<p>I'm a graduate student, and I found a mistake in someone's paper, from the arxiv version.
It's a mistake in a certain proof, so that their proof didn't actually prove the theorem.  I pointed it out to one of the authors who thanked me and managed to fix the proof before submitting the paper to the journal.
Someone told me they should mention my name in the paper, I don't think they did. They have not uploaded a corrected paper to arxiv. Should I ask the author about it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T12:06:15.437Z
It is usually expected that in such a case you would be mentioned in the acknowledgments. It's a bit rude not to include you, but on the other hand it's not the law or anything... Also, perhaps the journal submission is anonymous, in which case they might add you in the final version. You could contact the authors, but it seems a bit awkward. What would you gain by appearing in the acknowledgments? It's not considered a publication, and will not really affect your CV.
Shaull
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T12:25:26.467Z
Why do you assume they didn’t thank you in the paper? Did you *see* the journal submission? If not, it’s more likely than not that they did. As for arXiv, maybe they do not want to make too many revisions, and wait until they also get feedback from the journal reviewers.
Emil Jeřábek
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T14:45:22.630Z
Could also be a good subject for [https://academia.stackexchange.com/](https://academia.stackexchange.com/).
Martin Berger
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T18:34:36.447Z
In one of my earliest works, I didn't acknowledge the generous help of an experienced (and highly esteemed) mathematician. After I received a gentle e-mail (we didn't meet in person) where s_he said that s_he was very happy about what I managed to prove, but a little dismayed, I thankfully added the acknowledgement. S_he was very tactful and I simply lacked experience with common courtesy at that time.

If you know one of the authors better, I would go for it (best is in person and not via mail), and remember to be kind and not expect that they'll act. But I also like Shaull's advice.
Hermann Gruber
<paper-review>
Found a mistake in a paper - should I be mentioned?
User
# Found a mistake in a paper - should I be mentioned?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-18)

I'm a graduate student, and I found a mistake in someone's paper, from the arxiv version.
It's a mistake in a certain proof, so that their proof didn't actually prove the theorem. I pointed it out to one of the authors who thanked me and managed to fix the proof before submitting the paper to the journal.
Someone told me they should mention my name in the paper, I don't think they did. They have not uploaded a corrected paper to arxiv. Should I ask the author about it?

**Tags:** paper-review
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is usually expected that in such a case you would be mentioned in the acknowledgments. It's a bit rude not to include you, but on the other hand it's not the law or anything... Also, perhaps the journal submission is anonymous, in which case they might add you in the final version. You could contact the authors, but it seems a bit awkward. What would you gain by appearing in the acknowledgments? It's not considered a publication, and will not really affect your CV.  
> **username_2**: Why do you assume they didn’t thank you in the paper? Did you *see* the journal submission? If not, it’s more likely than not that they did. As for arXiv, maybe they do not want to make too many revisions, and wait until they also get feedback from the journal reviewers.  
> **username_3**: Could also be a good subject for [https://academia.stackexchange.com/](https://academia.stackexchange.com/).  
> **username_4**: In one of my earliest works, I didn't acknowledge the generous help of an experienced (and highly esteemed) mathematician. After I received a gentle e-mail (we didn't meet in person) where s_he said that s_he was very happy about what I managed to prove, but a little dismayed, I thankfully added the acknowledgement. S_he was very tactful and I simply lacked experience with common courtesy at that time.  If you know one of the authors better, I would go for it (best is in person and not via mail), and remember to be kind and not expect that they'll act. But I also like Shaull's advice.  

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## 0 answers

