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<issue_start>username_0: Our computer-science curriculum mandates that we produce a paper about a research project:
* We set the topic.
* We get a professor assigned as a project guide.
* The paper has to be published at a peer-reviewed venue.
* The paper is also reviewed and marked by some professors.
For us the project guide was assigned at random and not according to our wishes. Her domain is completely different from what our paper is about.
Our project guide never reviewed our project, helped write the paper, or contributed anything else to the project.
She did not show any interest in our project and kept putting us down.
She was only interested in the publication scope of the project.
We sent our paper to the project guide multiple times for review and she didn’t notice her name was not among the authors then.
The paper has already been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Now, our project guide asked me why her name wasn’t included, and the college is saying they wouldn’t award marks because of her name not being included.
I don't believe my college has specific rules for authorship.
What would my next action be?<issue_comment>username_1: Sadly, your next step is probably to submit to the all powerful [Psychlos](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185183/?ref_=nv_sr_1). Not that it is fair or logical, but only that they have power over you and you have little countering power.
There are some situations in which you need to act for self preservation, not to achieve fairness. Sad commentary on the world, but too often true.
In computer science, adding anyone but the authors is very unusual. Giving an acknowledgement to people who should have helped, but didn't sometimes happens, but not authorship.
If it is open to you to do the following, do it and move on. Add the person as a co-author. Apologize for not sufficiently understanding the local culture and expected practice.
You don't need to add that the local culture and expected practice is abominable, even if it is. Yes, it is false humility, but the powers that be will probably accept it and stop punishing you unfairly.
What is fair and what is necessary may be impossible to resolve. Recognize that and act in your own interest. Don't let your ego get in the way of self preservation even when *their* ego is forcing an unfair practice.
But, get away as soon as you can and work for a fairer resolution of such things when you get the chance.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Let’s start with what is going wrong here:
* Requiring you to publish something peer-reviewed on the level of coursework is at least dubious. For more details, see [Is it ethical for departments to have publication requirements for students](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/9711/7734)
* Putting somebody as an author of a paper who made no contribution at all goes against all standards of academic authorship. However, violating this is so common in some countries and fields that many professors may not even be aware of it.
* The project guide is abusing her power when she pushes you into giving somebody authorship (who doesn’t deserve it).
* If your institution via rules or coercion makes you give somebody authorship (who doesn’t deserve it), this is also an abuse of power.
Now, you have to evaluate the situation to pick your enemies and allies, if any:
* If the curriculum has any written rules that you should make somebody a co-author, you can fight those rules – if any professors or a higher power cares about this. In my country, I don’t see much of a problem of turning this into a public scandal, but yours is probably different.
* If there are no written rules about authorship, and one of the other professors evaluating your project or a dean of students or similar are trustworthy, you can present the situation to them and try getting them onto your side. At the very least, you may score some points if you can provide evidence that your project guide did not tell you about any authorship aspirations or rules earlier and also did not do her job properly.
* The journal (if reputable) will not be very happy if not completely refusing to change authorship retroactively. You could find an ally here (just tell them what happened), but whether the journal has sufficient power over your department is hard to say.
* It could sadly be that your institution is full of power-abusing professors and in a position that allows them do this. In this case, the only thing you can do about it is to leave.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is a common experience (for me at least) to have researchers maneuvering into the rank of co-authors, just because they can -- given the circumstances -- not because they deserve it. Your reaction should be to accept it (swear under your breath!) and then never again co-publish with that same person (or those same persons, they may form bands!). I am writing from Denmark but have observed this behaviour from researchers originating from Europe, USA, Asia and Africa.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate Computer Science student. I take the bus to college everyday at 7 am and come back at 4 pm. And take 3 lectures everyday, except on one day, I take 4, which are 1:30 hours long. Due to this I get very tired, especially towards the end of the week. Anybody would.
I have Saturday and Sunday free. I was thinking whether I should take the Saturday off, or should I study that day too just because I feel like there is a lot to learn. Also sometimes I have my own projects to work on and I have to take a break from the Course's material on weekends. Is it acceptable/expected? Assume I can complete all my assignments in weekdays and on Sunday.<issue_comment>username_1: Your health is important to maintain. It does you little good to work harder than your mind and body can accommodate.
Burn out is a serious issue. Some people work so hard for so long that they just, one day, decide it isn't fun anymore and quit, cold.
Your mind will continue to work on problems without being conscious of it and without being forced to concentrate on those problems. People often wake up in the morning or after a nap with a solution to a tricky problem.
So, yes, learn to take breaks, whether short or longer - preferably both. Work when you are relaxed if you can make that happen.
You can also, perhaps learn to use some of the travel time to either just relax or to work on things that don't require access to a machine. This might make the "day off" less of an issue. But don't take this suggestion to mean "work always". For example, some people carry index cards on which they write definitions of things or something about a current problem. If they find a moment of boredom, say on a bus, then they can pull out a few cards and leaf through them, just reinforcing their learning.
See [Hipster PDA](https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/a/1168/1293), for example.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Of course it's OK. Even leaving aside the psychic issues of what is your life for (is it to work or to enjoy), there is the concern that your efficiency drops if you are too tired. Several studies have been done showing that students who burn too many hours may get better grades if they spend less time. It's not a general thing and there are many who need to do more. But it is not uncommon either.
Actually my bigger concern is your efficiency and rest state DURING THE WEEK. You mentioned getting tired as the week goes on. A day off isn't probably the best way to recharge this. You need to keep strength up during the week. Try to think of how to use your time more efficiently (an easy one is to wolf lunch in 2 minutes and then use lunch for exercise or study).
You also need to think how to use the bus rides best. I think notecard drill is a GREAT suggestion. It's active enough (versus reading) that you won't get sleepy. But doesn't require huge concentration or a great writing surface. When I was younger, I could get regenerative sleep on the bus but as I age, I find this less good--have had jobs several times with 1 hour+ bus rides (one way). Don't know for you though. Maybe sleep one leg and drill the other? In any case, this is a problem to figure out. Even living on campus (or walking distance) might be an idea. I understand if money is the issue but if you are far away to be with buddies, I would ditch that. Commutes are a huge waste of time in the universe.
P.s. As far as the notecards, we didn't call it "hipster", but it was a common advice in the military to have a few note cards with you. You can take notes or write ideas. Can drill things (e.g. casualty immediate actions). The other thing is there is a STRESS REDUCTION aspect to having the cards. If you are trapped in a line at the provost, grocers, etc. instead of being POed and stewing, you pull out the cards to drill. Leaving aside the benefit of the drill (and there really is some), you have the stress reduction at not feeling trapped and angry at the time wastage.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: To what extent does coming up with a research idea, *without contributing anything else to the actual work*, constitute a sufficient contribution to be an author?
As a hypothetical, suppose a five year-old child tells me one day that he wonders if banana peels can be used to cure leukemia. I am intrigued by the idea and go and write a research proposal. The proposal gets funded (!) and I get positive results (!!). In this case, does the child deserve authorship for coming up with the idea, *which I might never have considered*?
One obvious problem with this is that while "coming up with an idea" might involve deep theoretical knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence, it could also be the academic equivalent of buying a lottery ticket. For example, I could pick a random chemical name out of a reference manual and declare that my idea is that this chemical cures cancer. I've essentially made a bet on this chemical. If some later researcher who is actually competent in biomedical research manages to get a positive result on this chemical, I've won. My "jackpot" payment is authorship on their article. I'm now a famous, published biomedical researcher even though my actual field might be art history or French literature.
Ideas:
* Coming up with an idea always deserves authorship as long as the idea was novel.
* Coming up with an idea deserves authorship only when the idea-maker establishes a sufficient foundation for the idea. For example, randomly proposing a cure for cancer by picking random chemical names out of a dictionary and hoping for a jackpot cannot result in authorship, while providing a theoretical basis for why a specific chemical might work does, even if the idea-generator leaves it at that and does none of the actual experimental design, lab work, etc., or quite possibly is not even qualified to do so.
* An idea is never sufficient for authorship. Proposing an idea, without doing any of the actual work, merits at most an acknowledgement or a citation ("Thanks to <NAME> for coming up with the idea of solving the Closeability Problem by applying hyperparallelized matrices across the transverse manifold.", or "On an online Question and Answer site, Columbia (2019) proposed the use of banana peels in curing leukemia, but did not provide a theoretical basis or a practical methodology. In this paper, I demonstrate a clinically significant benefit of 10g banana peel topical tincture daily versus placebo in the treatment of leukemia....").<issue_comment>username_1: I will give an answer that applies to mathematics and maybe some other things. It isn't quite your second point, but close. Background first.
Newcomers to maths think of it as a bunch of facts. You learn some of those facts in early schooling but don't get a wider view. If you study maths at a higher level you think of it as proving theorems. Some facts and a bit of logic let you derive other facts. But if that is as far as you go, then you really aren't yet a mathematician. A mathematician is a person with enough insight into the workings of the thing that they can propose things that *might be theorems* if they could only be proven. But this isn't, to a mathematician, just making random statements. There has to be a reason why something is suspected to be true. Things that are *likely* to be true.
So, if the kid just randomly proposes a connection between bananas and leukemia, then it isn't worthy of authorship. But if a person with deep insight into the workings of the disease and the properties of bananas proposes it as a topic of study then, yes, they could/should certainly be a co-author of the study even if others do the actual proof of the concept.
It is the insight into the likely connection that has value.
Otherwise, you might just be sent off on a random quest without any hope of success.
