douchey act? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Is it douchey, or even legitimate, to tell a professor that your paper (written under his supervision) has been accepted for publication in a journal - before the grades come out?

I would not have contemplated submitting my paper so early. This was a super-intensive course and we had to turn in the paper for comments well before the semester has ended. I submitted it to a specialist journal with his comments. nevertheless, the grade will come out at the same time as other grades.

[CanadianWolf]

It's fine so long as the professor received some sort of public credit for the article; otherwise break the news after your grade is in.

[CanadianWolf]

It's fine so long as the professor received some sort of public credit for the article; otherwise break the news after your grade is in.

[quickquestionthanks]

I would tell him as a "hooray" statement, not an "ehem" statement.

[Anonymous User]

thanks.
of course, I will give him public credit!!! by all means!!!

but do you really think this is not inappropriate at all? (provided that I give him the credits)

[Anonymous User]

another thing is that the work will of course not appear in print before the grade comes out.
so if I would have to tell him: "Oh, I am so excited and I will give you credit for that!"

[Renzo]

By "give credit" you don't seem to mean "give authorship credit." Is it fair to assume we are talking about a student note, not an article?

[270910]

It would be weird not to. You wrote the paper with the guy/gal, he/she will be excited for you and glad that the effort paid off. There aren't any grading undertones - this is big news, and the prof will want to know (and probably still be able to grade unbiasedly - just because you got published doesn't mean you wrote the BEST paper in the class).

Of course, if it makes the prof more likely to give you a good grade, it's hardly YOUR fault the journal decided to publish. Like I said, it would be weird not to let the prof know in this circumstance.

[kn6542]

It would be weird not to. You wrote the paper with the guy/gal, he/she will be excited for you and glad that the effort paid off. There aren't any grading undertones - this is big news, and the prof will want to know (and probably still be able to grade unbiasedly - just because you got published doesn't mean you wrote the BEST paper in the class).

Of course, if it makes the prof more likely to give you a good grade, it's hardly YOUR fault the journal decided to publish. Like I said, it would be weird not to let the prof know in this circumstance.

Well, yeah. Why would this be douchey?

[Anonymous User]

thanks guys.

I thought some people would contend that it'd be better to let him know after the grades have come out. so as not to make him biased....

but yeah, he is still able to grade unbiasedly.

[Anonymous User]

I am the sole author.
what worried me was that the professor only gave very few comments on my draft... he just said it was in pretty good shape already.....
I actually begged him for more comments. and told him that I planned to get it published.

[tamlyric]

It would be weird not to. You wrote the paper with the guy/gal, he/she will be excited for you and glad that the effort paid off. There aren't any grading undertones - this is big news, and the prof will want to know (and probably still be able to grade unbiasedly - just because you got published doesn't mean you wrote the BEST paper in the class).

Of course, if it makes the prof more likely to give you a good grade, it's hardly YOUR fault the journal decided to publish. Like I said, it would be weird not to let the prof know in this circumstance.

THIS. The responsibility of making sure that the grade is not the product of bias lies primarily with the professor.

Edited for clarity.

[Anonymous User]

but I thought I would at least be responsible in trying not induce the professsor to grade biasedly.

[270910]

but I thought I would at least be responsible in trying not induce the professsor to grade biasedly.

News flash: YOUR ARTICLE IS GETTING PUBLISHED. Prof probably wants to buy you a glass of champagne. Write the email.

[tamlyric]

but I thought I would at least be responsible in trying not induce the professsor to grade biasedly.

News flash: YOUR ARTICLE IS GETTING PUBLISHED. Prof probably wants to buy you a glass of champagne. Write the email.

Or if you're lucky, a beer.

[bwv812]

.

[tamlyric]

but I thought I would at least be responsible in trying not induce the professsor to grade biasedly.

News flash: YOUR ARTICLE IS GETTING PUBLISHED. Prof probably wants to buy you a glass of champagne. Write the email.

He can't buy you champagne after the grades are released?

If the OP if seriously concerned, (s)he should contact the school's ethics officer.

It isn't your responsibility to make sure your grade isn't the product of professor bias; it's the responsibility of your professor.

If this is so, and it's all up to the professor, then I wonder why most schools have a blind grading policy, where students are forbidden from doing anything that might indicate who they are. Obviously the association between a student and his/her work is clear when it comes to (supervised) papers, but it's hardly the case that the professor alone bears the burden of ensuring impartiality.

The point about blind grading policies is a red herring. That said, I will grant that I overstated the case when I said that it's only the professor's responsibility to make sure the grade isn't the product of bias. To be honest, I think that whether it makes sense to tell the professor about the publication probably depends on the antecedent relationship between the professor and the student. If it's already a close relationship, I think spilling the beans makes sense. If it's a fairly distant relationship, then it might be better to wait--if only for the sake of maintaining proper decorum. If I were the student, I would be less concerned in this instance about biasing the professor than I would be about seeming to make some kind of underhanded effort to influence the grade. Nonetheless, I think bwv812's advice about checking with an ethics officer at OP's school is well-taken.

[Anonymous User]

thanks!
I will waaiiittt ....

[270910]

thanks!
I will waaiiittt ....

That's stupid. If you get a B, the prof will wonder why you didn't tell him/her when you found out and think you're lobbying to get it changed.

Tell the prof. There is absolutely no reason not to. You could even argue you have an ethical duty to do so since the prof commented on the work and then you got it published.

[DoubleChecks]

thanks!
I will waaiiittt ....

That's stupid. If you get a B, the prof will wonder why you didn't tell him/her when you found out and think you're lobbying to get it changed.

Tell the prof. There is absolutely no reason not to. You could even argue you have an ethical duty to do so since the prof commented on the work and then you got it published.

yeah...id just tell him. i dont see how, conventionally, this is something that would be frowned upon