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<issue_start>username_0: I have a situation. I want to apply for Ph.D programs in the United States at the end of this year. And right now, there are many programs in Europe open for application. Hence, I wonder if I should try to apply to them, get accepted and then refuse the scholarships.
Is it ethical? I am worried that it could affect my reputation and my LoR would no longer be appreciated in the future, leading to mistrust in my lecturers who wrote my LoR. On the other hand, getting accepted may prove my competence and prowess.
If the answer is yes, should I put it in my CV for future application?
Thank you for your help<issue_comment>username_1: **Do not do this.**
Programs in the US generally do not care if you've been offered admission to programs in other countries. You are judged on your aptitude for research and to make future contributions in your field. If you cannot convince an admissions committee this between your record, your statement of purpose and personal statements, and your letters of recommendation, then how will you get an offer in Europe—when generally the same materials are needed to get you through the process?
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Unless you're genuinely interested in the scholarships offered in Europe; I would discourage you from doing this. Your application (as it is not done to the true intentions of the scholarship) will in all likely waste other people's time, resources and energy. Perhaps you may even delay or deprive another worthy applicant because of your 'strategy'. I hope you will reconsider even if you think it will advantage your application (I don't think it will at all).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As other answers and comments have said, this is a bad idea. A risk/benefits analysis shows this clearly. You risk your reputation/self esteem for very few benefits.
First, let's say you go ahead and apply for these programs, you're accepted and you turn them down as planned. What are the benefits? I don't think you can realistically add them to your CV because they're partial achievements (you didn't attend/complete the program). Even if you could, don't you have greater/better achievements that could take up that space on your CV? So, what do you gain? Experience in the admissions procedure (which may or may not help in a different continent), an "aside" to mention in an interview. You should only mention it at an interview if the offer is still open, otherwise you may be seen as more likely to turn down an offer or, worse, naive for rejecting a decent offer.
Second, let's say you apply for these programs and **are rejected**. Fear of failure is never a good reason to avoid something, but rejection is a real risk and will probably impact your ego. A needless rejection that you would have turned down anyway has no benefits and absolutely risks your self esteem.
The only reason to apply for these positions is to benefit yourself. If you want a back-up position and the dates work out, then apply. If you want experience and feedback from the application procedure, then it **might** be worth a trial application, but you should make it one that you would at least consider accepting. Otherwise, spend your time more wisely on things you CAN add to your CV - volunteer for charity, give up your time to moderate a web forum, read....
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in the throes of writing my first substantial research paper in the field of Information Science. The topic looks promising and my advisor seems pleased with the work. Because of the nature of the work, there are a lot of intermediate steps involved in obtaining the raw data, preprocessing the data, then running the experiment proper and recording the results. These intermediate steps involved a lot of programming on my part, building one-shot tools to solve problems along the way to conducting the experiments.
I understand that reproducibility is a huge issue in computer science and I wish to lessen the burden upon my future self and upon my lab mates if/when the time comes to follow up on this trail of experiments. Certain software has to be installed, path variables have to be configured, firewall settings have to be set up to allow transference of data - and similar technical problems that wouldn't be appropriate to include in the resultant research paper proper.
How do I record all of these technical and procedural steps such that a future interested party (be it myself or one of my lab mates, or perhaps even an outsider to the lab who has an academic interest in the resultant paper and software) can reproduce the experiment? Do I leave myself open to being "scooped" if I set up a website with an academic blog or wiki in it?<issue_comment>username_1: These are excellent questions! You are especially wise to recognize that your future self will have unfortunately hazy memories of what parameters you chose and why. (I've also been mulling this process myself, and was considering asking a similar question!) Your question is definitely related to prior questions here, but I think those don't necessarily cover collecting data, and some of the answers haven't aged as gracefully as others because they deal with "try this kind of software."
To the extent that your advisor and lab already have a workflow set up, try to work this into it. Is there a shared server for documents, or an application like Dropbox or Box? Do you have a shared Zotero group for bibliography and files? Do you use Git or other version control software? (Version control may be less relevant to you if you're the only one working on the code, whereas it will be critical if multiple people fiddle with it.)
**Keeping notes about results**
Many scientists are trained to use research notebooks, and there have been interesting discussions about those; [aeismail](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83/good-practices-for-organizing-notes) suggested [Colin Purrington's tips on maintaining a lab notebook](http://colinpurrington.com/tips/lab-notebooks). From looking at an [excellent question across tools](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46228/im-looking-for-an-application-or-workflow-which-integrates-data-values-into-the/75775) and [a question about Python in particular](https://datascience.stackexchange.com/questions/758/tools-and-protocol-for-reproducible-data-science-using-python/759#759) (though it can be extended), Jupyter is the next tool I will look into for myself, and it may be what you're looking for.
For my own dissertation, for tables and charts I created in Stata, I had a clear file naming scheme about where I outputted and saved them. It was easy (conditional on already knowing LaTeX) to make a LaTeX doc that pointed to those files and could update with the newest version of the results.
**File naming and organizing hierarchy**
[TCSGrad](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/87/88197) pointed to [Jason Eisner's advice on file organization](http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jason/advice/how-to-organize-your-files.html). In particular, I like his advice there of putting in files or file names or folder names the tags: to-do, how-to, logbook, acknowledge, and send-to.
I also highly recommend having, in your project folder, a folder called "Raw Data". This is the original data, as downloaded or found or whatever. In "Raw Data", have a readme doc, whether it is a text file or spreadsheet or whatever, that says where each bit of Raw Data came from, when, under what conditions, etc.
To capture the software setup and system parameters, perhaps have a similar Setup folder (with the executable files for software you install, and a similar readme). ([Docker](https://datascience.stackexchange.com/questions/758/tools-and-protocol-for-reproducible-data-science-using-python/775#775) is one tool to capture and easily replicate the correct computing environment. A group like [Software Carpentry](https://software-carpentry.org/) might be able to provide guidance.)
A separate "Data" folder can have your cleaned versions of the raw data, and folders for "Code" and "Output" should be similarly separate. (Datasets you create should still go into Data, probably.) You might even find it useful to have separate folders for (nicely formatted) "Tables" and "Figures".
Whenever you submit something or have a major draft, try to save a copy of all the things you're relying on, as-is.
**Making the notes available?**
[This prior question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5753/open-lab-notebook-in-early-postdoc-career-advantages-vs-disadvantages) asks about the (dis)advantages of an open lab notebook, and there was some good discussion.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, you definitely DO leave yourself open to being 'scooped' and plagiarized if you make a blog or wiki site..
Whatever you do and however you take notes or make records FOR YOURSELF and your adviser, DO NOT PUT THEM ONLINE. you cn make hand written notes or you can make word files or whatever and Save them, possibly burn those records or onto CDs or whatever has replaced Zip files in the year 20 years. part of my data is 8mm
tape cassettes from Sun work station, but i know i probably was not given all the 8mm tapes... The text of my thesis or on ZIP files. i didn't have my own PC until 2004. I did have the hardware for the Zip files on that PC, but now i am on mey second PC. which i bought over the counter in
30 years from now. however you record and save your data and research notes or notebooks NOW, Is the hardware you use NOW STILL GOING TO BE AVAILABLE and usable IN the future.? Hardware DOES become outdated. You've probably never used 3.5 inch floppy discs. I have.
My thesis was interdisciplinary i had mainly geologists and my thesis committee , but i also had one geographer, who happened to be the GIS expert i was WELL aware that my
"audience" would NOT be familiar with all the image processing,
remote sensing, and geographical cartography and computer and GIS terms and I made very sure i explained what something like "normalized vegetation index" meant and which Bands of Landsat satellites images were used t create an NDVI image were used and how image processing worked statistically with the data in a satellite image. Data is MEANINGLESS until it is organized analyze and INTERPRETED to become information. oneof of my thesis committee members, a geologist, said my thesis was well written and not too full of jargon.
HOWEVER you record your data and how you organize it, DO NOT put it online outside of a very limited sub-network, and NOT on a blog or wiki page that becomes publicly accessible.. You DO NOT want to put ANYTHING online because your copyright right WILL be violated.
When you get to the the literature research par of writing your thesis or dissertation, or ANY paper for publication, i suggest you spend some time with one or university reference librarians. Ask them how library digital databases work and what citation indices are, and how you can access them.. Publish or perish may be trite, but it is VERY true and yes, IF someone CAN "scoop' you They WILL I've seen one person a Ph.D. candidate, who had to stay in school another 2 or 3 semesters because some else got part of their dissertation published FIRST. and THAT was in the 1980s., BEFORE the internet took off in the 1990s and early
2000s.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> How do I record all of these technical and procedural steps -- including installing certain software, setting path variables, and firewall configuration -- such that a future interested party...can reproduce the experiment?
>
>
>
You can write a script that automates the necessary steps and reproduces the results. (Writing that script after you've produced your results will be difficult. Try writing the script as you go along.)
(Anything more sophisticated is surely complimentary.)
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: As an undergraduate student, I wrote a science paper. Because I was learning to write, I used the form and structure of a paper on a completely different topic; in fact, it was a slightly different discipline all together. So my paper has a similar layout, transitions, and structure as said paper, though the information, content, subject matter, and topic are different.
Is this plagiarism? I later contacted the original author, upon discovering the similarities, and he said that it was okay, that he learned the form from others, and that I should go on with life.<issue_comment>username_1: **You've done nothing wrong; most manuscripts follow the same structure.**
Consider the [following recommendations](http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#sections) for structure: (1) Introduction, (2) Materials and Methods, (3) Results, and (4) Discussion. Would it be wrong to adopt that structure? No. It's a very common style and is widely adopted.
---
The [OP added](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/108626/plagiarizing-the-form-and-structure-of-an-article/108627#comment284212_108629):
>
> It's not just the [structure] that I followed, but the language - i.e. transition words.
>
>
>
Transition words, e.g., <https://msu.edu/~jdowell/135/transw.html>, are standard, so they shouldn't create an issue.
>
> The order of the introduction is the same, for example.
>
>
>
That's just a different form of structural issue, hence, this isn't a problem.
>
> I said why the world needs the paper in a similar language even though there was two totally different topics and subject matters.
>
>
>
Such a style is advocated by many, e.g., [<NAME>](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/write-great-research-paper/), so that shouldn't create an issue.
---
*Note*: Without seeing the texts, we cannot comment on specific issues.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Academic writing is fairly standardized. Most disciplines follow a [standard template](http://secondlanguage.blogspot.co.at/p/40-paragraphs.html), usually a variety of the following:
1. Introduction
* Why the world needs this paper
* What the literature already says on the topic and what this paper contributes
* How this paper is organized
2. Background: An elaboration in roughly five paragraphs on the first paragraph of the introduction, setting the stage for the analysis and making the reader aware of the context needed to understand the paper
3. Theory: An inventory and perhaps formalization of the theoretical concept(s) or model(s) used in the subsequent analysis in roughly five paragraphs
4. Methods
* How the theory was operationalized
* How the data was generated
* How the data was analyzed
5. Analysis: Two or three subsections, each making one major claim that relates to the overall research question. Explains how the data/observations inform the theory and/or vice versa.
6. Conclusion
* Restatement of the main thesis and argument in theoretical terms
* Discussion of the contribution to the literature
* Implications for future research
If you used a format similar to this one, you didn't plagiarize; you just followed academic writing convention, which is good. And so did the paper that you used as a template.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: This is something that has come up in comments, but not yet in answers: **you should not have written that paper that way**. You copied parts of the other professor's wording (perhaps at long stretches) and plugged in your own material. The content and the quality of writing (e.g. persuasive style, apt wording) are both important in academia. In fields like philosophy or literature, both may be equally important, whereas in experimental sciences many authors and readers would be happier if articles just consisted of figures, tables, citations, and bullet points. In all fields, though, there are people who put extra effort into writing well and would be particularly annoyed at having their structure and unique wording copied.
**This is in the realm of plagiarism**, but it does not make the [top 28 guidelines for avoiding plagiarism offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity](https://ori.hhs.gov/plagiarism-0). Because you appropriated the peripheral wording and not the content, this is more of a gray area (depending on exactly how much was borrowed), and it does not impact whether the scientific record should be corrected: your results still stand, and your ideas are still yours. This is one of the reasons no one so far seems to be in favor of retraction.
I've even heard writing advice that you SHOULD copy the argumentation structure of other papers, but usually there are caveats about not taking everything from the same place. In creative writing classes, there are often assignments to write in the style of some other author, as practice, but the goal is to help the writer pick up different tools of expression, and in the final work for public consumption it shouldn't be obvious that the writer was mimicking someone else.
This issue probably still feels unresolved. The first time I misjudged a traffic light and essentially ran a red light, I was shaken and pulled over and expected the police to immediately find me and ticket me. But I realized that mistakes happen, and sometimes the correct way to rectify them is not to seek out appropriate punishment for yourself but to be vigilant about not making the same mistake again.
You did a good thing by reaching out to the original author, and because they do not want a retraction, **you can consider this matter resolved**. (You may want to save a copy of that correspondence, on the exceedingly remote chance that someone raises this as an issue later, after discovering it through a natural language processing exercise or something. Plus, if this article ends up in your "Collected Works" someday, as GEdgar suggested in a comment, you can then quote that author's kind correspondence in your commentary.)
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: ArXiv expects (La)TeX sources to be submitted rather than a PDF. But - if you build a document on a different system - different TeX distribution with different updates - you are not guaranteed to get exactly the same result. Worse than that - some packages/functionality which you're using may be missing.
How, then, should I approach making sure my (hopefully upcoming) ArXiv upload actually build and produce as little divergence from the version I build at home?<issue_comment>username_1: Compile at home. Submit the source code to arXiv. During the submission process, **arXiv will produce its own version that you can review**. Download it and compare it side-by-side with your own version that you produced at home. If you are happy with it, continue with the submission process and approve the arXiv-produced version. If not, stop and start to debug.
Using **as few additional packages as possible** helps a lot.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Upload the libraries that you use, along with your LaTeX source. This will ensure that your system and arXiv are compiling your source using the same libraries (rather than different versions of the libraries), which should ensure similar results (any remaining differences are due to the compilation process).
This solution bloats the upload to arXiv. Bloat can be partly avoided by only uploading troublesome libraries. Alternatively, you could try [specifying versions of packages](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/47743/require-a-certain-or-later-version-of-a-package).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You can install TeXlive 2016 yourself. It's the version that arXiv uses. This should allow you to make sure that while writing your document, you do not use packages/macros/... that are too new for arXiv to handle. I realized some time ago that there is no point in using these newer features if the (pre)published version is not going to be able to use them (and while arXiv's version is almost current, in my understanding, publisher's latex version are often prehistoric).
Moreover, (La)TeX is designed with cross-platform compatibility (and backwards-compatibility) in mind. If something compiles on a machine using version X, then it compiles on another machine using version X+n (for positive n) in general. Breaking changes between versions are relatively rare – usually it's *new* macros or packages that are problematic. So building on a different system is not a problem.
In any case, arXiv allows you to review the produced PDF before submitting, and moreover provides you with the compilation log. Should anything go awry, you would know where to start (well, inasmuch as you know where to start when a latex compilation goes wrong, and the error messages are not always... very clear).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As username_1 suggests, upload your paper to arXiv and download the compiled version to see if it looks the way you want it to.
If, for some reason, you can't get an arXiv-compiled version that looks the way you want, then I would just compile it myself locally and upload the PDF. Sure arXiv prefers source LaTeX files, but if you can't get arXiv to make your paper look the way you want then there's no reason to try to go through with something just because arXiv prefers it that way. The paper and clear presentation of your work is the important thing about posting to arXiv, having your source LaTeX files available is secondary to that.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Judging by a lot of the questions on this site, a career in Academia sounds very grim. Lots of pressure, extreme working ours, few benefits, mediocre salary, and, because one has to work with so many different people (supervisors, students, collaborators, HR, editors, etc., etc), one is more likely to run into social issues, as evidenced by the questions on this site.
So why then do so many people go into Academia? Is it really just a reason not to grow up?
"Passion for the field" doesn't sound very convincing either, when one considers that only a small, small minority of Academia actually produce worthwhile, interesting results. The rest are just scrambling for any sort of recognition by constantly publishing mediocre results that will be cited twice over the course of the next 10 years. Rinse and repeat. Really, a lot of these people are just glorified teachers whose main contribution is giving lectures or conferences. When one considers the rising academic dishonesty, fabrication, plagiarism, and so on, the picture becomes even worse.<issue_comment>username_1: For the reasonable portion of your question, I'd say that I don't imagine myself doing anything else than creating stuff. It doesn't need to be in a university, but I do like to teach, so it is a perfect combination for me. I don't care much about money, but I really want that feeling of advancement, from a new method that works, or a student that grows competent and awesome over time.
It is hard and competitive, but then again, is there any field one that isn't? Would it be rewarding if it wasn't? Not everyone that wants to be in academia should be there, but again, which field is free from that?
Regarding the non-reasonable portion of your question, I can't really think of anything more "grown-up" than being responsible for someone's education, which can shape their futures. Do a good job and a good student can be a rockstar. Do a bad job and a good student can get PTSD and shiver at the thought of an academic meeting.
I compared Faculty Tenure Track searches to "the hunger games" more than once. Doesn't mean I won't volunteer again :)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: To paraphrase Tolstoy:
>
> **Happy workers are all alike; every unhappy worker is unhappy in his own way.**
>
>
>
If everything's going well, you're probably not going to need to post on a site like this or Workplace.SE or whatever the equivalent is for your particular profession.
As for going into academia, it's a personal choice. If you love doing research—if the thrill of discovery and shepherding new talent is so irresistible—then it's worth the challenges, setbacks, failures, and sometimes tough conditions. If that's not for you, then it's something you want to steer clear of.
But that said, every workplace and every career is going to have its drawbacks. The question is if the problems are severe enough that they interfere with what you actually want to do. Most of the questions we get on this site are related to when things reach breaking points: when they're crises, not just problems.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm interested in the academic history of creating a bibliographic reference list. The time period is early 1990s. I want to understand how former researchers have done their writing.
**Introduction**
25 years ago in the year 1993 scientific publishing was not done with Internet but somehow else. From the history lesson it is known, that the first electronic OPAC systems were invented and they were used in many university libraries. The OPAC catalog didn't contain the fulltext article but only the bibliographic references, for example author, title and year. The technology behind the early OPAC system was perhaps a desktop IBM PC, but I'm not sure. It is also possible that no electronic OPAC was available but only the good old card based catalog. In any case, the cards were not handwritten but with a typewriter, so the user of the library were able to find the correct book in a short amount of time.
**Question**
After the short introduction for explaining the general environment in the early 1990s there are some open question which I wasn't able to answer alone with literature research. So perhaps somebody has a personal experience and knows the details. The problem is, how the researcher can write his manuscript with a mix of a card based catalog and an early digital OPAC. The problem with the OPAC in that time was, that no copy & paste was possible. Suppose, I've found an interesting title on the screen, whats next? Should I write down the bibliographic reference direct in the manuscript or can I send the information to somebody else? A similar problem is given with the card catalog. Suppose, the researcher found an interesting looking entry. Probably it was not allowed to take the card out of the catalog and insert it in the own bibliographic references, so how has the researcher in that area solved the problem?
The next question is the sorting of the bibliographic references. Suppose, somebody has written down all the entries and want to insert a new entry alphabetically. What is the best practice method for doing so?<issue_comment>username_1: Oh my. We are quite a history-less field, aren't we, in computing? I programmed an OPAC system in the 1980s and we were not the first by any means. What you mean by "bibliographic information" is called metadata. There were many different systems (MARC - Machine-readable Catalogue) around. We argued about things like having multiple of the same tag for all the different authors or having different tags so we could model the order of the authors. In Germany the art of cataloging literature goes back more than a century. There is the [*Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung* (RAK)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeln_f%C3%BCr_die_alphabetische_Katalogisierung) that was put forth in the 70s to get away from that horrible *Preußischen Instruktion* used since 1899 or so.
We used index cards for keeping track of references in our own publications. We used pen and pencil to write on the cards, or even typed them up on a typewriter. The cards were very easy to sort (and re-sort), so the last thing you did was type up the reference list. Or you used BibTeX, if you had access to a machine that could run it. There were lots of computers before the IBM PC, they just weren't personal computers. If you didn't have access to a computer, you used a typewriter and lots of Tipp-Ex. Or you ended up retyping every page when the number of errors got to be too many.
I suggest reading up on the history of library catalogues (VOX will point you to a [book in English on the subject](https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/21/15357984/card-catalog-library-of-congress-history)) and then [about OPACS](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/174581607x254802) if you want to look a bit deeper into the history. But you need to go back more than 25 years.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Consonant with many of the comments and <NAME>'s answer, you may find a goldmine in [Um<NAME>'s How to Write a Thesis](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-write-thesis) from 1977. Not only does it explain index cards, but it also factors in what books are available at the library. ([The last time I mentioned this book](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107002/selecting-a-thesis-are-there-lists-of-interesting-or-open-questions/107004#107004), <NAME> confirmed that it is an Italian standard resource.)
First published in English in 2015, the guide is even advertised for the throwback factor, on the ["overview" page](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-write-thesis) by the MIT Press:
>
> Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco's index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data.
>
>
>
For what it's worth, this does sound like an interesting technological transition time period to study, particularly if you are able to figure out who was more likely to have access to newer technologies and compare their workflow/productivity to people without. You may also find that some learned societies' journals or newsletters from the time have editorials or columns that explain newfangled bibliographic tools to their readers. That is, if you can muddle your way through the archaic language you are likely to encounter (like ["synergy"](https://ask.metafilter.com/305971/What-are-some-slang-terms-or-buzzwords-of-90s-era-dotcom-culture) and ["sea change"](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/13/magazine/on-language-downsize-that-special-sea-change.html) and "dynamic" and "World Wide Web").
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently I am reading a textbook (in financial mathematics), and the bibliography is just huge. Pages upon pages of books and articles and whatnot. I'm talking hundreds of sources.
Did the author really read all of those things during the course of writing the book? Is that normal?
Or is it just something they *think* will be useful for students, i.e. a source they may know as popular in the field but haven't read themselves? For example, somebody in mathematics might now of books by Rudin and what topics they contain, without ever actually have read themselves, so they could use that as a source without having read it, i.e like this:
>
> for further information about functional analysis, see (Rudin, 2003) [1].
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Yes, an author will presumably have read all the material, but not *"in the preparation of the book"*. Typically, if you write a book, you already *are* in expert in the area and you have read, at one point or another, most of the seminal work in your field, so you don't need to read everything in detail again when writing the book.
I should also point out that "hundreds of sources" really isn't *that* much. I am a comparatively junior researcher, and my "standard bibtex file" which contains papers I regularly cite already contains multiple hundred entries (and of course I have read all of these at some point - not always in great depth, though).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I would be inclined to believe that if a source is cited (anywhere - be it in a textbook, monograph or journal article), that work is read or has been read. Of course, some scholars (and the temptation is admittedly always there), will perhaps read the abstract and a few lines and 'cite it' without actually reading the whole thing. How much to read before one can 'ethically' cite it is of course a matter up for debate.
But I will say this: I know for a fact that some scholars cite certain works because of citation politics (ie. review demands, to show their depth and breath of the literature) without actually reading it. Others, will insist that one should only cite another work if they have read the whole thing otherwise there will be a chance of misconstruing the work cited.
(Sorry if I went a little off-tangent here but I thought this bit was also relevant for the question you were asking!)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Did the author really read all of those things during the course of writing the book? Is that normal?
>
>
>
No.
Source: I am a textbook author, and cannot claim to have read and understood every line of every page of every source I cited in my book. Nor do I think that that would be a sensible thing to require or expect of an author.
I did however *look at* every source I cited, and read enough of it to determine it to be relevant for my readers; otherwise I would not have cited it. Many of the sources I read in full, of course.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I can't seem to find a answer regarding this point, I would like to know what the usual timeline from the point of application (for tenure track faculty position) submission to contact for interviews looks like. I have applied to numerous positions, some in February of this year. More than half have neither rejected or contacted me and May is just around the corner. What can I expect?<issue_comment>username_1: *It's hard to answer your question without knowing the country and field. I'll answer from my perspective, which probably extends to your situation, but take it with a grain of salt.*
Here's a helpful resource describing in detail a typical (successful) job search timeline for computer science tenure-track faculty positions in the US: <http://www.pgbovine.net/faculty-job-search-timeline.htm>
Most interview invitations are sent out by the end of February. If you haven't heard by mid April (now), then unfortunately I think it's almost certain that you won't be invited.
Another source of information: Most departments list seminar speakers on their website. When their seminar starts filling up with interviewees, then you know they have been sending out invitations.
Most places never send a formal rejection or, if they do, it comes so late that the outcome was already obvious. So don't expect to hear anything.
Commiserations. The academic job search is tough! I wish you the best of luck in your other endeavours.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My response is coming from my experiences in U.S., working in languages/linguistics, serving on a job search committee, and applying for jobs myself this year.
Typically, initial interviews will start up 2-4 weeks after the application deadline, as search committee members need time to look over the pool of applicants, meet up, discuss, and come to a consensus re: their top picks. There are definitely some exceptions though - I had one place reach out to me after only a week, and another place that reached out almost 2 months after the application deadline.
Also keep in mind that every search committee is operating under some sort of bureaucracy where they need to get approval from higher ups every step of the way, which also adds to the waiting time.
If you've made it to the initial interview and they want to bring you back for a second round/campus visit - which is always the case for tenure-track jobs -
they'll probably reach out in 1-2 weeks (the initial round of interviews can take 1-3 days to get through, followed by more meetings/discussions). They'll book your campus visit maybe 2-3 weeks from the time they contact you. After that, you might have to wait an additional 2-3 weeks for a final decision (if you're their first pick), given that they probably have 2-3 other final candidates, and because the campus visits are much lengthier, full-day events, each candidate visit is spaced out a bit.
Concrete example: with the job search committee I was on, our application deadline was near the end of October, and the final offer wasn't made until mid-February, I believe. Approximately 3.5 months. (assistant professor)
A contrary example coming from my own job search experience: a couple of weeks ago I received an offer for a job I applied for in mid-March (visiting assistant professor) - so that one only took a month! And in another case, I got an offer last week for a job I applied to back in January, after doing my last interview with them well over a month ago...so that one was closer to 3 months total (and admittedly, I'm pretty sure I wasn't their first pick, lol)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: My response is coming from being on hiring committees in Canada. We generally do not ask for letters of reference at the time of application, but three references who we can contact if/when we want more information on a potential applicant. We then ask for the letters, which can take some time to assemble given the busy lives of most referees, and use them to make the shortlist. Thus, it might be 6-8 weeks before we actually contact applicants for further information or to schedule interviews.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/04/24
| 445
| 1,835
|
<issue_start>username_0: I maintain a technical blog (posts are in direct correspondence with my interested field of study) which has around 150000 followers. I have two questions:
(a) Do I mention the number of followers in my SOP/CV?
(b) Would mentioning the fact that I maintain this technical blog have any impact in admissions? (or do I even mention the blog in my CV/SOP?)
Thanks !<issue_comment>username_1: (a) There is not harm in mentioning it. Of course, how they interpret it is up to the department. In my cohort (social sciences), there was one student with a blog that he runs that generates quite some views. I am sure he included that (views) in his application.
(b) I would imagine it can only have a positive effect on your application.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would mention the blog, for sure, especially if it is relating to the Topic of studies. It lifts the CV more than pushes it down, as it shows that you are genuinely interested in the field as well as devoted to started projects (it is not easy to keep a blog!). Moreover, you could mention it as an experience in communication with the masses and depending on an Institution you are applying to, it might be a huge benefit, as professionals who can communicate their topic to the public are very much wanted.
To mention the number of followers is up to you but I believe if the person reading your profile will be interested in the blog he/she would ask you to tell more about it during the interview, if they do not ask/mention it, most likely it is not important for them. So keeping the numbers to yourself might be an advantage as it would not irritate not interested ones.
At the end all that matters is how you manage to show it as an advantage that would help you in the position you are applying for.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/04/24
| 768
| 3,420
|
<issue_start>username_0: In the United States, if anyone, be it a relative, a colleague, potential employer, or colleague, requests to the pertinent department, in the university I study/ied in, certain information about myself, will they be able to have it?
Is all this information, such as grades, year, internships I applied to, if I live(d) in a fraternity or dorms, etc., under the same regulation; or does each of them have its own set of restrictions regarding disclosure?
Finally, does that still apply to international students and/or people who have already graduated and thus are no longer in the institution? There is indeed the [Buckley Amendment (FERPA)](https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html), but it only covers educational records.<issue_comment>username_1: As far as I know yes - they are able to verify and check certain details of your educational career such as grades, year of matriculation and graduation etc. However, I am not so sure information about internship, dorm details are readily available as it may fall under data overreach.
Since you mentioned 'Buckley Amendment' - could you also clarify if you're asking in the specific country context?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: In the US context, under the [Federal Education Record Privacy Act (FERPA)](https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html), students (whether they're international students or US residents/citizens) have a right to privacy. This right begins when a student enrolls and continues even after a student graduates or otherwise leaves an institution. In higher education, the student themselves has the right to privacy. In K-12 education, the parents of a student have control over the privacy.
Under FERPA, information about a student consists of "Directory Information" as well as a broad variety of educational records that have stricter privacy controls.
The exact details of what constitutes directory information vary from campus to campus, but it can include name, address, phone number, email address, dates of attendance, degrees granted, etc. Students have the right to restrict access to this information, but they must request that that this information is kept confidential. In response to any request for directory information about a student who has requested confidentiality, an institution will simply not respond. This can cause problems with potential employers confirming that you graduated with a particular degree and other situations where you might actually want to be acknowledged as a student.
Your other academic records are kept under much tighter control—under FERPA they won't be released without your explicit written permission.
So, depending on whether or not you have requested that your directory information be kept confidential, your institution might respond to a request by providing your directory information, or it might refuse to answer the request. If the directory information is confidential, anyone who inquires about you *should* get an answer like "I can neither confirm nor deny that <NAME> is or was a student at Big State U."
There are certain exceptions to FERPA privacy rights, including situations where the student could be claimed as a dependent on the parent's income tax return, situations where university officials have a legitimate need to access the information, etc.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2018/04/25
| 778
| 3,299
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am concerned to the fact that how a professor whom I am asking to write an LOR, **will change the name of the person every time before sending**? I am applying to like **100 different persons** for the position of postdoc. Does it really matter that it should be addressed appropriately (name basis)?
I am working in the interdisciplinary field of materials chemistry, nanotechnology, environmental remediation, physical and theoretical chemistry.<issue_comment>username_1: I can hardly see the need of addressing the reader in a letter of recommendation, but if your professor wants to do it, they can use a process called [*mail merge*](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_merge).
Common word processors have mail merge functionalities (e.g. [MS Word](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Mail-merge-c14950eb-fd73-4386-9bba-6482295fb1e6#ID0EAABAAA=Data_sources)).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: A customized letter of recommendation shows that the writer cares about the success of the applicant. Each letter should have the name of the recipient, or if unknown, the recipient's institution, at the beginning. It should also address the specific requirements of the position.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If your professor has basic programming skills, they can do this pretty easily in any common programming language, such as C or Python.
If it is important that your letters be personalized (unlike say in mathematics where generic letters are 100% expected), I would be more concerned that the letters are not *contextualized* rather than them not being *addressed*. Letters of recommendation should describe how the applicant would fit in and contribute to the institution receiving the letter. If your reviewers expect your letters to be personalized, they may be disappointed that the content of the letter doesn't describe how you and your experience relate to their institution/research project/etc. In some fields this does not matter (math and CS in particular expect you to mail one letter to a thousand people), but it might in your field.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Not all professors customize their letters to the specific recipient. It probably helps a little (especially if the recipient is at a prestigious institution, so that they know that this letter isn't directed at a generic less-prestigious institution), but it's not that necessary.
But you definitely should. If you are applying to 100 different professors for the position of postdoc, and you send them a form letter saying "I am very interested in your work" without once mentioning what their work is, they are very likely to realize that it is a form letter, decide that you're probably not all that interested in what they're doing, and disregard your application.
So it's probably not enough to just put in their name, but you should also mention something about their field of research that interests you and explains why you would be the correct postdoc for them.
Is this a lot of work? Yes, but consider that you're competing for postdoc positions with a lot of other people who may not mind going to the effort of putting in a lot of work in order to get a job. Do you think professors want to hire lazy postdocs?
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2018/04/25
| 854
| 3,520
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<issue_start>username_0: I received a post-doc offer in physics from a German University. The position has a fixed three-year term, which might be extended up to three more years. The original position description says that this is the A13 Z position, *Akademischer Rat auf Zeit*. It corresponds to a *Beamter*, or civil servant position. Since I am a foreigner, the inviting professor is asking, whether it would be OK for me to switch it to E13 instead (researcher), since my profile for the position in this case is not needed to be checked by the federal government and the documents would be prepared much faster and easier for the inviting University. The salary would then be increased, to match those of A13 (let's assume the same net amount).
What are disadvantages and benefits of E13 compared A13 if one ignores the difference in the salary scale?
Which one is considered better in a long term?
Some more information on the personal situation:
* Let's assume I'd like to stay in Germany afterwards.
* I'm going to marry before starting the position. My partner has two children from the previous marriage.
* I am not a citizen of the EU or the Schengen group.<issue_comment>username_1: A E13 position may have a little shorter working hours per week, for eaxample in North Rhine-Westphalia you have to work 39 hrs 50 min/week as "Angestellter" (E13) and 41 hrs/week as Beamter (A13). At least until you are 55 years old, as the working hours for Beamte get gradually reduced as you grow older. But I guess this would not apply to a post-doc position as academic work groups usually do not record the time of their scientist (this means, they often work longer hours without recompensation).
As posted by Roland in his comment above, a Beamter has to get a private health care plan which can be expensive, depending on your age and health status, but as the state pays approximately half of your health care bills, the conditions Beamte get by the private health care companies are much more favourable in comparison to the ones offered to "regular" clients and in the end a Beamter has a higher net salary.
A Beamter has furthermore to pass a health test and perform a vow on the German Grundgesetz (constitution) and the German laws and is not allowed to go on strike. In case of permanent positions, the pensions for Beamte are significantly higher than the pensions for Angestellte. So if you are planning (or hoping) for a permanent position I think a position as Beamter might be more beneficial.
Your family status is also relevant for your salary as Beamter, this means, if you are married with children you will get a higher salary.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The health care costs are a significant issue to consider, and they are required in Germany.
If you are a *Beamter,* then you cannot go on the public health plan. To elaborate on username_1's answer, not only are private health care costs dependent on age, but there is also no protections against pre-existing conditions. You can and will be charged additional costs for coverage if you have a prior health issue. Moreover, unlike the public plans, coverage needs to be extended to each individual member of your family. For a family of four, this could easily be 20% of your net income (or more). While tax changes and *Kindergeld* allowances can make up some of the shortfall, it probably doesn't cover all of the extra expenses.
So you will want to look at the budgetary issues before making a decision.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/04/25
| 1,569
| 5,784
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently accepted a new academic position in the Netherlands. Netherlands has a generous so-called 30% rule for high skilled expats:
>
> you are paying taxes only for the 70% of your income and the rest 30%
> is given to you as a tax-free allowance. This, in practice, means
> about 20% higher net salary.
>
>
>
I easily got this rule 2 years ago for another academic position again in NL. The duration for the 30% rule is 8 years so I should have it for the next 6 years and nobody from HR mentioned any plans from the government of reducing it. Unfortunately, yesterday I read in the news that Dutch government completed a draft proposal which reduces the 30% rule from 8 to 5 years. What is worth noting is that, in case the draft becomes a law (which most probably will, since this is the *final* proposal) will have [a retroactive effect :](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2018/04/20/kabinetsreactie-evaluatie-30-regeling)
>
> Concreet betekent dit dat het kabinet in het pakket Belastingplan 2019
> zal voorstellen de maximale looptijd van de 30%-regeling met ingang
> van 1 januari 2019 voor zowel nieuwe ***als bestaande gevallen met drie
> jaar te verkorte**n*.
>
>
>
One of the factors that made me accepted the new offer was the 30% rule for the remaining 6 years (I planned to buy house immediately). Now I see that this might not very well be true. What is even worse is that I turned down a great Research position (in a high tech company) offering about 60% more salary. I thought the 30% rule would partly compensate about it, but probably it will not.
I will not ask about the legal aspects of the draft law nor about the ethical dimension of this although you can see here what the [relevant tax authorities say](https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontenten/belastingdienst/individuals/living_and_working/working_in_another_country_temporarily/you_are_coming_to_work_in_the_netherlands/30_facility_for_incoming_employees/the_decision_issued_to_you_has_a_maximum_term_of_8_years) about shortening the period of 8 years.
>
> Is it too late to turn down the academic offer? I have accepted it on e-mail but I haven't signed anything yet and haven't even seen the contract. If yes, what is the best way to do this?
>
>
> Is anything similar happening to any other country and how do academics people deal with it?
>
>
>
Apparently, a lot of expats taking advantage of this rule get frustrated and set up an [e-vote against the draft](https://www.change.org/p/iamexpat-transitional-law-for-30-rulings-granted-in-2014-and-earlier?recruiter=872328286&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=share_for_starters_page).<issue_comment>username_1: This is an unfortunate situation were nobody really is to blame. You can't expect the university to warn you about a law that wasn't even in place yet, and the university cannot objectively be mad at you for reneging when your contractual situation significantly changed, even if it is due to outside factors. Of course the important word in the above statement is "objectively" - nobody can ensure you that the people that wanted to hire you will also see it like that, and that you won't burn any bridges.
>
> Is it too late to turn down the academic offer? I have accepted it on e-mail but I haven't signed anything yet and haven't even seen the contract. If yes, what is the best way to do this?
>
>
>
As long as you have not signed anything you are always in the right to back out. The best way to do it would be to warn them that this new development significantly changes your view on their offer, even if they are of course not to blame. I would stay clear of any accusations that they failed to inform you in advance. Note that this also gives them the option to up their offer, which would presumably change your mind back again.
You should do it in the same form as you tentatively accepted the offer before - if you communicated that you would take the offer via email, send them a brief follow-up that you changed your mind, and why.
>
> Is anything similar happening to any other country and how do academics people deal with it?
>
>
>
I am not aware of any concrete cases, but presumably when Brexit broke there had to be cases of academics changing their mind about moving to the UK.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: While there are probably nuances to the situation, this sounds a lot like the tax laws have changed resulting in you having a much higher tax liability. Maybe the university will be nice and offer everyone a raise to account for the change in the tax law, but most likely (at least in the US), the university is not particularly worried about your take home pay.
Having accepted the contract in an email, but not having signed it yet, puts you in a gray area. Changing your mind immediately after a change in the tax law is announce, or even proposed, that will result in a 20% reduction in salary, seems reasonable. A quick email to the department chair saying you just read about the tax change and that by your calculations that reduces your take home pay from X to Y and that makes the position untenable for you.
Even if you had signed the contract (either from a legal or cultural stand point), you can still change you mind. If you legally signed it, they can come after you for breach of contract, but no employer wants to hire someone who is going to start unhappy with their contract. The more committed the department thinks you are and the more work they have put into closing the search (e.g., if they already told the alternative candidates that they were not hired), the more likely they are going to be upset at you.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/04/25
| 1,045
| 4,411
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have been given comments for a major revision from a respected journal. But suddenly, I guessed with a high probability that a person who is a long time adversary of my supervisor may be behind this comments and he won't be satisfied no matter what I do.
What should I do? Can I disclose a conflict of interest with one or two professors from a particular university not to be a referee? What may happen?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd advise against such a move, which can be seen as a way to avoid a complex revision.
Usually, at the time of submission, journals allow the authors to specify non-preferred potential reviewers, either directly through the submission management system or through the cover letter. If you think that someone can be strongly biased against your work due to a conflict of interest, that's the time to voice your concern, not after the review.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I would not do something like that and would similarly discourage you from doing that. There are several reasons why you should not do so:
1) You are assuming that you know who the person is. While you may have some confidence - there remains a probability that the reviewer is not who you have in mind.
2) You are also assuming that the reviewer knows your identity even though I am assuming it is a double blind review.
3) There is a further assumption that he/she will act against you deliberately because he has a bone of contention with your supervisor.
I know academics can be catty but I think you can trust the journal process and academics generally, to be impartial (generally speaking).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> But suddenly, you somehow guess with a high probability that a person
> who is a long time adversary of your supervisor may be behind this
> comments and he won't be satisfied no matter what you do.
>
>
>
You don't need to satisfy the reviewer. Obviously it makes life much easier if you *can* get the reviewer's endorsement, but ultimately the person you need to satisfy is the editor.
If the reviewer has requested revisions, and you can satisfy the editor that you've done everything they asked for, then it's going to be hard for the reviewer to argue against acceptance. My recommendations would be:
1. Seek clarification on anything ambiguous in the reviewer's comments. (I recently got one that simply said "the graphics are very poor and need to be improved" - rather than spend a long time trying to guess what the reviewer wanted, I asked the editors to clarify what was needed.)
2. Where you can reasonably do so, make the edits that the reviewer has requested.
3. Produce an itemised response that lists what you've done in response to each of the points they raised. If you can show that you've addressed all the points they made, it's then very hard for them to argue against acceptance. Even in a non-hostile situation this is a courtesy to reviewers and editors since it helps them understand how you've changed the document.
4. If you disagree with some of their recommendations, look for non-adversarial ways to frame that.
Number 4 there is complex, so let me unpack that a bit. The idea is not to say "you're wrong so I'm going to ignore this", but rather "I can't respond to this issue in the way you recommended, but here's how I can respond to it".
For instance, in my recent paper I proposed a model that involved a set of random variables with distribution N(0,theta^2). One of the reviewers said something along the lines of "presumably this should be N(1,theta^2)?"
My initial reaction was "no, that's wrong, you've misread it" - and they *had* misread it, 0 was definitely the correct value. But what I ended up going with was "I've modified the form of the model to clarify why N(0,theta^2) is used instead of N(1, theta^2)".
Part of my reason for making this change was that the reviewer comment showed me that my working wasn't as clear as it could be. But it was also a diplomatic decision - I wanted to show that I was willing to take their feedback into account, even when I couldn't implement it as suggested.
If you're lucky, this sort of approach may help disarm possible reviewer hostility. But even if it doesn't, it shows the editor that you're receptive to comments, and minimises the grounds on which the reviewer can object to your paper.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2018/04/25
| 637
| 2,691
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a working professional and I wish to try working on some research projects after 9-5 job. My average skills doesn't allow me to be a part of big research groups, however, I would still like to volunteer (little or no pay expected) and work with a research group for some time and experience what's it like, gain some exposure on how they are done and finally figure out if it's for me or not?
Goal is to gain some exposure by doing, just like people have summer internship during graduation or "On-job-training" during employment in provisional period.
Are there any open, public or community-driven research groups where I can get a feel for how research is done? How can I search groups like these?
I am looking for something in fields like IT, data, computer security etc.<issue_comment>username_1: If you want to do it as a hobby you should look for "citizen science groups" near you or in your area of interest. See the [Wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science) to get an idea.
>
> Citizen science (also known as community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, volunteer monitoring or networked science) is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur (or nonprofessional) scientists.
>
>
>
If you want to participate in research at universities and research institutes I would just try to contact the group(s) there that work on the topics of you are interest in.
I guess plenty of groups would be happy to have someone to do some research assistant work and for you it would be a possibility to get to know them and their work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I would guess that even if there are such groups, the research they conduct would not develop any sort of research skill.
The idea behind conducting research is to publish it (otherwise nobody will know what scientists have found). While publishing, scientists **have to** write the names of all contributors. And having your name on an article is sometimes more valuable than the money. Thus, it is not very likely that a research team, which is good enough for you to develop skills in case you help them, to accept that kind of contribution.
If they accept your help, they have to write your name. If they write your name, there will be a random co-author on the article they publish. This is not very prestigious.
You can promise that you will reject authorship, but then how can they know? They cannot prepare a contract that says you will not be a co-author.
All these considered, I would say that yes, you can find such groups, probably cannot help you develop your skills by working with them.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/04/25
| 652
| 2,788
|
<issue_start>username_0: It is becoming common for authors to upload raw data of their research when publishing their papers. However, it is still a small fraction of papers include the dataset.
Is there a way to search for papers whose data are available in repositories?
My field is computational chemistry, and I hope to find papers which have posted the raw data for the DFT analysis.<issue_comment>username_1: Do you know if there exists a database for the type of data you are interested in? That would be the easiest way: browse the database until you find an interesting data set, and the paper will likely be referenced by the database entry (if it is a serious database).