However, in mathematics, if an advisor suggests a problem to a student, having the insight that the student hasn't yet developed, it is still pretty rare to demand co-authorship unless there is more of a collaboration in the development. But this is just the custom. Certainly it is worthy of acknowledgement, and maybe even co-authorship. It isn't even necessary in this case that the advisor have an outline of a proof, or even any deep insight into how to develop it. It is just insight into a problem *worth* pursuing.
But if it is, in mathematics, not an advisor-student relationship and one proposes an idea to another, I suspect that co-authorship would feel more natural, but probably with an acknowledgement section in the resulting paper that details the contributions. But in this case, also, it is more likely that the work would be developed cooperatively, so the authorship question would be obvious.
Other fields than mathematics have different views on authorship, of course, but it is, even there, a question of *insight*. Among an infinite number of roads, someone proposes one as worthy of following. If you follow that you owe them something for putting you on the path. How you acknowledge it is a matter of custom that varies from field to field.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In practical manners, many advisors get co-authorships just for proposing projects versus doing work on them. This probably doesn't really cross the threshold for a real contribution. And it seems to be very different in how it is applied to PIs versus fellow students or even people outside the lab group. (I could write 50+ great projects to do...should I get co-authorship from whoever does them? Even if I transmit the list to people? Not really.)
But I think at the end of the day, you have to realize that the idealistic vision of coauthorship does not really apply. At least in experimental R1 science with big lab groups. It hasn't for at least last 50 years. And the professors actually need to collect the co-authorships to keep writing grants, get tenure/promoted, etc.
You're better off just figuring that it is a tribal custom, like wearing clothes, that you have to deal with. Plus, they're at the back of the bus (stereotypically) in terms of the byline name order. So don't let it bug you too much, man.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I do not think we can have a general answer here. It will always depend on a lot of factors; mostly because research is, unfortunately, not only ideas, but work and resources. Let me tell you my point; if a Professor (or anybody else, let's call it the proposer) has some insight like the one about bananas and cancer and proposes the topic to some PhD student or postdoc or Assoc. Prof. or whatever (let's call it the worker), the latter will probably have a need of resources in order to carry out the researcher. If the proposer can also provide funds, lab or resources, I think she should be a co-author of the paper, patent, whatever. Also because this is a cycle and the proposer with more papers in the new subject will have more chances to secure funding and therefore provide with them to the worker. So at the end this is a symbiosis and the proposer should be on the paper, where of course, she must at least read it and give feedback. And this should be ethical as well. Why not?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: This is quite interesting reading some of the commentary. There seems to be a pervasive call to ignore initiators of potentially great ideas.
So then I would ask: If you accidentally come across a great solution to a problem that was mentioned to you by someone is this to be ignored? This is effectively the same problem, but as we all well know, many great ideas have come through this process.
So does it matter if there is a un-attached instigator of the idea, or if that input comes during development of an idea?
In my opinion - Any contribution, is a contribution. How you weight that contribution reflects on you, and not others.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> To what extent does coming up with a research idea, without contributing anything else to the actual work, constitute a sufficient contribution to be an author?
>
>
>
This really depends on what you mean by "coming up with a research idea". A "research idea" can be very general, or very specific, and the idea could potentially include substantial progress towards solving the research. If the "research idea" is merely a broad idea for a *topic* of research, then that would never be a sufficient condition for authorship of a paper. However, if the "research idea" means coming up with a novel *method* which in itself constitutes a major research contribution, then that might be sufficient for authorship of resultant work.
Probably the most extreme example of this would be in a field like mathematics, where difficult research problems can be "cracked open" by a new insight. As an extreme example, suppose Researcher A comes up with the idea to "try to prove the Riemann hypothesis using Fourier series" and then Researcher B listens to this and goes away and figures out a way to do this, and actually succeeds in proving the theorem, leading to a major paper. Notwithstanding its success, the "research idea" of Researcher A is much too broad to constitute an actual contribution to the research of Researcher B, let alone a contribution worthy of authorship. If Researcher B were feeling generous (and why wouldn't he be after such a great success!) he might thank Researcher A in an acknowledgement, for steering him towards the solution to the problem.
On the other hand, if Researcher A instead comes up with a much more specific idea "to prove the Riemann hypothesis by using this particular application of Fourier series (shows some sketch working to give an idea of what he means)" then that idea might constitute the major breakthrough towards the actual result. If it turns out that this idea is the key to breaking open the problem, and Researcher B then grinds out the details, that would probably be a case where joint authorship is appropriate.
In summary, a "research idea" would be sufficient for authorship if that idea is sufficiently novel and clever that it constitutes a substantial contribution to the work in its own right.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: No. Ideally a co-author should know the contents of the paper, the methodology, and be able to defend this contents and methodology. In practice, a co-author should have an identifiable contribution to the submission, not just an idea.
Ideas are cheap; most ideas are wrong and it is the process of checking that an idea is right that elevates a contribution to the author or co-author level. How much checking depends on the topic, but just shooting the breeze is not enough.
The OP gives the example of a 5yr old, but it’s easy enough to imagine a conversation with a colleague at a conference or a seminar generating an idea eventually developed in a research paper by one but not the other participant to the conversation, even if they were both involved in the original conversation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I second all of username_1's eloquent answer, but I think I can provide a slightly different perspective that is of value. For background, I do some academic work in law and my undergraduate degree was in mathematics.
I think that **merely** coming up with an idea is never enough to deserve co-authorship by itself. Though, like username_1, I think it does deserve an acknowledgement in some form. In most law journals, the first footnote would be the appropriate place for something like that.
However, I would argue that your second example goes beyond merely putting forth an idea. Someone may provide a solid basis for their idea based on thought and experience without doing the work to write it out or research the background to properly develop it. At that point, they have given the primary author something more akin to a roadmap than a mere starting point idea. At that point, it is appropriate to offer the person who provided that kind of foundation a co-authoriship if they agree with the ultimate conclusions.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I think this question fundamental misunderstands how the collaboration process and coauthorship decisions happen. You don't typically finish a paper and then decide who the coauthors are, you decide the coauthors and then finish the paper. If someone suggests an idea to you, you should keep them in the loop if you work on it, and you discuss whether you're collaborating or not. (Otherwise you run the risk of scooping one of their students.) So one of three things happens here:
1. You decide early on that you're not collaborating. Then they are not a coauthor but you give a generous acknowledgement thanking them for suggesting the problem or the idea.
2. You decide early on that you are collaborating and they do more work on the paper than just suggesting one idea (how extensive will vary).
3. Occasionally you'll decide to collaborate and then the person will not end up doing any work on the project. In this situation that person should ask to be removed from coauthorship. If someone isn't actively collaborating, you might also inquire whether they want to stay a coauthor. This can be slightly awkward, but it's somewhat unusual and the best way to sort this out is to communicate during the collaboration process.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: The number of retractions in some scientific fields like medicine, life and material related science seems rising in the past years. However, retractions in mathematics seem rare because of its rigorous nature. I wonder if there are retractions in mathematical journals.<issue_comment>username_1: Many years ago I saw a page in an Eastern European mathematics journal retracting a past paper. It seems the paper had originally appeared in a Chinese journal, and some enterprising guy in Eastern Europe translated it into English and submitted it under his own name. The journal only found out about that fraud years later.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The [Daniel Biss case](https://retractionwatch.com/2017/02/13/journal-retracts-paper-state-senator-former-mathematician/) is one example where the retraction is due to [legitimate mistakes (not misconduct)](https://retractionwatch.com/2017/02/23/false-results-retracted-paper-senator-inaccurate-not-fraudulent-say-editors/). These retractions are rare because *much of the time*, incorrect proofs can still be salvaged with some work (recall Wiles and Taylor) and even papers with wrong results often contain enough correct material to be considered useful. Also, there are much fewer people that have the time to properly evaluate a paper in mathematics than in (say) psychology, where anyone with a decent understanding of statistical fallacies can find half a dozen bad studies per day.
There are also, quite likely, some cases where plagiarism has led to retractions.
Then there is the Ted Hill GMVH controversy ([Quillette](https://quillette.com/2018/09/07/academic-activists-send-a-published-paper-down-the-memory-hole/), [Gowers's blog 1](https://gowers.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/has-an-uncomfortable-truth-been-suppressed/), [Gowers's blog 2](https://gowers.wordpress.com/2018/09/13/additional-thoughts-on-the-ted-hill-paper/), [Retraction Watch](https://retractionwatch.com/2018/09/17/what-really-happened-when-two-mathematicians-tried-to-publish-a-paper-on-gender-differences-the-tale-of-the-emails/)). NYJM has removed that paper from its archives, which can be construed as a kind of informal retraction, albeit easier to construe as a mess-up in the face of unexpected hostility from parts of the community. (The explanation given for the retraction is that the paper did not fit the journal's scope and level; note, however, that this is an extremely unusual grounds for retraction in academic publishing.)
[RetractionWatch has a tag for retractions in mathematics](https://retractionwatch.com/category/by-subject/physical-sciences-retractions/math-retractions/).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I definitely think there are field differences. Psychology and medicine are much more prone to issues with sample size, confounding variables, etc. Plus there is a huge amount of money pumped into biology/medical research (look at NIH budget versus NSF) and this likely leads to issues of worse scientists, declining returns on investment, etc. (Add in business drivers of drug research, political biases on social policies, etc. and it becomes even worse.)
There are some sketchy mat sci papers (nanoscience, devices) where there is hype science present and even deception. But in general, I bet mat sci has more solid stuff than psych and medicine. Math even more so.
