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I was working on a project related to the biological domain at a German institution. I have created ontology and knowledge graphs using public data from DSMZ. After working on the project for two years, I was fired due to slow working speed (the original reason was different).

I am thinking of writing a paper on an ontology graph which I built. Is it possible to write and submit the paper? Is there any legal issue if I submit a paper after leaving the project?

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    What does your old contract say about IP?
    – Buffy
    Commented Mar 19, 2023 at 23:49
  • @Buffy not sure
    – Alex Kujur
    Commented Mar 19, 2023 at 23:54
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    My field is math, not biology, and in math it is not a problem at all to publish such a paper, one just has to acknowledge the financial support from the institute. But Buffy's advice is good: find out what your contract says.
    – Moishe Kohan
    Commented Mar 21, 2023 at 13:53

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That's always tricky. I assume (please correct me if I am wrong) that you worked with other people on this project. Commonly, there is at least a PI (primary investigator --- i.e., project lead) and there might have been some Master/PhD students/Post-Docs helping with the workload.

If it was collaborative work, you need to at least inform them. Most likely: you need to add them as co-authors (anyone who contributed). You should be aware that many things can be a contribution: library access, equipment access (i.e., your working machine), ideas, feedback, data, funding, and the work of people.

Depending on how important the contribution is, the contributor needs to be an author or can be mentioned in the acknowledgments. Note, that this goes both ways. If they write a paper about the stuff that you did, they need to acknowledge you too.

So, the chances are significant that you need to acknowledge them somehow. Safest would be to let them know and add the PI as a co-author.

Note: This is how it is handled commonly in academia and maybe an ethical point of view. Legally, I would recommend looking for legal advice regarding intellectual property.

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  1. It is possible to write and submit a paper. Depending on the journal there may be issues if you currently have no affiliation. The editor's decisions may also affected by a lack of affiliation.
  2. The legal aspects depend on your employment contract, in particular any language in it concerning intellectual property (IP). Often all IP created during your employment belongs to your employer, which would mean that you may run into legal issues with publishing your work.

Generally, legal issues should be addressed by speaking with a lawyer. Answers on an internet platform like StackExchange provide no warranty.

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