I had a friend tell me that he contacted a PI, who then asked him to "co-author" a paper with him. My friend said that he would get his name published for this work. Is it really possible to get a publication without being in lab or actually physically performing research?
easy way to get publication?
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It might be helpful for your friend to consider the ethical aspects of the situation. Encourage him to consult resources on authorship, such as http://ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/ or http://ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/niu_authorship/index.htm
The question of ethics aside, there are practical reasons for not doing this. First, if his name goes on the paper, he owns it. If it is later shown that the data is falsified or otherwise tainted, your friend has a problem. Second, if he lists the paper on his cv, it will be fair game for interviewers to ask him questions about the paper. If he did none of the work, how will he answer the interviewer's questions?
Based on what you posted, I would tell your friend to decline the invitation.
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Wait, is it a review paper? In that case, if your friend contributes significantly to writing it, it's perfectly reasonable, even if he never steps foot in the lab.
QofQuimica
Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....
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Yes, it's possible. One particularly egregious example I know about personally involves an individual who got listed as an author on several papers just for proofreading them. 🙄
I agree with the others that if it's an experimental paper, and your friend was not involved in the design or execution of the project, then he should not be an author on the paper. However, as yeastfan said, if it's a review article, giving your friend authorship would be perfectly reasonable, especially if he does a lit search along with writing some or all of the draft.
P.S. Maebea, I'm glad to see you're back.
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I'm with Q in that I've seen this sort of thing numerous times. My particularly egregious stories involve family members or academic connections leading to names on papers with minimal effort by the student. I'm still seeing this as a medical student for students applying to residency and it works really really well at this stage to have those sorts of connections and names on papers (#$@%@$).
It really drives my blood pressure up to see the emphasis on publications for MD/PhD applicants when this kind of crap happens. Some programs will ask you some pretty detailed questions about what you published, so hopefully that's both a warning and a tip. Know your work well.
It really drives my blood pressure up to see the emphasis on publications for MD/PhD applicants when this kind of crap happens. Some programs will ask you some pretty detailed questions about what you published, so hopefully that's both a warning and a tip. Know your work well.
Wow... that is horrible. I have busted my butt for the last two years and feel incredibly lucky that I'm finally publishing now.... I will be first author though.. woot.
I figure that if you claim 2nd, 3rd ... etc. author on a paper schools are going to be just as (if not more) critical of your work. Because those positions are so variable in meaning, I imagine one of the first questions you will get is "what exactly did you contribute?" which you will fail unless you lie. Further, there have been numerous times in my interviews where I've been asked to describe challenges that I faced along the way and you simply will not be able to discuss this aspect of the actual research if you haven't done it.
Still shady stuff though...
and yes, schools are definitely putting an emphasis on publications. I can tell that I would be MUCH better off right now if my work had been published prior to applying.
I figure that if you claim 2nd, 3rd ... etc. author on a paper schools are going to be just as (if not more) critical of your work. Because those positions are so variable in meaning, I imagine one of the first questions you will get is "what exactly did you contribute?" which you will fail unless you lie. Further, there have been numerous times in my interviews where I've been asked to describe challenges that I faced along the way and you simply will not be able to discuss this aspect of the actual research if you haven't done it.
Still shady stuff though...
and yes, schools are definitely putting an emphasis on publications. I can tell that I would be MUCH better off right now if my work had been published prior to applying.
Schools are looking for evidence of a capacity for independent investigation. This is what you should aim to show throughout the application process. Publications are exactly this: evidence, nothing more or less. Why would they be? Do you think schools make their reputation/funding off of the number of publications that admitted undergrads have?
It sounds like the OP's friend's PI is a nice guy trying to do him/her a favor, but an 'easy' publication may not only be worthless but potentially hurtful. If his PS, recs and interview answers can't present a unified picture of exactly what he did and where this project came from and how it has affected his future plans, then a publication will actually call the credibility of the rest of his application into question. If you think about who your interviewers are you'll see that this can lead to a lot of trouble. These are people who grill grad students, have undergrads in their own labs, review articles for publications, interview scores of other candidates, and have been in his shoes and are aware of the accompanying temptations.
If your friend goes through with this, he'll most likely distract from the competitive aspects of his application by focusing all their attention on a "research experience" that he can't give evidence for. Worst case scenario, he tries to make more of it than it is and gets caught out with major repercussions for his future career. Instead, he should ask his PI if he can actually work on an independent project with him/her. It sounds like he's been lucky enough to find someone willing to support him.
It sounds like the OP's friend's PI is a nice guy trying to do him/her a favor, but an 'easy' publication may not only be worthless but potentially hurtful. If his PS, recs and interview answers can't present a unified picture of exactly what he did and where this project came from and how it has affected his future plans, then a publication will actually call the credibility of the rest of his application into question. If you think about who your interviewers are you'll see that this can lead to a lot of trouble. These are people who grill grad students, have undergrads in their own labs, review articles for publications, interview scores of other candidates, and have been in his shoes and are aware of the accompanying temptations.
If your friend goes through with this, he'll most likely distract from the competitive aspects of his application by focusing all their attention on a "research experience" that he can't give evidence for. Worst case scenario, he tries to make more of it than it is and gets caught out with major repercussions for his future career. Instead, he should ask his PI if he can actually work on an independent project with him/her. It sounds like he's been lucky enough to find someone willing to support him.
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