Here is an analogy with my own field (structural biology): most (if not all) journals require that structural models of biological molecules be deposited in the [PDB](http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/home/home.do) in order to publish the article describing the structure. Only the model used to be deposited, but nowadays researchers are also encouraged to deposit the data that led to the model. Therefore, if I am looking for the article describing a particular structure, it is often easier to look up the molecule in the PDB, possibly choose between different entries (one of they may have associated data, not only the model) and find the paper from there.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I suggest you directly looking at theses/dissertations databases. They may not put the data in the article but their theses most probably include them in the appendix.
Not a direct way to filter only data including reports, yet it will really increase the likelihood of finding data for you. Proquest is an example of such theses/dissertations search engine.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: What you are looking for is probably DataCite search: <https://search.datacite.org/works>. If your dataset of interest has a DOI, you should be able to find it that way. You can search by keyword and DFT should bring up about 72,000 datasets. Those datasets may or may not be linked to publications.
Though it will not be useful for your work, for those that might be interested to find biological datasets I have an additional tip. I work for a life science literature database (Europe PMC), and we link publications and data. We identify data citations (in the form of DOI or citation numbers) in the text and this information is searchable. You can either add (HAS\_DATA:y) to your search to identify all papers that reference data, or specify the data type (e.g. PDB accession number, or clinical trial reference) using the advanced search. Here is one example for papers on cancer that reference protein structural data: <https://europepmc.org/search?query=Cancer%20AND%20(ACCESSION_TYPE%3Apdb)>
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/04/26
| 1,890
| 7,779
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a theoretical/mathematical physics PhD student in Brazil. I still have little more than a year until my PhD finishes, and as far as tradition goes, it's soon time to look for a post-doc position somewhere.
Brazil has recently suffered a coup d'état, with its legitimate president being replaced by a puppet. One of his most significant measures was to reduce science funding to almost zero, guaranteeing the best Brazilian researches would leave the country. In the end, staying here is unfeasible for a scientist, which means I'll be applying to Europe. I am also an European citizen, which means I can stay there for as long as I want.
Now, I'm also a very active climber. Climbing pretty much shapes my life in almost every sense. I love travelling and I'm used to spending almost nothing so that I can climb as much as possible. I was talking to a friend today about a plan of going for as many post-doc positions in Europe as I can, preferably near places I can climb, and keep my routine of climbing & doing physics - that is, I want to avoid dealing with the mess a fixed position comes with: classes, bureaucracy, etc. In the end he said that this plan would not work after the third or fourth post-doc: I would become too expensive to hire due to accumulated degrees, and people would only find hiring me advantageous if I were extremely good. The point is that he himself went for 5 post-docs, and I know people who went even further. They quit because were offered a fixed position and took it... But can I live like that "forever"?<issue_comment>username_1: It will be very difficult to do so. Several European countries have rules about how long someone can be employed in "government" positions without a permanent contract. For instance, in Germany, if you do not have a *unbefristete* (permanent) contract after a given time, you are required to leave university employment. Other countries almost certainly have similar rules, as mentioned in the comments.
Now, there are positions **above the postdoc level** where one can remain indefinitely. For instance, in Germany, there are positions like the *Akademischer Rat* or *Oberingenieur* or *außerplanmäßige Professor*, who act in a secondary role supporting the head of an institute. Such positions involve substantially more administrative work than a postdoc normally encounters, but are also not subject to the time limitations. In other countries, such as the US, you can have "soft-money" positions that go by titles such as "research assistant professor" that are not formal tenure-track positions, and are dependent on the supervising faculty and the RAP raising sufficient funds to "pay for itself." I know multiple people who have had careers in such positions.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, please don't even think about it.
Some fields do need and have longer median postdoctoral times and stints (e.g. 2 postdocs are common in the biological sciences), but it is essentially career destroying if you're shuffling around from one postdoc to the other.
There are many reasons.
(I) Depreciation of one's academic worth with time when one lingers on in a postdoctoral role is very real.
(II) Any cool work that you do as a postdoc, or great papers that you write (with the rare exception of pure math, where authorship works differently) is invariably credited to the PI of the research group you're postdocing with.
(III) If you want a pure "scientist" job without the rest of the hassle that being a faculty member entails, how about applying for permanent positions at research institutions? That would be the equivalent of places like NIST, GFDL or Brookhaven or other National Labs in the US. It also pays way better than a postdoc.
(IV) Lastly, anecdotes about "career" postdocs are none too encouraging.
Here is one: A brilliant researcher "X" worked with a famous PI, Prof. "Y" as a postdoc. "X" was technically amazing, and could set up certain difficult experiments and measurements like no one else.
It was very useful for "Y" to have "X" around, so he did. "X" had a great time, stayed on with "Y" as a postdoc, and got co-authorship on papers written in top journals. Unfortunately, "X" got so comfortable in her position that she did not realize the clock was ticking away.
Until one fine day, when Prof. "Y" decided to switch research areas completely, and told a rather middle-aged "X" to find a new position elsewhere.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Another reason that hasn't been stated, probably because its something a potential employer is not supposed to take into account...
Some profs only want to hire people who want to be profs because those people will be "hungry for success", and will be willing to put in substantially more hours of work than their contract requires them to.
On the other hand, having a right-hand man/woman around can be very attractive - someone reliable who is willing to do the leg work without needing to be intellectually in charge. Trouble is that arrangement works well when a relationship builds up between two people. But the fact that positions are generally only funded for a max of 3 years means that you can never guarantee such an arrangement will continue indefinitely.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Can I live off post-docs?
>
>
>
I disagree with the other answers, based on my own experience my answer is **yes**. However it's unusual and it has some negative sides.
I have been a postdoc in France and Ireland for 12 years, working in three different academic institutions.
Let's not kid ourselves: the other answers are correct in saying that this is a bad career path (assuming you want a real academic career), and the uncertainty about still having a job next year is not ideal in everyday life. Additionally, usually the salary scale for a postdoc will not progress a lot (I assume that this depends on the country).
However there is a strong need for skilled researchers on a temporary basis in many places. It is true that many countries in Europe have limits on the number of years you can stay on a temporary contract, but (1) not all of them and (2) some institutions simply turn a blind eye on the legislation. Since you seem to be ok with regularly moving from one place to another, it looks like this wouldn't be an obstacle in your case.
Research wise, it's hard to have your own long term research plan and make it progress this way. On the other hand, you have less administrative and teaching duties, so more time to do actual research.
And in case you are bored with this one day, normally it wouldn't be too hard to have job offers from the private sector.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: To answer the general question: No, it is very unlikely you can live off post-docs indefinitely. The reasons are many. Among them:
* It pays very little
* Job security can be iffy
* The retirement benefits are lackluster
* Employers will expect you to find a faculty position soon (or equivalent)
* Post-docs with 10+ years experience may be seen negatively when applying to new post-doc positions
Also, in your particular case the motivation for post-docs seems to be a dearth of funding. I don't think a post-doc is in a much better position than a faculty member as far as obtaining funding. So your solution doesn't really follow from your premise.
That said, if you actually attempt to be a post-doc indefinitely, I don't think the result will necessarily be unemployment. Assuming you perform reasonably well, and your lab is nice, etc. you will probably be offered a position at some point which is basically a souped-up post-doc with less expectation of moving on to a faculty job.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I remember reading a while ago that there was a proposal going around in the European Parliament. If I remember correctly, it said that all publicly funded research should be publicly accessible.
Did the proposal pass? Is it in effect? What are the exact requirements? (e.g. "green" vs "gold" open access)<issue_comment>username_1: The European commission has a [webpage dedicated to this issue](https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/index.cfm?pg=openaccess). In summary:
>
> All projects receiving Horizon 2020 funding are required to make sure that any peer-reviewed journal article they publish is openly accessible, free of charge (article 29.2. Model Grant Agreement). [...]
>
>
> The Commission is running a pilot on open access to research data in Horizon 2020: the Open Research Data (ORD) pilot. [...]
>
>
> In 2012, the European Commission published a Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information encouraging all EU Member States to put publicly-funded research results in the public domain in order to strengthen science and the knowledge-based economy.
>
> The document also asked each Member State to designate a National Point of Reference (NPR) with the task of 1) coordinating the measures listed in the Recommendation, 2) acting as an interlocutor with the Commission and 3) reporting on the follow-up. [...]
>
>
>
So in my understanding, everything funded directly by the EU has a mandatory open-access policy. For research funded by member States, this is only a recommendation.
See also the [Open Science](http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/open-science-open-access) page on the Horizon 2020 website.
---
To clarify this answer: ["Horizon 2020"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framework_Programmes_for_Research_and_Technological_Development#Horizon_2020) is the name fo the portion of the EU budget dedicated to funding research from 2014 to 2020. I think one of the better-known bodies funded by Horizon 2020 is the [European Research Council (ERC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Research_Council), but more generally all EU funds going to research go through Horizon 2020 (well, until 2020). The previous programs were called "Framework Programs" (FP, e.g. FP1, FP2, FP3... up to FP7 for the period 2007–2013).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Gold** open access is the actual open access, i.e. where you pay the publisher to make it open access.
**Green** open access is when you or your institution make available an "author's copy" or preprint (usually the camera ready version without the copyright statement).
Green open access satisfies the EU requirements. However some publishers, especially in the case of journals, have an embargo period before which the author's copy cannot be published online in your university's repository. I think this case might require the payment of open access fees if the research was funded by the EU.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, «**all** scientific articles in Europe **must** be freely accessible as of 2020» (emphasis added to the [original](https://web.archive.org/web/20160819074254if_/http://english.eu2016.nl/binaries/eu2016-en/documents/press-releases/2016/05/27/all-european-scientific-articles-to-be-freely-accessible-by-2020/press-release-all-european-scientific-articles-to-be-freely.pdf)). Not just those funded by the EU.
This was [decided by the EU Council of May 2016](http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9526-2016-INIT/en/pdf) under the presidency of Netherlands. The Council holds legislative power together with the Parliament.
However, it's just a political decision for now. It's not a directive, let alone a regulation, so it's not directly enforced. The Commission is supposed to make legislative proposals to make it happen. This is the actual decision:
>
> AGREES to further promote the mainstreaming of open access to
> scientific publications by continuing to support a transition to
> immediate open access as the default by 2020, using the various models
> possible and in a cost-effective way, without embargoes or with as
> short as possible embargoes, and without financial and legal barriers,
> taking into account the diversity in research systems and disciplines,
> and that open access to scientific publications should be achieved in
> full observance of the principle that no researcher should be
> prevented from publishing; INVITES the Commission, Member States and
> relevant stakeholders, including research funding organisations, to
> catalyse this transition; and STRESSES the importance of clarity in
> scientific publishing agreements.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/26
| 719
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm doing a PhD in computer science. I've been working in my research question for a year and a half now and I still didn't publish any article yet. Lately, I found out an idea that can improve the current solutions. I believe my idea can provide better results than current tools. But, my question is as follows: Is it possible to submit my paper to a scientific journal and hopefully get it accepted without implementing my idea (i.e. without testing my idea)?<issue_comment>username_1: The reviewers will generally need some evidence that your idea works. That evidence can come in various forms, and doesn't necessarily have to be experimental (e.g. in certain fields you could formally prove something instead). That said, you generally won't be able to publish ideas without any evidence in good venues (unless the reviewers are asleep on the job) -- why would you want to, in any case?
To put it another way, you say that you "believe" your idea can provide better results than current tools. Aren't you curious whether or not that's actually the case? Either way, the reviewers are likely to be (assuming you have good reviewers).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Ideas are cheap. Most researchers have more ideas than they have time to develop them. It's the development which has value. Or to put it another way, in order to advance the field you need to convince other people that your idea is interesting, and the fact that you believe it will not be sufficient. Depending on your subfield the way to convince people may be a mathematical analysis, empirical measurement of an implementation, or a combination of the two, but you need *something*.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: 1) This is a question best addressed to your adviser or someone else familiar with your work, because questions like these often depend on the details of what you're doing.
2) It depends on the subfield, the nature of the work, and what evidence you can provide that the methodology. You need to provide argumentative evidence that your approach is noteworthy and correct. This can be a mathematical proof of correctness, a diagram and five pages of discussion and commentary, or a statistical analysis comparing the algorithm to other similar ones. Which is most appropriate depends on the nature of your work. However, **whatever you choose is going to be an involved endeavor, and you have little hope of getting something published if you insist on not doing a meaningful evaluation of its performance**.
Assuming that you are willing to evaluate and validate your algorithm, but just not willing or able to implement it...
If you're doing theoretical work, the answer is likely "yes you can publish it". New algorithms for known problems or improvements to the theoretical run-times of established algorithms are often published with formal proofs of correctness rather than implementations. Pseudo-code would be encouraged but is not even always necessary.
If you're doing non-theoretical work, the answer is likely "no you cannot publish it". Non-theoretical CS work of this type is usually backed by numerical experimentation and quantitative comparison to known benchmarks and frequently-used algorithms. In an ideal world, you'd even leverage statistics to improve your analysis.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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2018/04/27
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| 4,248
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently finishing a paper, and I am writing the acknowledgements section.
There is a colleague with whom I have discussed several times about the question answered in the paper, who certainly spent some spare time thinking about it, and suggested some interesting ideas. However, none of these ideas actually turned out to be fruitful. While I appreciated their interest in this question, and things definitely *might* have turned out differently, the paper *as it is* has not actually benefited in any tangible way from my discussions with this person.
Do you think it is appropriate to thank them anyway? (And, if yes, with what formulation? just the standard "I would like to thank Prof. Smith for some interesting discussions", or something else?)
If it matters, the field is pure mathematics.<issue_comment>username_1: The acknowledgement is not just for the results you get ultimately, but for the time and effort spent by your colleague in discussing your problem. Research is not deterministic, so you can rarely know beforehand what approach will work; you need to try different methods and then see what gives you the results. It's unfair to credit only those which ultimately worked. (Also, what didn't work now could work in a different scenario, with a different approach.)
To offer an experimental analogue, often we need to use several different instruments or techniques to get a result. This means we need to collaborate with different people for instruments and inputs; once they give time and access, they are acknowledged irrespective of the results.
As for how to acknowledge, the standard line is safe and respectful, unless you want to highlight a specific contribution.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Be generous in your praise of others! That person has inspired you, and adding someone in an acknowledgement costs you absolutely nothing. You accrue good karma if you show appreciation for the time others have offered you, and we can all use some good karma every once in a while!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Those discussions were “fruitful” in the sense that you cleared them off the list of avenues to pursue and were able to spend that time on other avenues.
So, yes acknowledge them.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: As has been mentioned by the others: yes, acknowledge them for the time and effort, and generally out of respect.
>
> And, if yes, with what formulation?
>
>
>
Depending on the actual situation, and on how close you are to the professor (in hierarchy or familiarity), you can certainly pick a range of sentences. For example, if I were to read any of the following, I would not think any worse about the author at all.
* "I would like to thank Prof. Smith for interesting discussions."
* "I would like to thank <NAME> for his thought-provoking impulses regarding ..."
* "I would like to thank <NAME> for being the 'devils advocate' regarding ..., hence keeping me on the right path."
* "I would like to thank <NAME> for enduring my thoughts on ... and pointing out several dead ends I was in danger of getting stuck in."
Even a kind of high-brow tongue-in-cheek (as in #3) should certainly be acceptable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Yes, it is perfectly acceptable, and I think a good idea, to thank people for interesting discussions that helped you along the way. This doesn't mean that they helped with a specific result in the paper, but that it was part of the longer term project. Here's an example from a Journal of Climate article by Hingray and Saïd:
>
> We thank also <NAME> (Orsay, Paris), <NAME>
> Souza (LTHE, Grenoble), and <NAME> (Irstea, Lyon) for
> interesting discussions on this work as well as <NAME> for
> his enthusiastic appreciation of a former manuscript version.
>
>
>
And if it was part of a workshop and you don't want to have to acknowledge all thirty people you talked to individually, here's an example from the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (paper by Holtsag et al., 2013):
>
> This paper benefited from discussions at the ECMWF-GABLS workshop in November 2011.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3
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2018/04/27
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| 2,864
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<issue_start>username_0: >
> **Situation**: I started my PhD (Pure Maths) in January 2018. My research interest lies on functional analysis but not on applied side.
> If possible, I would like to stay at academia as a Maths researcher or lecturer (or even better, professor).
>
>
>
Recently I came across a few conferences that I would like to attend. However, due to my scholarship terms and conditions, I am able to obtain financial assistance from the school only *once per year*.
However, some of my peers attended more than one conference per year due to their prestigious scholarship.
>
> **Question**: Would a Phd student with few conference attendances be at a disadvantage when applying for postdoctoral / tenured track position?
>
>
>
By conference attendance, I mean attend AND give a talk at conference.<issue_comment>username_1: The purpose of attending conferences when you are **at the PhD level and post-doc level** is not for padding your CV, although people still want to see you have presented at some international recognized conferences. The main purpose is to advertise yourself and your research and to network for what could be your next position. In fact it is possible to walk out of a conference with some kind of contact or verbal agreement that sets you up for your future job.
For professorship application I don't think just attending conferences will help you, rather they will want to see that you have been keynote or plenary.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You don't state your country. My experience in the US and Canada in Pure Math is that financing from your program for a conference once per year is on the generous side of standard; I believe when I was a graduate student, we would receive such funding from my program once for the entire term of your Ph.D. However, I went to many more conferences than that as a student, thanks to funding from the conferences and from my advisor. If you are giving a talk at a conference, then it would be a bit unusual for the organizers to not provide you with funding (though every rule has its exceptions). Certainly when I've done conference organization, funding speakers has been my #1 priority for any money we have.
My experience is that going to conferences can be valuable, and I recommend that you do it when possible, but as other answers have said, they are not an important consideration for hiring committees. Certainly, it's quite normal for me to see postdoc applications with only one or two (or even zero) conference talks on them; I don't see that as a big issue. Focus on doing good research and when you see a relevant conference, request funding from the organizers or your advisor; self-funding is also a possibility, but I would only do it when the conference is *really* significant or the amount of money required is small.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/27
| 2,839
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not an American, but I know that the number 101, often used postpositively, is used to mean fundamentals/rudiments of a particular scholarly subject. I know (partially as a hunch but I also looked it up) this is because introductory courses in American, or maybe North American college are given the number 101.
But now I want to know a bit more about this numbering system, because I was watching a video called: Chemistry 107. Inorganic Chemistry, and I wondered exactly how far along or advanced this is? Is it guaranteed that there are 5 other courses between 101 and 107 that are intermediate between these?
The only information I got from Wikipedia was that:
>
> This common numbering system was designed to make transfer between
> colleges easier.
>
>
>
So if anyone has gone through an education of this numbering system, could you explain roughly how this is arranged? Is Chemistry 107 really far ahead, and does it mean that there are 5 previous courses before it?
And [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=OUj4j6td1es) is the video in case it helps in answering my question.<issue_comment>username_1: A common system works roughly as Najib Idrissi describes: courses numbered 100-199 are first-year courses, which either have no prerequisites or only high school-level prerequisites. Courses numbered 200-299 are second-year courses, which have 100-level prerequisites, and so on.
But this system is by no means universal in the US, nor does the rough description above capture all aspects of it accurately. The "and so on"
above would lead you to guess that 400-499 are the most advanced undergraduate courses, and 500+ are graduate courses. And that's the case at some universities. But at my current institution, 300-399 designate the most advanced courses intended primarily for undergraduates (including those in their fourth year), and courses starting at 400 are graduate classes. At another institution I've been at, "lower-level" undergraduate courses are 1-99, "upper-level" graduate courses are 100-199, "lower-level" graduate courses are 200-299, and "upper-level" graduate courses are 300-399. And in any of those systems, you can't always guess from the number alone the relationship between Basket Weaving 125 and Basket Weaving 147.
To address your question about the online chemistry course, you can't even assume that Chemistry 101-106 even exist at the institution in question; if they do, they may or may not have any clear relation with 107. When I was an undergraduate, there were two distinct introductory chemistry sequences for different audiences: 105-106 and 107-108. So there was no 101, and 106 was a more advanced course than 107.
So if you want to know the place of a specific course in the curriculum, you have to consult the course offerings of the specific institution.
**tl;dr** (summarizing this and other answers, and many more details in comments): There is no one system for course numbers, even at a given institution. At best you can make a rough guess about a course number's meaning. If you really want to know, you need to find information from the specific department.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The numbering system isn't nearly that consistent across American universities. "Subject 101" isn't really the introductory course in Subject at most schools.
Based on my experiences on a few schools, here are the consistent patterns I'm aware of:
* Course numbers are typically three digit numbers
* The first digit does typically indicate the level of the course, with 1XX courses being lower level than 2XX courses and so on, but the significance of the first digit can vary wildly (4XX courses could be undergrad courses or upper level grad courses at different schools, for instance).
It's impossible to guess at the significance of the last two digits of a course number without knowing the specific courses involved. Some of the principles that lead to choosing specific numbers are:
* Sometimes consecutive courses do get numbered consecutively, so 130 and 131 might form a related sequence. Conversely, my experience is that when courses don't form a natural sequence, they rarely (but not never) get consecutive numbers, to avoid confusion: there are always many gaps in the numbering system.
* Sometimes the second digit has significance - it might be that courses whose second number is a 4, regardless of level, are all inorganic chemisty, so 141 is the first inorganic chemistry course while 440 is the number of a graduate seminar in inorganic chemistry.
* Often when a course is removed or dramatically changed, its number will be retired for a time: it would be confusing if 107 meant very different things for people graduating from the same school in the same year because they took the course in two different years.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: **Short version:**
* Only the first number matters in course descriptions.
* 101 courses are special in that they are designed for anyone at the university to take them, and have no prerequisites.
---
**100-level courses** (sometimes called 1000-level courses) are designed for all students, regardless of major or college\*.
* So Econ 201, Econ 220, and Econ 2051 are meant for Econ majors only. These courses presume familiarity with the department's field. In other words you'll be at a serious disadvantage if you haven't taken a few 100-level courses.
**200-level courses** (sometimes called 2000-level courses) are designed explicitly for majors.
* So Econ 202 and Econ 240 are designed for econ majors. Thus most students will be econ majors, and the course will assume you have some general background knowledge of economics. Ideally from taking 100/1000 level courses.
* In most cases 200-level and up courses are not going to be designed (or fair) for cross-school (cross-college) students. In other words, the pre-reqs for 200-level and up courses are "you need to have had at least a year of education in this school in order to know what's going on in class".
**300-level and up** (or 3000-level and up) courses and up vary widely by school and department/major.
* [Where I went to undergrad](http://www.cornell.edu/), 300-level sometimes meant you had to have taken at least 3 200-level courses in the department.
* Sometimes 400-level means seminar, or masters students only. Sometimes 300-level means double-length courses.
* If your school has 500-level courses, these are normally grad student-only courses, though.
---
\* if your university has multiple colleges. For example, Cornell has an engineering college, a fine arts college, a liberal arts college, an [industrial and labor relations college](https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/), a hotel management college, an [undergrad business school](https://admissions.cals.cornell.edu/academics/majors/aem), and more. [Here's a better explanation of this.](http://www.cornell.edu/academics/colleges.cfm)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: When people in the U.S. talk about a generic introductory course, say *"Underwater Basket Weaving 101",* we often give it the number *101*.
This is just a linguistic shorthand; introductory courses are labeled 101 at relatively few colleges and universities. The actual numbers depend on the university, and the systems vary wildly, and can even vary somewhat between different departments at the same colleges.
For example, the introductory courses in mathematics at various universities (calculus or precalculus) are labeled:
M.I.T.: 18.01 (18 is the math department number).
Princeton: MAT 100, followed by MAT 103.
Harvard: Math 1a.
Williams College: Mathematics 130,
Purdue University: MA 16500 or MA 18100 (the second is honors calculus).
Mount Holyoke College: Math 101.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: As others have said, there's a lot of variation in how courses are numbered at different universities. One example that's somewhat different from those that have already been mentioned is the [University of Texas at Austin.](http://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/academic-policies-and-procedures/credit-value-and-course-numbers/)
UT Austin uses the first digit to indicate the number of credit hours that are awarded for the class (which is usually roughly equal to the number of class hours per week.) The remaining two digits indicate the relative level of the class: lower division (freshman/sophomore), upper division (junior/senior), or graduate.
For example: The first class taken as part of a bachelor's degree in physics is PHY 301 (Mechanics), which is also open to other majors. It requires prior or simultaneous enrollment in PHY 101L, which is a laboratory course. There's also PHY 104 (Introductory Physics Seminar) which is a high-level overview of the field, and is roughly equivalent to what one might expect from a "101" class.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: A university can use any system they want. Especially older and prestigious universities will have weird systems, since they are less concerned about being accepted as "legitimate" (their legitimacy is already beyond question).
The "100-system" *is* pretty common. Usually the first number is the year in which students are expected to take it, and the second number is the semester. But this system often creates problems:
* Sometimes, Math 101 is taken in year 1 by some majors but year 2 by others.
* Sometimes students from a major can choose from, eg, organic or inorganic chemistry for their third semester. So which one gets to be called Chem 201? Regardless, the other one will be called something else.
* Sometimes a class can be taken at any time as an elective, so has no "default" time it is supposed to be taken.
* Sometimes there will be multiple versions of a class, but later on the 101 course will be discontinued, while the other remains.
The only real rule is that if a course has a certain number, no other course will have that number.
However, "Something 101" has been used for a time in colloquial English to mean "the basics of", "an introduction to" or "a crash course in" something. Funnily enough, this has resulted in me taking some courses which claimed to be the "101" of something, but were advanced, graduate-level classes (the ones I took did not actually have a course code of 101, though).
So the answer is, there isn't really a system, and when people refer to "101", they probably mean it as a figurative expression, and not an actual system.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/27
| 562
| 2,446
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm drafting a job offering for a paid PhD position at a German university. It's a temporary position, so it's offered under the terms of the *Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz*, a German law that limits the number of years that people can be employed with temporary contracts by German universities and similar institutions.
As I wish to invite applications also from people whose first language is not German, I need an appropriate translation of *Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz*. Is there an official English translation of the title? If not, is "Law on Temporary Employment of Scholars and Researchers" an appropriate translation?<issue_comment>username_1: I would keep the name of the law in German. If potential candidates are unfamiliar with that law and want to find out more then they will have a hard time finding the law if you only give them your English translation. Those who are familiar with the law may become uncertain if you mean that law. Ther German name is unambiguous (but ugly). Alternatively, you could use the German term and your translation in parentheses.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I wouldn’t translate the law’s name as I do not see how it helps potential applicants. Just put yourself in their position and think about what benefit it grants you:
* Any reasonable resource elaborating the content of the law in detail will mention the German name, even if written in English.
* The translation itself will only give the applicant a very rough idea what it is about. The more important aspect what relevant consequences the law has.
* To be actually affected by the law, the applicant has to have a history of employment in German academia and thus not be scared by long German words anymore.
If I would have to write about this in a job ad, I would write something like:
>
> Applicants who were previously employed in a similar position in Germany may not be eligible due to the restrictions imposed by German law (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz).
>
>
>
Note that I have rarely ever seen this law mentioned on job ads to which it applies and never on a PhD position – which makes sense because the law would only matter if the candidate already has been employed on a PhD position in Germany for more than three years.
Finally, if you can, I would let your HR department worry about this. They should have some legal boilerplate available.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: A reviewer of my paper told me that the discussion section is not well developed.
What does this mean? What should I work on to improve my discussion section?<issue_comment>username_1: If the reviewer says the Discussion section is not well developed, it suggests you either need to cover more of the elements that go there or go into greater depth on the things you do say there.
[Car<NAME> has a nice handout](https://www.cmu.edu/gcc/handouts/imrd-examples-pdf) about what different traditional elements of a paper should contain.
>
> Discussion sections contain the following moves:
>
>
> 1. They summarize the main findings of the study. This allows readers to skip to the beginning of the
> discussion section and understand the main “news” in the report.
> 2. They connect these findings to other research
> 3. They discuss flaws in the current study.
> 4. They use these flaws as reasons to suggest additional, future research.
> 5. (If needed) They state the implications of their findings for future policy or practice.
>
>
>
Further, if the Results section does not comment on the results, such as attempting to explain them and evaluating whether the results support the hypothesis, then that should be part of the Discussion.
Finally, as henning recommends, let a trusted colleague read the paper and ask for their suggestions for improving the discussion section.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I had a similar comment from and editor (who desk rejected a paper) saying that I needed to 'develop my concepts further' without elaborating further. I take such advice to mean I need to add more meat and refine how my concept advances my argument and how the concept can travel to other empirical cases.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently [asked about the ethicality](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/97826/ethicality-of-continuing-my-ph-d-with-intentions-of-leaving) of staying in a Ph.D. program (first-year) while attempting to transfer to a different university that I had declined previously. Unfortunately, the funding was cut short for said program and I did not get off the wait list for funding.
The main reason I wanted to transfer was due to the fact that I wanted to focus on a more applied math program as opposed to the current program I am in that focuses on bioinformatics/biology. Since the transfer/funding did not work out, I was curious if I could possibly transfer from the Ph.D. I am currently in to the math Ph.D. program. They are both under the same college of sciences. I did my undergrad in both math and cell/molecular biology and I believed I could incorporate enough math but if possible I’d like to just get the applied math Ph.D. and apply it to biology instead of the other way around.
My two options are either to stay in my program and recruit many math committee members or to outright move to the math department. I don’t particularly want to ask my own department yet because I don’t want to be looked down upon or lose any funding because I do want to stay here and will happily finish (eventually) by incorporating more math based individuals.
I was wondering if this has been done before or if anyone has any advice on how to go about this? Obviously I’d like my funding to carry over and I believe since they’re in the same college of sciences it may be doable. I’m worried that I’ll be criticized or judged for wanting to do this or lose my funding. Since my first option of going to the other program at a different university didn’t workout and I didn’t hear about it till a week ago, I was unable to really follow this second option.<issue_comment>username_1: Whether it can be done or not depends entirely on the regulations of your particular institution. What is much more likely to say is that you will probably not be able to carry your funding over from your old department to your new one. Funding very rarely can be transferred, since it is usually attached to some project or department, rather than any individual.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First thing, unless you got a funding from an outside source to the university, it is VERY UNLIKELY your funding will be carried over (for example, math funding is usually by TAing/teaching as everyone takes math classes, I guess biology funding comes in the form of lab work).
Second, it is very likely that this late in the year, admissions in math are already done deal (and they tend to have limited spots as usually math admissions are fully funded with TAships). I would suggest looking into adjacent fields which are more bio-friendly and less competitive than math, say statistics (bio-stats? experiment design?) or CS (systems biology?).
Now it is evident from your post and the previous one that you are unhappy with your field of study and position, and it effects you and your work.
Instead of complementing too much, the only honorable/reasonable way to solve that (and maybe move to other program in math, in this university or another), is to terminate the bio program, on good terms (schedule a meeting with director of graduate studies, shake his hand, thank him for the opportunity, say this program is not a good fit for you and ask him if he can assist moving to math, maybe he's BFF with someone from the math admissions committee, it is clear this step is terminal from the biology perspective, but at least you keep your credibility and won't get bad recommendations from the bio staff), right now, you're wasting time (yours and the bio staff) and money.
Your first option is not very viable one. Most math professors (even the applied one) are not usually drawn to bio (rather than CS/Physics), and they are busy people, I highly doubt that you would be able to convince them to participate in a bureaucratic thing (committee) for a student not from their department. Moreover, as in biology you're tied to a lab, rather than being a more-or-less independent researcher as in math, eventually your research would need to align with the intentions of your advisor, namely a bio guy, and this would give even less of an incentive to the math people to support you.
Good luck whatever you do.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I am little confused about the goal of PhD in the middle of my PhD. I used to think that PhD is equal to Research but in the middle of my PhD I find out that it is much more than only research. It involves TA work plus some other academic work and research also. Before joining the PhD my goal was to publish something revolutionary during my PhD but I believe that PhD is a process in which you do three things ( according to my seniors )
1. Work on some problem you find interesting
2. Write and submit to some conference
3. If rejected again submit after modification
This is a typical PhD process. The above three steps will help me to get me a PhD, but it does not let me make a significant contribution which will help in finding job after PhD (postdoc, etc.).
**Question:** What is the "goal" of the PhD? Is it more than the above three mentioned steps? How to ensure that at the end of PhD I will have something significant research contribution? Do I only need to worry about this or my research supervisor also?<issue_comment>username_1: A PhD is about research. Of course, there are some other things - for example, in some universities you have to take classes because it is assumed that they help you with your research. TA is - in the universities I know - necessary to get money. Some supervisors also see their PhD students as their assistants and assume they help them with things not related to the research (e. g. with teaching, without compensating the student).
The goal of a PhD is to write and defend a PhD thesis. If everything is done correctly, this implies that the PhD student has substantial knowledge about her subfield and has made a groundbreaking contribution (but the ground that she breaks may be small!) Moreover, the student should learn in her PhD to be a professional researcher. This includes things like publishing, going to conferences etc. Those are then the things a PhD graduate will be evaluated on if she applies for academic jobs.
Your supervisor should, of course, also help you to become a successful researcher. However, it she does not care about you, the only thing you can probably do is to change your supervisor. However, you being successful is also good for her career.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The goal of a PhD is to make a contribution to the body of human research. This involves, not only doing the actual research, but *reporting* it, too. And it can involve verifying the research of others, because any real research should be verified by peer review.
Writing publications is the process by which research is reviewed and reported. A series of smaller publications is less risky than one big one, especially for a new researcher, but it is not unheard of to present all the work from your thesis in a single peer reviewed publication.
You cannot always do research in a vacuum. At the end, to have impact, someone must at least read the research. Your PhD will be judged on your novel contributions to your field and these will be that much stronger if they are peer reviewed and published (or in the process of such).
**Answers**
The aim of a PhD is to make a contribution to research. It is more than having papers submitted (accepted), your papers should report the results of your research so your peers can review your contributions. Peer review will validate your contributions, ensuring their significance and correctness (or plausibility). It is YOUR research and it will result in YOUR thesis and YOUR contribution (or publication list). But I’m sure your supervisor will correct you or point you in the right direction if you go astray. As far as a job afterwards is concerned, academics are judged on their impact factor, which is often based on their publications. Some (industry R&D) places will use a PhD requirement to narrow down the candidate list and ensure the ability to understand complex problems and educate yourself.
In my field (Computing Science), I’ve seen some thesis where each chapter has been published as a paper: a review paper plus two or three experimental papers. I’ve seen another which resulted in a single journal paper covering most of the thesis, but if you spend years gathering a dataset, the major contribution is the dataset itself, not the publication that describes it (although that’s important, too). Some advice has been to view the thesis as a series of sprints rather than a marathon and "publish or perish".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My experience so far being a PhD student is the following that somewhat attempts to answer your question "What is goal of PhD?"
* It is first step towards starting a career in academics
* It is far more than just publishing articles in conferences and journals
* It is the degree which builds your team skills, time management skills
* Teaches to learn to have patience
* Teaches how to handle rejection
* Reduces unnecessary egoism (or sometimes egotism)
* Teaches to think and express in clearer fashion
* At the end, provides the satisfaction at the end of the day (!)
I think you would find the book [Advice to a Young Scientist by <NAME>](https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Advice_To_A_Young_Scientist.html?id=3fg3DgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false) useful.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The *goal* of a PhD depends on who you ask. From your advisor’s perspective it is to prepare you be a competent, accomplished academic that will be competitive on the job market - including research, writing, mentoring, teaching, etc. But, this need not be *your* goal. Perhaps you plan to leave academia for industry. Perhaps you plan to take a teaching position.
The reason the above is important is that it gauges what ‘important contribution’ means. If *your* goal is to run a lab at Harvard, your contribution (publications) will have to be very high caliber (and probably numerous). But this need not be satisfied in order to earn the degree - your department will have minimum criteria; some don’t even require publication.
Assuming you wish to stay academic, how do you ensure ‘significant contribution’? By identifying holes in the literature you think you can fill, doing a strong study, and writing a persuasive article documenting it.
It would be nice if your advisor worried about this too, but the onus is mostly on you to push forward.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: When you turn in a manuscript to an academic publisher, they may insist (referring to their style guide and publication process) that ***all*** figures are placed on top/bottom of the manuscript's pages rather than exactly where you need them (e.g., in the middle on one page and on top on another page). Why? Assuming single-column layout and that no huge line stretching, no huge vertical gaps, and no vertical overflows occur, what good reasons could exist nowadays for figures to be moved out of the very place where you need them?
An example could be the figures in the [CSP book](http://www.usingcsp.com/cspbook.pdf): they are placed typically where the reader needs them rather than always at the top/bottom of the pages.<issue_comment>username_1: Consider a page structured like this:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rcbaF.png)
where A, B, C, D are columns of text. In such a case, should one read in the order A–B–C–D, or A–C–B–D? For me, it's natural to read in order texts that are close to each other – so here: A–B–C–D. So I'm always annoyed when the text makes no sense because I read it in an incorrect order. The same applies for a layout like this:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/392MK.png)
where the text nearest to A is C.
In case of this layout:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9gqld.png)
the page seems too divided – the continuity between A and B is broken. Also, it doesn't look nice when A consists of 15 lines, and B of only 2 lines (or *vice versa*): the reader could miss the shorter block, and – again – be annoyed that the text makes no sense. So, one wants to have a layout that will be easiest for the reader to follow.
And the layout when the figure is embedded in the text (e.g., with LaTeX's `wrapfigure`) can be sometimes found in books – I guess journals decided that this would be too distracting in an article which is usually very condensed.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Usually a manuscript is typed with a typewriter. There is a difference between the correct format of submitted manuscript and the article in final printed form. That means, the figures and tables are shuffled. It is a common misconception to believe that authors are in control of layout. All formatting questions are answered by the journal editor. But the author has the obligation to do some pre-work for getting the optimal result. For example, he should write on the back of each figure the senior author name with a soft pencil and the word “top”. Top means, that the figure can be placed on top. If this will happen in the final printed forms, depends on many other decisions which are outside the scope of the author.
>
>
>
Source: page 16-20 [Manuscript Guidelines for the Journal of Wildlife Management, 1988](http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/wlf448/jwmguidelines.pdf)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you are mainly interested in "nice-looking" pages, top and bottom figures are commonly considered more aesthetic.
Frequently, this causes a figure to be on a different page than the part of text that refers to it, which is not ideal for the reader. But this may not be so important for the type-setting people.
Another important thing is that you cannot guarantee that a figure can be placed at the place of usage (text flow might change due to reformatting, insertions, etc.). So you can never *rely* on a figure really being in the position where you use it. You may be tempted to use words like "the following figure", but you really shouldn't.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: To add a bit to some of the other answers, and address some of the comments about 'short' figures in the middle of text, I've included below a screen shot of a mid-80's paper where several long equations required spanning the two column format.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but it makes for a really ugly layout, and makes it really hard to read (even with the slight visual indications of where to go from the column-breaking lines). Like all stylistic choices, some people will prefer one, some another. But this page is just really hard to read.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9edrF.png)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The flow of reading you want to have is like the one for regular equations in a mathematical text:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FDO5I.png)
For some simple illustration of a concept (like most figures in the textbook you are referencing), this flow works fine, and it makes sense to place the figure exactly where it is needed.
Now, for the vast majority of figures in scientific papers it is rather this (also see Figure 1 below):
1. You read a piece of text which describes that some data was obtained.
2. You look at plot that summarises the data in graphical form.
3. You look at the figure caption to understand what was plotted and maybe learn some technical details about the plot or the data acquisition.
4. You go back and forth between figure and caption until you understand what’s going on and can easily extract a piece of information.
5. You try to grasp the main points of the figure.
6. You go back to the text, which describes and interprets the data and at first frequently refers to particular aspects of the data for which you may want to take another look at the figure, but you do not have to. For example the figure below is not so complicated that you may not need to look at it again to remember what this point references.
7. The text continues about something else.
8. The text possibly comes back to the figure at a later point.
---
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lbg8c.png)
***Figure 1:*** Reading flow for a complex figure. The red line depicts the reader’s focus at a given time. The boxes depict what is on the reader’s mind. Numbers refer to stages of the reading flow as enumerated in the main text.
---
The first reference to such a figure will always be a major interruption of reading flow. Putting the figure not directly at this position but to the top or bottom of the same page is only a drop in the ocean in this respect. (I do acknowledge that the figure shouldn’t be pages apart.) However, in other respects, putting the figure at the top or bottom has advantages:
* If somebody reads the text a second time and is already familiar with the figure (so they do not have to look at it at all) a figure at the middle of the page would pose an additional interruption of reading flow. A figure at the top or bottom does not do this as the page break already breaks the reading flow anyway (also see [Corey’s answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/108799/7734)). In this answer, the end of the long list is a similar unavoidable break of reading flow and a good position for the figure.
* For some figures, there is no perfect position as it depends on the reader’s preferences when they first jump to the figure. Some like to read the paragraph describing how some data was obtained or the key points of interpretation first, others prefer to look at the figure as soon as they see it on the page and before it was even referenced in text. Some even look at all the figures before reading the actual paper.
* If the reader has to jump between text and figure (point 6 above), it is slightly easier, as the top and bottom of the page provide better anchors for jumping to the figure.
* If the reader is referred to the figure at a later point in the text (point 8 above), it is easier for them to locate the figure.
So, it does make sense for typesetters or style guides to default to figures on the top and bottom of the page as complex figures referenced from multiple locations are much more frequent in scientific papers. Exceptions from this are rare and robustly spotting them often requires a subject expert, which typesetters are not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The answers so far all raise interesting points regarding typesetting/page layout. However, there is one consideration they all miss: submitted manuscripts are often re-typeset by the publisher during production (even where you have used a template that looks like the final version). Consequently, **just because the publisher asks you to put the figure there, that doesn't mean it will be there in the final version**. Indeed, many publishers now have very limited formatting requirements ([example](https://www.elsevier.com/authors/journal-authors/your-paper-your-way)) (or optional-only recommendations/templates).
Nevertheless, there are various reasons for the formatting requirements (however many or few) a journal may have. I'm not going to discuss OP's specific question ("*why place figures at the top/bottom?*"), because who knows why a particular publisher has a particular requirement, but I will discuss formatting requirements in general.
* They account for how the publisher's computer systems will generate the manuscript that is sent to the reviewers
* They are suggestions to ensure the reviewers receive something readable (note: *not* optimal)
* To avoid breaking the publisher's templates
* Use of a publisher's styles/templates streamlines production because it enables the automated identification of (*e.g.*) captions during production, and assists the production staff in identifying and formatting the manuscript.
* They enable consistent, straightforward measurement of (*e.g.*) page limits.
* (Where similar-to-final templates are used, which is not relevant to everything I said above, but is worth including) They allow the author to get an idea of the appearance of the published manuscript.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/28
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<issue_start>username_0: It was recently shared with me that a professor in my department (and if anyone saw my question about [the verbally abusive ex-advisor](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107777/how-do-i-talk-about-my-abusive-former-advisor-if-people-ask)...yeah, same guy) offered one of his PhD students his own corpus of data for writing her dissertation, and apparently made this offer in response to her deciding to quit the PhD program. As I understand it, she accepted this offer and decided to stay in the PhD program because of it; I also believe that this corpus -while used in a number of publications - as a whole is not publicly available or anything.
Because I am admittedly biased (see the aforementioned question for context) against this professor, I don't entirely trust my judgement. Is it just me, or is this a ridiculously unethical offer?
Next question, if it is unethical, do I say anything about it to anyone? The person who told me did so in confidence, and I don't want to betray that. I'm hoping he reports it (he said he's thinking of talking to the graduate director in our department about it, as he thinks it's shady too) but if he doesn't - should I say something or just let it go? Because I already have a bad relationship with this professor and have complained about him, I feel like me complaining yet again about something else will just make me look bad and not be taken seriously, not to mention there is the whole matter of this not being any of my business.
My heart and soul are all riled up because I just want to see this professor be held accountable for *something* (I'm pretty sure he's going to get away with how he treated me. See linked post), but my self-interested brain is telling me to let it go and stay out of it. Thoughts?<issue_comment>username_1: Let's deal with the ethics first. It is undoubtedly unethical if:
(1) The corpus was generated by other people who are not credited.
(2) The data used from the corpus was used for another dissertation or for publications not part of the dissertation.
(Edit: It has been pointed out by @Dawn, @username_4 and @Stella that this is not applicable to several fields, eg. Economics & Public Policy. Possibly this point is relevant only if you are in an experimental field, so please judge if it's applicable to you.)
