Protocol in academia re: coauthoring with profs for publishing as undergrad?

[Usehername]

Yay! I am so very excited.

I've been hibernating and working pretty hard on a paper; turns out it's going to get published by some obscure and probably boring journal, which I am thrilled about. But my paper is an INTJ's dream! Cogsci/education system/etc. I've actually really enjoyed it so far.

Question to anyone who would know:

What is the protocol when you get accepted as an undergrad to publish in a journal? Are you supposed to ask your prof to coauthor with you even though you're doing all the work? What if, such as in my case, your prof isn't quite finished his PhD himself?

I was accepted (with my partner who has vertigo and has let me take over the paper thus far, though I assume she'll want to be more involved now that we're getting published) based on my writing alone. Am I supposed to ask my non-PhD prof to coauthor? Can I just leave it and have it be only our 2 undergrad names? Do I find a prof with a PhD? Anyone know how to handle this situation?

Edit: Prof has read a draft and given us a few written paragraphs of advice and a few minutes of talking for direction and weaknesses, so he has been involved, though he hasn't written anything or found any sources.

 

[Economica]

First off, congratulations!

Second, if your professor (incidentally, how did someone who hasn't quite finished his own PhD earn that title? ) isn't pressuring you to be a coauthor, I don't see why you should consider it...? In my understanding, superiors sharing credit is something you can't stop, not something you invite.

Edit: So I guess what I'm saying is:

Can I just leave it and have it be only our 2 undergrad names?

Yes.

 

[nightning]

Yes.

Yes with a caveat... depending on which journal you're submitting it to, the name of a more well known professor might make the acceptance process easier. However if you're just publishing in a "regular" journal and your work is decent, go for it yourself. Just make sure you read and follow the guide for authors exactly.

 

[Orangey]

Yay! I am so very excited.

I've been hibernating and working pretty hard on a paper; turns out it's going to get published by some obscure and probably boring journal, which I am thrilled about. But my paper is an INTJ's dream! Cogsci/education system/etc. I've actually really enjoyed it so far.

Question to anyone who would know:

What is the protocol when you get accepted as an undergrad to publish in a journal? Are you supposed to ask your prof to coauthor with you even though you're doing all the work? What if, such as in my case, your prof isn't quite finished his PhD himself?

I was accepted (with my partner who has vertigo and has let me take over the paper thus far, though I assume she'll want to be more involved now that we're getting published) based on my writing alone. Am I supposed to ask my non-PhD prof to coauthor? Can I just leave it and have it be only our 2 undergrad names? Do I find a prof with a PhD? Anyone know how to handle this situation?

Edit: Prof has read a draft and given us a few written paragraphs of advice and a few minutes of talking for direction and weaknesses, so he has been involved, though he hasn't written anything or found any sources.

Hey congrats !

As to your question...I also don't see why you should include your prof as coauthor, but I also know that the protocol is different for different areas and fields (and journals). Being that he doesn't have his PhD yet, though, I doubt that his name holds a whole lot of sway yet in the field anyway (though it may, I obviously don't know him or his circumstances). But I think it's always best to have your name (and your partner's) down for author, since when people look at prof-student coauthored papers, the assumption is that the ideas and direction came mostly from the prof.

 

[Economica]

Yes with a caveat... depending on which journal you're submitting it to, the name of a more well known professor might make the acceptance process easier.

She writes like acceptance won't be an issue though:

I've been hibernating and working pretty hard on a paper; turns out it's going to get published by some obscure and probably boring journal, which I am thrilled about.

Incidentally, Usehername, how did that come about?

 

[Usehername]

For one of my departmental classes that got me out of doing some boring 1st year class when I switched departments, it was spent going in depth into the academic process of publishing; one of the requirements of the course was that we submit this major paper we've been working on for publication (and we all assume that nothing will get published and we're just doing it for the learning process).

But then I received an email back congratulating me for my submission and that it was accepted for publication. I'm sure it still has edits to go through, etc. though. It's not due for another 2 months so we're going to improve it definitely.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[nightning]

Then you're good to go. No need to include your prof in the paper.

 

[FDG]

My undergrad thesis has been published, without need for co-authorship - I don't know the exact procedure though, since the professor did it for me.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

I would recommend adding "and certainly NOT [prof's name]" to the list of authors

 

[Usehername]

I would recommend adding "and certainly NOT [prof's name]" to the list of authors

Thanks, Edahn. I will get to that right away. You sure have wise words for people making first impressions in their possible career fields.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

It's because I have something called EXPERIENCE, Useher.

 

[Usehername]

It's because I have something called EXPERIENCE, Useher.

Edahn is a mentor to us all.

 

[The Ü™]

Edahn is a mentor to us all.

So you left the forum for good, huh?

 

[nonsequitur]

If he/she's had any intellectual input at all he/she should be on the author's list.

I'm not sure which field you're publishing in, but in my field the main author (the one who did all of the work) is the first author, followed by people who contributed data (middle authors) and the senior author is the person who directed the project/ran the lab/got funding. It's also necessary to specify who did how much work. As far as not including people on the author's list goes, if he/she had intellectual input and you don't include their names, it's plagiarism (which is very serious in academia). It's better to pad the author's list (soft authorship) and include a few more people than to plagiarise, IMHO.

Also, congratulations.