2

I started to work as a PostDoc two years ago (2 more years of funding left) and our group leader is guaranteed a coauthorship of nearly every publication in the group, even if she does nothing. I am aware of answers here saying that such a thing is unethical, however the situation will not change in the group as the PI enforces this behavior as a rule. She is aiming at a tenure, he is helping her out. Note that I have addressed this directly.

This is starting to annoy me because for every result I publish, I have to declare the colleague as a coauthor even though she does nothing to help me. I have worked in the industry long enough to know how complaining about this to higher instances will reflect on my carreer - both the PI and the colleague are well connected in the industry.

I really love academic research, trying out really new things, conferences, battling the reviews and all that, but I am starting to think that academia is not the option for me. Should I switch groups, take on another PostDoc position and hope I dont land in another nepotistic situation?

Community
  • 1
user65276
  • 21
  • 1
  • 2
    I'm not sure how anyone can tell you whether to switch groups or not. We really don't know what other options are available to you, how easily you can find another postdoc, what the other (not-authorship-related) benefits of this postdoc vs others would be, etc. – ff524 Nov 23 '16 at 23:10
  • Ethically, you should switch groups. You may be constrained by circumstances, but then you shouldn't ask this question here - do not ask questions if you are not likely to like the response. Keep in mind that other groups may have other problems with ethics, depending on the field. – Captain Emacs Nov 24 '16 at 00:32
  • Note that this is not nepotism; it’s abuse of power (not that this makes it any better). – Wrzlprmft Nov 24 '16 at 07:48

0 Answers0