Adding co-author without consent of all co-authors [closed]

Question

I have been collaborating with an individual on a scientific paper. I have documents showing that this individual has shared the paper content with other people. Also, the individual has added co-author to the paper without my consent. I have the following questions:

Question 1) Is there any ethical, policy or law that is violated by this individual?

Question 2) Where should I report the actions of this individual?

Answer 1

I have documents showing that this individual has shared the paper content with other people

Nothing necessarily wrong with this. It's polite to get permission from co-authors especially before sharing broadly outside your group, and can be rude not to, but it's normal for academics to talk about what they are working on with other academics close to them.

Also, the individual has added co-author to the paper without my consent

If this third person has done work on the paper amounting to authorship, then they must be an author. If not, then they must not. You and your co-author(s) and potential co-authors should come to some agreement on who meets this qualification, but I don't think it's really time to call out an ethical breach or "report" to someone, it's just time for you to have a conversation about authorship with your co-author.

Lastly, think about what you're trying to achieve here. Starting some sort of ethics proceedings against someone you work with is an absolute last resort action. It's unlikely your relationship will escape this action without irreparable damage.

Answer 2

Each academic field likely differs in the norms regarding co-authorship. You've brought up two different points:

1. Your co-author has shared the content of your manuscript without first consulting you. This is not necessarily an ethical issue, but it does highlight the importance of codifying specific behaviors before you begin working on a co-authored project. Whether this is an ethical breach depends on many things. What type of data are you using and who collected them? Had you discussed whether the disclosure of the project was okay at any time earlier? It certainly sounds like you need to have a direct conversation about the norms on the project, particularly given that you are the corresponding author.
2. Your co-author has decided to invite another person to the project without first consulting you. This is a much clearer issue. Put simply - yes, this is an ethical violation and you should be clear and firm in informing your co-author that this is unacceptable and cannot happen without agreement from all current authors. If your co-author already had the other individual put work into the manuscript, then you need to convene a group meeting to discuss this together.

As for whether you can report your co-author, I'm unsure. I suppose that depends in part on your university. Who owns the data that you collected?

Regardless, it's clear that you shouldn't work with this individual again.

Answer 3

Talk to your IRB.

Before you conduct any research involving human data (including things like surveys), you need to get approval from your university's Institutional Review Board, and that approval might come with restrictions on how you are allowed to handle or store the human data you've collected.

If your colleague has violated these restrictions, then you should report them to the IRB so that a proper investigation into the incident can take place, and the disciplinary process can be started by the IRB if they deem it necessary.

If your research doesn't involve human data, you might not be required to get IRB approval, but it might be worth your time speaking to them regardless if you haven't done so already, to make sure that your research is being conducted ethically.