A lot of times when people talk about the replication crisis, they really mean fields like psych, nutrition, cancer, education, crime, etc. I don't see general replication issues in chemistry. Yeah, there are a very small percentage of mistakes (wrong crystal structure). But in general if you repeat a chemical synthesis for a new molecule, you get the new molecule. Try that in a priming study! <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology)#Criticism>
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<issue_start>username_0: I remember my MSCS advisor often refers to his "academic grandfather" (his advisor's advisor Dr. <NAME>) as the person who sent the first data packets. Although distant, I think it is cool for him to be a descendant of someone famous.
For PhDs, have you ever traced your academic family tree? Does it matter for those of you that are not in academia? I am also a PhD student now and would it be too early to imagine folks in my lab as my "academic brother/sister"?
Would like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: I have traced mine, using the [Academic Tree](https://academictree.org/) website. Honestly, it's one of those things that doesn't really matter, but can be quite entertaining. It can be good for a story or two, or to better understand the history of the field, but I'd doubt it'd do much career-wise - whether it's academic or not. However, referring to academic relatives can be an interesting tool when teaching - it can give a more personal touch to an otherwise dry subject, for example.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Maybe you have heard of and looked around on the website of the Mathematics Genealogy Project. Pretty fun, and an extensive collection of academics.
About it's worth, to me as a scholar in the field of mathematics and sociology, I can say I was happy to be able to use their dataset in my dissertation. For example, the genealogical connections and additional information on academic degrees, allowed me to map global trends and interactions in research. Something which I believe is worthwhile outside academia as well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I believe that academic tree does not impact your work. However it is something that is really cool and gives you a sense of responsibility that you are carrying some of the most significant names of the industry. Having these names associated to you will give you a sense of pride and honor and that is all what it is. In addition to that it may also be used to see the transition of technology along the time.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a co-author on a paper that was published in a Nature family journal some months ago because of my scientific contribution to the work presented there. I've discovered that the first author of this paper (let's call them Pat) has, in several instances, over several years, committed scientific fraud by manipulating raw data in other publications. I have no direct evidence that Pat has done anything wrong in the paper I'm on, but I assume they probably have, given their past conduct. I don't want my name to be associated with their name.
If I ask the journal to remove my name from the author list, will they simply do it?<issue_comment>username_1: You have to contact the editor, no other answer. Only they will tell you if it is possible for their publication.
You may find this helpful : [How to withdraw ones name from an already published paper](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/107201/72855)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> If I ask the journal to remove my name from the author list, will they simply do it?
>
>
>
No one can say other than the journal, but personally I find your wish unreasonable. The fact that you are a coauthor of the paper is now a historical fact and as such not subject to change in my opinion. Keep in mind that even when a journal retracts a paper, they don’t pretend they never published it, but rather issue a statement saying they no longer endorse the validity of the paper. This preserves a record of the historical events that occurred and maintains a sense of continuity of the picture of reality the journal presents to its readers and to the world.
Similarly, if one of a paper’s coauthors no longer stands behind the validity of the paper, I would expect the journal would at most append to the article a statement saying that you no longer wish to be considered a coauthor of the paper. But it would be dishonest of the journal, and would be doing a disservice to its readers and to historical accuracy, to pretend you were never a coauthor by simply airbrushing your name off the author list.
So, my feeling is that you are free at any time to disavow your implicit endorsement of the paper that comes with being a coauthor. You may not even need the journal’s help to do that - for example, you can post a statement that you no longer endorse the validity of the paper on your personal web page. And you can also ask the journal to post the same notice online next to the published paper - hopefully they will find that a reasonable request, and perhaps it could motivate them to investigate whether the paper contains fraudulent data. But I think it’s dishonest to pretend you were never a coauthor of the paper, and unreasonable to ask the journal to carry on such a pretense.
Finally, keep in mind that “Pat”’s dishonesty is her own. If you unwittingly coauthored a paper in which she committed fraud, that would make you a victim, not a perpetrator, of misconduct. I don’t think it reflects poorly on you that you fell victim to such fraud (if indeed that is what happened), as long as your own work on the paper was done in good faith, and you had no knowledge of any fraud or other unethical behavior on the part of the other authors.
**Edit to address the comments about the last part of my answer:** I understand some people feel OP is partially responsible for the contents of the paper as a whole including the contributions of their coauthors. That’s true up to the point where OP read the paper, spent a reasonable amount of time informing themselves about what the other coauthors did and how they did it, and were not aware of any suspicious signs that anyone was doing anything improper. That’s basically a very low bar of responsibility to clear in my opinion, and certainly far from what is actually needed to prevent all occurrences of fraud in a paper you are coauthoring. Beyond that, if it turns out that there was misconduct, of course it’s embarrassing to OP and they are right to be concerned and to think about how to protect their reputation, but I don’t think any reasonable person is likely to hold what happened against them, so I don’t think they need to be *very* concerned.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I wouldn't take any action unless you actually find a fraud.
The situation would be more disappointing if you were coauthor of a long series of papers. For a single occurrence, and in case of fraud, your reputation won't be affected. It would be clear that you were "a victim" of Pat.
A Nobel prize worthy paper could complicate the scenario, as for special claims need extra care. But normally we are not supposed to check the honesty of coworkers nor referees are supposed to dig for frauds. At least if everything is soundly and nothing unusual points to suspect.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I acted as a reviewer for a paper this year and would like to mention this in my CV. However, I would like the authors not to know that I was the reviewer before some time.
At the moment, I have remained intentionally vague in my CV, mentioning only the journal name and the topic of the article. Is there a way to do better, namely:
* Is it possible to make this review work verifiable? (perhaps by giving the email of the editor?)
* Is it ethical to point to the full published paper in a CV that I don’t intend to distribute widely?<issue_comment>username_1: I would recommend against doing this unless the journal editor or conference chair tells you it is ok. I assume the review was blind or the question wouldn't arise. But blind reviews are intended to remain blind.
But I wonder what your motivation is here. Why not just state in your CV that you have been a reviewer for [journal name] or [conference name year]? Reviewing is intended to be a service to the community, not a way to associate yourself with someone else's work.
My own reaction to seeing a specific claim on a CV would not be favorable, I think.
It may be, in some cases that an author will want to thank the reviewers for helpful comments, but even then, it is very rare that names are used, or even known.
If you want to change the reviewing process, on the other hand, removing the "blind" aspect of it, I'd suggest that you do it directly and openly, not by just doing it. There are venues with open reviews.
But ask the editor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The standard information to give is the journal's name and only this. As far as I recall I have never seen a CV that gives more details than that (mostly I know academic CVs of mathematicians).
I would not go as far as saying that it would be unethical to include more information, but it would seem unusual and the advantage is not very clear.
If you are concerned about the claim not being credible, I'd not worry too much about this. However, some journals and publishers offer certificates for reviewers. See for example this information about [reviewer recognition at Elsevier](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution/news/collect-your-review-certificate-on-the-reviewer-recognition)
There may be exceptions to this if you happen to be involved in some very high profile reviewing endeavor, but if you reviewed a normal paper I'd just give the journal's name.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I would leave off reviewing entirely from your CV.
Not used to seeing reviewing on CVs, even by journal.\* Let alone specific papers.
Why not accumulate some bigger things to list. Your own papers, being a subeditor, running a conference, etc.? But reviewing papers???
\*This doesn't even make sense to me. Does one paper reviewed for a journal make you "their reviewer"? If you are a part of the scientific community, you will just occasionally get requests to review or not. From various journals. Or not. But it's not like a "position".
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I have recently started using this service called Publons (<https://publons.com/about/home/>) by Clarivate Analytics. They request that you forward peer-review acknowledgements to a certain email address, and they show up on your personal profile page after verification with sensitive details anonymized. It might help to just link to your profile on your CV or use the list they provide.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: The title of my master degree certificate says that I obtained M.Sc. in "Control engineering", but half of the courses I took during my master belong to machine learning (computer science), and even my Master Thesis and my publication were related to machine learning.
But when I put in the top of my CV that I studied my MS in control engineering it brings a negative first impression!
I think the default assumption is that engineering disciplines are far away from computer science skills and programming.
So, I was wondering if I can use another title or a modification of that
title to properly send the message at the beginning?!<issue_comment>username_1: I would strongly recommend listing your degrees the same way they were awarded and (probably) printed on your diploma. You can add, of course, that your specialization was in the subfield of machine learning. This clearly separates the official title from your more specific description.
You wouldn't want someone who needed to check items on your CV to find that you are claiming something that you didn't "earn" and the university doesn't even "award".
This is true for nearly everyone, in fact. My degree is in Mathematics but my field was actually Real Analysis, so I can say *PhD Mathematics (Real Analysis)* honestly enough.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: List the degrees properly. If you want to add bullets, you could describe the specialization there (along with any other special things, perhaps a research project, thesis, etc.). Most young people don't have enough meaty achievements to fill the page anyways (opposite problem as you get older). So doing it as a bullet kills two birds.
The other way I have seen it done is as a parenthetical:
2018 B.S. Systems engineering, Enormous State University (machine learning emphasis)
Of course if you have an actual minor list that.
Upvotes: 2
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| 380
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<issue_start>username_0: I have found an interesting (and novel) result that I would like to submit to the American Mathematical Monthly. I am aware of the journal's prestige and I understand that my result likely would not warrant regular publication. I am looking to submit my finding and brief proof as "filler", however, their website does not elucidate much information other than a LaTex template for such submissions.
