[Itech] Issues with Publications and authorship

[Teresa Franklin]

Hello Graduates,

I was hoping to have an opportunity to meet with all the PHD and MED
candidates this fall but did not get a chance to do so and this issue has
come to my attention from other graduates and faculty in the Patton
College. The question concerns publications that are being worked on by
graduate students with graduate faculty?  How does the authorship work?
What is appropriate in this relationship?

My answer to this question which was posed to me is the following: (Dr.
Moore may have a different opinion.)

Graduate students do not have PHDs yet and most respectable research
journals are not interested in publishing papers that do not include a PHD
as an author whether that person is your advisor, a faculty member you have
worked with or some other PHD person. If the faculty member helped you find
the locations to do the research, or helped you formulate the idea and
research design, or helped you with the IRB, or edited your paper, or
provided writing support then the faculty member's name should be on the
paper as a contributor just like yours should be on the paper as
contributor to the research of the paper.  Typically the faculty name is
the last name listed unless the faculty member helped significantly with
the writing of the paper (for example, the faculty member wrote the methods
section, results, conclusion and the graduate student wrote the literature
review mainly).  Little research is conducted alone -- in the science
fields -- most papers have 5 to 7 authors. However, this should be
discussed with the faculty member as you begin working on the paper.

Just acknowledging the work of the faculty member at the bottom of the
paper will not help you get the paper published -- journal publication in
the US do not work this way.  Research journals expect that as a graduate
student you are working under the mentorship of a graduate faculty member
since most graduate students do not learn how to conduct research and about
publishing without working with a graduate faculty member at some time.
Research journals also expect that a faculty member has reviewed the
article for plagiarism before submitting it to the journal -- which is
critically important.

While this seems like a small question -- the way a graduate student
presents their publications on a resume/vitae can also impact job
opportunities and reference letters requested/discussed during job
applications. (Universities in job discussions may ask a faculty reference
about a publication found on the graduate student vitae and want to know
how much work the graduate student really did with the paper.)

My advice is to always talk about authorship with the faculty member if you
are involving the faculty member in any way with the research plan, IRB or
paper.

Dr. Franklin



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Dr. Teresa Franklin
Professor, Instructional Technology
Instructional Technology Program Coordinator
Dept. Educational Studies
Gladys W. & David H. Patton College of Education and Human Services
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701
740-593-4561 (office)
740-593-0477 (fax)
also: franklinteresa at gmail.com

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