Student Helping Prof with Research

[Wup]

Okay, So this summer I am going to be working with a professor and he is always publishing lots of research, and I am going to be helping with some experiments. I want to get my name tagged on to one of the papers. How would I go about doing this. Would I ask him if i could get my name added? Wait for him to ask me? (I am very new to this type of job btw).

 

Thanks

[TBJ1]

Okay, So this summer I am going to be working with a professor and he is always publishing lots of research, and I am going to be helping with some experiments. I want to get my name tagged on to one of the papers. How would I go about doing this. Would I ask him if i could get my name added? Wait for him to ask me? (I am very new to this type of job btw).

 

Thanks

 

Authorship on a paper is a privilege and does not come automatically from working with a professor. If your professor believes you have contributed enough throughout the summer, then he/she will include you. Otherwise, don't ask because it can appear very negative.

[TofuMisosoup]

It depends on your contributions to the paper.

 

For purely technical work, you'll likely get mentioned in the acknowledgement section.

 

To be an author, you must have contributed something innovative (ex. new ideas, new technique, new ways to do things fasters).

[clkt]

I disagree with the above 2 posts. First, most students, including grad students, discuss with their PIs as to what new experiments to do, how much they contribute to that discussion depends on the student/PI - so students don't just come up with new ideas by themselves. In general, undergrads contribute less to the "thinking up ideas or designing experiments" process. But if they do enough of the experiments in the paper, their name will be on it. Of course, unless your only job in the lab is to make reagents/gels and wash dishes for the grad students...

Second, I don't think the original poster has enough experience to have good ideas about spin-off projects. If you go into a lab where a particular project is going well, and you help out with it, I think that's the fastest way to get your name on a paper. Chances are, projects already established will be published soon, even if you become third or fourth author. But if you start on something different, three months in the summer will not get anywhere in terms of publications, if you have positive results. And that's a big "if". It is normal for undergrads to not get positive results from a summer's work. But the chances of your experiments working are higher if a project is already established.

 

To answer your question. Don't ask your prof for getting your name on a paper. And he/she won't ask you either. They are usually fair when it comes to giving people credit. If you deserve it (ie contributed enough), your name will appear on their papers. It depends a lot on luck, so don't have too high hopes. Good luck

[Kirsteen]

Hey there,

 

I don't know that I'd agree with the above. I think if you demonstrate that you're keen on taking the initiative and getting things done, then you certainly can work with a good researcher and get your name on a paper. What you need to do, however, is: 1) express, up front, that you'd like to do the work to generate some interesting results that will help you publish (your first/a) paper; 2) demonstrate that you know what's involved in being an author of a paper (look up the author contribution section of the BMJ for some background on this); 3) actively do the work--hardly a small feat.

 

If you express all of this up front to a researcher, most will only appreciate your fervor for what they do and would be happy to help you achieve the other parts of the process. Minimally, if you express the above and you receive less than an ideal response, then you'll know where you stand inre: your potential to publish with that researcher.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[lostintime]

I think it also helps if you do a good part of the writing? At least I hope it will for my case (still nothing yet boo). It is a long and hard process.

[daryn]

In my situation, I helped with a large chunk of research, protocol development/implementation and did most of the literature search. The data was crunched by a hired number cruncher and the prof I was working for churned out a paper but he needed me to re-write it. I re-wrote it and it was sent in for publication. I didn't get acknowledged at all (not even in the small text at the end of the paper!). I did get a 'thank you' at a presentation of the paper though - it didn't make me feel too good. So, like the dude above said, it sometimes depends on luck.

well.

 

Wow, not even an acknowledgement? That's a bit much.

 

 

To the OP:

 

Don't go up to the prof and ask your name to be on the author's list. If you deserve it, it will be there. Depends on what your goal is, sometimes that by itself doesn't matter that much/doens't have much of an impact, unless you are first/second author. Especially as an undergrad, one cannot expect much to come out of it. Not everybody graduates with a first author paper on hand, nor do they need to be. Also, don't expect any sort of paper to come out of a three/four month summer NSERC or whatever. It's a plus, but don't expect it.

