research and intellectual property question

[cmm9y]

I once did some research work for a university. During my time there, I administered a survey (which I helped design), interpreted the results, created materials advertising the results, etc. I even authored a 70+ page report analyzing the data and suggesting future directions.

The research is on-going, and has had a total of 3 different coordinators. The university is now preparing to present and publish results. What right, if any, do I have to be recognized as an author on presentations and publications that use data I collected and analyzed?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Unfortunately, you are an employee and would probably not have rights to the materials, which have the ownership of your work product. You may request to be credited, but that is usually what you want to negotiate before you do the work. Make sure that the discussion is in some written form, e.g. e-mail, so that there is at least proof of some recognition in the event that someone else ultimately claims they authored what you had done. You may probably have more leverage from an ethical slant than legal. Sometimes one has a right to use someone else's work but their credability within the industry goes down if they try to pass it off as their own work -- even if they can do so legally.