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<issue_start>username_0: I was asked to referee a mathematics article, submitted for publication in a reputable journal. To evaluate it, I also wanted to look at a cited article which it claims to extend. Upon searching online (through my university's VPN) I hit a paywall: I can read it for "only" $39.95.
My university subscribes to some journals, but apparently not this one. I find this price ridiculous and I will not pay. But I am also reluctant to ask my library to; that money is coming out of our students' tuition. If I ask a librarian to furnish me with a copy of the article, will they be out this same $40?
Related question: will publishers (requesting that I do peer review for them) obtain and provide articles upon request, in situations like this?
([Related but different.](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13819/can-a-referee-request-a-paper-referenced-in-the-reviewed-paper))
---
Update: People gave me the (excellent!) advice to ask my librarians, and they got back to me. Their answer in brief: It depends. Usually, it doesn't cost my library anything; sometimes it can, but the requests go through different channels than the paywall I encountered.<issue_comment>username_1: Likely not. Most university libraries have partnerships with other libraries. They will likely contact a library that does have access and request a copy. This usually comes with some limitations (for example they might only give you a paper copy, not a .pdf version) but they shouldn't pay anything extra.
I do not believe publishers will ask provide papers at request however. They likely expect you to do the above process if you don't have access.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As to publishers: if the article you need was published by the same publisher as the journal you're reviewing for, there is a chance. Indeed, a few publishers grant temporary online subscriptions to reviewers. But otherwise, probably not.
Also, if you contact the editor and let them know that you need this other article to be able to review properly, and if the editor happens to have institutional access to the journal in question, and if they are not too busy, they might send you a copy of the article as a professional courtesy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You should not hesitate to ask the library for articles like this. The library most likely *will* pay a fee, but it will probably be less than the $40 for you to access it directly, and is an expected budget item for academic libraries.
There are costs associated with interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions, but they are minimal for articles that can be handled entirely electronically (for things that need to be physically transmitted, like books, and/or processed in some way, like print articles that must be scanned, the costs can be substantially higher). Since you found this article online, it probably falls in that cheapest category.
Many libraries also have agreements with publishers to "buy on demand" some articles that are requested through ILL. This usually happens entirely behind the scenes, so you probably wouldn't know the difference between such an article and traditional cross-library lending. It may cost the library more than ILL, but the library then "owns" the article so any future requests for that article will be at no additional cost, unlike ILL, which costs the same every time.
As an academic librarian, I can tell you that the library almost certainly has a budget for this kind of thing, and if it were my institution, I would *want* you to use this basic library service to get the materials you need to do your job (almost as much as I want students to get the materials they need). Nothing in a library is actually free\*; making information accessible is the reason libraries—and library budgets—exist.
---
\*Of course there are open access journals, donated books, etc., but *someone* had to pay for all of those, too, one way or another.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: >
> If I ask a librarian to furnish me with a copy of the article, will they be out this same $40?
>
>
>
Maybe... but probably not.
First, there are the inter-library agreements mentioned in other answers, which may allow the library to get you a copy at no cost.
Failing that, the library may have existing agreements with the publishers which would allow them to get a copy of the article at a reduced cost.
And then there's the possibility that, yes, access to the article may need to be purchased at full cost. Even then, that's no big deal. A substantial portion of your institutional library's budget is set aside specifically for obtaining access to publications for researchers at the institution. Buying this access is what the money is there for!
Also, if you're specifically concerned about the cost being borne by the library (as opposed to by some other entity), the cost may, in the end, be shared between the library and your department, depending on the specific arrangements in place at your institution.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: My library has a fund set aside for requests. It is specifically earmarked for things they don't have that someone might want. So ask; at worst they tell you no.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/19
| 1,223
| 4,953
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<issue_start>username_0: As a PhD student, during the four years of research, you are your own boss. PhD students are not restricted to specific working hours (or place) – as long as they do the work it doesn’t matter when, how, or where they do it.
I spend most of my time working at home or in coffee shops instead of my desk in uni, and I take a day off after long meetings...
I find that this freedom is what enabled me to be creative, come up with new ideas, start collaborations with others in my group, and publish papers.
Now that I am almost done with my PhD, I am worried about life after PhD.
I am wondering if it would be difficult to get back to a normal job working a set amount of hours every day, in the same place.
Is that why most people stay in academia after getting a PhD?<issue_comment>username_1: To answer your question, we have to clarify some misconceptions it seems to carry. First, a fixed routine is a staple in most jobs you'll come across. You're going to have to accept this. Even at Google, employees are given the freedom to take time off anytime they want -- but this time has limits, and it's on the promise that they'll return to work for a chunk of hours. The vast majority of jobs, no matter how flexible, will not be lax enough to let you work at a coffee shop in the long run.
The same goes for academia. As a professor or academic, you'll be required to teach, do some forms of public service, and, of course, do research. A lot of things from the first two will be fixed beyond your control in terms of task variation and scheduling. As for the rest, there's some freedom to allot time to tasks as you see fit, but given the amount of work you'll have to do, it will come to be structured in some way or another.
Second, it's more accurate to say that a lot of people *aren't* staying in academia after their PhD. The market today is vastly different than it was twenty years ago. Academic jobs are harder to come by, and tenured positions are an endangered species. Most people will find themselves working as adjuncts or lecturers for a large chunk of their careers. And so PhD grads are now more commonly seeking employment outside academia -- industry, governments, NGOs, etc.
Third, most importantly, no one chooses or should choose a job because of a free schedule. That's far too limiting. Choose a job whose tasks click with your interests, something that motivates you to work. Consider the reverse for your own background: if you *hated* research, I'm sure that no matter how many hours you were allowed to spend in a coffee shop, you wouldn't have enjoyed yourself or done well.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I am wondering if it would be difficult to get back to a normal job
> working a set amount of hours every day, in the same place. is that
> why most people stay in academia after getting a phd?
>
>
>
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the question you're really asking is if you will be able to find a workplace with the same schedule [lack of], or if not, if you'll be able to adjust. The only advice here is: **try it**. Get a job, in academia or not, and see how you handle it.
From what I've seen, this kind of organization is definitely not the norm even in the academic world, since once you start collaborating with people, they will expect to be able to see you at office hours without having to set a meeting weeks in advance. (For what it's worth, it's not even that common for PhD students in my experience).
However, this does not mean that you will not be able to find a boss who allows you to have your own schedule - though in the "normal life" (amazing choice of words in your title!), working in coffee shops or spontaneously taking a day off because you're tired may be pushing a bit too far. The point is, every workplace is different, every boss is different: some people will trust you and only care about results and allow you to set your own schedule, some will be controlling freaks and check if everyone arrived on time. Depending on the field, some companies have policies for working remotely if the kind of work you do allows it. Don't hesitate to ask about the schedule and flexibility if you're offered a position, it's definitely one of the points to consider - and obviously an important one for you.
Basically, you will have to find a job, either in academia or not, and see if you can handle their rules. If you can't, look for a more flexible one, and repeat the process. If you still really *can't* handle any of it, you may need a longer job search to find the perfect place where no-one will care. Personally, I noticed that the more interesting the job is, the less I care about having to be there way earlier than I'd chose to. And a lot of places offer flexible time, which is a good compromise even if it still means you have to come five days a week... all in all, you should be okay. Good luck!
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/19
| 385
| 1,730
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a amateur biotech enthusiast not affiliated with any university or institution. I recently wrote a Review article about animals that are (more) resistant to cancer (blind mole rats, naked mole rats, elephants, bowhead whales, etc). I want to publish it in a peer-reviewed oncology journal, but before this, where can I find someone to proofread this article for free?<issue_comment>username_1: You might want to start by using [Grammarly](http://www.grammarly.com) it's free and it will help you clean up passive voice, proper structure, etc... the paid upgrade is very reasonable too.
If that does not work, you will definitely get a "proof-reading" when you submit for peer review. I would suggest that you start by submitting your work for presentation at an appropriate academic conference. If your abstract is accepted you will be granted the chance to present your work to others interested in the same area. Then foster some relationships and ask if they would be willing to help you out. In some cases they might ask for authorship on the paper so be prepared for that sort of answer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're interested in submitting the article to the scientific community then it does not only need proof reading but also specialist editing. The scientific community relies on the process of peer review to ensure that the information published is factually accurate and contributes to the spectrum of accumulated knowledge.
If you feel that your review article does fit these criteria then it may be worth getting in touch with someone at your local university and run it by them. They'll be able to give you some hands-on guidance with your article.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/19
| 666
| 2,732
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<issue_start>username_0: In academia we collectively evaluate the validity, quality and significance of shorter publications - papers - with a complex system of conferences and journals. With all its flaws, you can get a typically-not-so-bad idea about those aspects of a published paper by looking at things like venue and citations.
But that's not the case with books. I don't have any experience publishing books, but obviously it's not the same process as for papers.
Now, suppose I've entered a field which I've studied through papers; and I now want to either teach from a book, offer it to someone for some concentrated self-study, or cite from it. Also suppose I have some specific books I'm considering. How would I obtain some sort of evaluation or review of them, overall or by specific criteria such as correctness of proofs, rigor, clarity, narrative flow, being up-to-date etc.?
**Note:** Of course you can evaluate a book pretty well by reading it, but the idea is to choose what to get and read.<issue_comment>username_1: (This is a semi-joke answer, in that I would like to discard it as a joke answer but I've actually been applying it.)
**Online bookstore reviews.** Specifically, reviews on amazon.com. [Example 1](https://is.gd/fEQL0y) (for some Computer Science book with few reviews), [Example 2](https://is.gd/Dlk62M) (a more popular and well-known Computer Science book).
Different people review based on different criteria, and mostly the reviews are very short and terse, but it gives you some idea of what the book is like, and various things to watch out for.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Obviously, this question asks about reliable predictors for the quality of a book. Otherwise the answer can only be: You evaluate a book by reading it. With this out of the way:
* **Ask around**. In particular when you are interested in using a textbook for a course, ask people who have directed similar courses.
* **Publishers**. There is an informal hierarchy of publishers that can be used to predict a book's quality, just like conference venues and journal ranks for papers. This differs between disciplines, but the edge-cases are vanity presses (low-end) and Famous University Presses™ (high-end).
* **Citations**. Just like for journal articles you can count the citations of a book to estimate its impact (with all the known caveats).
* **Reviews** in journals. Many journals publish a review section. You can search these for discussions of the book that you are interested in.
* **Peer review**. Some publishers also send full book manuscripts or at least the book proposal with sample chapters out for peer-review.
* **Professionals**. Ask your trusted librarian for advice.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/07/19
| 530
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<issue_start>username_0: In British English, a billion traditionally had a different meaning to in American English (10^12). In modern writing the American convention has pretty much taken over. Is it therefore okay in a British publication to write 'billion' and assume the meaning will be unambiguous (e.g. 'approximately one billion years old'), or should the figure (or SI equivalent e.g. G, Ga) always be stated still to ensure clarity?<issue_comment>username_1: (This is a semi-joke answer, in that I would like to discard it as a joke answer but I've actually been applying it.)
**Online bookstore reviews.** Specifically, reviews on amazon.com. [Example 1](https://is.gd/fEQL0y) (for some Computer Science book with few reviews), [Example 2](https://is.gd/Dlk62M) (a more popular and well-known Computer Science book).
Different people review based on different criteria, and mostly the reviews are very short and terse, but it gives you some idea of what the book is like, and various things to watch out for.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Obviously, this question asks about reliable predictors for the quality of a book. Otherwise the answer can only be: You evaluate a book by reading it. With this out of the way:
* **Ask around**. In particular when you are interested in using a textbook for a course, ask people who have directed similar courses.
* **Publishers**. There is an informal hierarchy of publishers that can be used to predict a book's quality, just like conference venues and journal ranks for papers. This differs between disciplines, but the edge-cases are vanity presses (low-end) and Famous University Presses™ (high-end).
* **Citations**. Just like for journal articles you can count the citations of a book to estimate its impact (with all the known caveats).
* **Reviews** in journals. Many journals publish a review section. You can search these for discussions of the book that you are interested in.
* **Peer review**. Some publishers also send full book manuscripts or at least the book proposal with sample chapters out for peer-review.
* **Professionals**. Ask your trusted librarian for advice.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/07/19
| 1,172
| 4,939
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<issue_start>username_0: The situation:
Two PhD students named 'Theory' and 'Experiment' are working on a project. Both are experimentalists by training but, from experiences working on a separate project, Theory comes up with an idea for a new experiment. Positive results from this experiment would have a small but significant impact on their field. However, Theory does not have expertise on the particular instrument required to conduct the experiment so, with the blessing of their adviser, Theory enlists Experiment who is an expert at using the instrument. Theory guides the experiment but the execution is all done by Experiment.
Happily, the results are positive!
The question is, given that Theory and Experiment agree to share first authorship, who should be listed first?
Edit: after writing this I found this thread
[Had the idea vs. did the work: Who should be the lead author?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15193/had-the-idea-vs-did-the-work-who-should-be-the-lead-author?rq=1) which is very similar to this question.
There's also an interesting discussion of the issue in this blog: <https://funkdoctorx.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/co-first-author-and-cvs/><issue_comment>username_1: I'd think carefully about how much work has been invested by each student and scientific contribution, and how much each student will guide the writing of the paper. Based on what you've said so far I'd tend toward listing Experiment first. If Theory devoted more effort than I thought, perhaps co-first.
Did Theory say, "It's worth testing X, because if this is true, then Y"? Or did the student develop a quantitative mathematical model that is motivating the paper? Who is making the decisions about experimental details? Is Experiment making all of the decisions, because he/she knows the system being studied? Or is Theory making all of the scientific calls, and Experiment serving as a technician who happens to be expert in a particular tool?
I would have a difficult time arguing, however, that the student who performed all of the experiments - and without whose experience the project wouldn't have worked - could be listed less than co-first, though.
*Edited to add: in case anyone's wondering, I'm a theorist.*
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Throw a dice to decide who comes first. Then write a follow-up paper and inverse the order. Sometimes there is no right and wrong all you can aim for is fairness in the long run.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Shared first authors are listed alphabethically, at least that's what makes sense, otherwise they are not *shared* first authors!! I'd go with that no doubt.
From your comments I would say that your are the Experiment person, as you seem to be diminishing the role of the Theory person (he/she *simply* did so and so...).
From your description, the Theory person **came up** with the idea and **guided** the experiments, while the Experiment person *simply* run the experiments. As a general principle, I would tend to side with the Theory person (Peter's answer [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13946/paper-contributions-and-first-authorship/13947#13947) seems to corroborate my view). I believe it also matters who is going to write most of the paper, which you do not mention.
However, as we are all a bunch of strangers on the internet, there's no actual way of knowing which is the case (the idea may be too simple or the experiment may be very complex, and so on...). The best thing to do would be to **talk to your supervisor**.
Most importantly, don't cling on unimportant details, as you already have a shared first-author status. Move on. This is the kind of meaningless thing that can ruin a scientific collaboration for good.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The answer heavily depends on your major and type of research. For example, most of the time in applied chemistry developing an experimental setup and conducting experiment for a very simple idea require a lot of efforts and expertise while in other cases (most of the time
in theoretical computer science) coming up with new idea require a rigorous theoretical (analytical and mathematical) analysis which is much more challenging compare to required experiments to prove the idea.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: My guess is the poster is Theory. Theory believes it's their original idea and feels the credit belongs to them but is worried that asking Experiment to be second author might be offensive.
In my field, usually the person who proposes and "owns" the project is the first author. However, usually the political setup is that both make clear that we do more than one paper out of this and that Theory is first author for the first paper and Experiment can be first author for a second follow up paper, especially if the second paper is an "experimental" or "methodological" extension of the first paper.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/19
| 624
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<issue_start>username_0: *Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure whether this is on topic for this SE site, but it seemed the most fitting.*
**Prequisites:**
In our masters programme in Computer Science, doing project work is mandatory and we get credits for it that count towards our degree. The projects are of different nature, most are more on the research and experiment side, but some are "commissioned" by companies, who can pitch a topic to the supervising professor and the professor can then choose to accept this as a semester project. We're in Germany, if that's relevant, and no contracts on the topic have been signed, neither with the company nor with the university.
**The situation:**
Over the course of the past semester, me and five other people have created a website for a company on the grounds of that software project. While the company had input (defining the goals, tools to use, giving feedback, etc.), all code has been written by us, without any "teaching" input from the company. The company now wants to launch the product we created, and is looking to get quite the revenue from it.
While we knew from the beginning that they would probably launch the website and make profit of it, we also assumed that we would be in some way compensated for our work that we - essentially - did for free, should the project actually launch into production.
However, in a discussion today, our sorta supervisor was a bit baffled today when we brought up that we would still need to talk about usage rights. He also seems to not be very knowledgable on the topic.
**The question:**
Is it generally considered okay for us to request compensation for our work, and withhold the transfer of usage rights should the company not agree to pay us? We're of course not looking to be paid significant amounts, seeing as it was a uni project after all, but we have created a product that can be launched to production as is, which will generate them at least some revenue.<issue_comment>username_1: You'd have to check the case of your specific school and country. At least here in Chile, by law everything a student creates as part of their classes belongs to the school.
Sure, they'll probably be generous in their relation with you, but you must at very least talk to them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The term "okay" is undefined.
If "okay" means legal then as username_1 said: the Intellectual Property regulations at your institute should be consulted. This is the only thing that matters I think.
If "okay" means normative and maintaining good relations in your departments or with your academic supervisor, then it depends on local norms at your German university. You should ask around there.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/19
| 1,910
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international PhD graduate who joined a postdoc in a private univ in the U.S. four months ago. After careful research and studying the group profiles, I joined a group (less than 2 years old) with a dynamic PI who seems genuinely interested in pursuing similar research interests as mine and moving the field of research forward with some great ideas.
In some sense it was all going well.
I was asked to come up some research topics and systems that I would like to work with. I ended up spending some time (nearly two months) doing some simulations, writing a fellowship grant and coming up with some workable systems that I can start with.
The problem is he has very high expectations and it's getting tough to live upto his expectations, which is in turn stressing me out. We have frequent meetings and discussions, which is a good sign, but I am always focused on living up to his standards rather than research itself. Almost everything, like plotting my timeline sheets to plotting data to presenting PowerPoint, he always has constant criticisms. I took it up as a challenge and tried to do the best I could.
But lately, I feel intimidated and totally worthless. I find it difficult to contribute to group discussions with the fear of uttering something stupid.
That happened today. I froze midway my explanation (got stuck while deriving something). When asked to explain something basic, I totally blew it off. I should have known how to explain it, but I somehow couldn't. This pissed the PI off and he went on a rant about how he expected me to know at least this and it was unacceptable.
While I do agree with him, this has again instilled a fear in me if he is going to throw me out of the lab. Work wise, I have just started with my initial experiments and I am trying my best. Altogether I don't feel too good and feel like I am in a soup. Almost re-considering my options of moving away from the lab.
Some of the questions that I have are as follows:
* Is it ok to feel intimidated as a postdoc? Or, is it a sign that it may be a postdoc position is not suitable for me?
* Should I give myself some more time and see how my research work progresses before I make the decision of moving away from the lab?
* Am I just over-reacting for not being able to answer a few questions and not taking it as a positive sign to improve myself?<issue_comment>username_1: Some bits that might help you keep things in perspective:
1. life is short.
2. science should be at least somewhat fun -- we aren't being compensated well enough to say otherwise.
3. post-docs are free agents. We are not livestock.
4. there are many cool PIs out there that you will jive with. Having a great time in a less high-power lab is almost certainly better for you, as a human being.
You are very early on in the postdoc (I am a 4th yr postdoc). I would look elsewhere. You are so early on that you probably don't even need to consider getting a letter from this person you are having problems with. Feels like a good time to cut and run. Best of luck and hang in there.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Brief answers, then suggestions.
>
> Is it ok to feel intimidated as a postdoc?
>
>
>
It is ok to feel intimidated when someone with power over you is doing intimidating things. Also, it is rarely "not ok" to feel what you're feeling; it's more of a question of what to do in order to improve how you feel.
>
> Is it a sign that it may be a postdoc position is not suitable for me?
>
>
>
It's not suited for anyone to be in a position where your living is dependent essentially on this one person who can throw you out almost on a whim, post-doc or no.
Also, you can't judge your performance or capabilities as a researcher until you've had some time to actually do some research, and the opportunity to strike up collaborations etc.
>
> Should I give myself some more time and see how my research work progresses before I make the decision of moving away from the lab?
>
>
>
Wrong question. You should do something now in order to improve your predicament; and your options are not just "quit" and "toughen up, take it and stay".
>
> Am I just over-reacting for not being able to answer a few questions and not taking it as a positive sign to improve myself?
>
>
>
Personally I would be super-ashamed if that were to happen to me and would be preoccupied with it for days, if not weeks. What can you do, it is embarrassing - and it's not helping that your PI is berating you for it. But the point is *why* it happened. I mean, if you froze up that means the issue is more the state you were in before rather than this event itself.
Now for some suggestions:
* First and foremost is caring for your emotional well-being. It's not only first in the answer, it's first on the list of concerns, because if you don't do something about that your life is going to be continue being "poisoned" by anxiety and self-doubts.
Even though, of course, what you're feeling is a result of what happens to you professionally, that's not the exclusive cause. I mean, someone else in your place might tell him/herself "He's such an asshole, but I know I'm make a decent effort and by my self-evaluation I'm fine"; and other people are on that spectrum. This is not just fate you have to resign yourself to.
So, my first suggestion is to consider seeing a a psychotherapist. Don't be put off by the stigma some people assign to that; you're having an emotional problem that you have not been able to resolve yourself, so ask for more personalized help than you can get on this site.
I would have suggested to first have deep talks with co-workers you feel you trust, but I'm guessing you don't have those since you haven't mentioned them. If you do have them, consider confiding in one or two of them - even if that seems even more embarrassing. That embarrassment will go away once you talk to them.
* Try to explicitly negotiate expectations and workplans with your PI. Meet with him in a one-on-one, acknowledge your feelings, his and your behavior (Without going into emotional details or being to combative), and try to focus the conversation on how you two can work together with aligned mutual expectations. Discuss things like timelines, targets, deliverables etc. A framework of mutual expectations might help in making him feel you're not doing poorly since it's what you agreed on.
* Your academic advancement should not by wholly determined by your relationship with a PI. As soon as you can, if you have at least some research involving people out of the group - not only will that improve your standing with the PI (I think) but it will also improve how you feel and will be a sort of a partial crutch in case you're somehow threatened with termination.
* I would not advise you to switch workplaces at this point since on the one hand you've been investing in setting things up, and it's a shame if that went to waste considering how you see research potential there, and on the other hand you've not been there for long enough to say with clarity that it's a hopeless work environment.
* Try to find some kind of activity which you believe would be a confidence-booster for you - at work - and would not be disparaged by the PI. For example - giving a talk or a workshop on something you know very well and others at the lab know little about.
* Try to find some kind of activity which you believe would be a confidence-booster, or that is otherwise satisfying, outside of work. I know this is kind of vague, but it really helps if you have an emotional anchor that is not depend on your academic success and your appeasement of the PI / employer / the system.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/19
| 619
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently went back to school at a local public University. I'm not sure how to approach getting help (from any department, admissions, registrar etc.). I understand they're state employees (I've dealt with the DMV more then enough in my lifetime).
Basically if I email it's rarely returned, if it actually is the short message wasn't fully read - and I get fragmented sentence answer (and this is from the head of the department). I know they're understaffed and being anything but nice as possible will get me no where....
How do I approach this so I can get answers from staff without losing my cool?<issue_comment>username_1: Make a phone call or meet them in person. That's usually the most appropriate way to get a reply from secretary staff. Very busy employee would disregard email response as not the top priority.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm very sympathetic to your complaint! Indeed, I'm a professor and I am sometimes frustrated by my own university's bureaucracy.
In general, I recommend using the internet (and Google) to try to figure out answers to your own questions. You might need to ask for help anyway, but instead of
>
> "I need to sign up for Course X, but it's full. What do I do?"
>
>
>
you'll be able to ask
>
> "I tried to sign up for Course X, but it's full. The department website says I should sign up for the waiting list. I didn't understand where I should sign up though, could you please point that out to me?"
>
>
>
As a related issue, try to figure out the correct person to whom to address your question. Sometimes, students will show up to department offices and simply ask their question of the first person they see. (As an undergraduate, I was often guilty of this.) They might be in the middle of something, in a hurry, and/or not have job responsibilities which include knowing the answer to your question.
If you send e-mail to someone who doesn't have responsibility for addressing your particular question (e.g., you ask the department chair how to pay your tuition), it may be ignored as spam. Good manners dictate that they should at least say "Sorry, I don't know", and direct you to the correct person to contact (if they know) -- but they might not.
So, in short, try to figure out who is responsible for what, and take first steps towards answering your own questions. And, finally, remember that sometimes you'll do all the right things, and still not be treated politely. That happens. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3
|
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<issue_start>username_0: I am building an online library, where professors will be submitting academic work (text and multimedia).
I want to find the right CC license. The work provided by the library can be shared and anybody can build upon it for commercial or non-commercial purposes, as long as they give credit to the professor. But the original work must remain un-edited. So, [CC-BY-ND](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) fits this description, but there is a part that worries me. If anybody can "remix or transform" the material, what is stopping them from changing the article and re-share it as their own, or claim that is the original?
Is there any way that CC-BY-ND protects me from this danger, or should I use another copyright licence?
Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: Make a phone call or meet them in person. That's usually the most appropriate way to get a reply from secretary staff. Very busy employee would disregard email response as not the top priority.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm very sympathetic to your complaint! Indeed, I'm a professor and I am sometimes frustrated by my own university's bureaucracy.
In general, I recommend using the internet (and Google) to try to figure out answers to your own questions. You might need to ask for help anyway, but instead of
>
> "I need to sign up for Course X, but it's full. What do I do?"
>
>
>
you'll be able to ask
>
> "I tried to sign up for Course X, but it's full. The department website says I should sign up for the waiting list. I didn't understand where I should sign up though, could you please point that out to me?"
>
>
>
As a related issue, try to figure out the correct person to whom to address your question. Sometimes, students will show up to department offices and simply ask their question of the first person they see. (As an undergraduate, I was often guilty of this.) They might be in the middle of something, in a hurry, and/or not have job responsibilities which include knowing the answer to your question.
If you send e-mail to someone who doesn't have responsibility for addressing your particular question (e.g., you ask the department chair how to pay your tuition), it may be ignored as spam. Good manners dictate that they should at least say "Sorry, I don't know", and direct you to the correct person to contact (if they know) -- but they might not.
So, in short, try to figure out who is responsible for what, and take first steps towards answering your own questions. And, finally, remember that sometimes you'll do all the right things, and still not be treated politely. That happens. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3
|
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| 1,573
| 6,424
|
<issue_start>username_0: A little about me:
* I'm a math major.
* I'm going to be starting my senior year this fall.
* I have the credits to graduate early, at the end of the fall semester.
* I have taken a few graduate level math classes, computer science and statistics classes, and science classes (psychology, biology, chem, physics).
* I'm leaning towards applied math.
* I go to my state school, which isn't very selective or prestigious.
* I have a 3.9 GPA.
I haven't had any advising beyond getting me to fulfill my graduation requirements and now it's my senior year and I still don't know what I want to do career-wise. I think I want to go to graduate school because I really enjoy the school environment and learning, but I'm not 100% certain.
Assuming I do choose the grad school path, I feel that my application would be weak at this point. I would like to stand a chance at getting into a more prestigious program than my state school.
* I have not taken the GRE General or GRE Math test. These seem to be the most important factors in admission. I don't know that it's possible to get a good score on both between now and the application deadlines around December.
* I have no research experience yet. I plan to assist a professor with research in the fall, but I wish I would have more prior to applying.
* I have little work experience so my resume isn't impressive.
* I still don't know what program/research area I'd want to go into. I think this would show in my personal statement and recommendation letters.
Do I have time to improve all this before the application deadline? Should I take a gap year to see if I can get some research/work experience, make sure I want to go/figure out what I want to research, and do well on the GRE? Does a gap year weaken an application?<issue_comment>username_1: I think you are overemphasizing the importance of the GRE. Consider it as a box you need to check, rather than "the most important factors in admission". Still, you should get started on that process only because opportunities to take the test are few and far between, and if you are ill the day you intend to take the test or otherwise do poorly, you might want a second chance.
I think you still have time to get some research experience. I don't know what is available in your field of study and at your institution, but in my field I would recommend you find a lab that would possibly be interested in hiring you on in the spring after you graduate, assuming things go well in the fall. Although applications will be due before that spring semester, at least you will be demonstrating your interest in research, and hopefully you can get a decent letter of recommendation from your research advisor.
I would also suggest finding a faculty mentor: not an administrative academic advisor, yes, those people are mostly interested in your undergraduate progress, you need to talk to professors who have gone through the grad school experience, who are involved in admissions for graduate school, etc (of course one of the disadvantages of a smaller state school is that no one there may have experience with graduate admissions, except as a student).
I don't think there is an either/or question here. If you are set on doing graduate school, you should apply and plan for what you might do to make your application better next year if you don't get into a program you like this time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> * I'm a math major.
> * I have taken a few graduate level math classes, computer science and statistics classes, and science classes (psychology, biology, chem, physics).
> * I have a 3.9 GPA.
>
>
>
I'm not seeing the problem; a 3.9 GPA (with grad classes, no less) by itself will open some doors. Math in particular is much more focused on classes and grades than some of the sciences, which care more about research (though applied math may be different).
>
> * I have not taken the GRE General or GRE Math test. These seem to be the most important factors in admission. I don't know that it's possible to get a good score on both between now and the application deadlines around December.
>
>
>
Most students (in the US) study for these during the summer before their senior year and take them in the fall. So, you are right on schedule.
By the way, these are usually not "the most important factors" -- the GRE general in particular is pretty useless for math majors (you should be able to do very well on the math section with no studying, and expectations for the verbal section are pretty low).
>
> * I have no research experience yet. I plan to assist a professor with research in the fall, but I wish I would have more prior to applying.
>
>
>
This isn't great, but given the pandemic, I suspect it will be less of a hinderance than it might be otherwise. [I realize this question was asked before the pandemic and might be read after the pandemic, in which case the lack of research experience is a significantly bigger problem. Nonetheless, my advice below still stands].
>
> I still don't know what I want to do career-wise...I still don't know what program/research area I'd want to go into...Should I take a gap year?
>
>
>
This is true for many students. It is good that you are asking these questions, though. I would recommend really considering what jobs you might realistically want to pursue and whether they require a PhD. Most students have only the vaguest ideas what "industry" looks like until they are on the cusp of graduation. But if you can identify a few specific career paths of interest, you may be able to better align your short-term plans with your long-term goals.
As for a gap year, the question is what you would do during the gap year:
* An internship or "real job" might be valuable, though there is always the risk (or maybe it's a perk) that you'll like the real job and never go back to grad school. But, these are not always easy to get (especially if you are up-front about only staying for one year).
* Doing a "fifth year" of undergraduate or a master's might be an option, but I don't really see the advantage of this in your case (this is normally for students with poor records who need to demonstrate success).
* Personally, I never recommend taking a whole year to just hang around and study for the GRE and do research part-time, since this has a huge cost in time and money.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: >
> What is the point of being the head of the department ?
>
>
>
I'm an undergraduate Physics & Mathematics student and I want to stay in academia, do research and also teach. I'm assuming professors also want this. Hence,
* Why do they become the head of the department and deal with lots of administrative stuff?
* Isn't that boring for a person who presumably wants to work on his/her field rather than deal with lots of nonsense?
**Note:** I want to restrict this question to departments in STEM fields only.<issue_comment>username_1: I can't speak for the work environments at other schools, but where I teach, the department chair gets an nicer office, a reduced teaching assignment, and extra pay, in addition to some political and financial power associated with the fancier job title.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: You specifically mention people want to do research and teaching and that is true. The head of department where I study has used the position to promote research into his field of study and still finds plenty of time to both teach and research.
Heads may not do the research themselves but are often in the position to greatly influence the shape of a department to do even more than they themselves could do alone.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Though the question is asking "why" someone would want to do it, I will answer it in a different way.
Consider there are 20 faculty members (senior professors, professors, associate professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, non-teaching staffs) in a department. Someone must control and coordinate in/regarding the department with the university higher ups.
Usually, many universities follow a nomination procedure where usually Senior Professors or Professors would be voted to become the Head of the Department (this system is followed in my university). Please note that there is no compulsion to become the head. If a person has been nominated by the majority and (s)he is not willing to become the HoD, then the next nominated person in the order would be chosen.
Otherwise, the university admin such as director, vice-chancellor, or deans would designate one professor to be the head of the department.
Usually, the assignment is not for life time, rather it is assigned for 2-3 years (depends on the university rules and regulation). And, there is no harm in doing something different from usual teaching and research stuff. It is not completely true that the HoD can't do research along with administrative loads, actually, he can. But, might not be that productive.
However, the quantity of teaching load for the head completely depends on the university norms.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: 1. The position comes with perks, PhD scholarships, increase in salary, no teaching, etc.
2. It's a stepping stone to becoming the dean, then vice-chancellor and after that, chancellor.
3. In some universities, it is easier, as compared to going down the research track, to become a full professor if you hold a significant admin position.
4. You want to protect your 'turf'.
Here 'turf' can mean the school or a discipline. In the former, you may not want your school to be merged with another school, which could result in retrenchment, and as for the latter you want to ensure your favorite disciplines continue to thrive.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I've just now finished my Ph.D. so I am in no way speaking from experience. However, I have had several discussions on these topics with several of my older professors, and I've heard people rant about department heads or praise them for their achievements. So this is what I gathered so far.
1. Someone has to do it, and most people don't really like to do it, but they understand that it needs to be done. Like cleaning your cat's litter box. It's a stinky job, but it has to be done.
2. The department head has a lot of power in deciding who are going to be the new faculty members. Sure, they don't control all the power, but using some skill they can influence these decisions a lot. I have seen a friend of mine apply to two universities, one of which the department head was completely incompetent, and by the time he "remembered" to tell him that they want him to come and gave him an offer, the other university already snatched him.
3. Some people have some sense of responsibility. They might feel that they could run the department better, or the faculty, or the university itself. And they decide to invest some of their time into these academic politics rather than into research because of one reason or another. Starting out as a department head is where you start if you want to eventually be the president.
And while it's rare, some people manage to devote time for research even when sitting in the chair of the president. It's hard, it's rare, but it happens all the same.
(While the extra-pay is certainly a perk, I don't know how reduced teaching load for administrative work is computed, and that might depend on the individual and their local teaching environment: I can imagine being in a department where this is a perk, and others where this is not so much of a perk.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Be it academia, politics, or a business environment a large incentive for going into a administrative role is the power to improve the way the department is run. These improvements can come from by fixing broken policies or implementing new ones. For some people this incentive is worth taking their focus away from their true passion for a few years. For even fewer running the department becomes a part of their true passion.
By facilitating their fellow professors doing meaningful research with minimal administrative distraction they are doing positive work in their field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: While there can be benefits for being the head of a department, at many US R1 STEM departments, I think the most frequent reason for becoming head is because some one has to do it. Further, turning down an offer to become head likely means that someone less capable, or at least that you view as less capable, will take it.
In my experience, *academics* do not really like administrators (e.g., Deans and Provosts). Further, departments that are run by individuals that wish to move up the administrative ranks tend to be over managed. I know a number of department heads who have taken the position to simply prevent someone else from becoming head.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: In addition to the other answers, people can become department head because the previous head did not wish to continue serving. In this case, if there are no volunteers someone who has not served as head before will be asked or ordered by a dean to take the position.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: >
> I'm assuming professors also want this.
>
>
>
I think this is your mistake.
In the Universities I am slightly familiar with (University of Cambridge, and ETH Zürich) competition for Head of Division and Head of Department is *fierce*. It is a brutal fight for political power, and people fight for it for much the same reasons as they have always fought for political power.
Note: Those Universities happen to both be in the top 10 or 20 universities in the world. Things may well be different in smaller, less prestigious, institutions.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Most departments, in my experience, have someone in them who wants to be department head so that they have the increased power, prestige, and income associated with that position.
This changes the dynamic of trying to be department head, because even if a professor doesn't really want the position, they may accept or seek out such a position if they are aware that an unqualified competitor may otherwise seize it. Alternatively, if the person (or persons) seeking the position are qualified, then those disinterested have no reason to take part in the department chair work at all.
That said, it is not *always* the case that someone wants to be department chair. The first community college I attended had a robust math program, but all of the math professors despised dealing with administrative tasks, and found the idea that they should tell their departmental colleagues what to do (as some of them put it) distasteful. While the position included a modest pay increase, it wasn't enough to justify the extra work, so the department would cast lots every year and the person who drew the short straw would take on the role until the next year. In actuality, department policy/funding was consistently decided on by democracy, and the department head just took responsibility for effecting those policy decisions. I think it helped that it was a small department and everyone in the department had a long-standing positive relationship with one another.
The point is that sometimes nobody wants to be department head, and if that actually is the case then people can work out ways around the need to have one.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: In many places, a title column is asked where I fill Mr. After getting my PhD can I "officially" change it to Dr.? Is this country dependent? I want to know about India, DrUK and US.<issue_comment>username_1: PhD is an academic degree. It is actually dependent on person and country whether to use the title "Dr." in passports and other relevant documents.
However, using Mr. would be wise to avoid a confusion between a doctor (MBBS, MD) and a doctorate (PhD). As per UK gov website, it is not advisable [[1]](https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118548/titles-included-in-passports.pdf)
I have never come across anyone using Dr. in legal documents. Moreover, it is not really a necessity to include Dr. in official/legal documents. For example, I still see my supervisor (who is a senior professor with PhD in 1990s) gets official documents with his name titled "Mr.".
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it depends on you whether you use Dr. or not. Getting a PhD is a very important and difficult accomplishment and you should feel proud of it. If you want to use Dr in any circumstance including in your passport (if allowed) go for it. If you don't feel like it then don't. I don't get why people would be worried about being confused with a MD A MD is a Dr just like anybody else, it has no higher or lesser importance. If someone gets confused then they can ask you what you are a Doctor of. My suggestion is use it whenever you feel like it, you worked really hard for it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As far as the USA, their passports do not have a title field for marital status (Miss, Mrs) professional titles (Dr, Rev, etc) or for titles or nobility (Dame, Sir, etc) so it’s a moot point for American passport holders.
Upvotes: 3
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| 1,307
| 5,356
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been involved in teaching in an university. However, I find the following few behaviors of students (all Undergrads) inside my classroom slightly unpleasant:
1. In my university, some of the male and female students come to classroom with shorts and informal dress code.
2. Students drinks tea, coffee, and such stuffs (not water) during class hours.
I don't find the above two behaviors quite formal for academic teaching. I do allow them to use laptops and tablets for learning purpose. This is probably, because, I have never been in such an environment. However, the university has no issues with it. Though few of my colleagues have non-supportive views on this, nobody raises voice or take action.
This disturbs my class as *I feel that students are not attentive* and I feel *demotivated to discuss the topic that I had been lecturing diligently about*. Till now, I have never spoken about it with the higher authorities and I don't want to go against such a thing, as they might think of me as foolish and backward.
My questions are:
* Should I discuss about my self-designed regulations for attending class where these two things is not allowed?
* Should the students take it positively? What if they complain about me to the administration office?
* And, once I do it, if someone does not follow it, should I throw him/her out of the classroom?
Any advice on this would be really helpful as the lectures would be starting in few days.<issue_comment>username_1: *(You did not provide any argument how informal clothes and the consumption of beverages negatively affect your lecture, so this answer might be speculative. Also this question might be a case of a [XY problem](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem).)*
I think you are not seeing the real problem
-------------------------------------------
I think the problems you are having with your lecture, but unfortunately not mentioning in your question, are real, but you are looking in the wrong direction. You are **misled by your convictions and stereotypical attribution**, looking for something to blame that stands out in your eyes.
Assuming your class is loud and unattentive. Actual reasons for this might be:
* you are not talking loud enough
* you are presenting material in a boring or very unorganized manner
* some bad behaving students are disturbing the class and you did not enforce silence or order
Any of these lead to the "good students" giving up on listening and doing something else, like being on Facebook and slurping their coffees. You turn around to the class and see them talking and see them drinking coffee and being in shorts and assume that this is the reason. The confirmation bias in your brain becomes active and you think: "Those coffee drinking, shorts wearing, rowdies again! If only they stopped wearing these clothes, they would immediately become attentive and model students!".
...but you should
-----------------
1. Ask yourself what a typical person wearing shorts and drinking coffee is like in your opinion and how it negatively affects your lecture? This might help you identify the actual problems you have been ignoring.
2. Check if this behavior is really occurring in your lecture, e.g. "students talking loudly during lecture".
3. If it is: Act on it!
1. **Make rules that prohibit this specific behavior.**
2. Announce them.
3. Enforce them.
4. If it is not: Leave it be! Your only concern is to give people the best possible education, not tell them how to dress.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: (*You didn't say where you are, so this is assuming you are at a Western university without an established dress code*)
This is a really bad idea.
==========================
There are so many concerns:
* Dress codes should be designed at the administration level, with advice of counsel. There are so many possible landmines related to cultural sensitivity, medical conditions, and sexism. Indeed, universities may have policies prohibiting professors from making their own dress codes (or will create such policies when they find out about this).
* Students may need to eat/drink during class for medical reasons, may overheat easily, or may have cultural/religious reasons for dressing as they do. Putting these students in a position where they need to share these requirements (esp. medical information) with you is unseemly, and opens you up to charges of discrimination (even if unwarranted).
* How will you enforce this? Are you going to measure pant length or inspect water bottles? Some cases will be clear cut, but for fairness, you would need to punish all offenders.
* Can you enforce this evenly? For example, if you are only ejecting female students and overlooking male students (even if unintentionally), there will be issues.
* Students will resent this. Even reasonable, well-established dress codes (e.g., closed-toed shoes in chem lab) lead to friction; students will chaff if you are imposing (as they see it) unnecessary, burdensome, and paternalistic requirements.
Some may be sympathetic to your concerns (e.g., that well-dressed students are more motivating), but policies like this would better be implemented at a higher level rather than ad-hoc according to every professor's personal preference.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, on various social platforms, an image containing an unusual acknowledgement in some paper have been circulating. This is about the following paper [RF fingerprint measurements for the identification of devices
in wireless communication networks based on feature
reduction and subspace transformation](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2014.09.009) by <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, Measurement 58 (2014) 468–475, which has the following Acknowledgement:
>
> "This work has been carried out despite the economical
> difficulties of the authors’ country. The authors want to
> overall remark the clear contribution of the Spanish Government
> in destroying the R&D horizon of Spain and the
> future of a complete generation."
>
Another interesting example provided by @Federico Poloni is the paper [Rumour spreading and graph conductance](http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1873601.1873736) by <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>,
where the authors write:
>
> "Unacknowledgements
>
>
>
> This work is ostensibly supported by the the Italian
> Ministry of University and Research under the FIRB
> program, project RBIN047MH9-000. The Ministry
> however has not paid its dues and it is not known
> whether it will ever do."
