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Researcher publishing article on exact topic my research is on.

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  • 25-08-2011 2:16pm
    #1
    petalkozie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7 ✭


    Hi!
    Just wondering if anyone can help or give some advice to a distraught PhD student!
    At the start of August I gave a paper at an international conference, on a topic that is part of my PhD. The paper was publicised at the beginning of the summer. At the end of the week long conference, I was approached by another scholar, who has completed her PhD, and said that she really liked my paper. The only thing was she informed me that she has just submitted an article for publication in a highly regarded academic journal on the exact text I am working on and did I mind?! I was put on the spot to be quite honest, never mind that this also happened to take place in the toilets:eek:. Anyway, I calmed myself as I was given the impression that she was taking a literary view of the versions of the tale that I am working on and not a linguistic one (I am working on a critical edition).
    I have just learnt however that she is including in her article the exact parts of the text that I presented on. I feel so deflated that I have spent months working on this and now she is going to publish it. Not only that but we met a few years ago and she has known that I am working on this critical edition.
    Has anyone had this experience?! What about academic ethics? How do I know that she is not just plagiarising from my handout. Surely if you know someone is working on a similar topic you would contact that person?!:mad:


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    #2
    maxpower2011
    Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭maxpower2011


    My advise is speak to your supervisor. It may not be as bad as you think. I 'd wait and see the article first. If she does use your work and references it correctly, you may be able to use this to the advantage of your own work. That in its self is establishing relevance, its giving your work credibility. Therefore it could be incorporated into your own thesis.


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    #3
    Dr Strange
    Registered Users Posts: 3,427 ✭✭✭Dr Strange


    I agree, wait and see what she actually publishes. Go through it then with a fine comb, this is not the end of the world. You can always pick up on where she left of and publish your paper already citing the latest publication in the field (hers). There may even be something in her paper you don't agree with and that would make your own paper even stronger as you are directly or indirectly responding to what she has written.


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    #4
    petalkozie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7 ✭petalkozie


    thanks a million! I think I was just panicking.. my supervisor is on holiday. However I have been in correspondence with the person in question. She is citing both my paper given at the conference and my forthcoming PhD. :D I also understand now that she is coming at it from a different angle. She was worried the research might overlap too. If anything both our work will compliment each other nicely. Note to self: need to grow a thicker skin!


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    #5
    Red Alert
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 7,486 ✭✭✭Red Alert


    It's probably not as bad as you think. A similar thing happened to me, where someone big in the area decided to publish something very similar to what I was working on. It turned out that his approach, while interesting, wasn't actually close enough technically to how the technology was used. So my paper got published too.


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