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<issue_start>username_0: Is it just to check that the paper's results are correct? Should I expect that the authors describe their methods for arriving at the right answers / solving a problem? I've often found that on a key part of the paper, e.g., the main result, the authors just give you the data without explaining. I then have to verify that the data is correct and the results are correct but this takes a bit of work on my part, which I am happy to do, but I wonder why these steps aren't shown on the paper itself.
Is what I described the usual expectation when reading a research paper? That I shouldn't expect researchers to divulge how they arrived at the right answer and perhaps that is a way for them to protect their work, e.g., whatever method they came up with that worked ... could have the potential to be used again and again to publish more papers?
I also tried contacting researchers directly to discuss their work. All of them are happy to talk - but mostly on a superficial level, e.g., "I've done X,Y, and Z, my co-author has done A,B and C."<issue_comment>username_1: I think there are two uses of the word "expectation" relevant to your question:
1) **Expectation** as in "standards": this would be the type of "expectations" a teacher might have of students: that they show up to class, complete assignments, read course materials, etc. This is the aspirational sense of the word.
2) *Expectation* as in "predictions of what is going to happen": a more realistic, perhaps Bayesian understanding of what publications are like in your field as you read more papers.
I don't think you are wrong to have high **expectations** in the first sense, especially from work published in high tier journals in your field. You should **expect** results to be presented clearly, empirical and statistical methodology to be detailed, and conclusions drawn to be clearly connected to the actual results and not just the predictions and world view of the authors.
In reality, your *expectations* in the second sense should not be as lofty. You should *expect* abstracts to not really tell you what limited scope the paper actually addresses You should *expect* to need to dig into not just the paper in hand but previous papers by the same authors and others they reference obliquely to figure out their methodology. You should *expect* to find conclusions that are suggested by but not shown convincingly by the data at hand. You should *expect* to find statistical approaches that are naive, inappropriate, or misleading.
In my personal experience, you will find authors in your field whose work you really cherish because they meet your **Expectations**. These won't necessarily be the most famous papers, but you will enjoy and learn from most of the publications they write. The other papers that instead conform to your *expectations* might be just as important, you will be held just as responsible to understand them and incorporate them into your work, but they won't be as fun, you will wonder how they ever got past peer review, and you might even start to doubt your field in general.
Don't fret! All you can really do is try to meet your own **expectations**.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Let's say that you decide to do some work on the same or a related problem, and that you write a paper about your work. Near the beginning, you get to say:
>
> Previous work by Terse and Succinct addressed such-and-so aspect of my-topic, but their results are not reproducible, because they did not clearly outline their approach.
>
>
>
And then make sure you clearly outline your approach.
I understand your frustration... but do you see that in a way, their terseness makes it easier for you to get your work published?
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/19
| 1,051
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<issue_start>username_0: I am thinking of buying a small gift, like coffee, for a teaching assistant, who helped me solve problems in a particular subject, even outside of work time, to thank for the effort.
Is this appropriate or even allowed?<issue_comment>username_1: I would consider that, in many cases, helping students "outside of work time" is often still under the normal job description of a teaching assistant. However, since you are asking the question, I am going to assume that your TA went above and beyond their normal calling. Even in that case, a gift might make someone uncomfortable, and should certainly never be given before grades are final.
Other options that might achieve what you want without making anyone uncomfortable and that might have greater impact with no more effort from you than a gift could include:
1. Nomination for a teaching award. Many institutions have some formal mechanism for recognizing great teaching assistants; even a nomination could be something that TA could use in the future on a job application.
2. Letting the professor know how helpful your TA was. Professors don't see all aspects of their TA's work. Knowing that a particular TA was helpful to the students might help that TA get a future position, or is material that can be included a letter of recommendation. You could also ask the professor if there is anyone else in the department where you can send compliments for a particular TA.
There is also nothing wrong with thanking your TA directly and making it clear their time was appreciated - no need to go overboard, just a simple email is sufficient.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would suggest writing them a note or card letting them know how much you appreciated their help; a couple of have students have done this for me in the past, and I've been really tickled by it. It scratches the same itch as a gift, but doesn't require figuring out what they would like. I wouldn't have minded getting chocolate instead, but it would have felt a little stranger.
To expand on something username_1 said above: even if there's no obvious mechanism to nominate them for an award, you can tell them if they need a letter from a student in the future (these are standard for teaching awards and tenure applications, though oddly not job applications), you would be happy to write one. That both expresses your appreciation and could be useful to them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Totally fine as long as the gift itself is appropriate. If it is something small that just says "Thanks", then I'm sure they will appreciate it. Just be careful not to give the wrong impression with a gift like chocolate. Many would consider that a romantic gift. Gift cards are good. $10 - $20 to Starbucks is my go to for this type of thing.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Do beware of regulations at your particular University - At my institution it is forbidden as a TA to receive gifts or payment for TA work from students.
I think it is designed to stop us using our TA positions to make extra money from students for additional tuition but it covers literally anything. I had a student keep offering to buy myself and a colleague for helping him outside lab hours - took a lot of explaining that we would help but couldn't accept any form of payment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Who are you?
If you are someone higher up in your department and a TA stayed behind after running one of your labs to help you with something then I don't think anyone would object to you buying them a drink. At least where I am staff buy drinks for their peers and subordinates all the time.
OTOH if you are a student buying stuff is likely to be awkward at best (and may sometimes be officially forbidden). There will be the lingering question of whether you are trying to bribe the staff member to give you better grades.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: There is a philosophical aspect which can added, and that is related to the will and worldview of the student offering the gift. Whether a gift is appropriate can only be fully known relative to the student's will and worldview. If the student has dis-associated themselves from intervening institutional concerns (whatever they may be in terms of things such as "policy" and "superiors") and is able to act freely of themselves, then the appropriateness of a gift would seem to be based exclusively inside their own determination. And due to this being based internally, only the student will be able to answer for whether such a gift is appropriate or inappropriate.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/20
| 1,239
| 5,230
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<issue_start>username_0: When taking notes while studying papers or concepts I'm always torn between
1. **classic pen & paper approach**, which I personally find more productive;
2. **digital approach**, will make it easier to find/sort/filter information later
I'm going to be a Computer Science Ph.D student, so I have to be quite productive (solution 1), but also, to work on the long term, so building my own "knowledge database" (sol. 2) makes sense.
I am currently thinking about developing my own tool based on markdown notes, git version & a query tools to find information, to tag/link items as well a generate bibliography etc.
What is considered the most useful way of taking notes, particularly for non-class settings?<issue_comment>username_1: When it comes to knowledge I make the (admittedly vague) distinction between general knowledge anyone in the field would have and specific knowledge that an expert probably would need to look up.
For the first kind I use pen and paper. Pen and paper is better for learning things by heart and for this kind of knowledge there usually are plenty of textbooks to look it up if necessary.
For the second kind of knowledge it is usually enough to get the gist of it. That is why I write my notes on my computer. Here it is less important to know it by heart and more important to clearly record a reference for potential future use. Searching through a file directory is easier than trying to find a random piece of paper I might have thrown out.
Of course given the time, writing a draft on paper and then a final version on your computer is best. However who in academia has time to spare for that?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I used and still use pen and paper, although for my discipline, I bought engineering paper so that I put graphs on the left page and content on the right page. That is what I used for lectures and presentations. There are limitations on a digital format unless you turn it into a glorified writing pad. You cannot mark arrows easily, you cannot easily link text to graphs and you cannot write marginalia as easily, unless you are typing in LaTeX.
Outside of lecture, I use highlighters. Although I keep a digital copy of articles, you cannot markup a pdf from a publisher. I maintain four inch binders that are organized in a manner that is useful for me. I have my own Dewey system. Electronically, I store the articles using tags as names such as serial\_correlation\_explosive\_roots or mvue\_cauchy\_trimmed\_mean. I also depend a lot upon memory. The difficulty of using a markup system is that you do not know what will be important in three years.
When you read an article it may be that keywords a, b, and c were what was important to you, but the article contained a seemingly uninteresting reference to keyword d, which is not a keyword because you don't care at this point in time. The keywords do not hurt, but if they cause you to commit less to memory because you say "I can search it," then you actually have lost retrievable data. Of course in an ideal world you would have built a search using the contents of the pdfs.
Pre-built bibliographic tools exist. BibTex is very useful, though not ideal. For continuity I use BibTex though if I were starting today, I may not. I maintain a unified bibliography for everything I have ever used or done. BibTex is part of LaTeX. If you are going to do professional writing, you should probably learn LaTeX. Download something like MikTex and then use something like TexStudio as a wrapper so you do not have to type out all of the commands. It isn't bad to learn on MikTex, but it is slower than TexStudio since TexStudio will guess what you are trying to do and autocomplete.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The support is probably the least relevant part. What you actually need is a structure to organise your notes.
If it goes well digitally for you, go for it. At the end, it all depends on how you function. I know that if I need to learn something, I better write it on paper than on a machine, unless it's computer programming. But that might not work for you.
There are multiple tools to manage bibliography, with or without the ability to add notes. Just pick the one you like and can work with.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: In [this article](https://sites.udel.edu/victorp/files/2010/11/Psychological-Science-2014-Mueller-0956797614524581-1u0h0yu.pdf), "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard," the researchers tested this very issue. They found that taking notes with pen and paper is more effective... but, that was because students who typed their notes were copying lectures verbatim whereas students who took notes by hand were taking in the information and then writing it in their own words (thus processing the info at a deeper level).
So, the key is the way you process the information, not necessarily the method you use to take notes. But, at the same time, it is noteworthy (no pun intended) that longhand notes tends to lead to that deeper level of processing more so than does taking notes digitally.
Personally, I'm all about taking notes longhand, and I print out articles that are important to me/my work.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/20
| 1,229
| 5,068
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<issue_start>username_0: I have finished my M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics in 2016. I wish to pursue a PhD. Currently I am preparing for GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, a master’s-level national entrance exam in India). In this respect, I have a few questions.
1. If I only have a valid GATE score but no CSIR-JRF NET qualification, will I be eligible for the 25 k funding?
2. If yes to above, is this funding available for any NAAC-accredited university (public or private) in India?
3. Is there any written statement from the government which validates this?<issue_comment>username_1: When it comes to knowledge I make the (admittedly vague) distinction between general knowledge anyone in the field would have and specific knowledge that an expert probably would need to look up.
For the first kind I use pen and paper. Pen and paper is better for learning things by heart and for this kind of knowledge there usually are plenty of textbooks to look it up if necessary.
For the second kind of knowledge it is usually enough to get the gist of it. That is why I write my notes on my computer. Here it is less important to know it by heart and more important to clearly record a reference for potential future use. Searching through a file directory is easier than trying to find a random piece of paper I might have thrown out.
Of course given the time, writing a draft on paper and then a final version on your computer is best. However who in academia has time to spare for that?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I used and still use pen and paper, although for my discipline, I bought engineering paper so that I put graphs on the left page and content on the right page. That is what I used for lectures and presentations. There are limitations on a digital format unless you turn it into a glorified writing pad. You cannot mark arrows easily, you cannot easily link text to graphs and you cannot write marginalia as easily, unless you are typing in LaTeX.
Outside of lecture, I use highlighters. Although I keep a digital copy of articles, you cannot markup a pdf from a publisher. I maintain four inch binders that are organized in a manner that is useful for me. I have my own Dewey system. Electronically, I store the articles using tags as names such as serial\_correlation\_explosive\_roots or mvue\_cauchy\_trimmed\_mean. I also depend a lot upon memory. The difficulty of using a markup system is that you do not know what will be important in three years.
When you read an article it may be that keywords a, b, and c were what was important to you, but the article contained a seemingly uninteresting reference to keyword d, which is not a keyword because you don't care at this point in time. The keywords do not hurt, but if they cause you to commit less to memory because you say "I can search it," then you actually have lost retrievable data. Of course in an ideal world you would have built a search using the contents of the pdfs.
Pre-built bibliographic tools exist. BibTex is very useful, though not ideal. For continuity I use BibTex though if I were starting today, I may not. I maintain a unified bibliography for everything I have ever used or done. BibTex is part of LaTeX. If you are going to do professional writing, you should probably learn LaTeX. Download something like MikTex and then use something like TexStudio as a wrapper so you do not have to type out all of the commands. It isn't bad to learn on MikTex, but it is slower than TexStudio since TexStudio will guess what you are trying to do and autocomplete.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The support is probably the least relevant part. What you actually need is a structure to organise your notes.
If it goes well digitally for you, go for it. At the end, it all depends on how you function. I know that if I need to learn something, I better write it on paper than on a machine, unless it's computer programming. But that might not work for you.
There are multiple tools to manage bibliography, with or without the ability to add notes. Just pick the one you like and can work with.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: In [this article](https://sites.udel.edu/victorp/files/2010/11/Psychological-Science-2014-Mueller-0956797614524581-1u0h0yu.pdf), "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard," the researchers tested this very issue. They found that taking notes with pen and paper is more effective... but, that was because students who typed their notes were copying lectures verbatim whereas students who took notes by hand were taking in the information and then writing it in their own words (thus processing the info at a deeper level).
So, the key is the way you process the information, not necessarily the method you use to take notes. But, at the same time, it is noteworthy (no pun intended) that longhand notes tends to lead to that deeper level of processing more so than does taking notes digitally.
Personally, I'm all about taking notes longhand, and I print out articles that are important to me/my work.
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/01/21
| 1,414
| 6,054
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am in a lab that I feel I cannot grow sufficiently in and am considering changing labs. The background is I chose to join this lab because it was aligned with the work I wanted to do, but I didn't really look into it any further since this was my first experience joining a lab.
After being in the lab for some time I've found out that communication between the labs 8 members is very limited and there aren't any group projects, assistant professor, etc. The professor is a nice person but is usually busy with other things so doesn't really give students much direction or input and leaves the students to figure pretty much everything out on their own. I'm aware this may sound great for some people, but I'm the type of person that requires more direction and to be pushed a bit more or else I tend to procrastinate. This coupled with the lab atmosphere just being very cold and not good for brainstorming with members etc has made me feel that I wont be able to grow much in this environment.
There is a similar lab in the university with more members an assistant professor, group projects and a professor that engages more with his students. I'm thinking I would like to join this lab but think my professor could take it badly since the other lab is in the same uni, and is a friend of his he will probably feel like I've slighted him, or am making an indirect comment on his skills. Which isn't really the case, I just want to be in an environment that allows me to learn as much as possible.
How should I approach this?<issue_comment>username_1: When it comes to knowledge I make the (admittedly vague) distinction between general knowledge anyone in the field would have and specific knowledge that an expert probably would need to look up.
For the first kind I use pen and paper. Pen and paper is better for learning things by heart and for this kind of knowledge there usually are plenty of textbooks to look it up if necessary.
For the second kind of knowledge it is usually enough to get the gist of it. That is why I write my notes on my computer. Here it is less important to know it by heart and more important to clearly record a reference for potential future use. Searching through a file directory is easier than trying to find a random piece of paper I might have thrown out.
Of course given the time, writing a draft on paper and then a final version on your computer is best. However who in academia has time to spare for that?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I used and still use pen and paper, although for my discipline, I bought engineering paper so that I put graphs on the left page and content on the right page. That is what I used for lectures and presentations. There are limitations on a digital format unless you turn it into a glorified writing pad. You cannot mark arrows easily, you cannot easily link text to graphs and you cannot write marginalia as easily, unless you are typing in LaTeX.
Outside of lecture, I use highlighters. Although I keep a digital copy of articles, you cannot markup a pdf from a publisher. I maintain four inch binders that are organized in a manner that is useful for me. I have my own Dewey system. Electronically, I store the articles using tags as names such as serial\_correlation\_explosive\_roots or mvue\_cauchy\_trimmed\_mean. I also depend a lot upon memory. The difficulty of using a markup system is that you do not know what will be important in three years.
When you read an article it may be that keywords a, b, and c were what was important to you, but the article contained a seemingly uninteresting reference to keyword d, which is not a keyword because you don't care at this point in time. The keywords do not hurt, but if they cause you to commit less to memory because you say "I can search it," then you actually have lost retrievable data. Of course in an ideal world you would have built a search using the contents of the pdfs.
Pre-built bibliographic tools exist. BibTex is very useful, though not ideal. For continuity I use BibTex though if I were starting today, I may not. I maintain a unified bibliography for everything I have ever used or done. BibTex is part of LaTeX. If you are going to do professional writing, you should probably learn LaTeX. Download something like MikTex and then use something like TexStudio as a wrapper so you do not have to type out all of the commands. It isn't bad to learn on MikTex, but it is slower than TexStudio since TexStudio will guess what you are trying to do and autocomplete.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The support is probably the least relevant part. What you actually need is a structure to organise your notes.
If it goes well digitally for you, go for it. At the end, it all depends on how you function. I know that if I need to learn something, I better write it on paper than on a machine, unless it's computer programming. But that might not work for you.
There are multiple tools to manage bibliography, with or without the ability to add notes. Just pick the one you like and can work with.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: In [this article](https://sites.udel.edu/victorp/files/2010/11/Psychological-Science-2014-Mueller-0956797614524581-1u0h0yu.pdf), "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard," the researchers tested this very issue. They found that taking notes with pen and paper is more effective... but, that was because students who typed their notes were copying lectures verbatim whereas students who took notes by hand were taking in the information and then writing it in their own words (thus processing the info at a deeper level).
So, the key is the way you process the information, not necessarily the method you use to take notes. But, at the same time, it is noteworthy (no pun intended) that longhand notes tends to lead to that deeper level of processing more so than does taking notes digitally.
Personally, I'm all about taking notes longhand, and I print out articles that are important to me/my work.
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/01/21
| 420
| 1,753
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<issue_start>username_0: For any paper on Google Scholar, you can click "Cited by ..." to see a list of subsequent papers that cite the original paper.
However, is it possible to see a list of papers that the original paper cites? I realize that one can simply view the paper itself for the list of references, but I would like a way to see it as a list of links in Google Scholar, similar to the "Cited by ..." list.<issue_comment>username_1: No, Google Scholar does not do this. If you want the content of the paper you are going to need to access the paper. I would suggest you find the paper on [Research Gate](https://www.researchgate.net/home), where many of the references are active links.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As you mentioned, unfortunately, Google Scholar only provides the list of publications that cite a given reference.
However, if you have access to [Web of Science](https://webofknowledge.com), to look up a list of references cited in a given publication, you can use the *Cited References* tool.
Note that some journals are not indexed by Web of Science, so having several tools to do the job may be the best way to approach this; e.g., in addition to Web of Science, you could also use Research Gate as mentioned in the other answer. For those journals that *are* indexed by Web of Science, I find the *Cited References* tool to be very useful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: UPDATE: Microsoft is no longer providing the Microsoft Academic (Ended in December of 2021).
Google Scholar might not give you this option but your problem might be solved by [Microsoft Academic](https://academic.microsoft.com). In Microsoft Academic, there is a tab that shows the references in a very simple manner.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/21
| 1,561
| 6,503
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<issue_start>username_0: This may not be a suitable question for this but I wanted to seek some advice from some of you out there. I came into Florida State University as a PhD student in Financial Mathematics and I am finishing my second year here. I passed my qualification exams and started exploring in areas of Monte Carlo simulation for pricing American options. Although, I have considered putting my PhD on hold and getting some work experience within the field of Quantitative Finance, but I do not have any work experience.
I talked to the director here and he said that I could come back and finish my PhD after if I desired to get some work experience. I am wondering what the difference is in applying as a PhD student or applying as a Masters student since from what I was told working for a 3-5 years coming out of the Masters program would make you just as prepared as a PhD student coming in to the job market depending of course on the experience you get.
Is a PhD really necessary to get a job in the quantitative finance field? Or is a Masters with PhD level training good enough?
I am interested in what you all think. Any comments are greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: From my math profs that have done some pioneering work in the field:
1) back in the days, PhD was required because there weren't MFEs around. now the PhD is no longer viewed as a "requirement" and many mfe's get hired for roles that used to require a PhD.
2) having said (1), the PhD trains you for a research position in quant-finance. The MFE will not. So, different skill sets and different career paths. Which do you want? Research / PhD roles, not as many exist today, are very hard to get. FSU PhD may not open many doors for you to top quant shops or top banks - check this, though. MFE + programming may be better for you to land at a top place to do quant finance.
3) whatever you do, try to train in lots of numerical methods. apparently people move up very fast (managing director or similar) because there just aren't enough strong math people in quant-finance. For instance a prof told me that tons and tons of people at Top Investment Bank X can't actually use optimization correctly. Strongest math talent go elsewhere - primarily somewhere in academia, so if you claim you're strong in math, you could move up fast.
4) from a head trader on an algorithm trading desk: having interviewed thousands of candidates, he says that there is a stigma attached to PhD candidates, and they are screened, interviewed and assessed more carefully to find out whether he or she even has any relevant skills aside from his PhD thesis work.
5) MFE programs usually have recruitment / networking opportunities
That's all :)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I have taught graduate courses and done graduate advising for many years at a place that offers MS degrees, but not PhDs. Most of our students go
into pharma/biotech and insurance/finance with an MS degree and maybe 10% go elsewhere to get PhDs. The population of people I'm talking about in this post is probably about 300.
A few of them change jobs now and then because of the company downsizing, etc. But most change every few years deliberately and strategically
to gain experience in a broader range of applications (sometimes, not always, at an increased salary). At some point
employability and salary depend much more on what a person can do than on
whether their highest degree is MS or PhD. People with a history of
success in a broad range of applied work are very much in demand in our
local job market.
Also, there are a few people who have started up their own hugely successful companies, either right out of the MS program, or after several years of employment. Some of these
I might have predicted, and some not. Some mystical combination of a bright
idea, self-confidence, salesmanship, timing, and luck seems to be involved.
'Hugely successful' includes years of making a lot of money, or getting
bought out by one of the tech giants.
There are several situations, particularly in pharma/biotech, in which
a PhD is important. Division leaders, people who make initial contacts with high value clients, and people who may need to testify in
court are usually PhDs. From my perspective, it looks as if this is mostly a matter
of the prestige that may attach to having a PhD.
After several years away from studies, the probability of going on for a PhD falls off greatly. If someone has a family to support, it is really hard to
live on savings and graduate student funding long enough to finish a PhD. There is also a feeling that there is more certainty of success being employed than
in doing thesis research. However, there are a few people who go on for PhDs
even after being away from university life for long time; they have a
specific academic or personal goal that they feel cannot be reached otherwise.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I have a master degree in quantitative finance and regularly headhunted for quantitative positions in finance. I should share with you my experience.
No, it's not necessary to be a PhD to get a job in the quantitative space. But that depends on **what you want to do** and your career path.
If you want to be a **researcher** or someone doing advanced mathematics, you may need a PhD. Even if you were able to get a job, it'll be difficult to advance your career any further.
As a quantitative researcher, you might be asked to:
* Try recently published new methods and algorithms
* Develop mathematics for a new financial product
* Model validation
* Publish papers to high-quality journals
You really need a PhD, possibly good papers to succeed in research environment.
Fortunately, most of the quantitative jobs **don't require** a PhD. Financial institutions just want someone to help them making more money. They want someone to implement their trading strategy, pricing engine, backend database etc.
Possible job titles:
* Quantitative developer
* Financial analyst
* Product specialist
* Quant trader
* Quant application support
You should still understand:
* Black Scholes and option pricing
* Term structure modelling
* Fixed-income
* Stochastic calculus
What exactly you need to know is job specific, but you are not expected to be a mathematician. It's a high-paid but very competitive field, you will compete with candidates who do have a PhD.
**Summary:** You don't need a PhD, but it's a good idea.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: If I am interviewed for a summer research program, would it be a bad idea for me to bring up the topic of publications? I've noticed recently that professors usually aren't comfortable talking about this, so would asking about this make me look bad?
I'm an undergraduate looking to pursue a Ph.D., so I'd like to make myself more competitive for graduate admissions.<issue_comment>username_1: It may be unhelpful. It is very difficult for a faculty member to predict if an undergraduate student's work will be suitable for publication in advance. You may want to ask questions like "Can undergraduates publish in your field of research?" to evaluate the attitude of the faculty member and the difficulty of the subject. You might also ask "Have undergraduates who worked with you in the past published their results?" But keep in mind past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on the framing of the question.
Asking "Will I get a publication out of this?" would make me uncomfortable. *I don't know you*. I don't actually know your work. I don't know if you can write well. I've had promising undergraduate researchers who elected to spend the summer playing XBox and phoning it in. Or just getting tangled up in some sufficiently oddball idea that I can't get them out of in time for them to have done anything productive. I'm not going to promise those people there's a paper waiting for them at the end.
On the other hand, I actively encourage students to think about the *potential* for publication. Is that something they're interested in? Could this be turned into an undergraduate thesis project? etc.
Part of this is understanding where your project fits in the greater context of the lab's work - it might be a relatively small part of a larger project, at which point it's probably not going to get a paper all of its own. But there are also other avenues - for example, my current institution has undergraduate research showcases that include a poster competition.
So I wouldn't head straight for asking about publications in and of themselves, but rather consider framing it as how your research fits into labs work, what can be done with the output, etc.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/21
| 1,244
| 4,489
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<issue_start>username_0: My name is SALMAN. No Middle and Last name. How do I write my name in research paper or article?<issue_comment>username_1: You have two choices.
Either just use your given name, e.g., as in [*<NAME>, <NAME>, **Robby**, <NAME>: Exploiting Object Escape and Locking Information in Partial-Order Reductions for Concurrent Object-Oriented Programs*](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B%3AFORM.0000040028.49845.67). That has two advantages – it's formally and culturally correct – and two disadvantages – you will have to explain it to many people, and finding you in any search engine is awfully difficult.
Alternatively, invent some "first" name or initial, so for instance, you might publish as "<NAME>". That's formally incorrect, but probably more convenient in most situations.
Whatever you do, do it consistently. That's the most important recommendation.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: A colleague of mine with a unique name uses his father's name as his "first" name (usually just the initial) for his publications.
In various systems, it is common practice to use the father's or mother's name for further disambiguation (e.g., Indian visa application form ask for that information).
The above choice transposes this practice into the first-name surname system and if I understood my colleague correctly is commonly used.
This is somewhat close to username_1's second suggestion, except that you do not literally invent it, but rather follow a systematic way to assign it.
This might have the advantage that it is easier to explain the situation, than with an arbitrarily self-selected name.
A drawback that colleague mentioned is that sometimes he will be addressed by his "first" name, so his father's name.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: [Not everybody in the world](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/) fits into the western idea of first name, maybe middle name/names, last name.
Regardless of what your ID card says, you can publish your papers under whatever name you want. Some people use pseudonyms. Much more common is that many women continue to publish under their maiden name when they marry and change their surname.
There's no reason you can't publish papers as Salman.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Some mononymous professors:
[Arvind](http://csg.csail.mit.edu/Users/arvind/)
Johnson Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
[Publications](http://csg.csail.mit.edu/Users/arvind/pub2.html)
[Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_BqpjCgAAAAJ)
[Kinshuk](http://www.kinshuk.info/)
Dean of the College of Information
University of North Texas
[Publications](http://www.kinshuk.info/all-2/#kinshuks-publications)
[Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0yiQ7VoAAAAJ)
[SunWolf](https://www.scu.edu/cas/communication/faculty/sunwolf/)
Professor of Communication
College of Arts and Sciences
Santa Clara University
[Publications](http://professorsunwolf.com/publications.html)
As you can see, you are not alone. All these professors seem to be using their (single) name in publications. (No doubt there are others too, who have a single name, but use variant forms in publications.)
(**Edit**: These examples, along with examples of professors who have the same first and last names, are collected on the [Improbable Research blog](http://www.improbable.com/2006/02/09/prof-profs/).)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: You could use your father's name + "son" as your last name (or "daughter", "dottir", etc, with an S between, perhaps).
If, for example, your father were also named SALMAN, you could be SALMAN
SALMANSON. Sounds great!
That in your case it is a literal description rather than a hereditary name or one assigned to you at birth is not a problem.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: An old lecturer of mine had this problem; he had stopped using his surname in his younger days, and all official paperwork referred to him by only one name. However he found, when it came to publishing papers, that many journals assumed his single name must be a middle name of another author on the paper. His solution was [to use his name twice](//www.researchgate.net/profile/Pankaj_Pankaj).
It also allowed him to make a joke along the lines of “so good they named me twice”.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/21
| 395
| 1,674
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<issue_start>username_0: I have received a PhD offer from University A, but I'm also considering other programmes (say C and D), for which I will interview soon.
I was wondering: should I mention during my interviews with C and D that I received an offer from A? What effect would this information have on my interview? Positive ("university A accepted him, so he should be a strong candidate"), or negative?
And let's say the answer is that I should not mention it, what if they directly ask me which other programmes I am applying to?<issue_comment>username_1: If A is your first choice, accept the offer and withdraw your other applications. If You would prefer to attend C, tell them (C) you have an offer from A but that you would rather attend C.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You should mention it to the program you prefer. There is an element of "social proof" in the admissions process (other schools' interest confirms that you really are a good candidate).
However, one exception is if your preference is for a lower-ranked program. If a higher-ranked program accepts you and the lower-ranked program knows that, the lower-ranked program may not accept you for fear of losing you to the high-ranked program. Only a set number of offers may be made every year, and programs do not want to waste an offer on a student that they don't think they have a shot at attracting.
Most of all, be sure that you are clear with the program that you want to attend that they are your first choice -- and be very specific about why. In graduate programs, it's at least as much about "fit" with the program as it is about how good you are as a student.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/21
| 1,320
| 5,928
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for my PhD to start this Autumn. There is a conference coming up soon with a theme which is very relevant to my PhD topic and I would like to submit an abstract for it, write the paper and then develop parts of it for my PhD at a later stage. Is it OK to write a paper for the conference and then later use parts of it for my PhD seeing as it is so relevant?
EDIT: For a little more information, this is for a conference on music and the research has not been carried out yet. Additionally, the area that is being researched is one that has very little scholarly coverage. Due to this, the focus will not be so much on looking for a particular kind of result, but *any* result that will arise from literature review/qualitative interview data. Interviews have not been conducted but there is quite a bit of time to do so, I feel. I understand if this were a scientific conference that submitting an abstract would be a little risky, but seeing as this is the humanities, I think there is more room for interpretation.<issue_comment>username_1: I think norms probably vary by field. In my experience, this would be totally fine.
I work in a business school, and the expectation is that various parts of the dissertation will be published both while and after you work on the PhD. Doctoral students also present intermediate results from their dissertation work at conferences to get feedback.
However, do be sure that the conference does not take copyright for the work presented, or you may tie your hands in terms of publication later.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems you are simply getting an early start on a style of thesis in which the contents is just peer-reviewed papers bundled together. If this kind of thesis is accepted at your institution I can't see this being a problem (especially if relevant to your PhD work).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The answer for this depends very much on your field. There's also a little ambiguity in your question - is it merely the *paper* that hasn't been written, or has the research not been completed yet.
In many medical and biomedical fields, the expectation is that conference results are not necessarily from published papers. Indeed, many conferences either insist that the results are not yet published, or will embargo any publications until after the initial presentation. Additionally, the conference and the paper venue may (and often are) decoupled.
*However* many of these conferences also insist that the results are finalized, and forbid "in progress" abstracts or abstracts talking in vague terms about what will be shown, rather than showing the results.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: You can do it, and people (including myself) do this - submit abstracts for still unwritten papers - regularly. There are, however, some pitfalls you should be very aware of.
1) Potential or existing collaborators
If you have collaborators, you generally want to be in agreement that results are in a state suitable for presentation, before you submit to a conference. Your presentation will not only reflect upon yourself, and your collaborators may have reservations about presenting unfinished work.
You say you are a beginning PhD student. If you already have a supervisor, it is very important that he or she agrees that the results should be presented. It could also be the case that the supervisor does not think that the results are important enough to present, in that case: listen.
2) Ethical implication: research is not fully predictable
It is quite dangerous to submit abstracts for results of research which is not carried out yet - still people sometimes do. You are often faced with having to submit an abstract maybe half a year before the conference, and you are full of confidence that the results will work out in that time. Here's the thing: Sometimes they don't. If they always did, it would not be research. I have personally seen good people been caught in this trap: Your results did not work out, but you have a pressing deadline to present these results. You could therefore be inclined to maybe fudge the results a little bit, to make them look nicer. Just always remember that this is scientific misconduct, and can never be excused. Consider if it is better not to put yourself in a situation like that.
3) Swallow your pride
You may think that these results are the most important thing the world is yet to see, or perhaps a close second. Other researchers will disagree. Since you are still pre-PhD, it is very likely that your abstract will not be accepted, because even though we would like to think otherwise, titles and affiliations matter. If your abstract is rejected, and you still have the opportunity to go: go anyway! Giving a presentation is by far not the most important thing for a fresh PhD student to do at a conference: learning, networking and asking questions are. It may also be that you are offered to do a poster presentation instead of a full presentation. If so, take it. Even though such presentations are often seen as "lesser" than talks, you will still get to discuss your research with more experienced people. This can be quite an eye-opener, and also serve as a good learning experience for giving talks later.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: During my PhD, I witnessed that professors, researchers and PhD students submitted to conferences for the reason that you mention in your question.
The only problem that you can have is if someone use your work and summary to develop and organise their study plan and design, since you don't have any experimental data yet.
Secondly, I think since you are from humanities, you don't really need to worry about the risks, because it is pretty common to present historical (review) and future perspective of some filed, on conferences for humanities field.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working on a book with several fellow researchers, and there seems to be a disagreement of how the author names should be listed. The book will be published by a major university press and will be listed on its website as well, so the order of names of the authors has become a touchy subject and disagreements ensued. I will describe everything in third-person to objectively portray the situation.
Z is the lead researcher of the project. Z has done more than 90% of the work and everyone seems to see this. Z is a professor.
A and B are staff researchers and their jobs were mostly editing and proofreading. A and B are professors as well.
U, V, W are graduate student researchers and have done the remaining 9% of the work, which were mostly grunt work that do not have particular intellectual value.
Now here is where the situation becomes sticky. The book made its way to a major press and A and B suddenly want a piece of the action. The problem is, Z's last name is the last in alphabetical order and making A and B authors will push Z's name to the back of the author list. While Z is considering adding A and B as the authors, U, V, W feel that A and B did not add much value to the book and therefore strongly believe that Z's name should appear in the front. Some even think that they themselves did more work than A or B, and A's name and B's name should not be listed as the author just like them.
Is there are way to resolve such issue? Is there a way to distinguish between the lead author and supporting authors, possibly by forcing the lead author's name to appear in the front? Or is there a way to make everyone authors of the book but make only the lead author's name appear in the book cover rendering the other two merely authors in name?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, I agree with @tonysdg that A and B don't sound like they deserve any form of authorship. The same may be true about U, V and W, but I feel less strongly about that. So Z can simply argue his/her case forcefully, and if necessary appeal to the department chair or other outside objective parties. The facts are on Z's side, so I expect he/she will win the argument, though possibly at the risk of alienating his/her colleagues.
Second of all, with regards to your comment that "*The problem is, Z's last name is the last in alphabetical order and making A and B authors will push Z's name to the back of the author list*", I don't see this as a problem at all. There is no rule that the list of author names on a book has to be in alphabetical order. So, it is perfectly acceptable and legitimate to list Z's name first, and indeed sounds like a very good idea (regardless of which other names end up being on the author list) considering that the project is overwhelmingly Z's intellectual offspring.
Third of all, one idea for an author byline that allows including minor authors but would still make clear the large disparity in contributions from the different authors is to use the "with contributions from" pattern, as in:
>
> The Great Book of Science
>
>
> By Z
>
> With contributions from U, V, W, [*optionally:*] A and B
>
>
>
See [here](http://a.co/b6LxKd1) for a real-life example.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It sounds to me like your group is trying to apply a model and understanding of coauthorship that is suitable for academic papers (in some fields) but is really unsuitable when it comes to books.
As an aside, I wonder whether you really mean a **textbook**, which has the connotation of a book used for instruction rather than the dissemination of cutting edge research. It sounds to me like what you have written is rather a **research monograph**. If you were actually writing a textbook, then a significant amount of editing and proofreading would be done by the editorial staff of the publishing company. So I suggest that you clarify the situation in your question. (At the extreme, there are certain books which are essentially book-length articles and such that treating as an academic paper would be more appropriate.) Here is one key question:
>
> Does the book contain **new academic results**, so that by including someone or not as an author the results will be attributed to them or not?
>
>
>
If the answer to that is *yes*, then this could be a major issue, such that not publishing the work as a book may turn out to be easiest and best.
As others have already pointed out, one has to say that it is not a good practice for a book to be written and worked on by several parties without discussing the authorship issue. In this case, you say that the book was submitted to the publishing company and accepted for publication without this issue having been sorted out. I wonder how that is even possible: certainly when you submit a text it includes a list of authors, and the editors will take the information very seriously. What is the list of authors on the version that was accepted by the university press? How did Professor Z convey the authorship situation to the press? (If he really didn't say anything at all, then it is not clear that you should proceed with the publication. If Z comes back and says to his editor "Actually the authorship issue is very complicated," then the editor may well agree.)
Anyway: here are some options:
>
> Have Z be the sole author of the book.
>
>
>
If Z did over 90% of the work and even more of the intellectual work, then in my view this is the option to work towards if possible. The amount of work it takes to publish something is so great that even 10% of it is a lot, so Z should be looking to compensate his coworkers in some way. Of course they should be warmly acknowledged at the front of the book. I think Z should also consider some sort of payment.
It took me a little while to remember this, but the summer after I finished my PhD, my postdoctoral advisor asked me to proofread his book, a research monograph. Or rather, he offered me a certain amount of money to do it (I can't quite remember the amount, as this was 2003; maybe $1000). I accepted, and this was a nice experience for me. I really can't remember how long I spent on it; 20 hours would be a very rough guess. Of course I did not appear as a coauthor!
But one of the main differences between books and articles is that for books, people who are involved are usually directly paid. The A and B who did mostly editing and proofreading seem like good candidates for being paid, and perhaps paid by the publishing company. By the way, for a major university press, the company itself is almost certainly going to do editing and proofreading of its own, which makes it a little stranger that Z got his colleagues to do it.
>
> Have Z be listed first as author, followed by A,B,U,V,W.
>
>
>
Since Z's name comes last alphabetically, having him appear as the first author should signify an extremely unbalanced authorial contribution. Since he is characterized as doing more than 90% of the work, this seems appropriate. The question is whether everyone else did enough to be included at all: did they actually write some of the book or not?
>
> Have Z be the sole author, and add a line "**with** A,B,U,V,W"
>
>
>
This is a bit unusual, but not really irregular. If there is no other way to compensate A,B,U,V,W for their secondary work then maybe this is the best solution.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/22
| 330
| 1,395
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<issue_start>username_0: Besides thanking my thesis advisor, can I acknowledge other professors who have guided me along the way during my master's program or is the acknowledgements section really only for thanking the advisor?<issue_comment>username_1: You might want to peek at a few other examples to make sure there's no institutional norms, but you can often acknowledge whoever you want, and indeed its a good place to acknowledge more personal contributions.
For example, in mine I acknowledge:
* My advisor
* The other members of my committee
* Some colleagues who provided data
* A family member who used to be a member of a profession who I asked a few questions about
* Several fellow students
* My funding sources
* StackOverflow and CrossValidated
* My favorite purveyor of caffeine.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I actually think students have a strong tendency to "overacknowledge" in their theses, papers, presentations etc. After all, a thesis, a paper or a presentation by a student is or should reflect the work of the student, not the work of Peter, Paul and Mary who helped this student.
It's always a matter of personal preferences of course but, aside from those *directly* involved in supporting the results of the thesis or unless you present results as spokesperson for a group, acknowlements are IMO a case where less is more.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/22
| 3,918
| 16,306
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergrad and I tend to learn better when I understand the concepts behind things instead of rote repetition. As a result of this, I often have questions.
There are times when I don't understand concepts, so I'll ask questions. If after a line of questioning, I still don't understand something, I'll just concede and say, **"Oh wow! I totally get it now! Thanks!"**
I do this because I:
* want to avoid wasting class time
* don't want the lecturer to feel like maybe they've done a poor job of explaining when perhaps I'm just not grokking an underlying principle.
* don't want other students to think, "Wow, what's her *deal*? She is *not* getting this, is she?"
However, this prevents me from learning. Because of my second bullet, even when I ask a professor in a one-on-one scenario and am just not understanding, I still do this "I totally get it! K thx bai!"
I feel like if I just say, "I don't get it," and ask the same thing over again, it gets circular and we don't get anywhere and I'm worried I'll frustrate my professor.
Is there a better way to handle this or is this a sign that I need to seek an additional resource for learning (ie. a different textbook, Khan Academy, etc...)? I read my book thoroughly and use alternative resources, but am hoping I can figure out:
* Is "giving up" in order to exit a continuous loop on non-understanding fair
to me? The professor will clearly think I'm fine and that I've moved on from it.
* Is it fair to the professor who may potentially learn from it as well?
For example, other students may be making similar mistakes built on a false premise the professor could easily clear up.
* I've potentially robbed myself of a learning opportunity if there is
a better way to exit the conversation. What better strategies could I use?
Perhaps if I admitted (somehow) that I'm not understanding something, the professor might say, "You know who might explain it differently! Dr. \_\_\_\_" or "a really great resource is \_\_\_."
But I don't know how to get to that point. I don't want to just say, "Yeah, I'm not getting it, so what now?" I feel like that would be so incredibly rude!
**Edit:** I don't repeat a question continuously. I try to attack a problem from various angles, but sometimes I get in these situations where I feel the back and forth isn't working out or by listening to a response I learn a new detail that confuses me more. In this case, I can say, "Wait, so why are you using A to compute B, when earlier we used C to compute B?" But in these cases, sometimes this leads to further backpedaling and confusion.<issue_comment>username_1: My impression is that you see only two ways to react to asking a question and not "getting" the answer: (a) give up, or (b) repeat the exact same question once again (you talk about *"asking the same thing over again"*).
You are right:
>
> I don't want to just say, "Yeah, I'm not getting it, so what now?" I feel like that would be so incredibly rude!
>
>
>
That would indeed be fairly rude (and ineffectual), as it would put the onus on "making you understand" squarely on the shoulders of the teacher, with no sign of you yourself trying to work it out. This seems akin to the stereotype western tourist who just keeps saying the same thing louder and louder if the natives don't understand his language.
I feel a better strategy to work out what somebody you don't "get" is talking about (in pretty much any context) is to ask again, but by **rephrasing what you are asking**. Of course this should go beyond just using slightly different words to ask the exact same thing. Instead, try to:
* be more specific in what you are asking. "I don't understand, explain again" is very vague, but asking how we got from step A to step B in this proof might be more helpful.
* build upon what your teacher was just explaining. "So you say that A is usually equal to B, but I still don't understand how this allows us to infer C."
* explain detailedly what about the current explanation is throwing you off, and ask where you are going wrong. "I understand that under the assumption that A is equal to B, we can infer C - but why would A and B be equal?"
As a last resort, you can always ask if there are other resources that you can study to on your own. In this way, you don't need to "pretend" to have understood, and it still allows the class to move on.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I don't want the lecturer to feel like maybe they've done a poor job of explaining when perhaps I'm just not grokking an underlying principle.
>
>
>
If you're not grokking an underlying principle, the lecturer *has* done a poor job of explaining.\*
;)
More importantly, though:
**Never lie about your level of understanding.**
Ever.
If you don't understand, say so. Even if you just say, "I'm still missing something, but I don't want to hold up the class. I'll have to work this out later."
It's up to the lecturer what to do about that—perhaps they'll keep trying to explain—but you've made it easy for them to say, "Okay," and continue, **without getting a false idea of the clarity of their explanation.**
---
As an aside: This whole situation illustrates the precise problem with teaching a whole group at once. Self-paced, supervised study, given a proper text (or videos/other materials) *and* a study supervisor who knows his/her business, is **much** more effective because the slow students can take the time they need to fully understand, the fast students can whiz through, and the middling students can middle along.
---
\*Don't take this as a blanket statement. Use some judgment. If the lecture is aimed at graduate mathematics students and you never grokked exponents, yes, you are the one at fault. But my first statement is more true than it is false.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: The situation is complicated so there is no simple answer. Over time you and your instructor(s) will have to work out a modus vivendi.
From my point of view as a teacher, I want you to try to continue to ask. I find more students hesitant than persistent - and it's the persistent ones who force me to be clear.
At the beginning of each semester and often again later I tell the class that any question that occurs to you has probably occurred to many of your classmates who are too shy to ask, so you will be doing yourself and them a favor by speaking up.
Students often start questions with "this is a dumb question" or "I have a short question". Often neither is true, so those are not good opening lines.
When a student seems to be in the loop you describe in your question and I sense that I am not quite helping him or her or the whole class I may say that continuing to struggle with it right now on class time isn't useful. I might cut the discussion short with "Please see me after class and we'll work this out" or "Can you come to my office hours?"
So final advice: keep asking while answers are useful, and be prepared to continue the discussion one-on-one if necessary. Hope your instructor cooperates.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Does your professor hold office hours? If you're worried about taking up class time with questions but if you still don't get the material, maybe say "I still don't understand this, but I don't want to take up any more class time, so let's discuss this at your office hours."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: **Your feelings are normal, especially at the beginning of your studies**.
Some background:
The problem is that much, *much* stuff must be taught and while the understanding of fundamental concepts improved, it still is an enormous amount of material to understand. Given that it is much and the time constraints is sent, we have a high velocity of learning, meaning that the stuff rapidly advances.
Therefore your feeling that you do not understand something completely, you are right and your fellow students are none the wiser. During the first time you simply try to not fall back too far, accept that some concepts and conclusions are not fully understood and continue.
This still works because your brain subconsciously and continously works to integrate the concepts. The longer the studies progress, the more you get light bulb moments and recognize that your brain has now a grasp of the concept you formerly not understood.
Now to your problem:
Because time is constrained, you cannot ask the tutor too many times (It also depends on the class size and how many questions other students are asking). I recommend at maximum two questions for one concept: The first one for something which you find most difficult to understand and the second, if necessary, to clear up a specific part of the question. If time allows it, asks for several concepts.
If you do not understand, make a note and continue with the tips I give later. *Do not lie about your understanding*, simply stop and say "Thanks".
Once the lesson is over, you have several possibilities:
* Books and lectures. I must admit I preferred them instead of lessons
because you have time to read and reread sections and if you compare
some of them, you get a view from different angles. This is also the
first thing to prepare your other possibilities; try to learn as much
as possible and write down the questions you want to ask.
* Many students are learning in groups and smart peers are often very willing to explain concepts other students have trouble to understand. You must come away from the fear that other students understand something which you don't. Especially unsettling is often the experience that other students have heard the same lesson and interpreted it in a cohesive way which is different from your own understanding.
* Many professors and tutors offer private hours to clear up questions. Use them after preparing yourselves. Even if they do not have the time to clear it up completely, they can point you in the right direction.
* Some subjects have exercise courses. Use them to train your understanding and ask for some difficulties you experienced with solving them.
You must be also aware that you need to get rid as fast as possible of the "school attitude". Nobody cares much for social standings which were important in school, many lessons given by teachers are oversimplified, misunderstood or just plain wrong and it teached bad habits. The two most egregious habits are parrotting the teachers view (to get good grades; a really original work can result in everything, from very good to very bad, so pupils are smart enough to minimize the risk factor) and hiding yourself to avoid being judged by teacher or peers (Please-please-do-not-select-me).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I suggest you to discuss this with a group of other students without any lecturer in sight.
Just bring up your questions like "Oh, this topic comes so hard to me... I feel like I'm always the least witty needing to ask such an amount of questions." or just say straight up after the lecture "Damn, I can't wrap my had that [..], I just backed out of the question to stop spending everyones time..."
You can target some fellow student (but speak loud enough so others hear) or just proclaim it.
I believe you will find some backing into other students confirming that they didn't understand it as well and some will probably confirm that your question was helpful to you. And someone else might even help you and explain that stuff from another angle.
Usually the students asking questions are the ones who follow and think along. I approximate that there are at least a third of all students that didn't understand the thing as well. Some students that fell partially asleep or just didn't follow might even get drawn back into the lecture thanks to your question.
If you get the confirmation that other students find your questions helpful - it will be all the confirmation you need, right? From there on you should feel free to ask anything because you will know that you are representing a lot of your peers. You might become something like the designed asker :)
Or, you might get confirmation that you were the only one who didn't understand a thing and will know that you need to put in more individual work. Either ways, try to confirm with other students - are your questions helpful or disturbing and you will know what to do from that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: If you get to the point where it's not productive, you can say, "Thanks," as has been suggested. If the instructor asks you if you've gotten it, you can say something like, "No, but I maybe it just needs time to sink in."
If it's a small class and there is time to spare, try to get another student to rephrase your question or rephrase the explanation.
If you go to office hours, or speak with the instructor right after class, then take the time to explain carefully what's bothering you. Go through the issue step by step, starting with what you *have* understood, right through to the part you don't understand, or the part that has an apparent contradiction, or that doesn't make sense. Do not hesitate to ask for the marker or the chalk.
I think the most important thing, if you're unsure in judging whether you're over-participating in class, is to find at least one buddy in class, whose opinion you trust. You can ask for feedback outside class, and you can also ask this person to give you a signal when it's about to get uncomfortable.
The best way to set something like this up is to form a study group and get to know one or more of your classmates better.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: The professor is the moderator of the course. Depending on individual lecturing styles, some of them may be quite happy to answer the questions. Keep in mind that if you don't fully understand something after paying attention, probably most of the class doesn't too, but doesn't ask because of shyness/lazyness.
If the questions diverge (i.e. become too advanced or irrelevant for the topic presented), I believe is the job of the lecturer to moderate this (e.g. saying that this is too advanced/will be discussed in a following lecture).