>
Another paper recently published offers a sad story in the acknowledgements,(I will just put the reference here ["On functional representations of the conformal algebra", by <NAME>, Eur. Phys. J. C (2017) 77:477
DOI 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5049-5](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepjc%2Fs10052-017-5049-5))
In ["A New Horned Dinosaur Reveals Convergent Evolution in Cranial Ornamentation in Ceratopsidae by <NAME>, <NAME>, Current Biology, Vol. 25, Issue 12, R494–R496
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.041](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.041), there is a proposal:
>
> Funding for this research was provided by the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and the Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society.
> C.M.B. would specifically like to highlight the ongoing and unwavering support
> of Lorna O’Brien. Lorna, will you marry me?
>
In ["Rotational splittings with CoRoT, expected number of detections and measurement accuracy" by <NAME>, et al., <NAME>, <NAME>, Current Biology, Vol. 25, Issue 12, R494–R496](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234281631_Rotational_Splittings_with_CoRoT_Expected_Number_of_Detections_and_Measurement_Accuracy), where is the following text:
>
> We do not gratefully thank T. Appourchaux for his useless and very mean comments
>
There are also more:
[<NAME>en (1973). A new Evolutionary Law. Evolutionary Theory 1:1-30.](http://ebme.marine.rutgers.edu/HistoryEarthSystems/HistEarthSystems_Fall2010/VanValen%201973%20Evol%20%20Theor%20.pdf)
>
> I thank the National Science Foundation for regularly rejecting my (honest) grant applications for work on real organisms (cf. Szent-Gyorgyi, 1972), thus forcing me into theoretical work
>
Although I fully empathize with the authors view, I wonder about the legal and moral consequences of considering adding of such an acknowledgement in one's
future career.
P.S. If you have discovered a similar story in a different paper that it is not listed here, please feel free to add it. Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: If you do not have a grant from a funding agency, there is nothing illegal about "not thanking them". It may ruffle some feathers and may not help the authors if they wish to apply for a grant from this agency, but otherwise people are free to thank or not, or "not thank" or not who they wish.
It's always preferable to make friends and avoid making enemies: some working in academia or working for funding agencies have long memories and don't react well to public criticism. I personally stay away from inserting the kind of editorial comment that you highlight in published work not because of moral qualms but because the funding situation may change but the printed paper will stay.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I personally find it out of place. Many journals have policies about acknowledging individuals (and possibly agencies). I doubt an individual/agency would willingly agree to a negative acknowledgement. While insulting the government might be fine, what about a funding agency
>
> The authors want to overall remark the clear contribution of the NIH in destroying the future of a complete generation.
>
>
>
or a subset of an agency
>
> The authors want to overall remark the clear contribution of the NIH NIMH in destroying the future of a complete generation.
>
>
>
or maybe even a study section
>
> The authors want to overall remark the clear contribution of the NIH NMB study section in destroying the future of a complete generation.
>
>
>
which of course leads to an individual
>
> The authors want to overall remark the clear contribution of Dr Borzan in destroying the future of a complete generation.
>
>
>
If *not thanking* became the norm, then people might start insulting journals where they have been previously rejected, or collaborators who have turned them down.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: **Academic publications are in general not the right place for politics.** And especially not for personal vendettas. Doing the latter is deeply unprofessional (though I'd wager some great scientists did this as well).
However, government officials and institutions are public not private actors and as such are in democratic societies put to more scrutiny (in their official function) than private actors. Addressing username_2's concern of people starting to "not thank" your publisher,supervisor etc, this is definitely a difference I would see.
For contemporary major moral discussions - like "should we start a genocide or not" - I'd say the **bigger moral question can trump the professionality aspect** by far though.
Now that we covered the general and extreme cases, back to the dirty middle ground.
Criticizing a political official or institution who acts in a researchers opinion damaging to science (or to society by his stance to science) or who likes to claim supporting science while his acts paint a different picture, I'd consider a borderline case.
It's a public body and it affects science, thus to some degree relevant for the audience and the author. Especially when there is no official body properly representing the scientific community in that country, such a statement may be a reasonable approach to inform the public about the opinion of the broader scientific community. But it comes off as petty easily if it's just general critic for a particular agenda that doesn't suit your own ideas or if it seems you are just angry because you in particular didn't get funding while others did.
So **legally, it's irrelevant in most countries, as long as you don't include libel or insult** (depending on country). **It is, in general, unprofessional, but sometimes the bigger issue at stake may still validate it morally**.
It's basically your individual choice to break with the professionality in order to further your political agenda. It may hinder your scientific career and cost you reputation, while helping your agenda. However, if you're unlucky it may also have the opposite effect and along with your own reputation loss, cost your political movement reputation with conservative people/voters/observers. In the end, it is very context depending - who are you criticizing, for what reasons, who is your audience and how receptive may they be to your message. Same for your career. If your scientific peers agree with your opinion they may ignore your breach with professionality - but does that also hold for international colleagues who may have no idea what you are ranting about?
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone, historically, has ever been awarded a degree that was a level higher than the one they were enrolled in and studying for, simply because their performance warranted a higher award? For example, somebody could have been awarded a MPhil instead of an MSc or a PhD instead of an MSc?<issue_comment>username_1: <NAME>:
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> When <NAME> was a college student at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1950s he showed such intelligence and talent that the faculty voted to award him a master’s degree in mathematics simultaneously with his bachelor’s degree.
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([Source](https://www.nationalmedals.org/laureates/donald-e-knuth))
Knuth himself explained:
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> At Case I put a lot of time into stuff out of class, but in class, I found a really clever way to, right now, let me brag this way to say, to avoid having to study too hard, for my classes. In the first place, I noticed though, that when I was a sophomore, my grades started to go down, in the first part of my sophomore year. And I ascribed it to too much ping-pong playing and playing cards too much in the dorm, and so; no, I’m sorry; this was the second half of my freshman year. I started having a little problem with my grades, and so I had to give up ping-pong.
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> But starting in my sophomore — junior year, I found out that you could take graduate courses at Case, and they were easier than the undergraduate courses. The reason is that Case had really strict admissions requirements for undergrads, but they were fairly loose about admitting graduate students. I think they wanted to build up, you know, admit graduate students, so when you had graduate students, in a class, they usually didn’t know as much as the undergrads did, so if you would take a graduate course, you didn’t have as much competition, you know, and the teacher would recycle stuff, and all this. So I started taking graduate classes, and you know, and all these hotshot undergrads would be taking the other classes.
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> And as a result, I had accumulated also, by the time I was a senior, I had accumulated lots and lots of graduate credits. Now, as a result then, Case did, on Graduation Day, Case did an unprecedented thing that had never been done before, they awarded me a Master’s Degree, simultaneously with my Bachelor’s Degree. And this, the faculty had gotten together and made a, and voted unanimously that this should happen, and I remember, you know, that was another thing that got into the newspapers at the time, that they were awarding a Master’s Degree at the same time as a Bachelor’s Degree. So, but the reason was that I had taken these graduate courses because they were easier. I didn’t, I don’t know if I’ve ever told anybody else this before today, but that was one of the reasons I could do so many other things.
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([Source](https://www.webofstories.com/play/donald.knuth/16;jsessionid=40F40610F944BA2DE7E02BBC290F2544), [transcript](https://github.com/kragen/knuth-interview-2006))
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Although a bit old, there's the case of Luzin's Master's thesis: [. . . he completed his thesis *The integral and trigonometric series* which he submitted in 1915. After his oral examination he was awarded a doctorate, despite having submitted his thesis for the Master's Degree.](https://web.archive.org/web/20170723033950/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Luzin.html) In fact, even for a Ph.D. thesis, Luzin's is one of the strongest ever written in mathematics --- in my opinion easily in the top 20 (and probably in the top 10) of all-time Ph.D. theses in mathematics for its influence on later developments.
[This](http://www.mathnet.ru/php/archive.phtml?wshow=paper&jrnid=sm&paperid=6501&option_lang=eng) appears to be the published version of Luzin's thesis, which is 242 pages and in Russian, with the table of contents on pp. 241-242. For references to it, [this search](https://www.google.com/search?q=Lusin+%22Integral+and+trigonometric+series%22) and [this other search](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Lusin+%22Integral+and+trigonometric+series%22) seem to work the best. I didn't get many hits for the title's French translation, by the way.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_3: I had a professor in University whose advisor recommended he switch from a Master's Program to a PhD Program, based on the research he was doing (he never received a Master's).
I realize this may not be in the spirit of your question, but it fits the criteria (awarded a degree higher than they were enrolled in). Apparently transfers like this are common enough to have a process for it at some universities:
<https://www.grad.ubc.ca/faculty-staff/policies-procedures/transfer-masters-doctoral-programs-without-completing-masters>
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> Students may be eligible to transfer from a master’s program into a related doctoral program ("fast track") if they have completed the following requirements:
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> ◾Hold a bachelor's degree, and have completed a minimum of one year of study in a master's program with 9 credits at the 500-level or above and of first class standing (80% or better).
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> Also:
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> ◾(for Ph.D.) **clear evidence of research ability or potential**;
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> ◾(for Ed.D.) **first class standing** and first class standing in such prerequisite work as may have been required, and five years professional experience; or
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> ◾(for D.M.A.) outstanding ability in **performance or composition**.
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My point is, this may not come up very often, as their performance should be recognized prior to the completion of their program, leading to a transfer to the higher degree program.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: <NAME> was famously awarded his PhD in Philosophy by his advisor, <NAME>, entirely on the basis of classwork completed for his prior degree, plus the addition of a book he had written outside school (*The Tractatus*) standing in for a thesis.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: The famous Polish mathematician, <NAME>, famously received his PhD in 1920 without having had a college degree. In fact, its a pretty famous story, he did not want to get any sort of degree as he claimed he can still come up with ideas that are better and more deserving of a degree. He was actually tricked into defending a PhD thesis as he was asked to "explain some mathematical problems to people who struggle with understanding them", which later turned out to be members of his PhD defense committee.
You could find interesting details [here](http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Banach.html).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: [Nicolas Demorand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Demorand), a french journalist, passed a contest for a preparatory class in order to integrate an university of political science, and was immediately proposed a teaching job instead :
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> sa copie de philo impressionne tant... qu'on l'embauche comme prof. (his philosophy paper impress so much... that he's hired as a professor)
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[Source in french](http://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2008/10/20/nicolas-demorand-entre-deux-ondes_1108887_3236.html)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: In Russia there are two graduate degrees: [Candidate of Sciences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidate_of_Sciences) (an equivalent of PhD) and [Doctor of Sciences](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_nauk) (a higher degree). It is very rare but not exceptional to be awarded the Doctor degree if the committee recognizes one's Candidate thesis worthy. The most famous cases is [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Knorozov), who deciphered the Maya script (his defence was three and a half minutes long).
Such possibility is present in the rules, otherwise, there is no skip over a degree (say, getting Master's degree without Bachelor or Specialist), one can not even enroll.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: Not quite the same, but [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig) famously solved two previously unsolved problems in statistical theory as a graduate student, after showing up late for class and mistaking them for homework assignments. When he decided to start his PhD, his professor told him to *"wrap the two problems in a binder, and I'll accept them as your thesis."*
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_9: It depends on the academic regulations of the respective institutions. I don't think this is generally possible these days. However, if you check [this academic CV](http://www.desy.de/~hkastrup/), you'll notice a conspicuous absence of a diploma which I know (due to personal knowledge) to be no accident. This was in Germany in 1962, considerably later than some other examples here. I should be surprised if this was a singular (even though rare) occurence to happen at that time even though I don't know personally of other examples.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: I expect this isn't what you mean, but *everyone* who applies for and is awarded a Bachelor's degree (this may only be honours degrees, but even if so that's by far the majority) from Oxford or Cambridge University, is also eligible for a Master's degree 4 years after graduation. Or 7 years after they started studying, I forget the exact rule.
Examples of eligible students would include 3 of the last 4 (and 4 of the last 6) British Prime Ministers. One of the two people with me in the room as I type was awarded the MA, the other has never bothered taking it but is entitled.
Historically, this is because Oxford and Cambridge claimed that the performance of all their graduates merited the higher award. Now they just claim it's "because tradition, alright?!". So to anyone who knows the system, the bonus MA is of course completely worthless as a CV point. But it entitles you to wear a nicer gown, and to vote in elections for Chancellor.
Strictly speaking you do have to *apply* for the master's separately, but only in the sense of "this is which date I want to attend the ceremony", not in the sense of "enrolling and studying", or submitting any work for consideration.
I say this with no bitterness at all, as someone who studied for an undergraduate master's degree at Oxford and therefore never held a bachelor's degree and don't qualify for the additional master's. One of my mates from school did the same subject at the same time, but an undergraduate bachelor's and separate master's. Same number of years study (4) and he came out of it with a BA, an MSc, and an MA he could claim later, instead of my solitary MMath :-)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: **<NAME>**
<NAME> ([wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan)) was an Indian mathematician notable for influential theories and proofs (…) and for being largely self-taught.
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> "Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems considered to be unsolvable."
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Early academic pursuits were not fruitful:
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> […] [While enrolled at Pachaiyappa's College, Madras] he passed in mathematics, choosing only to attempt questions that appealed to him and leaving the rest unanswered, but performed poorly in other subjects […] Ramanujan failed his Fellow of Arts exam in December 1906 and again a year later. Without a FA degree, he left college and continued to pursue independent research in mathematics, living in extreme poverty and often on the brink of starvation.
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His independent research continued until:
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> "In 1913 he began a postal partnership with the English mathematician <NAME> at the University of Cambridge, England. Recognizing the extraordinary work sent to him as samples, Hardy arranged travel for Ramanujan to Cambridge…"
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> [In March 1916] Ramanujan was awarded a Bachelor of Science **degree by research (this degree was later renamed PhD)** for his work on highly composite numbers, the first part of which was published as a paper in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society.
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> On 6 December 1917, he was elected to the London Mathematical Society.
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> In 1918 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the second Indian admitted to the Royal Society, following Ardaseer Cursetjee in 1841.
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> On 13 October 1918, he was the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
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According to the [Ramanujan Institute](http://ramanujaninstitute.com/about.html "Ramanujan Institute") website:
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> On 16 March 1916 Ramanujan graduated from Cambridge with a Bachelor of Science by Research (the degree was called a Ph.D. from 1920). He had been allowed to enrol in June 1914 despite not having the proper qualifications. Ramanujan's dissertation was on Highly composite numbers and consisted of seven of his papers published in England.
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The takeaway is this: Bachelor of Science by Research is a doctoral degree, which post-1920 at Cambridge was renamed to Ph.D; albeit nuanced a difference that Bachelor's degree is not analogue to what our current idea of a BA is; that is why I've included all the other qualifications and elections he earned prior to 1920.
**<NAME>**:
More recently (2000), <NAME> was awarded a Ph.D. for a book he published although he was not enrolled in a doctoral program or had worked towards a Ph.D. This is not an honorary degree.
This is known as a [Ph.D. by Special Regulations](http://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/your-course/examinations/graduate-exam-information/higher-degrees/phd-special-regulations). According to Cambridge University: "available only to Cambridge degree holders (of whatever discipline) permit the submission of "...a significant contribution to scholarship" instead. Though the awardee has not been registered as a Ph.D. student, the degree is not honorary; applicants are evaluated by the usual methods, with examiners appointed and an oral defense of the submitted work."
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just earned an MA degree in a social science field. I'm planning to apply to American PhD programs (sociology). I'm from a developing country, and my university is quite modest, if not godforsaken, no extracurricular activities, no interest in research. My CV is quite empty. All I have is the B.A. and M.A. degrees (I'm ranked first in both of them, if it matters), plus a B.A. thesis and an M.A. one; both of which are, I believe, worthy of publication.
I used to jump at every class presentation opportunity in my B.a. and M.A., sometimes in front of more than 100 classmates, at other times around twenty (M.A.). Sometimes, I used to spend half of the session presenting and leading the discussion, sometimes the whole two-hour session.
Is it appropriate to list these presentations (+10)? If so, in what format?<issue_comment>username_1: I feel your CV is already quite strong based on the fact that you have topped in both the mentioned bachelor and masters degree. Adding this detail in the achievement section would be sufficient to make the CV look strong.
However, I feel that presentation and discussions are integral part of the degree in Arts itself. So, by adding these details (which are trivial in some sense) would not help much. However, you could probably mention something in your strength section of CV under "Presentation skills", "Discussion skills". You don't have to mention the topics that you have presented, as these would look like junk to some people.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you still have any presentation materials from those class presentations, and feel like they are a positive reflection of your work, you might put them up on a personal/professional website under a "Portfolio" section. You could also include the other elements of your CV on this website, and include a link to it on your CV in the contact details. This gives you an opportunity to provide further details, for those who want to invest the time in looking for them, without appearing to "fluff" your CV with lines that might be considered inappropriate by some audiences.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/07/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering if there are real faculty members who go to conferences or read the abstracts (if it's being published) and scoop others?
If not why some professors are so paranoid? IMHO A real entrepreneur would love to share his ideas and maybe someone else would do it instead of him. Consider <NAME> for example who shares his ideas on Twitter. I would argue that Einstein wouldn't care if someone else had created general relativity.<issue_comment>username_1: At least in chemistry the information you get at conferences is usually (nearly) done work. The presenter has at least a very big head start so it's nearly impossible to take an idea there and do it yourself even faster.
A bigger problem are grant proposals. Here most of the time no or only little work on this topic has been done so it's actually possible to scoop others and in addition as a reviewer you can prevent the proposal from going through. We had that happen before where a reviewer wrote absolutely wrong and nonsense statements to get the proposal killed, most likely to copy that idea since he works on the same topic.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_1: Yes people do scoop one another, especially in very competitive fields. I have witnessed horror stories of a postdoc sending an advance copy of a paper in final stages of preparation to his former advisor, only to be "scooped" by the advisor who wrote a short comment on the same topic and submitted it to a journal with fast turnaround.
The reality is that citations and other forms of recognition (like who published first) are now the currency of the realm, whether we like it or not. It will come as no surprise to anyone from this forum to learn that there are now more people than ever looking for a slice of the funding pie and/or a faculty or research position, and some will seek any advantage they can to get ahead of the competition.
In the situation you describe, where the information is "out there" as an abstract or preprint or conference proceedings, it's considered public domain and all bets are off, although usually with proceedings or preprints there is a date stamp that allows to establish claims of who got there first. With just regular conference presentations or seminars, you're on your own and trusting you have an experience advantage over the audience so you can publish first.
(Indeed in some circumstances it's clear the work is far from completion and the authors just want to stake the idea as theirs.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I know at least one case in which the reviewer deliberately slowed the reviewing process and then published before the reviewed article.
Like this question on academia stackexchange refers to: [A reviewer has stolen my idea – what can I do? [duplicate]](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/100071/a-reviewer-has-stolen-my-idea-what-can-i-do)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I guess 90% of cases of scooping work like this:
Two labs are working on the same or similar projects, one lab takes the work to a conference. The other lab sees the talk and/or abstract and thinks "Cricky, we'd better get a move on double-quick else we'll be scooped" and publishes post-haste while the first lab is unaware of the competition. Additionally its possible that the second lab might see an interpretation of the data that they had been missing in their work, and might publish that as theirs.
It is possible to be first-principles scooped, but I think its unlikely. They only time it has happened to me is when I was a grad student working on my own on a project, and a company but a team of 10, equiped with robots, on the same project.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a female graduate student in a competitive phd program. I recently had a baby. Although this is a planned pregnancy, and I thought I had thought through the complications having a baby would bring, I am still very overwhelmed by how much different my life is now.
I don't have any time besides taking care of a newborn, and I am very sleep-deprived. Baby's dad works full-time to support the family. Even though it brings me a lot of joy, I just can't help but wonder whether I would ever have time for my research again. I initially planned to go back to school in September, when baby will be about 3 months old. But I am not sure whether I would be able to do anything next semester. Or even the semester after next. I initially planned to graduate next fall, but now I feel that might be a stretch. The application starts next semester, and I should be going around giving talks and preparing for my applications. But that feels impossible now.
And there is the financial stress. I want to put my child in daycare at some point (like around 7,8 months), so I can have some time to do work. But it's very expensive, and I don't know if we can afford this with our current income. Sometimes I thought about finding an industry job after graduate school, so things would be easier. But I don't want to give up research.
What is an effective way to deal with the stresses of being a new mother while on the job market? Specifically, how can I complete my research and apply to jobs in a situation where I am sleep deprived and child care is expensive?
---
This is a different question than [Having children while at graduate school](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45855/having-children-while-at-graduate-school) because I believe a female student's experience is different than a male student's experience. Especially at infant stage, mother's role cannot be placed by others due to constant feedings. The author in the other post also has his girlfriend/wife staying at home with the baby, so there will be much less work for him. In my case, I would be the one taking care of the baby since my husband works full-time. Another thing is I am already at the stage that I am about to graduate as opposed to the other post is debating whether to start the program, so I am more concerned about the graduation timeline.<issue_comment>username_1: Thanks for asking this important question! I will address three aspects of surviving your next year as a job market candidate and primary caregiver: changes in research style, finances, and emotional balance/accepting help with childcare.
Before launching into it though, I do want to emphasize that things get easier. Eventually, baby learns to sleep.
**Research/work style:** As someone who is juggling caregiving and research, you need to be find a way to use small chunks of time. It will be much harder to get long uninterrupted stretches of time, so train yourself to do without that. Break your work up into as small of chunks as possible, make a list of those chunks, and try to get to them one at a time. This may be more difficult if you are in a lab science and the only place you can work is from the lab. However, you may be able to write at home. To write, I would suggest starting by writing an outline. Then write the topic sentence of each paragraph. Each time you have 10 minutes to concentrate, write one of the paragraphs.
**Finances:** The best piece of advice I got as a new mother/academic was: throw money at problems. This is not the time to be frugal or save for a rainy day. This is the rainy day. Your career path will look very different depending on whether you finish this PhD, so you should throw resources into finishing. If you can borrow money from family, do it. If you can call in favors, do that too. You should focus your spending on things that buy either sleep or time - i.e. good childcare.
**Childcare:** If you plan on staying in academia, I think it is best for you to learn to embrace the positives of childcare. There are great childcare options out there, and I found that some childcare providers were just as good with my baby as I was (some probably better because they actually had more experience!). Take the time and use whatever money you have to find someone good, either for in home and daycare. This is where you want to spend because it is valuable to have peace of mind. Honestly, as a mom who has seen development up to age 2, I would say that my child cares if I am around a lot more now (at age 2) than they did at the beginning.
Furthermore, when you are home, embrace the "electronic babysitter" (the TV). Sure, it feels bad, but at least some quality research shows (<http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/2006/02/the_benefits_of_bozo.html>) that TV doesn't harm kids. Now most programs really don't help them either, but you can get a couple of 30 minute work sessions a day using the TV without guilt. My daughter loved Fantasia (lots of fun colors and classical music!) as a baby. Now she loves <NAME>, and that program has been shown to increase preschool readiness (<http://www.pbs.org/parents/expert-tips-advice/2016/07/daniel-tiger-helps-teach-social-skills-preschoolers/>).
Finally, if you absolutely can't use a babysitter, embrace the two-parent household you have. As soon as your partner gets home, you leave for lab. At least one day per weekend, you are in lab. Reserve maybe one-half weekend day for family time. Yes, it will suck. You won't get time with your partner while you are in this stage. But you will get more work done, and that may lower your stress.
P.S. The best thing I ever did to get my daughter and me sleep was moving her to another room. She was sleeping in my room and we woke each other up all night. (She snores, my husband snores.) She slept for twice as long at a time once she was in the other room.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel for you! Our twins were born during my husband's final dissertation year, and thirteen years later our fourth child was born the semester I finished a second degree (that one was a Master's, not a doctorate). Some of the lessons we've learned:
1. Turn your research skills to your advantage as a parent. Look into various parenting techniques and the science behind them, and then *experiment* to see what works best for you. No two kids are alike, and what works for one parent/child may not work for you (and what works for this baby may not work if you have another).
* If you want to experiment with baby equipment (e.g. baby bouncer versus swing—this really does vary by child), try to borrow them first or buy second-hand. You can usually find very lightly-used equipment (from parents who bought first, and then discovered that their baby didn't like that particular thing).
2. Accept help where you find it, and reach out for it even if it's not immediately offered.
* From your peers: As a grad student, you may find that most of your peers aren't having babies yet. That can be a bit isolating, but it can also mean that they are more excited to spend an evening baby-sitting than folks with babies of their own. If some of your friends or classmates have said that they'd love to play with the baby sometime, let them! Even if they just come over to watch the baby occasionally while you take a shower or write up a job application, that can be a lifesaver—and they probably won't expect compensation beyond maybe a shared pizza. Do invite them to visit with you, too, if you can, for the added bonus of staying up-to-date about what's happening in your department/field while you are on leave.
* From your family, if possible: If your family is interested and available, they can be another lifeline. **If it works with your family dynamics**, having one or more grandparent come to stay for a while, or going to stay with them, is a tried-and-true technique for new parents. This is honestly the only way my husband managed to finish his dissertation.
* Look for informal, part-time help.
-You are presumably in a university town, which means there may be students around who could baby-sit part time. This can be a cheaper option than formal daycare, and with careful vetting can be a high-quality arrangement, especially if your school has an education department with early-childhood majors. You will probably need to work around their class schedules, so for full-time help you'd need a rotation of several students, but if you can be flexible in your research schedule and/or want to start out part-time this is very workable.
-Younger kids can be great, too, as "mother's helpers"—a ten-year-old who is "baby crazy" can be a wonderful support while you are in the house working (and again, will probably work for much less money than full-time daycare). Faculty members' kids might be an option for this, or children from your neighborhood or faith community. (My own older kids were a huge help when I was writing my capstone with an infant.)
* From other parents. Look around for a new-parents support group or playgroup. There really is no substitute for hearing from other folks going through similar issues. Online groups can be helpful for getting a wide variety of advice (try Parenting.SE!), and meeting parents in-person is wonderful for that personal connection and for local advice. You might also be able to trade baby supplies, baby-sitting, etc. You might find there are faculty members with young children who would be especially valuable mentors.
3. Figure out ways to multi-task. Play around with baby carriers and slings to find one that works for you; being able to nurse and type at the same time (or just nurse and make a sandwich) will be a revelation (I'm doing so now). Experiment with listening to articles via a text-to-speech app and dictating notes with a speech-to-text app (the latter might have a higher learning curve) so you can work while you go for a walk or do laundry.
4. It really is easier if you can have a flexible or reduced schedule while the baby is nursing exclusively. Options include going back part-time this fall, or possibly arranging your schedule so you can be with your baby at feeding times. (It's absolutely wonderful if you can find a way to take baby with you to school—possible if you have a *very* accommodating department and an equally cooperative baby.) But if none of this works out, don't worry—your baby will do just fine without you for the day, with expressed milk or formula. If you want to express milk, see if your school will find you a comfortable spot to pump during the day (in some places, they are legally mandated to do so) and take a "baby break" where you think about your baby for twenty minutes or half an hour a couple times a day.
5. Give yourself a break. This really is hard, and there's no one right way to do it. Take care of yourself physically and emotionally—you'll be a better mother and a better researcher if you're healthy. Don't beat yourself up if you find yourself progressing more slowly than originally anticipated, or if parenting isn't all cuddles and bubbles. Sometimes you're going to want to be with your baby instead of working, and sometimes you're probably going to long to get away from your baby into grown-up pursuits, and both are perfectly normal.
---
Note: I don't know exactly where you are or what your field is, so I've tried to be as general as possible; obviously some of this will depend on your particular circumstances both at home and at school. I've also assumed that your husband is already supporting you as much as possible with things like housework and nighttime baby care; if he's not, sort that out as quickly as you can!
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently received a request to subreview a paper for a top computer science conference. While it is related to my field of research, it is extremely long (the conference does not have a page limit) and complicated (it is an algorithm made of more than ten sub-algorithms, each of which is itself worth a conference paper). I find it very difficult to verify that it is correct. I mean, theoretically I may be able to understand it if I spend several whole weeks on reading every sub-algorithm, crafting small examples to myself, writing comupter simulations etc., but then I will have to stop doing anything else. What should I do?
1. Decline the request, hoping that the paper will be given to a smarter reviewer that will be more capable of verifying its correctness? Or -
2. Agree to the request, but tell the PC member in advance that I am going to review only a part of the paper which I can understand?
NOTE: The problem is not with the authors' presentation. In fact, their explanations seem good and clear. Just the algorithms themselves are highly complex.<issue_comment>username_1: I would go with 2, or at least contact the editor saying you would do 2, and asking if they'd prefer 1. There tends to be a shortage of referees, at least in my field, so I'd expect 2 to be preferred. I've been sent a paper to look at one aspect where someone else had apparently already checked a different aspect.
While I hate to say it, I believe in maths it would not really be expected that every tiny detail of a similar paper would be checked. I used to think it worked like that, but the time issues you mention are true for others too, so I guess 'certain enough' has to replace 'absolutely certain'.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If it was me, I would decline to review the paper. It doesn't seem fair to the author of the article to have an article half-reviewed and the most important part not even verified.
Furthermore, if it so happened that if the paper was published and someone else further down the line spotted problems in the paper then it would come back on the journal for allowing it to be published.
If you don't have the time or don't believe you can, then don't.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: By declining the review request for a conference (with sharp deadlines on notifications) you are not doing much favor to either the PC committee or the authors: the PC member invited you would have to spend more time searching for another replacement referee and this is highly non trivial and time consuming and, consequently, would give less time to the next referee for the report.
Note that probably the PC member that invited you is aware that you are not *the* expert. In many (most) cases, a relatively light review should be enough: nobody expect you (for a conference submission with a short deadline during summer) to read every little detail for the paper but rather to be able to understand and judge the results and the techniques. Are they relevant? Do they make good sense? Do they break some widely believe assumptions (sanity checks etc)?
It doesn't matter if you cannot verify every Lemma just make a high level recommendation based noting that as far as you have checked the results seem correct and reasonable. Of course you should mention everything to the PC committee.
Note that more than 50% of the reviews I have received of my submissions are 1 paragraph reviews: either saying great, super, accept and that's it, or criticizing that my paper is not relevant enough. In the beginning of my career I was slightly mad but I get to understand that expecting something more from *all* referees regarding conference submissions is unrealistic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Accept it. In the worst case, your review could be something like
>
> The paper is well structured and well written; while I was not able to confirm every single proof/algorithm, I am confident that the topics are presented in a sound way and would make an interesting topic in the conference.
>
>
>
This will make your position quite clear, and the publisher/organisator will easily be able to decide whether to take your review or not.
You *will* help to filter out badly written stuff, you will also be able to find flaws in the "internal" logic and the general approach, language, presentation etc.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Simply **decline**, and, if you really wish, say why and what you could do instead if asked. You are not up to the job to review the whole thing, and it's ok to declare so. If the paper is really astronomically complex, it would be the responsibility of the PC to choose an appropriate reviewing method, e.g., partition reviewing into subtasks and ask you (or others) to accomplish these subtasks.
PS. Personally, I would read and try to learn something new and useful from the paper. But it would be my own, subjective, personal decision, weakly related to your situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I would contact the editor or PC member who assigned me the paper, explain my limitations, and ask whether they would like to reassign the paper. They are in a better position to judge whether there are people better suited to review the paper or if you are the best reviewer available to them.
Another alternative would be suggesting a reviewer who is a better fit, if you know one and think they would be available.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Just give an honest review. Although it may not apply in your case, conference papers are often judged by different standards from archival journal papers, and a quick response that says, for example, interesting, should provoke worthwhile discussion (or whatever conference-like virtue the paper may have) will probably earn the organisers gratitude. Be honest about what you did not understand, or did not have time to understand. If you can analyse WHY you did not understand it, and suggest gaps that need to be filled, even more useful.
As others have pointed out, your imperfect review may be better than leaving the organisers searching, with limited time, for a more capable reviewer who may not even exist. If it is planned to publish proceedings, I would expect that another round of reviews will be organised, for which discussion following the paper may well be significant.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: As an editor of a journal, I'd encourage you to contact the editor stating pretty much what you've said here and offer to review the paper as best you can in light of those limitations, should they want that.
This is for two reasons.
1. The editor is probably less of an expert in this than you are. Editors see all sorts of papers spanning dozens of subfields and do their best to find folks who have a reasonable chance of understanding what the paper's about and whether it's interesting. That you've been asked to review the paper means, somewhere, an editor thinks that you have a special knowledge of this particular subtopic.
2. There is probably a lot you can do here, even if you don't have the time or ability to follow all of the authors' arguments. Does the argument appear well-crafted? Do the ideas fit together? Does the paper seem as though it will be of interest to people? Refer back to Point 1: from the Editor's perspective the paper may be jargony, rely on methods that are more obscure to them than to you, and may be of dubious interest. Your opinions may matter.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: You should entertain the possibility that the problem lies not solely with you, but with the authors' presentation. If you find it hard to understand, likely many others will struggle too. Have the confidence to state this plainly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: I've encountered situations like this before, and if there is a limitation with the availability of potential new reviewers or time constraints, the solution I've found is to work with the panel of multiple reviewers. It's reasonable to request clarification on different points of the paper before proceeding with any final decisions, and normally the author is expected to have their draft work and notes readily available. But you should let the author know ASAP, as you should only evaluate the paper on the topic it discusses.
Though you yourself may not understand or be able to review all of the paper, if you are confident in your credibility in your field, you should still give your input on whatever parts of it you do understand, and converse with other panel members on the parts that you don't, breaking the topics in the review process across multiple members if necessary. It's obviously not an accurate representation of the effectiveness of a paper if only one person with limited experience reviews it.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/21
| 796
| 3,468
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<issue_start>username_0: We have made a very important scientific breakthrough in the field of biomedicine. We have filed the patented and the scientific publication (in a journal with impact factor around 9.0) was published three weeks ago. Now we would like to make a huge impact and broadcast this as much as possible. Therefore we would like to know your opinion about how can we do this. We have already used twitter, facebook and linkedin, and contacted editors from Science and Nature so that they can mention our paper in highlights-like section, but no reply until now. We think that getting a highlight in such journals would be the best but we can not reach them and do not now how to do it efficiently. It would be great if you can share your experience here and give advice.<issue_comment>username_1: If you think this discovery was big enough for Nature or Science then why didn't you send the article to either of these journals?
You can't tell people what to be excited about and if the work is good enough then it will make its own headlines.
In the mean time, speaking to your university press officer seems like a good start and they can put something out to local newspapers. If its big enough, then it'll be picked up by bigger outlets.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Contact your institutions' PR office. Most have one, or at least someone who does press releases. They're often very receptive, as it always makes the university look good.
You can also directly contact some news portals like livescience or (gasp!) IFLS. If you can get into one, others often pick up. They're all using each other for leads.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm no Biologist, but here are a few ideas:
1. Arrange to visit other relevant research groups/departments around the world; it's very customary for visitors to give talks presenting their own recent research.
2. Reciprocal: Invite relevant people to visit your lab. Of course, the visit can't be mostly about being impressed by your work...
3. Integrate your discovery in graduate-level courses, or develop a new one that incorporates it
4. If we're talking about something applicable - write the first paper about applying it.
5. There are all sorts of contests with prizes for research excellence - maybe your work qualifies somehow. That can also lead to more media coverage.
6. Speaking of media coverage, try to get mainstream media correspondents to run a story about your discovery.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> contacted editors from Science and Nature so that they can mention our paper in highlights-like section,
>
>
>
We got highlighted in Nature after: having a biomedical publication submitted, and accepted in, one of the specialist journals of the Nature publishing group (NPG), creating a professional media package with the media office of our university (interview, summaries, pictures about our work - using different artistic styles), setting embargo date with the editors of the specialist journal, having media package distributed by NPG's internal system and local news agencies (the latter through the media office of our university) one week prior the embargo date, and obtaining large international media coverage upon lifting the media embargo, and becoming one of the most read articles of NPG of the month. Around two weeks after publishing our article, it was also highlighted in one paragraph in the main journal of the NPG.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/21
| 593
| 2,542
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have already graduate from a master degree in Europe (Software Engineering) , and applied for **another master degree** (Informatic) in Germany (TUM).
I have applied with my BSc. degree diploma and transcripts to the German university. My scores in bachelor is quit good, and convincing. The issue is they have invited me to an interview. I guess they want to know **why i am still motivated for another master, while i have one?**
Here are my motivations:
1. The focus of my first master was **Software engineering**, meanwhile now i am interested to learn about **distributed systems, networks**.
2. I am looking for a careers which needs both the programming and network, and i think this master programme would help me. I am already good as a developer but i need to improve my skills in network.
3. I have some raw idea over the Bitcoin, Blockchain , and Internet of Things, and i need to be in touch with some experienced teachers who have deep knowledge in this fields.
4. Germany is an awesome country. I love the language and culture, and i think there are lot's of job opportunities for IT people.I have some basic command in German, and i am going to advance them during the programe.
**Do you think these motivations make sense for them?**<issue_comment>username_1: Absolutely. You're passionate about the country, you are focussed on a particular career goal, and you feel that this Masters programme is what you need to take you down that path.
If they didn't accept that then I would be surprised.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't find your justification wise enough for a second master degree in distributed systems and networks. Moreover, I don't find a real target behind the second master degree other than getting associated with professors and the country.
If your prime purpose is to learn new stuff, you don't need a second academic degree which is very similar to the one that you already have. You can learn on your own. Moreover, you could directly apply for a research degree (say Ph.D.) in Germany instead. This would definitely make more sense. Unless you have some serious career goals to pursue on the specified courses, you should not do it. In my university, my colleagues who have Ph.D. in software engineering are now doing serious research in IoT, Distributed Systems, and Network security.
Ask yourself this question: *If you get interested in computational economics after 2 years, would you again apply for a masters degree in the same field?*
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/21
| 625
| 2,736
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<issue_start>username_0: I applied for a postdoc position whose application deadline was 24th June. When I contacted my potential mentor asking when to expect the results,
>
> **he thanked me for showing interest in applying for the position and told me that shortlisted candidates will be informed and the process will get completed by the end of July.**
>
>
>
Until now I have received no further information from the institution nor was any list published at the institute website. I contacted recently the institution through mail asking whether I am selected or not but got no reply.
So, considering what my potential mentor said, does his words mean that I am not selected for the position? Or should I wait? I am confused about what to do next, in order to know if I am selected or not.
Update: I have mailed my potential advisor as well as the institution about knowing the results of selection but there was no reply. Now i came to know by unofficial means that the applications are still being processed and the results are not yet decided.<issue_comment>username_1: Keep in mind that your potential mentor is a very busy person- which is probably one of the many reasons they are hiring for a post doc.
The best thing to do is to wait till the end of the July, there is still about a quarter of the month to go. If you haven't heard anything then certainly feel free to touch base again to keep your name fresh in their head.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the answer you've got was pretty clear:
1. If you are short listed (for interview), you will be informed.
2. The process (including interviews and decisions) will be completed by end of July.
Typically, the shortlist is made within a week of the application deadline and interviews are conducted within another few weeks. The decision (of whom if any to make an offer to) is typically made immediately after the last interview and then it takes some more time before an offer is accepted.
In your case, this all fits nicely within the time frame of 5 weeks (24 June until end of July). So, if above *typical* scenario applies, then the fact that you haven't heard from them, implies that you were not shortlisted. But there may be other reasons, such as a delay in the process.
IMHO not informing those not shortlisted at the stage when the shortlist has been made (as is the case here) is a rather poor practice.
Don't be disheartened by a failed attempt to get shortlisted at a postdoc application. There are many applicants and you must expect to make several applications before getting there. You may ask them for feedback to improve your application (but most importantly: add publications to your CV).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/07/21
| 712
| 2,955
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<issue_start>username_0: I defended my Master's thesis last year and continued on to pursue PhD in the same university under a different adviser. My Master's thesis adviser and I were getting ready to present a paper pertaining to the MS thesis at a conference in two weeks. The paper is already accepted.
Earlier this week, in preparation of showing reports at the conference, I started re-running my Master's thesis code to obtain fresh reports. The results gave me the nastiest shock of my life. The new results I was getting were a magnitude off from the results I had before. I could not believe the new results. Thinking that I had done something wrong in the current run, I re-ran my previous projects which I had used to obtain the results for the thesis document and defense. Even these runs gave me the same results as the new results I was getting. When I dug into it further I realized that I had misinterpreted the value of a single variable which changed all my result values by a magnitude. This reverses half of the conclusions I made and slightly alters the rest. I immediately emailed my adviser for a meeting to discuss this issue. I am meeting with her next week.
In the meantime I am panicking that my adviser or the school board might think that I deliberately presented the wrong values since I was getting better results. I am scared that they might not see my mistake as a mistake or even if they do see it as a mistake, they might take some strict action like revoking my MS degree or suspending me from school or even expulsion. I am panicking. Please advise. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: These things happen. It's unfortunate, but as Bryan said in his comment on your question, we're all only human. You're doing exactly what you should be doing, and now you just have to wait to hear how your department asks you to proceed.
To put things into perspective, the concept of austerity cuts as a method for bolstering economic growth stemmed from an [error in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet](http://theconversation.com/the-reinhart-rogoff-error-or-how-not-to-excel-at-economics-13646). Whoops. Be glad this is just your thesis and not an internationally-recognized research effort that drove over a decade of global economic policy.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Correct the mistake for any peer-reviewed publications (journal, conference, etc). Don't worry about the thesis published at your institution.
Reason being, your committee signed off in the work as a whole as fulfilling the merits of the degree. Yes, it's unfortunate, but theses often aren't indexed by journal searches, and even when they are, they are generally interpreted with less weight.
On the bright side, you recognized an error others might not have. Apply this lesson moving forward. In any other case, you'd have to retract.
PS - I did the same thing during my masters thesis. Didn't sleep for a week.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/07/22
| 880
| 3,790
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<issue_start>username_0: So, suppose you're a grad student in some academic program in the US; suppose furthermore you're employed by the university (as a teaching/research assistant, say), and you message total strangers on the internet, looking for a sexual encounter. Some of the messages may be sexually explicit/implicit.
Is it possible that, if some stranger could be offended by this, the university could act against you in some form were the stranger to contact them about it? Would the relationship of the stranger to the university matter, even if one did not know beforehand such relationship? For instance, would the situation change if the stranger is a student of the university?
Of course there is nothing illegal in the US about these actions, but universities sometimes have much stricter codes. In answering this question, please keep "large public university" in mind, not some christian college.
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Here's an excerpt from a randomly selected sexual misconduct policy ([Indiana University](https://policies.iu.edu/policies/ua-03-sexual-misconduct/index.html)):
>
> Indiana University prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex or gender in its educational programs and activities. Discrimination on the basis of sex or gender is also prohibited by federal laws, including Title VII and Title IX. This policy governs the University’s response to discrimination based on sex or gender, and all forms of sexual misconduct (which includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, other forms of sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation and stalking. [...]
>
>
> The University will provide a fair and impartial investigation and resolution for complaints and, where appropriate, issue sanctions and remedial measures. The severity of the corrective action, up to and including termination or expulsion of the offender, will depend on the circumstances of the particular case.
>
>
>
It seems to me that contacting a stranger with a possibly unwelcome explicit message would probably be viewed as sexual harassment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As long as you send and receive these emails from home, on your privately purchased computer, using your personal email account, during non-work hours, and meet the people you contact off-campus, there is probably little the university can or would want to do -- this would seem to be your personal business. (Though it is not necessarily legal: sending complete strangers explicit messages could be considered harassment.)
