Geoffrey MillerVerified account

4. We worked on the paper for 1.5 years, during which I provided the agreed-upon quantitative models and visualizations, as well as framing the contribution of the paper. We had a draft around one year that I provided edits on.

5. He suddenly stopped responding to emails for approximately two months. During this time, he had a “breakthrough” based on our conversations that led him to write an additional 30,000 words on the topic.

6. Finally, he responded by sending me a copy of the paper that he had just circulated to a colleague—the most senior person in this field. He was listed as sole author. I was listed in a footnote on page 42 as a “colleague who agreed to consult on the paper.”

7. I responded via email to ask why I wasn’t listed as second author. He wrote back a curt email saying that since he had written this lengthy manuscript it didn’t make sense to list me as a co-author anymore.

8. He went on to say that since the project had grown he would be submitting it as a book manuscript, and that he “needed” a publication since he had not published recently. He is a full professor with an endowed chair in his department.

9. I wrote a long email expressing outrage and hurt, especially in light of the long mentoring relationship. He called me back to say “we could do whatever I wanted, and if I felt I deserved to be an author I could.” I was asked to beg to be put back on a paper I helped write.

10. I wrote another email rejecting the idea that I had to make a case to be put back on, and told him to not to contact me. I felt devastated that a mentor would do this to me.

11. Six months later, he wrote to say that the now-book manuscript had received favorable reviews but that the editor wanted more visualizations (i.e., more of my work). I wrote back to say that I was pleased to hear that and would provide them if I were listed as second author.