Hi all, I hope you are keeping well and safe.

I'm in my final year and I'm planning to publish part of my results. Question is can I ask my supervisor to be a co-author?

He's well know in my field so I though adding his name would add more credibility to me. Am I right to think that way and can I ask him? I'm afraid he'd refuse because my study or my findings or my writing is not good enough (paranoid, I know).

Hi there

It sounds like a pretty typical thing to do. Usually they assume they will be a coauthor anyway in my experience. I can't see anyone turning down the opportunity (unless they deeply disagreed with your interpretation of the findings or something).

Good luck!

I think my supervisors would kill me if I didn't include their names on my papers. Most supervisors assume they will be coauthour but you should force them to commit to do something. Their feedback will be invaluable in writing your first paper and you should get them to at least read one draft in detail, preferably more.

It does depend on the field though. I know in some of the arts it is more common to be a single student author.

Thank you, Tudor_Queen and rewt, for your replies. Yes, I study linguistics. I do not think I have to add his name. I mentioned to him that I was planning to publish a paper and he never asked me to add his name. I do not know if it's a good idea to add his name as he is very successful in our field or not.

OK, I thought that might be the case. You can ask him for his feedback and if he would like to be a coauthor. Or you could ask him for his feedback and when you submit ask if he is happy to be in the acknowledgements section. If you want his input and ckathorship, ho ahead and ask. The worst that could happen is that he says no. :) good luck