My question to anyone who is familiar with the filler submission process of the American Mathematical Monthly, what are the technical requirements of such a submission? I understand that they are shorter than typical papers but the tables of contents I see online do not seem to include any for length reference.
Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: The Monthly's journal page has a section on submissions:
<https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/american-mathematical-monthly#Submission>
There are no listed requirements for fillers, which probably means that there are no strict requirements, just an item the editors deem appropriate. My first suggestion is to browse through recent issues and look at other fillers to see if yours will fit in.
Second, the above link says:
>
> Questions concerning submission of papers can be addressed to the editor [name + email]
>
>
>
So if you have specific, focused questions you can try asking. Alternatively, you could just submit and wait for the review/editorial process for feedback.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A filler is put in when a regular article leaves some blank space at the bottom of its last page. So by definition they are less than one page.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/03
| 452
| 1,900
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing my Master's degree Thesis in Economics and I'm dealing with quite a lot of plots (my topic is more related to statistics, in particular I'm working with B-spline free knot placement) and I am wondering what's better, if to provide very fancy plots (for example using ggplot2) or instead to keep things simple and use the basic plots (from R).
What do you prefer when reading an article?
Thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Plots should be clean. For instance, MSFT adds some cruft to charts (lines), that is better off culled. Also avoid 3D pie charts or 3 D column charts (makes you look like an undergrad). After that, it probably doesn't matter if you use R, some custom plotting tool or Excel or the like.
Read "Say it With Charts" book for some good advice on simple chart communication. Tells you what style shows what relationship best.
Make your figure captions shine. They should be on the longer side and give clear identification of different symbols and lines. Figure captions are some of the most read text in a paper.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I prefer plots which communicate information and tell the story so clearly, that I do not stop to think which software was used to create them. There are several good ways of achieving it and many ugly ways of failing it. The art of preparing a good plot (and infographics in general) is a complex matter and can not be boiled down to a one-bit answer like "do/don't use ggplot".
To learn this art, read more papers, highlight plots you like and analyze what you like about them and how it was achieved. Try reproducing a nice plot in your favourite software. Consult your supervisor and colleagues for more hints.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Clean and simple is best. However, `ggplot2` is *excellent* at producing clean and simple plots.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/03
| 1,490
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in my last year of high school and about to move on to the next stage, undergraduate programs. The problem is that I don't care about any of my subjects enough to continue them at a higher level. I don't have any of that love for my potential subjects that good students seem to have, which gives them so much motivation.
On the other hand, there's no better time than after secondary education to get a degree. Should I suck it up, continue, and get a degree and better job prospects sooner? Or wait a year and spend more time to try to find something I would really like to study?
Quick note: The universities of the country I'm in don't do a liberal arts style (US style) education. We pick our subject before we go, then study solely that subject for 3 or so years.<issue_comment>username_1: Don't take this as advice about what you *should* do. But here are three things to think about in forming decisions about your future.
First, whatever you do in a state of indecision, do something that keeps your future options open. Don't overcommit to any one thing if it makes it hard to implement a change of heart/mind.
Second, make a list of all your options, both in education and otherwise, work, travel, writing, etc. It can be a long list depending on your resources.
Finally, if you do go to university, still in a state of indecision, choose a field that is generalist and foundational rather than more specific. The two that first come to mind for me are Philosophy and Mathematics. Both are good for teaching you how to think. A Writing focused program might be another possibility, depending on your larger interests. You can do a lot of things if you can think and you can write and you have patience.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Go into the military. You'll either hate it and be glad to go back to school, two years later. Or you'll like it. In any case, you can learn a trade there. Plus it gives you something to talk about, later in life.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Decision-making is a science, so I'll try my best to stick to the science instead of trying to push you into academia because, well, judging by the name of this place, I'm probably a bit biased. The extent of my expertise in the science of decision making is that I once read a book about the subject. Disclaimers out of the way, this is a short procedure for making a decision:
1. Make sure you know what problem you are trying to solve. Why
do you want to go to university? A good job, living the uni student life, etc.
2. Specify what exactly you want to achieve. Do you want a
better salary, a job in an office, a job outdoors, learning to be
independent, living with young adults your age, etc.
3. Think of alternative ways you can achieve your objectives.
Have an open mind here.
4. Think of the consequences for each of your options. What
happens to you 5 and 10 years down the road? how certain are you of
those consequences and how can you reduce that uncertainty?
5. Make a table listing your options alongside all the pros and cons you can come up with during a week or so. Consider the respective weights of each pro. Do the pros and cons of option 1 cancel out, or do the pros outweigh the cons? Also try to put things into perspective. "Is 30k of student debt worth the pros of getting a degree?" becomes "are the pros of getting a degree worth X amount of dollars per month for X ammount of years?" or "are the pros of getting a degree worth living in a smaller house?". Be creative, but also be realistic.
6. Sixth and perhaps the most important step for your question, make
sure you identify the uncertainties affecting your decision. For
example, how sure are you that you won't eventually grow to like
your subject of study? Try to assign percentages to this. Can you
bear the consequences of not liking the subject? How much debt, and
what will that mean in your day-to-day life? Try finding new data to
fill these uncertainties.
Other general advice:
* Don't avoid the decision because it's complex. Avoidance often gives you the worse possible outcome.
* Don't be afraid to change your mind in the face of new evidence. If after your first few months you learn or you get a gut feeling this isn't the subject for you, go through this process again.
* Keep in mind the heuristics that may be at play, such as the anchoring trap, the status quo trap, the cherry-picking trap, the
overconfidence trap, etc.
* Take your time. You would not buy a house after only a few hours of thought. Making choices when you are young is like steering a ship
when you've just left the harbor. The older you get and the farther
that boat has gone off-course, the harder it is to correct it, but
not impossible! But it pays to spend a few weeks, months or even a
year charting your route and getting your heading right. And if you
are completely lost, then you need data, and to get data you often need to
try new stuff, like joining the military to see if you like it.
There are many books about decision making. My comment is based on *Smart Choices*, by <NAME>, and Raiffa (2002) and <NAME>'s letter on decision-making sent to <NAME> in 1772. I also recommend Meg Jay's *The Defining Decade*. This is a much lighter read than the first book I mentioned, but it will make the consequences of your decisions clear, maybe even painfully so.
Godspeed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: You might also want to consider getting a trade qualification rather than a university degree, if you're less of an academic type of person. A good plumber or electrician can often make more money than a university graduate, without needing to go into debt to get their piece of paper.
If you're a high school student, you should have guidance counselors at your school that can assist you with this decision-making process, and help provide you with relevant information; you might want to consider making an appointment with them to discuss things with them.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I had a bad previous experience with flow of ideas. I received a fellowship for six months to work on a project. I started on the project. I was very active and attentive with my supervisor who was very supportive and flexible. I worked very hard, but after two months many new ideas accumulated and I started trying on the dataset and searching for new datasets, after two more months, I had a shallow understanding of all of these ideas. It was late to focus on one point and I got depressed and I ended the project earlier and my supervisor told me I wasn't focused and I didn't do the tasks she suggested and my body language reflects I am not even listening to her (as I say OK a lot) and she will not write to me a recommendation letter.
I am now working on a master thesis with a new supervisor who is nice and flexible. As usual, I started working very hard, but having this terrible anxiety of losing control on the topic and after one month of work, I found that the idea I am working on, will not lead to a real advancement in science, so I changed my mind and changed the research idea a little to what I believe might benefit science. But I fear to discuss with her, because I know after another month, I will have another idea.
In brief, the first problem is that I lose focus not only because other ideas are attractive but also because I feel the idea I am working on isn't worth my effort and there should be an improvement. The second problem is assuming it is right to move between ideas, how to communicate this with the supervisor ?<issue_comment>username_1: First an anecdote. A long time ago I was a pretty good photographer. I had a simple manual film camera and two lenses, one fixed, one zoom. I made some nice photos, not just "snaps". Then, when I started to earn more money I bought more equipment. It seems that for every piece of camera gear I bought, I got worse. Just decision overload, I think. Instead of seeing what was revealed in the viewfinder and framing things, I would be indecisive about whether I should use some other lens, or whatever.
Next, a solution, I hope. But it doesn't involve your advisor.
Start a notebook for yourself. Either electronic or on paper. My preferred method is paper. When working on any idea you have another idea that is related, add a page to your notebook, or update an existing page. Just one page (making paper advantageous) so you don't spend too much time and effort on it now. Then, return to your original work.
This notebook is your "future work" resource. The pages are there just to give you a start on an idea that you once had that you now want to develop. In mathematics, it might consist of pages of variations on definitions that you think might be interesting, or potential theorems, or possible relationships between things.
If you can make the interruption of creating a new page in the notebook short enough then it doesn't interfere with your current work, but assures that you have a record of those thoughts so that you don't lose them.
I finished my doctoral dissertation having a fairly large file of these pages, many of them quite interesting. Among other things, the breadth of ideas I'd saved help me gain insight into the general area in which I worked and I don't think I'd have gotten that insight if I'd been too focused on only my dissertation. But I might not have finished the dissertation if I'd immediately followed up each of those ideas.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to username_1's outstanding response, I'll add another perspective.
If you have the opportunity, write papers. They demand your focus. In the process of writing them, you are forced to concentrate to one aspect and this emphasises which ideas are most promising or, in fact, are being closed by writing this paper.
If you cannot write a paper, two-weekly reports (to yourself, if not your professor) of what you have done and what you are going to do next is also a great help in keeping yourself on track.