Never be afraid of your weaknesses. If you don't understand a concept due to missing underlying knowledge, you should try as best as possible to figure out what is missing and fix it as soon as possible. You should be supported by the teaching staff at your university, and, from my experience, they are usually happy to help if asked politely. What I would do in situations like this is to go to office hours or figure out a time when the professor is free (i.e. has no pressing matters that would make him loose patience). Also, something which helped me a lot is reiterating what I understood after I get the answer, to make sure I got it right.
Last but not least, ask for pointers to resources. Some things simply cannot be explained easily in a way someone would get an intuitive grasp of the matter. They simply require (more) practice/deeper thought. Don't be afraid to ask for pointers to different resources.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: >
> Is lying in order to exit a continuous loop on non-understanding fair to me? The professor will clearly think I'm fine and that I've moved on from it.
>
>
>
Lying is always wrong. Never, ever lie about anything. If you do not want to speak the truth, then say nothing; but do not lie. This is a hard and lifelong process, not just a decision, but working on this will help your development as a person.
>
> Is it fair to the professor who may potentially learn from it as well? For example, other students may be making similar mistakes built on a false premise the professor could easily clear up.
>
>
>
Depends on whether the professor is open to the thought that he did something wrong. But if he is self-critical enough, then sure, you robbed him of an opportunity.
>
> I've potentially robbed myself of a learning opportunity if there is a better way to exit the conversation. What better strategies could I use?
>
>
>
"Let's stop here. I still do not quite understand it. I will have to work on it at home and see if I can make sense of it. Thanks so much for trying to help me out with it, though!"
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/22
| 2,318
| 9,589
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<issue_start>username_0: The other day a former classmate asked to read my thesis and I don't know why but I got a little concerned about it and just told him honestly that, "I may do future work based on my thesis submission so I don't feel comfortable sharing it with you at the moment."
Am I right to feel this way? Is it common to keep your thesis between you and your advisor - and potential researchers who may want to work with you? Or should I really "put my thesis out there" and share it with others who want to read it and that the more people who read my thesis the better?
I somehow viewed him as a competitor, when he asked me that, but he's a close friend. He doesn't have any thesis / supervised research experience and said he wanted to see what I did. And now he wants to do research also and try and join a research group, etc.<issue_comment>username_1: Of course you should share your thesis: the purpose of doing research is to increase and spread knowledge, not to keep it secret.
>
> Is it common to keep your thesis between you and your advisor - and potential researchers who may want to work with you?
>
>
>
No, it's not, and I suggest you to ask your advisor what he thinks of such an idea.
>
> And now he wants to do research also and try and join a research group, etc.
>
>
>
Well, this is a good thing, isn't it?
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You should share your thesis. By your logic you should not publish either, since sharing your results through publications may reveal plans for future or current work.
Presumably you currently have expertise that others don't have, so you are ahead of any competition. It is hard to get results noticed, and sharing your thesis will increase the exposure of your results and future work. Moreover, sharing your thesis with fellow students will likely lead to clearer thinking on your part as students usually ask questions of a more detailed nature than experts.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: By all means put your thesis out there. The whole point of academia is to advance knowledge within your field [and outside it] and that's not going to happen by people keeping their hard work under lock and key. Just a few days ago someone emailed their thesis to everyone in a mailing list I am part of, and very well received it was, too.
I know the temptation is to keep things to ourselves sometimes for fear of plagiarism or retention of originality, but this is not what academia is about. If you share your work you will affect and influence others by it, and you will get much further than if you didn't. The only time you should not share your work with all and sundry is if you are bound under a publishing agreement.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Attack is the best defense
==========================
It looks like you are afraid that he will somehow make your thesis his own, maybe defend or publish it before you do, and then it looks like you plagiarized *his* work.
If that is your fear, then I can somewhat understand your concern. I assume that, so far, nobody but you and your advisor have seen your work, so it would in theory be possible for that scenario to occur, although your advisor should hopefully remember that you came up with it first...
One way to get out of that conundrum is to make your work as public as you can. Put it on some personal website, or your personal (public) university page if you have one. Send it to a mailing list, if you have one that is fitting for the purpose, say a interest group at your uni or wherever (which has the benefit of having integral timestamps in their archives). Post it to the website of some interest group that is closely related. This will make pretty sure that people know that you were "first".
After that, just send your friend a link, and enjoy discussions about the topic. He will be welcome to do research alongside your topics, if they interest him, and it is pretty certain that a) he will not get any bad ideas since your work is publicly related to you already, even if you have not yet defended or published it through traditional means; and b) if he *does* turn bad, then it will be easy for you to come up with proof that you were first.
"I may do future work based on my thesis submission"
====================================================
That's great, and if your friend does end up doing similar work it should not really be a problem, right? If you have the feeling that there is a "gold nugget" there, some secret line of work which is easy for you to do while still getting full credit later on, then that is a fallacy. If the topic is so shallow that one more person working on it would "spoil" it, then that is not a good base to build your future on. Besides, it might just turn out that your nugget does not work out, and what then?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: To answer your specific question "Am I Right to feel this way?", in this particular situation, my answer is that you have proper reasons to be concerned with sharing an unfinished thesis with a friend/colleague. Some of the possible negative repercussions which may follow sharing your thesis:
1. It is very possible that your friend is able to file a patent based upon your work, and first to file (rather than first to invent) is now the rule in regards to patents.
2. Your friend may be able to accomplish your similar results following your methodology, and if they are faster at publishing than you, can publish your results before you finish your thesis.
3. Since your thesis is not completed, it is still a 'work in progress'. You may have many errors in your methods/data analysis which would be caught by editing before publishing, but if you share your thesis with someone before it's done, it may still have some of these mistakes. One mistake (for example, lack of a single citation) can cause many problems which would not exist after the editing process.
4. Your friend may be able to anticipate your future research work and preempt your efforts.
Another way to look at this is: "Would a cake still taste the same if eaten halfway through the baking process?"
Scientific progress should be shared far and wide, however, there is a formal process for this: academic publishing. By sharing a work-in-progress with your friend/colleague/associate can introduce many unanticipated problems which would not normally exist if the normal process is followed of: perform research, write article/thesis, then publish. In this situation I would inform my friend that I am working on an official publication which will then be publicly available to all who would like to learn about your particular subject matter.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> The other day a former classmate asked to read my thesis and I don't
> know why but I got a little concerned about it and just told him
> honestly that, "I may do future work based on my thesis submission so
> I don't feel comfortable sharing it with you at the moment."
>
>
>
A more appropriate response would probably have been to ask "Why?" if you were especially concerned. I've had people ask to read my thesis just because they wanted to see how I had approached a particular formatting requirement to see if they liked it.
>
> Am I right to feel this way?
>
>
>
Honestly, no. The point of research is to spread knowledge, and "I might someday maybe want to have another go at this" isn't justification to refuse to share something, especially with someone you refer to as a friend. It's also an unhealthy approach to take further in your career - there is always some edge risk to your ideas being stolen, but in trying to protect yourself against those risks, you're likely doing more substantial damage to your career.
>
> Is it common to keep your thesis between you and your advisor - and
> potential researchers who may want to work with you?
>
>
>
No, it isn't.
>
> Or should I really "put my thesis out there" and share it with others
> who want to read it and that the more people who read my thesis the
> better?
>
>
>
Yes, the more people who read your thesis the better.
>
> I somehow viewed him as a competitor, when he asked me that, but he's
> a close friend. He doesn't have any thesis / supervised research
> experience and said he wanted to see what I did. And now he wants to
> do research also and try and join a research group, etc.
>
>
>
That strikes me as a perfectly reasonable request, to see what the seminal product of this thing he's interested in looks like, and to gain a better idea of what you do, and if he might be interested in it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: While several other answers are great, my - perhaps naive-sounding - advice would be: Share your concern with the person asking to read your thesis. That is, tell him/her you want to be able to benefit, in terms of publication credit, from future research work based on your thesis (or from the work that has gone into the thesis itself), and are worried people who read the thesis will "beat you to the publication". It's quite possible that - regardless of whether your concern is valid or not - that the other student might be able to assuage that concern of yours.
(Of course, it's also possible someone would talk you up, read the work, publish the subsequent low-hanging-fruit result and thus screw you; but if you're really worried that's the case - perhaps [@username_4's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/83644/7319) is the most relevant.)
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/01/22
| 1,875
| 7,562
|
<issue_start>username_0: My PhD advisor and I simply do not get along. I think it has a lot to do with the language and cultural barriers (we are in Germany). We had an argument this week that almost led to me quitting, but on Friday we discussed how things could be improved. However I still can't shake the notion away that he doesn't seem to like me very much and that things won't get any better.
Here is my situation: I got a fully funded, 100% research position throug the Deutscheforschung Gemeinschaft in what is loosely translated in English as a "graduate school" (Graduiertenkolleg). We were told that we could concentrate on our own research (no teaching requirements), but our funding only lasts 3 years, so we have to finish by then. When I took the job, I thought I would be working more closely with the other fellows hired by the graduate school, even though we are based in the research teams of our PIs. In my case, my PI has 3 other PhDs with teaching obligations, i.e., not under my funding scheme.
I had thought I won't have any other obligations other than my own work. But little did I know that my PI has been harbouring a grudge against me this whole time. Here's a list of things he mentioned:
* He told me that I always seem so depressed, so I should think about whether I really want to pursue this path. I have been diagnosed with depression, so this is unlikely to go away overnight. He never once asked me what was wrong.
* He says I "don't seem interested" in the research going on in his team because "I don't ask any questions".
* He also told me that I hadn't followed through on my promises to help out with the team. I had once offered to set up a social media strategy, and he just said "sounds good" and moved on to the next point, so I didn't think he was interested.
* He says I never engage in team discussions or offer helpful suggestions to my other PhDs. This is categorically not true, since I always tell my colleagues whether I see something (journal articles, workshops) that could be interesting for them.
* He says I didn't offer to supervise any bachelor's or master's theses.
* He is always critical about the way I present information. For example, I have sent him presentation slides and he says it has too much unnecessary information. Then I send him presentations that he says lacks crucial information. I never know which information he needs, and I get shut down either way.
* He says I favor the events of the graduate school over his team, since I have had to miss some meetings to attend required coursework.
* I explained to him that I had thought my obligations are to the graduate school, that I have to finish on time.
* When I explained to him what I had thought I was hired for (no teaching obligations etc) he told me that he doesn't believe me, that I should have known that I was part of his team primarily and that the graduate school was just a funding scheme.
I felt like he couldn't see my contributions simply because I wasn't behaving in the way he was expecting and doesn't seem to understand that I don't have it all figured out. Later on, when things calmed down a little, he explained to me that in Germany, most positions in my field are only supported up to 65% (if you're lucky), so I should think of my work as a fully paid position for work that can be done in a 65% position. But how was I supposed to know that?
It's worth noting that he is very accommodating to the circumstances of other PhDs in his team (e.g., one home office day a week for those with children). But for some reason he doesn't seem to care all that much that I have depression or that there are some things about German academia that I don't know about. I still want to continue with my PhD, but how do I motivate myself from here on?<issue_comment>username_1: The said situation comes often in many cases. Though frequency is very less, but it really helps to make one strong to work in adverse situation. Since you want to continue your PhD and keen to get a doctorate degree, so my suggestion is to tell yourself that your supervisor's expectation is natural of being you productive more and more. Don't care much about your supervisor's negligence or disinterest in your work. Because such thoughts will never help you to achieve your goals, but definitely impact on your inner piece and creativeness to perform well in PhD.
So, long story short, it is temporary and may persist maximum until your PhD. Good Luck!!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: What a shame that your professor hasn't been giving you constructive feedback as you've been going. I think I would end up depressed, working with someone who waits, and then dumps a lot of negativity in a complaining and blaming way.
So... I see two choices.
1) Find a different advisor. OR:
2) Try to make the best of a less than ideal situation:
a) Take all of his feedback and rewrite it, with positive phrasing. Read the constructive version a couple of times a week, telling yourself, "This is what he *meant*, only he was held back from expressing himself this way by his own cultural upbringing, personal shortcomings, etc. This is like the Fats Waller song, ["I'm gonna sit right down, and write myself a letter."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcu_MesKPGU) ([lyrics](https://play.google.com/music/preview/Teue2nmzbittb474ll22435pmoa?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics)).
b) Pick a couple of his feedback items at a time to tackle, to see if you can make some progress with.
c) Guide him to give you guidance in a more positive, constructive way. Here are some ways to do that:
(i) Next time you share a powerpoint draft with him, include the extra material, and in the body of the email, when you send it to him, say, for example, "I know that this draft needs to be pruned down. Can you help me cut it down, by suggesting which slides should be removed, and which ones should be edited?"
(ii) Ask for an appointment specifically to speak about coping mechanisms for your condition. Take an outline on an index card with you. Use I-messages. (You and I know that he has contributed plenty to the difficulties in your relationship, but it won't help matters to let him know that.) For example, "I need constructive criticism, as part of my training. But I get easily discouraged and overwhelmed by negative criticism. So, when I share a draft with you, could you please find something positive to say for every three negative things you say? That will help me keep my perspective."
(iii) Make sure to give him positive feedback whenever he makes a step in the right direction, for example, "Thank you so much for helping me edit my powerpoint. Your comments were extremely helpful."
d) As others have suggested, work on breaking your isolation. (I understand completely your explanation of how it came to be.)
Last comment. You might be right, he might not like you very much. But what struck me more clearly was that you don't like him very much. Sometimes when a person struggles with depression, it is hard to give oneself permission to have strong opinions of this type.
*Here's hoping that if you decide to stay in this group, the two of you find more to like about each other!*
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In this Situation. I would go ahead and find a different advisor. He does not seem to be that very helpful. If you cant do this, then your best bet would just try to make the best of the situation and persevere.
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/01/22
| 319
| 1,428
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<issue_start>username_0: I received an acceptance letter to a Master's Program. The official enrollment will be in one month. Until then I am not officially in the program yet.
I am about to finish a paper and I want to submit it to a conference. Would it be unethical to claim affiliation in my paper in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Affiliation should indicate the institution with which you were affiliated while doing the work and writing the paper. If the paper was already finished before you started at an institution, then don't list it; use your previous affiliation instead (or "none" if you weren't affiliated with any institution).
If you end up making significant revisions to the paper after enrolling at the new institution, then you could consider listing both it and your previous institution.
If it matters, I wouldn't necessarily use the "official enrollment" date to decide when affiliation starts, but rather the date when you actually started attending classes, using the institution's facilities, etc.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Just my two cents (I really need a new opening line)
This would be completely unethical.
Think of it this way. If you only had all the credits to earn a degree, and had gone through the graduation process but had not yet been officially awarded said degree, would you go ahead and list said degree as an earned degree?
Upvotes: -1
|
2017/01/23
| 1,866
| 7,286
|
<issue_start>username_0: A few months ago I started collecting papers that contain figures I think convey information in a very efficient manner (i.e., figures that I think are very well illustrated and that should serve as examples of how they should be designed).
Now, because I am a huge data-vis geek, I have been thinking about opening a page on my website in which I talk about how I think figures should be designed and which principles I expect students/coauthors/general public to follow when illustrating data. Consequently, I am inclined towards including some of those amazing figures I have been collecting and talking about them (i.e., why they are efficient and well designed). More controversially, perhaps, is the fact that I also plan to include some figures that I believe were terribly designed and explain in which ways they fail (some of those badly designed figures are actually mine).
While I will seek the adequate rights to post them on my blog (e.g., through RightsLink for Elsevier journals), I would like to hear about the morality of this practice, particularly due to the fact that I will negatively criticize other authors' work.
Is there any moral (or even legal) problem in criticizing other people's figures on my website? Should I expect any sort of retaliation if I decide to do that? I understand that this is largely dependent on the tone I employ, but I will make every effort to be as technical and objective as possible.<issue_comment>username_1: Not a good idea. You may mean well but you may offend others, irrespective of the tone or how constructive your criticism is meant to be. People from different cultures react in different ways to criticism, and there is little to no upside in even annoying one person. In addition, if the figures are copyrighted you might get some flak.
It is infinitely better to highlight outstanding examples.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I am not even going to address morality, as that can be a minefield.
Legality can hinge upon where you live. In the USA free speech/free expression would allow for criticism of others works, but be aware that this is a double edged sword.
I would be careful about how you go about picking apart visualized data by others. Be very sure to only go about analyzing the structure/what has been shown, and not to slander the person who created the data visualization.
The thing is, everyone will offend someone somewhere, somehow, sometime. The important thing is that we try to keep the amount of offenses to a minimum. The best way to do this in my opinion, would be that make sure to state that your preferences are just that, preferences.
When we start calling our opinions facts, we start running into problems. I have first hand experience in this, being one with Asperger's Syndrome. I have delusions of "my opinion is the only opinion" thing... and it does not go over well. (and is something I am constantly working on)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As I would in any situation with moral ambiguity, I'd apply the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
If you would not want others to do it you, then do not do it to others yourself.
On top of which, the fact that you're having moral qualms about it already highlights that it might be something you should avoid.
All this being said, I'm all for "teachable moments."
I would use a blanket "[views expressed](https://www.google.com.tw/search?newwindow=1&client=firefox-b-ab&biw=1440&bih=791&tbm=isch&q=disclaimer%20examples%20the%20views%20expressed&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh6LyY7tfRAhWMvrwKHWHvBGoQhyYIIg)" disclaimer and keep it as professional as possible about the figures themselves, only.
>
> Before we begin—a little disclaimer… Any statements made, views
> expressed, or opinions given represent my personal views and opinions
> alone. None of these statements, views, or opinions given by me
> (nor any of the information appearing on these slides) are endorsed
> by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the University of
> Alaska, UAA, nor any other colleges or organizations affiliated with
> these institutions.
>
>
> [*The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing: Why Alaska Needs its Own Law School*](http://image.slidesharecdn.com/aklawschoolpresentation-140107155056-phpapp01/95/the-hidden-costs-of-outsourcing-why-alaska-needs-its-own-law-school-2-638.jpg?cb=1389110255), trwatts.
>
>
>
What do you think?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I can't even imagine a situation in which criticizing published academic materials on their merits would be wrong or immoral.
How would it be different from criticizing someone's selection of an econometric or statistical model to use on their data? This happens constantly in academic literature, and in fact is *crucial* to the process of research. The way data is conveyed to others through graphs is no less important than model selection, and both can be used to deceive or obscure.
So as long as you cover two bases:
1. Avoid ad hominem attacks, as you should in all sorts of reviewing, and
2. Follow any copyright rules the publishers impose,
Not only is there nothing wrong with doing it, I would argue that as an academic and data viz expert, you *should* do it. As for someone taking offense at your criticism? Well, as long as you're professionally criticizing its merits and avoiding problem number 1 from above then it's you who are in the right, and the one taking offense who is in the wrong.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: Yous should really ask yourself what do you gain here by using authentic data. I firmly believe you have every right to cite someones work and criticize what's wrong in it. But in context of a blog, what do you really gain from it?
You could just make models based on real life examples. And, if you want to keep the authenticity, every article can end up with:
>
> Example in this article was inspired by real data in `insert doi here`
>
>
>
But in that case make sure you actually model your own example, copying and editing the data would certainly NOT be OK. At the same time, make sure the problem you illustrate is still the same as in the original.
Yeah, it really boils to gain vs possible loss. Even if you just get some pissed email, you'll have to ask if it was worth it for a blog article.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: On such a website showing figures and analyzing in how far they are suitable for conveying information, one should stick to the rules of scientific publication.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Not criticize a persons work, but the work itself.
2. Formulate the criticism in a neutral way.
In a research paper you wouldn't say "the authors of ... [ref] were unable to produce sufficiently accurate results", but rather "Those results[ref] are accurate within the range of ....".
I would say the same holds true for showing the pictures. When creating this site always think about if it would go through a peer review process of a scientific journal.
Having a list of "bad pictures" would definitely not pass, but providing a model for some criterion and showing two examples, where one meets the criterion and the other does not, is perfectly fine and probably even useful.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/23
| 693
| 3,143
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<issue_start>username_0: Can someone explain me the significance of Virtual issues, the difference between Virtual and Special issues? Also, under what conditions does a journal propose for a Virtual issue, does it have any impact on the Impact factor of the journal?<issue_comment>username_1: I suspect you might have this closed for being too broad, as each journal will have it's own specific meanings for these things. But, in my experience:
*Virtual Issue*: An issue of the journal that is, well, virtual. Meaning it's not going to be in the print edition. As username_2 notes, this is often a collection of papers from other issues, and essentially a curated collection surrounding a topic, rather than new, standalone papers. See: <http://www.journalofecology.org/view/0/virtualIssues.html>
*Special Issue*: A special issue is also just that...special in some way. Usually it's organized around a particular theme, may or may not be printed, but is out of step with the regular focus of the journal. Note there are some journals where every issue is a "Special Issue on...". But for many, it's a rare, focused piece that took either targeted submissions or invited papers to cover a specific topic. I'd suggest, in contrast to virtual issues, that special issues are rarely collections of previously published articles.
>
> Also, under what conditions does a journal propose for a Virtual
> issue, does it have any impact on the Impact factor of the journal?
>
>
>
Because someone at the editorial board wanted to do one? As for whether or not it has an impact on the IF of the journal, it will depend on the issue in question. A special issue made up of cutting edge expert reviews, or guidelines from a society, may have an extremely high citation rate, which would help the journal's IF.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Virtual issues, which are also referred to as "collections" or by other names, are a set of papers that were already published in various issues of a journal and are centered around a single topic. This is usually done to highlight a certain topic or simply to help readers find papers on a topic. This is done on the editorial/website level and that is why it is "virtual" - usually no special content is created for this.
Special issues are issues in which the journal decides in advance about a certain topic, and invites submissions of papers on this topic. Often there is also an invited guest editor for the issue, who is an expert in the field. The final result could actually look similar to a virtual issue (a collection of papers on a single topic), but in a special issue these would be new papers submitted specifically for this issue. Sometimes there will also be some overview piece written by the editor.
Special issues might indeed affect the impact factor of the journal. For example, the journal Bioinformatics sometimes has a special issue in which the papers published are papers that were accepted to ISMB, a major bioinformatics conference. These papers probably get cited on average more than other papers in the journal, so it would increase the impact factor.
Upvotes: 4
|
2017/01/23
| 521
| 2,271
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<issue_start>username_0: I applied for a fellowship with the help from a potential PhD supervisor back in October. I had to write a research proposal and personal statement. The professor helped me edit it, and build the research proposal. I have been notified I have passed to the next round of the fellowship selection, but won't know the final result until march.
Meanwhile, I have applied to other PhD programs. I have been offered a place at one rotation phd program, which is fully funded. I really like the program and would prefer to go there. This program is also asking me to send them my decision by the end of this week.
How can I go about telling the first professor I have decided to play it safe with a fully funded offer rather than wait for a fellowship I don't know I will win? I feel really bad because they put the effort into helping me write the research proposal and personal statement. I also don't want to be burning bridges and hindering my academic career.
Most questions on this site mention being honest and overall fast with my response. I wanted to ask my question, though, since I went through the process of applying for the fellowship with the professor, and I feel that makes the rejection a bit more delicate.
Thanks in advance for any advice.<issue_comment>username_1: You've pretty well answered your own question. Be honest, and be swift so they don't waste time. Simply tell them you received a fully-funded offer that needs an answer now, and can't afford to wait until March so you've accepted it. Thank them for their time.
They'll understand, and be much more accepting of it now than they would be if you waited and let them put time and effort into considering your fellowship application. Keep it simple and polite, then move on.
Also, congrats!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The golden rule is: don't keep in play options you know you will refuse. Not only are you wasting everybody's time but you are also potentially creating timing issues for student who could be waitlisted.
Everybody ought to understand that applying to a program provides a student with the eventual option but never the obligation of entering that program. You don't want to work with those who do not understand this.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/23
| 1,507
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<issue_start>username_0: In some of my papers, some of the results require tedious but straightforward algebraic manipulations. I am not sure what is the best way to present these manipulations:
* I can write them at the paper body, then they might disturb the continuous reading of the text and distract the reader from the main results.
* I can put them in an appendix, but then they will appear out-of-context and will be difficult to verify by the few readers who will want to.
One solution I thought of is to present them in their place in the paper body, but surround them in a gray box and in a smaller font. Then, most readers will be able to skip them easily, but the few interested readers will be able to read and verify them in context. Is this a good practice?<issue_comment>username_1: For this sort of thing, I always fall back on the advice of one of my professors from my PhD coursework. He said you first write out all the algebra in the paper, then you move it to the appendix because it's too long, then you delete it from the appendix because *that's* too long, and stick it on your website. Finally, you delete it from the website because no one looks at it.
**Of course this depends entirely on how crucial the computation is to your paper, and it might be good to look at what's done in other papers in your specific field. But generally speaking, I think you can frequently trust your reader's ability to do tedious algebra if they so desire.**
One bit of middle ground that I see a lot is to describe what you do without showing it. For example, if you present three equations and two of them are to be substituted into the first at some point, you can write something like *"We first solve equation 1 for lambda, then substitute in equations 2 and 3 for alpha and beta. This gives us equation 4..."* That way in one simple sentence you've told the reader exactly how to get to the end result without showing anything more messy than your starting equations and ending equation.
May be unrelated to your field, but in economics I was always fond of Alfred Marshall's advice from 1906:
>
> (1) Use mathematics as a shorthand language, rather than an engine of inquiry. (2) Keep to them till you have done. (3) Translate into English. (4) Then illustrate by examples that are important in real life. (5) Burn the mathematics. (6) If you can't succeed in (4), burn (3). This last I did often.
>
>
>
Not really indicative of modern economics, but I like the principle regardless.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel that the key is to think carefully about your intended audience: what they want, what they need and what skills they have.
First, your field matters. In some academic fields, mathematical derivations are not necessary in papers; in others, they are not expected; in others still, they are not common but bring some cachet when they are present, and in yet others they are really not wanted and will be viewed negatively. So first figure out how essential a mathematically complete argument is to your paper.
From your profile and site presence, I gather you are working in a branch of CS that is rather mathematical: fair division. If your goal is to prove theorems, then mathematical completeness is obviously quite important. If your goal is to present a new algorithm, then a proof of correctness of the algorithm and/or a rigorous run-time analysis will be very important to some audiences, but others will be more interested in its practical applicability. So I think you should ask yourself **How important is it to my readers to be able to understand and verify the mathematical soundness of my work?** If it is not that important, then by including a lot of tedious algebra you are putting things in the paper that they will not value that much. I wouldn't recommend doing that.
The next question to ask is **To what extent will my readers be able and willing to supply tedious but straightforward algebraic calculations if I omit them?** I hope you know that most math papers do not spell out every single detail. On the contrary, when mathematicians are writing for an audience of peers in their subfield, they often omit *lots of routine things* because they expect that their peers know or can easily figure out the omitted things (and sometimes for less good reasons, honestly, but this is a good reason). It is not rare at all to encounter in a math paper "A routine calculation shows X." (And nowadays, when a calculation is of the sort that a standard software package can do, it is rather common to mention the software package and omit the calculation entirely.) If I had to rule on mathematics as a whole, I would say that our culture is probably a bit *too willing* to say and do things like this: it is super easy to say "see math.uga.edu/~pete/Gory\_Details.pdf if you want the gory details," and this is done sometimes but arguably not often enough. (And indeed, though that's my homepage, there is no such pdf file!) And perhaps the calculation is omitted more because of the length and difficulty of typing it up than because it's so straightforward...unfortunately.
Anyway, I hope these are useful questions, but the answers are not easy. In the end you have to exercise your best judgment as to what will make your paper most readable and most valuable to the audience. Try something sensible and see what happens. For instance, if you think the paper is being cluttered up by too many, too-routine calculations, why not try omitting them from the paper but actually making a Gory\_Details file that contains them? The referees and editors may suggest that you do something else -- an appendix, a journal-hosted supplementary file, etc. -- but they will see that you are working hard to do the right thing.
>
> One solution I thought of is to present them in their place in the paper body, but surround them in a gray box and in a smaller font. Then, most readers will be able to skip them easily, but the few interested readers will be able to read and verify them in context. Is this a good practice?
>
>
>
Unless this is commonly done in your field, I don't think so. To me it mostly telegraphs your uncertainty and/or lack of confidence in the value of the calculations. As long as your paper is well written, readers don't need a gray box to be able to skip your calculations, and a small font literally makes it harder to read them (please remember that many people, especially older people, have trouble reading small print), which could be annoying.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/23
| 646
| 2,601
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<issue_start>username_0: In a couple of weeks, I have to present my master thesis to both my professors (supervisors) and family and friends. After the title page, I immediately present the main novelty of my thesis (instead of first presenting a lot of "blablabla" about the literature and stuff).
What would be a suitable tense to do this?
For instance:
>
> I *found/ have found/find* that [description of findings]
>
>
>
or
>
> This thesis *shows/has shown/showed* that [description of findings]
>
>
>
I think you'll get the point. It is basically whether to use the present simple/ present perfect or past simple.
EDIT: My thesis is about the effects of unconventional monetary policy announcements by the Fed on European government bond markets. So w.r.t. to the comment of C26 below, it is something happened in the past. However, I also examined through which channels these announcements influence government bond markets in the eurozone. So this is more like a process; something that is most likely also true in the future (i.e. when these announcements will occur again).<issue_comment>username_1: I think it really depends on *what* the research shows. If the research demonstrates a process that is ongoing, or straddles multiple timelines/periods, you can go with "the research shows that". However, if it is related to something that happened squarely in the past, you can use the past only.
I personally tend not to use the first person when discussing results of undertaken research, though I have seen it done in all the ways you describe. Really it comes down to what feels most natural and right to you as the author.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I recently completed and defended my MA thesis in psychology within the last couple months. I believe that mine was primarily in the "has shown/have found" tense (I apologize, it has been years since I have had to remember tense names.). The only exception was in my method section, where I wrote it all in the past tense ("We ran participants..."). I, personally, avoided the first person where possible as it just felt wrong to me, but I think that it is probably a personal choice, if you are the sole author.
I do not know if that helped. Good luck!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I would avoid the first person.
At the start of the thesis, use "This thesis shows that ..."
At the end of the thesis, in a summary, use "This thesis has shown that ...".
I do not think that the tense you use to describe the thesis depends on the time at which events described in the thesis occurred.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/23
| 1,708
| 6,181
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<issue_start>username_0: >
> "*You became a professor at Cornell without ever having received a
> Ph.D. You seem almost proud of that fact.*
>
>
> Oh, yes. I’m very proud of not having a Ph.D. I think the Ph.D. system
> is an abomination. It was invented as a system for educating German
> professors in the 19th century, and it works well under those
> conditions. It’s good for a very small number of people who are going
> to spend their lives being professors. But it has become now a kind of
> union card that you have to have in order to have a job, whether it’s
> being a professor or other things, and it’s quite inappropriate for
> that. It forces people to waste years and years of their lives sort of
> pretending to do research for which they’re not at all well-suited. In
> the end, they have this piece of paper which says they’re qualified,
> but it really doesn’t mean anything. **The Ph.D. takes far too long
> and discourages women from becoming scientists, which I consider a
> great tragedy.** So I have opposed it all my life without any success
> at all.
>
>
> *How is it that you were able to escape that requirement?*
>
>
> I was lucky because I got educated in World War II and everything was
> screwed up so that I could get through without a Ph.D. and finish up
> as a professor. Now that’s quite impossible. So, I’m very proud that I
> don’t have a Ph.D. and I raised six children and none of them has a
> Ph.D., so that’s my contribution."
>
>
>
(From [1])
Which are the Academic alternatives to a Ph.D.? (Actively participate in seminars, write papers,) being supervised without earning a degree? How you become deeply involved in the community of your research interests without a Ph.D.? How you become known in your field? How do you write to a professor for supervision without earning a degree?
[1]: [A 'rebel' without a Ph.D. A conversation with the mathematical physicist <NAME> on quantum electrodynamics, climate change, and his latest pet project.](https://www.quantamagazine.org/20140326-a-rebel-without-a-ph-d/)<issue_comment>username_1: For my answer, I will assume that you have decided not to get a PhD, despite your desire to engage in research, and will address your questions based on that assumption. **This answer is not intended as support for such a choice.**
>
> How do you become known in your field?
>
>
>
Publish. Apply for grants (with a co-author if need be). Collaborate. Attend department seminars regularly. Go to conferences, participate in discussions and give presentations.
>
> How do you write to a professor for supervision without earning a degree?
>
>
>
The same as in the other situation (in which you are seeking a degree). There are questions here about that, so I won't duplicate that guidance. Here's one of many questions about that: [How to approach a professor for research?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/70889/32436). From there you can explore some more by looking at the similar links in the sidebar.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: <NAME> had two advantages on his side: (i) He was brilliant. (ii) He was educated at a time when, as he put it, everything was "screwed up".
(ii) is no longer the case for any of us, or at least not in any of the countries where I take it that you want to be a professor. (i) may be true for you, but statistically speaking is not true for all but a very very small number of people; consequently, (i) also does not provide a route to becoming a professor, and certainly is not something anyone should bank upon.
In other words: Forget about becoming a professor without a PhD. While it may not be *completely* impossible, it is so unlikely that nobody could reasonably advise anyone to take that route. In actual practice, almost all professor job ads contain a phrase similar to "PhD in X or a related field is required", and there truly have to be exceptional reasons for a hiring committee to ignore this.
[I will add that all of the above specifically only applies to the sciences and mathematics; professors are frequently hired out of industry in engineering, education, and business departments, and I would not be surprised if other criteria apply in such cases.]
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm not sure if PhD is a hard requirement to become a professor, **but** assume there are 100 candidates, and 99 of them have PhD, then why would the one without PhD stances a chance?
If you want to be treated as a special case, you need to be special, simple as that. I also know some professors without a PhD, and all of them were genius. Coincident? I think not.
For example, <NAME> nearly won the Nobel prize (@P<NAME>). <NAME> won a Turing award. <NAME>, well, no need to mention about him.
>
> Which are the Academic alternatives to a Ph.D.? (Actively participate in seminars, write papers,) being supervised without earning a degree? How you become deeply involved in the community of your research interests without a Ph.D.? How you become known in your field? How do you write to a professor for supervision without earning a degree?
>
>
>
Why would you want to do that without a PhD, because it would be much much easier if you do those things with a PhD. In particular, "being supervised without earning a degree", are you serious? you want to be a free labour for your supervisor?
Alternatively, go to some countries where professorship is not that competitive. I have some Bangladeshi friends, who were my classmate in Master. They are all assistant professors now, without a PhD, although they were horrible in class :)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> (Actively participate in seminars, write papers,)
>
>
>
Unless you're going to a scam university, a PhD is where they pay you to do these things, and you have someone whose job it is to mentor you in how to do these things.
The answer to your question is "do the things that a PhD entails, without the funding of a PhD, then reject the degree, then try to convince others that you've completed everything a PhD entails despite not having the degree."
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/23
| 974
| 4,529
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<issue_start>username_0: My professor was the corresponding author of an article written by me as first author and one second co-author. Having the correspondence with the editor, the professor didn't give much information about the actual status of the article, allthough I asked several times for it.
Some months later, I got the notice that the article is now published. I never got a final proof of the article from the professor/ corresponding author and when I read through the published version, I was in huge shock as I noticed some formatting issues. However, the worst and most severe thing is, that one sentence was "corrected", stating the contrary of what it was supposed to mean. Obviously there is now a mistake in the article. This mistake doesn't affect the measurements results, but it is contradictful within the overall statement of the article.
I asked my professor about writing an erratum concerning this issue. The answer was, that he assumes this sentence not to be noticed and therefore, an erratum would be too much effort. I am feeling really bad being the first author of this paper, where I know about the mistake. Do you think I can ask the journal for an erratum without the consens of my professor?
Furthermore, I want to publish one more article of the work I have done, but the professor still claims the corresponding authorship. As my professor answers my emails only within months and as I don't have much trust in his actions anymore, I really don't know what to do. Does anybody have experience with such a situation?
--
EDIT: thank you for your answers, they are very helpful to me. The paper is a non-open access paper and already published in a printed issue of the journal. Furthermore, it is about a subject what I am not researching anymore, so there are no follow-up papers planned in the same journal.
I think my corresponding author will not be amused when I am writing the publisher as he already refused a corrigendum. You see this is a really tricky situation. What about writing a comment to the paper? I already saw remarks from third researchers concerning existing papers...maybe that could be a solution?<issue_comment>username_1: Many journals will still deal with the corresponding author for an erratum, and may not publish the erratum without trying to reach the corresponding author. Plus, it is not a good idea to bypass collaborators and publish errata without the knowledge of all the authors as this could lead to inaccuracies in CVs.
The "easiest" way to deal with situations like this is to include in the follow up article a statement (where appropriate) of the type "where we take the opportunity to correct a misprint in Ref.1" or something along that line.
Also, if the article has been uploaded on a preprint server (such as arXiv) where updates are allowed, you can upload an updated corrected version.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1.If your article is just published OnlineFirst (version of your paper published online with a DOI but not having a volume/issue number details) and not allocated in an issue then, instead of an erratum you can you can request the publisher to make the requested changes at the issue level. Some publishers do not make any changes to the article published OnlineFirst, but they will make the changes at the issue level, which will then replace the online version. For every article the publisher has a main point of contact (corresponding author) and the publisher directly contacts them for any kind of publication concerns. In your case, first check if your article is not published in an issue then you can go ahead requesting the changes to the publisher keeping your corresponding author in the email chain.
2. If your paper is already published in an issue and you feel there are formatting issues (the formatting is done as per the journal style), then you can get back to the publisher requesting them if it can be fixed. If they agree, along with the request you can make the changes to the contradicting statement in your article.
3. If the formatting is correct as per the publisher, then you may add a short statement in your upcoming paper (to be published in the same journal) stating the correction (with reference to page nos, Vol/Issue no. and section details) of your previous article and provide the DOI link of the previous article. Request the publisher to link this statement to your previous article section where there was an error.
I hope that answers your question.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/23
| 1,234
| 5,360
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<issue_start>username_0: I am having trouble choosing a category for a paper to upload to the [arXiv](https://arxiv.org).
The paper gives some results concerning substochastic matrices, [M-matrices](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-matrix), and algorithms to determine whether a matrix is an M-matrix.
I am having trouble choosing an appropriate arXiv category. Certainly, if there was a category for matrix analysis, it would undoubtedly be the right choice. There are a few possible approximations which I list below, along with some reasoning.
* **[math.RA](https://arxiv.org/list/math.RA/recent)** (Rings and Algebras): I often see papers concerning matrix analysis here (`C^{n x n}` is a ring, after all).
* **[math.FA](https://arxiv.org/list/math.FA/recent)** (Functional Analysis): Matrix analysis is certainly a subset of functional analysis, but I'm not sure if this feels quite in spirit with the category.
* **[math.NA](https://arxiv.org/list/math.NA)** (Numerical Analysis): M-matrices appear frequently in the numerical analysis literature.
* **[cs.DM](https://arxiv.org/list/cs.DM/recent)** (Discrete Mathematics): algorithms in the paper analyze and manipulate the adjacency digraph associated with a matrix.<issue_comment>username_1: Note that it is possible to [cross-list](https://arxiv.org/help/cross "cross-list") your paper in (a small number of) different categories, so if you believe your paper fits in multiple categories, this is the right thing to do.
Of course the question still remains: which categories to choose? Besides the content there are a few factors that you might want to consider. An obvious one is to try to see which category most people in your field choose. These are likeley the categories they pay the most attention to themselves, so this would ensure the greatest visibility along your target audience.
I am not very familiar with your field, but math.FA would be appropriate if your paper uses lots of analysis. Most papers there consider infinite dimensional spaces. Just becasue M-matrices are used in numerical analysis does not make math.NA automatically a good fit, and I would only cross-list there if the paper would have applications to numerical analysis. The other two from the looks of it sound more appropriate, but again this is not my field and it is difficult to judge without knowing the paper.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This question may be considered too specific for this site, but I'll try an answer anyway.
As someone who works in numerical linear algebra and has used M-matrices extensively, I think a submission with this topic would be welcome in math.NA. Math.RA would be my second choice, followed closely by Math.PR (probablity) which you haven't considered. One of the main results of your paper is an algorithm, and it must be an algorithm which is (at least partly) numerical in nature if it can recognize M-matrices. As you correctly note, M-matrices and algorithms involving them are a first-class citizen in numerical analysis, and they are featured in articles appearing in journals in the field. Even abstract properties of them would be on-topic, because their main use is (probably) going to be proving the properties of algorithms.
I must say that the arguments you list in favor of math.FA and math.RA seem quite vague to me; they would apply to almost all of numerical linear algebra. As for cs.DM, as I said earlier, your algorithm necessarily is not entirely discrete, so it seems less appropriate.
Anyway, you probably won't go wrong with any of NA, RA or PR. Arxiv's categories have some overlap. As username_1's answer suggests, you may get slightly more visibility from the people in your field if you go for NA.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I am the moderator for cs.DM. I can't be sure without actually seeing your paper, of course, but it would probably be fine for cross-listing in cs.DM.
I wouldn't worry about the classification too much; pick a reasonable primary category, and then cross-list in a few categories where you have good reason to believe people will be interested. If you cross-list in *too many* categories, your paper will get flagged, which will delay release until the mods can figure out which categories to discard. But papers with two or three secondary categories are fairly common.
arXiv allows moderators to accept or reject papers into their category and to propose new categories, in both cases either as primary category or as a cross-list. As a moderator, I see every submission for which either the author lists cs.DM as one of its categories, or an admin/moderator proposes cs.DM as a new category. Occasionally preprints will appear under an entirely different set of categories from the ones the authors proposed.
The arXiv system also classifies each submitted paper by comparing the text to papers in *every* category; moderators and admins see an automatically generated list of suggested categories for their papers. (I've included a censored snapshot of the moderator page for an unreleased submission below.) So the moderators can propose categories that the authors might not have considered, even if the paper falls outside their area of expertise.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZSjBG.png)
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/23
| 1,715
| 7,238
|
<issue_start>username_0: Some students with what is considered as academic disabilities receive 30 minutes of additional time for every hour of exam, which is a factor of 1.5 to the exam time.
How is this perceived by professors? Might some of them think that these students get an edge or advantage over other students unfairly?
If a student is looking forward to requesting a reference for grad school from a certain professor, would it generally be better for him/her not to request exam extensions for this professor's course?<issue_comment>username_1: Timed exams are usually a function of larger, lower level lecture courses. As such, I don't really keep track of who has a letter or not.
The best grad school letters come from professors who've you've worked with individually, in seminar or lab. Evaluations in those cases are individual and less reliant on disability accommodation.
Tl;dr: ask for the accommodations you need to excel in the lecture courses. Try to take small seminars, work in labs, or do a junior or senior research project with a professor if you want a strong letter of recommendation that will help in grad school admissions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think, as educators, it is not our place to judge whether this extra time granted to students according to disability services is an "unfair advantage" or not. I am a mathematician, not a psychologist, so it's not my place to diagnose them or argue with someone else's diagnosis.
There is obviously considerable research done by people who focus on these types of issues that suggests that these are reasonable accommodations for these students, and I think that should be respected.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I have a bit of a different perspective. When I design a one hour exam, I make it so that a student who has completely mastered the material can complete it in much less than an hour. However, most students have not mastered all the material. As a result, most students spend much less than an hour answering the questions they can answer successfully, and the rest of the time failing to answer the remaining questions.
Often students who receive extra time because of disability do not use the extra time. I suspect students with accommodations who are using the extra time are simply spending more time failing to answer the questions they can't answer. This has nothing to do with their disability. It is just an indicator of persistence. In short, the extra time makes no difference.
However, there are many kinds of disabilities and each student is different, so I think some students are helped by extra time.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: (I will answer in the context of the U.S., but I hope others will answer for other parts of the world.)
>
> *How is this perceived by professors? Might some of them think that these students get an edge or advantage over other students unfairly?*
>
>
>
The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has stated, "**A test should ultimately measure a student's achievements and not the extent of the disability**" ([www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/auxaids.html](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/auxaids.html)).
If some professors are still playing catch-up, that's *their* problem. Extended time has been settled legally for at least 15 years (see the [Marilyn Bartlett case](http://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/judge-sotomayor-wrote-best-description-of-learning-disabilities-she-got-it/) about accommodations in the bar exam, which was decided TWICE by <NAME>, long before she was appointed to the US Supreme Court).
>
> *If a student is looking forward to requesting a reference for grad school from a certain professor, would it generally be better for him/her not to request exam extensions for this professor's course?*
>
>
>
There is no reason to have a tooth extracted without novocaine, i.e. there is no reason to sacrifice the needed accommodations, just because a professor might botch a letter of recommendation. I say *botch* because it would be discriminatory for a professor to judge a student's exam results differently just because the student used a reasonable accommodation to achieve them. OCR enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act, which protect the civil rights of K-12, undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities.
Institutions of higher learning and testing boards do not provide extended time and other accommodations lightly. It is fair to assume that if the student has an approved 504 accommodation in place, it is in fact needed and appropriate. College professors are experts in their fields. We cannot expect them to also be experts in disabilities, and sit in judgment to decide which students truly deserve their legally binding accommodations and which do not. It would be even more absurd for them to make such judgments without a careful examination of the student's documentation. And if we did hand off this responsibility to individual professors... why would universities need to set up offices for students with disabilities?
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: I have a disability that qualifies for extended time and am no stranger to the unease that comes with asking for it. I know it can feel pretty uncomfortable asking for something that is inconveniencing the professor and potentially making you look 'needy' or 'weak'.
The truth is, however, that only ignorant or mean-spirited professors will perceive you this way. These are not the kind of people you want writing your recommendations, disability or not. If you think they might discriminate against you (and you are not just being paranoid) then that is a pretty good sign that this professor is NOT a good choice for a recommendation.
Honestly, recommendations should not come down to petty details like if you needed more time on exams. To write a strong recommendation, the professor should know you, your character, and your work ethic inside and out. This fundamental understanding of who you are as an individual should completely supersede something as trivial as needing extra time on exams. If you are worried about your disability heavily influencing what kind of recommendation you receive, that is a serious red flag indicating you do not have a sufficient relationship with your professor in order to receive a good recommendation. You either need to develop your relationship with them more, or start looking for someone else.
>
> TL;DR If your professor actually knows you well enough to write you a strong recommendation, something as small as needing extra time on exams will not matter a bit. If you are worried about it hurting you, that is a warning sign you do not know the professor well enough for them to write you a strong recommendation. Either develop your relationship more, or find someone else. A good recommendation is about who you are as a person; your character, integrity, work ethic, intelligence, and drive. If they know you well enough to write you a strong recommendation, they know you well enough to see past your disability to who you truly are underneath.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4
|
2017/01/23
| 1,163
| 4,816
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a mathematics PhD student looking for a postdoc position in the US, and I currently have two job offers:
1. Offer A is from a top department, but while they have some good researchers working in my field, they're certainly not the top researchers in that field.
2. Offer B is from a good but lesser ranked department, BUT they have one of the top researchers in my field (I would rank him among the top 3).
I tend to believe that I'll be equally productive in both places. Given this information, I have the following questions:
1. Which is going to be more helpful when I'll start looking for a tenure-track position: Having that top department being mentioned on my CV or having a good reference letter from that top researcher in the lesser ranked department?
2. Are there any other factors that I should consider when I choose between the offers?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no simple answer to your question.
Maybe you should try another approach and answer all the smaller questions before you answer the big one:
1. What do you want to do afterwards/in future?
2. What matters to you personally?
Next, you split those two up to even smaller questions:
1. Do you want to specialize even more on this specific research topic (+1 for option B) or do you want to open up and see the bigger picture (+1 for option A)? Do you want to stay in academic research (+1 for option A because the name of the top researcher will be recognized in academia) or do you want to leave (+1 for option B because the department name will be recognized more outside academia)? You can come up with more questions like this, see e.g. the [comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83708/postdoc-dilemma-top-department-vs-top-researcher#comment208739_83708) of [@nate-eldredge](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010/nate-eldredge). The Answer to *"What counts more, the name of the scientist or the name of the institution?"* is *"It depends."*
2. What suits you best? Consider everything: the city, the size of the department, the people you already met there, the working atmosphere, the mission statement of the department or the institution, the distance to your family and friends, ... The list has no clear ending and each question has your own weighting.
You will end up with a long list and +X for option A and +Y for option B. That's your personal ranking.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I would choose the location based on some non-academic criteria. If you are aiming to live and work in a particular state or region for the rest of your professional life, then choose a job that gets you closer to that ultimate place.
In other words, the C.V. will tell others who you are. But your own predispositions and social life will represent who you really are.
**Go check out the areas if possible.** I would virtually "visit" both places (if actual visitation is unrealistic) and get a feel for the campuses and the people in the area. College towns. The Big city. The rural Northwest. The (fill-in-the-blank) Interstate-XX-Corridor. The SoCal weather. The long commute. The mountain air. Summer heat. The beach town. You may not feel comfortable in all those places. If you aren't happy with the *ancillary aspects* of the position, it will be difficult to be happy with merely the work itself.
So while the "academic" answer to your question may be important, please consider **the big picture**.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Would you be publishing with that top researcher? If yes, you will probably produce more cited publications in better journals with better impact. Nobody cares about departments when it comes to publications, if there is a person whose name they recognize. Otherwise it is all about department, because as an average researcher you do not deserve a personal slot in anyone's mind. You will be assumed to be the mean of that department.
The effect is actually really small because academia is meritocracy. After you have merits you will be evaluated based on those. If I feel busy or lazy, I may skip a paper that does not look good after a quick eyeing if I do not see any seals of quality, such as a researcher I recognize or a department that has the good stuff on average. Also the top journals matter. So the point is that when you are under a rigorous evaluation for your future positions in Tenure Track, they will read you papers and make the decisions based on those. But you will have a slightly better metrics on those papers if you publish with a top researcher or you are from a top department, you might have a small advantage because people are slightly more likely to read your paper. But if you make it to the top journals or produce high quality publications it does not really matter.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/23
| 745
| 3,024
|
<issue_start>username_0: In a group, postdoc *A* believes postdoc *B* sabotaged her experiments. *A* shares her frustration with the PI (without proof) in a "half-jokingly, half-serious" sense. Since then, strange things appear to be happening in the lab -- specifically, *B*'s experiments are behaving strangely. There has been a serious decline in trust between *A* and *B*.
