I was wondering if I could query the collective experience. I am working on a number of projects, and their papers all need to cite data from the other projects as controls, but I'm worried that will be disclosure of the control data, harming its own publication chances.
To clarify, I'm working on one project, looking at the biology of a tumour type, let's call it 'A', for which I have acquired various sorts of sequence data. Someone else in our group is working on a different tumour type 'B'. Their paper is comparing A to B, showing where they are similar, and where they are different. If the paper just about A comes out first, then I can just cite it in the B paper. It seems likely that the B paper will be ready first. If I put the A data in the B paper as a control, then when I come to write the A paper, most of the data will already be published, reducing its impact. On the other hand, I can't be enigmatic in the B paper, saying 'B is different to A (unpublished)'.
In a related problem, I have a collaborator who is working on a bioinformatic method to tell tumour types apart. They would quite like to use the A versus B comparison in their methods paper, but that would mean disclosing all the data in the methods paper. The A versus B authors would like to use this method, but that would mean disclosing the method in their biology paper.
All quite a tangle. None of these papers would work very well if merged, as they are dealing with different issues. I don't really know how to cite so much nearly published work, especially as I don't know which papers will come out soonest.
Any solutions/similar experiences welcome.
Thanks.
To clarify, I'm working on one project, looking at the biology of a tumour type, let's call it 'A', for which I have acquired various sorts of sequence data. Someone else in our group is working on a different tumour type 'B'. Their paper is comparing A to B, showing where they are similar, and where they are different. If the paper just about A comes out first, then I can just cite it in the B paper. It seems likely that the B paper will be ready first. If I put the A data in the B paper as a control, then when I come to write the A paper, most of the data will already be published, reducing its impact. On the other hand, I can't be enigmatic in the B paper, saying 'B is different to A (unpublished)'.
In a related problem, I have a collaborator who is working on a bioinformatic method to tell tumour types apart. They would quite like to use the A versus B comparison in their methods paper, but that would mean disclosing all the data in the methods paper. The A versus B authors would like to use this method, but that would mean disclosing the method in their biology paper.
All quite a tangle. None of these papers would work very well if merged, as they are dealing with different issues. I don't really know how to cite so much nearly published work, especially as I don't know which papers will come out soonest.
Any solutions/similar experiences welcome.
Thanks.
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