tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post9073004753435456110..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: The Authors Gratefully AcknowledgeFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-987659183441869512014-07-26T18:10:10.934-05:002014-07-26T18:10:10.934-05:00What about personal and emotional acknowledgments ...What about personal and emotional acknowledgments like "I wish to thank my dear girlfriend N.N. for the infinite inspiration that she has given me during the time of the work"? These are certainly present in books, but what about scientific publications?Vadimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-480533712991730982012-06-02T11:28:19.793-05:002012-06-02T11:28:19.793-05:00If you work on someone's published paper and a...If you work on someone's published paper and are NOT acknowledged (and feel hurt by this), what recourse do you have? I personally think it shows a lack of professional integrity to fail to acknowledge someone who has made a contribution to a paper.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-69218709575139844042009-03-18T23:11:00.000-05:002009-03-18T23:11:00.000-05:00After I anonymously refereed a paper, the authors ...After I anonymously refereed a paper, the authors added a statement to the effect "We thank the referee for his helpful comments." <BR/><BR/>Since I'm a woman, I can assume that they don't know who refereed their paper!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-49024411129693075182009-03-18T18:15:00.000-05:002009-03-18T18:15:00.000-05:00I tend to agree with the anon grad student who wou...I tend to agree with the anon grad student who would like a little thanks for editing. I've read a lot of manuscripts, and very few people have read mine. If there's no give-and-take, there should be a little give-back once in a while. <BR/><BR/>In my field I think there is some attention paid to who is "collegial" about helping others. And it helps to have a written record of it for the whole world to see. <BR/><BR/>I also agree with the person who said the Acks section should not be altered before, during or after final acceptance of the manuscript. That kind of shit is usually a red flag in my experience. <BR/><BR/>I thank my students and relevant colleagues up front in the first submitted version, and I keep it that way as long as the journals will let me. <BR/><BR/>And I would like some of those editor & reviewer voodoo dolls, not to mention one that looks like my advisor!Ms.PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06542602867472447035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-33508669466086159252009-03-18T15:41:00.000-05:002009-03-18T15:41:00.000-05:00How about acknowledging the other graduate student...How about acknowledging the other graduate student in your group, who went through 2-3 rough draft iterations of your manuscript and laboriously corrected the grammar, numbering mistakes, formulas and some layout, and made suggestions as to what should be changed and what works/doesn't. For three of your papers.<BR/><BR/>Grumble, grumble... Well, thanks for at least saying 'thank you' in the last email message after I sent back the third iteration of the paper just before the final submission stage.<BR/><BR/>Are you reading this boss-man? Where the hell is my acknowledgment?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-32590558098360713582009-03-17T20:30:00.000-05:002009-03-17T20:30:00.000-05:00I never would have thought to thank the reviewers ...I never would have thought to thank the reviewers of the manuscript, but that might be largely due to the fact that I was too busy jamming 20 gauge needles into their voodoo dolls.<BR/><BR/>I kid.<BR/><BR/>My favorite acknowledgments are those that contain dedications to deceased scientists. It's almost as fun as reading the obituaries in C&E News.Unbalanced Reactionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13407339711183651108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-32186830024379629342009-03-17T17:11:00.000-05:002009-03-17T17:11:00.000-05:00I saw a classic acknowledgments section a while ba...I saw a classic acknowledgments section a while back, by Dr BigWeirdTheory, the paper was experimental and single authored. The section read:<BR/>Thank you to Cindy Technician who collected the data and Mary Postdoc* who prepared the manuscript.<BR/><BR/>In other words, these two people did the work but got no authorship.<BR/><BR/>*I'm assuming they must have been at that level, at least, to have written the paper. It is possible that Dr BWT was so doddery that she couldn't use a computer, so Cindy did the typing at Dr BWT's dictation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-61275498165479573532009-03-17T14:49:00.000-05:002009-03-17T14:49:00.000-05:00I have run into editing situations where the autho...I have run into editing situations where the author wrote a dedication as opposed to an acknowledgments section. One was all about how wonderful and supportive their children and husband are. I felt horrible deleting it, but the journal they were submitting to was very specific about that section including funding sources only.I left them a note about the difference between dedications and acknowledgments and encouraged them to discuss it with the editor of the journal if they felt strongly about including it, though I feel it is highly inappropriate for journal articles to include dedications. We want to read the work, not hear about the researchers' social lives! I understand though that the work is emotionally charged for some, particularly if it was a long process to get the article to the point of submission, and that comes out in that section in awkward ways.<BR/><BR/>As for anonymous "thank you"s, there are a number of people who touch the manuscript that most authors don't ever know about, so if there are anon thanks they would miss some of the most invaluable people in getting the work to print.Alicia M Prater, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08556315788656810024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-59459748037611068792009-03-17T13:46:00.000-05:002009-03-17T13:46:00.000-05:00I, for one, am offended when I am acknowledged wit...I, for one, am offended when I am acknowledged without my permission. It has happened several times in which I have had no connection to the work. I am offended because I suspect the authors acknowledge me in order to avoid having me as a reviewer. This fear seems real, since FSP says that she looks at acknowledgements when considering reviewers...