im currently having big probs with my supervisor regarding both a presentation and papers.im giving a presentation on my work (only mine) at a uni event and im being forced to agknowledge someone who has contributed nothing!after discussion about this i asked my supervisor about my paper and he said i may have accept joint 1st authorship-i am totally unwilling to do this as i have done ALL the work,the other individual has developed (copied) a method that i will use,however this is a widely used technique.Regardless he will contribute no figures-so its my 1st authorship??-am i going mad or is this crazy and it should obviously be my paper!!!

Hi SarahM, very upsetting situation indeed..Is that another person your supervisor want to put on your paper him/her or the leader of research groups (smth like that) who got the funding for the research you have done? If yes, well many universities there is a tradition that then you have to list them on your paper. However, if it is not the case, they have no rights to demand to be on your paper! Stand up for yourself and simply explain your supervisor as you did for us-you and only you did the work and therefore you and only you are the author of the paper. Good luck!

thanks,its good to hear im not being crazy.the other person is funded by the same grant but is not my supervisor.most of the work done in my paper was done before he even started.im so upset about it,when i said to my PI i was told 'i decide who goes on papers'.i think that to get this person to work in our lab the PI told him that he would get joint 1st authorship.Im at my wits end about what to do next actually,we argued about it and it seems that it makes no difference what i say-any suggestions about what to do-im tempted to say if he's joint first he can write the paper then!

At the end of the day, what the supervisor says goes. It's one of the things I hate about the PhD. You have to be prepared to take responsibility for the PhD when it suits them, but it's really never truly yours...
Anyway, this is 'just' a uni event. Yes it's horrible that you're being forced to acknowledge this other person, but I'd be more worried if the paper was being submitted to a journal. Are you giving a talk or standing by a poster? Either way, just make it clear (subtly) that you did all the work - any discerning listener (who even remembers the other author) will go away and think 'now, what did that other author do'? Since you're the presenter, you'll be the one who's mostly remembered anyway - when people think of your work, they'll put your face to it!

sue i see what your saying about the uni day.im not so fussed about that,really its the paper im concerned about.i dont see why i should be forced to take joint first when i will have written it and done all the figures for it,to me thats crazy.

It's quite often to do with politics and schmoozing, and less about work ethic and responsibility. So it's not you going crazy, although we haven't heard the other side of the story, you are probably justified to speak up and make a stand for the work you've done.

I could talk all day about the inequality and blatant politicking that goes on in the research field, and I could encourage you to make that stand but sometimes there isn't a right answer. You also have to know how the game is played in your department/university/country. Step on someone's shoes now and there may be repercussions later no matter how justified and ethical your actions are. And vice versa - I bet you're not going to forget who has stepped on your shoes either.

realistically this is going to be the only paper i get from my phd and its totally unreasonable to be joint 1st author if you have contributed nothing.The mthod that i mentioned before that my pi thinks the other guy developed is published in nature for gods sake in the same cells as we work!!!im so upset about this,my only paper and someone elso is going to get half the credit for it just because of departmental politics!he can go as 2nd author,thats fine but joint first no way!!

however i know what you mean about stepping on peoples shoes,it just seems so wrong to let people piggy back onto your papers that youve worked so hard at

You'd be surprised to know how often it happens in the research field.

Hi! Just a quick question - what is joint first authorship? The first author is the first author on a paper - so as long as your name is first, that's all that really matters isn't it? (don't have any papers yet myself). Thankfully I haven't had this problem yet, though for conference presentations I've included people I've worked with who have contributed something - mainly because it keeps them on side, and there is so much politics in academia, it's best to try to keep on the right side of people (well and I like the people I've worked with anyway). But I did do all the analysis & writing... Maybe you could insist your name is first on the paper, and concede to let this other person be an author (still frustrating I know)... just not the first listed & corresponding author.

yeah i would be willing for the guy to be second author and me as first and corresponding author-this is what i want.joint first authorship is used to indicate equal contribution both figure wand work wise.my supervisor is not willing to go for the me as first,other guy as second

At the moment, i can't really see what else you could do. It seems your supervisor is not willing to accept your suggestion or should i say, your argument of this other person being the 2nd while you take the 1st (which is rightfully yours, of course) Is there someone else above your supervisor you could speak to? (though this not not go too well for you rep with your supervisor)

It's annoying, but luckily there are not many of these pushy people about. Only yesterday I found a new paper from a person who did an exchange visit to our lab, and upon reading it I recognised work that I had done to "help" them out when they were busy, presented as this person's own work. Didn't really annoy me as much as make me sigh...

its a difficult one because there is that whole issue of going above someones head and whether it will do more damage than good.At the mo Im waying up the pros and cons of talking to someone higher. I feel by being joint first this is compromising my work but is it easier to give in rather than get a bad reputation?Another question is if you go joint first whose name goes first is it alphabetical or writers choice??my surname beings with m and the other persons with j so would he by default go first?

I've never been one for politicking. If I was in your place, I'd go talk to someone higher up for an ethical resolution. This is regardless of any repercussions in the future. I understand and accept the actions of my colleagues who may take a different route but for me personally, unless there is an overwhelmingly good reason for me to agree doing this, I'd take all necessary steps to ensure the right thing is done.

In the past I have taken the stand in issues for colleagues which had absolutely nothing to do with me simply because I hate it when scrupulous researchers/professors play their games at the expense of others.