Hi forumites,

I need to ask a protocol question regarding authorship and journal articles. I am currently submitting an article based on my Masters thesis for peer review and possible publication-as well as a paper presentation at a conference.

My question is: do I put down my supervisor as a co-author? She has not helped me write this but it is based on my Master's thesis and I'm not sure whether this means she should get author acknowledgement-or possibly another form of acknowledgement when I give the paper and for the article if it should be published.

I could email my masters supervisor but she is no longer my supervisor any more and lives at a distance, so it might be a while before I get a response and the paper needs to be submitted in a few days.

Can someone let me know what the usual protocol is? I want to make sure it is done properly. Thanks and regards
P:-)

It's up to you as there are no hard rules on this.  Usually if your supervisor has had an input then yes but in your case it's up to you. It depends on how well you get on with them I suppose - if they've had a lot of input into your overall project you could put them in but if you feel that they haven't you could just put them in the acknowledgements out of courtesy. 

Hi! It depends as well on how much input your sup had on your masters project. Was the idea for the project yours and did you design the study yourself? Did she comment on drafts or just the overall grade at the end? If she designed the study and you just followed the protocol then I think she would need to be an author. Equally, if she had a lot of involvement in the thesis write-up then she should probably be an author- even though you've written the paper yourself, if your thesis was influenced heavily by her feedback/input then this will be evident in your paper still. If you're not sure then ask another member of staff who supervises masters students and see what his/her response is! Best, good luck with the submission! KB

Thanks Doodles and KB, your advice has been really helpful and clarified things for me a bit...

I like my supervisor Doodles, she has been a really good supervisor (most of our issues have been the normal ones of distance education and getting back in time, and getting really antsy when the final editis and rewrites were taking place), so I am happy to acknowledge her-but even if I didn't like her, I'd always want to acknowledge someone's contribution no matter what I felt about them. And she has been helpful. But she is no longer my supervisor and I've not had much to do with her since last September, other than the thank you and greeting card after a milestone or at Christmas, so I didn't ask her or discuss with her-this opportunity when it arose-I just went for the 'gold ring' so to speak!

KB I pretty much have designed my ideas, found my 'gap', and designed my research project and everything but she has guided me during this time as well. The ideas and concept and research have all been mine but she has really helped to get them into an academic and rigorous format and to help me become much more independent about these processes myself. (I now hear her voice in my head when I am about to go down a thorny academic pathway-issuing warnings or asking reflective questions-although of late, it has been my voice replacing hers).

So I would think that collaboration is the best word for it. If we were peers not student and supervisor, I would, in all honesty, regard myself as the major or primary author, with collaboration from my supervisor as a secondary author or co-author. So yes I would acknowledge her. She also helped with editing in terms of expression at times, as I tended to be a little subjective during my writing, and she helped with indicating something in my writing that would be shot down in flames by an examiner.

I do need to acknowledge her but I will send my article to her to read-although I doubt I will get a response before the submission deadline. I am not so bothered about getting her response in term's of improvement-I just don't want her to think I am rude or to think that putting her name on it is a bit forward. So, I will put her on as a collaborating coauthor, I will let her know about this as a courtesy but if I don't get a response in time (very likely) then I will submit anyway. Thanks and cheers-good luck with all present endeavors,
PJ

Glad things have been sorted out. Don't worry about looking forward by putting your supervisor's name on the paper as academics love to get their names on papers! I've never heard of one refusing as the more publications the better for them unless they're really good and will only put their name down if they've actually contributed during the process! Some like it especially when they don't even have to do anything though it is usual to let them know and see a draft of the paper before submission as you have done so I'm sure your supervisor will be chuffed!

Good luck with the submission. 8-)

Thanks Doodles,
cheers for that-hope you have a great week!

Do make sure your supervisor has a chance to look at it before you submit, if their name is on it as an author. I think it's fine to say something like "I'm going to submit it on [date] and if I don't hear from you I'll assume you're ok with it", but I'd try to confirm somehow that they've received your email at least. *Never* submit anything to a journal with someone else's name on it without their knowledge, it could get both you and them into sticky situations.
Good luck with your submission :-).

Thanks Elsie...if I don't get a response from her in time- I will put in an acknowledgement of her support and guidance as supervisor rather than place her as second author-Ive got until next Friday for submission-not this week-next week but I have to go interstate for work purposes next week and may not have reliable access for online submission and so need to send off the article by Tuesday morning. This is also why I cant rely on her permission coming back before then-email and phone contact with this busy lady often takes a long time before a reply. So I will heed your advice.
Cheers:-)