My Lab Rarely Publishes Research Papers..

<p>So I am currently a high school student perpetrating a research internship within a lab at a local university. I definitely enjoy experimenting and researching and all that at the lab, but unfortunately my lab rarely publishes research papers. The reason for such is due to the professor of the lab - he decided that it would be better to publish the papers after saving all the data gathered from previous, so the paper would be more informative, so the quality would be better. As a result, the lab has only published about three large research papers over the past couple of years... </p>

<p>With that said, how should I go about publishing a research paper?</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure that the data you collect is your Principal Investigator’s, not yours, and that you don’t have a right to publish it independently. You can ask, of course, but the answer would probably be no. Publishing results partway through risks other teams picking up the project and publishing the results of the next stage before you.</p>

<p>I think working in a lab is impressive on its own. If a paper happens, it happens, but you shouldn’t need one for college applications.</p>

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You don’t even need paper authorship for graduate school admissions.</p>

<p>There’s no reason a lack of publication would be a negative for a high school intern.</p>

<p>What Lidusha states is indubitably true. However, a research paper seems to be quite a boost to one’s admission into certain universities. I’m definitely not saying that I want to do a research paper just to raise my chances of getting into top universities - no, I think it’d be a fun and educational experience; I just think that it’d raise my success in admittance by quite a bit - afterall, how many high school students have published research papers? Not that many (as far as I can tell). How many high school students have participated in a research internship at a professor’s lab at a local university within their state and nation? Decaquadrillions.</p>

<p>Well if you could enter it into, and do well in, Intel/Siemens it might significantly help you. Otherwise, I imagine doing the research, and or talking about it in a essay and getting a letter of recommendation, will be nearly as significant as getting something publishing.</p>

<p>I doubt that a middle authorship in a paper matters that much. It is obvious that you get the opportunity to expose to research in a lab. It would be better if you initiate an idea, and carry a project on your own. </p>

<p>In science, the position of the authorship matters a lot. A first authorship (Student or post-doc) and a correspondence authorship (PI) would indicate major role in the project. All other positions mean much lesser roles.</p>

<p>I think when you’re in high school (or starting out in science in general), a “lesser role” under a PI or even a graduate student can be more beneficial than more independence in your own project. A superior can show you the ropes in a very specific field, and you’re likely to end up learning a lot more and making more of an impact in science than you would have working alone. You have to learn the rules before you can play, right? I don’t think there’s a point in rushing to be first author just for the sake of being first author.</p>

<p>I am also wondering the same thing, for I am currently engaging research at a local university with a biology professor. So any insight from others would help me as well.</p>

<p>With that said, a friend of mine who was published as a high school student spoke with me about how he went about it. He had been working in a lab for three years previously mainly during the summer, however, so he was very experienced. He suggested that to be a co-author of a paper, which, as a high school student, is probably what you should be expecting if at all being published, you should gain as much background info as possible, and become adroit in a certain procedure or certain portion of the lab research. After become proficient, you can give a significant amount of input on the paper and perhaps ask to be co-authored.</p>

<p>The display of originality in science is very important, more so than exposure to connection related research. Many applicants’ parents are scientists or staffs related to science. They gain advantage to applicants who have no such resource. Caltech admission clearly distinguishes kids with such advantage versus those without. If you have an idea, and carry out yourself persistently, and in the process seeking some help from a research lab in the nearby university, and to complete the project. This will be a display of motivation and original thinking. Jumping into a project that has been undergoing for several years in a lab does not fit the bill of creativity and imagination.</p>

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<p>Relatively few students submit research papers to the Intel/Siemens competitions. Talk with your professor about the possibility of submitting a paper to one or both of these competitions. Regardless of whatever happens in the college admissions process, if you’re seriously interested in a scientific career, the experience will be very worthwhile.</p>

<p>“Talk with your professor about the possibility of submitting a paper to one or both of these competitions.”</p>

<p>This is the tricky part. If the project is on-going lab project not initiated by the student, the professor will be quite reluctant to disclose the immature results. If the student just do a small procedure in a project, he or she may not have anything to present except if the professor agrees to throw in other people’s work.</p>

<p>I agree with harvardfan, in that independence if not originality is highly important. Because even if you could convince the professor to allow you to publish a paper for Intel/Siemens you probably wouldn’t do too well unless the majority of the work was your own.</p>

<p>Amazing one, i appreciate this work…</p>

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