In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:
How should one deal with an uncommunicative coauthor?
Long story short, I've had a paper in the works with one coauthor for a good while. The paper has been basically complete for over a year now. We've both agreed it just needs a final polish from both of us before sending it out, and that my coauthor will edit it with regard to new work in their AOS first and I will then give it a final polish. So far so good, and I think it's a great paper!
However it's gotten increasingly difficult to get a hold of my coauthor. They've had some personal life difficulties, so it's very understandable. At first, when I would circle back to ask if they're making progress, it would take them months to respond. We managed to meet up over zoom, and I asked if they'd like me to take over entirely if they can't contribute anymore (of course retaining them as an author), or bring someone else from their AOS on board as a third author. They ensured me they've got this, but afterwards, they've stopped responding altogether. I'm both worried if they're OK, and frustrated because I'm working on a connected paper that builds on our collaboration and would love to cite this one in it.
What's the best way to move forward? Is it appropriate to contact someone from their department to ask if my collaborator is OK, or could it create problems for them?
I'm sorry the OP is dealing with this, and hope as well that their coauthor is okay. My sense is that this sort of thing is extremely common, including in the sciences where coauthoring is the norm.
I guess don't think I would contact someone else in their department. As the OP notes, maybe the coauthor is having personal difficulties. Even if their behavior is a bit unprofessional, I don't think I would want to cause problems for them. Instead, I wonder whether it might be best to send the coauthor one more email inquiring how they are doing and letting them know that you plan to send out the paper if you don't hear back and receive revisions from them. It just doesn't seem fair for one coauthor to indefinitely hold up a project, so as long as the work is decently well done, there's always a chance it might be accepted or at least receive a revise-and-resubmit–which might motivate the coauthor to finally get moving on their part of the manuscript. Other than that (and choosing not to coauthor with them in the future), I'm not sure what good options there are.
What do other readers think?
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