Am I being treated unfairly by my prof?

[Fella]

Hi,

I'm a PhD student, and I've been working on a paper off and on for the past couple of years. The paper is primarily an evaluation of a system that has been in the works for the past decade; it consists of a few pages of system description synthesized from earlier papers and then 15 pages of my own evaluation methodology and results. Three quarters of the words in the paper have come directly from me.

My professor took me aside a bit ago and said that he's making himself the first author, since the project as a whole has primarily been his over the years. I think this is unfair, as while the paper may about something he created, the contents of the paper itself are my own.

Do you guys think I should make a fuss? Or is the risk of pissing off my PhD adviser worth the possible benefit of being the first author of a journal paper? I'm kind of at a loss for what to do.

Thanks for any advice,
Fella

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[alamo4]

Are you in something like CS, math or stats? Those are fields where the prof is more likely to be first author on a research paper.

Generally in biomedical sciences, the PI is last author, often called "senior" author or corresponding author and the grad student or Postdoc who did most of the grunt work is first author even if it is all the PI's ideas, funding, and part of a continuation of their previous work.

Maybe seek advise from other faculty in your dept or even dept chair? Just to see what is considered standard in your field and customary in your dept/school.

 

[qwerty2012]

I have a done a masters and didn't write a thesis.

BUT I do know PHD student who had switched advisers because the previous one was really terrible and unfair.

I think since the paper is primarily yours, you should be the first author.

 

[AshPreMed]

Didn't you say its a decade of work? Wow... Isn't primary author based on who did most work (or important?)? I don't really know. But ask around before you start a battle.

 

[igap]

Hi,

I'm a PhD student, and I've been working on a paper off and on for the past couple of years. The paper is primarily an evaluation of a system that has been in the works for the past decade; it consists of a few pages of system description synthesized from earlier papers and then 15 pages of my own evaluation methodology and results. Three quarters of the words in the paper have come directly from me.

My professor took me aside a bit ago and said that he's making himself the first author, since the project as a whole has primarily been his over the years. I think this is unfair, as while the paper may about something he created, the contents of the paper itself are my own.

Do you guys think I should make a fuss? Or is the risk of pissing off my PhD adviser worth the possible benefit of being the first author of a journal paper? I'm kind of at a loss for what to do.

Thanks for any advice,
Fella

This is fairly common in academia. The logic that most faculty advisers use to nab primary credit for a paper is that you are working in their lab, with their resources, under their tutelage. Therefore, they get to decide the author order.

It is hard to argue against this logic when you are, in a sense, at the mercy of your faculty. However, I have to say that you have committed the rookie error of not discussing author order *before* you put the work into the paper. Before you pick up any side projects, or unfinished papers, to polish off and submit, it is your responsibility to discuss the author order. That does 2 important things: it protects you from getting bumped at the last minute to a lesser position on the author list, and it also allow you to say no thank you to the paper if you are not happy with the authorship order.

In this case, since you failed to discuss authorship of the paper beforehand, you are unhappy that your PI is bumping you to a lesser position of authorship. I would not fight this battle if it is not in your primary field of work, or is not related to your dissertation. Consider this a lesson learned, and protect yourself in the future.