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I am an undergraduate student in the medical field. I have taken part in writing multiple articles with professors from different departments from my Uni. The way I see it, my affiliation should be Faculty of Medicine, University of X. Whenever I've been directly asked for my affiliation, this is what I provided.

For some articles, I did not get to proofread my affiliation before submission, and my professors filled in my affiliation as their department. Some articles have already been published, some are accepted, some are pending a decision. I have some articles with Faculty of Medicine, University of X, some with Department of Gerontology, University of X, some with Department of Dermatology, University of X, and some with Research Group for Great Ideas, University of X.

The name of the University is always correct, but I've been assigned to multiple departments, while technically being still an undergraduate. Can this hurt me in the long run? Should I raise my concerns with the authors of the papers? I don't know whether the department affiliation is important, or would be seen as petty.

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    It might have been important in the old days, when readers wanting to contact you would write a letter and mail it to "Your Name, Department of Gerontology, University of X". If you weren't really affiliated with the Department of Gerontology, the person who sorted the incoming mail for that department might not know who you were, and the letter might not reach you. These days, of course, they'll just use email and the issue doesn't arise.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Jun 26 at 16:10
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    If you do not have an opportunity to proof and approve manuscripts you have co-authored before they are submitted, then that's an issue in itself. But if your only objections are about affiliation statements, then it's probably not something to make waves about under your circumstances.
    – John Bollinger
    Commented Jun 27 at 14:20

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I cannot see a situation where this would hurt you. Especially as it is uncommon for an undergraduate to have multiple published articles. Having these will by far outweigh any negatives you might think of.

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Don't worry about it. As an undergraduate your affiliation is unclear anyhow. You could reasonably argue that for the duration of that project you were part of that department. At the very least, you can consider it as a welcoming gesture from those professors, that they consider you (temporarily) part of their department.

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  • Agreed. Along these lines, I am also inclined to suspect that the faculty the OP is working with view the relationship quite differently than the OP does. "Collaborator" suggests a relationship between peers, and few faculty view undergraduates as their academic peers.
    – John Bollinger
    Commented Jun 27 at 14:23
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I don't see an issue as long as the university is the same. With a different university, it might be different:

  1. Someone meeting you thinks you went to the same school and is (negatively?) surprised to learn, that you went to a different university.
  2. Some universities get money for number of authors on published papers. They might try to use your wrong affiliation to drive their money up. This is not right and might hurt your alma mater.
  3. If there is a scandal or misconduct with one of your collaborators, being not in the same university emphasis the distance between the you and the collaborator.
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    My thinking exactly. In many academic systems undergrads aren't formally associated with any department anyway, so at worst it's a white lie. I am struggling to see any possible negative consequences, for either you or your collaborators.
    – xLeitix
    Commented Jun 27 at 12:57
  • Unless someone is specifically collaborating with questionable external institutions on purpose, or something, it's no more likely for a collaborator from another university to be involved in some scandal than it is for a collaborator from the same university to be. So #3 doesn't really make sense.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Jun 28 at 2:27
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Clinical scientist here. This is good question! First of all, congratulation on publishing as an undergraduate. I would see this as beneficial, especially when recruiting you! In clinical medicine, it is very important to demonstrate that you can work with other departments / disciplines. Cross-disciplinary / multi-disciplinary treatment is an important aspect of modern medical care. You demonstrated that as a prospective scientist, why would it not be the case in clinics? Good luck!

PS: Your case applied to me, as well. As an undergraduate, I published with numerous different departments (mostly case reports when rotating during my final year). For me and some colleagues, this was normal. Assuming that you were involved in case studies, it is even more normal. The department that treats the patient is your affiliation in this case.

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