do writing samples have to be independent?

[trashman]

friend and i coauthored a paper thats currently under revision for a journal

its the only academic writing that ive done, besides a basic lit review that has nothing to do with the field i want to study in 

can i use the paper that was coauthored? or are they looking for something else? the program just says that they require an academic writing sample, doesnt specify about it being independent or not

 

field is io psychology, lit review is mainly cog psychology, if that makes any difference

Edited August 29, 2016 by trashman

[fuzzylogician]

I would not recommend doing this unless it is absolutely clear who contributed which part of the paper, and there is a faculty member who can explicitly address that in a LOR. Unless there is complete clarity, admissions committees may not know how to look at the paper; it can't be guaranteed that you actually did any of the research and/or writing for any particular piece of the paper, so it's hard to know how to evaluate it. Is the brilliant idea yours or your friend's? Is the writing yours or theirs? What can you actually do on your own -- is this paper a reflection of your intellectual abilities, interests, and writing style? All hard questions to answer for a joint paper. So if at all possible, I would avoid this.