How should the two postdocs proceed? Should they meet? Should the PI mediate between the two? Should the PI talk to them separately? Or together?
Ultimately, how should the PI address the problem, knowing that an investigation is in practice impossible and with the goal of reestablishing a minimum level of mutual trust?
EDIT: Pushed by the PI, the 3 actors openly talked about these issues, agreeing that sabotage is extremely serious, but without pointing the finger to anyone. That seems to have released quite a lot of pressure and helped to normalized the situation. Hopefully it will last.<issue_comment>username_1: That would be the time for the PI to call a meeting with A and B and have a conversation among adults. Topics to be discussed are: If A has a grief with B, she needs to be specific and put it on the table. If B suspects A, he needs to do the same. PI needs to say that this is unacceptable and that everyone needs to behave like adults or else.
If the PI does not call this meeting, then either A or B need to be the grown-up in the room and do so.
Ultimately, half-truths, allegations, conspiracy theories, "experiments not working well", etc, is a situation that is to nobody's benefit. The only way to address it is to talk about it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Because there is no evidence, then everything radical is out of the question. PI cannot fire them. Sabotaging is really bad thing, and something must be done. Revenge sabotage is almost as bad as the first sabotage.
A has first accused B, but there is no proof, it could be that she just used B to went up frustration over her own failures. "half-jokingly, half-serious" sense sometimes is sign of conspiracy thinking and that there might not be any too good of a reason to believe in sabotage, but she has made the connection within her mind, so the perspective becomes biased and she sees more signs and so on... I do not know if you can see from the results of the experiment something, like if A had small failures, but B clearly has odd stuff happening. A's "revenge" could be B sabotaging own experiments to make A look bad. I do not know about prior relation between A and B, which might be the cause to the mess.
Building up a trust is almost impossible, especially if it is clear that someone has done something. Odd stuff happening around B might count as that something. They are already adults, so I do not think that an adult telling "kids" not to be such fools would work. Nice chat about promising future research in a different department that matches better the research interest of A or B might be in a place.
Upvotes: -1
|
2017/01/24
| 758
| 3,070
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<issue_start>username_0: In addition to teaching at a U.S. university, I also do some private tutoring on the side. I am always scrupulous about observing my university's conflict of interest policy, which prohibits tutoring a student who is taking a course that I am currently teaching (even if he is in a different section of the same course). When I'm wearing my "university hat", I know I am bound by FERPA, which prohibits me from (among other things) discussing any student's academic performance with his or her parents, regardless of whether or not they are paying the student's tuition. (Some parents have a hard time with the idea that they are not allowed to be kept informed of their student's grades.)
It's not clear to me, though, whether the same prohibition applies when I am wearing my "private tutor" hat. In particular, if a parent is paying for private tutoring for their college-aged child, and that parent wants updates on how those private lessons are going, am I allowed to divulge that information?<issue_comment>username_1: That would be the time for the PI to call a meeting with A and B and have a conversation among adults. Topics to be discussed are: If A has a grief with B, she needs to be specific and put it on the table. If B suspects A, he needs to do the same. PI needs to say that this is unacceptable and that everyone needs to behave like adults or else.
If the PI does not call this meeting, then either A or B need to be the grown-up in the room and do so.
Ultimately, half-truths, allegations, conspiracy theories, "experiments not working well", etc, is a situation that is to nobody's benefit. The only way to address it is to talk about it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Because there is no evidence, then everything radical is out of the question. PI cannot fire them. Sabotaging is really bad thing, and something must be done. Revenge sabotage is almost as bad as the first sabotage.
A has first accused B, but there is no proof, it could be that she just used B to went up frustration over her own failures. "half-jokingly, half-serious" sense sometimes is sign of conspiracy thinking and that there might not be any too good of a reason to believe in sabotage, but she has made the connection within her mind, so the perspective becomes biased and she sees more signs and so on... I do not know if you can see from the results of the experiment something, like if A had small failures, but B clearly has odd stuff happening. A's "revenge" could be B sabotaging own experiments to make A look bad. I do not know about prior relation between A and B, which might be the cause to the mess.
Building up a trust is almost impossible, especially if it is clear that someone has done something. Odd stuff happening around B might count as that something. They are already adults, so I do not think that an adult telling "kids" not to be such fools would work. Nice chat about promising future research in a different department that matches better the research interest of A or B might be in a place.
Upvotes: -1
|
2017/01/24
| 722
| 3,284
|
<issue_start>username_0: Is it considered an academic misconduct to skip listing a university's name in the graduate application, in which somebody got admission but never attended any class/lab/test/exam whatsoever and as a result his transcript is shown failed in all courses in one semester?<issue_comment>username_1: The question you need to answer here is: is this event relevant to your graduate application? There are several reasons why it might be:
1. The graduate admission process might for example somewhere in the fine print explicitly ask for all previous universities you attended. In that case, they decided it is relevant and you must mention it.
2. You might only be able to talk about what you did with your life that time period if you mention this university. Can you honestly talk about what you did that semester without mentioning this university? Did the admission to this university play a role in any academic and/or life choices you made during or after that time? If it is part of your (academic) life story, you need to talk about it.
One thing to keep in mind is that there might be records of your enrollment at this institution. If the admission committee finds you were enrolled there, but failed to mention it, that would be a major red flag. It might be worth mentioning this university and give your story, just to prevent taking this risk.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Whether someone has performed "academic misconduct" is something that a specific body of people must decide upon using both general principles of academic ethics and the specific rules of the academic body in question. It depends at least a bit on who is doing the considering. So it seems better to think in terms of whether certain actions could *reasonably or likely be construed as academic misconduct by certain parties*.
When it comes to graduate admission, the relevant academic parties are the admissions committee and the authorities (faculty, administration...) of the institution. It depends a bit on what the application asks for. If you are asked to supply all college/university level transcripts (a common request) and intentionally omit some, then certainly you are behaving dishonestly in the usual sense. Whether the dishonesty will be construed as academic misconduct if discovered is up to the relevant academic parties to decide, but: yes, there is a real risk of that happening.
You make it sound like "somebody" got a bit of a raw deal by getting failing grades for classes that were never attended whatsoever. If somebody never showed up at all, then it seems like there is a good case that the enrollment was some kind of misunderstanding and that grades should not have been given. Somebody should seek to fix that with the institution that issued the failing transcript. It will probably be at least a certain amount of fuss -- e.g. contacting every instructor to get them to confirm that the student was a pure no-show. If somebody's best efforts do not suffice to resolve the question, the ethical thing to do -- and the path which nullifies any claims of academic misconduct -- is to include the transcript together with an explanation of what happened, possibly along with parties to contact for additional corroboration.
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/01/24
| 769
| 3,505
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<issue_start>username_0: During January 2017 I noticed that one of my publications from 2000 that had a significant number of citations had disappeared from my Google Scholar publication list. I re-entered the missing publication manually, however, the citations have not reappeared. Rather another author’s paper appeared in my publication list with several hundred citations. I noticed the same problem in a colleague’s Google Scholar publication list.
Any suggestions to resolve the issue would be appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: The question you need to answer here is: is this event relevant to your graduate application? There are several reasons why it might be:
1. The graduate admission process might for example somewhere in the fine print explicitly ask for all previous universities you attended. In that case, they decided it is relevant and you must mention it.
2. You might only be able to talk about what you did with your life that time period if you mention this university. Can you honestly talk about what you did that semester without mentioning this university? Did the admission to this university play a role in any academic and/or life choices you made during or after that time? If it is part of your (academic) life story, you need to talk about it.
One thing to keep in mind is that there might be records of your enrollment at this institution. If the admission committee finds you were enrolled there, but failed to mention it, that would be a major red flag. It might be worth mentioning this university and give your story, just to prevent taking this risk.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Whether someone has performed "academic misconduct" is something that a specific body of people must decide upon using both general principles of academic ethics and the specific rules of the academic body in question. It depends at least a bit on who is doing the considering. So it seems better to think in terms of whether certain actions could *reasonably or likely be construed as academic misconduct by certain parties*.
When it comes to graduate admission, the relevant academic parties are the admissions committee and the authorities (faculty, administration...) of the institution. It depends a bit on what the application asks for. If you are asked to supply all college/university level transcripts (a common request) and intentionally omit some, then certainly you are behaving dishonestly in the usual sense. Whether the dishonesty will be construed as academic misconduct if discovered is up to the relevant academic parties to decide, but: yes, there is a real risk of that happening.
You make it sound like "somebody" got a bit of a raw deal by getting failing grades for classes that were never attended whatsoever. If somebody never showed up at all, then it seems like there is a good case that the enrollment was some kind of misunderstanding and that grades should not have been given. Somebody should seek to fix that with the institution that issued the failing transcript. It will probably be at least a certain amount of fuss -- e.g. contacting every instructor to get them to confirm that the student was a pure no-show. If somebody's best efforts do not suffice to resolve the question, the ethical thing to do -- and the path which nullifies any claims of academic misconduct -- is to include the transcript together with an explanation of what happened, possibly along with parties to contact for additional corroboration.
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/01/24
| 1,985
| 7,464
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<issue_start>username_0: [<NAME> removed his list of predatory journals from the internet this past Sunday](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/18/librarians-list-predatory-journals-reportedly-removed-due-threats-and-politics). While the reasons for his doing this are not yet public, this is a real loss of a valuable service. Does anyone know of similar services available to the general public?
Edit: [This other question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101) is definitely relevant, but that approach is more appropriate for finding *top* journals rather than identifying *bottom* ones. I.e., following that method would probably exclude lots of valid, lower-tier journals. Are there any approaches to easily identifying a predatory publisher?<issue_comment>username_1: As noted in the question, Beall's list once was a method for identifying *predatory* publishers. However, the list is no more. A recent [Publons blog post](https://publons.com/blog/bealls-list-gone-but-not-lost/) addressed how to identify predatory journals.
Summarizing their post, here are some methods of identifying predatory journals. Most of their methods are more positive than Beall (i.e., they point out *good* journals rather than highlight predatory journals):
* Check and see if the journal is part of the [Directory of Open Access Journals](https://doaj.org/), an independent body sponsored by many publishers (among them IEEE, ACS, MDPI) and associations, among them the Royal Society of Chemistry.
* Check the [Open Access Journal Quality Indicators](http://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.1133)
* Use the [Think, Check, Submit](http://thinkchecksubmit.org/) tools that includes a check list to see if a journal is trusted. For example, the page has a [check list for journals](https://thinkchecksubmit.org/journals/).
* Follow Butler's [Checklist](http://www.nature.com/news/investigating-journals-the-dark-side-of-publishing-1.12666)
* Examine [Publons' list](https://publons.com/journal/?order_by=reviews) of journals and publishers.
As noted in the comments, some of these lists may have their credibility issues (e.g., [Why do open access consortia affiliate themselves with questionable publishers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23719/why-do-open-access-consortia-affiliate-themselves-with-questionable-publishers))
Also, you can do your own "smell" test. Note that none of these a perfect. Possible examples include:
* Check out a journal's Web page and publishers'. Often predatory journals have bad Web pages or Web pages that seem slightly off or wrong. However, some predatory journals do have well polished Web pages.
* Is the journal associated with a professional society? If so, have you heard of the society? Professional societies tend to host legitimate journals (although there are likely exceptions). However, some predatory journals use the names of societies and academics without their permission (or use fake societies that sound close to real societies).
* Similarly, is the journal associated with a university?
* Lookup the editorial board. Who is on the board? What is their affiliation (e.g., are they grad students and postdocs?)? Also, check the Web pages of the board members. Do they list the journal? Some journals list people without their permission.
In summary, there is no single method for verifying journals. Some predatory journals go to great lengths to seem real.
**Edit note:** This answer was updated based upon feedback from StrongBad, Coburn, Joce, and Brian.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A non-exhaustive list of red flags:
* They promise an unreasonably fast review cycle, like four weeks or less
between initial submission and acceptance notification. While convenient for the authors, it's impossible to guarantee a decent-quality review process in such a tight timeframe.
* They send you unsolicited e-mails. Obviously, sending spam is a
strong indicator for a spam journal.
* The articles found in previous editions of the journal seem thematically unrelated or even random.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I heard about Beall's list several times on this site, but I'm amazed about its significance to some people.
When you start doing research, you need to know which papers are important in your field (your advisor or google scholar will tell you). Then you need to know who is the big shots, and not so big shots in your field. Then you need to know where those guys have published their papers (where your advisor published his/her papers).
Then follow the masters, submit to the conference/journal that they published. If it is a new conference/journal, you need to know some people in the PC members, editors.
If you know none of them, it's not a good idea to submit your paper. In the best case, they are not in your field. Even if you don't know them, you can check if they are from reputable university, if they have well-cited papers to become editors?
Another way is to check 5 papers published by this journal 5 years ago. If none of them has any citations, that journal is spam.
**TL;DR**: You don't need any list.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: For what it's worth, an archived version of Beall's list close to its deletion can be found at at [archive.org](http://web.archive.org/web/20170112125427/https://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/). Note that it will necessarily decrease in accuracy and completeness over time.
His other lists are also archived. You can find a collection of links at [Debunking Denialism](https://debunkingdenialism.com/2017/01/16/what-happened-to-jeffrey-bealls-list-of-allegedly-predatory-publishers/).
Additionally, note that Beall's "criteria" are still [publicly available](http://web.archive.org/web/20170105195017/https://scholarlyoa.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/criteria-2015.pdf), and some might argue that they are at least as useful as the list, as they teach a man how to fish. While I have seen the objectivity of the list being doubted, I've rarely seen people criticize the objectivity of the criteria.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: There are also two web sites that claim to build on and expand the Beall's list:
<http://beallslist.weebly.com>
<http://predatoryjournals.com>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Surprisingly Cabell's list hasn't been mentioned yet: see [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabell%27s_blacklist) and links within. It's subscription-based however, and I have not seen many reviews as to how good the list actually is.
Of course, you can also do-it-yourself with Google and looking through previous issues, verifying vs. the editorial board and whatnot (basically what Beall did, focused on that one journal).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Whether a journal is a predatory journal should not be defined based on personal opinions. The quality of a journal should be defined in terms of the quality of the articles published, the review process, the reviewer's suggestions, and the article publication process.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Probably the best way of identifying non-predatory journals is to look at where well-known scholars in your field publish. If the top scholars are publishing in a journal, then at least some papers in that journal are probably worth reading, both to you and others. Then if you publish in that journal, at least other scholars are likely to read it.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/25
| 3,883
| 15,992
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<issue_start>username_0: I as a student have done various courses at my university and for each of these courses a textbook was prescribed. On the other hand, the instructor provided his notes as well. The textbook was huge (approximately 500 pages) whereas the lecture notes were only 100 pages and really short and clean. During my studies, I rarely used the textbook but relied on the notes and I think that I just did fine. I am not the only student who rarely uses prescribed textbook but other students also think the same in my classes. The students that I talked to prefer notes mainly because
* textbooks are expensive so not everyone can afford buying 5 textbooks each academic session (5 subjects per session) which makes it 10 textbooks per year and the average price for each textbook is $150;
* textbooks are huge (about 500 pages) so students prefer to use notes which is clean, short, and summarized;
* It is true that during an academic session, a student studies for a particular subject, but he may forget some of the material so he needs to study it again few days before the exam. Studying a 500 pages textbook few days before the exams is practically impossible given the stress and pressure that students face when they get near the exam.
The only benefit of the textbooks that I can tell is that if you find a particular concept unclear, you can look at the textbook for clarification but most students really do not do this. If they struggle with a particular concept, they go to the office hours of the instructor and ask for clarification. The textbooks also have many exercises so if any student needs to do more exercises, they can uses the prescribed textbook but I have not seen any student who does this.
What is the purpose of a prescribed textbook in a course taught by instructor and why do instructors emphasize reading it?<issue_comment>username_1: The question is based on several false premises and this also leads to an answer:
>
> […] students prefer to use notes which is[sic!] clean, short, and summarized
>
>
>
That's not true for many students. In fact, there are students who dislike summarized text and like textbook style.
>
> It is true that during an academic session, a student studies for a particular subject, but he may forget some of the material so he needs to study it again few days before the exam. Studying a 500 pages textbook few days before the exams is practically impossible […]
>
>
>
Textbooks have a table of contents and often an index, so it is not at all impossible to brush up on a certain topic using a 500 pages textbook last minute (given that you know the context and some buzzwords).
>
> […] you can look at the textbook for clarification but most students really do not do this.
>
>
>
Many students do this, really.
>
> If they struggle with a particular concept, they go to the office hours of the instructor and ask for clarification.
>
>
>
Some come to office hours, some don't. For my courses, only very little students come to office hours and most study by other means - presumably some read a textbook.
>
> The textbooks also have many exercises so if any student needs to do more exercises, they can uses the prescribed textbook but I have not seen any student who does this.
>
>
>
Look harder. There are these students who do additional exercises.
Last point: Textbooks are used by professors to create their courses. There are great textbooks for introductory courses and professors do not want to reinvent the wheel (well, a worse wheel, actually). If they rely on textbooks for their preparation, why not tell the students which books they used?
I don't know if there are courses where you really have to purchase a textbook - you may just decide to not buy it and may be fine. I prefer to announce textbooks that are available online through subscriptions of my university and in the library as a paper copy (with at least one "permanent/reference copy" that can not be borrowed) so that the students can use the book for free.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A personal experience from a math student:
Concepts, proofs and derivations in the lecture (notes) are written one way. Sometimes / Often this way is not understandable to you, so you look for a different approach, a different wording, a different start for a concept in order to understand it.
The examples in the lecture notes usually only cover the most common cases, but in the exercise sheets other cases are asked to be solved.
Now, these things can be found in textbooks. But nowadays many of these things can also be found online, i.e. Wikipedia or various forums. For the textbooks, as username_1 mentioned, some are available for free, online, if your university has a contract with the publisher, and there's always the library.
To answer your question: The purpose of a textbook is to provide you with a different perspective.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As an instructor, I'm often led to cringe by the price of textbooks. I often tell students pretty upfront that I understand if they opt not to purchase the textbook, but that they are doing so at their own risk. While I try to explain things clearly myself, I also tell students that the textbook has a slightly different - and often complementary - angle on most things (and different examples, and a useful glossary at the back, and interesting tangents for those interested). The students who both come to class and keep up with the reading are: a) getting more exposure to the material (spaced repetition reportedly being a very good thing for learning, though I'm far from an expert), and b) having things explained to them again in different terms, so more of it is likely to stick in the first place. Since most of my midterms and exams reward conceptual understanding more than memorization, it is to my students' advantage to work through my notes *and* the textbook while studying (as well as asking me questions, etc.).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Sorry for the long answer, but the title of the question scares me, and brings visions of a world where few (nobody?) value textbooks anymore (the horror!). So I knew I had to jump in. This is my (a student's) perspective on why textbooks are important in a course.
>
> textbooks are expensive [...]
>
>
>
As a computer science undergrad from India, I do sometimes feel a pinch in my pocket while purchasing particularly expensive textbooks. This rarely happens, however, since I view the money spent on textbooks as an investment for my education – much like the tuition fee for my university. Moreover, many authors (and sometimes universities) generously provide free PDF copies of textbooks online for personal use; for example [Computer Vision](http://szeliski.org/Book/), [Deep Learning](http://www.deeplearningbook.org/).
>
> The textbook was huge (approximately 500 pages) whereas the lecture notes
> were only 100 pages and really short and clean.
>
>
>
There are a couple of very simple reasons for this. Firstly, A (good) textbook is written in a manner in which new material is introduced gently, giving background information and building the idea from the ground up which makes the concept seem simple and intuitive. For instance, in our course on compilers, we use the legendary [Dragon Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilers:_Principles,_Techniques,_and_Tools), which when read judiciously builds up complex ideas from scratch in a manner that makes them seem trivial, when they are obviously not. (To appreciate this – if you have done computer programming before, and find it hard, consider how hard it must be to write a program that can correctly decode a *general* computer program to make the computer understand what to do).
Secondly, I don't know which course you study, but if it is something that can have a strong mathematical background (such as CS), then I doubt if your instructor's notes will do justice to the material in terms of elucidating the underlying proofs, analyses, etc. In a subject like CS where these aspects are crucial parts of the material, omitting them for the sake of simplicity doesn't seem like a good idea. **The notes are an aid to learning, they are not a replacement for the textbook**.
>
> During my studies, I rarely used the textbook but relied on the notes
> and I think that I just did fine.
>
>
>
That is very common, unfortunately. Although I always read the textbooks for all classes I take (I love textbooks :D), I am often not among the top scorers in a course. My observation is that this is because most of the top-scoring students in a course do not *study the material*, they *study for tests*. They restrict themselves to instructor's notes and test questions from previous test papers to prepare themselves for tackling the test well. They do not spend time in building the ideas from basics, which is what textbooks are for.
>
> textbooks are huge (about 500 pages) so students prefer to use notes
> which is clean, short, and summarized
>
>
>
As username_1 mentioned, that's not really true.
>
> It is true that during an academic session, a student studies for a
> particular subject, but he may forget some of the material so he needs
> to study it again few days before the exam. Studying a 500 pages
> textbook few days before the exams is practically impossible [...]
>
>
>
As username_1 mentioned, it is not impossible to revise smartly from textbooks using the index, etc. But my personal opinion on this is that **textbooks are *sometimes* not very efficient for revisions / studying for exams**. For these, your own notes (made during lectures or while reading the textbook) or your instructor's notes can be a useful aid (not a replacement).
>
> The only benefit of the textbooks that I can tell is that if you find
> a particular concept unclear, you can look at the textbook for
> clarification [...]
>
>
>
That is not the only benefit of textbooks! As I mentioned earlier, (good) textbooks provide context to the material, they are responsible for building ideas, not simply providing information. In my opinion, **if you *really* want to understand and appreciate a subject, then this deep, contextual learning by building new ideas over old ones is an important journey – and an enjoyable and fulfilling one too!**
>
> If they struggle with a particular concept, they go to the office
> hours of the instructor and ask for clarification
>
>
>
Perhaps this is not a problem with you, but I (and many of my peers) have often suffered due to the lack of a qualified instructor for a subject. During such times, textbooks have been the guiding light for many students like us. It was during times like these when I realised the value of textbooks.
Finally, a good textbook is usually written by a person well experienced in the field, for the sole purpose of explaining the material to the reader. If you do have the opportunity to meet such an expert in person, who has the time, patience, and skill to frame his thoughts in a simple and coherent manner, then do go talk to him – but still save your textbooks because you can read them again and again over a period of years ;).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> textbooks are huge (about 500 pages) so students prefer to use notes
> which is clean, short, and summarized
>
>
>
There are several dangers to this - first, the clean, short, summarized notes don't have all the details, whereas a textbook might. Indeed, the notes may be missing *essential* details because they are in the textbook itself.
Additionally, and I've experienced this twice in my career, there is a benefit to having information from two different sources. If you don't understand someone's presentation of material during a lecture, it's possible you won't understand *that same person's presentation in the notes*. Having a textbook, written (often) in a different voice, may be exceedingly helpful.
>
> It is true that during an academic session, a student studies for a
> particular subject, but he may forget some of the material so he needs
> to study it again few days before the exam. Studying a 500 pages
> textbook few days before the exams is practically impossible given the
> stress and pressure that students face when they get near the exam.
>
>
>
To be blunt, failing to leave time to study for an exam is a failure of the student, not the textbook. Additionally, said hypothetical student should only need to read some sections of the textbook - though which sections those are may vary by student.
>
> The only benefit of the textbooks that I can tell is that if you find
> a particular concept unclear, you can look at the textbook for
> clarification but most students really do not do this.
>
>
>
[Citation Needed]
Also, I don't plan things for what "most students do". I plan for what a student should be able to do to fully engage with the course and material.
>
> If they struggle with a particular concept, they go to the office
> hours of the instructor and ask for clarification.
>
>
>
And it's entirely possible the instructor will say "Chapter 3 covers this really well...". Or, as noted, that there may genuinely be a disconnect between how the instructor explains something and how the student understands it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Another seasoned student here, coming from Germany.
>
> The only benefit of the textbooks that I can tell is that if you find
> a particular concept unclear, you can look at the textbook for
> clarification but most students really do not do this.
> Well, I don't usually care about how other students do their work. In fact, compared to the average students, I'm quite quick in understanding things and often do so during the lecture, not by studying after. However, of course I too came across concepts I couldn't understand using my notes, and certain textbooks helped me overcoming my shortcomings.
>
>
>
As others mentioned already, you should also take into account who has written the book. Different authors have different styles. I could name (German) authors which I completely understand and some which have a terrible style of writing, for my taste.
>
> The textbooks also have many exercises so if any student needs to do
> more exercises, they can uses the prescribed textbook but I have not
> seen any student who does this.
> Again, bad for them. Of course there are exercises which may be not easy to solve and not being statements that are much of interest, but by trying to solve them alone you can improve your understanding of the topic because you look up definitions etc.
>
>
>
The other answers have covered pretty anything else, but I would like to answer the title question directly (ignoring the "in lectures" part).
1. Textbooks are not for students only. When you specialize in a mathematical topic and you notice that for your research, some other topic may be of interest as well, before you speak to any colleague you will first provide yourself with the basics of the new topic from a textbook, to get the general idea.
2. Mathematics is a lot of fun and wonder. Once someone is intrigued with the beauty of mathematics, why not look up some math that is not covered in your courses? This way I learned about knot theory and topological vector spaces. Most students here will sadly never know about this stuff unless it is covered in a seminar they stumble into. (In fact, just today someone I know told me he is now in a course of chaos theory and then I asked what happens in this course :-) )
3. There are not only beginner's text books but also such that cover certain topics that were only discussed in papers previously. And believe me, collecting a bunch of relevant papers can be time consuming. So I was really happy I came across something called "Selected topics in Graph Theory".
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: If a professor gives a D for a student "just because", what can the student do?
In previous classes, this student was called ridiculous in the front of all the others, and this professor was always saying bad things about her.
Knowing that a D is a shameful, cut-off (one can lose their funding) kind of grade, the professor just gave it to the student.
What should one do in this case? It is like someone has the power to crash one's career. It is wrong on every possible level.
Please, help.
Academia should have moral standards, and things like this should never occur.
It happened with my partner this morning. She is in shock. She is so brilliant and hardworking. She may have had her career ended today.
P.s: Sorry for the mistakes. I wrote it blindly.<issue_comment>username_1: I would advise her to discuss this with her advisor. Do not push the "unethical behavior" idea. Instead, focus on two points:
* She does not understand the reasons for the D.
* She is concerned about the consequences for her funding etc.
All the better if the advisor is close to the professor who gave the D. It makes the advisor a better potential advocate. No professor likes to have a PhD student fail - it makes them look bad.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Many institutions have a formal process for appealing a class grade. Some university official, such as a department chair, would review the student's work and grade records to determine if the grade was assigned fairly in accordance with the class's grade policies. If not, the official can assign a different grade.
Usually this sort of appeal only succeeds if there is something clearly and objectively wrong with the way the grade was assigned; they won't usually overrule the instructor on subjective matters (e.g. "did this paper show enough insight to be worth an A"). A common standard is that the grade will only be changed if the investigation concludes that the original grade was assigned in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner. It sounds like you think that is what happened, but I would suggest first discussing the matter informally with the department chair or some trusted faculty member who is familiar with the process, to see if they agree that there is evidence to support your claim.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I find self-criticism and irony are strong means to communicate genuinely and involve people who are not necessarily expert in a field.
As cartoons offer a quick yet poignant way to describe how academia works, I am wondering which cartoons on academia are the most popular. I am interested in particular on cartoons which may highlight the true spirit of academic life and academic hierarchy.
A simple Google search for "cartoon academia" yields 580,000 hits, with the first image posted being a [New Yorker cartoon by David Sipress](http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/Daddy-works-in-a-magical-faraway-land-called-Academia-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8546667_.htm). Is such ranking correct?<issue_comment>username_1: As a graduate student, I personally enjoy [PHD Comics](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1892). They humorously (and often painfully) give a realistic picture of academic life from a grad student/postdoc's perspective.
Exhibit A:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/32Hhp.gif)
(source: [phdcomics.com](http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd082416s.gif))
They're often used here in similar context to "[obligatory xkcd](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42627/what-questions-to-prepare-for-phd-defense/42629#comment94648_42627)" references. Relatedly, [xkcd](https://xkcd.com/) is another comic I enjoy, slightly less relevant to academia, but often containing [references](https://xkcd.com/1781/) to academic situations.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: [xykademiqz](https://xykademiqz.com/category/cartoons/)
Not to be confused with
[xkcd](https://xkcd.com/)
Both very good. This is one of my favourites from xykademiqz:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/q9PvR.jpg)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/25
| 782
| 3,397
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<issue_start>username_0: I've seen a handful of academic teaching jobs request that the applicant send "**copies of student evaluations**" as part of the application.
1. **How exactly is this supposed to be done?**
* Pick and choose your favorites / all the positive evaluations?
* Send an entire class's evaluations for completeness?
* Emphasize well written (possibly long) ...OR...pick short and sweet but very positive?
+ Ex: "Best instructor I ever had!!!"
* Include somewhat negative ones to demonstrate "realism"?
2. **What's the proper format?**
* PDF or doc file with paragraphs of comments?
* An addition to the cover letter?
Etc..
In general, **what's the *proper* way to go about (or perhaps best practices for) including student evaluations in an application??**
---
Note: "student evaluation" = "course evaluation" (i.e., comments students make about the course/instructor).<issue_comment>username_1: I've been involved in three searches over the last three years. We typically only request teaching evaluations from candidates who've made our short list for phone/skype interviews since it generates an immense number of pages of material to review. We want a .pdf of all of your teaching evaluations.
If it becomes apparent that you've edited or selected evaluations the people reading them will have good reason to discount what you sent them. The only way to avoid this is to include all of your evaluations for every course that you've taught (or for more experienced folks all evaluations from the past three years or some similar period.)
You should take whatever was given to you by your institution, and convert it to .pdf format. Don't transform it in any other way.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The proper way to go about this application, is to ask the chair of the hiring committee what they would like.
For example, maybe they want all evaluations no matter how many pages this would be (like user username_1 said in their answer, since this way nothing is "cherry picked"), but I know hiring committees that don't like to be bombarded with huge documents (for example sometimes the committee will have a meeting to discuss candidates, and everyone will bring a printed copy of the complete set of application materials, so having a 100+ page document would be burdensome and shows that you didn't take the time to make things easier for them).
But maybe they neither want you to do what Brian suggests (sending them the whole thing) or what user theforestecologist suggested first (sending only parts of it), because in either case they would have no easy way to verify that you didn't forge the document. Maybe they want your institution to send this, similar to how reference letters are sent directly and not through you.
You can only know by asking the hiring committee. Considering that this question has existed for 2 years, has had a bounty on it for 1 week, and still only has one answer, means that it should be perfectly acceptable for you to ask for clarification (clearly not many people on this huge and experienced online community know definitively what to do). Furthermore, communicating actively with the committee chair can be helpful in general (even if you didn't have to ask for clarification about how to send your teaching evaluations) as long as you're not doing it excessively or pestering them.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I work in a research group with a large number of international graduate students. Recent news in my country (the United States) has been deeply unsettling for some of these students, especially the ones who hail from "unwelcome" countries (see [here](http://www.wsj.com/articles/ban-on-u-s-entry-met-with-alarm-in-mideast-africa-1485365466)).
As a U.S. citizen, I (personally) feel guilty and embarrassed over the current goings-on (nor do I agree with them), though I certainly do not expect other Americans to necessarily feel that way too. Many of these students in my lab know my personal feelings on the matter. But at the end of the day, there isn't much I can do right now to affect national policy, so I'm trying to think more locally.
**What, if anything, can I do here in my lab/department/university to help my fellow students/peers/friends?**<issue_comment>username_1: The best thing you can do in my opinion is to be the change you wish to see in the world. Namely, be as friendly and welcoming to the international students as you can be. This will show them that negative views towards people who hail from the countries they come from are not shared by the entire US population, but are simply the opinions of certain people who happen to hold political office these days. It will also make you a role model for other Americans in your lab and department who may be inspired by your positive example to act in similar ways.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If individual students are experiencing personal distress due to this matter, they should seek counselling or therapy; the university should provide these services. Moreover, if you see international students (or, more generally, if you see *anyone*) be kind and respectful to them. This is a general rule which you can never go wrong with. In this sense, your question is quite trivial; be nice, problem solved.
At a more fundamental level, though, I believe that this question has a political overtone. Implicit is that this policy decision is bad and something Americans ought to apologize for. The decision made by the Trump administration is a temporary ban on refugees from a handful of Muslim-majority countries. Its purpose is not racist or meant to demonize people based on their ethnic or national origin; it is a national security measure. We can debate its merits, but this notion that the policy constitutes a personal attack on all Muslim students is absurd.
When the university "helps" these students systemically, they are taking the normative stance that the policy is wrong and that the students' feeling of "unwelcomeness" is justified. It is not within the university's purview to take an active position on these matters.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: As I said in my comment" "Talk to them". At the very least, this way you will show them that you care, dispel the notion (not completely unfounded) that "americans do not care about what happens outside of their own country". Talk to them about life in the country they left, how did they manage to get away, how are they adapting to the new country (and the new, post-election, realities). This will be an interesting learning experience for both you (since you never left the US) and them. This might force you to think about difficult questions to which there are no easy answers, such as:
* How does one live in a dictatorship and retain (some level of) integrity?
* How do you politely reject an offer to work for a secret police?
* What do you do if you find out that your brother is informing (the secret police) on your grandfather?
* What do you do if a policeman asks for a bribe?
* What do you do when your best friend kills his sister because his father told him to do so?
.....
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: You could reassure them with the truth. The USA goes through political swings in one direction, then the other. People on either side are not nearly as bad as people in the other political party make them out to be. You could tell them that although there are changes in actions and behaviors of the goverment and people, for the most part, the talk is usually of a much greater magnitude than the actions that take place.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently published an article in a "renowned" open access journal which cost us 2000 USD. I say 'renowned' - not to brag, but to highlight that the journal is not the kind of new age OA journal from which I would expect questionable practices.
Another group of researchers now started the process of submitting a comment to our article, to which we crafted a reply. After review, the journal now wants to charge them, as well as us another 2000 USD each for the publication of the comment/reply pair. This comes as an absolute surprise to me.
In my opinion, this practice is actively discouraging scientific exchange, and it seems simply excessive to ask for another 4000 USD. Furthermore, should the reply not be considered part of the comment, therefore, if anyone, the commenter should pay for the publication cost?
I am wondering if anyone has heard of something like this or has experience with publishing comments/replies in Open Access journals?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> In my opinion, this practice is actively discouraging scientific exchange, and it seems simply excessive to ask for another 4000 USD.
>
>
>
It sounds like the journal treats comments exactly the same as standard articles and applies the same blanket fee. Unless they claim / purport / promise to do otherwise, they must have the right to do this -- how could they not? And correspondingly you have the right to regard the practice as dodgy / greedy / actively discouraging scientific exchange and not to pay to publish your reply to the comment. In my opinion you should seriously consider this.
>
> Furthermore, should the reply not be considered part of the comment, therefore, if anyone, the commenter should pay for the publication cost?
>
>
>
C'mon, show a little empathy. If you had written the comment you could have said "should the comment not be considered part of the article, therefore, if anyone, the original authors should pay for the publication cost?" The two sentiments make the same amount of sense to me.
Bottom line: don't pay $2000 to reply to a comment if you feel that you and the academic community are not getting $2000 worth of value. There are lots of venues to publish comments on journal articles, ranging from websites that seek to collect such things to your own homepage. A comment or a reply is probably not going to be viewed as a real publication, it's probably not going to be peer reviewed in the same way (or at all?), and so forth, so just because you want to pay to play ball with this "renowned" journal does not imply that you want to do this too. If you feel strongly enough, push back more than you have. Write to the authors of the comment and offer to host both their comment and your reply elsewhere, free of charge. Copy this correspondence to the journal editors, and lament the unfortunate nature of the situation. (Don't do this lightly, and understand that you may mildly annoy some of the editors by doing this. But that is also your right...)
Perhaps I should end by saying that I work in an academic field, mathematics, for which (i) the notion of authors paying to make articles open access is just starting to become a thing and (ii) journals virtually never publish comments to others' articles. Just FYI.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know what field you're publishing in, but if it's life sciences/medical, you can conduct correspondence on PubMed Commons. Not as good as corresponding directly with the published article, but it's free and accessible to all users of the database.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think comments papers are an important (and sadly neglected) part of post-review quality control in academic publication. The fact that someone wants to write a comment paper is suggestive of a problem with the peer review of the paper in question, if only in that it left substantial questions unanswered (or unasked). As such the journal should not charge either party for the comment paper or the response, if only to show that the journal takes quality control seriously, even if they do make all their money from page fees, I think it is in their long term interest.
Writing comments papers should be incentivized, not discouraged by financial hurdles.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Was your journal listed on Beall's Predatory Publisher list (before it disappeared from the Internet, probably because of legal issues)? Do you regularly find good articles and good discussions in this journal? If not, you have probably been roped in to publishing in a predatory journal, and I would forget trying to have a discussion there. Amble over to [PubPeer](https://pubpeer.com/) and put the comments from the other research group and your answers in over there. For the medical field, there are even browser plugins that alert to the fact that there is a PubPeer discussion available.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: During and after the talks and seminars in our dept. (~80 people, ~10 groups, ~40 postdocs+PhD+Master students), it is extremely rare to see postdocs or students asking questions. 90-95% of the questions are asked by senior people (mainly PIs or experienced permanent researchers).
This probably reflects an old culture of distance between the young and the senior, I believe it is a national (if not European) issue which is much less seen in the Anglo Saxon culture. Breaking this distance will surely increase the quality of our work globally.
The ambiance is generally relaxed in the entire lab, and nobody is blamed for stupid questions. Still, their silence is striking. And worse, it brings down the few (mainly international) students who sometime do ask questions: after a while they feel this "negative peer pressure" and stop asking.
We want to find a way out of it. One possibility under discussion is to force, right at the end of the talk, the first couple of questions from them. But it's not accepted yet. Do you think this could be a good idea?
Do you have suggestions about other strategies, both for the short (getting them to ask more questions) and long term (how can we remove this cultural barrier?)<issue_comment>username_1: I can certainly tell you what not to do for starters - don't force questions from individuals. This has the consequence of making students nervous at the end of each session or feeling inadequate and ridiculed if they cannot answer. When the call for questions inevitably comes up at the end of talks I have attended, I have often remained silent because no question naturally occurs to me. But if the tutor were to force questions from me it would take me back to bad memories of primary school and being unable to answer things because I hadn't understood the topic, making me feel idiotic as a result. Nobody wants that. The other possibility is you end up forcing the student to ask a nonsensical question which they feel embarrassed about. No, the idea has too many pitfalls.
The best thing to do is, if the class falls silent, remind them of the various things you discussed and coax questions out of them that way. Maybe try asking: did everyone understand theory X or experiment Y, was everyone clear about the workings behind Z, do you think N would work if done this way etc etc. That way you may reignite questions that may have naturally occurred during the course of the talk but which got overtaken and forgotten as it progressed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm not sure if it's really possible to determine the cause just from your question, so I will give a few scenarios.
Maybe your seminars are boring. Senior people are only asking questions to be polite. Try to get better speakers.
Maybe senior people are being too pushy. Ask them to wait for junior people to ask questions at the end of the talk before they ask their own question.
Maybe senior people are asking dumb questions. I think this discourages question asking. It's hard to fix though.
A common strategy is to arrange a separate meeting between the students and the speaker. Often there is lunch.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If possible, have postdocs rotate as Master of Ceremony (MC). This way, they get to "break the ice" by having a bit of chat with the speaker for the introduction, and also it's usually less intimidating for students.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that postdocs volunteer as MCs, rather identify at the start of the term for which speaker or for which week they will be MCing. This way, they will understand their time will come, and they can ask for peer advice on how to properly "chair" a seminar.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Great question and I look forward to reading what others have to say about this.
**Me too! A student's POV**
I am in the same boat struggling with this issue, but I am on the other side of this boat... I am a PhD student who often feels like I'm shrinking myself so that I won't be "that guy." Even in my seminar style classes, the silence is deafening. It is so frustrating because this lack of intellectual curiosity is denying me the full academic experience I want. Sometimes I find myself actively turning down my excitement/curiosity, and in those moments I despair. I came here to pursue the life of the mind, not to stifle it!
With that said, I really appreciate this question (hopefully you're from my department)... Do not underestimate the insidious nature of this cultural trend (for lack of better words). After all, what can a graduate education offer if asking questions is the *weird* or *awkward* thing to do?
>
> [Should we] force, right at the end of the talk, the first couple of questions from them[?] ...Do you think this could be a good idea?
>
>
>
Yes, I 100% think that it is reasonable to tell your graduate students that the first few questions have to come from them.
**It's reasonable...**
I know, I know, "but students get nervous." It doesn't matter. The policy the OP proposed does not place a burden on every student to ask a question every week. Instead, as a group, at least 2 or 3 students needs to kick off Q & A. All of the "risk" or burden involved is shared among the cohort of students. Thus, as my dad would say, no buts! It's time to embolden the students who are stifling their thoughts rather than cater to the students that never will engage.
**It effectively eliminates significant hurdle...**
A policy such as the one suggested by the OP is not only reasonable, but it would help eliminate the ***that guy*** problem. That is, it would un-silence the curious and thoughtful ideas of some of your students who are otherwise concerned with the social cost of being *that guy*.
>
> This probably reflects an old culture of distance between the young and the senior
>
>
>
I'm in the US at an R1 institution and it happens here, so I am not convinced that the distance between the faculty and students can explain this. I think it has more to do with the way these students (my peers) were reared in the education system.
**Beware of the excellent sheep!**
[There is a book by <NAME>, *Excellent Sheep*](https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=9781476702711&index=books&linkCode=qs&tag=simonsaysclps-20), that explores some of these ideas, and I highly recommend it for any academic. He argues that our education system (he focuses on elite education) manufactures smart and talented students who are excellent "at what they're doing but with no idea why they're doing it." In other words, ***students who lack intellectual curiosity.*** This is, IMO, the cause of the problem. Even if you had boring speakers or bad questions by PIs, the intellectually curious student could still find some joy in it, some curiosity in it worth asking a question about.
**So how can we foster intellectual curiosity rather than excellent sheeping?**
That goes beyond my current experience, I'm afraid... I am just doing my best not to let my light be dimmed by people who would rather get straight As than ask a good theoretically driven question. The fact that this question was asked is reassuring. I am glad that you and your colleagues are thinking about this issue. I bet there are many flamingos in your flock of sheep who are just waiting for the climate to change.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> During and after the talks and seminars in our dept. (~80 people, ~10 groups, ~40 postdocs+PhD+Master students), it is extremely rare to see postdocs or students asking questions. 90-95% of the questions are asked by senior people (mainly PIs or experienced permanent researchers).
>
>
>
My first thought is that this a large group -- maybe too large. In my department (mathematics, at a big US research university) if you count tenure track faculty plus postdocs plus graduate students you get about 100. For this group of 100 people we don't have one research seminar, we have 8-10 different seminars. (We do have a departmental colloquium, but not so often -- in part, I think, because the people who want to go to see talks already have plenty of talks to go to.) I am a number theorist, and I feel a very high degree of "mineness" about our number theory seminar: I spoke in it today, as I do once a semester. I gave a ridiculously long talk (90 minutes -- hey, that's what we're scheduled for) and most of the core audience stayed until the end. When I miss a single week of the seminar, people ask after my whereabouts and well-being. There are several other seminars in my department of interest to me, and I attend when I can -- but they're not *mine* in the same way. And by the way, I am a tenured, full professor who has spent 20 years cultivating a broad, shallow knowledge of many different areas of mathematics, but for almost half of my department's seminars I would be too lost to want to attend regularly and too lost to ask good questions. Math is indeed hard, but so are other academic fields: I am really skeptical that all 80 people are equally invested in any one talk.
I would suggest scheduling more and smaller seminars, both dividing by research area and also by seniority. Can a talk really be pitched equally at senior faculty and students? This seems very unlikely. In the talk I gave today, I decided to pitch part of it at the students much more honestly than I often do. So perhaps the first 15 minutes (of 90) were truly aimed at them. The rest was aimed at faculty (including postdocs) and indeed the largest number of questions came from the most senior person in the room. More or less we are expecting that to happen by collecting that audience. Students are still there and still getting things out of the talks -- for instance, one of my PhD students attends the number theory seminar as faithfully as I do. Only very rarely does she ask questions on the spot -- but we often discuss the talks afterwards. She is also active in organizing the Graduate Student Seminar in my department, in which faculty are allowed but not encouraged to attend and usually do not. In fact, I had a period of about one year where I often attended the Graduate Student Seminar, but I stopped going when I realized the extent to which my presence there was warping the proceedings in a negative way.
In fact, here is a parable from when I was a graduate student. One of our seminars, the **Basic Notions Seminar**, had once upon a time been the "Graduate Student Seminar." But it was the kind of graduate student seminar where the faculty would give talks -- nice talks, which other faculty members would attend. After a while the students realized they needed their own "Graduate Student Seminar." They gave it a name -- the **Trivial Notions Seminar** -- which made it clear and obvious that faculty were not wanted as speakers or audience members. Both seminars have coexisted for many years.
>
> We want to find a way out of it. One possibility under discussion is to force, right at the end of the talk, the first couple of questions from them. But it's not accepted yet. Do you think this could be a good idea?
>
>
>
It could be a good idea, but I don't recommend it. There are probably many reasons why young people are not asking questions. As you made clear, young people who do have questions do not feel fully comfortable asking them. If you want to address the issue, then actually address the issue by creating an environment that makes them more comfortable. Forcing them to ask questions seems willfully dismissive of the reality that they are uncomfortable, *which they probably actually are*. As I said above, one of my students faithfully attends my seminar and rarely asks questions. If it were my choice, I suppose I would rather she ask more questions. But it obviously is not my choice: she is a thoroughly intelligent, competent, professional adult person, and one whom I know well enough to understand and respect why she behaves as she does.
Rather, I think that if you want students to ask questions, you need to actually create a seminar environment in which this is what they'll naturally do. I gave some suggestions for this above in terms of who is in the room. There are many other things you can do, if it is important to you. One big one is to **get speakers for whom interacting with the young audience is something they want to do**. When I teach graduate courses I get *lots of interaction* from the students, even though some are not so comfortable asking questions. How do I do this? *By saturating the lecture itself with questions and interactions with the students.* I will literally ask for students to complete my sentences. If I need to make a definition, I will say "Someone must know this" and ask a student to supply it. If the student gives the definition in exactly the form I want, I write it down quickly and we go on. Any discrepancy gets incorporated into the lecture on the spot (and is not necessarily bad or problematic: there are many different ways of saying the same thing, and what could be a better use of class time than showing a student that the thing they have in mind is actually the same as the thing I have in mind, or should be the same except for one technical point they have missed...) When I give a seminar talk, I still try a bit of this kind of didactic Q&A...but it depends on what the audience wants. Sometimes every single question will get snapped up by the people who know everything. Sometimes people will say nothing and not look me in the eye, trying to pretend they know the answer. Sometimes they will say nothing and look me in the eye, trying to get me to get on with things. In my home seminar, the senior people will play along with me if they clearly understand the game we're playing...but in part because they know I'm mostly pitching things at them.
One final idea: you can keep the seminars entirely as they are now -- again, please understand that the senior people are probably largely happy with them -- and add an additional component afterwards which is just for the junior people. Or talk to your junior colleagues, find out what they want and what environment would make them more interactive, and see if you can create that environment. But don't force the issue, and don't assume that everyone will feel the same way about it that you do.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: I struggle at asking questions myself and I do understand peer pressure concerns. There are valid "environmental" answer (like reduce size of seminars) but I'd like to suggest instead an approach dealing with students.
Question making is an important skill with windfalls on everything going on in the department. Go to your students during your weekly meeting with them, or in class or in a meeting scheduled for this purpose and tell them this. If they want to be research they have to ask questions and they have to try hard at it. It is not less important than studying for a test or working on their thesis or paper. It is a skill and it can be honed by practice. Questions shouldn't be forced++, but you can teach them good habits to end the seminars with worthy questions. And you can do so by assigning "seminars homeworks". Tell them that during next seminar they should jot down on paper things like:
1. What is the main result presented? Or what are the key equations discussed?
2. What was one or more thing that they felt they missed or couldn't fully understand during the talk?
3. Write down at least three things you never heard before
This has many advantages :
It puts them into active listening mode and helps focusing which is beneficial to them. They shouldn't fall in the trap that they can "look at the paper later", they can't because there is no times and the point of the seminars is precisely to avoid having to put lots of effort in understanding (and finding) a paper.
It makes them notice interesting spot/angles and stirs the question engine. Furthermore, questions are coming up in the safe space of their paper, they can ask them or not, and after a little while they will start asking them. Keep reminding them for a while, and things might get better. Let us know how it works in case.
I learned this from [this page](http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/potentialstudents.html) from a math professor giving suggestions on how to do research, very valuable research insights contained in here!
++ If the issue lies with the student being for some reason concerned with asking questions, as I implicitly assume in this answer, then forcing them is not the optimal solution. While it might provide motivation to some, I see a couple of downside:
* If students cannot think of a question by the end of the seminar this might play into their concerns and might distract them from the content.
* It might lead to forced/not useful questions, taking time from people who would like to ask one.
Personally, If I think I HAVE to ask a question (eg because the
speaker is important to me/is in my specialty etc.) I freak out, stop
thinking about content and start thinking about consequences instead,
eventually freezing and feeling bad. Instead, I stick with the
content, jot down and usually something interesting comes up that I'd
like to ask. Surely I am panicking more than the average student, but many probably feel the same way to a lesser extent.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Ice breakers; a professor or a person higher in hierarchy can ask a question that is obviously stupid; lowering the benchmark.
