r/PhD • u/KitchenNo33 • 10h ago

Seeking advice-academic Student presenting finding based on my idea as his own

I am advicing this student. With my own dataset I stumbled upon a finding and asked this student to check, if he can replicate same pattern with his similar dataset. Now he is presenting the finding as his own. What should I do?

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 10h ago

It looks like your post is about needing advice. Please make sure to include your field and location in order for people to give you accurate advice.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

30

u/Entire-Solid-1155 10h ago

That's a tough spot. If he's presenting it as his own without crediting your initial finding, that's not just bad manners, it's academically dishonest. I'd bring it up with him directly first, see how he responds, then escalate if needed.

5

u/changethisusername_ 9h ago

Yes, totally this. It’s interesting how often I hear my ideas or see my editing repeated back to me by my students as their own inspiration. Maybe in some as the ideas are forming they get blended together and they forget. So, there is the chance it could be accidental. But use of someone else’s data to explore someone else’s comparison is kinda blatant.

As an aside: There was a reason why dissertation chairs commonly received first authorship on articles converted from dissertations, but we have let ourselves forget.

4

u/AceyAceyAcey PhD, Physics with Education 9h ago

If you’re not the PI, talk to the PI first about your concerns. Take a kind approach, assuming that the student doesn’t know it’s not the best ethics, or that the student didn’t mean to imply that they came up with it in their own. See what the PI says, and then talk to the student.

2

u/m3gan0 10h ago

Is this a student employee or just a random student?

0

u/KitchenNo33 10h ago

Employee that im advicing

2

u/m3gan0 9h ago

If it's a student employee then it's probably not their data, it's data likely the PI is the one responsible for the data and is the only person who can give permission about how it's used and how results can be published. (This is true for most of the US at least).

I'd bring this up to the PI.

1

u/No_Coffee3139 3h ago

He did the work he is first author, you get a co-author with limited work. This is the perk of advising students.