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-78111863608491785952009-03-17T13:14:00.000-05:002009-03-17T13:14:00.000-05:00Thanks for this post -- the etiquette of acknowled...Thanks for this post -- the etiquette of acknowledgements has long been a source of mystery to me and it seems all too easy to commit a faux pas. Your comments are quite helpful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-13811649094065915352009-03-17T11:52:00.000-05:002009-03-17T11:52:00.000-05:00Other than the funding agencies, does anyone care ...Other than the funding agencies, does anyone care about the acknowledgments? Co-authorship matters, but acknowledgments are worthless.<BR/><BR/>I do occasionally acknowledge people who contributed to a paper in an indirect way (conversation in the hall, or having written some software that got re-used for a different purpose), but most of the time I try to include any contributor worth acknowledging as a co-author. Most of my papers end up with 2-4 authors, though one (for which I was a relatively minor contributor) had 14.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14528751349030084532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-34816845356634382222009-03-17T09:22:00.000-05:002009-03-17T09:22:00.000-05:00I'd favor making the acknowledgments accurate at t...I'd favor making the acknowledgments accurate at the start. <BR/><BR/>If they change as the paper is accepted (aside from thanking referees), people suspect some misdirection to either reallocate credit or gaming the system to try to avoid unwanted referees, and they are often right.John Vidalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09871768524749705799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-72964465569377607652009-03-17T08:52:00.000-05:002009-03-17T08:52:00.000-05:00PS I have also acknowledged the Lindt chocolate c...PS I have also acknowledged the Lindt chocolate company which greatly enhanced my graduate work<BR/><BR/>Mark PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-46872714138103094002009-03-17T08:50:00.000-05:002009-03-17T08:50:00.000-05:00I think that you may have forgotten some very impo...I think that you may have forgotten some very important people here:<BR/><BR/>The authors would like to thank [funding agency / grant number /etc] for their funding of this research. In addition, the exact same version of this paper was rejected by [crappy journal b]. We would like to thank the editor of [crappy journal b] for their inept handling of the situation and the two anonymous reviewers from said journal for ripping the authors a new place to defecate from. The authors are much more grateful to the reviewers from this wonderful journal, who got it right!<BR/><BR/>Or not.... Sometimes you wish that you could make these types of comments, but then you probably just come across looking like a horse's back-end.madscientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12344580670201524727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-43781771562914150022009-03-17T08:48:00.000-05:002009-03-17T08:48:00.000-05:00I generally do not thank anonymous reviewers who d...I generally do not thank anonymous reviewers who do the usual careful job, but do not go above and beyond the call of duty. On occasion, however, the anonymous reviewers identify a major flaw that can be corrected, or suggest a non-obvious experiment that turns out to be critical. In this case, I do thank them.<BR/><BR/>PS why bother to have two different sets of acknowledgments. I agree that its not critical to thank everyone till the final version, but why not do all the work up front?<BR/><BR/>Mark PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-11019340614435729462009-03-17T07:19:00.000-05:002009-03-17T07:19:00.000-05:00Interesting - I really hate the idea of having to ...Interesting - I really hate the idea of having to thank reviewers. I've always seen that as a sucking-up kind of thing to do and don't really understand why it is done.<BR/><BR/>I do have a question for you: what if you acquired some data through someone that you otherwise wouldn't have been able to get? Would they be co-authors, or would you put them in the acknowledgment section?Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695509619557410413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-39550649423562513632009-03-17T06:42:00.000-05:002009-03-17T06:42:00.000-05:00In the biosciences, it is also very important to t...In the biosciences, it is also very important to thank other people who have provided you with reagents.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-40229990239276805602009-03-17T01:22:00.000-05:002009-03-17T01:22:00.000-05:00you might mention people who don't want to be ment...<I>you might mention people who don't want to be mentioned</I><BR/><BR/>I think this whole issue falls in importance, but for the idea that someone might be <I>offended</I> by being mentioned. Certainly I would not want something <I>false</I> to be said about me, but otherwise I cannot fathom being unwilling to be thanked in a paper. This is the reason that I thank everyone who might have remotely contributed in any way, including giving me moral support at the bar while I knocked back beer and complained about the paper. I am <I>far</I> more worried about leaving someone out than including too many people.<BR/><BR/>Do you really believe there are people out there who will take serious issue with being thanked in a paper even if they didn't do much (as long as the thanks don't include fabrications)? More concretely, in the particular scenario you have set up, do you really think famous researchers spend time worrying that their reputations are impugned by the appearance of their name in the Acknowledgments section of sub-standard papers? I would guess no, but maybe if I were famous I would change my tune.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-70411567526687347142009-03-17T00:53:00.000-05:002009-03-17T00:53:00.000-05:00"We're also grateful to Dr N, who rewrote our weak..."We're also grateful to Dr N, who rewrote our weaksauce cover letter to grab the attention of the editors at this snooty journal. And Dr N should know, because he's weaseled many a strange paper into these pages.<BR/><BR/>"And finally, we'd like to thank our editor, whose stamina in defending our manuscript's initial rejection wore out after the eighth phone call. You're the best."Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hydehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07005652406299754952noreply@blogger.com