Programming, publishing results, and getting help of your boss

Question

Hi,

let's say that you are working in a public scientific and computer programming research center as research associate and that you are not independent and have kind of a boss. Let's say that you create a new computer programming research line that has nothing to do with what your boss previously did or investigated. Let's say that you find some ideas, go through and you get good results for a publication.

What would you do here, would you include your boss as an author or not? This is a tricky question, I know.

Furthermore, if you would include it, then you realize that if he helps in something, then you can go faster. For instance he could help revising the manuscript, or redacting some parts, or checking calculations, etc, but he is supposed to be so busy that he has no time. My question here is, how would you suggest to your boss "hey, you will be on the paper, please at least help me a bit with something" :) I know is complicated, at least for me, but I think that with the right words, I could get it done much faster.

Thanks for your opinion

Answer 1

Wow. This is tricky to say the least.
As you said, you are in research and so the chances of commercializing your concept may be low. In that case, your idea of including you boss seems correct. If you could commercialize it, then it would be better to go out and look for VC or investor.

Now the question - how to go about it?
You could suggest this as an idea to your boss. Perhaps something like - "I have an idea about xxx. I did some preliminary research and I think its promising. Could you give some suggestions? I think this'll be great for our dept. I can do some more research if you suggest."
The way to proceed in hierarchical organization is to make the boss think its his idea/initiative.

Of course this is unfair to the original creator, but at least the research stands the chance of being published.

You may also need to look at the rules of the organization. Generally if you have developed something using their resources, the Org may have a right on it.

Answer 2

I think, that if did that project on your own, in your free time, on your private computer etc, you could be able to publish it on your own, since no one should care what you do in your free time. However, if you did it during your job hours, using research center's resources than it's different situation. At least you should say this to your boss, maybe ask him for his opinion, or proof reading and include him at least in acknowledgments.

Answer 3

Good question :)

It's really matter of individual perception as your actions would be in-line with your thoughts.

You could tell him that you are not going to publish it as it needs some changes which you would not be able to complete. If he is really curious, he would eventually say, 'let me help you!' or at least would say 'I would have loved to help but I am dam busy these days'. But if paper being published does not matter to him then he would not say anything.. in such case you could take out his name (and that would not have any consequences because that'ts by his choice)

Again as I said, it largely a matter of your thoughts

Answer 4

I'd wonder about standard protocol at your institution. Certainly you aren't the only one in this situation. How do other people handle it? If you ask around, you'll find out whether or not it's commonly done and where the dividing line is. Are there no other colleagues at your level who can guide you? Surely you aren't the first who's had to face this delicate question.

I wrote a doctoral dissertation and tried to publish some papers. I listed my advisers as authors, even though they didn't do any of the "work". Sometimes that's the way the publishing game goes.

I would certainly NOT list the boss as the first author; based on your description, that should be you.

Answer 5

It depends on the field.

In biomed, the convention is that the leader of the research facility is always included as last author, even if they had no direct involvement in the research content of the publication. This is rendering unto Caesar...

In computer science, no such acknowledgement is given in the list of authors to anyone who did not make a substantial contribution to the results indicated in the abstract, even though the research facility may have contributed substantial resources needed in the course of the research. These acknowledgements are usually given, together with acknowledgements of funding received, in a footnote on the first page of the manuscript.

Decide on where you want to publish. Get in contact with one of the editors of the publication before submission, to ask about which conventions are generally applied. With this information in hand, you may wish to discuss the matter with your boss.

It is also possible that you are bound by an NDA that limits what information you are allowed to make public; this is a quite separate matter from authorship and you would be wise to discuss this matter with your boss if you did sign any kind of NDA. It is quite common that private research institutions (and even, sometimes, public ones) only demand the exclusive right to exploit research; this could mean that patents need to be filed before research papers are made public.

"help revising the manuscript, or redacting some parts, or checking calculations, etc" is not the kind of thing that merits inclusion in the authors list, although it is the kind the kind of thing that should be put in the acknowledgements section, usually at the end of the paper.

Answer 6

Depending on your field and the way people do at your institution, you should address this in one of the above ways. In particle physics (my Ph. D. topic) the convention is that only those authors who did significant work on the paper appear as such, in alphabetic order. Only occasionally the name of a well reputed scientist may appear at the end, if they wish to give support to a particular work.

I guess in your case I'd comment your boss about the research you've been doing, and ask him/her for their opinion, comments... He might give you a "whatever" and let you publish alone, or not :-)

Answer 7

Let's say that you create a new computer programming research line that has nothing to do with what your boss previously did or investigated.

Absolutely not include your boss. It is your work. Your boss will support and like that if he/she is reasonable. This is how my team and I have worked for the last 10+ years across 2 countries, 3 discipline fields and 4 organisations. It is only fair!

Having said that, it would be nice to ask your boss to review your manuscript before you submit it, and to discuss with him/her any possibilities for the integration of this new like of work into the organisation's strategic lines. The worst case scenario is that he/she will ask you to continue working on that in your spare time.