Anything outside this falls into a grey zone, which can be defended as:
(1) PhD is a joint work between the supervisor and student, so between them data may be freely shared.
(2) The student is able to answer questions based on data, meaning she has understood and engaged with it. If she credits it partly to superviser, it may again be accepted. Remember, there is no evidence of who actually generated the data between these two.
Now coming to what you can/should do- let somebody else take it up. Preferably the whistleblower who told you. Encourage that person. A complaint coming from you could be dismissed on grounds of prior bias.
Upvotes: -1 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Unless the student claims that they collects the data himself/herself. I do not see any scientific misconduct in using other people's data **with their permission**.
Of course collecting good data is a contribution. However, even if the student collects data themselves, I would be very surprised if that is more than 30% of the contribution in their thesis.
TL;DR: No big deal. That might be a bad professor, but it doesn't mean everything he does is wrong.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Whether it’s unethical or not would depend on whether the student acknowledges where the data comes from in her dissertation. If she does, and assuming her thesis committee is okay with it and considers her own contribution (there will be other aspects to it aside from the data collection, I assume?) to be sufficient for a PhD, I don’t see an ethical problem. And since you can’t know at this point whether the student will acknowledge the source of the data, it seems premature to throw around accusations of unethical behavior.
If you do have stronger grounds to suspect anything shady or unethical going on, there is the option of making an anonymous report to avoid getting entangled in the affair. However, even with an anonymous report there are risks.
Finally, I must say that from reading your question I’m getting the sense that you may be driven by feelings of vindictiveness related to your own ongoing conflict with the professor (you pretty much suggest this yourself when you say “I just want to see this professor be held accountable for *something*”). Needless to say, such feelings would be a really bad reason to take any action on unrelated matters. If you are considering taking such action, I would urge you to be very careful and apply a lot of doubt and skepticism to your own thought processes (including consulting other people, as you are doing now) to make sure your decisions are free of such dishonorable motivations. If the professor mistreated you, that’s bad and you should do your best to get him held to account in connection with that, but I don’t see how it has any bearing on his offer to his student to use his data.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: A dissertation is not the collection of data. And the collection of data is not a dissertation.
My entire PhD was rooted in the analysis of other people's data, and I collected none of my own (a model generated some, but this is not generally what people mean).
Your question also implies that if I spend say, three years and potentially tens of thousands of dollars funding a student's project and they decide to drop out of a PhD for whatever reason, that the data from that is lost forever, and should never be used again.
So long as the student doesn't represent the data as something they collected themselves, I see very little ethical issues.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I can see several aspects to the question, and I can't see that reflected in the existing answers. Overall I'd say that the situation is fine. There are many ways there could be problems, but each is unlikely unless you have particular details pointing to them.
* Is it ethical for the supervisor to make such an offer in response to the student's stated intention to leave? This probably depends on the way it came about and how it was done, but I'd err on the side of assuming it's fine. A plausible situation would be that the student doesn't get on with data collection, and the supervisor agrees to change the focus of the PhD from data collection to data analysis. That would be a very sensible approach.
* Is it ethical for the supervisor to pass on the data? Again, probably yes, in the absence of other information. Sharing your own data is totally fine in general, unless there are specific restrictions on it. If the data is of a sensitive nature, there might be a need for permission to be sought, but it is entirely possible that such permission has been received.
* Is it ethical for data to be shared privately but not publicly? Yes, unless there is a strong public-interest case, in which case the private sharing is irrelevant. The related case that would not be ethical is where someone in a business uses information for gain by themselves or a third person without permission to use that private information. But that is not the case here. Subject to what I said above, the supervisor is in control of the data and so has the authority to share it. Is it fair for them to do share the data with this student but not others? A student-supervisor relationship is a fairly close one that carries a duty on the part of the supervisor, so generally yes. Potentially there could be a problem if, say, there were two students in similar circumstances, and the data was shared with one and not the other. But that's getting into extreme cases.
* Is it ethical for the student to use the data to gain a PhD? As others have said, this is an issue of plagiarism (or not). Pretending to have collected the data when they hadn't would be wrong, regardless of where they got it from. But so long as the source is suitable acknowledged, there is no problem (and indeed this is pretty common, since not everyone is an experimentalist).
* Is it ethical to reuse data? Yes (and you indicate this has already happened). What it does do is limit the interpretation of any pattern you find. As I understand it, reusing data is not accepted in situations where the results are likely to be used in a way that is not a valid interpretation of reused data (eg deducing causation when all that's been shown is correlation, or cutting the data so many ways that something comes out by chance). Results of the form 'in this data set we found this pattern, which matched with what we thought' are perfectly good if stated as such, just less likely to get published when there are stronger claims around.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't see anything unethical about this offer in itself. There may be some field-specific norms I'm not aware of, but assuming he's not breaking any confidentiality/IP/etc. rules, sharing data with a student seems like a good thing that should happen more often.
However, it becomes a little more bothersome when taken in the context of your previous post. You mention that when this guy was *your* advisor, he exhibited controlling/bullying behaviour including sexual harassment, and punished you for setting boundaries.
Controlling types often use gifts/favours as a way to create a sense of obligation, and sometimes as leverage down the road. If he has the power to *revoke* permission for her to use the data, after she's invested a year or two of her life into analysing that, then obviously that's pretty powerful leverage.
If your contact does take it to the graduate advisor, it might be worth him suggesting that this data-sharing agreement should be formally documented, to ensure that it *can't* be used in this way. But I think you're right in saying that you are not the person to be raising this issue, for the reasons you've already identified.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/28
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<issue_start>username_0: In a recent manuscript, we used a first principles calculation A and used it to explain experimental results B. A and B are based on existing methods, the novelty primarily lies in combining them and going from theory to real world application.
The reviewer gave several comments (fair & helpful), one of them being to divide the work into A and B. The decision was Reject & Resubmit. We (the authors) are divided on:
1. Submitting A as a letter (short communication) and B as a full paper to the same journal, together, explaining the changes to the editor and attaching response to reviewer.
2. Submitting A as a letter to a new journal and B as a full paper to the original journal, giving response to reviewer only to the original journal.
3. Submitting an edited but undivided paper to a lower impact journal.
***Which of these is the optimal option?***
\*Additional information:
The original journal has perhaps 10% acceptance ratio, the lower impact journal closer to 40% (anecdotal numbers only).
Besides the division, reviewer comments are significant and there is some chance that we may not be able to satisfy all the suggestions.
In this field, A and B are generally treated as separate domains, though this is changing now.\*
EDIT: Clarification about letter and full paper:
For the journals in question, a full paper reports new, original results, typically without stringent page limits (but conventionally 5000-8000 words). A letter on the other hand reports brief results of immediate interest. These often describe a breakthrough that may not be fully developed, but which opens up avenues for further work. These letters are strictly limited to 2000 words and have a cap on figures etc (typically 3 max.).<issue_comment>username_1: This is common for very novel, high impact findings, particularly when the issues are complex and have both theory and application. What I’ve seen work is a shorter theoretical work submitted to a high impact journal that touches on application (often, the work references this ‘submitted’ or ‘in preparation’ work). The longer work is then submitted to a lower impact journal, sometimes just because the page limitations are more forgiving.
This of course works best when you can tell two separate but related stories that feel complete on their own. If you and your coauthors feel like such separation is forced, it may weaken rather than strengthen the effort.
I’d say your #1 might be unlikely unless you get buy-in through discussion with the journal. #3 may not do your work justice. I’d lobby for #2 based on the limited information available.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Sometimes an "LPU" (Least Publishable Unit) is easier to get accepted and to digest.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Based on the information you provided, I would definitely and gladly divide the paper into two shorter manuscripts to be submitted at the same time to the same journal. In such fashion as in:
On the application of theory (I): Demonstrating A;
On the application of theory (II): Explaining B.
I think such papers are elegant, easier to read, more attractive, and potentially more organised than a heavier, lengthy treatise going through A into presenting and explaining B.
However make sure the manuscripts are independently readable, so that someone could find paper (II) and find all he seeks whether or not there's also interest in part (I) which probably requires a different background. Organising these serial publications in the proper way depends on considerable skill and chance. You may have hit a good opportunity.
An example of series papers given below:
Re-investigation of venom chemistry of Solenopsis fire ants. I. Identification of novel alkaloids in *S. richteri*.
10.1016/j.toxicon.2008.12.019
Re-investigation of venom chemistry of Solenopsis fire ants. II. Identification of novel alkaloids in *S. invicta*.
10.1016/j.toxicon.2009.01.016
(Not exactly the best papers ever, but the format is neat.)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: A reviewer of my paper told me that "TABLES & FIGURES: To many and difficult to follow in text. Not optimized for readers" What does this mean? What should I work on to improve my paper?<issue_comment>username_1: It means what it says:
1. there are too many figures and tables
2. In the main text those are difficult to follow
3. It appears that they are not there for the reader.
So reduce the number of graphs and tables, and improve their discussion in the text.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: A paper should tell a story, where tables and figures are story-telling aids. They should convey your message effectively and reduce the dependency on the main text body; i.e. a reader should be able to understand your message more easily by looking at figures/tables than by simply reading the whole manuscript text.
Now, like any aid, these should be used appropriately. It is possible to overload the reader with information, and make him/her lose track of the central theme. Since visual tools are more striking than text, unwisely used figures can distract more than poorly written text.
In order to avoid such mistakes, I suggest doing the following; in this paper and beyond:
(1) Ask yourself if any table duplicates information already in the text. If so, remove the table.
(2) Question if any the information presented in figures and tables is *essential* to the paper. If not, consider removing them. Also see point 5.
(3) Check if each figure/table is mentioned in the text or not. Ensure that a reader has a fair idea about what the figure/table is about from the text, before (s)he actually sees the figure/table.
(4) Ensure that the figure/table captions are adequate and self-sufficient. A reader who sees the figure/table before reading about it in the text should be able to know what data is shown and what it represents, even if the significance is not clear. Scale bars, axis units and numbering (Fig. 1 (a) etc.) is essential.
(5) Avoid separate instances of similar figures/tables. If there are four graphs representing different stages of process A, see if they can be combined into a single graph. Colours, linestyles, multiple axes are your friends for graphs, as are inset images for other figures. If several similar tables exist and are essential, consider moving them into an appendix.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/04/28
| 400
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<issue_start>username_0: There is already one review article on a topic of interest published few years ago. I want to write a review paper on that broad topic with some new insights.Can I cite the papers that are already used in that older review article?? Or should I only use the newer research articles which were available after the publication of the older review article??<issue_comment>username_1: If you're writing a new comprehensive review on the same subject you'll probably end up citing many of the same references. To be explicit, yes, you are allowed to, and supposed to, cite relevant literature. Suppose instead that your review article focuses on newer developments, or some specific aspect. Then you can refer the reader to the old review paper, and include references to the most important papers therein. No matter the form you choose, I would be *very* surprised to see two reviews in the same field with zero overlap in choice of references.
A related question is when a new review is justified. There's a nice discussion in
[A systematic review already exists in the literature. When is a newer one required?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11666/a-systematic-review-already-exists-in-the-literature-when-is-a-newer-one-requir?rq=1)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Of course you can cite papers that are used in the older review article. But if the older review is well done, it should dispense you from reading most of them. And therefore also from citing most of them. On the other hand, if your viewpoint differs from the older review's in some respects, then you may have to do your own synthesis of some of these papers, and therefore to cite them.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/28
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<issue_start>username_0: When calculating my GPA in major, should/can I only count courses that are meeting the requirement for major or should I count any course on the same topic and from the same department as my major? For example, if my major is Physics, and I have completed my major with courses A through J, but have also taken the course K after completing all the requirements as an optional course (which does not even count for graduation; a completely optional course), should I count the grade for course K when calculating my major GPA for reporting it on my CV and in applications, or can I not count that one?<issue_comment>username_1: If no specific guidance is otherwise provided, I would **include** additional courses in the same department as the major. The reason for this is that anybody looking over your transcript will assume that, unless the course is clearly marked as a graduate course, it's probably a requirement for your major.
That said, we're also not likely to check your math unless there's a gross error, and we're not likely to sweat a few hundredths of a point difference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: My university calculated my GPA for me. I did not bother to double check their arithmetic.
If your university does not calculate your GPA for you, then just imagine the GPA that you want. No one cares.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/04/28
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my master’s thesis. It is like a survey and contains lots of theorems with or without proofs. Everything that I am writing, I studied and proved before. However, I see that I forgot some proofs or even definitions and cannot do it without looking at the books. So, I am studying those again, try to prove them my own, and then write them after I understand them – but I feel lost.
What should I do and what have you done when you face a problem like this?<issue_comment>username_1: This is not a genuine problem. Everyone forgets things. A true scholar may nor may not be blessed with an exceptional memory, but the operational issue is about having personal resources that accommodate one's limitations, and sufficiently point to the relevant resources. So: self-management.
It is true that having a good memory, or an exceptionally-good memory, is generally an advantage in knowledge-based enterprises, obviously, but things are more complicated than memory-per-se.
And, in any case, being able to reproduce *fluently* all the basic things on a moment's notice is irrelevant. True, a certain fraction of more-senior people happen to have the sort of memory that allows them to reproduce certain things on-the-spot, but this is really not relevant to professional practice.
Yes, the most conflict-laden point is that faculty teaching graduate-level courses, and who've had the misfortune to have either a deterioration of memory, or have always had some memory problems, have difficulties with teaching. Not that they don't "know math", but that the details are not easily present in their minds. The other point is that this does not mean that their critical/critique-ing faculties have deteriorated. An awkward state...
But/and, after all that "too much information", the point is that no one (no professional mathematician) is required to be able to reproduce everything upon command at every possible moment.
(The whole "final exam" or "contest" concept of mathematics greatly and sadly corrupts our collective concept of that the thing is.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know
> where we can find information upon it.
>
>
>
-- quote by <NAME>.
So don't worry about it. I know (roughly) the statement of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, but being able to prove it from scratch is another matter. But I know where to look.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/04/29
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<issue_start>username_0: This summer I have arranged to do research under the advisement of one of the professors at my university in the field of Computer Science. I am still and undergraduate, looking to go into graduate school (eventually to PhD) and would like to test out if research is for me.
My overall question is "What are the expectations of undergraduate research?" What constitutes a success? I realize that I'm most probably not going to make some insane breakthrough and become famous. The problem that he has said that we are going to be working on is a very important problem, with many applications. Finding an efficient algorithm for this problem would be very huge for the field. Since many people have been working on it over the years, it's obviously not an easy problem, otherwise someone would have solved it already.
What should I expect? If (when) I don't find this "magical" algorithm what kind of things could I pull out of this to make it a "successful" research endeavor?<issue_comment>username_1: Having been, worked with, and supervised a number of undergraduate researchers in my time, a few thoughts:
If people have been working on a problem for years, it means there are *pieces* of that problem to work on. There is often a perception, I find, with new researchers, that the process of doing research is an on/off switch...that there is nothing...nothing...nothing...BAM! Breakthrough.
For most research, this isn't the case. Particularly good undergraduate projects are pieces of a larger whole, and generally are accomplishable over the course of a summer. Testing a particular hypothesis. Working on the implementation of the algorithm on a new platform/language, etc. Applying existing tools to new data or areas as a proof of concept. Testing the sensitivity of the results of a tool to some of the parameters used for it.
Undergraduate research, to be "successful", should produce a project the undergraduate can take ownership of (i.e. not just "Write the code one of my postdocs can't be bothered to) and helps move the lab's research agenda forward, but it's not necessarily *supposed* to produce flashy standalone results or major breakthroughs.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I was in your shoes during my UG second-year summer; I am now a first-year Computer Science PhD. For me, there were no expectations because I, like you, were doing it for the sole purpose of seeing if I enjoyed research. But, though there were no expectations set in place the following is what made my undergraduate research internship a success for me (YMMV):
1. I found out I really enjoyed research!
2. ....
3. ....
4. Nope, that's it!
What I am trying to say is, you have your goal. Your goal is to see if you enjoy research, would like to pursue it, would like to maybe make a career out of it. Everything else. It is all extras.
I personally; started to learn how to write papers, present in front of people, grew confident in talking to strangers about my research, travelled abroad to my first conference, finally understood how you get so in-depth with a subject you almost fall in love with it and much more all in the short space of 6 months! But, in the end, none of that would have told me if I was a success or not.
My end goal was to find out if I enjoyed research not to save the world and so for me, the only marker for success is if you get your answer to that question. Now, if you also get the solution to your research questions, well, take that as a bonus!
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Not a lot is expected. Concentrate on your ug classes and grades (and GRE, etc.) I did a top rank degree in the sciences with zero ug research experience. It was no problem.
That said, "success" is a publication. There is some strategy in getting that (mostly aim low, be honest, etc.) But get that ball across the goal line. Get SOMETHING out there in the peer reviewed lit a rat chure!
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/29
| 1,125
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<issue_start>username_0: My institution uses Moodle as our learning management system. I want to send some information to each student that is personalized to each student but without any other students seeing it. This is a need I often have from time to time, but my most recent need is to give each student a unique ID to access a separate online resource.
In the past, I have done things like posting a spreadsheet with all student information, except that I somewhat hid their student IDs by only showing the last four digits of their student IDs: that way, students could identify which row applied to them, but could not easily tell which one applied to any other student (unless they already know their student ID). This is an unsatisfying solution, since a student who knows another student's ID would then know their information.
Is there a way to send small bits of information customized to each student? I'm imagining some sort of interface where I could maybe upload a spreadsheet with each row having a student IDs and the custom information in other columns, and then students would only see own their uploaded information, not any other students' information.
**Edit:** In response to one of the answers: my point here is that I am looking for an automated solution where I can post feedback to many students (whether 20 or 200) at one time, yet personalized based on some criteria (in my example, giving them individual IDs for an external computer system). So, individual entry of feedback one-by-one is not an option for my need here.
*Note: I've searched around other StackExchange sites, and Academia SE seems to be the one that would be best for responding to specific how-to questions for Moodle. I'm surprised there is no tag for "Moodle" or even for "learning-management-system".*<issue_comment>username_1: Here's a quick thought based on a different learning management system (LMS). Sometimes in other LMSes you can upload feedback to assignments: you batch download each person's file, add comments, and upload each file with exactly the same name. Perhaps you could try a workaround like that, perhaps requiring you to create a fake or trivial assignment and get everyone to submit it.
For a more general approach that is LMS-independent, **you could use a spreadsheet and your email program with mail merge**. That is, one field would be email address and another field would be the comment, and optionally you could have the person's first name in another field. Then you could send a generic message with blanks filled in by the program. (You could send out a practice message to your own addresses or without any personalized content beyond student names and you can check your Sent log to see if it worked right.)
(The latter solution defeats the purpose of a LMS, but limited feature sets do, as well.)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is the workaround solution I eventually came up with:
* [Create a gradebook item](https://www.umass.edu/it/support/moodle/create-organize-items-categories-moodle-gradebook) (it could be called "Special Info" or whatever is relevant). Set the grade type to "Text" so that it does not affect any actual grades in the gradebook.
* Use the [Grade Import](https://docs.moodle.org/34/en/Grade_import) features to import the personalized information you want. But here's the key: instead of importing the personalized information as an actual grade for the "Special Info" grade item, specify it as "Feedback for Special Info" in the "Feedbacks" section of the import wizard.
* When importing is completed, students will find the personalized information in their gradebook as feedback (not an actual grade) for the grade item you created for that purpose.
It's not the most elegant solution, since it artificially presents the information as a grade (but without affecting other grade calculations), but it gets the job done. Perhaps someone can post a better answer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: With so many ways to give feedback within moodle I wonder why you are creating a separate spreadsheet with feedback in it? You can type feedback directly into any assignment activity you create in moodle. Even if the assignment was a traditional paper pencil assessment you can still create an assignment and post the feedback within it for each student.
You could make private wikis in moodle for each student where you can post comments. In addition you can put each student in their own group and make a forum that only group members can see.
Another option is to send a message through moodle with the personalized info. By far the simplest answer is to avoid creating externalll spreadsheets and use the feedback options already built into moodle for assignments and quizzes.
You could also start a thread at moodle.org to see if this is a feature the larger community may want to include in a future release. Lastly surely no institution uses moodle without some sort of on-campus support. Have you talked to your support team on campus?
Upvotes: -1
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2018/04/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just completed my PhD in Mathematics and accepted a job as a visiting assistant professor. The course I am assigned to teach allows me to pick the textbook I wish to use.
I am currently looking for lower-cost/free textbook options for my students, and I have found a textbook that I really like in the SpringerLink database. My school’s library has a subscription to this database which give students access to an electronic copy of this book free of charge. Are there any rules which prevent me from assigning this as the textbook for the class and giving them the option to download it for free through the library?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Are there any rules which prevent me from assigning this as the textbook for the class and giving them the option to download it for free through the library?
>
>
>
The most important rule which prevents you from doing so is the copyright law. It allows the fair use of educational material only for nonprofit educational uses in the classroom. [Scholarly publication and copyright in networked electronic publishing, 1995, page 9](https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/7997/librarytrendsv43i4l_opt.pdf) Perhaps a small small example. If a third party can publish a printed version of the textbook and earn money with it, and this is no longer possible because of somebody else misuses the license of Springerlink for publication purposes, then it will become a legal case.
It is important to know, that vendors of electronic publications are not selling their products but licensing them to the library. That means, the vendor can decide what the correct usage scenario is. [Electronic collections and wired faculty, 1997](https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/8098/librarytrendsv45i3j_opt.pdf) What librarians and teacher can do is to look at the issue and work together to resolve it. [Aggregation or aggravation? Optimizing access to full-text journals, 2000](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Calhoun4/publication/260386508_Aggregation_or_Aggravation_Optimizing_Access_to_Full-Text_Journals/links/53d7c2910cf2631430bfc27e/Aggregation-or-Aggravation-Optimizing-Access-to-Full-Text-Journals.pdf)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Well .. one idea is to assign the book as the textbook then notify the students that they should get the book via buying from amazon ... or that your library has access to Springer resources free of charge for the students. University students are adults that can make their own decisions.
As the course coordinator you are not selling the book, and it is not your responsibility to hand in a book to each student. Students can: buy the book or use free resources on their own progeratives. Students are not liable, since they are just accessing your library to view already available resources.
As long as you do not directly post content such as homework questions or chapter text from the book or directly share such content in any way, such as on the course website or as handouts, you are not liable. You are just assigning a book as recommended textbook and notifying the students their options. Students are also not liable since your library enables them to access free material they wish to view.
I also just want to give an example of clear violation. If you buy the book and make a pdf out of it and share them in course site (does not matter whether public access or not) that would be a breach of copyright.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If they all download said book and then the book gets leaked and shared bypassing the library by your students in such a way that it ends up on multiple free websites while having electronic stamps of your library, it will be pretty bad. The publishers might view it as a malpractice to put it mildly. The best option is to consult with your colleagues, the library manager, and possibly, with people from the Springer portal you intend to use so heavily. I would not be too concerned since the students have access to the library and are actually encouraged to use its material, including said portal. If students somehow violate rules or share/spread copyrighted material without permission, they are solely responsible unless you yourself participated in such a malpractice. The probability of such a bad outcome approaches zero here. Many students would actually want to buy the hard copy version of said book. And the Springer publishers should only benefit. So I would not be too worried but you have to talk to your colleagues and to the library manager to make sure everything is “in line”.
Your idea of solving the problem for students is commendable. I would further say that giving students a couple of options (recommending at least two good books that are in line with your course) will also be a good idea. They will benefit from different approaches, especially if one book is more advanced/comprehensive and the other book is slightly shorter and easier. For main two semester courses it would be good if most students had hard copies of the textbook. For graduate courses, it’s good to recommend more books and expect students to do more research-like work.
Apart from all that, I would not neglect other publishers (e.g. Pearson) who create a lot of great textbooks in various fields. Yes, many of such books are expensive and new editions often appear on the market at exorbitant prices. However, it’s not necessary to always stick with the latest (expensive) edition making it tough for students to buy a hard copy. The other extreme is to completely discard all more of less pricey options i.e. to ignore even previous editions of expensive texts at discounted prices. I mean if we don’t buy and don’t recommend such books (most of them are very good), how are we to create them and improve on them? Please note, I’m not saying that Springer books on math are not excellent. They are.
Bottom line: *Are there any rules which prevent me from assigning this as the textbook for the class and giving them the option to download it for free through the library?* – No, unless you give your own access to the students or spread your personal copy among them or your students do something to that effect.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: There is one additional consideration not covered in existing answers. Others have addressed possible ethical and legal constraints that I don't see as applying here.
But there is also the issue of fairness. Do your students *all* have suitable devices for the available formats? If not you need to deal with it, perhaps by choosing a title that also exists in print.
In fact, some students (myself) might prefer a print edition instead of or in addition to an electronic version. For an important course this can be a big deal. Electronic versions are likely to become obsolete in future. In 25 or so years your print version is still available if you desire to keep it as I have done with important books.
Print and electronic versions have different advantages, but also disadvantages. Consider those in your choice.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/29
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<issue_start>username_0: Like many Americans, after last year's Equifax fiasco, I froze my credit with the big three. I'm on the job market, and at least all the Universities in the US do (or will do) a background check on the tenure-track faculty candidates (not sure if schools from other countries do so for international applicants).
So far I was able to get invites for interviews + campus visits, but I'm not sure at what stage the schools will do a background check.
So **my questions** are:
1. does the fact that I have my credit frozen impact my chances as a candidate in faculty positions in the US?
2. what about in other countries, such as Canada, UK, and other EU countries?
3. If so, what should I do? just lift the freeze now? or will the school contact me if they can't get access and ask me to lift the freeze for them? or will they just reject me outright?
I've never had trouble with the law etc, or even my credits. The only thing is I have been a victim of at least one of these security data breaches in the past couple years, the worst probably being the Equifax fiasco, which prompted me to place the freezes.
Any advice or suggestion appreciated! Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Background checks would be done very close to the time the offer goes out—there's no way a school is going to perform five hundred background checks for a single faculty search.
You're allowed to request [a temporary lifting](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs) of the freeze for either a specific period of time or a specific party. So you could authorize the credit agencies to lift the freeze for schools at which you're offered an interview. The latter might be the easiest option.
Also note that background checks are performed by the Human Resources department of the administration, not by the faculty committees, who as far as I know never see the results of such checks, because they are not entitled to do so. However, this also means that you're not going to be denied an interview just because the HR department wasn't able to perform the background check. If it actually were an issue in the interview process, the department would contact you and say "we'd like to have an interview, please give us access for a credit check" rather than "forget it, it's not worth the trouble."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I'm on the job market, and at least all the Universities in the US do (or will do) a background check on the tenure-track faculty candidates (not sure if schools from other countries do so for international applicants).
>
>
>
I’m not sure where you heard this, but if by “background check” you mean specifically something that includes a credit check (as your question seems to suggest), I’m pretty sure the statement is false. At my large university where until recently I was a department chair and was closely involved with hiring of several new faculty members, I am not aware of any practice of running credit checks on anyone; if it happened at all, it would be part of the paperwork an incoming faculty member has to go through after already receiving and accepting an offer, so would have no influence on any decision making at the department side. In other words, at least at my university this would not be a concern in connection with your tenure-track application.
Aside from my personal experience, the other reason why I’m pretty sure your assertion is false is that in many US states [it is illegal to base hiring decisions on job candidates’ credit history](https://www.selflender.com/blog/can-an-employer-not-hire-me-based-on-my-credit.html). Thus in those states no sane hiring process would attempt to obtain such information prior to making an offer, and I can’t think of a good reason why it would make sense to obtain it after making an offer either.
Good luck with your job search.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: These checks are purely for purposes of catching things like criminal convictions in your past. No one cares about your credit history. My recollection is that when background checks have happened to me, it's been after the offer was accepted, so I knew it was happening. It's not really possible to rule out something as impossible, but it would be probably the weirdest hiring issues I had ever heard of for a offer to get scuttled by a credit report. If it makes you feel better, just unfreeze your credit report, but I would rate it considerably below typos in your cover letter as an issue likely to cost you a job.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/30
| 726
| 3,116
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<issue_start>username_0: I am mid aged person going back to school and planning to take MicroEconomics I and Econometrics in the Summer. In order to take these classes, I am planning take Calculus as Pre-requisites.
However, we have two levels of Calculus taught in Summer. Calculus - I which is of beginner's version and Calculus - II which is of Advanced Beginner's version.
Though, I dont have much details on each of them.
My question is, whether taking Calculus - I ( Beginner's version ) will be helpful for taking those two Economics classes?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe it depends on the Microeconomics class you take. Some Micro classes are calculus heavy but primarily at the upper division level, intro Micro classes generally are not, the equivalent to Econ 100 (versus Intro Econ/Econ 001) I took in school was Calculus heavy, but it involved methods you wouldn't learn in a standard Calculus I or Calculus II (presumably) e.g. Lagrange multipliers.
Swallowing my pride, I also took a Calculus II equivalent for "non-science" majors, this class introduced Lagrange Multipliers, while the "science" track wasn't introduced to the method until multivariate calculus.
so my advice would be to talk to an advisor and or faculty to see if one of the classes is better suited to what you will be studying, as far as Econometrics goes, someone else will need to take that one.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I think from knowing other students who are Economic Majors the farthest you have to go into the calc series is Business calc or an equivalent is elementary calculus. The reason I don't think you have to take Calculus 1 is because, the course objective in calc 1 is not geared towards your path. I may be wrong since every school is different. But for the most part, I think you don't have to take it. I took microeconomics and I had no issue at all I don't ever remember doing any difficult computations involving finding rate of change and such.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: At undergraduate level, most microeconomic theory is presented graphically, using simple linear functions and without any explicit use of calculus. Knowledge of calculus helps to understand some aspects of what is going on behind this presentation, but the focus is usually on understanding and replicating graphical explanations of economic phenomena (e.g., "This line moves left, so now the equilibrium point has a higher price", etc.).
At graduate level study (and sometimes upper-undergraduate level) this theory is translated into explicit mathematical form involving algebra and calculus. At this point you will need to be able to make the transition from graphical understanding to mathematical understanding, and you will need to be able to apply calculus to solve optimisation problems and analyse the behaviour of quantities arising from these optimisation problems. Most theorems in microeconomics involve constrained optimisation problems involving differentiation of functions and results associated with optima of functions (e.g., duality, envelope theorem, etc.).
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/30
| 1,798
| 7,554
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<issue_start>username_0: I completed my Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree, in Computing Information Systems (IS) and in Information Technology (IT), respectively, at a university in Australia four years ago. Both degrees are from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
In back home, computer science jobs are widely demanding. Even before arriving back home, l applied to many jobs in the public and private sectors but my applications were rejected mainly for the following reasons:
1. I have a low GPA in my bachelor’s.
2. IS is unbelievably misperceived as Management Information Systems.
3. IS is not computer science (very narrow specialisation to the point that it is not computer science anymore).
I know already some may wonder why the description of the program or courses are not reviewed. Unfortunately, this is how many organisations from all backgrounds including technical and research/Academic bases bluntly processing the applications. They pretty much match the words from the degree title to the job description. Yes, this is how irrational! Your academic achievement is based on what your undergraduate degree consists of, summaried by the title (mostly general specialisation) and GPA. In many cases, whatever builds up on that will be ignored if you are not satisfying with your first degree.
However, I am not saying that I cannot find a job that is related to my academic backgrounds. Currently, I have been working as a web developer for the past three years. But my point is that I cannot get a high-salary job because of the degree title as well as my low GPA.
Now I am seriously thinking to do a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the same university, hoping that I receive more than two years of credit exemptions of a three years undergraduate degree. This is because I covered almost all core subjects required in the Computer Science program in my previous studies.
My questions: (1) As in the policy of Australian universities, Is there a way to get higher GPA other than doing another degree? I am asking for Australian universities because I did my two degrees in an Australian University. Also I am assuming that I would get more credit if I go back to the same university.
(2) Since the units of my both degrees cover almost all units of the undergraduate program of Computer Science, can I argue that my degrees are equivalent to the new degree without further study?
[My inner voice says this is worth it if I receive that degree with better GPA. If you were living in the same circumstances, what would you do? I would appreciate sharing your opinions and thoughts about my plan].<issue_comment>username_1: Your situation is unfortunate but there are some ways to go about it. I live in Australia but come from a third-world country where your situation is not so unique.
Given that you can still secure a relevant job, though not your dream job or a high-paying one, if I were in your place, I would take this job and build some CV by getting experience to move up the ladder somewhere else. Truth is, you are still a fresh graduate.
Another option is to think seriously of having your own business: be an entrepreneur. You may want also to start as a freelancer!
Both options may be easier than doing a degree again. Trust me it will be extremely boring, and an effective use of neither time nor money.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> If you were living in the same circumstances, what would you do?
>
>
>
If I were you, I would do a part-time Master's degree in Computer Science while working on a not-so-high salary job.
You will waste your money and time by doing another Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. You won't gain too much. The courses are about the same except a few theory courses (depending on the program and school). At the end you still only have a Bachelor's degree.
If you do a Master's degree in Computer Science, the school will teach you more theories, more skills and you get a Master's degree at the end which can earn you more respect that you need when you look for a high-salary job.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: What have your jobs been in the last four years?
When I'm looking at a CV, what I want is evidence that they can do the job my company needs. The best evidence is if they've already done that job (or something similar) in the past!
If not, that's when I look back to the uni degree. And then I'm not looking for what modules you studied, I'm looking for what projects you did, primarily your final year project, because again that's the only evidence of you actually being able to apply what you learnt in class, or where you learnt to apply coding if it wasn't so much part of your course. I meet lots of software engineers who did science degrees, for example. I'm also looking at your grades though, so less than a 2:2 in the UK way of grading degrees will basically mean you wasted your time, and the better jobs want a 2:1 or 1st.
It sounds like you've got a problem with your grades anyway, and there's nothing I can do about that. On that front, the battle is over and you lost. If there's some justifiable reason, you should be prepared to talk about it in interviews, because if it was simply because you slacked off, then employers are not going to see that as a good thing.
But for the rest of it, you certainly can present it better. Listing courses and modules will never convince anyone; but describing a final year project that's relevant will get a recruiter's attention. And of course, you'd better make sure your jobs since uni show you applying your abilities.
Another way you can help yourself is to work in this outside uni. If you're a coder but you've spent a couple of years serving coffee, I want to hear that your spare room is full of Linux servers and bits of Arduino and O'Reilly manuals, and I want to see your GitHub or Sourceforge commits. I'll happily accept someone who currently has lower skills if they can demonstrate they're really keen about the subject. If you've just taken a bar job and let your skills lapse though, you're off my list straight away.
Hope that helps. As someone who does the CV checks and technical interviews for my department, this is what I'm looking for.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: In your CV consider listing these qualifications more like this:
>
> 2013 - **Bachelor of Science in Computing Information Systems**, from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Department of King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Equivalent in Australia is a *Bachelor of Computer Science*.
>
>
> 2016 - **Master of Science in Information Technology**, from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Department of King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Australian equivalent is a *Masters of Computer Science*.
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>
As long as you have something authoritative to reference, to back up the claims of equivalency, then you're covered. And it's something that can be discussed in greater detail at an interview.
---
As for your grade-point average (GPA), simply leave that out. The fact is that you have earned a B.Sc and an M.Sc., which means performing and completing to the required standard.
If an interviewer queries your relative GPA, then it can be formed as "I worked to the standard required, while holding down a job and being physically active in Sportball"
Avoid calling yourself an under-achiever - you DID earn both qualifications, which is a massive success by anyone's standards.
Upvotes: 5
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2018/04/30
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<issue_start>username_0: In computer science, we usually implement our work into algorithms and codes. So in order to compare our work to others, we also need to implement their approaches as well.
But the problem is that usually there are recently published works in each area which have used complicated mathematical methods and claimed to beat other previous methods. But some of them are difficult to implement by just reading the papers; or they have not mentioned all the necessary details in the paper for a precise implementation of their work and neither have they make their code available.
How should I compare my work to these most recent algorithms for which the code is not available?<issue_comment>username_1: Asking the authors for the code is of course always an option, but from my personal experience this almost never works (there is a reason why they did not put it online in first place).
I don't know which area in computer science you are from but normally there is some quantitative measure to determine which method is better and those measures are somehow in the paper. Those can be things like run time or precision-recall curves on certain data sets.
If you want to compare on the same dataset, you can ask the authors for the numbers / plots themselves and then plot your own curves together with them.
If you want to compare on a different data set, you can ask the authors to run the code for you. In my experience, this works more often because many code is not published because its messy and needs a lot of parameter tuning - so it is unlikely someone else will produce good results with it.
If you have Bachelor/Master students to supervise, you can give the implementation as a project to them (although you need to give them enough time to do it).
In my personal opinion, it is not worth the effort to implement a method which is not described in enough detail anywhere. It will probably cost you an unreasonable amount of time without even reproducing the quality shown in the paper (for various reasons).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you publish your code, and it produces better quantifiable results than any other published piece of code, then you can claim it is the best. For anyone to dispute that, they would need to show better quantifiable results. In science, we need to be able to test theories and in computer science, that means testing algorithms. Peer review applies to computer science as well.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: What's wrong with being honest?
We compare our algorithm to A and to B. We would have liked to compare also with X, Y and Z, but code is not available for them.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/04/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I am going to submit my doctoral thesis, one of the optional things we can do in our university is having a photo of author on the back cover of hard copy of thesis. I have no idea for that. How do you think about that?<issue_comment>username_1: It is very likely that nobody except you and the people you will give your thesis to will ever see the hard copy of your thesis. (And some random people looking at some theses in the library - however, if this is not uncommon in your university, they will not judge you negatively for having a picture.)
So, you should consider:
* Do you think it's nice to have a photo of you on your thesis? Many people like to have a nice thesis on their shelf which has not only good context, but nice formatting, nice colours, nice pictures etc. Some people see a thesis as a pure formality and are happy to do as little "style" things as possible. In which class do you fall? And if you care, do you think the thesis looks better or worse with your picture?
* Will the people you give the thesis to appreciate it? (Don't forget to consider parents and grandparents!)
* How much more does it cost? Do you feel it is worth the price?
* Is there a place at university you really like (e.g. a certain place in the library, your office, the mensa etc.) and you would really miss it after your studies? It can be nice to have a picture of yourself in that place on the thesis (if this is allowed).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It will be funny to look at it in 30 years from now ;-) - go for it!
Nobody except from close friends / family members will ever see it...
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/04/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a junior research fellow with a bit of a luxury problem. I am in a field with many good, open problems. I have a grant which could easily support salary for a couple of exchange PhD students for say, six months, to solve some of those under my supervision - but how do I find those?
I have tried some of the obvious channels, asking network, including old supervisor. Asking around at conferences. Most senior people I talk to agree it would be a good idea - but I can't seem to get any good people to bite.
I am asking advise from people who have been in a similar situation - also students who have accepted such offers, what made you do it? What made you hesitate? Is the prospects of 6 months of relocation off-putting? Are you afraid what your supervisor might think? And for more senior people, whose students I would potentially snatch up: Would you recommend a good student to do something like this? Would you be annoyed that I "borrowed" your good student, just after you taught them all the difficult parts?<issue_comment>username_1: Your post has hit on the problem: you want some PhD students to come work with you for six months. This is a bit too long for a summer internship-like posting, but not really long enough to justify the work required for what would amount to a relocation. It's like a long temp assignment.
Perhaps you should be looking at trying to support some students who are just finished with their PhD's—or have just handed in their theses and are figuring out what to do next—at nearby universities. Or trying to arrange the funding to support a postdoc for a year.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I've been on both ends of the table.
As a Phd Student what would attract me:
* assistance with accommodation (not just $$, but that would be very helpful, but have that sorted out would be a plus, because housing is often a headache inducing problem, at least certainly in cities and around big universities, and depending on when the 6-month post would start), so having some help on this front would be very attractive
* clearly define in your advert (if this is the case) that the student would be given a self-contained project (i.e. solving A specific problem) under your supervision, and that by the end of the post, there's likely a paper that can come out of it.
* along the same line, lists any specific techniques that your lab specializes and whether the student will learn/use these techniques.
As a postdoc hiring students:
* am not a faculty member so can't speak to that, but have hired students as a postdoc. It helps to have your collaborators put in a good word for you, for example, if you have colleagues in the same field (but not doing the same thing), they might be interested in collaboration in the form of having students exchange and spending the 6-month working on that collab. project, obviously things can go wrong, from what i heard, but that would also depend on the discipline and relationship between the labs etc. But it's one place where you may find students whose expertise lies generally within what you might need, and will likely come with their supervisor's endorsement.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a bit of an expansion on username_1's answer, which already covers what I expect to be the central issue - a 6-month internship with a "junior research fellow" is just not particularly attractive to many PhD students.
Put yourself into their shoes. Your project, even if leading to a nice article, probably does not contribute strongly to their own dissertations. Most PhD students in the Western world are fully funded, so the fact that you also have funding does not help them (they would basically be temporarily replacing one funding for another). Your reputation is probably not yet strong enough to be a good experience just for name recognition and letter purposes alone. This is not to say that there are no students out there that would be interested in that, but I would guess the majority is not and finding the ones that are is not trivial.
However, I am sure you have options:
* The most obvious one is to take the funding for "a couple of students for 6 months" and arrange it in a way to fully fund one PhD student for their entire study. If necessary, try to co-fund if you have to from some other source.
* Conversely, you can try to fund undergraduate research from your own community or university rather than convincing PhD students from abroad to come to you for a few months.
* Try to work with your research collaborators to arrange some sort of exchange with them. If you have good connections to some other seniors in your field, set a collaboration up with some of them that includes a 6-month visit of one of their students at your site in the context of a larger project. This has the added benefit that a longer collaboration is surely more useful for the other senior, you, *and* the student than a one-shot visit and article.
* Offer (paid) internships for students from developing countries. For such students, a paid visit to a stronger, more well-known university can be incentive enough. You will need some local contacts, though, to bring you in touch with interested students and help with screening of applications.
>
> And for more senior people, whose students I would potentially snatch up: Would you recommend a good student to do something like this? Would you be annoyed that I "borrowed" your good student, just after you taught them all the difficult parts?
>
>
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I would recommend it to the student only if we already worked together, *or* if I otherwise had a really strong opinion of you, *or* you had access to something that the student really needed for their own project (say, good industrial data). I would not be interested in you "borrowing" a student if it was not clear to me what would come out of it for the student (no, "publish an article" is by itself not good enough - the student would do the same back home).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Try getting a Danish PhD student. At least as the University I am currently working at in Denmark, an extended stay is obligatory. But then again, the students home university would probably pay for the stay, so your first world problem of too much funding might persist ;)
Other than that, I would go through recent publications citing your work. There ought to be some PhD students who know your name already, and work in similar areas. Those are the ones I see most likely to join you, and those I would invite.
It's probably better if you contact their supervisor first, as you don't want to steal away a PhD student for half a year, without the supervisor agreeing on it. But if he is willing, he can pass on the offer to the student.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Obviously funding is an issue. Can you pay relo/salary/housing what? It sounds like you have some but not clear how much.
Why do they have to be Ph.D. students? If anything, this sort of thing is better for a post-doc or junior researcher similar to yourself (done with his main project, able to get traction on a problem and publish in half year). I have seen these come from Japan or France to the US at a major research university for 6 month stints. They enjoyed it and got good stuff done. Not sure exactly how it worked with the money but these were people with secure positions at home, but more junior.
Some appeal of the place would be helpful. Anyone doing this is going to want to get something out of the experience more than just "chance to work on your problem for 6 months". Warm climates have appeal to cold weather types (in winter). California is appealing at all times of the year. The US is intriguing to Europeans and Asians. (The converse also, but maybe to a lesser extent.) Being in/near a big city is interesting. Etc.
P.s. Not a canned answer, but hopefully this helps you think through the problem.
P.s.s. It would also be more helpful if you told us the field, area of problems. There may be generalizable insights to other fields, but there also may be specific things about what you are doing that make it harder/easier to attract people or to have them be effective for short duration.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Go talk to people who manage ["<NAME>"](https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/jobs-for-researchers) - research programmes ran by the European Union. Those are usually indusutrial doctorates, and they work as follows: "most of the 3 years in the industrial partner of the program + several months of stay in any institution of student's choice". It's very flexible stuff.