But from the long list of "ifs" above, you probably already see where the rub is. Let's say, one of the people you contact doesn't appreciate the contact, finds out that you are a student at the university in department X under professor Y, and writes a blog post including all of this information. The local newspaper then picks it up after finding 3 other people who are also complaining. Suddenly, the university, department X, and professor Y are in the picture, and they're going to be interested in dissociating themselves from you. Now, if it turns out that you sent or read some of the emails from a work laptop at home, or from a work desktop during work hours, or on a work trip paid for by the university, or met some of your contacts in your office, or used your work email (a university-provided resource), then you're in trouble because all of these things suddenly expose you to university rules and regulations, as well as state law governing the conduct of employees.
The point is that if you're a regular grad student, your life is probably structured in a way that you can not consistently avoid all of the conflicts mentioned above, and that exposes you to being sanctioned by your university.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/22
| 577
| 2,440
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<issue_start>username_0: I've found a error in my thesis recently, after its submission. I made a mistake that wrongly accepted the hypothesis which should be rejected. What should I do??<issue_comment>username_1: It is normal that a thesis contains mistakes and wrong conclusions. If you did not yet do your defense, it is not a problem. The examiners may find and mentione it. Otherwise, you do it by yourself the day of your presentation, by indicating that honest mistake. You can then correct it in the final version of your thesis.
If your thesis is already in the library and you got evaluated for it, try to talk to your adviser and he will suggest either to ignore it or to add a correction on the website or as an extra document in the library.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Talk to your advisor!**
This question could have very different answers, depending on lots of factors:
* How significant is the error? Just in a minor statement, or does it invalidate the main results of your thesis?
* What stage of the process are you at? Have you already defended your thesis? received your degree? etc
* What was your thesis contribution? Significant original results that other people may wish to use? or mainly expository/survey work?
* What are your institution’s culture and requirements around masters theses?
* What is your field’s culture on how to treat errors in published work?
Your advisor is the person who can best judge the answer to these, and should be supportive for you.
That said, as a *very* rough general answer: in most situations, this should not hurt you badly. If the mistake is minor, or if it is major but the thesis has already been defended/accepted, then probably all you need to do is put the correction on the record somehow (in my field, listing an erratum on your webpage would be reasonable). If the mistake affects the main results of your thesis and you have not defended yet, then it’s more likely you should revise the thesis and postpone the defence. But, again: this all depends on many situation-specific details, so the most important thing is to **talk to your advisor about it.**
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Improve the thesis, put your version on your webpage, and inform the advisor that an error was present, which is corrected a posteriori. That's it; you've made your best to improve, and now it's the advisor's task to grade you.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/22
| 1,152
| 4,619
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<issue_start>username_0: **Quick background about myself**
I just want to give a quick introduction to my background but I think this could be relevant and beneficial to a lot of people. I am a Mechanical Engineering student studying at **Imperial College London** and working towards a GPA 4.0 equivalent, with a GPA 3.7-3.8 predicted/guaranteed. I will be graduating with an **MEng degree** in the summer of 2018. I also hold a Turkish passport (non-EU).
**Into the question**
I want to know how hard it is to get fully covered for tuition fees, accommodation and other expenses while getting paid a salary on top (I would still be consent with not getting paid as long as I do not pay anything other than my pocket money). From minimal research I came to find that this can be extremely unlikely, although, I also found that you have slightly more chances in some fields such as engineering since a lot of capital flow from the industry.
So from base line knowledge, I suspect my main options are to secure a scholarship that covers you fully, get the university to fund you or get a company to sponsor your research. I also know that it is usually a combination of the above.
I am a very driven person with a lot of passion for the field and I will be applying to universities such as Stanford and MIT. I am currently doing a research internship at Stanford and I also hold past research experience from Imperial College London. I will likely be getting published in a decent journal from my current research internship (at the age of 20). I just want to know what are the chances of getting paid let alone paying for tuition fees since I do not want to ask my parents for financial help. I would rather find a good job then to pay thousands of dollars for another 4-5 years, although doing a PhD has been my aspiration since very young.
Please do not hesitate to point to further resources as answer to the question and any help is appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: In engineering, the primary source of support for international PhD students in the US is:
* 10.4% via teaching assistantships
* 71.7% via research assistantships or traineeships
* 11.5% via fellowships or grants
* Small portion via other sources (e.g. self funded, employer funded).
Source: Survey of Earned Doctorates, [TABLE 35. Doctorate recipients' primary source of financial support, by broad field of study, sex, citizenship status, ethnicity, and race: 2014](http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16300/data/tab35.pdf)
In STEM fields in the US, both US citizen and international PhD students are generally offered admission with funding, which will be provided via teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or some combination of the above. [US STEM PhD offers that don't come with funding are generally not worth accepting.](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/66926/ive-been-admitted-to-multiple-phd-programs-how-should-i-choose-between-them/66930#66930) So it's not about specifically trying to get funding, it's about getting a real offer of admissions (which should come with funding).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My answer comes from my background as an international student with B.Sc from a university in a developing country (You probably never heard my institution nor my country) and I got full-ride PhD offer from two US universities (different major, both ranked in top 30-40 according to US NEWS). I applied to 7 universities. So, the success rate is around 28%.
"How hard is it to get paid to do PhD in the US as an international student in engineering?"
Using your background, I would say that, it is not that hard. Compared to me, you come from a well-known institution with an extensive research experience in a top US school.
However, to be clear, the difficulty in getting into a STEM PhD program really depends on many factors. So, the right answer will be: it depends.
It depends on which university that you think you want to join. If, you narrow down your choice into only MIT and Stanford, it will be pretty hard. You should have stellar record in all aspects of your applications: recommendation letters, research experiences, publications, standardized test scores.
Even if you have those credentials, you might be not lucky enough to be accepted with funding if your desired professors are not looking for a graduate student.
To give you a better chance in being accepted with funding in a US PhD program, I would suggest you to apply to as many institutions as long as you are not overwhelmed with the application process. May the force be with you :)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/23
| 1,409
| 5,970
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<issue_start>username_0: Not sure if the pay rate for postdocs and PhD students are set nationally. But I was wondering if PIs compete with each other for good students by marking up the (rather small) salary. Is this current practice or a good idea or bad idea?
Thanks,
Shuheng<issue_comment>username_1: I have fallen victim to a scheme of inflated postdoctoral salary, detailed in the thread below:
[Persistent issues with salary pay as a postdoc in China: What can I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/104541/persistent-issues-with-salary-pay-as-a-postdoc-in-china-what-can-i-do)
Regarding the core of your question, this is a direct example of how a **higher salary should not be a relevant strategy to attract postdocs**. I should state I was not attracted as a postdoc primarily because of the salary. My country was sliding down a serious economic & political crisis, and as an adventurer I was greatly interested in trying my luck in China. Moreover, I believed one of the PIs involved in the project was a good scientist. I kept pushing for a higher salary merely as part of any job negotiation, aiming for the best offer.
What this institution and relevant PIs do is declare funds which are strictly reserved for project expenses as promised salary, in the hopes of attracting the best possible postdocs. I believe this is both bad and stupid practice strategy, for the reasons below:
(i) I believe the best scientists seek the most interesting & exciting scientific environments because they are moved by passion; (ii) any conflict over salary pay and research expenses will destroy necessary focus on complicated technical discussions and procedures; (iii) attempting to buy scientists will corrupt their interests, resulting in biased scientific output.
Had these professors honestly declared the actual smaller salary and the available project funds, I'd have accepted the offered conditions and joined them as a postdoc anyway. In the absence of conflicts over salary pay and project expenses, I'd have focused entirely on the project ideas I had proposed, resulting in fair collaboration and interesting output.
In the end after leaving I now try my best to prevent other colleagues from falling prey to similar schemes. I am counter-advising any scientist to visit China, as I believe a local money-centred culture is corrupting the field.
A trivial example is the local practice of paying *prizes*$$ per published paper, which I have seen resulting in colleagues openly negotiating authorships as commodities, not only among each other but also with journal editors and local staff.
I firmly believe universities cannot work for-profit, and that high intellects cannot be bought.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If we are talking about hiring postdocs with salaries paid from grants, in the US you can do it but you have to be creative because you cannot just single out one postdoctoral fellow (as a person) and offer him or her better terms than the others have. The usual way out is to create a position with some new fancy title (like "<NAME> research visiting fellow" or whatever your imagination suggests you) and pretty much the same job description as a regular postdoc. That requires some bureaucratic moves and you have to explain the administrators (your chairman, at the very least) why that may be desirable, but if you go through all the routines successfully, you can modify standard terms considerably (within reasonable limits). In particular, you can set the salary above the usual level, or to offer reduced teaching load, or....
As far as I understand it, this practice is not very common but not unheard of. Normally, you compete for better students by having higher reputation (as an individual, or as a department, or even as a town) and many good students are happy to get a bit less in money if they can work with whom they want or live where they want, so a small salary raise alone won't give you too much advantage and if you want to offer 1,000,000 a year, that would be blocked by both the administrators at your university and your grant office. So when I use this, I do it not to compete with other PI's, but just to give my postdocs some break from life hardships hoping that they get more productive in return. However there is a competition for good students not on the individual level but on the university level (in the US the postdoc salaries are set not by some national agencies but by individual universities) and that one can get quite fierce when it is a "student" market. Now, as far as I can tell, it is harder for a bright student to get an offer from a mediocre university than it is for a mediocre university to hire a bright student, so almost everybody is just offering the "standard package".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This will depend *wildly* on the setting in question. For example, NIH grants have specific postdoc rates, and while a professor could "tweak" those offers (usually in ways that involve a second grant/account/etc.) they may or may not have the ability to do that.
Additionally, there may be departmental requirements - for example, in my current department, all graduate students are paid a fixed rate, take their preliminary exams and get a slight bump to another fixed rate. There is *no* flexibility in this, by design.
As for whether or not it's a good of bad idea? I think it's a bad idea *for my lab*. Salary negotiations create an unlevel playing field among the members of my lab, and that's not a message I'm willing to send by "sweetening the pot" for one postdoc vs. another. The only differential benefits I'll accept is if the "unit price" of something is variable - for example, if I offer to pay for a postdoc's plane ticket when they move to join my lab, I pay for *a plane ticket*, understanding that someone coming from a state away is likely to be less expensive than someone coming from overseas.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: He's also not listed in the faculty directory / contact list any longer.
I used to meet him about twice a semester to talk about life and academics, so he knew me fairly well.
He was tenured and, to me, was brilliant.
Can I email him to say hello and ask why he left? Or is that being too nosy and inappropriate?<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you are a very good friend, you should not ask the question. You can, of course, continue to meet him in private if he is up for that. I do not recommend prying into the issue if he does not talk about that from his own initiative.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is a million possible reasons why the professor and the university do not work together anymore. Some of these reasons might be private matters which should not be shared with the public. Tenured appointments aren't broken easily, so you can assume it's either one very serious problem or a huge number of small problems. The problem might or might not be relevant to you personally. But unless you have good reason to believe that the problem is relevant to you, acting on the assumption that it is would be unfair.
You could always ask, but if the professor doesn't seem to be willing (or able) to speak about it, pondering the issue will just hurt your relationship. But if you really want to find out what happened, you might want to ask people in person, not per mail. It might be a matter nobody wants to make any statements about in writing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: As username_2 said .. Maybe you know someone in his former department you can quietly ask? "Oh, he moved to Princeton" or "He had a heart attack" or "He started his own company" or "He resigned to care for his ailing mother" ...
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/23
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<issue_start>username_0: What are the benefits of having a PhD degree? Why are PhD programs so competitive? I mean, why do many people apply for PhD programs?
In STEM fields, it is usually possible to get a better-paid job in industry with a bachelor's or master's degree. On the other hand, PhD programs are usually long, hard and low-paying — if there is any paying at all — and job prospects for PhD graduates are not that impressive too. So, what am I missing? Why do so many talented people try to get into PhD programs if they can get better jobs outside academia? Is it merely because of personal interest in research, teaching or learning?
Although opinions are important, I sincerely appreciate it if facts and experiences are shared. I agree that this question can be opinion-based but one of the reasons why I am asking this is that choosing to do a PhD degree and possibly pursuing an academic career is a very important decision. Based on personal experience, I have seen many fresh graduates who face the same question (and also a few people that, first, made a decision then faced the question, only to realize that it is late) and I hope that, apart from satiating my personal curiosity, it will provide factual and helpful information for those who have not made their minds yet.<issue_comment>username_1: You are perfectly right. PhDs are underpaid and most of them don't get a tenure after graduating. Moreover, the "Dr." title doesn't count as much today as it was the case in the past. Speaking freely about your research is a value, but not if only 10 people on earth would understand you. You may not own your work (the government of the country may), but even if you do own your work, you most often cannot generate profit from it. Working style is "flexible": you may distribute your 16\*7 out of 24\*7 a week hours flexibly.
Earlier, PhD had an ideal touch. (Probably, that's the reason for so high application numbers.) Today, it's no more the case. Most of PhDs in STEM are simply doing engineering of various kinds, which they call applied science to maintain that touch and get more funding from the government. And the ones who do pure science undertake really heroic efforts or are geniuses. In addition, the PhDs do teaching and projects with the industry to get third-party money to finance themselves.
In short, nowadays, there is **no sense in pursuing a PhD** unless you really know what you are doing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You are asking why people might choose a doctoral candidacy over a **better-paying** job in the industry.
The straightforward answer is that - at least to the respective people - other factors are given more weight than achieving a maximum in payment alone.
These other factors can include:
* freedom in choice of tasks
* flexibility in working style
* ownership of what you work on
* autonomy in collaboration with internal and external partners
* authority to draw further people in to your tasks
* your colleagues are probably there because they're enthusiastic about what they're doing, not just because they want some job with an acceptable salary
* your organisation probably covers a wide range of topics, and any acquisition of knowledge within (or sometimes even outsode of) your organisation can be reasonably counted as working time
Evidently, various of these aspects depend a bit on the concrete situation a doctoraĺ candidacy takes place in.
Lastly, even a payment angle *can* play into it: I consider it a *significant* advantage that during the time of my doctoral candidacy (this being a government-funded job), I used to be paid based upon a salary table with automatic raises rather than having to negotiate for any amount of money.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Most PhD students are fresh graduates from university and thus have no working experience. They don't know what to do in their life, so they choose to stay in university.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: *Too long for a comment.* Replying to various other answer which (I believe) are misleading, and sometimes just incorrect.
Various of the answers seem to be rather negative, and unfortunately I think this is the wide perception -- however, that doesn't mean it is true. To the answer saying "students don't know what to do so stay at university", I would reply this. While that may be true for *some* people, in my department I haven't come across a single person who gives this impression. The same holds regarding peer pressure.
For me personally, and for the people I know, we're doing a PhD because we love our subject. I really enjoy doing maths research: I find it incredibly interesting! Moreover, I love that I can contribute to open-source knowledge, not have my work kept hidden by an employer. I do pure maths, although vaguely applicable (eg to computer science) -- it's not that it's applied maths which would be directly used, but I'm developing techniques, etc.
While this isn't a reason for everyone, it certainly is the case for a lot of us. In fact, I **did** have a job offer, that I was genuinely interested in, and would've paid twice as much as I'm getting in my PhD (~£28/29k instead of ~£14k). However, I turned it down in favour of a PhD. Some of us just really enjoy research and contributing to society! :)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: First of all, a large percentage of PhD applicants at the US universities are foreigners who may have completely different reasons to apply than the domestic applicants. Often it's the only way to enter the US and get a job legally. Also, they may be expected to come back to their country and hold a high position within government. For a domestic applicant, a PhD from a reputable school opens new opportunities for work in industry and government. It's becoming almost a requirement for certain positions. For instance, in Financial industry having a PhD in Math or related field can be more desirable than an MBA. The reason for this is the fact that today American high tech workers have to compete for their jobs with workers from all over the world. Having not the best in the world STEM high school and college education makes them less competitive. HR departments are aware of this. Having a PhD from a reputable university is an attestation of a quality education and a person's ability to conduct research and close the deal (defend the thesis). On a lighter note, it also shows that the person is willing to work long hours for little praise.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I should note that this answer is going to focus on the research-based Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree and [ScD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Science) equivalent This answer does not apply similar degrees in other fields (e.g., [EdD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Education), [DBA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Business_Administration), [DrPH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Public_Health), etc.) since the motivation for those is much more field dependent.
First, lets start with the obvious, you get a PhD because you want to teach at the college level. Barring the [Professor of Practice](https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/research/faculty/FacultyDevelopment/profesor-of-practice-guidelines.cfm) which requires significant industry experience, the PhD is the minimum requirement to get a tenure-track position. There used to be some fields such as nursing that were the exception to this, but they are now [converging on PhD requirements](http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/46281588/j.nedt.2010.07.00220160606-394-1j9i2oz.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=<KEY>&Expires=1500825693&Signature=KAlzNhq7fRHC2x3GlbqQVOWGYg8%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DIf_you_havent_got_a_PhD_youre_not_going.pdf). Despite the [general oversupply of PhDs](https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110420/full/472276a.html) as well, some fields are [actually facing shortfalls](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JOEB.80.1.47-51).
Another reason to purse a PhD is because you are hoping to purse a career where it is advantages to have one. [Consulting](http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2014/09/science-careers-guide-consulting-careers-phd-scientists) is a good example of this, most [Chief Science Officers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Scientific_Officer) also hold a PhD as well. There is [increasingly](http://registan.net/2012/11/26/the-dc-game-and-paula-broadwell/) a [perception](http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/11/29/so-you-want-to-get-a-ph-d-to-get-ahead-in-dc/) that PhD is required to work in policy in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, despite the ongoing perception that a PhD isn't valued by industry, [private-sector R&D labs](http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2009/05/academia-or-industry-finding-right-fit) are [staffed by PhDs](https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf14310/) and industry investment [in R&D is growing](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/08/the-private-sector-is-spending-more-on-rd-than-ever/?utm_term=.9d17a74b3094).
Of course, these lead to a very salient argument against getting a PhD due to the time investment [leading to monetary loss in the long term](http://www.economist.com/node/17723223). Generally this is irrelevant if someone is dead set on a job in academia, you have to get the "[union card](https://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/dec/essay.phd.html)." There is more risk involved if you are planning on going into industry since in theory a Masters should be enough. This does lead to some PhD applicants who [intend on dropping out](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAcademia/comments/2pbbx1/apply_for_a_phd_but_when_you_get_the_masters_drop/) once they get their Masters. These are generally rare though. Thus, some, likely most, people get a PhD because they want a career in *X* and the PhD will make them competitive for that career.
There is a common perception that people do a PhD because it is "next." Although [a survey of UK students](https://www.vitae.ac.uk/news/new-what-do-researchers-want-to-do-report-now-available) indirectly supports this for applicants without an employment history, it does not for those with one. Generally the most common theme seems to be "intellectual curiosity and interest," even more so [among older applicants](https://chrisblattman.com/2013/06/12/when-are-you-too-old-for-a-phd/). In fact, I would argue that the admissions committee should filter out people that are just doing it because it is "next." PhD programs are not easy and have [attrition rates that exceed 50%](http://www.chronicle.com/article/PhD-Attrition-How-Much-Is/140045). Things may not be easy for those that leave (e.g., [one](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/the-phd-experience-this-far-and-no-further/2015113.article#survey-answer), [two](https://chroniclevitae.com/news/445-in-hindsight-former-ph-d-students-reflect-on-why-they-jumped-ship)). Intellectual curiosity and interest in what you are going to spend a couple years of your life is important. For funded PhD students ([don't get a PhD without funding](https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/unfunded-phds-go-or-not-go)), getting into a program means someone is going to pay you to do a very deep dive and learn something that wasn't know before. Factor in the fact that the odds are very low that you can do this once you enter industry or government and for those with the intellectual curiosity and interest it doesn't take much to at least apply for the PhD.
Finally, a note on financial compensation. In the [United States the average salary](https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/salaryDisplay.cfm?SurveyID=24) of a new assistant professor (tenure track) is $65,372. The starting pay for STEM is [highly dependent upon your field](http://time.com/money/4189471/stem-graduates-highest-starting-salaries/) but the range seems to be $55,087 to $64,891 for a Bachelors and $72,080 to $73,871 for a Masters. So on the face of it the professor isn't as highly paid; however, that's just raw compensation for 9 months work. [Soft money](https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/02/essay-building-career-soft-money-position) or consulting can result in higher pay during the summer and the costs associated with attending conferences usually isn't factored into the compensation as well. So doing a direct *net compensation* comparison can be quite difficult. Also, putting a financial value on surviving the PhD and spending the time pursing intellectual curiosity and interest may be impossible.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Is there a way to search, using Google Scholar or another tool, for all papers that appeared in a certain conference?
For example, I would like to find all papers that appeared in the recent "EC 17" conference. While I can see the papers [in the conference website](http://www.sigecom.org/ec17/toc.html), I do not have access to them so I would like to see them in Google Scholar too. I tried to use the "published in" field of their "advanced search", but [it did not give any meaningful results](https://scholar.google.co.il/scholar?as_q=&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=&as_publication=EC%202017&as_ylo=2017&as_yhi=2017&btnG=&hl=iw&as_sdt=0%2C5).<issue_comment>username_1: It is always better to search a single article to know how the citation manager in Google Scholar has extracted the information. You can then use the information to search the full proceeding.
For example, an article looks like this:
>
> <NAME>., & <NAME>. (2017, June). The Tragedy of your Upstairs Neighbors: Is the Negative Externality of Airbnb Internalized?. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Economics and Computation (pp. 537-538). ACM.
>
>
>
[The required answer is here. You can see the full set of articles in this link under Google Scholar.](https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?as_q=Proceedings%20of%20the%202017%20ACM%20Conference%20on%20Economics%20and%20Computation&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_sauthors=&as_publication=Proceedings%20of%20the%202017%20ACM%20Conference%20on%20Economics%20and%20Computation&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5)
I hope you got the required answer.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Check the web site of the conference's organizer. The larger ones usually have at least the references (most also have the full text) on line.
A quick way to find them is to search for a particular paper you know was published there, and check the search results.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/23
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<issue_start>username_0: The really unusual thing about the greater Boston area is that so many and such good postsecondary institutions are crowded into that area. Harvard, M.I.T., Tufts, Brandeis, and others.
Is Boston unique in all the world in that respect, or is there some comparable place elsewhere?<issue_comment>username_1: So, "good postsecondary institutions" is a bit hard to define. University rankings are probably about the only thing *less* meaningful than impact factors, but they'll do to give us a basic idea here - do any cities have a large number of universities that are rated higher than the lowest one in your set?
The US News & World Report has a handy list searchable by city. Annoyingly it doesn't quite work for the US (it defines city strictly) but it's a good approximation. Brandeis is rated #280 (making it fifth in the Boston area, if you include Northeastern).
On the US News & World Report ranking, and plugging in a few likely candidates, there are
* [six London universities](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/search?region=&city=london-uk&subject=&name=) ranked higher than Brandeis.
* [five NYC universities](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/search?city=new-york-city&name=) ranked higher than Brandeis.
* [four Paris universities](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/search?city=paris&name=) ranked higher than Brandeis.
So that's one higher, one equal, one close. In the specific case of London, Wikipedia has a [handy table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_and_higher_education_colleges_in_London) of universities by ranking. Depending on which metric you want to use, it has either five, six, or eleven (!) institutions ranked higher than Brandeis.
So with these admittedly flawed tools, it looks like London is likely to be an answer, but there are a couple more close contenders. There may be other concentrations in the US depending on how generously you define the city areas - I would guess the Bay Area around San Francisco is a likely candidate, for example.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'll try to demonstrate this.
>
> — Boston is the location for 35 colleges, universities, and community
> colleges.1 — there are about 152,000 students at Boston's institutions
> of higher learning.
> www.bostonplans.org
>
>
>
Considering that Boston's population in 2016 was about 4,667,000, student population in this city is 3.3%.
On the other hand, population of Oklahoma City Metro area is 1,457,758. It's a home to 20 universities (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_Oklahoma_City>)
with a student body of about 75,000 or 5.1% of the population.
USA Today ranks Oklahoma City# 3 vs Boston#9 in Best Cities for students.
<http://college.usatoday.com/2015/04/09/best-u-s-cities-for-millennial-college-students/>
I hope you got my point.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Melbourne and Sydney Australia both have a large number of world class universities. I'm not sure what you're cut-off is for world class, but looking at [this site](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/australia-new-zealand) and focusing on Melbourne as the example (24th July 2017):
Monash and University of Melbourne are both in top 100 globally. Deakin, Swinburne, and RMIT are both in top 500, and La Trobe is 535, Victoria Uni is 613. So that's possibly 5 or 7 strong universities in Melbourne depending on how you define things.
Sydney is similar, especially if you include satellite cities like Newcastle and Wollongong. And you could be even more inclusive and include Canberra.
A few reasons for this concentration of universities:
* About a third of Australia's entire population lives in and around Melbourne and Sydney.
* Higher education is one of Australia's major export industries. In particular, fees from many international students across Asia support the sector.
* While we have the group of 8 in Australia (i.e., perhaps analogous to Ivy League) that have been around for longer and often rank in the top 100 or 200 in the world, the structure of universities in Australia is such that most strive to be complete universities contributing to international research. Thus, there are many universities in Australia that are in that next group (e.g., the 200 to 500 range).
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/24
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's the problem: I don't know what are the relevant conferences and meetings for me to potentially attend/present in. Every conference I've been so far has been passed down to me by a much older professor who knows it by experience.
I feel like this is an important topic, and yet all the tools I tried to use to find conferences (such as [allconferences](http://www.allconferences.com/) and [conferecealerts](https://conferencealerts.com/)) fail to find me relevant things.
Is there a method to reliably find relevant for you conferences worldwide?
Ideally it would be good to get notified when a new relevant conference is announced.
I know there are some websites (such as [arxiv-sanity](http://www.arxiv-sanity.com/) and [google Scholar](http://www.arxiv-sanity.com/)) that suggest papers for you to read based on previously loaded papers, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was some similar tool where you put some conferences with a few keywords and it spits out suggestions.
Cheers<issue_comment>username_1: Many professional societies publish lists of upcoming conferences in their magazines and/or journals, and send monthly emails with information that usually includes calls for papers for future conferences. I assume one would be interested only in conferences in one's field. I would expect that one would know about the professional societies in one's field and how to receive notifications, although in many if not most cases such notifications go only to the society members.
Moreover, other conferences in one's field can be identified in Google Scholar by where the relevant papers have been published. Then the most recent (at least) web site for such conferences can be found with Google. The date and venue for the next conference in that series is sometimes posted on that web site.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I worked as an administrator for the 21st McGill International Entrepreneurship conference and we listed our conference on a conference announcement directory called PaperCrowd.
It attracted several delegates from around the world. I found out it was in the same city I lived in and I applied for a job there and got it! I am now the proud community manager of PaperCrowd. We are working hard to improve the services for researchers worldwide.
You should try PaperCrowd - a global directory of academic research conferences. You can search by topics, geography and keywords for research conferences you are interested in such as law, legal etc.
Organizers add their events in a couple of minutes and it’s free. It’s restricted to academic research conferences.
It feels good working for a company that I have seen myself was effective.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I use [CFP Wiki](http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/). You can browse conferences by category and set up RSS alerts for each one, so you can get updates on new conferences or editions.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: So, the postdoc is going ok and there might be one or two publications after a few months. However, I've realized that I'd like to move forward and start applying to industry jobs.
Now, my concern is whether having a few-month postdoc in the resume/CV might hurt, and I wonder what would be the minimal "ok" length for a postdoc. I have the feeling that an ultra-short postdoc might seem suspicious to a recruiter (it may look like I was ultra-bad and was kicked out, which is not the case).
While some people would claim "leave the postdoc ASAP, especially if you want to go to industry", I was wondering whether something around 6-8 months is fine..., or maybe I should wait >= 1 year.<issue_comment>username_1: If you know that you are not interested in staying in academia, the common advice is indeed to go on the industrial job market as soon as possible.
*Every month you stay in a lowly-paid postdoc, if you are not enjoying it and are not building an academic profile, is essentially wasted.*
Your question is based on the somewhat suspicious premise that an industrial recruiter cares about how long you stayed in your postdoc, i.e., that your market value goes up by staying in a postdoc. I highly doubt that this is the case, but you can easily evaluate it yourself: go on the job market right now (without quitting your postdoc!) and see if you get offers that you find acceptable. If you do not (for whatever reason), you can still continue your postdoc and improve your market value on the side; if you do, well, quit within an appropriate time frame and start your new life.
*Note:* this advice is based on the assumption that you can delay the start date of your industrial job by a few months so that you can leave your postdoc in order. In my experience, this is often the case for the kind of jobs that PhD holders tend to look for, but obviously your milage may vary on this.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: @JessicaB's comment is right:
>
> Some postdoc positions may only be 6 months long (I think 3 has occurred but I can't remember exactly).
>
>
>
I've seen a few people recruited for 6 months, and applied for one less than a year long myself.
Don't go into detail about why you left unless asked. Being thrown out of a job is rare in most places, especially academia, so this probably won't even be on the recruiter's radar. They're more likely think either "no wonder they want to leave academia with that kind of job security" or "this applicant is going to jump on every better opportunity that comes their way". Your task is to steer them towards the former view.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If your goal is to go to industry, every additional month that you stay in your postdoc is costing you both money and valuable work experience. Money, because industry jobs pay better than postdocs. Experience, because a month of industry experience is worth more for a career in industry that a month of postdoc experience.
In other words, the "shortest acceptable postsoc length" is zero.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: If you are in a postdoc that you feel has served its purpose and you want to move on, I imagine the only question is not what employers will think but what the **faculty you're working with will think**. Were they expecting you to leave this quickly, and if not, are you leaving them in a bad position? If they're fine with you leaving, leave.
But now I'll answer from a different perspective, which is the one I assumed was really being asked when I saw the subject line. A related question is, how long is a useful duration to make a postdoc worthwhile? I think this is worth addressing. I did a postdoc in computer science many years ago, then went into industry. The professor I worked with had a postdoc before me for a year, and me for a year, and then decided to start recruiting 2-year postdocs because he felt that one year wasn't really enough. Basically, at least in some fields, by the time you're coming up to speed and really getting things done, it's time to leave, and time for the professor to train someone new.
So I personally don't see a 3-6 month postdoc really as a "postdoc" but more like a "let's fill the gap in the schedule while I wait to apply for jobs" thing. I recommend that those who do a postdoc plan to spend enough time to settle in. Teaching a course in that time, by the way, is excellent experience.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm thinking of bringing a new student in the lab. His theory background is seriously lacking. He didn't take enough math and physics classes, and has insignificant programming experience. He has a permanent position as a technician at my institution and he wants to get a PhD.
I'm in serious need of manpower (or woman power), as what I'm doing requires a lot of computer simulations. The question is what should I do to involve this student early enough in research and keep him motivated until he understands enough to become curious? I have the feeling he wants the PhD more as a way to improve his position within the institution.
Edit: To clarify: I want the student to do all the PhD work that is required, i.e. learn the techniques, write papers, conduct independent research. I don't know how to get him over the steep learning curve at the beginning without losing him.<issue_comment>username_1: If you tell him bluntly that he is lacking in several regards (as you have emphasized in the post), it can work both ways. It is possible that he may feel you are running him down, and that will likely backfire as far as your expectations of making him come up to your level are concerned. On the other hand, he can take it up as a challenge, and work hard to prove his worth to you, but even if it is successful, that's still going to be a hard PhD experience for him.
I think a better idea is to use a different strategy: Be very encouraging at every step. Praise him for what he is capable of doing. Assign some small tasks first up, that he can efficiently take care of. Then, soon enough, assign him a problem only slightly above his level in terms of theory/programming. He will struggle, and very likely fall short. Then maybe, you can encourage him by saying something of the tune of
>
> "*Well, I think it will be easier for you to stumble across this roadblock if you read this article first. It can't be very hard to get across this efficiently, for someone who is as good as you. I mean, you've pretty much handled everything I've assigned to you thus far, reasonably well. Read this, tell me what do you understand out of this, and is that able to solve the problem.*"
>
>
>
Infusing confidence is positive mentoring. While you do that, keep upping the ante progressively. It will be a slow process, and will take a lot of time and effort on your part, but that's probably the only way of "*making him curious*".
Thus, in nutshell, the approach suggested is -
**Small tasks, only slightly above his level, so that he keep working his way up without getting bogged down, and gradually taking it to higher and higher difficulty level. A sudden exposure to a very difficult problem will likely put out the fire, so please don't do that. And please be very encouraging at every step.**
---
*PS - Having said that, I'm afraid I agree with <NAME>'s original comment: If he isn't prepared to handle PhD level problems, I wouldn't have very high expectations in terms of the work quality. But still, if there are no alternatives, and the only choice available with you is to mentor this bloke, the hard, slow method suggested in the post looks like the only viable method to me.*
Hope that helps :)
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You suggest the individual is not 'already curious' by which I assume you mean 'not passionate'. Lack of experience can be overlooked if a student is passionate because they will work hard for the reward of learning. If the student lacks interest, it will probably be a constant struggle.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Doing research, there are plenty of stuff we should take care of, different articles and notes, websites etc..
It is sometimes hard to stay ordered and not to get lost in too many pieces of information. How do you organize your work? Are there any helpful software tools to conduct research projects — in my case, a thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: I recommend working with reference tools such as the likes of [Jabref](http://www.jabref.org/) (or Mendeley or Refworks or whatnot). They are bibliography tools, but they can also be used to orginise your references. You can add the abstracts and your own notes. The great advantage in using such tools is that when the day comes to use this information in your thesis your bibliographical database will be ready.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For me, it is difficult to give a fit-for-all answer. The best method is the method that you are most comfortable with. Different people use different tools. My M.Sc. thesis supervisor was a believer in taking notes in paper notebooks. I prefer to construct a set of structured folders in my PC and and use them for managing different aspects of a project (codes, texts, papers, notes, media, etc.).
Of course, there are software tools that can be helpful too. As username_1 has [answered](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/93622/57054), reference tools are very helpful (I have personally used [Zotero](http://www.zotero.org) but couldn't like it much and ultimately used plain BibTex files).
On the other hand, there are project management tools that some people are very comfortable with (after all, a thesis is a big project). [Trello](http://trello.com) is a popular and free tool that is very simple to use (I have used it for non-research projects and was very comfortable with it and I believe that it has potentials for managing research projects). [Evernote](http://evernote.com) is also another tool that is great for taking notes and has some project management features.
Generally, and based on my personal observations, it mostly depends on your personal preferences and I believe that it is a good investment to spend some time on trying different methods and finding (and/or fine-tuning) your approach. Also, it is not a bad idea to have a talk with your supervisor and have his/her opinion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Outlook is good for organizing meetings, seminars and other events in calendar. Onenote is quite good as well, although I don't know if it is has project management features as username_2 said Evernote has. You can also consider online repositories as a way to inspire progress. Research-gate for example is not just a repository, but a way to update projects. Outlook is also the ideal way to manage your various mail accounts. You can add more than one email and also group categories, such as supervisory team, writing groups etc. You can even make a team in outlook, which allows you to send emails to select groups of people in one click.
Others have also mentioned tools such as Mendeley, personally I use Endnote to organize my references and annotated bibliographies. I don't upload my papers, so I didn't see the need to branch out into Mendeley. Instead I use separate folders for each task. You can use Mindmappers to conceptually organize your ideas. You an also use a tool such as Harzing's Publish or Perish to keep track of citations by researcher and other parameters, or simply use alerts in Google Scholar etc.
Upvotes: 2
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| 925
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<issue_start>username_0: In my experiment, I have obtained a large chunk of results for many different problems being effectively solved by my implemented hypothesis.
If I keep my results as subsets for each problem, then I get 12 tables. But, if I summarize them in a single table, then the large table might span across 2-pages (even in [sidewaystable in LaTeX](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/318322/table-rotation-with-sidewaystable))
I seek some advice on
* Whether reviewers would like to see a large table as described above? (or)
* Should I keep the results individually as per problems?
As per my reviewer experience, both are okay as long as they optimally convey the outcome of the experiment.<issue_comment>username_1: I recommend working with reference tools such as the likes of [Jabref](http://www.jabref.org/) (or Mendeley or Refworks or whatnot). They are bibliography tools, but they can also be used to orginise your references. You can add the abstracts and your own notes. The great advantage in using such tools is that when the day comes to use this information in your thesis your bibliographical database will be ready.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For me, it is difficult to give a fit-for-all answer. The best method is the method that you are most comfortable with. Different people use different tools. My M.Sc. thesis supervisor was a believer in taking notes in paper notebooks. I prefer to construct a set of structured folders in my PC and and use them for managing different aspects of a project (codes, texts, papers, notes, media, etc.).
Of course, there are software tools that can be helpful too. As username_1 has [answered](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/93622/57054), reference tools are very helpful (I have personally used [Zotero](http://www.zotero.org) but couldn't like it much and ultimately used plain BibTex files).
On the other hand, there are project management tools that some people are very comfortable with (after all, a thesis is a big project). [Trello](http://trello.com) is a popular and free tool that is very simple to use (I have used it for non-research projects and was very comfortable with it and I believe that it has potentials for managing research projects). [Evernote](http://evernote.com) is also another tool that is great for taking notes and has some project management features.
Generally, and based on my personal observations, it mostly depends on your personal preferences and I believe that it is a good investment to spend some time on trying different methods and finding (and/or fine-tuning) your approach. Also, it is not a bad idea to have a talk with your supervisor and have his/her opinion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Outlook is good for organizing meetings, seminars and other events in calendar. Onenote is quite good as well, although I don't know if it is has project management features as username_2 said Evernote has. You can also consider online repositories as a way to inspire progress. Research-gate for example is not just a repository, but a way to update projects. Outlook is also the ideal way to manage your various mail accounts. You can add more than one email and also group categories, such as supervisory team, writing groups etc. You can even make a team in outlook, which allows you to send emails to select groups of people in one click.
Others have also mentioned tools such as Mendeley, personally I use Endnote to organize my references and annotated bibliographies. I don't upload my papers, so I didn't see the need to branch out into Mendeley. Instead I use separate folders for each task. You can use Mindmappers to conceptually organize your ideas. You an also use a tool such as Harzing's Publish or Perish to keep track of citations by researcher and other parameters, or simply use alerts in Google Scholar etc.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have completed 2.5 postdocs in the US. In all of my applications plus a Green Card application, letters of recommendation were a great deal. In all cases (overall, about 10 letters signed by professors at top US universities), *I was asked to write the draft and my supporter did not change more than a sentence or two.*
**I wonder if anyone really reads the letters of recommendation. And if yes, the judgment is simply based on my words about myself.**
My interest in the answer is that I am applying for Assistant Professor position now, and my references asked me to prepare the draft. In the past, I thought that it was because of a special trust in me and I wrote the letters with modesty to respect their trusts. Now, I found it is the norm and professors/PIs do not have time to write such letters (there are about 20 postdocs in my current lab). How should I write the drafts of three different letters of recommendations for myself (sounds funny)!<issue_comment>username_1: I hate that this is a legitimate question, but it is. Yes, letters are weighted heavily, in my experience. The fact that you (and many others) are often asked to write their own letters is very troubling. For one thing, it's biased. Secondly, confidentiality is absolutely violated despite most such letters being assumed as such. Now you are in the awkward position to have to write 3, and feign separate ghost writers.
It is impossible to defend this from any logical or ethical standpoint, *particularly* if confidentiality is assumed.
The best course of action is to thoughtfully ask the recommender to write his/her own letter. But you can make it easy on them by providing a CV, papers, manuscripts, etc. Give them the information you'd like to highlight but not the words.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I wonder if anyone really reads the letters of recommendation.
>
>
>
I've served for about 15 years on my (top-10 US computer science) department's faculty recruiting committee, including three years as its chair.
**Yes, we really do read recommendation letters. In detail.**
We also compare multiple letters written for the same applicant. Letters that all cover the same strengths are suspicious, especially if the same list of strengths appears in the applicant's research statement. Letters from different authors that contain common turns of phrase are *deeply* suspicious, especially if those turns of phrase also appear in the applicant's research statement.
We also directly compare multiple recommendation letters written (at least ostensibly) by the same recommender. If someone writes a significantly stronger letter for applicant X than for applicant Y, we are generally more likely to interview applicant X. Letters (ostensibly) from the *same* author with significantly *different* writing styles are deeply suspicious.
(On the other hand, if we were convinced by a strong letter to interview someone a few years ago, and that interview out to be a disaster, we're much less likely to trust a new letter from the same recommender this year. Similarly, if someone writes "This is the strongest student in Area Z in the last five years" *every year*, we don't believe them.)
We also look for evidence of the (ostensible) author's expertise in every letter, not as an expert researcher, but as someone who understands the faculty job market **better than the applicant**. We prefer letters that offer direct, well-informed comparisons between the applicant and other researchers in the same field, past and present, at the same career stage. (But again, multiple letters offering the *same* comparisons are suspect.)
We also occassionally contact references directly to clarify points raised in their letters.
Any suspicion that a recommendation letter was not written *personally* by the person who signed it will almost certainly kill the application. It will also undermine any other letters "written" by the same author, and possibly other applications from the applicant's department (or at least their research group/lab). **Applicant-written letters risk the professional reputation of the applicant, the ostensible author, and anyone else for whom the ostensible author is a reference.**
>
> professors/PIs do not have time to write such letters
>
>
>
Nonsense. Writing recommendation letters is a professional duty.
>
> How should I write the drafts of three different letters of recommendations for myself
>
>
>
**You shouldn't.** You should provide your references with all your other application materials, including your research statement, which already spells out *your* judgement of your research record. You may want to provide bullet lists of accomplishments that don't fit into your statements. But you do not have the necessary expertise to write an effective recommendation letter yourself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I find this very troubling. I have also had to write many of my recommendations. It is difficult to just find "senior people willing to take the trouble" if it is the norm across your dept and EVERY person you have worked with had their students write their own letters. I am not sure why the applicant should be penalized for their advisors and/or collaborators refusal to write a letter. Not to mention, the suggestion of just "not write it" doesn't take into account the much talked about student-professor power dynamic. I know I am not alone in that I have a relationship with my advisor that only goes well when I never challenge. I was able to play a bit with that earlier in my PhD, but when on the market and trying to graduate the LAST thing you need is damage the relationship of the ppl who are supposed to endorse you.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: A colleague working in my department helped me out in proofreading my English before submitting a paper. I would like to acknowledge his help.
Is it common to acknowledge such help? Is there any standard sentence to do it?<issue_comment>username_1: *The author would like to thank [colleague name and title] for constructive criticism of the manuscript.*
No need to get into additional details as after all you are thanking your colleague.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First, I disagree with the answer(s) suggesting the proof-reader be acknowledged generally for contribution to the paper, since that gives the false impression that they contributed scientifically. That would be a misrepresentation of the facts, and also puts some limited responsibility on them for the contents of the paper if not beyond that.
For "mere" proof-reading - it's a question of the degree of contribution. In a typical case of finding typos and a few comments about style, I would buy that person lunch, not put them on the paper. But if my English was weak and the proofreading contribution is significant, then yes, by all means, that person can be acknowledged - for proofreading (but ask them first if they want to be mentioned).
