Work/data published without authorship?

[sat0ri]

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I was preparing a presentation (for an interview that asked I give a presentation on research I was involved in) on a project I did at an internship when I stumbled upon all of my data was published January 2015 without any credit given to me. I mean like some of the pictures of the cells I took myself, and in general the data is exactly the project designed and carried out. I'm a bit taken aback because I was told I would be published with them in the context of a large project, but it looks like instead of publishing my work in their larger project as a full paper, they published my data as a "note". They did all the writing (though we were supposed to edit it together they said) but the work and data is mine. Do I have any options here?

 

[mimelim]

Which of the following areas did you contribute? And which of these did you do more work than anyone else on the project?

Conception and design
Analysis and interpretation
Data collection
Writing the article
Critical revision of the article
Statistical analysis
Obtaining funding
Overall responsibility

 

[sat0ri]

See bolded. I feel betrayed. Some of the pictures are exactly mine of work I exclusively did. The abstract is very close to what I wrote as well.

Which of the following areas did you contribute? And which of these did you do more work than anyone else on the project?

Conception and design
Analysis and interpretation
Data collection (conducted experiments)
Writing the article (was told we wold begin writing in 2015)
Critical revision of the article
Statistical analysis
Obtaining funding
Overall responsibility

 

[sat0ri]

It was published January 1, 2015--would it be too late to ask if I could be added as in as a correction?

 

[ridethecliche]

Yes, can't add authors once accepted and published. Can sometimes when it's still in galley, but requires all authors to sign off.

 

[sat0ri]

Yes, can't add authors once accepted and published. Can sometimes when it's still in galley, but requires all authors to sign off.

Ok I guess I'll get the story from them and see if they're willing. It's really strange, I was told I would be a co-author by grad student and PI alike and even the lab tech (who is great, but she only orders reagents and things like that and is in her 40's and has no intention of being an independent scientist) was on the paper.

If not, I suppose I'll contact the publisher.

I'm guessing in galley means something like in press or when the electronic edition is available a month or so in advance. (EDIT: or maybe when the manuscript is accepted with revisions).

 

[mimelim]

See bolded. I feel betrayed. Some of the pictures are exactly mine of work I exclusively did. The abstract is very close to what I wrote as well.

Just because they used some of your pictures, doesn't mean that they need to give you authorship. You designed the experiment and/or came up with the idea for the project?

 

[ridethecliche]

Pictures are one thing. If the op did the experiments had input in trouble shooting them, and did analysis... Then that's totally different, no?

 

[mimelim]

Pictures are one thing. If the op did the experiments had input in trouble shooting them, and did analysis... Then that's totally different, no?

If you designed the project and did the majority of the work as OP is claiming, you should be the undisputed 1st author on the publication, not just an author. But, by the same token, you also generally don't need to be told when the paper will be 'written' given that you would be writing the paper.

Clearly someone in the lab was able to write the paper without your assistance. The question is how were they able to do that without input from you? Doing the grunt work of the experiment doesn't equate to authorship. Certainly, I would agree that if you are troubleshooting the experiments and fixing things so that others don't have to, that is worth noting. But, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly @sat0ri 's involvement was here. This isn't about hours spent doing stuff, this is about what was inputted into the project.

 

[TheSummit]

And the fact that it was published already, it means the process of writing and submission already happened at least months ago. Were you not aware what the lab was doing for this period of time?

 

[sat0ri]

And the fact that it was published already, it means the process of writing and submission already happened at least months ago. Were you not aware what the lab was doing for this period of time?

No I was told "we" would begin this year (2015). Also they only intended for me to edit since I was a summer intern, not a Grad student, and only if I wanted to. I didn't keep contact since leaving in August assuming they wouldn't write the darn thing without me

 

[sat0ri]

I will update when I talk with PI. Again I was told I'd be coauthor (designed experiments, did an insane amount of trouble shooting, got the statistically significant results, reviewed the literature) and this lab is pretty generous seeing that the tech (no intellectual contribution whatsoever and her help was not specific to the project) was acknowledged. There were only 4 authors too (I know some don't like too many coauthors).