Short presentations; if it goes for too long, many tend to lose concentration. If you loose concentration, you cannot know if the thing you want answered was told. An ice breaker can be a question that was indeed answered in the presentation.
Same level audience; Master student and a post-doc has a huge difference in the skill level. You cannot really consider them peers. A master student level things are indeed something that a post-doc must know by heart.
Those are all for a short term, but Top-Down approach is here a must. Lower ones in hierarchy really cannot do and should not do anything about it. Ice breaker professors are a long-term thing. They need to be approachable and push the bar lower. It is the professors that decide what seminars are held, and how. The professors need to acknowledge this thing when designing a seminar. The seminar you explained was almost a certain failure; you cannot really put in on any specific culture. It involved so many people of different skill level. With that many person you need to talk really loud, which disregarding any culture does not really help at all. You need some confidence to even speak that loud, unprepared, in front of a hundred people.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: It is hard to get the students to ask questions. When I was a student I remember I didn't ask questions at seminars because I rarely understood what the speaker talked about. I don't think it was the peer pressure, but my colleagues rarely asked questions themselves.
Later, when I became a postdoc, I realized my younger colleagues never asked me anything during small presentations I would give at group meetings. So, I decided to put them on the spot. In other words, test if they get the details. I would directly ask one of the students about a detail I had just covered and then ask the others to help if that student didn't follow for some reason. If none of them understood, I would go back and explain again. This transforms the talk into a discussion, but I was able to get their input and see where they were.
I'm not sure how this kind of approach would work on a large group of people. Singling out people might get them to avoid seminars. In one of my former departments, I've seen a different approach. The speaker would be asked to sign up for a special seminar in which they would communicate (as usual) their research results, then it would have a second part in which they would discuss details with the people who were directly interested. The faculty could encourage their students and postdocs to ask questions during that specialized part of the seminar. Addressing students directly would be feasible in such case, and if the faculty have the time and patience, it could work out. The condition is that the students/postdocs do research in the same field as the speaker and use similar methods.
I've also seen older faculty with teaching experience stopping the speaker during seminars and asking the questions a beginner student should have asked. I tried that approach myself at my current institution and the speaker told me to shut up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: When the next speaker is related to your group's work, you could take the chance to encourage (in advance) the members of the group to ask questions. You would also need to encourage them to have a good look at the talk's abstract. Some members may be ideal for specific prompts ("If they don't mention X you could ask about it, they know a lot about it and it might help you")
You can ask something basic (not stupid, but something like "why did you use approach X?" even if you have a good idea it's because they didn't have the tools for anything else. This is epsecially true if you're chairing the session or introducing the speaker, when you should have a question or two ready to get things going.
If you're the speaker, relaxing into the questions may help. This may mean sitting down (though probably not with such a big group) or comiong out from behind the lectern, for example. But more importantly if you have a formal presenting style, soften your approach for the questions, and appreciate even the basic ones. Encourage everyone to chip in with more discussion on questions like "Have you thought about doing it like...?"/"How does this relate to problem ?"
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I will give you two proposals. The first is based on an experience I had as a music student:
My teacher held several workshops per year. When you had a piece ready, she would schedule you to play it in the next workshop. At each workshop, 3 to 5 students performed. There were 12-15 students in the room, all sitting in an almost closed circle in a large faculty office. The way she ran the workshop, after someone performed, everyone had to make a comment. The rule was, you had to find something specific and positive to say, you couldn't just say something negative, even if it was constructive (e.g. "I'd like to hear more dynamic contrast in the development section"). We found that we got better at making positive comments with practice.
By learning these skills in a small setting first, it became easier to apply them in larger settings.
Based on that experience, here is my first proposal for your department:
If there isn't already a structure of various types of seminars in your department, create them. When I was studying computer science, there was a small student seminar for our area that met once a week. One faculty member was sort of an advisor to the group, but it was essentially student run. We met once a week unless there was a special event on the same day. Sometimes, a student would read a paper he was interested in, and give a short talk about it. (This is a generic "he." It was actually a mixed gender group.) Sometimes, a student would describe a project he had been involved in.
It was much easier to practice our question asking skills in this setting than in a big room with lots of professors present.
But a small student group like this probably isn't enough. Each professor who is interested in helping change the question culture in your department could do a handful of workshops each year, similar to what my teacher did in my music degree. The professor should set it up in a similar way, letting students know at the outset that after the presentation, everyone is encouraged to ask a question. The professor can give some pointers. If a particular student has difficulty with English or shyness or whatever, the professor can work things out individually with that student ahead of time, making an exception if necessary, or providing extra assistance with preparation, or allowing for index card submission of the question.
The second proposal is to invite the audience to submit index card and online submission of questions during department seminars. Anonymous submission should be permitted.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: Let's roll back to our childhood. You will notice that the little guy will keep asking endless "stupid" questions.
Why?
Because the child is curious and has the passion to figure out what's going on. He or She has no social pressure to pretend to know something. Gaining knowledge is just as fun as playing games.
But why most of us lose such instinct and stop exploring the world when growing up? Reinforcement learning, a special type of machine learning models, can give us some hints on this. Basically, a person take actions to maximize the accumulation of his value. He would try a lot at first because he doesn't know which action will benefit him most. But gradually, **he try less and less because he thought he already knew the best move**. If he stop trying something new and stick to the best move of his knowledge, this is called a "greedy" algorithm. And this is actually the most adults behaves. Because losing is no fun and asking a "stupid" question is no fun, either.
However, in academia, scholars are supposed to ask questions, right? The fact is most students and PhDs are just like majority of adults, **they can be easily attracted by many more interesting things: movies, games, beauty body, etc. These things are more tangible**. By millions of generations of evolution, human genes are hard-wired to that. Statistically, less than 1% of the population will stay at academia, simply because intellectual exploration doesn' t directly make money. The long-term benefit is invisible by most individual, and is only seen by policy-maker and highly dependent on the society allowance. A starving society simply can't support systematical and in-depth thinking.
That's the big picture. Now let's focus on the question: why doesn't students and postdocs ask questions? The reason is **they don't know what is the right question to ask**. There are several factors:
1. Asking the right question requires critical and creative thinking skills. Current education systems are good at teaching the existing knowledge, and students pass exams by correctly answering questions, not asking the correct questions. And the way we teach is to divide knowledge to different subjects and subfields, as tiny piece as possible. Critical thinking is not taught across STEM but only limited to philosophy or cognitive psychology classes. By the way, my major is engineering physics and don't have a chance to enroll these classes. Anyway, I find these books are helpful: [Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0078038189), [The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1133610641),[Asking the Right Questions (11th Edition)](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0321907957)
2. [Curse of knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge). If you know something, it's difficult for you to imagine not knowing it. On one hand, the teacher may skip something that is obvious to him; on the other hand, **the student may use his imagination to bridge the gap between knowledge points**. There are just too many gaps in the world that human may not even notice it. After all, only Einstein noticed the knowledge gap between space and time.
3. Compared to regular class, seminars introduce very obscure concepts and deal with lots of boring details. The senior researchers are better at catching the gap the lecturers are trying to bridge; the junior researchers lack such sense, or may be too slow to follow the pace.
So the suggestion is to **let both lecturer and students be aware of the knowledge gap**s. Ask lectures to list some fundamental questions and present them in a more appealing way to attract student's attention. Ask students to practice their critical thinking skills and they will be addicted to think in a more thorough way. What's more, a seminar about critical thinking may be very helpful.
One note is that 10 groups have very diverse research topics. Students may not have enough background knowledge to join the play. Students simply don't have enough time for the warm-up activity. It is more a knowledge barrier rather than culture barrier. Where's the "activation energy"?
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: It can be argued in this day and age that virtually all academic journals are *international*, since they are online. Anyone with an internet connection can read and submit their work to journals, independent of their physical location or nationality (assuming they are not paywalled, which is still an international issue). The editorial boards of most reputable journals are international, and so are the reviewers. Even the companies that dominate the academic publishing are multi-national entities. Despite this, many journals include the term *international* in their name, usually in the form: *International Journal of [Something]*.
**What does it mean or imply for an academic journal to be *international* and so entitled?**
Does it mean that the founders of the journal were an international team? Does signify that its policies somehow promote internationality among the journal's editorial board, reviewers, and/or paper authors? Does it pertain to the journal's policy in selecting content to avoid focusing on the issues relevant to a locale and reflect a culturally diverse range of concerns? Is it merely a historical artifact from back when being *international* was a significant achievement, no longer practiced by founders of new journals?<issue_comment>username_1: It means nothing, as mentioned in the comments. A new journal must take a different name from existing ones, but usually wants to convey by its title what its subject is, e.g. Finance. If "Journal of Finance" is taken, one option is to name the new journal "International Journal of Finance". There are other options: "Journal of Financial Studies", "Review of Finance", "Finance Bulletin", "Finance Advances" or simply "Finance".
There is the marketing aspect that the journal name should sound fancy and intellectual, so "Blah Finance" is not a common title choice.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are many national journals. Search for "Chinese Journal of" or "Indian Journal of" to see a few. In developing countries, publishing in a national journal is viewed as less valuable for tenure and promotion purposes compared to publishing in a reputable international journal. Therefore predatory publishers creating new journals name them "International Journal of ..." to lead potential authors to believe their journal is better than a national journal. On CVs from developing countries, you will sometimes see national and international publications listed separately.
When selecting a journal, you should ignore the name of the journal and consider the editorial policies and content of the journal. You can also consult experienced coworkers.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I know that it is a common practice in computer science to submit a short version of article in conference and extended version in journal.
What if I submit same article one short version to conference and full version to journal simultaneously?
The journal has already mentioned that they accept the extended PUBLISHED conference articles; but in my case the conference article is not published at the time of journal submission. Moreover, the review process will complete almost within same time frame for both the conference and the journal.
I also want to know what does it mean when journal say that they accept the conference paper if it is 30% extended? It means 70% of text and results can be duplicated in both conference and journal article?<issue_comment>username_1: Your milage will vary on this, but I would advise against it. The spirit of the practice of extending conference submissions to journals is that one can use the conference to discuss a first version of the research with colleagues, go back to the lab, improve the work based on the feedback, and then submit a vetted version to a journal. In your scheme, if you submit both manuscripts at the same time, and they get published about the same time, what's the point of your conference paper? You won't be able to take any feedback into account, and the community also does not really gain by there being a published version of the research that is basically superseded from day 1.
I understand, and sympathize, that for you personally the advantage may well be two additional lines in your CV rather than one, but you should be aware that the academic community gets increasingly more stingy about the topic of "salami-slicing" papers, that is, the practice of trying to squeeze out as many papers as possible from the same research - and your plan, even if not strictly unethical, can easily be seen as salami-slicing, or at least be perceived similar in spirit.
>
> I also want to know what does it mean when journal say that they accept the conference paper if it is 30% extended? It means 70% of text and results can be duplicated in both conference and journal article?
>
>
>
It means that there should be about 1/3 more intellectual contribution in the journal version than in the conference paper. Clearly, this is only a rough guideline, as there is no metric for "contribution". However, you should not understand this as 70% of the text can be verbatim the same. Some amount of text duplication is often tolerated for journal extensions, but 70% seems way, way above what I would tolerate as a reviewer or editor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Submitting a paper to a CS conference and then to a CS journal (usually with extensions, though that's indeed complicated) is clearly accepted. Simultaneous submissions is clearly forbidden *and* punished seriously. Let me quote from the ACM policy as one example (<https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/simultaneous-submissions>):
>
> The ACM does not normally permit manuscripts under review in its journals or conference proceedings to be simultaneously under review for another publication. [...] Repeated violations may lead to a ban on future submissions at the discretion of the EiC or PC.
>
>
>
That page does suggest this is misconduct but still threatens a submission ban.
<http://www.sigplan.org/Resources/Policies/Republication/>
[IEEE guidelines](http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/Section_822F.html#sect4) are similar (as also mentioned in <https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18440/8966>):
>
> As described in Section 8.2.1.B.9, authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication, nor which is under review for another refereed publication. [...] Authors in violation of these multiple-submission guidelines are subject to corrective actions.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I am nearing the end of my undergraduate career at a not so great school (UHCL for those who are curious). I have an excellent GPA and an internship with a stellar company. The catch is I will probably have to go to grad school in order to work at that company, and this company likes to get full time talent from "top schools." My study performance looks stellar but honestly I feel a lot of that was just because my school is so lackluster concerning challenge (that's how I feel, at least).
I'm wondering if anyone has been down a similar path, moving from a low tier college to a high tier graduate school and if so, what their experience was like and what advice they may give. Wherever I go, I would really like to thrive.<issue_comment>username_1: I switched gears in a radical way after several years working in my Bachelor's field, by taking the additional classes I needed, primarily at a community college. Then I started graduate studies in a strong department in my new field. The professors didn't distinguish between me and fellow students who had gone to bigger name schools for undergrad. Chances are they didn't even know. To them I was just another student, interested in learning, asking good questions, working hard.
The admissions committee members would have known, but I never knew which professors had sat on the admissions committee. But even the ones who had looked at my transcripts (whoever they were) might have forgotten by the time I took a class from them.
I only had a problem with one professor. He assumed I didn't know my stuff when he was grading a qualifying exam. I think the root problem was that he was the one professor in my sub-field that I had not taken a class from. So to him I was a nobody. I found this out when I asked to see my exam and how it was graded. I discovered that he had graded it rather subjectively.
Thus, the one thing I would do differently if I were to go through it all again would be to take a class from that one guy. He only taught one class. I sat in on a couple sessions at some point, and found his teaching deadly boring, with very little homework. So I would have had to go to his office hours and really work to find something to talk about.
But that's what I would do differently if I could. Note, that had nothing to do with the schools I had been to prior to grad school.
Note that as a former intern, you will be a known quantity to the stellar company. That can be a real foot in the door.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your ambition is going to be far more important than your transcript. UH-CL is a fine school, and the UH system is known as being good... anyway, you just have to believe in yourself. (Technically, the curiccula should be fairly similar across universities in the US that are accredited.) What is your field?
If you need to go to grad school, then apply to the best grad schools. Get your best professors to write solid letters and try to ace the standardized test(s) (i.e. GRE) since that will essentially 'level the playing field' when admissions tries to decide who to admit. If you have a 4.0 from an OK school but you have great recs and a solid GRE (not even stratospheric), you are all set. I went to CU-Boulder for undergrad then UCSF for PhD (2013), for the record.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I've actually just finished applying to 12 graduate programs all around the country and so far, things have been pretty smooth but there is one thing that I am concerned about.
I have three people that I asked to write a letter of recommendation for me. Two of them have all sent in their LOR's already which is great, but there is one that I'm kind of having issues with sadly.
I told her last week that I'm still missing LOR's from her. Her response was that A) she didn't know that I was applying to that many schools and B) she's way too busy to send out those LOR's. I totally understand the amount of stress she probably has to deal with for someone as busy as she is, but at the same time, I'm really bummed out about it because she did initially agree to write them for me before the application submission season even started. To add, I also sent her a list of all the schools I was applying to at that time.
Now fast-forwarding to this week, she sent in LOR's to four of the schools I'm applying to. That's a start! But I reminded her again that I'm applying to other schools as well, eight more to be exact, and they're all currently waiting for her LOR to be submitted. She responds that no, she sent it in to five schools--and I hope this is just my online checklist lagging, but this doesn't seem to be the case--and that she's too busy to do even more. She explicitly said that she wants this to be the last time she'll have to turn in any more letters due to how busy she is on the last email she's sent me.
I'm awfully depressed about this situation and I'm not certain about what to do. I'm not the richest person in the world so I literally spent a good portion of my savings just to apply. Those application fees add up. To have that money and all that time I spent working on my apps go to waste just because one single component of my application was missing would be a major disappointment. At the same time, I really don't want to cause tension between her and me. I totally sympathize for her situation, and I really don't want to burden her, so I'm a little hesitant to try to talk to her again. I definitely don't want to come across as pushy.
Any suggestions on how to tackle this? I get a bit teary-eyed and anxious when I have to think about this.<issue_comment>username_1: It's hard for me to understand how this can really be an issue for the professor, because in this day and age of online submission, once she has written a letter, it takes very little time to submit it to each additional school. Twelve schools is a little on the high side but certainly not ridiculous. However, it won't really help the situation for you to tell her that. Of course, overwork and burnout are definitely things for faculty, and there could be issues like that in play. But my point is that based on what you've said, it sounds like your request is totally reasonable, and this is unprofessional behavior on her part.
I would suggest you discuss this with her department chair. You could share your email chain with the chair, making it clear that you requested the letters well in advance and the professor agreed to send them; that she has actually already written the letter; and that the reason for her balking is not apparently related to any concerns about your qualifications.
The chair will be better positioned to speak to the faculty member about sending the letters. Departments have an interest in seeing students succeed, and I think most chairs would not be happy about seeing this obstructed for relatively trivial reasons. The chair may also be able to offer to adjust the professor's workload, or have the letters submitted by some other staff member. As a last resort, the chair may be able to lean on some other professor to write a substitute letter at short notice.
Be prompt about this, but don't panic too much about approaching deadlines. Graduate programs are usually able to have some flexibility about letters submitted after a deadline, as long as the student's portion of the application was in on time.
This might hurt your relationship with the professor somewhat. However, I would say she already blew up your relationship by refusing to submit your letters. That's a breach of a very straightforward professional obligation.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: (I agree entirely with username_1 on this, but anyway...)
I don't get angry easily, but when I hear about cases like this - and there are examples among my students and even my colleagues applying for jobs every single year - I'm always briefly enraged. Letters are quite a small time-investment and they're of enormous importance. Most admissions committees are used to letters trickling in late, sure; and if some faculty members dislike writing letters, they're allowed to feel that way. But nonetheless: when a student requests a letter (an unremarkable request) and we say yes, aren't we agreeing that *we will not torpedo your plans for your future* (or at least set it back a year) by messing up and/or backing out at the last minute? Few other things I do are that consequential in terms of the price of failing to follow through. I mean, if someone has a legitimate emergency or some major health issues, that's one thing. But otherwise I don't understand not making every effort to see those letters written, sent, and received. Yikes.
Over time I have stepped in for several students, sometimes with only a day's notice, who have found themselves in this kind of situation and (quite justifiably) getting panicky. Is there anyone else you could ask for a letter as a backup plan? A letter from a pretty-good-if-not-perfect referee for you is better than nothing.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It is part of a profesor's job to deal with LORs; if a professor accept he/she has a moral duty to do it. However, it is not always so simple as copy-paste, and there are repeated questionnaires to fill, etc. This isn't much of an excuse not to do it, but please consider:
1. Is cut-and-pasting a generic letter always the optimal solution? It certainly saves the professor time, it gets the job done, but the result can be bland. I've seem too many LORs which are clearly generic. There is a balance somewhere. As to timelines and speaking for myself, I tend to do together all those with same deadline, and usually wait until a few days before the deadline: it's a mixture of procrastination and thinking about how I can improve the previous batch of letters.
2. What students consider urgent may not be so urgent for professor, who may have various other legitimate deadlines before LOR submission cut-off dates. With the advent of electronic form submission, it is easy to wait until very near the closing date to complete the job.
3. Some of the emails sent by institutions end up in SPAM boxes, and it may take a while to track down.
Now: what you can squarely put at referee's door in your case is lack of communication. If the referee is busy, he/she should provide updates or timelines, and expect reminders.
I doubt talking to a department chair would be useful where I work, but maybe it would be useful in your case.
I have yet to hear of any colleague of mine who promised LORs and did not deliver; in some cases the timelines made students nervous or very nervous, to the point of sending panicked emails to referee, but that just goes back to my point #2. Some of my colleagues find it a real chore to write LORs, but all recognize how important it is, and eventually come through.
I sometimes wonder - contrary to the comment of username_2 - if a letter send by someone less knowledgeable is actually better than fewer letters sent by very knowledgeable referees: some of the letters I see are completely useless and set aside as so by the evaluation committee.
You should be worried is NOTHING had been done so far. However, the process has started, and I would estimate that your last referee has a reasonable draft which she can easily be modify in time for deadlines.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: A respectable journal with high standards recently published a (mathematical) article. I care about the topic deeply, so I had a look at the paper. In several parts, it is poorly written (the authors are not native speakers, but I'm unsure whether they are students). In my opinion, the results are definitely not substantial enough for the given journal (the same journal has both rejected and accepted my work). However, after fixing language errors, it would have been an OK publication for a lower-tier journal (in my opinion).
The following two facts raise my suspicions even more. First, the authors of the paper are from country X, and the paper was communicated by a person from country X as well. Further, the whole process (from "received" to "received in revised form") is only 3 months, and I wonder if enough time has been given to review the paper.
I know "bad papers" appear in "bad journals", and with these I don't bother. This time I'm wondering though: should I let anyone know, or just move on?<issue_comment>username_1: You could consider *"doing something about it"* if the article was indeed questionable in terms of its science, i.e., if the data seems fabricated or you find faults in the proofs. Finding that this article's contribution is not exciting enough or minor language issues almost certainly do not qualify. How substantial the results of a given paper are is rather vague and subjective, and spelling errors almost certainly are not grounds for retraction. The best you can hope for, in my mind, is a corrigendum of the spelling errors.
You should also keep in mind how your supplemental arguments will appear to an outsider:
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> the authors of the paper are from country X, and the paper was communicated by a person from country X as well
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First of all, this is not "suspicious" as it happens all the time. Further, and this is the big concern,
replace "country X" with "the United States", and see if you would still find this suspicious. With concerns like that, it is very easy to be perceived as judgemental or downright racist, so I would be extremely cautious in following this line of argumentation any further.
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> the whole process (from "received" to "received in revised form") is only 3 months, and I wonder if enough time has been given to review the paper.
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We all know that the review process is capricious. While 3 months is certainly well below my average review time, it's not outrageous to assume that the paper had the usual number of reviewers, all the reviews were returned reasonably quickly (in one to two months) and found the paper acceptable, and the authors only had to do minor changes for the revision. While most manuscripts don't go through as easily, this does not appear particularly suspicious either.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As the academic system works, you may have **much more to lose than to gain**. I know that the math people love (in-) fighting. But it's much better for your career to make friends rather than enemies...
So for the sake of your career: lots of bad papers get published - **ignore it, and move on**. It's *their problem* if the paper is below quality standards. It's their reputation that suffers.
If there is an actual error, and the journal has the option of 'letters', then you can write up the analysis of the error and try to get that published ad an addendum. But don't spend much time on this - nobody reads them, and nobody cites them.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: Some years ago I published an article in a [Copernicus Open Access Journal](http://publications.copernicus.org/open-access_journals/journals_by_subject.html). They have a peer review process called [Interactive Public Peer Review](http://publications.copernicus.org/services/public_peer_review.html), i.e. the pre-print and the reviews are open access. Additionally, everyone can submit a comment on the pre-print.
I liked this openness, although I didn't get any extra comments other than those of the reviewers.
Some days ago another scientist told me that several scientists have concerns about this openess. They don't like the idea that their work can be commented by everyone.
I would like to know why there are concerns and how many scientists have concerns about this sort of peer review process.
Are there any studies or surveys answering this question? Are there any reports about the effects of this sort of peer review process?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know that there are any *surveys* looking at this, but some concerns I have, or have heard from peers, involve the following:
* Open means open, which results in a *way* more expansive definition of "peer" than in other journals. This can range from the merely problematic (people outside your field ignoring field-specific convention) to crippling (mass commenting on controversial topic by trolls).
* It's the antithesis of double blind peer review, which is also something that's being pushed fairly heavily. If you favor that approach, post-publication peer review is something of a problem.
* Post-publication peer review is *not* fairly distributed. J. Random Student isn't necessarily going to get the same kind of comments as Professor Big Deal. It's possible they'll be different in volume, hostility, etc. Standard peer review, for better or worse, does ensure a set number of reviewers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: [This answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/625/19607) discusses a survey that indicates blind reviews are much preferred to open ones. The main reason, from that answer, seems to be
* Many people don't want to review non-anonymously. I know many people on both sides of the fence on this issue. Once concern is that authors are often sensitive to criticism and may harbor ill-feelings against a person who gives an unfavorable review (especially if the reviewers have not properly understood the paper). Consequently, open reviewers may be biased (more so than blind reviewers) to colleagues they respect or want a good relationship with.
username_1 mentions a couple of other issues, but I see this as the main one (and it seems the survey does too). Some other potential issues are
* Certain "rivals" or "critics" can try to ruin your career by giving unfairly harsh reviews.
* Some well-respect person could make a comment based on a cursory read of the paper that ends up heavily influencing the reviews, and maybe no one reads the paper carefully enough.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying to the graduate program in astronomy in US universities. In support of my application I have provided three recommendation letters. Two are from my thesis advisors, while the remaining one is from my course instructor who works in condensed matter physics. He is well known in his field, but perhaps not in astronomy. I did very well in his course and he agreed to write a good (but not detailed) letter for me. Will this hurt my chances of admission?<issue_comment>username_1: Obviously, the better your letters of recommendation are, the better they support your application package. Impersonal, though supportive, letters may not hurt your package, but they don't help as much as fantastic letters from people who know you well.
So, not so much "hurt", but "not as much help as it could be", which some would say is equivalent to "hurt"
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: When you have to produce 3-4 recommendation letters, which is a lot for a PhD candidate, it is normal that some will be from slightly unrelated people (an instructor from a course that you liked, tutor, head of department, etc). It does not hurt you, since many (most?) other applicants besides you will have the same situation.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: Personally I believe publication process is not optimized at all and is too wasteful. There are numerous problems associated with it, however, here I just point out one of those.
Due to formal presentation of papers, usually reading a scientific paper especially in field of science and engineering is time consuming. There are some points in the paper that only a specialist of that very field would notice. This is why the journal editors assign reviewers to judge the paper quality. Usually these expert reviewers would see insightful points on the paper, which would take a newbie months to notice.
Having said that
1. I wonder why the publication does not provide review comments alongside the paper? does it harm anything?
2. Would be OK if we ask the editor for the comments of an specific paper? if yes, how?
I think it would be a good idea for publishers to publish reviewer comments of papers as well, they can even make more money and reading and understanding papers would be easier.<issue_comment>username_1: The peer review process, though not perfect, is one of the best ways to ensure high quality research. When one thinks of it, what are the true alternatives? Having an autonomous editor who approves everything or not based on his own experience is hardly objective.
As far as I understand it, you're proposing that publications publish imperfect papers with peer review comments alongside, or that the journals publish revised papers with peer review comments alongside. In the case of the former, it doesn't credit a journal or a discipline to publish knowingly imperfect papers and in the case of the latter, the reviewers' comments would already have been integrated into the text. Yes, it is time consuming reading papers, but peer reviewers only tend to highlight what they think needs improving. The academically sound material would not necessarily be addressed in comments.
If you are proposing that peer review comments make up a kind of 'summary' of the paper, that is not always the case. If a paper has minor amendments suggested the peer review comments could be just one or two lines for a paper which is thousands of words long. You'd still have to read the whole thing. If they request major revisions they will still only address what they think needs to be *revised*.
I'm sure many authors certainly wouldn't want a sub-par quality paper published with peer review comments alongside when they then know how the paper could be improved. It's much better to just get on and make the improvements. Yes, reading these papers takes time, but there's no short cut to hard work, and that's as true in academia as any profession.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It would probably harm the reviewing process itself as it stands at the moment. Many reviewers only agree to review, because they can be anonymous and their comments are confidential. I therefore do not believe, that any editor of a traditional journal would give you access to the reviewer comments on a paper, however you ask.
Having said that, there are some recent developments in some journals, which I appreciate a lot, and which go in that direction:
1. [Copernicus Publications](http://publications.copernicus.org/) is promoting an open review process. All manuscripts are published in a discussions version (pre-review), and reviewer comments are published and archived together with the article (and can always be referred to from the finally published paper).
2. [Frontiers](http://home.frontiersin.org/) is promoting non-anaonymous reviews. The reviewers are mentioned by name on the title page of each article. In my opinion, this increases the quality and objectivity of reviews a lot.
3. There is always the possibility to publish additional reviews after publication on post-publication peer review sites, like [PubPeer](https://pubpeer.com/). Those can help you to find errors in already published articles, which may have evaded the original manuscript reviewers.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> I wonder why the publication does not provide review comments alongside the paper? does it harm anything?
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**Usually, the reviewer do just not include the information you want in their reports and if they do, the authors address this in their revision.**
Reviewers are asked to review the paper based on correctness, quality, impact and similar things. They also provide a short summary of the paper in the beginning of the review, but this is often very short. If the reviewer think that the presentation of the paper can be improved, e.g. to make a contribution/problem/subtle point more visible, they would suggest this in the review and the authors are asked to improve the situation.
In most cases there would be no harm a-posteriori, but knowing this in advance would probably change the way, the reviewer writes their review. Also note that the comments of the reviewer would be for a previous version of the paper, and hence, you need to read *more* to understand what the review means. So, I don't think, that this would shorted the time to digest a paper.
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> Would be OK if we ask the editor for the comments of an specific paper? if yes, how?
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In most cases this will not work, since the reviewer agree to write review under the promise that the information in confidential. So, the editors shall not release the reviews.
On a different note:
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> Due to formal presentation of papers, usually reading a scientific paper especially in field of science and engineering is time consuming.
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I think you are wrong here: Reading paper is time consuming because science is hard, not always because the presentation is bad. Even reading textbooks is time consuming, and there are not too many "formal requirements" for textbooks (and a very different review process), so that authors of textbooks can write more or less freely as they want.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: Ads for postdocs in Sweden appear to always have a rule like *PhD degree obtained preferable not longer than three-five years ago*:
Example [1](http://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/vacancies/Pages/default.aspx?rmpage=job&rmjob=4747), [2](http://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/announcements-in-the-job-application-portal/?languageId=100001&disableRedirect=true&returnUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gu.se%2Fomuniversitetet%2Faktuellt%2Fledigaanstallningar%2F%3Fid%3D19144%26Dnr%3D799244%26Type%3DS&Dnr=799244&Type=S). I've seen it many times in the past but job opening links are particularly temporary.
Is this to protect people from becoming career postdocs? Is it a requirement from a funding agency? Or is it just a habit?<issue_comment>username_1: As they told you, this is not specific to Sweden but happens often, particularly with funding. After a number of years after your Masters, you are not eligible to get a PhD grant, and after a number of years after your PhD, you are not eligible to get a postdoc grant. I would say that's the general rule, written or not.
Reasons? The benevolent rationale I suppose is that after a relatively long time doing something else you might have deviated too much from academia/research and it takes time and money to get you back in track, so they'd rather spend it in a just-graduated that can be 100% productive since day 1.
The malevolent rationale is, well, actually the same one: after some time in the job market, you might actually be much more adult, independent, self-confident, and have built a reputation that allows you to speak up to your boss or find another job any time. Bottom line: much less submissive. Unfortunately, that's not exactly the kind of spirit that many research labs want... as often a postdoc is not considered much differently than an "older PhD student".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know about Sweden, but in the US there seems to be increasing mood in Universities to end, or at least not contribute to, the "perpetual postdoc" cycle. I don't know that there is real pressure from the funding sources, so much as a tough love from community leaders to stop taking advantage of a relatively cheap labor source by dangling prospects of academic success over them.
For example, our policy is to keep the *total* postdoc tenure to 5 years. If you come in having done a 3-year postdoc, that leaves you with two more years here. After this time limit is reached, the lab has to find means to fund you as an employee on the scientific staff if they want to keep you around.
Not all faculty love this, and some point out that by nature of some fields, postdocs tend to be longer. For example, if you're recording from single neurons and need a large data set, this can take forever. Despite such arguments, I haven't heard of any cases where the time limit has been waived.
The postdocs are not necessarily hung out to dry. We have a number of programs designed to help them find satisfying employment.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/26
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<issue_start>username_0: In my research field, software tools are considered a research outcome, and therefore it's normal that researchers build tools and make them publicly available. However, in many cases, the authors only make the executable for a tool available, without sharing the source code used to build the tool.
This makes things complicated for people who want to use or extend the tool: for example, they might be unable to run the tool, because it has a dependency to an outdated, flawed, or expensive commercial "baseline" tool. While they might have the programming skills to modify the tool so it can be run, this usually requires changes to the source code.
However, there is a kind of tool called *decompiler* which allows you to restore the original source code (or something similar) from the given executable. In some cases, you can work with the restored source code as good as if the authors had made the code available in the first place.
Assuming I want to use a particular tool for my research, and I have already unsuccessfully contacted the authors to obtain the source code in a consensual way.
1. Is it OK if I decompile the code to do my research? **Yes**
2. If yes, then how do I deal with the fact that I decompiled the tool in my paper? Would it be considered rude/sketchy to say that I did it?
3. Can I make the modified tool available to other researchers (and yes, as executables and/or source code)? **No**
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**Edit**: Thanks everyone. For questions 1 and 3, the correct answers for my case are now clear to me (see above). I'm still not sure about question 2, though. Are there previous examples in literature where people did this? Would it be acceptable to not address the fact that I decompiled the source code, by treating it like an irrelevant detail? Reimplementing the complete tool is not an option in my case.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Using a decompiler, you can work with the restored source code as good as if the authors had made the code available in the first place.
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Not even close. Try running the decompiler on a free software program (to avoid any ethical tangles) to see what it generates. The output of a decompiler, especially when run on an optimized binary, is horrendous.
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> Is it OK if I decompile the code to do my research?
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Legality depends on the jurisdiction you are in. Ethically, my view is that there is no difference between decompiling an executable to see how it works and taking apart a mechanical device to see how it works - both are perfectly legitimate means to learn about the state of the art.
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> If yes, then how do I deal with the fact that I decompiled the tool in my paper? Would it be considered rude/sketchy to say that I did it?
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I don't see how it could possibly be rude. Your paper should accurately outline your methodology, so I would say you ought to include this information.
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> Can I make the modified tool available to other researchers (and yes, as executables and/or source code)?
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No, as it would clearly be a derivative work. As you don't have any license to use the original work, I think this would be illegal in most, if not all, jurisdictions.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: (USA knowledge here, but may apply elsewhere)
All I can say is this. Anything you plan on doing with code that belongs to someone else, it is best to have permission in writing from them.
Decompiling falls under reverse engineering, and there are only certain situations that this is allowed without permission (such as dealing with viruses/malware, and suspicious payloads).
As far as making decompilation/reverse engineering tools.......that can be tricky here in the USA.....The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which is an oft abused piece of legislation, actually has been used in court to prohibit this activity, even by researchers. [See this link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act#Effect_on_research)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/27
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<issue_start>username_0: First of all, I need to apologize for writing a really long description.
I started my PhD in Mechanical Engineering 4 years ago and working with a professor, who has no idea on what we are doing and keep changing research area based on the funding possibilities irrespective of our capabilities. He is holding an administrative position as an associate dean and he has no idea on latest methods. He always refer to the methods published in 1980's.
First, I worked on an experimental research and had to stop after 1.5 years due to lack of funding to continue that. Then, I moved to a numerical research and used an open source software as my adviser didn't have money to buy a commercial software. Even though I had some experience in numerical work it took sometime to learn an opensource software.
After spending so much time, I finally managed to develop a new solver to simulate my problem.
I didn't get any input from my adviser as he didn't even want to listen to my research issues. The only thing he ask whenever I met him is do you have results to publish and when you are going to write a paper. Whenever I explain a technical issue he get furious and blame me. Then he doesn't talk to me for at least a month and he forgets what happened. Most of the time, I have to explain what's the problem I'm working on.
Last year he asked me to change my research, as my problem takes at least 2 days to run one simulation, which is normal in similar simulations. He told me that my solver is useless and there is no point of having a such code if it takes more than 4 hours. I was explaining why it takes long time and it's normal in such simulations even with a commercial software. But he got really angry and scolded me. Finally, I had no option other than changing my research because, I'm funded from his TA position (though the funding coming from the department).
Now, I have worked on this research for 6 months and he is still complaining about the simulation time. Now he wants me to abandon my work again as one of his friends found a paper (which is published in 1975) on a different method that claims it can solve similar problems faster. However, that method is based on many assumptions and no one has used that method after 1985 due to its limitations.
And my problem has completely different physics and cannot be used at all. I showed him some of the review papers which explain why that method is wrong and why no one uses it. But, he doesn't believe it and told me don't trust all the papers you read because most of the review papers are wrong as different authors interpret things in different ways. And he scold me saying there is no error in that method and it's me who try to find excuses not to change it.
I have tried to change my PI several times, but no other professor wants to take me as they don't want to make any problem with associate dean. I tried to apply other universities and they are expecting a recommendation from my adviser. I know clearly that my professor will never give me a recommendation to leave the group. He once told me and our lab mates, it won't be easy to leave this group even if you want.
No one in this university will dare to take my student. and he once told me that he cannot see me graduating at least in 2020. I don't really know what I should do.
I'm an international student and my I-20 will expire in 2 months and I need his authorization to extend it. I'm 29 years old and I'm actually not in a position to take a risk.<issue_comment>username_1: Change your adviser. Probably time to cut your losses and leave, your time is more valuable
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I sympathise, my husband had a very similar problem with a supervisor.
Changing your adviser sounds like the only thing you can do in this situation as it will just get worse otherwise. If you are unable to change within the school due to other professors not wanting to upset your current advisor, I would suggest looking at different universities who can take you. Maybe even on a distance-learning basis so you wouldn't have to move area.
If you get into a different university, they could easily sort out extending your I-20 for the term your PhD is expected to take. From a new position you could then launch a formal complaint against your old supervisor that would hopefully prevent other students finding themselves in your situation and might even award you some sort of compensation (even if it is just a note on your PhD to explain why the research took longer than expected)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You need to change advisors.
Your department and university should have administrative positions (assigned to senior faculty) whose job is to deal with problems like these, and who have the authority to confront troublesome faculty even if they are associate deans. They can help you extract yourself from this research group.
* The department should have someone known as the "graduate research advisor" or "academic adviser for doctoral students" or something like that. Their job is to make sure that all the doctoral students in the department finish their degrees in a reasonable amount of time. Make an appointment to speak to this person as soon as possible. Describe the problem to them in the following terms: you have been at the university for four years, you are making no progress toward your dissertation, and this is because your advisor keeps changing what you are supposed to be working on. (Four years in, *you* should have a definite idea of what your thesis is going to be and *you* should be making the decisions about what to work on.)
* The university should have an office dedicated to supporting international students. One of their jobs is to make sure that nobody gets stranded without a visa. Make an appointment to speak to *them* as soon as possible, too. Describe the problem to them in terms of possibly having to drop out of the university and leave the country if you can't get your visa renewed.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Firstly PhDs at my institution are expected to at most last 4 years, though the 1.5 years you spent before lack of funding stopped that line of research is a setback.
Academia often focuses on open source software as not only is it cheaper it can often make the results obtained more repeatable, so I wouldn’t worry about that too much.
Methods from the 1980s are valid, related work and can’t be discounted merely because of age, but should be considered in the context of more recent advances i.e. you have to move with the times. The fact its not applicable to your problem should discount its usage.
A solver that has a long runtime, can be explained to be useful still, it’s a limitation but the solver may potentially be made to be multi-threaded, or otherwise distributed. If the answer it provides is superior to other works then it is still novel and a valid contribution for a PhD. He's trying to push you down a route he sees as valid and is likely to advance your work, but I'd be cautious, listen to him, evaluate what he says and as it is your PhD make your decision accordingly.
In regards to technical issues, and wanting to publish papers, he should consider giving advice on how to solve any issues encountered, the provision of monthly supervision is also limited and perhaps should advance to every 2 weeks, dependent upon updates and the need for such a meeting.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Writing papers is important - if you want to continue in research, you need to have a track record of publishing. You are lucky to have the opportunity to publish papers. There are different ways of writing papers; you can do a STAR (State-of-The-Art report)- you just do a survey of what's available and compare the performance of each with various test data. Or you can write a paper based on your own solver, and compare it against other systems; open source or commercial. Is that little bit faster or more accurate? Draw some graphs comparing processing time against other systems. Can you take advantage of latest technology like cloud computing, parallel processing with GPU's and multi-core CPU's? Just try and throw something together. It might make your supervisor happy to see that you are at least trying.
The whole idea of a PhD is for you to demonstrate that you can be creative in solving problems while at the same time being logical and analytical in solving a long range goal. Your thesis is like a cruise missile zooming into a target; you list the range of choices at each stage; their advantages and disadvantages, the conclusion that you come to. Then you move to the next stage. It should form a logical consistent trail to the final goal.
Can you find work on campus as a research assistant or scientific programmer in the Physics department? How about applying for internships with local companies? Do you have your own webpage where you announce your own projects?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I think there are only two options for you
1. Move to a (much) lower rank university.
2. Quit your PhD.
If you can change your advisor, this would be ideal. But I'm afraid, your chance of successfully changing advisor is close to 0. Regardless of the reasons, 4 years without publications make your productivity questionable. It's unlikely that anybody will take the risk of hiring you, in particular when this upsets an associate dean.
If you still want to pursue a PhD, the only chance is to move to a lower rank university. A 4 years gap without publication, without support from your advisor make your profile significantly worse than 4 years before.
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> he once told me that he cannot see me graduating at least in 2020
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I rarely recommend quitting doing anything. But in your case, even when you can have a PhD after 2020, it's unlikely that you have enough result to get a postdoc elsewhere (it's not impossible, it's very unlikely). I don't think it's worth your effort.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: You have a variety of issues here.
No advisor will accept the dean's student - to change advisor you are going to have to look outside the university, so change universities if you need to change. Unfortunately this is probably not even an option since getting the INS to extend your I20 without your advisers help is going to be interesting
Once you graduate, academic jobs are extremely competitive to get, and a change after 4 years is going to look bad. Realistically you will be a very poorly paid post doc for the rest of your life if you try.
If possible in this situation, I'd try and do whatever is necessary to graduate, by the sound of it keeping your opinion of your adviser's methods to yourself. Maybe you'll actually learn something in the process, or maybe not. It doesn't matter if the thesis is based on an old method or not. You can change directions afterwards. It's better to graduate without papers than not, If you can't get a plan of action with your adviser, or worse your adviser has no intention of letting you graduate because he wants you around to do his menial tasks, then:
1) go to the dean of the university, explain the situation, and see if they can't work something out. This may make an enemy, you may be lucky and the dean see your side. Who knows, the Dean and the associate dean might not even like eachother.
2) In the likely event 1 doen't work out, simply quit. I've known people spend as much as 19 years in this situation, with the end result they end up in post docs that pay less than McDonnalds
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: Only option is to quit the university.
Apply better university and check the course details with new university course substitution.
If most of the courses taken from previous university is enough to post university requirements in order to begin the PhD thesis, you can start with fresh university and advisor in a shorter period.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: So you're in a rather unique situation. Ordinarily, the best thing to do is to transfer to another school. That is because everything you said is correct. No other professor will be willing to take you. This is something that happens in all Ph.D. programs. There's far more politics in Ph.D. schools than in elections. If you go the route of appealing to committees, Deans, Student Affairs, etc., you won't get anywhere. Your professor has all the power, and you have no choice but to deal with. Now I think you still have a good shot in getting something done with your professor. First he said he thinks you may be able to finish by 2020. That's far better than him saying, "I don't think you have what it takes to finish".
Now this is what you have to do, and you have only 2 months. You have to basically beg to stay in. That's pretty much your only hope. The reason I say this is because he has ALL the power. The Dean and the University has given him that authority. Read username_5 post above his advice is correct. You pretty much have to come up with your own idea, and sell it to him. You have to show that you're ultra excited in doing research. If he changes your project, just accept it with enthusiam. Now I'm saying this because I believe based on what you're saying is that leaving the university is not an option.
Don't complain to him, don't say things are unfair. No negativity. If you show enthusiasm, and show excitement, your professor will too. You have everything to lose, he has nothing to lose. It doesn't matter how right you are. I don't have to retype everything username_5, but follow his advice.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I have seen such things happen much more often than one thinks they do, but they are rarely spoken of. The blunt truth of the matter is that nobody cares about you (the student). If your advisor's peers let him get away with such behaviour and even get such a high position, there is absolutely nothing you can do, because no-one will support you (even though you have been wronged). The system is so broken that you are not protected unless someone is willing to stand against their fellow colleague, which almost never happens. Your legal options depend on which country you're in, but I think that you must come to terms with the fact that you are not going to complete this project or get a degree from that particular university (if you do not finish, you are typically blacklisted in that university. People may tell you this is not true because it is illegal, but I have seen it). Save a lawsuit against your university and your boss (which will get you compensation but not a PhD), your only realistic option is to apply to a different university, and find a decent person who will take you in. Better yet, take the leap of faith and take your valuable skills and go to the industry. You will find that both your time and mind are valued much much more than in the hive of psychopaths called academia.
I am sorry for my tone, but I have seen many people fighting this futile battle. As disgusting as the system is, it is highly unlikely that you will win. Your time is valuable, so spend it somewhere where people appreciate it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: In similar situations I know of people who have gracefully moved forward by dropping the PhD and finishing a Masters degree instead. Even if you already have a Masters degree, it may not be useless, especially if you can explain what happened to prospective employers and/or if the Masters you get from this PhD-attempt is not the same thing as your previous Masters degree.
My partner had a very similar situation as you. Professoral politics, and an oddly stubborn advisor that had a high-and-distracting administrative position, had them stuck with the advisor and at a loss for any research progress. Funding fell through, the advisor didn't help progress research and would send them in a new research direction every time they met. There were other advisors on their committee but they would both just give other research directions as well, and ultimately neither would do anything to risk defying the primary advisor due to politics. Other students in the same lab had mixed experiences - for some people that primary advisor was very open and flexible with them, for others the advisor was very critical and presented many unfair obstacles.
Eventually, finding that switching professors was not an option and moving to a different university would be very difficult, my partner decided to drop the PhD and complete a far simpler Masters degree. One of our friends did this as well, using already completed PhD work to get a Master of Science degree much sooner and get out of a bad rhythm they were finding in their PhD work. My partner dropped the work already done for the endless PhD and opted to complete an internship which was fairly distanced from the advisor, and then they got a Master of Professional Studies degree. There was also the option to use an already completed literature review to satisfy the MPS degree requirements, but the internship available was a good work opportunity which led to a foot-in-the-door with a good organization and led to a different person having a primary supervising role in the final steps of the degree.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: The big questions here are:
1. Do you really enjoy your research? If not, why not change that? Hiding in the seeming safe bubble is even riskier. 29-year-old is too young to not make a change.
2. If you don't have the resources to make a change, can you **borrow** them from others?
Your situation resonates with me. For the past 6 years, I exhausted my energy to get a Ph.D. Although I got a postdoc position after graduation, I pondered for several weeks and realized this was not the life I wanted. So I say sorry to that offer and now making a career change, away from academia.
Previous posts have given some suggestions: leave academia, transfer school, change for another boss, work more effectively with the boss, etc. These are all possible solutions. But the missing piece is: **what's your passion and your life goal?** PhDs tend to narrowly focused on the research area and are blind to the bigger picture. Try to think beyond your current dilemma. When you started your journey 4 years ago, you only have a very vague goal. Now it's time to reset your goal and make it as **[smart](https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.php)** as possible.
With the ultimate goal in mind, let's hack the realistic bottleneck, **money**. This may be the only question that this post is about. I am also an international student. I understand how money is important for a student coming from a developing country, and this is also why so many poor students have to tolerate an **abusive** professor. But I have to say, you have overpaid your price to get a Ph.D. It's not worth that.
Many people don't know the difference between a tough boss and an abusive boss, see [this](https://www.verywell.com/signs-your-boss-is-a-bully-460785). **Be aware of that the abusive person is eating your energy. Try your best to stay away from that.** You may play communication tricks to ease the tension. But you are always vulnerable and psychological unsafe. It's definitely not a productive environment. If your goal is not clear, he will always try to push your bottom line, because the cost is on you, not him. It is a zero sum game. Remember, a good relationship is a **shared** journey. Effort from only one side is not enough.
So money, as well as visa restriction, are actually where the abusive power come from. This explains why American students have a much higher drop-off rate at school. There's no reason to suffer the abuse. **School is a place where you are supposed to gain energy, not lose.** You exchange your time and money for potentially more valuable skills and knowledge. But it is not worth to damage your mental health.
Now we pin down the problem. It's time to **invest your courage to make a change**. Don't be afraid to abandon the Ph.D. degree. You can imagine that, if you continue your academic career for the next 10 years, you may still live under your professor's shadow. So forget the Ph.D. thing.
As long as you enroll in school, the F1 status is secured. *Change to a nice advisor to have the signature for the extension.* Now, money. If it's too embarrassing to ask parents or friends for the "activation energy" money, why not do it in the American way! Get a student loan. 0% APR credit cards are a fast path.
Say goodbye to the 1980s paper. *Transfer to a master program instead*. Find a way to leverage your current skills. Enroll the hottest and most useful classes, which can best equip you for good paying jobs and pay off your debt. If you earn enough and can have more choices, that's the time you may reconsider your Ph.D. dream.
The world is changing at an accelerated pace. **You should periodically reevaluate your situation and adjust your goal**. So you never lose the big picture. Work hard, spirit up and good luck!
One final note: I can feel that you are reluctant to change, partially due to sunk cost and path dependence. But these are the least important things to consider when you are making a long-term rational decision. I would recommend everyone reading this article: **[Life is too short for bullshit](http://www.paulgraham.com/vb.html)**.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_13: I'm not from academia and this looks like a poor leadship situation in which you've not developed the relationship.
I know from bitter experience you will not get anywhere trying to prove a boss wrong you need to out manoeuvre him. Being assertive is good but being confrontational is unlikely to be effective and you don't appear to have revised your tactics when they failed to make advances.
Be clear on your ultimate goal.
Is it to be right or graduate?
What was the goal of attaining the PhD? If it was to achieve a leadership role in an organisation then you have an opportunity here to learn and hone your skills. You going to meet a lot more ugly bosses.