If it's a thesis or a book I'd be more lenient with acknowledgements, even for a little proofreading help; and doing so is pretty common.
---
*I would like to thank @InkBlot for his constructive criticism on the manuscript of this post.*
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, it is common, fair and sometimes compulsory to acknowledge your funding agency and everyone who somehow contributed but does not qualify as an author, such as the case you mention (proofreading).
Check the journal/conference you are submitting to and stick to the same format. Most articles have a final (unnumbered) section called **Acknowledgments** just before the **References**. If not, you are free to add it.
The best acknowledgment is simple, straightforward, and honest.
In the case of proofreading, it is common to write: "Thanks to <NAME> for proofreading the article". Everyone in the domain knows what proofreading means, so there is no need to be creative or misleading about it.
More tips here: <http://www.aje.com/en/arc/editing-tip-writing-acknowledgments/>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: No, it is not common. Proofreading is not a scientific contribution. The acknowledgement is about any contributions which might be of scientific importance (funding, comments, etc).
When the paper is accepted in journals published by reputable publishers, it will be corrected by the copy editors. They are usually contract-based, and you do not see their names on the journal.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I must concur with Thumbtackthief: including a sentence like ‘A sincere thank you to <NAME> for his diligent proofreading of this paper / the manuscript / this article / ...’ seems like the way to go. I've seen similar formulae in lots of scientific books, theses, articles and so on, so this way of giving credit seems to be quite common. Also, as Fábio says, don't forget to offer them all the help you can.
In addition, I have it on good authority that people in the scientific community tend to appreciate chocolate.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am accepted to a PhD program in engineering in the US with 1st year TA-ship as funding.
I have contacted several professor, and eventually, there is this one assistant professor (Dr. A) who want to accept me in his lab. I provided my research plan to him before he finally wants me in his team. His research is cool and I think I will be okay with that.
(Un)fortunately, the department just recruit a new assistant professor (Dr. B), which research topic is in my top priority. I love his research to the moon and back!
What do you think I should do if I want to work with Dr. B?
Until now, I have several choices that I probably take:
* Stay with Dr. A :/ (I hope, there is another better solution)
* Tell Dr. A that I want to move to another lab (I don't know what/how
to write to him, though)
* Ask Dr. B as my co-advisor (for now, I believe that I can intertwine
both professors research, although I am not sure how to convince Dr.
A with this idea)
Any suggestion/comment will be helpful :)
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Have you talked with Dr. B at all yet? You need to know if Dr. B would even be willing to take you on at all, and if so whether in a partial or full advisor situation, before raising the subject with Dr. A. If he wants to take on some or all of the duty of advising you, you can also ask Dr. B to advise you on the path to take with Dr. A.
There is not really a good way to say "Your subject is only second choice for me" and it could cool your relationship with Dr. A for a long time to come, so you should be sure that it is worth it before taking this step. Once you are ready to do it, and depending on the available choices, you could lay out the options to Dr. A and seek his input (would he agree to a shared project or not? and similar questions). His answers will then inform your final choice.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think you should give Dr A a chance. You haven't even started the PhD yet, and over the 4+ years duration your research interests are bound to fluctuate.
Start the program and find your feet first. There's also no reason why you couldn't ask B to be a second supervisor or an unofficial supervisor/ mentor at a later stage, but I would definitely discuss this in person with both of them first.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Almost every PhD program encourages you to find the professor which is the best fit for you. Approach Dr. B during your first week and express interest in their work, then see where things go.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: This happened to me. Shortly after starting my PhD, I agreed to serve as a research assistant for a professor, but only 2-3 weeks later another professor started recruiting for a new, exciting project. It was awkward, but I pursued the new project and when I was accepted into that group, I had to drop the first one. It was definitely the right decision.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: **Disclaimer:** I'm an undergrad with very limited knowledge of how academia really works and what the atmosphere and culture is like.
I'm very interested in pure mathematics, and I think I'm pretty good at it. I'm currently an undergraduate in my university's Pure Math program. However, I'm also incredibly interested in mechanical engineering and entrepreneurship, and want the skills to be able to build things, to be involved in and lead engineering projects and design systems and products that will one day (hopefully) make the world a better place.
So I was thinking, maybe I should finish my pure math degree, then enter mechanical engineering and possibly work towards a PhD in that field. However, I would still love to be an avid contributor and active member of the pure mathematics research community.
In a hypothetical situation where I get a PhD in mechanical engineering, what would be the best way to get involved in the pure math academic community, to the extent of:
* writing and publishing papers
* contributing to the works of other established pure math researchers
* potentially being a part of research groups or committees
* etc.
Basically, I want to have a PhD in one field, and somehow be able to participate in the lifestyle of a PhD in another field sometime later in life. How might I accomplish this? Is there a generally accepted path academics take to achieve this, or is it frowned upon by academics to attempt to be an active member of two, divergent academic fields?
**Edit:** I wanted to clarify that I wouldn't get the PhD in mechanical engineering, only to then be an active member in a different academic community. Ideally, I would participate for a large portion of my life in mechanical engineering, and another large portion of my life in pure math.
I also wanted to point out that I recognize that [getting two PhDs](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17232/is-doing-two-phds-a-good-path) isn't a valid option, nor is it one I necessarily want to pursue. I also don't want to [do a bachelor's degree and a PhD at the same time](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/62530/is-it-possible-to-do-a-phd-in-one-field-along-with-a-bachelors-degree-in-anothe).
Finally, I would like to add that I am not in any form attempting to prognosticate my life; maybe in two years I won't be interested in mechanical engineering and entrepreneurship anymore. I'm just curious about the nuances of such a path.<issue_comment>username_1: In principle there's no problem with that. Many researchers change their fields over the course of their career -- sometimes slightly, sometimes drastically. No one cares what your PhD says on it, just the quality of your work.
There are a couple of caveats. If you need funding for the new field, you may have trouble convincing funding agencies that you're competent to perform the work. And of course it can be hard enough to do good work even when you devote all your time to one field, let alone two (though on the flip side, using insights from Field A may give you a new view on Field B).
But the field your PhD is in, by itself, doesn't limit your activities.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's entirely possible to hold multiple, diverse interests. The real skill would be for you to find a particular research niche that you're interested in and then find a way to combine your knowledge of maths with mechanical engineering to carve out your own little area of research.
There is no pre-designed route that academics have to travel down based on previous qualifications et cetera, but rather it's a matter of following your nose and doing what you want to do.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The good news is that what you are thinking of doing is *technically* possible: if you try to publish a paper in pure math, no one will care if you have a PhD in math, mechanical engineering, Egyptology, or any other subject, or no PhD at all. The only thing that will matter is how good your work is. The PhD itself, or lack thereof, will not be an obstacle in any meaningful sense.
The bad news is that your question reflects a certain naïveté, in the sense that what you are thinking of doing will be extremely difficult to accomplish in practice, to the extent that only very few and rare individuals are talented enough to successfully develop and become successful at two parallel and unrelated academic interests. More specifically, if you don't get a PhD in math and spend the time instead developing a career in mechanical engineering research, it's quite likely that you'll lack both the time and the access to training resources (an adviser, graduate classes) that will enable you to reach a high level as a pure mathematics researcher.
The bottom line is that most people already find it challenging enough to become very successful at one academic discipline, that having the same ambitions with regards to two separate disciplines is a somewhat far fetched notion. It's great to want to pursue multiple interests, and I'd encourage you to keep studying pure math and doing your best to make a contribution to this area for as long as you have the time and passion to do so. But it's best to be realistic about how difficult it would be to do that as a side hobby.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: What I read in your question is that you are interested in many thing. This is good! And you worry that a career in pure math will cause you to "miss out" in another thing that you are interested. What to do?
I think the other answers have neglected to mention on of the most common ways to expand your area of research: collaboration. It is very common for academic researchers to reach into other fields through collaboration - there are even interdisciplinary research groups and grants.
So a way to have your cake and eat it too, is that you start a pure math career, and then once you have tenure, you can branch out into new areas of interest. How would you do this? Maybe attend conferences about topics that interest you and meet someone who is researching something you are interested in, someone who needs help from a mathematician. This is extremely common - there is surely someone in your department who does this.
I have seen Physics faculty working on art projects, and engineering faculty in collaboration with a philosophy project.
(Note: I am still a grad student, so I have not done this yet. I'd like a comment confirming from faculty about this)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Find multidisciplinary studies or research. My graduate program had a large number of professors in it and I do not believe *any* of them held a PhD in the exact degree program, because it was multidisciplinary.
Luckily you are interested Mechanical Engineering, which has ties to many other research areas.
If you are intentional about the types of research you do (for example, how does pure math apply within mechanical engineering?) you will find many opportunities to be involved in both subjects.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Speaking as someone who is an academic in mechanical engineering and who has had a fairly rigorous training in mathematics, I must say that although it is technically possible to switch fields to pure math, that's a very strenuous path to follow, and I honestly cannot see a more difficult career shift for a MechE PhD than moving from MechE to pure mathematics.
I know several people on a personal level who have done the opposite -- moved from pure math to MechE -- and that's a much easier and smoother transition. But I don't recall having met anyone ever who has done what you suggest, and honestly I don't even see how that would be manageable, even for someone who deals with pure math on a frequent basis, such as those working on dynamical systems and fluid dynamics. Meaningful contributions to modern pure mathematics requires a level of profound knowledge that is far beyond what a MechE graduate student has been trained for, and more importantly, you would have to relearn most, if not all, of the mathematics that you are familiar with, which honestly is harder than learning the "correct" way the first time.
Is it possible? Yes, <NAME> moved from being a history major to a leading physicist to a Fields medalist. Is likely? If you were to move to any other field, I would say yes, but as for pure math, it is very unlikely to be a successful plan. Research in pure math is very different from research in mechanical engineering.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: There are very good research career possibilities in multidisciplinary research. As an (applied) mathematician working in the field of biophysics, I am convinced that modern problems of natural sciences and engineering will need even more of novel mathematical developments than what we can presently develop.
One example: man-made structures still rely a lot on simple geometries, whereas living systems make a tremendous use of curved and fractal surfaces (think of lungs and brains). Mechanical engineering lacks efficient approaches to predict the properties of these structures. Mathematicians with a better than usual skill at differential geometry will have a great input for this.
Another example: inverse problems are very often encountered when focusing on natural/life science systems, ranging from weather to cancer. And this might also be useful for a posteriori understanding of the function of man-made structures. There is still a lot to do in this field.
So, as several other answers, I recommend a PhD in pure/applied maths on a topic for which you can foresee applications on current issues in natural sciences/engineering.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: One can have a PhD in physics and publish engineering or chemistry papers. But, they need to have access to resources: library, peers, grants, equipment, etc. If their primary research field takes up too much time, their research in the secondary field can reach only the hobby level.
There is also a difficulty with being accepted in the other field if you are new and unaffiliated. If you try to publish something slightly controversial, or unusual, the reviewers might dismiss your work too soon with the comment that you don't know what you're talking about. It also happens to PhD students sometimes, and it happened to me. Sometimes the issue might be simply your different way of stating the problem.
On the other hand, I know a few cases of professors contributing in more than two subfields such as glasses and astrophysics, or condensed matter and string theory. And then there are exceptional people like [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann). I have no idea what you would have to do to reach that level, though I think Napoleon said that every grad student carries a virtual Fields Medal in his pocket.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: In many fields related to social sciences, interdisciplinary collaboration is very viable and even encouraged. This is particularly true in newer, inherently interdisciplinary fields--education, public policy, international studies, information science.
But even in the stodgiest of social science disciplines, economics, there is a growing appreciation for interdisciplinarity. I know of multiple development economists who get research ideas from anthropology, from religion, from psychology. Kahneman even won a Nobel prize in economics, and coauthored prospect theory, which might be the most important econ theoretical development in the last half-century.
So in the social sciences there is definitely value to having an awareness of multiple disciplines, with some important caveats.
* Conventional measures of academic success in the US (faculty job, tenure, promotion) largely depend on finding one research community, saturating it with your work, and becoming well-regarded by more established scholars in that field. **You need one single "intellectual home." Always focus on speaking your "first language."**
* You should publish as much as possible in your intellectual home. However, if it is less established, then publishing in more prestigious outlets in more traditional disciplines could be OK, even preferable.
* Your methods and theoretical approach might be driven by your primary field, particularly in the more established disciplines (econ, soc, anthro). Econ journals don't publish ethnographies; rarely would they publish a theory without some math-based model behind it. It's just how that discipline works.
* Bridging your disciplines of interest is much much better than doing scattershot work in each. So, the corollary is, **only take on projects that support your research trajectory in your primary field.**
* As @axsvl77 mentioned, collaboration is a good way to participate in your secondary field[s] without having to do too much of the intellectual heavy lifting. Unless you're a genius, you probably have time to become expert in one area while the tenure clock is running.
* Reading lit in your secondary field[s] is great, though. It will help you do more meaningful work in your primary field and avoid the disciplinary siloing/reinventing the wheel problem that pervades academia.
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Social sciences are what I know reasonably well. Other answers are much better for the original questioner's fields of math and engineering. I write this in the hope it's useful to those in non-STEM fields who may see this Q&A.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: You might just have to. Science is evolving fast nowadays. Many new fields appeared in 20th century and scientists had to switch because there was great demand (and riches and fame to be had!). There are many but I can think of all the new medical fields, game theory in social sciences, and, of course, computer science. They say [65%](http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/chapter-1-the-future-of-jobs-and-skills/#view/fn-1) of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist. Think of all the fields of science that 21st century will give rise to. Even if you don't switch, you will probably cross into several other fields. Fasten your seat belt, you will have a fun ride.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I've just graduated with my BS. I have been offered a job to teach biology at a christian university prep academy. I desperately need the money, and I was raised religiously, so I expect that I will be able to do the job fairly well. However, once I get a stable financial foundation, I want to get a PhD in cell and molecular biology. Will teaching at a Christian high school basically be "career suicide" for me? Will I forget all the complex things I've already learned?<issue_comment>username_1: Just Go ahead and teach at the high school and start grad school at the same time. That's what I did. Worked out great. You will continue to enhance your academic experience AND make bank. Without a doubt this is the way to go. (at least for computer scientists)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Teaching experience is a good thing. If you want to teach again after completing your PhD, the teaching experience will help you get a job.
However, I have doubts about your financial strategy. In most STEM fields, you can expect to get paid more if you have a PhD. The sooner you complete your PhD, the sooner you get the extra pay, and the more years you will keep the extra pay for. I am not knowledgeable about teacher pay, but I suspect that the best American PhD programs pay students only slightly less than typical entry level high school teaching jobs in America.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A tangential answer: it is true that if you teach X at an institution that makes X be very different from what most professional X-ists think it is, you'll risk being stigmatized. Still, don't "protest too much". But, yes, you'd like to distance yourself from Bad Science, obviously.
Also, yes, teaching high school would typically degrade one's thinking, as I've experienced myself in going from one university to another: one can become lazy by accidentally thinking that ordinary things are "fancy", because naive or uninformed people aren't aware. That is a significant trap.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/25
| 457
| 1,934
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<issue_start>username_0: I am doing my MSc in mathematics/statistics, and a large part of it concerns fractal geometry.
I want to include some background of how early geometry arose, why fractals were largely neglected, and finally how they found new use/interest in the 20th century. I want to do this because it interests me a lot and I feel it helps explain the role fractal geometry plays.
I am concerned with whether or not this is in bad taste though? Presumably a master's thesis, especially in mathematics, should be concerned with the work you are doing and not a history lesson.
So basically my question is: Is it acceptable for an MSc/MPhil student in maths (or other science) to include a historical background to the subject they are studying?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. But you would be well-advised to concrentrate on the technical contribution first. You should include the literature review anyway, btw. The advisor has the final word anayway.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I did something similar with my own MS thesis because the history of my particular field was not well known and somewhat interesting (the algorithms were independently discovered 4 times in different fields starting 1927 until it finally caught on). More importantly, it helped explain what I was doing. If it fits in with your narrative and your advisor is okay with it, then go ahead.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I've written three theses now and in all three I've including a section that outlines the history of the work, leading up to my work so it is clear to the reader where the work to come fits in to the bigger picture.
When I was writing my theses, the reader I had in mind was someone who was me before I started the project work so it was important for me to signpost the key points to make their launch into the research that little bit more comfortable than what mine was.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I am taking a four week online summer course in the U.S. and the professor just canceled it because all but me and one other student (out of 30+ students) withdrew from the class within the first week. I guess the minimum for the class is 20 students. Is this normal? I'm not sure yet but I think we get our money back for the course, I just am not sure if it is standard for this to happen. and if so what happens on my transcript?<issue_comment>username_1: Courses are sometimes cancelled due to low enrollment. Usually this happens during the first week to allow the students to transfer to a different course. Since this is before the "drop" deadline, the course does not appear on the student transcript and no tuition is charged.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As others have noted, there should be no charge for a course not delivered, nor any effect on the transcript.
But, in addition to enrolling in "another course" one option is to request an independent study from that professor. That might be possible or not and the other student might also be interested. But it is worth an effort to ask.
---
Yes, I realize the question is very old, but others might have a similar question in future.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I obtained my bachelor's degree from a third tier school before completing my second bachelor's degree and a master's degree at more reputable schools. I was wondering if it is acceptable to omit my first bachelor's degree from my CV.<issue_comment>username_1: Withholding the information would be acceptable to most people, but it may expose a large gap in your education/employment track record. You may be asked about what you did during these years.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it would make for an awkward line of questioning at an interview when they inevitably ask what you did during those years and you reply that you completed a Bachelors degree but didn't feel it was good enough to include it.
Worst case scenario: your interviewer went to that institution and you've just shot yourself in the foot.
Always include your full educational and work experience as it makes for easy nitpicking at an interview that is easily avoided.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/26
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| 3,999
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<issue_start>username_0: This book has 570 pages, a lot of information about my research subject and several studies are included.
However, I don't want to spend my time reading it because one professor wrote already 12 pages review, emphasizing most important finding and conclusions. As well critical perspective.
Should I cite both of them in my literature review so I can honor in a way book author or is it dishonest from my side to cite something I didn't read? I don't doubt he did a great job, even people from Cambridge are praising him, but I think I will lose a lot of time since I am a slow reader and in the review is represented a lot what I would like to know.<issue_comment>username_1: The review does not substitute the book of course, but it may be enough for what you need. I would cite both and look roughly in the book on the main informations you need.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd recommend you should at least read and understand the *chapters* pertaining to your research.
If you *trust* the other professor wrote a concise, but *complete* and *truly impartial* review (because "even some people from Stanford praise him"? Think again: does that sound like a valid scientific reasoning?), you certainly may decide at our own risk to cite *only* the review.
By academic standards, as soon as you just add something to the bibliography you didn't read, it's... an academic misdemeanor. And adding a reference to something you did not even browse is quite the opposite of "honoring the author".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Contrary to what some others have responded, I don't believe that it is necessary to read an entire work (not just a book, but even a short article) in order to cite it. A citation does not mean "I've read it"; a citation means "if you want to know where I got this idea from, or you would like more detailed information, look here". However, a comment below notes that this might only be true in some fields (I mostly publish in business, management, and information science).
That said, you are certainly responsible to cite a work responsibly, by which I mean that the work should indeed support what you are citing it to support. Without reading at least the specific sections that relate to the point related to your citation, it is impossible to be responsible in this way. For a literature review, although it is ideal to read everything that you summarize as part of your review, it is often not practical to do so, especially for reviews that evaluate a very large number of references. (This is different from a book review, which has the implicit understanding that the writer has read the entire book being reviewed, or is otherwise expected to explicitly say that they did not.) I personally consider the standard for a literature review to be what I am calling "responsible" citation: anything cited must accurately reflect what is summarized or claimed concerning the original source, which does not necessarily require reading the entire work.
For your specific situation, I suggest writing something like this: "OriginalAuthor (Year) wrote concerning \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, as summarized by BookReviewAuthor (Year)." From then on, whenever making any claims about what the book supposedly says, I would cite BookReviewAuthor, not OriginalAuthor. To me, this would be an honest way of indicating that you did not read the original book, but are rather summarizing or commenting on the book review. Of course, some readers (and reviewers) might not like the fact that you didn't read the original book, but whether that looks good or bad is secondary: it is honest. At least you're not pretending to have read a book when you only read the summary. If the readers don't like that, then they are free to read the entire book themselves (which you properly cited for their benefit). Of course, they would probably go to the book review, too, since that is easier, unless they are really, really interested.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/26
| 427
| 1,835
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<issue_start>username_0: Can I present my already published review article at an international conference?<issue_comment>username_1: No, you cannot.
The review-style presentations in conferences are normally Plenary Lectures, which are given by the eminent scientists in the field.
Of course, for publishing a review article you should be a leading author in the field. Then, it is likely to be invited for a Plenary Talk.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I do not fully agree with the answer by @All.
The question is pretty "unclear". The answer is highly dependent on the factors like research field, the type of conference, theme of the conference, the type of your published article, and suchlike. Here one more question is there:
**Is it your own review article that has been published?**
IF
the answer to the above question is **NO**, THEN you **CAN NOT**. (I am not sure about any existing rarity in which this didn't hold.)
ELSE
I would answer based on my own research field with positive assumption that it holds for your case as well -- That is what computer science guys do a lot of times.
You can actually publish review article as a poster (if at all the conference is okay with poster presentation). Note that a published article can not be re-published in a different venue with identical content. It would be like a small talk on the review, rather than more research oriented discussion. The Computer Science conferences are true publication venues that publishes full research articles that are citable.
AGAIN,
IF you are not from an engineering discipline like CS/Mech/Electrical, rather from a pure science stream like Physics, Biology, Chemistry, then you can actually talk (poster or PPT) about it in the conference. Try speaking with the conference chair/organiser.
Hope this helps.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/26
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a group that I've been interested in for a while because we share some of the research interests and because of the very ingenious approach used by its PI. Lately, they published a paper in exactly the same field I work in (but with different models objects).
I feel really eager to react, and I have some considerations about their results, parallels with our work, ideas for future research etc. However, I'm not actively applying for a post-doc, nor do I have any specific (that is, supported by funding) propositions for collaboration. However, I would like to get the conversation started, ideally leading to some kind of common project. It's not a typical cold-call, since
1. the paper in question cites my group's work,
2. I've met the PI at a conference and had a brief talk, and
3. I studied alongside two of his postdocs at a practical course.
We are separated by the ocean, so the communication will have to be via e-mails of some such.
So, how should I approach? E-mail, commenting on ResearchGate, writing to those postdocs first (even though they weren't involved in this particular peace of research)? Specifically, how can I formulate the concluding, "so what" part of the letter?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I have some considerations about their results, parallels with our work, ideas for future research etc.
>
>
>
So use this as a starter. Write/ask about their paper and get a discussion going. In my experience this will very often automatically lead to a collaboration of some kind, like a follow up paper or a whole joint project.
As an alternative I would recommend that you talk to your supervisor, what he thinks about the group and if he would think starting a collaboration would be worth a try. Maybe he will then start to initialise the communication.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you are greatly over thinking this exchange. Conversations don't start unless someone speaks, so a simple, "I have read your most recent research/paper/chapter with interest and..." would do for a simple opener. I would go with a direct email as with a good email signature on the bottom of the mail, they will then have all your contact details should they want to get back to you.
You say have some past contact with this person - so also mention that in the email to try to jog their memory of you. If as you say you met at a conference, they may have met many people in a short time, so try to be specific. I would go direct to them and not the other post-docs. The PI is the person you want to work with presumably, and they are simply another human being - not some ethereal creature that cannot be spoken to by mere mortals!
I would not immediately hand out all your best ideas in the email, but you should allude to the fact that you have some interesting findings/alternative considerations etc. that could be the start of some future work that could build upon their recent successes. By doing this, you are encouraging them to respond to find out what you are thinking, and you are indicating that you are interested in completing some future work with them.
Either way, I suggest that the only way forward is to just start the conversation! They will not know of your interests in future work and collaboration if you don't let them know.
Sending an email is direct, but not exactly uncommon nowadays so is considered an acceptable form of cold or in your case, 'lukewarm' calling.
Best of luck.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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2017/07/26
| 257
| 1,104
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on my Master Thesis and I am exploring two different approaches to the same problem. I am having trouble deciding on how to structure the Methodology section to divide these two approaches, since they share some components.<issue_comment>username_1: The best way to go about this is to be very clear about what you're doing. Label one as Methodology A and the other as Methodology B. Write them up separately and if then if you feel it necessary, write how they are similar.
When moving forward in your thesis be sure then to refer to each methodology explicitly in the context of what results were achieved et cetera.
As long as the reader is fully aware of what you're doing throughout, it shouldn't be a problem.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I decided that I'll divide methodology in 2 sections. One that is further subdivided into the two different approaches (which form the first steps in my pipeline) and the second section is what they share (the last steps). It looks something like this:
```
Step 1
Method A
Method B
Step 2
```
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/26
| 931
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<issue_start>username_0: I came to the US with my PhD classmate having similar backgrounds and took postdocs at two different universities. My research output is much better than him, but he has won three awards from reputable societies/organizations. Now he got a tenure-track position, but I was not even invited for an interview.
The point is that his PI nominates him for every possible award, but my PI never does. I specifically asked several times, but he doesn't care.
What should I do? Should I move to another group whose PI supports me in getting such credits?<issue_comment>username_1: "My research output is much better than him". "Better" is not well defined in academia. No one has grades: you can't compare an A to an A-. Instead, everything is "graded" more casually.
But this casual grade has nothing to do with how hard or difficult the work is. If you mean "better" as "I work harder, have more publications, and my publications use more difficult techniques etc." then I think you have the wrong definition of "better". In academia, "better" means your research is clear and interesting. Doing better in academia seems to usually be less about doing harder and more technical work, and more about picking the right problems to pursue and communicating the results well. This has nothing to do with how "good of a technical mathematician/scientist" you are, rather it has to do with how good you are at understanding what is interesting to a research community and clearly communicating results which reflects the interests of said community.
Your classmate is likely doing "better" because his PI is very interested in the results of his research. Others must be interested as well: that's why he got awards. You should look at his work and ask: who finds this interesting and why? See what you can learn about what his success says about the research community you are engaged in.
A good practice to do from time to time is to take a few papers from a high-impact journal and just try to understand why these are considered as highly impactful. What I have found is usually two things:
1) They have a really clear introduction which motivates this work as part of some larger research question which many people are interested in.
2) They are simple.
The first is pretty simple: writing clearly is important. "Selling your work" is important because if people don't know at a glance that your work is interesting, they will never dig into the paper to find out. The second point is kind of counter-intuitive. Academia tends to be very elitist about "being smart", but a lot of the most impactful work is actually relatively simple in its methods and arguments. One reason this occurs is because a simple result is easy to generalize to other fields: biologists can follow clear and simple mathematical results, but a more advanced mathematical treatment is a subject for mathematicians, meaning breakthrough mathematical models without all of the extra bells and whistles are the results which are most widely known and applied. But also, people more easily understand it and see all of the nuances they can add to it, generating a lot research interest surrounding the idea (i.e. you left something for someone else to look into!).
Of course, this depends on the audience. In mathematical journals sometimes very dirty mathematical derivations contain some of the most cherished results by other mathematicians. Knowing your target audience for each paper/presentation is the best way to make sure your research is read and appreciated.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Apart from your research and academic recognition, such things as personality, and social and communication skills can be crucial when you are being considered for a teaching job. Especially at a small department. Same goes for your relationship with your PI. Not only your research should be interesting and promising, but your personality should fit into the local culture. While occasionally a university might hire a world renowned genius who generates horrible student reviews, when it comes to regular professors, they want somebody who won't complicate matters at the department.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/26
| 947
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<issue_start>username_0: I posted this on the Physics Site and I was warned that I would be best fit here.
I'm a freshman undergrad and I plan to get a Physics major. I don't know actually in what area I want to follow, I do have an idea that I don't want to be and Experimental Physicist but I'm open to every experience. I know many universities offer their colloquium/talk on the Internet which most of the times I find very interesting and informative, but I find it hard to get to know many good colloquia. I will be very glad if you can recommend me anything that would help me to understand the research fields in Physics and Mathematics.<issue_comment>username_1: While I agree with username_3's comment that this is probably off-topic here, perhaps I can provide a general answer which would apply to users looking into any new discipline, not just physics or math.
In order to really come to terms with **any** field, I would recommend the following (in no particular order):
* **Take relevant classes.** As an undergrad, this should be extremely easy.
* **Talk to people currently performing research in these fields.** This can include your professors or perhaps emailing researchers whose work you've seen and been interested in. This is the option I would suggest most, as you're likely to get a wider array of viewpoints.
* As username_3 mentioned in the comments, go **check out some of the recent research papers in your field's top conferences.** You'll likely be unable to follow the majority of the work, but you should be able to get a good feel for the general tone of research being done in the field.
* Per Carol: **Attend the colloquia and seminars that the relevant departments host.**
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this is a valid question and deserves an answer.
As an undergraduate you don't get to choose specialization. If you have some freedom to choose a few electives you should take the ones that would give you competitive advantage (second semester of E&M, QM2, hard math etc...) . If you are looking to go to the graduate school, you'll have to take a thesis option of your bachelor's degree. You will also have senior seminar (or research). Use undergrad research opportunities. Attend conferences. This is where you are going to be exposed to different areas of research and meet people in different fields. Subscribe to "Physics Today". It won't teach you physics but you will get some idea of what physicists are working on today. By your Senior year you will have a very good idea of what you would like to do after graduation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Since you are eager to know the answer, I would advise the following. When I had started my quest for a topic (research area) to focus on, I did the following:
* *The first point of contact is professors in your own university:* I would advise to take an appointment with a few professors and meet with them. Keep the conversation short as they might not entertain you if you start with vague discussions. Better to seek appointment via email (or any other means that your university follows).
* Attend the talks or seminar of the Ph.D. students and professors in your university. This will boost your willingness to focus more on specific areas. Further, you could talk with Graduate students in your own university related to this.
* Do some good amount of googling to find out the upcoming conferences, workshops or meetings in which the venue is expecting top researchers of the world in Physics (or Mathematics). Try to meet them and have a brief talk with them.
* If you have already found something from the internet search or any other means, start following the research papers from the journals or conferences that publish similar stuff.
* Since you are in freshman year, I would advise against sticking to the **one** specific research topic. It is time to explore various research fields (or subfields) and find out what you think you could contribute more onto and to the world of research.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/26
| 1,313
| 5,088
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<issue_start>username_0: In General Terms
================
I am majoring in piano performance (classical), which is not considered academic where I live (the Netherlands), although the dutch Bachelor/Master of Music degrees are internationally recognised anyway. As such my subject knowledge of music is easily sufficient to read journal articles about classical music, but I was never taught how to navigate journals. I am looking for certain information, which I know a certain author has published about. So far I have found two articles that mention the information I am looking for, but both defer to different articles, neither of which I have been able to access.
I was hoping the community here could explain to me how to look for these articles. Although I would be helped by someone pointing out where to find the specific articles I want to read, a more general answer about the approach I could take will probably be of more use to future readers; I personally would be happy with either style of answer.
I am not sure whether this question is on-topic (but I hope it is). On the one hand, I suppose the skills necessary to read and find journal articles (in other words, the skills I'm missing) are an important part of academia, making this question on-topic. On the other hand, I am neither an academic, nor an active member of this community, so I am in no position to judge what is and is not on-topic here.
In Specific Terms
=================
I am looking for publications about improvising cadenzas in Mozart piano concertos, by <NAME>. I know he has published about this, since he mentioned his work in this area during a lecture I attended.
I started by searching JSTOR for articles written by Levin and found one article related to what I am looking for: "Improvised Embellishments in Mozart's Keyboard Music" by <NAME>.
This article (although very interesting) doesn't contain much about cadenzas, except for one sentence on the last page:
>
> I have chosen not to treat the construction and rhetoric of cadenzas here, as I have done this elsewhere.
>
>
>
Ironically, this is *exactly* what I'm looking for. Fortunately, the "elsewhere" has a footnote, reading
>
> See n. 1 and Levin 'Improvisation and Embellishment in Mozart Piano Concertos', Musical Newsletter V/2 (Spring 1975), pp. 3-14.
>
>
>
I assume "n. 1" is referencing footnote 1, which reads as follows:
>
> For discussion of these sources see <NAME>, 'Instrumental Ornamentation, Improvisation and Cadenzas', Performance Practice
>
>
>
and unfortunately the rest of the reference is obscured by a misprint, courtesy of Oxford University Press (I even contacted JSTOR support to check), but here the second article I found comes in handy. I found it through Google on scribd.com and it's called 'Improvising Cadenzas in Mozart'. It was written by <NAME> in the series 'The Creative Hornist', with series editor <NAME>. This article contains a bit more information about cadenzas but I'm concerned about the quality. Fortunately, it has a footnote very similar to n. 1 from the Levin article:
>
> <NAME>, 'Instrumental Ornamentation, Improvisation and Cadenzas', in *Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music: Performance Practice: Music after 1600.* ed. <NAME> and <NAME> (Norton, New York, 1990), 283.
>
>
>
I assume this has to be the source, just in a different citation style. I think this citation means that <NAME> wrote an article that was then somehow incorporated in this handbook. (Is that correct?) This handbook I could find on amazon but it is prohibitively expensive; I would gladly pay to read this article, but I'm not going to buy a $550 book for one chapter - would it be possible to somehow buy (access to) only the article separately?
This leaves me with the other source mentioned, "Improvisation and Embellishment in Mozart Piano Concertos". Unfortunately I have no clue how to find this article. Searching the full JSTOR catalogue instead of just the part my school has a license for turns up a few more articles by Levin but not this one. JSTOR doesn't even list "Musical Newsletter" as a music journal. While searching for this 'musical newsletter' with Google, the only reference to the 1975 issue I could find was in the catalogue of the San Francisco public library – not a big help. Is there any way I could read this article? Does this Musical Newsletter still exist?
How should I proceed?<issue_comment>username_1: The best way is probably to ask a librarian. If you have access to an academic library, or maybe a music school library (or maybe even a large public library), those librarians should know (or be able to find out) about this. And after you do it a few times, you will also know how to do it.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Maybe you should follow the references of the articles you did find. And also look on Google Scholar, but I'm not sure if they have articles on music. Combine key words and the name of the author you want.
Upvotes: -1
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2017/07/26
| 451
| 1,694
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<issue_start>username_0: The University of Southern California (U.S.C.) medical school is currently rocked by a sex and drugs scandal involving the dean of the school -- and possibly other faculty and administrative leaders that worked to cover up the scandal.
Would attending a graduate program rocked by scandals hurt one's chances of landing academic jobs afterwards?
Sources:
[1] <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/usc-scandal-carmen-puliafito.html>
[2] <http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usc-dean-pasadena-overdose-20170725-htmlstory.html><issue_comment>username_1: One cannot, of course, *guarantee* that there will be no negative outcomes for going to a school currently being rocked by a scandal. But I cannot imagine they'd have significant repercussions outside the occasional comment about "What was that like?" Especially given the current scandal appears primarily focused on a Dean (a position fairly far removed from the average graduate student) and his colorful private life.
If that scandal had major repercussions in terms of academic fraud, human subjects protections, or specifically involved the lab you were in, the answer might be different.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no guarantee that there will be no scandal in another university you wish to attend.
It's just evanescence news. Every university has somewhat dealt with different types of scandals. If you dig further, other universities had similar ones in the past. The fault of individuals cannot damage a university reputation unless the number is high enough for making a generalization.
The answer is that it is least of your concern when choosing a university.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/26
| 1,712
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<issue_start>username_0: I chose my current PhD position because of funding limitation and the reputation of my institute last year. After a year, it's a disaster, because I have no interest in my PhD project. I haven't read any papers in my personal time since I started my PhD. I'm not interested in what my labmates are doing whenever they are presenting. Though my project works perfectly fine, I just don't care about it.
Many rumors prevail in our lab regarding our supervisor; for example not supportive to graduating PhD students. Therefore, the morale and atmosphere in our laboratory has been strange. Yet, I've managed to maintain a moderate relationship with him. I have worked as a summer student in several labs and understand that no lab is free of anecdotes from the supervisor.
My only concern is that my passion in science will decay with my project. A year ago, I still had the lust to ask infinite questions in the summer lab, but I'm like a dying whale on the beach today. I feel very sad, because my family and my friends have great expectation from me.
I would like to change labs or start from a master's degree level again, but I'm not sure if it is feasible, especially since my supervisor is rather special. Please help me and give me some suggestions.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm afraid to say that I think you've worked this one out for yourself.
Completing a PhD requires passion and determination to get over the finish line. I remember someone once saying to me that they had done two PhDs but hadn't written either up... So they had actually not done a PhD at all. The point is that in a lot of ways, the writing up and creating a thesis is the hardest part because it requires so much time, energy, and dedication. If you don't feel like you have that for your subject then I would really consider your options.
As for your family (and friends)- they don't love you because you're on a PhD programme, that doesn't even come into it. More than anything in this world, they want you to be happy doing what makes you happy and I'm sure if they read your post just now they would tell you to stop and find something you really want to do.
Right now, it may be best to have a sit down with your supervisor and discuss how you're feeling and see if there is a way for you both to move forward that suits you both.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Have you considered that you may be suffering from a clinical depression? What you have described surely sounds like it. Sometimes people think that they are depressed because of their circumstances while in fact it's the other way around. At any rate I would have talked to a mental health professional before quitting.
<http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2017/04/phd-username_5s-face-significant-mental-health-challenges> Here is an article in *Science* about this. It's important to know that you are not alone with this kind of struggle and help may be available.
>
> One key message for scientific trainees that are struggling with
> these types of challenges, write co-authors <NAME> and
> <NAME> of Ghent University in an email to Science Careers, is
> that “you are not alone.” Beyond that, the authors encourage Ph.D.
> username_5s to appreciate how important it is to take care of themselves.
> “Mental health problems can develop into serious threats to one’s
> wellbeing and career, and can have detrimental consequences in the
> long-term,” they write. So, if you’re struggling, it’s important to
> “[s]eek professional help or seek help in your personal environment,
> even if you think it’s probably a temporary thing.”
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Have you considered graduating with an MPhil after one year? You can then have a break or do research projects elsewhere, perhaps in industry, before coming back to a PhD.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: There are so many factors involved that it's difficult to give a precise and helpful answer.
Firstly, what you are feeling is not rare at all as a PhD username_5. Because of how the scientific career is designed, labs have to focus on paper production, and in too many cases username_5s are seen (and feel) as "resources to produce papers for the lab".
Supervisors are often very busy or absent from the lab for many reasons and they don't meet often enough with username_5s, know their research in detail, or give them appropriate and individual credit and encouragement.
Successfully completing a PhD consists in dealing with that too, apart from publishing papers. And I am not justifying it, because I personally think that things could be easily improved, but unfortunately we have to deal with how things are.
I suggest you start taking more care of yourself and rely less on your professor and your group. A good book is this one: [https://www.amazon.com/Research-Chicago-Writing-Editing-Publishing/dp/022623973X/](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/022623973X)
If the situation is intolerable but you still want to be in research, try to change to another lab, even though that's always risky. If research by itself does not drive you, then try in industry.
Lastly, even if your family sacrificed so you could study a PhD, this doesn't mean you have to live the life they want you to live. Your life is yours and you are the one having to deal with it. If you don't live your life, you'll always be frustrated, bitter, and angry.
From Asian colleagues I know that in many Asian cultures family pressure for their kid to get educated, successful, and rich, is tremendous and linked to "honor" and "betrayal". If this is your case, you might need to have a small family talk too...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I think you should try to answer clearly to yourself what is the source of your problem. Is it a project per se? Or this is a non-supportive supervisor? Or you became less excited with the field of research in general? Or this is about Phd in general and you will prefer to switch to the industry. Otherwise, you might take the actions that might only do things worse or in best case will not help.
Try to see whether you feel excited with other projects. But keep in mind that the grass is always greener on the other side. Probably once you start other project you will fast become bored with it as well. If you reach firm conclusion that this is about the project per se, talk with your supervisor about the problem and ask him/her how he/she can help. Maybe it is possible to change the topic or to add additional directions. If this does not work, I do not think that this inconceivable to start the PhD from the beginning. Probably, you can do that in a neighboring lab. Suffering several more years is probably not a solution. Then, if you decide to continue to a postdoc all your experience will be in a field that does not interest you. What you will do then?
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/07/26
| 743
| 3,336
|
<issue_start>username_0: I want to know what the best option is for adjusting an article in prep under the following circumstances:
I've been working on this new model of a natural system for a while. I established the theoretical basis for it, and showed that it is in agreement with empirical evidence. I have a second draft at this point.
Then I find one of the folks I was already citing was also clearly thinking about the same exact things for awhile. Their paper is published, and they did an awesome job. Darn! But no hard feelings.
However I still plan to publish my paper because
1) They did not provide the theoretical basis, so we have different justifications for the model
2) My model comparisons to the data point out different things (but together my paper and their paper both confirm the model)
What are the standard adjustments that can be made when this happens? Is it best to:
1) Devote a couple sentences to this
2) Devote an entire paragraph (or more?) comparing and contrasting our models and conclusions
3) Simply emphasize that my work is now an extension of their work?<issue_comment>username_1: Picture what your manuscript would have looked like if this other paper had been published two years ago, and you had known about it all along. In an ideal world, this is what you should write - it doesn't make a difference whether the paper you are citing is two days or two years old.
In practice, given that you have already put a lot of work into this manuscript, you may want to compromise a bit rather than completely re-write your paper from scratch. But it's definitely important to follow your option (2) and devote a decent chunk of discussion comparing your two approaches.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems you have answered yourself: you found different contributions between your paper and the other one. It's up to you to decide if those differences constitute publishable material and are worth submitting or not really.
The best recipe on how to handle it is, as usual, honesty. You can simply say something like "our findings are in good agreement with recent research...", "recent research came to the same conclusion using a different model...", cite the other paper, compare both and justify why your contributions are important.
This approach is perfectly common in research. Not everything is about novelty.
The reviewers will give you feedback that will provide some clarity and help you how to proceed from there.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I was in this situation. I included a final paragraph, before the conclusions such as:
>
> "The application of x offers exciting
> opportunities, and indeed another paper on this topic was
> published during the preparation of this manuscript."
>
>
>
Then go talk about their results and how yours varies/is better.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Your paper went from an original contribution to replication, but since you claim that you have a "theoretical" contribution, why not polish that part of your manuscript and submit it as a theoretical contribution? There might be specialized journals in your field that publish such papers. You can incorporate your own empirical contribution as an example of the idea and discuss the other paper as supporting literature.
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/07/26
| 671
| 2,973
|
<issue_start>username_0: The title pretty much says it all - what's the typical delay with which Google Scholar indexes newly published articles? (Note I'm not talking about citations, but about the article showing up at all.)
Edit: the article in question went for over six months after being published (in a well-regarded Springer journal with its own Wikipedia page) without appearing on Google Scholar, until it received a citation, at which point it was added to Google Scholar almost immediately. One more motivation to write papers that get cited. :)
Edit 2: Another article in an even more mainstream journal took a little over seven weeks.<issue_comment>username_1: My article was published online in Elsevier journal and it took less than 7 working day to appear in Google Scholar. "Appear" here indicates that I can search the title of my paper in Google Scholar and the website points out my paper seamlessly.