This will be quiete an interesting experience trying to ask this politely.... Tips on this front (email etiquette/scientific professionalism) would be appreciated as well

 

[Law2Doc]

I think you just learned the hard lesson about scientific research that many of us have experienced first hand. When people work in a "publish or perish" world, the guy out of sight quickly becomes out of mind. I wouldn't even bother to confront them, unless there's commercial applications at stake. They are going to marginalize your involvement and make it sound like you are asking for credit you didn't really earn. Best to dust yourself off and be more careful next time. No point making a scene and burning a bridge that it's likely too late to cross anyhow. "I was told" means nothing if it's not in writing or confirmed in an email, etc. But I can assure you that if you start throwing around words like "scientific professionalism" they will get real defensive, not apologetic.

 

[LizzyM]

I think you just learned the hard lesson about scientific research that many of us have experienced first hand. When people work in a "publish or perish" world, the guy out of sight quickly becomes out of mind. I wouldn't even bother to confront them, unless there's commercial applications at stake. They are going to marginalize your involvement and make it sound like you are asking for credit you didn't really earn. Best to dust yourself off and be more careful next time. No point making a scene and burning a bridge that it's likely too late to cross anyhow. "I was told" means nothing if it's not in writing or confirmed in an email, etc. But I can assure you that if you start throwing around words like "scientific professionalism" they will get real defensive, not apologetic.

Agree. You should begin by talking with the PI, particularly if you did not get so much as an acknowledgement for the photos. Going to the university administration with an issue around publication would be the nuclear option. this is a very helpful policy statement you may find useful:
http://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/in...icies-integrity-science/authorship-guidelines

 

[NickNaylor]

You're not going to get these things corrected, unfortunately. This exact thing happened to me with a project that I worked on during medical school with a couple of residents. The work was split very evenly - I'd say 35/35/30 between the three of us - and I was included as an author on a poster but left off the abstract when it was published. These things happen.

Your best bet is to talk to the PI, see what the deal was, and see about getting a letter that clarifies your involvement. In other words, if this was a mistake, your PI may be willing to write a letter saying as much and discussing your involvement. It sucks, but that's really just about the best outcome you can hope for at this point.

 

[Gibbward]

Just to clarify, how much of the data in the manuscript were your results? Also, if you read the manuscript, is the discussion exactly how you previously interpreted your results and what you talked to your PI about?

 

[NonTrad16]

OP: I was added to papers for much less, and had another guy added to my undergrad paper without ever talking to him. It was a real bummer to write the manuscript and do all the work alone, get edits/feedback from my professor, and then have a random guy added on at the end... So I became second of three.

I'd follow up with the PI and ask. If they follow up with a full fledged paper or pursue related work, maybe there's still time for you to contribute and get authorship. If not, you can still say "my research was used in xyz capacity in the lab and later published." While not your publication, making a contribution that others actually use is worth noting. Many projects don't get far enough for anything.

 

[PlasticBag]

I don't think you can be added as an author at this point and complaining about it to them will potentially compromise your letter of recommendation, if you're not careful.

I would tell them that I'm happy the work I was so invested in got published and am wondering if perhaps it would be possible for me to create a poster based on this work and present it at a conference. This way you will 1) remind them of how much work you did and maaaaaybe they will feel guilty and put you on something else, 2) at least you might get a poster out of it

 

[samsunimomo]

I don't think you can be added as an author at this point and complaining about it to them will potentially compromise your letter of recommendation, if you're not careful.

I would tell them that I'm happy the work I was so invested in got published and am wondering if perhaps it would be possible for me to create a poster based on this work and present it at a conference. This way you will 1) remind them of how much work you did and maaaaaybe they will feel guilty and put you on something else, 2) at least you might get a poster out of it

Poster and oral presentations at national conferences are almost always for unpublished data, so I wouldn't recommend this.

 

[Law2Doc]

Poster and oral presentations at national conferences are almost always for unpublished data, so I wouldn't recommend this.

Maybe you could get to present it to a school or hospital meeting/grand rounds so you can at least stick it on a CV someplace. But in general I think this is kind of a done deal for the OP.

 

[PlasticBag]

Poster and oral presentations at national conferences are almost always for unpublished data, so I wouldn't recommend this.

True, I was thinking that maybe there is another angle from which to look at the data or something like that. Depends on the type of experiment, I guess.

The lesson is to stay close to your research and start writing right away or at least don't stay out of touch for long enough for other people to write up your work.