It does look like you knew the adviser did not know the subject. How have you attempted educated him? My experience has been that when I wasn't providing the right type information rather than the right amount of information was when I got the most additional questioning.
I believe you haven't found the right approach for this person, yet. If you feel trapped then you need to look at your tactics, have you appealed enough to his need for significance, as a university dean, it's definitely one of his needs.
Failure to win the argument on method by researching why he was wrong was probably as futile as just demonstrating his approach was (probably) flawed by doing what he asked and then providing the findings.
What stopped you attempting it aside from ego? Did you even approach his friends about their reasoning for suggesting the outdated methodology/approach?
You need to recognise this situation is not optimal and one we often have to face in our careers. Do we take on ownership and attempt to improve things or admit we can't/won't and move on.
Tough situation.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: You know, I left my PhD program in a very prestigious university, after having to deal with a very nasty guy. I also spoke with whoever it was necessary to try to fix the problem, but the answer in almost all the cases was: he is a big gun in the field, so, or you exchange your boss or you leave the school, in other words, not a real solution at all.
My strategy was as following, make research in your school to see if you can leave with a master degree, in the same time that you do that, start sending emails to potential new advisors (it is a good idea to move overseas too, ex: germany). In those emails, you can explain what is your knowledge and the skills that you have got in this time, and what you want to do with him/her. What I have seen so far, is that often, PI's prefer to take experienced students (even with fails in their ways), instead of unexperienced ones.
I am suggesting Germany, because it is a more flexible system in which you can get an acceptation letters in weeks, without applying to any university, is is direct contact between PI and students. Usually, German PI's have money without problems, because they have a safe funding from his/her institution, plus the projects money. Also, you can apply to DAAD making a proposal to get funded. In Germany, you don't pay any fee, as a result, your advisor just needs to make your salary.
What you have to understand is that it is necessary to move out from that toxic person, although people tell you that a PhD is tough lane, it shouldn't be a daily injury.
talking about recommendation letters, try to speak with your PI, but without transferring guilt. Is is better for you to, for example, say that you feel that this is not your area (white lie), or that you have some domestic issues, or something like that, to try to avoid conflicts, to at least try to get a neutral reference letter from him. You always can come back to your undergrad recommender.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_15: >
> "My I-20 will expire in 2 months and I need his authorization to extend it.... He once told me that he cannot see me graduating [until] at least in 2020."
>
>
>
The second sentence suggests to me that his intention is to authorize the extension.
Getting your extension is Step 1. See if you can continue working to a reasonable level of satisfaction until the cat is in the bag with the visa. After that, your priority should be to get something published. That would be easier with the help of an informal mentor. My spouse had one. The famous name formal advisor signed the thesis but the informal mentor helped shape it.
Once you've found a mentor and have worked with him or her for a while, then you may think about transferring, with the help of a letter from the mentor. You can also ask a higher administrator for a letter.
You can look for a mentor outside your department or even outside your university. Going to some conferences might be helpful, and you can write to someone whose papers you read and liked.
In the beginning, as you are looking for a mentor and getting started in the relationship, there is no need to lay out the whole unpleasant story. You can say that your advisor is extremely busy with administrative duties.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_16: Kalyan, first of all, I'm so sorry that you've found yourself in this situation. It isn't your fault. There are bad people out there.
Before I launch into my answer, I want to challenge you on one thing that you said. You said:
>
> I'm 29 years old and I'm actually not in a position to take a risk.
>
>
>
I don't know what your age means here (do you feel like that's old?). I'm 33, am starting my fourth year of PhD, I have a child on the way, and yet I can take risks. Reasonable risks of course. Life is full of twists and turns. You're employable. Worst case scenario, you'll have to go home without a PhD. But you are still a good person. *He's* the scumbag. Remember that.
Ok, let's break this down, and see what we can do. What are we facing?
1. You are dependant on your supervisor for funding and your I-20
2. Your supervisor is interfering with your research process, and not mentoring you
3. Your supervisor is abusing you
4. You haven't published yet
We'll start with number 1 -- this is the most urgent issue for you. However, this might also be the thing that needs the least attention on your part. For one, I think it's extremely likely he'll renew your I-20 because:
* You are free labour for him. It's to his advantage to keep you.
* If you leave without completing your PhD it will reflect badly *on him*
I know you feel powerless, but if these two things are true, then you have a very small sliver of power in this situation. You *can* use it to turn this situation around. And I will suggest ways that you can increase your power in this situation.
If he doesn't renew it, well, then no choice -- it's time to go home. This sucks, but there's no tough decisions to make. It will turn from a nightmare into a bad memory, and you will move on.
I want to spend quite a bit of time talking about issues 2 and 3, which are related.
You sound like a sincere person who really tries to do what they are supposed to do. It must be confusing to interact with someone like your prof, who is not like that at all.
For the sake of your mental health, and your effectiveness in handling this situation, adopt a pragmatic approach to managing your professor. Figure out what makes him tic, and how to *hack* him. Do not take anything he says seriously, but rather, consider it as *data*.
If he get's upset, that's data--and very useful data! When a person gets upset, it suggests that they were threatened or it may be that they are trying to use intimidation as a control strategy. Both of these things create major opportunities for you to get the upper hand.
Based on the behaviour you're describing, it seems like your prof gets upset during technical discussions, situations in which his outdated awareness of methods is at risk of being revealed. I suspect he is insecure about that.
If true, this is a source of hidden power that you can seize. Using someone's insecurities might be a foreign idea to you, but it's justified in self-defence. Your goal will be to use his insecurity, and your ability to alleviate it, as a subtle control strategy. Put the following things into practice:
* If he gets angry at you, stay very calm, speak in a low tone, as if you are quite comfortable. Practice visualizing this. It's good to combine tactfully *formally* submitting to him, through your choice of words, while using your body language and tone of voice to indicate that you aren't intimidated at all, and not *intellectually* submitting to him. If you show no signs of worry when he gets angry, it will disarm one of his main control strategies.
* When he says something that isn't true about the literature or the methods you're using, you need to react in a very specific way:
+ frown ever so slightly, as if mildly disappointed
+ look off to the left, as if you are thinking of how to say what you're about to say gently
+ then gently indicate you know he is wrong while not saying so directly, and graciously saving him some credibility.
If you start to establish yourself as more knowledgeable than he is (of course without that ever being acknowledged), you will be in the position to control your conversations with him more.
Now, whether these very specific recommendations work at all has a lot to do with your prof's personality. It may also be more difficult for you if that isn't how your personality normally works. Try to remember that his getting angry is pretty silly. If he was a serious researcher, anger would be totally unnecessary.
My main point here is to try to illustrate how you can engineer your interactions with him with a concrete example. Generally, you should approach him not as a person, but as variable to be managed using careful and calm strategy.
An important part of making this work is to cut yourself off emotionally from him. This doesn't mean not expressing emotion (do, strategically), but rather don't let him drive your emotions. He has shown himself unworthy of that level of concern.
Let's touch on item 4.
I think it's easy to overestimate how big of a problem item 4 is. I know people who didn't publish until their 4th year, and people who didn't publish at all. It's true that it closes off opportunities to become a prof, but Academia is not all it's cut out to be. This doesn't prevent you from finishing your PhD, and it could be quite a fine PhD too.
There are some other things you can do to substantially improve your situation. Probably the main reason that this situation is so difficult is that you are so dependant on your prof. You can significantly reduce how dependant you are by building and strengthening your alternatives:
* seek out other professors that are working on things related to your research, and find excuses to meet with them and discuss their research. Many profs are very kind and open and interested in intellectual discussion. Form professional relationships based on your field and your knowledge. Explore collaboration and co-supervision if it makes sense. Co-supervision is a great way to pivot out of bad supervision relationship without having to hurt the original supervisor. It's a potentially win-win situation and I know people who have used it to get out of a bad situation.
* apply for jobs. You have a mechanical engineering undergrad degree I assume. Many employers would understand that you want to get out of your PhD early -- Academia is not for everyone. Of course you would be paid less, but still decently well, especially if your research is relevant.
* Reach out in your network -- acquaintances, friends, family back home, and really explore all of the opportunities and resources that are available to you. Are there people in your life that can offer some support emotionally, financially, or with transitioning out of this situation?
* Find out if leaving with a Masters is an option, and what you need to do that.
There are two reasons to engage in these activities. One is you might find a way out that is better than finishing your PhD.
The other is that letting your prof know you have a real alternative will fundamentally change your relationship. It doesn't need to be a great alternative, just a real one.
If you alter your interactions with your prof by staying calm when he is angry, signalling your superior knowledge of the state of the art, and developing viable alternatives, it could really change your position.
Now, imagine a scenario where you aren't held back by this prof. Imagine it is just you in an office -- no professor to help, but also no professor to interfere.
Given the work you've done, don't you think that, in another year or so, you *could* publish your work? I bet you could. Could it be that to take care of the fourth problem, you really just need to manage your prof enough to protect your intellectual freedom? This isn't easy, and most PhDs don't need to manage their prof while trying to get the hang of research. But I'm trying to suggest that it is doable.
One last thing you should do is seek out internal resources. There are probably support groups at your University for students that find themselves in tough situations with their supervisors. There may be university staff that you can confidentially discuss your issues with who might let you know about other options. Institutions have different kinds of rules and safety valves to handle irresponsible people like your prof. You might be lucky if you work at making your luck.
Do these things. Develop alternative exits. Manage your prof. Keep working while you're there. You can turn this around. Maybe you'll have your PhD after 5 or 6 years. Great! Maybe you pivot out to something else. Also great! Maybe you'll be out in two months -- at least there will be relief! It's uphill from here Kalyan. I know you can do it!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_17: From your initial description, he sounds like quite a problem, but not necessarily a malicious one. He's causing issues because of his way of thinking, or lack of thoughtfulness, not because he wants to use you, so to speak.
Could you speak to him at all, and see if he is able to understand the problem you face and what you need, for your progress? Get him to solve the issues his own behaviour is creating ("I need help to solve these issues") without making it a "you do X to me" blame situation?
Incidentally sorting out the visa 1st sounds very good, +1 for the ideas above on that.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently in the stage of my PhD (in math) where I need to start discussing with my advisor about my PhD project and I'm wondering what kind of things am I allowed to say and which ones should I avoid. I want to know how should I manage my communications with them.
More concretely, to which extent can I decline or object about certain projects they may suggest? Is it appropriate for me to say that a project doesn't appeal me, or that I'd rather do something more [concrete, abstract, with more applications, etc.]? Is it reasonable to bring up the projects of my peers?
I've heard about people having their advisers proposing multiple projects from which they may decide, however, up until this point that doesn't seem to be my case. Otherwise I wouldn't be looking for advise. In any case, I understand they're experts in their area and their suggestions are very well thought (relative to me and the research area) and on-point.<issue_comment>username_1: You're going to be stuck with your adviser and the chosen topic for several years -- so you better be honest in your conversation and say what you really think. I don't think there are any off-limit topics. The worst that may happen is that the areas you are interested in have no overlap with those your adviser has knowledge of/is interested in, and which he might decline to advise -- but that would be good to know as well.
When I have these conversations with my students, I actually do not offer any topics. I ask my students to come up with areas they are *interested in*, and to think about what *they* want to do before we make decisions about PhD topics. There is nothing worse -- for both sides -- if a student is stuck with a topic they are not interested in, and so I let my students choose what they want to do, and only steer things a bit to the left or right given my knowledge of what the relevant topics today are.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with Wolfgang's answer, be open and honest about what you want. But I want to add some practical advice...
Coming up with a concrete project will take multiple meetings with your advisor and one hurdle is getting your PI on the same page as you each time you meet. What I mean is that they are very busy with classes, projects, and collaborations that span a variety of specific topics. So often, it takes a minute for both ppl to wrap their heads around a particular topic.
I like to prepare a few powerpoint slides before meeting with my PI. Usually one methods slide that pictorially describes the procedure for the relevant project, and then either predicted results or actual data if I have it. I don't know exactly how that translates into your field, but sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words!
The other thing that can be frustrating is that it's hard to remember all the discussion later and so I asked my PI if I could record our meetings. Might seem a little weird but I only record certain parts like when we're really getting into the theory. I want to be engaged in the discussion not rapidly taking notes that end up being insufficient later. My PI was a little awkward the first time I did this (obviously I asked and PI said OK) but now my PI has come to appreciate it because I'm taking more away from our meetings.
**In short, prepare a few powerpoint slides on proposed projects and record conversations when discussing complex ideas.**
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it a bad idea to mention in a paper that I plan to address some of the questions it rises in a future paper?
**Background**: While discussing some results from a recent preprint with other people, we came to the conclusion that with similar methods we can prove a much more general statement. In fact, we are working on it now, and already have some preliminary results (not quite as general as we hope to get though). Now, while revising the original preprint, which I hope to send to a journal soon, I am faced with a dillema: Should I mention that we are currently working on the more general problem, and hope to publish its solution in an upcoming paper? It is a very natural generalisation, so I certainly should mention the problem itself as a possible future direction.
**Positives**: The positive aspects of mentioning the future project are, I think, quite self-evident. For us, it gives marginally more peace of mind (people are less likely to try and obtain our future result if they know we are working on it), and marginally more publicity (possibly someone will be interested in the problem after reading the first paper and will look up the upcoming one later). For the public, it gives a fair warning (so less chance someone will start working on this problem and be disappointed we did it first) and a reference for where future results might be found.
**Negatives**: There are also several reasons why mentioning the future project may be counterproductive, and/or/hence put us in bad light. I'm not sure how valid the following concerns are.
1. I'm claiming rights to something that's not mine. Until we have a proof of the new result, we have no special rights to it; while here I am, claiming the problem as ours. This may especially irritate people who would also like to work on the problem, but now feel compelled not to.
2. I'm obstructing future progress. Perhaps someone would have produced a better solution to our problem if we didn't deter them. This is especially important if at some point we discover that our project was overly optimistic and that we do not have a solution in the end.
3. I'm putting irrelevant things in the paper. Someone might argue that the purpose of a mathematics paper is to communicate mathematics. References to past papers serve to give credit where credit is due and to enable the reader to look them up. Conjectures and divagations about future directions are also fair game, as they are ultimately about mathematics. But writing about *our* future directions is about as relevant as saying that I'll be working on the problem while listening to classical music and doodling on a piece of white paper with a green pen.
(*If relevant - my field is pure mathematics. Perspectives from other disciplines are very welcome.*)
*Edit to clarify:* My impression is that for questions like that, there is a clear-cut (but often unwritten) set of rules which say what you can and cannot do in a paper. If this is a border-line case where the decision is genuinely opinion-based, then I would be very eager to learn this as well.<issue_comment>username_1: This is a great question, but I think it's slightly misformulated. What you are thinking of doing is neither "bad manners", nor can it really be considered "marking your territory" in all but an extremely weak (so weak as to be essentially meaningless in my opinion) sense. The correct question is the one you ask in the body of the question: is it a good idea? And specifically, is it a good way to build a solid reputation for yourself and to maximize the impact of your work?
The principle at work here is that in general [it's a bad idea to brag about achievements you haven't yet attained](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/57842/40589). You might think that by doing so you are "marking your territory", but that's simply not the case: in reality it is fair game for anyone to publish a proof to a claim that you say you plan to prove in a future paper (and if they publish a proof using a different technique than the one you use, as you suggested, then that is even more legitimate and there is even less concern that they will be deterred by your "territory-marking", to the extent that such a concern exists at all). On the other hand, by trying to lay claim to results of which you do not currently have a written proof you undermine your own credibility: no one knows whether you will follow through on your promises, and everyone has seen cases of people making such claims and never following through, and would therefore be quite likely to be very skeptical of your claims (both the present claims and any claims by you they will encounter in future papers). So, by and large, bragging about as-of-yet-unattained achievements is not a winning strategy, and I'd advise against it in all but a handful of circumstances.
So when is it appropriate to advertise planned future follow-up work at the end of a math paper? I can think of two situations where it may not be a bad idea:
* You have a 90%-complete manuscript of the future work and have a *very* high degree of confidence that you can complete it in a very short period of time, *and* you believe that advertising the future work helps make your current paper seem more attractive. (But be very careful: predictions of this sort tend to be wildly optimistic. I am speaking from personal experience, which I'm guessing is shared by almost everyone who has been publishing in pure math for more than a few years...)
* Your intent is not to advertise the future work in a selfish, territory-marking sort of way, but rather to advertise directions for follow-up work that you believe are of interest to the community in an altruistic sort of way that makes it clear that anyone is free to pursue those directions. It's still perfectly fine to imply that you plan to do so yourself, just don't expect that this gives you any special rights that prevent others from beating you to the punch. For example, you can write something like:
>
> To conclude, an interesting open problem is whether a [non-Riemannian hypersquare](http://babel.ls.fi.upm.es/~pablo/Jumble/ideal.pdf) exists. We believe the techniques of the current paper can be used to show that the answer is positive, and plan to address this in future work.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think it is both expected and acceptable to let people know in a paper both what the conjectures and open questions are, and to let people know whether you are working on them, whether you hope to solve them and whether you intend to publish something on them.
However there is a subset of behavior which I think *is* bad manners when I've encountered it:
1. Author(s) X publishes paper A.
2. They cite by name currently unpublished paper B, by the same authors.
3. In a particularly annoying case, some of the results in paper A depend on other results in paper B. Sometimes it's not even clear what the statement of these results is, just that if you knew what it was, you would believe the claims made in A.
4. Researcher Y reads paper A.
5. They unsuccessfully search for paper B which they expect has now been published.
6. They contact X and request a preprint.
7. X informs them that paper B is not quite ready to send out preprints since they are in the process of adding some even more exciting results.
8. X promises to send out paper B when it is ready.
9.
10. Y doesn't know whether to believe in the results in B, whether to work on their own proof of these results, whether the results in A are still correct, whether or how to cite the 'ghost paper' B in their own work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A "moral high ground" answer:
* It's not "your territory", it's everyone's. That is, scientific discoveries should not be seen as owned in any way by individuals or groups, but as common treasures of human civilization.
* It's good to let your fellow researchers know what you're working on, because:
+ This prevents redundant parallel work (although of course sometimes parallel work on the same problem with different perspectives can be a good thing; it's just that you want to know whether that's the case or not).
+ It increases the chances of collaboration with other researchers interested in the same problem.
* Papers should not reasonably be limited from the addition of a few short paragraphs indicating future research directions; and even if such a restriction is in place for some reason, such intentions can be published on a research group / individual researcher website or blog.
Thus if we ignore things like squabbles over credit, I believe the answer is pretty clear.
PS - I would always tone down what's expected, to avoid the deterring effect you mentioned and not to have to retract what I claimed. So "We're working on the problem" is preferable to "We believe we've obtained a solution" as long as it's not 100% sure-fire in-the-bag.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Why not mention the work being done?
I do not know how reproducibility and repeatability are treated in pure mathematics. But in many fields they are important. So, even if others publish your upcoming solution first, repeated work is important for reproducibility and repeatability (at least in some fields). And no one can deny that you were on the right track (try to ignore the *publish or perish* mindset).
On top of that, if others know what you are working on and that you are close to publishing it (I would avoid claiming that though, see example below), chances are that they may go to develop alternative solutions, that can, later, be compared with yours. A model may have a shortcoming in a particular situation, but may be the best in another (I see this a lot in engineering).
An example
----------
In a [paper of 1969](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4073845/), it is stated in a section just before the conclusion:
>
> Work is in progress at BPA to incorporate the frequency dependence
> approximately into the method of characteristics; (...) The weights
> would have to be chosen to match the frequency spectrum derived from
> Carson's formula (...)
>
>
>
And then in the conclusion:
>
> (...) Further work is necessary to find a satisfactory way to
> represent frequency dependence of line parameters.
>
>
>
It certainly marked the territory by acknowledging that future work is needed, it **is** in progress, and it was pointed out what a possible solution would be.
As far as I know, a [widely used/accepted solution](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4111151/) just came to be in 1982 by a PhD student being advised by the author of the first paper. It took more than ten years to arrive at a milestone. Of course, even today, there still is [research](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsr.2015.08.024) being done about this particular topic...
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/27
| 1,505
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergraduate currently. I am looking to pursue a PhD next year. I have an established PI here who I have been working very well with, and we already have, well, probably at least 2 years in the future worth of plans for potential projects. Obviously, it often does not look good to do your PhD at the same program as your undergraduate, as I have read that institutions view it as though the student does not want to leave their comfort zone, will have a more restricted network, fewer diversity in the background of recommenders, etc.
The problem is, my undergraduate institution is number one in the field I am doing, and in the graduate field I hope to pursue (its "specialty" is a different subfield than mine, but I am sure it is still at or near the top of the specific subfield I work in, and the entire program itself is still number 1). So my question is, could it potentially harm me in pursuing my PhD at the same place? What potential impacts could it have on me down the line? If I have other connections that I also have worked well with in the past at, say, the number 10 school in the field and am accepted there, would that be better, worse, and why? If I could instead work in a similar field at a different campus of the same university that is also top 5 (and also would allow me to perform the same research, take as interesting and focused coursework, etc), and my current PI would be able to co-advise me with a faculty member from that department, would that change things and be "far enough" of reaching from the undergraduate institution?
I am not at all concerned with rankings, but obviously with the current pay structure and employment market in academia, that is not something that can be taken out of the equation. I agree that I really enjoy pushing my comfort zone as well; at my current university, The only places with that sort of funding for the area of research I perform are top 25 schools, and getting hired by one of those is obviously a majorly uphill battle to start with. I really appreciate any insightful feedback/suggestions/tips you guys can give!<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, there is some taboo about it.
Yes, I have met people who did this and they are now professors at top schools.
From a logical perspective, if you are already at the best school in your field, then it *may* not make sense to go elsewhere. But like you said, it can also be beneficial to get out of your comfort zone and work with other groups.
In the end, if you do great research then no one will care where you did your undergrad. The **important** thing is to pick the university/department/advisor that you believe will enable you to do great research. We can't tell you what is best for you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> The problem is, my undergraduate institution is number one in the field I am doing, and in the graduate field I hope to pursue.
>
>
>
Here's a well-known story:
<NAME> did his undergrad studies at MIT. Near the end of his studies there, he approached <NAME> (the head of physics at that time) asking to stay on as a PhD candidate. Slate asked him why, and Feynman's response was:
"I want to go to MIT because it is the best school in the country."
Slater then said: "That's why you should go to some other school. You should find out how the rest of the world is."
(Paraphrased from "Surely you're joking...")
---
Here's a personal story:
When I was applying for graduate schools, everyone is applying everywhere, and in particular most of my cohort also applied for the graduate school program where I did my undergraduate degree. Now, most of them do not really want to stay another four or five or six years there---entirely understandable as the town is not very exciting, and after four years of undergraduate studies there one typically cannot wait to go away for a while. So the department is often reluctant to admit their own students for fear of "wasting an offer".
So I was slightly surprised when I got a phone call from my then undergraduate thesis advisor inquiring about my intentions, after laying out the above "facts". This being rather early in the process and before I had received any concrete offers, I responded in a way that is mostly truthful but also (I thought) calibrated to not ruin my prospects of getting some/any offer! So I equivocated that only an offer from one other institution would seriously tempt me away, and in the case I get offers both from that other institution, and my then current one, I would have to think harder before making up my mind. But the chances are 50-50 absent any significant differences in the offer.
My thesis advisor then asked me whether I am out of my mind, and why I would consider going anywhere else when he is the best in the world there is.
I stayed, and I am not sorry for it. (Well, at the very least, I still have a job.)
---
Having been in hiring discussions: I have never heard the esteem of any candidate lowered *solely* because he or she studied for both the undergraduate and graduate degrees at the same place. Concerns about "leaving one's comfort zone" and about "lack of connections" are more often raised in the context of
* Having postdoctoral research that closely mirrors doctoral research (no growth).
* Having a very small set of collaborators, one of whom is the doctoral advisor (no connections).
By the time most of us finished our undergraduate degrees, we are significantly less mature than we are after we finished our PhDs. No reasonable person would judge you on one decision you make when you are so young. Besides, if you really are the type that cannot venture far from your comfort zone, it will show up (probably more clearly) elsewhere in your CV.
So your consideration should really be: will I learn if I stay? Will I grow if I stay? Can I count on myself to reach out and make more connections should I stay? Will I perform excellent research if I stay?
Your decision should ultimately rest on your expected growth as an individual (both scientifically and otherwise) and not on unreliable perceptions from "the community".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/27
| 1,101
| 4,435
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I received the preliminary result for the MSCA-IF-2016 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship) application, and I learned that I am in the 'reserve list'. I wonder if there is a way to learn the updated funding threshold, which can help me make a better guess regarding my position in the 'reserve list'.
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, there is some taboo about it.
Yes, I have met people who did this and they are now professors at top schools.
From a logical perspective, if you are already at the best school in your field, then it *may* not make sense to go elsewhere. But like you said, it can also be beneficial to get out of your comfort zone and work with other groups.
In the end, if you do great research then no one will care where you did your undergrad. The **important** thing is to pick the university/department/advisor that you believe will enable you to do great research. We can't tell you what is best for you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> The problem is, my undergraduate institution is number one in the field I am doing, and in the graduate field I hope to pursue.
>
>
>
Here's a well-known story:
<NAME> did his undergrad studies at MIT. Near the end of his studies there, he approached <NAME> (the head of physics at that time) asking to stay on as a PhD candidate. Slate asked him why, and Feynman's response was:
"I want to go to MIT because it is the best school in the country."
Slater then said: "That's why you should go to some other school. You should find out how the rest of the world is."
(Paraphrased from "Surely you're joking...")
---
Here's a personal story:
When I was applying for graduate schools, everyone is applying everywhere, and in particular most of my cohort also applied for the graduate school program where I did my undergraduate degree. Now, most of them do not really want to stay another four or five or six years there---entirely understandable as the town is not very exciting, and after four years of undergraduate studies there one typically cannot wait to go away for a while. So the department is often reluctant to admit their own students for fear of "wasting an offer".
So I was slightly surprised when I got a phone call from my then undergraduate thesis advisor inquiring about my intentions, after laying out the above "facts". This being rather early in the process and before I had received any concrete offers, I responded in a way that is mostly truthful but also (I thought) calibrated to not ruin my prospects of getting some/any offer! So I equivocated that only an offer from one other institution would seriously tempt me away, and in the case I get offers both from that other institution, and my then current one, I would have to think harder before making up my mind. But the chances are 50-50 absent any significant differences in the offer.
My thesis advisor then asked me whether I am out of my mind, and why I would consider going anywhere else when he is the best in the world there is.
I stayed, and I am not sorry for it. (Well, at the very least, I still have a job.)
---
Having been in hiring discussions: I have never heard the esteem of any candidate lowered *solely* because he or she studied for both the undergraduate and graduate degrees at the same place. Concerns about "leaving one's comfort zone" and about "lack of connections" are more often raised in the context of
* Having postdoctoral research that closely mirrors doctoral research (no growth).
* Having a very small set of collaborators, one of whom is the doctoral advisor (no connections).
By the time most of us finished our undergraduate degrees, we are significantly less mature than we are after we finished our PhDs. No reasonable person would judge you on one decision you make when you are so young. Besides, if you really are the type that cannot venture far from your comfort zone, it will show up (probably more clearly) elsewhere in your CV.
So your consideration should really be: will I learn if I stay? Will I grow if I stay? Can I count on myself to reach out and make more connections should I stay? Will I perform excellent research if I stay?
Your decision should ultimately rest on your expected growth as an individual (both scientifically and otherwise) and not on unreliable perceptions from "the community".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2017/01/27
| 1,652
| 7,262
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<issue_start>username_0: Whereas it is often considered unethical to manage as an editor, associate editor or guest editor a manuscript from a researcher with whom you have coauthored one or more papers, this does not typically hold true for peer-review.
In other words, it is considered acceptable by most editors for me to review a manuscript from one or more authors with whom I have coauthored one or more papers, and even authors with whom I am currently collaborating.
But is this truly ethical?<issue_comment>username_1: When you are being asked to peer-review a paper authored by somebody you have collaborated with (or are collaborating with), you should be aware that you are on a slippery slope.
The very least you should do is:
* Ask your self the question whether you think that you can provide an objective and unbiased review.
* To inform the editor (or whoever invited you) about this.
There are situations where it might be acceptable, and situations where it is not. It is certainly not acceptable when you have a clear interest in the outcome of the review process (think of reviewing a grant application, where you would be benefiting somehow).
From the other hand, when you are (one of) the clear expert on a certain topic, and had only a superficial collaboration with the authors, it might be acceptable (in some narrow fields it might be kind of unavoidable).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you have to discuss this topic much more nuanced.
Sometimes, people become co-author on a paper where you also collaborated, without you actually knowing them very well or at all. In this case, another author on the paper (likely the principal author) knows both you and the other co-author, both of you did their part, and that's how you ended up being co-authors. Under such conditions, I would not object when you review a publication in which this other co-author is involved. You hardly know them, so you are reasonably objective in my opinion.
On the other hand, if you are talking about people with whom you are regularly collaborating, whom you regularly invite for co-authorship and they do the same with you, whom you know very well, and with whom you potentially have a collaboration going on right at that moment; then this is something completely different. I would never agree to review a paper where any of those people played a significant role in performing the study, and I would consider it unethical to do that, because you can hardly be objective anymore.
Having said that, I must admit that there is still a lot of leverage. You may have ended up being co-author on a paper, where you still have a very professional relationship with the principal author (i.e. they were not members of your work-group, supervisors, etc.) and are still reasonably objective, although you published with them in the past. Additionally, as Captain Emacs already pointed out, some fields are small. At some point you know basically everyone in that field, and may have engaged in collaborations with lots of them at some point. It is in noones interest to significantly reduce the pool of potential reviewers just to stick to some over-the-top rules. I normally decide for myself if I can be objective in regard to certain authors, and decline to review if I cannot (and inform the editor if I know any of the authors on a significant level). And I just hope, other reviewers are doing the same.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'd say it's unethical if one of the following apply:
1. Your bias (potential or actual) is not made clear to everyone involved in the paper selection and review process (that coauthor; the editor; the other authors on the submission; the other authors on all submissions for that volume).
2. Satisfactory notice of the situation is not made to the readers (although I'd say it can be more general than naming everyone's names). (\*)
3. Your being the peer doing the review can be avoided - that is, there are other capable peers, who are less biased (potentialy *and* actually) with regards to the submission, who might review it.
If everyone was duly notified, including the readers somehow, and it can't be helped - which can often be the case in smaller fields of research - you're ok ethically in my book.
(\*) - This point can be ignored if it's well known than just one or two prominent people are doing all the reviewing, in which case there's an inherent bias by the very setup - but readers can be expected to know about it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I will speak about the practice in my field, and leave my judgment to the end (below). I think that **in some areas of applied mathematics it is quite common to referee papers written by one's former coauthors**.
In one subfield that I work in, I very frequently review papers written by someone who I have previously coauthored a paper with. This is partly because I have co-authored papers with a large portion of the active researchers in this particular area (it is quite small). In most cases, the editor (who may also be a former co-author) is well aware of this relationship. I can often tell who has refereed my own papers because there is a small set of possible referees and I know them well. I find that the most insightful and critical reviews almost always come from people in this small circle, because they know the area so well and can much more readily spot deficiencies. Meanwhile, reviews from people who are not well acquainted with the area are often quite superficial; reports that ask for minor revisions or no revisions in the first round are typically from such people.
My sense is that **this small community is willing and able to provide serious criticism among its own members. The fact that most of them have worked together in the past (and may again in the future) does not stand in the way of this**. That claim might be harder to defend in any field that is "softer" than mathematics, since reviews will necessarily be more subjective.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It is for the editor or associate editor to make the final call once the situation has been explained.
The two cornerstones of the refereeing process (at least in my field) are anonymity and fairness/unbiasedness. Playing with either is asking for trouble. Always ask: what would happen if conflict (real or perceived) was somehow revealed, or discovered after the fact by the editorial team? The publisher or editor might have to take action that is not in the best interest of the referee or the authors.
If you think there could be a conflict of interest, immediately contact the associate editor who sent you the paper and your relation with the authors; continue only once you have the blessing of the editors. Even if there is no conflict, you will come out leaving a good impression. (I was once asked to referee one of my own submission: I declined. Obviously this was a clerical error, and shows such errors occur in assigning referees.)
Sorry if this is such a strong response.
(The only exception I know is to conference proceedings, where participants are often asked to referee papers by other participants, and when some form of conflict of interest might be inevitable.)
Upvotes: 1
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| 1,246
| 5,290
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<issue_start>username_0: Now I am ending my PhD in chemistry but love to switch to research in biology (bioinformatics or biochemistry). I already have wide knowledge in biology via university courses and latter learning with MOOCs, as well as programming. Please give a hint on getting a job in biology.<issue_comment>username_1: The difference between chemistry and biology is not so great that it's tremendously difficult to transition between the two. (Versus, say, transitioning from a historian of first century Mesopotamia into quantum physics.)
If you're looking for a postdoc, then I'd suggest looking for a lab that's doing the same sort of thing you want to be doing in the end, then figure out how your current skill set could potentially be applied toward that problem. For example, if you're an organometallic chemist and want to move into biochemistry, look for labs who are working on metalloenzymes, or with protein structure determination using paramagnetic metal ions.
Chances are, there's *someone* out there who is working at the intersection of your current expertise and your desired expertise. Get a postdoc position with them. At first you'll be "the chemistry guy", called upon to be the expert on you Ph.D. topic. But over time you'll pick up more and more of the biology, and can transition into more straight-biology research. Once you leave your postdoc, you'll have the biology experience (and publications) under your belt, and will be able to demonstrate competence to people interviewing you.
One caveat with this is that - like all postdoc interviews - you need to feel your advisor out on your plans. Many will be fine with your transitioning from one topic to the other, but there will be a few who will want to rigidly slot you into your Ph.D. role, making you a chemistry mercenary for your lab. Obviously, don't take a postdoc with those sorts of people.
---
If you're talking about a "real job", then things get slightly more complicated. A postdoc is technically a training position, and so broadening your horizons is expected and desired. For "real jobs", though, people are typically hired to do a particular role, and they're expected to be mostly accomplished for that role. That's not to say that roles don't change over time. A similar approach to the postdoc can also be used here. Find a company which is primarily a biology company, but needs your chemistry expertise. At first you'll be doing just the chemistry work, but over time you may be able to pick up more involvement with the biology side of things.
One type of place I might recommend you try for is a startup. The environment in a startup company is constantly changing, so people who work there typically need to be flexible and do many jobs. If you get hired at a mostly-biology startup, you might be brought on as a chemist, but it's likely that you'll be called upon to pick up biology as the job requirements change.
Again, feeling the company out in the interview is key. Ask how they see the position changing over the next 2/5/10 years. Do they seem receptive to you picking up a biology role, or do they want you to rigidly slot into a chemistry-only slot?
---
Regarding picking up another degree, I personally don't think it's worthwhile for two subjects as close as Chemistry and Biochemistry/Bioinformatics. A big part of a Ph.D. is training on how to do research, and there's not that much difference between how research is done in Chemistry and Biochemistry. If you have a Ph.D. in Chemistry, you should be competent enough to pick up biology research on your own. If you're interested in having a dual Ph.D., by all means go for it, but if you're just interested in doing more biology-focused research, learning it in a non-degree setting is probably better.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you already know biology well enough, getting a job in biology may very well be possible for a chemistry graduate. I was an electrical engineering graduate with specialization in micro and nanotechnology. However, all of my real jobs outside the university have been mostly about computer science and communications engineering, and now I have started a PhD in communications engineering.
The key is to know the field you are applying for a job in. The knowledge may have been obtained from university courses, or alternatively through self-studying. In my case, I'm an expert self-studied computer programmer which helped me a lot. The recruiters mostly don't care: deep interest in and knowledge of the field is always seen as a merit. They'll obviously test your knowledge, but if you pass those tests, things are going well for you.
I understand that you are applying for a job in academia, not for a job in the private sector. This may be somewhat harder than for my case, as academia requires deeper knowledge of the subject than typical private sector jobs. But if I was able to do the transition in a way that allowed me to start my PhD, I suspect it may be possible after finishing the PhD. Another option would be to do another PhD. If you work in academia, you will eventually have to start publishing, and enough many publications related to each other practically means that you have your second PhD ready.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/27
| 422
| 1,862
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in my last semester as an undergraduate and in a class in a field that I do not consider myself knowledgeable (but interested). I fear that I will be stressing rather than learning. The audited class will be a part of my final transcript, it will not appear until I am done with the class. I am also applying to graduate schools this semester, will this impact me? (It is not a part of my major, it relates to my minor, but I have fufilled the requirements for my minor so it is still an extra class, and as an auditor I do all the work (tests and assignments) and come to every class because I want to learn)<issue_comment>username_1: If the course is in your major (in which case you probably can't audit it unless you have already met your requirements) or related to the field of graduate study you are choosing, auditing it might make you appear to either lack aptitude or interest in an important area if there are other reasons to question your record, such as if your grades in other courses relevant to your major are poor.
If it is a side interest, unrelated to your future area of study, then there is most likely no problem.
In either case, an admissions committee may consider it almost as if you hadn't taken the course because they have no way of assessing what your level of participation was, if you even showed up for class, etc.
(this answer applies to one course; if it seems like you audited every course you could in your undergraduate career that might say something else about you and suggest you were dodging a full workload - that doesn't sound like your situation here)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: An audited course on your transcript only indicates that you turned in a form to audit a course. It provides no other information, and nobody will give it any further interpretation.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I teach at a school and I create PowerPoint presentations to use in my classroom. I also need to upload the PowerPoints to my school website for my students to access. Access is restricted and students must sign in with their school codes. Can I use images I find on Google search? Are all images copyrighted? If they do not have an "ownership" stamp on them, are they ok to use in this manner? Nothing is being sold and the presentations are taken down at the end of each year.<issue_comment>username_1: It doesn't really matter, but if you're worried just caption the pictures with a relevant credit and/or copyright notice.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Images found in Google search don't belong to Google.
I can't speak to fair-use under academia, but I can say images aren't fair game just because they're found on Google images
There are, however, places you can find images you can use. Wikimedia has a ton of images that can be used, with a wide variety of licenses for re-use. Flickr is another that comes to mind.
I want to reiterate that I don't know fair use under the realm of academia, but would ask permission and highly recommend captioning photos in order to give credit where it's due.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You ask a really good question. Many people download images from websites without even thinking about whether they can consume it. Now if you properly credit/cite your source, then you avoid being called a plagiarist at your school. However, you're not in the clear with the owner of that image. Basically, you need to find out what the author/artist requires. Some say you only need to credit and provide a link back. Others might not say anything, which in that you need to get permission. Crediting is not enough. My suggestion is when you do an image search, add the term "public domain" or similar. Or... I know this is not what you want hear, but actually purchase image bundles that clearly says unrestricted use. If you find images that have no clear author or owner, I would not use them. Those might be stolen.
Or you can go to stock photo sites and buy images. That's what I do, by the way. You get unlimited and unrestricted (mostly) use. You'll sleep better at night knowing that the image police won't track you down someday.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: You should not just use any image you come across online. In general you do not have permission. If in doubt, you do not have permission to use the image. Copyright is basically automatic, with more permissive choices needing to be actively labelled. However, you can limit a google image search to images with certain permission.
Another aspect to consider is 'fair use'. As an educator, roughly speaking you can make use of materials *for the purpose of teaching a specific point*. That is, use for learning purposes is probably acceptable (subject to details). Use of images that are purely for aesthetic purposes is not.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/27
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<issue_start>username_0: This is an unusual situation where I want to take classes and receive credit for my transcript at a particular university but I am not currently a student there.
At some point in the next few years I will applying for a program that I actually do plan to complete, either PhD or master's, but not until taking more classes at this university.
What are the considerations I should be aware of if I were to apply, be accepted, matriculate, etc and drop after an academic year, i.e. two semesters? I assume that if anything this would make it more difficult, from an 'ethical' standpoint, to be admitted to a program in the future if I were to explain my reasoning for having dropped out, but I'm not sure if it would be that important.
In particular, it will be clear that I matriculated and dropped in order to preserve continuity with my previous studies (just completed). i.e., it will be obvious to a program that I apply to in the future that I do not intend to matriculate and drop again as I would do here.
To clarify, I would not be transferring to another school, but dropping out entirely and recommencing my degree from scratch at another time, likely at least a year after dropping, but with the additional courses in my transcript.
EDIT:
I should also clarify that this university does not offer a 'non-degree' program so that is not an option.<issue_comment>username_1: Most, if not all master's programs in the US have a 5 year requirement. You must finish your degree within five years. You can certainly matriculate, take classes, and then drop out. Those class will be on a transcript which you can transfer elsewhere. However, graduate programs are specific to each school, meaning a class you took at University A, might not transfer to University B. The worst that can happen is that your classes don't transfer over and you will have to start from square 0, at which point the additional courses would be useless and all that money you spent would have been for nothing.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: *You* know you are *planning* to drop out, but no one else needs to know. People's plans change all the time. For example, a person might start a master's, then realize he actually wants to work toward a PhD. He might start at one institution or in one program and realize he actually wants to be somewhere else. If he has done good work before the change, and if he is not someone who habitually starts things but abandons them before finishing... I don't see a red admissions flag here.
I don't see an ethical problem either, because when you start a master's program, you are part of a flock. The program doesn't suffer if you leave after 2 semesters, and an advisor hasn't invested a lot of time and thought into how to best guide you.
*Caveat: I have never sat on an admissions committee.*
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think that [username_1 C.'s](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/83962/41843) and [aparente's](https://academia.stackexchange.com/posts/83971/edit) answers were correct in that it's fine for you to matriculate, take courses and drop out. However, I want to address your question from a more general perspective.
Should I study anything else before going to the program I really want?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If I read you correctly, you want to amass more knowledge before you start your target program. I believe that immediately starting your target program is a better decision. I acknowledge that you might lack some knowledge to fully grasp the courses in your target program from day 1, but this very lack of knowledge will be a motivating and stimulating experience for you. In other words, if you start a program in a well-known field, you might get bored and lose motivation quite fast. If you start a program in a field you know not-so-well, you'll put more effort into studying, and the *rate* at which you amass knowledge will be a lot higher.
Secondly, starting in your target program immediately will allow you to make acquantainces and network with the people from the same program, which will also benefit your learning.
Finally, one of your concerns is
>
> [I want] to be as well-prepared as possible.
>
>
>
You are not the one to assess it. When you assess yourself, it's very easy to err on either side. The correct tool to assess yourself is the admission process: **if you are selected to matriculate, you are ready for the program**. This is why you should **apply to the target program, at least to see if you get admitted**.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/27
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| 6,045
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm Brazilian and am currently trying to apply to [this scholarship](https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/scholarships/) in New Zealand. However, when asked which "level of study" I will apply for, I see the following list:
* PhD
* Masters course
* Masters thesis
* Post-Graduate Diploma
* Post-Graduate Certificate
I only understand what a PhD is. To me, both masters sound like the same thing (in Brazil we have a masters course that you conclude when you present the thesis), and I haven't the faintest idea of what is the difference between a post-graduate *diploma* and a *certificate*.
So what's the difference between these four categories and are they known as such throughout every English speaking country or are they specific terms used only in NZ?
(also I'm not sure which tags to use here, so correct me if necessary)<issue_comment>username_1: They are asking how long you want to stay and what type of degree you plan to pursue.
You probably have a lot of thinking to do about these questions before you apply: it looks like there is a lot of information and resources on that website to help you, and if you are unclear on anything I would suggest contacting them for more information.
My assumption, though it isn't immediately clear, is that there would be a separate application process for the institution you will actually be visiting, though I could be wrong and maybe there is just a very streamlined process.
These are all fairly standard terms, the last two are the only ones that seem atypical to me, but it is clear they are completed after a bachelors but are less than a masters.
A PhD is a doctoral degree, doutorado. My assumption, though it might be wrong, is that "masters course" means you are coming just to take a course, "masters thesis" means you plan to do your research for your masters in NZ.
(edit: I'll keep this answer here for now, but <NAME>'s answer has a much better clarification of the specific meanings of each)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: * A Phd is a three or four year degree awarded following research and a thesis.
* A Masters course is a taught postgraduate degree usually of one or two years duration.
* A Masters thesis is a research degree of one or two years duration awarded following research and a thesis.
* A Post-Graduate Diploma is usually two-thirds of a taught masters and is awarded to someone who did the examination component but did not complete a dissertation.
* A Post-graduate Certificate is usually one-third of a taught masters and is awarded to someone who left after completing half of the course credits.
These terms would be used in areas based on the British University system, but all have analogues in the [Bologna Process](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_Process).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In the specific context you're asking about these refer to qualifications at different levels of the [New Zealand Qualifications Framework](http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/understand-nz-quals/#heading2-0), which are [documented in detail](http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/Studying-in-NZ/New-Zealand-Qualification-Framework/requirements-nzqf.pdf) (PDF). The short answer, though, is to **pick the name of the qualification that matches what you're planning to enrol in**. The institution will list it with one of those terms specifically; if you don't know what you're going to enrol in yet, the first thing to do is figure that out.
---
The two "Postgraduate X" qualifications are the least widespread terms and *do* have some New Zealand-specific subtleties in terms of how they're offered. A *Postgraduate Certificate* requires 60 credits at level 8, and represents half a year of full-time tertiary study at an advanced level. A *Postgraduate Diploma* is 120 credits of same, representing a full year. These are defined on [pages 17 & 18](http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/Studying-in-NZ/New-Zealand-Qualification-Framework/requirements-nzqf.pdf). Note that these are different (at a higher level) than the similarly-named "Graduate Certificate/Diploma" qualifications.
Both Certificates and Diplomas can be separate qualifications that you enrol in deliberately, commonly at polytechnics and non-degree-granting institutions. They're also often exit points for people who leave part-way through a longer qualification. These will require an undergraduate degree as prerequisite.
---
A *Master's Degree by coursework* (which ought to be what the form says, but "Masters course" is a plausible error) is:
>
> at least 120 to
> 240 credits and is achieved through coursework consisting of courses, project work
> and research in varying combinations. It may build on undergraduate study in the
> same academic field, or it may build on the more generic graduate attributes of
> an undergraduate degree in other fields, or in some cases on relevant professional
> experience
>
>
>
There is no thesis in a coursework Master's. 240 credits is two years of full-time study.
A *Master's degree* not further specified (in context here, with "by coursework" as a separate category) is either:
* a 90- to 120-point thesis following a postgraduate diploma or Honours degree (one year); or
* a 240-point qualification involving both coursework and a thesis, essentially the postgraduate diploma immediately followed by the thesis (two years, commonly officially "MSc part 1" and "MSc part 2").
All forms of Master's degree are defined [on page 18](http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/Studying-in-NZ/New-Zealand-Qualification-Framework/requirements-nzqf.pdf).
---
A PhD is a 360-credit thesis, representing three years of full-time research (pages 20-21). It will generally require a Master's or Honours degree as prerequisite.
All of these are different qualifications that will be offered specifically by universities. You should pick the one that matches what you're planning to enrol in, which will be named directly as one of these categories.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m a fourth-year PhD student. For a while my advisor has been complaining that I don’t take enough ownership of my projects and I just do what he tells me to do, and that I don’t have any critical thinking skills. He told me that if he left me in a room for six months by myself, I would not be able to produce a paper.
After our last project finished, he just never gave me a new project, and I haven’t had a research project for several months now.
I asked him why he did not give me a new project, and he said that he shouldn’t have to give me projects, because I am the graduate student and I should be coming up with my own projects. This is very different from all of our previous projects where he came up with the whole idea and I mostly just followed instructions.
Is this a polite way of firing me?<issue_comment>username_1: Your advisor is right: a PhD student needs to take more and more ownership as the PhD progresses, as one of the main goals of attaining a PhD degree is to become an independent researcher. Taking ownership includes that a PhD student should develop the ability to formulate research hypotheses and a matching research plan (main milestones, methodology of investigation, time plan) on his/her own, and your supervisor should merely provide feedback on your plan, but not have to write it in main parts anymore. For a "normal" PhD project I would expect that after about half to two-thirds of the allocated time the student has shown strong signs of taking ownership.
As <NAME> said in one of the comments, it is indeed high time for you to do your own stocktake of your PhD project and develop your precise research questions / main hypotheses for the remaining PhD, including a draft of the research plan (as above: main steps / milestones, indicative time budget, being clear on the research question addressed in each step, and defining a methodology that can indeed answer the research question, make an analysis of the risks involved [do you have all the equipment / data / source code / ... you need]). Ask your supervisor for feedback, but do not ask for his/her "approval". **You are the lead on your PhD project and have all the responsibility for it**, and you merely ask your supervisor for expert advice, not for any decisions or his/her blessing.
And if you still find that you do not get a handle on taking ownership, and if you were my PhD student, I would ask you to seriously consider the question whether a PhD is the right thing for you and whether other options (e.g. exiting with a master degree) would make sense.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: No, he's not firing you. Quite indeed the opposite. He feels you're ready to move on to the next phase. He thinks you just need a little push. Do you want to lead the next research project? You have already published some papers (probably as 2nd or 3rd author). Do you have an excellent idea for the next publication but don't have time to do the low-level coding; maybe if you could borrow the time of 2nd or 3rd year students? When others are leading, does it make you feel envious? Do you have the itch to direct your own project? If the answer is generally "no" to these questions, then the Ph.D. is not right for you.
If you are feeling forced to lead, then you'll be struggling throughout the Ph.D. program. As a Ph.D. you are expected to lead, but you must want it. If you're nervous, because it's your first time, don't worry. Just let your advisor know, and ask for guidance. Tell him you want to be 1st author on the next paper, and ask for feedback throughout the paper writing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Whilst I fully agree with your advisor, I understand your feelings.
