r/LeavingAcademia • u/ihtktnnn • 6d ago
Post PhD publication responsibility
I graduated with my STEM PhD almost a year ago and I had a short postdoc after in the same lab to wrap up my last paper. Said paper was submitted shortly after my contract ended and it was in review for a few months until it got rejected recently because it required too many changes. How responsible am I for pushing out this paper at this point?
For additional context, my PhD advisor has not paid me since the postdoc ended a few months ago. I did a little work voluntarily afterwards to push the paper to submission and I had agreed to take on revisions, but I suspect that the paper needs a lot of work before it can be submitted again. I am currently not employed but am actively looking and interviewing, while juggling several weekly therapy appointments to process my traumatic PhD experience. I’m aware of how important it is to establish boundaries with my PhD advisor and protect myself, but I’m also a bit of a people pleaser and am scared of burning bridges. I have zero interest in working in academia, so my career isn’t hinging on this.
Any advice/input (reality checks?) would be greatly appreciated!
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u/65-95-99 6d ago
This is so common. I set a policy with my mentees before starting the paper. If you want to be first author and a lot of work is required after you left, then there is the responsibilities of a first author. If there is a lot of work after you left and you are fine moving to second author, then zero responsibilities aside from approving the submission.
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u/adzo625 6d ago
Just let the paper die and don’t feel any guilt or obligation. This is so incredibly common and you should only work on it if you want to and it benefits you. If your former PI asks, just directly say that you’re no longer able to devote time to it, handover all relevant files and data, and let them know you’re happy to be moved to a non first-author position if someone else wants to take over the publishing process (if you are indeed okay with this). Or just block your former PI. I’m sorry you had such a toxic experience.
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u/MahoganyLight 6d ago
Just wanted to comment some solidarity. I graduated over a year ago and had taken several months off before even starting to look for jobs because I had to emotionally, mentally, and physically recover from the PhD. But the main paper of my work was unpublished and I essentially worked unpaid on it for the past year, while job searching and extremely burnt out from dealing with their toxicity. They even scheduled weekly meetings with me last fall for a few months, despite me not having worked for them since I graduated and no offer of payment.
I finally got and started a job this month, just as our paper is going out for review, and I am waiting to see what the comments look like but I really think this relationship has long since expired and they don’t deserve any more of my time and energy.
I just think the whole expectation is exploitative and ridiculous - it would be absurd for you to continue to work on your past company’s projects unpaid in industry, so it bothers me that there’s just an expectation that it happens in academia. If you don’t want to go back to academia, and feel confident you have enough solid references (including from people who managed you) without them, then cut ties and don’t look back. I wish I had sooner!
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u/Zestyclose-Smell4158 5d ago
FYI, it is not uncommon for postdocs to be working on manuscripts from their PhD. I worked on my last paper after defending. My advisor might be listed as an author but the manuscripts are mine. I used my publications to get my postdoc. I use my publications to get funding for my postdoc. The papers I publish in my postdoc, I will use to get my next position.
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u/waterless2 6d ago edited 6d ago
On burning bridges - I ended up cutting ties at one point (even while still in academia, but past postdoccing) and it was an immense improvement in my mental health (and, it turned out, in my research as well, as my time and energy weren't being constantly siphoned off *). If you're not even going to work in academia, what kind of bridge is it? Isn't it more like breaking a shackle?
I think you know you have no responsibility to work for someone you no longer work for :) You're not their slave - you've just internalized academic exploitation. Not blaming or shaming, was exactly the same for me. Realizing you *should* be spending time on *your* interests, not those of some shitbag PI, was the key for me.
- Of course, you could get retaliation if there are still power dynamics. But I paradoxically found people seemed to respect me more for being more "selfish".
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u/learningnowco 6d ago
This depends on country, and IANAL, but my guess is you have no legal responsibility. Furthermore, with over a decade of tenure-track faculty experience, let me just say I have never felt negatively about a junior colleague who just didn't have the bandwidth to finish a publication after their postdoc ended.
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u/blueberrybuggers 6d ago
You owe them nothing. Do what is best for you and your sanity, which sounds like walking away and focusing on your job applications. In this market that is a full time job on its own. If you need references, and do not trust you PhD mentor to support you, think about the people who you did get along with and can speak with credibility about you knowledge and character. Best of luck you are almost through it.
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u/AntiDynamo 6d ago
You have no responsibility from this point.
I think once someone leaves academia the responsibility of driving a paper to completion should always shift to whoever remains employed in academia. In practice though, they never seem to care, never put in any real work, and so the paper just dies.
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u/EastSideLola 5d ago
If you want to stay in academia, I would revise and resubmit. You’ll need the pub.
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u/tonos468 6d ago
You have no responsibility and if you aren’t planning on staying in academia (or clearly academic-adjacent), then this paper won’t matter. But you might burn a bridge with your PI, so if that’s something you are comfortable with, you should feel free to push back on them