FYI, I received the notification of the paper in my Google Scholar profile in around the same time.
I think, there might be discrepancy between publisher regarding time to appear in Google Scholar.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My article showed up in a few days. Since google is crawling, I believe (although I am not certain), that updating other sources such as policy, government, medical repositories and other resource hubs that allow you to update fields, add links etc, without needing to upload the article, increases the external links with the article page. This might not be necessary to expedite the process, but if the article is not showing up within the normal period of time (which could be a week), I believe this would be a good step to take. This advice also applies for anything else such as websites and blogs. Actually my repository link showed up in google before the actual journal page did!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I have had very varying times.
My most recent one was already there by the time I noticed my online version was up. However, my first one had many issues with Google Scholar, when it was first online they once combined the citations of my paper with someone elses. They then disconnected it and I could not find it again for a few more months. I think it took about 4-6 months overall for this one to appear and work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I have an article that's been on ResearchGate- which google scholar found right away- but it lists + links DOI to the "online first" version of the journal (which is published by Wiley) and this official version still has not shown up in google scholar 7 months later. (it is also not present in Web of Knowledge - so maybe this is systematic). Further, my *missing* article cites another one of my articles that *is* in google scholar, and that citation does not appear in google scholar. So I'm still waiting on this and will update this answer when / if the official version finally shows up.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/07/27
| 1,903
| 7,582
|
<issue_start>username_0: 7 years ago, I got a PhD offer from professor X. Thinking that I would have no chance with other applications, I accepted it. I signed the offer, and the HR was helping me with the enrollment process.
But then I unexpectedly got another offer, and I broke my promise. I apologized in the most sincere way my poor English could express. X briefly said he understood. This is morally wrong, but **not what I want to ask**.
One of my collaborator just joined the department of X. He wants to involve X in our on going work. I have no problem with that, X is nice, and he can make a good contribution. But **what should I say to X to break the ice**?
* Should I start by apologizing again?
* Should I just pretend that I don't remember about him? This is good if he already forget about me. But if he still remembers about me because I caused him so much trouble, then I will appear as a horrible person to him.
What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: How to break the ice? You don't need to mention the issue, much less apologize when you first meet him. Just act like with any other professional: "Hi, how are you? It looks like we have some exciting research ahead".
You are talking about 7 years ago and the professor might not even give it any importance, otherwise he'd not be willing to collaborate with you. So I'd suggest you stop punishing yourself, get over it, and just focus on acting as a professional.
If the issue arises, make some funny comment and move on. If he insists on making it personal and taking you to a guilt-trip or you feel uncomfortable working with him, just stop the collaboration and find another colleague to collaborate with.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I understand that this situation is somewhat awkward, but I think it is important not to overthink this. It was, after all, a fairly long time okay, and at the time the professor said he understands, so you may be taking this incident harder than he is.
>
> But what should I say to X to break the ice?
>
>
>
I probably wouldn't mention anything, at least not at the beginning and definitely not over e-mail. Bring it up at an opportune time, or not at all.
>
> Should I start by apologizing again?
>
>
>
No. See above. Even if he remembers you (which is not at all guaranteed), starting a collaboration with "remember how I reneged from our agreement last time?" seems supremely awkward.
Should the collaboration take off and you meet more often and personally, it might be nice to apologize again, optimally in a social setting. Alternatively, if he brings the topic up, you can and should apologize. However, don't make a big deal out of it if he doesn't.
>
> Should I just pretend that I don't remember about him? This is good if he already forget about me. But if he still remembers about me because I caused him so much trouble, then I will appear as a horrible person to him.
>
>
>
You don't need to pretend you don't remember him. Just interact with him normally - even if you don't start a conversation about your last interaction immediately (and he remembers you), he will probably not assume that you forgot about him, but that you are trying to not make the situation awkward. He won't consider you a horrible person for this.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: You've already apologized, the apology was accepted, and you've both moved on.
There is no reason to bring it back up, and the professional thing to do is to let the past stay in the past. Chances are good he will as well.
Unless he brings it up, don't bring it up yourself. Conduct your research as well as you can, and show him how you've grown over the years.
If it still really bothers you, then well after you've established your research relationship, at a time outside of work (social), you might simply say, *"I still feel bad about..."* and express your feelings again, adding, *"But I'm so glad we have this chance to work together."*
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: As others have mentioned above, I think you were right when you apologised 7 years back and you don't necessarily have to do it again, unless the situation begs you to.
You have got another chance to work with him again that you had to miss out that time. So, just try to make the most out of it. There is nothing to feel bad about.
Just let him know you're excited to work with him and if you feel he is not very comfortable or if he brings up the topic of you opting out of his offer, you can always apologise.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: ya know *qsp*, i dunno your gender or orientation, but i will put it from the perspective of a hetero-male.
it's like you had made a date with a girl, and later canceled it. you go out with the other girl but eventually, because the first girl and you live in the same town and have some of the same interests, you bump into her again and decide, heck, you wanna date each other again. if she wants to and you want to, hell, what's the problem?
i can think of a lot more nasty academic compromises of morality (usually involving plagiarism or misrepresenting data or stealing an idea). collaborating with a person that you had previously *"stood up"* is not one of them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Anyone who has ever been in charge of anything has offered a spot to someone who turned it down, either right on the spot, or later. Being aced by a better offer comes with the territory. If I was the one who had offered you a spot, a later collaboration would only confirm my first decision that you had been someone I wanted in my group.
So, what should you expect? I certainly wouldn't bring up the past in any negative way, I'd say I was glad to be working with you.
And what should you say?
(1) Don't apologize. I didn't do anything for you, and you didn't take anything from me, so you don't owe me anything. Even if you cancelled so late that the position stayed unfilled for a while, that's not on you. If there's something of mine that will fail without staff that's on me. It up to me to have a contingency plan, and I will. "Many's the slip, 'twixt the cup and the lip". Anyone who belongs in their job knows the difference between someone on-board and someone who made nice noises about an offer.
(2) Don't ever bring up not taking the spot. I knew at the time you either got a better offer or had a family crisis, so now I know you got a better offer. If I want to know why you took the other offer I'll figure it out from working with you.
(3) if this person does bring the past up, or complains about you taking a better offer, or whatever, don't respond with anything about better or worse. Make it a matter of personal preference, like a food choice, say there was something about the other offer that really seemed like it was a good match for you. If the other person asks again or for details, deal with them like someone who has had too much alcohol and is saying foolish things. Smile, repeat your first answer patiently, smile again, and then talk about an clearly unrelated subject.
I don't know if this is great advice for people playing academic politics. I didn't earn my ph.d. as a grad student getting stipends, I was working full time in the r&d end of my field I had a wife & children and I had tangential research that interested me to pursue and write up for a thesis and a dissertation and some projects, and I took graduate level courses classes that interested me, and I paid tuition and fees. That wasn't as unusual then as now.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/07/27
| 670
| 3,052
|
<issue_start>username_0: If a 4 year liberal arts college is doing a search for a faculty position through September 15, when does the job start? The start date is not mentioned.
The position is for a new interdisciplinary degree program that appears to have been only been granting degrees for one year. It is teaching rather than research focused. I assume the interviews for prospective candidates last through the end of the year. Is it typical that this position is starting the following fall term, or would the hire start teaching in the spring? Or is it institution dependent and I should just try to find out from the school?<issue_comment>username_1: Only the hiring institution knows for sure, so you would have to ask them.
However, the start date is almost always listed in the job posting, so to avoid looking silly, be sure to read the posting carefully, as well as any accompanying information that is included or linked. If you don't find it, then contact the hiring institution (the posting probably contains contact info for a responsible person).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: University departments advertising faculty positions usually take great care to mention all the relevant details of the position in the ad, to the extent that such details can be specified. There is often a process to get the ad cleared by various layers of the campus bureaucracy (for example, at my university the ad is part of the search plan that has to be approved by an associate dean). So it's a pretty safe bet that the ad has been scrutinized by several people (hopefully competent ones) and that the omission of the start date is not accidental.
My conclusion is that the start date is almost certainly not specified because it *cannot* be specified. I can think of two possible scenarios where that would be the case:
1. The department advertising the position is not sure when the start date would be. E.g., maybe they are waiting for funding to materialize and are not sure when the funds would be approved, or when some other approval process outside the department would terminate, but they are already confident enough that this will happen at some reasonably near future time to start the recruitment process.
2. The department is flexible about the start date, i.e., maybe they would be happy with having the new faculty member start either in the spring or in the fall, and are leaving those details to be discussed/negotiated later during the interview and negotiation stages of the recruitment.
My advice is not to assume anything that isn't explicitly written in the ad. You can always just apply for the position and see what happens. Or, if it's important for you to know the start date to decide whether to apply for the position, you should contact the institution and ask about it. But it wouldn't surprise me if they reply with a vague answer saying they can't be sure, since as I explained above, probably if they had a specific date in mind they would already have mentioned it in the ad. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/07/27
| 1,473
| 6,158
|
<issue_start>username_0: This is likely to be a rather strange question.
I have been working in physics in an attempt to obtain a PHD.
My initial plan was entirely experimental, however I have not obtained enough data by itself.
This is due to a combination of difficult experiments, and temperamental equipment and its repeated failures; I was and am simply not capable of repairing the systems without any replacement components by myself.
This is ok I had thought, I can attempt to slightly extend a pre-existing theoretical framework to explain the few results that I do have.
However this is not my supervisor, or even departments expertise, so I have for the last year and half attempted this myself.
After much effort I have been able to replicate the prior theoretical calculations of the model.
However despite having the best grasp of the model out of anyone I have spoken to in my department, there are significant parts where I just do not have a clue.
I have reached a point where I have 2 months left to submit, and I do not yet have a sufficient understanding of the theory to be able to tell if it is actually valid for what I am trying to use it for.
Is it acceptable to just shut up and apply it anyway, and be deliberately vague and sparse in describing it and the necessary mathematics so that I do not include things I do not understand?
Or do I just throw in the towel and save myself another 2 months of absolute torment?
Many thanks.
Edit in response to comments:
it's rather that I do not understand some of the mathematics necessary.
There is a set of 6 eigenfunction equations, where they all have the same eigenvalues.
All the authors in the literature only care about the eigenvalues, where I need the eigenfunctions.
I had assumed that they were all the same, like the eigenvalues, but upon attempting to write a thesis chapter on them I now realise that they are not.
This is a problem as my calculations are based upon the eigenfunctions.
There is only one of the eigenfunction equations in the literature.
I am able to, with initial difficulty, solve it and obtain the same eigenvalues as the literature.
I then do some stuff with the eigenfunction that was not done, and obtain another different eigenvalue equation based upon an operator corresponding to the measuremrnt data I do have.
But I cannot derive the original equation in the literature, and I cannot derive the other, not stated in the literature, 5 equations.
Noone has worked on it for decades, and the original authors, and those who initially extended their work, are all dead.
Hence why I state that I do not understand it.
I can state what I have done, that I cannot derive the equations, and that I know it is wrong without the other 5 solutions.
I am 90% certain I can solve the other 5 equations if only I could understand how they are obtained.
Unfortunately I just get bogged down in attempting to follow the derivation, 1.5 years of attempting to follow it and I still just do not follow it.<issue_comment>username_1: Of course, it would be good if someone around you can help you see what needs to be done to legitimize your use of "the other 5 equations". If you post to MathStackExchange, someone might be able to help, for example, if no one physically nearby can.
In any case, honesty and at least a nominal "dispassion" about things is the best approach, I think. Say what you assume, say what you can verify, say what previous sources say, etc. It's ok, I think, if your results are "relative" (=relative to assuming that certain sources are ok, plus assuming that certain extensions, which you've tried but failed (so far) to validate yourself first-hand, are ok...), as long as you are very clear on what your results are relative *to*.
Don't bluff... :)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Or do I just throw in the towel and save myself another 2 months of absolute torment?
>
>
>
Nobody except you would be able to decide. But, given what you write, failing could be an option. Academia is a hard sport, and your health might be more important than some theory. I see bad examples around me.
In case you decide to proceed, here are some thoughts:
* Ask an online service (such as Google scholar) for ***which papers cite the original framework***. Some of the authors referencing the framework might be living. Write them e-mails.
* Apply *Feynman's problem-solving algorithm*. (It's not a joke, I'm very serious.) In less extravagant terms, improve your working style.
* Apply for an extension.
* ...
Bear in mind that, after all, the problem might be unsolvable with the methods at your disposal.
E.g., the mature Ostrogradsky once asked Paris mathematicians for help for solving a particular problem. They took quite some time, and finally responded "This task can be solved only by one person: the Russian professor Ostrogradsky. He lives in Petersburg. You should contact him.".
But one proper piece of advice: no torment; **go home at 6pm** whatever you do.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: For a PhD you should demonstrate two things: that you have become an expert in your (very very small) chosen topic, and that you have learned how to do credible research in that topic. From your description you don't seem to have demonstrated either at this point, so I would find it concerning if you did get a PhD.
Kicking in the towel isn't the only option though.
* You say no-one in your department understands the material. But it is extremely unlikely that no-one in the world does. There are many theoretical physicists, and many mathematicians. Even if they are not familiar with the exact problem, there will be someone you can talk to who knows far more about eigenfunctions than you seem to.
* Get an extension. If you've been allowed to go substantially beyond the expertise of those supervising you where you don't understand and no-one else is supporting you, then someone has not really been taking their responsibilities seriously enough.
* Try and find a summer school on the mathematics you need.
* Explore the options for graduating with a lower degree.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/07/28
| 2,391
| 9,656
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have read that interning under a professor can not only help you gain a better understanding of a subject but also it can look good on your college resume. I was wondering how I could possibly do this in ninth grade. Do I email the professor I want to research under or does he have to ask me or can it be both?<issue_comment>username_1: As enthusiastic as I'm sure you are about working in a research lab, it really wouldn't be in the best interests of any academic to bring a high school student into their lab.
Undergraduate degrees in the sciences, as much as anything else, teach students how to behave appropriately in a lab setting as well as chemical handling et cetera.
Working research labs are busy places with the work never being done for PhD students right up to the group leader, as such, I doubt that there would be many out there willing to take on such a big commitment.
I think, for now, the best you can do is to keep working hard at school, ask the lab technicians at your school if you can help out and see if you can build up some lab experience that way but maybe wait till you get to university for the research labs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your goals are laudable and do not be discouraged by naysayers who say high schoolers should not get research experience. I had research experience in high school working with biologists at an army base and National Wildlife Refuge when I was in high school.
Now, to answer your question. The short answer is do legwork and research nearby universities. Here are examples I know about:
* Some universities have formal outreach programs for high school students such as this [archaeologist program](https://news.uwlax.edu/be-an-archaeologist-this-summer/).
* Some professor will take high school students as interns. For example, my advisor lists his high school interns on his [CV](http://www.tiehh.ttu.edu/tanderson/TAA%20Official%20Vita%20070117.pdf). Note that CV is basically an academic resume.
Here are suggestions for finding these opportunities:
* Try to find a "mentor" who is doing research. Ask them for an [informational interview](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informational_interview). This could be someone who works as a scientist or maybe one of our high school science teachers. You probably know someone who knows a scientist even if your personally do not. Ask your parents, high school teachers, family friends, scout leaders, people from church, etc. if they know anyone. Basically, tell them "I think I want to be a scientist. Do you know anyone who is one
that I could ask about their job?" Do not hound this person about their job or expect to get an internship with them. Instead, ask them how they would get an internship if they were in your shoes.
* Browse and search homepages of universities and their academic departments and faculty. This will let you see what type of research exists at the school and might help
* Look at the "Continuing education" or "public outreach" or similar programs such as [Upward Bound](https://www.uwsp.edu/upbound/Pages/Home.aspx).
* Expand your search beyond universities. Look for internships at nearby industries or government facilities (e.g., government labs, state parks, wildlife reservoirs, fisheries centers, etc). All of these places employ scientists including chemists, geneticists, biologists, ecologists, and more.
**Note in case you live in a rural area:** Even if you are in a rural area or small town, people do research. You county likely has an extension agent (For example, [Wisconsin has UW-Extension](https://www.uwex.edu/) and your state if in the US likely has one too). Some people wrongly think of farmers as backwards people, but they are wrong. Modern farming uses lots of science. In addition to extension, look to ag for other scientific applications such as genetics and self driving cars. These companies have representation in rural areas. Even if you do not want to study these fields, seeing what they do would still help you to better understand research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As others have pointed, the response to this question highly depends on your location. Your best chance is probably to look for some program that encourages high school-university partnerships.
For instance, I've advised one high school student as a part of the [STARS program in Missouri](http://www.umsl.edu/~sep/STARS/index.html) (Students and Teachers As Research Staff), which encourages faculty in Missouri to advise high school students during the summer. This kind of experience is usually far more profitable for the student and the faculty than randomly sending out emails as there's already a predefined project on which the student will work, usually advised by a graduate student. Those students usually work by developing a piece of software or assisting assembling experimental set-ups that are not very critical to the project. The student I supervised even managed to publish as first author in a very reputable journal.
In Brazil, for instance, I know that there are junior scientific initiation scholarships that are granted to exceptional high school students (often regional/national olympiad medalists) to spend time working in a reputable university lab and taking courses.
I encourage you to look for such programs in your state/country, as they will strongly facilitate your entry and your time as a junior researcher. Ask your high school councelor or teachers if they are aware of programs in your area.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: In the field of life sciences, I've seen five methods:
1. Research programs for high school students
---------------------------------------------
Most research programs are for undergraduates, but there are occasional listings for research programs for high school students. Examples in Canada include:
* The [<NAME> Research Institute SciHigh summer research internship](http://www.scihigh.ca/sitepages/?section=1&page=4). It's for Grade 11 and 12 students, and it's based on a 500-word essay, two references, and a resume.
* The [Gene Researcher for a Week program by the CIHR's (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) Institute of Genetics](http://grfaw.ca/). It's a week-long internship over March Break that teaches you either wet lab or dry lab techniques. You must be 16 years or older.
* The [Hamilton Health Sciences Summer Bursary](http://www.hhsresearchadmin.ca/partnership-collaboration/youth-programs/high-school-bursary/). It's a 7-week summer internship for Grade 11 and 12 students in Hamilton, Ontario.
* [Sunnybrook Hospital's Focused Ultrasound High School Summer Research Program](http://sunnybrook.ca/research/content/?page=sri-ed-summ-ultra). You must be 16 years or older.
2. Science competitions
-----------------------
You can either participate in a competition that place you in a laboratory, or win a competition to earn a laboratory position (either as a direct prize, or to strengthen your applications to future research positions). Examples in Canada include:
* The [Sanofi Biogenius Competition](http://biogenius.ca/what-is-the-sbc/). You apply to enter a competition, and the organization connects you with a lab to manifest your research proposal.
* The [Canadian Brain Bee](http://brainbee.ca/). It's a written neuroscience competition, and the national champion wins a research placement at a neuroscience lab.
3. Cold emailing
----------------
This was my path. Below is a plan based on what worked for me:
1. Develop a theoretical background to the level of a first-year undergrad. The most popular intro book in biology is called *Campbell Biology*.
2. Find a list of labs you wish to apply to. Go to the websites of local universities, and create a short list of professors whose work interests you.
3. Read the description of each professor's research, then read their recent publications (often listed on their website). You can look copies of their papers on a website called [PubMed](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/).
4. At the same time, train yourself in wet and dry lab techniques. Familiarity with Excel is a must. You can try to train yourself in wet lab techniques at your high school (I entered a biology competition and trained myself in lab techniques after school), and learn software at home.
5. Email the professors. Be courteous, keep each email relatively short, and don't expect a response. You'll likely have to email a large number before you get a reply. If you actually familiarize yourself with their research, this should take a long time before you earn an acceptance (if at all). Don't spam a copy-pasted email.
4. Connections
--------------
If your parent or relative is a researcher (or knows someone who is), you can ask them. Many high school interns work in the lab of a parent or relative.
---
The bottom line
---------------
If you're interested in becoming a scientist, research experience is a great way to see if the field is right for you. To become a strong applicant for a research position, you'll need high grades, strong reference letters, and an advanced theoretical background. You can earn these by studying efficiently in school, and getting involved in extracurriculars.
But above all, **take some time to enjoy high school**. Go on dates, explore your interests in areas irrelevant to research or career, and spend time with your friends. It helps prevent burnout, and the most productive life sciences researchers in the world balance their time, even those who lack genius-level IQ.
Best of luck with whatever path you wish to travel.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: We are currently writing a first article with my PhD advisor. The research was mainly designed by him; I performed all the experiments and found a model to explain the results.
The article is soon to be finished. I am supposed to be the first author of the paper but at this point, I am more and more considering to ask my advisor to put me as the second author or maybe even ask to have my name removed.
My advisor wrote most of the article, which I already find weird given that I am the first author. This is not due to my lack of initiative, I've been explicitly told not to write some parts. It really feels that I am simply a secretary asked to check for typos, formatting issues, and to make graphs and figures as he sees fit.
When I correct some of his writing, he sometimes takes into account what I propose/correct, sometimes he disagrees and explains why, but sometimes completely ignores it (my comment is deleted and not addressed). Some of these ignored comments are not fundamental, but I find some others very important and I am really not comfortable with some parts of the manuscript (he knows this given that I wrote it in the comments).
As an example, my advisor is very excited by a small theoretical model I proposed to him once that could roughly explain the experimental results. Yet there are still gaps and unsupported hypothesis. He knows that I am very reluctant to make this modeling an important part of the paper (which otherwise present both qualitative and quantitative experimental evidence of phenomena not previously reported), but this is now becoming more and more important and is almost the central part of the article. We discussed that once, his answer was simply that I should be proud of myself to have explained something rather than be too critical.
Other examples include him writing something along the line of "when XX was observed, we systematically found that this was due to YY". Something I actually only observed once and I am not confident that it can be so easily generalized.
My question is simply how to deal with that. My relation with my advisor was great but it is becoming more and more strained (especially from my side) as this article evolves. Is this a regular flow between a student and its advisor during the writing process? This is a long, in-depth >30-page article, if this information can be useful. With my Master advisor I had written and published a short-letter (4 pages), and I was completely leading the writing.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is a regular flow, especially of this is one of the first papers you are writing together.
Consider that your advisor is much more experienced than you are and likely has a better idea of what shouldn't an of what should be on the paper. Your advisor is also more experienced in academic writing and probably knows the field from a more professional standpoint.
Also consider that s/he may not trust you entirely and hence is rewritting everything to make sure there is no possible cause for plagiarism.
None of those points are bad signs or mean that your advisor thinks badly of you.
Please use this opportunity to learn from her/him. That's your role as the mentee. As you publish more papers together, it is likely thar your role in the writing process will increase.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I do not know whether this could be an answer to your question or not.
I find it completely normal, especially because it is your first paper. My advised changed 99% of the first version of my first article, and when I read now what I wrote, I laugh about it because it was really low quality. Of course, this is normal because I was new in writing papers. My advisor did not even explain the changes. Instead, he said: "check my revision, and you will learn how to write papers". Now his revision does not exceed 1%.
Back to your case, I think, your advised found that this paper has a high potential to be accepted, and he wants to increase the chances. Even if a scholar did the experiments by himself, the adviser has an experience of many years in writing papers. In the first paper, we usually try to write all the details, believing that they are all important. In most cases, what is important for a scholar is a part, which took more time. On the contrary, an experienced researcher knows what is important and what is redundant.
Overall, It is too early to disagree with your adviser about what to write, where his experience makes the difference. Try to follow him and if you are right, the reviewers will prove it. Otherwise, you will learn from your mistakes.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If you have good relationship with the advisor this is probably the most important thing. Make you best to preserve this asset! The concerns that you describe indeed seem like issues related to the work, but not to his negligence or lack of respect to you. As people said before, your advisor is much more experienced than you. Writing and ultimately publishing the paper is very different from a seminar work. You will understand it, particularly, when you get your first reject from reviewers. Do not even think about changing your authors position in this paper. This is pretty usual that for the first paper the advisor makes a lot of work. If there are really conceptual issues that are red lines for you, try to explain and convince your advisor, to soften the phrase. Do it gently and keep in mind that you might not understand many things. If you now make all the editing by Email, ask to meet your advisor personally. You might be furious by Email, but when you meet, this probably can be resolved in several minutes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: This does not seem like the "regular flow" from my experience, contrary to what other answers state. Whether it is normal may depend on your field, country, and institution. Most PhDs I know or knew wrote their first articles with more help from their supervisor than latter articles, but ultimately they wrote the articles themselves. There are benefits to writing an article yourself, such as learning.
My answer probably can't just give another side to other answers, so my advice would be:
Discuss with others in your group, is this normal for them?
Discuss with your supervisor, explain that you want to learn to write a paper and this involves undertaking the writing.
Taking the lead is also a skill, which involves taking initiative in a way that does not create confrontation (although with some people, this may be impossible). One thing you can do for next time is simply to *start writing* yourself, then in meetings control what advice you are given, ask for the supervisor to look at specific definitions or how you have phrased a hypothesis. This way, you are in control but you are not in confrontation with your supervisor, in fact you are doing exactly what many supervisors want (becoming an independent researcher).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_1: >
> or maybe even ask to have my name removed.
>
>
>
You did the experiments you have to be an author, everything else would be wrong.
At least in chemistry this authorship assignment is also quite common, the PhD who did the experimental work is first author, the supervisor (who oftend eveloped the idea behind the research) is last author and corresponding.
As for the other concerns, I guess there's a lot of field specific details here so I cannot really comment on that but you have to keep in mind that your supervisor has much more experience on writing paper and might see it differently on what is important and what not. I also don't see a problem in reporting unknown phenomena without having some kind of model that explains this in detail. This could also be a follow up paper.
>
> but sometimes completely ignores it (my comment is deleted and not addressed).
>
>
>
From my experience if you write paper together the lead author just has to do this, otherwise you will end up spending more time on commenting on comments than everything else. If there are specific things he ignored then ask specifically why he did this.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: This is totally aberrant. I am a Professor (even when I was a username_3) and currently with my username_3s, I take the time and effort to sit down with them and explain every single change. A username_3 is not a photocopy machine and he/she should understand the writing process, not just memorize phrases and regurgitate them in following papers.
Keep in mind that this PhD username_3 will become a Professor and a mentor one day and being currently a username_3 is his/her only time to learn basics.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m in the verge of finishing my PhD next year. I already know I don’t want to follow an academic career; still, I’ve come this far and will see it through (well... I have have a salary too...). I’m starting to look for positions in industry and would like to know how much having publications is appreciated by recruiters. Point in case, some data and drafts have been pilling up in my hard-drive during the last couple of years. Being honest, none of them make for a memorable publication or a significant contribution to science, but there is enough material for two or three submissions to specialized journals. Is it worth putting time and effort in finishing these papers if I’m going into industry? Will my CV look better if I add some publications on it? PS: This is in the context of the US and Europe and I’m getting a PhD in a STEM field.<issue_comment>username_1: This depends upon your specific position within any given company. Check out [Science Careers](http://www.sciencemag.org/careers) for discussions about this, but a summary of some examples for publishing and not publishing:
* Some position will not require or expect any publications. These can be technical (e.g., run a machine all day or develop new proprietary methods), managerial, or other types such as sales.
* Some positions will want prior publications to show that you can complete research projects but not expect you to publish when you are working them.
* Some companies such as environmental consulting firms expect their scientists to publish so that they continue to be experts in their field and highlight their publications on their webpages [(e.g., WEST)](http://www.west-inc.com/wildlife-life-monitoring-and-research/).
* Some companies publish with their clients (e.g., look at the author affiliations on this [publication](http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/11/684/htm)).
In summary, publication expectations in industry range from none to regular publications. I suggest you find people doing jobs you are interested in doing, get to know them, and see what their specific expectations are for publishing. The [Ask-the-headhunter](http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/) blog contains suggestions for breaking into new fields as does the previously mentioned Science Career page. Also, the *Chronicle of Higher Education* has many resource for people seeking "alternative" careers (e.g., [here](http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-PhDs-Guide-to-a/143715)).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are getting a PhD, you will likely be in a job that tends to at least favor research somewhat. In my current job (enterprise data science, PhD in statistics), I do not write or publish any papers in journals. But we occasionally have to write patent applications or internal reports for our work. Having some documented experience in writing formal papers on your work is important. Published papers show that the *community* values your work. It tells management that someone beyond your advisor cares and that you would not just hand muffed through a PhD to clear room for more students.
Honestly, if I had a CV of someone with a PhD but no publications come across my desk, I would probably throw the application away. Unless the applicant had large amounts of other work (R packages, Patents, Turing Award, Fields Medal, etc) having no publications would raise major flags.
At the end of the day, it is not like someone is going to look at a CV with publications (even small ones) and say "Oh, he/she's published some papers...let's NOT hire this person. I really dislike applicants with publication experience. We certainly would not want to hire someone who has ever done any research!"
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am using first-order stochastic dominance and I am wondering if I need to cite a source.
More generally, how should one cite well-known mathematical definitions -- Is it okay to cite a somewhat recent source (like a book that covers the topic) or should one go to the effort to track down where it was first introduced?<issue_comment>username_1: The objectives of the citation, imho are:
1. To point to some material that will give more details on the subject
2. To give credit to the original author
In recent works, you don't have a choice, because there won't be a detailed explanation in anywhere but the original article, which covers the second point as well.
For well established developments (old stuff), the original article might be unreadable, considering current standards. The figures improved considerably in the last 10 years.
Personally, whenever is easy, I do both, cite the original work AND a current accessible textbook on the subject. If the original work is too obscure, just cite the text. In these cases, point 1 is more important than point 2.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Provide one reference to a recently, quality publication -- a reference that can be plumbed back to the original idea if needed. The presentation of that first paper is rarely crucial for new work.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question.
I've noticed that almost everyone I have met is intellectually uncurious. In a world where our daily lives depend on technology that would have been called magic a century ago (cell phones, computers, etc...), it's hard for me to understand why people aren't even interested in how it all works. Perhaps they've hust gotten used to it - I once I asked a friend if he knew how his computer worked, and his reponse was no, and I don't care I just use it".
This lack of intellectual curiosity sadly permeates into academic settings, in my experience. Even my peers who study mathematics and engineering don't understand my fascination at lightning storms, or an airplane passing overhead,etc. The physics students seem to be pretty curious in general, but I don't understand. My engineering friends always tell me the same thing "we don't need to understand it at a deep level in order to build new things with it".
I thought kids were naturally curious creatures? I would guess it's a result of bad schooling, but i've never heard of teachers actively discouring asking good questions.
So what's going on here? What factors contribute to the apparent lack of intellectual curiosity amongst the general public, but more importantly amongst STEM students.<issue_comment>username_1: You have answered your own question.
If the world is full of what would have been considered magic, it is simply impossible for someone to have the time to inquire into everything.
Take an average person, they have a job, which may or may not be intellectually stimulating.
Then factor in any commuting time.
They must also take care of hygiene needs, and eat.
They need to buy food, take care of any general household maintenance.
Then to be healthy they must exercise, and also sleep.
At this point they really don't have much time left to spend being intellectually curious, and will undoubtedly be tired from everything else.
This assumes that they have no children, or disabled or injured relatives or friends to care for.
And notice that any social activities are also absent.
Include these and there is simply not enough time.
So exuding any intellectual curiosity leaves one with a negative total time.
With a society permeated with complex technology it is simply far easier, less stressful, and most importantly, less time consuming, to not inquire.
If you then convince yourself, and others, that you dont care, then this will lessen any misery from not being able to inquire.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The OP seems to imply that it is a kind of moral failing to not be curious about everything. Plokavian's answer is good for covering why many people simply do not have the time to be curious, but I think that their answer fails to cover two points: 1) people in academia who are, to a certain extent, paid to be curious; and 2) why should everyone need to be scientifically curious?
People in Academia
------------------
What do you think drives people to pursue graduate studies in the first place? There are many factors, but in my experience curiosity is one of the top factors.
In applied science I have met researchers who study the patterns that water drops form when they land on a surface. They openly admitted that they have no idea what application it could be used for, but they thought it was interesting so they spent some time investigating it. In other words: purely out of curiosity. Even in areas of research where the application is clear, a lot of research seems to start with the question "I wonder what would happen if...?". That is, *curiosity*. Why would they care how a computer works? **They have other things that they find more interesting that they would rather spend their time on.**
Why do people need to be *scientifically* curious?
--------------------------------------------------
The OP seems to define curiosity as a desire to understand how things work, such as technology or physical phenomena and seems to conflate curiosity with intellectual stimulation. But there are many ways to be intellectually stimulated without being curious about how everything works from a *scientific* perspective.
Consider engineering (my field). I know many students who left their undergrad to work in industry. Of course some of them only pursued the degree for a good stable job (nothing wrong with that!) but many others derived great satisfaction (dare I say, intellectual stimulation) from solving problems. To them, a computer is not necessarily something that needs to be understood down to its finest workings. Instead, a computer might be a *tool* in a big project that is working towards solving a problem for a client. **It is the pursuit of the solution that drives them, not a need to understand how all of their tools work.**
Consider a doctor trying to decide on the best treatment for a patient (often many patients). It is a complex problem that requires a significant amount of intellect. The doctor draws satisfaction from solving the problem and restoring health to their patients.
Consider an artist (not necessarily my forte!). They may want to explore new ways of expressing ideas or emotions. Exploration of any kind is fundamentally an act of curiosity. They may be *curious* about how people react to a piece of performance art. They may be trying to solve a problem of how to abstract concepts or objects to their simplest forms (see [abstract art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art)).
Finally, some people simply have other priorities in life. It is not a moral failing on their part! We need scientists and engineers and mathematicians and doctors and artists and many others who push forwards in their fields in the name of intellectual stimulation. But there is much more to society than that!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'll reword the question. Why some people ask a lot of questions and love to explore new stuff, while majority are set in their traditional ways and avoid questioning things too much? To answer this question look into the evolution of the human society and evolution of species in general. It's obvious that the psychological requirements for a successful hunter and gatherer would be quite different from a farmer. The hunter would be trying to survive from day to day and his life would depend on planning for one day ahead only. The rest was uncertainty. It's a lot of risk and requires intense analysis of his immediate situation.
On the other hand, farmers didn't need to be inquisitive in their minute by minute life. They needed to plan and follow established practices. The one who experimented a lot was not likely to survive. Ever since the time when farmers outnumbered hunters and gatherers it's been that way: majority maintained established traditions and stability of the society. Minority was able to find their niche performing various tasks that required intellectual curiosity and risk taking. It's a balanced symbiotic relationship and no need to be smug about it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I think there is another point that the other answers have not touched upon, and that is that people may be curious about the world around them but they need to draw the line somewhere.
The OP mentions a fascination with lightning storms as an example of good curiosity. The question I would ask is: at what point is your curiosity satisfied? Maybe you're satisfied knowing simply that lightning is a flow of electricity between the clouds and the ground. Or maybe you want to know more, i.e. that the electricity flows due to a difference in charge. But how was that difference in charge created? How does the electricity flow through the air? Why does it strike certain locations? Why does it make a noise (thunder)? Why is there a delay between the lightning strike and the thunder? Why is light faster than sound? How does sound travel? How does light travel? Why is the speed of light constant for a given material? Ad infinitum.
As I hope is demonstrated from the example above, scientific questions lead to more scientific questions. That's great if your hobby is learning about science, but many people have other ways they would prefer to spend their free time. Therefore, at some point you have to draw the line and say "I don't know everything about how [phenomenon] works, but I feel like I get the idea." Everyone has a differing level of curiosity, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a tenured professor in the field of education (learning sciences). I have been employed at my current university for six years now. Most of my research has been done in classrooms, researching the effects of instructional strategies on student achievement.
As I have been out in many different schools in different cultures and countries, I started to develop a new interest in the effect of physical environment on the behavior of students. Later I found out that the field is called *environmental psychology* and I am just so intrigued by the idea that school architecture and interior design can have impact on behaviors of students.
It has been about a year since I first started to feel passionate about the field. Now I am searching for graduate programs in the field. But giving up my current status and starting a new life as a graduate student requires a lot of courage. I have not heard of any professor who went for a second PhD degree in a different field. I don’t even know if they will let me in the program. I do feel like I can give up my current career for my passion in the new field.
Lots of people change their career during their lifetime. I have seen classroom teachers as old as fifty go back to university for a PhD. Why can’t a professor go back to school to change his/her field? But I guess I am afraid people will think I am crazy or that I might regret this later in my life. I am 40 years old, and I feel like perhaps this is my last chance for a field change. I would appreciate honest advice from other professionals in academia.<issue_comment>username_1: Tenure means you are set for life. If you have this kind of thoughts, you may not like the way you are set. A tenured professor has a lot of autonomy (especially in US). They have a lot of freedom in choosing their research. Among the things you can do as a tenured professor is switching fields. I'd advise trying to do that rather than get a PhD.
As a professor, people already know you are an experienced researcher and/or teacher, so it would be more likely for them to want to start collaborating with you. Plus, you have access to resources unavailable to graduate students.
What I would do:
1. Use my contacts (or go to conferences, write emails, whatever) to get in touch with an environmental psychologist.
2. Visit your new contact and sketch a work plan. Then see how you can find funding for what you plan to do together. You could also be a visiting professor for a while there and start working on a project you find interesting.
3. Apply for a grant with your friend and if you get it
4. Hire a postdoc. You can learn a lot by working with the postdoc.
I would add 5. live happily ever after as an environmental psychologist.
I would not do a PhD again if I were you, especially if it meant quitting my tenured job. Your family might not take it very well if you suddenly decide to forfeit your status as a tenured faculty. I think this will complicate things for you so much that it will offset all the advantages of learning the subject in graduate school.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no need quitting your present job. You can take a few online courses for free on internet if you feel that you are lacking background:
<https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/environmental-psychology/id529650093>
Then just follow advice that was already given to you.
However if EdD is what you have and it's not enough for your chosen field then it's a whole new game.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The other answers advising you not start over but rather refocus elsewhere, leveraging your tenure to allow you to move into a new research area are excellent.
There are a good number of fellowship/training programs that are specifically designed for experienced faculty to do exactly this. While they are might not be directly relevant to your specific situation, two that come to mind are [NIH Research Career Development](https://researchtraining.nih.gov/programs/career-development) and [Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers](https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/humboldt-fellowship-experienced.html). As you move along in your career opportunities to explore new areas diminish, and programs like these are designed to address that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The two fields are very close together. (Both are essentially different types of applied psychology.) There isn't really even a point in going back to school for this. Just learn the stuff and practice it. Once you have a Ph.D. in one field you can practice others. Even ones that are more different like biology and physics.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Are you a tenured professor in a primarily research university or do you have a huge teaching load? If you are at a research university and then you have freedom to steer your research career. Just hire a good PhD student or a postdoc as others have suggested and you can learn together. Go to conferences in the field, etc., etc. Since you have tenure you know how research works.
On the other hand if you have a huge teaching load and are not able to find to do your current research, let alone enter a completely new area, then you are certainly in a very tricky situation. But then you have to be realistic and ask yourself if a second PhD will land you in a better situation than your current one?
Also, as others have pointed out, a lot depends on where your tenure is (which country), which university you are at, and if you are happy with your environment there. Are you hoping to pursue a second PhD in a highly ranked university in the US? These details are not clear in your question.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I was in a similar position to your a few years ago, except that I'm about 20 years older than you. I also work in education (teaching and doing research in instructional design). I had developed an interest in applied/professional ethics, and wanted to pursue this. Here is what I did: I pursued and online masters degree from a prestigious mainstream university in the United Kingdom (I live in the United States) - Russell Group university in if you know the UK ranking system. I did the master's in order to get a good solid grounding in the field. I did not feel the need to do a dissertation and get a PhD.
As other commentators have said, I would strongly advise you to consider alternatives to resigning your position. I was able to complete the master's in about 3 years, practically nobody in my department even knew about it (I kept it to myself). Now that I've completed it, I'm beginning to write and also teach one course. Good luck.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: After an extreme amount of effort, I am now in possession of a very large dataset of human experiments which is required for my research. However, after speaking with some of my colleagues about writing papers about it, I was told that I need to have had the IRB decide what level of consent is necessary and then had each participant sign the consent form specified by IRB... or else I can't distribute the data... to anyone (yes, I know this is country-specific, but most countries require at at least *some* legally-valid form of consent).
I hadn't thought about this because I was told by my supervisor to collect the data... and so I did. Now, after asking my supervisor about the ability to legally distribute the data, he agrees with my colleagues in that I need to have had them sign a consent form... but if he told me to collect the data, then methinks he could have been prudent enough to say "oh, and before you go persuade 50+ random people to participate in an experiment, don't forget to have them sign this form or else you can't share the data with anyone at all".
**Are PhD supervisors responsible for telling their students about the legal requirements of their work?** If not, is it expected that **all** "learning" done while a PhD student be from making horrible mistakes? Should I basically treat my supervisor not as a boss but as just some random person who might not actually know what I should do?<issue_comment>username_1: Good research practice (which I would argue is not country specific), requires an *independent* ethical review of any research that involves human subjects. A university can make blanket determinations that certain types of research do not require individual review (e.g., interviews).
It is generally considered academic/research misconduct to not have proper ethical review and follow the recommended guidelines. Failure to obtain informed consent, when necessary, definitely falls under research misconduct. In the US and UK, it is the responsibility of the supervisor to make sure that the proper procedures are being followed.
In your case, your supervisor should have told you to get informed consent. The problem, however, sounds way bigger then you just not being able to use the data. The problem could be as large as PhD students not being properly trained regarding human subject research and faculty not following good research practice.
You need to work this out with your supervisor quickly. It should eventually escalate to your department chair and the IRB/ethics board. Not getting informed consent, when needed, is a huge deal.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are two pertinent issues to address here. First, not all forms of research require consent since some data collection doesn't subject participants to any stress or other form of risk and some forms of data will not disclose identifying details of your subjects' behaviors, biomarkers, or other characteristics. In all cases, how far you are required to go in obtaining informed consent depends primarily upon how much 'risk' your participants were exposed to by agreeing to participate in your experiment. This includes 'risk' undertaken by participation and 'risk' they may be exposed to when the data becomes public in some form. If you are doing research within the US, for instance, you should have gone through an IRB process beforehand. When an IRB determines that there is some risk (even minimal) they will require a researcher to stipulate how that risk will be mitigated and may require the researcher to brief subjects about before or after the fact.
However, some forms of data and data collection pose no risk to your participants and can be exempted. If your data set includes no identifying information (including names, biomarkers, photographs, video, etc) then you may not actually have needed an ethics board (or IRB) clearance and there may be no issue with your advisor whatsoever. Online surveys, for instance, or observations of public behavior, do not require consent of any kind, and several other types of research which pose exceptionally low risk can proceed without much sign off. It is possible that obtaining verbal consent from your participants would satisfy your university, but I cannot say for sure. You will need to inquire at your university to figure out whom to consult about this. It will be different at each institution. Since you've indicated that you carried out an experiment on roughly 50 people, I'm guessing it's behavioral research you're conducting. The good news is that in many experimental studies, subjects are expected to be fully informed and give consent only after the experiment has been conducted. There is much precedent for this in psychology.
