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As a final year student (B.Sc.) I wrote a paper, but didn't keep my supervisor as co-author since he hadn't contributed at all (in research and paper-writing). I am about to submit my paper to a journal(single-blind peer review).

Does the chance of being accepted a paper to a journal increase if one of the Co-Author is Ph.D./Professor ?

Should one keep his thesis supervisor as co-author for above?

I mean, is there a chance that the reviewer will consider my paper a bit differently/lightly/neglectfully ?

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  • What did your supervisor do?
    – Mark
    Mar 29, 2018 at 21:04

2 Answers 2

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Does the chance of being accepted a paper to a journal increase if one of the Co-Author is Ph.D./Professor ?

No, not under normal circumstances. Some reviewers may like a paper just because one of the authors is a great guy, or the paper is coming from a great institute - and a reviewer might suggest to accept a paper even if he doesn't understand it - but this should not be the rule.

Should one keep his thesis supervisor as co-author for above?

No, one should only keep authors that deserve authorship. There are likely reasons why you should have your supervisor as co-author on the paper. He might have helped you in other ways, and this way, made a significant contribution to your work (discussions for example). However, you should not add someone as author to please them, to make a better impression, or anything else.

I mean, is there a chance that the reviewer will consider my paper a bit differently/lightly/neglectfully ?

No (except in cases described under the first question). However, it is not unlikely that you - as bachelor student - don't have the experience and overview of the field, the methods, and the art of paper-writing, to create a publishable paper on your own. If you do - congrats.

I would suggest you

  • think carefully about if your supervisor didn't contribute after all, and

  • discuss the matter with your supervisor.

He might not even want to be on your paper (because he didn't contribute, or because he thinks it's not good enough). If he does want to be on your paper, but you don't agree with his arguments, you might want to come back here and check other, related questions, for example this one: Should you include your main supervisor as a co-author?

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  • Are you sure in your paragraph you're describing reality rather than ideals? You start with "no" and end with "this should not be the rule". There is a huge difference between whether something should happen and whether it does happen...
    – user541686
    Aug 30, 2018 at 11:21
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I don't know the policy of your University. But I know mostly in universities, a PhD student can not conduct any independent work beyond his thesis. So if the work is under your PhD thesis, then you must have to keep your supervisor as a co-author. Not only that, but you must need to discuss with your supervisor before writing the paper. So please be confirm your university policies before submitting this as a single author.

If your university allows to do such kind of independent research during work time or after office hours or weekends, then you can submit it as a single author. Keeping your supervisor as a co-author will definitely increase the chance of acceptance if he is a well known person to your research community. Moreover, he may change the structure and write ups in your manuscript because he is experienced, so definitely it will increase the acceptance. On the other hand, if you thing neither he is well known nor he will improve the structure of the manuscript, then go ahead as a single author. By the way, single author papers have high values than the papers with co-authors.

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  • The paper is on a thesis required to complete the graduation.
    – Michael
    Mar 29, 2018 at 16:51

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