system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Access denied to the last version of a paper when I am first co-author

I worked in a lab with a toxic PI until the end of 2020 and we try now to publish a paper with my work. We wrote the manuscript and at one point, the PI deleted the Dropbox we used and send me a pdf version of the article saying that the submission will come very soon and that there are some formatting issues to address but he will manage it alone. I received few months later the notification from the journal to accept that I am a co-author of the paper. I accepted (but I didnot have access to the version submitted). Now we have the comments of the reviewers and the PI ask me to answer to the comments but, despite my request, he is denying me access to the version that was submitted. Do we agree that it is illegal and unethical ? My suspicion is that he tries to hide the fact that he changed the positions of my authorship (from co-first author to second author) but I have no proof of that. What can I do ? Many thanks for your advices.
gpt
Illegal - no.  Unethical - yes.  In breach of the journals publication requirements - almost certainly.

Check the journals "Instructions to authors".  There is almost certainly a statement or statements about authors agreeing to the submission and having seen the last version.

If the PI is not in a retaliatory position, you can be quite tough on this.  The PI almost certainly had to make a statement that all authors agreed to the authorship listing during the submission process.

Lastly, you have a 100% right to NOT approve submission until you are happy.  You can make that clear to the PI and if they go ahead without your consent, you can get in touch with the journal.