Second, your relationship with your advisor, while there are gray areas depending upon discipline and university, is not a boss-employee relationship when it comes to your own independent research. If you are getting credit for what you are doing, then you are the one who bears responsibility to make sure that what you're doing is ethical and well considered. I'd suggest that this isn't your advisor's responsibility unless it was clear that your were working on her/his behalf. However, if you and your advisor are having difficulty communicating about expectations and you're receiving little guidance on how to design and carry out research, I would suggest taking on an additional mentor, either in the form of a secondary advisor or graduate counselors at your university.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Are PhD supervisors responsible for informing students about legal issues pertaining to research?
>
>
>
Yes, they definitely are. They're not called "supervisors" for nothing, after all. But - that does not mean the PhD candidates have no responsibility of their own; and the extent of that depends on the specifics of each situation.
Also - the fact they are responsible does not mean they won't try to *shirk* their responsibility, so it also depends on the advisor's quality of character.
---
Now for your specific case.
Did you get explicit oral consent from your human test subjects, and they were all aware of what you are doing and that the results go into research publications?
* **"No"**: In this case, you are also responsible since you should have known better than not to ask their permission at least in some form. Actually, some would argue that you should have applied due diligence and had them agree in writing to participating in the experiment regardless of anything.
* **"Yes"**: In this case, your own responsibility is limited; however, that does not mean you'll get to actually publish even if you are not to blame.
At any rate, you need to convince the university to give you access to their lawyers, especially in light of your advisor's negligence and the fact that you were directly instructed by him to go collect the data. You should bring up the following points when talking to the lawyer(s):
* Perhaps the kind of experiments you carried out can be excepted from the consent form requirement?
* Can the data be anonymized so as to avoid the requirement?
* Can statistics/aggregates be published without constituting breaking the legal requirement?
* Does making the data accessible to individuals under certain conditions break the legal requirement? If not, you could publish your work without the actual data, and make that data available to whoever accepts the appropriate conditons.
Finally, if push comes to shove, you could think of possibilities like:
* The university awarding your a PhD without proper publication of your thesis, with just a few examiners reading it (might not be possible).
* Repeating the experimental work - hopefully with university funding to do so.
* Piggy-backing a repeat of your experimental work onto that of another researcher performing continued work in the same vein. If they need your experiment + more things than you get the previous option for free (although with a time delay).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I am a Ph.D. Professer and graduate student adviser at a university with graduate programs...
No, there is no "responsibility" on the adviser in a legal sense. (people who say otherwise are simply expressing their opinion on how they want the legal landscape to be, not how it actually is.)
Should the Ph.D. adviser be knowledgeable about such things, monitor the student's behavior and correct/educate them when they do something wrong? Certainly. If they can't or won't then the student should have picked a better, more competent, adviser.
But if the student does something illegal or unethical it is 100% the student's responsibility. There will be no legal consequences or repercussions for the adviser as the adviser has no legal responsibility. It is entirely up to the student to make sure they know what they are doing and what is allowed. Any transgression is their fault, not the adviser. The adviser is simply an academic resource and not legally liable for the student's behavior or product.
So, as you asked... yep. just some random dude that might not actually know what you should do. (a pretty good rule to think about every human in existence, including your parents and yourself actually.)
Yes, I know that as an adviser I sound like I'm just covering my ass and trying to avoid responsibility but that is not the case. I have a business obligation to be competent and educate my students well but this does not constitute a legal responsibility for a student's behavior which is what your question is specifically asking about (since there are state and federal legal requirements concerning human and animal test subjects.) It is not the faculty members responsibility that you know them or follow them, though I strongly believe he should know them and make sure that you do too before you embark on your thesis.
But ultimately any legal responsibility for the outcome rests with the student.
Should a driving instructor teach students not to speed? Certainly. Is he legally liable for their speeding tickets... nope. Same sort of relationship.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: In the US, most funding agencies place responsibility on the University to make sure that all working with human subjects receive proper training. Whether the University passes that responsibility to the individual mentors is an internal decision, but as it's effectively the University that can lose it's ability to do human research, responsibility is not often passed along.
Specifically for your case, aside from legal scenarios in your country, it depends very much on what the data is. For example, if it's a simple questionairre on the usability of a device, you probably don't need consent. For many other things, you probably do need consent.
Also, aside from legal issues, journals will not publish papers that don't meet ethical standards on human subjects put forth in the Declaration of Helsinki or the Belmont Report, for Europe and the US, repectively.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Yes! Without a shadow of a doubt. The ethical issues around human data collection and use are an absolutely critical aspect of research. Data should not be collected without approval by a local ethics committee. The protocol that they will approved will contain a detailed description of the informed consent, your plans for data management, anonymisation and use.
**Critical question**: you say 'dataset of human experiments', do you mean **1.** data that you generated - ie experiments that you performed - OR **2.** a dataset of data collected by others from experiments that they did. If the former, you are screwed, if the latter you need to find out the circumstances under which the data was collected, there may be a way that your use of the data can be covered by the original consent and ethical approvals. But under those circumstances, whoever gave you the data had a responsibility to ensure that your intended use was consistent with the original approvals.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: In the US, the institution where the data is collected is responsible for providing appropriate training about data collected from human subjects, working with Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), an all things related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
It seems to me that you are getting secondary data. If the data was collected here in the US, then, in compliance with HIPAA, the experimental protocol was reviewed by an IRB, and all subjects should have signed a consent form if the IRB deemed it necessary. The IRB might have also deemed it not necessary. It depends on the risks associated with the study.
Your adviser might be as clueless as you on how to deal with the data copyright (so to speak). The question is, then: from where did you obtain the data? If you obtained it from another researcher, who collected it, then he should know. Get your adviser involved by contacting that person. If you obtained it from a public data repository, then the rules of the repository apply.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/29
| 597
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<issue_start>username_0: I see from a university website that "if you are not a citizen of one of the following countries..." [a list of countries], "you will need to take the TOEFL before enrolling." (USA is not on the list, but I presume that's irrelevant). My friend is a US citizen originally from a different country, and her conversational English is passable, but she absolutely would not pass the TOEFL.
In most schools, could she walk in without the test, because she's (lately) obtained her US citizenship?<issue_comment>username_1: Usually, universities set the requirements by native language and/or educational experience in English. If you have a bachelor's or PhD from a US university, they usually waive your language testing requirement because (1) you probably have already passed one many years ago and (2) if you're not good enough at English you probably would not have received your degree.
But if you're just an American citizen, no. They don't usually waive TOEFL just because of your passport. There are many Americans out there who don't even speak English. Of course, if you're an American citizen whose native language is English, you would most certainly not be expected to tale the TOEFL.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would add to the other user answering your question that, citizenship status do not necessarily waive the language test requirement. Academic institutes have usually these conditions for an applicant to not require him to sit a language test:
He has completed his previous studies in an English speaking institute (either in an English speaking country or not), or the applicant have worked for at least two years in an English speaking environment (an English speaking country, a project which is done in English, etc). The applicant may prove it by presenting a letter written by his/her employer.
Otherwise, whether he is a citizen of that country or not, he has to prove his language skills by presenting a valid test score (which is usually a test he has sit not later than two years before the date he is attending the university. Some other institutes may have more strict conditions depending on the major of study or applicants' conditions).
Even I have read some pages over the net (I am not remembering the exact link to refer to and I think it was among the questions in this site) that citizens who have spent some years outside of the country (for instance they have attended a local non-English speaking school) have to provide a language test for their applications, if the university doubts about his communication skills.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a recent PhD graduate in mathematics, and I will be starting a tenure-track position this fall at a small liberal arts college in a northern US city.
My graduate degree was completed at a large university in a college town, and I made occasional use of dating apps during my time there. They were only mildly useful at best, but they facilitated interaction with people outside my normal social circle, which I enjoyed.
My instinct tells me that I should avoid such apps in my new position, but I'd like to seek outside opinions. I already have some of my own ideas, but what are some potential pitfalls of maintaining dating app profiles? Should I simply refrain from using them? Would anyone in my department or administration have a problem with me using them if they knew?
Since it might matter, I am a 27-year-old male, and my new city is home to about 100,000 people.
Note: I am well-aware that dating students at my university is a bad idea. (For what it's worth, I am not interested in meeting people more than three or four years younger than me anyway.) I'm looking for advice that goes beyond some of the more obvious points.<issue_comment>username_1: Professors both young and old are known to use dating apps. So do students, doctors, engineers, lawyers, dental hygienists, and any other kind of person. In other words, there is nothing about being a professor that disqualifies one from using dating apps (or that makes one a special kind of human being in any other way, contrary to what seems to be the popular belief on this site at least).
The only pitfall I can think of is mild embarrassment, but that's true for everyone using these apps whether they are a professor or not. My advice is, go out there and have fun, worry about yourself and don't care too much what other people think. And if you want to date students too, personally I don't see a problem either (especially considering your age) as long as they are not *your* students and you otherwise behave ethically and responsibly.
(**Edit:** in certain U.S. institutions there is a general prohibition on faculty dating undergraduates - thanks to [@EllenSpertus](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/93901/should-a-young-professor-avoid-using-dating-apps#comment240284_93903) for the reference in the comments. Given your stated age preference this is not very relevant to your question since students in that age range would typically be graduate students, but it's worth at least checking the policy at your institution to make sure you are aware of the rules.)
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're ok with your profile being seen by your peers, students, their friends and Facebook's and maybe some meme's, sure go for it.
Unfortunately Teachers have to cop it from immature students, just be careful some guy you failed doesn't do something.
Perhaps tell your peers you are single and are any of them match makers or wing-men. Then resort to dating apps, that way the "well, it's no surprise I'm single" justification will work out better.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Other than agreeing with [@DanRomik](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/93903/72245), I'll add that I do not believe what you take as an assumption:
>
> I am well-aware that dating students at my university is a bad idea.
>
>
>
Dating your *own* students is usually a bad idea; but whoever is not likely to be taking one of your courses should be just fine. Avoiding everyone in your university - which may be up to a third of the eligible population in town in terms of age - does not make sense IMO. I mean, the most likely people you would get close to are people who are around you in your daily life, and much/most of that is at your university.
Of course - I'm saying this based on your being 27 years old. The somewhat-older undergraduate student and the graduate student population definitely comes within the age range you're considering, or thereabouts.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I would set an appropriate date range to filter out the age ranges you might be cautious about. Ex) ignoring ages 18-21. As long as you are aware of it being completely public and are okay with that, then you should be fine, though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Because you will be teaching at a small liberal arts college, which might have some parochial views, it is a good idea for you to delay your entry to online dating sites until you understand the culture of your new department, the college as a whole, and the town in which you are located. Once you understand your cultural and physical surroundings, you might decide not to use dating sites for awhile or, conversely, you may feel that using such sites are perfectly acceptable.
Whatever you decide, it would be ultimately fatal for you to date students from your institution or any other local school. For any instructor, students-as-dating prospects must remain *terra incognita.*
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: One important question you should think about is, *how will people know that you have a dating app profile in the first place?*
There are three ways:
1. You've included information on the profile that personally identifies you and makes it possible to locate your profile with a search engine (e.g. name). That's easily avoided by being careful about what you include in the profile.
2. The person found out because they themselves are using that dating app. In this case, there should be no embarrassment because they are doing the same thing as you!
3. Someone else discovered your profile, recognized you, and then told another person who isn't using the app and whose opinion causes you embarrassment. Since there isn't anything wrong with a human being wanting to socialize, and this scenario is fairly unlikely anyway, I wouldn't be overly worried about it. You can counter this by keeping the profile content appropriate to minimize any possible embarrassment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Department chair in Mathematics at a mid-Atlantic comprehensive university here, who has been fortunate to recently hire a number of Assistant Professors. If one or more of them were to engage in online dating on my campus, I don't think that, by itself, would be of concern to anyone, provided all your interactions with students were professional. Recruiting new faculty is a lot of work; if we hired you, it is because we think that you are going to contribute to our program and our mission. We want our new faculty to be happy, and we don't want our new faculty telling others that our university is a place where folks cannot develop long-term relationships. The likely reaction of my faculty would be to wish you luck.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: Please be aware of your role in your locale as a Professor. But at the same time this should not prevent you from being involved socially. Being social makes for a good professor in general because you will be empathetic to your students. Let the social aspect of your life lead you to a potential dating partner. If you use dating apps that just asking for trouble anyway. Social life is natural and it takes time to bond with people.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I don't think it would be good to use dating websites, but I believe that as long as you are not currently in a position of authority over say a former student or if there is no chance that you will be in a position of authority in the future, then I feel as if it would be okay to date them that is if you meet someone and you know you're not in a position of authority over them, it would not be breaking any rules.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: There is no general custom of *sexual policing* of employees by universities - so long as you do not cross legal boundaries or rules on harassment, your dating life is your own business, as is the electronic means by which you facilitate this. As others have pointed out, the only exception, where otherwise innocent dating or sexual behaviour might violate a university requirement, would be if you have a relationship with a student, especially one you are teaching or supervising (though not necessarily limited to this). This is a subject that your university probably has a specific policy and guidelines on. Since you are obviously well-aware of this danger (and if anything, you are overstating the scope of this limitation), you will be fine.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/07/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an inexperienced researcher and I made the stupid mistake of submitting my article to a predatory journal. I realised the journal was fake when they failed to provide the reviewers comments.
I then requested that the article be withdrawn. I received an email back from the 'editor' saying that the article had been withdrawn and guaranteeing that they wouldn't publish the article without my permission. I didn't sign the transfer of copyright, pay any money and the article hasn't appeared on their website.
My question is whether my article is now a write off? Can I resubmit it elsewhere or just write off as a bad learning experience? I would really like to salvage if if possible.<issue_comment>username_1: You can now submit it elsewhere. It has not been published and it is not under consideration anywhere, so you are free to resubmit it.
The fact that the first journal was predatory is only relevant because that was the reason you withdrew the paper.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I suggest you do one or more of the following:
* Put a version of it online - on your homepage, or better yet a place like ArXiv. If it gets published by somebody else later you would be able to demonstrate earlier publication. If you chose to put the article on your home page, it is strongly advised to go to `https://web.archive.org/save/http://homepage.my/article.html` to have it saved and stamped in the Internet Wayback Machine. Another option with a record of date of upload is a repository management website like `github.com` or `bitbucket.com`.
* Talk to one or two central people you know personally in your field (and with whom you have a sort of friendly relationship). Tell them this happened to you, and ask them for the favor of looking at the paper. While this would preclude them from evaluating it as part of a program committee/editorial board, it would ensure they would back up your claim against a publication of the same work by someone else.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/07/30
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<issue_start>username_0: This question stems just from curiosity, as my work is not concerned with mathematics.
>
> What happens if a student doing a PhD in mathematics submits a thesis
> with a proof of some theorem and the reviewer finds fatal flaws in the
> proof?
>
>
>
I don't mean small typos but flaws of greater caliber, whose fixing leads to the conclusion that the conjecture one was convinced of proving is completely wrong, or, if gaping contradictions in the proof are found. Can one obtain a PhD with such a flawed thesis?
I assume that in other areas of research even if some results are proven wrong, the PhD can still be awarded on the basis of other results that are present in one's work.
Note, this question differs from [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/68541/what-happens-if-a-math-phd-student-fails-to-find-a-proof-that-is-the-main-object) as here we assume that the thesis has already been submitted and is under review.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm aware of a thesis that unravelled at the oral defense: one examiner found a small error and it turned into a big error that invalided a substantial part of the thesis. The candidate was required to make major revisions. (The party scheduled after the defense was promptly cancelled.)
I'm also aware of a thesis that was downright rejected by the external examiner before it reached the oral defense stage. The candidate also has to make major revisions.
These occurrences are very rare: most programs have various milestones to satisfy before a thesis can be submitted, and these roadbumps are there precisely to avoid this kind of mess (which makes everybody look bad, especially the supervisor and the supervisory committee.) It's rare but it does happen, and on both occasions the candidate dug in, cleaned up the work, resubmitted some months after and eventually graduated.
(One thesis was in physics, the other in math.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I know of two cases where a big flaw was found in a dissertation when the student was in the home stretch. In both cases the student needed to fix it completely and resubmit before defending. Fortunately this didn't create problems with job offers in these two cases. I have no idea what the programs would have done if a student had already accepted a job contingent on receiving the PhD.
I also know of a few situations where a dissertation was scooped very late in the process, which is similar: if the work isn't "new mathematics," then it's back to the drawing board.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/30
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<issue_start>username_0: Should they instead protect their tweets and Facebook posts and keep them private / Friends-only in their account settings?
Some profs' tweets / Facebook posts are great and inform the public of their new research, especially stuff in machine learning / data science, while other profs I have seen use much of their tweets and Facebook posts to rant about politics, e.g. rants about <NAME>. It seems dangerous for a professor to have all of his political feelings posted publicly on Twitter / Facebook.<issue_comment>username_1: Unless someone has done some quantitative or qualitative research, I think this will be very hard to verify either way. There are certainly professors that are famous and have very vocal political opinions, such as <NAME>, and many philosophers. However, it is hard to verify whether: their opinions help their career, their career helps people accept their opinions more readily, or whether their career could have gone even further without their opinions.
One thing to note, however, is that it used to be many philosophers seemed to take it as a duty to give public talks and so on, on politics (e.g., <NAME>), and perhaps other academics did too. So although we probably cannot give an empirical answer right now, it does seem that in many cases social media is merely an extension of professor's work, even if they are giving thoughts on areas they do not research, as thinkers they may have a duty to contribute informed opinions based on their training.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As has already been written, without research, there's no solid answer. However, I *can* tell you that the potential for harm is far greater than the potential for good.
Put your research on your institutional page and keep your politics to yourself. Use tools like FB to communicate with friends and family. Even then stay at a level of material that you do not mind being public because you never know what will be shared.
When you are sufficiently famous that you are sought after for interviews, then you can consider making the interview material public.
I explicitly do not allow students to "friend" me. My syllabus includes, *Please do not ask me to join your social network on Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. until after you have graduated, and then only if you earned grades of B or better in each of my classes.* Only the best students, with whom I am happy to be friends, follow up after graduation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: My amateur observation is that the most successful people tend to not be on Facebook. As one example, while there is a Facebook page and a website for <NAME>, my understanding is that they are run by other people and he doesn't interact there in any way. E.g., from the [website](https://chomsky.info/about/):
>
> Again, please note that the website administrator is not <NAME>,
> and he cannot arrange interviews, or put you in contact with Noam
> Chomsky.
>
>
>
And further:
>
> Also, please note, <NAME> is **not** on Twitter. Any
> accounts using his name are unauthorized.
>
>
>
The one piece of research that comes to mind is that people who use Facebook are generally less happy after their use of it. From [NPR](http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/08/19/213568763/researchers-facebook-makes-us-sadder-and-less-satisfied):
>
> A new University of Michigan study on college-aged adults finds that
> the more they used Facebook, the worse they felt. The study, published
> in the journal PLOS One, found Facebook use led to declines in
> moment-to-moment happiness and overall life satisfaction.
>
>
>
I would argue that Facebook/Twitter and other social media are not like public talks where an expert has the floor for an extended period of time. They are (as the name indicates) structured to be a catalyst for ongoing back-and-forth with a multitude of people who may or may not have anything actually productive to say. In fact, we might speculate: Those with the fewest accomplishments/insights may have the most time and interest to repeatedly post, argue, troll, etc. It would make sense to me that if Facebook use makes a person sadder and more depressed, then that would detract from their academic productivity.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There is a very simple test that can help you to determine whether a political post is appropriate for public display. Imagine that the text you are about to post is not political but religious. Replace names of political figures by the names of Jesus or Allah or something like that. If it still doesn't make you cringe then you can post your political text without doubt.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Social media is a tool
----------------------
Social media can be a useful (and free) tool for getting some exposure for your work and connecting with other academics around the globe. Depending on the size of your network you might catch the eye of a journalist looking for the latest news out of science/art/technology, or a potential collaborator from another institution.
However, like any tool, if you use it wrong it can cause you harm.
Use the tool properly
---------------------
The general advice that I have heard is never post something online if you would be worried about your current/future employer (or students!) seeing it. If you live in a liberal democracy I would hope that criticizing your political figures is not "dangerous". Whether it can harm your career depends on the nature of the people in charge of making decisions about tenure and/or funding. As long as you air your criticisms or observations in a respectful and thoughtful manner I can't imagine it causing a problem with the people who make those decisions. That would require an uncommon level of vindictiveness.
If you're still concerned
-------------------------
However, if you feel that you absolutely need to be a part of the current political/pop-culture/what-have-you discourse and you don't want to worry about maintaining a professional online presence at all times, my recommendation is to run separate feeds for business and personal stuff. Just like how you shouldn't use the same email for work life and personal life, you shouldn't use the same social media accounts for work and personal life. You can easily create multiple accounts: one under your real name for forming professional connections and getting exposure for your work; and one under a pseudonym where you can lambaste public figures to your heart's content.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/07/30
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<issue_start>username_0: My department is focused on teaching. We teach 6 classes/year with heavy undergraduate mentoring. It actually feels like teaching 8 classes per year. I know that there are grants "designed" for teaching institutions (RUI at NSF, for example), but to be eligible my institution has to be officially a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution). By all measures my department would qualify (no masters/phd degree), but other departments in the university are research active, so we are an R2 institution.
Furthermore, the university has been heavily pushing to be considered an R1 institution. They are giving a lot of resources (time/money) to these research-active departments. People at the teaching-intensive departments are at a significantly disadvantage since our research is less intensive, so we never get the internal grants.
When I talk to the administration the conversation goes like this (not literally):
>
> They: ..., we support your efforts to get grants.
>
>
> Me: It is difficult to get grants due to the heavy teaching load.
>
>
> They: People at (teaching department at another university) get grants.
>
>
> Me: They qualify as a PUI.
>
>
> They: That may help them, but if your proposal is good, it will get funded.
>
>
> Me: To do good research I need the time to do it.
>
>
> They: You can apply for internal grants to get seed funding/time.
>
>
> Me: Most of my department applies, but we are not funded. It is difficult to
> get internal funding when competing with people in other areas that have more time for research.
>
>
> They: Then you can apply for external funding, we support your efforts to get grants....
>
>
>
**In summary,** I work at an undergraduate department, but due to funding agencies rules, I am considered to be at a research intensive institution. Also, I have applied for grants, and colleagues at panels told me (in confidence) that other weaker proposals were funded because they got the PUI classification. My research was not considered strong enough (for a research intensive institution).
**Has anyone had this experience?**
**How can I maximize my chances to get INTERNAL funding when competing with people that have much more time for research?**
**How can I maximize my chances to get EXTERNAL funding when competing with people that have much more time for research?**<issue_comment>username_1: A few thoughts -
One is that extramural funding is more about gaining prestige from your institution than actually resulting in a net revenue gain to your University. See [this article from the American Association of University Professors website](https://www.aaup.org/article/crisis-extramural-funding) for an explication of the ways in which the focus on extramural funding harms universities.
That said, if your tenure and promotion system is based on securing external funding and/or having time to do research, then you probably still have to play that game even if you know that it's harmful to the university in the long run. One thing I'm thinking is psychological research about locus of control; if you believe that you are in control of your own success or failure it's been shown that you put more effort into and consequently have better performance than if you believe that others control what happens to you and that what you do doesn't matter. It does sound like the system is rigged against folks in your situation, but nonetheless, you can still do your best to put together a competitive application - have folks read over your applications, look at other people's successful applications, etc. Perhaps there's an office or staffperson on campus that helps with applications for external funding that could be a resource?
Finally, it sounds like there are some more systemic issues about courseloads and advising loads being too high. These seem like great things to raise during faculty union meetings or to bring up to your Academic Senate representatives - you're probably not the only one feeling this way, and if you can open up a conversation with other faculty maybe there are some changes that can be made in the way things work. Here's [a case study about how faculty unions dealt with this in Ohio](https://www.aaup.org/article/what-faculty-unions-can-learn-workload-policy-ohio) that might offer some inspiration for taking collective action.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This is one of those situations where there is strength in numbers. If you're the only one complaining, it's likely little will change. However, if you and your other colleagues in "teaching-intensive" departments collectively make noise about the issue, you're much more likely to force action on the part of the university.
In the meanwhile, you have to do the best you can with your given situation. Unless you were lied to about your expected teaching duties and other obligations, you know what you have to do for tenure. Making sure that it gets done should be your top priority while you're there (and possibly looking for other positions).
Upvotes: 1
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2017/07/30
| 705
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<issue_start>username_0: I am now writing up a math paper, and there is an Arxiv paper posted back in 2009 which proved a weaker version of my result. But I don’t think their paper will be published in any journal – their proof is clearly wrong. Since that is eight years ago, I suppose the author spotted the error already.
My question: Should I cite their result in my paper? Note that we are both using the same technique (introduced elsewhere), just that they overlooked a key technical issue.<issue_comment>username_1: *Disclaimer: I have very limited experience, so what follows may not accurately reflect professional conventions. That said, from my limited experience I think it does.*
*EDIT: Disclaimer the second: the answer below assumes that you are correct, and also says nothing about what you should do **besides** what to write in the paper. Noah Snyder's comment below is absolutely correct.*
I think this is something that you need to do, to provide an accurate history. This doesn't have to be done "loudly" - I think a footnote would be fine (e.g. "A weaker version of this result was claimed in [people], but the proof given there is incorrect - they [thing that they do]") - but I think it's important that an accurate history of the result be presented.
In my opinion, this is true whether or not you knew of their work before starting/finishing your own; we all benefit from a clear discussion of the literature (and in particular this may do a service to others who read the 2009 article and *don't* notice the error at first).
---
This is assuming that the article in question is "serious" - as we all know, there are of course "articles" which are *too* wrong for the above to apply. I think my criterion would be: "Is this article something which a 'reasonable' mathematician, competent but not necessarily expert in the specific subfield, might take as generally correct?" Obviously this is subjective, but I think in most cases it's actually pretty clear which side of the divide a given article lies.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I will differ somewhat from the other answer: *if the other work is obviously wrong and has not been published, there is no need to mention it*.
It's likely that mentioning it will only bring the author negative attention. In papers, you do not normally say things like persons X, Y and Z attempted this before but failed, but I--at last--was successful. When you talk about the history of a problem, you should generally stick to the published history, or note where people made unpublished positive contributions.
I would also try sending a preprint to the author of the previous work to see if they have comments, and mentioning that their work has an apparent error. It's possible they aren't aware of it (or maybe they have left academia, or maybe it's right for reasons you don't realize). If they were aware of the error, then they should have retracted the paper (in which case it would definitely not need to be cited).
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: Two days back, I got a favorable reply from a professor who is happy to be my supervisor for a PhD program. The university is one of the famous universities in Australia. Unfortunately, the deadline for submitting the application is today. Even though I had only two days to prepare all the documents, I sorted out all of them except the project proposal. Currently I am almost done with the project proposal too, but I did not check it for plagiarism since I have copied some parts from the internet.
If I submit the proposal with the application as it is (with the parts I have copied from the internet), and if I am rejected, will it affect me when I apply for the same program next year? Will they keep that record and draw it back when they evaluate my application for the second time?<issue_comment>username_1: Without any indication of university, I have to assume that yes, they will keep records of all the things you do. Furthermore, you can assume that your next application will go through the same persons, as they are probably the only ones working on your particular type of application, so even if they don't have records, they will likely remember it.
Plagiarism is extremely reprehensible in the research/academic world, hence you should never ever do it if you want to be considered worth doing research. Here (France), students can be banned up to 5 years from taking any examinations for these kind of faults.
If this is only a problem of time, have you considered asking for an extension for the submission? If you weren't aware of what had to be done for the submission, you might be able to get away with it by proving you only got the request 2 days ago. Otherwise, they might deny it because you could have prepared it without knowing the answer.
It's august, so university will probably be on holidays now they probably won't mind the delay. Bottom word: I can not answer for your university, but doing wrong things will impact your career, so you'd better refrain from doing it.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> and if I am rejected will it affect for me when I apply for the same program next year?
>
>
>
Yes, this is possible. The following might also be possible outcomes of a decision to plaigiarize:
* The university accepts your application, but then later discovers that your project proposal was plagiarized. They then rescind your acceptance after you have made your travel plans.
* The university accepts your application, and you start the program and begin working with your supervisor. Soon after, your supervisor looks at your application and discovers the plagiarism. S/he then drops you as a student without warning.
It can't be said that any of these outcomes would necessarily occur; possibly nothing would happen except that you get a reprimand. Nevertheless, plagiarism is considered a serious offense in academia, and could have serious repercussions on your career. It seems that you are unfortunately in a difficult situation -- but in my opinion it would be a serious mistake to submit the application as is.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: "I have copied some parts from the internet" - It's unclear what you have copied.
There are two issues here. The first, if you mean you have copied some text from online sources well those are references, there is nothing wrong with that. If you know you have done this then that's the first step - just make sure you follow through by marking up quotes, adding a bibliography and using the correct reference styles required e.g. Harvard, Chicago etc.
The second issue, if you have copied a concept and that is the basis of your proposal then without reference that is plagiarism. However if you have referenced the sources correctly then there is potentially an additional issue - you may not have a PhD proposal. A requirement of the PhD is that you make a contribution to knowledge. If you are reiterating what has been said elsewhere then it's likely your proposal will be refused.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Do not copy parts from the internet. You can always paraphrase and there is always a paraphrasis that suits your context better.
It is odd that you should talk about not being able to "check for plagiarism" when you *know* that you copied. I get the impression that you are perhaps trying to hide behind not having had enough time. I am not trying to be mean here!
Yes, there is an outside chance that it may blow up in your face, and then you will have to take your lumps because you know you did (did not) do what you should (not) have done. However, I think this unlikely.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently preparing a research proposal with limited number of pages. As a picture is worth a thousand words; I was wondering if a graphic illustration could be provided that could highlight the different steps involved in the project. Would providing such an illustration enhance the proposal? I never came across such illustrations. Any directions for the same?<issue_comment>username_1: We have used several graphics in a proposal:
* to illustrate the problem to be solved
* to illustrate extensions of the state-of-the-art,
* to illustrate dependencies and relationships between several subprojects.
This was a large joint project (collaborative research centre) in computer science sponsored by DFG (German Research Foundation).
The application was successful, but I don't know whether the taste of reviewers for other disciplines or funding agencies differs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Disclaimer: I have not had the pleasure of being on the reviewing end of the grant process.
It is not only acceptable, but may be a good idea. First, remember that your proposal is not being read in a vacuum. The reviewer is sitting in front of their assigned pile and, depending on how long they've been at it, may be feeling a bit fried. Anything which helps them quickly get to the stage where they 'get' the point of the proposal is helpful.
You will want to include accompanying text, but it's hard to imagine a situation in which graphically showing, for example, your overall experimental design won't help the wad of text listing factors/levels/replicates etc. make more sense.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been reviewing a lot of proposals and dissertations in my field looking at exactly this! I wanted examples of how people scope their work in the Intro and the illustration they provide for it.
Many of them have a chart. This chart provides a map of their work that they can then refer back to (for example, each element in the chart is a chapter). It seems to work much better than just using words. I will be writing mine soon and have been considering having two flowcharts, one that breaks down the problem into different pieces and one that maps out my solutions.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a project in the area of IT security where we are analyzing a proprietary embedded system. While researching the system, we came across a confidential data sheet that was made publically available by a third party without the consent of the manufacturer of the system. The datasheet is marked confidential and usually only given out after an NDA is signed. It describes an outdated version of the system we are analyzing, but is partially relevant, as some parts of the system have not changed since then.
**Is it ethical / acceptable to use and reference this resource in a paper?**
"Related Work": [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10639/how-to-reference-confidential-data-in-reference-list) and [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/44656/using-a-source-and-being-unable-to-cite-it/44660#44660) ask about citing documents that aren't widely available (while my document can be found by anyone using Google, and none of the involved researchers have signed any NDAs).
Edit: To add some additional information that I added spread over a few comments:
* The datasheet in question describes the security protocols used by an older version of a popular embedded security chip, current versions of which are being used in payment and access control systems
* The manufacturer is aware that the data sheet has been leaked and is not happy about it, but has not gotten the datasheet removed from the third-party servers where it is located for the past two years. The reasons for this are unclear
* The data is confidential (as in private-sector NDA-confidential), but not classified in a government sense.
* The company has already stated that they would prefer if we did not publish based on this document, but that they would not be taking any legal action if we did, as long as all information was factually correct.<issue_comment>username_1: Sounds like you have found an interesting source and are considering the moral implications of using it. What I will say is based purely on personal opinion and probably what I would do unless instructed otherwise.
Leaks are a fact of life. With the proliferation of digital material they are commonplace. Look at Wikileaks, the Snowden revelations etc. Once material has become public there is - fortunately or unfortunately - no going back, regardless of how that information became public. It is the responsibility of the owner/creator of the material to ensure it says secure.
Dissemination of such material could be highly fruitful - but think of it this way - will your publishing research based on the material be ultimately constructive or destructive? Will it benefit just you or the wider world? Who is it really advantageous for? If the answer is *just you*, I would probably withhold your research based on it. If it has wider ramifications of great import, go with it. Also consider the reasons why it is confidential. Who does it serve - who does it *protect*? Was the confidentially because of financial reasons, incomplete research, company policy, or 'national security'?
There is a heavy moral tinge to this question, and you may have to do some soul-searching. But ultimately, if it serves the wider discipline in a positive way, and such servitude grossly outweighs the few individuals who it would ire, I would use it, as long as there are no legal implications for yourself [unlikely since a third party leaked it, but you can never be too careful].
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The usual method is to find a paper or publication, use it's contents, and cite it properly. Maybe not in this case, but just consider your position if you publish your paper quoting this leaked material, and the company that allegedly produced the leaked material denies that they produced any of this material. That's not good news for your paper.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm glad I'm not in your situation. It's tricky. While I can't really offer the ethics of scientific publication for this situation, a journalist, which is a constitutionally protected entity in the US, would probably publish after soliciting comment from the company.
You, however, would probably be sued, as would your university. If I were in your situation, I would probably consult university counsel, and abide by whatever they tell me to do. If the school won't cover my back, I wouldn't want to assume the personal liability.
I suppose another way to look at it is by how important the matter is. Is it worth the s\*\*\*storm you're likely to find yourself in?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: If the company who had the document leaked said that they would prefer not publishing based on the leaked data, it means that it can be harmful for them.
So you are chosing between your benefit and their benefit. If you chose to publish it may be legal but less moral.
Maybe you can convince them to co-author the paper, given that the harm has already been done for them, and it puts them in a better light. If that does not work, you could see if they agree to review your paper and you can acknowledge them.
Basically, I think it's fair to take any action that would avoid doing more damage to the company with the leaked document.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: Have you asked the editor of the journal? They might be unwilling to publish your paper because of the risk of being sued by the company that had its proprietary material leaked. They might also argue that the source shouldn't be cited because it might disappear at any time and wasn't really "published."
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: When should we repeat a statement of a theorem before proof?
Suppose we have a theorem in a paper at the introduction or at the beginning of a section. However, a proof is given, say, six pages later after a series of definitions, lemmas and propositions. It would be convenient for the readers to repeat a theorem before we give proofs to recall hypothesis and notations (especially those who read an electronic copy to see in a screen). Then, however, the paper becomes redundant. Should we repeat?
More pragmatic question: *Are there any guideline/style of journal papers/books mention when to repeat or not?*
---
Added: Although I asked *when* to repeat, *how* to repeat can be found, for example, in section 6.10.1(b) in [this style guide](https://www.lms.ac.uk/sites/lms.ac.uk/files/Publications/LMSHouseStyle.pdf).<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think it is generally necessary to repeat statements of theorems.
The theorem has already been stated, so repeating it verbatim is unnecessary and not useful. I appreciate that proofs and theorem statements may appear in distinct parts of the paper. E.g., a theorem may appear in the main body and the proof may appear in the appendix. This isn't problematic for the reader, because they can simply switch between the two. (For publisher printed manuscripts, this is a little tricky. But, for other versions (electronic, personally printed, ...), this is easy.) Indeed, I regularly have multiple copies of the same PDF open for this purpose.
Sometimes, you might state a theorem, introduce some lemmas, and then prove the theorem using those lemmas. In this case, I advocate a style similar to that proposed by [<NAME>](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/93975/when-should-we-repeat-a-statement-of-a-theorem-before-proof-in-a-paper#comment240493_93975), namely, recap some details of the theorem statement and explain how the lemmas.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Unless, you are facing a particular nasty page limit, those few lines spent repeating the theorem should not be a concern to you. Thus, the only concern you should have is what benefits the reader. Here, redundancy is not bad as such, but only if it annoys the reader and wastes their time. Therefore, you have to compromise between the following:
* **Readers whom the redundant information helps.** In most cases, you have to expect that readers have not memorised the entire theorem yet, and this is clearly information that is relevant to reading the proof. Of course, readers can flip back to the theorem, but that’s a major annoyance (even if you can put the pages next to each other).
Even if the theorem equals the title of your paper and is something like:
>
> Every frasmotic contrafibularity is a compunctuous pericobobulation.
>
>
>
and you spend the entirety of the space between first stating the theorem and proving it with talking about the four terms involved, you cannot expect the reader to remember that, e.g., Theorem 2 was this titular theorem. Even if you refer to it as *titular theorem,* readers may need more time to understand this than to read the short theorem again.
* **Readers who are annoyed by the repetition.** – In the situation you describe, I would expect that only very few readers do not need the theorem repeated to them. If the formatting is any reasonable, those should notice very quickly that you are restating the theorem so they can skip it.
Therefore, in most cases (including the one you describe), I would conclude that for the average reader the usefulness of restating the theorem outweighs the annoyance.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Apart from externally imposed page limits and such, I think it makes mathematics papers much more readable to repeat key points as relevant, rather than requiring that the reader flip back and forth (even if this is made somewhat easier in certain computer-reading situations). For that matter, I'd advocate explanatory comments in addition to otherwise-cryptic internal cross references, e.g., not "by theorem [3.7]", but, perhaps, "by the long exact sequence relating X and Y from theorem [3.7]"...
The notion that redundancy is undesirable is, I think, misguided, although perhaps understandable. Ordinary language has substantial redundancy, and this gives it stability (e.g., in the face of most typos or grammatical errors). In contrast, highly-compressed (in the information-theoretic sense) but long-ish mathematical writing can be very brittle and sensitive to typos and/or mis-reading.
If we were all infallible logical automatons, maybe the information-theoretic issues would be different, and I do know that many people like the mythology (for mathematics) about behaving as though we *were*, indeed, immortal and infallible and so on, but, in practice, many of us aren't.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I remember asking this question once. The professional I consulted is very rigorous with his work (he was a book editor at Springer). He replied that, in general, high quality paper should be read **from top to bottom without looking up**, and be as **[accurate](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/accurate)** and **[austere](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/austere)** as possible. His answer at first seemed rather vague to me, but believe me, that's practically what it's all about: **communicating as well as possible**.
As an early interpretation, if you need to give a theorem at the beginning and then prove it at the end, you must take care that the reader does not have to read the theorem again. The only thing that changes is the elegance with which you achieve it.
For example, if your paper deals with a problem you solve, it is better:
* Initiate a brief introduction to the problem (taking the opportunity
to introduce references).
* Formulate the theorem as a problem,
conjecture, or something unresolved: state things as you found them. *Remember, it's not a good idea to rush through everything at first; the trick is to induce the reader to want to read your work to the end more than anything else in the world.*
* If your development is very long, you can also add an "outline" of how you have structured your paper to reach the solution, so the reader will not get lost in the tangle of reasoning.
* In each development, explain in human words what you are going to do or the results you get; you can take advantage of this to show how you advance in the "outline" of the paper you gave before.
In this way the reader will be imbued with the problem and will keep it in mind. Then, after all the propositions, lemmas, etc., enunciate the final theorem with its proof.
**Your question is ultimately about how you structure the paper for the best possible communication; whether or not to use a theorem or problem or both to enunciate and develop its content is pure strategy.** For the structuring of the paper, there are several interesting books. One that served me well is [Writing Science](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0199760241).
To see more specific strategies, I strongly recommend that you decide beforehand which journal you will publish in, and review how the other authors have structured their work. Look at a lot of them, so you get the average idea. It is also very good to review high-impact journals; although it is difficult for you to understand their content, focus on understanding the structure of the explanation, which is more important (of course, you can take advantage of this to read your references in detail).
---
If you still want to keep your theorem at the beginning and your proof at the end, and if you write in LaTeX then you can call the `proof` environment with the optional parameter `[Proof of Theorem ]`.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying to a lab whose work I happen to be pretty familiar with, due to peer reviewing one of their articles.
Is it ethical to mention this information to them? I feel that if I don't mention it, and they find out later, they may feel that I mistrusted or misrepresented during the application process.
Does the answer depend on whether the article has already been published, or whether it's still in the review process?<issue_comment>username_1: If you have previously peer-reviewed their work, you are obligated keep that information confidential unless the journal policy says otherwise. If your potential employer somehow finds out you reviewed their work, they will know you did the right thing.
If you are currently reviewing their work and applying for a job with them, you should stop reviewing and contact the editor. Tell the editor you now have a conflict of interest and cannot continue reviewing.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Peer review is usually completely confidential and you should **never** discuss peer review with others. Some journal have "open" peer review in which case let the journal deal with the release of this information. Some journal allow you to consult a colleague during the peer review process but you have to declare this when submitting the review. In general, **avoid** confirming or denying being involved with a particular paper. This is certainly a topic the less is known the better everybody is.
To paraphrase a former politican: "This is not a question a gentleman should ask, nor it is a question a gentleman should answer."
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: You should almost certainly not tell them. While I have seen a certain amount of "friendly" post-review disclosure, even if this is accepted in your field, I think the circumstances here strongly weigh against it.
If the paper is currently under review, you should first let the editor know, and absolutely not tell your potential advisor. If you told your prospective advisor, it would create the appearance of a *quid pro quo*. No matter your intentions, if someone told me this while I was interviewing them, I would be shaken and question their trustworthiness.
If you have already reviewed the paper, and you gave it a *good* review, and the paper has been published, it would be less blatantly offensive. I understand the urge to say, "I became interested in your group because of this paper, which I refereed" - but this is still not a good idea. Simply showing your strong interest and understanding of that paper is better, and creates no impression of a *quid pro quo*.
The one circumstance in which I can imagine a lab being offended that you did not disclose your involvement is if you gave a notably harsh review to a paper. The key issue in this case would be finding out if your idea of what is important in a paper, or what methods are useful, might be critically different from your prospective advisor's. If you join the group, but then have major issues with how some experiments are conducted, your advisor might be bothered that you did not disclose that - whether or not this had its origin in a refereeing situation. Disclosing in this circumstance will almost certainly not improve your chances of being hired - no one likes harsh criticism - but it could tell you more about whether this is a lab you could work with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I really do not understand what the question is meant for ... You are applying for a post doc to them, so I would suppose that you know all of their publications, at least those inherent your PhD thesis or - in case you want to give a very new cut to your research career - those papers who attracted your attention. That you were or were not referee for their paper is really irrelevant and you should not discuss it.
Sounds "take me, I did recommend your paper". Beside that they won't care..... Perhaps, in a certain time, you can drop "ah yes, I was referee" whenever the existence of that paper will come into discussion.
The only point that I can see as realistic, is that you got a special interest on that very paper content and would propose you to work on that line. If it is indeed the case, and no previous work by that group on the specific subject is already in the wild, than obviously you cannot tell them without saying something like "I got to know of this because I am referee and.........". Making clear that you recommend the paper. I do not see anything dramatic on that. Waiting the few weeks until it gets online might cost you the position.
