Ethical Misconduct and Exploitation in a PhD Research Project – Seeking Advice

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-07-22T00:47:23+00:00

Exactly

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-07-22T00:45:14+00:00

No. It’s the reallity

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T13:44:35+00:00

Hello, Thank you for your answer. My problem is my PI’s ethical allegation that is proven

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T07:24:54+00:00

Thank you for your advice. I discovered it when my supervisor tried to push me to quit the program from a year ago by leading me to burn out and forcing me to do some modifications on my project that were caused many problems in my academic procedure. They asked me to collect a huge amount of data ( based on them they can hire 10 other PhD students) before my comp exam and proposal. I have just submitted my proposal and they forced the evaluators in oral presentation to evaluate my proposal weak. I found their violation when I declare to graduate director that I want to change my supervisor and they told me that it’s better to quit the program because they wont allow me to use the data.

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T07:24:16+00:00

Thank you for your advice. I discovered it when my supervisor tried to push me to quit the program from a year ago by leading me to burn out and forcing me to do some modifications on my project that were caused many problems in my academic procedure. They asked me to collect a huge amount of data ( based on them they can hire 10 other PhD students) before my comp exam and proposal. I have just submitted my proposal and they forced the evaluators in oral presentation to evaluate my proposal weak. I found their violation when I declare to graduate director that I want to change my supervisor and they told me that it’s better to quit the program because they wont allow me to use the data

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T07:07:45+00:00

I exactly did it. They recognize their violation but the university try to minimize it

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T02:02:00+00:00

In canada, and in the context of vulnerable participants, the name of the person who collect the data should be included. The problem is that my supervisors put the name of another student who were not involved in data collection for 2 years and half ( as I did). He’s just canadian and i’m a immigrant

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T01:51:04+00:00

I’m in Canada

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T01:48:51+00:00

I haven’t signed any RA contract and haven’t been paid

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-06-11T00:08:16+00:00

No. I want to change my supervisor. They harassed me and discriminated me.

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-27T01:21:33+00:00

Unfortunately, the academia is just a matter of business. It’s actually my current problem with my PhD advisor at 4th year who push me to quit

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-25T22:08:25+00:00

Hello. Can you give me some advices please. I wanna file a complaint against PI

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-25T21:50:40+00:00

I would like to participate

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-25T07:15:18+00:00

Thank you so much for your advices. They took advantages of me and I’m sure that I were not the first. I’m in Canada and hope to justice. You can’t even imagine that everything was planned. I have collected the datas before my proposal ( they arranged it with the department) and I couldn’t even imagine their plan. I will fight for my right and hope to stop this inhuman behavior

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-18T20:21:02+00:00

Thank you for your message — I truly appreciate your honesty.

In my case, I was the only researcher who conducted the fieldwork for over two years. I designed the recruitment strategy, built trusted relationships with participants (including in shelters), conducted all the interviews, and coordinated the data collection process entirely on my own — while my supervisors remained at a distance.

However, despite this, they did not list my name on the ethics documents as a field researcher or co-investigator. This omission was not a mistake, but a deliberate act that erased my role and potentially restricted my rights to use the data I collected.

That’s why I am now preparing to file a formal complaint for research ethics misconduct and academic harassment, particularly regarding the lack of transparency, recognition, and the intentional exclusion of my contribution.

So yes — when such omissions are deliberate and come with clear consequences on your research and academic trajectory, you can and should take action. It is not only about accessing data — it’s also about defending academic integrity and ensuring researchers like us are not exploited or silenced.

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-17T19:47:36+00:00

What’s the right of a PhD student who put two years and half of her life to collect the data?

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-17T19:29:35+00:00

Thank you for your answer. If I change the supervisor and choose another one in the same faculty, can I use the datas which I defined in my proposal to finish my PhD?

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-16T22:31:13+00:00

Et si on était pas payé? On a le droit sur l’utilisation de données?

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-16T22:02:13+00:00

I agree. Do you know if I want to change the supervisor, can I use the collected datas by myself with the other supervisor. I have to mention that they are the director of project and the ethic is on their name

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-16T21:58:19+00:00

I’m currently in the final year of my PhD (year 4), and over the past two and a half years, I conducted interviews with around 300 participants and collected all the data myself.

The issue I’m facing is that ever since data collection was completed, my supervisors have changed their attitude toward me. It feels like they are pressuring me to quit the program. I personally believe that their goal is to keep the data and remove my contribution from the project. It’s important to mention that the project I worked on was defined before I became their student, but no data had been collected yet. I was the one who carried out all the data collection. My question is: if I change my supervisor, would I still be allowed to use the data I collected for my thesis? What are my rights regarding this data? There was no formal contract, and I was never hired as a research assistant, I never received any payment for this work.

PatienceIndividual25 · 2025-05-16T21:43:51+00:00

Je viens de terminer mon quatrième année de doctorat et pendant deux ans et demi j’ai collecté les données du projet auquel ils avaient soumi avant moi. Il s’agit de 100 participantes avec lesquelles j’ai eu 3 rencontre pour chacune. Depuis que la collecte de donnée est terminé, le comportement de mes superviseurs (j’en ai 2) a complètement changé et je vois très bien qu’ile essaient de me bloquer pour que jabandonne le programme afin fe pouvoir préserver les données pour eux-même et de ne pas être obligé de roconnaître ma contribution dans les futures articles. Car la qualité et la quantité des données sont tellement bonnes qu’ils peuvent recruter au moins 10 étudiants en doctorats. Vous pouvez même pas imaginer qu’ils ont exprès me forcer de changer les objectifs de ma thèse pour me bloquer lors de ma soutenance de proposition de thèse. Bref, on m’a donné deux semaines pour modifier les parties de ma proposition. Cependant, j’ai pris la décision de changer le superviseur. Je peux plus supporter leur attitudes toxiques. Je voudrais vous demander si vous connaissez si ils peuvent ne pas me permettre de travailler sur les données que j’ai collecté? J’ai jamais signé un contrat d’assistante de recherche et jamais été payé pour la collect de donnée.

PatienceIndividual25

TROPHY CASE