Fair Play
Dr. Abbott is a tenure-track assistant professor in the
department of Biochemistry at the University of the Beautiful
South. She has quite extensive teaching obligations, adequate
funding and many graduate students, but her publication
record is only moderate.
Mary is a graduate student who enrolled in the department
as a terminal master's candidate with plans of going on to
medical school. She was assigned to Abbott upon admission. As
Abbott is very busy, she assigns Mary to an ongoing project
in her laboratory.
Mary's performance through graduate school has been good,
and she has gotten along with Abbott reasonably well, despite
the fact that the two do not see each other very often. In
reality, Mary's contacts are mostly with the other students
in the lab and the one post-doctoral fellow. She finds basic
research exciting and after the first year decides to change
directions and become a biochemist instead of a physician.
Early in her second year, Mary discusses her plans with
Abbott and lets her know that, because she will be married
right after her graduation and move to the East Coast, she
will apply for her Ph.D. to the University of Atlantic Ocean.
Abbott agrees to write a recommendation letter, although she
is not personally acquainted with any of Atlantic Ocean's
biochemistry faculty.
Toward the end of spring semester, Mary wraps up her work
in Abbott's lab and defends her thesis. She is accepted at
the University of Atlantic Ocean and moves there. She has not
had time to write any papers based on her master's research,
but she agrees with Abbott to do so as soon as she gets
settled in her new place
The following months are extremely busy for Abbott. She is
writing a new grant based in part on the data generated by
Mary's and other students' projects. Her lab remains crowded
and research rhythms continue. Her teaching responsibilities
have increased, and she has been asked to consult with a
couple of biotechnology firms in town.
In the spring of the following year, while preparing for
the Biochemistry Society's annual meeting, Abbott browses
through the abstracts looking for sessions to attend. She
finds an abstract submitted by Mary, her former student, and
Dr. Jonas, Mary's new adviser at the University of Atlantic
Ocean. As she reads it over, she realizes that the work it
describes is extremely similar to the master's research Mary
had conducted in her laboratory.
Discussion Questions
- How should Abbott respond to the appearance of this
abstract?
- Jonas's policy is that every publication from his
laboratory include his name among the authors. If the work
reported in the abstract is, in fact, Mary's master's
project done in Abbott's lab, who should the author(s) be?
Has Jonas committed plagiarism? Does he have the right to
manage his laboratory this way?
- Who owns the data generated by Mary's research?
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Commentary: Fair Play
Commentary on potential dilemmas encountered by postdoctoral fellows in a research setting. Who should be included as advisor on a student's thesis when the work has been done in two laboratories?
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Additional Commentary: Fair Play
Additional commentary on dilemmas encountered by postdoctoral fellows in a research setting. Who should be included as advisor on a student's thesis when the work has been done in two laboratories?