Intellectual theft by a former colleague, how to respond? I was recently given a green light by my former supervisor to conduct an analysis on individual patient data from their recently published trial for a stats class assignment (Msc). The idea was we could flip the assignment into a research letter/full manuscript if the results are interesting. I didn't describe the full analysis since I knew it would be enough to just give them the overall jist.
I later called my former colleague, the clinical trial coordinator, to describe the data I needed, the analysis I was going to do (more detailed), and discuss data security since it was a group project. I mentioned if my members could not have access to the data, I could do the analysis myself since I had already signed confidentially etc in the past. The coordinator then told me the question/hypothesis I was asking was something s/he wanted to see done but did not have the statistical expertise to do. I want to emphasize here that the coordinator does not have a methodology background and was not familiar with the analyses/methods that I described but just thought what I wanted to do is like what they had imagined.
However, a few hours later, I receive an email from my former supervisor that is clearly written by the coordinator saying that on further consideration, the analysis I was going to do probably belongs in a secondary paper that '[they] want to do'. Complete 180 and phrased 'we' exclusive since I am no longer part of the team. Now, its common for my old supervisor to delegate decision making / email writing to his staff as s/he is a busy clinician so there isn't any uncertainty around the email. They have also offered me an alternative data set for my class but I cant help but feel robbed.
What do I do?
While I sympathize with your situation, I believe that you are vastly overestimating the severity of the wrong-doing by the coordinator and your former supervisor, labeling the question with tags such as plagiarism, and calling it intellectual theft in the title. It is hardly either.
As I understand the situation, neither you nor your former supervisor has any ownership over the data. They belong to another group, and when prompted, they said that they would rather do the study themselves. From your description it seems like the study was a rather obvious one, so there is really little intellectual ownership as far as the method goes. The coordinator was even nice, and offered you another data set.
These things happen all the time, and you have not sunk too many resources into the project yet. Cut your minimal losses, write back with a &quot;thanks for the alternative data set&quot;, and if you feel like it, you can even add that the coordinator may pass your contact information, in case the group is looking for a collaborator with your expertise.