Those several months can easily be 6, if it doesn't derail the industrial research. Such stay (called a "secondment" in the bureaucratic lingo) is usually paid by student's home institution, and can be in any place in the world.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/04/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a student who is currently undertaking a Master of Physics (coursework & research) at the University of Western Australia. I have also previously completed two Bachelor's degrees: one in physics and one in electrical engineering (with honours). Next year, I am hoping to start a PhD in high-energy physics (HEP) somewhere in Australia, doing a highly theoretical topic (such as supersymmetry, string theory, etc.) with the long term goal of following an academic path in this area of research.
From my understanding though, it is VERY hard finding academic jobs relevant to this particular field. I've heard through the grapevine that you have more chance of becoming a professional athlete than becoming a professor in theoretical HEP which is honestly quite dejecting.
However, understanding physics beyond the standard model is undoubtedly my passion so I would really like to pursue a PhD in it to determine whether or not it can become more than just a hobby. I've heard of theoretical HEP PhD's going into finance, etc. when finding an academic position proved fruitless, but if I'm being honest, that doesn't sound all that appealing to me. If the academic path didn't work out, I have always had a super keen interest in areas such as signal processing, control theory and data analysis. **Which leads me to my main question:**
**In case I can't find an academic position in theoretical HEP, do you think my EE degree and MPhys (both of which involved experimental research projects highly focused on signal processing and data analysis) would be sufficient credentials to land a job in engineering/signal processing/data analysis? Or perhaps if I'm lucky, even some area of industry research (if so, what areas)?**
**Further, do you think having a PhD in theoretical HEP, in addition to my other credentials, would be a benefit or a hindrance in securing these types of jobs?**
Some potentially relevant information:
I have 3 months of work experience at an electrical engineering company
My EE research project involved analyzing audio signals using a DSP to achieve desired acoustic properties
My MPhys research project is about detecting gravitational waves which involves heavy signal processing and manipulating large sets of data (100GB+) using python
By the end of this year my MPhys research should produce at least 1 or 2 papers in the Physical Review Letters journal<issue_comment>username_1: I would say that strongly depends on what you do in the HEP PhD.
If it is more like pen and paper theory I would say this is not very interesting for industry. Perhaps even in the contrary as you might seem too "academic". Pen and paper theory jobs do not really exist in industry.
It is more the big data processing and computer simulation related skills what is relevant. The tools (python and methods) you use in your MPhys research sounds exactly what some companies are also using internally.
Industry considers hiring people from adjacent fields, when demand is much higher than the supply for certain jobs. Currently I see that this is the case for "data scientists". So I would say now your chances are good to find a job there as many companies are now exploring big data applications. They are scared by the success of Google, Facebook, etc.. and do not want them to take over an important part of their business. So many are investing here. Industry also has these jobs so it is not just finance. It is very diverse. One gains some feeling for it when one looks at current job offers (which is what I did, so I have no deeper experience than that). However, you have to keep in mind that the situation may be different is in a few years when you might have to give up your academic career (hopefully not).
A PhD is liked for certain types of jobs even in industry. As the PhD is teaching more a generic mindset (-> how to work scientifically,/thoroughly, know how to tackle big, unsolved problems) this is considered useful in some industrial jobs. Appropriate job descriptions would perhaps have names with "scientist" in it, like "data scientist", "research scientist" and so, not so much the "engineer" type of jobs. Sometimes PhDs are also found in sales/marketing, when a product needs deep explanation, training (and the customers are themselves PhDs) or must be customized to the users needs (and this is not straightforward).
Note: Even though I have worked in the US, I a most familiar with the German system. Nevertheless I hope the answer helps somehow.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can probably do OK, but it is likely a diversion from just going into the specific engineering field.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/01
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<issue_start>username_0: After doing research for a while, I figured out a topic (1) that nobody has done it before (2) and I think It's pretty cool and valuable (3) to the community in my field. So, I proposed the idea to my professor with some drafts. But, my professor told me to find out if there is any interest in the topic in the publishing industry (journals) If no one cares about that It's not worth it.
It's like I created a paradox. How can I find out the interests in the topic if nobody has done it before?
If you guys have any ideas or tips that can help me I would be really appreciated!
Thanks
(1) I'm working on Fault Management Framework for Network Function Virtualization.
(2) I cannot find any relevant paper that employs it. They're mostly about Fault Management for SDN or cloud or on a specific problem whereas I want to design a complete solution.
(3) I think it is valuable because It will save time for the deployer/implementor by including all the best practices.
There'are several reasons why this question is different than the one at [How to select a journal for publishing?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/60350/how-to-select-a-journal-for-publishing) because of:
* It's not about selecting a journal to publish, It's about whether the journals are interested in my topic. I've already known which ones I want to publish to. It's just that I'm not sure if they're interested in my idea.
* The question in which mine was marked as duplicated with is much broader than mine I think.<issue_comment>username_1: Just do it. (Act like you are doing whatever.) Bootleg science is the best.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You should
1. Make a list of journals that might be relevant to your research.
2. Look at the scope of each of these journals.
3. Decide the extent to which your result can fall within the scope of these journals.
4. Tailor the story of your paper to the journal whose scope best fits your result.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I find that when in doubt, it can be helpful to email the editor of the journal. You can pick a couple potential journals out. Usually within each journal they would have topic editors, or separate editors tending to specific subtopics. Pick one that's closest to yours, and then email to ask if they would be interested in your paper. Even if they are not, they may suggest to you the names of other journals (which you may not otherwise know of), that may be more appropriate for you. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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2018/05/01
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<issue_start>username_0: We are preparing a new paper and my supervisor tells me that we have to put the name of a person on our paper because he was involved in getting us the grant. He says it is because of future grants and that we want to show that he was involved in the research -- and obviously he was not. I think we are supposed to work with him on the last year of my PhD, but not now. My supervisor already knows that I am against it and tells me that this is an “order” and it is because of some sort of “politics”. I can reject but I am not sure what are the consequences. What a PhD student should do in such a situation?<issue_comment>username_1: If you really hate the idea putting someone on your paper because of funding and not contributing to the research directly, you could write in the text "thanks to XY for funding". With this, it might be obvious that this person is on the paper because of funding purposes. But you should also keep in mind that this person might not have been involved intelectually, but did indeed help you researching if he funded you.
In my department I see this quite often and the people don't actually care too much. Personally I would also not care too much, since you are the 1st author (I assume) it should be known that you did the the most work of this paper.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This is a very common situation in Korea. It's because of the grants and the relationship that is good for future grants.
To me, it's a personal choice. If you want to continue your work and live in your current institution, you have to do that. Otherwise, let's go.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Have you written a grant proposal? My SO at the time was a prof and geochem research scientist. She has generated millions in grants for her collaborators, students and herself to push their research forward. The latest grant I saw her work took many months gathering data and papers, hashing out schedules and compensation for collaborators, students and contractors. She had to prospectively estimate everything from travel costs for the people gathering samples, to costs for reactor and instrument time.
Would her time have been spent better doing science or assisting her students? Absolutely, but grant writing can be difficult as it requires intimate knowledge of the discipline and particular work being done on the project. This is a difficult role to fill that is usually done by researchers themselves, if they want to stay in the "biz".
If she wasn't already one of the lead authors on this research, I would say she undoubtedly deserved to be named on the project. Just because you are writing a paper does not mean the paper is your final product. The paper is a description of your final product, the process of creating the product, and credits those who assisted.
The person that procured your grant absolutely assisted in your research, consider how your project would have gone without it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: To determine whether somebody is an author to a paper a simple rule is to ask yourself the following: "Would this research have been performed the way it is, was that person not somehow involved?"
If the answer is yes, then that person likely deserves authorship. It's then up to them to give it up.
This is analogous to having somebody "lending" you class time to perform an experiment during their course (e.g. with their students): even if they do not collect the data or run any analysis,, you wouldn't have performed any of that without their collaboration/interest/resources.
edit: I probably should have said "To determine whether somebody *may expect to be* an author to a paper a simple rule is..", and "If the answer is yes, then that person *may claim* authorship."
I agree that this is a poisonous setting, but is not up to OP, who is a PhD student, to change it. If he/she is told add an author to the list, in my opinion that's entirely to be expected if it falls within the loose rule above. Is this how it should work? Most likely no. When OP will be a full professor who can set some of the rules of the game, I'll tell him to follow the COPE guidelines that @Roland suggests below.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: **You should put them on the paper**.
You are a PhD student. Your role is to produce original research and set yourself up for a potential careers as an independent researcher. Spending your energy and political capital fighting battles as a guardian of your take on the meaning of authorship is simply a waste of your time and energy. Souring your relationship with your advisor over something that ultimately has almost no negative effect on you is a bad choice for you to make.
The definition of whose role justifies authorship exactly is grey enough that you should not feel that you are doing something markedly unethical, even if you would prefer not to. Pick your battles, and let this one slide.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Probably the answer is to put them on the paper. (I would tell them to pack sand if they want to insert irrelevant edits though...some things are too much.) There is a lot of hypocrisy in academia.
I had same experience, but was headed to McKinsey and had a national award (so nobody could touch me). It was still a big kerfuffle when I told the buddy of my advisor to pack sand (and the advisor himself had no real contribution, so it was like second order BS). Two papers: one I just punted on...eventually we published without him a couple years later as my advisor wanted to get it out. And another where I would have crashed the cars too...but I had a colleague who had done a lot of supporting experiments...so got her out...but even there, I too my name off first author at the end (despite being prime mover).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: The wise thing to do is to simply give in. The ethical thing to do is to report this.
If you choose the wise path, your adviser will simply shrug off your insubordination. But, expect him to make you offers you can't refuse from time to time. In exchange, you keep publishing with the group, and if you do your job well, you may have a better chance to stay in the academia. It is worth doing this if your presence in the group ensures you would publish in high impact journals.
If you choose the ethical path, you have to report these people. But, it depends on how ethical is the university you study at. Do they ever enforce these rules when it comes to authorship, plagiarism, etc.? Would your word count in any way against your adviser's? Can your adviser retaliate? Are you ready to leave the research group/university over this? If you can answer yes to all these questions, be ethical.
If you choose to be wise, at least try not to do the same unethical things to your own students/postdocs when you get to be a PI.
I personally advise wisdom, because wisdom means you choose your health over the health of the academia. Doing so you save yourself years of pain, but you also help salesmen/politicians take over academia. When salesmen take over academia, odd things happen. For example, there is a guy at my institution who gets free authorship from a big collaborative project. He does not do research on it, he has no PhD, and he simply uses these papers to boost his CV to stay group leader and get lots research money that go into his salary. Now this guy is in grant committees and gives money to other guys just like him and cannot understand how is it possible for a normal person to take one year to finish a paper. I mean, he publishes at least 40.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: My first reaction upon reading the question was **no**.
However, @johnperry provided a useful perspective. Writing a grant can actually be part of the experiment planning and design. Thus, the person in question might comply with the first criterion of the [Vancouver convention](http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf).
>
> Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
>
>
> Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
>
>
> Final approval of the version to be published; AND
>
>
> Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
>
>
>
Given these criteria, these are some good questions that you can ask your supervisor:
>
> Has the person in question made any intellectual contributions to the project that I'm unaware of?
>
>
>
If the person drafted a grant proposal for the project you worked on, you should be able to check this grant proposal.
>
> Has the person jn question made intellectual contributions that qualify under criterion 1 of the Vancouver convention?
>
>
> Should I send a draft of my paper to this person for editing, revisions and approval?
>
>
>
Frank answers from your supervisor may make the matter clearer. Maybe the person really did a good job with drafting the grant proposal and put his scientific expertise into that.
A refuse to answer will be a red flag, but than it's your call to comply or to leave.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: What is the more efficient way of self-teaching, when the return is diminishing? Keep on trying? or study more basic stuffs?
I am currently teaching myself a few subjects, but I have noticed that the learning curves are quite tricky now and then. Sometimes, it gets steep at the beginning, then it gets quite sucky later on (especially when I am in lack of some background knowledge. usually, I have to either look it up or make my own assumptions). Some other times, I have a humble beginning, but then it goes like rocket (e.g. for mathematics, when I tried to *understand* it, instead of memorizing it).
More specifically, I am learning *writing in science* on coursera. I am quite satisfied by the general tips (e.g. one main idea in each paragraph, and I had not known that at all), but when it comes to how "abstract", "method", "result", etc. The tutor's suggestions sound quite alien to me (I have little experience in research); furthermore, I am also *not* making good progress. Therefore, I am not sure if it is normal for someone learning something completely new, or simply because my English is too lousy (even as a non-native English speaker; hence, I had better to switch to other basic English writing courses)
So what is the more efficient way of self-teaching, when the return is diminishing? Work harder as no pain no gain? or switch to more fundamental things? While I am looking for a scientific answer (backed-up by researches), I would also love any personal experience or insight as an answer.<issue_comment>username_1: I can help you think about math and programming, at least. The key to both is to do a lot of exercises and get a lot of practice. In learning on your own, you need access to someone else who can give you feedback on your results. It is very hard to judge your own work and to draw the correct conclusions from mistakes or to overcome difficulties.
Some online course structures may be fine for getting that feedback, but not all are. You need more than just the correct answers. You need to get a sense of why you went wrong in an exercise and how to avoid whatever that error was in the future.
Reading and watching videos isn't sufficient and it will give you only shallow learning. Then, when you hit the next challenge, you aren't quite ready for it. If you have a good textbook (and there are bad ones as well) try to do every exercise. Try to get feedback.
One way to get feedback, if you are working without a good guide, is to work in a group. You seemed to indicate that this was the case with you. You can each do a few exercises (the same ones for everyone) and then exchange work and discuss what you did and how. But even the feedback of other learners is better than none at all.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This is one advantage of an instructor. To make you keep going in doing boring routine things. Working by yourself you tend to quit too soon. This is the same role as a coach for learning a sport, or a physical therapist when undergoing rehab after an injury: without them, you tend to quit too soon.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: You mentioned, as one of the options, "switch to more fundamental things". In mathematics, this may well be a necessity, not merely an option. Mathematics, unlike some other areas of knowledge, depends heavily on basic material in building more advanced material. If you don't know the fundamental things thoroughly, you have no chance to really learn more advanced things. So I would recommend that, whenever your studies reveal some gap in your understanding of fundamental material, you should interrupt those studies and first learn that fundamental material.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an Italian Ph. D. candidate in Linguistics and I am in my penultimate year. My research focuses on nominal structure in Southern Italian Dialects, Balkan and Indo-Iranian languages.
I would love to work on a post-doc in Iran. Does anyone have experience on doing one in Iran? Would it be considered valuable experience? I am afraid of stereotypes in general, even though here in Italy the situation is different from the United States and we have an overall positive consideration of Iran.
I've already traveled to Iran for long periods and I am about to go back this summer, so there is no questioning that I like the place, and that it would be good experience for my knowledge on the Indo-Iranian family.
Apart from these questions, does anybody know about how the hiring process for post-docs works in Iran? I have made many searches, but most universities do not have a page for job offers.
Very long question. For now, thanks everyone for listening. -)<issue_comment>username_1: I would not suggest to anyone, unless it is the only possible option.
First thing, I think it would be hard for a western to live in Iran, considering the human rights violations of the regime, not having freedom of speech, restraints on women, homosexuals and alcohol and many others. Before seriously considering such a move, I would try to contact some westerners in the institution you're considering and asking about their experience.
Second thing, most of the universities in Iran are public and as you're considering a job, rather than just a research visit or a conference visit, it means you're being employed by the Islamic republic. This is a big difference.
This sole thing, may get interpreted as you being supportive of the regime and its actions, and can jeopardize future positions in the academia (US/UK/Israel for sure, and probably some other allies like Canada or Australia), and may lead to some visa issues/questioning in the future. It is true that there are many Iranians in the west, and Sharif University is a great university for undergraduate studies whose graduates continue moving to get education in the best US institutions, but those are Iranians, not people who had a lot of options where to do undergraduate studies and most of them fled the country without looking back the minute they can.
It might also disqualify you in the future to work in some work that might require clearance (if you consider doing state-department/security related stuff in the future, as you have extensive language knowledge).
You've mentioned that you studied Indo-Iranian languages, so why not look at some better places? India? Azerbaijan?
If you know some Arabic, there are all those branches of fancy US institutes in the Emirates and Saudi-Arabia? Maybe those have departments about Indo-Iranian languages as well? (my first point applies there as well, but my second point is not very relevant).
P.S. I'm pretty sure that even in Europe, the general consensus about Iran would be mostly neutral to (some) negative, most definitely I would not describe it as positive.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: While I somewhat agree with some of the views expressed in the other answer by Persian\_in\_the\_USA, I have some opposing views to discuss. I will answer your question based on my experience with fellow peers doing postdocs (Computer Science) in Iran and I will also assume you are looking for a temporary appointment as a post-doc and not a long-term career in Iran.
First of all, regarding the social and cultural differences, it's up to you to decide how much it actually affects/bothers you. Reiterating the assumption of a short-term employment, you have to ask yourself the following questions:
* How hard is it to live for 2 years without alcohol or pork?
* Do you need to wear a hijab (are you a woman)? and if so, how much will it bother you to continue wearing one in public for the duration of your stay?
* Will the legal situation regarding homosexuals affect you personally?
* Will the deficiency of freedom of speech, especially in political matters, affect you personally or professionally?
Secondly, although most prominent universities in Iran are public, equating a research role in a public university to "working for the regime" is quite a stretch, if not completely absurd. The difference between working in Linguistics at a university and working on governmental and/or military departments are quite clear, especially when you consider that almost all prominent universities in Iran are public.
I agree that this occupation might cause some questioning regarding Visa issues later on, but if you had a concrete and professional reason for your stay, I doubt it will prevent you from entering/working in western countries (keep in mind that many people who were born and raised in Iran untill their adulthood are now living and working in western countries without a problem).
Regarding the last part of your question on how to find such research positions in Iran, I believe the most promising approach would be to contact senior faculty members at the universities you are targeting. Such positions in Iran are not as common as in places like the US, which is why your are having no luck on official university websites.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student who works in theory. I have been patient but nowadays I am losing my temper, patience, etc. Many publications have been rejected as well as my proposals for grants. I have submitted one research paper which was also recently rejected.
I am working very hard but also feeling disheartened about the way academia works. As a student it is very hard to be patient. I worry each time my proposals get rejected or even if I have a failure in my research. I am trying my best to be patient but I don't know how to keep it.
**Question:** How much patience is needed while working on a PhD? (in terms of number of years for a publication) Is there any way to not worry about the failures we have in academia?<issue_comment>username_1: The PhD is a test of your stubbornness, patience and grit more than it is a test of any sort of intelligence or ability.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As user <NAME> already pointed out above in the comments section, it is very difficult to quantify patience. I can only speak from my own experience and will say that you do need inordinate amounts of patience and as much patience as you need to last you through the journey. Publication rejection is extremely common - in fact - (given the acceptance rates of journals) - is the norm rather than the exception.
You cannot 'don't worry about failure' - you will! You just have to get used to failure and celebrate your wins. Know that it comes with the job of being a Phd student and in academic generally.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: abaa:
1. Personally, I think less patience is more often the guidance I would give rather than more. (Because people waste time.) That said, given your situation, I would say "hang in there". Once you are part way down the road, it is just better to finish it.
2. My advice on publications is to
a. Aim for "decent" but not premier outlets. (Unless you have a momentous discovery.) I don't know math, but in chemistry, I would say pass on Science/Nature. Pass on JACS. Go for specialized ACS journals or the equivalent (Inorganic Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, etc.). [There are several layers lower. But you are at a decent level in the subfield.]
b. Be very honest. And don't try to be fancier than what you are (leave that for grant proposals). I have several "no revisions" papers. My advisor, with 30+ students and a couple hundred papers (and 400 as an editor) had ZERO. But the reason, I got them was I was brutally honest. Drop a sample on the floor...no problem. Report it. AND my work wasn't even textbook. In some cases, I just needed to write up what I had and (as usually happened), the experiment design was not perfect. But I had something. And I wrote it up. and was brutally honest.
c. Follow all the requirements of the submitting journal (exact format for references, etc. etc.). Usually the January edition of the journal will have instructions for authors. Follow them with a NUCLEAR emphasis (checking every single detail.)
d. If you want some motivation/explanation, read the NASA pamphlet by Katzoff or the relevant chapters in E Bright Wilson "On Research" (look them up...will mean more when you do.)
---
Good luck and look out for yourself.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: As previously discussed we cannot answer your question, as we cannot quantify patience.
But I really wanted to add another measure for you. Not saying you don't need patience (you need it, a lot, generally in life).
But what about **[resilience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resilience_(engineering_and_construction))**?
I would strongly advise you to think about fostering your resilience. It feels less hopeless and helpless than patience. But in the end, patience is probably a part of it. Further discussions of this would most likely be more in the scope of Philosophy.SE.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: <NAME> is said to have said "I haven't failed. I've found 10,000 things that don't work." It is all in the question of how you frame things. Abstract mathematics is not one of those publish-30-papers-a-year fields. It can take a horribly long time until you finally see how to solve your problem, and then you can't un-see it anymore and you wonder why you were being so silly about this for the past x-years. Just keep at it, find one more thing every day that doesn't work, and make sure to do something that is NOT mathematics every day.
As noted by username_1 above, the PhD just means you were able to convince a committee of busy professors that the complete sentences/experiments/proofs you have bound between two covers is an original contribution to your field.
Also, <http://phdcomics.com/> helps. Daily. Read all the back strips, too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The key is "Staying-Alive". Good research, getting published, getting degree, getting noticed.... all those things are great, but these things (at least for most of us) comes after failures, rejections, frustrations and all the bad things we don't want. However, you need to satay live for it to come. It will come, so stay alive until then. Don't loose it.
It is like going through a long tunnel with so many doors - working hard to reach a door thinking this is it, but it only opens to another distance with another door at the end. But, if you stay alive, you will reach the door with the sign "PhD" on it.
So, breath in and breath out, and stay alive.
But, I may warn you - you will have scars all over you. Until now, if I have a bad dream, it is about those days in research. It wakes me up in the middle of night with cold sweat all over me.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: What is at the core of what you described? From what you wrote, I'm imagining you getting irascible with friends and colleagues, and sometimes feeling desperate within yourself. Is that the case? What I wrote is based on observations about myself in a time of great stress, and also on my spouse's description of feelings and behavior during the last stretch of the PhD.
I wonder what percentage of the feeling of impatience you're having comes from anxiety. Anxiety that your hard work won't be recognized, anxiety that this period of your life will feel ever more endless, anxiety that the way you're feeling and behaving will cause irreparable damage to your relationships, or even to your way of relating to people in general.
Well, facing up to one's fears is never enough, is it? Why I'm asking: when one realizes that anxiety is making it extremely difficult to function effectively, then it is time to tell others about it. I don't know if that's the case for you, but if it is, then please do. Tell people.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I do research on particular elites of a particular society and rely heavily on interview data. In one fortuitous dinner, at the table behind me sat three people who are exactly the people I wanted to get access to.
Furthermore, they were discussing something that I am precisely investigating! I was attentive to their conversation (as they were, honestly, speaking very loudly) but by no means eavesdropping and their conversation - if viewed in the context of my work - can prove to be very valuable.
Can I use that data for my work? It does not seem ethical to me. But, if I do not use that data, I know I will be 'deliberately' weakening my research and not being true to what I do now know.
Thoughts? What would you do and what would you suggest I do?<issue_comment>username_1: Not only is it unethical (as I think you already know), it is also bordering on being unscientific. You are a scientist, not a news reporter. Your research should of course not be unnecessarily weakened, but one thing strong research needs, that this research will not have, is **reproducibility**. And for that reason alone, you should find some new, credible source for that data.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd say this is not usable directly, though it can influence how you conduct future research.
See [parallel construction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction) for a similar problem in law enforcement. Certain evidence may not be admissible in court, but a law enforcement officer can use knowledge of the inadmissible evidence to find admissible evidence. (Note that I am not saying this is right or wrong of law enforcement to do, just that it happens.)
How this might work in research is that you observe a situation in your personal life, but obviously it would be scientifically and ethically questionable to use this evidence. You can avoid the problem entirely by conducting a proper study, using your previous observations to help design the study.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Without understanding your research topic and methods, it is hard to say objectively if you can use the data. That said, the American Psychological Association (APA) classifies naturalistic observation as exempt from the informed consent process. This does not mean it does not require approval by an ethics board (i.e., an IRB). Naturalistic observation studies are valid in a wide range of fields including Medicine, Psychology, Zoology and Ethnography. That said, as with any research methods, it takes skills to conduct and interpret naturalistic observation studies properly and within the framework of their limitations. This seems like a nice starting point: <http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas/Courses/RMPA/naturalisticobservation.html>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Your institution (and/or any journal you want to publish your research in) probably has strict rules about how to use "human subjects" in research. This applies to interviewing them. You need to get advance approval, and specify how you will do the interviews. So... you cannot use what you overheard. Maybe you can use that information to devise the protocol for your eventual interviews, though.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a medical student planning on taking a year off in the middle to do research. I'm currently at the same intitution as when I was an undergrad (~4 yrs ago) and want to do research in roughly the same area. I did a decent amount of research as an undergrad, all in a single lab. The research area I'm interested in is pretty small and everyone knows each other, regularly does joint journal clubs, etc.
Question: Does it matter if I reach out to the same lab I used to work in? Would it be weird if I did? Would it be rude/inappropriate if I didn't? If I do reach out to a different lab, would it be expected that I ping my old adviser to say I'm back working in research, anyway (so I don't surprise them when I run into them randomly)? Or does none of this matter very much?
I guess I'm just ignorant about the etiquette surrounding stuff like this and was hoping for some clarification. To be clear, I had no problems with my previous lab--I had a good experience and liked my old adviser.<issue_comment>username_1: Absolutely not rude or inappropriate, I'm a bit puzzled where you got the suggestion that it might be. There is also nothing wrong with going to a different group. You can certainly let your previous advisor know, and they would be a good reference for you who can speak about your research ability to other professors you are interested in working with, but you don't have any obligation to that professor to only ever work for them.
However, is it normal for people in medical school in your area to take a year off to do research? That part seems a bit more of a potential issue to me. Certainly there are joint research/medical programs (e.g. an MD/PhD in the US), but they typically involve much more than 1 year of research. If this is not a problem where you are, though, then there is nothing wrong with going back to a lab you have positive experience with.
One other thing to consider is whether you could gain some additional breadth of experience in another lab, but this is more about your future goals rather than an issue of what is "appropriate."
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The etiquette is to go do something else. I disagree with it and think you should do whatever you know and can get done. Life is too short.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to use [this image](https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/how-close-are-we-to-a-real-star-trek-style-medical-tricorder) of a Star Trek tricorder in my PhD thesis as cover art for an "Outlook" style chapter. It is listed as being under CC-BY-SA. I believe this is fine, but I wanted to confirm. As attribution, I have an acknowledgements section at the end of the chapter which says
"Chapter cover art from <NAME>, used under CC BY-SA"
Is this an acceptable use/attribution of this image? More generally, does using Creative Commons licensed material in my thesis pose problems for the licensing of the thesis itself? If I am reading it correctly I do not need to license the thesis under CC as long as I don't modify the image at all, is this correct?<issue_comment>username_1: I am not a lawyer so take what I said with a pinch of salt. But I would venture to say yes, this is acceptable and you have not made any modifications to it and it is not for commercial purposes (if your thesis gets turned into a book for sale that may be a different story).
Next to be extra safe, just contact the author. I looked at the photo and it links to the author's page and he seems active and contactable on flickr. So I would say, just drop him an email and if possible get his clear consent to add it to your thesis.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: ### License version
Note that the author licensed it under CC BY-SA **2.0** ([that’s what it says on the Flickr page](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bojo/4078685614)), while [the blog post that made use of this image](https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/how-close-are-we-to-a-real-star-trek-style-medical-tricorder) specifies CC BY-SA **4.0** instead. It’s allowed to license *contributions* to this image under a newer BY-SA license, but not the original work (only the author may choose to do this). So unless the blog post author got the permission from the image author, their attribution is not correct, and you should assume that the image is licensed under CC BY-SA **2.0**.
### Attribution
Your attribution isn’t sufficient.
For CC BY-SA 2.0, a correct attribution (for using the *original* image) contains (if available):
* name (or pseudonym) of the author
* title of the work
* URI of the work
and you must specify
* the URI of the license (or include a copy of the license)
So it could look like this:
>
> **Chapter cover art:** *tricorderunbox4* (<https://www.flickr.com/photos/bojo/4078685614>) from <NAME>, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/>)
>
>
>
or like this if hyperlinks are possible:
>
> **Chapter cover art:** [*tricorderunbox4*](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bojo/4078685614) from <NAME>, licensed under [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)
>
>
>
### ShareAlike
The ShareAlike (SA) element of the license requires that derivative works have to be licensed under a compatible license, too.
Deciding whether or not a work becomes a derivative work isn’t always easy. And it’s not relevant if the image got modified:
* A work could become a derivative even if the image is used unmodified.
* If a work doesn’t become a derivative, you could still edit the image (it would only affect the license of that image, not your whole document).
In your case, I think that the thesis doesn’t become a derivative work, as the image doesn’t affect the rest of its content in any way. So it should be fine to not license your thesis, or to license it under a different license.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: My advice is to get permission for any image from the originator (don't depend on CCSA or other free licenses, don't depend on Wiki). The reason is these can be a little sketchy ("Flickr washing" and the like). The one thing that I would feel OK is US FEDERAL government (and not national labs!) where you verify the particulars. Or stuff that is obviously free domain (pre 1920s in the US).
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I've noticed many situations where a researcher will put their spouses as co-authors in a paper. This is commonly seen in situations where both spouses are in the same field. Valid collaboration between spouses is possible (and exist).
The question is not meant to attack spousal collaborations in academia. Simply put, this is just one possible example where a conflict of interest might arise (the same question can be placed in situations of parent-child and parent-sibling collaborations with no significant difference).
However, where does one draw the line in such a situation? What is stopping them from putting each other in *every* paper they write, effectively "doubling" their academic output? Whether we like it or not, publication metrics are used in fellowships, grants, awards, and many other situations in academia. In order for it to remain an objective metric requires the integrity of authorship to be upheld. When a PI is choosing authorship, they are responsible for not only themselves, but those in their own group, as well as their department and institution.
The situation with spouses (and other familial relationships) is somewhat unique in that the barrier for co-author contribution is far more easily passed, compared to two regular collaborating PIs. Not only are they often more readily available for collaborations, there is also a possibility of subconscious bias when evaluating the contributions of a significant other. There is also a greater possibility such a system can be gamed. For example, could such a possibility arise where a contribution which would otherwise be recognized in an acknowledgement be replaced by co-authorship due to a slight bias?
The issue is not whether or not spouses, family members or any other person should be allowed to be a co-author when they have made a valid contribution. The problem lies in whether or not the judgement of valid contribution can be made fairly without a conflict of interest by someone in that situation. Being aware of this, is it ethical to still make that decision? Is there a way to be unbiased without complete recusal?<issue_comment>username_1: Your question is based on one assumption (that you spell out): "the barrier for co-author contribution is far more easily passed [for spouses], compared to two regular collaborating PIs.".
"Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man." -- The Dude
As pointed out in a comment, ethical people don't draw the line in different places depending on the situation (at least for the case in question). The line is already drawn by the ethics principles they follow.
So, to answer your question, it is ethical to include spouses when the spouses contributed to the paper, it is not when they didn't. Exactly like including anyone else.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: It's exactly as potentially (un-)ethical as putting anyone else on your papers, with the small difference that people will *notice* and *gossip about it* far more quickly.
At least in my field, people often mention s.o. in the *acknowledgements* for "helful discussions", giving valuable input, proofreading, etc. In reverse conclusion, don't put your spouse *in the list of authors* just because you talked about it over dinner and he or she gave some insightful remarks or pointed out various shortcomings in your reasoning.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: There is nothing unethical about choosing a spouse (or friend, advisee, sibling, etc) when choosing a research collaborator.1
>
> [In other areas, (such as hiring and peer-review) it is good practice to recuse oneself if they have a close relationship with the other party.](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/108973/how-ethical-is-the-practice-of-including-spouses-as-co-authors-when-they-are-in#comment285185_108973)
>
>
>
There's a fundamental difference between these situations. When you are serving on a hiring committee or refereeing a paper, you are acting on behalf of an organization (in this case, your employer or a journal, respectively). You have an obligation to that organization to recuse yourself if your judgment is clouded. On the other hand, if two people decide to collaborate on research, each is making that decision on their own behalf. If a spouse, friend, or advisee is a sub-optimal choice for collaboration, then they will bear the professional harm.
>
> What is stopping them from putting each other in every paper they write, effectively "doubling" their academic output?
>
>
>
If spouses collaborate with each other on every paper they write, there is absolutely nothing inappropriate about listing each other as co-authors. (In fact, to not do so would be unethical.) But this wouldn't increase their academic output anymore than collaboration with other people.2
>
> The situation with spouses is somewhat unique in that the barrier for co-author contribution is far more easily passed, compared to two regular collaborating PIs.
>
>
>
Yes, if two researchers are married, and they have similar research interests, then it probably is easier for them to collaborate with each other than otherwise. However, there is nothing unethical with collaborating with people with whom it is convenient to collaborate. We wouldn't chide a researcher for collaborating with another researcher from their institution or the surrounding area.
Also, I think you may be underestimating the career *disadvantages* for an academic to be being married to an academic with similar research interests. It's hard enough for married academics to solve the two-body problem--frequently, one spouse ends up leaving academia altogether. It can be even harder for couples with similar research interests, because smaller departments ask themselves questions like "Do we really want to devote *two* tenure lines to specialists in operator algebras?"
1 I'm talking about small ad-hoc collaborations, not the large-scale formal organizations that exist in some fields, such as particle physics.
2 Parenthetically, depending on the situation, it might not be a great idea for a married couple to *always* collaborate with each other. But that would hold for any two researchers who routinely collaborate with each other.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: It appears that the OP is confounding the Law with the Police. As the other answers indicated, the same standards *should* apply (that's "the Law").
But then the OP asks
>
> What is stopping them from putting each other in every paper they
> write?
>
>
>
...and this is about "the Police" and whether it is practically feasible to policing in an effective way such a situation and making sure that "the Law" is upheld, apart from the "inner ethics police" a person carries.
It is not unreasonable to argue that unethical behavior here is structurally facilitated, and so that we statistically expect that in case of spouse co-authors, more cases of bogus co-authorhsip will/may exist, compared to when no personal relationship/kinship exists. But as with any plausible argument, it still remains to be scientifically explored and tested.
In any case, bogus co-authorship is not the only "unintended" negative effect of having people grouping themselves at a personal level and not only as "members of a society". Also, I suspect there are also some positive consequences of organizing our lives around such little tribes, so once more, it dreadfully comes down to cost-benefit analysis.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> What is stopping them from putting each other in every paper they write, effectively "doubling" their academic output?
>
>
>
Reputation. I think a lot of people will be skeptical about this very question, and that in itself is a drawback. People may wonder, when siblings or spouses or parents and children publish together, whether they were actually both pulling their own weight. I would not be surprised if many readers assume that more of the contribution came from one than the other (based on which name they recognized, who had a more prominent position, or other factors) while knowing nothing about how the work for that specific paper was conducted.
I have submitted to conferences with someone who happens to share my last name and is of the opposite gender. I have no doubt that some people would speculate that we were married, and I wondered at the time whether that would change their perceptions of the work. (The reviews were double-blind, so I did not worry about that for acceptance to the conference.)
To avoid untoward assumptions about whether it's all just the work of one partner, I imagine that both people should strive to publish separately as well, or with other collaborators, and/or they should have so much output that it would not be feasible for one person to secretly do all the work.
>
> The situation with spouses is somewhat unique in that the barrier for co-author contribution is far more easily passed, compared to two regular collaborating PIs.
>
>
>
Sadly I cannot remember who this was, but there was a husband-and-wife team who frequently published together, and when one died, the other kept their names on papers, posthumously, for years until that part of the research agenda that had been in the pipeline was complete. My sense was that they worked so closely in developing the ideas over the years--as well as applying for funding and conducting the research--that the deceased spouse's intellectual contribution remained clear far after their death.
Finally, there was [an interesting little paper](http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/goodmans.pdf) about this in [an answer to the question Kimball linked to](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/45763/88197). The authors, four unrelated individuals all named "Goodman," look into people who publish with the same last names, and they also point out that there would presumably not be the same "et al." penalty in this case, since both/all authors "sound like" the first author whenever it is mentioned.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The fact of the matter is that - also due to common interests as a couple (especially when married is like a business) - the spouse would almost always be seen as significant contributor. It's not that there will be attempt to pretend or lie for the spouse's contribution. The PI will always value even the slightest thing that the spouse will do. He/she is chosen as a lifetime companion for a reason. So, it is almost inevitable that even under the best of the intentions, spouse's contribution will be overvalued and someone will feel injustice.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: If the spouse did not contribute sufficiently so as to qualify for authorship, it is unethical to include the spouse. Conversely, f the spouse contributed sufficiently so as to qualify for authorship, it is unethical to NOT include the spouse.
That said, spouses working on the same project can certainly create uncomfortable situations. My preference for working in a group with such an arrangement would be an externally approved and monitored management plan.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a review paper and I came across many research articles in which the author tries to explain the cause of the experimental observation, where the observation was the aim and main output of the paper.
Can I include those yet-to-be-verified hypothesis about their observations in my review paper? And is it necessary to cite those authors while including those hypotheses regarding the experimental observations in my review paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, in a review paper, you can't make a single statement without citing someone for it. Except perhaps (that might vary between fields) to point out a missing point in some other work, or a rather vague hypothesis.
Otherwise, you are not writing a review, but an *original research* article.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: When writing either a review section of a paper or an entire review paper, it is extremely important to be clear about which contributions came from which paper, and which form of evidence they are: does that paper have direct evidence on that point, rely on other papers/rely on an assumption, or develop the point as speculation/theory/explanation?
Obviously, you should cite any of these that you use, but you should cite them differently. For instance, if you have an article by author X, X might condense the results of previous literature (possibly citing authors Y and Z), present their own experiment, and discuss the theory and possible implications of their own experiment and interpret it in light of the literature. You would want to distinguish the three.
>
> X emphasizes that **the previous literature finds** a strong relationship between concept 1 and concept 2, and **considers the work of Y and Z to be** "extremely strong evidence that causality runs both ways" (X, p. 876).
>
>
> X **finds [shows, provides evidence]** that [experiment results] [in context].
>
>
> X **argues [concludes, suggests, wonders, hypothesizes...]** that [explanation put forth].
>
>
>
I'm guessing you were already thinking about a certain hypothesis, and then you saw X's paper and realized that they had thrown in that hypothesis at the end. Definitely cite them. Even if you had been looking at X's paper for the experimental results, you should also **re-read what their discussion/conclusion says**, and if those are relevant to the discussion, you should acknowledge the ideas in some way. (When would their discussion or conclusions *not* be relevant? Perhaps if you're interested in something that they had to account for on the way to their focus.) It could even be a simple mention just to acknowledge that they said it, too.
>
> Many scholars consider concept 1 to be a likely explanation (cf. X, Y and Z, Q).
>
>
>
It's OK if you conclude your review with an interpretation that's similar to what X suggested, as long as you have reviewed articles suggesting other possibilities and you reference as you're concluding that it's similar to X.
>
> Overall, there is mounting evidence that, as X suggested, [explanation].
>
>
>
Your contribution is a consideration of additional material, synthesis of ideas, and your own opinion/emphasis on what's important. For the purposes of publishing, if X has already covered similar area, your review paper may not be extremely interesting or important *unless* you can show why the overall question/field matters or that people are still working under alternative assumptions or not yet convinced.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m planning to apply for an internship. There is a professor who represents the school who asked me to submit some necessary documents. He wanted me write a detailed paper about the project I am interested in, and then he will choose the host supervisor for me.
Before that, I checked the list of professors for this school, and I noticed a professor whose main project is about antimicrobial biochemistry. I want to work with this group, but I am worried about whether or not he will accept any students this year.
At any rate: this “antimicrobial” topic is my favorite, but I do not know any details about what the project entails. How do I write this type of paper? Does he want expect a full proposal? What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: I would say every institution want diferent content in such paper. you can ask the professor about what to include in the paper.
for the idea formation. you can read most recent review papers in your interest area. usually those papers talk about many things and you can see what is going in the area and choose something after you know more.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You should ask the professor you want to work with for instructions. If he is open to supervising your work, then in addition to helping you apply for the internship, he can also contact the coordinator. This will increase your chance of success. If he says he does not want to supervise you, then you will save a lot of time applying for something that cannot work.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have attended many presentations where one person is presenting work that was completed by multiple people. In most of these presentations, the presenter listed the names of each coauthor in a different way. For instance, two common styles I have seen are:
[presentation slide with presenter's name first and coauthors listed underneath](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bs7Uw.png)
[presentation slide with presenter's name listed in bold at the same level as coauthors' names](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qagLU.png)
Is there a proper (or more polite, or generally accepted) way to list the names of coauthors in a presentation?<issue_comment>username_1: Both styles are widely in use, at least in my field (computational mathematics). A common variant is that the presenter's name is underlined rather than in bold.
I don't perceive a difference between the two --- it's not like one of them feels "more polite" than the other. Just choose one, and don't overthink it. :)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: What I see a lot is a slide titled "Acknowledgments". Can either be position 2 or at end. I slightly prefer position 2, since you're not rushed, but at the end, can also make sense.
I would leave the title slide clean with the name of the presentation and the presenter (and perhaps an image or an explanatory subtitle). When you do an actual journal publication (even conference proceedings), it is obvious who the authors are and typically first author placement for main worker. A presentation is not a publication (it should have more explanatory material). And the others are not "co authors".
It is nice if you can mention a little of the contributions of the different people as you go through the acknowledgements slide: "Jane did the electrical measurements, Bob did the X-ray, Pete is my advisor, and NSF funded the project". (This is if you are main researcher). If you are the PI and a student did the main work and/or the slides, it is graceful to verbally let the audience know that.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: It's not a scientific article, where you should worry about such things. Normally, nobody follows certain strict protocols when it comes to listing authors' names in presentation.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I understand that academics are [not paid a single dime on their publications](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36543/will-i-be-paid-a-percentage-of-the-fee-that-readers-pay-to-download-my-article). In my field (computer science), IEEE, ACM, Springer, Elsevier are some known journals/publications and none of them pay authors any royalties but they charge the readers a substantial amount of money per paper.
I'm a new PhD student so please bear with me if there is something obvious that I am missing here. I was told by my advisor that to graduate I need to publish in IEEE or ACM. He did not suggest, and I do not know of any reputed journal in my field, that either pays royalties to authors or allows free access to readers. I am forced to publish my papers at IEEE or ACM if I want to graduate and find a job afterwards.
My questions:
* Why are PhD students, professors, and others who publish their life's
works in professional research publications not paid royalties on
their hard work poured into these papers?
* If academics choose not to make money (e.g. they are not greedy and
want to promote free education for all) shouldn't these publications
not charge readers an absurd $30 for 6-7 page paper? Shouldn't the
publications charge a nominal fee that covers paying their employees
and distributions cost, but nothing more. Right now, [it's a trillion
dollar profit industry](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science). Why are the publications pocketing all of
the profits on research done by scientists? And why is the research
community OK with this?
* If this really is an issue ([<NAME> -- famous hacktivist -- fought against this injustice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz)), what can be done against
this issue by the research community and academics? For example, if
researchers at top institutions (in my field) such as MIT, Berkeley etc.
boycotted publications that do not pay researchers AND charge the
readers (thus pocketing all profits), can this issue be rectified?
Can PhD students and professors start submitting to other journals
that either pay royalties or be free to readers?
Please help a new PhD student from an underdeveloped country understand this issue. In my country, a lot of the people never go to universities or colleges (thus have no discounted university access to these papers) but are very bright and could use them.
**UPDATE:**
Although, I think I was clear in the original text above, from one answer here it seems I am coming off as "naive" asking journals to make papers free access AND pay royalties -- a clearly unsustainable business model. No. I am asking for either this OR that. Either pay fair royalties to authors OR make their papers free access (maybe charge readers a nominal fee to cover publishing and distribution costs). I just do not understand why it is justified for publishers to pocket billions of dollars of profit.
**UPDATE 2:**
Since I said in my original post above that I am a PhD student and there might be a connection I am missing due to my inexperience, I am now adding other sources (e.g. posts by senior professors) that are relevant to this discussion:
* >
> Some of my students asked me yesterday who profits from the egregious
> pricing structure of academic journals. The only answer I could give
> them was: publishers like Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, Wiley, Springer,
> et al.
