so I am a master’s level student, planning to gain some research experience before I apply for PhD programmes. I have a possible topic for a research article, I have two to three interviewees lined up, I have a basic idea of the theoretical framework I want etc., but I feel a little intimidated writing the article all by myself, so I emailed a researcher who wrote an article about a kind of but not too similar topic, using a similar approach (ethnography) and a similar field (several countries, one of which is the one I want to do my research in).
I introduced myself briefly, including what I’m studying and where, how I found him and what I want to do, and asked if he would want to coauthor because I feel I’d benefit from his experience and expertise.
My friend (who got a coauthored article by emailing a researcher for further article recs on a topic they are interested in) said this is like, totally normal to do, but I’m unsure haha so I’m wondering, if you were on the receiving end of such a query, would you think it’s very weird? Would you be up for it (assuming you have the time etc.)?
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I’d say most Professors will just put this straight into the recycle bin. There are just too many shady players approacing people with mails like this. Depending on your field, it is also frowned upon publishing works on a masters level.
I wouldn’t have time unless it was really closely related to something I was already doing.
I would reply though. And there’s nothing wrong with the approach. Your future colleagues are not going to find you. You have to find them.
I’d reply but also I’d feel like I was being used a bit (and unless this was a project that fit perfectly into my current research I’d say no). What you’re asking is a big job – in part because you are junior and would require a decent amount of mentoring through the process. I’d also question why this wasn’t something you were first seeking to do at your own institution, perhaps with a supervisor.
You say you have interviews lined up but have you don’t things like gone through the ethics review process?
It would be odd to me – I would wonder why you are not aiming to publish with your own supervisor (as would be the usual expectation).
I personally wouldn’t email someone like this offering “co-authorship” outright. I would suggest asking for advice, guidance, and/or whether they would be interested in collaborating. Once you are discussing terms (i.e. how they can help – even if that is just oversight/supervision) then you can start discussing authorship.
Oooof it depends on how much I think i’d actually have to do, how interested in the topic I am, and how busy I am. If you come to me with a nearly written paper, yes I can have some input. If you come to me with basically nothing then I might say I’m interested if the topic is interesting but I’m certainly not putting any significant amount of time to it before I see something from your side.
A lot of these responses are very negative. Sure, the professor may respond poorly, but if I got a genuine inquiry from a grad student, I would be excited to know of a new, emerging scholar in my field, and I might look into your prior work. If of high enough quality and it’s aligned with what I’m looking for, then I would entertain it –or– offer other opportunities for the student to get involved in learning activities or collaborations. In truth, the latter option is way more likely, as very few grad students at that stage will have the level or rigor and maturity I need from a full co-author and I just dob’t have the time, but I typically would not get offended by the request if it was polite and well-meaning. As a other commenter noted, next time, you might just ask to connect and collaborate and then see what happens. However, DO be careful in sharing yoir research ideas. Unfortunately, not all people have pure intent, and they may take advantage of your junior status. Time stamp your ideas somehow, such as emailing your drafts to yourself whenever possible before reaching out. Good luck!
Based on your description, you’re years behind until you have a paper “draft” ready. At this stage, your only bet is to approach that person and seek feedback on your idea; or ask to have a quick meeting to discuss your idea and receive feedback.
Scenario 2: if you have a paper draft ready, approach a potential coauthor by outlining EXACTLY what their contribution would be or what do you expect them to add to your paper. Their input shouldn’t take more than few hours of their time. Otherwise, they will reject.
Can’t hurt to ask, so why not. But also, why not just do it yourself and get a solo author publication out of it?
A professor coauthoring a paper with a Masters student == the supervisor-trainee relationship.
Sending an email to a professor at an institution you’re not enrolled in, asking them essentially to be your faculty mentor is not how it works. It feels like going around the whole admissions process, interferes with the within-institution mentorship you’re supposed to be getting, can get tricky with respect to funding, and most professors have a very full plate and want to spend their effort on the students they actually have in their group formally.
A professor at a different institution can coauthor a paper, but this needs to be approached as a collaboration and with the involvement of your Masters supervisor. Depending on the format of your program, you may also invite them to your thesis committee or research advisory committee if you have one.
Not weird at all honestly, it’s a thoughtful and direct way to reach out, if you were clear about your goals and respectful of their time. As long as you’re not just asking them to do the heavy lifting, most researchers would appreciate being approached by someone who’s genuinely interested in collaboration. At worst, they might say no because of bandwidth, but I doubt they’d find it inappropriate. You’re showing initiative, which is exactly what research communities need more of.
A big professor in my field once told a story during a conference. He is the expert on a given topic, and got cold-emailed from a group from another country. They basically sent him a full paper, 99% complete, asking for his name and basically using his weight to publish in a high level journal.
After an initial confusion, he decided to check it, found some weird things, and asked his own senior post doc to replicate the experiments. The post doc could not replicate anything, recognising some common mistakes made in the field and in many publications. So the prof reached out to the authors, proposed to not publish the original paper and instead publish the “educational” paper.
They ignored him, they still submitted the paper to the good journal, it got published in what the professor said “too quick to be honest peer review”. The prof released the educational paper right after, to warn the scientific community about some common pitfalls. The said paper has since then been cited too many times, while the educational one received less than 10% of the citations, and the wrong, not-reproducible one, is still there.