Co-Author of a publication

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Chemdude

Chemdude

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
1,659
Reaction score
170
Members don't see this ad.
I did some research work last summer in an ecology lab. My PI just told me I will be a co-author of the publication. Will this be a big bonus for my application, or is it just another activity?
 
Chemdude said:
I did some research work last summer in an ecology lab. My PI just told me I will be a co-author of the publication. Will this be a big bonus for my application, or is it just another activity?
Click to expand...

BIG bonus.
 
Chemdude said:
I did some research work last summer in an ecology lab. My PI just told me I will be a co-author of the publication. Will this be a big bonus for my application, or is it just another activity?
Click to expand...

Do you know what author you will be? 2nd author? 3rd? 4th? Etc
 
iamxp said:
Do you know what author you will be? 2nd author? 3rd? 4th? Etc
Click to expand...

He sent me the abstract and this is how my name was listed:

Interactive effects of dispersal and environmental covariation on the stability of aquatic metacommunities.

*******, *******, *******, Chemdude
 
Chemdude said:
He sent me the abstract and this is how my name was listed:

Interactive effects of dispersal and environmental covariation on the stability of aquatic metacommunities.

*******, *******, *******, Chemdude
Click to expand...

Congratulations!

iamxp said:
OP seems to have 4th authorship. It will definitely help. Does 4th author help you stand out though?
Click to expand...

Being corresponding author definitely will. :laugh: Although OP most likely just forgot to include the other people...
 
1st author + published in a real journal = really amazing.
2nd+ author + published in a real journal = amazing.

Grats.
 
Morsetlis said:
1st author + published in a real journal = really amazing.
2nd+ author + published in a real journal = amazing.

Grats.
Click to expand...

Real journal? Don't think impact factor matters much when it comes to med school admissions.
 
I'm not talking about impact factor. I'm talking about undergraduate journals, etc.
 
Publications will definitely help no matter what tier journal. People on here sometimes try to say it's just "icing on the cake." Publishing in undergrad is definitely a bigger impact than volunteering, shadowing, other things IMO.
 
sully677 said:
Publications will definitely help no matter what tier journal. People on here sometimes try to say it's just "icing on the cake." Publishing in undergrad is definitely a bigger impact than volunteering, shadowing, other things IMO.
Click to expand...

I'd think that really depends on the school.
 
Chemdude said:
I did some research work last summer in an ecology lab. My PI just told me I will be a co-author of the publication. Will this be a big bonus for my application, or is it just another activity?
Click to expand...

It helps.

Just be sure when you go on interviews that you know your publications inside out, as they can and probably will ask you about them.
 
Chemdude said:
He sent me the abstract and this is how my name was listed:

Interactive effects of dispersal and environmental covariation on the stability of aquatic metacommunities.

*******, *******, *******, Chemdude
Click to expand...

Definitely a plus for applying to med school....no matter what number author you are.

For future applications (residency, jobs, etc.), 4th author is a little low, but you have PLENTY of time to do research in med school for more publications. CONGRATS on your accomplishment!
 
TexasPhysician said:
Definitely a plus for applying to med school....no matter what number author you are.

For future applications (residency, jobs, etc.), 4th author is a little low, but you have PLENTY of time to do research in med school for more publications. CONGRATS on your accomplishment!
Click to expand...

Anything that is published as an undergrad, Do you know if you are able to put publications on your app for residency?
 
Chemdude said:
I did some research work last summer in an ecology lab. My PI just told me I will be a co-author of the publication. Will this be a big bonus for my application, or is it just another activity?
Click to expand...

Congrats! Whatever it actually means in the long run, you should still be excited to be named on a real publication.

Now for the reality check: if you weren't first or second author, it does little more than validate your research experience. The first time I was named in a publication was for the work I did one summer with a prestigious scientist in the evolution/ecology field. I literally worked 40-50 hours a week running the same experiment over and over. I was rewarded with my name *somewhere* in the paper. Now that I'm graduating and have spent four years doing research, I think I have about 8 publications, but I'm only second author in one of those.