In my opinion you have now the opportunity of working with a better supervisor than your previous ones. Perhaps you have moved to a far place to take your PhD and now essentially you face a cultural shock. In some cultures (e.g. China) most academic advisors and professors expect students to obey without questioning. In other cultures however (e.g. Central Europe) academics believe more in the importance of independent and critical thinking. I am of the latter opinion.
My suggestion is that you study your field of research deeply, discuss the state of art with your peers and best specialists you can reach, and then identify the areas where you believe you'd be able and willing to contribute with. Then you write 2-3 short proposals in such directions, ask your peers for advice, and then present them to your supervisor.
If you're unable to do that independently, or if you find yourself merely copying/following others on everything, I suggest you think again whether a PhD is truly what you need and why. If you're better off following orders perhaps others fields are the best fit for you, and your advisor would benefit from a different sort of advisee.
Personal hints: (i) Give special preference to a project style you're most intimately passionate about, as that will keep you going in your lonely ride; (ii) sending *indirect* implied messages is actually misguiding others, and thus can **never** be a truly professional, efficient way of advising a student. Take this message home, regardless of what is considered "polite" there.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently posted something related to this ([If an assumption proves to be false, is the research then meaningless?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83725/if-an-assumption-proves-to-be-false-is-the-research-then-meaningless)), but it is still bothering me.
As I mentioned in that last post, I conducted my first research project in high school last year, and I am now having doubts about one of my assumptions (I was not used to making assumptions at the time). I actually learned that one of my assumptions were invalid from a judge at a science fair.
As a matter of fact, I had not even noticed that I had made that assumption until he brought it up (and penalized me for it). Despite all of the people that I had proofread and check my research, no one brought it up. Furthermore, I competed at science fairs prior to that one and none of those judge brought it up (I am not sure if they caught it or not). I was successful at those science fairs, but I am now feeling guilty. I feel as if me not mentioning that one assumption is the only reason I was as successful as I was (although I cannot justify it).
Is it wrong that I withheld this information, despite the fact that I was not even aware of it? Is that considered cheating? This question has been bothering me and I would appreciate any help. (I am now working on a different research project and I am being much more cognizant about my assumptions.)<issue_comment>username_1: If you were not aware, you did not "withhold" because that requires intention.
With time, you will practice insight about what implicit assumptions you make - this is part of the scientific development and even great scientists have not been free of that. Galilei transformation, for instance, was taken for granted for centuries, which was initially fine, but was sustained to the point where "ethereal" concept-bending had to be introduced to keep it alive.
As Einstein said: "The fish is last to discover water." Do not be too hard on yourself, as long as you put it firmly into your agenda to do your best to be fully aware of your assumptions and their validity. Discussion with friends/colleagues can help here.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Doing wrong without knowing it may not save you in a court case, but morally you're fine. You made an honest error, it's good.
As long as you accept the correction and go with it now (i.e., don't use that assumption anymore, now you know it's invalid), it's OK. Science is full of occasions where things proved to be wrong after the fact.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds like you're feeling shame because you are thinking that you somehow "cheated" and wrongly benefitted from the work you presented. If you are telling yourself that you are a cheater and a fraud that's bound to be found out, that self-shaming and it gives you no room grow.
If you recognize that you made a mistake and resolve to avoid doing the same in the future, you can allow yourself to learn and stop dwelling on this.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: We are a bunch of people writing a collection of papers. Two of the writers are from Iran (where the common language does not have gendered pronouns), and they have expressed to me some concern with regards to the lack of gender-neutrality in our papers.
As you may know, English writing often exhibits some degrees of gender-bias, mainly the use of "he" to refer to a person with an unspecified gender. These co-authors would like to avoid such bias if they are to put their names on the papers.
They've told me this as we are close, but haven't talked to anybody else (there are 3 others). Is this a reasonable request? What's the correct thing to do here? I could just ask the others, but what do I do if somebody gets offended by the request and refuses? I doubt it'll happen, but in the current public discourse where "political correctness" is the new pejorative buzz word, I am not so sure.<issue_comment>username_1: Certainly there are many people in the world who prefer to avoid using gendered pronouns for persons of unspecified gender, so your co-authors' view is not particularly unusual. But there are others who see no problem with this. There are plausible arguments on both sides, and this site is not the place to rehash them. You can see some of the debate on [English.SE](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/30455/is-using-he-for-a-gender-neutral-third-person-correct).
Like any request from a co-author, you and the other authors should consider it. If you disagree, deal with it like any set of reasonable adults who disagree: discuss the issue and share your reasons. If necessary, you could agree to settle it by a vote.
If all else fails, some authors could withdraw from the paper; the remaining authors might then need to rewrite their contributions. I think it's unlikely to come to that.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: This is an entirely reasonable request and you should honour it. It is very easy to write English in a manner that avoids the unfortunate use of 'he' as a placeholder for either gender, and doing so avoids needless sexism in your writing.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Two of the writers are from Iran ... As you may know, English writing often exhibits some degrees of gender-bias, mainly the use of "he" to refer to a person with an unspecified gender.
>
>
>
I think this hits the nail on the head in terms of one reason **why**, possibly, to make the change. As comments point out (or rather, "according to the comments", as I'm not an expert in Farsi/Persian) there aren't gendered pronouns in Persian and so, to them, it presumably feels odd on a very basic level.
>
> Is this a reasonable request?
>
>
>
It's presumably a piece of work that you have all put a lot of time and work into and, accordingly, have some degree of attachment to. Not to mention that it's going out into the world with your names on it. In that context, I think that *any* request is reasonable -- that doesn't necessarily mean that any and all changes *should* (or can) be made, but it's totally fair for people to ask.
>
> They've told me this as we are close, but haven't talked to anybody else (there are 3 others).
>
>
>
That does, unfortunately, put you in a difficult position, as the go-between. You have my sympathy, for what it's worth.
>
> What's the correct thing to do here? I could just ask the others, but what do I do if somebody gets offended by the request and refuses?
>
>
>
I would suggest that you could talk to your fellow English-as-a-first-language (I assume) co-authors about this as an abstract topic, if that would help? Ask them their feelings about it, without bringing up th specific request. I acknowledge, though, that it could, potentially, do more harm than good if it gets them set in their ways. Alternatively, explaining that it feels "odd" to your other co-authors as their first language does not use gendered pronouns might help to avoid the "political corectness" concerns that you have.
More practically, if it comes down to a (polite) debate: some people have been taught that the word "they" can not be used in the singular, but if it helps you to argue the point, Shakespeare seemed to be perfectly happy with it:
>
>
> >
> > There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
> >
> > As if I were ***their*** well-acquainted friend
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> *A Comedy of Errors*, Act IV, Scene 3
>
>
>
or
>
>
> >
> > Now leaden slumber with life's strength doth fight;
> >
> > And every one to rest ***themselves*** betake,
> >
> > Save thieves, and cares, and troubled minds, that wake.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> *The Rape of Lucree*
> (Credit to [Language Log](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/002748.html))
>
>
>
I will confess that I am something of an evangelist for "they" as a singular pronoun, and have argued succesfully for its use in documents. I have, I think, only ever received one objection, and that was more along the lines of the change being unecessary, or a preference for using the composite (and, in my opinion, stylistically clumsy) "he or she". However, [your mileage, of course, may vary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/your_mileage_may_vary#Phrase).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: While in some fields this can be a matter of personal preference, as stated in the other answers, keep in mind that in some fields (and journals), avoiding gender bias in your writing may be a stylistic requirement.
See, for example, the author submission guidelines in the following journal (under 'Statement on the Use of Gendered Language'):
<http://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1548-1352/about/author-guidelines.html>
And the APA 'Guidelines for Unbiased Language':
<http://supp.apa.org/style/pubman-ch03.00.pdf>
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: There's no real reason why you shouldn't comply and try to convince your other co-authors to comply as well.
Allow me to offer you some (both good and bad) alternatives to gendered pronouns:
Using "(s)he" or "he/she": This doesn't exactly fit the bill of an ungendered pronoun and it's annoying to both read and write.
Using an "alternative" pronoun (such as "xer" or what not): I highly recommend AGAINST this. It's weird and is most likely to be met with resistance if you suggest it.
Using "they/them/their": Using plural to refer to someone without specifying gender is a very common and accepted.
Using "the [noun]": Another common way to do this is to refer to the person with a noun such as "the reader" or whatever noun applies to the person. If done too much though the text becomes needlessly extended and much more annoying.
I would recommend using "they" while mixing in "the [noun]" occasionally when you feel that it needs to be more specific who you're referring to. This could be when who you're referring to changes or if you feel like the reference has gone stale after many uses of "they". If who you're referring to never changes you could for example replace the first "they" in every paragraph with "the [noun]".
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Are there known cases of plagiarism in mathematics? The writing practices in mathematics are clearly different from the writing practices in the humanities. In the latter area I roughly know how to characterize plagiarism because examples are known. But I do not know how plagiarism is possible in mathematics, except for blunt copies of text.
Do you know about examples how plagiarism in mathematics looks like?<issue_comment>username_1: The American Maths Society has been caught:
[A plagiarised book](http://stlq.info/2005/08/plagiarized_math_title_withdra.html) on maths history.
Another notorious case concerned an Eastern European academician in the bad old days. He began with a bit of self-plagiarism, re-publishing his own works in English language journals. But then he moved on to translating and publishing as his own papers from Russian journals. He was exposed when a Russian mathematician, on moving/escaping to Paris, discovered that his best theorems had been stolen. I think the AMS published an analysis of the whole sad affair.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Plagiarism of profound and significant results in contemporary mathematics research seems to be close to nonexistent. It’s antithetical to the culture of the discipline and the likelihood of success is remote when the spotlight is bright. Around the more dimly lit edges, however, it can and does happen from time to time as attested to in the comments.
I’ve encountered it myself. In 2012, after publishing some results in matrix analysis, I contacted an academic who was doing research on similar topics who I thought might be interested in some of my results. I summarized my results and we had a brief exchange and our correspondence ended not long afterwards. A few years later, in 2015, I attached some appendices to my full-text version of the 2012 paper at researchgate.net to help assist readers of the paper with illustrative examples and related MATLAB code. Upon posting it, I noticed that someone at the same Spanish university as the academic’s co-author had almost immediately downloaded the updated full-text. Then, later, in 2017, I came across one of their publications that took the same novel perspective, had nontrivial mathematical overlap, and similar MATLAB code generation results as my 2012 paper with appendices. Notably, there was no citation for my 2012 paper listed among their references. Instead, they (Lebtahi and Thome) had trotted out their results as if they had come up with it all on their own, apparently assuming I wouldn’t notice this violation of academic integrity. I sent an email requesting an explanation, and after more than a year and a half of attempting to work something out with them (and mostly being ignored), I’ve largely accepted that no meaningful action will be taken on their part, and attached yet another appendix to the article full-text detailing the transgression as I see it [if interested, you can look over Appendix E by accessing the full-text link accessible from [here](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221675160_Some_Properties_of_Commuting_and_Anti-Commuting_m-Involutions)]. As to what their motivation was, I can’t say for sure. Was it tied to career advancement? A struggle for tenure? The idea that they could lift results from a relatively obscure journal without offering credit and get away with it?
At any rate, unlike priority disputes (which still happen from time to time), accusations of plagiarism that relate to the central core of mathematical research seem to be largely a relic of the past. Perhaps the most famous mathematical plagiarism accusations were hurled during the acrimonious debate between Newton and Leibniz on the development of calculus. Although a number of historical accounts suggest that this development was independent on the part of both parties, there are several indications that Leibniz was less than forthcoming about his knowledge of the research results obtained by others. One fascinating discussion about this appears in the [excoriating book review](https://www.ams.org/notices/200905/rtx090500602p.pdf) that <NAME> gave in the May 2009 AMS Notices (Volume 56, Number 5) for the book “*The Calculus Wars*”. As one example, on page 609, Blank points to evidence that suggests Leibniz’s *Tentamen de Motuum Coelestium Causis* was based on his uncredited reading of Newton's *Principia*. This book review is superbly written, and provides interesting details about this historic mathematical event. For those interested in the calculus controversy, I highly recommend checking out the review.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Yes, there have been. One case is publicly documented here: <http://www.mathematik.uni-marburg.de/%7Egumm/Plagiarism/index.htm> and another one documented at <http://de.vroniplag.wikia.com/wiki/Ry> that is a doctorate in chemistry containing much mathematics. The book has been withdrawn and the doctorate has been rescinded.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Plagiarism in mathematics is much similar to plagiarism in programming. People often try to manipulate the original equations to make them look like a new one.
Quite possible that people try to change variables or try to write the same piece of code in a different language. Same goes for core mathematics.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> Are there known cases of plagiarism in mathematics?
>
>
>
Yes. [Retraction Watch](https://retractionwatch.com/) has a [searchable database](http://retractiondatabase.org/).
>
> Do you know about examples how plagiarism in mathematics looks like?
>
>
>
A search for `(PHY) Mathematics` with `+Plagiarism of Article OR +Plagiarism of Data OR +Plagiarism of Image OR +Plagiarism of Text` found 72 articles on 29 December 2018. Browsing these would provide example of plagiarism in mathematics.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Some obvious examples could verbim that looks like:
<https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/8b5j7h/heres_the_paper_that_the_theorems_in_wrights/>
Other non-obvious but famous case is the (suspected) plagiarising of
Perelman's proof on Poincare Conj.
<https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/08/28/manifold-destiny>
<https://projecteuclid.org/download/pdf_1/euclid.ajm/1175789085>
Two established mathematicians admited that they "forgot" to read about a famous "theorem widely understood by the experts in the field". I will leave the judgement to yourself.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is partially inspired by [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/39022/how-not-to-be-like-a-rolling-stone-in-research). Do researchers, who actively publish, even have time for that? They seem to be a busy lot. I am not talking about [publishing outside the filed](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23317/disadvantages-to-publishing-outside-field-of-projected-study), but about studying for the sake of learning just for fun and curiosity, as a form of amusement.
Is there any known case of a researcher who, by studying a topic outside his/her field for fun, had an insight for a novel approach or solution?
It seems that studying is only done (by researchers) when "it might be useful". Is that true?
That, maybe, would explain why most of the researchers I know, speak at most, three languages. They would have little time or incentives to learn the fourth or fifth.<issue_comment>username_1: Fundamentally, a researcher studying a different field "for fun" is in no other situation than anybody else studying "for fun". It's a hobby, just like reading, going to the theatre, or sports. Some engage in this hobby, some do not. Whether they "have time for that" is really the same question as whether they have time for any other hobbies - some do, some (especially on the tenure track) are maybe a bit crunched for time, and choose to use their little spare time on something a bit farther removed from their daily work grind.
>
> Is there any known case of a researcher who, by studying a topic outside his/her field for fun, had an insight for a novel approach or solution?
>
>
>
I am sure there is. Note that "having a an insight" is not a particularly high hoop to jump over. My students "have insights" all the time, the question is whether they are important, work well enough, and are generally more useful to pursue than the myriad other ideas they could use.
My gut feeling is that you rather meant whether somebody had a big breakthrough in a different field as a "hobbyist". I think this used to be more common in times past. I can't really think of a recent example (at least in the STEM fields), as plenty of time and resources (both of which a hobbyist definitionally does not have much of) is required for major breakthroughs.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It depends what you mean by "study for fun".
I would like to think that many researchers will find what they do professionally as "fun", and so do not feel the urgent need to do something not in their field of specialization.
The most famous of all examples are the contributions to physics from a patent clerk named <NAME>; he did have formal training in physics but was not a faculty at that time, and so presumably was still studying physics "for fun".
One of the early breakthrough results of quantum information theory is the famous BB85 protocol for quantum cryptography, by <NAME> and <NAME>; neither are physicists by training, although Bennett worked at IBM at the time (and still does) and Brassard specialized (and still does) in cryptography. Both knew physics, and I don't think they brushed up on their physics entirely "for fun", but this example would fit the kind of answer you are looking for.
Depending on your you define "field", you will find many researchers who are accomplished musicians and have studied music extensively, for instance. Although not professionals, some of them are pretty darn good.
In the case of languages, the real barrier is lack of occasion to use "for fun" a language you would have learned. There are plenty of "teach-yourself-German" books, but if you cannot interact in that language in your environment it is unlikely to be much fun.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Time is a serious constraint for researchers who want to keep themselves competitive. You need to write grants, advise students, go to pointless but mandatory meetings and you may need to teach.
Nonetheless, a lot of people I know have hobbies outside work: cycling, singing, language learning, etc.
Research as a hobby for a researcher is a tough proposition. As a professional researcher you tend to hold your hobby research to the same standards as your paid research, and that takes time and dedication. But, I've seen people doing this. There are physicists doing hobby research in history, economics, or mathematics, or other branches of physics completely orthogonal to the research they are paid for. My own student is doing well enough with his PhD work, so he decided to take on field theory in his spare time.
Not everyone is able to set aside time for pet research projects. I, myself cannot. If I work on a project, I usually devote all my research time to it. The only way for me to do hobby research is to steer my research towards subjects I'd like to work on. In other words, do as much hobby research as possible at work.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: My main interest and background is in psychology but I work as a trauma researcher at a hospital. I recently developed a new metric for trauma patients that takes a fully new approach to identifying major trauma for quality assurance processes. I presented the paper at the 2016 Trauma Quality Improvement Program where it was described as a groundbreaking shift and won an award. ([Here's the abstract if you're interested.](https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/quality%20programs/trauma/tqip/2016%20abstracts/rodenforeman_195289.ashx))
After talking with a few people, I found that a lot of the major advances in various areas of study have been made by people who are new to the field. This is usually because people who are trained in a field tend to just accept the ways things have been done, whereas someone with a different background can bring new approaches to problems that had just been accepted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Do researchers study topics outside their field for fun?
>
>
>
At least in France or Europe, there is a very strong incentive to do that: **funding agencies** (e.g. [ANR](https://anr.fr/) in France, or [Horizon Europe](https://ec.europa.eu/info/horizon-europe_en) in the European Union) **are *explicitly* favoring *multi-disciplinary* research projects**.
Imagine you are a computer scientist. The [Covid-19 pandemic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic) is opening a lot of funding opportunities. But for example to "simulate" a pandemic on software, you need to be expert in programming (as a computer scientist you are) but also to understand what a biological virus is, and to interact with medical doctors explaining what the Covid virus is.
Another example is of course research funding related to global warming or [climate change](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change). By definition it is multi-disciplinary.
A third example is [Bioinformatics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinformatics). It is mixing difficult computer science problems with biology.
Yet another example is simulation and prediction of [galaxy collision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interacting_galaxy). This involves both programming skills and top level skills in astrophysics, relativity, etc.
Organisations like [CERN](https://home.cern/) (or even my employer [CEA](https://www.cea.fr/)) are paying a lot of researchers in *different* areas. Remember that the [World Wide Web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web) was invented at CERN.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose, a prospective PhD student doesn't have money to self-finance his PhD in the USA.
Is it possible for a PhD student to survive in the USA only on TA/RA money?<issue_comment>username_1: Agnostic of institution, each of which has its own set of policies governing TA/RA pay (more or less depending on the institution), a short answer is yes. There are also, of course, different costs of living depending on where your institution is located (e.g., the cost of living in New York is much higher than in, say, the midwest). In any case, you will be paid a livable wage, but don't expect to be living any sort of lavish lifestyle.
*Personal experience*: I've been living off of TA/RA pay for the past 3 years. The pay offered by the R1 institution I attend and work for is located in the Midwest and, relative to other schools in our conference, offers one of the best stipends. As such, I've had enough money to not only live, but support my hobbies and enjoy a [non-extravagent] leisurely life during my non-working, non-academic hours (of which there are not usually a ton haha).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The answer is usually yes, but it varies, and some people need to take out loans or get financial help from their families. For example, the graduate students' union at Yale is organizing around issues such as inequities in pay, lack of access to affordable childcare, and general difficulties in making ends meet when living in New Haven. <http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20170125/yale-university-graduate-students-in-9-departments-given-right-to-hold-union-elections>
Students in the humanities are often less generously supported than those in the sciences, even at the same university. Fields that attract federal grant money do better than those that don't.
Think carefully about decisions such as your type of housing and whether to sell a car that you own before you start school. If you have more than one school to choose from, check carefully for differences in the local cost of living, which can easily be a factor of two or more between a small college town and a city like San Francisco or New York. In cities such as San Francisco with very high rents, make sure you have an affordable option for housing, such as on-campus housing or a subsidized university-owned apartment.
Health care is not free in the US, and although schools will usually provide health care to PhD students, there may be costs that are passed on to the student. Coverage may not include things that are included in other countries' national health services, such as birth control, drugs, and mental health care.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: This question is relatively vague, in that the US is a big place and remuneration for RA/TA positions is not equivalent across institutions.
However, I believe that the answer should explicitly address that the cost of living in the US varies considerably across the country.
Can a single person survive on the income provided by a typical stipend in the Midwest United States or the South? Yes.
Can a single person survive on the income provided by a typical stipend in the West or East Coast? Probably not.
Anecdotally, I have survived wonderfully in Indiana on a typical stipend. Upon moving to Boulder, Colorado for a PhD however, that stipend (same dollar amount) is not enough to pay for the basic living expenses and I have had to work an additional job to make ends meet.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: **TL;DR: Yes - but this may often require you (and us) to fight for this [collectively](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_student_unionization).**
This question sheds light on the outrageous exploitation of junior researchers and teachers at universities in the US. A PhD candidate - and I mean the kind who does research and teaching throughout the week on campus, helps his/her research group and/or advisor with various projects and tasks, and is generally at the disposal of the advisor, research group, department or university - is a full-time employee. And not just any employee, but a skilled and meritotious one, which outside of academia would be gainfully employed. (Of course, salaries and job opportunities differ greatly between, say, an Electrical Engineering graduate and a graduate of a Semitic Language Philology, but still). Even if their work as PhD candidates also has the aim of earning a degree, that does not detract from their benefit to their employers: Universities are institutes which spread knowledge by teaching and ehnance knowledge and understanding by research, and PhD candidates promote these ends, devoting some of the best and most productive years of their lives. For this reason it is just and proper that they be paid a good salary.
Instead, what we (or rather, you; I work in the Netherlands where things are much better in that respect) have is a system in which many PhD candidates (and, again, I'm talking about the kind I described above) are not paid salaries at all, or are paid meager 'stipends', or paid for just their teaching / just their research, as though they work a small fraction of a full position, which is oviously not the case.
It is utterly infuriating that PhD candidates should worry about "surviving" their PhDs financially, rather than asking "Will I be able to put a down payment on an apartment or a house with my salary?". And let's not get started on how employers in the US and elsewhere used the entrance of women into the workforce over the last 50 years to increase downward pressure on wages so that if a couple wants to have children they have to choose between holding two jobs or near-poverty (and PhD candidates are very typically in that age range).
So, while for some (many?) universities, the RA/TA salary is enough to get by, it's almost universally much much lower than it should be (either the salary itself or the FTE fraction at which you're employed, or both). Occasionally you can sort of maneuver yourself into better wages by leaning on your advisor or obtaining some external source of funding for your research group; but that's the exception.
The rule is that without graduate researchers and teachers organizing in [unions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_student_unionization), without resolute industrial action, and without solidarity from older/tenured researchers and teachers - the answer to your question would be "no". So I urge you to join one or participate in forming one. I have (although, again, not in the US). You may not get all you want - but with Herculean effort, a measure of personal sacrifice and a bit of luck you might get some of what you need; and it won't be just you personally, but rather everyone at your university. So go to it; it is probably no less important than your actual research work.
By the way, there's recently been a landmark NLRB ruling buttressing the legal right to collective bargaining of graduate student-employees, in [NLRB case 02-RC-143012](https://www.nlrb.gov/case/02-RC-143012) (The Trustees of Columbia University and Graduate Workers of Columbia, UAW; main decision [here](http://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45821c20d4)).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As others have said, cost of living can vary considerably from one city (and region) to another. I think this deserves a very concrete comparison as it is important not to just have a vague understanding that the costs in one place might be more than another.
Let's start with **Champaign, Illinois** (home of the University of Illinois's flagship campus, a top research university) which is very much a "college town"—the metro area has a little more than 200,000 residents and a large portion of them are connected to the university. This is the type of place that, all else being equal, would be among the most realistic types of locations for there to be both a PhD program of repute and a cheap cost of living.
Now let's compare that with living in **New York City**, home of many research institutions and other colleges. According to [Sperling's Best Places](http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/champaign-il/new-york-ny/25000), the cost of living in New York City is ***twice as high*** as Champaign. And maybe more important, the cost of housing in New York City is over ***three times as high*** as Champaign.
I have lived in neither location, but have visited them when considering under- and post-graduate programs. PhD students in a social sciences field that I met in Champaign sometimes shared housing, but many of them shared houses (1500+ sq. ft.) in which each person had their own bedroom and usually there were multiple bathrooms. They were also usually quite close to the campus, though for some people/situations not walkable (for some, a walk that takes 20-30 minutes is unfathomable). In a place like New York, it's more likely you find yourself splitting a rather small apartment for similar or larger costs. For some, this is not a big factor...but for others, the ease of getting around, having one's own personal space, etc. are immensely important for their emotional wellbeing. More than one person I met in that program ended up even purchasing a home during their time there, though in both cases they were in a student-student marriage.
Another major consideration: Summer pay
---------------------------------------
Universities, disciplines, and departments all vary in their ability to fund graduate students through the summer months. There are basically three tiers:
* No pay over the summer or any expectation thereof
* Pay over the summer is competitive and/or awarded based on seniority, not usually or always available to early-stage grad students
* Summer work is guaranteed or close to it
I will say that it is not always easy or straightforward to find summer work that even rises as high as a grad student stipend. More important is that most employers aren't dying to have an employee who will be leaving in 2 or 3 months. International students are also generally not permitted to work and may either need to go home or maintain a savings to get through the summer.
I have also been in a situation in which summer pay was the norm, but the pay was different/less. We were hired as lecturers or lab assistants rather than graduate assistants, placing us on a different payscale and under different hiring rules. We earned roughly 10-15% less in gross pay and the net pay was roughly equivalent (no student fees paid over the summer, but we were required to pay into a public pension program).
Speaking of,
Look into student fees and health insurance
-------------------------------------------
Many graduate programs cover a large portion of health insurance premiums, perhaps sometimes all of the premium. This is a major expense to reckon with, so be sure you know how it works. When a program tells you how much they are paying, the number you get will be how much you get **before** various costs are taken out, including your health insurance premium. At my institution, 85% was covered and I paid somewhere between $25-$45/month for the premiums (spread across only 9 paychecks).
Another "gotcha" can be student fees and associated costs paid to the university. While tuition is customarily waived, many universities will still require graduate students to pay "student fees." At my institution, the supposed purpose of these fees included things like a public transportation pass, access to the fitness facilities, and some other "activity fee" kinds of things. Over the course of the year, I usually spent about $1000 on this and it is *not optional*. It was taken out of my paycheck post-tax, if I recall correctly. This isn't always going to be the case—both the requirement to pay fees and the amount—but you should be asking questions when figuring out if the costs will add up. If you drive to campus, you will probably need to pay for parking.
Can you live on stipends alone in the US?
-----------------------------------------
To answer the question directly, the answer is "under the right circumstances." If the balance of the program's compensation, the cost of living, the auxiliary costs/benefits, and your own wants and needs sync up, then it will work. And I think there are many people who can have that balance work out, though it is probably not nearly a majority of graduate students.
I will note that my operating assumption is that living "only" on stipend money means that the person is not using student loans to pay some of the expenses.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: This feels a bit like a grey area to me.
A student of mine has submitted a paper to a journal and has received a "major revisions" response. Instead of doing the revisions she wants to submit to a different, higher-impact journal. Is that ethical?
I understand that it may not be the best idea in terms of probability of acceptance, etc, etc, but she's approached me specifically to ask about the *ethics* of it, and I don't have a ready answer for her.<issue_comment>username_1: Law is concerned with the actions; ethics is defined by the reasons and motivations behind those actions.
* **Unethical:** Dr X employs an original method to improve his publications. Instead of spending a lot of time on literature review, improvement of his arguments and proofreading the manuscript, he simply prepares a first unpolished draft and sends it to a mediocre journal. The journals asks two or three experts to peer-review the paper; they voluntary spend their time to read Dr X's manuscript, spot the problems and suggest the ways to improve it. Dr X's collects the feedback, uses (some of) it to improve the paper, and sends the manuscript to a better journal. After a few iterations, the paper is accepted in a high-rank journal. Dr X is listed as the author, although the work is largely done by his anonymous peers.
* **Ethical:** Dr Y has spent a lot of time on her experiments and manuscript, before sending it to a journal. She is a bit shy and she chose a mediocre journal because she was not sure that her work deserves to be published in a better one. Two of three reviewers responses are very positive; one reviewer clearly did not understood the paper and requested a lot of major changes. These changes are unlikely to improve the paper; the reviewer simply requires to compare Dr Y's method with his own weak results from far far ago to get fresh citations. The editor takes the reviewer's point and requests the major review. Dr Y performed the comparison, but it is clear that there is no academic benefit in publishing it - the reviewer's method is clearly outdated. Dr Y decided not to include this comparison in her manuscript and sends it to another journal.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: According your question, the fact that she doesn't want to make the revisions is also a factor for wanting to look elsewhere: otherwise, why wouldn't she make the revisions *and* resubmit elsewhere? You make it sound like the "major revisions" are not actually so major, and that your student wants to use this mostly as an excuse to try to trade up.
This may not be advisable, but it seems to me that it is wholly ethical. Your student submitted the paper to the journal in good faith. If the journal had responded, "We will accept your paper for publication conditional on making the following changes" then if the changes are minor enough, one could reasonably argue that she is reneging on the spirit of the bargain. However, by describing the revisions as *major*, the journal is indicating that the paper is *not* acceptable to them in anything close to its current form: they have in fact *rejected* the paper while inviting the submission of an improved form of it. They certainly do not guarantee that they will publish the resubmission, so the transaction is complete. The author can decide whether or not she wants to resubmit.
As I said in the comments, if the revisions ask for contain changes that objectively need to be made -- correcting issues of authorship, attribution, priority, or fixing what any reasonable party would agree to be an invalidating flaw -- then it would be unethical to resubmit elsewhere without making the changes. But certainly the author can make exactly the changes requested and resubmit elsewhere. Whether she resubmits to a better or worse journal makes no ethical difference whatsoever.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I don't have any publications yet and I never coauthored a paper. My question is, should I put in my CV the list of publications I have read (publications of other authors, I mean) and list them under "Read publications" or it is meaningless?<issue_comment>username_1: I do not think it is common nor useful to put publications of others on your CV, because people read a lot - especially in the scientific world - and it therefore at most shows your interests. Therefore, if you want to show what your interests are, you can put it under **interests**. If you want to show that you have done work around that subject you could mention it as a **project**.
If you write the CV for a potential PhD position for example, you could **cite** the papers you have read in your motivation letter explaining about your interest and/or proposed research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my opinion this is a very bad idea. If I would get such a CV I would wonder why it's in there and thoughts are:
* There are no real achievements so this was put in
* The author thinks reading papers is an achievement or at least something special
* The author read only a few papers (and if you are interested in a topic this list should have several pages)
All those points doesn't make you look very good. I wouldn't reply to that, and to be honest, think it's a bad joke.
Upvotes: 3
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| 2,210
| 7,247
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<issue_start>username_0: Does anyone have any information on this? Are academics somehow protected from Trump's ban on Muslims?
I know that some have the "alien of extraordinary ability" work visa, but what about for others that don't have such status?<issue_comment>username_1: The current ban applies only to people who are outside the US. Nobody knows what Trump might do in the future, though.
Edit: The situation keeps changing, and I will not be updating this answer. Stack Exchange is not a news service.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Currently as long as you are not a citizen of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, you can still enter the US. You will not be forcibly deported on any basis. If however, you are a citizen of above countries and you leave the US, you may face difficulty in re-entry even if you are a green card holder.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> I know that some have the "alien of extraordinary ability" work visa, but what about for others that don't have such status?
>
>
>
Even green card holders are impacted by the ban. As far as I know, only diplomatic visa holders are not impacted by the ban.
---
[A message](http://mitsha.re/1NI6308sIUd) that I received from my university on 2017-01-29 at 6 PM UTC seems to indicate that in Massachusetts the ban is lifted for the next seven days:
>
> Early this morning, the Massachusetts federal district court issued a temporary order that restrains the government from enforcing the Executive Order to detain or remove holders of a valid visa or green card who travel from the seven countries to the US through Logan Airport. This order is in effect for the next 7 days. The seven affected countries are: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. […] We encourage you to fly back to Boston--directly to Logan Airport--as as soon as possible, and before February 4.
>
>
>
An update from my university I received on 2017-02-02 at 9 PM UTC:
>
> Suspension/Cancellation of Visa Appointments at US Consulates Abroad,
> Revocation of Visas, and Suspension of Adjudications at USCIS
>
>
> Dear International Scholars,
>
>
> This is to confirm that the US Department of State has issued guidance
> to consulates worldwide directing them to cancel visa appointments and
> suspend visa issuance to nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia,
> Sudan, Syria and Yemen until further notice.
>
>
> This means new scholars who were born in or who are citizens of these
> seven countries will be unable to get their initial visas to enter the
> US and current scholars traveling home or to conferences will not be
> able to renew their US entry visa stamps until further notice.
> **Department of State is also cancelling green card interviews and
> suspending the issuance of immigrant visas at consular posts**.
>
>
> In addition, **the US Department of State issued an order revoking all
> currently valid non-immigrant and immigrant visas issued to nationals
> of these countries**.
>
>
> You may read the announcements on the Department of State website at
> <https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/news.htmland> at
> <http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000159-f6bd-d173-a959-ffff671a0001>.
>
>
> Links to articles describing the situation in more detail can be found
> at
> <http://www.wbur.org/news/2017/02/01/visas-revoked-state-departmentand>
> <https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-01-29/these-are-new-instructions-state-department-rushed-embassies-worldwide>.
>
>
> If you are currently in the US and are from one of the countries
> listed above, we continue to recommend that you DO NOT travel outside
> the country at this time. If you absolutely must travel, please be
> aware that you risk not being able to return as planned.
>
>
> If you are outside of the US and have not yet contacted the ISchO,
> please e-mail us as soon as possible.
>
>
> You may also be aware that in addition to visa issuance and entry into
> the US, the recent Executive Order refers in places to the
> “adjudication of other immigration benefits.” **It is our understanding
> that in addition to suspending visa processing and entry into the US
> for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen,
> USCIS has also halted adjudication of applications/petitions
> (including F-1 OPT, other applications to change or extend
> nonimmigrant status, and permanent residence applications) for
> citizens of these countries.** However, at this time, it appears that
> USCIS is still accepting applications/petitions – just not making a
> final decision.
>
>
> We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes
> available.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: >
> Are academics somehow protected from Trump's ban on Muslims?
>
>
>
There is no ban on Muslims. I don't know who's been telling you there is a ban on Muslims. We do not have this phenomenon in the U.S.
The current ban prevents nationals of certain countries from entering, irrespective of their religious beliefs.
Academics are not protected from this ban. The ban is simply based on being from a certain country; it is not related to a person's achievements or merit in any way.
Needless to say, if you qualify for U.S. citizenship, get your citizenship paperwork in pronto!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Academics are certainly being barred from entry at this time. Several examples are in the New York Daily News article linked below (date: Jan-29, 2017). For example:
>
> An Iranian doctoral student at the City University of New York, Saira
> Rafiee, was stopped in Abu Dhabi and not allowed to board a U.S.-bound
> flight, political science Prof. <NAME> wrote. Rafiee
> had traveled to Iran for the winter break.
>
>
>
Ironically, Saira wrote this morning (quoted in PSC-CUNY email): "As a student of sociology and political science, I have devoted a major part of my scholarly life to the study of authoritarianism..."
**Edit:** Some relevant news links:
* [USA Today](http://college.usatoday.com/2017/02/03/trump-travel-ban-international-students/) counts 23,763 international students as being affected by the ban (using data from the Department of Homeland Security).
* [Yahoo Finance](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-immigration-order-dealt-blow-to-higher-education-academia-212742523.html) reports that the Association of American Universities released a statement saying, "The order is stranding students who have been approved to study here and are trying to get back to campus, and threatens to disrupt the education and research of many others."
* [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/universities-respond-to-trump-travel-ban/) reports on individual responses from the presidents of several top universities.
* [New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/stony-brook-student-pulled-departing-flight-jfk-tarmac-article-1.2958703) reports on experiences of several students caught in the ban at JFK (including <NAME>, above).
* [PSC-CUNY](http://psc-cuny.org/news-events/psc-member-denied-entry-us) released the full email statement that I referenced above.
Upvotes: 5
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an American working overseas. I work with several students from Iran who have never been to America. What should I say to students who have been banned from entering my home country?<issue_comment>username_1: Just tell them "I think it is unfair that everyone from your country has been banned from entering my country."
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Put it in its historical context.
The United States can be a wonderful place to visit or even live, but it does have a long term history of periods of political unreasonableness. During those periods, it becomes so afraid of some group of "others" that the fear overrides human rights, treaties, justice, common sense, and the US constitution. Keeping the US safe from the feared group is the overriding concern, and nothing else matters compared to that. Often, the feared group includes a few people who really are dangerous, but the danger gets grossly exaggerated and makes the US deeply afraid of an easily identified larger group.
There was a mild one during Nixon's presidency, when the feared group was people protesting the Vietnam War. The most recent really severe one, in the 1950's, was McCarthyism, when the feared group was communists. In WWII the feared group was people of Japanese origin or descent. Now, the feared group is Muslims, and people stereotyped, based on e.g. national origin, as being Muslims.
The good news is that, after a period of fear-based unreasonableness, the US always sorts itself out and gets back to sanity.
Any students from one of the affected countries, and perhaps Muslims in general, who need to make immediate decisions about e.g. a postdoc should consider going somewhere other than the US. If you are planning an international conference, it may be better to pick a country whose visa policies make it more likely that all interested academics can attend.
In the longer term, the current fear of Muslims will go the way of fear of Irish Catholics, fear of Chinese immigrants, Japanese-American internment, and the McCarthy era.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student. Preparing the solution to an exercise regarding computer assembly language programming I discovered an error in the program skeleton that was given to us to base our solution on (one of the instructions was illegal, because its immediate operand was outside the permitted range).
I sent an email to the professor's address for "questions and clarifications" regarding the exercise, explaining in detail (about 5 paragraphs) and citing a textbook, why the skeleton program would not compile (assemble) and finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text, since simply running the assembler on the skeleton program would reveal it.
I got the reply that indeed there was an error in the program skeleton but it was put there on purpose and one of the objectives of the exercise was to see if we (students) would spot it and correct it.
There was no mention of this in the question text. The exact wording of the question text was "complete the program below so that it performs the desired function".
Now the professor wants me to apologize because my comment implied that there was carelessness on their part. I am not convinced about their answer, and worse, even if I were convinced, I believe deliberately misleading the student to be worse than simply being careless. I cannot give an honest apology. What should I reply, if anything?<issue_comment>username_1: A 5-paragraph email with citations for a possible mistake in an undergraduate exercise sounds, if anything, patronizing.
Apologize and move on.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: For the problem itself: Are you 100% sure that the program cannot be run? I am a bit rusty for x86 assembly, but often very old programs are still used in exercise und if you are not careful and run them in compatibility mode (simulating old processors in 16/32-bit protected mode), the increased pointer and operand size moves instructions out of range or leads to access violations.
Now to the reply. It is really hard to advise on that because we don't know the exact mail exchange, the tone you have used and how the professor ticks.
So I recommend that you read out the e-mail exchange to one of your friends / acquaintances whom you can trust and who is socially adept. Ask him how your mail sounds if he/she were the recipient. If the face grows longer and longer, I would strongly advise to apologize. If on the other hand your acquaintance does not find anything offensive apart from exposing an error, it is most likely an embarassed professor who feels exposed.
In both cases ask what parts could be considered inquisitive and refer to them in your answer apologetically. There are some formats which look like apologies which allow both parties to save face.
* I am sorry if I have offended you/this mail comes off offensive...(This does not imply that your mail was incorrect or even intersubjectively offensive. But it allows the conclusion that the professor was offended and the reason for that may be out of your reach).
* If it was your intention that we find this error, I am sorry....(**Yes, if**. Couple the apology on a fact which you believe is false and the professor believes/pretends to be true).
Read the answer e-mail to your acquaintance, correct it to his/her suggestions and send it back.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Apologize sincerely to the professor.
As you have pointed out at apparently tedious length, students attempting to assemble the skeleton would have found an assembly error. Even if the student first modified the skeleton, the error should have been revealed by the assembler. At that point, it is incumbent upon each student to correct that error. The student did not even have to know how to detect the error, only how to correct it once it was identified.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I am surprised some deem this student's actions as "patronizing". I think a detailed e-mail with evidence that the student tried to consult other resources before contacting the professor could just as easily be interpreted as "studious" and "respectful" of the professor's time. I would have appreciated the student not contacting me - in the way many undergraduate students do - with vague and lazy questions about the homework that make me wonder if they even tried! By including citations, the student is showing a mature approach to solving the problem by means of consulting course-related material.
We must remember that tone makes a difference - and that tone is often lost in e-mails. **I would recommend for the student to meet with the professor and exchange information in a respectful tone.** This might allow the student determine whether they missed certain information about course assignments, and might allow the professor to better understand the perspective of the student in their motivation to clarify the problem statement. Of course, this recommendation is much easier said than done, especially because the professor went so far as to request an apology in such a preemptive and biased manner without even bothering to meet with the student in person first to ensure they fully assessed the situation.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> Now the professor wants me to apologize [...] I cannot give an honest apology. What should I reply, if anything?
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If you cannot give an honest apology, I suggest giving a *dishonest* one. This will satisfy the professor's requirement (you do not mention him insisting that your apology be sincere :-)), and, while I am one of the biggest fans of honesty that you will find, it seems to me that both you and the professor have backed yourselves into corners by each thinking that you are behaving reasonably and the other is not, and expecting the world to conform to that belief. Regardless of who is right -- I have no opinion about that, and don't find the discussion on this question to be very interesting, frankly -- your insistence is leading both of you to be stuck in a rather unpleasant infinite loop. It is in your best interests to break the loop, and the only way to do that is by apologizing. Is it just? Maybe not, but there are much worse injustices that actually affect people's lives happening all the time, so I suggest saving your time, energy and outrage for those. Good luck!
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: To me, this is such a non-issue that it doesn't warrant much of a response. So let me add a response :)
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> I didn't mean to imply carelessness, and I am sorry if that's how my email came across. I was a bit overzealous in my email. I will address the errors in the skeleton program in my solution, as you have indicated. Thank you for your detailed response!
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I think you should take this (very minor) “incident” as a learning experience about how people might perceive your communications. Professors are people; they sometimes make mistakes, they sometimes make pedagogical choices that students don't agree with, and they all take criticism differently.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_7: **Summary**
1. "YES" to:
* Apologize. Life is rarely about absolutes; it's about grey area which requires compromise. There are many facets to examine here, but the main issue is not a technical one; it is interpersonal. If someone says that they are insulted, then they are insulted. Deal with that separately from the technical issue that precipitated the rest of it.
* Take a step back and reflect on the situation as a whole, to learn as much as you can as this is a golden opportunity to learn about a lot more than just coding. What was your ultimate goal when you wrote your email? Merely to point out the mistake? To get to the bottom of why the mistake was there? How important is it to know the ultimate truth of why the mistake was there? Was your communication (e.g. wording, tone, content, etc) relevant to that goal? How would you feel if someone pointed out a mistake you made in coding by saying, "You've been coding for years. How could you make such a simple mistake?". What's more important: having a good working relationship with the professor, or being "right"? Would you have sent that *exact same* email to a manager, or would you feel that tone might reflect negatively on your next review?
2. "NO" to:
* Continuing this conversation with the professor over email. Terse, written communication provided an environment that lends itself to easy misinterpretation, so while it is *possible* to fix things over email, you will stand a much better chance of fixing the issue by actually speaking to the person. Besides, speaking with someone is more personal and hence reflects a more genuine attempt at resolution.
* Viewing the assignment as either a mistake or deception. There are always angles that we do not consider, which is why communication is vital to success (for pretty much any interaction with other people, whether it be professional, friendly, romantic, etc). Hence, asking, "Was this error in the given code part of the assignment?" allows the professor to say either, "No, actually it was a mistake that I didn't catch because I made a change late at night and didn't have time to test. Thanks for mentioning it and I will get a corrected version out to everyone ASAP", or, "Yes, the goal is for each student to identify it and fix it, and it is even more promising when a student inquires about it rather than just assuming the intention as there could be something else going on. Good job!". You still have the opportunity to assess that response and trust it or think they are lying, but they will be less likely to view you as yet one more person making their job harder when it was just as easy to be helpful.
---
{ sorry if this is a bit long, but there are several nuances to go over here }
Sometimes a test or exercise in one area leads to learning lessons in one or more other areas. This seems to be one of those moments.
1. >
> I sent an email to the professor's address for "questions and clarifications" regarding the exercise
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Communication is difficult enough when speaking with the other person, and written communication is even harder. Without tone-of-voice, facial expressions, body language, etc it is *very* easy for a simple message to be taken as rude. No matter how much effort you put into the crafting of the words in a written communication, you can't control how the reader hears it in their head.
It is possible that the exact same words you put into the email, had they been spoken by you either in person or over the phone, would have been received differently. Either way, even if you can't understand how someone would take those words offensively, often enough it just happens. And it will happen again.
2. >
> explaining in detail (about 5 paragraphs) and citing a textbook, why the skeleton program would not compile (assemble)
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If the skeleton program (as given) would not compile, *and* if it was stated (or implied) that it should, then does it really take 5 paragraphs to explain it? A few sentences to state that it does not and a general sense of why is all that it would take, right? Assuming it is a simple mistake, the professor would understand without needing to explain the theory behind it. And if it wasn't a mistake, if it was part of the intent of the exercise, then you would have shown a firm enough understanding of the issue so as to not be sending a lazy "why doesn't it work?" email. If the professor asks for more detail or how you figured it out, then by all means do the 5 paragraphs with citations.
3. >
> and finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text, since simply running the assembler on the skeleton program would reveal it.
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Stop for a moment and think about what you just stated: it was *surprising* that such an error made it into the question, because it was *simply a matter of trying to assemble it*. Now, *everyone* makes mistakes. And perhaps this assignment was thrown together hastily because one or more things took up the time that the professor had to create it (yes, they do have lives outside of where they teach) and there was no time to test. Or, perhaps the professor has been teaching for years and has used this exercise before. With it being so simple to discover, I would give the professor the benefit of the doubt that this was intentional.
4. >
> I got the reply that indeed there was an error in the program skeleton but it was put there on purpose and one of the objectives of the exercise was to see if we (students) would spot it and correct it. ... There was no mention of this in the question text.
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If part of the purpose of the exercise was to see if students can spot the problem, then why does it *need* to be mentioned in the directions? I understand that it sometimes is mentioned in textbooks, but the fact that it has been mentioned up front before doesn't imply that it will always be that way. And in fact, outside of textbook exercises, you will rarely, if ever, be told up front that a problem exists. It makes sense enough for a textbook to mention it because you cannot ask the book any questions (well, you can, but you will likely be ignored ;-) so it would almost certainly appear as a printing error. But professors are a bit more interactive, and so should not be expected to be constrained in the same manner as a textbook.
Side note: please get used to a) not being told upfront of there being any problems, even if it is reasonable to expect that there aren't any, and b) things in the current situation working differently than they ever have previously, before attempting children (especially more than 1) ;-).
5. >
> I believe deliberately misleading the student to be worse than simply being careless.
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Seriously? Why? Do you think that life somehow works any differently? You mention in a comment on the question that you have been in the workforce for 4 years now and have never been given non-working code. Well, congrats! But, all that really shows is that you haven't worked long enough, or at enough places, to have inherited truly bad code. Stick around long enough and you will. And usually, it is not as simple as "not compiling". Usually, the non-working code you will inherit will work, but not exactly correctly. It might make bad assumptions and miscalculate something, or work correctly sometimes but under certain conditions do something that you will swear could never be attempted by anyone who even just passed 2 programming classes but never graduated. Bad code is everywhere. Personally, I have more respect for the professor assuming that this was intentional, because it is more reflective of reality.
Besides, there are three non-technical lessons here:
1. The mistakes being made aren't always in the code being given. I have found that mistakes often enter in the initial meetings and requirements gathering. Sometimes a Product Owner / Product Manager / etc making a request for functionality doesn't understand all of the intricacies of the system, or sometimes doesn't know how certain technology works and attempts to misapply it, or any other of a myriad of ways that bad assumptions get introduced. And the sooner problems are detected the easier they are to fix (or work around, if need be). And being able to identify when you are being told in a meeting to do something that won't work (assuming that you can also propose a solution), makes for a more valuable employee than someone who is just great at coding.
2. Many people spot mistakes but are too afraid to say anything for fear of being wrong (that they misunderstood the code) or due to not wanting to come across as "negative". And sadly, sometimes people do get dinged on reviews for pointing out when things won't work since managers are also humans who make mistakes. But being an effective member of a team requires confidence and knowing *how* to identify when something is wrong (hint: make sure to have a proposed solution).
3. Not everyone reads directions. Given how simple it was to find that the code wouldn't compile (i.e. just attempt to compile it), you would think that everyone would find the problem, right? I am willing to bet that there are some students who turn in code that includes the original error (because they never tried to compile it), or who turn in a "correct" version but don't know that it didn't originally compile because they simply copied from someone else who failed to mention that part. The professor can learn a lot about his/her students via such an exercise, while also teaching more than mere coding.
>
> Now the professor wants me to apologize because my comment implied that there was carelessness on their part.
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Yes, your comment certainly did imply that, quite heavily. And, while it does *seem* as though the professor shouldn't be demanding an apology -- do they really care what you think?, and are you the first student to say something "inappropriate" to them? -- the simple fact is that they are asking for one. Two lessons here:
1. You can't control the reactions of others to you, nor will you always understand their reactions (and it goes both ways!). You don't know what else is going on this person's life, maybe a lot of stress, maybe you phrased something in just the right way to trigger an emotion in them, maybe they are just "thin skinned", or who knows. What you do know is that you have upset someone that you have a working relationship with, and you need to make it right, even if they mistook the tone or intent of your message.