>
>
> As noted by The Economist, Elsevier made $1.1 billion in profit in
> 2010 for a profit margin of 36%; Taylor & Francis’s profit margin was
> 25%. In 2011, Elsevier and its senior executives made 31 contributions
> to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, of which 12 went to
> NY Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who sponsored something called the
> Research Works Act (RWA), a bill that would it illegal for the
> government to make taxpayer-funded research openly accessible to the
> public.
>
>
>
<http://blog.uvm.edu/aivakhiv/2013/01/16/the-state-of-academic-publishing-rip-aaron-swartz/>
* >
> <NAME>, a professor at the University of Virginia and director of the Center for Open Science, says, “Academic publishing is the
> perfect business model to make a lot of money. You have the producer
> and consumer as the same person: the researcher. And the researcher
> has no idea how much anything costs.” Nosek finds this whole system
> is designed to maximize the amount of profit. “I, as the researcher,
> produce the scholarship and I want it to have the biggest impact
> possible and so what I care about is the prestige of the journal and
> how many people read it. Once it is finally accepted, since it is so
> hard to get acceptances, I am so delighted that I will sign
> anything — send me a form and I will sign it. I have no idea I have
> signed over my copyright or what implications that has — nor do I
> care, because it has no impact on me. The reward is the publication.”
>
>
>
<https://medium.com/@jasonschmitt/can-t-disrupt-this-elsevier-and-the-25-2-billion-dollar-a-year-academic-publishing-business-aa3b9618d40a>
**UPDATE 3:**
I would like to once again stress that **I realize that publishers need to cover costs** and even make a bit of profit. **I am not against that**. I understand that businesses exist to make profit. But if certain publishing houses are making excess profit of billions while paying nothing back to the authors, how is that fair? There is no problem with the journal covering their costs. My question is: **are they just covering their costs or are they making a substantial/hefty profit** which is leading to an elite few at the top (maybe shareholders of publishing house) getting very rich? It seems they are making billions of dollars in profit -- after covering all distribution, publication and other costs.
Please note that I am merely looking to understand the issue better and have no preconceived notions such as "publishers are evil".<issue_comment>username_1: Perhaps this question will soon be closed as a duplicate ... But if not, here are my comments.
If you want to get lots of money, do not choose "academic" as a career.
Publishing your research is valuable to you if it helps you get into a better school, get a better job, get a promotion, get a raise. For that reason, academics are happy to get their work published; they may even be happy to pay a fee to have it done!
You, as an academic, can try to choose only journals where you do not have to pay, and where readers do not have to pay. This is easier now than in the past, but still not very easy in many fields. If your research is supported by a research grant, you may be able to get the grant to pay for publication and free access.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The short answer is: we let publishers profit off of our work because many of us are egocentrics seeking prestige. At least it was the major reason at the creation of the modern academic publishing system. The rest of us can do little to change this, since our careers depend on it.
However, I think this could change soon since more and more academics are realising the same thing as you realised soon in your career: we do not need greedy publishers to do science and this wheel must be broken. Read about the German and French cases against Elsevier/Springer Nature [[1](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/french-say-no-deal-springer-journal-fight-spreads), [2](https://www.ft.com/content/893252b8-31c3-11e8-b5bf-23cb17fd1498), [3](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-00093-7), [4](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/will-other-countries-follow-germany-battle-elsevier)].
Before the existence of modern scientific journals, academics used to publish via universities' local presses. At some point, someone had a great idea: invite academics to publish in a journal where only the best would be allowed to publish and then sell it to universities. Academics accepted that because they wanted the prestige of their work being part of the hall of the best publications. Universities accepted to pay because they wanted access to high quality publications. For a more comprehensive history of academic publishing, please read [5](https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/may/25/its-time-for-academics-to-take-back-control-of-research-journals), [6](https://zenodo.org/record/546100#.WujrGy-ZNR0) and [7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_publishing).
The system must change. Today, publishers have little monopolies over scientific knowledge. If you want a specific article you only have one seller that could sell it - that is not fair. Countries are paying a high cost to fund research and then pay again for the product of their own funding. This is just madness.
The problem of changing this goes around the metric used today to evaluate academics. If you are a researcher you need to submit to the system, publish in high impact factor journals and feed this ugly industry - otherwise you can not step up in your career. Governments are trying to change things demanding academics to submit the final version of papers into local repositories and asking to prioritise publishing in open access journals when possible.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Part of the problem is that most institutions doing the research are funded completely or mostly by the government, hence your tax dollars. How would people of Virginia for example, feel if the research they funded was treated in a secretive manner and the person doing the research got rich. Of course there are many top schools which are private and they publish quite a bit too -- if they were only institutions to get royalty fees, it would create a two-tier system of research which would not be good for the user community.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: **According to you, how should the journal cover its costs?**
The journal has to have a few qualified scientists on staff to select papers, propose corrections, etc. Further, it has to run servers, administer the webpage, referee disputes, etc. All of this is not free.
* If it makes the journal articles free to access, where will the money come from?
* If they keep the fees but share the profit with the author, they will make less money. Do you want them to raise the fees still further?
The journal prices do seem steep ($30+ per article for non-members), but recall that the prospective audience is small. Further, most journals do allow cross-publishing on the arXiv (for free), and/or on a university-owned webpage; it's still usually possible for researchers to make their work available outside the paywall if they care enough to do so.
I think part of what you're really asking is **what do the academics get out of publishing an influential paper**? Answer: career options -- they'll be more likely to get tenure, salary increases, or visiting professorships; grant applications will be more likely to be funded; they may get offers from high-paying research shops like Google; they'll be invited to speak at prestigious conferences, etc. Most of this does not directly translate into personal profit, but it's still a sufficient motivator for most academics. (Conversely, failing to publish impactful papers can lead to the opposite of these things, which can make life difficult even for the tenured).
Edit: OP has changed his mind on which question he is asking several times since the one I answered. I completely agree that journals should not be making huge profits. The question I answered was about either (a) making articles free to read, or (b) paying a royalty to authors -- I do not think either of these are sustainable - coercing publishers to make costs more reasonable is more fruitful, in my view.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: When you consider how much tenured professors are paid, that you often cannot get tenured unless you have a substantial publication record, and that promotion and salary raises are often tied to publication, you will realize academics are very well paid for the work they publish: they are just not paid by the journal publishers.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> My question is: are they just covering their costs or are they making a substantial/hefty profit which is leading to an elite few at the top (maybe shareholders of publishing house) getting very rich?
>
>
>
You can check out the typical profits the publisher makes by looking at their annual reports (three of the four biggest commercial publishers in the world are publicly held - Taylor and Francis [aka. Informa], Elsevier and Wiley). Their ticker symbols are, respectively, INF, REL, and JWA.
You should see that the operating profit margin of their academic publishing divisions are about 30%-40%. Operating profit margin is usually defined as [the total profit after subtracting manufacturing costs and operating expenses but not taxes](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operatingmargin.asp). Is this high? You'll have to decide for yourself. For perspective, you can use a screener such as [Finviz](https://finviz.com/screener.ashx) to check the operating margins of all the publicly-listed companies on the New York Stock Exchange. There are several hundred companies with operating margins above 40%, such as:
* [Visa Inc](https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=V&ty=c&p=d&b=1) (V, 66.20%)
* [<NAME>](https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=JPM&ty=c&p=d&b=1) (JPM, 65.40%)
* [Facebook Inc](https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=FB&ty=c&p=d&b=1) (FB, 50.10%)
* [Dunkin Brand Groups](https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=DNKN&ty=c&p=d&b=1) (DNKN, 44.90%)
* [Phillips 66 Partners](https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=PSXP&ty=c&p=d&b=1) (PSXP, 42.90%)
You may recognize some of these brands.
A few more things to note:
1. Capitalism won the cold war, and capitalism is based on private companies maximizing their profit.
2. A firm is usually better off charging [what the consumer is willing to pay](https://www.allbusiness.com/the-most-important-concept-in-pricing-16694106-1.html).
3. You don't have to be part of an elite few to buy shares in Informa, Elsevier, or Wiley.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: The reason why someone can't just make an open free journal which competes away the for profit closed journals is there is a complicated "ratings" system. Journals are rated by how many top authors publish in the journals and how many citations articles in the journal receive. Of course the reverse is also true, an academic will be judged as a top author by what journal they publish in. Since this is a very strong positive feedback loop, it is difficult for any of the free and open journals to become popular. In addition, universities pay for access to these journals. Generally, students and faculty of most universities get access to most of the top journals so most readers of academic articles aren't paying $30/paper, they're paying nothing. It would be difficult for a university to decide to stop paying for these subscriptions because academics want to focus on their field not focus on starting a complete shift of how publishing is done. If the university stopped subscribing to journals then all their good professors would go to universities which still provide journal access.
Basically to get rid of the system, you need a critical mass of professors/researchers to abandon the top journals all at once in favor of some other open and free journal. It doesn't work if only a few people want to abandon the system, they basically won't be able to abandon it unless everyone does it at once.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: This is just how this business works. Publishers started doing important things scientists could not do pre-Internet: Organizing peer review, typesetting, making figures, printing, distribution, marketing, archiving.
Now there is no real reason to keep doing it the old way except "that is how it has always been". Anyone can [self publish](http://linkedresearch.org/ "Linked Research") and get peer-reviewed from a self-organized light-weight process.
I have never followed the "chase the highest-ranking journal" game - the journal that fits the scope of the paper best, and provides good Open Access options, usually wins. ([Elsevier journals need not apply](http://thecostofknowledge.com/ "The Cost of Knowledge")). The journal and author ranking metrics like Impact Factor are seriously flawed and bordering to pointless. Yet "it is a well-known metric, so we'll use it rather than nothing" still influence even junior authors who then end up propagating the old, pointless practices.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: I'm a master student and I worked part-time at my local French university library, so I know a bit about this problem without being an expert either.
Universities libraries really have no love left for Springer and Elsevier. When you are at a University, you can read the paper in the database your university bought the access to. This access cost is really high, to the point where my university decided to stop buying access to Springer a few years ago. There is also a negotiation crisis at the moment between the CNRS (the highest French research institution) and Springer. Every high ranked librarian I've spoken to hates these platforms (they call them 'parasites editors') and have wild dreams about leaving the "double pay" system.
Meanwhile, in my CS field, you have more and more open access solutions :
* HAL is a French platform. Depending on your state funding, you research may have to be published there, whether or not it was published by a private editor. So you could find some Springer & Elsevier publications there (max delay : 6 months after publication). I do not know if the same system exists in other countries.
* Open access conferences. Many of them are really prestigious in my field (CVPR for example). Whether or not you want to publish "ethically", you have a lot of famous conferences to choose from.
Times are changing !
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: It's all about brand reputation. People will pay more to watch a movie by a well known director, or to watch a football team with well known star players, or to download software from a company whose name they recognise, or to read an article in a "reputable" publication. The leading publishers like Elsevier and Wiley have built a brand reputation that you don't have if you publish on your personal web site. That reputation gives you career brownie points when you publish in those journals, and the publishers capitalise on that. Of course, they have to work to make sure their reputation is not compromised: but the way the academic system works, that is achieved largely by engaging unpaid reviewers.
Like any system where you pay a premium for using a recognised brand, you can regard it as a racket. Why should Avis be able to charge more than Joe Bloggs car rental, for exactly the same product? In the end, because people like you and me are prepared to pay more (a lot more) to go with someone we trust.
What's different about academic publishing is that the service they provide is primarily to authors rather than readers. As you have yourself indicated, academic authors strive to write and publish papers whether or not anyone is interested in reading them. Sometimes this leads to authors even paying to get their work published. Almost no academic work has such a strong demand from readers that you can negotiate royalties with a publisher. If the process was driven by demand from readers rather than authors, the model would be very different (and far fewer papers would be published).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: Not a true answer, but perhaps interesting.
In Germany you can get money from online and offline publications. Even though not directly by the publisher.
There is the VG Wort ([link (sorry German only)](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verwertungsgesellschaft_Wort)) which is an organization that distributes royalties among authors. The original idea behind it was to provide compensation for authors that do not receive royalties when copies are made. In Germany there are (small) fees on the sales of printers, scanners, photocopiers, etc.., which is then distributed by the VG Wort among the registered authors using some complex process.
Even though not well known in the scientific field, you can register there with scientific articles. However I do not know what the exact prerequisites are, i.e. whether the publisher must be a German one or not. In any case English language publications are ok, though.
One can also register there for instance with the PhD thesis (when published as a book with an ISBN number). Royalties will be a few 100 EUR. Not much, and not money that the publisher payed (!), but at least something.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: when I was still in academics, working on my PhD, I asked exactly the same questions. Why are the universities all to happy for their staff to publish papers in journals and in turn the universities have to pay exorbitant fees to gain access to the published papers? Sure, there is prestige, some measure that puts them on a ranking system, and possibly some government grants that are based on publications. However, where it really gets bizarre is the PhD thesis. By definition, this is supposed to be an original piece of work. To ensure that work is original, one would expect that all theses are therefore published far and wide, for everyone to read and dispute. However, this is where universities become quite conflicted. They are very touchy about their ownership and copyright - after the academics already published most of this work in journals and signed away copyright to said journals. Many universities have therefore gone and published the theses in their online libraries, as opposed to the traditional approach of locking them away in their physical libraries. However, do not dare try and create a central, online repository, where as many theses as possible can be stock-piled, ranked, categorised and possibly research between academic institutions better organised and coordinated. This immediately threatens the university's role and its ability to maintain control. Once again, amusing to watch this desperate hold onto knowledge, which was already mostly handed over to commercial institutions.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: Technically, most authors cannot ask royalties on the sales because they gave up all their rights on their own work: publishers often force authors to give away their copyright with a [copyright transfer agreement](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/52002/do-i-have-to-sign-a-copyright-transfer-agreement-to-publish-an-article). (Is it even legal? [Maybe not](http://fossilsandshit.com/ethics-copyright-transfer-scientific-research/).)
The legal defense is to at least use a [SPARC author addendum](https://sparcopen.org/our-work/author-rights/brochure-html/) or [other](http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/Author_addenda), or better [publish in open access](https://cyber.harvard.edu/hoap/How_to_make_your_own_work_open_access) (preferably with the pre-print in CC-BY) so that your work cannot be taken away.
The practical defense is to only publish with journals which respect the authors' rights. Aside from [fully open access journals](https://doaj.org/) (which can work in [various ways](http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_journal_business_models)), some toll-access and hybrid publishers are [better than others](http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/search.php), but [not much](http://rossmounce.co.uk/2017/02/20/hybrid-open-access-is-unreliable/).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_14: First of all I am not defending the existing model, just another perspective:
EDIT: Handing over the authoring rights is a kind of ensurance for the journal. Fact is that it's also a hurdle to make it more difficult to republish the same paper, which in fact any intellectual owner could do, by rewriting the paper from scratch, with the same findings, but using other words. But then again: For an academic is it about just writing papers or getting your articles in renoumed journals? If it's the latter just compare yourself to poor musicians aproaching a big music label wich promises them fame, lots of tours and worldwide distribution channels.
EDIT2: Coverage and exposure are non-monetary compensations for handing over author's rights and partial distribution rights.
EDIT3: please take into account too, that academc knowledge pretty often is not absolute, but has a half-life. The nowledge of today, in some nearer future may be outdated (an example I love is psychotherapy and electroshocks, music compression algorithms or media (remember DAT or Mini-Discs?))
* First of all probably we would have to define which royalities we're talking about. There are author's rights, distribution rights and copyrights. And some universites hande it different. In my case for example, when finishing my thesis, I had to give partial distrbution rights to my university, and kept all the authoring rights. Not all universites handle it the same way.
+ Author's rights: Tipically they do and will always belong to you, but when you publish something (in a journal, university press or as a book) you agree to the reproduction by definition.
+ Distribution Rights: You offer a partial distribution right to the journal in the moment you offer your paper for publication. (one time-distribution). That is actually the same distribution right your university gets of any paper and work you produce as long as you're studying or working there. I think for that very reason academic work is normally royality free.
+ Copyrights: The rights to copy a distributed work itself, this is tipically owned by the journal in this case, and refers exlicitely of making a scan or a photocopy of the journal.
+ The Knowledge itself in the paper is not bound to any juridical law as far as I know (except the authorial rights), and that's the whole point of academic publishing: Share your knowledge, so that anybody can take up the idea, and construct on it. They will have to credit your work in the moment they use it as base for their work in the credits (that's why the academic world is so keen on mutual credits and footnotes). And by continuing your research you probably find tomorrow more important findings which are not covered in any agreement.
+ So please correct me but I do not see any logical royalities. The academic knowledge itself should be free, otherwise if you want to make earnings out of your knowledge, and find a company that is ready to pay for that, patent what you have found out, your algorithm, etc. and DO NOT PUBLISH IT. But as it is a thesis, etc. you have to publish it. Damn, that's a academic dilema ;-)
* As mentioned: Academic work, as far as I know, is free from royality payments, in the sense that most universites follow the model that: Knowledge is free. If you found something very interesting and something which can be turn into market value, most likely your university will pay you and patent that technology, but as long as you've just produced common knowledge with your thesis, nowbody will like to pay for knowledge. IMAGINE: If every paper ever produced in a university would be intellectual property and just showed with money, we would propapbly still be in the industrial age... Specially in the Information Technology sector advances have been strong because of public papers, public and shared knowledge. Don't forget univiersities are there to produce public knowledge. You're in the wrong business if you want to make money. Public/academic research is only about fame, not money, private research is about money.
* Off course you can publish your papers wherever you want, but if you go to a certain journal, you have to play by their rules. and if that rule is no royalities, so it is. It is like going to a job interview and asking more money and more holidays than they offer you initially, it will be hard to get the job.
* why it is OK for publications to profit off of someone's work? Because you as an academic are doing the same: profitting from their work as a journal (editors, it's fame, it's outreach, etc.). It is actually known as a win-win deal: You get exposure with your paper, exposure bound to all the customers this journal already has, for free, but in most cases you renounce your royalities. Off course it seems unfair if they make tons of money with all the publications, but normally, as an author, you are free to see if you can monetarize your paper without any journal. Good luck!
* The journals rose in times where there was no internet, no publications databases, no central repositories. Just some journals who had pretty much work in maintaing a certain cientific standard and additionally, or built on top of that, a stable and broad base of subscribers, ready to pay for it. The business model these days worked, because having a scientific journal was lots of work. Nowadays with the internet it's a little bit different, but not so much: When in earlier days there was too few public information available (hard to get to it) nowadays journals are a mass filter: they offer you a selection, so in any way, the old or the new one, journals are important filters, containing exclusive knowledge.
That being said, if you reduce everything to the money, you're in the wrong business.
Academic life is about knowledge and partially fame, not money, that is a well known fact. If you want money go to private research, but then you're probably bound to research what your employer wants, and not by your academic thrive.
If you think what you found out in your PhD or thesis can be monetarized, you're free to patent it, but otherwise, please follow the way hundreds and thousands of academics have gone before, and share your knowledge with the world.
Closing I have found this interesting article which could shed a little bit of additional light. As I see there it depends nowadays on the journal and the contained areas, but as you can also see, it is more about the rights itself and the distribution and concentration of knowledge, than the money.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_policies_of_academic_publishers>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_15: It's not clear that journals paying royalties would have any great benefit. The cost of those royalties would come directly from the journals' customers, who are almost exclusively universities. Royalties for academics would essentially be a pay rise. It would be much more efficient to just give us a pay rise than to implement it by our employers sending money to journals, who would then employ armies of administrators whose only job would be to send that money back where it came from, using up some of it in the process.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/05/01
| 867
| 3,357
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm about to write an email to the department of an English speaking University (I'm not a native speaker) to clear up some doubts I have regarding enrollment. I have never spoken to them before. How formal should I be?
My questions: is it OK to use contractions ("I've... I'm...")? Is it OK if I try to throw in one or two polite jokes or should I be strictly formal and as objective as possible? Does anyone suggest a template for such an email?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: I would avoid contractions or jokes, but also avoid overly subservient (Herr Doktor Professor) remarks. Keep it straight down the middle.
When you know the language, dynamics, your role in it, etc., you may be able to do jokes. But for now, keep it bland. (And get the English checked.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: From a US perspective, I think the most important thing is politeness and clarity. "Official" contractions should be fine, as long as the writing is otherwise grammatical. ("You're" is fine, while "ur" should be avoided like the plague.) (There is a slight possibility that this differs at some very formal British universities(???) but it should be fine at any U.S. university.)
I would steer clear of jokes by email, since you haven't met them before and the communication is across a language (and culture?) barrier.
When I email people I don't know who work in staff positions, I keep in mind that they're busy and often deal with demanding people or people who are upset. I usually try to keep the "polite" parts of the email at the beginning and end, so the other parts are clear in the middle.
>
> Good morning,
>
>
> As a prospective graduate student [from *country* or *university*, if relevant to question], I have a few questions about enrolling in the English department that I hope you may be able to help me with. If there's a better person to contact about these questions, I'd really appreciate it if you could direct me to them. [If it's a question about funding or visas, e.g., it's quite possible they would probably have to refer you to another office.]
>
>
> 1. ...
> 2. ...
>
>
> [Possible additional clarification about what you have already tried, e.g. "I saw on the department web page that all applicants must have taken an introductory British literature course (link to that webpage), but it did not specify whether courses taught in another language ('English Romantic Poetry in Translation') or about specific areas (like 'Irish Literature' and 'Indian Literature: Colonial Era' would qualify)."]
>
>
> [If you're attaching any files, have a really good reason, and explain them here. E.g. "In case it helps answer the question, I am attaching the descriptions of the British literature courses I took, with my own translation of the descriptions from [my language]. The original versions are online at [link], [link], and [link]."]
>
>
> Thank you for your time. Please let me know if you need any additional information or clarification.
>
>
> Thank you very much,
>
>
> Your name
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In my experience formality takes second place to clear and concise communication. Administration deals with paperwork all day, they don't want to read a text wall. Be polite, clear, and concise, and you will be fine.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/05/02
| 747
| 2,909
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have practically the same question as [in here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/94162/scopus-inclusion-of-papers).
My most read/reference article is published in a Scopus indexed journal. The article is from 2016, and its indexed by Google Scholar.
However, when browsing the papers by that journal in Scopus, my article is just not there. Why would this happen? Is this a mistake, or genuinely someone/something in the system decided that my article does not meet some criteria?
If its a mistake, can I do something to fox it?
If its because my article does not pass some criteria, which criteria?<issue_comment>username_1: Something probably went wrong. It shouldn't take this long to index.
I would contact the journal / publisher and ask. It's possible your article "did not pass" some criteria, but those aren't fixable by you - the criteria is probably something like "we need your files in this format and the publisher did not provide it".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I got a reply from the Journal. I apparently articles are manually added and while the article is older, the journal has recently been added to Scopus.
To answer the question: email the journal about this issue.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: No, Scopus did not choose not to index your specific paper. Such decisions would undermine the purpose of an index.
There are three reasons a paper may not be indexed in Scopus (or Web of Science or SciFinder *etc.*):
1. The paper falls outside the index scope (journal is not indexed (or was not indexed at the time of publication), paper type is not indexed).
2. The paper will be indexed; however, the process is not instant, and it has not happened yet.
3. For some reason, the paper has been missed. (I had a paper published once where the entire journal issue got missed by Scopus and WoS, somehow.)
To check whether your paper should be indexed, perform the following steps:
1. Check that the journal was indexed at the time of publication. (Instructions for checking Scopus coverage [here](https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11266/supporthub/scopus/) ; instructions for WoS [here](http://mjl.clarivate.com/).)
2. Check that sufficient time has elapsed for the paper to be indexed. The best way to do this is to look for newer content from the same journal. Once that appears, you can be certain your paper has been missed somehow.
Once you're sure your paper's been missed, you can complete the appropriate form to have missing information added to the index. Scopus, [here](https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14595/c/14681/supporthub/scopuscontent/); WoS, [here](http://ips.clarivate.com/techsupport/datachange/).
A similar procedure can be followed for all curated indices/databases, but not for black-magic voodoo databases like Google Scholar.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/05/02
| 1,720
| 7,559
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<issue_start>username_0: To give context for the question I have volunteered to do some work for a local charity. The work they do is literally lifesaving and almost certainly something the government should be responsible for, but the reality is that various charities are filling the breech.
What I will do for them is data processing, they have messy data and they want some estimates for things they didn't record at the time. They will use the results to apply for funding for further work.
In one of our meeting the topic of negative findings came up, for instance, what if their work isn't cost efficient compared to charity Y? The immediate response was a sort of joking "Oh we will bury it!".
I was too uncomfortable to say something at the time, but I absolutely do not want to bury any findings. I understand that other charities may be burying bad findings, and refusing to do so may put this charity at a competitive disadvantage. Having read about what this has lead to in the pharmaceutical industry I know that this is probably more serious than anyone in the charity realises. In the long term it could completely undermine the causes they work for.
Unlike scientists in the pharmaceutical industry this work is not my primary research topic, and I'm not being paid for it. My continued employment at my university is not threatened anything this charity do. So I could just read the them riot act, however I suspect if I do that they will say "Oh sure" and then ignore it later. I need to be diplomatic and convincing. They care about the work they do, but they also care about their own organisation, and asking them to do this is good for the work but bad for the organisation.
How can I best approach this?<issue_comment>username_1: Ask for another meeting. Explain politely that you were very concerned by the "bury it" remark. See what they say. With a little luck, it'll end there.
If you're not satisfied, you can ask for a letter explaining how they will handle any negative results and make your continued volunteer work contingent on getting a letter that's satisfactory to you.
If you don't get it, walk. The inefficiencies you're worried about *will* eventually come to light, and you don't want to be tarred with that brush.
*Edit:* The remark from Pam to the question has very good advice for conducting the meeting I suggested. A positive approach early-on is quite likely to lead to a satisfactory conclusion, without need for letters, etc.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Pam has a great point in the comments.
Different publications have different purposes - marketing materials, grant applications, etc. serve the purpose of advertising and attracting funding, not adding to the academic body of knowledge about best practices. They should focus on positives.
An internal report is an appropriate place to show negative results. It can guide strategy and planning, hopefully steering the organization to a more effective path.
Maybe they partner with another organization to adopt more effective practices. Maybe they do an internal review and make program adjustments. Maybe, after they've had a chance to course-correct, they make a peer-reviewed publication about the best practices, showing the negative results. Maybe they find confounding factors that weren't accounted for in your analysis and decide the conclusions weren't correct.
Do talk more with them and make sure there is a mutual understanding about appropriate courses of action for different results. Present possible negative results as learning opportunities, and indications of areas that need additional analysis. Maybe you help them set up automated regular metrics, so they can track their own performance and improvement.
I don't know the depth of work you are planning to do, but don't presume that (small) negative results are damning. The work and rigor of analysis is very different for an infographic vs a program evaluation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I have worked with and mentored recent hires from academia in both government and private organizations. They often have similar kinds of concerns. This is the kind of advice I typically give them:
Fulfill the Request Honestly
----------------------------
First, your stakeholder asked you to perform some analytical task. The most important thing is that (if possible) you return the kind of value they requested. This is basic customer service - give them what they asked for.
For example, if they asked you to estimate how long the average child spends in a foster home you should respond with:
>
> "The average child spends X days in our foster home".
>
>
>
Feel free to flesh out your conclusion as much as you like (are there different sub-populations with interesting and different trends?)
Provide Appropriate Caveats
---------------------------
During your analysis, you will likely become aware of limitations in the data or your analysis. Disclose them to your boss - but only if they are material to the organization's decisions.
For example, the hypothetical foster care analysis might have been limited because data for an entire subset of children was unavailable (maybe all of March's records were wiped out, or the organization didn't record arrival times when kids were escorted in after normal business hours).
This sounds like a big deal! Would knowing that these records were not included in the analysis likely lead to a different conclusion than assuming they were? If so, disclose it.
Talk About Resolutions
----------------------
Here's the thing with mentioning problems: you were probably hired to provide solutions, not problems. When you disclose limitations or problems you should focus on something actionable. How can the organization solve the problem? What would it matter?
>
> "I ran the numbers on the average time kids spend in our foster homes.
> We have quite a few kids arriving after hours in emergency situations,
> and we don't record when they arrive. I'm concerned about this because
> those kids may spend far less time in our foster home than other kids.
> We could be over-estimating. Why don't we talk to the case managers
> and see if we can improve this?"
>
>
>
Data quality is likely only important to your stakeholders if it will improve their business process. If they push back, connect data quality (or any other concern) to their operations:
>
> "I understand keeping track of these records may seem unimportant, but
> we use the this number when we build financial forecasts. Right now we
> are overestimating how long each kid spends here, so we are probably
> overestimating our costs also. We could tighten that up and save the
> Board a lot of stress if we improved our record keeping."
>
>
>
The Boss Decides What is Important
----------------------------------
Finally, the function of executives or managers in an organization is to set the priorities of their organization. It is entirely up to them whether what you disclose is important or not. Respect that they have this authority and that you don't.
If you followed my above steps, you should have a pretty solid case. You would have given them the information they wanted, shown them the limitation, explained why the limitation harms their operations, and provided a solution.
They may decide that your solution is important and they will look into it. They may decide that the fix isn't worth the cost. Or they may disagree that it's really a problem. Respect their decision.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/02
| 1,537
| 6,529
|
<issue_start>username_0: I would like request some advice regarding my situation. Here is a summary: I submitted an article for review for publication in an upper-tier academic journal. I have been published in this journal before and thought I had a good relationship with the editor in chief (EIC). Six months after submission, I received an email from the EIC, telling me that the article was excellent and after I made one small change, they would agree to publish it. I made the change to the EIC's satisfaction and the EIC agreed to publish the article.
Six months after this, I unexpectedly received an email from the EIC telling me that, upon further review, the journal would not publish the article. The EIC then listed three "incorrect" words (yes, words) in the article (it is 20+ pages in length) as the reasons for not publishing it. The EIC stated that publishing the article in its present form would damage my career goals. The EIC also informed me he would not work with me on the article any longer, as he had "spent enough time on it." The EIC then stated that I needed to re-do the entire article and work with "experts in the field." After this was completed, the EIC stated I could resubmit, if I wanted. Again, all of this is completely out of the blue.
Needless to say, I am stunned. Also needless to say, this situation is unacceptable. How would you suggest I proceed at this point? In my opinion, the EIC made a commitment to publish my article in its present form and the EIC should honor this commitment. Should I attempt to contact the EIC's superior(s) about this behavior? It is very strange, and is a huge breach of academic standards. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately, I think the only practical solution will be to submit to another journal.
I don't agree, in principle, with your argument that the journal has made an iron-clad "commitment" to publish your paper, by having accepted it. If we give the editor the benefit of the doubt and suppose that he really has come to believe, in good faith, that the paper is seriously flawed, then I would say he has a duty *not* to publish it. His responsibility to the journal's readers and the research community takes precedence over any commitment made to you.
Anyway, consider the alternative - even if you could force the journal to publish the paper, there'd be nothing to stop the EIC from immediately publishing a retraction. If he really believes it is seriously flawed, I'd say he would even have an obligation to retract. That would be much worse for you than simple rejection.
If you strongly believe that the editor is *not* acting in good faith, but is rejecting your paper from some ulterior motive, and you have evidence to support that belief, then you could take your case to the publisher. If it's clear, I suppose it could lead to the firing of the EIC - but it still probably wouldn't get your paper automatically accepted. At best you might be able to resubmit to the new editor. You could do it as a way to help the journal get better leadership, but I don't think it's likely to be effective as far as actually getting your paper published.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This is a very bizarre situation—I must admit that I've never heard of a paper being rejected because three words are incorrect. It seems that the level of response from the journal is not proportional to the level of the problem.
I agree with [Nate's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/109075/53) that you will probably need to publish elsewhere. Since the decision has been made by the editor-in-chief, the only appeal would be to the publisher, who would be reluctant to overrule a scientific decision by the editor-in-chief absent signs of foul play.
However, in addition to submitting to a different journal, I would definitely try to get in contact with the editor-in-chief to understand what's going on. If he's someone you already know, I would try to see if I could talk with the person directly on the phone, rather than just email. You might be able to get a better sense of what's going on with this rejection than just in an email. I would not try to force the editor-in-chief to change his mind; I would use this opportunity to figure out what caused the paper to go from essentially accepted to rejected in one step.
If you don't get any response, then you should escalate to the publisher. Such behavior is highly irregular, and should be brought to their attention. (Just state it as: "This is what happened and this is why I think it's unusual." But again don't expect a reversal.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The EIC has rendered two opinions on the submission:
1. The submission is correct, and should be published.
2. The submission is incorrect, and should not be published.
Taking these two opinions at face value, one of them must be mistaken in its judgement. There is no reason to assume that it is the second one. Indeed, it is more likely to be the first one, as it is more likely that someone gets a more accurate opinion with additional reflection. What is likely to have happened is that the EIC did not read the submission with sufficient care the first time, and subsequently found errors.
Yes, it is unfortunate that the EIC made that mistake, and issued that acceptance, which had to be withdrawn. This can be frustrating, particularly if OP has told others about this papers' acceptance in this journal. It is also unfortunate that the EIC's explanation of rejection is not very satisfying. Neither of these issues would merit overturning an editorial decision, much less one based on correctness of the manuscript. Absent any reason to suspect this rejection was not based on editorial judgement (e.g. OP slept with EIC's spouse), an appeal is likely hopeless. Resubmission is the only way forward, however see also the following paragraph.
In a separate matter, the OP's characterization of the explanation as "three incorrect words" is potentially minimizing a very serious error. Even a single wrong symbol could completely change the character and value of a paper. Compare "Hence we have proven the Riemann hypothesis for |s|>2." (which is a million-dollar result) with "Hence we have proven the Riemann hypothesis for |s|=2." (which is a trivial, well-known, result). The OP would do well to reflect carefully on just what is wrong with the manuscript, fix these errors, and submit elsewhere.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/05/02
| 607
| 2,704
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<issue_start>username_0: Do committees look down on a candidate reapplying to a PhD program one year after being denied? My field is social science, if that impacts anything. I currently work at a research org and am wondering if it's worth it to apply this year, although I know my CV will be stronger the following year (theoretically given my current position the CV will keep getting stronger every year, though). While I feel very ready from a personal standpoint and want to go now, I'm debating if it's worth applying now, with the potential ramification of re-applying should I not get in anywhere.<issue_comment>username_1: There are generally three types of candidates for admissions:
1. Clear-cut admits
2. Clear-cut rejects
3. Borderline cases
If you're in the first group, you'll get in and don't need to worry about reapplying. If you're in the second group, not much time will be spent on your application, which means that you're not likely to be "remembered" in future cycles, and your application will be re-evaluated the following year.
The main issue is if you're a borderline case—that's generally where much of the discussion time by an admissions committee is spent. If you're going to reapply, it's likely that someone will remember that you've applied before, and they will want to see what's changed. So it may help you in getting in the following year if they thought you were close but came up "just short."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In my university (Russell Group (UK) member) I require staff from our graduate school to provide feedback to applicants who have been denied acceptance. This includes some idea about the reasons behind their rejection.
We are able to track applications from the same applicant on the basis of the details they provide. My most memorable case is one who was rejected FIVE times, but got in on the sixth application. She has since graduated from her PhD and is head of her own lab in her country's premier university.
In general, the number of attempts does not feature in our assessments, unless there has been no substantial change between applications. We will flag that an application was previously submitted on such and such a date and was rejected for this or that reason. In these cases, we ask the applicant to provide a summary of the substantive difference between the current application and previous ones.
Two situations that are irksome. First are applicants that spam the same application to a number of potential supervisors, not understanding that we processes things centrally. Second are applicants that submit the same application year after year with no change to their material.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/02
| 1,658
| 6,759
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently enrolled in a master’s program in the Middle East, which does not seem to be possible to finish / worth finishing for various reasons. The main problem is the lack of research facilities that would allow me to generate data for my thesis. The facilities that do exist seem to prioritise students from the religious majority. As a Christian, you do not get that many opportunities in the Middle East, and there is no protection against discrimination.
So I applied to a master’s programme in Europe. Shortly afterwards, I received a personal message from one of the professors asking for my motivation to restart the master's and not run for a PhD.
**My question is**: How open I should be about the reasons why I will not finish the master’s I’m enrolled in already? I am not sure if I should mention the religious reasons – I do not want to look whiney, but this is the reality of being a Christian in a predominantly Islamic country. Can mentioning religious discrimination negatively (and significantly) affect the professor’s decision in accepting me, despite how real it is?<issue_comment>username_1: My advice is to **state facts not conclusions.**
For example, you should not say:
>
> It's impossible to finish my degree here because they discriminate against Christians.
>
>
>
Instead, you could say:
>
> I finished all my coursework, but I have been unable to get a spot in a lab -- there are only 10 lab spots for 40 students. Further, two different professors told me they would give priority to Muslim students (I am not Muslim). Given this, my best option seems to be to restart at a different university.
>
>
>
By the way, I also wanted to comment on this line:
>
> asking for my motivation to restart the Master's and not run for a PhD
>
>
>
In some fields and some countries, it is common to go straight from undergraduate to the PhD without getting a master's. This professor may be asking specifically why you want to try again to get a master's, as opposed to enrolling directly in a PhD program.
Edit: inspired by @username_4's answer, I'll expand my script to address the possible confusion about master's vs. PhD
>
> I applied for a master's degree because I will be leaving [current univ] without a master's. I finished all my coursework, but I have been unable to get a spot in a lab -- there are only 10 lab spots for 40 students. Further, two different professors told me they would give priority to Muslim students (I am not Muslim). Given this, my best option seems to be to restart at a different university. I would certainly be open to pursuing a PhD at [new univ] if that is an option, but my understanding is that I will need to complete my master's first.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: There's a lovely answer by @username_1. If you're comfortable with that approach, go for it.
In case you're still feeling a little queasy and would prefer to be a bit more private about the situation -- I'll make a stab at a vaguer approach:
>
> I finished all my coursework, but I would be more comfortable continuing my studies in an environment less fraught with political and religious tensions. Research opportunities are very limited in my current university.
>
>
>
This way, you don't point any fingers and you don't identify your religion.
If that's still too personal for your taste, you could stick to the minimum:
>
> Research opportunities are very limited in my current university.
>
>
>
How much one wants to disclose about difficult times one has gone through is a very personal decision.
I learned from <NAME> (who made the children's television program Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) that no one should ever feel obligated to share more than one is comfortable sharing.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Mention it openly, but try not to be emotional and just state facts about the system you are in. Being discriminated against in their countries is a very common issue among researchers who go to study/work abroad. It adds to your motivation so it is unlikely to be viewed as something negative. Explaining your motivation is important for something with a long commitment such as masters or PhD. Don't write too much into it unless asked though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: There are two separate questions here, and the professor asked one, while you are answering the other.
(1) You are not finishing your Master's program because research opportunities [for non-Muslims] are limited in your current location.
(2) You are choosing to restart a Master's program instead of directly applying to a PhD program because direct PhD programs are not common in your region and you had not considered that as one of your options.
Or
(2a) You are choosing to restart the Masters program instead of applying directly to a PhD program for (some academic reason).
(This answer mostly combines and sharpens previous answers, but wanted to highlight the mismatch between the professor's question and your answer.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: The professor asked why you want to re-start your Masters instead of pursuing a PhD. You should consider the possibility that they will allow you to pursue a PhD track directly and without completing a Masters first. Perhaps you should see if this is possible and take that option, provided that they accept the premise of why your Masters is not completed.
On a note related to disclosing perceived discrimination, I don't see any issue with disclosing it, as long as your tone does not conflate discrimination that is fact and discrimination that is assumed. I live in a country where Christians frequently make frivolous and obviously false claims about being persecuted, when they are the dominant demographic and are not persecuted. But if you live in the Middle East, then a professor in Europe would probably readily believe your story.
I assume that you chose a valid thesis topic, attempted to pursue it, and were rejected. If pressed, you may want to demonstrate that your thesis topic was valid, and that it would have been approved at the institution that you're applying to. I say this only because there may be people who failed to complete a thesis specifically because they were determined to pursue a subject that is dishonest or without academic merit.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: You do not need to worry about looking "whiney" in this situation. You have been asked explicitly about your motivation for leaving your present Masters program, so it is reasonable for you to be frank in stating the reason if you are comfortable doing this. If they ask the question, presumably they are willing to hear the answer.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/05/02
| 473
| 2,091
|
<issue_start>username_0: So my friends professor had his class take the final last week, but the problem was that the whole final was online even with all the answers, but he didn't find out till today and he is making everyone of his students retake it, and it got me wondering if that is legal and fair for the students who had already taken the final. My friend goes to Brooklyn College.<issue_comment>username_1: There's nothing illegal about it as far as I can see, so we can get that out of the way first.
As to fair, if there are still regularly scheduled class days, they can be used. If the exam is available online originally and planned to be made online again, then given a large enough testing window to account for other exams, I don't see a huge problem.
Now, if for whatever reason the exam would need to be retaken on campus or during a specific small window of time that students may have conflicts with, then the most logic solution in my mind is to make the final optional, or to cancel it all together.
However, the professor will have a fair amount of freedom to decide how to deal with the situation and will undoubtedly have consulted with their department head to make sure the solution seems reasonable (at my university we have to get our *dean* to approve any exam time outside the standard exam schedule). As a professor, I would personally consult with the department head if for no other reason then to give him a heads up on something that has the potential to generate academic grievances.
If your friend feels the solution is unjust, they should begin an academic grievance process, which will be outlined in the student handbook or similar. The first step is normally contacting the professor to discuss the issue.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Here's how I interpret your question: someone posted the exam and the answers online, thus invalidating the exam.
I think that it is probably allowed, in this situation, to require a retake. But if you want to be sure, check your university's policies.
I don't think the date matters.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/03
| 801
| 3,299
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a third year undergrad in a public university in Texas. Because of a personal situation, I'm currently unable to attend most lectures (lately none) of a particular math class. However, I have a friend in my section who keeps me updated with the material covered, homework assignments, and exam dates.
I had previously spoken to the professor, explaining that I might be missing sessions throughout the semester, and she seemed understanding; lately, however, I stopped going altogether, and I've exclusively shown up for mid-term examinations (on which I do ok). To my surprise, I've been able to teach myself quite well, and, given that it saves me a considerable amount of time, I've been thinking of adopting this practice in the future.
So: my question is: assuming that attendance isn't compulsory, is it reasonable for students to skip a large numbers of lectures? Will most instructors take this personally? Would there be other unanticipated consequences?<issue_comment>username_1: This is a question you should probably better ask someone local, like your student's union or other students.
For my experience, most professors don't care or don't notice, but there were also a few who ridiculed those students and gave them automatically worse marks in the exam. (But those were only a few).
Also see this question: [Is it okay for a professor to leave the classroom only 5 min past the class start if nobody has shown up?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/90456/is-it-okay-for-a-professor-to-leave-the-classroom-only-5-min-past-the-class-start)
and in particular, the answer by problemofficer. This (highly upvoted answer) seems to suggest (at least to me) that some professors take it personally if students are not present.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Depending on class size, most professors won't notice if students are missing or not. When I miss someone, then this person has been active before and then I would notice the absence, but if this happens, I usually ask them if there are problems.
The other view on it is: if attending the lecture gives no benefit, then the professor should ask himself/herself why they are teaching like this. For example, I have some of my lectures on video and students can freely decide to show up or watch the old videos. Still, most are showing up and they usually are having better grades then the ones which don't show up. But this is not because I downgrade the others, it's because they understand the topics more deeply thanks to the discussions in the lectures.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I had a firm policy about not giving the same lecture twice. I didn't care if you missed class, but when you came around later and tried to cause me extra work, then I got a bit bent. "Professor, I missed class all last week because of my sister's wedding, can we go over what I missed?" No, I'm helping the real students now.
Different courses need different levels and types of engagement. You may be doing fine in this current class, but I wouldn't try this policy for German or music appreciation. Also, rubbing elbows with educated people (like your professors) makes your brain better. It's an intangible, but very important part of your education.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/05/03
| 1,700
| 7,071
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have been offered a PhD position by an inexperienced professor in a great institution in Europe. Despite the fact that the institution is very strong in my area, since the position was offered by this particular professor, I would have to commit myself to working with him for my thesis. This professor is young, and relatively inexperienced, but I enjoy the things he works on, and we seem to get along well.
