Professor tried to steal their research and bully them into silence — the student fought back with a $5 Walmart sign that made him lose his mind
A student from the University of Oklahoma was tired of their PhD advisor postponing their requirements for their graduation so that he could avail "free labor" from them. When they ran short of funds, they decided to drop the program to pursue their Master's. However, this irked the professor, who wanted to publish the research the student had done as his own. On December 15, 2025, the student shared the story on Reddit, under the handle u/PrimarySooner, of how they fought back the bullying using a $5 Walmart sign that made the advisor lose his mind.
The user awaited the goalpost for their graduation, but the advisor kept moving it further just to keep the student longer and continue to use them as "cheap labor." Unfortunately, they hit a low when they began running short of funding, which forced them to leave the program and accept a master's degree. However, they found that the advisor was now planning to publish the research under his name. "The bananas bit? He had previously told me this exact same work 'wasn't even good enough for a Master's degree,'" the post read. While the student tried to politely explain that their work cannot be published without their permission, the advisor grew furious.
The advisor reported the student to the University's Research Integrity office, who tried to "strong-arm" them by "lying about university policy." However, the user "proved them wrong" and thus prevented the publication from taking place. A 2021 study published in the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology stated that it is essential to carry ethical responsibilities during the publication of a paper. It also highlighted the need to spread awareness about maintaining ethical practices, including disclosure and peer review, to maintain the objectivity of the publication. By attempting to publish the author's work under the advisor's name, both the University and the advisor were trying to carry out a serious, unethical practice.
This further infuriated the advisor, who would then walk past the student's accommodation to "mean mug" at them. The student, having had enough of the bullying, decided to take petty revenge on the advisor that he'd never forget. "I went to Walmart and for $5 made the world's cheapest sign that said '[professor's name] steals graduate student research.'" The furious advisor then teamed up with the department chair to have it taken down. When his first plan of bullying the user failed, he tried calling the police, which also did not work. After several failed attempts, the advisor was unable to get the sign removed, mainly because the student had recorded the harassment they were facing.
University of Oklahoma advisor I worked for tried to take my research and would walk by my house often to mean mug. I put up a yard sign that said "[professors name] steals grad student research." My house was also across from a school pick up line where 100s of cars sat every day to enjoy my sign
byu/PrimarySooner inpettyrevenge
"The university handled it all well, though; they just got really pissed I had the audacity to record the behavior. Stay classy, University of Oklahoma," they wrote. Soon after the post gained traction, many users shared their thoughts on the issue. u/DoorbellEndoscopy joked, "Oooklahoma, where the staff keeps claiming all your work...."
u/Rhodin265 commented, "You should have told them that you’ll take the sign down, delete your social media posts, and cancel the contract on the billboard if they give you a PhD. I hope they're dumb enough not to realize that you didn't actually pay for the billboard yet." u/lonelygalexy expressed, "He was planning to publish it without putting you as coauthor? I was going to say this (forcing themselves as coauthor or even first author) is more normal than people may think, and a lot of times, grad students just accept it. But not including you is diabolical!"