Help! Professor/Advisor Refuses to Publish Any of His Students' Research I'll be finishing a PhD in physics in about five weeks.  I've worked hard, have done a lot of research, and have written 3 papers for publication.  But my professor refuses to take any action towards publishing anything I have written, and he has not published any of his grad students' papers in more than three years.  He keeps telling me that he'll give me feedback on my work and that he will submit the papers, and we set a deadline to get everything submitted , but then the deadline comes and goes with no progress on his part, and when I ask him about it he says he was too busy to look at the papers and doesn't have time to talk about it right now.  

It is seeming more clear to me that he has no intention of publishing my work, and that he's hoping to shoo me out the door with my degree and hope that I will forget about the papers and stop bothering him about publishing.  The best that I can get from him is that he is obsessed with his reputation among his academic peers, and he seems to not want his name associated with any publications that do not fit a certain image or reputation.  I think that my papers are good and certainly publishable, but he will not even give me feedback nor will he do anything to improve my papers to meet his standards, whatever those standards are.  

My blood is really boiling and I'm going to be very upset if my professor continues to fight my efforts to get my work published.  I really would like to see my work published.  

What is my recourse here?  Should I use some negotiation tactics to find out why he doesn't want to publish anything new from any students?  Should I suggest that I go ahead and publish without his name on the papers so he doesn't have his "sterling reputation" tarnished?  I have already spoken to the university ombudsman and the grad student counselor and there is not much else they can do.
First, this is not an unusual situation.  What is unusual here is your interpretation of the situation.  

When you have a problem with someone's behavior, it is wise to look for incompetence instead of malice.  It's highly likely the professor intended to keep his promises but failed to do so.  You have given us no evidence otherwise.  Professors commonly break promises to submit papers.  Some of them do so over and over without realizing there is a pattern.

Your best strategy here is to politely remind the professor of the missed deadline and press for a new deadline.  Repeat this process as many times as is needed.