In brief, you can disclose that you were referee if there is a scientific reason to do so, and to show you are passionate about that otherwise unspeakable line of research.
*I have assumed that you were no nasty nor sarcastic in your referee report, and overall you liked it and recommend for publication*
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/01
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a postdoctoral position that I would like to apply for. One of the requirements for it is to identify a working group and a faculty member that you are interested in working with. I have never done this. How do I ask a person whom I've never met/worked with if I can work with him ? I mean, what is a polite way to say, well, compared to everyone in the group, your work seems to be the closest to what I want to do, so can I work with you please?
I would be very grateful for any input. Thanks in advance !!!<issue_comment>username_1: If you have previously peer-reviewed their work, you are obligated keep that information confidential unless the journal policy says otherwise. If your potential employer somehow finds out you reviewed their work, they will know you did the right thing.
If you are currently reviewing their work and applying for a job with them, you should stop reviewing and contact the editor. Tell the editor you now have a conflict of interest and cannot continue reviewing.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Peer review is usually completely confidential and you should **never** discuss peer review with others. Some journal have "open" peer review in which case let the journal deal with the release of this information. Some journal allow you to consult a colleague during the peer review process but you have to declare this when submitting the review. In general, **avoid** confirming or denying being involved with a particular paper. This is certainly a topic the less is known the better everybody is.
To paraphrase a former politican: "This is not a question a gentleman should ask, nor it is a question a gentleman should answer."
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: You should almost certainly not tell them. While I have seen a certain amount of "friendly" post-review disclosure, even if this is accepted in your field, I think the circumstances here strongly weigh against it.
If the paper is currently under review, you should first let the editor know, and absolutely not tell your potential advisor. If you told your prospective advisor, it would create the appearance of a *quid pro quo*. No matter your intentions, if someone told me this while I was interviewing them, I would be shaken and question their trustworthiness.
If you have already reviewed the paper, and you gave it a *good* review, and the paper has been published, it would be less blatantly offensive. I understand the urge to say, "I became interested in your group because of this paper, which I refereed" - but this is still not a good idea. Simply showing your strong interest and understanding of that paper is better, and creates no impression of a *quid pro quo*.
The one circumstance in which I can imagine a lab being offended that you did not disclose your involvement is if you gave a notably harsh review to a paper. The key issue in this case would be finding out if your idea of what is important in a paper, or what methods are useful, might be critically different from your prospective advisor's. If you join the group, but then have major issues with how some experiments are conducted, your advisor might be bothered that you did not disclose that - whether or not this had its origin in a refereeing situation. Disclosing in this circumstance will almost certainly not improve your chances of being hired - no one likes harsh criticism - but it could tell you more about whether this is a lab you could work with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I really do not understand what the question is meant for ... You are applying for a post doc to them, so I would suppose that you know all of their publications, at least those inherent your PhD thesis or - in case you want to give a very new cut to your research career - those papers who attracted your attention. That you were or were not referee for their paper is really irrelevant and you should not discuss it.
Sounds "take me, I did recommend your paper". Beside that they won't care..... Perhaps, in a certain time, you can drop "ah yes, I was referee" whenever the existence of that paper will come into discussion.
The only point that I can see as realistic, is that you got a special interest on that very paper content and would propose you to work on that line. If it is indeed the case, and no previous work by that group on the specific subject is already in the wild, than obviously you cannot tell them without saying something like "I got to know of this because I am referee and.........". Making clear that you recommend the paper. I do not see anything dramatic on that. Waiting the few weeks until it gets online might cost you the position.
In brief, you can disclose that you were referee if there is a scientific reason to do so, and to show you are passionate about that otherwise unspeakable line of research.
*I have assumed that you were no nasty nor sarcastic in your referee report, and overall you liked it and recommend for publication*
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a faculty position in a small department, which is not very active in research but there is a strategic research. Comparing my previous papers and grants, I can project that I will have a significant contribution to the department to become research active.
Is it appropriate to provide a statistical projection that how the department figures will be changed by hiring me? I mean isn't it impolite to highlight the weak points of the department to justify why they should hire me?<issue_comment>username_1: Cover letter is more suitable for stating your intention. It might come as arrogant if you give your ideas for department without asked first or becoming part of the department.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Don't mention anything negative about the department you're applying to. That would serious jeopardize your application.
Instead, emphasize the benefits that hiring you could bring to the department. Do this in a way that pleases the current members of the department.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: There is no way you can possibly know how hiring you will impact their department figures, and trying to do that without understanding the full situation would look extremely arrogant.
Even if you believe that you know the reasons, there might be other factors which are not public knowledge. For instance, I know one department at a university I worked with slowed down research as they were getting ready for a merger.
State your worth - and state it strongly - but don't make any assumptions of concrete or statistical improvements you can bring.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently preparing my first formal work for publication, which I am the sole author on. While working through final edits, I've come across a few places where I refer to myself and would prefer not to gender myself as female (eg. "the PI also presented on her research at a local event...") as I do not identify as female (non-binary), and prefer to use the pronouns [ze/hir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-person_pronoun#Summary) if I need to refer to myself in writing.
As this is my first publication, it feels like this may be a good opportunity to start as I wish to go on, and just go for it. But I also don't know if it'll just read as awkward, and possibly requires a disclaimer/clarifying note in institutional affiliation (eg. Author Name, University Affiliation, Department, (ze/hir) or Author Name, University Affiliation, Department; Author uses ze/hir pronouns.)
My question, therefore, is as follows. Is it appropriate to refer to oneself using gender neutral pronouns in academic writing? And if so, do I need to include a disclaimer/clarifying note somewhere?
An additional note: I've unfortunately not had a chance to discuss this with my supervisor yet. Input from others would be most appreciated!
(Note: I've read through as many similar posts as I could find and did not see any duplicates or anything that answered this question, but please do steer me towards any questions that do if relevant.)
*EDIT: Thank you all for your answers. I'm in Psychology, where depending on the document, it's okay to refer to yourself in the third person. In this case, I've removed all references to myself by using the passive voice. In the future, I'm going to go for singular "they" when possible, and in submissions that deal more with identity or LGBTQ+ young people (one of my areas of research), I'll probably go with ze/hir since that's in line with my principles and the theme of the research. Unless your answer will add significantly to the value of the discussion, I think this thread is pretty complete! (other nb researchers, I hope this has been helpful. Feel free to get in touch.)*<issue_comment>username_1: Yes it is appropriate to not use gendered pronouns. As it seems you are aware, there are lots of ways to address the issue. You should follow the journal style guide, or the style guide for your field, if it addresses the issue. If not choose a style and stick with it. Be prepared for the copy editor to change the style. They may prefer the singular they, or he/she, or zir, or even rewording of sentences to avoid the issue. It is not appropriate to expect the journal to follow your exact wishes regarding style, but they should comply with your wish to avoid gendered pronouns.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It's your decision what to write, but to my mind, adding a note trying to explain your preferred pronouns seems like it puts the emphasis on something which you probably don't want to make the focus.
I'm young enough to be fairly familiar with this stuff, but I have to be honest, the thing I'd remember after read your paper would be "Huh, I've never seen anyone write a note like that before." I don't want to suggest the way you identify is something you want to hide, but remember that your article is going to be read (hopefully) by a lot of older people or people from other cultures who have no idea what "ze" is supposed to mean, and I assume your main goal is not to educate them about that stuff.
I would encourage you to instead use "they" or "we" when referring you yourself ("the PI presented on their research" or "we presented on our research"); these might be a little awkward, but they have an established pedigree in writing, and shouldn't strike people as too out of place.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In my experience, gendered references to authors are quite uncommon in academic writing. Situations where pronouns would naturally occur can instead be dealt with in passive voice ("the PI also presented on her research at a local event..." can probably be replaced by "this research/work was also presented at a local event").
That said, if you end up using pronouns referring to yourself, it makes perfect sense to me that you use the appropriate ones, i.e. ze/hir. This should not require any disclaimer, but you could probably add a footnote to the first occurrance explaining that this is a non-binary pronoun, if you want to explain.
I want to point out that in an international context the ability to guess the gender of an author based on their name is very limited anyway.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Ze, hir, and other such words might not be within the purview of a journal's style sheet, and might be modified by page editors. I suppose it can be taken up in the galley process, but bluntly I see no advantage to letting this rise to that level.
I strongly suggest writing such references *exactly how the author wants them published* within the current style sheet of the journal for the least amount of problems in the process. If it's important, try to get a hold of the style sheet, but I would try writing to avoid the issue.
As such self-references should be fairly infrequent in a normal publication, judicious switches from active to passive voice so as to not require a gendered pronoun would perhaps be the easiest path.
For the specific phrase "the PI also presented on her research at a local event...", "the PI also presented at a local event..." is every bit as clear as the original phrase, and reads as less wordy.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I would tell you to just go for it. There's no need to think of things as 'disclaimers', either: the lines
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> Author Name, University Affiliation, Department; Author uses ze/hir pronouns.
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>
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function as introductions of the author, and if your choice of pronouns is important to your identity and it impacts the reading of the text (e.g. because the text includes you using those pronouns to refer to yourself) then include them and be done with it.
Academia is already exclusionary enough with respect to people from all sorts of backgrounds and identities, and part of that exclusion is that so far there are no established conventions within academia for how issues like yours can be dealt with. However, those conventions are not going to build themselves, and we as an establishment need *your* input to help construct them in ways that actually reflect what the tq+ community wants to happen.
It is also pretty inevitable that if you do this you will sooner or later encounter some form of pushback, and when you do, I would say: keep at it. Explain that your chosen gender and pronouns are part of your identity and that you do not feel comfortable with other alternatives, and that a rigid style sheet that does not allow for those kinds of identities is the real-world realization of the abstract concept "this journal discriminates against non-conforming authors".
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: First, the example you gave ("the PI also presented on her research at a local event...") sounds biographic in nature. If you're writing a short author's biography then feel free to use whatever language you wish- that space is there for you to talk about yourself. Moreover, while some people might not be familiar with non-binary pronouns, or even upset by them, their presence in a biographic section is not going to be objectionable.
If you're concerned about using such terms in the general academic text then you might be tackling the wrong problem- gendered pronouns are typically not used in academic prose either in reference to the authors or to citations. It's hard to say without having your draft in front of me, but my guess is that your best overall option would be to remove any references to a gendered pronoun or their non-binary counterparts. The first few papers I wrote had a number of gendered references, and at first I balked when my advisers told me to remove them (it's my voice, wasn't incorrect but a matter of style, etc.), but my final conclusion is that academic writing really does work better without them.
Two places you're tempted to use gendered pronouns are when talking about your own work or about others. When talking about yourself it's standard practice to cite yourself and refer to yourself as a reference. In my field the following would stick out as unusual, a little pretentious, and would violate double-blind review (if that's a concern):
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> In earlier work I explored topic XYZ where I concluded ABC.
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Instead I might write:
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> Topic XYZ was examined in username_6 (2017) which found ABC.
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Similarly it's very uncommon to use gendered pronouns in reference to other works, both because most papers have multiple authors and because the usual style is to talk about the reference rather than the author.
Also, although this isn't part of your original question, I'll point out that using a non-binary pronoun to refer to someone else who prefers the binary version can be just as uncomfortable to them as the situation you're struggling with. For that reason alone it would seem unwise to use ze/hir in reference to other authors.
Lastly, you should be aware that the debate over the use of gendered pronouns is still ongoing within style organizations and in academia. In years past a sentence with implicit masculine bias such as the following would have been common and unremarkable:
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> The engineer must configure the system and to do so he must characterize its behavior completely.
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It is now pretty widely acknowledged that this kind of masculine bias should be eliminated. [There are three standard recommendations](https://libraries.indiana.edu/academic-style-guides-singular-pronoun-they):
1. Alternate the use of he and she (recommended by APA and Chicago styles) or potentially use he/she (not recommended, and less common in academic writing)
2. Rewrite any gendered references to use gender neutral language (recommended by APA and Chicago), even if it makes the overall language cumbersome. E.g.
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> The system configuration, which requires a complete characterization of the system's behavior, must be performed by an engineer.
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3. Replace gendered references with the singular they, which is explicitly rejected by APA and Chicago, but in my experience is pretty common in academic writing. E.g.
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> The engineer must configure the system and to do so they must characterize its behavior completely.
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Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: My advice is to use "they/their", or none at all.
You are suggesting to use a pronoun that the general public neither understands nor accepts, and could detract from your writing. If your subject was about such concepts of sexuality and identity, then it would be most appropriate to use. But for anything else, people aren't going to know what they mean, and will be annoyed at having to look it up. In fact, it will likely be seen as a type-o before it is looked up, and then, you would likely be imagined to be the sexuality identity of the reader. And a perceived type-o lessens the credibility of the author. All of this is an unnecessary distraction.
People use gender descriptions in order to try to portray an image of the subject. Issues of transgender are more of what is going inside the mind, and less about the physical appearances, and so, using adjectives and pronouns about transgender terms will not help to build that image the writer is trying to build. Of course, using neutral-gender words will force the user to imagine a subject of a gender they will have to imagine, as I said most likely their own gender. If you are concerned about what people might imagine the gender to be, as it might change what you are trying to convey, then by all means, use gender specific words - but using terms that have not been accepted by the public will only serve to create confusion.
In your example, you can even get away with removing pronouns altogether, or using "it" in 3rd person:
* "...the PI also presented on her research at a local event..."
* "...the PI also presented on its research at a local event..."
* "...the PI also presented on their research at a local event..."
* "...the PI also presented on research at a local event..."
or even:
* "...the local event will feature research done by the PI..."
But to the common reader:
"...the PI also presented on hir research at a local event..."
This is liable to be seen as meaning "her" instead of "hir", and using "ze" will be read like this:
"...the PI also presented on ze research at a local event..."
And here the reader is thinking you're trying to be cute with Germanesque idioms, unless I am also not using the term properly for the example. Nevertheless, new transgender terms are not uniform, as the community argues that some don't like some phrases because of the sound that implies gender. (eg, "sie" is German, sounds feminine, and means "hers" in German). Of course, only a German speaker would know this, but the fight continues.
Until the public understands these phrases, and when there is unity in the transgender community about which to use, your work is the last place to fight that battle, unless your work is itself about that battle.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_8: Let me add two cents from the perspective of non-native speaker. Your inquiry was - in my case - the first time ever that I have heard of English gender-neutral pronouns. I think I may be not the only exception and therefore your paper may become harder to understand by a broader audience. Secondly, as noted by others already, usage of those pronouns is a non-standard practice (at least in my discipline), therefore it may overshadow other qualities of your work.
However, if you wish to not stress your gender, a number of stylistic figures may be employed. I can immediatelly think of two; firstly, as others have suggested, you may resort to using [pluralis modestiae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosism) (i.e. *we have discovered*); secondly - why not try using passive voice (*the PI's research was also presented at a local event* to rephrase your example).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_9: Firstly, this is the first time in my life I come across about primary research where someone talks about oneself, much less using a third person. The usual way is to use passive voice or talk in first person "I want to thank / we found out / etc".
Secondly, the "pronouns" you refer to are a recent ideological invention and simply don't exist in the English language, so serious publications, which are usually exquisite with language, will for sure have some problems accepting made-up words, especially if they are not related to science.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: Before considering the appropriateness, I'd consider whether readers would understand what it is that you're doing.
Despite being aware of LGBT issues generally, I've never heard "ze/hir" used by anyone yet, and probably many (most?) people not living in the US/Canada(/UK?) would not catch on. They might not even understand your disclaimer, even though it's not rocket science.
On the other hand, the risk is relatively low. I mean, you could get some mean reviewer, but other than that they'd just complain about your weird English as a side-comment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: I do not think the use of gender neutral pronouns are a good idea, but it has less to do with appropiateness, but with attitude.
The following questions will inevitably arise:
1. **Where are your priorities?** Science has time constraints, sometimes very narrow ones. You must continously decide if you need to repeat experiments, make more literary research, make your paper ready and so on and so on. Now one can in fact use much of the time to draw their diagrams *by hand*. Let's imagine you are an excellent, perfectionist painter and you use 50% of your time to draw those diagrams. I see that spiffy graphics and I am impressed, but I am also now inclined to ask myself what the author did in the time. Even if you use regular expressions to replace all gendering, you will need to invest time to make it sound good. That leads to the next problem.
2. **Who are you writing for?** The intent of a paper is communication. The results of scientific work should be transmitted as clearly and unambigously as possible. Therefore many journals have a relatively strict style guide to avoid prose (And yes, some scientists would like to write prose). Let's say a scientist encounters now your paper, the result will be that it takes longer to read and understand because of the unfamiliar structure. You can twist it as much as you like, the message is that you prioritize your personal(!) wish to be named as you like higher than the desire for scientists to read a paper as fast and fluently as possible. I do not make any judgement about this, I only point it out.
3. **How do you handle discussions and contact? What is your reason for non-gendering?** Now one inevitable part of scientific endeavour is communicating with your colleagues. And even if we do not like it, our actions are speaking much about how we handle things. Each is feeling each other out, so with the given clues scientists are prone to extrapolate from the behavior how a person ticks. So you say that this non-gendering part is extremely important.
The question is now: Do you have some of these attitudes?
* zealous: You have a very, *very* important realization which is in fact so important that everyone must know immediately about that. And because the understanding is so crucial it must be told in epic fashion.
* suspicious: Because you know that there are people out there who *could* be hostile, it is a good thing to watch out for behavior. *Could* that be interpreted in a hostile or discriminatory way? If you really, really look sharply, you will find out how that yes, many things could be interpreted this way. And if people are getting irritated that you weigh up every word, it is one clue that they are *really* hostile (*This is sarcasm*).
* intolerant: One thing which is also important that you are able to view positions which you do not agree with (it is one of the most important things in science. Nothing is overlooked better than something people do not want to see).
Why I am telling this?
The reason is that in heated discussions it could always happen that you wrong someone. Now an important thing is to be easy going, being not resentful and being able to accept/tolerate a viewpoint which you don't share. But people *may think* that you share this traits because many movements share exactly these traits.
If you are a difficult person, people will choose to avoid contact, it is in essence a self-fulfilling prophecy. So if you choose to use your pronouns, make it good with friendly behavior and assume good faith.
Some comments:
username_6:
> It is now pretty widely acknowledged that this kind of masculine bias should be eliminated.
Sorry, this is a fact straight out of an anglospheric filter bubble (and I doubt that even there it is universally acknowledged). Cultures do (at least currently) *not* widely acknowledge that what you call "masculine bias" should be eliminated.
E.P.:
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> Academia has a long history of exclusion towards non-WASP people and that behaviour is little less than someone appointing themselves Guardians of the Ivory Tower.
>
Jewish people have a long and strong tradition in academia and while there were discriminations and blockades, the quality and quantity of Jewish work is vastly overproportional to their population size. Could we agree that Ashkenazi are not WASPs? It is also prudent to look up history books, the Western leading role in academia is not a timeless phenomenon, see Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, China, Arabia etc.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_12: So many tortuous issues in academic communication disappear when one shifts from writing in the passive/third person voice to active/first person. In this case, the issue arises because you are attempting to refer to yourself as if you *(I/my)* were in fact someone else (whether *she, her, ze,* or *hir).* In this case, as you are the sole author, the solution is simple if you write in the active first person:
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> I presented this research at a local event...
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When you are part of a multi-author paper, the research is no longer solely yours anyway, and so constructions could be something like:
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> The senior author presented this research...
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> The senior author presented our research...
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Upvotes: 3
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2017/08/01
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<issue_start>username_0: There is a professor with whom I've taken two courses so far, and who has also agreed to write me a reference letter for graduate school when I complete my undergraduate program. I usually write to all professors "Dear Prof. [...]" or "Hello Prof. [...]", but some professors reply to me as "Hi [...]", which is OK. However, I'm wondering if it is also okay to reply "Hi Prof. [...]" in North America?<issue_comment>username_1: "Hi" is a standard greeting in the United States, regardless of setting, for both email and verbal conversation.
Don't over think this. Greet the professor like a fellow human.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In this type of situation I always take the lead from the person I am writing to if they are more senior than me. This means that I start off the conversation using "Dear Professor X Y" and only switch to using "Hi X" once they do.
I use the same rule of thumb for working out when to switch from using titles and surnames to first names. In most email communications I find this is normally after only one or two emails.
In other words, formality and respect are nice, but so is being friendly and saying hi.
Note: academic cultures do vary, and I am basing this on my experiences in the UK and EU. My impression is that in the USA there is a greater social distance between students and academics and therefore more formality is expected.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: To be honest, I don't pay attention to the salutation. Say whatever you want, and I won't care. However, some people do. Some people think that faculty-student communication should be formal business communication. Some of those people will get upset with you or think less of you if you don't meet that formal expectation.
If you're concerned then I would ask the person how they would like to be addressed. Doing so is not considered rude- it is especially understandable if English is not your first language. Most professors are happy to help.
Being curious, I just looked through the last 20 emails I got from students. Their introductions were:
```
No salutation - 6
"Dr. X," - 4
"Professor X," - 3
"Hello Dr. X," - 2
"Hi Professor,"
"Dear Dr. X,"
"Hello,"
"Hello Dr. X!"
"Hello again Dr. X!"
```
So based on this small and unscientific sample, it would seem that starting your emails with "Hi Professor X" is an uncommon thing to do.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: For what it's worth, I tend to interpret "informality/familiarity" from very young people as a sign of naivete/cluelessness. As in "oh, we're all over 21, so are peers." Or, sometimes, this can arise from a spamming effort (of students to faculty), in which case I am less inclined to be tolerant. E.g., when the email is bcc... or, even more silly, cc, with 50 names on the list.
Forms of address inevitably are an opportunity to "demonstrate formal respect". Yes, one can argue on ideological grounds that honorifics are misguided, and so on, and I have no powerful counter-argument... except on my own behalf, that if a very young person sees themself as my peer in a professional sense (as opposed to "moral" sense, etc.), then I wonder why they'd bother emailing me at all...
That is, either my (decades-in-the-acquisition) expertise is potentially helpful to them, in which case our relationship cannot possibly be intellectually "equal", or, if "intellectual equality" is an axiom, well, ok, then why involve me?
That is, I do not view my seniority merely as "gate-keeping", but as having given me the possibility of having thought about many things for a long time, and, thus, "being more expert" than people who've not had that time. That's all I have to offer.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: You can probably tell from the other answers that it really depends. It depends on the the environment of the school, the culture of the department, the level of the student, and the crotchetiness of the particular professor.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing rude about "Hi Prof. [...]," but you can't go wrong with being more formal. If Prof. [...] wants to be less formal, they'll say so.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't know about North America, but here in the UK I have always just used
'Hi [<NAME>]'
If it's my very first time contacting someone I might use 'Dear' first but I never bothered with titles apart from my first year at university where I was too concerned with proper formality as a naïve fresher.
It hasn't caused me any trouble yet, or perhaps I have just been very oblivious to subtle requests to change my tone.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Rather than answer your question directly, which other answers have already done quite adequately, I'll address it at a higher level of abstraction. Sociologists define the notion of [closure](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closure_(sociology)), which is the tendency of groups of people to restrict access to the group and its resources using various mechanisms. One such mechanism is the use of unwritten norms of speech and behavior, which have the effect of making outsiders to the group appear as uncomfortable and "clueless" when they try to operate within the confines of the group.
While I am not an expert in sociology, it seems to me that your question about email salutations is a small example of this phenomenon. The truth is that, in North American academia at least, **there is no importance whatsoever to whether one uses "hi" or "hello" in an email greeting**. When professors talk about whether a given greeting seems "professional", or "clueless", or some such nonsense, what they are really thinking (at a subconscious level that is) is whether the greeting signals to them that you are a legitimate member of the group - someone who has been around long enough to learn the unwritten codes of behavior. If you are perceived as a member of the group, your email and you will receive a more favorable treatment as a result.
The moral of looking at things at this level of generality is that in my opinion it's best not to waste too much time and energy about trivial things like this. It saddens me that academia uses subtle mechanisms like salutations and titles (which also get discussed a lot here on academia.se) to make people who are new to academia feel uncomfortable and ill-at-ease, but I think the best way to fight such phenomena is to **not care** - we would all be much better off spending our time thinking about the substance of what we want to say in our emails rather than whether "hi" is an appropriate greeting.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: Depends, if they're human a simple greeting will suffice. If they're morally inclined by their title, you need to treat your message like you would your resume.
Best observation don't take the lead, wait for them to make or engage or send the first email. Look at the message's header, body and footer, the presentation of how their message is delivered. Then compose a reply based on that analysis. Just don't treat the message like you're talking to your best pal, treat it with an emphasis of student/teacher conversation. Know the bounds of moral presentations, don't just drop illegible or short case words. Use proper sentences and English to convey your point/message.
Also keep the email short, unless you're including attachments or extra edits.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: Typically you want to convey both some familiarity and some respect. The way this happens varies by culture.
In the UK I expect to usually be addressed in an email as
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> Dear Jessica,
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until I am on more familiar terms with the sender. 'Dear' shows politeness, while 'Jessica' shows friendliness.
In North America I found I was most often addressed by students as
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> Hi Prof.
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As a Brit I found this very annoying, as from my British viewpoint it is bordering on rude, and I am not a Prof as I use the term. But I could see that this was the local equivalent of 'Dear Jessica', which the respect and friendliness denoted in different ways.
**So for North America I would say 'Hi Prof' is fine (indeed, fairly standard).**
What I would warn against is going too far either towards informality or formality. I've often had
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> Hey!
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sometimes
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> Hey miss
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and sometimes no greeting or sign-off at all, just (typically) a demand. These suggest that the sender has forgotten either the nature of our relationship or the need to modify their behaviour accordingly.
Going the other way, I sometimes get
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> Dear Dr. X
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accompanied by full name and number for the student. Mostly this seems to be some degree of 'I pay your salary so do what I want', but sometimes it seems the student thinks I don't remember who they are, even though I address them by name when I talk to them each week.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/02
| 678
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a BS in computer science and have been working as a developer for the last 6 months after my graduation. I am interested in pursuing a master's degree and I'm not sure which program, computer science or information technology, would open more academic and professional doors.
I will have ~3 years of relevant experience after completing any program and my job will pay for ~80% of my education.
What program have you taken, what doors has it opened? Has it gotten you interviews, or moved you up the ladder faster?<issue_comment>username_1: Take a look at the courses in the two programs at your selected institution. You will likely find that the CS master's is more theoretical and the IT master's is more applied.
Then decide your own path. Do you want to continue as a developer, do systems integration, or something else. Map your proposed path to the program.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I haven't had a job in IT for long, but I do have a good knowledge of academia. Simple answer is in the program names. One is science, the other is technology. If you want to do more research (or, at least, have the option to do more research) go with Comp Sci. Otherwise go with IT. From what I know, IT has fewer academic options than Comp Sci does.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Short answer : Stick to MCS.
I have a BS CIS degree from over a decade ago and always worked in tech field. While many employers consider Information Systems / Information Technology (these 2 are quite different but let's group 'em together vs CS degree for this arg's sake), as CS equivalent, but also, many will still favor CS over other tech degrees - because CS degree holders are the past/current/future senior & mgmt position engineers and leads at-large.
Plus, those petty no-name for-profit low-quality schools have damaged the reputation of these fairly new IT degrees and even well-known schools are still not 100% sure about the degree (constantly changing the degree name and curriculum like mine).
Adding to the damage, non-IT people (eg HR managers) think of CS as core engineers vs IT as some sort of secondary engineers. Unfortunately, other people's perceptions do matter in your life.
Back when I was working on getting CIS, I had high hopes in seeking a position that will promote both business and science mind (money and knowledge), but in real world, there are only a few ideal openings for such. World doesn't seem ready still.
You'll likely shoot for project/product managers or business/data analysts, heavily relying on engineers for information and outcomes. And yes, most PMs make less than engineers (unless you work at top tech companies), and PMs cannot exist without engineers but not vice-versa.
If you want business-side of things, perhaps MBA is the better option.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/08/02
| 1,722
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergrad in the second year of a 2-year transfer program at a community college. I am retaking a class that I was forced to drop a couple of semesters ago due to family issues. The instructor is the senior guy in the department for my major, and I will be taking another course with him (both are 4 credits), requiring lab work.
The trouble is, I have known for a few months that I will need surgery. I'm on medications that are working, but the side effects in the strategic term are disastrous. The surgery will leave me bedridden for 3 days to 3 weeks.I am assuming at this point that I will have at least some flexibility in scheduling the surgery. I thought I could get it done over summer break, but that's next to impossible at this point.
So far as I can tell, these are my options;
* Tell the instructor immediately (via email) or the first day of class.
* Tell the instructor once I have any clarity regarding scheduling, in the hope that I can get it done over winter break.
Since this is a specialist in my major, who can help me with career guidance, references, and hands-on skills, I really want to make the best possible impression. His opinion of me is even more important as I expect to transfer next semester and would like to get As for both courses.
Unfortunately, in addition to making me unable to finish the semester with him, the aforementioned family issues resulted in an anxiety diagnosis which required special testing arrangements. He was not super happy with that. So, on the one hand, I need this surgery as soon as possible. On the other hand, I want to avoid the perception that I am unable to handle a heavy workload for any reason. How/when should I tell him about this, if at all?<issue_comment>username_1: Short answer: Tell him now.
Longer answer:
As pointed out in the comments, go find the office dealing with such questions and contact them. You don't need to resort to legal rights immediately, just tell them your story and get some advice on how to proceed. They might also know things you didn't consider yet, e.g. some regulations on how much of a class you are allowed to miss, what sort of medical certificate is needed, etc.
After you cleared all questions with them, tell your instructor that you have a pressing medical issue that will force you to miss up to three weeks of class. Do that in person if possible, not via email. Ask him how to handle this and show him that you are still interested in his class and willing to take it, e.g. ask him if it is possible to get the lecture notes for these weeks and hand in the homework via email. Of course this depends on how you define "bedridden", so if you will be on heavy meds and unable to do anything, or if you will be sitting in your bed, fully alert and able to work on a laptop, but not able to stand up. I don't know what condition you have and I understand that this is private, but you should think about a plan on how to make up for the missed classes and present this plan in the discussion with the professor. This will show him that you are motivated and willing to take the class and is far easier to accept than you being gone for a few weeks and some legal office forcing him to still let you pass.
Also try to point out that you have some flexibility on when to schedule the operation and ask him for his opinion. Make clear that you can't say an exact date, but ask him if he prefers this month or that month, for example. All in all, talk to him, be frank and show motivation to make up for the missed time and you should be ok.
The above advice might also help with him not being pleased with your anxiety. It is hard for a non-professional to distinguish between anxiety and stress/fear of exams. Furthermore, some students simply say "I have anxiety", even if they are just a little stressed at the moment. Show the professor that you are still motivated for his class, that you are not trying to use your anxiety as an excuse for anything, that you are doing your best even though you have several medical conditions and he will most likely not worry about it anymore.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Go to the Office of Students with Disabilities, with letters from your doctor about the two conditions -- the one requiring surgery, and the anxiety.
Then, imagine what it's like to be in the instructor's role. As instructor, you would want a student with a disability (either temporary or permanent) to have a clear idea about what his needs are, what he himself can do to make the educational system work for him, and how the instructor can help. So think about those things, and try to come up with clear proposals. Be prepared to be a bit flexible and trying some alternate ideas that might be proposed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Don't do it. Do not take the class or, if you're already enrolled, seek a medical withdrawal immediately and get your money back. Here in the US, I can't imagine a school that wouldn't do that, given a valid medical reason.
Instructors can be understanding of medical problems but ultimately have to grade based on your performance. If you can't be there, you can't perform. Please consider whether you paid for the course because you just want it on your transcript or because you'd like to learn the material. You cannot miss up to three weeks in a college course and learn the material. You may not even get the passing grade.
Students with long-term disabilities usually arrive with realistic expectations of the accommodations they need and what can be done. But students hit with sudden or unexpected illness or other medical issues tend to be overoptimistic about how many days they'll miss, their ability to make up for the absence and about how much leeway they'll have to skip the work but still pass. If the class involves a lab and perhaps a partner where you can't just read the book, you simply must show up, there's no way you can be gone for up to 3 weeks. The fact this is a class you didn't do well in last time does not help.
In my experience, (sigh, yes, I have some) what happens in situations like yours is that the student is advised this is unlikely to work, then they plead, oh, it's going to ruin their life, they'll lose their scholarship, their apartment, blah, blah, blah. Often, they pull the "but Mom said" ploy by getting an instructor doing the lectures to agree before going to the lab instructor. If they persist, eventually everyone gives in and they're told, okay, fine, we warned you, you're an adult, this is your choice, so do it.
And then they show up after the long absence unhappy that their instructors can't give them a personalized repeat performance of all the hours of lectures and so on that they missed because they've got a whole class that was there the first time and needs them now on the current stuff. They typically pull the worst grade in the class, maybe or maybe not pass and they're unhappy, often convinced the problem was their awful and inflexible instructors, who they slam on their evals.
Instructors typically have some flexibility to grant or deny these absences in their own courses. I'm to the point where I basically don't ever grant them, no matter what the sob story. It is virtually always a huge mistake.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/08/02
| 1,513
| 6,533
|
<issue_start>username_0: Since over a year, I've been involved in almost everything my supervisor does and seem to have gained her trust, which is very gratifying.
There have been instances where I was asked to review and directly comment on other research lab colleagues' work who are involved in writing/research tasks. In many cases, I often felt like there was some kind of implicit resistance after a while (e.g. not meeting deadlines, not addressing my comments even if my supervisor wants them addressed, etc.).
On paper, my colleagues often have a stronger research background than I (e.g. coming from research-oriented field or PhD student) while I'm MA level and coming from an arts background, which I feel might influence the situation. However, at any moment, if the supervisor does not agree with my comments, she can step in, as we usually work on shared files online.
What could we do to ensure things go smoother and decrease the resistance?<issue_comment>username_1: Short answer: Tell him now.
Longer answer:
As pointed out in the comments, go find the office dealing with such questions and contact them. You don't need to resort to legal rights immediately, just tell them your story and get some advice on how to proceed. They might also know things you didn't consider yet, e.g. some regulations on how much of a class you are allowed to miss, what sort of medical certificate is needed, etc.
After you cleared all questions with them, tell your instructor that you have a pressing medical issue that will force you to miss up to three weeks of class. Do that in person if possible, not via email. Ask him how to handle this and show him that you are still interested in his class and willing to take it, e.g. ask him if it is possible to get the lecture notes for these weeks and hand in the homework via email. Of course this depends on how you define "bedridden", so if you will be on heavy meds and unable to do anything, or if you will be sitting in your bed, fully alert and able to work on a laptop, but not able to stand up. I don't know what condition you have and I understand that this is private, but you should think about a plan on how to make up for the missed classes and present this plan in the discussion with the professor. This will show him that you are motivated and willing to take the class and is far easier to accept than you being gone for a few weeks and some legal office forcing him to still let you pass.
Also try to point out that you have some flexibility on when to schedule the operation and ask him for his opinion. Make clear that you can't say an exact date, but ask him if he prefers this month or that month, for example. All in all, talk to him, be frank and show motivation to make up for the missed time and you should be ok.
The above advice might also help with him not being pleased with your anxiety. It is hard for a non-professional to distinguish between anxiety and stress/fear of exams. Furthermore, some students simply say "I have anxiety", even if they are just a little stressed at the moment. Show the professor that you are still motivated for his class, that you are not trying to use your anxiety as an excuse for anything, that you are doing your best even though you have several medical conditions and he will most likely not worry about it anymore.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Go to the Office of Students with Disabilities, with letters from your doctor about the two conditions -- the one requiring surgery, and the anxiety.
Then, imagine what it's like to be in the instructor's role. As instructor, you would want a student with a disability (either temporary or permanent) to have a clear idea about what his needs are, what he himself can do to make the educational system work for him, and how the instructor can help. So think about those things, and try to come up with clear proposals. Be prepared to be a bit flexible and trying some alternate ideas that might be proposed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Don't do it. Do not take the class or, if you're already enrolled, seek a medical withdrawal immediately and get your money back. Here in the US, I can't imagine a school that wouldn't do that, given a valid medical reason.
Instructors can be understanding of medical problems but ultimately have to grade based on your performance. If you can't be there, you can't perform. Please consider whether you paid for the course because you just want it on your transcript or because you'd like to learn the material. You cannot miss up to three weeks in a college course and learn the material. You may not even get the passing grade.
Students with long-term disabilities usually arrive with realistic expectations of the accommodations they need and what can be done. But students hit with sudden or unexpected illness or other medical issues tend to be overoptimistic about how many days they'll miss, their ability to make up for the absence and about how much leeway they'll have to skip the work but still pass. If the class involves a lab and perhaps a partner where you can't just read the book, you simply must show up, there's no way you can be gone for up to 3 weeks. The fact this is a class you didn't do well in last time does not help.
In my experience, (sigh, yes, I have some) what happens in situations like yours is that the student is advised this is unlikely to work, then they plead, oh, it's going to ruin their life, they'll lose their scholarship, their apartment, blah, blah, blah. Often, they pull the "but Mom said" ploy by getting an instructor doing the lectures to agree before going to the lab instructor. If they persist, eventually everyone gives in and they're told, okay, fine, we warned you, you're an adult, this is your choice, so do it.
And then they show up after the long absence unhappy that their instructors can't give them a personalized repeat performance of all the hours of lectures and so on that they missed because they've got a whole class that was there the first time and needs them now on the current stuff. They typically pull the worst grade in the class, maybe or maybe not pass and they're unhappy, often convinced the problem was their awful and inflexible instructors, who they slam on their evals.
Instructors typically have some flexibility to grant or deny these absences in their own courses. I'm to the point where I basically don't ever grant them, no matter what the sob story. It is virtually always a huge mistake.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/08/02
| 5,413
| 23,476
|
<issue_start>username_0: As someone supervising postgrad students, I wonder what is the best way to train these students to write high-quality research papers?
---
The best way seems to be through coauthorship but ...
On the one hand I can be hands-off and rather give them feedback as best as I can but let them do most of the work themselves, sort of like a "sink or swim" strategy.
On the other hand I can be hands-on and rewrite the paper (or large parts of it) and hope that they learn from the example I give.
On the one hand I want them to learn to write papers without me some day and I want them to learn as quickly as possible to take load off me.
On the other hand I want us to publish in the best place possible with as little stress as possible.
On the one hand I want them to see the peer review comments from what they themselves have written.
On the other hand I do not want them to be discouraged by the peer review system early on and do not want to submit papers I know we could have written better.
On the one hand I want them to get confidence by being published and presenting work at good venues.
On the other hand I wonder if they need to get there themselves to get that confidence boost.
---
At the moment I'm very hands on. There's a few factors for this: I don't like submitting papers that are not up to a certain standard, I'm a native English speaker in a non-English speaking country with non-native speaking students, publications are a high priority for me, etc.
But recently a friend/colleague warned me that I should not be so hands-on with the writing of the papers of my students. He pointed to recently graduated researchers in my area that published good work as students but who struggled after leaving their PhD supervisor saying their supervisor did them no favours in the long term ... that by being so hands on, while the students have success getting published and so forth with me, I'm not really doing the most important thing a good supervisor should do: making myself obsolete.
---
My question is how to train students to write good research papers and in what ways can I balance being hands-on and hands-off?
I'm also interested in methods not directly involving coauthorship.<issue_comment>username_1: edit: To clear a misunderstanding that might have arisen (see the answer of username_5): the papers described here were not solo-papers. Neither me nor my advisor would ever have the idea to write a paper together and then put only one name on it...
---
My instructor did a really good job with that (and is still doing it), so I'll explain here approach as I experienced it:
For our first paper, we were sitting in her office, she wrote it and asked my opinion from time to time. I was still really new to everything and agreed most of the time, but I also already learned about some questions that should be considered and, of course, I learned the style she was using first-hand.
For the second paper, we started in the same way. At some point, she told me that I should write a part (the proof of a theorem, a short paragraph,...) myself. Of course we discussed the content first, but I was responsible for writing it down. I already had the first part of the paper that we wrote together to use as a starting point, to adjust my style to it, but I was still ultimately responsible for it myself. Once I finished it, she looked over it, gave me comments and asked me to write a new version. And a new one. And a new one,... until it looked just as good as the rest of the paper she wrote. Of course it would have been easier for her to just write it down herself, but doing it this way I learned how to write myself and I had the success of having something I wrote myself in a paper. (Yes, I had to adjust it a few times, but ultimately I did write the final version that we published)
For the third paper, she told me to write it completely myself. Once again we went through a long process of her commenting on things and me correcting it, but in the end I had a paper that I wrote myself, and I felt really proud of it.
After that, she got me some review jobs, so that I could learn what to look for in a paper, how to recognize strong parts and flaws and (I assume) so that I don't just copy her style but also see other authors and learn from them.
All in all, she did a really good job and with only three publications yet I feel like I am now able to write a paper on my own.
Now let's end with some general disclaimers: The approach given above assumes a motivated student that wants to produce good quality papers and is willing to adjust it until it looks really nice. A lazy student who just wants to increase his paper count with the least effort possible is of course still a problem. Also, your students should be able to produce papers in English. If not, point them towards English courses offered (most likely) at the university, help them install spell-checkers on their computers, etc.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A nice starting point can be to ask your student to identify 2 good papers and 2 bad papers, and then ask the student to explain (by writing first one-page justification and defending it orally after) why she or he thinks the papers are good or bad, comparing them and explicitly pointing to the differences.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Good writers read a lot. Writing an academic paper in a vacuum can seem overwhelming, but writing an academic paper after studying the presentation and writing style of some well-written papers (preferably in your field; hopefully your field has well-written papers!) gives some idea of what works and what doesn't in an academic piece. In particular for me, my ideas of how to create and present my figures and what makes good discussion and conclusion sections have been entirely influenced by others' work.
ZeroTheHero's suggestion of actively engaging your student in a discussion about why the good papers are good (and the bad papers bad) is a great one.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The way I found very effective, is indeed to have the student as a co-author for a paper. The student would do most of the practical work (or it is split between multiple students). Then it is discussed how to organize the paper and everyone would describe their part of the practical work in a section - that way, if there are multiple students involved, they have to discuss and normalize their terminology for it to make sense as a whole. The advisor would take a look and comment on the structure and content mainly (top-level) until a complete basic version is established. In the meantime the advisor would write an introduction and/or related work section etc. Then students and advisor take turns "improve"-reading the whole paper or distinctive sections.
Each time the advisor does a pass, he adds commentary where needed or roughly restructures sections to give the students the general direction of how to improve then let them do the details. Initially this means a lot of big changes, but in time they get smaller. Finally it gets more fine-grained and the advisor changes individual sentences to improve the language, shorten paragraphs etc - in essence he goes from top-level to fine-grained changes in a way that he'd always spends about the same time with his pass.
The students would exactly see what he was changing and could object - for instance, if they thought the reformulation didn't match what they initially intended to say with regard to the experiments etc. Through those discussions and being hands-on involved in the changes (after each advisor iteration, the students work with the text again and can also do whatever they feel as improvements), the students should feel as still having control over the text, but they also learn by doing.
