Ethical Concerns in Academic Publishing: A Personal Account

Background

After completing my master's degree approximately five years ago, I have been working while preparing for doctoral studies abroad. Recently, the subject of my master's thesis was published in a journal with an Impact Factor of around 5.

The Issue

The problem lies in the fact that this paper, which I had submitted as the first author to another journal last year, was rejected. Subsequently, it was submitted to the current journal with identical content and published, but my name is absent not only from the first author position but also from the list of co-authors.

Key Points:

• The rejected paper from last year, with me as the first author, is currently available on Research Square, a pre-print portal.
• I discovered the accepted paper on Research Gate, identical in abstract and figure composition to the rejected pre-print, but without my name.
• There was no consultation or notification regarding the change in authorship.
• No personal events occurred with the professor since the rejection last year, making this situation particularly bewildering.

Ethical Concerns

1. A significant portion of the paper's figures, modeling, and simulation directly reflect the content of my graduation thesis.
2. The research participants were myself and a junior master's student who joined the lab a year after me.
3. While I accepted being listed as the second author in a previous paper where my junior was the first author, this current publication excludes both of us entirely.
4. The current first author and co-authors are master's students who did not participate in the original research.

Personal Impact

• I invested two years of my master's studies into this research, from planning to experimentation, mathematical modeling, and result matching.
• This situation is particularly distressing as I am currently preparing for doctoral studies, where research output is crucial.

Attempted Communication

• After last year's rejection, I contacted the professor expressing my desire to collaborate on the revision.
• The professor downplayed the importance of publication records for my doctoral applications.
• Unbeknownst to me, the paper had been submitted without my name just two weeks prior to this conversation.

Ethical Dilemma

• I am troubled by the research ethics demonstrated by the professor and the lab I was associated with.
• This situation also creates unwarranted negative feelings towards the junior colleagues now listed as authors.

Seeking Advice

While my initial reaction is to confront the situation immediately, I recognize the need for a measured and thoughtful approach. I am seeking advice on how to appropriately address this ethical breach in academic publishing.