I don't like the idea of work politics, but I've just partaken of some and feel a bit grubby now...someone is publishing using a theory of mine (quite a good one, if I say so myself), and I suspected that they might "forget" to mention to anyone that it wasn't actually their own theory. So I emailed this person, copying my supervisors in, with some advice and a copy of my original work on this...feel a bit sneaky doing it though. What would you have done?

it seems to me you found a good solution. better than waiting to see what they do and then after be angry! without being too pushy you made your claim clear and transparent. nothing wrong with that!
i hope it turns out well.

Thanks Shani; I was worried I'd been a bit sneaky, but I feel OK now

NOT sneaky - CLEVER juno

Hehe! Thanks Insomniac

I never did lab based work, but if I was in your position that's precisely what I would have done.

Universities are very strict with regard to intellectual property, and you have (very graciously) ensured that the person using your theory considers the IP issue. You've actually done a good thing for them (they'd have to be pretty stupid to leave your work unacknowledged now!)

Could be...the problem is that my work is not yet published; the proof that I sent in this email was a copy of my lab book, showing my reasoning and why I thought this theory may work, and my original data which was collected with a student. It gave ambiguous results on my compounds, but this person tried it on their stuff and it seemed to work. I don't have a problem with them publishing it - after all they got the results - I would just be miffed if it was forever known as "So and so's method", when in fact they got the idea from me.