The bullying of academics follows a pattern of horrendous, Orwellian elimination rituals, often hidden from the public. Despite the anti-bullying policies (often token), bullying is rife across campuses, and the victims (targets) often pay a heavy price.
"Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence." Leonardo da Vinci - "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men [or good women] do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
July 19, 2007
Professor Ellen Larsen...
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Science and dishonesty are incompatible.
Michael Pyshnov should be allowed to finish his PhD, be given full credit for his work, and, yes, be given compensation.
Can somebody please let Ellen know that her photo is on this blog.
The story of supervisors taking credit or even plagiarising the work of postgraduate students, is common - sadly.
Another version is an academic who pursues pioneering research but the jealousy of his/her managers, keep this researcher off grants, promotion, etc. In the end, line managers take responsibility for the work!!!
Universities are autonomous organisations we are told... so anything goes since nobody attempts to right the wrong.
Such common sad and tragic events with no intervention from bodies who can police and rectify the injustice.
Ellen's photo should stay on this blog for eternity. Do we have any others?
Oh yes, there are a large number of Ellen Larsens out there.
The damage caused by a manager's plagiarism is often underestimated. To capture a manager's attention, the work has to be highly original, the type of work that is delivered by someone who is sensitive and passionate. The response of these individuals to plagiarism is equivalent to one's response to betrayal. Their work is not plagiarised, it is hijacked.
As another student of Dr. Larsen I want to add a few things:
First, I have often witnessed Dr. Larsen give credit (i.e. 1st authorship, 2nd authorship, etc.) to many of undergraduate students, even when they have long since left the lab. So the story of her plagiarizing students' work seems, at best, a one-sided representation of her.
Second, I have a few issues with Michael Pyshnov's handling of the whole issue. (Disclaimer: I'm not telling Mr. Pyshnov what he should do. That is his choice. Nor am I saying that U of T is some saintly place. I've seen what happened to David Healy.): a) After having tried to malign Dr. Larsen in every way possible for about 25 years (including, write about it on dozens of website, hold placards in front of lab building, distribute pamphlets in university, write to every authority possible, go to arbitration, and, I believe, fire a lawsuit), is this the way to handle this? Would a more constructive way not be to become a well-published author through doing more research, and thus prove your worth to the world?
b) From other accounts of your case, it seems that you wanted to be awarded a PhD for just having a manuscript accepted for publication. It doesn't work like that. Your name was not removed from the paper to avoid giving you credit. Dr. Larsen had to remove it because YOU refused to allow your name to be on a manuscript already send for publication with your prior permission.
c) PIs do own the work that is done in their lab. They are the ones who come up with the original research proposal and get the grant money for the project. Obviously, it is unfair if they remove your name from the work without any reason. However, in your case, you were refusing to allow your work to be published despite being given first authorship. And even after that, Dr. Larsen did not just copy & paste your paper under her name. She & another student added their contributions to your results to produce the new paper. I am not sure how this is a heinous fraud.
In the end, I am just another student of Dr. Larsen. I have no vested interest in defending her because, given that the comments are anonymous, she can't come and reward me in someway for them. Also, I already got my grades. I just thought that given the amount of by posts made by Mr. Pyshnov, and perhaps some of his supporters, I should present an alternative view of the story.
5 comments:
Science and dishonesty are incompatible.
Michael Pyshnov should be allowed to finish his PhD, be given full credit for his work, and, yes, be given compensation.
...do it and end one researcher's pain...
Can somebody please let Ellen know that her photo is on this blog.
The story of supervisors taking credit or even plagiarising the work of postgraduate students, is common - sadly.
Another version is an academic who pursues pioneering research but the jealousy of his/her managers, keep this researcher off grants, promotion, etc. In the end, line managers take responsibility for the work!!!
Universities are autonomous organisations we are told... so anything goes since nobody attempts to right the wrong.
Such common sad and tragic events with no intervention from bodies who can police and rectify the injustice.
Ellen's photo should stay on this blog for eternity. Do we have any others?
Oh yes, there are a large number of Ellen Larsens out there.
The damage caused by a manager's plagiarism is often underestimated. To capture a manager's attention, the work has to be highly original, the type of work that is delivered by someone who is sensitive and passionate. The response of these individuals to plagiarism is equivalent to one's response to betrayal. Their work is not plagiarised, it is hijacked.
I resigned because of the lies of this manager:
http://serc.research.glam.ac.uk/gcp/
As another student of Dr. Larsen I want to add a few things:
First, I have often witnessed Dr. Larsen give credit (i.e. 1st authorship, 2nd authorship, etc.) to many of undergraduate students, even when they have long since left the lab. So the story of her plagiarizing students' work seems, at best, a one-sided representation of her.
Second, I have a few issues with Michael Pyshnov's handling of the whole issue. (Disclaimer: I'm not telling Mr. Pyshnov what he should do. That is his choice. Nor am I saying that U of T is some saintly place. I've seen what happened to David Healy.):
a) After having tried to malign Dr. Larsen in every way possible for about 25 years (including, write about it on dozens of website, hold placards in front of lab building, distribute pamphlets in university, write to every authority possible, go to arbitration, and, I believe, fire a lawsuit), is this the way to handle this? Would a more constructive way not be to become a well-published author through doing more research, and thus prove your worth to the world?
b) From other accounts of your case, it seems that you wanted to be awarded a PhD for just having a manuscript accepted for publication. It doesn't work like that. Your name was not removed from the paper to avoid giving you credit. Dr. Larsen had to remove it because YOU refused to allow your name to be on a manuscript already send for publication with your prior permission.
c) PIs do own the work that is done in their lab. They are the ones who come up with the original research proposal and get the grant money for the project. Obviously, it is unfair if they remove your name from the work without any reason. However, in your case, you were refusing to allow your work to be published despite being given first authorship. And even after that, Dr. Larsen did not just copy & paste your paper under her name. She & another student added their contributions to your results to produce the new paper. I am not sure how this is a heinous fraud.
In the end, I am just another student of Dr. Larsen. I have no vested interest in defending her because, given that the comments are anonymous, she can't come and reward me in someway for them. Also, I already got my grades. I just thought that given the amount of by posts made by Mr. Pyshnov, and perhaps some of his supporters, I should present an alternative view of the story.
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