Unless you somehow become first author, I'm not sure how important publishing really is. It looks good, but it's not going to influence your admission too much unless it's really impressive. A friend of mine is a grad student who was a horrible undergrad student. She barely got into grad school, and is at the bottom of her program, academically. She managed to publish as a first author in "Cell" last summer. She's already gotten into six med schools, but most of the elite ones still rejected her outright.

It's a numbers game. Even the best "unique" extras only help, but they don't change the game.
 
A 'genuine' second author as opposed to a 'gifted' second author is quite considerable imo.
 
Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.
Click to expand...

By talking with someone, you should be able to get a pretty good idea whether or not they met those criteria.
 
riverjib said:
Congrats! Whatever it actually means in the long run, you should still be excited to be named on a real publication.

Now for the reality check: if you weren't first or second author, it does little more than validate your research experience. The first time I was named in a publication was for the work I did one summer with a prestigious scientist in the evolution/ecology field. I literally worked 40-50 hours a week running the same experiment over and over. I was rewarded with my name *somewhere* in the paper. Now that I'm graduating and have spent four years doing research, I think I have about 8 publications, but I'm only second author in one of those.

Unless you somehow become first author, I'm not sure how important publishing really is. It looks good, but it's not going to influence your admission too much unless it's really impressive. A friend of mine is a grad student who was a horrible undergrad student. She barely got into grad school, and is at the bottom of her program, academically. She managed to publish as a first author in "Cell" last summer. She's already gotten into six med schools, but most of the elite ones still rejected her outright.

It's a numbers game. Even the best "unique" extras only help, but they don't change the game.
Click to expand...


At this point in the game publishing is publishing, and the OP should be happy. If the OP chooses to move into academia later in his/her career, then the number of first and second authorships matters, as does the quality of the journal
 
As a student, all residency directors want to see is some involvement in research. Getting published is really out of your control; thus if you actually get published it's a big bonus, but not a big advantage over someone else who has poster/abstracts and was involved in research as well.

Both of these 2 people due have a huge advantage over someone with no research. In regards to authorship placement, 1st and last are the most important, while the rest are not that significant; however, as mentioned before, getting anything published and doing research is an advantage.

The lab I volunteered submitted an abstract to a research meeting, accepted and presented. Year later, journal XXX calls the PI and wants some more stuff done and a manuscript submitted. We finish the manuscript couple months later and are awaiting final editing to be published. It's going to be about 2+ years now for something to get officially published in a journal. This is why, it's out of your control and not a huge deal if you don't have publications but have abstracts/posters, ect
 
At my school that would be considered second author. 1st author, 3rd author, 4th author, 2nd author. It is rather strange. Oh well.
 
acegsm said:
At my school that would be considered second author. 1st author, 3rd author, 4th author, 2nd author. It is rather strange. Oh well.
Click to expand...

That's because in basic and translational papers, the last author is the corresponding author
 
acegsm said:
At my school that would be considered second author. 1st author, 3rd author, 4th author, 2nd author. It is rather strange. Oh well.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure there are more names after his. He's not going to be the last author, which is usually the PI/owner of the lab, "the big wig".

Usually, this it how it works:

PhD fellow, resident, resident, lab tech, phd student, med student, attending, attending, big shot attending.
 
Narmerguy said:
I agree
Click to expand...

Obviously Stanford cares much more. They ask for it in their secondary (I think). Any other schools come to mind that put emphasis on research/publication alot more?
 
Probably nearly every 'top tier' school has a strong emphasis on research, since those ratings are based strongly on NIH funding.
 
I have a quick question related to this. I work in a lab right now and have been assisting a post-doc with research for the past semester. He is about to submit something to get published and said I would likely "get my name on the paper". What does that mean? Is there a section for research assistant credit? I wouldn't think I've contributed enough to be a listed author or anything. I've done a lot to help with performing the research, but haven't contributed much intellectually, as I basically follow steps he tells me to do and make sure I understand them. Just curious what the general procedure for all of this is- I'm pretty new to it.
 
