Hey, so basically my situation is that I worked at a lab on a project that was eventually published as a research paper. However I wasn’t actually counted as an author of the paper because I hadn’t been working on the project for long enough. For college purposes, can I say that I helped do research that was published, as long as I explain the background? Thanks!
Yes you can say that you helped do the research. Describe your specific responsibilities, and say something about what you learned from that experience. Just like you would with any other part time job.
Definitely.
You can list your lab work as a job or internship (if it was one) and describe the type of work you did. You weren’t an author. The PI you worked under may be a great source of recommendation.
To my mind, it’s misleading to say you helped on a research paper unless you were substantially involved in writing or editing the paper, and if that were the case, I would expect the PI to list you as a co-author. I would, however, discuss the work you did in the lab.
Resume style.
Research Laboratory Assistant
1/1 2017-8/1 2018
University of North Pole
Assisted in lab leading to published research by Branden Myers, PhD. “Lab mice and Cells”. Molecular Monthly. August 2018.
Personal story
“Selected as a student volunteer to assist Dr. Branden Myers …”