Page 252 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 13: Filling Entries Rules: CCC and AACR2

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with the other postdoc, although he wanted to be listed first. But his adviser could not be
swayed. “What it boiled down to was I had to accept being the second author, or have my
name removed,” Rohit recalled.
Unfortunately, many postdocs have probably encountered situations like this. Conflicts
can run the gamut including issues such as authorship, intellectual property, mentoring, a
hostile adviser or lab environment, discrimination, harassment, salary, or vacation time.
While many postdocs may privately fume, they ultimately accept the situation, not realizing
what their options are and generally not wanting to jeopardize their career. Foreign
postdocs, in particular, may come from cultures that discourage making waves, or they
fear jeopardizing their visa status. It’s not clear how many postdocs ever go as far as filing
formal complaints, but the numbers are probably relatively small.
In Rohit’s case, he already had a job at a biotech company by this time and even though the
paper wasn’t important for his career, he decided to fight for first authorship out of
principle. He found out that his department had set up an ethics committee for postdoctoral
fellows, and the chair of the committee was very supportive and helpful about what to do.
In a conference call with the full committee, Rohit discussed the thought processes and
sequence of experiments that led to the paper, reconstructed from his lab notebooks and
e-mails between him and his adviser over his time as a postdoc. On separate occasions, the
committee also heard from his adviser and the other postdoc.
Ultimately, the committee sided with Rohit, agreeing that the work was essentially his,
and recommended that both postdocs be first co-authors. Rohit was insistent on being
listed first, which his adviser finally accepted after the matter went back to the committee,
who agreed with Rohit. The paper has since been published.
Rohit took the path recommended by most institutions that have clear procedures on how
to resolve conflicts, and was fortunate that his department had already set up a committee
to hear postdoc grievances. Generally, institutions encourage going through more informal
channels first, trying to work out the problem with your adviser. If that doesn’t work, go
to your department chair, who can try to resolve the dispute, perhaps with the aid of a
faculty committee.
You can also pursue avenues outside your department. For example, more and more
schools fortunately now have offices of postdoctoral affairs or postdoctoral associations,
which can be a great resource for help or advice. If your institution has one, an ombudsman
also can help.

The human resources office may also be an option. John Leviathan at the J. Gladstone
Institutes (an independent institute affiliated with the University of California, San
Francisco), for instance, is a human resources manager whose job is to deal with postdocs.
Postdocs are always free to call him about grievances, he says, and once every 2 weeks he
meets with postdocs as a group to hear about any general issues they have, such as a lack
of business cards. Leviathan also conducts exit interviews to help improve the lot of future
postdocs, which is when “all the juicy stuff comes out.” But he says he hasn’t had to deal
with scientific issues such as authorship, which are probably resolved at the level of the
mentor or the institute’s director.
If the situation still can’t be resolved, depending on the kind of institution, the dean, vice
provost of research, institute director, or similar administrator can get involved. If you
think you’ve been subject to discrimination, another option is your institution’s equal
opportunity office.

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