2. Pick your battles. You don't always need to *be* "right" in every situation. It is far better to give a "dishonest" apology than to continue a petty feud. And if your tone did insult them, then you can't say that you are correct because you did not intend for the email to be taken that way. You don't have to apologize for pointing out the mistake. You mainly need to apologize for making this person feel bad. And even if you (or anyone else) roll your eyes at saying sorry for insulting them, just consider how you want people to treat you: if you were insulted by someone and no matter how much you explain *why* they just don't understand, do you want them walking off saying, "well, I didn't say anything wrong so you shouldn't be feeling hurt" or would you prefer they just accept that you were insulted and they just acknowledge that they did it (even if they don't understand how) and that they didn't intend it.
What this all comes down to is:
1. Yes, you should apologize for insulting them, and explain that you really did not mean to.
2. This can only be done either over the phone or in person. Do *not* send another email, unless it is to simply say, "I'm sorry for insulting you. Can we please discuss this over the phone, after class, or during your office hours?". Office hour would be preferred since it is in person and can be a little more private than after class.
3. Take this opportunity to reflect on how you would handle being tasked by a Product Manager or Manager to do something that won't work (or at least shouldn't be done in the manner requested). They won't be giving you a "test" to see if you will correct them. They might seriously be asking you to do something that will adversely affect the system (i.e. customers) or at least profits (e.g. a horribly inefficient process and/or one requiring additional hardware, etc). It is your job (well, everyone's job really) to identify the issue, raise the concern, and engage the requester and the rest of the team on how to solve it. Are you going to say, in a meeting with everyone, that the P.M. or manager should have realized what they were asking for because they had been there for years? Everyone notices how everyone else presents their ideas, especially if they are condescending about it. You generally don't ever need to ask someone how they can make such a silly mistake, because you are really just telling them that they are stupid and you are smart.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: Even if I thought I had done nothing wrong, I would be okay with writing something like "I'm sorry I've offended you", since it just means "I'm sorry about offending", which doesn't seem to have been your intent.
This will usually be the smart move, and actually cost you nothing, so you have little to lose from it.
Usually, it is a sensible strategy to apologise when you have given offense without meaning to, even if you don't think you're in the wrong. It doesn't mean you did something wrong, it just means you're sorry about the fact that there has been any offense. If I step on someone's toes, I'll apologise, even if the other guy's toes shouldn't have been there in the first place.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Schools, like business, army, most political parties, ... are non-democratic organizations. Thus, your answer (if you write it: an option is let time to pass) must be pragmatic, write what gives the best result to you. Do not start an ethic war, you're going to loss it.
You can "apologize the misunderstood" (that is not the same that apologize your mail). Or, as another answer says "I'm sorry if I've offended you".
If, as theoretical exercise, we analyze the facts exposed in your question:
Could be the teacher has made an error (by example, copy&paste the exercise without any check) and doesn't wants recognize it; could be it is true that the code mistake is voluntary introduced, but start the exercise with "**complete** the program below ..." instead of "**based on** the program below ..." **is** an error: he points students to the wrong path.
Worst, after your mail, teacher is using their status and position to punish the answer and your complain about quality: he is trying to teach obedience instead of criticism. He could simply explain you the facts and why your mail has been incorrect in background and/or form but instead, **according what you explained**, he is trying to force you to do what you consider near to false and humiliate.
However, again, remember: you are not in a democratic organism. Be pragmatic.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: Don't apologize. Don't be surprised though when he nitpicks your projects, and don't be surprised when your A-quality term project gets graded a B-. Your dilemma is so common in the industry. You can be right. Or you can get promoted. Choice is yours.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_11: Personally, I would not respond to a demand like that. My parents never taught me to kowtow.
My sense is that you got yourself into trouble by getting too anal about the assignment. Most textbooks are littered with mistakes. You could spend your life trying to correct all the mistakes in a textbook.
Just get on with it and do your work.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_12: The professor goofed by providing broken code while implying that it was to be used without modification1, and then you made matters worse by trying to educate the professor on something he already knows, when the most likely cause isn't that the professor doesn't know what he's doing, it's that the bulk of his energy goes into his area of interest which does not include your undergraduate class.
So step back from all the things that went wrong, and focus on what you need. Here's the reply I recommend writing.
>
> Thank you for clarifying that I should have modified the provided code as necessary.
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>
> In other classes, the skeleton code provided for an assignment has defined an interface to which the solution must adhere; changing the code is not permitted because the interface is no longer compatible.
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> In this class, how may I know when a partial program code provided in the assignment forms a mandatory interface and must be used verbatim in the solution, and when I am allowed to improve it? Is adaptation of skeleton allowed for all assignments in this class?
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A reasonable professor will make an announcement to the class that there is no requirement to use the partial code as-is. If the professor persists in demanding an apology after the miscommunication is explained, then you know he's only interested in feeding his ego.
It has a side effect of closing any loophole allowing the professor to retroactively pretend that mistakes were intentional, if you suspected that was what happened here.
---
1 Having students find and fix unannounced errors is a useful and acceptable teaching tool, but the instructions need to clearly indicate that modification of the provided code is permitted, because the norm in computer science classes is that it is not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: While this situation is unpleasant, it's much better to learn how to deal with this now, rather than end up accidentally having it out with the person who writes your performance reviews.
Professors teach, so if you approach resolving this from that angle you'll have a better chance for success.
Go talk to your professor, in person, not to defend your position or to apologize, but to learn.
Something along these lines:
>
> Hi Professor X, can you help me understand how I went wrong in my email to you about the bug I found?
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> The last thing I wanted was to offend you, and it appears I've failed badly in this respect.
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> Can you help me understand where I went wrong and any tips or resources that can help me avoid doing this in the future?
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It's important to go in with the understanding that, unless you intended to offend your professor, you *have* messed up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: To crystallize
>
> finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text
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Never do this. You are either rubbing salt to the wounds (in case you are right) or being an idiot (in case you are wrong). Disregarding whether you are right or wrong, this benefits no one.
EDIT: The point is that there is no way: "I am shocked, how could you do a mistake this bad", is not going to offend.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_15: If you believe the Professor has misled students by providing the incorrect program, and that several, or many, of them got lower grades because this prevented them from properly solving the exercise, you should perhaps turn to your student association, or more specifically to your faculty representatives within the student union, to bring this up. More useful to do this with at one or two people who actually suffered because of it.
If that's what you're planning, you need to be extremely careful in what you say or write the Professor. It would probably be a good idea to give the semi-honest apology about your tone and your not meaning to offend, which other answers here suggest - but don't walk back your actual claims or legitimize what had happened.
By the way, do you know if that professor has a reputation for mistreating students? Try asking around with people who took his/her courses earlier. It's often a repeating pattern.
At any rate, if you move this from an individual altercation to some form of organized action, that would prevent your being exposed to hostile retaliation on the professor's part and will increase the chance of him/her having to answer for his apparent sloppy work and refusal to apologize/clarify.
All this assumes, of course, that you were actually right about the facts and the context - something which is hard to judge by the description from your side only.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_16: Despite how large egos are in academe, they are very fragile. Pointing out a professor's mistake can be taken in a variety of ways. The tone, and even completeness of your explanation, could be considered offensive.
I will say that the professor's explanation was pretty poor -stating the question was designed that way is a bit odd when the questions does not suggest troubleshooting in the answer. To me, this suggests you hurt the professors feelings while they simultaneously try to convince you there was no mistake. Denial is a common human response. Likewise, a demand for an apology suggests your inquiry damaged their ego more than it should have.
I would evaluate the tone of your inquiry, and base your apology off of the presence of some imprudent remark. That said, if you were polite in your inquiry, I would not apologize. Just remember that professors are masters of your grade in their course. Based on what you said, retaliation from someone of such fragile disposition could occur.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_17: There are a variety of answers here. I'm adding my own position to provide some straightforward advice. With the nature of the question, any advice given may be subject to the different dynamics of different people; specific approaches may or may not work out well in different individual circumstances (that involve different people). That being said, here are the instructions I provide for you to consider acting on.
You must absolutely back down, for your own good. The professor is in a position of authority over you, and may have some leeway in deciding whether to grade something favorably (whether in this class now, or another class). You don't benefit from being on the professor's bad side.
Either:
* Apologize for taking a stance of being offensive. By being offensive, I don't necessarily mean that you were personally slandering. Your "offensive" nature might not have been any more inappropriate than playing an "offensive" role in basketball. Still, sometimes instructors try to prepare students for industry by making sure that students are used to humbly taking instructions.
* or apologize for not doing a better job of communicating in a way that didn't end up being annoying (or worse).
All of us humans can communicate in a way that doesn't end up pleasing everyone. This is a flaw that seems universal to our species. If we're very honest about life, then we can feel some degree of sorrow (a.k.a., being "sorry") for unpleasantness we cause, even if the amount of sorrow is slight because we don't feel like we could have done better. Just be disappointed in the lack of ability to completely pacify everyone, and then you have the basis of an honest apology.
Don't feel like you need to convince the professor that you're suitably reformed and are now a stellar model of what the professor would identify as perfection. It seems that you burned a bridge, inadvertent as that may have been. How easy it is to repair the damage, or whether that is even possible, is highly dependent on the professor, and you might not be able to recover fully. Writing a lengthy apology may do more harm than good. Keep it short and sweet; three sentences or even one may be sufficient. Just communicate a posture that that shows you're going through the step of apologizing, and that may be the best that you can do. (Well, that, and you might want to walk on egg shells for the duration of time that you interact with that professor. Whether that is needed may depend on just how thoroughly those bridges do end up getting repairs. Even if you do again appear to be on the person's good side, make sure to never repeat the same action, so that you don't re-offend in the same way. If you do, any acceptance of your apology will likely be revoked.)
This is coming from a person who got on the wrong side of a department chair within the first 80 minutes of a program. This was because I tried to dutifully defend a score, and I guess she just deemed me to be adversarial. She even took me out of the class for a one-on-one chat, which was a first for me. I was terrified, and remained very cautious throughout the entire program. It was not pleasant. Towards the end (maybe my second-to-last-day there), the topic of that early encounter got brought up. (I think I may have delicately brought it up, asking if she still thought of me as a "troublemaker". It was a slightly risky thing to do, but I served her well and even did some good for her program, and was genuinely interested in feedback, so I took that risk.) I even got an acknowledgement of the "misunderstanding" that the department chair had.
I remained pretty stressed throughout the program, but I did end up getting a straight A in every course (thoroughly demonstrating a reversal of prior academic years where I had some different results). As I could (unpleasantly) handle the stress I endured, the end result was quite worthwhile for me.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_18: >
> Tact, is the art of making a point without making an enemy - <NAME>
> Newton
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Let us examine your choices:
1) Your professor made a mistake and can not admit it, he is a jerk.
Unlikely, but not impossible.
Best response: Apologize, you never, ever, want to antagonize a jerk who has power over you. You can not win this fight. Apologize and mean it.
2) Your professor is being honest with you and you have hurt his feelings with your accusations.
More likely.
Best response: Apologize and mean it.
Same decision for both possibilities, do it.
A bit of clarification on "and mean it." Emotions are the key to life. You must always ask, what is the other person feeling. Feelings, that is what motivates human beings. Calm down and really feel with your heart that you have made a mistake. Now, the correct words for your response will flow naturally. No one can find insincerity where it does not exist. Good luck.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have done Computer Systems engineering and working for a good company. I am interested in doing a masters (not really because I have much interest in theory but because it helps in career advancement.) How do I calculate how a masters will be a good decision and worth the time, money and energy? My goal is to become a Chief Technology Officer in 10 years (I have 3 years of experience right now and 1 year of experience after graduation.)<issue_comment>username_1: If your goal is to be a CTO (i.e. more business oriented) then the value of an MBA would be an idea worth considering. Once you reach a certain level of experience, education becomes icing on the cake. So in ten years time, if it came down between you and another candidate for a CTO position, and **you** had an MBA (or another master's degree), you would more than likely get the job.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: What the other answer failed to note that getting to a CTO position after only 10 years of experience is very rare indeed. Yes, there may be occasional persons that are capable of this achievement, but don't expect it to work for you. Seriously, you should reconsider your career goals if your goal is as ambitious as it is currently.
I would expect most CTO's to have master's degree. Some do have doctoral degrees, but it isn't so common that a doctoral degree would be a surefire way to get to the position. Typically, the benefit of a master's degree is worth more than the costs, so go ahead and finish (or start) your master's degree! For doctoral degree, I wouldn't recommend the same unless you are genuinely interested about the subject (I'm a doctoral student, but then again I'm genuinely interested about the subject).
However, what matters most is that you have to do your job very well to get to the CTO position. Write a lot of very good code, and be helpful to others when they ask questions about your code. If you're the person people ask questions from, promotion to a higher position may very well be near.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: You should evaluate:
a) the knowledge you will again doing the master: probably none, usually it is better to spend the time in self-study.
b) the legal rights the master gives you: in some countries, law request some levels or masters for some jobs or actions (in my country, by example, they are mandatory for teaching at high-school).
c) the prestige of the university.
d) the social contacts you will gain during the master: not only other students, good master has a lot of vip speakers.
e) if the masters includes practices (or research) done in external organizations, and if you are interested on these.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: A CTO is basically a business manager. You won't be writing code. If you want to be CTO for a software company, become strong in Agile, and the SDLC. You should strengthen project management skills. To become a CTO in 10 years is pretty ambitious. You'll be working 16 hours a day every day for the next 10 years to meet that goal, so you won't have time to do a masters.
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<issue_start>username_0: In my country Nigeria, Engineering students make projects along with their thesis in order to graduate.... is this the same for Americans ?<issue_comment>username_1: This is dependent on a school, however yes, generally undergraduate students complete a capstone (or thesis) that requires them to complete a project demonstrating what they have learned over the program.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, it's called a Senior Project, or Capstone Project. Usually it runs for 2 consecutive semesters or quarters (typically, but not always). The first term is scoping and project definition, and the second term is the implementation and presentation.
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<issue_start>username_0: I wrote a paper with a new approach and I implemented this approach in both R and SAS. I want to put the software online on Github and ideally on CRAN too. The paper has been reviewed by my collaborators, but I was told that the structure is atypical as this is my first paper and I used a structure more typical of a thesis. The paper will need to go trough major changes and it will have the reorganized differently. Still the modelling approach itself is good and well detailed in the paper.
I’d like to release the software on Github and include the current draft of the paper with it but I’m wondering if I should also sent it to ArXiv at the same time even though it’s not publication-ready. Is putting my paper on Github (and maybe Researchgate?) enough to prevent someone from legally stealing my work? Can I and should I send it to a place like ArXiv? Should I put a license on the online draft?<issue_comment>username_1: ArXiv is a pre-print server. A pre-prints is the version of an article before it is submitted to a scientific journal and will be peer-reviewed. Sometimes it's also called First-Draft or Submission Version. If peer-review ends with major revisions, the pre-print is still the pre-print.
Publishing the post-print, which is the version of the article accepted for publication, is something different than publishing the pre-print. It includes all modifications and revisions of the peer-review process but is not in the journal layout. Sometimes it's also called Final-Draft-Post-Referee(ing) or Authors Fulltext.
Before uploading your pre-print to arXiv you should check whether the journal you chose allows pre-prints on arXiv. If so, go ahead and upload your pre-print.
Before uploading the post-print, e.g. on your personal website or your institutional repository, you should also check the journal guidelines.
In principle, a pre-print can be modified on arXiv: ["To replace an article"](https://arxiv.org/help/replace). There is a versioning of the articles but this feature is mainly used for minor corrections as typos.
**Edit:** Someone mentioned that it is common to upload the post-print as new version to arXiv. I couldn't find a direct statement on arXiv about this but there is a [study](https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.05363) comparing arXiv articles with their final published versions. The authors found that 35% of all arXiv articles have more than one version and their comparison implies that the latest versions are more close to the final published versions, i.e. there are post-prints on arXiv or the review processes don't modify papers that much. Here is another source confirming [post-prints](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/10116/68222) on arXiv to be common. I just couldn't verify the mentioned encouragement to do so.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you know your paper will be seriously reorganized, it is probably wiser to wait before sending to arXiv. Although it is possible to update papers on arXiv, the site also numbers the versions and also indicates the date of each version.
It is not always advantageous for the reputation of a submission to have several updates or a long delay between submission to arXiv and actual publication in an actual journal (of course details of what is a lengthy delay will depend on the disciplines and subdisciplines.)
There are exceptions, for instance in hot areas where you may need to establish priority. This should be balanced with the possible negative perceptions stated above.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: To answer just one part of your question, yes, putting the code (and the paper--which would be unusual, I think, but, hey, it could be considered "documentation", right?) on GitHub should be sufficient for you to prove that you came up with the idea first should someone try to steal it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: If you only want people who use your code to read the paper in its present form, then post it on Github with the code. If you want a broader audience of researchers to read it in its present form, post it on arXiv.
Updating it with substantial changes later is not a problem. Contrary to what one of the other posted answers says, the update feature on arXiv is most commonly used to post the author's final version after peer review, which frequently contains major revisions.
I wouldn't post things to ResearchGate; to many (myself included) it is viewed mainly as a source of spam.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: You can use a blockchain based proof-of-existence such as <https://proofofexistence.com/>
You do not upload the document, instead you generate a cryptographic hash of that document and attach it to a bitcoin transaction which will stay in the blockchain forever. I am surprised that this method is not mentioned by others.
If any problem arise (eg. someone steals your work after) you will be the only one having the document in the same state used when you created the cryptographic hash, thus you are able to prove mathematically that you are the legitimate and original owner.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/29
| 761
| 3,313
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a student in an online class at university, and we're now a few weeks into the course. So far, only two lectures have been uploaded—there should be six or seven. On the course discussion board, many students have expressed concern that we're behind and have asked when we can expect course content to be published. The professor has indicated multiple times (the first time was two weeks ago) that he's working on getting caught up and will post lectures soon. If I heard that once and things changed, I might believe it, but the professor still hasn't posted anything beyond those two previously mentioned lectures.
What's the appropriate way to handle this situation, and how can I ensure my success in this class?<issue_comment>username_1: Your question lacks several important pieces of information: is there a teaching assistant for the course? A course book? Can the students give reviews for the quality of the course after taking the course?
If there's a course book, your best option is to read the relevant chapters from the course book. They may not correspond 1:1 to the lectures of the course, but often books are better than the online course material. However, since this is an online course, you can't attend the lectures, and thus the only way to know the material of the lectures is if you have some kind of summary containing the titles of the lectures.
If there's a teaching assistant for the course in addition to the professor, you could obviously contact the TA instead of contacting the professor.
If there's a review system in place, when contacting the TA and/or the professor, do remind in your e-mail that you are going to take into account late posting of the material when giving reviews of the course.
You should consider also possible reasons for why the material hasn't been posted. One reason is that the professor has the material but for some reason doesn't post it. The second possible reason is very worrying: the professor doesn't have the material yet.
Are there any alternative courses you can take instead of this course, or is the course mandatory? I would also prepare for the worst and consider other possible courses.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: What does the syllabus say about when the lecture will be posted? It should say something like "Lectures posted every Sunday", etc.
What you should do is copy and paste the discussion board items where students complained, and his response that he acknowledges that he missed his own deadlines, and email it to the Associate Dean (or Dean if there is no Associate Dean). One of the duties of the Associate Dean is to help students with these type of problems.
In your email to his "boss", be professional and fact-based. Merely state that the professors has not posted the lectures (fact), and you wish to have them so you can keep up (the impact to you). Don't say it so negatively that the Dean feels he has to stick up for the Prof (i.e defend the university).
Remember the goal is that you want the lectures posted. No matter how pissed you're at the Prof, don't try to "take him down". You just want the lectures, but at the same time you don't want a angry prof who'll nitpick your Final Exam answers? You can achieve your results with politeness and tact.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/30
| 637
| 2,822
|
<issue_start>username_0: In an acknowledgments section to a mathematical paper, one conventionally says the paper has benefited from "helpful conversations" with so-and-so that clarified matters in some way, started one's wheels in motion toward an idea, and so on.
It happens fairly frequently, though, that I email or otherwise approach a colleague I suspect may have some insight, only to have an ***un***helpful conversation. By this I mean that although the exchange is well-informed and pleasant, through no fault of the other party I am unable to gain anything from it mathematically and it has no bearing on what I ultimately publish.
In these situations, my correspondents have made the generous donation of their time, so I feel they ought to be thanked, but on the other hand the paper has not actually benefited. **How should I acknowledge their contribution?**<issue_comment>username_1: I agree with username_2: There are lots of non-obvious ways to contribute to a paper, and it never hurts to be generous. But if they really did not contribute **to the paper**, then there is nothing to acknowledge **in the paper**.
If you really feel you owe them thanks for something that isn't a contribution to the paper, just call and thank them.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I'd recommend being generous in assessing what counts as a contribution to the paper. If a conversation genuinely wasn't substantive at all (for example, it consisted of nothing but pleasantries over tea), then of course it doesn't deserve thanks in the acknowledgments. However, there are lots of ways of being helpful that do not directly lead to any of the content of the paper. For example, someone may explain a theory you don't end up needing, or might help you explore what turns out to be a dead end. These are still helpful contributions, because they let you discard dead ends and focus on more productive directions. Even just learning that an expert in X can't easily solve this problem has some value, because it tells you that your main obstacle isn't developing expertise in X.
One way to draw the line is to ask whether the conversation was obviously useless at the time. If so, then there's no need to thank anyone. If it seemed plausibly useful to you while it was happening, then it's worth acknowledging. The tricky case is when you were always skeptical but the other person thought it was worth exploring. In that case, you might as well give them the benefit of the doubt and offer thanks.
The one thing you shouldn't do is thank some people for "discussions" and others for "helpful discussions". It's fine for some parts of the acknowledgments to be more effusive than others, but you should never write it in a way that seems to imply that some discussions were unhelpful.
Upvotes: 5
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2017/01/30
| 1,708
| 7,299
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<issue_start>username_0: I teach at a U.S. community college, and commonly write letters of recommendation for students applying subsequently to either bachelor's programs or graduate school. I am accustomed to sending such letters directly to the school/program in question. Looking at other Academia SE questions, this seems to be the general practice.
However, once in a while I get a student who says something like, "No, this school requires that I include the recommendation with my application packet; give it directly to me." I may or may not be informed as to the school or program in question. Should I comply with such a request, or decline?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd check the web site of the school in question. In the absence of an answer, write to the registrar. If all else fails, decline, because I believe (without much evidence other than my own feelings) that schools give less weight to recommendations not confidential from the student.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, this is a generous thing to do, if you are comfortable with the student. I would make sure to ask what school/program it is being sent to, and then you can double check (and decline if it's fishy). You can ask this question without acting suspicious, just say you want to tailor the letter for the position.
I have had to include my letters for a few postdoctoral positions I applied for (in Italy and Croatia), and I cannot be more grateful for the fact that I had some senior researchers who were willing to send the letter directly to me so I could include it with my application materials.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I've never heard of it being a requirement, but sometimes it is recommended that you include all application materials as one packet. For instance, once when I was applying for a travel grant, it was highly recommended that all materials be put together so that everything arrived on time. However, they required that the letter was on official letterhead and that it was sealed in an envelope and signed across the the seal by the teacher giving the recommendation. This ensured that it was indeed an original copy and not tampered with.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I believe the default should be handing the letter to the person who asked you for it, and if requested, sending a copy someplace else as well. Why should the contents of your recommendation be hidden from her/him? To make it easier for you to badmouth him/her? If you don't feel like making the recommendation, just decline.
So I'd oblige the request regardless of the justification you were given.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: The few recommendation letters from my previous supervisor that I actually was able to read (e.g. some for travel grants, where I also had to attach them directly to the application) are among the top 10 things in my life I am proud of.
So in case your students do good work and you will write lots of positive stuff, I see nothing wrong in having the students read it. It will give them a push in confidence and motivation, and will inspire them to work even harder!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I believe that you should hand the letter to whoever asked you for it. You aren't handing in some super secret document that no one but the school is supposed to read. It's a letter of recommendation.
Back when I was in school and asked for such letter, professors would even sit down with me and write it out, asking me what I thought. One professor told me:
>
> Let's cut the mumbo-jumbo. You're an adult and you know what your qualities are. Tell me what you think you think about yourself and then I will show you what I wrote in the letter. Let's compare notes and see if you value yourself as much as you should or if I think you need to change a few things before you go to this school.
>
>
>
They then printed out two copies. One to send directly to the designated school in question and one for me to keep.
While I know this is not what you're used to doing, I think you have to treat it like what it is; a letter.
**I will add** that several schools I applied to all wanted the letter to be sent in by me with my application or brought in personally by me when applying in person.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: I do believe it is different for a doctorate than for someone say applying for a clerical position. The reason I say this is I have worked various colleges or universities and whenever I have asked for a letter of recommendation from a boss or supervisor and they are not credentialed they have always handed over to me the typed letter. On the other hand when and have asked one of our doctors for a letter I have they have always asked for the email address so they may send it. When I explain to them that the letter is on the list of things I am to include in my packet they have always complied but many have said they have never heard of it being done this way. I think the difference is the credential, at least in my experience.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I know this is an old question, but I'm a little surprised no one pointed out that in the US, the student is legally entitled to see letters of recommendation because they are part of the student's academic record. Many applications ask that the student waive this right and don't take seriously letters without the waiver. But in principle there is absolutely nothing wrong with a student seeing their letters. Even if the student signs the waiver, there is nothing wrong with the letter-writer voluntarily giving the letter to the student anyway.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: You should accede to the request, but make it clear that what you write is likely to be less helpful than if you were writing a bespoke reference sent to the relevant institution directly and confidentially.
In the UK, we would call this a request for an "open reference" -- that is, a reference which the candidate can see and is at liberty to forward where he/she wishes. Some people publish "open references" on their online profiles. You should consider carefully what you write in an "open reference", since **your** comments and reputation may end up far more public and be remembered for far longer than would be the case for a bespoke and/or confidential reference.
As a result of this consideration, an "open reference" tends to be more generic (because it is not tailored to a specific application) and focus on facts. Given that many academic institutions want a referee's **detailed evaluation** of a candidate (rather than confirmation that the candidate was at X during yyyy–yyyy), this makes the "open reference" a disadvantageous medium. In any case, praise in an "open reference" might not be taken as seriously as in a bespoke and/or confidential reference.
[Possible exception: if you are a notable authority and your praise is very strong (e.g.:
>
> "<NAME> is the finest young physicist I have ever taught, and I have no doubt that her pioneering work will soon make my theories of relativity obsolete." -- Prof. <NAME>
>
>
>
), the fact that you are happy for it to be published all over the world wide web might work in the candidate's favour.]
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/30
| 1,180
| 5,094
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<issue_start>username_0: We had a master's student working on our project. He set up a database for us, and wrote some of the initial code with me in a pair programming session. At one point, he had more commits to the repository than any of the other students working on the project. Then he went to do an internship for the summer, and after that my advisor did not want to keep him on the project for some reason, even though I thought he was friendly and easy to work with.
My advisor chose not to list him as a coauthor, and put him in the acknowledgements section instead. However, there was another guy (a professor) who didn't write any code at all, and wasn't there throughout most of the project, but he wrote the introduction and related work sections for us, and he got listed as a coauthor, even though he probably did a day's worth of work on the project (maybe two). In fact, my advisor gave him the coveted last author position, even though my advisor came up with the idea and directed the whole project.
What determines who gets put as a coauthor, and who gets put in the acknowledgement sections?<issue_comment>username_1: I've worked with people on projects that I thought should've been coauthors, but was told not to include them. Part of the reason was that they were not one of the official collaborators on the project. They helped, but in no way contributed to the actual manuscript.
In general, if someone is a co-author, they will be given the opportunity to make revisions on the manuscript as it goes through the peer-review process. It is advisable to keep this list to a minimum, so that only the core group of contributors are listed as authors. Otherwise, the revision process can take too much time and publishing the manuscript gets difficult.
If someone helped to write the grant proposal that funded the project, they will almost certainly be listed as a co-author. Another thing to keep in mind is that a co-author will be a representative for your manuscript, so it is advisable that they completely understand the scope of the project and research material. And, sometimes its just good to have someone well-respected in the field as a co-author, even if all they did was "write the introduction", because they have experienced insight. So, if they can get involved after most of the research work is done, they can contribute to the manuscript nicely in just a few hours. This is in contrast to a student who did weeks of coding on the project, but may not be able to contribute any real substance to the manuscript.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Usually, the key indicator for co-authorship is the contribution of **creative content**. Did the student have own ideas that improved the paper? Was the program/database he wrote just a technical thing, or did it contribute scientifically? These are some questions that can help make/understand the decision.
There is a fine line to walk sometimes. Especially [between different subject areas](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1911), there can be discrepancies who gets to be co-author. Sometimes everybody is counted, sometimes only the first author and his advisor(s) without any students.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **It's complicated.**
The norms for co-authorship are across the board and highly field dependent. Generally two big ones seem to be pretty consistent though:
1. Wrote or edited the manuscript that is submitted.
2. Made a significant creative contribution as [noted by ian\_itor](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/84132/7269).
The idea of if software development is a creative contribution is still hotly contested. One norm that seems to be developing is that developers are typically only credited as a co-author if software development is a significant aspect of the publication. For example, chemistry papers may mention an "internally developed tool" used for analysis and may only credit the developer in the acknowledgements.
Personally I belong to the school of thought that software development is at least in part a creative endeavor. As such, I would suggest the following:
1. If the software is the point of the manuscript, the person should be included as a co-author or [as part of a development team](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83865/where-to-draw-the-line-for-authorship-for-a-software-announcement-paper).
2. If they software is not the point of the manuscript, but the research is dependent upon the software, they should be included if they were involved in design and architecture.
3. If the research could not have been completed with out the assistance of the person (ex. they optimized an algorithm to run on a distributed cluster) they should be included as a co-author.
4. If the software is incidental to the research (ex. chemistry paper, but a tool was written for analysis) then the development team should be individually recognized in the acknowledgements.
Generally I feel it is also rude of the manuscript authors if developer contributions are not acknowledged at all.
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/01/30
| 666
| 2,847
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<issue_start>username_0: My doctoral advisor has regularly taken 3-4 weeks to respond to each round of my revisions on my doctoral dissertation draft.
Because of her lengthy response delays, I defended very late in the semester. (In contrast to her 3-4 weeks, I take 2-3 days to finish all of her requested revisions.) At the moment, it looks like I am going to run over to the next semester, which means I have to push back my conferral date and pay another semester's tuition since I am over the period where I received tuition compensation. (I had funding and a scholarship for four whole years, but my dissertation has run into a fifth year.)
My question is should I complain to her about her delays? I have already spoken a couple times to the graduate student advisor who works with the faculty, so I am sure my doctoral advisor knows I am anxious to finish up. Should I complain to the department chair about allowing faculty to take so long to respond to dissertations? If I have to enroll in another semester, I will officially be a whole year beyond the average time period of finishing a PhD in this program.
I still could have made this semester's conferral deadline, but my doctoral advisor yet again dropped the ball, and she hasn't looked at my final revisions for 4 days and the very last deadline for this conferral is today. I doubt I will meet the deadline today because she again took a long time in responding to my revisions even though I told her about this deadline several days ago. Should I complain to the department chair? Should I complain to anyone? Is there anything I can do besides paying for yet another semester's tuition?<issue_comment>username_1: With the deadline being today, I fear there is nothing left to do.
In the future you might get your supervisor to review chapter by chapter, reducing the actual effort she has per iteration, and giving you the feedback early on. Then you can also use feedback you got from the early chapters to update future one accordingly, so that your supervisor can see that you take her feedback seriouly.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Read your department literature and/or talk to the department head to see if there is any special status you can apply for since you only have your dissertation work left to complete. Many times this is referred to, at least unofficially, as ABD (All But Dissertation) status.
Oftentimes ABD status can be used to significantly reduce tuition costs (since you wont be taking any coursework).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Ask your advisor to check with the dean or other appropriate authority to see whether tuition can be waived since you have nothing left but a round of revisions and the defense. That puts your advisor in the position of explaining the delays, rather than your complaining about them.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/30
| 936
| 3,999
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently been offered a tenure-track position in a very prestigious northern European university. I am currently a lecturer in a smaller UK university but I have six years of experience between my post-docs and appointment as a lecturer.
The level of appointment would be as a an Assistant Professor. Here, I am a "tenured" Senior Lecturer (which should be *a bit higher*), however being a non-intensive research university, there were an easier set of requirements. I feel more like a glorified post-doc with more teaching responsibilities than a full lecturer (but don't tell them that!). Indeed the level of research support is non-comparable. In the two years I have been here I have not had the possibility of supervising PhD students as there are no resources, beyond a few temporary post-docs I have been able to fund. Which is my main motivation for leaving (and Brexit).
Still, I feel the experience I have accrued should be recognised a bit more. Since the assistant professorship is also something they could be offering to a very good newly minted PhD or an early post-doc.
They say that "almost-always" a five-year tenure-track position results in a promotion to a tenured Associate Position. However my negotiating experience is really low, and coming from a Southern European background, all wages seem astronomical compared to what I was earning as a PhD back home.
My question is: how should I argue my case? Should I be asking for an earlier tenure time? It could be also counter-productive, for example if all my grant applications are rejected. If you have been in a similar situation, what did you ask for?<issue_comment>username_1: You didn't say what the job market is like Europe in your field. Typically, there is a lot of competition for tenure-track jobs at very prestigious universities. In light of that, my advice is to accept the job graciously (not grudgingly, and not giddily), and work at the university for at least a year before asking for anything better than what you were offered. That's because you might find that colleagues who are better qualified and more accomplished than you received offers with the same terms you've been offered, or perhaps worse terms, in which case you would seem to be unappreciative or worse, unrealistic. Of course, you might find that everybody haggled for better terms, and feel like a sucker, but it's better to err on the side of humility than in the direction of arrogance when starting a new job in academia.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Given your level of previous expertise, it would indeed be reasonable to ask for appointment at a higher level or a reduced tenure time. Sometimes a university would be able to offer an appointment at something like an associate professor level with a reduced tenure track period (anything from one to three years could be appropriate).
Try to ask someone at this university, maybe the head of the search committee, maybe your (future) head of department or division, or maybe the person you're negotiating with whether a higher-level appointment and/or reduced tenure track time would be possible. Point to your previous achievements and explain in which way they already show what would be required from you in a tenure evaluation (teaching, publications, obtained funding for post-docs, ...).
While it won't hurt asking for it, be prepared that depending on the actual context of this position they might not be able to offer a higher level appointment.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Your question, "how should I argue my case?" is unanswerable without a statement of what your "case" is. With any job offer, you state what you want, and the other party agrees or disagrees. A vague feeling that you should be "recognised a bit more" doesn't matter. What is it that would make you more likely to take the position, or make it more likely that, given the position, you'd be successful at it? Also: Congratulations!
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/30
| 435
| 1,861
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student and intern publishing a conference paper with a company I have been working with for about a year now and am trying to nail down the acknowledgements. I have never written a paper before. I have a few specific questions:
I am the only student-intern author and also the head author – how do I separate the acknowledgements of the group from my own personal acknowledgements?
Is it acceptable to thank the co-authors for guidance, encouragement, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it acceptable to thank the co-authors for guidance, encouragement, etc.?
>
>
>
No, not really. Well, it may be going a bit far to say that doing so would be *unacceptable*, but I can say two things:
1. I have never seen an author thanking one of their coauthors.
2. Thanking your coauthors in your own joint paper with them is *illogical*. The purpose of the acknowledgements section is to provide a space where the contributions of people *other than the paper's authors*, which were of too minor a nature to merit authorship, can be acknowledged, so that those people would get some minor (mostly of a psychological, feel-good nature) credit for their help. Your coauthors are already getting a much more major credit than that, so an acknowledgement to them adds nothing.
To summarize, if you want to thank your coauthors, do it in person. I'm sure they would appreciate it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Apparently different people have different opinions about this... and, indeed, usually one joint author does not thank another. But in an extremely unsymmetrical situation such as yours, I'd think it perfectly fine to say something like "the first author thanks the other authors for their mentoring and advice". After all, joint authorship does not necessarily mentoring, for example.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/30
| 748
| 3,268
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<issue_start>username_0: This question could sound weird. I'm reading through a computer science book which is the only reference I personally have about an algorithm, and I'd like to get in touch with the author of the book, which is quite famous in the field. I don't understand some of the conditions stated in order to make the algorithm work. I have another book which implements the algorithm, but some of the key aspects are not actually explained, and somehow I don't find the correspondence with some of theoretic aspect.
Just to clarify the algorithm is a long division algorithm for which I've tried to work out the theoretic aspect exposed in the book by myself. Some of them are fine other instead aren't clear enough, at least to me. I've tried to ask in math exchange for some help I didn't get much information XD.
The issue is that apparently this professor has no longer an e-mail address, and he suggests that if someone wants to get in touch with him it's for the best if you use the "old fashion" mail post service... which I mean... it's not that handy...
Do you have any suggestions?<issue_comment>username_1: Write the letter. You might not even have to mail it.
I think you will find that the effort of expressing your questions in writing may actually help you find the answers. For those who object that the same is true of email, I doubt it. With an actual, on paper, letter, things move more slowly, leaving more time for reflection, than with electronic communication.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Do you have any suggestions?
>
>
>
My suggestion is for you to get some perspective. If the person you are referring to is who I (and everyone else here) think it is, you need to understand that this is a person who has reached an extraordinary level of celebrity in the scientific community. Saying he is "quite famous" doesn't begin to describe the situation accurately -- I'm talking about a level of fame where (I have seen this with my own eyes) when he gives a talk at another institution, star-struck graduate students and postdocs approach him one after the other asking to have their pictures taken with him. Moreover, this person famously dedicates his life to thinking, writing, and speaking at public events in various places. Being in close touch with his very large fan base is quite at odds with his lifestyle and his legendary dedication to his work.
In other words, **there is a very good reason why he does not have a publicly listed email address**.
For the same reason, I expect that even if you go to the small trouble of writing him a letter (which, amusingly and for a reason I can't quite understand, you seem to think is an incredibly onerous thing to do), the chances that you will get a reply seem rather low -- I wouldn't expect that he can spare the time to explain long division algorithms to random people asking for more details than he already put into his books. But in any case do give it a shot, in the event that you do get a reply you will have something to brag about to your friends. And maybe it will help free you from your psychological inhibition against writing old-fashioned letters, which is something that could be of independent benefit.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/01/30
| 633
| 2,411
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<issue_start>username_0: I read somewhere that you can reference, the Harvard way, by stating the author, before ending the sentence with a date - like so:
>
> *Author* said this *bla bal blabd bdalab d...* (2017).
>
>
>
But, after reading through my dissertation, my teacher told me this was invalid Harvard referencing; and, he said I should cite the author like this:
>
> *Author* said this *bla bal blabd bdalab d...* (Author, 2017).
>
>
>
Is this true, or can I indeed use the proposed method?<issue_comment>username_1: There can be disagreement on how to reference correctly within a style. I have referenced in both ways that you cite, with no complaints from my tutors. I have also had papers published using both methods of citation with no corrections from the copy editors.
However, I think what we are experiencing here is your tutor's preference. He clearly wants you to do things in method B rather than method A, for whatever reason. I am sure he has read through multitudinous publications, some of which use method A, though his own preference is B.
When I wrote my first essay for my master's I used footnotes for referencing. My tutor wrote on the paper that in-text citations were much better: neither was *wrong*, but my tutor was specifying a preference and recommending a better habit to get into. Similarly, seeing as yours is the one marking your papers, I would just go with it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I am in one of the fields where author-date (Harvard) referencing is common, and I have not seen the style that you describe. Normally, it's either:
>
> Author (2017) finds xyz.
>
>
>
or
>
> Xyz (Author 2017).
>
>
>
Of course I do not know all the citation formats in all different fields, so it is possible that such style exists in some fields I don't know. However, based on some common style guides, I believe such style, if exists, is not common. For example, the Oxford Style Guide (New Hart's Rules), which covers a few different common reference styles, only gives author-date examples similar to what I've given here. The same is true for the APA Manual, which is a widely used style guide that prescribes the author-date system.
In some contexts (including some educational institutions), authors are expected to (at least roughly) follow a particular citation style. In such case, you can consult the reference guide.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/30
| 596
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<issue_start>username_0: I finished my post-PhD, after two years working under a scholarship, in April 2015. In September 2015 I was notified that I was accepted as research staff in my institution (I applied in December 2014). In September 2016 I was finally added to the "payroll" as a staff member.
Between the period April 2015 - September 2016, I kept receiving my post-PhD scholarship in what is known in my country as an "extension of the post-PhD". This is done because the time that passes between the end of the post-PhD and the final addition of your name to the payroll (if you are accepted) is rather long. In my case it took about a year and a half (which is the standard period), and this way one is not left with no monthly income.
The question is: how should I describe that period in my CV? Anyone from my country will be able to tell immediately what happened, but I'm not sure how to explain this to people from other countries.
In rigour my post-PhD ended in April 2015, so I can't really say I was working on it for an extra 1.5 year. What I did for that period of time was what I do now: research. But I can't say that I started working as a researcher after April 2015, because my first actual paycheck as such didn't come until September 2016.<issue_comment>username_1: In the comments you said it is called an "Extensión de posdoctorado". It is fine to list that phrase as your job title during the period. It is reasonably clear to english speakers.
People reading international CVs expect to see unfamiliar terms and career progression.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. I would avoid putting months on the CV. Just use years. It's a very small minority of hirers who still push for that exact info like some detectives searching for gaps (as if that were some embarrassment to root out). That way, unless you have a gap that is a ful calendar year, it won't show. Those who care can ask for it or do an application. But this is just going up on a website for now regardless.
2. There is nothing wrong with just calling the extra months as a postdoc or researcher. Whatever works better for presenting you. Sounds like you didn't get the title/pay yet, but were doing the job elements. Although I am mystified what is different in research done by a postdoc or individual researcher.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/30
| 894
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<issue_start>username_0: I got accepted into my dream program at one of the best universities in the US, and I'll be working under an excellent, very well known advisor whose interests align very well with mine. However, since I will likely be getting a multi-year fellowship, and due to how this specific program is structured, it seems that I won't be getting much TA experience, if any at all.
I love teaching and enjoy it very much, and I already have 2 years of TA experience as an undergrad. How much would it affect my future TT applications if I have a (hopefully) solid research record but not that much TA experience? I don't want to turn down this opportunity but might have to if it turns out I won't get the TA experience I want/need.
**EDIT**: My field is applied physics/electrical engineering/materials science (very interdisciplinary research area so in theory I could be hired by any of these departments). I hope to work at an R1 school.<issue_comment>username_1: Two years is probably enough, especially since your two years' of TAing went so well. You may want to concentrate on demonstrating yourself as a researcher now. However, if you have time to spare, I'm sure you could offer your services to the person in your department who coordinates TAs. As I probably don't need to tell you, you'd want to keep your advisor in the loop.
Consider that a fellow or research assistant is sometimes pressed into service to lecture in place of the advisor in case s/he has to miss one or more classes.
When you feel ready, you could expand on that idea, and ask someone (probably your advisor, but it could be someone else too) if you could be a guest lecturer for a particular topic in a particular class.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I do not know of many schools that will overlook a candidate with a strong research record because she/he has not done "enough" (whatever that means) TA.
Teaching experience is something you easily acquire with time. Research abilities are not something you acquire so easily with the years.
TA duties take on many forms and, if possible, consider marking or leading tutorials for upper level courses. Not only are such duties challenging, they also allow you to productively brush up on some topics while being paid.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If you love teaching, you should volunteer for one or two terms of it in your graduate career. I think most grad schools will let you TA if you want to, even if you don't have to in order to earn your stipend. You may even be able to negotiate a small amount of extra money in addition to your fellowship in terms when you're teaching.
There are many colleges that consider teaching a priority, and these will be much more reluctant to hire you if you didn't teach in graduate school (some of these colleges have extremely good undergraduates). Two terms of TA-ing with good ratings should be enough for these colleges to decide how good a teacher you are. You'll still have most of your terms free of teaching duties, so it won't interfere with your research much, and you'll keep your career options open.
Students who *don't* like teaching should ignore this advice. You might rather go into industry than get a job at a college that considers teaching a priority and expects you to do it well.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: If you wish to be a Professor of Physics at an "R1" research-focused school, TAing experience will be only weakly considered. You will be judged on your publications, awards, and reputation. Teaching competence is better demonstrated by teaching as instructor of record.
In short, giving up TAing and producing more research results with that time is a wise strategy for your goals.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/31
| 2,109
| 8,796
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<issue_start>username_0: Researchers need to get together with each other in conferences to give talks, listen to talks, discuss with others, network, etc. But travel to conferences is expensive and adds substantially to one's carbon footprint.
How can this kind of academic interaction be accomplished remotely, i.e. without traveling? How can remote participation in conferences be set up so as to approach the effectiveness of in-person attendance?
**Edit**:
I would like to see someone discuss the choice of location. I got this idea from the answer that mentioned Energy Star. I once visited the Canary Islands and saw political graffiti saying "no more concrete." I wonder if holding a conference in an area with poor urban planning, with explosive building patterns, would have a disproportional effect on local climate, species diversity, populations abandoning traditional farming and migrating to the city and underemployment... these are thoughts that are just starting to form. I hope someone with a better understanding of these things can weigh in. For example, is there a way to relate these factors to the technical component "carbon footprint"?
What about how much food needs to be flown in? For example, a conference held on an island that doesn't lend itself to producing fresh fruit, vs. a venue that can source more locally grown food?
Then there's fuel for heating and air conditioning, and gasoline for getting from the airport to the hotel. I wonder whether conference organizers ever think about any of these considerations....
But I would still like to understand how remote participation can be shaped to yield similar benefits to in-person attendance. Maybe it would help to form some small interest-based subgroups?<issue_comment>username_1: What about decentralized conferences?
People could meet at two, three or more smaller conference centers instead of meeting at one large conference center (Europe, US, ...). Each researcher would have to travel less. Live streaming of the sessions and discussions would allow a broad participation.
There would be a loss in networking but not completely. Organizing such events might be more difficult but I would give it a try.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Environmental sustainability institute propose several strategies for lowering carbon footprint. It can be applied generally in any occasion. See <http://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-footprint/>
Selected quotes from that page:
>
> 1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint From Driving
> some conferences organise excursions for participants and planar speakers, chooice wisely most appropriate transport, and Get a hitch-mounted cargo rack, Tire inflation and other tuning. Properly inflated tires improve your gas mileage by up to 3%. It also helps to use the correct grade of motor oil, and to keep your engine tuned, because some maintenance fixes, like fixing faulty oxygen sensors, can increase fuel efficiency by up to 40%. Avoid traffic. Being stuck in traffic wastes gas and unneccessarily creates CO2. Use traffic websites and apps and go a different way or wait.
> Misc. Combine errands to make fewer trips. Remove excess weight from your car. Use cruise control.
> 2. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint From Air Travel
> Work Air Travel. Increase your use of video-conferencing tools like Skype and Facetime.
> What class? Economy class is best, for the same reasons as carpooling and public transportation. Each flyer’s share of a flight’s carbon emissions is relatively less because it’s spread out over more people.
> 3. Reduce accommodation and conference place Energy Carbon Footprint
> Make energy efficiency a primary consideration when choosing a place where conference will be held. Products bearing the ENERGY STAR label are recognised for having superior efficiency. There are many accommodations that claim they are green, eco friendly, self sustainable.
> 4. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint From Food Eat locally-produced and organic food. It has been estimated that 13% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the production and transport of food. Transporting food requires petroleum-based fuels, and many fertilizers are also fossil fuel-based.
> Cut the beef and dairy. It takes a lot of resources to raise cows, and it’s especially bad if you buy beef from somewhere like Brazil, where it was grazed on land that used to be tropical forest but was cleared for agricultural use. Deforestation is a top contributor to carbon emissions and thus climate change.
> Go vegan for brunches
> 5. Water usage ower the amount of energy used to pump, treat, and heat water by washing your car less often, using climate-appropriate plants in your garden, installing drip irrigation so that plants receive only what they need, and making water-efficient choices when purchasing shower heads, faucet heads, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.
> Reuse and recycle. It has been estimated that 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from the “provision of goods,” which means the extraction of resources, manufacturing, transport, and final disposal of “goods” which include consumer products and packaging, building components, and passenger vehicles, but excluding food. By buying used products and reselling or recyling items you no longer use, you dramatically reduce your carbon footprint from the “provision of goods.”
> 6. Carbon offsetting should not be done in place of taking steps to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Carbon offsetting and carbon footprint reduction should be done in tandem. Measuring your carbon footprint not only reveals where you’re currently at, but also helps to identify areas for improvement and track your progress.
> Offsetting the amount which you are not able to avoid empowers you to take full responsibility for your carbon pollution, which is your contribution to climate change. In this context, COTAP offers a unique and meaningful solution in that we focus on certified forestry projects in least-developed regions that create life-changing income for the world’s poorest people.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To set up a new trend, it would be nice to start with a listing of the benefits involved. In addition to reducing the carbon footprints, moving towards digital conferencing would substantially
* reduce the expenses incurred
* reduce organizing overhead
* improve ease of access
* save time
However, a digital conference may not appeal to the *feel* of a traditional conference. Also as @username_1 pointed, it would lead to a reduced affinity for face-to-face networking.
A suggestion I might give to promote this would be to conduct it digitally but with the similar benefits of traditional conferences, such as
* a chance to get a version published in a special issue of a reputable journal
* a digital help-desk for any queries
* chat rooms for each special guest
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Personal, disputable view follows.
Even if you avoid a conference, you save only a few kilograms of carbon. There's millions of other fliers that don't care about it and are travelling at the same time.
