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This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call him or her Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bobby) who proceeded to solve it on her own and wrote up the result. Bobby agreed to let Alice be listed as a coauthor, but Alice also insisted to include her PhD student (Charlotte) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact that Alice and Charlotte did not even have partial results. Is there a way for Bobby to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bobby had no problem with Alice joining her as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below. Thus, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlotte who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for Bobby, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.

This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call him or her Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bobby) who proceeded to solve it on her own and wrote up the result. Bobby agreed to let Alice be listed as a coauthor, but Alice also insisted to include her PhD student (Charlotte) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact that Alice and Charlotte did not even have partial results. Is there a way for Bobby to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bobby had no problem with Alice joining her as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below (I include you as a coauthor, you write me a good recommendation). Thus, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlotte who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for Bobby, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.

This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call her Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bob) who proceeded to solve it on his own and wrote up the result. Bob agreed to let Alice be listed as a coauthor, but Alice also insisted to include her PhD student (Charlie) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact they (Alice and Charlie) did not even have partial results. Is there a way for Bob to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bob had no problem with Alice joining him as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below. Thus, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlie who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for the young mathematician, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.

This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call him or her Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bobby) who proceeded to solve it on her own and wrote up the result. Bobby agreed to let Alice be listed as a coauthor, but Alice also insisted to include her PhD student (Charlotte) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact that Alice and Charlotte did not even have partial results. Is there a way for Bobby to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bobby had no problem with Alice joining her as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below. Thus, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlotte who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for Bobby, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.

This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call him Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bob) who proceeded to solve it on his own and wrote up the result. The senior mathematician also signed the paper and included his PhD student (Charlie) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact they (Alice and Charlie) did not even have partial results. Is there a way for the young mathematician (Bob) to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bob had no problem with Alice joining him as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below. Thus, rather than stealing credit, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlie who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for the young mathematician, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.

This post is a sequel to: Collaboration or acknowledgment?

The following has come to my attention. A senior mathematician (let us call her Alice) suggested a problem to a young mathematician (Bob) who proceeded to solve it on his own and wrote up the result. Bob agreed to let Alice be listed as a coauthor, but Alice also insisted to include her PhD student (Charlie) as a coauthor because they were thinking about the same problem, despite the fact they (Alice and Charlie) did not even have partial results. Is there a way for Bob to manage such a situation without creating conflict?

Edit 2: Bob had no problem with Alice joining him as a coauthor for the reasons mentioned by Igor Rivin below. Thus, the credit was unfairly diluted by including Charlie who had not contributed. Igor Rivin also mentioned that this is not a new phenomenon, which I am surprised to hear.

Edit 1: One good advice so far is to be generous. It does reward unethical behaviour but I have no better advice for the young mathematician, which is why I asked this question.

Edit 3: I do not agree that it is not useful to discuss these issues in a public forum. If, as a community, mathematicians denounced such unethical practices, they would be less likely to occur.