Hi everyone,

I've got a query regarding the issue of authorship. I am planning on getting some sections of my thesis published and I worked really hard on preparing the article, editing and modifying it etc with little help from my supervisor(s) ('little help' meaning that one only provided feedback while I was doing my thesis and didn't even bother to review the manuscripts prepared for publication while the other just skimmed through a rough draft and edited two lines of the abstract and because of this, demanded to be included as a co-author). In such a case, is it ethical for either of them to demand co-authorship? Does anyone have any idea what's the worst that could happen if they are excluded from co-authorship despite it being the university's policy to include them? (I've already completed my degree). Shouldn't they also contribute to the article if they want their names to be listed as well? Furthermore, what if instead of being encouraging and supportive, they are being extremely unhelpful and discouraging and although criticizing your work without offering any assistance, demand that they be included as co-authors anyway?! I think it's unfair that I do all the work and have to add them as co-authors without any significant contribution on their part. What do the others think? Would greatly appreciate your thoughts and opinions on this issue!

As far as I'm aware you can name whoever you want on the paper. Nonetheless, you wouldn't win too many friends if you left them off. There's also the possibility that you might be more likely to get published with a recognised name or two on the paper. I suppose the yardstick is whether they have supplied intellectual content to the paper or not and, if someone were to later quiz them the paper, whether they knew what it actually was all about. Tread carefully here, for academic jobs you often have to supply your supervisor as a reference!

Thank you for your response, Sylvester. I am aware it could create friction between me and these people if I excluded them from the paper. I am just wondering, though, whether my status would be affected by including them? Meaning, would it look like I haven't done all the work? Or as long as I am first author, it doesn't matter how many co-authors are listed? Apologies for sounding so naive:$.

If there were just 2 or 3 authors I think people would probably conclude that the lion's share of the paper was probably written by the first author. I think alot of us in the same boat insofar as any papers that come off my PhD will have to be written by me. Interestingly, the protocol here is that the person who wrote the paper gets the first author. For some former students, it means that where the supervisor has merely taken the thesis and juiced the best bits into a paper, they take the first author rather than the PhD student who did the research.

I appreciate what you're saying, but would it have more kudos iwith the academic community in the long term if it was seen that you had collaborated with an emminent academic (however much you dislike them)?

I agree you've got a valid point. Appreciate your reasoning and it sure has cooled me down a bit! I am just peeved that they should get credit for something that they don't deserve (I am ok with acknowledging them, but co-authorship is a bit of a sore point for me!) but it's true what you just stated. Cheers!

Hi Starlight

I think it's unethical for your supervisors to want to be included as co-authors. They need to have had substantial content input to be included as an author, which it doesn't sound like they have contributed. Is there any way that you can ask them to make any changes they want done?

I'm not sure what you can do about this issue tho - if you take their names off, as Sylvester has said, this could seriously jeopardise your career. Maybe you can take solace in knowing that it is all your work, other articles will hopefully be single author, and that this is a kind of thank you/payment to your supervisors for getting you through.

Hi Sue,

I am afraid they aren't helpful at all and although they were initially very enthusiastic about my thesis and were actually the ones encouraging and pushing me to get parts of it published (I achieved a distinction in it - by the way, this is a Master's and not a PhD), they lost interest after a while and started criticizing my work! I found it very strange that they should be quite happy about it in the first place and then suddenly change their minds. I find it even more strange that despite criticizing my work, they still want to be included as co-authors! I wouldn't have minded including them if they would have contributed actively or at least had been helpful and supportive but what's biting me is that after being so harsh and critical (not constructive criticism rather negative comments), they still expect me to include them  :-s

I understand that it is in my best interest not to kick up a fuss about this issue and accept is as just another rule of the academic community that we students have to comply with, but it doesn't make it any easier!

You know, this is often very much an issue of subject....
If you're doing a social science/arts/humanities subject then I think it's less likely that (a) your supervisors will want to be included and (b) that you'll be obliged to do so. In sciences you're treading on much thinner ice!
S

in my field its usual to include supervisors as authors, when publishing PhD work -because they kind of own the project too. It may be that yours are unhelpful which unfortunate, but it won't change the assumption that they should be on it.

If it were me, I wouldn't kick up a fuss - its more hassle than its worth in that you will still be first author. Next time, only ask one person to look through it though! I have been told specifically not to let people check through publication submissions because of this.

you could of course edit the text in places to make it obvious what your contribution was e.g. 'the primary author sent out questionnaires', 'the primary author analysed the data' - of course this is quite childish but would serve them right lol.

It seems to be in such cases that there is a tension between what it ethical (ie they didnt substantially contribute, so shouldnt be listed) and what university departments 'encourage' (ie the more authors from their dept on published work, the better for them). I think people have made some good points, i would only add that a) more and more journals are stating that all authors must have made 'substantial contributions' to the work - not just got the funding or been a supervisor - so you should seek out one of these journals if you can, thus eliminating the problem. Also, b) it will be at least a year - probably 18 months to two years - until the work actually appears in print - by which time you will (presumably?) be long gone, so go ahead and publish as sole author - what seems like be a big hullabaloo now, wont by then - the dept and supervisors will likely have other things on their mind by then...

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Sneaks - thanks for your advice; you're right, I really shouldn't have asked more than one person to go through my paper and I won't in the future, now that I have learned the hard way....by experience! I guess I was pretty naive but then I had no idea who to turn to as my supervisor wasn't being helpful but in the future (like in PhD), if anything like this ever happens (which I hope it won't!), I'll do the best I can on my own (which is exactly what I am doing now anyway)! Good idea about inserting 'primary author' in various places ;-)! I guess that's obvious though, because it is explicitly stated that this was part of an MSc dissertation.



Zelda - it's interesting that the journal I recently submitted to wrote back inquiring why the student who did the thesis isn't the sole author and why there are co-authors included as well! I was sorely tempted to forward that email to my co-authors but decided it was best not to! I doubt whether it will be ok to publish as sole author a few months down the line though - if any of the staff stumble across the paper (if it is accepted, that is!), there could be some major issues especially with regard to obtaining references etc, as Sylvester pointed out.



Appreciate all of your responses and it sure made me feel a lot better to vent my frustration out!

I think its ok to ask for others help - but be strategic about who you ask. e,g, ask someone who has a lot of their OWN publications, who won't want to be tagged onto yours. Professors are professors for a reason i.e. they have been strategic about publications and bringing in money - they will want to surf in on yours too! I tend to ask more junior members of staff - or send it in to the best journal in your field, just to get some feedback before you send it to other journals.