The best way to protect the environment is through technological advances: planes that work with eco-friendly fuel, are faster or more effective, better virtual reality technology that allows one to avoid travels, maybe even quantum teleportation and all that kind of stuff.
How do we advance technology? Through scientific research. How do we get it earlier? By advancing scientific knowledge as fast as we can, in the most efficient way. So go to that conference, don't worry about that minor O(1) saving, and do your part to obtain the O(n) or O(n^2) one later on in the history of humanity. Maybe that theorem in homological algebra that you are presenting today is going to be instrumental to quantum teleportation in 100 years.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: By far the most significant part of your carbon footprint attending a conference is the flight there (if you are flying there). In fact, if I'm [not mistaken](http://www.livescience.com/13835-carbon-footprint-daily-activities.html) (I'm no expert on these things), this dwarfs everything else combined.
So if that's what you optimize for, you need to do one of the following:
* Decentralize the conference
* Have more local conferences instead of global ones
* Encourage travel by rail and/or sea instead of by air (yes, it would be much longer)
Now, this might seem excessive to us right now, but just wait a few decades until oil and other combustible fuels are more scarce, and if we haven't developed compact fusion engines for airplanes it might not seem outlandish to expect someone to take a week to get to an overseas conference...
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/31
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<issue_start>username_0: It seems to be the trend that fewer and fewer students take notes in class. Lately, and particularly this semester, for some reason, I have been noticing that several students take pictures of the blackboards with their phones in lieu of taking notes.
While I'm not necessarily against this, if it helps them focus on class, I'm uncomfortable about being in a million pictures by these students. I'd like to speak up, but it's already a few weeks into the semester, and I don't want to make the students feel uncomfortable either. Is there anything that I can do to resolve this without creating discomfort on either side?<issue_comment>username_1: Perhaps you could make an announcement that just before erasing the board, you will pause for a moment to allow pictures to be taken, while you stand out of the way so as not to obstruct the shot. You can ask photographers to wait until that time, and to please compose their shots to exclude you if necessary.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_2: Give them the lecture notes online. Then they have no reason to take pictures. Also scanned papers look better than messy pictures of blackboard and if you omit some proofs due to lack of time, they will still be on those notes.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: I actually have a professor with the same feelings about being in pictures. At the beginning of the semester he said to us that because of his religion he cannot be shown in pictures.
He says that if we would like to take a picture of the board, just ask, so he can step to the side.
It's worked out pretty well so far, and my fellow students are all really understanding. Just telling your students that it makes you uncomfortable should be enough for them.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Good, Ethical, Appropriate, Boundary Setting. You are there to share under a specific set of conditions.
Students have been taking photographs of blackboards for more than a hundred years. Take a minute to think on that. A student will do anything to pass a class if they need to.
1.)Let them take them at an appropriate time determined by you. 2.) Take them yourself and post them so they may see them. 3.) Take better pix than them at higher resolution, and you will never be in them as the example for them.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: You can announce
>
> Some students take photos before I finish and they might miss some important points when they do, so when I am done and before erasing I will let you take clear photos.
>
>
>
As a humorous point, you can add that the pictures will be more clear without you in them.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: Photographing the blackboard is counter-productive anyway; if all you want to do is learn by rote, it's fine I guess. But recreating the working by hand is a big part of understanding it. You could insist that your students do that, for this reason. An added bonus is that then they're not taking photos of you either.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: It looks to me that this is a topic in the "feeling good education" which, I believe is not education at all (more like sale of diplomas for big money and nothing to show for it), so I should not be commenting. But I do anyway.
First, many instructors/departments/universities do not permit phones or other electronic devices in the classroom. A student who comes to class to tap on his electronic device is not only disrespectful (why not wide open a newspaper and read it in front of your prof) but is rather disinterested in the subject as well. Second, students need to learn how to take notes, since that way they stay engaged, they learn to discriminate the important from less important and so on. Just because you can snap a photo, does not mean it is useful to you. Third, they are copying copyrighted material and that is a no-no, for mass consumption, such as youtube or like postings they end up at. Lastly classroom is not generally considered to be a public space, even at public universities (just consult numerous court cases) and therefore you do not have a freehand in taking photos of people without their permission. Finally, this is mostly caused by indecisive instructor. You are there to set the tone and establish the rules, not to worry about "hurt feelings" but to make sure you have classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and teaching effectively.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: If you would be OK with a purely technical solution, you could ask your department for some other means of display that removes you from the line of sight between your class and the display. I suggest a document camera with a separate (not attached) projector if at all possible. It has a similar workflow to a blackboard/whiteboard in that you can just write naturally while you lecture and you can invite students up to write easily. Even better, you can orient your writing surface so you are facing towards your students while you write, which makes it easier to speak clearly to them. There is also a nice side effect in that you have the written copy of all your work during the lecture at no extra effort. I had a professor who used this very effectively by making the written copy of the lecture notes available through the library, he would just number each page, put them all in a folder labeled with the course and day, and drop them off in the library, then students could check them out for an hour or two in order to review some point that they had missed in their personal notes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I had a professor who actually made photos of the blackboard himself and he put them online after the class.
Although it requires some extra work it won't give the student a reason to make unwished photos, and all of them will have the same information.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I see some answers about offering students better opportunities for shots, either at the end, or via pre-captured images. This only works to a point. Often what a student wants to capture is the intermediate steps... things that might be left out of the other notes.
If you are fortunate enough to have an interactive whiteboard, you can often get behind this by using the recording feature on the board. This can *really* help students capture the whole process in a way that snapshots often don't, and now the impulse to capture an image on a phone is even reduced even more.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: The best solution that I found is using a tablet instead of writing on a white/blackboard. I bought a tablet with a "good stylus pen" and I always write notes on the tablet and share the pdf with students after my classes.
You can connect the tablet to the projector and everybody can see the content. Then you can use a software to write the notes and export it to pdf or image. It also makes it easy for you to browse among your notes. You can even write on your lecture slides.
However, don't forget that the stylus pen must be a good one. Get a tablet that comes with a stylus pen. The ones in the market are not really good for this purpose.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/31
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<issue_start>username_0: Good morning/afternoon/evening and good night
I am a psych major-undergraduate senior and have actively engaged in being part of and/or conducting research for past 2 years.
My past undergraduate projects are, in a good way, "interdisciplinary": developmental psychology, cultural psychology (immigrant's cultural identity development) quantitative (machine learning approaches in big data analytics) psychology, cognitive psychology (priming studies), educational psychology (academic performance), health psychology (drug addition)etc.
This may also means that I am just very-all-over-the-place, indecisive, impulsive, ADHD, and so forth.
I look forward to applying to graduate programs for cognitive psychology or developmental psychology (and if I can pursue developmental clinical psychology later on the way).
However, as you can see, my undergraduate research experience lacks "any kind of" focus in neither discipline.
I am concerned whether this counts as minus.
I just enjoy doing research & running analyses, but perhaps I should have been certain with what kind of research I wanted to be part of in past years.
Thank you as always,
I appreciate any comments!<issue_comment>username_1: I can't speak to psychology in particular, but I did a bunch of undergrad research that ended up being totally unrelated to my Master's and PhD work. Any research experience will help strengthen your application, and nobody expects you to have it all figured out during an undergrad degree. Some programs even allow for time to choose a topic in the first year of grad studies.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I can’t speak to Psychology either, but in general terms I can say that no Master’s selection committee would expect you to have figured out what you wanted to do in your academic career since your junior year. The same as you, I did research in a menagerie of unrelated topics during my undergrad, then chose a master that was tangentially related to one of those topics and got accepted. Finally, my PhD is an offshoot of the research project I chose for my masters, but I wouldn’t say it’s exactly in the same line. There are some metamorphoses that are even more extreme - I have a friend who started as a mathematician, then did a master in bioinformatics and finally moved into a PhD in Philosophy of Science. In summary, reviewers will be looking first and foremost at your capacity and commitment to do research on whatever topic you have chosen in the past as a prove that you will commit to the master’s topic in the future.
All that being said, here are some recommendations:
* Talk to your Professors. Inform them about you master choice with
details? Do they think you are suited for that specific master? They
may consider your choice is not appropriate for your profile and be
willing to support you for a different master (but not the one you
chose in the first place.)
* Draw attention to projects that relate the most to your current application. Are you applying to a master in
cognitive psychology? Then talk about your project on that topic in
you cover letter/CV/letter-of-intent.
* Highlight those skills that
may be useful in your masters **even if you learned them in a
research project whose topic was unrelated to the master thesis**.
This recommendation also applies for general skills that are useful
in almost any masters, e.g., quantitative skills.
* Related to the first bullet. Try to secure
good letters of recommendation from Professors with whom you worked
on topics related to your master application. If that is not
possible, at least try to secure good letters of recommendation.
* Finally but not less important, show that despite being spread
during your bachelor, you are now committed and passionate about that
specific masters topic. Indeed, you can say shopping all those topics gave
you insight to make an informed decision.
Remember, an application is not simply a list of things you did in the past, but a statement to draw attention on the most relevant landmarks during studies and on how those events shaped your current choice.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: The question is about too much of a case-by-case thing. In general the more general/abstract thing you are studying the wider the scope of things you can do. Mathematicians are everywhere, business, physics, technology... Marine biologists are not. But marine biology has its own cases, like if they need a specialist on sharks, then a specialist on whales cannot get that position, both being still marine biologists and often being able to take the role of a generalist in marine biology.
Similarly it will work on psychology. You may or may not specialize in something, and without specialization you cannot get the position of a specialist. But you can still be a generalist and specialize relatively fast, so you can get some specialist positions.
Sorry for a messy answer, but that is life, in my applied math dept. one PhD is an ex-instructor of special forces. The life is dynamic as are the positions. Only the positions where something must be done fast require exact specialists that have the needed specialization on spot. The positions are filled by the best match, there seldom is a need to fill the position perfectly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I am a PhD student in a different field (computer science), but a striking number of people in my field have a publication record that looks like: very first publication (as an undergrad, masters student, or early PhD student) --> a bunch of very different work that makes up their dissertation.
This is not an ironclad rule, and demonstrated expertise (or at least experience) in an advisor's topic of interest is always a plus. But advisors are generally looking for research potential. A good way of demonstrating this is via work with a professor that culminates in a research publication, or at least convinces your supervising professor that you'll be a valuable researcher eventually. It's not common for an advisor to hire you to continue your undergrad research.
This is different when hiring for, say, tenure-track faculty positions, where you need a convincing story and coherent research direction to sell yourself.
At this level it is enough to demonstrate that you know what research *in general* is like and have some aptitude for it.
As a side note, I would also think carefully about the different projects you participated in. Why did they all interest you? There may be a common, coherent theme underlying all of them. Don't lie, but finding such a common thread will help your application make sense - and make it easier for you to write, too!
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/31
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| 1,280
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<issue_start>username_0: As the number of citations to some of my articles recently increased, I took a look to see who cites me among the articles listed on Google Scholar. To my surprise I found that I was cited in a document describing talks in a conference and in a curriculum vitae. These two citations are not "real" so I would like to remove them.
Do you know how can we remove some of the citations from the Google Scholar profile?<issue_comment>username_1: **You can't.**
Google Scholar, like everything Google, does not curate the data. It only indexes them and makes them easy to search through. If the citing document is online it'll be counted as a citation.
Google Scholar citations count, h-index and i-10 index are not accurate if you have quality criteria for what constitute a citation (an most reasonable academics do) and should be interpreted with caution.
There are commercial products that give more meaningful citations count per article or researcher. They are generally available via your institution's library.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Log into Google on your scholar page, then select the article. Clicking on the offending article, to go onto it's page. Once on the page for the article there should be a delete option.
Upvotes: -1
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2017/01/31
| 640
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<issue_start>username_0: What are the pros and cons of submitting a math paper to a general journal vs a field specific journal?
There are so many general journals today,
and sometimes there reputation is not nessecerily better than a journal devoted to a specific subfield.
Given that, is there any reason to prefer a generalist journal over a field specific one?<issue_comment>username_1: In the bigger picture, (for applying to future jobs, etc.), if you have articles that appear in journals that are more general, this looks very good; this shows that that your research has a wide appeal, rather than only being of interest to people only in a small niche subfield.
Of course, journals that are more focused can still be very good, and often can have good impact factors. But I know that in mathematics, having all of my publications in focused journals would not be ideal; I would want to have a few in journals with a broader appeal.
(For example my field is finite geometry, which is very narrow; focused journals often include coding theory and design theory. Journals on combinatorics are much more broad; publishing here shows that anyone who studies combinatorics might find my work interesting. A publication in a completely general mathematics journal would show that any mathematician might find value in my work.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It's a bit difficult to disentangle this issue from prestige, since many of the most prestigious journals in mathematics are general.
At the very top of the prestige scale (Annals and a handful of competitors), there are no specialized journals at all. Specialized journals start to appear a little lower on the scale, and they become more common as one descends further, as well as more specialized.
To a first approximation, prestige is the more important factor. For example, given a choice between GAFA and Transactions of the AMS, GAFA wins on prestige despite being quite a bit more specialized. There may be other reasons you might prefer the Transactions (for example, the publisher's policies, or a desire to support the AMS), but if building an impressive CV is your primary motivation, you should go for prestige.
On the other hand, going with the broader journal is a good heuristic if you aren't sure which is more prestigious or don't think there's a big difference, since it's correlated with prestige and therefore tends to give a good impression.
Towards the bottom of the prestige pyramid, people may raise an eyebrow at overly specialized journals, since a paper acceptance doesn't mean much if it's in a venue specifically designed to ensure that specialized papers not easily publishable elsewhere find a home. Of course that doesn't mean the papers are bad, but they won't look impressive on a CV.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/31
| 1,228
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<issue_start>username_0: In my department, it has been fairly common to receive mass emails from our department chair about political developments. These emails followed the election last winter, recent executive orders from our current president, as well has his failure to receive a dean appointment at our university. In this question, I am not addressing the political issues themselves, but whether it is appropriate, or not, for an educational administrator to send politically driven emails en masse.
To be frank, though in my opinion, his emails have been very emotional and childish. For example, he sent a mass email about his loss as a candidate to become the dean of a college -it was an emotionally charged correspondence that had an air of whining in it. Likewise, he has sent emails about his distaste with developments in Washington DC. Emails have encouraged students to sign onto a petition. I am a big fan of free speech, but I think this behavior shuts down people with differing opinions than his own; this fosters "group think" sentiments that could be detrimental to maintaining a diversity of ideas. I never experienced this form of behavior in industrial companies/private sector
1. What sort of guidelines should an administrator follow concerning mass emails that are politically based?
2. If this behavior is inappropriate, would it be appropriate to address this form of behavior?
3. If I were to address it, which party or parties would be best to approach?<issue_comment>username_1: In your question, I note two (different) items:
1. Sending political emails
2. Embedding an opinion
Sending political emails
------------------------
I can certainly imagine that a department administrator needs to send political emails: there are often political situations that have a certain influence on a department/school or its students and staff (e.g. a new law or decree). In general, I believe that messages sent to mass email addresses should be used to provide information that is applicable to all who receive this message. As a guideline, therefore, I believe that such email should be without any opinion.
Embedding an opinion
--------------------
I believe that **personal opinions** and emotions should be dealt with in personal circles, and not be shared with the general public over mass email addresses *(there are public forums, but then viewers have a choice in reading or not reading).* The sender does not know what these emotions brings about with the receivers: it can have significant consequences for people who have dealt with similar personal difficulties. And, strong opinions can cause strong reactions, again with possible negative consequences for the sender as well as other receivers.
As such, I think this behavior should be addressed. Many universities have an Student Ombuds Office, where any issue about university policy, bureaucracy, and conflicts can be discussed confidentially. If it bothers you, contact them, and then they can guide you further and inform you about the university staff member breaching university policies, for example.
Of course, an administrator may also have been asked to inform students and staff of the **institutional opinion**. This most likely means that a (board) meeting has resulted in a decision from the institution, which is then passed on to all involved in the institution. These messages describe the position of the institution on a certain question, but most certainly exclude emotional descriptors.
In short
--------
The staff member's behavior could be against policies the university has set for mass email usage (using it for both political reasons as well as personal interest). Check the policy for this, and use the Ombuds Office for further advice and guidance on what can be done.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: What you are describing sounds very unprofessional to me, and it is the kind of thing that detracts from the culture of a university department and fosters a culture of "groupthink". It is legitimate for administrators to send mass-emails communicating changes (or proposed changes) in government policy that affect the university, but even here it is appropriate to communicate this in a politically neutral way that does not presume the political position of the email recipients. Sometimes the high-level administrators at a university will develop an institutional position on the matter and communicate this position, but they should be aware that this position will not generally match the opinion of all academics on campus, and so it is not appropriate to communicate this institutional position in a way that pressures people to adopt that view.
There are plenty of channels for administrators and academics to form groups on campus that are interested in political discussions, where group emails on political topics would be appropriate. It is legitimate for staff to form groups that want to discuss particular political topics, and don't mind getting politically-loaded emails. It is different when an administrator sends mass-emails to a captured audience to proselytise their political position.
Aside from the basic issue of professionalism, if administrators insist on sending mass-emails proselytising a particular political view then they are inviting mass-email replies arguing those views, and they have no legitimate standing to complain if a dissenting academic (or other email recipient) writes back a mass-reply-email publicly challenging their views. I suspect you will find that the kind of people who use their administrative positions for these purposes are also averse to being publicly challenged. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
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<issue_start>username_0: Supposing that Dr. A is teaching an undergraduate-level course, what would be the pros and cons for Dr. A to allow students to address himself in an "informal" manner?
By "informal" here I mean using what is employed in a number of languages for informal conversation. For example, this would be *tutoyer* in French or *tutear* in Spanish. (Hence, the question does not apply for an English-speaking classroom, but does apply for a French or Spanish-speaking one).
**EDIT** (clarification, thanks j91): In Spanish, French, German and other languages, the second person singular has two versions: "Tú", "Tu" and "Du" are the informal versions in Spanish, French and German, respectively, and "Usted", "vous" and "Sie" are the formal ones in the same order. "Tutear" is the act of using systematicaly the informal version and, in theory, should be avoided when speaking to a person in a position of authority.<issue_comment>username_1: Your question is completely subjective and context dependent. It adresses the balance between formal and informal, which depends on culture, personality traits, position in the academic hierarchy, etc. It's like asking, which are the pros and cons of teaching in full business suit vs Hawaiian shirt?
Some students will feel more confident if the class environment is informal. Some won't. Some won't see the difference. You (assuming you are the Professor) may feel at ease being talked in an informal tone, or maybe not. If you are in a new country or university and need to figure out your way, attend some classes and check which is the standard. Nonetheless, whatever you chose, don't withdraw your authority as Professor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The effects of the decision to invite your students to address you informally, and whether this is considered appropriate at all, are very culture-dependent. In general there are several trade-offs. How you balance them depends on your personal judgement. My experience is that of a German who has worked both in Germany and Austria.
Possible upsides of having the students address you in an informal manner (tutoyer/tutear/duzen) include:
* Students may be less concerned about perhaps embarrassing themselves in front of the "authority figure"; they may be more inclined to participate in class discussions and ask ("stupid") questions.
* Less perceived role conflict on your side, if you are a very junior lecturer and empathize more strongly with the student side than more senior staff.
* A more relaxed and friendly atmosphere in general
Possible downsides:
* Students may be more willing to negotiate about grades etc.; and less distance between you and the students can make it hard to say "no"
* Politely ignoring each other can be harder if you encounter students in a different social setting
* Explaining or even just giving a disappointing grade feels more personal and unpleasant when you have crossed the line between you (tu, Du) and "You" (vous, Sie).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I have lived in Mexico, Denmark and France, and made many extended visits to Germany. I have lived in the midwestern part of the U.S., where I called all my professors "<NAME>," and I have lived in the northeast of the U.S., where all the younger professors went by their first names. Currently, I see my spouse's students creatively combining "Dr." with my spouse's first name. That's what seems to make them comfortable.
Based on these experiences, I would say, mode of address doesn't really matter one way or another. Respect for the professor comes (or doesn't come) from more substantive things than mode of address.
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<issue_start>username_0: [Edited] I am very shortly going to be sending off my PhD application. I cannot apply quite yet because I am waiting on my bachelor's documentation which was withheld (library fines which are now cleared) but now it is in processing, and I do have my transcript. I have my master's documentation. The BA uni say they don't know when the cert will be ready, it could be a week or two, or longer presumably. The deadlines for PhD applications are set as the summer, but I know that many faculties like to have the applications in sooner because they want to decide on their student quantities. Is there some kind of unspoken deadline that I should shoot for in general [e.g. late Feb, Apr etc] or does it vary by institution? Does one lessen one's chances of acceptance if applying nearer to the official early summer deadlines?
I should mention that a staff member in my choice of PhD uni has already approved my proposal and agreed to be my supervisor. Should I apply anyway without the BA cert and just say it is in processing [without going into reasons why]? I am not applying for funding.<issue_comment>username_1: It varies between groups within institutions and between institutions. However, in most groups that I know decisions could be made as early as January (although February-April is more usual), and (at least in the current climate) there's no attempt to keep spaces open for late applicants. You will lessen your chances by leaving the application late.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As described by [this site](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/finding/phd-faqs.aspx):
>
> As stated In the UK and in most countries around the world, PhD studentships begin in September/October. However, funded and self-funded PhDs can start at any time of year. You should begin applying as soon as possible. Although new studentships are advertised throughout the year, competition for places gets higher the closer you get to October.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **Question:**
Is there a preferable time of year when one should apply for a PhD in the UK?
**Answer:**
This very much depends on the university, programme, funding, etc. So it's hard to generalise a single "preferable time".
But, that being said, many STEM programmes (which are not on a rolling admission) and funding opportunities tend to have application deadlines between around mid-September and around mid-February.
---
**Question:**
Does one lessen one's chances of acceptance if applying nearer to the official early summer deadlines?
**Answer:**
Not unless it says somewhere that places may be filled before the application deadline.
---
**Question:**
Should you apply without the BA cert and just say it is in processing (without going into reasons why)?
**Answer:**
Typically, applicants are not required to submit proof of any qualifications in the early stages of the application process. They are required, however, to submit an official academic transcript.
It is only in the later stages of the application process, e.g. after receiving a conditional offer, that applicants have to provide supporting documentation as evidence for meeting each condition of the offer.
---
*My advice is that you get in touch with the admissions office of the place you are applying to, and ask them directly about the details of the application process and your BA cert.*
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Except very special cases, there is no *preferable time* in case of PhD applications.
Unlike master's degree, a PhD degree is basically requires a certain area of interest and motivation to conduct quality research. Therefore, it is best to directly get in touch with professors who are looking for PhD students. In most cases, it is entirely depended on professor's research budget or a new position opening in the research team.
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<issue_start>username_0: A lecturer does not make slides or lecture notes available (e.g. on the course website) in an effort to force students to show up at lectures.
However, many students learn the material just fine without attending each and every lecture. It also seems unethical to force us all to show up, even though the attendance is not a requirement because we may just choose to do something else and there is no rule against it.
As a response, some of us have decided to write extensive notes together and put them up on a filesharing website, and we've notified other students of this using the course websites' discussion forum. The lecturer has now messaged one of us (the one who made the post on the forum) and told him to stop doing this.
What should our response be? Does the lecturer have any say in this? Are we in the wrong?<issue_comment>username_1: Not really. Unless you have each student sign a non-disclosure then there is nothing that you can do.
To further this if you are in the US the non-disclosure laws are pretty loose. Meaning even if you did have the students sign something the courts enforcing it is a whole different thing. As a person who signs a non-disclosure is usually privy to either secret information or that person is getting a reward (paid). Since a student paying a school is getting neither their first amendment rights - US based answer (but applicable in most countries) - would trump anything you make them sign.
And if the school steps in and authorizes this or has your back they would fall face to the same scrutiny. On this path I do not see any institution that would ever push this as a university should be an atmosphere of sharing, not secrecy and inclusion.
To top it off... there is absolutely no way for you to enforce it. If student A is dating student B what if student A didn't know that student B was looking at their notes. Also if someone posts the sessions online without a clear profile are you going to go after their ISP information? I think you need to rethink what you are looking at doing. If people are passing your class without showing up, then why is their knowledge deemed less than those that went to your class?
On a side note: There were many many classes in undergrad that I never saw unless there was a test. It had nothing to do with the teacher or the teacher's ability. It was that I knew the subject or I was able to clearly learn the subject (I found classrooms distracting and I often misremembered something maybe due to college hormones). There were other classes that I went to class, asked the teacher for help, whatever. I didn't go to classes with better teachers or better lectures, I went to classes that I needed help with. Chaining students to a chair because you think they need to hear your voice for 50 hours when they already understand the class is a bit much. Just know that them not showing up is a reflection on them not you. Also if your notes and lecture slides are that good why is that not a good offering for some students?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would stick to this link, although it is a bit old but the explanation is quite logical: <https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091005/0207136420.shtml>
So no, I see no legal right at all for a lecturer to claim a copyright on lecture content.
In my opinion there is also no moral right to claim copyright on lecture content and the behaviour of the lecturer is against academic spirit.
They are paid by the University (and some get paid a fortune) for presenting knowledge of a field, not making coin by any other means, which is often an intention. At my university there are some not offering any material for the lecture at all but adevrtising heavily their book which is then relevant for the exam - which means you have to buy it if you want to stand a chance. Of course if the book is shared in a public drive, the professors see some income loss.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: You don't say where in the world all this is taking place. As usual, both the country and (in some cases) the specific university matter, as the laws vary and (probably more significantly) the academic culture varies.
>
> A lecturer does not make slides or lecture notes available (e.g. on the course website) in an effort to force students to show up at lectures.
>
>
>
An instructor does not have to make slides or lecture notes available full stop. Academic culture seems to be changing in the direction of lecturers giving slide presentations, and since you are showing your slides exactly as they are, not making them available to students seems a bit more conspicuous than not giving out your lecture notes. But many instructors still do not use any special materials and feel that it is up to the student to get the content from the lectures.
It *is* a common sentiment among instructors to do business in a way that does not make it too easy or appealing for a student to skip class.
>
> Some of us students feel this is a terrible policy: many students learn the material just fine without attending each and every lecture, so it is not a necessary policy, and it also seems unethical to force us all to show up, because what if we just happened to have something more important to deal with on some given day?
>
>
>
Unethical is very strong. Again, your location probably strongly informs the academic culture, but e.g. I don't know of any American university where the instructor who claims that students should, in general, come to class would not be supported by the administration. At my big state university, there is a blanket attendance policy, to the extent that there is a statement from the administration that students are expected to attend class. This gives support for individual instructors to create their own specific attendance policies. In my undergraduate classes I have often had mandatory attendance policies, to the point of factoring attendance into course grades and also to the point of (rarely, but it has happened) withdrawing students from my course for very poor attendance. On the other hand, I was a postdoc in Montreal, and at Concordia University in particular it was expected that instructors would give students the option of a "100% final": that is, the entire course grade would be the final exam. When I taught a course there, two students exercised this option: one got an A, the other an F. If you don't know, ask the question "Can the instructor require attendance?" to an administrator or academic advisor. You should get a clear answer. If it's **yes**, then you have no leg to stand on about this policy. (Yes, that does not stop it from being unethical, but if you really feel that way: don't attend that academic institution.)
>
> As a response, some of us have decided to write extensive notes together and put them up on a filesharing website, and we've notified other students of this using the course websites' discussion forum. The lecturer has now messaged one of us (the one who made the post on the forum) and told him to stop doing this.
>
>
>
If the instructor wants or requires you to come to class, then look at from his perspective: he is not going to be pleased if he sees students brazenly making arrangements to avoid coming to class. You are rubbing your lack of respect for his wishes in his face. This is a bad idea.
>
> What should our response be? Does the lecturer have any say in this? Are we in the wrong?
>
>
>
Well, first I want to say that you haven't actually given a good reason for not wanting to come to class. You say "what if we just happened to have something more important to deal with on some given day" but...do you? If most students attend, say, 90% of the lectures, I'm not sure why you need a filesharing program: you can just copy your friend's notes for the few lectures that you missed. On the contrary, a filesharing program looks like a *systematic plan for the students to avoid the lectures*: again, you may have the right to do so, and you may have good reasons for doing so, but...do you *actually* or are you just being difficult about it? I have taught at the university level for almost 20 years, and in my experience: there is a high correlation between coming to class and student success. Even if you win a battle not to attend class, the victory seems rather pyrrhic to me.
However, if you feel strongly that it is in your best interest not to attend most or all of the lectures and your right to do so is supported on the institutional level, then: check to see whether there is any institutional policy against students sharing lecture notes. I would highly expect there *not* to be such a policy. Assuming that's the case: **yes**, you can share lecture notes. I advise that you contrive to do it more quietly. Giving your instructor even plausible deniability that you are not sharing your lecture notes should go a long way towards defusing the situation.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: In this case, all professor can do is to say "don't do it, **please**." And it is completely up to you if you stop sharing notes or not. He cannot take disciplinary action, he cannot threaten you by giving an F.
In academic ethics, as long as you give reference, no one can prevent you sharing *published* material. For instance, you can attend a conference, take notes, and share your notes on your website by giving reference. As long as it is not verbatim, this is just like writing a technical report and publishing the literature review section on your personal website, or file sharing website.
You do not have to give a good reason for not coming to class. In fact, you do not have to give *any* reason for not attending if attendance is not mandatory. Attending class is your business. Teaching the subject is professor's business.
In case the professor insults, threathens or denounces you, that means he is bullying you and some action should be taken immideately. He is not a superior human being and no, his will may not be done. He is an employee of the faculty and is paid to do his job.
If one is able to pass the course by only studying the shared notes, there are three choices.
1. The notes are very extensive and beautifully prepared by a person who really mastered the subject
2. The course syllabus covers only superficial topics in the subject those can be learned by studying textbooks/slides/notes.
3. The instructor is not really adding something to the topics, but only giving simple examples and reading the slides.
When the third case is put into words, it is usually met by enormous anger in academia. But unfortunately based on your professor's behavior, it is highly likely. Usually, a scientist promotes collaboration (that is how science works) instead of trying to stop it. And those who are trying to stop it are tend to be not very good teachers.
All in all, everyone has a few "really bad" teachers in academia, but noone admits that one of those few ones are themselves or their colleagues.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As a former student let me assure you that there is no way a lecturer can actually stop people from sharing notes. A lecturer can pretend they have that ability or ask nicely, but that's about it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't know what country you're in, or what pedagogical approach is used at your institution. When I look at your question in the context of the general university culture in the U.S., it's rather hard to relate to your point of view on this; note that it's not uncommon in the U.S. for a university to have a policy expressly forbidding what you are doing.
However, if I think back to my experience as an undergraduate in Mexico, I see your question in a completely different light.
I will describe my experience when I was studying in Mexico: each class met for 50 minutes, five days a week. In the most extreme case, during the whole 50 minutes, day in, day out, the instructor dictated, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, from his notebook. We all wrote in our notebooks, word for word what he dictated. Occasionally someone would ask him to repeat a sentence or to go a little slower. There was no discussion, no assigned reading (the department library was almost empty anyway), no homework, and no projects. I aced every exam. Towards the end of the semester, I would read the "notes" and make an outline of the contents. When that was complete, I would make a second pass through the whole thing, working from my first outline, reducing it to a more condensed version; and then I would memorize the very condensed outline. None of the exam questions required any thought or analysis. The exam consisted of simple regurgitation.
If I think back to that experience, I can identify with your frustration.
However, if your educational experience is anything like what I described, then I would say that you are fighting the wrong fight. A better one would be to improve the pedagogy at your institution.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to one of Elsevier’s journals. After a couple of days, its status changed to “with editor”. But now after about ten days from the submission date, it changed to “Decision in Process”. Is there any hope that it will not be rejected?<issue_comment>username_1: If there is a decision before it was sent to reviewers, it usually means a desk-rejection. This is not necessarily a bad outcome! It means you won't waste time on a review process that is not likely to be favorable and you can move straight ahead to another journal.
Other more rare outcomes are possible, though: they could issue a "reject and resubmit" if they think the paper would be a good candidate for review after some major changes were made. They could also be inviting you to a special issue etc.
But most likely outcome is desk rejection.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Just "An editor has begun a decision but chosen to save and resume later."
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<issue_start>username_0: **For example**, Let's say an American person wants to attend a French university F. F explicitly states that French is the main language of instruction. Why would they require the student to take a language proficiency test for admission? Any prospective student should be aware that he or she has to know French in order to follow the lectures or when taking oral/written exams. Why don't they simply trust the student? And when he or she thinks to attend even without knowing one single French word, then it's his or her own fault. (And it doesn't even matter if it is undergraduate or graduate school)
There are 4 spoken languages in Switzerland (mainly German, French and Italian) and all Swiss students can take an exchange semester at another Swiss university. Swiss universities don't require for example a French-speaking person to show German language proficiency, if he or she wants to attend a German-speaking university. They explicitly state that it's in a student's own responsibility to know German (in this case)<issue_comment>username_1: The short answer is that when people want something, they often experience cognitive distortions that prevents entirely accurate assessments. Dunning-Kruger is a good example of one of these effects, where a student thinks, "Oh, I'd love to study in Paris - and lots of people speak French, so I'm sure I could pick it up!" Learning a new language to a college-level of proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking is incredibly challenging, yet some people inevitably misjudge this.
Sure, the student would eventually figure this out and face the consequences, but in the mean time there are lots of reasons the institution wants no part in such a situation. For one, it's sad - a student will struggle, feel isolated, and most people end up blaming others for their situation and don't take complete responsibility ("why did they let me in if they knew it wouldn't work?!"), so it can be really unpleasant. I saw a student from China try to make it in English-only classes, and I couldn't make out if he even understood more than a few words in English - he only ever nodded, looked username_10, and looked back down at his paper. It was just sad to see, and I can't imagine how this was helpful to him - the only way he could succeed was to have an interpreter (he didn't have one), or cheat, and that's just a terrible situation to be in.
Most institutions also have various statistics like drop-out and graduation rates, as compiled by an office like Institutional Research, often reported to the government (for "public" institutions, and others who take government money). Institutions have a lot to lose for regularly taking on students they have a very good reason to think will fail in their program, or will require disproportionately high resources to support. So they want to try to avoid such situations, when possible. Finally, positions in a class/program/institution are often limited, and accepting one student can mean necessarily rejecting some other student, which makes administrators even more keen to be careful of offering a spot to a student unlikely to succeed.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Education is more than just a degree, and university education has a social component that is enriched by engaging students in team projects, discussion-based classes (including presentation) and through respectful exchanges of ideas rooted in different traditions.
None of these important objectives can be achieved in a classroom where students cannot easily communicate.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The accepted answer is good but from an analytical point of view a large language barrier is very bad for any university. You want a student's grades to reflect the area that they are studying, not their basic language ability.
I went to a US school that had an open program with Spain. Some of the students that came over had great English skills. But the ones that didn't either did really poorly or were given (way too much) leeway in courses. I remember reading some of my roommate's papers that he would get a low B or a C and I was like "what the hell!" I mean just jumbled English to the point where you weren't even sure what point he was making.
Now he was a smart guy. But in these same classes I would get a paper back with markings for super minor grammatical edits, to the point where the teacher is asking for a different like word. So the language barrier has a huge impact on any class unless it is pure mathematics/programming and even in those fields you could mistake a question's point.
A university wants to measure how a student did going through their courses. They cannot accurately do this if that person can't convey the language correctly. And on the opposite side of this the university doesn't want to flunk out smart students that actually know the subject matter because they can't express it right.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: This is an edge case, but there is at least one field of study where English language proficiency is mandated by law: aviation.
In the United States, for example, *an individual must demonstrate that they can read, write, speak, and understand the English language* before they are allowed to become a student pilot. This applies to students both at flight schools and at universities which grant degrees in aviation.
The International Civil Aviation Organization requires the same for pilots who operate internationally.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: **A language proficiency requirement is no different from any other proficiency requirement**. Universities will typically ask you to prove your subject proficiency through grade boundaries in lower qualifications and require you to present proof of this rather than simply accepting any student who thinks they are good enough.
The reason for this is simple: it is difficult to effectively teach a class to students who do not meet consistent expected levels of competency. The absence of enforced standards means that there will be an increased number of people in the class who do not meet the required level of competency and thus effective teaching will be limited.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: One line of thinking….
* Often universities are paid a lot more for taking oversees students (they are in the UK)
* Universities will therefore spend a lot of money on marketing to possible oversees students.
* There are publications that list the degree grade that oversees students get from each university.
* I think it is common for Chinese students to avoid any university that does not give 1st to most Chinese students.
(Therefore Universities have to show they are not lowing standards for Chinese students to keep their local students happy. Often the Universities are not very convincing.)
* Universities only wish to take oversees students that are likely to get a good degree; otherwise it is bad for marketing.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: This is speculative and would of course vary from country to country.
If you are not a US citizen or legal permanent resident (i.e., green card colder) and you want to study at a US university, then you will need a student visa. The same is true for most other countries.
When you go to the embassy to get your visa you will probably have to show language proficiency.
I suspect the reason universities require international students show language proficiency is because of student visas.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: If classes will require that the student will be writing papers, as they tend to do, the ability to write acceptably well in the target language is a prerequisite skill.
My wife already had a degree in China, but when enrolling in some classes here in the US she took ascessments and found that she couldn’t *write*. By that I mean that how to organize an essay or even a paragraph was not taught at all where she’s from: emphasis was placed in reading what the experts wrote, not on writing. Meanwhile, here this is taught in high school.
It was under the general umbrella of English requirements. But the needed prerequisite classes were not ESL or vocabulary building or “basic proficiency”, but rather indicated a “composition” class.
So, having a degree in a different school system can’t be assumed to give all the needed skills that are taught earlier in *this* system. Even if that’s the only thing they wanted to test for (because it happens!) it would also diagnose if the person can’t read and comprehend college-level writing fast enough. So, add a few vocabulary questions and you’re set to “place” in the needed class if the results are less than satisfactory.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: Language proficiency is often an immigration requirement (for example, it is in the UK). Governments that want to be "tough on immigration" want to prevent people entering the country claiming to be students when, actually, they have no intention to study and just want to live and work in the country. Since any legitimate student who is going to fully benefit from their course will need to be fairly fluent in the language it's taught in, governments introduce language proficiency as a formal requirement for granting a student visa. This makes fraudulent visa applications more difficult but shouldn't have much of an effect on genuine students who are going to get good grades.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: A very practical reason for requiring language proficiency in the US at the PhD level is that in many universities, funding is provided in the form of teaching assistantships. In order to be a TA, you need to be proficient in English.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/31
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<issue_start>username_0: I will have a couple of interviews for postdoc positions in the US (at big universities). I have read that it might be very convenient to get an H1-B visa (I'm from a non-US & non-EU country).
Shall I talk about this and/or try to negotiate it during the initial interview? Or maybe only after getting an offer? Or isn't it just 'not' under discussion?<issue_comment>username_1: Several suggestions:
* First you want to get them to tell you what their take is on the whole visa situation. That is, don't ask for anything or even tell them what kind of visa situation you would like to achieve before they've described the "possibility space" to you (or made an offer without talking about visas at all).
* Either before the interview or after the offer, figure out who is in charge of administrative affairs at the department/group you're interviewing at, call them up, tell them you're about to interview, and ask *them*, rather the professor whose time is better spent on academic affairs, what's it like for post-doc's with respect to work visas. It's an innocuous question and they are likely to answer it. I personally think it's ok to do so before the interview already, but if you want to be more cautious, then wait even with that.
* After you've received an offer and are inclined to accept, talk to the person who made you the offer and say something like "I understand that w.r.t the work visa, sometime X happens and sometimes it's Y. Is that something that is up to me to choose? Will you be able to help me make it Y rather than X?"
Note that I've tried to make my advice non-US-specific (as I don't have much of a clue about the US visa situation, but your question is relevant in a wider context).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally in an interview before you've received an offer, your overriding priority is making yourself look like an appealing candidate, and so bringing up points that will present a difficulty for your employer may not be so wise. Trying to negotiate a point like this will at best put your interviewer in an uncomfortable spot (since they are almost certainly in no position to commit on a point like this) and at worse come off as arrogant. I think it would be reasonable to ask if they can put you in touch with a staff person who can explain how visas are usually dealt with (it is probably not wise to try to look this person up beforehand separately).
After you have an offer, then you are in a better position to make requests, though honestly, most postdoc positions are pretty much "take-it-or-leave-it." Visas (as opposed to salary or research funds) are even trickier since they are not usually handled by the department, and have legal constraints that most of the parties involved understand poorly. You can try, but I wouldn't have a lot of optimism you will get them to do things differently than they would have.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/31
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm planning on travelling to another country to meet a potential PhD advisor (we're both in Europe). He has said his lab will cover the expenses.
Is this usual practice? I'm from a country where standard etiquette when offered money (or indeed, anything) in a circumstance like this is to politely refuse the offer multiple times, even when they insist, and then eventually agree while making clear you feel terrible for accepting their money. Agreeing immediately would be seen as extremely rude.
I'm aware it's almost certainly the lab's budget that will be funding my visit and not coming out of the guy's own pocket, but still, I don't really know what to say, a standard thank you still feels bad to me, but maybe that's just from my culture.<issue_comment>username_1: I do not think the etiquette you are talking about applies here. You need to go there in order to ensure compatibility between you and your potential future advisor. This is neither a gift nor a present; it it a business related trip and I do not see a reason for not agreeing to this.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Be glad for the offer and accept it. The advisor's LAB will cover the expenses, not himself. It is possible that he or his team have a budget where things like this are included. He probably has money that can be spent only on research related stuff, like funding the stay of a visitor or future research collaborator.
Refusing funding is unjustified, unless you have funding of your own. But even if that's the case, he made the offer so just accept it. A polite thank you is enough.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/31
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<issue_start>username_0: European International Journal of Science and Humanities (EIJSH) published my article about 2 years ago. The publication was online. The problem is that I haven't been able to access the EIJSH website for about 1 year.
The study was cited once or twice when EIJSH still existed. I feel really desperate.
Can you give me any advice about how I should act? It is a solid article - can I send it again to a better journal? Or would this be unethical? Do I have any other options?<issue_comment>username_1: This is a very important question, as even non-predatory publishers can have problems and face difficult times, eventually closing altogether (e.g. [Heart Lung and Vessels](http://www.heartlungandvessels.org/index.php)).
As stated in the comment by FuzzyLeapfrog, it is very important to double check what you actually agreed upon by submitting your manuscript and when signing the copyright agreement (take notice that sometimes journals do not require you to sign anything but you actually accept their copyright conditions just by submitting your manuscript).
In addition, I would check whether the publisher is still viable, irrespective of the dead website, or not. I would also consider writing to the publisher to inquire on the best course of action.
If the copyright issue is solved, I would definitely consider posting your article in pdf on an open online repository. If no suitable reply has been obtained, you might still upload your article online, in good faith, remaining ready to remove it promptly if requested so by the actual copyright holder. [ResearchGate](http://www.researchgate.net) also offers a good means to make selectively available the full texts of your publications.
Conversely, I believe it would no longer be possible to consider publishing it elsewhere in a standard journal (you might tentatively ask a journal of choice if they would be interested, but it is going to be a difficult sell unless your manuscript is really a stellar one...).
As a last resort, you could write a review or perspective on the topic, detailing your prior work with figures and tables (either the actual ones or slightly modified). This will ensure your findings remain always accessible in the mainstream scholarly literature.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Is the article really gone, online? Have you checked if the doi works? Maybe some other publisher has taken over.
If the journal really went under, this becomes a legal question. If they stop making your article available, does that mean they loose the online copyright on it? They probably do, but it'll depend on your local legislation.
I'd say you'll have to reformat the article (whoever owns the journal now still has a right to the layout), put a note in it ("originally published in EIJSH, year, number, pages"), and then put it on your website. That's what I *would* do, because the legal risks seem very low. Nobody loses money if you reclaim the copyright this way, so sueing you would be a fruitless job. Even is someone wanted to, he won't find a lawyer for it. ;-)
Perhaps ask other authors from the same journal what they plan to do. I guess you know a number of them anyway.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I am not really sure if I am answering your question, but if you want to get "access" to the page, you could try <https://archive.org/web/> if you have the old URL. That way you could see the article. Not guaranteed though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Understand there is no contract unless both parties exist. Even if you signed a copyright agreement, unless they are a functioning company it is void. It is also void if the contract includes consideration.
I would tell you that most countries would consider consideration to be that they got copyright for displaying your articles via online or paper journal. If they aren't meeting their end of the consideration then the contract is also void.
What this means is you try to reach them - phone, email, and letter. They don't respond. You did your due diligence. Then you must convince another journal to republish your article - which may be the harder task.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/02/01
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the process of applying to summer PhD research internships in industry (I'm in CS). Last year I had two appealing offers, but of course could only take one. This year I am still interested at working at the company whose offer I declined last year. However, I am unsure if it's considered inappropriate to reach out to the lab director again to inquire (this is how I approached it last year). It's not as though I burnt any bridges previously, it just feels strange, kind of like saying "Hey, I didn't want to work with you before, but what about now?"
Is this appropriate? It is research and I am in a research program, so I don't want to ruin potential future collaborations, and I hope I have not already done so by declining a previous offer.
And more generally, if inappropriate, when making a decision between multiple offers, should it factor into your choice that you may declining for this, and all future, internship opportunities?<issue_comment>username_1: ***Omnia munda mundis***
*To the pure ones, all things are pure*
In my experience, if you have a solid explanation (eg familiar or professional) it is totally appropriate for you to apply again (unless it was clearly spelled out in the original or current call that it is not allowed).
You might even make a reasonably credible case that now you are more experienced and skilled to better hoard your internship.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: "It wasn't the best choice at the time, but now I think it's the best fit for me" is a phrase that has worked wonders for me. I wouldn't use this line twice with the same person though. Especially if it's a new program I wouldn't expect them to be upset or annoyed. They were once in your shoes, remember. They know what this process is like, and sometimes you have to turn down things you like.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I've been in this situation twice so far in just the last few years, and having to turn someone down who gave you an offer seems...well, downright unpleasant and awkward, doesn't it? I think this is because most of us do not like to receive rejection, and so we feel that saying no is itself unpleasant, and thus we can make the quick assumption that surely the person we said no to will dislike us or bear us ill-will, right?
Here's the funny thing: human behavior almost never actually works this way! It has taken me a long time for me to personally accept that people don't think the way I imagined they did, so I assure you this unpleasantness is completely natural - and something you'll need to get past right away, or it is going to hold you back.
It turns out that most decent people, when offering a job/position/opportunity, genuinely want you to take the best offer, even if they might be a bit disappointed that they couldn't offer you the most compelling option. Most people in positions to offer other people such opportunities have had to tell other people no themselves, and in fact regularly tell people no all the time now. They don't bear anyone ill will for this, and they themselves remember having multiple offers and having to take the subjectively best option at the time.
As a personal anecdote, the first time I recall experiencing this was for a summer internship at a company. I'd received a much higher offer to work somewhere else (nearly double), and I called the first company back and explained that I was very interested in their company, but received a very compelling offer and wondered if they had room to negotiate a bit. They checked, explained they could not for interns, but welcomed me to reapply once I graduate and they promised they'd be able to make a much more compelling offer. I thought they were being polite and would never seriously consider me again, but their corporate recruiter contacted me multiple times over the next few years to see if I might be interested in working with them. I had it happen again in a research position, where again the people I turned down seemed keen on trying to recruit me again!
It turns out that not only do reasonably people understand if you take a more compelling offer (especially if they consider the other offer impressive!), but the fact that you had the other offer - and how politely and sincerely you handled turning them down last time - reflects very well on you, and sometimes you'll find they end up liking you and wanting to recruit you even more! Not all the time, surely - but I've had it happen more times than I had the reverse occur. People who have a lot of options are desirable for lots of reasons, and the funny thing about being desirable is that a genuine expression of interest from you in them and their program is a far more valuable compliment than from someone who is deemed "less in-demand". They know you can afford to be picky, and that's often a desirable trait in any recruiting effort.
So by all means, it is absolutely appropriate to reapply - go for it! Be sincere, and if you feel like it you can even express how you hated to be unable to accept their offer last time, and would very much like to work with them. One caveat, though - this will only work so many times. If you decline them again and again, that's going to get old for just about anyone, so I'd suggest you be reasonably sure you actually want to work for them, or otherwise you're just stringing them along.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: This is perfectly fine.
You did not burn any bridges, which should always be avoided since there is nothing to gain from it. Since you still express interest in the same position it is obvious that you did have a reason not to pick up the offer the last time round. Obviously some reasons might be a red flag but I would not preemptively offer any sort of "explanation". Your updated CV will state what you have done last summer. This also shows that you did not just procrastinate, which is probably the biggest red flag.
I assume you chose the other offer because it was objectively the better choice and not just more convenient. In this case the people from the other side might very well be aware why they were not your first choice. Any sort of excuse would just insult their intelligence. They also know that everyone serious about getting an internship is looking at more then one position.
Since you are dealing with humans interactions can always have unforeseen consequences if one side is not reasonable at a professional level but this is certainly a rare exception for someone with responsibility towards staff. So yes it might be possible that you have already poisoned the atmosphere but if things are as described this would not be your fault. I would not expect the other side to hesitate to make you another offer for the sole reason that you turned the last one down. However, you will certainly be remembered if you turn down two in a row. Wether or not this will reflect on someone else in your group depends on the human factor as long as you did not make someone vouch for you.
If you do not facilitate a believe in the other party that you will definitely take their offer and thereby cause them to make arrangements you are not wasting their time and possibly resources to an extent greater than what they have to assume anyway.
Also, always remember that you are also offering something to them. You are hopefully not in such a desperate situation that you have to be grateful to get an internship. Which you did prove last year. One of the keys in job applications and interviews is a balance between showing that you are motivated and interested but not desperate. As well as that you are valuable and aware of it while not coming across as arrogant.
Upvotes: 1
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