Title: Authorship and Intellectual Property
Author: Matthew Wroblewski and Tristan McIntosh
Description: A researcher is left feeling resentful after not having been made an author on a research paper even though the researcher provided the underlying idea for the project.
Keyword(s): Authorship,Collaboration, Intellectual Property
Case: Dr. Cao, the director of a computational biology lab, discovered a gap in the literature pertaining to the bio-modeling of the Canadian thick-backed platypus. Dr. Andy and Dr. Ranzani, postdocs inDr. Cao’s lab, were ecstatic when they learned of this exciting research opportunity. Because of the director’s busy schedule, the postdocs opted to spearhead the project. After several months of research, the project was completed. Unbeknownst to Dr. Cao, Dr. Andy and Dr. Ranzani submitted the paper to a journal for review without including Dr. Cao as a coauthor. Their decision was based on the rationale that Dr. Cao did not provide any assistance in executing the research project. The director was made aware of this information a month after the paper was accepted and published in a scholarly journal.The director felt upset about not being included asa co-author, especially since she provided the idea for the project. Dr.Cao is considering disputing the authorship of the publication.
- Were the postdocs justified in their decision to not include Dr. Cao as a co-author? Why or why not?
- How should Dr. Cao respond?
- What could the characters in this scenario have done differently to prevent this situation from happening?