That being said, it is perfectly fine during the first half of a project to have a sprawling growth of ideas (which you should write down), as long as you understand that in the last third of the project, you have to trim them to size. You will notice that these proportions do not add up to 1, because the transition from sprawling to focusing is an interesting one.
Tools like org can help you keeping track of ideas and to bubble them up (as per @username_1's naming) as your shift of interest or focus demands. Good ideas will tend to stay at the top, while short-lived ones will slowly move to the bottom if you regularly "bubble up" ideas that you like.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: What is Post Secondary Education? Does it include only PhD (or) any degree lower than PhD?<issue_comment>username_1: Post-secondary is after secondary education, which in most jurisdictions would be high school. So your undergraduate degree counts, as does any Masters degree or PhD degree.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In the US, [primary education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_education_in_the_United_States) is the first seven or nine years (depending on location), and [secondary education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_education_in_the_United_States) is usually considered high school. Primary and secondary education are compulsory and are provided free by the state (of course some go to private school).
"[Post-secondary](http://Higher%20education%20(also%20called%20post-secondary%20education,%20third-level%20or%20tertiary%20education)%20is%20an%20optional%20final%20stage%20of%20formal%20learning%20that%20occurs%20after%20completion%20of%20secondary%20education.%20Often%20delivered%20at%20universities,%20academies,%20colleges,%20seminaries,%20conservatories,%20and%20institutes%20of%20technology,%20higher%20education%20is%20also%20available%20through%20certain%20college-level%20institutions,%20including%20vocational%20schools,%20trade%20schools,%20and%20other%20career%20colleges%20that%20award%20academic%20degrees%20or%20professional%20certifications.)" education refers to anything you do after that, including bachelor's, master's, and doctorate-level degrees, but also things like associate's degrees and vocational training.
From Wikipedia:
>
> Higher education (also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education) is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. Often delivered at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, and institutes of technology, higher education is also available through certain college-level institutions, including vocational schools, trade schools, and other career colleges that award academic degrees or professional certifications.
>
>
>
If you wanted to distinguish between college or university education and vocational training, you *might* call the former "tertiary" or "higher" and the latter "further" or "continuing," but it's not a well-defined distinction and not universal.
A master's or doctorate degree is "[postgraduate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postgraduate_education)" education.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/04
| 825
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a conference paper some time ago to a trusted highly ranked conference. Strangely enough there's almost no communication from their part, no replies most of the time to my inquiries.
The paper got peer-reviewed and accepted, I paid the fee (around 500usd), I asked just a week before the conference if it's necessary to attend it because it was difficult to book a ticket given that I had only one month left in my old passport and I didn't have the new one, I provided a proof of that (scan of my old passport), but I got no reply and considered this as "ok" since this is what I wanted.
Now I am running out of time to graduate my PhD and I need to know whether it's considered published or I can submit it somewhere else. Should I bring something stronger in my email to catch their attention like "legal fight, submit somewhere else,etc" or just wait longer (presentation was exactly 10 days ago)?
what I am missing in all of this?
[conference link if that helps](http://www.icmlc.org/)<issue_comment>username_1: Most conferences have a strict rule that at least one author should register and present the paper.
If you have an unexpected situation, contact the conference chair or organizer and explain to them.
Alternatively, sometimes you can give a talk through video conferencing. Contact the session chair and ask if he/she can help you out.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: If the proceedings have been published and your paper is included (and usually at this time it is included), your paper is published.
Check the proceedings.
Is this kind of link of the conference that you need: [index of proceedings](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3195106&picked=prox)
I think it will be published later. At this point if nobody presented your paper at the conference, it has to be considered public after inclusion in the proceedings only, so you need to have evidence of such proceedings publication.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: As Rick said, the best way will be to check the proceedings. Since the conference took place only a couple weeks ago, it's not too surprising that the proceedings are not online yet.
In general it is required that an author attends and presents their paper, but organizers usually accept your reasons if you explain why you can't attend (as long as the fees have been paid). Since you did exactly that there's probably no reason to worry.
It's a bit strange that nobody replied to your emails. I'd take this as a clue that the organization of the conference is a bit weak, and this might play in your favor since it makes it less likely that the organizers would bother removing papers from authors who didn't attend.
>
> Should I bring something stronger in my email to catch their attention like "legal fight, submit somewhere else,etc" or just wait longer (presentation was exactly 10 days ago)? what I am missing in all of this?
>
>
>
In my opinion you shouldn't mention any legal threat, this could easily backfire. I assume that you have been using the official email <EMAIL> right? I'd suggest that you email directly the [conference chairs](http://www.icmlc.org/com.html) as well, you might have more luck this way.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There is no such thing as "considered published". It's either published or it isn't. Look in the proceedings.
Upvotes: 1
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| 523
| 2,292
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<issue_start>username_0: here's my friend's situation, he submitted a journal paper then gave up after some time and thought it's going to be rejected after a few rejections in an open access journal,he put some parts (as it is), in a conference paper and submitted this work, to his surprise he got acceptance in both.
I asked him to cancel his conference submission not to risk a potential problem with his open access journal submission. He didn't take this seriously and moved on with both.
what are the chances of him getting caught in this situation, given that it's just about 8 months before he will graduate?<issue_comment>username_1: In most of the open access journals, it takes less time to put the article online (one of the pros for choosing open access). It might take less than one month, even some cases, after paying the article processing charge, the journal put the author submitted version online.
Now, for the conference paper, I guess the time difference between the acceptance date and actual conference date is not more than six months. In several cases, the author needs to upload the final camera ready version to the conference submission system in advance. If the conference maintains a good ethics, then the paper will be automatically verified with similarly checking softwares before sending the papers to the proceedings publication department — during this period, the open access article will be online.
You get the idea on the consequences.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Wow, What a risky decision! This might give him a lot of "free" troubles in the long run since both publishers, sooner or later, they will expose the paper in front of search engines and people will start to complain his work (check for that using this [Free Academic Plagiarism Checker Tool](https://scholarplagiarism.com/) ).
Chances he'll be blacklisted from all major publishers :/
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: That's very risky. Even if a student graduates and is not caught for plagiarising, he may still have issues after graduation. It may lead to a degree to be revoked. There are a lot of professional plagiarism detection tools (*like Turnitin, Unicheck, Scholar Plagiarism*), that can easily detect any type of cheating.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/04
| 336
| 1,542
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<issue_start>username_0: I just received a decision letter from IEEE ACCESS. The recommendation of reviewer1 is "Accept (minor edits)" and the recommendation of reviewer2 is "Reject (update and resubmit encouraged)".
While reviewer1 did not give any suggestions need to be revised. Did I need to respond to him in the "response document"?
Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Congratulations! it means your article was accepted. If there were any comments from the reviewers, you need to incorporate them before uploading final files. Otherwise, review one more time for grammar and spelling and then upload your final version of the article.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is likely that the first reviewer was referring to minor issues of language and presentation, even spelling, typos, etc. Give the paper a careful read looking for issues and correct them. If you do this, it is unlikely that you really need a direct response to that reviewer, other than thanks. Many reviewers don't want to take on the role of "copy editors" and so will just point to that things can be improved without giving detail.
If your first language is other than the language of the paper, then it might be good to have a colleague make some comments on presentation - someone who is fluent in the language in question.
The other reviewer needs to be taken seriously, of course, and your acceptance will depend on how you respond, primarily in your edits of the paper. But that is the usual situation, of course.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: My research is a content analysis about portrayal of mental illness in films. The research I wanted to base my methodology is also about mental-illness representation. My research questions differ to the other researcher’s questions. We also have different sets of films to analyze.
I really want to know if it is okay if I use the same methodology? Or is it considered plagiarism?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it's okay to reuse other people's methodology to address an original research question. It is not okay to copy the methods section of their publication. You must write your own, in addition to citing them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: No it's not...you'd better make your own methodology of your research to help yourself how to deal with your data analysis. Maybe you can use them only as reference becsuse copying and using the research methodology of others are unethical, plagiarism and that is a scientific misconduct..
Upvotes: -1
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2019/03/04
| 495
| 1,925
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<issue_start>username_0: In my research field (operations research), several works have been published in the last couple of years by different authors that cover most of the recent developments in the field.
I’m writing a review paper and even though I read and used a couple of papers dated as far back as the 90s (mainly for my introduction and review), I want all references to be from 2010 or later.
I would like to write something like:
>
> Ref. 3 discussed branch & bound and dynamic programming approaches for KP, MKP and some of its variants.
>
>
>
Reference 3 is *Kellerer, Pferschy, and Pisinger (2004)*.
Another paper, namely *Puchinger, Raidl, and Pferschy (2010)* shares one of its authors with Reference 3 and also cites it.
My question is: Instead of citing Reference 3 as it is, can I cite *Puchinger, Raidl, and Pferschy (2010)* because it is more recent?<issue_comment>username_1: I would recommend against this as it seems artificial. The year you give isn't some magic number and citing only recent work doesn't give you any advantage.
But there is a deeper reason in this case, I think. Just because a new paper cites an older one doesn't mean that the newer one advances the older one in every relevant direction. Another way to think of it is that the ideas in the new paper don't actually "contain" all of the ideas in the older one. Someone wanting a good overview of the field - the purpose of a review article - will probably need to go see what those additional ideas are, but if you don't point to them their only pointer is indirect through the paper you do cite. This makes the serious reader's job harder.
