Which Affiliation to List?

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

Recently a researcher asked a question that might apply to many of us in the AuthorAID community.

By way of background: When one publishes a journal article, one normally lists one’s affiliation (the university, research institute, or other institution with which one is associated).

The person asking the question had done some research at one university but then moved to another university. In the article reporting the research, the person asked, which university should he or she list as the affiliation?

Normally, the listed affiliation should be the institution where one did the research. However, the author also should state his or her current affiliation.

More information on this matter can be obtained from the journal to which one submits a paper. The instructions to authors may say how to indicate the affiliation at the time the work was done and the current affiliation. Or an online submission system may have places to indicate both.

Also, the cover letter accompanying the paper being submitted can be a place to note changes in affiliation.

This week, when I was giving a guest lecture on publication ethics, a graduate student asked a similar question: If some research was funded by a grant but now the author has a different grant, which grant should the paper list as the source of funding?

The answer resembles that for the earlier question: The paper should list the grant that funded the research being reported, not a later grant.

Wishing you a good week— Barbara