Madge was really upset and angry as she described her problem to her roommate, "I don't think he even remembers I ever worked in his lab. All he was interested in was getting publications, getting tenure, and getting famous. When I was in the lab, he either ignored me totally or complained because I wasn't getting enough done. I mean, like, that was the first time I was ever in a research lab and I had 17 credits that semester. Get real. What did he think I was, a graduate student? Then I busted my butt to synthesize a precursor that Joe needed for his thesis work, messed up on a couple of exams as a result, and even then I felt it wasn't worth it. Now I am sure. At least they could have put an acknowledgment of my help in the paper, but no. It is Joseph Milktoast and Dr. I. M. Bigshot as coauthors and not a hint that they got any help. That's why I complained to the chairman."

That same day the chairman invited Prof. Bishop to his office to discuss Madge's allegations. Prof. Bishop was upset and angry. "She didn't deserve to be a coauthor on that paper. She put in minimal time, followed a well established procedure that had been done many times before in other laboratories, and still got terrible yields. To be sure, I had told her that if her work got published, she would become a coauthor. But this is not her work. The synthesis was not original. She didn't provide any new insights. And she wasn't involved in writing the paper. What does she expect? Another thing that is totally unrelated but it really bugged me was that I found out later she was using my research account on the departmental copier to copy things for her courses."

What do you see as the issues here?

Could this situation have been avoided?

What should the chairman do next?

1. Written by H. B. White for CHEM-465, Chemistry Senior Seminar, University of Delaware, 10/7/97