You seem to be giving an annotated bibliography, I see no reason to truncate it. The annotations, if well done, will help a reader decide whether to go to any given paper you include.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Cite them both. Covers various aspects.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Writing my master thesis about the "Development and Assessment" of an algorithm, I'm wondering where the in-depth description of the individual modules of the algorithm and their functions belongs. Right now, the method section contains this part along with the metrics and scenarios used to evaluate its performance.
But is the developed algorithm not actually a part of the results?
Would it maybe work if I break the method section apart, as such:
1. Intro
2. Algorithm
3. Evaluation
4. Results
...<issue_comment>username_1: The algorithm isn't part of the results. The results are what you learned from the project - the knowledge. In this case it would be the analysis of the performance on the specified problem. The algorithm is what you built to get the results, not the results themselves.
But with the current outline, it looks like you will have to put too much into the introduction. You need to describe, somewhere, the problem and current solutions and why you want a new algorithm. That seems like a lot for the intro. Likewise you need a conclusion putting the results in context.
Note that while most of your work may have been in developing the algorithm, that isn't the essence of your knowledge contribution. The essence is in why and how this was a good approach to a problem (properly quantified) in the first place.
For example, if I build a better garbage collector for, say, Ruby, the knowledge contribution is in how and why this approach is better than other GC systems, if, indeed, it is. But you can even get a thesis out of the work if you show that the approach, which seemed promising, in fact is worse, on some scale. It is the knowledge we require, not the software/algorithm.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: "Method section"? It sounds like you're applying a high-level structure from natural science to a mathematics paper, which might be why it doesn't fit.
"In-depth description of the individual modules of the algorithm and their functions" also sounds off to me. Modules and their functions sounds more like the code which implements the algorithm than the algorithm per se: the appropriate place is probably an appendix, and that only because it's a master's thesis.
Pick a handful of algorithms papers from the last fifteen years and look at their structure and level of detail. You might need to use a bit more detail because you need to convince your assessors that you know what you're doing, but published papers can still give you a useful yardstick.
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/03/04
| 609
| 2,527
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<issue_start>username_0: A scholarship based on existing mental health problems and conviction to finishing/doing well in school and it requests 2 reference letters and doesn't specify from whom. I'm only a second year in my undergrad, and all of my classes are too big for a connection with a professor. There is no one academic to write me one.
My mom suggested this one family friend who is a nurse and who has known me for 14 years. Is this a good idea? Any ideas who could write the second one?<issue_comment>username_1: The purpose of such letters is to get some assurance from "trusted" commentators who can attest to the likelihood of your success in the program. While for most academic letters, professors and teachers are best, in this case it may be different. I can't suggest who would be best, but keep the two elements in mind:
People who can be immediately trusted to give an honest assessment, and people who can judge your likelihood of success.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> My mom suggested this one family friend who is a nurse and who has known me for 14 years. Is this a good idea?
>
>
>
Does this nurse know anything about your professional/academic life? Has she "seen you in action"? Is she familiar with your mental health struggles and commitment to finishing school? If so, it's maybe okay for now. If this is just a friend of your moms who happens to be a nurse and knows little about you, then this is a bad idea.
In general, letters of recommendation should be commenting on how you stack up next to your peers, and should be written by someone who has seen many many students and can judge how you rank next to them. Though for this particular scholarship you mention, I agree it doesn't say at all whether this is the case or whether they want someone who can comment on your "personal narrative", including your mental health.
>
> Any ideas who could write the second one?
>
>
>
Consider your professors or TAs. Just send them a three-sentence e-mail, or drop by their office hours. You'd be surprised how accommodating some professors will be, if you make it clear that you appreciate the favor and don't expect anything more than a brief letter saying that you took their class and got an decent grade. Since you're in the middle of college, even a nice letter from a TA might be sufficient for one of your letters. And of course, start working now so you don't have this problem when it's time for graduate school admissions or job recommendations!
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/03/05
| 1,021
| 4,464
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<issue_start>username_0: I am third-year bachelor student currently seeking a research internship in Germany and I encounter many group websites that say something like: “We have positions for bachelor projects.” I am wondering whether this means that these projects are only intended for a thesis and suitable for final-year students about to graduate, or do they also welcome not-final-year undergrad students? (BTW, my discipline is physics, and I am not looking for position in my home institution).
I guess it’s gonna look stupid if I send an inquiry to the professor without figuring out this problem.<issue_comment>username_1: In most cases professors will not be offended if an eager, and knowledgeable, undergraduate approaches them about working on a project. This doesn't mean they will have a position for you, but it does mean it is always worth asking. Reading their website and seeing what they are interested in is a great start.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is definitely not bad to show initiative yourself but you have to motivate why you want to gain internship in the particular lab or topic :). You should also be ready to provide recommendations from your lecturers or Professors.
Also, a very good way in getting internship places is to ask your study advisor for help, or contact professors that you had lectures at. It is much easier to get a place when someone with more experience is guiding you. Moreover, you shall ask at your faculty if it is possible to get a student job, it very often includes some research, practical work for the chair.
In any way, you shall be ready to send some e-mails around with your CV and a good motivational letter. I got a post-bachelor internship in Berlin after 20-30 e-mails sent, which is considered pretty quick for a foreigner who does not speak German :). In general, scientific labs like free/cheap voluntary working force, so it should be quite possible to get a place for internship. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: From my experience in German academia (CS/Math), "We have positions for bachelor projects" means just that. Final year students (of that department!) who want to do their bachelor thesis can write to the professor and get a project. Departments are usually obligated to offer several of these projects, so that every student of the department can have a shot at writing a bachelor thesis.
This notice is in my experience addressed to students of the department and does not imply anything about 'research internships' (My experience meaning, on our webpage we have a similar sentence and this is exactly what it means). From your question is it not clear to me if you are already a student of said university, this might be quite important here.
However, the professor might still be interested in offering a project to you (as discussed in username_2's answer), unrelated to their bachelor projects, so just write a polite email and ask him.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: If bachelor theses are a thing in your programme, the statement in question almost certainly is about thesis projects.
However, at least in my experience, most research produces side projects all the time, and a group may just have one that fits your requirements and abilities.
If a group advertises specific projects and does not find a bachelor student, they may also be happy if you are willing to take on such a project (if you bring all the prerequisites).
A very crucial factor in this is whether they expect that your work is worth the resources they invest into you (probably mainly supervision time).
For example, my personal, field-dependent rule of thumb is that the average bachelor project takes as much time to supervise as to do the respective work myself.
Compared to this, you have the advantage that you do not need to supervision for writing and defending a thesis, however, you also have the disadvantage that there is less incentive to make you finish your project.
Another factor playing into this is the kind of work you would do:
Experimental projects tend to require more supervision that theoretical or computational ones, shifting the balance against you.
Thus, the most crucial aspect is that you can convince them that you are capable and willing to complete a small project with a certain degree of independence.
Enthusiasm about what the group in question is actually researching certainly helps in that respect.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/05
| 1,633
| 6,743
|
<issue_start>username_0: As I understand academic career progression, the move to the "next level" (be it postdoc, senior lecturer, assistant professor, full professor, etc) is most dependent on two factors: research output and funding earned. However to get that research output and funding proposals, one obviously can't be on maternity leave. Does that mean that deciding to have children jeopardizes one's academic career progression?
Concrete example: European PhDs take shorter to complete (~3 years) than American ones (~5 years). Accordingly, American PhDs have an advantage applying for fellowships after graduation since they will have done more research and published more papers. However if a female American PhD student decides to have five pregnancies in those five years, she will have effectively only "worked" for 3 years and 9 months (since five pregnancies = 15 months of maternity leave). This means she's still at an advantage compared to her European counterparts, but is disadvantaged compared to her American peers. In other words, her decision to have children jeopardized her academic career.
Is this picture correct? If not, why not? The obvious guess is that this student will not be disadvantaged in the job market because she won't be able to graduate in 5 years, but if that's the case, then it still sounds like she's disadvantaged compared to her peers who didn't have children.
I'm tagging this question with "gender" because although in principle these issues can also affect men whose partners have children, the stress of having children is clearly different for fathers and mothers.
**EDIT**: Since the question is apparently unclear.
* The question is whether having children jeopardizes one's academic career progression.
* The argument for this being the case is that, if one has children, one's work comes to a complete halt. Research stops, papers don't get written, funding doesn't get acquired - and these are the things which is used to judge whether or not to promote an academic.
* Comparatively, in industry, someone will continue the work while the worker is away on leave. This minimizes the damage. For example suppose Alice is an expert at underwater basket weaving. Even if she has five pregnancies in five years, the 3 years 9 months in which she is working is plenty of time to demonstrate that yes, she is an expert at underwater basket weaving, she is good & passionate at her job, she turns out more baskets than others in unit time, etc, and therefore when promotion time rolls around she is a natural candidate for promotion.
* If the answer is "yes", then between two otherwise-equal women, the person who has fewer children climbs the academic ladder the fastest. She will graduate first, find a tenured position first, become a full professor first. This is clearly advantageous because with each promotion, the new position is better than the previous one. In this case, an answer drawing on sources that show that it is indeed advantageous not to have children will answer the question.
* If the answer is "no", then it is *not* true that between two otherwise-equal women, the person who has fewer children climbs the academic ladder fastest. This implies there is some compensating factor that allows the person with more children to compete with her colleague with fewer children. For example, the fact that while one is on maternity leave the "clock stops" is such a factor. If Alice decides to have five pregnancies in five years, she will still be able to climb the academic ladder - she won't get fired because she's not turning out papers, for example.
