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I asked a preceptor for Strong ref letter and she agreed! Now i also worked with her on a project where I am first author on paper and I noticed that she added another student that did not do any work on my manuscript so I asked her politely saying that I would like to give like to give credit where it’s due can u tell me how did that student contribute.. and I said I also said I apologize if I missed something About that students contribution....

Is it a problem that I said that? Would That affect my ref letter?

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1 hour ago, Bookmark311 said:

I asked a preceptor for Strong ref letter and she agreed! Now i also worked with her on a project where I am first author on paper and I noticed that she added another student that did not do any work on my manuscript so I asked her politely saying that I would like to give like to give credit where it’s due can u tell me how did that student contribute.. and I said I also said I apologize if I missed something About that students contribution....

Is it a problem that I said that? Would That affect my ref letter?

And why would you say that? You would still be the first author no? In no way would this affect your application.

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If she is in charge of the project then it's kind of her decision. That other person may have contributed more than you are aware.  That said, medicine has tons of people on tons of papers who contributed little if anything, for political reasons.  It's not the way science is supposed to work, but that's the system in medicine right now.  How she reacts to your question will depend partly on how you worded it, and partly on whether she chooses to interpret your question as a challenge to her authority/judgement, which itself is probably dependent on how insecure she is.

If you want to have the final say on authorship in the future, then make your own research projects, find your own data (and, if necessary, funding), and be the PI. If you need a staff involved, you can shop around until you find one who is willing to agree to your terms.

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2 hours ago, Bookmark311 said:

I asked a preceptor for Strong ref letter and she agreed! Now i also worked with her on a project where I am first author on paper and I noticed that she added another student that did not do any work on my manuscript so I asked her politely saying that I would like to give like to give credit where it’s due can u tell me how did that student contribute.. and I said I also said I apologize if I missed something About that students contribution....

Is it a problem that I said that? Would That affect my ref letter?

It’s perfectly reasonable to ask about people’s contributions. Like, “oh, I didn’t realize there was another student helping with the project - which parts have they been working on?” But if you said it exactly the way you’re saying it here, which sort of seems to imply that you assume the person didn’t do anything, then it may have come off as a bit rude. 

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Agree with the above posters. I think there's some battles that are worth fighting for and some others that are not. If it doesn't affect your authorship or your ref letter, I'd say let it go...I'm sure the doc had her reasons.  Though I am sorry to hear that there's someone who did no work and ended up getting their name on your paper though. That sucks. 

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It's ok to ask about the nature of the student's contribution, but it's not ok to assume right away that he/she didn't do anything.

But in both cases it shouldn't affect you letter if you're a good student and the supervisor likes you... everyone do mistakes. As long as you asked politely it should be fine, don't worry too much about it! I hope that helps!

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On 7/26/2020 at 2:19 PM, Mel96b said:

It's ok to ask about the nature of the student's contribution, but it's not ok to assume right away that he/she didn't do anything.

But in both cases it shouldn't affect you letter if you're a good student and the supervisor likes you... everyone do mistakes. As long as you asked politely it should be fine, don't worry too much about it! I hope that helps!

 

On 7/26/2020 at 12:21 PM, frenchpress said:

It’s perfectly reasonable to ask about people’s contributions. Like, “oh, I didn’t realize there was another student helping with the project - which parts have they been working on?” But if you said it exactly the way you’re saying it here, which sort of seems to imply that you assume the person didn’t do anything, then it may have come off as a bit rude. 


I emailed my staff, and she said that she is including them as a courtesy and I can decide if I want them to be on my paper or not?

I don’t want to be mean or anything but they actually did not do anything 

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3 minutes ago, Bookmark311 said:

 


I emailed my staff, and she said that she is including them as a courtesy and I can decide if I want them to be on my paper or not?

I don’t want to be mean or anything but they actually did not do anything 

ahh lab politics :) 

that shouldn't happen by the rules although it still seems relatively common. some labs have that as a way to boost total publications - everyone on everything sort of logic. sometimes it is help reward people for doing things needed by the lab but hard to put on a single project. Still technically it shouldn't happen still of course, although I do see why sometimes it seems to. 

 

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