ChiDO said:
As a student, all residency directors want to see is some involvement in research. Getting published is really out of your control; thus if you actually get published it's a big bonus, but not a big advantage over someone else who has poster/abstracts and was involved in research as well.

Both of these 2 people due have a huge advantage over someone with no research. In regards to authorship placement, 1st and last are the most important, while the rest are not that significant; however, as mentioned before, getting anything published and doing research is an advantage.

The lab I volunteered submitted an abstract to a research meeting, accepted and presented. Year later, journal XXX calls the PI and wants some more stuff done and a manuscript submitted. We finish the manuscript couple months later and are awaiting final editing to be published. It's going to be about 2+ years now for something to get officially published in a journal. This is why, it's out of your control and not a huge deal if you don't have publications but have abstracts/posters, ect
Click to expand...

AMEN. There is too much speculation and hysteria over research on these boards. Everyone should take note of your post.
 
I'd argue 2nd author is significant as well. Senior author isn't always corresponding author either. Ive been corrsesponding author as 1st or 2nd author on many occasions.

I'd also argue that doing research as a med student and not publishing is a red flag of sorts.
 
ChiDO said:
I'm pretty sure there are more names after his. He's not going to be the last author, which is usually the PI/owner of the lab, "the big wig".

Usually, this it how it works:

PhD fellow, resident, resident, lab tech, phd student, med student, attending, attending, big shot attending.
Click to expand...

This needs to be clarified. The author order goes by level of involvement in the project and not seniority. The big shot attending is usually the first one if he came up with the idea for the project. He may choose to be the last if it is his lab and if he did not work too hard on the project.

Regardless of where your name goes, it is a big accomplishment. Abstracts get also published in some journals and they are very important as well. The number of undergrad students getting their names on a publication is way smaller than what these boards tend to suggest. It is something pretty unique.

You should be more than pleased to work in a research lab (regardless of whether u get published or not) by the time you apply to med school.
 
AH3 said:
I have a quick question related to this. I work in a lab right now and have been assisting a post-doc with research for the past semester. He is about to submit something to get published and said I would likely "get my name on the paper". What does that mean? Is there a section for research assistant credit? I wouldn't think I've contributed enough to be a listed author or anything. I've done a lot to help with performing the research, but haven't contributed much intellectually, as I basically follow steps he tells me to do and make sure I understand them. Just curious what the general procedure for all of this is- I'm pretty new to it.
Click to expand...

There is an acknowledgments section, but that doesn't count as being published.

I would ask him to clarify, even though journals have guidelines you are supposed to follow it's still pretty much left to the lab/1st author to decide. One lab I used to work in would give authorship to undergrads instead of pay (they also got credit).
 
moxche said:
Can you elaborate on this?
Click to expand...

I think at that level that if you're taking part in research and incapable of doing publishable research, that will say more on your ability as a researcher than the opportunities that you were lucky (or unlucky) to have.
 
moxche said:
Can you elaborate on this?
Click to expand...

At my school and most research intensive schools, there are well established summer programs where students are assigned projects by pis in which the intention is to generate publishable data. It's possible if you get into hardcore bench work and don't get results that you won't publish but the vast majority of students have either published by the end of m2 or are well on their way to publishing. This seems true at a lot of med schools, doing research as a med student is very different than doing it as a ug.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

reeve7
  • Question Question
LOR author title question
Replies
1
Views
242
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
L
switched from third author to fourth--email all med schools?
Replies
3
Views
492
Goro
Goro
jrlybob1
Is publication of a protocol paper for a systematic review + meta analysis a worthwhile update?
Replies
1
Views
463
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Happy Bulbis Cordis
Is a middle author publication worthy of an update?
Replies
11
Views
2K
doctadank
doctadank
B
Update about Publication
Replies
2
Views
653
breez
B
Top