Doing an undergraduate poster presentation if i am second author

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I will be second author on a research paper (published in a respected publication/journal), and I was wondering if it is appropriate to give a presentation on the study, at one of my campuses undergraduate presentation seminars/opportunities.

I worked on the project from start to finish and was very involved, knowing the ins and outs of the whole project. I am second author, being the younger of those who worked on it and the other person being a grad student (I’m perfectly fine with it, they deserve it and worked hard). I was wondering, being second author, it is acceptable to prepare a poster and present, and if it would be a good thing to add to my resume for grad schools?

Thanks for your time.

Why not?! It sounds like the first-author is the graduate student...am I correct? Are there no other authors, like a faculty member as last author? If the research is yours to present and you're prepared to discuss the study in detail, then go for it! It would look good on your CV/resume. Just make sure all other authors (especially the first-author) are aware that you'll submit the poster and you have their blessings.

However, do not submit this reserach if you are misrepresenting this project as your own. In the majority of cases, first-authorship goes to the person who orginated the research question/idea presented. It would make you look silly and unprofessional if you were trying to pass off the project as your own with the graduate student being merely a 'more senior' contributor. If that were the case, then you would be the first-author along with your research advisor/faculty member/professor as the only other author (the last author is often the most senior contributor, usually the priniciple investigator or department chairperson).

It's great experience to do poster presentations and submit articles for publication...especially as an undergrad!

Good luck!

I feel you need to ask the first author on the paper (given that you say it has already been published) for permission.

Also, unless you are presenting a talk, I'm not sure doing a poster presentation on a paper that is already being published will be much more helpful for graduate school. I'm just saying that because the publication will carry more weight anyway (than a poster presentation... in fact, it usually works the other way around... you present a poster and then try to write it up and get it published). Now if you have no other conference presentations (and it can be helpful anyway to attend a conference to network), it might help. Regardless wouldn't hurt. But you do need to talk to the first author about it - including exactly what you want to present and the authorship order (you can still be the presenter even if you are second author on a poster btw).

Edit: I just saw that you want to present at an undergrad symposium or something at your university. I would argue that that carries less weight than presenting at a conference, so again, wouldn't add much to your CV (i.e., the publication itself carries the most weight). Once more though, it wouldn't hurt and may give you experience with presenting. Even though it's within your university though, you still need to ask permission from first author.

Yeah clear it with other authors. For an undergraduate symposium, this is probably not a big deal. But also be sure to cite the publication if you are going to present the data. Also, having a little bit of a different spin on your poster presentation is advisable if you are going to give yourself credit on your CV. Some people (not everyone) believe that presenting the exact same thing in two different ways and taking credit for both is a no-no.

I would probably just give that person first author. Order doesn't really matter for poster presentations, IMO.

Originally Posted by cara susanna

I would probably just give that person first author. Order doesn't really matter for poster presentations, IMO.

Agreed, and if it is basically a presentation of the paper it's probably best to just keep the same authorship order, though the OP doesn't seem to be asking about order just if its ok to present. I think we all agree its fine, though if you have the paper which it's based on on the cv the presentation may be redundant as far as giving you applicant cred, though it also shouldn't hurt either.