounded theory was a salutary lesson there. Turned out all the people I asked didn't really understand it!

I've heard conflicting opinions on this subject. If you get too paranoid, you're restricting your own opportunities to make your reputation, but it's also true there are some unscrupulous peers out there. Try and work out who you can trust in terms of collaborations for sure. Certainly people that will run off and try and claim credit for your work!

I wonder if anyone would be interested in creating a whitelist of publishers that treat postgrads and ECRs properly, as opposed to the disdain and rudeness that I've seen from some? I would create a blacklist, but that would probably result in me being blacklisted myself!

Could you help me out? What's the difference between a genuine question and a provocatively worded attempt to advertise proofreading services??? ;)

There definitely needs to be some realism about what getting a PhD will do for the graduate student. It certainly ISN'T a passport to academia, and shouldn't be sold as that. I totally agree that there is an element of exploitation to the way PhD students are utilised to maximise research output in some fields.

If your thesis is the contribution to knowledge that it should be (and this is implied by the pass), then it behooves you to disseminate that contribution. It depends on your future plans, but academic employers will look dimly on a complete lack of publications from your doctoral research.

My experience of the PhD will be very different from that of many people on the postgrad forum. I'm a mature student who did a PhD at an institution about an hour's travel from home. The nature of my doctoral research mean that I needed to spend little time on campus except when receiving research training. My project was one of my own devising, and didn't really connect with the research output of the department.

So I have been mostly solitary and self-reliant during my PhD. Fortunately, I was not working at the same time, although I did have health problems. So for me, the PhD has been about keeping myself motivated and enduring through to the end.

For me, this has been great. I've had almost total control over the direction my research has taken, which puts me in a good position for being an independent researcher. It's MY thesis, and I firmly believe all postgrad students should have this attitude. Your supervisors will have suggestions, but the ultimate decisions are down to you. It's YOUR responsibility to produce the best thesis you can.

I believe I have done this, and that my thesis is something I can be proud of. Of course, this is just the beginning for me, it is a means to an end. But I believe that I have achieved that contribution to the body of knowledge in my field that the PhD thesis is all about.

Wow, not had anything quite so strange as that. Just going to forget this particular journal. Hear some horror stories about editors plagiarising articles they've rejected etc - seems to be very little oversight of them TBH.

It depends entirely on what you're trying to achieve, naturally. Web ethnography is a fairly well established method now, I know somebody who did this at Southampton University.

Go the Brooke Magnanti way and make £££££ in your spare time! ;)

I find the behaviour of some journal editors quite unacceptable. They seem to believe that the normal niceties are beneath them, as if the power they have has gone to their head. Has anyone else had bad experiences from editors?