Addressing research misconduct by a previous postdoc

[theteacher]

A postdoc worked in my research group in early 2021 for 4 months. Unfortunately, things didn't work well (mainly personality issues and toxic behaviour), so I didn't renew their 4-month probation contract. I provided the postdoc with a well-defined problem to research which was a task in my funded project. A 6-page unsubmitted draft was the outcome of our joint work (I worked closely with the postdoc on the problem).

The postdoc recently published a 15-page paper that includes our 6-page draft from 2021 (copied text and equations). I am not included in the author list or the acknowledgment section.

How should I address this situation?

[Caracal]

A postdoc worked in my research group in early 2021 for 4 months. Unfortunately, things didn't work well (mainly personality issues and toxic behaviour), so I didn't renew their 4-month probation contract. I provided the postdoc with a well-defined problem to research which was a task in my funded project. A 6-page unsubmitted draft was the outcome of our joint work (I worked closely with the postdoc on the problem).

The postdoc recently published a 15-page paper that includes our 6-page draft from 2021 (copied text and equations). I am not included in the author list or the acknowledgment section.

How should I address this situation?

I'll let people with specific expertise address the questions about ethics and misconduct.

However, on a more general level, is this really worth pursuing? Beyond not being listed as an author, is there any harm that is going to come to you because of this? Would it somehow cause issues with your funding or your future work? If it will, then you probably need to address it. If the answer is "not really" then I would suggest just letting this go. Given your characterization of this person, this could well become quite ugly. The optics of a tenured professor accusing a postdoc they previously dismissed of misconduct aren't great for you, even if you are clearly in the right. If its possible to just ignore this, that is probably the best way to go.

[Puget]

Besides being a violation of authorship ethics, if this was part of a grant it does have to be addressed, because the grant is supposed to be acknowledged on all grant funded research. First step is to contact the journal-- they should have a procedure for authorship disputes.

[research_prof]

I suppose your postdoc works with another faculty member at this point? If so, contacting this faculty member could help. At least, if I were contacted about something like that, I would take it very seriously and do my best to address it properly.

[theteacher]

However, on a more general level, is this really worth pursuing? Beyond not being listed as an author, is there any harm that is going to come to you because of this? Would it somehow cause issues with your funding or your future work? If it will, then you probably need to address it. If the answer is "not really" then I would suggest just letting this go. Given your characterization of this person, this could well become quite ugly. The optics of a tenured professor accusing a postdoc they previously dismissed of misconduct aren't great for you, even if you are clearly in the right. If its possible to just ignore this, that is probably the best way to go.

I'll ignore it. It's another lesson for me to learn.

Besides being a violation of authorship ethics, if this was part of a grant it does have to be addressed, because the grant is supposed to be acknowledged on all grant funded research. First step is to contact the journal-- they should have a procedure for authorship disputes.

I suppose your postdoc works with another faculty member at this point? If so, contacting this faculty member could help. At least, if I were contacted about something like that, I would take it very seriously and do my best to address it properly.

After leaving my group, the postdoc worked for a university in another state but was dismissed again in 3-5 months. The postdoc now works for their PhD supervisor, a co-author of the 15-page paper. I don't want to interact with those people for my mental health. So, I decided to let it go.

[fizzycist]

This is a tricky one. Why did you decide not to finish the paper and publish?

If the answer is you didn't think it was an interesting enough result to bother, then I'd probably just let it go.  Up to you if you want to contact the authors, may only be worth it if you think they are capable of being reasonable.

I would only pursue the making a big deal out of it and contacting the journal if this is an important result that your lab has continued to work on after the postdoc left. But it doesn't sound like that is the case here.

I wouldn't worry to much about the funding issue, it was only a few months time and hopefully you have other published work you can attribute to the grant.  And you can still put the results of the 6 page work into your annual reports if you choose to.