* However if the answer is "no", this "clock stopping" is not a complete explanation because it doesn't apply to real age, only to academic age. Alice is 3.75 years old academically, but in real life 5 years has passed. Compared to her colleague who didn't have children, she is still behind by 1.25 years. Therefore a "no" answer indicates there are some other factors still at play, in which case the question asks what those factors are.
If this doesn't clarify what the question is asking please leave a comment because I don't see how it is unclear.
Related:
* [How common is it for women to drop out of graduate school because they have children?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/38887/how-common-is-it-for-women-to-drop-out-of-graduate-school-because-they-have-chil)
* [Having children while at graduate school](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45855/having-children-while-at-graduate-school)<issue_comment>username_1: My impression of my field (sociology) in my countries (Netherlands + Germany) is that in older generations successful women tended to be childless. This would support your hypothesis that, at least in the past, having children was somehow (perceived to be) detrimental to a woman's career. However, in my cohort that does not seem to be the case anymore. My impression is that having (multiple) children has become the rule also, or even especially, among the really successful women.
This may be because policy is finally implemented and is becoming effective, or maybe modern couples no longer want to play the game of making trade-offs between private live and career (millennials), and maybe it is just that my network mainly consists of academics who are also parents.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> However if a female American PhD student decides to have five
> pregnancies in those five years, she will have effectively only
> "worked" for 3 years and 9 months (since five pregnancies = 15 months
> of maternity leave).
>
>
>
Wow. If there were a female PhD student who had five pregnancies in five years, I've never met them. I'm (a woman) currently working on my PhD. While I've known students who have chosen to have one child during their PhD, they had children near the end of their degree (not while in coursework). It's hard to juggle PhD work with other responsibilities, such as the full-time job of raising a child.
I've decided to put off having a family until after my PhD. Personally, I wouldn't be able to work as much if I were sick all of the time during pregnancy, going through a variety of hormonal changes, and having to go in for regular check-ups with a doctor. I live far away from any family members or close friends who could take care of the baby while I need to be away for a conference, for instance. On top of that, PhD student/candidate salaries are barely enough for one person to live on, which adds another issue when deciding to have a child while in a PhD program.
I'm amazed by the people who can manage to raise children while working on their PhDs. I'm just not one of them.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/05
| 1,937
| 8,225
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<issue_start>username_0: I have offered to do a talk at my old university’s 'employabilty fair' ten years after graduation, where am I now. With some advice on traps to avoid, how to make the transition from university to work life etc., with some anecdotes along the way type thing. Within the realms of software engineering.
The person who asked me to do the talk knows my current salary and thinks I should put this number on the first slide to grab their attention in a 'this is what you could aim for' type way. But I feel it's a bit crass. I don't mind sharing my salary with the students if they ask, but I think it's a bit odd to stick it on the first slide.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this that could help me make this decision?
### Update
I discussed this with some recent grads in my company, and they agreed that I should not put the salary in the talk. The talk ended up going over very well; no one asked about my salary and I didn't see anyone suddenly become more engaged after I pointed to the salaries in the Glassdoor table. Perhaps a couple students might have listened more intently if I had framed it as "I earn X and this is how you can do to" but I'm glad I didn't; the focus of my talk was for the students that love software engineering.<issue_comment>username_1: I would think you can share the salary "Range", but I, like you, would not put it on the first slide.
ie after 3 years experience you could expect xxx to yyy as a zzzzzz.
This answers a second question that the OP had in the original post, now edited:
Sometimes students like to hear about a "real" problem and "how" it was solved - that process is usually interesting and can give them a "focus" of why they have to study xxxx.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with you. I feel the request to put your salary on a slide (on the first slide, no less!) is rather unexpected, and quite frankly does not speak highly about the professionalism of your contact. I would decline this, for multiple reasons:
* Your salary is nobody's business. Not sure what more there is to say about this.
* Students are, for the largest part, intelligent adults. Many would take this exactly for what it's meant to be - rather crude marketing and hype generation. This would detract from the message you actually want to transport, and would undermine your following talk.
* Focusing so much on how much you make is arguably not the best way to motivate young people for a specific career path anyway. If you talk about why you love your job (if you do) will encourage more people than a six-digits salary number. More importantly, it will probably encourage the people who will actually be happy doing your job, not the ones who would end up wealthy and miserable.
You can of course provide a salary range as proposed by other answers, but I would not emphasize this point much (and base it on third-party data, such as [Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm), not just your own experience).
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Some universities (such as the one where I work) publish their pay scales. There's a level of abstraction between scale points and job titles but with a quick check of the salary bands in job adverts you could use the staff they're familiar with as a point of reference: "After a couple of years in industry I'm earning about as much as a lecturer". The audience can consider that useful information in itself, or they can go to the pay scales to see what range that works out to. In practice numbers on a salary don't necessarily mean all that much to undergrads anyway with taxes etc. to take into account, so a point of reference may be better anyway.
I use this approach myself as a postdoc with an industry job in the past.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: At most I would publish a range from glassdoor or some other online career place. I personally wouldn't put it on the first slide either.
Depending on where you live, you might end up selling the salary short or giving them a nearly impossible target. In most regions of the US (not sure if this applies in the UK), salaries are adjusted for cost of living. I make only half as much as one of the kids I went to school with: I live in a moderate cost of living area (rural New Hampshire), and he lives in New York City. When I moved to my current locale, I got a 20% "raise" that ended up being only a minor raise in my take home because my bills and whatnot are higher.
If you are trying to sell the profession, I might compare it with another field, something like "software engineers make xx% more than mechanical engineers" with a reference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As a statistician, I consider that an unrepresentative sample of one is unlikely to convey any useful information at all. You would mislead your audience if you presented them with such stuff.
Those of us with experience of the world know that amazingly high salaries are sometimes available to amazingly under-qualified people. So there is no point in presenting that stuff either.
What I wish someone had told me when I was aged about 20 is what kind of life goes with particular professions. So, in your case: what is it like to be a software engineer? Can you spend your whole career doing that? or, do you need to be on the lookout for something better/ less stressful / more stressful but better paid etc? Where do you hope to be in 10 years time? What is the career path? Is there a career path? If I do moderately well as a software engineer, what sort of place will I be living in?
Your actual salary is irrelevant.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I would not recommend you share your salary.
Instead, why do not try the approach of sharing the milestones you have achieved since graduation? Do not hide the struggles so you can empathize with your audience but also highlight why you do not regret studying at your University.
I am pretty sure you did not learn everything at the school, but some elements were key for you to be the person you are today.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: As far as I can see, none of the other answers mentions the UK aspect.
In the UK, you just don't go around asking people what their salary is. In this social context, if they're literally asking you to tell this class what you earn, that request is unreasonable. However, it would seem useful to include a typical salary for a position similar to yours. (Even if you don't think it's useful, the students don't have your experience and have a bunch of debt to pay off, so will most likely care a lot about this.)
That's a win-win: it avoids you having to reveal information that is considered very private in the UK, and it's actually more representative for the students. There are all kinds of reasons that your individual salary could be unusually high or low.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: Your salary is nobody's business and I don't see any reason to discuss it. I don't know what your field is, but in any case you should be able to generate interest to the profession using technical accomplishments and advancements. If not, don't go there to talk; apparently you have nothing to say ...
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: I see that the talk already occurred, so this answer may be of less value. Still I feel it is worthwhile to share;
As a former student I think sharing some kind of salary information would've been extremely appreciated. In University many people spoke of the "astronomical" amounts you could make and likewise the "terrible underpaying" that occurred in the industry.
The thing that almost never happened was hearing from a *real* working person about their *real* salary and explaining how they got there.
I think this could ground some students' expectations and raise others. And the ability to do this and offer a high quality analysis of how it happened, what career trajectory was needed, how you got that trajectory, how you aligned with your passions, what life principles you had that led to the outcome, etc. would make for a very interesting and more importantly useful talk that the general student population is starving for.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/05
| 577
| 2,511
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<issue_start>username_0: In my area of research distributing preprints of results is very common. Consider the following seqence of events:
* Group A finishes paper P, distributes it as a preprint and submits to a journal
* Group B posts related preprint Q
* Group A receives referee reports for paper P. Referee requests discussion/citation of Q.
* *Group A responds that Q came later and was not used in writing P, therefore no detailed discussion/citation necessary.*
* *Referee insists on discussion of Q in paper P*
Who is in the right?<issue_comment>username_1: Cite relevant literature
========================
Since you have the option of adding a citation to a relevant source, you should do it. It improves the paper by making it a more useful reference, and comparing and contrasting the results might also be useful.
Priority
========
If relevant, use a phrase like "A very recent preprint A claims this and that.", or even, if your results are very similar and you really need to emphasize priority, "During peer review of this article a preprint A was published. The preprint...".
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Who is in the right matters somewhat less than who is in control. Refusing the request of a referee possibly leads to rejection of the paper.
But you may not need an extended discussion of the other paper, but a notice that it exists and is related in -whatever- way. This is simply a service to readers who find one paper and are interested in the topic generally.
You seem to be insisting on a claim to primacy here, which may not be completely warranted. The work on the two papers, and the key insights, occurred more or less at the same time - independent research. The fact that one hit the streets a bit before the other is less important than that certain problems were solved and some questions have been answered. The earlier date of issue could occur for any number of random reasons. Had it gone the other way, how would you feel?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Citations are not simply for listing the papers you referred to while doing the work. "We didn't use this while writing the paper" is not a reason to not cite relevant material. Besides, you haven't even finished writing the paper – it's still being revised!
Whether or not the new paper requires a *detailed* discussion depends on its relation to your own. You should discuss it as much as you would if it had been available before you submitted your paper.
