Publishing my work without advisor

Question

Two months ago I submitted a manuscript to my advisor for reviewing and submitting to a journal. He didn’t reply to that and when I asked him about it, he said we should think about publishing after two months and we don’t need to rush. He didn’t even bother to look into my paper.

I feel very anxious and have written a second paper this time with no discussion or involvement from him. I have put his name in the acknowledgement section for allowing me to use his lab computer. Do I stand a chance in publishing it without his name? The idea was never discussed by us and his involvement in this paper is almost not existent.

I have only a year to graduate and am worried for job hunting without publications. (About the quality of paper: Last year, when I came up with an idea, he rejected it claiming it was not good enough; six months later I saw it published by someone else. This time I am confident of getting accepted in reputed journals.)

Answer 1

The straight forward answer is that you can publish the work as you see fit. A well-written sound manuscript submitted to an appropriate journal is always welcome.

That said, however, your actions is not likely to smooth out any existing "conflict", for lack of a better word, between you and your advisor. And, just because one can does not mean it is the best solution. I am not about to judge who is is right or wrong in your situation, only someone close to you plural) would know. But, one question that immediately pops if you really have tried to discuss the matter in detail or if you have the position that your adviser should solve the problem. Lacking your advisor's side, only you can make such an assessment.

If you are in the position that your adviser is one-sidedly not communicating with you, the situation is difficult. I understand your eagerness to publish but will also mention a few things that can cause the actions to back-fire. First, you will most likely want letters of recommendation from your advisor so publishing work done in the advisor's lab without sanctioning from the adviser can become a negative aspect. You really need to objectively assess this proposed action. Second, if you are close to finishing, the timing is perhaps not optimal to ignite a conflict with your adviser. Again, you need to really assess your situation to know what ramafications can come from your actions. One partial solution, is of course to try to talk to other faculty for whom you have more confidence.

In the end, I can only see one solution: communicaton; and I can only advise to tread carefully over possibly mined territory so make sure you prepare your map carefully before running into solutions out of frustration or even anger.

Answer 2

I think this very much depends on the field you're in and your relationship with your advisor.

Usually before a grad student earns his own reputation, he's better off publishing with his advisor's name on the paper because the journal editors might then know where he's coming from. But if the paper's content is good enough, you should be okay publishing on your own. In the past many grad students published as the sole author of their papers, even in top-notch journals.

The drawback in publishing without your advisor's approval is that he might get upset with you, not the more desirable when you need his recommendation letter to get a job. But, as history proves it, advisors can be wrong and your work might be able to gain recognition by readers/editors who find value in your work.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Do I stand a chance in publishing it without his name?

Very possibly. In most fields, the merit of the work matters more than the identity of the authors.

However, that's not the question you should be asking, which is:

Assuming the paper could get published without my advisor's name on it - can I take his/her name off?

Not really. Even if he is not pre-reviewing it now, he has had enough influence and contribution on your development as an academic and the development of your research, even your individual research, that it can probably be argued he should be be listed as an author; and it is customary in many fields to include your advisor as an author.

So if you do feel you must act:

• Inform him you intend to submit the paper, with both your names, qualifying that with "unless you tell me otherwise" or some such phrase.
• If he says he should not be listed as an author, remove him; otherwise keep him as an author.

Your advisor can always ask the conference or journal to withdraw his/her name - and that is not automatically considered something fishy, especially if he does the withdrawal and his reason is "I didn't make a significant contribution".

However, note that doing this can adversely effect your relationship with your advisor if he would rather you wait for his input.

Answer 4

Do I stand a chance in publishing it without his name?

Yes, you very much do. Your supervisor may genuinely wish not to be associated with the main idea in the paper, for their own good reasons, and if they are a decent sort (not a given in academia) they will let you proceed as long as their name is not on it, and also not try to stab you in the back later. I have been in this position as a PhD student, and luckily my supervisor turned out to be the good sort.

Now, if your paper gets accepted into a top-journal, the supervisor may turn around and demand to be on it. They may even insist it was their idea all along! They may write a nasty letter to the editor claiming that you are a rogue student. In that case you will probably have to give in to their demand to be included in the author list.

So you could be in for a rough ride. Many academics are not nice people and behave in dishonourable ways. But you can, most certainly, publish without a supervisor. In fact, the publishing itself will be a lot easier for it.