At a national conference in Psychology, I witnessed a colleague present data that I had collected as part of a collaborative project. Upon reviewing his presentation, I noticed he had omitted my name as the co-author, presenting the findings as solely his own. Recognizing the ethical violation, I decided to address the issue directly during the conference.
I called him out in front of the audience, pointing out that the data was mine, and questioned why I had not been acknowledged. Initially, he seemed defensive, but after a brief exchange, he acknowledged that the omission was an oversight and admitted to presenting the data inaccurately. He publicly apologized, clarified the error, and corrected the authorship attribution during his presentation.
The incident, however, was not formally reported to the conference organizers, and no immediate changes were made to the program since it had already been published. At that time, our institution did not yet have a research ethics committee. Despite this, the event highlighted the importance of transparency and ethical conduct in research. It served as a valuable lesson for both of us, emphasizing the need for accurate authorship attribution and reinforcing the significance of collaboration and ethical practices in future projects.