My question is, would having an inexperienced advisor hurt my growth as a scientist, or my career in general? Will I have the time during my PhD to also work on the side with other, more renowned professors in the department, or is one usually focused in a single research project?<issue_comment>username_1: An inexperienced advisor can hurt your career by being relatively unknown. This means they may not have access to the same network and that their recommendation letters do not carry the same weight. Inexperience in supervision may, for example, lead to unrealistic expectations. Or an inexperienced advisor can be very good for your career, by quickly rising to fame with the awesome publications the two of you will write together and being fresh in everybody's memory when writing recommendation letters. They may spend plenty of time on working with you.
An experienced advisor can hurt your career by being never there. They may already have made their name, have extremely high expectations from PhD students, to the level of cause them to be overly stressed and quit. Or they may be very good for your career, as dedicated as can be to PhD students, prioritising them above most other duties, having realistic expectations from PhD students, and having great influence when writing recommendation letters.
Bottom line: an experienced advisor may be better for you than an inexperienced one, but that certainly does not have to be the case. And keep in mind: a very good/famous scientist is not always a very good PhD advisor.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is no way that I would say, "Inexperienced? NO! Forget him!" But his experience is one factor -- among many -- that you should take into account. You want someone who will assign you work that will not only be interesting but will look impressive to the people you will eventually be looking to hire with. Also, you need someone who can advise you on how to navigate a job market that is often extremely competitive. And, yes, you want someone with connections. My own situation years ago was that I had an advisor who was actually quite well known, working in a European institution. But he didn't know enough about the US job market, which I would eventually have to go back to, to help me out at all in the ways I suggested above. I went back completely unprepared to find a job.
That being said, there are advantages to new guys -- energy, "young blood", inspiration, innovative ideas, etc. So there are many things to take into account. You just have to "sum up" everything and see whether the overall "total" is what you need.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: One indicator of what you can expect is his publication record prior to his professorship. This is not a perfect indicator, but it's a starting point from which to evaluate his potential impact on your career. If he has published regularly and in good journals, and if his co-authors/former supervisor is well-known it could mitigate the fact that he is just starting his career.
Another thing to consider is how established his lab is, physically speaking. Are you going to be able to actually do research right away, or will the first year of work be mostly heavy lifting and setting up equipment before you can start generating data? If the lab is not yet set up, it can be a big risk.
All that said, having an advisor who is going to be highly motivated to publish and who you get along with are both huge pluses. If you get along well and are one of his first students you can probably count on a lot of support.
There's no really clear answer to this unless you actually linked his research profile (which you probably shouldn't do). Certainly starting with a young professor comes with risk, but if he is clearly motivated and you get along that can mitigate a lot of it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: This topic has been discussed several times on this site, you may want to search for previous answers.
There is no rule such as working with young or well-known professors is good or bad, it depends case by case. Since you enjoy the things he works on, and you get along well, there is nothing to worry, as you are in a **great institution** . With all due respect, I do not agree with the following answer of username_1.
>
> An inexperienced advisor can hurt your career by being unknown. This
> means s/he may not have access to the same network and that her/his
> recommendation letters do not carry the same weight.
>
>
>
Unknown researchers have no way to get into great institution. He either has strong publication record or strong network or both of them (very often).
>
> Will I have the time during my PhD to also work on the side with
> other, more renowned professors in the department
>
>
>
This is often possible in most places I know, but I don't think this is a good idea. During PhD, you will be most productive and produce the strongest thesis when you focus on one project.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Well, yes, he could 'hurt your career', but so could a lot of things.
I have two advisors. One is in late 70s, basically has seen it all, the other is in his late 30s, not tenured, and I'm his first PhD student.
There's advantages and disadvantages to both. My passing or failing does not phase older supervisor. He's pretty much hands off. "good luck, here's some money, hope you don't die".
My younger supervisor would bend over backwards to help you, but is obviously inexperienced. "hey! let's do all the things, and let's do them tomorrow!"
If you're asking this sort of question, you've probably never been in a 'real world' situation, and could use a little more experience.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Most of this answer is for a PhD student. Master's students usually can get through in a relative calm matter.
I am in the US and was in an Electrical Engineering program so that's what I know, other majors or other geographical areas may or may not be the same.
Where I went to grad-school a student had an advisor who didn't achieve tenure and was on the way to leaving. This student was not retained. There may have been a coincidence here, but it did seem to me an interesting set of facts.
On the other hand, some advisors who have been full-professors already overwork their students and ask hard questions at oral exams.
My advisor was much nicer to me than I realized at the time, but it takes years to realize this.
One professor told me that the advisor-grad-student relationship is always problematic.
In any event do the best you can.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/05/03
| 572
| 1,972
|
<issue_start>username_0: What is the British English way of referring to a source in-text.
Is it plural because there are two authors, like this:
>
> X and Y (2011) describe ...
>
>
>
Or is it singular because you are referring to a singular source, like this:
>
> X and Y (2011) describes...
>
>
>
So what I am asking is whether you refer to the source or to the authors?<issue_comment>username_1: In literature I generally see references to people much more than to source. When faced with ambiguity, I prefer choosing what sounds more correct grammatically, even if the difference is slight.
In the example above, it should be 'X and Y (2011) *describe*', because the verb 'describe' would apply to an animate subject (person) rather than an inanimate subject (source). Similarly, demonstrate, suggest, propose, hypothesise would be apt for people.
The source would be better referred to when using 'inanimate verbs' like contains, comprises, constitutes etc.
Examples:
X and Y (2011) *propose* that trees be considered sapient.
X and Y (2011) *contains* compelling evidence for trees to be considered sapient.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Supporting @user153812, I'd write
>
> Marx and Engels (1888) propose sharing property ...
>
>
>
but
>
> The paper (Marx and Engels, 1888) provides the first definition of communism ...
>
>
>
The rule of the thumb is that a citation in parenthesis should not disturb the flow of the sentence. Every time this *not* happens, I find myself referring to the authors, hence the plural. The only exception is when there is a sole author.
>
> Lenin (1907) provides a crucial extension of the initial suggestion of Marx ...
>
>
>
I had to correct myself, having written it initially in past tense, which sits better with my belly felling, but does not provide a good reference to the genus.
(Note that I did not proof-check the dates, it's just the May spirit.)
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/05/03
| 503
| 1,824
|
<issue_start>username_0: During a UG physics degree , what other certificate/diploma courses can i simultaneously pursue which would be of use in a physics career ?
I hear many colleges offer such optional courses along with main course.<issue_comment>username_1: In literature I generally see references to people much more than to source. When faced with ambiguity, I prefer choosing what sounds more correct grammatically, even if the difference is slight.
In the example above, it should be 'X and Y (2011) *describe*', because the verb 'describe' would apply to an animate subject (person) rather than an inanimate subject (source). Similarly, demonstrate, suggest, propose, hypothesise would be apt for people.
The source would be better referred to when using 'inanimate verbs' like contains, comprises, constitutes etc.
Examples:
X and Y (2011) *propose* that trees be considered sapient.
X and Y (2011) *contains* compelling evidence for trees to be considered sapient.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Supporting @user153812, I'd write
>
> Marx and Engels (1888) propose sharing property ...
>
>
>
but
>
> The paper (Marx and Engels, 1888) provides the first definition of communism ...
>
>
>
The rule of the thumb is that a citation in parenthesis should not disturb the flow of the sentence. Every time this *not* happens, I find myself referring to the authors, hence the plural. The only exception is when there is a sole author.
>
> Lenin (1907) provides a crucial extension of the initial suggestion of Marx ...
>
>
>
I had to correct myself, having written it initially in past tense, which sits better with my belly felling, but does not provide a good reference to the genus.
(Note that I did not proof-check the dates, it's just the May spirit.)
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/05/03
| 915
| 3,865
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently correcting assignments (pass/fail) for a Bachelor's course in which I am a TA. Students write some code and then discuss their results and approach in a report (in groups of two). My task is to "review a report and provide feedback for students how to improve their report" then they do a supplementation and pass.
The task/content is the same for all students so I will naturally encounter similar results.
While writing feedback I've noticed that I was pointing out exactly the same mistakes in two reports (including the same typos in equations). Upon closer inspection I realized both groups provide the same results and (more importantly) fail to provide results in the same area, i.e. the program should be run with different parameters, both groups only run one (and the same) set of parameters.
Both reports follow the same structure with small permutations, e.g. renaming sections or rephrasing of sentences and make the same "meta" mistakes like discussing their results in the conclusion.
However, looking at the code it looks like two different implementations (i.e. they seem to be using their respective code).
My initial response was to escalate this to the professor in charge and let him deal with it, but then I realized that I might be too pedantic, which I sometimes am. (My impression is that any of the other TAs would just shrug it off as "odd", but not do anything further.)
---
One of the groups has already caused trouble for another reason, so I don't want to "accidentally" escalate the overall situation.
I guess my question is how to apply the ethical guidelines of "propper scientific conduct" in this gray(ish) area, given that it is some "unimportant" assignment (of many) for a Bachelor's degree course. Should the needle tip towards "turn a blind eye" or towards "no exceptions".<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, report it to the professor. It is better to err on the side of keeping him informed.
If he considers that it's too minor to pursue further, then he can tell you so, and then you'll know not to report any similar incidents in the future. But this is ultimately his decision, not yours.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You are acting on behalf of your professor here, so try to anticipate what your professor would do. Were you given any guidelines about cheating and plagiarism that you can apply? Have there been any analogous situations in the past from which you can extrapolate?
If not, you still should make an educated guess and err on the side of escalation.
Why? Imagine your prof would find the issue to be serious and you hadn't escalated. They would conclude that you made a mistake letting this pass. Imagine, by contrast, your prof would find the issue to be insignificant and you still had escalated. For your prof this would be a minor inconvenience (having to take a second look at two assignments about which they were briefed), but they would not conclude that you made a mistake.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Students should learn about what constitutes plagiarism and what does not. Raising it with the students therefore has value.
Whether there is actual copying (from each other or a third source) is perhaps unclear, and it is not really your place to make that judgement.
Whether the students should be in any way 'punished' is sensitive to local rules/procedures and what they have been told about what they can/can't do (it is not as obvious to students what is acceptable as many academics think it is).
In most cases, the professor is the best person to make a judgement on how to proceed. In non-ideal situations, I might not point it out to the professor if I knew that they or the system would be very strict, particularly if you can't say for sure you've picked up on all instances of the same behaviour.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/03
| 842
| 3,530
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm building a personal website where I'd like to list my publications. Perhaps one of the most efficient ways to do that would be to use or build something that pulls data from an online bib file, and lists entries. I found [BibBase](https://bibbase.org/), but it has only a few options for display styles, and seems difficult to use if you want something that's also visually pleasing. Short of actually building the html page on your own, what are some common methods that people find useful for this task? How about any websites that you think do this very well?<issue_comment>username_1: *(this is close to a shopping question, so I see some danger of this being closed - however, I think the question comes up for enough people in academia that it warrants an answer here)*
What I have found most efficient is to indeed generate the publication list from a hosted bibtex file. The solution that I went for is to have a repository at [Github Sites](https://pages.github.com) where I can commit my bibtex file (and any other static resources I want in my web page, including pictures and preprints), and then I generate the actual publication list using JavaScript code I extracted from the [bibtexify](https://github.com/martinec/grav-plugin-bibtexify) project.
The result looks like that, which I find visually quite pleasing:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mIfhk.png)
A live version is available on my [website](http://philippleitner.net/research/publications/). To get access to the code you can clone my [public GitHub repo](https://github.com/xleitix/publication_list). Then the actual publication list can be rendered on any website using some JS/CSS code. This should work either in a stand-alone Web site, integrated into whatever your university uses for hosting (as long as JavaScript / CSS code is allowed), or a CMS such as Wordpress.
Advantages of this approach:
* Easy to update (just update the bibtex file and commit it)
* Responsive (also works nice on mobile etc.)
* Very few assumptions on the hosting environment - it just needs to support JavaScript and CSS.
Disadvantages of this approach:
* Setting everything up is a bit hacky as you need to plumb together some JS/CSS code (but once it works I found the solution to be quite stable)
If there is interest I can try to find some time to write more detailed instructions on how to set everything up.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Some use Google scholar. The advantages are
* that much data are already gathered by Google itself
* high chances that people know how to use it
* it is professionally designed and will be updated from time to time
* it calculates some metrics
* not much effort
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the answer to this depends on how many new publications you get per month/year/whatever.
If you are early-career and it is only a few, then the most "efficient" way is probably to manually maintain a web page (whether that is by editing HTML, or editing a Wordpress site, or whatever). The overhead of setting up an automated system will probably take years to pay back, by which time it will be obsolete in some way anyway - and some monitoring and intervention will probably be required anyway so that Google Scholar's notions of what a "publication" is don't make it to your page.
If you are a senior academic who, through co-authorship, publishes multiple times a month, then this may work out differently.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/03
| 988
| 4,212
|
<issue_start>username_0: For my final thesis in university, I have created a dataset of third-party applications for macOS. For each version of each app, the dataset contains the original executable, the original Info.plist file containing app-specific metadata and a couple of other files summarising the app's contents (file sizes, file names, ...). Almost all apps are commercial software.
I am looking for ways to release or make available (parts) of this dataset to the public. Due to copyright law, I probably cannot just release all data. What are my options?
Here is what I've been thinking:
I suspect I could release the dataset after all binaries have been removed. However, this reduces the usefulness of the data drastically. Would I also have to strip the Info.plist files as they are copied verbatim from the application bundle? Would I be allowed to include limited parts / metadata of binaries such as linked libraries, imported symbols, functions names, strings and the like?
Another option would be to invite researchers to contact me to get access to the full dataset. Would that be appropriate?
Am I allowed to create a service à la shodan.io, that offers an API for others to work with the dataset, without providing direct access to the binaries?<issue_comment>username_1: *(this is close to a shopping question, so I see some danger of this being closed - however, I think the question comes up for enough people in academia that it warrants an answer here)*
What I have found most efficient is to indeed generate the publication list from a hosted bibtex file. The solution that I went for is to have a repository at [Github Sites](https://pages.github.com) where I can commit my bibtex file (and any other static resources I want in my web page, including pictures and preprints), and then I generate the actual publication list using JavaScript code I extracted from the [bibtexify](https://github.com/martinec/grav-plugin-bibtexify) project.
The result looks like that, which I find visually quite pleasing:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mIfhk.png)
A live version is available on my [website](http://philippleitner.net/research/publications/). To get access to the code you can clone my [public GitHub repo](https://github.com/xleitix/publication_list). Then the actual publication list can be rendered on any website using some JS/CSS code. This should work either in a stand-alone Web site, integrated into whatever your university uses for hosting (as long as JavaScript / CSS code is allowed), or a CMS such as Wordpress.
Advantages of this approach:
* Easy to update (just update the bibtex file and commit it)
* Responsive (also works nice on mobile etc.)
* Very few assumptions on the hosting environment - it just needs to support JavaScript and CSS.
Disadvantages of this approach:
* Setting everything up is a bit hacky as you need to plumb together some JS/CSS code (but once it works I found the solution to be quite stable)
If there is interest I can try to find some time to write more detailed instructions on how to set everything up.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Some use Google scholar. The advantages are
* that much data are already gathered by Google itself
* high chances that people know how to use it
* it is professionally designed and will be updated from time to time
* it calculates some metrics
* not much effort
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the answer to this depends on how many new publications you get per month/year/whatever.
If you are early-career and it is only a few, then the most "efficient" way is probably to manually maintain a web page (whether that is by editing HTML, or editing a Wordpress site, or whatever). The overhead of setting up an automated system will probably take years to pay back, by which time it will be obsolete in some way anyway - and some monitoring and intervention will probably be required anyway so that Google Scholar's notions of what a "publication" is don't make it to your page.
If you are a senior academic who, through co-authorship, publishes multiple times a month, then this may work out differently.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/05/03
| 2,173
| 8,932
|
<issue_start>username_0: One "rule of thumb" that is often given out by writing centers and tutors (for example, see the [Yale Center for Teaching and Learning](https://ctl.yale.edu/writing/using-sources/understanding-and-avoiding-plagiarism/common-knowledge)) is that anything in a *general-reference* print encyclopedia (e.g. World Book, Encyclopaedia Britannica, etc.) is "Common Knowledge" and never (or, at least, hardly ever) needs a citation in academic writing as facts do not get added to encyclopedias until they become generally recognized in the scientific community as true. The major exception to this is that one must cite if one quotes the *exact text* of an encyclopedia.
The Yale link above explains that Common Knowledge "...is knowledge that most educated people know or can find out easily in an encyclopedia or dictionary."
*To what extent is this actually true?*
* Is this mostly true with a few exceptions?
* Is it partially true and partially false?
* Is it almost entirely false?
To be clear, I am asking about general principles and best practices in citation, not any *specific* context. Contact your editor or instructor.
The statement can be true even if there are minor exceptions. For example, "This is true, except that orbital periods of celestial bodies must always be cited because *SCIENCE!!!11!111!one*, even if they were first measured hundreds of years ago and verified hundreds of times to within 0.1% of their accepted value today" or "This is really true 99.9% of the time, but there was that old case where an editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1990 had a momentary lapse of professional judgment and allowed a controversial statement on the mating habits of Bactrian camels to be printed despite the fact that it had been first published in 1988 and lacked consensus in the scientific community at that time" (I'm not saying that this actually happened, it's just a hypothetical example).
This question is about general knowledge that constitutes Common Knowledge across fields. There is a concept of *field-specific* Common Knowledge, e.g. where Boyle's Law is considered common knowledge in Chemistry and Physics and needs no citation but might require a citation if used, for example, in a Gender Studies paper. This question is not about such domain-specific Common Knowledge.
In response to comments, I am using the term "Common Knowledge" in its sense as a term of art in Academia for knowledge that *need not be cited* because it is sufficiently old, sufficiently well-reproduced, and/or sufficiently non-controversial that a citation would serve little, if any, practical purpose, not the sense of knowledge that most people on the street have memorized. For example, the fact that the typical habitat for the Venus' Flytrap consists of subtropical marshes of the US East Coast is Common Knowledge - the average person you meet on the subway or at the bar might or might not know this, but any decent encyclopedia will explain it to you, and you would be hard-pressed to find a botanist (or any scientist, for that matter) who would seriously challenge it.<issue_comment>username_1: Taking the statement “anything in an encyclopedia is common knowledge” at face value reveals it is obviously false. In the comments it was pointed out that [half of Americans don’t know what century their civil war was in](https://collegestats.org/2012/07/25-american-history-facts-most-students-dont-know/), but there’s also the fact that [two thirds of people worldwide have either not heard of the holocaust or engage in holocaust denial](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/370870/). I recently was in a regional trivia competition with thousands of contestants where I had to explain to the organizers that one of their questions were wrong because they had confused density and mass. Virtually all of the questions on Jeopardy! are answerable if you knew everything in an encyclopedia, but even the specially trained contestants don’t know all the answers. Based on these examples alone, I think the idea that the majority of people know all the facts in most encyclopedias is nonsense.
I would strongly advocate for the idea that encyclopedias are irrelevant to the question of if something should be cited. Besides the fact that the vast majority of people don’t know most of the facts in an encyclopedia, there are other reasons to cite things, including:
1. Giving credit to the discoverer
2. Providing a link between your work and previous work on the subject
3. Making it easier for readers to find similar relevant articles.
4. Providing accountability for your positions. Sometimes encyclopediae are wrong, and the process of looking for a source would hopefully reveal your mistake.
Even if we pretended that it was common knowledge that every triangle-free graph contains an independent set of size Ω(sqrt(n log n)), all the above reasons to cite that fact would apply.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm glad the original poster linked to the [Yale Center for Teaching and Learning advice](https://ctl.yale.edu/writing/using-sources/understanding-and-avoiding-plagiarism/common-knowledge) about this, because I could not initially believe this was a standard being put forth.
I might believe that the content of the **first paragraph of a general encyclopedia entry might be common knowledge**. But the purpose of a citation is to point the user to a source for further knowledge, and/or to allow them to verify that you are reporting accurately. (username_1's answer is very nice as to the purpose of citing.) Particularly when giving guidance to students, I encourage citing resources that are on the border of being general knowledge, especially if those students are prone to "forget" to cite more generalist sources from which they learned overviews and opinions of a topic, which are sometimes very blatantly echoed in the paper.
Encyclopedias feature useful generalizations, as well as specific facts. I would not require a citation for, "Gold mining is an important part of Mexico's economy," but I would like a citation for, "Mexican mines produce 3.2 billion tons of gold annually." (I completely made up this figure... but it would be nice in such a case to be able to check the source's usage of both ["billion"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion) and ["ton"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton), whether the measurement is of ore or refined gold, and what year the figure pertains to.)
Why might there be this "encyclopedia" guideline for common knowledge? There are times you don't want writing weighed down by footnotes. In journalism, each claim is (ideally) fact-checked prior to publication. Perhaps in peer-reviewed journals, the theory is that uncited facts are confirmed by the peer reviewers, who would point out that they need a citation if they are not common enough. And perhaps in many rhetoric classes, students appeal to truly common knowledge often enough that instructors do not want them to clutter up their writing with citations for the banal ("America's founding documents proclaim the importance of liberty"; "Facebook is a daily staple for the typical college student").
Finally, I'll argue that **the process of confirming "common knowledge" can be generative and improve the paper**. When I've sought to use common knowledge in the introduction of my papers, I often looked things up to confirm the key details. (I'm great at trivia, but I "[trust, but verify](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust,_but_verify)" if I put something in writing.) When I do this, I sometimes stumble across an even more telling anecdote or specific detail that furthers my point, or a helpful resource that explains a core topic in a way students might appreciate. Sometimes I find that the original paper that put forth a now common idea also contains highly relevant extensions that have not been widely developed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the good answers already posted, I would suggest that a better way to interpret the contents of an encyclopedia is not as "common knowledge" but as "generally accepted knowledge."
Under this interpretation, it becomes clear that "if you found a statement in the encyclopedia, you don't have to cite it" is not reasonable, as the encyclopedia can be viewed as a sort of mega-review paper. Along those same lines, one will generally find that (as one would expect in a review) the encyclopedia itself is likely to be citing sources for the more specific or specialized information that it contains.
However, one can nicely invert the concept as a rule of thumb:
**"If you think you don't have to cite a statement, you can confirm by checking an encyclopedia."**
In short: if an encyclopedia agrees with you that a citation is no longer necessary, then you should generally feel safe in not adding a citation.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/05/03
| 3,167
| 13,764
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently got "arm-twisted" [2] (by the department chair and the dean of faculty) into passing the whole (undergrad Math) class who appeared for the final (minus that one student who we all knew was not going to make it anyway) by the most lenient grading-on-a-curve I have ever done. Isn't it immoral to pass students ahead who aren't ready or those who are gaming the system? Or am I overthinking this? The final exam was set easy and "OK-ed" by a senior colleague (I am a new faculty member). I had to pass 6 students who were way below average...
*Some additional remarks based on posed questions:*
1. This is not a rant, it's a serious concern if I should go to higher authorities.
2. Arm-twisting ==> pressurised a lot over 4 days of meetings.
3. I don't think the dean of faculty is unethical at all but it looks like she is strongly influenced by the department chair, who, in my opinion, could be borderline-toxic (but I am not sure).
4. Grading wasn't tough - it was nominal, of course, to the best of my knowledge.
5. How does passing students who are way below average make them a good educator? After having spent a semester with them and/or just looking at how they scored on exams and quizzes, they definitely could benefit from repeating it.<issue_comment>username_1: I think the ethics depends on a few things. First and most importantly, what was the intention of the department chair and dean of faculty when they “arm-twisted you” into passing those students? One can imagine two different scenarios: in the first one, the chair and dean are greedy, amoral people who are driven by selfish, short-term considerations such as maximizing their institution’s profits and winning themselves a promotion, and are pursuing a strategy that they know for a fact is bad for the students. That would be pretty unethical. In the second scenario, the chair and dean are passionate educators who are looking out for the students’ best interests, and simply disagree with you about what is best for the students, and believe that the students you wanted to fail deserved to pass. In that case, you could argue that they’re wrong, but it would be quite unreasonable to accuse them of unethical behavior.
Of course, there are also situations between those two extremes that fall in a gray area where it would be hard to say much about the ethics of the actions. You simply haven’t given us enough information to say anything meaningful.
Another factor that I think matters is what you mean by “arm-twisting”. How exactly did they twist your arms? Did they literally command you to change your grading decisions and refuse to listen to any opposing arguments? Or did they leave you some room to argue the case? It’s clear that you think they behaved unreasonably, but it’s not clear to me if they also would agree to your description of your actions as “arm-twisting”. Could it be that their perception was that they had convinced you of the merit of their request and that you went along with it willingly? In that case, the responsibility for the actions might lie (at least partially) with you. It all depends on the details of what took place, so again I don’t think anyone can give a general answer based on the information you’ve provided.
**Edit following clarifications by OP:** I understand that you perceive that you were pressured to change students' grades, and that the department chair specifically is an unpleasant person to deal with. All of those things may well be true. However, ultimately I think that it is a mistake, both logically and from a strategic/practical point of view, to use the words "unethical" or “immoral” to describe the behavior of any of the actors in this story. These are *very strong* terms (stronger than you may realize, I suspect) that suggest the *worst possible intentions* behind the actions you have observed. It would only be reasonable to use these words if you had very concrete evidence that something truly nefarious is going on (e.g., the department chair taking a bribe from one of the students, or telling you to pass all the students because his own nephew was one of the below-average students who were about to fail).
A much more likely interpretation is that the department chair simply has a broader set of concerns than you and a broader perspective on the situation. Perhaps he feels that it is important to have consistency across all instructors, to avoid students feeling that they were treated unfairly just because they had the misfortune of taking a class from an especialy harsh instructor. Or there could be any number of other legitimate concerns or causes for disagreement between you and the chair. None of this involves anything remotely unethical - it is simply a professional disagreement between colleagues.
Finally, I will add that the mere fact that the department chair "put pressure" on you is also not evidence of anything unethical, or even bad. I was a department chair for several years and had occasions where I had to go to an instructor and have a frank discussion about their grading methods, and even suggest that they retroactively change a few grades. I never had to resort to any sort of direct pressure (I suspect because of a combination of my being fairly good at articulating my side of the argument on its merits, and dealing with people who were ultimately pretty reasonable), but it was very clear to me that by my mere presence as a party to the discussion I was exercising a kind of "soft authority" that may well have been perceived as pressure by the other party. This is unavoidable and sometimes necessary, and in fact I dare say that a department chair who hesitates to exercise his/her authority in this way is unlikely to be doing a very good job.
That being said, if the chair's behavior is indeed "borderline-toxic" as you say, then that's a problem, but it sounds in any case like a very different issue than them being "unethical".
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Grading is really based on the philosophy of the people involved. Therefore, it is difficult to say what is right or wrong. Many teachers hold to some form of absolute grading. Absolute grading is a hard standard that students must reach in order to move forward. Almost no accommodations are made in terms of marking assignments. In other words, either the student did well or they did not.
Many teachers also ascribed to some form of relative grading in which grades are based on how the students are doing. The most common form of relative grading is "grading to the curve." Other forms include some sort of capping system in which a certain percentage of the students receive A's, B's, C's etc. For example, my department generally limits A's to the top 10-15% of the students. If more students are in the A range at the end of the semester the lower A's are reduced to B+.
There are pros and cons to these positions. Absolute grading really determines if students know their stuff but assumes that the teacher knows how to assess appropriately which is not always the case. In addition, absolute grading motivates a great deal of academic dishonesty as students try to find ways to survive when they are weaker or a perfectionist.
Relative grading tends to reduce academic dishonesty because the highest grades are limited. However, it can often contribute to mediocrity because in many ways the grades are predetermined. In addition, high performing students can face pressure to relax because they are messing up the curve. If everyone relaxes we get the same spread of grades as if we really pushed ourselves is common thinking.
The most important thing, in my opinion, is that the grading position of the department is clearly documented and explain to both teachers and students. This way nobody thinks that there was any injustice in terms of the assessment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I think it depends on the goal of the class and how follow up classes are designed. Some classes are actually design to encourage student so that they can pay more attention to whats coming later. Some classes are designed intentionally very tough and goal is just to find students who are trying very hard without giving up. If the reason for changing the bar is to meet the real goal of the class, yes it could be done. However, if they want to change the bar for non-goal related reason or excuse, or to change the goal without really good reason or cause without adequate discussion with the faculty member, it is almost like a violation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It would seem unethical to base one’s grade on factors outside of objective assessment. Presumably you outlined grading criteria in your syllabus which students agreed to by staying enrolled and I assume was submitted to your department for review/archiving/etc.
As the instructor, you are responsible for assessing student work and grading along your chosen guidelines. Altering your regime due to departmental ‘strong arming’ doesn’t serve your students well or reward those who worked extra hard. Equally, it doesn’t serve your institution - reputable schools have high standards. Maintaining those standards in a climate of grade inflation takes steadfastness.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Setting aside the intentions of the senior staff members who put pressure on you, it is certainly bad educational practice to "move the goalposts" for successful completion of a course in order to pass students who would fail substantially under the standard that was approved during the course. This leads to problem for later lecturers, and for the students themselves, since these students go on to take later courses that they are poorly prepared for. It also undermines the accreditation standards of the university, and can contribute to reputational risk in the long-term.
It is unusual for such a high proportion of an undergraduate class to pass a course (usually even a modest-sized undergraduate class would have many more failures than one) and I also note that the final exam was reviewed and approved as reasonable by another staff member prior to being administered. Essentially then, it seems that these senior staff have pressured you to depart from the previously approved standard in order to "lower the bar" to pass an unusually large number of students in the course, many of whom should have failed.
Your concerns about this are reasonable, and it is worth raising them formally if you are willing to go through this process. The question of whether this is "ethical" is a complex one, which requires consideration of the accreditation role of the university, but I tend to agree with your view that this is unethical. Nevertheless, I would recommend re-framing your concerns so that the issue is couched in the language of *what is good or bad educational practice*, rather than *what is ethical/unethical*. This keeps the focus on the propriety and results of the process, with respect to the educational and accreditation role of the university, rather than waylaying you with issues of personal intention, morality, etc. Any higher-up staff who consider the matter will implicitly formulate their own view on the ethics, and they might make adverse findings in this regard even if you don't explicitly raise the matter in those terms.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Only time I've seen something like this happen has been when gross insanity with grading policies ("staple not in upper left 1/2" at 35-50 degree angle, -25 points"), teaching methods (getting people to pay attention in class by throwing things at them), etc. come in to play. And it is usually followed up with people saying things like "Hey, did you hear about Fred suddenly retiring?". Or a simple "Lock account" notice from HR in the case of adjuncts...
I've also seen other unfair grading targeting individuals happen that cause failing grades, overridden to a C or B by the department chair when another instructor has graded the work or given their version of the final for the same course and the student has passed/done well. "Instructor doesn't like that I speak my mind and question things, so he takes off more than other students for similar mistakes". Like my wife - she is a native Spanish speaker, so her high school Spanish teacher took off double points for wrong answers/mistakes.
If nothing like this applies to your situation then I'd do what I could to cover my rear - ask for written requests to do this, or flat out refuse - the Dept Chair/Dean/etc. can always go to the Registrar/Records office and override the final grade themselves - and it will be documented as such.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: This is not an answer for this year but, for future terms, I would recommend learning the historic grade distribution for any course before you teach it. Ideally, your departmental staff has this information collected and can provide it for you; if not, you may need to ask previous instructors.
**Responding to comment below asking what this has to do with whether students met the goals of the course:** The chair and dean seem to have an expectation that almost no one will fail this class. If the OP had seen ahead of time that this is a class that no one fails, he or she could adjust her grading scheme accordingly. It is not so unusual that, in some classes, anyone who shows up and makes a basic effort passes. We could have an argument about when that it is appropriate, but my point was simply that the OP had expectations about what grades meant which didn't match those of the administration and previous instructors, and looking at historic grades would have clarified this.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/03
| 921
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<issue_start>username_0: Does anyone know how to write good letters of reference into a Chinese university? I have an awesome former PhD student who is looking at a position that exactly suits their experience. Is China like the USA that you can write something that is all praise, or is it like some countries in the EU where you are expected to comment on both strengths and weaknesses? How should the letter open?<issue_comment>username_1: Do not write about weaknesses in a reference letter for China. Your candor and frankness will not be appreciated as a dialogue...or friendly critique.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Writing my comment as an answer, following a suggestion.
I’ve spent two years in China as a postdoc. I have never read a recommendation letter (LoR) but I’ve experienced the culture in academia. As someone else hinted I also do not think anybody will *actually read* the LoR in any detail, but just skim through it. The focus is on who wrote it (more precisely, what is the author's university ranking and impact factors).
About the contents I’d recommend just dropping cliche positive comments but without any exaggeration. The Chinese are extremely sensitive to any form of criticism, and will generally not appreciate outspoken, frank discussions. This will look particularly "serious" if put in written, from a "leader" and addressed to 3rd parties, and might be interpreted as a gentle *warning* **against** the candidate.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: My recommendations:
* Highlight the applicant's **ability to publish**, particularly if they have a large number of publications, and particularly if they have publications in journals with a high SCI ranking (SCI 1 or SCI 2 journals, especially; searchable from [LetPub](http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=journalapp)). There's other ranking systems, e.g., in computer science, we also use the [CCF index](https://www.ccf.org.cn/xspj/gyml/).
* Highlight **international collaborations** that the applicant is able to bring to the university.
In my opinion, the above two items are far more important than anything else. These are always the top priorities when we have meetings---who's lab published what, and with whom.
* If relevant, **highlight the applicant's English level**, especially if they're a native English speaker. If possible, highlight the applicant's willingness to improve the English on student papers.
* If relevant, **name the professor(s)** the applicant is intending to work with. In interviews I've been to, if the applicant can't name the professor, they're not taken seriously.
* Highlight how the applicant has the ability to **apply for grants** reserved for international applications, such as the [Research Fund for International Young username_2s](http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/publish/portal0/tab352/info72641.htm).
* Describe the **ranking of the university** where they obtained their PhD.
* Explain how the applicant is **able to adapt to life in China**, e.g., highlight their Chinese-language ability, Chinese co-authors, and experiences travelling to China or living abroad. Make the applicant seem less "foreign", a friend of China, and unlikely to stir up trouble.
(Although if they're from China, Singapore, etc. [anywhere where they speak Chinese and the culture is similar to China], I'd skip this---they might not seem international enough.)
* If relevant, highlight how the applicant is **from a "Silk Road" country** (interpreted broadly), which is in line with the government's [Belt and Road Initiative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative).
And, I concur, don't write about weaknesses---they'll almost certainly be interpreted unfavorably.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/04
| 1,255
| 5,428
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<issue_start>username_0: Is there any quantitative evidence that using social media helps academics disseminate their research results? What about the cost-effectiveness of social media?
My guess is that search engines are much more important than social media, and take less effort?<issue_comment>username_1: An article from 2014 ["Do highly cited researchers successfully use the web?"](http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1345-0) suggests that most of the most prolifically cited researchers do not have extensive social presences.
At the same time, studies also show that [using the social web can improve hit counts somewhat](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183217), which suggests overall that using social media can influence research, but may not have an enormous impact.
Now you'll have to excuse me while I go create a Twitter account for my research group. . . .
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think social media would influence awareness of public to your research rather than citation but I don't know any article about it. from What I experience researchers use social media to reach crowd to find participants, to disseminate knowledge etc. However, I would say it won't hurt your sitations and you might just help public understand your research wich is very important and not researchers do as much as I think necessary. Of course time constrain is big problem.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I initially left this partial answer as a comment on username_1's great answer, but it didn't actually fit very well. To compliment his evidence-based answer, I wanted to provide a "use case" for social media.
Why might social media be better than a search engine? Because it provides opportunities for discovery outside of time frames when one is explicitly looking. (In this way, social media functions like alerts from ArXiv that a new paper has been posted to X topic.) Because I have a Zotero (bibliographic manager) plug-in for each browser, any time I come across an interesting article, it is extremely easy to file it away for later if it is a high-quality work that fits into my broad set of interests. When I am putting together a syllabus or literature review, the papers already in my reference manager can be a good starting point for further search.
In an **interdisciplinary** field, it can be hard to learn about all the relevant new publications. Anecdotally, I follow people (grad school acquaintances, colleagues, researchers I admire) on social media, and I often discover references to research that is germane to me, even if it does not appear in journals or conferences I see regularly. (While some of the relevant work would be posted on ArXiv, many of the papers would not be.) Thus, through social media I'm often helping the hit count, sometimes the citation count.
A search is also tough if the terms one is interested in are broad or vary by field. In those cases, setting up a saved search to look for them may not be useful because many of the results will be false positives, and they will not be filtered for quality. (Plus when I set up automatic searches for anything that produces a large number of results regularly, I usually end up just ignoring them rather than sifting through them.) Thus if I can follow several prolific academics who regularly tweet about their own work and what they're currently reading, this helps me discover interesting work with very low effort.
Also note that most quantitative study designs wouldn't disentangle the effects of social media versus search engines. That is, one of the advantages of a social media post is that many of them are included in web search results. (Analysis of social media's effect on citations will actually under-count social media's impact to the extent that private announcements--like friends-only Facebook posts--are not included.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I can't offer quantitative evidence, beyond "take a look at altmetrics". I can offer anecdote, like most of the other answers ;-) I'll take Twitter as an example here, but I think the same applies to any social media that are viewable by the public, rather than invited people (e.g. "friends").
For journal articles and the like: In my experience Twitter can be a speedy way of letting people know about your latest publication. But would a significant proportion of those people have read it anyway, once their Google Scholar alerts picked it up? Maybe. No way to tell.
For more less specialised outputs (e.g. blog articles) Twitter is a very effective - perhaps the most effective - way of getting readers.
For events such as talks, outreach/knowledge transfer events, some types of workshop, etc., Twitter is effective at getting the information in front of people immediately.
HOWEVER: All this depends on your having followers. And for you to have followers, your account needs to be interesting, useful, entertaining, or a combination of the above. Accounts that are run purely as marketing exercises, especially by individuals rather than institutions, don't really work.
So the summary of all this, again just anecdotally in my experience, is that **if you have social media accounts that you use regularly - and hence have followers on - then they can be effective channels for dissemination of research. If you do not, then creating an account soley for this purpose is unlikely to work.**
Upvotes: 0
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2018/05/04
| 2,580
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international master's student in the US. I am currently finishing my last semester of courses.
This semester has been very tough on my personal life because of some family issues. I also had major unexpected technical difficulties with one of the projects which made it practically impossible for me to finish it in time. As a result, my performance in one of the courses suffered in the second half of the semester (I was doing well in the first half). I just had the final exam and I feel that it went badly. I am now scared that I might fail the course and have to come back again in Fall, especially because that means I have to move back to the city and spend more money on tuition.
I am confident that I would have done much better on the course had my circumstances been different. I am therefore considering contacting the professor to explain my situation in the hopes that he won't give me a failing grade.
So my question is this: is it advisable to contact my professor in this situation? If so, how can I approach the topic? What should I avoid discussing?
Perhaps I should mention, I don't feel very comfortable with him on a personal level, and he has been generally strict with grading guidelines.<issue_comment>username_1: When I read the headline, my immediate impulse was to say "yes, of course" - assuming, that the course is still running and you need advice on how to proceed and come to a good result.
After reading the full question, my answer is a clear "no". I'm located in Germany, but I assume the following thoughts are applicable to the US too:
* If you explain your situation to the professor right now, it will feel like you want to influence his objective grading attitude. I would never accept such an attempt and I would in fact be angry just because you told me, I will be influenced. I won't rate you better, but I might even be stricter in cases where I'm unsure whether I should give a point more or less, just to avoid beeing unfair towards the other students.
* *If* the professor would react on your situation, it might even be illegal, it would be definitely unethical. In the worst case, he could be fired. #Everyone has to be treated equally.
* Most (all?) universities have defined rules on how to treat sickness, bad personal circumstances, etc. You should check your local regulations and get advice from either other faculty members, students organizations or the responsible university staff. In many cases, there are options to re-do an exam.
* You should check the regulations mentioned before, but I would not take any measures before the results are out. After they are published, you could ask the professor on advice on how to proceed and explain your situation *afterwards*. Maybe there are some options like a second attempt or otherwise.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: No, it is not advisable to contact your professor in your specific situation. The risk of contacting the professor concerned directly is that it may be seen as seeking preferential treatment by sidestepping the proper channels. At my university (and doubtless most others), there are procedures in place to deal with life events affecting your study progress. Usually, it is best to bring up such situations with a counsellor, study advisor or mentor (the name of the person to go to varies from one university to another) when the problems first arise and not wait until after the final exam. In your case, it is too late for that, but the action taken should be the same: find out what the procedure is and who to speak to, and do so as swiftly as possible. Then follow the advice you are given.
(If you have no idea how to get started, your university should have some sort of student support services you can contact.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Situations like yours are why I tell all of my advisees and students to adhere to the following suggestion:
>
> Talk to people when you have a problem, not when it becomes a crisis.
>
>
>
If there’s the possibility that something extremely bad could result (and failing a graduate course could certainly qualify), raise the issue before the worst-case scenario comes to fruition. At that point, it may be too late to do anything about the problem.
Unfortunately, you’ve waited until you’ve reached crisis conditions, and at this point, things are entirely out of your hands. You should have expressed concern during the project when things started going wrong. All you can do at this point is beg for mercy, and as the others have mentioned, that puts the instructor in an ethical bind.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> I am confident that I would have done much better on the course had my circumstances been different.
>
>
>
I don’t have advice on whether you should or should not contact the professor, but you should know that any professor with more than a couple of years’ teaching experience will have heard this same argument from students many times before. Unfortunately this argument is a fallacious one and implies a misunderstanding on the student’s part (or worse, the student dishonestly pretending not to understand) about the meaning of the grade: the course grade is not designed to measure how well you *would have done* under some hypothetical set of favorable circumstances. It’s only meant to measure how well you *actually learned* the material, in the real world.
My only advice is that if you do contact the professor to explain the situation and beg for mercy (not the most honorable course of action, but a somewhat reasonable one that has a low but nonzero probability of having an effect of some sort), do not include a statement along the lines of the quote I cited at the beginning. Making such a statement will undermine your case and make it extremely likely that the professor will reply with a standard explanation (the same one as I wrote above) of why the logic of your request is invalid, and refuse to do anything to help you.
I am sorry about the personal difficulties you’ve had, and good luck with your studies.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I do understand your concern. You have put tremendous effort into your growth and don't want to see it sidetracked. I think you need to find another way out.
I suggest you think of it from the Professor's perspective first. You admit you don't have a good relationship with the instructor. That is not working in your favor. If this is a tenured professor, it is working against you.
I suggest you think of your classmates. What makes you think of you were the only student struggling? What makes you think you were the only student who had "major unexpected technical difficulties with one of the projects"? Did you reach out to any of them? Will any of your classmates vouch for you and say that you had it harder than everyone else? If not, then why you think you deserve special treatment? I completed 42-graduate levels in 2-years at my school and never once thought I earned less than a B+, my lowest "failing grade". (MSIA/MBA) I had a miscarriage while working towards my Harvard doctorate and still managed to pass my classes. I know I earned straight-As. (DBA/MPA) Imagine me as one of your classmates. Do you really think your instructor is going to believe your circumstances were so horrible that you couldn't approach him earlier, ask for help for classmates, drop the class, or pass the class? I don't. I would be very angry with him if he did knowing what I went through to pass my classes.
I suggest you think of your future employer or institution. They are going to hire you believing you know something you have failed to master, based on your belief that you failed the test. Is this going to be your life plan, to make excuses-after-the-fact?
I suggest you think of everyone who is going to follow. How far do you want your institution to lower the bar so you can pass? Talk to your professor by all means. Instead of asking to have your grade changed, asked for a second chance. Ask for an incomplete or a Pass/ Fail grade. Ask to be allowed to drop the course. Don't ask him to raise your grade though.
Forgive me if this is harsh. Today is my first day and this is my first answer. I hope this helps, even if it hurts to hear.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I would suggest contacting someone in the administration or faculty (preferably, graduate advisor) who you feel comfortable with and who can mediate the situation. There could be various resolutions to this situation, and an independent person looking at it would be most helpful. They can potentially negotiate something with the professor, etc. I would advise not to try to resolve it with the professor directly. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: I have never taken graduate level courses, but having had similar problems as an undergraduate, it is very important you speak with a counsellor about any other personal issues which might be bothering you. In addition if it turns out you fail, it will also be necessary to get counseling on that. I assure you there will be a lot of bad feelings which will come up when you fail a course, especially if you are used to success in the past.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: The first thing you should always do is discuss with your advisor. They are there to help you. (It doesn’t sound like this professor is your advisor.)
