It's a great topic indeed and one which I feel quite strongly about.
Echoing Undala's point, I come from a natural sciences background and
was amazed coming into a human geography PhD to find that students
don't include their supervisers as co-authors. I was also very
impressed by the ethics and morals of those in geography, as I know of
senior academic's in the natural sciences demanding to be put on as
co-authors to work that they did as little as advertise a job for.

Having just finished my PhD I am definately including my (primary)
superviser on my publications, given her intellectual input, help in
revisions and continual support.

I am also including my Research Partner in Nepal where I did my
fieldwork, as without his assitance in establishing the project, the
day to day conducting of research and his intellectual input in the
field, the work wouldnt be as it is.

I look forward to more debate on this!
Sam

N.B. I work Tuesdays and Fridays
--
Dr Samantha Staddon
Course Organiser - Political Ecology
Institute of Geography and the Lived Environment
University of Edinburgh
Drummond Street
Edinburgh EH8 9XP

[log in to unmask]
www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/s0566090



Quoting undala alam <[log in to unmask]> on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:39:34 +0000:

>
> Dear Kathy,
>
> This is an interesting issue. As someone who's come from a different
> discipline into geography, I can say it varies by discipline. PhD
> students doing science will have co-authors. They are usually their
> supervisors, postdocs and other people who contributed to the work.
> Because it is very common to have multiple authors, the order in
> which names are listed carries significance. The first name implies
> the person who's work it is, the last name is the supervisor/lab
> head and then the other names in between have varying degrees of
> contribution.
>
> Within geography, I know of a friend based in the US who refuses to
> have his name on students' papers. I think he still helps them but
> doesn't want to take any credit for it. But the impression I have is
> that within geography there isn't the same tradition and
> accompanying protocol as in science, so it might be down to the
> individual supervisor's discretion.
>
> Best wishes,
> Undala
>
>
> Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:18:14 +0100
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: coauthoring with a supervisee
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear Critters,
>
> I would like to ask you a question that
> relates to academic convention in the UK. As a newcomer to UK academia, I am
> wondering whether coauthoring a paper based on a supervisee?s Ph.D.
> thesis is acceptable.
> Recently, one of my Ph.D. students asked me to coauthor a paper based on a
> chapter in her near-finished thesis.
>
> On the one hand, my contribution on this
> thesis was way more than I would usually offer a supervisee for
> various reasons that I am not going to explain in detail. If she had
> been a
> colleague of mine, the amount of work I put in would more than
> qualify me as a
> second author. And I am willing to do more if I do coauthor the
> paper. However, she is my student not a colleague. I was paid to
> offer
> intellectual input so I am not sure if I can claim an intellectual property
> right on that input. After considering these two opposing
> viewpoints, both of
> which make sense to me, I wasn?t sure. In the end, I declined co-authorship
> because I didn?t want any possibility of earning a negative
> reputation to arise
> over one paper.
>
> One may argue that I should help her
> publication with or without getting any credit for it. For a Ph.D.
> thesis, I am willing to offer
> more than I am required to. But when it comes to publication, a limit must be
> drawn. Like most other Critters, I have to think about my own CV. If
> I spend a
> considerable amount of time improving a paper, I must receive some credit.
>
> Declining co-authorship of the paper was
> the easiest way out of this dilemma, but I am still unsure whether
> the easiest
> way was the best way. Hence, I am asking for your viewpoint. Any comments on
> this matter are welcomed. Truly,Kathy.
>
>



--
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.