# Collaborative Research Question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438 "2014-12-05T19:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/1 "2014-12-05T19:43:06Z")
New here, hello, seeking opinions. If you are collaborating on research with one other person (for your own benefits - not to publish) and that person shares the research with others (who will benefit from it for their own purposes) without having sought your permission to do such beforehand, would you consider this an ethical breach/betrayal? Does collaboration imply each party has individual ownership rights to the research and can do with it what they wish? Thanks in advance for input. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/2 "2014-12-05T20:11:34Z")
**Moderator Action** Welcome to the SDMB, **tuesdayweld**. The General Questions forum is for questions with factual answers. Since this seems to be looking for the opinions of users on this topic, it is better suited to the IMHO forum. I will move the thread there for you. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/3 "2014-12-05T21:08:04Z")
Hi **tuesdayweld**. What was the context in which the research was done? A university? Industry? Privately? Does the sharing of the research reduce its benefit to you? If the person gets money from sharing the research, you should be included. If anything is going to be published (I know you said it wasn’t) you should get credit. And give permission. But research is best when it is shared, and it is usually not a zero-sum game. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/4 "2014-12-05T21:56:51Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Hi **tuesdayweld**. What was the context in which the research was done? A university? Industry? Privately? > Does the sharing of the research reduce its benefit to you? > If the person gets money from sharing the research, you should be included. If anything is going to be published (I know you said it wasn’t) you should get credit. And give permission. But research is best when it is shared, and it is usually not a zero-sum game. Thanks for your input, Voyager. The sharing did not impact the value of the research to me and funding was not a consideration from any angle. The context was university level and competitive in nature. Thus, my preference - had it been considered - would have been to have had a say in its distribution. Generally, I agree in the concept of sharing, but this was in fact performed for credit within the collaboration. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/5 "2014-12-05T22:49:41Z")
If you have enough involvement in the research to be named as a co-author on a paper, then you should have been consulted before the data was shared. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/6 "2014-12-05T23:11:05Z")
> [@tuesdayweld](#): > > Thanks for your input, Voyager. The sharing did not impact the value of the research to me and funding was not a consideration from any angle. The context was university level and competitive in nature. Thus, my preference - had it been considered - would have been to have had a say in its distribution. Generally, I agree in the concept of sharing, but this was in fact performed for credit within the collaboration. I’m not sure it is unethical but it is definitely impolite, and people who share without asking collaborators find that they lose collaborators in the future. Does the person who got the data know you were involved in its creation? If not the person who gave the data should tell them right away, so they know to give proper credit. Depending on the situation the sharing could have been innocent or it could have been sneaky. It is generally to set the ground rules early - but you know that now. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/7 "2014-12-05T23:23:26Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > If you have enough involvement in the research to be named as a co-author on a paper, then you should have been consulted before the data was shared. The “kicker” is that I lay claim to what I would honestly label as 75% involvement. You’d think that would warrant enough for a say in distribution. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/8 "2014-12-05T23:46:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > _people who share without asking collaborators find that they lose collaborators in the future._ > > Yes, they certainly do. > \*Does the person who got the data know you were involved in its creation? \* > > I think the \*recipients \* are aware that it was collaborative work, although ratios of contribution are at large. > Honestly, I was ticked off prior to mass (okay, 4 recipients) distribution because, as seems to be the case more often than not, I carried the bulk of the collaborative effort. You know how that initial ‘new project enthusiasm’ vaporizes rather quickly for some folks? Man, am I ever getting tired of that. > > \*Depending on the situation the sharing could have been innocent or it could have been sneaky. \* > > Yeah, I’m not feeling good about that one. > _It is generally to set the ground rules early - but you know that now._ > > You are correct - lesson learned. Ouch. I have to stop being surprised by this s\*it and plan for it. Ground rules early and perhaps even in writing. Thank you, again. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collaborative-research-question/706438/9 "2014-12-06T14:09:46Z")
I would always ask my coauthors and they me. But this is mainly when the paper is unfinished as I don’t want to distribute it without a clear notice that this is a work in progress. Once it is finished it will be posted on my web site as a matter of course.