I think this is a quite motivating approach and also very helpful to really improve our own writing style - in the end, everyone can learn from everyone and by iterating over the text of others, it is made sure everyone understands the whole content to some degree at least. For the advisor it means he has a more or less constant level of effort - sure, towards deadlines the iteration frequency may increase ;)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I think the suggestions in other answers are good, but I think the approach depends on the situation, and username_1's for instance seems quite different from mine. E.g., solo papers in math, I do not think is it normal or appropriate for an advisor to write any of the paper (cf. [Can an advisor write a student's PhD thesis?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/89740/19607))
I did my PhD in pure math, where a thesis typically amounts to 1-2 solo papers, and they are often not written until after graduation. I think my advisor was very helpful about teaching me how to write, and this was my experience:
* First, unlike many cases, my advisor had me write up my results as 2 papers *before* writing my thesis. I was fortunate in that I got 2 stand-alone results sufficiently in advance of graduation for this to make sense. This meant that my advisor could give me tips and feedback throughout the writing process. (This also meant I didn't spend the first year of my postdoc writing up my thesis, which is far too common in math.)
* Before writing, my advisor suggested how to pitch and organize my paper.
* After writing a draft, he read through the paper and made many comments. As I recall, sometimes he read the paper while I was in the office with him, and I took notes on his comments, and sometimes he read the paper by himself (at least with my thesis) and made comments by pen, but then would go through them with me when we met. Many of these comments would be about little details, like how to phrase things to make it more clear, whether something needs a citation, but some of these comments were also on broader principles (e.g., state your main result clearly at the beginning). What I think was important, was he would explain why it's better to write this way instead of that.
* We would go through a few iterations of this until he was happy (I think) with the paper. One time, after going through extensive comments and rewrites twice, he told me to just start over and write it this way instead. I was frustrated at the time, but in retrospect think it was very good advice, and have several times since found that starting over quite helpful.
* He also gave me advice on where to submit, and fortunately I got referee reports before graduating, and he helped me deal with revisions.
Besides this approach, which I think is great (provided the advisor is a good writer themself), here are a couple of other comments.
* It takes time to learn how to be a good writer, and getting feedback from different people is instrumental in this process.
* While I agree with one of the other answers that reading good papers is helpful, what I actually found more helpful was reading *bad* papers. After spending loads of time of struggling to understand things which are poorly written, you realize certain things to avoid in writing, and how you would prefer it to be explained. Perhaps more importantly, this should impress upon one the importance of writing well.
* General English writing guides (e.g., Strunk and White) can be helpful for instilling basic writing principles, as well as grammar. There may also be various articles on writing advice in your general field--we have several in math, and there are general science ones as well--that you can recommend to your students.
* Good writing is of course subjective, and depends on where you're coming from, and one person I thought was a great expositor, another colleague thought was hard to understand. Anyway, I think it's good to encourage students to develop their own style and realize different approaches have different advantages.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: First, congratulations for taking care of the students and your proposed goal of making them better writers.
As a self-educated non-native speaker, this is what I would suggest. I know that this might sound simplistic, but you really don't need many principles (which doesn't mean writing well is easy to accomplish):
1. **You can't be a good writer if you're not a good reader.** That means not only that your students should read a lot but more
importantly they need to pay attention and care about what they
read. Asking students to read and explain articles helps a lot.
Then, they are able to identify first-hand how writing style and
clarity affects understanding in readers, which is the whole point.
2. **Know your audience = learn your genre/style.** For better or worse, scientific writing is not creative but absolutely
straightforward. The structure is standard, even the writing style
is standard, but of course, you need **to learn** it. This is
sometimes difficult, particularly to young/non-native speakers that
associate long-grandiose-impressive-but-unintelligible prose to "importance" or "high status". I would suggest you give them a copy of this excellent book: [https://www.amazon.com/Science-Research-Writing-Non-Native-Speakers/dp/184816310X](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/184816310X)
3. **Practice, practice, practice. And get feedback.** The more you write, and the more you see that audiences get what you mean (even if they disagree), the more confident you become.
Above all, please teach them that clarity, conciseness, and particularly writing a **clear conclusion or proposition** (something new the reader can learn from them) that derives from the experiment/work is the main goal of their writing, not to show how creative or eloquent they can be.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: There are some good suggestions in other answers that mainly are related directly to writing the paper. A further point: in my opinion, to become good at writing papers you need to try reviewing them.
* Where possible, and with the permission of the editor, work with your student on some real reviews that you've been sent. Even better, if you are reasonably confident in their ability, pass the review onto them entirely (again, via the editor).
* Make sure that your department has a journal club that your students attend. And attend it yourself so that you can highlight points that may have been missed.
* What about having a "review exchange" prior to submission? Your student exchanges manuscripts with another student (not necessarily simultaneously), and they participate in a mock review process. This could help with your worry about submitting a paper that is below par. Disclaimer: I've not actually tried this...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: One thing that my advisor has always done that has been helpful for many reasons (not just improving writing) is to encourage me start writing up problem statement, partial results, etc. as a project is progressing.
Often other students seem to wait until they think they have enough results to publish a complete paper before even starting writing. I've tried this approach in the past as well, but I think early writing has significant advantages.
1. It ensures that both myself and my advisor have the same understanding of the problem.
2. It ensures that *I* understand the problem (or the proposed solution) well enough to articulate it in writing.
3. I can get early feedback on the structure and content, and particularly the description of the motivation for the work.
4. It can be used as a starting point for paper later down the road.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I would set a timeline for revisions. I would pick a format [**APA** for instance]. I would fail any student who did not follow the format or copied too much. Create a way to make the students select a topic and *'working'* title. Next, and since your main issue is sensitivity. I would force the students to turn in a rough draft after a couple of weeks. Then, I would collect all the papers. I would shuffle them and hand them out for the other students to critique.
After my professor did this for me, I have become a way better writer!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: To the immediate question, I don't think co-authoring is the best way to reach this goal.
* Like most sports, arts, games, and crafts, writing isn't *one* skill. Each is a cluster of skills, rules, templates, techniques, and strategies. FWIW, I think editing is it's own cluster of skills that merely overlap writing.
* Being "good" at a given sport, art, game, or craft isn't about methodically following a massive script or checklist, even if it's full of observations from the best of the best. The lion's share is about "naturally" synthesizing elements you've repeated often enough that you can can perform them on autopilot.
If you think about it this way, hopefully the following approach will make sense:
1. **Break what it means to "write high-quality research papers" out into a list of priority-ranked skills, rules, formats, techniques, and strategies you'd like your students to know.** Be pragmatic about a skill's usefulness. Correct citations might be important, but it's probably a bad idea to spend a week learning to flawlessly cite without referencing the style guide before you can clearly explain methodology.
2. **Know what the baseline looks like, and start with a diagnostic.** Get a sense of whether any students need significant foundational work in writing or English to be ready to work on your initial goals.
3. **Chart a progression that balances focused skill acquisition with synthesis.** Students should be continually picking up a handful of skills and working towards synthesizing them into increasingly complex forms and longer work.
4. **Approach every skill from multiple angles.** What's appropriate will vary, but some ideas are: having them break down pre-selected examples, find their own examples, compare examples they found, get together in groups to debate the best/worst examples anyone in the group found, revise/improve "bad" examples, write their own, compare theirs with classmates, revise or critique previous work in light of new techniques
5. **If it's important enough to mark, require corrections/revisions.** It only takes a *little* more work on your part to make sure students promptly put your feedback into practice.
6. **At the risk of stating the too-obvious: know if your university/college has a (graduate-)student writing center, and if so what they offer/are capable of.** It's not like you'll be able to outsource this task on them, but they may already have workshops/groups on some topics you want to cover. If so, attend one and see if it's a suitable standin.
I can't tell if you're supervising all of the students in a specialization/degree/program/etc., or if you're only supervising students who seek you out as an advisor.
This is a lot of extra work for you and a captive audience, but if it's an elective relationship and you can get away with making it clear that this is a requirement for working with you, you'll at least filter for motivated students.
It's probably good for time and resource reasons if this opportunity is built into degree requirements as a single or multi-year course track. If budgets aren't austere and politics don't intervene, the funding request for a pilot program aimed at improving the quality, quantity, and placement of publications would seem to write itself.
Because writing happens to also be a good way to learn, it's even better if certain proficiencies are a core goal of your program reflected in all courses. If there are courses in which students read existing literature or formulate small research projects, these are opportunities to build literature reviews, critiques, research proposals, and other forms of writing into the pedagogy.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Tips
----
Some of these may be less appropriate in some fields; take with a grain of salt.
1. Get them to critique/review poor, fair, good, and excellent papers. It is much easier to see problems in someone else's work than your own; but after having done so you start to see the same mistake in your own work.
2. Compile a list of good resources on good writing, and encourage students to start there and go beyond on their own. Or you can write a "writing manual" or "top 20 things to avoid" yourself. I read my supervisor's advice on writing many times while writing papers and my thesis.
3. (This one is tough but important.) Do whatever you can to teach students how to answer the question "Is this good?" for themselves. It's relatively easy to spot grammatical errors, confusing wording, and problems with flow; it's much harder to look at a work overall and comment on the quality.
Here's the advice I would try to drill home: you must go to first principles. It is about the individuals who
read your paper and how they will react. Some will be students, some
professors, some from other fields, perhaps even some laypeople. The
more you respect their time, the less effort it is to read the
paper, and the more you can inspire and excite them, the better.
4. (Also tough but important.) Try to break the "follow-the-rules" mentality. It is a creativity killer. Actually I think breaking this mentality also leads to better research. Of course, we need to follow the rules some of the time, but the education system creates students who believe that following rules is sufficient to create success, because that's how it works at school.
What I would drive home: Remember that you have a blank page. You can put *anything* on it
if you think it will be effective (but make sure to get opinions on it
before submission). Usually this means creative diagrams or poignant
examples which get several ideas across effectively. Try to think of various ways to explain things and go with the one *which will have the best impact on the readers.*
Advice
------
I think it's admirable that you are trying to look after your students; many people have the attitude "they are adults" and I think it's a lazy and narrow-minded approach. So please continue.
That said, it sounds like you are mollycoddling them: "as little stress as possible", "do not want them to be discouraged", etc.
Putting one's hard work up for scrutiny by experts in your field is supposed to be stressful. Students need to know what the reality is like. Some of them will tolerate it very well, and you're holding them back by hand-holding them. Others will struggle with it, and if you hand-hold them then they will still struggle once they graduate. There's a good chance that if you have high (but realistic) expectations, they will rise to the challenge—or they may realise this career is not right for them, and if so, better now than a few years down the track.
By all means help them get emotionally prepared, step in when they are about to hit a crisis, and so on. But give them as much independence as they can handle, have high expectations, and when possible, allow them the satisfaction of publishing their own work, even if you know it could be improved (provided it's fit for publication).
To be clear, co-authoring a paper can be a very valuable experience for students—not because it insulates them from stress and discouragement, but because they learn about the thinking process and the tricks of the trade.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/03
| 2,170
| 8,947
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<issue_start>username_0: I find then when giving a talk it feels weird / too formal / easy to stumble with my words when having to refer to a professor in the audience as "Professor Last Name", especially when their last name consists of multiple syllables.
As a student, is it acceptable to address professors by their first names, when giving a talk about my research?<issue_comment>username_1: Some professors are comfortable having students call them by their first names. You should wait until individual professors let you know that this is acceptable to them before you do so.
However, others are not comfortable with this. So, to be on the safe side, I believe that it is best to refer to them by their formal title and last name during a public talk. Many professors do this with their peers during public talks, even if members of the audience are their good colleagues. Plus, you won't run the risk of mistakenly refer to some professors by their first name and others by their formal name, which could be viewed as disrespectful.
I also caution to graduate students that even when they feel comfortable calling individual professors by their first name, they should refer to the same professor by their formal name when talking to others. It's usually best to err on the side of greater professionalism.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you are referring to them rather than addressing them, I think you should say Firstname Lastname i.e. omit the title and say both names.
That is more natural than the alternatives, politer to the professor than just Firstname, and politer to the audience as it makes it very clear who you are referring to. It is polite whether or not you know the professor, and whether or not they are comfortable with being addressed by their first name.
Occasionally speakers refer to other researchers by nicknames such as Bob or Sasha, which don't even start with the same letters as the full first name. That makes it especially difficult for the audience to work out who they are talking about. Most people don't know all the standard nicknames in the world.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: This very much depends on the circumstances: the audience and the cultural setting, but simple rules are
* Use the title (*Professor*) only when predominantly addressing those who know that person only with that title (undergraduate students), but not at a scientific conference.
* At a scientific conference, use the first name if this is customary among academics in that setting (usually in small communities, such as astrophysics), otherwise use the surname (and optionally also the first name).
I like to close with an anecdote. As PhD student (looong ago), I attended an international conference in Elba (Italy), where all Italian PhD students referred to their supervisors as *Professore XXX*, while nobody else used titles (nobody would ever think of mentioning *Professor Einstein*). I found this very funny at the time, but those poor Italian students must have gone through a mighty cultural conflict.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It really depends on circumstances and audience. However contrary to some statements in the previous answer, in international conferences is normal to refer to scientists by
* name surname
* professor surname
* surname, via their group, like in "research done in the group of xxx"; xxx is surname, but you can add name or title.
Shall I give you examples?
Me, speaking to a relatively small and "friendly" audience about my supervisor : "as *name* told us, recently a new..."
Me, speaking in a big session: "as *professor* yyy told us....."
If that professor did not tell us anything, because physically absent, but I really have to use his/her work in a technical way, of course I will say "*surname* showed that equation x has a solution...... " (although it is much better to show a useful reference without mentioning it, but I think this is another issue).
Referring to someone that is not a professor, is less common to ear of doctor, but possible. I would say "as *name* told us" or "as \*name surname \* told us..." in the two distinct audiences as above.
Imagine a student... If he and the supervisor are known, it is easy to say "my supervisor....".
A lot of registers are possible, those above are just indication.
If two bigs refer to each other, they will call each other by names. It can happen they are sharing the stage.
It is also related to the age difference between speaker - audience - spoken name , which again is subjective and cultural.
So be flexible.
But I would say that calling someone Professor is almost the norm.
To give a ground to my answer, I have attended hundreds of conferences and meetings worldwide.
Ps: I never noticed it in real conferences, but often the impression is that US Americans think that their way is the standard, but it is not. The fact that international conferences are hold in English has nothing, or little to be precise, to do with the manners within the conference, and even less with the cultural background of the participants.
Coincise: you can easily imagine a summer school, a session of a conference, or even a conference, all having English as official language but no American participants. I think this render the idea of what we are discussing about.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: No, never.
The whole point of addressing people respectfully is to demonstrate your effort to learn and memorize their tittles and names. Otherwise, you're sending the message "I can't be bothered to spell your names right". Yes, it is easy to stumble, that's the point. You prove yourself by not stumbling.
When you're giving a talk, it's giving a talk. It's not relaxed chitchat. Giving a talk **is** formal, so your feeling that something seems "too formal" misguides you. It's better to come out as too formal rather than as fraternizing.
Besides, there is a simple matter that you don't have control over the audience. Some may not know who "Paul" is. Someone may record it and then watch 5 years later on another university. "Professor X Y" leaves no room for mistake.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: Sometimes. (Anyone who says 'no, never' doesn't understand context.)
Things you need to consider:
* What does your professor prefer? -- this is probably the ultimate
consideration. All things considered it is your obligation not to
offend. If your professor doesn't want you call him 'Jack', then
don't do it. If they are fine about it then it may be okay, depending on other factors.
* What would the audience prefer?
* Age/level difference between you and the 'professor' -- are you a
undergraduate researcher? If you're a postdoc it would be very
strange to call them 'professor X' among colleagues for a seminar
(again, in the US and not for bigger talks)
* Relationship with 'professor' -- are you his/her graduate student? It would be strange for a student to use 'Professor X' with their adviser in
the States (in a formal talk with many 'outside' individuals it would
be more common.)
* Your country's academic and social norms -- many parts of the world a student would never do this, but in the U.S it is quite common especially if your professor is a
Gen-Exer or Millennial that care less about the ego-trips that are
often associated with titles.
Best to ask them and consider the rest of the context.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Its OK to take the first name .culture to culture the practice varies .one must observe the protocol and environment of the college, university or university .please note that person to person it varies as well.try to analysis the liknkng disliking of teacher .regards
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Here is what I believe to be the standard conventions in math in the US when referring to another researcher in a talk:
1. You write their full last name on the board (unless they're a collaborator and you've already written their name out and then an initial only may be fine).
2. If the person is not in the audience, then you say their last name only with no title. Or firstname lastname if they're on the job market.
3. If the person is in the audience you may instead refer to them as you would ordinarily (typically this means by first name or nickname, but in some situations this could mean using a title) and you look at them as you do so. You still write the last name on the board.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Yes in the US and no in continental Europe, but that should not be your main concern.
You main concern should be that your talk remains intelligible. So, you want to say "<NAME>" instead of "Jane" or "<NAME>" or "<NAME>" simply to be as clear as possible to the vast audience. Different people in the audience might simply mishear you. Or they might know the person only as Jane or only as <NAME>.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I secured a grant from my university for traveling to a conference. But it was not enough and so my supervisor supported me. There are 5 other students who got the university grant and he supported them as well. I had also applied for ACM grant and I secured it but I receive it only after I visit the conference.
Now my supervisor has ordered me to give the complete ACM grant to him because he supported me. I am not sure if it is ethical. I wish to use this money for another conference which I plan to attend. I am OK with giving the money to him or school, but since I got the grant it should be spent on my endeavors and not be used by anybody else. Am I wrong to think like this?
Edit : My application to ACM grant was independent. I wrote the application myself without support from anyone. In fact, the paper which I wrote was also written by me, with some changes from another supervisor. The idea was completely mine, as well - with no inputs from anybody else.
Edit : In the light of this event and other instances of being bulleyed into doing things which are unacceptable to me I have decided to quit working with my supervisor. Does this make any difference? If at all I have to return, I wish to return the money to university and not to this supervisor.<issue_comment>username_1: In general you can use grant money only for the purposes you applied for and the rules for what the money can be used are usually quite detailed.
Hence, you have to check the rules and your application of the ACM grant you've gotten. Usually a grant comes with a specific description for what it can be used and for what it can't. If your grant says, for example, that only the recipient can use it for traveling, then you would violate the rules of that grant if you would let somebody else use it for anything. If you don't have the regulations and rules for your grant at hand, ask the grant agency, i.e. the ACM in this case.
The fact that you wrote the application yourself without support from anyone is irrelevant.
Also, the fact that the grant was given retroactively is irrelevant. You should use it according to the guidelines.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Take into account that ethically (and often legally) speaking you cannot be reimbursed more than once for a conference trip.
I am assuming that the ACM grant was a travel grant to cover the expenses for the conference, right?
The most reasonable option, given that you found external funding, is to return the money from the university grant + your professor's, using that same ACM grant.
It's not your professor's business to decide what you do with the remaining money from that grant, if there is any.
Your professor should actually be happy that you were able to get external funding so you could attend at 0 cost for the University and his team.
Saying that you have to pay back more to him than he "loaned you" because "he supported you" tells a lot about your professor already: he does not support or help students because he considers it's his duty or job, but in exchange for future rewards.
Unfortunately, this bullying, favor/grant-exchanging, mob-behavior is not new to many of us at all.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I you received retroactive money for travel to a specific conference that your supervisor paid for you to go to, you should absolutely make every effort to look into the *official* ways of getting your supervisor's money back into your supervisor's account through your school's accounting offices. Usually, your department will have a staff member who would know how to go about this.
I wouldn't just sign the check over to your supervisor to establish a petty cash fund. This isn't how this sort of stuff is done. Whether the funding agency allows you to keep any surplus for any use you see fit, you'd have to look into, but I would consider that ingrateful behavior to a mentor who was generous enough to fund your travel.
The clear risk is that your boss will never pay to send you to a conference again.
One alternative, especially if administrative issues make the transfer of funds difficult, and if you are allowed to spend surplus however you want, is to work with your supervisor to find something on his wish list that would also be of use to you, and buy it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: First, as already mentioned in a previous answer, check out the rules for that grant.
It seems a retroactively paid grant, which makes fully logical that you should give it back to your supervisor. *In this light*, he simply anticipated a sum that else you should have anticipated.
About the difference, it depends on the first point, and on its amount (does not make sense if it is 10 euros).
Whenever I secured external grants for attending conferences, normally the latter were already paid by my supervisor. It is clear that I went back to him to tell the good news.
He always said I should keep them (even as my pocket money). In addition to the fact that he was happy to do that, I suspect that it could have been not very simple to put that amount of cash into the group balance, since I, as an individual, I would have been the source. However this is his - or its secretary - problem.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: It is ethical to ask, if the ACM amount is equal or less than what he gave you. If it is higher then he should provide a reason why he thinks you owe him more. Simple as that.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/08/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I need a reference from my former professor, for my PhD application, but I would also like to work with him for my PhD. He would be my top choice, but I will of course need to apply to other universities too. How do I do this? I feel like it's a bit much too ask, and I feel unsure about how to phrase these things.
Also, if I apply to do a PhD with him, can he also write the reference for this application too or would i need to find a different academic?
edit: I am in the UK, and I hold a MA, so I would be applying straight for PhDs (no Master included etc.)<issue_comment>username_1: Keep the email brief and to the point. If you haven't spoken to him in a while, introduce yourself and tell him what you're doing (1 sentence should suffice).
Explain that you're applying for PhD positions and that you would like him to write a reference for you. It's probably a good idea to mention your research interests and remind him of any projects you worked on together, so he can write an effective reference for you. At this point, you can also ask if he is currently looking to take on a new student, as you're very interested in his research and would like to work with him.
If you do end up applying to work with him, you will need a reference from another academic. There's no point him writing a reference for you which he will then read. He will be able to find out more about you and get the full picture if you have a reference from someone else.
Note that most UK PhDs will require at least 2 references anyway, so you should have at least 3 people in mind who you can ask should the need arise.
Your first email to him may go something like this:
>
> Subject: Reference letter
>
>
> Dear Professor X,
>
>
> Hope you are well. I am writing to let you know that I am planning to apply for PhD positions in Y and consequently need some letters of reference. Would you mind writing a reference for me?
>
>
> It would be helpful if you could mention when you supervised my work on project Z, as this project was very successful and the topic is in line with my current research interests.
>
>
> On this subject, I noticed that you recently published a paper on topic Z. Are you currently looking to take on a PhD student? If so, I would be interested in applying for the position, as our research interests align well and we had some success with the project I mentioned above.
>
>
> Many thanks and best wishes,
>
>
> <NAME>
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I am not sure if official rules are available regarding your questions, but I will share my thoughts.
1) It is great that you think Professor X is your top choice! Let him know, he will be glad.
2) Nevertheless, it is your right (and your duty) to apply to other PhD programs as well. Tell this to Professor X. Any clever professor will be happy to hear this. You show him that you know that applying to one single program is not enough to obtain a good opportunity. Do you think he might be upset hearing that you dare applying to other positions? If he does, he is not someone you want to work with.
As a non-native English speaker, I do not even attempt to draft a letter, but the one written by @astronat with the needed modifications is perfect.
3) Frankly, I wouldn't be happy if a student asked me to write a reference letter for him for a PhD committee I am sitting in. Sounds like he tries to get special treatment. I would suggest not to do that.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Tell this professor your intentions. I imagine this discussion will put you at ease (or settle the issue for you).
2. Ask for the letter of recommendation for other programs. They understand the plight of a prospective PhD student.
3. Remember stuff like this happens all the time in their world, so just be polite and respectful. Be direct and voice what your thinking and what you want. If you don't share your thoughts, they can't read your mind.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/08/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student and presently dealing with my first paper that I had submitted to Scientific Reports.
I received back the reviewer comments together with a note from the editor asking me (as the first author) to revise and resubmit within 4 weeks (exact wording below\*). However, my coauthors and I will likely not be able to finish the revision in time (there are only a few days left), and I am wondering how strictly editors stick to these deadlines, and if they are typically likely to close the submission altogether, or rather happy to accept the revision even sometime later. The editor him/herself would obviously be the best person to ask, however, I am not getting a reply to my request for an extension, and I would need to know soon whether to drop everything and just work crazy hours to get the revision to them in time.
>
> We hope to receive your revised paper within four weeks. If you cannot send it within this time, please let us know so that we can close your file. In this event, we will still be happy to reconsider your paper at a later date as long as you haven’t submitted similar or related work elsewhere in the meantime.
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: These days, the publication venues are trying hard to maintain two things: (1) the quality-*higher*, (2) the turnaround time of the publication-*lower*. Both these parameters decide the popularity of the journal, which further attracts quality research from future authors.
The email that you have received focuses indirectly on the second parameter--the time from submission to acceptance. You could contribute to a small turnaround time by submitting the revision within 4 weeks. If you delay the process, then their turnaround time might get affected for the year (though one article may not impact much, it could be considered somewhat serious).
The above claim is validated by their second line in which they say "*If you cannot send it within this time, **please let us know so that we can close your file**. In this event, we will still be happy to reconsider your paper at a later date as long as you haven’t submitted similar or related work elsewhere in the meantime.*"-- This is a strong statement (mark the **bold** text). So, now if you submit a revised version as a "new" submission, they don't have to put much effort and the article TAT will be as low as possible.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I had the same issue with Scientific Reports and I contacted the staff asking for an extension. Here is the answer:
>
> Dear authors, Thank you for your email. This will not be a problem –
> we do appreciate that some revisions do take longer than others and we
> would be more than happy to accommodate an extension for you. Please
> submit your revised manuscript when you are ready.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an early/mid-career academic in a science field and have enough publications where I sometimes get random other academics asking me for electronic copies of papers (published in non-open-access journals) where I am the corresponding author. These papers were done under the purview of NIH grants, which means full text becomes available after a one year embargo.
In the case where the request comes less than one year after publication, how should I respond to such requests? My impulse is just to send the paper without hesitation, but I am unsure if this is "bad form" with regard to the journal. I am seeking the advice of more experienced academics.
Thanks for any advice.<issue_comment>username_1: Journals have "author rights" policies on what you can do with your paper. (e.g.: <https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/copyright#Author-rights>)
Most I have seen allow exactly this sort of sharing - at least of the pre-publication draft, if not the final formatted version.
You should look them up for the journal in question. Even if the policy doesn't allow it, send it anyway. Nuts to journals who try to prohibit one of the fundamental aspects of science.
(The reason to look it up is to never ever again submit to a journal who has this policy.)
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: You're fine to send the paper. Doing so is equivalent to going to the library and making a hard-copy and sending that, which is clearly within 'fair-use' territory. If you really have concerns about copyrights, send your final version of the manuscript.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper in a respected journal (Elsevier) in my field (Biology/Ecology). After 2 months, the review of the paper is out. I was expecting it to **"Major Revision"**, **"Accepted with Minor Revision"** or **"Reject"** but it was not clearly stated in the decision letter what is really the verdict on my paper but instead it says **"Revise"** and *Reviewers have now commented on your paper. You will see that they are advising that you revise your manuscript. If you are prepared to undertake the work required, I would be pleased to reconsider the revised paper for publication.*
Although the reviewer's comments were positive (+constructive), minimal, some were clarifications and suggestions on what to add. But I'm still confused about what is the decision.<issue_comment>username_1: It is similar to "accepted with minor revision", just without the "accepted" part. So you are supposed to fix the issues the reviewers pointed out and depending on how it looks then, it might get accepted or not.
As it didn't get rejected right away, your chances of acceptance are not too bad, but the editor doesn't want to make any promises yet, as he doesn't know how exactly you are going to fix the issues.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Different fields, publishers, and even individual journals sometimes have different names for similar concepts. I would assume that the one that you submitted to does not distinguish (at least in the communication to the author) between Major and Minor Revisions, like other journals do. So I would treat this just as you would treat any revision - take all reviewer comments into account as well as you can, revise your paper by the given deadline (if any), write a response letter, and hope for an Accept next time.
That said, I find the idea to not distinguish between Minor and Major Revisions quite intriguing. In reality, the distinction is quite artificial anyway, and maybe it's best to just let the comments speak for themselves about how "major" of revisions are actually required. Maybe this journal is onto something here.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I’ve reviewed for several journals that asked us to pick our overall recommendation from a four-item list:
1. Accept, with minor revisions
2. Accept, with major revisions
3. Revise and resubmit
4. Reject
So **“Revise and resubmit” is (in very crude terms) ranked between “Accept, major revisions” and “Reject” on a scale of favourability.** The editor is not rejecting your paper, but they are not committing to accepting it yet either — they want to re-review the revised version, before making a final decision. At least in my field, **I would typically expect that the referees for the revised version will be the same as the original referees, looking to see if their original concerns have been satisfactorily addressed.**
This generally means that the revisions they want are more on the “major” side — not necessarily in their extent, but in their importance to the paper, in the reviewers’ opinion. A example in my field (pure maths) might be: you have a theorem where the referee cannot follow your proof, and is concerned the theorem may be wrong. The referee then asks you to give the proof in more detail, but wants to re-review the new version to ensure they are now convinced it is correct.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: *Accept with (major) revision* makes very little sense, since the revised version may not be acceptable. In fact, I have never seen this type of decision (as author, reviewer, editor). In my experience, possible decision types are
* Reject (with or without having consulted a reviewer)
* Revise (minor, major, moderate); expects you to re-submit within a certain time interval (typically 6 months)
* Accept (possibly allowing minor revision)
* Transfer (to another journal of the same publisher)
If the manuscript is not outright rejected (which happens to a large fraction of submitted manuscripts), an immediate "accept" is very rare and
the most common procedure is
1. Reviewer recommendation: revise
2. Editor decision: revise (but may differ if several reviewers disagree)
3. Author action: revise paper and resubmit
4. possible iteration over points 1-3 (I have seen up to 3 iterations)
5. Reviewer/Editor: accept (occasionally: reject)
In case of rejection based on a single reviewer's recommendation, the editor usually consults another reviewer. In this case, the editor typically provides the second reviewer with the previous versions, reports, and replies, but may choose not to.
So, in your case, this looks completely normal according to the road map above. Don't worry, just revise the paper according to the report and/or other comments you have received from colleagues. If you disagree with the report in certain points, try to explain that well in your reply (there are plenty of other posts on this issue).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There is **no such thing as** "Accepted with Major Revision". If a major revision is required, acceptance is **not** guaranteed at all. "Revise" means revision is required, and decision will be taken considering the revisions made. I guarantee there is not a single reputable journal in the world which has status option like "accepted with major revision".
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Quite simply, it means the editor reserve the possibility to reject the paper even if you submit revisions. The conventional wisdom in the fields I am familiar with is that if you make an honest effort to address the issues raised, it will eventually get published but not phrasing the outcome as “accept with (major) revisions” avoids giving the impression that you are promising anything.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: Is there a service/software where I can feed a bibliography, say in BibTex format, and I get all “Cited By” references as a response? In other words, is there an automated “Cited By” crawler?
Background:
I'm currently hunting down case reports about a rare disease, because I need more cases for a dataset (yes, about medicine).
At the moment, I am filling up my Zotero Library by manually walking through Google Scholar's "Cited By" feature. The first day of doing so was expectedly productive. Within a few hours, the article count went up very fast. But right now, each "Cited By" page yields one or two new articles and I have about 114 articles to go. That, in itself is great, because it tells me that I might have visited most articles within the citation network. However, towards this end, I need double-check for duplicates all the time and it's very time consuming. I find myself scrolling through entries, or searching, checking whether I might already have added a paper, or not.
This is so tedious.
The very reason to continue simply is the occasional discovery of a new cluster of case reports that were not referenced by the previous one—and I really need a larger number of cases for the analysis.
I wonder whether I should stop here and look at — Mendeley — PubMed etc.
but I'm not sure whether this would cut time or assure the coverage of most of the citation networks.
Suggestions, very welcomed.<issue_comment>username_1: This can certainly get tedious, and searching in both directions (i.e., using the "cited by" entries) is certainly the way to go. That said, if you start at your university library, especially a medical library, you will have access to tools that are tailor-made to do medical searches, like Medline.
If you're having issues, by all means, go talk to a librarian. Their job is to help people like you get their jobs done. They absolutely love to do it, and they're usually very good at it.
To put things in perspective, though, 15 years ago the only way to do what you're trying to do is to wade through hard copies of the Scientific Citation Index and photocopy the articles after finding them in the Medical library stacks. (i.e., -- we used to walk thirty miles to and from work, uphill both ways!)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Certainly there are. Data Cite offers such services <https://mds.datacite.org/>.
Yet, you might not need to pay for such service, must probably your academic institution's library has a platform and an API that can be queried for the data you are looking for.
Many universities in the US rely on exlibris.com for their libraries' platform. Here is their API's website. <https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/alma/apis>. I employed it recently to retrieve metadata from 2500+ publications. It took a few days to write the code and 15 minutes to get the dataset.
So do not just ask the librarian, ask also the library's data scientists (they might be the same persons).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Have you tried this tools?
<https://whocites.com/>
It can help you to build an author and citation network directly from google scholar.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/08/04
| 757
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<issue_start>username_0: I was reading few journals (in Elsevier) in my field (Biology) and I noticed the time of acceptance period from the revised version is received **"Received 8 November 2016; Received in revised form 17 April 2017; Accepted 18 April 2017"**. Does this mean that the revised manuscript received today is immediately the other day? Or is there any other interpretation for this?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: These dates hide the intermediate revisions that have had happened during the whole process.
One possible time line could be:
* Received 8 November 2016
* First revision (Major) 12 February 2017
* Second revision (Major) 18 March 2017
* Third revision (Major/Minor) 17 April 2017
* Accepted 18 April 2017
In few journals, two dates are also mentioned like this: Received 8 November 2016, First Revision received 12 February 2017, Second Revision Received 18 March 2017, Accepted 18 April 2017. It might also happen that the article gets accepted after first revision itself, if the revision is suggested as "Minor". Major revisions are usually followed by peer-review, which takes time.
It is mostly journal specific.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I believe I have had papers accepted within a day of receiving revisions. As others have said, the most likely (and innocent) interpretation is simply that the last set of revisions asked for was sufficiently minor/straightforward that it was immediate to ascertain that they had been satisfactorily made.
I agree with @username_1's answer that it could well be the case that multiple rounds of revisions were made, and it is also my experience that when journals say "Received in revised form on XXX" then XXX is the date of the *last* revision received. It also happens -- probably more frequently in some fields than others, and certainly more frequently for some authors than others -- that the first submitted version of the paper is essentially accepted but that the author is asked to correct some typos. Depending upon the workflow of the journal, they may ask for these typos to be corrected before the paper is formally accepted, even though the outcome is not really in doubt. How long does an editorial board want to spend checking that a given paper has indeed fixed some typos? Probably not more than a day.
Let me also say that in my experience good editors are expeditious people -- there are steps in the publication process that all but necessarily have substantial delays, but a good editor will make sure that the paper does not get delayed unnecessarily. So in my opinion this kind of timeline looks good for the journal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Not surprised, it is just because of a minor revision, as explained by others. This is a very common case and it is reasonable.
I also want to share one more example, I read a paper, whose acceptance is one day after first submission. Crazy? That journal has only two types of papers: very fast review and very slow review. Most papers are accepted within one month, two weeks, etc. For the others, sorry, 1 month at lease for an initial decision.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: This fall I am starting the 3rd year of my bachelor's degree and I intend to continue my studies with a Master's degree and possibly a PhD. The university I study at is a respected institution in my country but not particularly focused on my area of interest (algebra). I had a first contact, at a summer school, with students from top universities in Europe and I realised I am under prepared for a Master's at one of these universities.
I have a good academic record and did some undergraduate research but there are topics I know nothing about. For example in algebra I had only 2 undergraduate courses (vector spaces, groups and rings- basic definition, properties, isomorphism theorems), no linear algebra aside from the matrix of a linear transformation.
So my question is: what courses are essential to someone who wants to go to graduate school in algebra at a good university and what should I study to bridge the gap?
Edit: I already took all the undergraduate and graduate level classes available in my field,at my university, but all those were still under the level of preparation of my peers from other universities. So I was asking for subjects I should know in order to study by myself.<issue_comment>username_1: The simple answer is that if you're interested in a subject and expect to continue on to a master's or PhD (or even if you're not expecting to go for an advanced degree, you simply expect to pursue it as a career), you should take as many classes in that subject as you can. Pick the best or most interesting to you from whatever is offered by your department to fill out your electives and do your best.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Take a look at these oral exams, taken by 1st/2nd year grad students at Princeton:
<http://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/>
Upvotes: -1
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2017/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am submitting a mathematics paper to a journal. This paper contains a section where I claim that some results made by some authors in different published articles are false. I give a counterexample to support my claim and also show where their proofs are flawed.
Should I oppose these authors as reviewers when I submit the manuscript? In this case what should I write in the “reason” section?<issue_comment>username_1: If possible, it is good form to contact these people a few days before you submit so they can "check" your counterexample. Phrase your counterexample in a constructive manner v.g. avoid saying it is false but rather suggest their proof is incomplete.
If these people are reasonable, they will double check, confirm that the counterexample is valid, thank you for it, and maybe cite your own work. If they are not reasonable you have still been gracious.
People don't like to be criticized in public - nobody likes it. Avoid "springing a trap" that will get these people in a bad mood if they learn of your counterexample in a journal or as referee of the paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Your concern is that some potential reviewers have a conflict of interest. In my opinion, it is the editor's responsibility to manage conflicts of interest. You should inform the editor of the facts in your cover letter, and leave it at that.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: You shouldn't oppose reviewers unless you have reasonable belief that they'll be biased against your paper. That might be because they're biased against you, your particular sub-field or the techniques you've used; or, in cases such as this one, if they're very sensitive to any kind of criticism. In this case, we can be pretty sure that they're not biased against your sub-field (they wrote papers in it themselves!) or really against your techniques (that doesn't seem to be a thing in mathematics, but more likely in experimental sciences).
Simply being proven objectively wrong shouldn't cause significant bias for most mathematicians. Of course, it's embarrassing to have published something wrong. However, it seems that the error wasn't central to the original paper, or they'd have tried to write an actual proof without the supposedly redundant assumption. It seems to have been more of an aside, so the level of embarrassment we're talking about is "Oops, I made a boo-boo" and nowhere near "Noooooo! My career is destroyed! I must bury this!"
The authors of the claim you showed to be wrong are likely to be particularly *good* reviewers, since they understand the topic very well. I'd expect the natural choice of reviewers would include one of those people and one outsider.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/05
| 251
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<issue_start>username_0: Some publications mention the phone of the corresponding author, e.g. <https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocw168>
Why do some publications mention the phone of the corresponding author? Do readers sometimes directly call the author?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe it is an old tradition when phones where relatively fewer and the numbers are fixed. However, nowadays, the phone numbers are changed frequently. I did included my phone number in an elsevier article once. However, the editors asked me to remove it for the previously mentioned reason. So, I suppose it is not a very good practice. The email, fax and P.B. are sufficient.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: So you can call them?
I've been reached out to by readers before via telephone, particularly reporters trying to get a story together, on one of my more media-friendly papers.
It's rare, and phone numbers are hardly stable things (though neither are email addresses), but it's also a pretty close to no-cost addition.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/05
| 310
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<issue_start>username_0: 1. In the last year of my bachelor degree I was required to write a research paper. That research paper won the first award from about 1000 research papers submitted by students in my university.
2. Also, that paper got published in a top research journal in my field.
3. Also, in terms of my bachelor degree grades, my grades were the highest in my college when I graduated.
Should I mention these three facts when contacting a potential master’s (by research) supervisor?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe it is an old tradition when phones where relatively fewer and the numbers are fixed. However, nowadays, the phone numbers are changed frequently. I did included my phone number in an elsevier article once. However, the editors asked me to remove it for the previously mentioned reason. So, I suppose it is not a very good practice. The email, fax and P.B. are sufficient.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: So you can call them?
I've been reached out to by readers before via telephone, particularly reporters trying to get a story together, on one of my more media-friendly papers.
It's rare, and phone numbers are hardly stable things (though neither are email addresses), but it's also a pretty close to no-cost addition.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/08/05
| 332
| 1,435
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<issue_start>username_0: I am trying to contact a potential supervisor about doing a master’s by research. I have already wrote my email by I am unsure about what to write for the subject box of the email. Different people have advised me on different things and I am unsure what do. Does anyone know what is a good subject line?<issue_comment>username_1: It's an email subject line. Don't over-think it. Any variation on "Master's by research" would be perfectly fine.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: When I was applying for PhD, I used "prospective graduate student" as a subject line, which was quite sufficient. If your potential supervisor accepts students for different programs, you can specify the degree you are seeking (Master's) in the subject line.
The rest of the information (your background, interests, etc.) should be in the email body.
Good luck :)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This is the email header I used when reaching out to professors last year (adjust for your use accordingly):
**Enquiry about potential PhD opportunities for Sept 20XX**
I also agree with what others have said. In addition, *make sure to check the department/supervisor website to see if you can glean any information about whether or not they are actively recruiting graduate students*. While these notices are not always accurate, sometimes professors explicitly say they are/are not seeking new students.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/08/06
| 767
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a tenured professor in a humanities department at a second-tier research university in the United States. My Ph.D. is from a top-ten program in my discipline. I have an above-average number of publications for my age. I have about five years of undergraduate and graduate teaching experience post-Ph.D.
I have an opportunity to take a job as a writer/editor for a marketing company. I'm inclined to take it (for reasons I won't detail here) but am worried that if I don't end up liking my new job, it will be impossible to get back into academia after having left voluntarily.
I'm not expecting that I would get my current position back, or necessarily be rehired to a tenured position. I'm just wondering how hard it would be to go back on the job market and find a tenured or tenure-track position somewhere in maybe two or three years' time if I end up hating the new job.
I want to emphasize that I am in a humanities discipline. I gather that in the sciences, it is common for one to leave an academic position to go work in "industry," then later return to academia. I have never heard of anyone doing this in the humanities, however. Does it happen?<issue_comment>username_1: Speaking as humanistic social scientist at an R1 (but who has also taught at small liberal arts colleges), I would say it would be **next to impossible.**
There is an absolute surfeit of stellar recent PhDs in the humanities. Any position that opens up will get 200+ hungry applicants. Why hire at the associate or full level if you can get a stellar assistant at a quarter of the cost.
Furthermore, if a senior position did open up and a search committee were to look at your CV, I would think they might wonder whether you left academia because: 1) you were pushed out (sexual harassment? Title IX violation?); 2) were burnt out of teaching; or, 3) something else unmentionable. If you left because you hated academia, why are you trying to get back in? Academic hiring is risk adverse because of the stakes of tenure.
However, as an alternative, you might be a candidate for some peri-academic positions such as the director of an institute, dean of student affairs, etc.
tl;dr: Talk to your provost or dean or chair about taking an unpaid leave of absence that retains your tenured position.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: In what I've observed as a mathematics professor, it is common for professors to be able to take a year of unpaid leave. A typical scenario is when a professor gets an appealing job offer from a different university: often the professor will accept the position, take a year of unpaid leave from her current position, and then can decide later which position to keep.
My (limited, and in mathematics research departments only) observation is that permission to take unpaid leave is usually granted. (For one year; if you want to do this for consecutive years, then you have to make the case that it would benefit your university.) I would recommend finding out whether this option is available to you.
Upvotes: 5
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