Conflict of Interests / Plagiarism?

[random_number]

I had a STEM project with a few collaborators last year. The publication met a few problems in the final stage (so not published yet). Today I found out that one of the collaborators published a work that used my ideas in the collaborative project, without letting me know. Half of the abstract was almost the same as my abstract. I don't feel very comfortable with this situation. Is this behavior ethical in the setting of academia? What would you do if you were in the same situation?

[mamselle]

STEM, humanities, or social sciences?

The answers may differ.

M.

[random_number]

STEM

STEM, humanities, or social sciences?

The answers may differ.

M.

[Ruralguy]

It really depends on really how much of the ideas were recycled, whether he could have plausibly gotten them some place else, and what you may have agreed to before hand.  Though, my gut feeling is that if you even have to ask this questions, he probably ripped off your work, though it may have been in an "acceptable" (won't get him fired or retracted from a journal) sort of way.

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

Is it the project that was discussed last year?
Authorship issue in collaborative projects

Half of the abstract was almost the same as my abstract.

What kind of an abstract is it?
200-word conference or abstract couple-of-pages extended abstract or manuscript abstract?
There are very different implications of similarity in each of these cases. E.g. 200-word conference abstracts are very often very similar by virtue of being generic (particularly if they are submitted 6 month in advance). Similar extended abstracts may indeed be a matter of concern. In case of manuscript abstract, it is manuscripts that need to be compared.

Another question is the nature of your ideas being used.
Again the range of possibilities may exist:
Example of retracted paper where authors used data given to them for report to research sponsors and did not get permission to use it in a manuscript

[research_prof]

I had a STEM project with a few collaborators last year. The publication met a few problems in the final stage (so not published yet). Today I found out that one of the collaborators published a work that used my ideas in the collaborative project, without letting me know. Half of the abstract was almost the same as my abstract. I don't feel very comfortable with this situation. Is this behavior ethical in the setting of academia? What would you do if you were in the same situation?

Welcome to academia. One way to handle it is to escalate with the journal editor/conference chair and provide evidence. If you convince the editor/chair, the paper will be retracted and your collaborator's reputation will be dinged. Another way is to take the high road, suck it up, cut this collaborator off, not forget what the collaborator did, and make sure to pay back in some way in the future.

[Ruralguy]

If you have tenure, screw them now. They deserve it. Otherwise, wait.