How do I list my affiliation on a publication if I am only an adjunct at a different institution from where I did did the research?

Question

I worked on a research project about a year ago while working as a full-time RA/technician and some colleagues before leaving after my contract ended. We are currently finishing a manuscript for publication, in which I am a junior co-author.

I currently am not in a research position but am an adjunct instructor for a single online class. For this manuscript, what is the appropriate affiliation: the institution where I was last employed and the work involved with the paper, where I am an adjunct instructor, or an "independent scholar"?

(Other co-authors who have left the institution for different research positions list their new institutions. Everyone involved is in the United States, and the research was in psychology/behavioral science.)

Answer 1

If the convention of your field is to list the place where the research was done, then you should follow that unless instructed otherwise by an editor or by the institution itself. But, you should also include a footnote giving current, preferably permanent contact information so that you can be reached.

My personal choice, other things being equal and not constraining would be to list "independent researcher" with good contact information but a footnote (or similar) saying where the research was done (and possibly who funded it).

But expectations differ.

You want to be findable by readers. Obsolete contact information helps no one.

Answer 2

As someone with experiencing publishing academic articles, as well as working in an editorial role at an academic journal, your affiliation is more or less up to you. A convention in psychology and the behavioral sciences at least is to list the institution where you conducted the research as your affiliation. However, unless the journal has a specific rule (they would state as such in the "Instructions for Authors" if so), you could list your previous affiliation, your current one, or both. Another option is to list your current affiliation with a footnote listing your previous affiliation (e.g., "XYZ conducted this research while they were a research assistant at ABC").