Recruiting coauthors for sake of the Introduction section

Question

I'm a student. A professor recently gave me an open question to think about, and after three months of working on it as a hobby, I think I have something good.

It is not an exact mathematical theorem or anything, but I have the code and some proofs in special cases. So, I'm writing a paper and thinking about publishing it.

Now, the professor isn't active in the research area that this paper would naturally fit in. They did help with the technical details, but have no time to become an expert in this area.

But, all papers in this area have an "Introduction" section of almost a page, citing 30+ papers from the past two years. I have read a grand total of four relevant papers.

How to proceed? I don't think I am capable of doing this in a reasonable amount of time, as I don't really follow what's going on in this research area. And I have other pressing things to do.

I am thinking about writing to some PhD students in my institution which publish in this area, to recruit them as coauthors. Maybe they could even improve the paper. But how to contact them? Is it dumb to say: "hi, nice to meet you, here is my current draft of the paper, do you want in? By the way, you are going to write first section"?

Answer 1

I suggest that rather than trying to enlist someone else as a co-author, you just do the best job you can with what you know and can learn in a reasonable amount of time. If you only have a few references, rather then 30, then so be it. If it is enough to explain what you are doing then it is probably enough.

Use your professor for feedback on what you write. They will probably have some ideas about things you should include. And get advice from them on where and how to submit it for publication. Perhaps a student-oriented publication is best, but you need advice on that.

But if another person hasn't contributed to the intellectual advances you have made, then it isn't really proper to include them as authors.

If you submit it to a reviewed publication then you will probably get feedback from reviewers if it has any merit at all. The feedback will help you improve it even if they don't end up publishing it.

I think that it is unlikely that you have missed anything so important that it would invalidate what you have done. Your professor would probably have caught that already. But a reviewer certainly will.

But, write the paper as best you can including what you think is necessary to explain things to a reader. The practice will be good.

Answer 2

Introductions are challenging to write. We have knowledge, but we don't also remember where we learned everything. Indeed, stare at a problem long enough, and the reasoning for solving it seems plain. But reviewers and readers want the whole background. And if you are publishing a paper, you practically by definition need to be competent to write the introduction.

How to proceed? I don't think I am capable of doing this in a reasonable amount of time, as I don't really follow what's going on in this research area.

Well, not a lot really proceeds in a reasonable amount of time in academia ... you are not guaranteed to publish your paper rapidly. So if it takes you a few months to work on the introduction, so be it.

I am thinking about writing to some PhD students in my institution which publish in this area, to recruit them as coauthors.

The idea of someone contacting me to write an introduction is, quite frankly, humorous. It's appropriate to contact someone to help develop your paper, but if I was contacted by an undergrad (?) to help with their paper, I would expect that to mean intellectually and editing their text. Perhaps helping with a tricky paragraph or two. But finding 30 papers for them? No.

Answer 3

Your professor will not have time to contribute substantially to the writing. You lack the expertise to write the Introduction section in an appropriate manner. This is a situation that calls for a further co-author. As GoodDeeds wrote in their comment, this is the moment to ask your professor for further help. Even if they have no time for writing themselves, they could quite possibly know just the right PhD student who knows how to write an appropriate Introduction, and would be willing to do so in exchange for a co-authorship. This would be more fruitful than you writing PhD students yourself, since your professor is more likely to know the exact career status of the PhD students. Hence, they should know better which PhD student to approach for this.

Write your professor an email outlining exactly this plan: you and they will not have the time or expertise to contribute meaningfully to this, so could they perhaps recommend the right PhD student to fill the gap?

Answer 4

Don’t look for a co-author; look for a mentor!

Other answers, such as Buffy’s, explain well why it’s generally not appropriate to recruit a co-author for this kind of thing. But I’d like to emphasise a good alternative: try to find someone experienced in the general area who can help advise you on writing the introduction.

Usually, I would expect the original professor who suggested this question should be qualified to help you write it. Even if they’re not an expert in the specific topic, they should be able to judge what’s an appropriate amount of background to give, and help you find more background reading if necessary. If they’re really not qualified for this (which would surprise me) then I suggest approaching some other experienced academic in your institution to ask for their guidance on this, ideally someone who already knows you a bit, eg from a course. To be clear, you’re asking for a favour which will take time they probably won’t get remunerated for — so make sure to ask politely, and don’t take it personally if they say no. But it’s a favour that many academics, when they can spare the time, would be very happy to give.