Q: Is it possible to publish a personal research without listing my supervisor as a co-author?

Detailed Question -

This work was a personal research conducted during my thesis. After one year of my graduation, I completed the results but in a different place from where I did my thesis. Am I allowed to publish this work now without listing the name of my thesis supervisor knowing that this work wasn't included in the thesis project. Please help me.

3 Answers to this question
Answer:

You question misses out a few important details. You have mentioned that you conducted this personal research during your "thesis." I am not very sure what you mean by this. Did you start this research while you were doing your PhD? Was it a part of the research that you conducted for your thesis? Did your supervisor have any intellectual input in the study design? Did you use your institute's resources to conduct this study? Knowing these details would have made it easier for me to answer your question.

According to the ICMJE guidelines, anyone who fulfills all of the following criteria should be given authorship:

1. Contributes significantly to the conception, design, execution, and/or analysis and interpretation of data

2. Participates in drafting and/or revising part of the manuscript for intellectual content

3. Approves of the version to be published

4. Agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work 

If your supervisor fulfills the above criteria, you will have to make him/her a co-author. If the research was part of the research that you conducted for your thesis (which your supervisor was mentoring), it might naturally make him/her a co-author, since he/she must have given intellectual inputs and been involved in reviewing the manuscript. If however, your supervisor was not involved in the above mentioned activities, but has made minor contributions, you should acknowledge his/her contribution in the acknowledgements section of your manuscript. 

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Answer: Dear sir,thank you for responding, I started this research while I was doing my PhD because I found it similar in methodology that I used in my thesis. it is not a part of the research that I conducted for my thesis and it was of course not mentioned in the thesis manuscript. My supervisor only knows that I try something new but she did not interfere in anything, just she showed her interest for this new item. At the beginning, I used the institute's resources to conduct this study but I did not complete all this study. After passing 3 years from my defense, I continue this alone with another lab resources. So, please, I need your answer before I send it to an article
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Answer: As mentioned in my previous answer, if your supervisor gave you any significant intellectual inputs and was involved in the manuscript writing process, you should include her name as a co-author. Even if she was not involved in the conception and design, since she showed interest in your work, she might have made suggestions or reviewed it. In that case, you should at least acknowledge her. Also, since you have used the university's resources, it would be a good idea to include a word of thanks for that as well in the acknowledgments section. I would also suggest you inform your supervisor that you are going to acknowledge her in this work. Kakoli Majumder Senior Writer&Editor Editage Insights
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