[bluefooted]

I actually strongly disagree with the advice to let it go.  This is the same as theft - it's theft of intellectual property.  If there are no repercussions for the post-doc, then they get to continue doing things like this to other people.  I would contact the journal and the student, letting them know/reminding them that this material was created in your lab.  I would be clear about the expected fix for the problem: which to me would be inclusion as an author on the paper (if that is what you want).

[Caracal]

I actually strongly disagree with the advice to let it go.  This is the same as theft - it's theft of intellectual property.  If there are no repercussions for the post-doc, then they get to continue doing things like this to other people.  I would contact the journal and the student, letting them know/reminding them that this material was created in your lab.  I would be clear about the expected fix for the problem: which to me would be inclusion as an author on the paper (if that is what you want).

Yeah, but teacher is not responsible for upholding the standards of academic integrity throughout the profession. If this was their current student or postdoc who they learned was doing this, they would absolutely need to act. If this person was not crediting one of their current students or postdocs it would also be incumbent on them to do something.

In this case, teacher is not in a position where she has a clear professional responsibility to act. When you're the wronged party, you get to decide if you want to seek redress. I agree that, in general terms, everyone has a responsibility to uphold standards of intellectual integrity. However, that doesn't mean that we have to take on that responsibility in every instance, regardless of the cost and aggravation involved in cases where there isn't a direct responsibility.

If teacher had a good relationship with the students current supervisor, then it would be easy to just send an email saying "hey, saw this publication and this was actually partly based on work. Not a big deal for me or anything, maybe x didn't understand the conventions, but just wanted to give you a heads up on that." However, it sounds like they don't have a great relationship with the advisor and are concerned that the person might react badly to that kind of email. The former postdoc seems like someone who is not going to be reasonable and the whole thing could get really ugly and the circumstances and power dynamics involved could make this look bad for teacher, even though they are in the right.

You just aren't required to get involved. You are allowed to say "not my postdoc anymore, not important enough to make my problem" and move on with your life.

[clean]

I think that I d contact the PhD advisor (and current coauthor) and note that the work was done while under your supervision, with a grant that should be attributed to the agency and ask IF it is standard at XXUniveristy to permit such behavior?

I think that a non disclosure agreement (or somthing akin to that) should become standard in your lab.  That way, should similar activities occur, your university legal staff could have fun.  (they get paid whether they work or not and I m sure that they would think that this is 'fun' and would be glad to help out with the follow through!) 

[mamselle]

You could just say this:

just send an email saying "hey, saw this publication and this was actually partly based on work. Not a big deal for me or anything, maybe x didn't understand the conventions, but just wanted to give you a heads up on that."

...anyway.

Sometimes when you want to point out something without getting someone's back up, querying the issue on its own terms, assuming the best intentions in the process, will both surface the intention and achieve the expected action.

M.

[Hibush]

Some communication with the new lab would be appropriate. If the postdoc still has a lot to learn in order to become an effective scientist, the advisor should be aware the this is an area requiring attention. On the other hand, if the postdoc is going to continue engaging in research misconduct, it is important that each employer not discover that anew.

[Caracal]

I think that a non disclosure agreement (or somthing akin to that) should become standard in your lab.  That way, should similar activities occur, your university legal staff could have fun.  (they get paid whether they work or not and I m sure that they would think that this is 'fun' and would be glad to help out with the follow through!)

If the student had listed you as a coauthor, would they be doing anything underhanded?

It seems like these kinds of contracts could potentially be chilling in terms of academic collaboration.

[clean]

It seems like these kinds of contracts could potentially be chilling in terms of academic collaboration

Someone works in your lab, under your grant, under your direction, and then publishes the results you directed without your permission or knowledge?   How is THAT not chilling in terms of academic collaboration? 

[theteacher]

Thanks all for the valuable comments!
I just emailed the supervisor, even though I don't expect much out of it :) But I couldn't bury my head in the sand when academic integrity and professional responsibility were mentioned here.

[theteacher]

So, it has been more than 10 days since contacting the supervisor. As I expected, I haven't received any response.