PI directly used my data in a publication and then omitted me from author list

[newyorkcitymed]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting medical school in the fall, but I wasn't sure where else to post this. A year ago, my PI that I worked with as an undergrad told me I would be listed as an author on a paper he was submitting, since I had contributed a figure. I recently learned that the paper was finally published. I am not listed as an author. One of the figures uses six images that I took myself and emailed to my PI. (If you compare the images I sent him and the figure in the paper, it is clear that they are the exact same photographs.)

I don't know if the PI knowingly omitted me after using my data, or if he just forgot about me. I want to point out to him that he did something unethical, and if possible, I would like the paper to be corrected to list me as an author, since I will be applying for residencies in a couple years from now. What should I say to him?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CriticalCond]

It's actually not unethical if you didn't work on the actual manuscript. In our training at the hospital where I work there's a whole section on ethical authorship inclusions, since he's PI it's up to his discretion, but he's not compelled to include you, especially if the data is from a while ago and you haven't worked in his lab since then.

That being said, as someone who has been mislead in a lab setting before, I would (CAREFULLY) mention to him that you were under the assumption that you would be given an authorship on this manuscript and discuss if/how this can be corrected rather than sending off an angry email with guns drawn.

 

[newyorkcitymed]

It's actually not unethical if you didn't work on the actual manuscript. In our training at the hospital where I work there's a whole section on ethical authorship inclusions, since he's PI it's up to his discretion, but he's not compelled to include you, especially if the data is from a while ago and you haven't worked in his lab since then.

That being said, as someone who has been mislead in a lab setting before, I would (CAREFULLY) mention to him that you were under the assumption that you would be given an authorship on this manuscript and discuss if/how this can be corrected rather than sending off an angry email with guns drawn.

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely send him a calm/careful email despite how annoyed I am 😛 And I believe this PI typically writes the entire manuscript himself on papers (yet he includes other lab members as authors, as he did on this paper--he just skipped me).

 

[RocknRhoLim]

I'm sorry this happened to you OP. Welcome to the sometimes cruel world of science research where PI's can often do whatever they want. It is unfortunately up to the PI to decide who gets on the authors list but I would talk to them about this as you have contributed so much and it is ridiculous not to include you. I would try speaking to them directly (phone or in person) rather than email as emails can be misinterpreted. Tell them you enjoyed the research and was under the impression your name would go on the paper. Good luck! And if it doesn't work out, know that you will have many opportunities in med school to publish.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I'll be starting medical school in the fall

Good luck! And if it doesn't work out, know that you will have many opportunities in med school to publish.

I highlighted a couple quotes to keep some perspective. First, +1 to what everyone else is saying but whether you get this pub or not, definitely work on getting more if that is what you desire.

 

[CnsCrit]

That sucks, sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, a lot of times people who have contributed in minor ways to a publication don't get included as an author. If you didn't conceive the project, write the paper, or do the majority of the experiments, at least from my experience it would not surprising to be omitted from the author list. That being said, every lab has a certain preference for how to include authors, some labs will throw everyone on, some are very picky about who "deserves" to be included. Since your boss actually told you that you would be included its extra disappointing, but when he said that he may have had more of a vague notion of what you had contributed, especially if it was before the paper got written. I've had a very similar experience to you--it sucks but you'll get more chances. Especially if you were an undergrad at the time, I would say thats fairly normal. I'm unfortunately sure that your PI didn't forget, but intentionally didn't include you. You might approach them about it, but be cautious, especially if you need letters from this person in the future! Good luck

 

[Blown Away]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting medical school in the fall, but I wasn't sure where else to post this. A year ago, my PI that I worked with as an undergrad told me I would be listed as an author on a paper he was submitting, since I had contributed a figure. I recently learned that the paper was finally published. I am not listed as an author. One of the figures uses six images that I took myself and emailed to my PI. (If you compare the images I sent him and the figure in the paper, it is clear that they are the exact same photographs.)

I don't know if the PI knowingly omitted me after using my data, or if he just forgot about me. I want to point out to him that he did something unethical, and if possible, I would like the paper to be corrected to list me as an author, since I will be applying for residencies in a couple years from now. What should I say to him?

Go to medical school and move on. If the paper was submitted, he's not going to go through the review process again just to tack on another author.

 

[HopefulReapp]

Unfortunately it is at the discretion of the PI entirely. What we've learned through middle school, high school, and college about plagiarism kind of goes away. If he funded the project, he can decide who gets named.

One of my publications I was promised second author for all of my work and was moved to third (to be behind a grad student), and another was entirely removed.

Just put it behind you, at least you got into medical school!

 

[bambi]

I had something similar happen as a med student. In my case I had collected 5 years worth of data for a project I was doing. The fellow then took this data and used it for a paper. I was never told a paper was being written but it was completely based on my data. I was acknowledged on the paper but not an author and a couple of others were acknowledged for next to no work. I spoke to the head of the department and he had words with the consultant (attending) who was supervising the fellow and the consultant had to write me an apology. It was too late to do more than that as it was published at least 6 months before I found out. Potentially it's research fraud.