Secondly, as of right now I am only in my second semester in grad school, however, I can say I have generally had difficulty with all the exams. That being said, my grades are fine. Grad school is supposed to be challenging.
Most departments also have rules about dropping a course before you fail it. In my institution, if you fail you are kicked out. You will want to check into this.
My advice is that you speak with your advisor and the professor and explain your family situation. At the end of the day, they are human beings and should be somewhat reasonable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: If there are genuine extenuating circumstances, you could email him and explain the situation and see what he says.
If not, I don't think failing a module is necessary a problem. My friend is doing a PhD in Mathematics and she failed her module on Group Theory in her MSc and had to re-sit it (I think I remember reading somewhere that <NAME> failed one of his modules). However, if you do fail it will be taken that the subject which you failed on is not to your tastes. So if you fail a cosmology module and then never touch cosmology again, it does not really matter, but if you fail and then apply to a PhD in cosmology, that could raise some eyebrows, even if overall you got a high grade on the degree. You may not be invited to interview or if you are, they will likely ask you about your result and if there was a reason for failing: this would be the opportunity to mention the extenuating circumstances which contributed to you failing.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/04
| 611
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a theorem which requires a lot of notation and explanation and hypotheses in order to state. I usually tend to put all theorem statements in the introduction of the paper so that someone can skim through the introduction to know what the paper is about. I am not sure how to put this very long theorem in the introduction without making the introduction unreadable.
Is there a standard procedure to follow in such cases?<issue_comment>username_1: It is very helpful to have all the assumptions of the main theorem written there explicitly, but is very explicit to refer to another place in the text.
>
> Supposing A, B and C are Euclidean domains satisfying the conditions in assumption 3, then any topology that includes them is plain weird (see definition 2).
>
>
>
Here, assumption 3 is essentially a definition; mathematically, it would be the same to define a new concept which applies to triples (A, B, C).
If appropriate, you can use a qualifier like "technical/regularity/topological assumptions", which could make the theorem itself more informative.
This is especially relevant if there are several distinct sets of assumptions you need your object to satisfy.
Another approach would be to not give the entire theorem in the introduction, but rather give an interesting corollary or an elegant example, if any such exist, and refer the reader to the full theorem later in the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, I feel that the common approach is to sweep the details under the rug, and present a high level version of the theorem. For example:
>
> And finally, we prove that under certain assumptions about the automorphism group of a graph, G, that either G is “essentially” a Johnson graph or it has what we call the Splitting Property. This allows us to construct a new proof of Babai’s proof that GI is in quasipolynomial time that doesn’t rely on the classification theorem of finite groups.
>
>
>
What is meant by “”essentially” as Johnson graph,” or what the “Splitting Property” is will be defined later, but they need not be explained in the introduction. The important thing is to give a gloss explains why someone would want to keep reading.
For another example,
>
> We then define a particular distance metric on circle and prove that, under certain modality assumptions, that this distance metric captures the intuitive concept of roundness.
>
>
>
You can also provide pointers to later in the paper where words like “a particular distance metric” or “the Splitting property” is defined.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2018/05/04
| 763
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a machine learning manuscript for publication.
In a figure I had two learning curves for parameter 1 (P1) and parameter 2 (P2). Now, the reviewer asked to incorporate parameter 3 (P3) and show the learning curve for that.
The assumption is that the curve for P1 is better than P2 (P1>P2) and the curve with P2 is better than with P3 (P2>P3).
However, after training with parameter 3 I found a curve that shows (P3>P2). Probably P2 curve was stuck at a local minima. Since, my original P1 curve was okay, I was not bothered with the P2 curve that much when I submitted the manuscript.
Since, it is not expected, I retrained all three curves and after retraining I found the desired curves (P1>P2 and P2>P3).
Now, can I put this newer curves in the figure and submit the manuscript? Or I have to keep the original P1 and P2 curves intact?<issue_comment>username_1: It is very helpful to have all the assumptions of the main theorem written there explicitly, but is very explicit to refer to another place in the text.
>
> Supposing A, B and C are Euclidean domains satisfying the conditions in assumption 3, then any topology that includes them is plain weird (see definition 2).
>
>
>
Here, assumption 3 is essentially a definition; mathematically, it would be the same to define a new concept which applies to triples (A, B, C).
If appropriate, you can use a qualifier like "technical/regularity/topological assumptions", which could make the theorem itself more informative.
This is especially relevant if there are several distinct sets of assumptions you need your object to satisfy.
Another approach would be to not give the entire theorem in the introduction, but rather give an interesting corollary or an elegant example, if any such exist, and refer the reader to the full theorem later in the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, I feel that the common approach is to sweep the details under the rug, and present a high level version of the theorem. For example:
>
> And finally, we prove that under certain assumptions about the automorphism group of a graph, G, that either G is “essentially” a Johnson graph or it has what we call the Splitting Property. This allows us to construct a new proof of Babai’s proof that GI is in quasipolynomial time that doesn’t rely on the classification theorem of finite groups.
>
>
>
What is meant by “”essentially” as Johnson graph,” or what the “Splitting Property” is will be defined later, but they need not be explained in the introduction. The important thing is to give a gloss explains why someone would want to keep reading.
For another example,
>
> We then define a particular distance metric on circle and prove that, under certain modality assumptions, that this distance metric captures the intuitive concept of roundness.
>
>
>
You can also provide pointers to later in the paper where words like “a particular distance metric” or “the Splitting property” is defined.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2018/05/04
| 789
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<issue_start>username_0: I will be starting as a freshman in August 2018 in an undergrad institution. My school does not have the best reputation for mathematics in my country. Although it has a tie-up with another nearby graduate institution, which is the well known to top 10 US graduate program in Mathematics. Some Faculties from it teach courses at my institution. As from there, I do have hopes of getting good LOR's. Because of fewer facilities, many students in my undergrad pursue their honors thesis at a different location. Few of them pursued outside of my country under AMS fellows.
Ph.D. placements at my school include Dartmouth ,Northwestern, Paris, UIUC etc.
I do have the option of taking a gap year and target two other schools A & B.
School A has recently started its undergrad program. Although it is fairly reputed in my country and abroad.
Their placements include Chicago, Ohio State, Wisconsin etc.
School B has the best math undergrad program in my country. It has a stellar reputation in top 10 grad schools in the US and many students are pursuing PhDs in those schools.
I know Harvard or Princeton is beyond my reach, but do schools like Chicago or Berkeley care more about elite undergrad status. Should I take a gap year? Can stellar letters of recommendation and good honor's thesis outweigh undergrad reputation?<issue_comment>username_1: If your school doesn't have a fine mathematics department, you should not limit your doctoral options. There are over 200 US universities offering the doctorate in mathematics. Focus on getting the best preparation you can and look at other schools. It's so hard to get into the best schools even with everything going for you. btw, I thought Harvard was beyond my reach. I was shocked when they admitted me despite my horrible undergrad and my graduate school grades, mostly A's but quite a few B's and even a B-. Harvard considered my age (university at 15) and graduate course load (42 courses in 2-years) and paid me to be part of their genius program ... any 16-graduate courses I wanted to take at any Harvard school or MIT. I didn't think I was worthy. They saw past my grades because I told my story. Tell your story. (I spent 10-years as a Harvard interviewer. Tell your story as if your future depends on it. It does. Best of luck to you.)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Unfortunately, this is not really a trade-off we are qualified to help you with. There are just too many unquantifiable factors (we don't even know what country you are in!); I generally don't really recommend students putting off the rest of their lives for a year to try something like an entrance exam again. Even if you can get in, it could be that going A and B will make a big difference, but you can't possibly know that (maybe Chicago had a really bad experience with the last student that came from A; you just can't control this stuff). Who can possibly guess what the general political situation for foreign graduate students in the US will be in a few years?
So my advice is to start at your current institution, and do the best work you can. That's what you can control.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/04
| 418
| 1,848
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<issue_start>username_0: My professor and I have an accepted paper in a journal. The journal will publish it online very soon. However, I have decided to leave my current school and continue my education somewhere else. My question: is there any possibility that journal editors will remove my name if my professor asks them to do so?
Thank you<issue_comment>username_1: It's unlikely that the *editors* would do that on their own (how would they even know that you're leaving your current institution?)
If your professor asks the editors to remove your name, that would/should at least trigger some checks by the editors about whether you agree with the removal.
Additionally, some journals have policies against modifying the authors' list at various stages: some immediately after submission, some after acceptance.
Such a move by your professor should probably be considered unethical, but it is not what you asked.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **No, the journal editors cannot do this unilaterally based on the say-so of one of the authors.**
Removing an author after the paper has been accepted creates an enormous set of ethical issues that have to be addressed:
* Why was the author being removed after the paper has been accepted?
* is this being done voluntarily, or was it forced?
* if one of the authors is being removed, why should the journal trust that the results are being reported accurately, and that the authors are acting ethically?
There is far more for the faculty member to lose than gain by asking that someone be removed as an author. The most likely result is that the paper would be withdrawn and the submission process would have to start all over again s9mewhere else. It’s not worth the trouble.
But so long as you are not leaving on adversarial terms, this really shouldn’t be an issue.
Upvotes: 4
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2018/05/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I took a university course where the final exam was a multiple-choice type with the answers going into a "scantron" sheet that gets fed into a machine. This is reasonable, since there were about 600 students taking it.
My final grade for the exam was such that I was about 1% short of the next letter grade for the course overall. After all the marks were posted, the exams were made available for pickup to students. I picked mine up and found two questions that I was sure were right but were marked wrong, so I went to see my professor to review the exam and ask about them.
He gave me two answer keys to check - one was the master scantron that was fed into the machine to tell it the correct answers. The other was the master paper exam with the questions (same thing the students got on the exam), where the correct answer was circled. I checked the two questions I was interested in and sure enough the paper exam agreed with my answers, but they were marked incorrectly on the master scantron that was used to grade every student. In other words, whoever filled out the answer key scantron made an error on at least 2 questions and filled in the wrong bubble.
I showed the prof the error and he seemed completely unfazed and not surprised and simply said that yes, he agrees that I picked the right answer and since this actually bumps me up a letter grade he'll fill out the form for the university to adjust my already-posted course grade. He then simply put away the two answer keys and bid me good day.
While I have no concrete proof, I feel like he already knew about the errors and me finding them was not a surprise. However, it seems that he does not intend to regrade all 600 students and is only dealing with the ones that actually come in and spot the error. Is this an acceptable approach? So far he has sent no communication out to the class regarding this and to my knowledge most of the students are unaware of the error.<issue_comment>username_1: For me, all the papers should be re-graded with the corrected marking scheme - ethically correct and supported by any future checking.
Edit: And as per Fabio’s comment - have had to do similar corrections due to my error or poor question so it happens but not too often...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **Ethically**, of course he should regrade. I don't even see how this is in question; how could it possibly be fair to assign grades based on faulty information and fix it only for those who complain?
**This is a huge hassle.** I'm not going to defend the professor; he made a mistake and he should fix it. But my guess is that regrading would bump most people up by two points, so he would have to adjust the curve by two points, and only a small number of students' grade would change (some up and some down). Then he would have to submit grade-change forms which, in this quantity, could raise some eyebrows. It's easy to see why the professor would rather just fix it for the small number of students who complain.
**Whether you can force him to grade it properly is largely down to your individual university administrators.** The department chair, the dean, and the ombudsman should technically be concerned about this, but it's anyone's guess whether they'll choose to care given that it will only affect a few students with borderline grades anyway.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Since these exams were graded by a machine, it should be easy to correct the grading of those exams that the professor still has. If that's a large proportion of the total, then the exams should be re-graded. But if most of the exams have already been picked up by the students, then there's not much the professor can do to achieve fairness.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The effort that should go into correcting things is proportional to the magnitude of the problem. If the mistake on the exam is a one-point error that amounts to, say, 0.1% of the final grade for the semester, I’m only going to look at the exams of anyone who would be directly impacted by such a small change. If it’s 5% of the final grade, I’d need to look at everybody’s exam just to make sure everybody was graded fairly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: At our institution, the instructors have access to the Scantron key after the exam has been graded. If they determine that the key is wrong, they can change it online without having to request that the paper be re-scanned, and without any input from students. Once they change the key, any score report subsequently requested will be adjusted appropriately.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/05/04
| 1,683
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm at a community college in the US.
Early on in the semester, one of my professors made a rape joke. I was too stunned, tired, and sick (I have a moderate physical health condition) to get involved at the time. Now we are in finals. I have spoken to other students and at least one person interpreted it the same way.
What should we do? What should I have done immediately?<issue_comment>username_1: **Speak with the professor, and give them the benefit of the doubt.** Ask for an appointment, and bring another student if you feel uncomfortable doing it one-on-one. Most professors (hopefully) would not intentionally make such jokes -- give them the benefit of the doubt, allow them to explain themselves or apologize, and go from there. Following [Hanlon's razor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor "Hanlon's Razor"), my guess is that they were trying to make an inoffensive (or at least less-offensive) comment and botched it.
**If this doesn't go well, you can escalate.** The department chair, a trusted professor, or your university's Title IX office (in the US) are good starting places. In general, they will be looking for a pattern of behavior.
**Edit:** I'm surprised how much controversy this has generated. If this were a more serious offense (like fondling or extorting favors), then I would advise going directly to administration. But in this case, I think it is altogether appropriate to raise your concern directly with the professor. If he acknowledges the mistake and gives an apology, then the issue is resolved and no further action is needed. (Since this apparently happened months ago and has not been repeated, some might even consider the issue to already be resolved).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm sorry this happened. Here are the immediate responses I would suggest:
1. Focus on your finals right now. They are your most important duty to yourself as a student.
2. After finals are over, evaluate this in context. (And wait to act until your grade is submitted--nothing you've talked about has connected this to your grade. You could refer back to this SE post if, at some point, someone says you're only bringing this up because you're mad about your grade.) Now that you've had a whole semester, you know the following:
* One other student interpreted the statement that way. (Did others think there was a plausible other meaning, or did it just not occur to them?)
* This was a big enough thing that it made you feel uncomfortable in the class and it is still bothering you now.
* Has the professor done anything else similar since then?
My answer is along the same lines as username_1's, but with more cases.
If this "joke" was part of a larger pattern, then it is very appropriate to address it, possibly with a Title IX Coordinator (if you're in the U.S.) or ombudsperson or other student advocate.
If this was more of a one-off, think about how to address it. A general conflict-resolution principle is to address a problem directly to the person who caused the problem, unless you feel unsafe doing so.
* You could shrug it off. If confrontation is going to be painful for you, and/or you judge it is not worthwhile, you could decide not to pursue anything. (If you're asking about this months later, then it seems like this answer is not the right one for you. Further, if the problem were more serious or pervasive, it might be ethically harder to justify this option.)
* You could email the professor with your concern, stated factually much like you have above:
>
> [Thank you for your class this semester.] I remain troubled by something that occurred in class early this semester. On [date], you made a joke about rape [in the context of...]. I was too stunned and tired [and sick, if you want to disclose this] to immediately bring this up. Luckily, this did not match the tenor of the rest of your class, but I hope that in future classes you will pick your examples more carefully.
>
>
>
+ If you want to hit it home, you could also say, "I felt ... when I heard this." or "More than one in every ten U.S. college students experiences ['rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation'](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence) and it is not respectful, especially to survivors of this, to joke about it." But hopefully the professor should understand why you are objecting to a rape joke even without the explicit reasoning.
+ An email is nice because it is an official record. If the professor ever harrasses someone, even years after you graduate, this record may still be found in the system. If the professor has any sort of reprisal for your bringing this up, the email will also be a helpful record for that.
+ At the same time, an email is not generally public. It is there if needed if escalation is necessary, but otherwise this doesn't need to involve anyone else.
* If you do not feel comfortable directly approaching the professor, figure out if there is a way to make sure the message is delivered.
+ Is the other student willing to email the professor?
+ If you discuss the case with someone in charge of the department (e.g. the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) or chair or student advisor), hypothetically/without naming the professor, could they send a message to the faculty reminding them to be considerate of the examples and jokes they bring up?
+ When discussing with any third parties, you may want to start asking as a hypothetical or without naming names. You could even explicitly say, "I am not sure that I want this to turn into any official investigation. How can I approach this without you being mandated to report it?"
* All that said, you could also whole-heartedly report it. An isolated incident of this nature will not get anyone fired, though it might force the professor to go though some meetings and paperwork. If you get the sense this professor would not listen to you, this might be the way to go.
* If you or your friend tries an email and that is dismissed, you can then escalate it to reporting to a Title IX coordinator, student advocate, DUS/department chair, dean, etc.
The best case scenario, in my mind, is that the professor said something that they did not fully think through, but they did not intend to make anyone feel unwelcome or trigger anyone's PTSD or anything else. If such a professor got an email that a student was still bothered by it months later, they would actually be grateful you were addressing them directly, realize what a stupid thing it was to do, and assure you that they takes this seriously and will avoid that in the future. I strongly hope that this is, actually, your situation, and that by addressing the matter once, directly, you can make a difference for the professor's future students.
Upvotes: 4
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2018/05/04
| 447
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to a journal in linguistics. It was accepted pending some minor revisions w.r.t. typesetting and a few sentences that had to be reformulated. The reviewers gave eight comments on the introductory section, comprising roughly 1/3 of the paper, and only one on the rest. On the one hand, this may be expected, because I am less proficient with the broader context of the introduction and had most difficulties writing that section. On the other hand, I'm slightly worried that the reviewers lost track of the train of thought halfway through the paper.
I would like to know if the reviewers got lost in the paper, and what I might do to improve it if necessary. However, I have not found a good way to ask the editor. I don't want to suggest that the paper should not be published or that the reviewers may have been lazy or stupid. How can I ask for more feedback? Or should I just assume that *no comments* means *well written*?
I do not know how many people reviewed the paper; the editor aggregated the comments before sending them to me.<issue_comment>username_1: This sounds like you wrote a good paper with some minor problems in the background/introduction that need fixing/polishing.
If reviewers get lost they should (and most likely will) mention that, and make you work a lot more. If, however, the editor and all reviewers have nothing to complain, your paper should be alright.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't think you should ask this of the editors or reviewers at all. It's their job to evaluate the paper for publication, but it's not their job to help you improve it. At this point, they've given you all the comments they felt were necessary.
If you want more feedback on the paper, or suggestions on how it can be improved, then ask someone else - colleagues, collaborators, other researchers in the field. But not the reviewers.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/05/05
| 675
| 2,748
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<issue_start>username_0: What effect might it have on my chances of getting into a graduate school and my employment prospects if it took 5 years (or 4.5 years) to graduate?
My plan currently is to take a double major in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, while going through all the Japanese and Russian language courses.
If I were to do it in four years, I would have to take 4 semesters with 6 classes and 4 semesters with 7 classes, as well as all 19 available classes from the summer and winter sessions available to me. My university does not allow 7 classes in a semester without permission and everyone I know who's been to college has told me that it would be too much.
If I were to do it in 5 years, I could do 9 semesters with 5 classes and 1 semester with 6 as well as 3 summer sessions and 5 winter sessions. The 4th summer session could serve as a cushion in case of limited availability or study abroad programs/interships/co-ops.
I will be attending my first semester at Hofstra University this fall, and am hoping to work for NASA or SpaceX as an engineer while pursuing a masters part time, if that information helps.<issue_comment>username_1: Your circumstances are very different than when someone does a single-major program in five years. Two majors—in this case, both in engineering!—and effectively two minors (if you do years of Japanese and Russian) are non-trivial, and as you mentioned, trying to do it in four years would require extensive "credit overloading." If you can afford to do so, it would be better to do things well in five years rather than rush in four years and do a mediocre job, if your goal is to go to graduate school in the long term.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: While I agree with username_1 that it isn't good to rush things, I don't feel your plan is optimal.
In particular, the number of credits you are talking about will be sufficient for a masters degree, and it is perfectly feasible to change subjects within engineering between BS and MS. You'll need to coordinate and get advisors in both departments during your undergraduate years even while you are officially working only on one degree at a time, but you should plan for a BS in 4 years and an MS in the fifth. Whether you pivot from ME to EE or vice versa really doesn't affect the feasibility.
As long as you plan for this at least from your sophomore year and use your electives to prepare, you should be able to finish the masters in one year (conventionally a switch between departments will add an extra semester, you will avoid this).
A dual BS in five years will be perfectly acceptable, but a BS/MS in five years covering two engineering disciplines is better yet.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/05/05
| 597
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<issue_start>username_0: I've personally witnessed a talented scientist spend a lot of time writing more than one grant for pretty specific geochronology work. On the [question that spawned this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/108956/what-a-phd-student-should-do-when-their-supervisor-orders-them-to-have-a-name-on/108974), a discussion broke out on my second-hand answer, and I wonder if there is a career in designing and writing grants for focused specialties.
Like a wedding planner for the physical sciences.<issue_comment>username_1: As stated in the comments, yes, they are common outside of universities. Big for-profit research shops (e.g., Lockheed, Raytheon) also have them. It's actually more cost effective to pay technical writers than to have the well-paid scientists spending their limited time on this. Similarly, such companies typically have also an "art department" just for the graphics in proposals and reports -- system diagrams, logos, etc. (separate from whatever CAD software they use for technical drawings).
I've never worked with either of these myself, but my understanding is that the PI is still responsible for the proposal and everything in it -- they generate the ideas, approach, etc. -- the technical writer is just translating the ideas into proposal form (and wrangling with Microsoft Word -- not all funding agencies accept LaTeX!).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: For [H2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framework_Programmes_for_Research_and_Technological_Development#Horizon_2020) submissions in Europe, there are many companies specialized in *improving* a grant proposal, and managing administratively the project if it gets funded. Such projects have to have several partners (both academic and from industry) from several European countries in their consortium.
In particular, because H2020 requires (see [this template](https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/call_ptef/pt/2018-2020/h2020-call-pt-ria-ia-2018-20_en.pdf)) a chapter like *Impact* (on the European economy or society) on which academics are probably not the best to write about. Sometimes that chapter is written by industrial partners of the H2020 consortium.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a professor I really care about and our professional relationship as a student/teacher has been growing in a positive direction. The professor has been really kind to me in many ways including giving personal/academic advise and providing motivation towards certain goals.
My professor has been gone, without word, for an extended period of time...
I got stupid and curious, and using Google, I figured out the professor lost an important loved one.
I now feel ashamed because I know I violated the professors privacy; however, now that I know my first instinct is of empathy and to give my condolences to my professor.
Now the more I think about it, I don’t want to say anything so that I don’t disrespect our relationship, but I feel that giving my condolences is the “right” thing to do when someone you care about is in pain, but I only am aware of the situation because I already disrespected our relationship.
I’m frustrated and confused. Could any lecturers or professors give me some guidance?<issue_comment>username_1: **I'm not sure that you 'violated the professor's privacy'**. Googling his name seems altogether appropriate.
**Still, I wouldn't say anything.** Since he hasn't told you (and no one else has told you), it seems he doesn't want to discuss it with you. I would respect this. Thinking back to when I taught classes, I certainly would have appreciated the effort, but it also would make me just a tiny amount uncomfortable, particularly since I hadn't announced the death.
By the way, I'm assuming you're an undergraduate and you only know him as a teacher. If you are a grad student and he is a prof in your subfield, I still would err on the side of not saying anything, but it could go either way depending on the personalities involved.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree that making specific reference to the information you found is a step too far - it took some Googling to figure it out, the professor hasn't shared it with you, and the professor may very well wish to keep their personal life and work life separate.
*However* I do think you could send an email simply noting that you've noticed the professor has been gone, you wish them well, and you appreciate their kindness, advice, motivation, etc. with a specific example or two. It always feels nice to know you've had a positive impact on someone, and it's a way for you to do something kind for someone who has been kind to you without violating their privacy.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am presently undertaking research on a particular topic in control systems. That particular topic has a long history and I found a image which summarizes the history in one image only. I want to use that particular image in my presentation. I have also taken permission from the authors of that image to use it. But, while using it in my slide, I want to show in the same slide that I have taken permission to use that image so that professors understand that I am not stealing that image but I have taken the requisite permission to use that image. What line or a sentence should I include in that particular slide, so that the professors get that point automatically. I mean something like "Used with permissions". Like that what is the precise line which can be included ?<issue_comment>username_1: **I'm not sure that you 'violated the professor's privacy'**. Googling his name seems altogether appropriate.
**Still, I wouldn't say anything.** Since he hasn't told you (and no one else has told you), it seems he doesn't want to discuss it with you. I would respect this. Thinking back to when I taught classes, I certainly would have appreciated the effort, but it also would make me just a tiny amount uncomfortable, particularly since I hadn't announced the death.
By the way, I'm assuming you're an undergraduate and you only know him as a teacher. If you are a grad student and he is a prof in your subfield, I still would err on the side of not saying anything, but it could go either way depending on the personalities involved.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree that making specific reference to the information you found is a step too far - it took some Googling to figure it out, the professor hasn't shared it with you, and the professor may very well wish to keep their personal life and work life separate.
*However* I do think you could send an email simply noting that you've noticed the professor has been gone, you wish them well, and you appreciate their kindness, advice, motivation, etc. with a specific example or two. It always feels nice to know you've had a positive impact on someone, and it's a way for you to do something kind for someone who has been kind to you without violating their privacy.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose I'm writting a (mathematics) paper proving that a famous conjecture is true in yet another special case. Should the introduction to the paper include extensive background explaining why this conjecture is important and what is already known?
On one hand, my first instinct is that, of course, if I'm writting a paper on a certain subject, I should explain the relevant background to my reader. If there were relatively few papers on this subject, there would not be any need for this question.
However, if I were to be totally honest, my introduction would go something like this:
>
> A lot of people have worked on Conjecture X. For instance, in [1] {insert name of a famous mathematician} proves that Conjecture X is true for all flabby sheaves\*. Here, I show the same conjecture for fine sheaves, for basically the same reasons. I could explain why, but you'll be better off reading the introduction to [1] instead, so I won't bother.
>
>
>
Is it a bad practice to write a more polite version of the above instead of a genuine introduction?
There is also a matter of citations, which work out very differently in the two sceniarios: in the latter case there would be much fewer. It's not the most crucial consideration, but I would be interested to hear if it is a separate reason to avoid minimalistic introductions like that.
---
\*) The conjecture I'm talking about has nothing to do with algebraic geometry and I myself know nothing about algebraic geometry beyond the very basics. I'm only talking about sheaves because I'm enamoured with their terminology.<issue_comment>username_1: The answer fundamentally depends on who the audience for the result is.
If you are addressing people familiar with the conjecture, then your introduction makes sense, because it consisely conveys the information they would be looking for. In the rare case that a novice reader comes across your paper, they may be a bit put off, but can still follow your reference to read the introduction there.
If there is a reason why people not familiar with the conjecture should care about your paper, then you should give those people more. In particular, you'll need to tell them why exactly they should care.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Well, I would not write in the same style you wrote, but a similar, even if diluted a bit, message:
>
> Conjecture X on flobby heaps is a major question in modern flap theory. Borkington (2014) proved that Conjecture X is true for all flabby shoves of discrete curvature. In the following, we use the terminology from Kal El (2015). The essential idea of this work generalised Kal El (2015): we postulate that flobby heaps are not only flabby on shoves, but also flippy for fine sheaves. The essential difference to prior works (Barkington 1888, Sockington 1999, Kal El, 2015) is that we iteratively construct a Noether pyramid of flobby flabs (Torkington, 2001) in slob space to show flippiness.
>
>
>
Notice that I would recycle the terminology (it still needs to be briefly introduces, but the lengths can be spared), but keep the motivation. You need to say **what** are you doing, **how** it is different from what others did, and **why** does it matter.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: My paper was accepted with major revision and the 2nd reviewer pointed in a comment that the problem I'm tackling in my paper is not obvious or as important as I'm thinking it is...
Yet, almost all of the references I used point out that this problem is a major drawback! And it was the main motivation to the others (*most of those papers were published in the last 3 years, Q1 journals in scimago, ex : [IEEE Transactions on Power Systems](http://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=28825&tip=sid&clean=0), some cited up to 200 times*)...
So just for the sake of this reviewer, I want to point that most of the references in my paper show that the problem I'm trying to solve is a real one.
1. So should I write :
>
> The problem X was reported in [ 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8..., 15 ]
>
>
>
2. Or is there a nice way to say :
>
> In most of the references in this paper, the problem X was reported and was the main motivation...
>
>
>
3. Or should I just try to convince the reviewer in a separate motivation letter?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd refer to a specific list of papers (as in your first option) rather than "most", but I see no problem with adding (as in your second option) that your problem was the main motivation there (provided, of course, that it really was the main motivation).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would use the first option. If you know the papers which back your position, name them. Maybe not all of them, but three to five. Choose the papers with the most explicit wording and/or the authors with highest reputation in your field.
Note, some citation styles allow to write the list of cited papers more compact, e.g., [1,2,4-8,..15].
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Usually I am quite clear that cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable. Although every semester I have to deal with several cases of plagiarism, I had not expected students to brazenly cheat in exams. A few seconds after one student handed me the exam, as she was leaving, I noticed that she had written answers on her hand. She was showing it off to a classmate and laughing as they left. In my country, just writing anything on the hands or anywhere they can read (including the table) is usually considered cheating. Students can check their answers when they are given their corrected exams back.
I know I could have created a scene on the spot, prevented the student from getting out as she was leaving the classroom, provided evidence of cheating, and graded her exam as 0. But other students were handing me their exams at the same moment, and many others were still writing down their answers. That would surely cause a commotion. I was paralyzed and did not know how to react. I am still not sure how I should have reacted, or how I ought to react in the future. I feel being aquiescent may have an impact on other students' behavior, and also on my feeling of self-respect.
Now I'm facing a dilemma. The student was not caught *in flagrante delicto*. The evidence for cheating is also gone. If it matters, the student's grade wasn't great either (4,8/10). I cannot decide myself between leaving the issue alone and forgetting about it, grading the student more severely in the next exams, or somehow lowering the student's grade (the last option is a little risky as the student could denounce me).<issue_comment>username_1: Exact rules will depend on where you are. But normally the student has due process rights: to be confronted with the evidence of her cheating, and to appeal to some higher administrator or body if she desires. Two of your options (grade more harshly / secretly lower grade) are things that you would do unilaterally, without the student's knowledge, and without giving her the right to challenge. In my view, these options are therefore totally inappropriate and unethical.
The evidence against her is your testimony about what you observed. If you think this would be sufficient evidence under your university's rules, then it is appropriate to pursue formal punishment as the rules dictate. If you don't think it's sufficient, then do nothing, and let the student complete the rest of the course without prejudice. (Though of course you can watch her more closely in the future, and perhaps institute procedures to deter this kind of behavior in general.)
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You have to have the cold hard evidence.
I had a student hand me his paper with the hand with the notes on.
Excuses were:
>
> these are not for this exam – oh yes they are
>
> Sorry I made some notes last night and did not wash my hands – been to the bathroom lately?
>
>
>
I took photos and it went to the exam board: safe and case closed. Student can submit a letter of appeal explaining their side. The photos were clear and conclusive.
So, get the evidence or you cannot act.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: For this particular incidence, I am afraid that the window of opportunity for acting on it has closed. Be prepared for the next time. Have a camera ready. Have stuff to say ready. Make sure to watch this particular student on the next exam: she's not going to fly under your radar next time round, and over the length of her coursework, that brag might cost more than the one cheat bought her.
If she no longer has courses with you, she likely will with others. You can tell them of your goof informally so that they keep an eye open.
The easiest way out longer term is to create exams where cheating (short of communication) does not help. I remember exams where people were username_5wed to bring one hand-written sheet of A4 paper (in the U.S., you could declare one sheet of "legal" legal): condensing the course contents like that was so much of a learning experience that you usually could then forego the sheet anyway. There were others where you were username_5wed to bring anything except electronic devices: the time on those exams just was far too short for applying significant amounts of knowledge not suitably internalized.
Remember: in their job, they will be username_5wed to look up things, too. So try teaching and checking for skills that go beyond dictionary lookups.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: Are you a TA or a faculty member. If you are a TA, tell the professor of the class. if you turn your grades into someone else, notify that person.
If you are the teacher, notify the head of the department and possibly an assistant or associate dean of the student's college.
People are going to cheat and sometimes they will be brazen about it. Willful ignorance, including cheating your way through college, is becoming increasingly common.
I am rather glad that I was a graduate teaching assistant more than 30 years ago and willful ignorance didn't seem quite so prevalent back then, but maybe I was just naïve and innocent. That was more than half a lifetime ago for me.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: To add another perspective on the problem: There are two things which may be used by the student as excuse
* You do not know if the notes were used. It is a very weak excuse, but they could appeal that the notes were not used and possibly not even useful for the exam. Probably this exuse will not hold, though.
* The more complicated part: They can claim, they made the notes **during** the exam. As long as you cannot disprove it, this would be fully legitimate.
So it is important to catch them in the act. The other option left is to confront them and they admit it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't think that you can do anything right now about it.
If you would bring it up now, she could just say you are lying and since it is her word against yours and you don't have any evidence, the administration is mot likely to take her side.
So I wouldn't do anything about it right now, but for the next exam I would pay more attention towards her and if she is doing it again, you can call her out on it.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: It's not proven that she cheated.
I have known several students who would write their answers on their hand during the exam, so they can later compare their results with others.
I don't know in what country you are in, but if you should go after the alleged cheating, the student might carry this situation to court.
It's then up to you to prove that she had the notes before she entered the exam, which I doubt is possible for you. Therefore, my suggestion is to let it go and be more careful next time, should you see the student again.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_8: I would suggest that avoiding a public scene is the top priority actually. Besides the student herself, a public drama/humiliation would upset other students and make it harder to do your job.
Secondly, you did catch her in the act in the sense that you personally saw it. Just as if you saw someone peeking over their neighbor's shoulder. Tell her you saw this, escalate it perhaps (even if it goes nowhere she'll do some serious sweating). And she's on notice she better count her blessings and not do it again.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: I would just let it go...for now. For the next test, bring out all the artillery to catch her in the act. Try to get a proctor so that there are two teachers in the room to serve as witnesses.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: A complication is that a university is a business nowadays, and students its clients. If they don't get their degree, YOU have failed to deliver the service the client has paid for. This is an important factor, and in your situation I'd **kick myself for letting this one go, be more wary in future, and not pursue anything punitive**.
Somewhat similar situation: I was assisting invigilation at a Russell Group university in the UK (so, sub-top; not Oxbridge but just below). My job is guarding exams between sessions (receiving new ones, handing over finished ones), keeping a record of any time a student takes a toilet break (from/to), replacing active invigilators that need a toilet break, and various sundries like phoning assistance when a student had a seizure. As one of my checks, during each session I check the cisterns of all toilets, and similar hidey holes [unconnectedly, this is how I quickly found one of the porters wasn't quite the 'recovered' alcoholic he claimed].
One day I find a set of engineering course notes, in a taped-close map, with only four students in that building taking that specific exam. So I put a post-it on it basically stating, "You're in trouble, better go check with your course admin before things get worse"... A too-obvious ploy, but might work on a stressed student? I also passed a message to the head invigilators in both rooms that had a student sitting that exam. So both testified my record that exactly one of the four went on a toilet break, about one third in, and then continued the exam till full time. And this student actually contacted the admin immediately after, about this issue; so you have full confession this specific student prepared for cheating and opened their notes midway their exams. Not sufficient for any steps!!!
What then happened was a meeting of a committee, with the student plus a student representative for support; plus the course head and a representative of the Vice-Chancellor; plus me and various written statements by the invigilators. They eventually ruled that yes, the student did *try* to cheat[!?], but there was no proof that they actually benefited from it. No reprimand, no official statement, nothing; I'd guessed a re-sit of that paper would be the absolute minimum consequence. All in all I lost a lot of (unpaid!) hours on paperwork; a low-paying job I was doing because it's fun most of the time, and about 50min out of each hour I could effectively work on my laptop on other business.
A suspected factor in this all is that it was an *overseas* student, meaning they pay far more than the UK cap of £9000/year; they almost all pass even though most struggle with the language. Another bitter reminder that I was working in a degree printing business, is that universities in the UK (since previous 'Conservative' government) don't fall under the Education but under the Business department.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: A couple of thoughts on 'what should I do in future?':
* If you spot something similar, don't make a big deal of it, but simply call the student over to you and ask them to wait to talk to you after the others have gone. That way you have more time to deal with the situation, and the student has less ground to complain that you accused them in public.
* When you talk to the students about cheating being unacceptable, remind them that knowingly username_5wing others to cheat is also unacceptable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: **What you should NOT do:**
* Reduce her grades/marks as a secondary consequence .
* Judge her based on this instance throughout her coursework.
* Approach her about the issue, as she might try to avoid you throughout the
course.
**What you should've done:**
* Check students BEFORE they enter the examination hall for bits of paper,
electronic devices and any other aids that students may use for cheating.
(A handheld metal detector will eliminate all electronics.) Ask students to
empty their pockets.
* If you clearly see cheating going on at any point in the examination and it is
an individual case, ask the person to stand back after everybody gives the
papers and exits the class. If there is CCTV, you can surely find evidence to
book the person as per the examination rules.
* Catch the cheater and hold him/her back before he/she leaves the exam hall.
(if you have CCTV cameras, then this might not be necessary)
* If you suspect someone is cheating during the exam, slowly walk toward them
and stand near that person, if they know they're being watched, it is
unlikely they will continue.
* Before the exam starts just brief the students, telling them that you will
not take cheating lightly and those caught cheating will suffer extreme
consequences. Also tell them the CCTV footage will be reviewed after every
exam.
And if you do decide to take action, do it officially, by consulting with the school administration, also, try not to make the student hold a grudge against you later.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: It depends on your relationship to your students in general and this student in particular.
If local laws and regulations permit, I'd have the student come in for a conversation about it. Potentially, you could record this conversation, or have a witness (who would ideally not be another professor in this department). Also, realise the student may be doing the recording, even if you don't.
I'd approach it as a point of inquiry - "I saw you walk away laughing and pointing at your hand, and I'm concerned that you might not be taking this class very seriosuly. Am I right about this? You scored a 4.8/10 on this. What was that laugh about, anyways? I don't like to assume people are cheating, but it quite looked like it to me. Was there something else going on?" If you start from a place of empathy (and not presumed guilt!), you'll probably get further and you've created a chance for a conversation.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_14: As anyone with even a cursory legal background knows, your eyewitness testimony of what you saw the student do *is* evidence. It is not true that you have to film some event in order to have evidence that it occurred. My guess is that the university would take first-hand eyewitness evidence from one of its instructors very seriously, and there is a reasonable prospect that when confronted with this evidence, the student would not deny it.
If you want to pursue this, you need to go through the proper procedure to make a complaint about academic misconduct. There is no reason you would need any additional evidence beyond your own eyewitness account, but if you want to augment this with other evidence, you could try asking some of the students she was showing off to. Whatever you decide, **do not** bypass this process and then unilaterally penalise the student by marking her more harshly on other work - that is tantamount to acting as judge, jury and executioner yourself, and if it comes to light, you will be dropped into a world of shit.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_15: ### Sorry, but you did not catch a student cheating
While distracted and surrounded by many other people and some noise, you saw something on a student's hand, which you **assume** was written text, which you **assume** was illicit. You **assume** the student was laughing about having cheated on the exam.
Well, you know what they say about what happens when we [assume](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Assume) (urbandictionary.com)...
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ttcb9.jpg)
I can give you multiple reasonable explanations of what happened, none of which involve the student cheating (and, in fact, some other answers have already done so).
### ... but try talking to the student regardless.
Ask the student to come to your reception hours, or at some other time to your office. Ask her about her experience in the course. Ask if she had any difficulties, and if so, what they were. If she gives any indication that things were not perfect, and doesn't maintain a perfect poker-face, give thought to how you, or others, can help her cope with this difficulty.
Now, you may think that this is rewarding criminality with kindness - and I guess that's true. But this would have the potential of getting a student who's having trouble academically to pursue a positive way of facing their difficulty. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't - but students are our charge, we should try to help them, and this student might be in need of help.
There is also the - non-zero - probability that the student will admit wrongdoing on the exam. If that happens, deal with it as you see fit, but don't "fish" for this explicitly.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm teaching CS, and I'm really full of this cheating endemic. I've got 3.5+ students copying code from the internet. They practice the ancient technique of obfuscation by renaming the variables. Also found that the same student was not able to solve a problem two degrees of magnitude less complex on her own. Upon being confronted, she denied the "allegation". She continued her streak of copy/paste/rename the whole class. Final grade was 1.01, the next to minimum passing grade, which is 1.00 because I didn't want to do plagiarism research for her next year too.
My approach is to spend as less time as possible with students not willing to learn something. I just pass them the exam, with minimal grades (so that I get rid of them, otherwise they will keep register my classes). Why spending energy with such individuals, while the focus shall be the increase of the level of knowledge, and not acting as an intellectual police?
The company of the students willing to learn (which are not necessary the good students, but they turn into good students by time), asking academic questions is preferred to policing/enforcing rules to the students only interested of their grades. I try to limit my interaction with the latter category.
I don't think I'm alone here. I've interviewed people for private sector, and for example fresh master graduate was unaware of any language other than VBA (but only Excel) and when asked to solve an introductory problem involving a if in a for loop the candidate was lost. Given the grades, the candidate should have been more than fluent in algorithms, databases, C++ and Java.
My advice: minimal grade and move on.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I often see PhD students and faculty members describe their research interests on their web pages as something like:
>
> I am broadly interested in applied and computational mathematics.
>
>
>
What is the difference between applied math and computational math?
Do applied mathematicians not necessarily work on computations and computational mathematicians not necessarily work on applied math?<issue_comment>username_1: "Applied" math is in opposition to "pure" mathematics: that is, applied mathematics is used for a specific ("real-world") problem, such as fluid mechanics, statistical physics, or even the biosciences. This need not be computational: in many cases, it involves the study of differential equations and other analytical tools (expansions and other techniques).
In contrast, "computational" mathematics implies mathematics that cannot be solved by "pen and paper" techniques but instead require the use of a computer—either desktop or cluster—to solve.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It's possible to work on the development theoretical analysis of numerical methods for differential equations (and other mathematical problems) without any immediate application in mind or in response to specific problems posed by other applied mathematicians, scientists, or engineers. Researchers who do this typically call themselves "numerical analysts" rather than applied mathematicians. You'll also see "computational science" used to describe research that might focus on applications to particular scientific or engineering disciplines and "high-performance computing" to describe research on how to effectively use supercomputers to solve problems in scientific computing.
It's also possible to develop and analyze mathematical models without using computational methods. Researchers may use analytical methods and study the qualitative behavior of models in ways that don't require computation, or they might work with specialists in numerical computing when necessary. There are many mathematicians who engage in this activity and call themselves "applied mathematicians" without adding "computational."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: My father worked on algorithms for calculating millions of digits of pi. That's computational, but not applied, since it's hard to find applications that require even twenty digits.
I used probability theory to find a strategy for making use of imperfect information in order to sample a rare population as cheaply as possible, while meeting certain accuracy requirements. This is applied but not computational, since I didn't use a computer to help figure out this strategy.
In practice, the line is often blurred; methods developed for "pure" mathematics often turn out to have practical applications (one of my father's other hobbies is factoring integers into prime numbers...) and computers are often handy for implementing methods developed by non-computational means.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: Assessing the impact of an academic paper on other academics can be done (with its pros and cons) using the number of citations the paper attracts. For more detailed information on how the paper influenced the citing work, one can read the citing paper, visit the authors' webpages and even email them. All of this is made possible by the fact that most (successful) academic works result in the public, searchable, dissemination of that work.
However, how can I assess the impact a paper has on industry? Industrial work, which results in products rather than papers, will usually not leave an easily identifiable trail connecting it to the previous work on which it builds up. But funding agencies put emphasis on reutilisation of academic results for industrial applications. Recently, we got a consulting job because a semiconductors company came by a paper I wrote a couple of years ago and decided to hire us to advise them on how to build their production process. In my next application for research funding I can use this contract to exemplify how my research is useful for industry. But what about all the other companies that are using our results and we don't know about? Is there a way to estimate this impact?<issue_comment>username_1: This answer deals primarily with engineering products, I'm not sure if it applies to say, the software industry. Most research papers will present some results, but not industry-ready solutions. Most industries will not have full fledged research teams to scan scientific literature and work on translating it into products. So there is a gap that an interested industry needs *you* to bridge. Therefore, when an industry finds something interesting, they will contact you, as has already happened with you. The chances of many companies using your research without your knowledge is slim.
