• Question: If someone else completed similar work to your own and came up with a conclusion before you did, what would you do?

    Asked by nicolab123 to Cat, Daz, Holly, Johnson, Pamela on 21 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Cat O'Connor

      Cat O'Connor answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      First, cry…a lot! Then I think what we’d normally do is try and figue out why the way you did it was different, and then try and show why the way you did it was better! This happens a bit, not very often though.

      Cat

    • Photo: Pamela Lithgow

      Pamela Lithgow answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi Nicolab123,
      I agree with Cat that I would normally go for cry :'( then see what they did specifically. It is unlikely that someone else has done exactly the same work as you so you can focus on the difference and similarities to see if you agree with them. then you can try and publish (this is what we always aim to do) it from a different angle, it is ok to publish stuff other people have shown as long as you have something novel too, this way people can see that more people have done it and it is stronger.
      I hope this help
      Pam 🙂

    • Photo: Darren Braddick

      Darren Braddick answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi nicolab123

      Well this does happen, and a number of my friends suffered it, and it really got them upset. In science, there is this risk, because hopefully you are not truly the only person interested in your area. It can be risky because if you know people are interested in your stuff, you don’t necessarily know what they are doing.

      If you truly do get caught out, and they publish this work before you, you really have no options. It’s unfortunate but this is what happens.

      The good news is, as Pam suggested, that if you can publish from another angle, it is not all wasted! I once got very worried when I found a paper (a science publication) online which had the _exact_ name as my research. Fortunately, they had taken a precisely opposite approach to solving the problem, and we do not compete!

      I hope this helps!

      Daz

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