How does publication work

[byeh2004]

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I just recently got into research and I was wondering how the process of publication work. Can you still get published if your not paid for your research?

 

[javert]

Yes you can publish if you're not paid for your research.

Why don't you ask your PI about the publication process? He/she would be the one to know when your research is ready to be published and he would walk you through the process.

You're probably gonna have to be more specific if you want any feedback here. Your quesiton is so general I could write pages to answer it.

 

[Law2Doc]

I just recently got into research and I was wondering how the process of publication work. Can you still get published if your not paid for your research?

Yes. Actually I've heard of research projects where authorship on the publication was promised specifically because they couldn't afford to pay.

 

[dr.z]

I got 1 first author and 2 co-author papers as a volunteer.

 

[masterMood]

so when you do research, you conduct experiments and basically do grunt work for professors.

then when you've compiled all your data and observations, you sent it to a grad. school or a professor and they write it all?

then you get "published"?

also, if you go to a small liberal arts school (whre research is limited), and research can be restricted to the summers (with pay hopefully), when's a good time to start research? summer befoer sophomore year?

 

[Law2Doc]

so when you do research, you conduct experiments and basically do grunt work for professors.

then when you've compiled all your data and observations, you sent it to a grad. school or a professor and they write it all?

then you get "published"?

also, if you go to a small liberal arts school (whre research is limited), and research can be restricted to the summers (with pay hopefully), when's a good time to start research? summer befoer sophomore year?

It probably works differently in different places, but if you have a good PI, they will often let you participate in the drafting of the paper or abstract, not just "thank you for your data and good bye". Just a heads up though, if you can only work in the summers, you are going to have to be awfully lucky to end up on any sort of publication, as most research takes time, and 3 summer months probably won't be long enough to get onto a publication.

 

[jennifermov]

so when you do research, you conduct experiments and basically do grunt work for professors.

then when you've compiled all your data and observations, you sent it to a grad. school or a professor and they write it all?

then you get "published"?

not in all labs -- in most places, only those who have contributed intellectually receive authorship (that means design the experiments, evaluate the results, make the conclusion, outline future directions...). if the undergrad or lab tech did all the actual experiments but didn't have the education to contribute intellectually, then he/she will just get an "acknowledgement".

the possibility to get your name on a paper depends on your PI's philosophy. you should check with him/her.

jen

 

[logos]

First Author = person who did the most work and wrote most
Middle Authors = people who at least contributed data
Last Author = The professor



Although I think some medical journals do not follow this.

Every lab has a differnt philosophy on publications, however suffice it to say that in most labs it will require a lot of work.

 

[masterMood]

so when you apply to med school, do they specifically ask what type of publication you had? or does it not really matter (something to look make yoru app look nice)?

 

[javert]

First Author = person who did the most work and wrote most
Middle Authors = people who at least contributed data
Last Author = The professor

At least in the labs that I'm familiar with, the requirement for getting publication credit has less to do with contributing data and more to do with contributing ideas. For the lab I'm in, if what you contribute to the project is restricted to what is listed in your job description (collecting data, maintaining the lab, etc.) then that is not sufficient for publication since virtually anyone could have been hired in your place and it would not have changed the results. However, if you developed the experimental protocol or you came up with the initial hypothesis, the project likely would not have occured without your input, and thus you deserve publication credit. My PI also adds to the requirements being able to defend the project since, if it's on your CV, you better be able to explain what the project was.

 

[Law2Doc]

so when you apply to med school, do they specifically ask what type of publication you had? or does it not really matter (something to look make yoru app look nice)?

Most successful applicants do not have publications, so they are certainly not a prereq for med school. However if you do have an authorship credit (especially a first or second author), it helps make you a better applicant.

 

[logos]

At least in the labs that I'm familiar with, the requirement for getting publication credit has less to do with contributing data and more to do with contributing ideas. For the lab I'm in, if what you contribute to the project is restricted to what is listed in your job description (collecting data, maintaining the lab, etc.) then that is not sufficient for publication since virtually anyone could have been hired in your place and it would not have changed the results. However, if you developed the experimental protocol or you came up with the initial hypothesis, the project likely would not have occured without your input, and thus you deserve publication credit. My PI also adds to the requirements being able to defend the project since, if it's on your CV, you better be able to explain what the project was.

Hmmm... I suppose this is a difference between labs. In our lab, if you perform the experiment, you designed it before you performed it. I suppose this is not alway the case.

 

[QofQuimica]

In our lab, the person who writes the paper gets to be first author; this is usually the person who has done the most work on the project. Undergrads generally do not get included as authors unless they've done a significant amount of work. What is a significant amount of work? Well, you need to be doing experiments that are new. That is, you should not just be repeating work that the grad students or post docs have already done, and you need to do the work well enough that whomever you are working with doesn't have to go back and repeat all of your experiments to get some usable data. 😛

I agree that a summer is not likely to be long enough to get on a paper unless you are already experienced in that field. It easily takes three months to become trained in how to perform the experiments, let alone actually get down to doing some independent ones of your own. I'd advise committing at least a year to doing research, either as a volunteer or for pay, if you want to be on a paper. Many universities offer undergrads the opportunity to do honors theses; you can check to see if your school has this option. Also, as one of the previous posters suggested, it's definitely a good idea to check with the PI to find out what his/her policy is for designating authorship.