I am a doctoral student working in a research group with other students who are also my seniors. They are very diligent and have published some commendable papers. However, my advisor frequently includes students' names in various articles that we have never heard of, without notifying them in advance. These articles often pertain to research fields quite different from ours, and the students are listed as authors in lower positions (e.g., fifth author or further down). The students discover their names on these papers only when they receive submission emails and are left bewildered about their contributions, feeling very upset about the lack of prior notification. Often, the advisor only briefly informs us after the articles are published, saying something like, "I recently collaborated with a certain university, and you were listed as a co-author." Sometimes, the advisor doesn't mention it at all, as if it never happened. Once, when a senior questioned our advisor about this practice, the advisor responded, "Doing this will increase your citation count compared to many ordinary professors," leaving the student speechless.
From the advisor's perspective, this might be seen as a gesture of support and encouragement, but from the students' perspective, it violates academic ethics, and students who have already published good papers do not need to have their academic reputation tarnished by these questionable authorships. Yet, the students, in order to secure their doctoral degrees, are forced to accept this situation.
Unfortunately, I have encountered this situation as well. I received an email from a journal with the title and author list of a paper from a research group at another university, with me listed as the tenth author, my advisor as the twelfth author, and a professor from another university as the corresponding author. I had no prior knowledge of this collaboration between my research group and that university, nor of this paper's existence. I had been discussing my thermal simulation project with my advisor. Realizing that this was a "forced authorship" situation, I speculated that (1) it was indeed a case of "forced authorship," and (2) even though it was "forced authorship," I might not be entirely without contribution, as the paper's topic was related to thermal simulations. Therefore, I decided to remain silent and await an explanation from my advisor.
After several months of revisions, I received an email from the journal stating, "Your paper has been accepted. Please complete your personal information and review the final version of the paper." Upon reading the paper, I found no significant errors, and as I had suspected, the paper included thermal simulations. Additionally, in the "Author Contributions" section, my contribution was described as "writing revisions and reviewing the initial draft of the paper." Considering these points, I felt that my research experience contributed to the paper through my advisor’s work on its "reviewing and revising." Seeing this, I felt that my contribution was acknowledged, and I updated my personal information, including my Google account details. The paper was eventually published, and my advisor approached me, saying, "This is a collaborative work with another university, which is highly relevant to your work."
I thought the matter would be resolved smoothly, but as I continued my research, my understanding of academic ethics deepened. Years later, I realized that my involvement in the paper was minimal and that the authorship was likely a case of academic misconduct. However, this practice seems to be widespread in my research group. Since the paper has already been published, contacting the editor to retract the paper would directly damage my relationship with my advisor and disrupt the collaboration with the other university, potentially jeopardizing my academic career. Consulting my advisor would likely lead to vague explanations, and if he were a principled and serious researcher, such issues would not arise in the first place. Seeking his input would not yield any positive outcome.
Although this paper has no direct connection to my doctoral thesis and my authorship is towards the end, I am deeply concerned about how my acceptance of such authorship might affect the awarding of my doctoral degree. I worry that my degree could be revoked later due to this issue, which would undermine years of effort and severely impact my career.
Therefore, I seek advice on the following:
(1) How can I protect myself and avoid being accused of academic misconduct? I only have the email from the journal and my published papers in thermal simulation as evidence. My advisor has never discussed the authorship with me through social media or email, and he only mentioned it to me in person, which I have no record of.
(2) Will this issue affect my doctoral degree?
(3) How common is this behavior in academia, particularly in research groups, and is it considered academic misconduct?
(4) Should I report this to the university, even though I lack substantial evidence?
This post is similar to my earlier questions
Addressing the Impact of Unknown Authorship on PhD. Students’ Academic Reputation and Remedies
Ethical Concerns of Uninformed Authorship: A Case Study on Student Recognition by Supervisors
but about a concrete case and different timeline.
