Timeline for answer to How do I fix someone's published error? by Andy Putman
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| Jul 12, 2010 at 15:31 | comment | added | Andy Putman | #darji : I'm certainly not suggesting that you should not correspond with the authors of a paper you're having trouble understanding (though I think it is a good idea to be extra polite -- for instance, instead of saying "Theorem X is wrong", say something like "I'm having some trouble understanding Theorem X. Isn't it true that Y"). However, if you feel that they are acting unethical in some way, then it is unwise to try to deal with it on your own. That's what mentors (for instance, PhD and postdoc advisors; I still consult my PhD advisor on a regular basis) are for. | |
| Jul 12, 2010 at 9:22 | comment | added | darij grinberg | While the nuclear option is not the best way (particularly not the "write to the editor" version, with its totalitarian "everyone must hear my opinion" undertone), I can well imagine people being yet more unsatisfied at somebody taking the "consult senior people" path. These "senior people" would usually mean colleagues of the flawed paper's author, and in the author's position, I would definitely prefer direct and honest confrontation to people discussing me and my mistakes in private with my colleagues - particularly in mathematics where people are sure everyone is scheming against them. | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 4:15 | comment | added | Pete L. Clark | +1: the advice to consult senior people is absolutely key. (This was part of the eventual resolution of the story whose beginning and middle I told in my answer.) If you are actually in the right, it shouldn't be hard to enlist senior allies. From a hard-nosed perspective, the point is that the editor-in-chief of the publishing journal is going to have a harder time ignoring your very senior colleague than s/he is in ignoring you. | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 4:11 | comment | added | Andy Putman | Some people do boneheaded things and have them work out, but still, to any young people contemplating the nuclear option I must say : step away from that ledge! In 99% of cases, it ends badly. And even if it ends "well", you've still probably made an enemy. | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 4:01 | comment | added | Igor Pak | Talking to more senior people is a very good advice, in fact, regardless of the kind of ethical problem one have. The "nuclear option" takes quite a bit of chutzpah and is never a good way to make friends. But sometimes it can be a way to get noticed and have people pay attention to this person's work. Again, I am not advocating it at all, but I do know of a couple of careers which got started that way. In math, being honest and correct is sometimes more important than being politically astute... | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 1:57 | comment | added | Andy Putman | After I was pretty certain I had the theorem, I contacted the author asking him about the paper. He responded in a couple of days acknowledging the error and telling me exactly where things had gone wrong. I then was very lazy about writing my paper <grin>. It took nearly a year, and after it was written it took me a couple of days to clear the language with him. | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 1:45 | comment | added | Gerhard Paseman | Thank you. Can you tell me (roughly) how long it was between your first contact with the author on the error, and when you had the author clear the language accompanying your correction and other results? Gerhard "Ask Me About System Design" Paseman, 2010.07.10 | |
| Jul 11, 2010 at 1:36 | history | answered | Andy Putman | CC BY-SA 2.5 |