 

You really need to contribute a lot to the project (which doesn't necessarily involve the thinking process -- in fact, the ideas/directions are already given by the supervisors in masters projects) to be on the author's list.

 

Anyway, to cut this short(er), just contribute as much as you can, show interest in the research, show initiative, and just in general be a good team player who is willing to help and someone nice to have around.

[Kirsteen]

You really need to contribute a lot to the project (which doesn't necessarily involve the thinking process -- in fact, the ideas/directions are already given by the supervisors in masters projects) to be on the author's list.

Hi there,

 

Perhaps this is the case with basic science research, i.e., that the MSc student has less autonomy in formulating the research idea, but in other realms, e.g., clinical research, the student often has a lot of control over this aspect of the research. For example, in my own MSc I devised my own project and incorporated an approach that I learned while at Johns Hopkins and about which no-one on my committee had much knowledge. Granted, I needed the committee members for guidance along the way, but the research ideas and directions were all mine.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[The Bunny]

When I mentionned to my supervisor that I was applying to med school she generously began to put me as second author on anything I remotely contributed to even if it was only data entry. Sometimes if they know it might help you they will be nice. Don't ask directly but you could bring up how much you think it might help your application.

[bayervillager]

Oh wow, you have a really nice prof!! You are really lucky. When you get in to med school, you should send your prof a fruit+muffin basket

 

What area of research are you in? I'm just asking because I keep on feeling that the health sciences (ex. pharmacology, biochemistry etc.) professors tend to be really wary of students wanting to attend medical school.

[kahone]

+1 to Kirsteen's first post. You'll usually get far more mileage about being up front about your goals. Not to say that it will guarantee you what you want; that very much depends on the PI. Even if you are dead set on meds, many basic science PIs will be very supportive of any student that demonstrates initiative, good work ethic, self motivation and the like. The PI benefits as well - hard work is hard work. A couple of universal constants in science though: "it" frequently does not go as planned, and almost always takes longer than you would think.

The point is, don't EXPECT authorship out of a summer stint. I've seen work from a summer project take a calendar year to be accepted, then another 4 months to appear in print. My first paper took 2 years of revisions and additional experiments to be accepted and published. That was from a 4th year undergrad thesis project. MSc and PhD later, that is still my favorite publication-worth every minute of pain and every 4-letter word muttered, shouted, hollered, whispered, cried, and laughed

Work hard, enjoy it, immerse yourself in it...that's almost all you can do. Even if there is no paper out of the work you do, you vastly improve your probability of a really nice reference letter out of the experience! And that can be worth it's weight in gold.

good luck!

k

[The Bunny]

Oh wow, you have a really nice prof!! You are really lucky. When you get in to med school, you should send your prof a fruit+muffin basket

 

What area of research are you in? I'm just asking because I keep on feeling that the health sciences (ex. pharmacology, biochemistry etc.) professors tend to be really wary of students wanting to attend medical school.

 

Tell me about it. She is awesome. My supervisor studies the organization of healthcare so it's more a social science thing but still very interesting. We look at how to make nurses and doctors happier at their job and what factors affect their productivity and success rates and stuff like that. I guess she practices what she preaches cause she is obsessed with making sure her RAs are happy and comfortable.

 

Oh and I got in this year and you are right... maybe I should get her something nice...... Good call.

[cutiepie]

It really depends on your professor. Some are really nice and they included anyone who was remotely associated with the project. Some are not that lenient and they include only those core people.

[lostintime]

And let's not forget also those who have connections as well. I've heard of this girl who got into a lab through connections and got her name on a paper in a mere 2-3 months doing minimal work.

 

Basically, the only thing you can really do if you want your name on a paper is just to try your best to contribute and hope that your prof will recognize that. Otherwise, what can you really do?