If you are interested in application-oriented research, you can increase the chances of this happening by attending certain conferences which have industry delegates, and proactively interacting with them. This can lead to collaborations, sponsored projects and a general understanding of their requirements. As you said, there is not much of a public paper trail, so human interaction is the only way.
To know what impact other people's research has on industry, you could search for papers sponsored by those particular industries (acknowledgement section for example).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Count of number of times your paper has been downloaded would be a valuable metric.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been following threads on this website for a few months now. However it's my first time posting. I am a postdoctoral researcher from a Western European country who has done reasonably well since my PhD a few years ago in terms of attracting funding, publishing, teaching etc. My professional situation for the next 2-3 years is secure (I have won a competitive European grant) and I am very happy with what I am doing research-wise. To be clear, this is not a rant & it isn't about me specifically.
I have recently completed a three-year postdoc in Austria in a humanities subject. What I have witnessed there has greatly upset me: I saw careers being shattered, research being stifled or appropriated, young researchers being exploited with promises of jobs that never came or work conditions that were so bad that they never finished their degrees, students 'bound' to their supervisors in ways that I would not have imagined possible in the 21st century, etc. In short, an incredible waste of talent and resources...
Now I am moving to another European country but I still feel very strongly about my experience in Austria and I wish I could do something about it. I know that what I have witnessed isn't unique to Austria, although things are perhaps worse there than anywhere else in Europe. In Austria I felt a sense of hopelessness I had never experienced before - people were just afraid to speak out and lose their jobs; in fact it was so bad that several co-workers turned to me for advice and support, despite my own situation being precarious.
At the time I realized that we had no-one to turn to for help. Works' committees were mostly for people with permanent jobs in the institute - not for students or people like me on short-term contracts. **So here is my question:** do you know any young researchers' professional associations or unions, perhaps at European level, with whom I could share my concerns? Surely the sort of problems described here are common in academia and there must be structures to represent us?<issue_comment>username_1: As mentioned in my comment, I am in full agreement that working conditions for young scientists tend to be somewhere between precarious to downright terrible, but I do not share your impression that this is an Austrian, or even a European, problem. Still, I agree that the situation is dire and needs improvement, independently of whether it is the same or worse than elsewhere.
I have by now moved to Sweden and my impression is that working conditions for young scientists here are quite good, much better than in most countries. What seems to help are the following:
* Flat management structures and a fairly consequent implementation of the "many eyes" principle. Unlike in Austria, where people tend to be at the mercy of a single chair or full professor, a young scientist in Sweden tends to work with many different faculty members, both in research and teaching. PhD committees have multiple internal members, all of which meet regularly with the student, providing realistic ways to escalate issues with the main supervisor.
* Part of this are also yearly one-on-one meetings of all students with the head of the PhD school as well as with the head of the division, where problems can be raised (really, it is expected that issues are raised here, and this is not seen as an attack against the main supervisor, as it may be in Austria).
* Fairly generous paid vacations on all levels, and an expectation that this vacation is indeed taken yearly.
* Clear rules for hiring. There are no vague promises of jobs - all positions need to be announced and run through a hiring process in which HR is involved. This is quite transparent, and internal hires are rare to start with.
* Explicit support for mental health. Our university has a contract with a mental healthcare provider, which all employees can consult if they feel stressed or depressed. Usage of this provider is anonymous and encouraged by senior faculty.
It helps that the faculty/student ratio here is much lower than what I have seen in Austria (about 1:2 in my division, versus about 1:20 in the group where I did my PhD), and that the Scandinavian culture tends to de-emphasize hierarchy to begin with.
>
> what can we do as young researchers/academics against an oppressive system when we are not even being represented in works' councils? Who to turn to for help and support? Are there pan-European research associations that we can become involved in to take up these issues?
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Realistically, what will be needed to substantially improve working conditions will be to break up the chair structure. As long as a single professor is the sole authority over a student or postdoc, mistreatment will happen and continue to happen.
I am afraid, neither external associations nor students can do much to make this change happen - it will need to come from within. Short-term, the only thing that students and employees can and should do is vote with their feet - don't go to universities and groups that have a history of treating their employees badly, and warn others from going there if you feel you have been mistreated.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: **It is (and probably always will be) a very group-local cultural thing**.
**So in the end *vote with your feet* remains the only option.**
I can speak only for German universities, which in recent years have established quite a number of structural components to prevent misconduct and exploitation of young researchers. From mandatory letter-of-intents regarding supervision over formal documentation of the process. From stronger regulation regarding contract periods up to PhD assemblies on the university level.
With very limited success.
* Most measures first and foremost just increase bureaucracy. The Professors who have always treated their PhD students and post docs well, lose flexibility and have to spend a lot of additional time in dealing with administrative regulations. Those who have always behaved like a\*holes, still do so. They stress the regulations as far as possible and find creative ways to weasel around them – despite the additional paper work, the actual situation for their subordinates has only marginally improved, if at all.
* PhD assemblies / unions are a nice idea, but also a hopeless attempt for many reasons. Because the situation and environment is extremely different among disciplines and groups already at the university level, there is little to fight for that realistically can improve the situation for a majority of young researchers. Furthermore, it turned out to be *extremely* difficult to find representatives who want to do the job: During the 3 to 6 years of a PhD, you have lots of other things to do. It would take at least 3 years to be able to understand university politics and even longer to influence it – and then you are already out. How should that possibly work better on a nation-wide or even european level?
* The only measure I personally consider as partly successful is the establishment of formal ombudspeople for young researchers that have difficulties with their supervisors. I have seen several times that consulting the ombudsperson helps to find individual solutions in cases of misconduct (and sometimes the solution is to quit). But it is a measure for *individual solutions* and not *general regulations* – and, honestly, I think that is the reason for its success.
So while I strongly sympathise with your intent, the only advice I have: As you progress with your career, **establish and live your own positive culture of treating your subordinates well**. Tell you colleagues about it, fight for it as a criterion in hiring committees, and show the world that such culture does not harm the success of a research group.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I can answer
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> do you know any young researchers' professional associations or unions, perhaps at European level, with whom I could share my concerns?
>
>
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not at European level, but for France. There exist at least:
* the "Guilde des jeunes chercheurs" <http://guilde.jeunes-chercheurs.org/>
* a group of precarious workers in higher education and research <https://precairesesr.fr/> (with a n active twitter account from the Lille groupe <https://twitter.com/PrecairESRLille>)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: In Europe there is Eurodoc
<http://eurodoc.net/>
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> Eurodoc is the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers. It is an international federation of 32 national organisations of PhD candidates, and more generally of young researchers from 32 countries of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
>
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> Eurodoc’s objectives are:
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>
> * To represent doctoral candidates and junior researchers at the European level in matters of education, research, and professional development of their careers.
> * To advance the quality of doctoral programmes and the standards of research activity in Europe.
> * To promote the circulation of information on issues regarding young researchers; organize events, take part in debates and assist in the elaboration of policies about Higher Education and Research in Europe>
> * To establish and promote co-operation between national associations representing doctoral candidates and junior researchers within Europe.
>
>
>
and EuroScience <https://www.euroscience.org/>
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> EuroScience is the non-profit grassroots association of researchers in Europe.
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> Open to European researchers across disciplines and countries, EuroScience undertakes to advance science and innovation in Europe, thereby promoting the interests of its thousands of members.
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>
>
In Italy there is the
Associazione dottorandi e dottori di ricerca italiani
<https://dottorato.it/>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: A few thoughts in addition to the existing answers (German perspective, I believe very similar to the situation in Austria).
### Unions etc.
* PhD students (enrolled as such) in Germany are unionized via [StuRa](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studentenrat)/[AStA](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allgemeiner_Studierendenausschuss) although (as students are not employees) they are not unions in the sense of wage negotiations etc. But they do offer legal consulting and know all the structures and rules of your university.
* [ver.di](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vereinte_Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft) is the labor union where university employees belong.
(young researchers are obviously only a tiny fraction of their clientele, and I'd suspect very few young researchers are members - but it's definitively worth trying to talk to them)
* My professional society (or rather the field-specific division I'm member at) has a "young professional" subgroup. While they are probably not very powerful in terms of changing things, they'd be very useful in terms of networking as in finding out how things are in other places, possibly finding a new university/group where one could move, and in developing a concise set of ideas how things should change.
* There are ombudspersons at universities for various kinds of conflicts. StuRa/ASta/Fachschaft should be able to locate the right one.
---
### What can OP do
* Strive to be a good supervisor. In particular, being aware where your students are vulnerable in order not to (accidentally) hit there.
* Educate your students also about this aspect of being a researcher.
Openly discuss these weak spots and possible remedies with them.
* Depending on your position: as a post-doc, do stand up for your rights and be an example for other post-docs and students.
As a professor, strive to have an atmosphere where open discussions are possible. I.e. it happens that people contradict you.
* As professor/group leader you may even be able to provide a bit of a safety net to young researchers who move on (see far below) by clearly communicating your intention to have them back in case their next move fails.
* The position of the young researchers is only half as precarious if you communicate your intentions openly and clearly, e.g. "I'd like you to stay in my group - Would you like to? - If you agree I'll see where I can find money."
There's sometimes fear that if you let people know early they cannot stay they won't work well (but then IMHO if they did work well, you'd not want them to leave or if it's purely because you don't have money, you'd want to help them find another position) - but in my experience, an atmosphere of uncertainty may cause pretty much the whole group to not work that well, and of course, the good people will leave.
---
* I've also seen and agree that we have severe problems due to abuse of power.
* Personally, I think the now typical **employment contracts** (50 % or 65 % part time in my field) for PhD can considerably increase these problems.
+ The **advantage** is obviously that the PhD "student" receives **wages**
+ However, in the context of this question, some **disadvantages that make leaving for another university much more costly/difficult** become important.
+ If the PhD student isn't employed for doing the research work, they own their results. And **in Germany, you can hand in your thesis** pretty much **at any university** where you find a professor that considers the thesis an appropriate piece of reasearch work. There is usually no obligation that the research must be done at a university at all, and also coursework is typically not required and/or can be transferred by some burocratic procedure.
I think **this used to be an offset against the abuse of power discussed here**. But:
+ A **fixed-term employment contract cannot easily be cancelled by the student**.
+ If the research is done by an employee, basically the **employer owns the results**. I.e. employed PhD students probably cannot take their results or already acquired data with them, nor any software or inventions. Not even their lab book or notes related to the project.
+ Then, leaving for a new position means to start again from zero.
+ In contrast to the employment contract, a research scholarship leaves the PhD student as owner (and scholarship funding agencies often have mentors/ombudsprofessors with whom one can discuss trouble with the supervisor - they may even help to find a new professor)
+ But I've seen constructions where a so-called scholarship was given not as a personal scholarship to the student but the money was paid to the university who then employed the student.
(Students were told that this is better for them as they get full social insurance as employees which they wouldn't have with the scholarship - however, while the social insurance is paid before the employed student ever sees any wages, the scholarship holder *could* also get similar social insurance coverage with a scholarship equaling the gross amount the university pays without much difference in the net wage [some insurance fees somewhat higher, some volountary and adjustable to personal need, but no income tax due].)
* One aspect of the power abuse difficulties I have not seen mentioned so far where I do have ethical doubts/difficulties is: I'm OK with a 100 % work contract meaning that the employer pretty much can do as they like with results such as inventions (we do have laws dealing with extra payments that become due for this). But if students are pretty much forced to enter employment contracts where these rights to the results of their research (we do sign that our thesis is exclusively the work of the PhD student...) are signed over for a fraction of comparable industry wages puts them again in a precarious position: there is the danger of the student getting their PhD and then the professor starting a spin-off on the basis of the research. Or, because the professor wants to think about commercialization, the student is not allowed to publish (again a right that comes from the employment contract).
I may add that up to masters exams and thesis, the legal point of view in Germany is that contracts "in the vicinity" of exams are easily either void
(because of undue pressure/ abuse of power) or even corruption of the professor - e.g. possible patent rights can be transferred only after the Master student received their final marks. Not so for PhD students, apparently.
---
### Personal Anecdata
* When I started my PhD it was still in the "old" scheme: PhD research is your private fun (but I had much more freedom in choosing my topic than any of the employed PhD students I know now), but I got fixed term contracts for teaching (my professors policy was that the available positions which came at different wages were rotated so everyone should over the years get roughly the same, I started with low paid short term contracts, and was later upgraded to a longer-term fixed contract with better wage).
* When I had a 50 % industry offer the professor would not let me out of my teaching contract. Said, they cannot forbid this, but the consequence would be that I'd be working 100 % for money and would need to see where to find time for my PhD research... Fortunately, the industry boss was very understanding, and I worked ≈ 10 % in that company for a while.
* I have to say that I very keenly felt the disadvantage in my negotiation position. In consequence I put very high priority on **having a plan B ready** (started freelancing a bit as a side line) and **building up a safety fund** (this was helped by the luck of my university being in the east, so we shared a cheap flat with coal furnace, and by the luck of having cheap hobbies: hiking and wild camping in the beautiful hills nearby, drinking at your own BBQ/camp fire as opposed to pub going; from a global perspective of course also by the luck that we basically don't have tuition fees here). Both **helped considerably in taking independent positions in negotiations or discussions/disputes.**
I do realize that a number of lucky circumstances helped my savings. But some lucky circumstances are available to most PhD students, e.g. that it is socially acceptable to go on living like a student when earning a half wage.
This is something that I consider a very personal decision, but I like to spread the word that something is possible here. Obviously not full financial independence, but enough to buffer, say, several months which should allow for quite some scouting for a better position in case things turn out to be bad.
* I later got a scholarship, so the teaching contract became dormant for that time (still had to help with the teaching - everyone had to as we were drowning in students)
* I did leave that university without finishing my PhD (because I got a position abroad), and much later after I returned to Germany **handed in the thesis at a different university**.
* I've been working for a couple of years in Italy basically as a post-doc on 1-year-contracts (that was an administrative limit to contract duration). However, the professor there was very open about this and always asked me 6 - 9 months before the contract ended whether I'd like to stay for another year and that they'd like to keep me. Even though the situation there was objectively more predictable with longer term project contracts in Germany, there noone bothered to talk about prolongation sometimes until a few days before the old contract expired. Just this difference in communication did make a huge difference in working atmosphere.
* My **experience with** such **autocratic professors** (yes, plural) is, however, that **it pays to stand up for your rights and negotiate at eye level**. My experience is that these autocrats are not at all used to anyone contradicting them, but when I did (contradiction was well founded, not trouble making) and stood up for my rights **I ultimately climbed considerably in their esteem** (after some time for cooling down).
* I also met very good supervisors, and learned a lot from what they explained to me. One of them even said when I was about to leave their group (for private reasons) that if for some reason the new position doesn't work out, I should let them know and they'd look for money so I could return there. I still very much appreciate this: such a safety net adds considerably to the young researcher's negotiation position in the new place (it turned out to be a place where I did clash with, let's say, local culture - and did gain by standing up for my rights - and I do hope that my example may also have been encouraging others there). I didn't need this safety net, but it was good to know it is there.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Employers often ask job candidates for their transcripts (official or unofficial). How can employers truly verify that what you have submitted is in fact real? Will they send your transcript to the university for them to verify?
It seems to me that the only way to verify academic records would be to send the copy of the transcript they submitted to the university for verification.<issue_comment>username_1: This can be done in any number of ways depending on the country and the employer:
* The employer might tell you to get the university to mail them a sealed envelope with the transcript
* The employer might ask you to grant them guest/view access to your online student records (depending on the Student Information System at your university)
* The employer might ask you to send an electronically verified copy of the transcript (through a service like the National Student Clearinghouse in the U.S.)
* The employer might call the university and ask them to confirm particular information (e.g. the GPA and a couple of randomly selected grades -- this was what my former employer did)
* The employer might mail a copy of the transcript to the university as you suggested
In short, unless you know an employer's procedures, assume that they will find some way of verifying the information, either directly or with your help. Not complying with a request to verify the transcript after securing an offer (when a decent chunk of money is on the line) would look extremely suspicious and be grounds for withdrawing the offer in most jurisdictions.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you've seen academic transcripts ([example](https://www.slideshare.net/EdwardWrightson/unsw-academic-transcript-67434813)), they come with the university's crest and watermark. Accordingly they aren't easy to forge, and in my experience, the employer - or graduate admissions for that matter - simply accepts them at face value. Occasionally they might request a verified copy, in which case you take the transcript and get it signed by some authority, e.g. a lawyer or notary public or simply the university's student service center.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing here to get good advice for my career. I completed my PhD in Mathematics last year. I was quite happy after my PhD that I have gained a PhD degree, but I don't have any idea what I could do with this degree. Normally people apply for postdocs after doing PhD to become more independent and gain more exposure to research in their field. However, what can they do if their supervisor does not support them to apply for postdoc positions? What if their supervisor says "you are not an independent researcher, so I don't think you could really sell yourself as an independent researcher?"
I am stuck in my career after having lots of negative feedback from my PhD supervisor, who always says not to apply anywhere, and just stay here (my country) and integrate yourself with your colleagues. How could someone stop you or discourage you to apply anywhere else in the world?
One of the biggest and toughest situations for me is the field I had chosen for doing PhD has no funding all around the world and I can hardly find postdocs in my field. And even if I find an advertisement of a post relevant to my field, my supervisor discourages me from applying by saying that that is not exactly relevant to the field (topic) in which you had done your PhD. It's so weird to me that is it necessary to have the same topic for a postdoc to apply in which a person had his PhD? Can't we slightly change our research topic relevant to the field (same background).
The main problem is to apply for any postdoc we need a strong reference letter from our PhD supervisor. What can people do if they doesn't know what their supervisor writes about them in the reference letter? I spent four years in my PhD and not once did I did realise that my PhD supervisor is unhappy with my work. But now when I am back in my country on completion of my PhD my PhD supervisor has negative thoughts about me that I can't sell myself as an independent researcher, I will need guidance and direction.
And he is probably true, because most of my work in my PhD was done by him. And he never let me be independent throughout my PhD. I don't even know how people find topic of research/problem to work on and how do they find techniques to attach on the problem. I had been given a problem with my supervisor and direction as well. I had done all the coding by myself advised by my supervisor and later analysing results and proving those results was done by him. In the end of my PhD when I was writing my research paper I put his name on it where he said no to me and writing paper solely with my name only.
Currently, I am a lecturer in my country. However, to survive in an academia I have to publish papers and supervise master's students. However, I am not feeling myself independent in research, due to the reason I am applying for some postdoc positions, where I have no support from my PhD supervisor. What should I do at this point? Should I leave academia? Should I go to industry? To join an industry what skills I do need to have? How can I make myself a perfect candidate?
I am really stuck in my career without having any support from my PhD supervisor after PhD. I am looking for some really good suggestions for my career. I shall really be grateful.<issue_comment>username_1: Let me answer the following question out of many:
>
> What if their supervisor says "you are not an independent researcher, so I don't think you could really sell yourself as an independent researcher?"
>
>
>
Based on the evidence you gave, your supervisor is right. You typically need 3 to 5 recommendation letters and some evidence for being able to acquire funding to get to the next level. If you get no support from your supervisor, these 3 to 5 letters have to come from someone else, and you gave no evidence from whom. As soon as you get a "yes" that these letters can be written, you can get them uploaded to a dossier service and reuse them for your next 100+ applications, but, the way things are described by you, you don't have 3 to 5 "yes", so, you cannot declare yourself independent enough. In short, you are not independent enough from the goodwill of your supervisor, and, since you probably don't have this goodwill, you might probably have more chances for positions that do not require this goodwill, i.e. (unless your internationally shine in your area) no assistant professorhsip positions this time, perhaps even not grants or scholarships. Maybe later, maybe not at all, but not now.
Otherwise you might simply lose months on writing 100+ applications and get zero outcome. If you sell yourself as independent while you are not, you simply spend time and money on letting others know how immature you currently are.
I would love it if you prove me wrong. I'm sorry for being that negative - I'm speaking from experience.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you can't get letters from your ex-supervisor, try to get letters from your collaborators.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: To answer the question about career advice:
I think that math is a particular hard field for folk to really find their place in, if pursuing a long-term career: there is less research money than in some other technical disciplines, and since math is a required "core" subject at many colleges and universities, it can make the teaching feel less satisfying to many instructors.
My advice: Go get a job outside of academia where you make money or make or difference. I'm currently a data scientist at healthcare system (I studied PDEs), and there are tons of industries that seriously reward mathematically competent people that can do good work. Many don't even care if you're an "original researcher".
Just as a short, anecdotal list: I have math-oriented, Ph.D. acquaintances at banks evaluating small business loans, in the petroleum industry building geological models, at social media companies doing research, at nonprofits working on high impact projects, in civil service creating policy, at logistics companies at the cutting edge of operations research, at consulting companies doing who knows what... the list goes on. None of them did their Ph.D. in the specific discipline that they're working on now.
Towards making yourself a good candidate: It's hard to give blanket advice, as it really varies based on industry, company, and sometimes group. I suggest that you start applying to jobs that look interesting. Just the act of applying will focus your mind on the sorts of experiences, connections, and skills that you may want to make yourself more attractive as a prospective employee.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's take the Times Higher Education world rankings. Oxford is first, and the University of Bonn is 100th. (Nothing special about the THE - I just used it to pick examples of a top-ranked university and a lower-ranked one.)
Suppose I'm the rector of the University of Bonn and I want to make my university as prestigious as Oxford. What will I need?
If we assume that world university rankings are at least somewhat of a proxy for "prestige", then it seems that research output is a key determining factor for how prestigious a university is. To produce good research, presumably the most important ingredients are 1) research funding and 2) good faculty. Since good faculty can presumably be bought, does that mean that the most important factor is money? In other words, Oxford is much more prestigious than the University of Bonn because it is much richer, and if I can find $10+ billion and several years of time, I will be able to make my university one of the world's best?<issue_comment>username_1: Top schools are great in many fields, but they can't be best in everything. The strategy (for everyone really, top-ranked and lower-ranked alike) is to focus resources on certain areas to get recognition. Sure the top ranked school has great programs in A, B, and C, but we are tops in X and Z. Schools can attract both better students and faculty in such areas. Plus even people outside the areas of focus will hear about the lesser-ranked school more because of the areas where they shine. Kind of unfair to students in the other departments who are subsidizing this, though.
Also yes money. It's not everything, but it can buy lots of things. Very nice things.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Money can indeed buy a lot of things that will move you up in rankings, though probably not all. It's true that you will be able to attract good faculty with money -- spent on salaries, research infrastructure, beautiful offices and spacious labs well equipped with machinery, several postdocs attached to each professor position, and maybe money to support (grad) students and travel. For this, you will actually need a *lot* of money -- take a look at the budgets of the really good universities in the US and UK, and you will realize that you will need an operating budget in the $1+B region per year. So $10B will be spent quite quickly.
But that by itself will not be enough. Faculty will generally only go to places where there are also good students, and the best students go where they can historically expect to get an excellent education. To find out where these places are, they look at, say, the top 20 or 30 universities in the world -- so you're caught in a catch-22 if you want to move up. In other words, you have to have a long-term strategy to move up: things can't be achieved within a few years, but it will take 10, 20, 30 years of big spending if you really want to get high in that list.
There are some examples of relatively new universities who have really tried this, and you can look at the press coverage to see what they have achieved and what they haven't:
* The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia
* The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) in Japan
* National University of Singapore
There are other examples in China and in the gulf countries of universities that have (tried to) significantly rise in rankings in recent decades.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> Suppose I'm the rector of the University of Bonn and I want to make my university as prestigious as Oxford. What will I need?
>
>
> if I can find $10+ billion and several years of time, I will be able to make my university one of the world's best?
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>
Your basic question is quite an interesting one, but the way you formulated it involves several false premises:
First, that there is a chance in hell for the rector of the University of Bonn to suddenly get his/her hands on $10B; there isn't.
Second, that if he/she were to "find" such a sum of money after all, that trying to buy the university's way up the Times of Higher Education rankings to overtake Oxford as the top-ranked institution would be a good way to spend the money; it wouldn't, and no sensible rector would try to do that.
Third, that the way to climb up the rankings would be as simple as buying good researchers, who "can be bought". There may be some kernel of truth to that assertion, but it isn't nearly as simple as you make it out to be.
All of those premises are false, and for somewhat interrelated reasons: the rector wouldn't get $10B (presumably from some rich donors who really like the city of Bonn) to try to climb up the rankings, because climbing up the rankings simply isn't a good goal to strive for (he/she also wouldn't get $10B for any other purpose, because this is too much money for a single university to spend efficiently). Think of it this way: the University of Bonn is already a perfectly good and functional institution that serves the German people and the world at large quite well as it is -- that is why it holds the already very respectable position of the 100th ranked institution on a widely-known global ranking of universities. What exactly would be the point for it to become #1 by poaching all the good researchers from Oxford and other top universities? Even if it were possible to do so (and it isn't really; see below), this would add nothing of value to the world. Arguably it would benefit the city of Bonn at the expense of various other cities, but what investor or philanthropist would spend $10B just to transfer a chunk of intellectual and economic wealth from one rich country to another? One can achieve much greater and more worthwhile things with such an amount of money.
As for buying good researchers, the reason it's not as simple at that is that people's decisions of where to build their careers are a lot more complicated than just how much they get paid. Top researchers want access to other top researchers, to top research infrastructure, to a nice city to live in where they like the food and the culture and speak the language, to top students (who in turn want some of the same things, and would also need to be "bought"), and much more. Oxford has *many* ingrained advantages over Bonn that would be very hard or even impossible to replicate with any amount of money - most importantly its presence in an English speaking country (compare English's position as the language with the largest number of speakers, estimated at 1.12 billion, compared to the German language's status as the 12th most spoken language with 132 million speakers [[source]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers)). So yes, a lot of money could certainly buy you a few top researchers here and there who are willing to relocate late in their careers in pursuit of a salary even higher than their already-high one; and hiring such researchers is generally speaking a pretty good approach to getting *started* on the path to improving your university's *quality* (not "prestige", which is absolutely the wrong thing to strive for; quality should come first, and prestige is what you'll get once you have high quality). But that path is a much longer and more tortuous one than what your question suggests. A *hundred* billion dollars and one *hundred* years, as well as wise stewardship of those resources, *might* indeed propel an institution to a very high place in the rankings (think of places like MIT or Caltech), but $10B and "several years"? Sorry, no chance.
As a way of summarizing this long answer, I'll respond to your question if it's the case that Oxford is more prestigious than the University of Bonn because it is richer. No, that's not at all the case. Rather, it is more prestigious because it is *better*, and it is richer also because it is better; and it is better mainly because it is much older (and of course, because its leaders spent the time since its founding quite wisely rather than squandering it away). The money does enable it to *stay* better, but another university cannot simply replicate all of Oxford's advantages just by throwing money at the problem for a few years.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Find hundreds of researchers that do not care about rankings. Give them freedom, don't make any pressure to force them to play any ranking-related numbers game such as papers or third-party grants. If you are lucky, some of them may produce great results in 30 or 50 years. Then your university is the best one in the world.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Finding a niche that the higher-ranked universities can't access very well is a brilliant strategy for lower-ranked universities. Often that niche is determined by **location and population**, among other things.
For example, I live near a university that caters specifically for defence-focused technologies, because it is near a military barracks. Thus, the main types of students that would ever benefit from such education would be military personnel. Supply and demand.
Another example is the university that I went to, which was located in a desert region: It was somewhat low-ranked, but was able to leverage its location to attract major investment for research and development projects in solar energy and Mars exploration.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Find a niche, throw resources at it, and become the best in the world at that niche. Especially at MSc/PhD/research level. Don't chase the general rankings apart from this as you have no chance. You want the very best students in the world - not just UK - interested in your niche to be coming to you.
Examples in the UK -- Sheffield Hallam University - best in UK (maybe world?) for sports science (as in, designs the bicycles for Team GB Olympic team using advanced fluid dynamic models and very hardcore physics and cluster computing people); Lincoln (disclaimer - is my own uni) -- best in UK for agriculture/food processing automation/robots, probably top 10 in world for same, grown out of its location in the physical center of those UK industries + hiring those specific people. UEA - best in UK, high ranked in world for creative writing, massive reputation for being the top place for new UK authors to go to get signed.
Then having done this -- spin your more general undergrad offerings around the niche too. eg. if you have a Computer Science BSc, it can continue to be a general Computer Science BSc covering standard topics like compilers and architecture, but you pack these topics with examples and emphasis on your agri-robots niche, to spread the glory. This should result in the undergrads getting snapped up by employers with interests in your niche, even for quite generalist jobs.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: My question is similar to this one
[Career for a mathematician outside academia](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12239/career-for-a-mathematician-outside-academia?rq=1)
but slightly different: what can I do with an MS in Math degree, if I don't continue for a PhD?
I wrote an MS thesis, spent about a year with a good research lab on campus, and have made good progress in research. The feedback I've gotten from the lab directors has been pretty good.
The problem now is that I'm testing the job market, and currently nobody really seems to want me or value me. They don't seem to care that I wrote a thesis or worked in a research lab. And, people are taking a long time in getting back to me on the phone, on email, etc.
This is interesting to experience; however, how can I figure out which companies or industries will actually value someone with my background?
I've been looking for entry-level to mid-career finance positions, at banks and hedge funds -- nobody seems to want to talk seriously with me yet.
(I have a bit of coding experience but not a fully developed computer science background, e.g. I don't know anything about operating systems or compilers.)
For context: I'm in the United States.<issue_comment>username_1: It's good you're wondering about this now, before you commit another 3+ years to doing a PhD after which you might face the same questions but after paying a much higher opportunity cost. Questions such as these are what I consider paramount to ask before applying for graduate study.
The good news is a Masters degree will open up at least some doors. There are things that you can do with a Masters degree that someone with only a Bachelor's cannot. The bad news is that there are fewer of these positions. Because you're more highly qualified, you can also overqualify yourself out of entry-level positions since the employer assumes you'll move on quickly and they would waste their efforts training you.
Regarding what you can do, I wouldn't usually start with which companies are interested, but rather which jobs require a MS math degree. A quick search on monster.com turns up results such as [this](https://job-openings.monster.com/High-School-Math-Teacher-Bronx-NY-US-The-New-York-City-Charter-High-School-for-Architecture-Engineering-Construction-Industries/11/195713506) and [this](https://job-openings.monster.com/Data-Scientist-II-Irving-TX-US-CHRISTUS-Health/22/b3bb68c6-f0fc-44e0-8656-a92dc444df6f). By extension the companies posting these ads are interested in you. As you look through the ads, think of all the things you learned that you might be able to apply to the requirements listed. For example you say you have coding experience. The Data Scientist job specifically asks for familiarity with SAS, R and Python. Do you know these things? If so, you're in business.
If after responding to lots of these ads, nobody still wants to talk to you, then chances are your application isn't very good. This could be because of your cover letter, CV, transcript, or a multitude of other factors. Talk to your alma mater's career center, if they have one, or ask on Workplace.SE. It's not that different from applying to 10 different graduate schools and getting rejected by all of them. Diagnose why, fix it if possible, and apply to another 10 graduate schools.
You can also look at jobs that require a PhD in math. If you find you like these jobs a lot more than those that only require a MS, that's a good time to think of doing PhD studies.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I got a degree in Math as well. I was unable to find a job. After a summer of living back at home with my parents. I figured enough was enough and just took a temp job in a warehouse.
In this warehouse I worked as a stock boy. I nearly got fired my first week (the manager was awful) because I did not know the product very well (I don't want to be specific). After my first month I was one of the better stock boys. Eventually they made me a cashier.
I did a great job as a cashier. Quickly I learned the entire inventory and was easily able to help customers with any problems they were complaining about. Then I was moved to customer service.
The customer service team was behind by 6 months. After me being there for 2 months, we had caught customer service up to 2 weeks. As a customer service rep, I was allowed to sell parts that the customer may have needed. Many times a customer would buy the wrong product. Thus I would have them return it, refund them, then get them to buy the correct product. They noticed that my sales were fairly high and they put me on the sales team.
Once again, I was horrible when I started. Customers were typically in a rush, and expected you to understand much of the slang related to the product. After a few months, I became the top sales man. Out selling someone who had been there 20 years (he was very upset about it).
Then I was told that they were having problems with managing there data on their clients. It was several large excel sheets that had the information of hundreds of thousands of clients on them. They wanted particular statistics from them. I simply converted the excel sheets to CSV files, then I manipulated them. Thankfully there was an API within there Inventory Management System that allowed you to upload CSV file data to it. So I did that and any statistics that they could have wanted they were able to generate themselves now. Before I had done this, there were have 3-4 guys works on these excel sheets for months. Hundreds of man hours waisted.
My entire career has been similar to this. If there is one thing I have realized it is that there is always work that needs to be done. It is much more important to find a healthy environment where what you accomplish is acknowledged than finding your dream job. I don't know why people buy into the 'a degree will get you a cushy job'. I don't think it will. But it sure does make you more intelligent and a better learner. And that is much more valuable than a good job.
This was over 8 years ago. Now I work as a product engineer. Doing mostly Embedded, Fullstack and Mobile development. I typically just follow wherever the money is and work is needed. You should definitely do something that you enjoy, but these days I think people confuse that with doing something you love. Not everyone can do something they love for work. Be realistic about your job options. Make sure you pick a field that pays very well. Start at the bottom, work your way up.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Correct me if I'm wrong: identity of publishers affects quality of a publication. E.g., [OUP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University_Press) and [CUP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_University_Press) feels like the most reputable and trustworthy in the UK, as Oxbridge are globally renowned.
But how can unknown publishers be judged, like those unconnected with any top universities?<issue_comment>username_1: for journals:
journals have a number that is drived by the sitations of their articles. I don't remember the name. it is something with factor or impact. you can check journals' reputation of the publisher. also, I would recommend you to read fiew articles on the journal and if you find it quality. you should think publishing in there. I think that we need quality papers in every journal and one way to do that is to publish in less known journals or publishers in general.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: There are no rankings of publishers I'm aware of (what criteria would you even use?); however, my experience is that academics also barely care about the prestige of the publisher. If there are any publishers at all whose names carry weight, it's CUP and OUP.
Just make sure not to publish with a predatory publisher and you should be set.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I would look at the portfolio of the publisher: are there any/enough books in there on a comparable topic and level as the manuscript I want to publish?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I suspect this varies a lot by field. In philosophy it does matter where one publishes; a [2013 poll on a philosophy blog](http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2013/02/best-philosophy-publishers-in-english.html) gave the top 7 English-language publishers as:
1. Oxford University Press
2. Cambridge University Press
3. Harvard University Press
4. Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
5. Princeton University Press
6. MIT Press
7. Wiley-Blackwell
In my subfield, due to the closer connections with mathematics and computer science, a lot of good volumes come out with Springer, which is nowhere near the top of this list. So even knowing the field is not sufficient to be able to determine what the best publishers are.
As with most questions of this sort, you are probably best off consulting senior members of your field, and seeing where the stars of your field publish.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I started my PhD last year in November. I've now heard of an incredibly attractive program that is just starting this autumn, with insanely good working condition (the salary is basically twice as high as my current salary and there are also nice internship options, which my program completely lacks.) My PhD advisor actually also participates in the program as an advisor. Thematically it is very close to what I am working on currently. I'm not unhappy with my current position or working environment.
Is it advisable to talk to my advisor about applying for this program? Of course, it is not very likely that I would even be admitted to the program, but it is so attractive, that not applying seems stupid. For different reasons, even though my advisor also participates in the program, I would not be able to apply for a position supervised by him.
I would have definitely applied for this program, had it existed last year. Also, when I started my PhD I did have the clear intention of finishing it, so some possibly related questions do not apply here.<issue_comment>username_1: First off make sure you have some solid research about that program, I've seen tons of friends jump ship from Masters of Engineering to MBA Business, only for them to call me crying about how terrible the program and job opportunities are.
Second, you best get solid networking connections, a prof is an okay start but knowing the dean of program is better.
Third, find out which companies/organizations are the big sponsors of the program and network with the people who are board members.
Fourth, find out and get to know the people who are doing the acceptance of applicants. Might take a few phone calls and emails, but use some social engineering (legal ways only, don't do anything illegal). And then network with them.
Fifth, join the Uni club associated with that program. And network with the people in that program.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Just talk to your advisor. Since he participates in the program, he will know if you are qualified to apply and stand a chance of getting the position. He will probably also be able to tell you if the two of you will be able to continue working together – after all, it's far from unheard of that a PhD student has a nominal advisor for administrative reasons but a "real" co-advisor who is responsible for the day-to-day research.
In any case, it seems completely unlikely that you would get the position without support from your current advisor. If anything, it's probably that you will need letters of recommendations, and an application without a good letter from your current advisor is an application that is headed for the trashcan.
Just go see him in person – I would avoid email – and start a conversation with "I heard about this new PhD program with much better conditions than the one I have, do you think I could get into it and still continue working with you?". Then see where it takes you. Maybe your advisor knows a reason that would prevent you from applying altogether and you are fretting over nothing. Or on the contrary you are the perfect applicant and you will start earning twice your current salary in a few months. Until you talk with him, you don't know.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I have some sympathy for your situation - my PhD programme had x5 Wellcome Trust funded students, plus me as the single MRC funded PhD student on 1/2 their stipend. In my case, one of the other students decided to leave the programme early on, however that did not mean that I got access to their higher funding.
Just a couple of things to be aware of in your situation when talking to your supervisor (I'm based in the UK and did my PhD in Genomics):
1) Depending on the policies of your funding body and the timing of when you drop out of the programme your failure to complete your PhD could be recorded and could negatively impact your supervisor's access to grants from that source for future PhD students. I know situations where late or non-submission of a thesis has had a greater impact on the supervisor's prospects than the student's - PIs/departments don't want a black mark on their record jeopardising future funding.
2) Depending on your funding situation any unspent pot of money allocated for your PhD might be lost to your department/supervisor should you drop out (not to mention that a year's worth of expenses has already been consumed).
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student (middle stage). I have read only 2-research papers from last six seven months. I have seen some research papers in which they have cited around 12-15 research papers and I think this is the case with every research paper. To me it seems unrealistic to read 12-15 research papers with the details I have read first two.
>
> Question : What fraction of the cited papers has the typical author actually read?
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: I read the vast majority of the papers that I cite, and I think this is the case for many researchers. There are a few papers cited in my papers that I haven't read, but those have been read by one or more of my co-authors. And yet the papers I cite are only a small fraction of all the papers I read. I would guess that I read perhaps a dozen papers in a typical month (and I think this is fairly typical for mid-career researchers, though it may vary depending on your definition of what it means to read a paper).
How is this possible?
First, as you have already guessed, **you don't need to read every detail of every paper**. Sometimes you just need to understand one result, or you only need to know the conclusions. With time, you'll find that it's extremely rare that you need to go through every detail of a paper. See also [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28466/do-you-need-to-read-a-whole-article-before-citing-it?noredirect=1&lq=1) and [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23268/how-long-should-it-take-to-read-a-paper?noredirect=1&lq=1).
Second, **your ability to quickly digest new papers increases dramatically with your experience and knowledge**, due to several factors. Often, only a small part of a paper is concerned with new things. As you learn to distinguish what part that is, and as your foundation in your field becomes both broader and deeper, you will be able to understand the essential part of most new papers in a fraction of the time it took you before.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a couple of background issues worth addressing before actually answering your main question. Also what I say is I think fairly typical for math and theoretical CS; I guess some but not all is similar for other fields.
**You’ll get faster at reading papers as you gain experience. Much, much faster.** I remember in my first couple of years of grad school feeling similarly to you: reading a paper was a big undertaking — it could take weeks of work to get through a particular paper. Now that’s very rare — even a pretty thorough read of a paper (e.g. for a review) is typically under a day’s work. Longer than that comes only occasionally, if I need to really thoroughly understand an unusually substantial and novel paper. Mostly, it’s just being more familiar with the landscape the papers are working in, and the techniques used. Also, partly, reading papers is itself a learned skill.
**You’ll learn how to read a paper in less than full detail (and when that’s appropriate).** Again, I remember first reading papers, I would go through them line by line and make sure I absolutely understood every step. Now, I usually don’t need to, for multiple reasons. One is that I no longer need all the details in order to follow the general outline, because I understand the big picture better. Another is that I’m better at judging in advance which details I will or won’t need to know: e.g. if it looks like some proof is a routine calculation, then I’ll skip it, knowing that I can come back to it later if I ever need a similar calculation and have trouble doing it myself. Another is that I may be able to see in advance (e.g. from the introduction) that some sections will be more relevant to my work than others. And, of course, I can skip or skim parts that recall background material that I already know.
So, coming back now to answer your main question: **The actual proportions will vary greatly, but typically, authors will have read all the cited papers at least in part, but will not have read most of them in full detail. That said, reading 12–15 papers thoroughly isn’t infeasible by any means.**
Looking at the bibliography a recent 2-author paper of mine with about 30 references in the bibliography, they break down very roughly as:
* 30%: I’ve read these papers/books carefully in their entirety at some point in the past.
* 40%: I’ve read parts of these papers/books thoroughly (including the parts relevant to what we’re citing them for), and at least skimmed all or most of the rest.
* 20%: I’ve just dipped into these papers/books for specific results we needed to cite (plus relevant background); I’ve not read most of the rest.
* 10%: I’ve not looked seriously at these ones at all; my co-author is responsible for the citations to them.
This is I think fairly typical for me; but I also know some authors for whom I suspect those numbers would typically look more like 10-30-40-20, and others for whom they’d be more like 80–20–0–0.
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<issue_start>username_0: I graduated last year (Bachelors in Computer Science) and am currently working in the industry. I am thinking of applying to grad schools next year but don't have any research experience under my belt (did not pursue any research-oriented project during my undergrad, regret it now).
Therefore I was thinking of pursuing research under a professor before applying for masters (to get a good LoR, as well as get in a publication, if possible). In what circumstances do professors take up requests such as mine, and how should I approach him/her? Currently I am shortlisting the ongoing research projects relevant to my field of interest in prospective universities.<issue_comment>username_1: I am actually in a similar situation to the asker and would very much like to see other answers to this question. Please keep that in mind when considering this answer:
Given your background in Computer Science, my recommendation is to investigate the IETF
<https://www.ietf.org/>
This is an organization which hosts protocols and other infrastructure documents related mostly to how the internet functions. It has a list of topics which it is interested in advancing, it provides resources for contacting and joining work groups and it hosts RFCs. The mission of the organization is not research per-say, but it is penetrable for someone who is non-academic but competent in Computer Science and RFCs are structurally similar to computer science research papers, with similar requirements required in terms of the validation and novelty expected of them. Even if you are not interested in working directly with the IETF, you will likely be able to find academics who could help you with your ultimate goal through it.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: **EXACTLY HOW** do to *define* " research experience"?
You may have more research experience than you thin,k. Bow many term papers Din;t you do ANY LIBRARY RESEARCH for term papers during middle school, high school or college, no matter what your major was in college? Library research IS RESEARCH. I learned how to write term papers with footnotes and reference lists in 7th and 8th grade more than 50 years ago. There was section of "how to use the library in English class in both grade school and the (th grade. That i went to private college prepatory schools in the United states is NOT that unique, "how to use' the library was also taught in public schools. in the USA.
Apparently how to use a search engine is not being taught at all. I've been using Google since 1993 or 1994, but i went to back to college in 1992 just as the internet was taking off in higher education.
"...Undergraduate research experiences help students understand a particular topic or phenomenon in a field while simultaneously strengthening their comprehension of research and research methods. Undergraduate research is inquiry-based learning that involves practicing a discipline, not just being told about it...."
<https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/studentresearch/What.html>
You probably DO have research experience and do not realize because your haven't bothered to look up the definition of "research experience." I LOVE doing library research, but i know most people think library research is waste of time and is boring and tedious until they get stuck and HAVE to review the professional literature and KEEP UP with it g for the REQUIREMENTS for specific college degree and have to either numerous term papers or senior thesis which requires library research, possible lab research compiling data. and even Field work to father more data or field truthingt and verification like i did for my master's thsis, that what is in ssatellite image and geological maps really IS there on the ground and is real and is accurate..
Part of the point of going to college these days is to teach you HOW TO THINK critically , logically, analytically and objectively AND so you acquire the research skills to KEEP doing your own research AND contribute original knowledge to society.
You probably DO have research experience.
I am still getting used to how stack exchanges work too. I am AMAZED at how much research i can do online these without having to get anywhere near a brick and mortar library.
Upvotes: 1
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