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An Argument for First Author
Anatomy

I’m a school of medicine graduate student finalizing my dissertation. In the large laboratory where I work, postdocs serve as generators of ideas which are then passed along to the graduate students for development. My dissertation is based on such an idea, but I spent years refining the hypothesis, designing and conducting the necessary experiment, and analyzing the data. I also drafted a paper based on this work that is in the final stages of preparation for submission to a prestigious journal. The postdoc who gave me this idea listed herself as first author and me as second. Based on my efforts, I believe that I should be first author. What can I do?

The school of medicine’s recently approved authorship guidelines state that the order in which names appear should be a joint decision of the co-authors. In all laboratories, the policies governing authorship order should be transparent and discussed regularly, especially when new members join a laboratory.

Ideally, authorship order should be discussed before beginning any project and periodically reevaluated to appropriately represent the efforts of all contributors. (Often postdoctoral fellows and graduate students leave a laboratory before the completion of a project, requiring others to complete the work.)

You should talk with the postdoc as soon as possible. As a guide for your discussion, refer to the four essential criteria for authorship set forth in our guidelines. They are: 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; 3) sufficient participation in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and 4) final approval of the version to be published. Go over these criteria point by point with your postdoc to lay out the contribution that each of you has made.

You should be able to make a compelling case for yourself, but you should also listen carefully to the postdoc’s perspective. That postdoc may put a great deal of weight on the fact that she conceived the project and supervised your work. Authorship issues aren’t simple.

If the two of you come to an impasse, consider bringing the issue to the faculty member who heads the laboratory. This faculty member is ultimately responsible for supervision and mentorship of all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Should all efforts for resolution fail, contact Peter Maloney, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Affairs, at pmaloney@jhmi.edu.

The school of medicine recently launched a peer counseling service that may also be useful to you. Fellow students are trained to meet one on one with their peers, provide perspective on problems, and offer suggestions for resolution and referral to on-campus resources. Contact Danny Teraguchi, Assistant Dean for Diversity, at dteraguchi@jhu.edu to make an appointment.

 

 
            
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