Upvotes: 4
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2019/03/05
| 2,686
| 10,846
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<issue_start>username_0: Abit about my background first: I'm currently undertaking a PhD but have previously worked in healthcare for around 4-5 years. During this time I developed a suite of code to produce results from clinical sequencing data (a NGS pipeline plus filtering steps).
Recently while looking for example PhD theses to use as the basis for my own write up I came across a recent PhD thesis that contained a reference to a github account, which contained code I had written.
The code in the repo is over 97% direct copy of code that I had produced while working in my previous employment - the remaining 3% appears to be a cut and paste of lines from my original pipeline into a popular pipeline management system.
**edit** *I should note here that this remaining 3% had previously been submitted by another ex-colleague as part of an external qualification - for which I was the internal assessor, this person claimed sole authorship at the time.*
**edit** *I should have noted that development of this code started a year **before** entering the employment that I mentioned, as part of a postgraduate qualification that I completed, submitted ironically - along with prototypes of the discussed code - to the same university. Just to clarify the IP issue, the university in question assigns ownership to the student in these cases.*
There is no direct reference to my own Github repo which contains the original code (with GNU public license) and no acknowledgment of my authorship (I am mentioned indirectly as a maintainer of the code elsewhere in the thesis). I had no knowledge that the author of thesis was using my code as part of their thesis.
The author of the thesis was in the same department as me, however was at no point involved in the development of the code while I was present. They have since submitted and passed their PhD and are now employed as a PostDoc in the same department.
I can show continuous development of the code over a period of 4 years previously via my Github logs. The author of the thesis has only a single commit and no history in the github logs.
The person in question has essentially written a PhD chapter based on analysis of sequencing data that I did. The code is just part of the story, since the person also claimed that in addition to writing the code they used the code to produce the results in that chapter. They didn't - since I know that I ran the batches in question (this was around 2 years of work).
What steps should I take (if any)!<issue_comment>username_1: Talk to your advisor.
Talk to the other student's advisor, with the support of your own. Or even have your own advisor make the complaint to the other.
Complain to GitHub.
But, most important, make sure that your own advisor will agree that this other, seemingly prior, work doesn't prejudice your own degree.
As to publishing, I'm pretty sure that the code supports your work, rather than being the *essence* of your work. If that is the case, as is normal, then the issue of plagiarism shouldn't affect your own ability to publish your own results.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Do nothing.
You provided some code that somehow ended up online.
That person has been the profit of your code, but I am sure a lot of what they did was more than just some code.
Be more generous.
If someone had used my code for successful research I would be pleased!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You want to accuse a peer of plagiarism on the basis of the following (emphasis added):
>
> I came across a recent PhD thesis that contained a reference to a github account, which contained code I had written...There is no direct reference to my own Github repo which contains the original code (with GNU public license) and no acknowledgment of my authorship (**I am mentioned indirectly as a maintainer of the code elsewhere in the thesis**).
>
>
>
You've stated that the accused has acknowledged you and, as stated in a [comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/125967/plagiarism-of-code-by-other-phd-student?noredirect=1#comment335170_125967), "GPL(v2,v3) does not require attribution," so the accused was not required to reference your Github repository from their own.
**This doesn't seem like plagiarism.**
Nonetheless, as noted by [Abion47](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/125967/plagiarism-of-code-by-other-phd-student?noredirect=1#comment335262_125977), I appreciate that the OP feels they have been wronged and the OP wants to understand what happened. This could perhaps be achieved with a little digging, e.g., by emailing the accused and asking questions, by sitting down with accused, ... For such a strategy to work, the OP must enter the dialogue without any pre-assumptions of guilt: Listen to the accused, hear their story.
---
*Response to comments by the OP*:
>
> The indirect mention of my name is as a maintainer not the sole developer
>
>
>
This seems like a minor quibble over the accused's word choice.
>
> Please note my emphasis on sole developer of the original code
>
>
>
The accused has not claimed to be the developer of the code (at least, that's not mentioned in the original question).
>
> The mention is in a different chapter and is not in the Github repo
>
>
>
If the mention is in an earlier chapter, then that surely suffices (code has been attributed to you, the owner), otherwise, well, it should have been, but that's easily explained away (e.g., due to changing the order of chapters). Regarding Github, we've established that you didn't require a mention.
---
*Response to comments regarding* maintainer *vs.* developer:
>
> I'm shocked that this answer is [highly rated]. Being mentioned as a "maintainer" is nowhere near the same thing as being the sole developer. We can talk about technicalities all day, but the other student is clearly being deceptive.
>
>
>
and
>
> I agree with the others in the comments here complaining about it--this person is certainly being dishonest by referring to the actual author as the "maintainer".
>
>
>
Wikipedia offers the following definitions:
* A [software developer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_developer) is a person concerned with facets of the software development process, including the research, design, programming, and testing of computer software.
* A [software maintainer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_maintainer)...is usually one or more people who build source code into a binary package for distribution, commit patches, or organize code in a source repository
I appreciate that software developer is the more appropriate term. However, the accused's first language mightn't be English and the accused (presumably) isn't an expert in software engineering (they work in clinical sequencing).
I really do not think that using maintainer as opposed to developer is a big deal. I certainly would not make a plagiarism case on the basis of a misused term.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: This is a tricky one. It probably sounds like academic plagiarism, but your licensing concerns are probably not going to resolve the problem at the core of this. There's two sides to this, the academic (plagiarism) side and the commercial (licensing) side. They're almost entirely separate, so I'm going to break them up.
---
**Academic/Plagiarism Claim**
>
> The code in the repo is over 97% direct copy of code that I had produced while working in my previous employment...
>
>
>
Without attribution, this is plagiarism, and *may* be grounds to have the PhD rescinded, but this would be a serious procedure as it's likely to have life-altering affects on the PhD student in question. You'd need to be 100% sure of what you're doing and the validity of your claims going into this. Even if the case was black and white (which I don't think this one necessarily is), the student's University isn't going to take rescinding a PhD lightly as it reflects badly on them.
Additionally, it sounds like there is a some attribution within the work:
>
> The indirect mention of my name is as a maintainer not the sole developer
>
>
>
...which might well be sufficient for the University to write this off as a referencing error, maybe requiring the student to make a small addendum to their thesis.
>
> The code is just part of the story, since the person also claimed that in addition to writing the code they used the code to produce the results in that chapter. They didn't - since I know that I ran the batches in question (this was around 2 years of work).
>
>
>
If you can prove it, the experiments that they claim to have run, that you performed while under the employ of their department are probably your strongest leg to stand on here. But you'd have to have good evidence, and be able to show they haven't run the experiments themselves. If yours were not published previously, and they've generated the data themselves using your code, this may well be null and void.
---
**Commercial/Licensing Claim**
The licensing perspective of this is completely separate to the plagiarism side - if the work was published as GPL, they can basically do what they like with it, without attribution, **provided that any code based upon it remains GPL**. This bit is important, as it's probably where you have a leg to stand on, based on this comment:
>
> although the person has also removed the GPL from the repo, which I thought was against the license terms
>
>
>
That is absolutely in breach of the terms, which is why most industrial entities won't touch GPL code with a bargepole (due to what's commonly called "license bleed").
Based on this, you might have a valid claim to get their repo pulled, but that's not going to solve your actual problem.
Again, from the comments:
>
> ...I feel that the supervisor (who used to be my boss)...
>
>
>
I understand this to mean that the PhD student in question is supervised by your old boss, which means you had a contract with their institution. Depending on the contract you had with them, they could therefore own all the rights to it regardless, making your initial GPL license in breach of your contract with them without prior stated agreement. This wouldn't affect the legitimacy of your plagiarism complaint, as that's a genuine academic concern, but might affect how the department deals with your request.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: If code was produced under ***another employment*** then this question is not mainly about academic plagiarism but rather about potentially theft of intellectual property from this company. Either by you if you used it without being allowed to by your previous employer or by this other student who hadn't asked neither this company nor you.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/05
| 511
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<issue_start>username_0: When applying to grad school, I did not think enough about the requirements of disclosing past education. I failed to disclose a school I attended because it was so short and brief and I received all W's, there is no GPA, but there is a transcript. I did not realize how big a mistake this was at the time. Now, I have been notified of acceptance from the department, still waiting official acceptance from the institute, and I am very nervous that this will all get messed up. What should I do? Tell the school? Decline offer and reapply next year with correct info?<issue_comment>username_1: Given that grades weren't assigned, there is no way to evaluate your work based on the transcript. I doubt that it matters much whether you inform them or not. Full transparency would suggest that you do, of course.
But if all the grades are W, meaning "withdrew", you might need to explain why.
They have judged that your supplied material is sufficient to decide you a candidate for success. I don't see how the additional information can change that. The same would be true of any informal self-learning you engaged in.
But, IMO, it is a pure judgement call. If you don't tell them and are called on it, your explanation here would likely be sufficient. If you do tell them it would be a bit of embarrassment, but not a deal killer.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Your options seem to be: tell them, don't tell them and hope for the best, or withdraw.
If you tell them, the worst that can happen is they revoke your admission and invite you to reapply next year. If you withdraw, this will happen for sure. So, I wouldn't even consider withdrawing.
I usually suggest not over-analyzing things, but in this case, I wouldn't just let the sleeping dog lie. You don't want this hanging over your head for the rest of your career. So, I would just send a brief e-mail saying exactly what you did above (and just as concisely) and asking how to proceed. I expect they will say that they will update your record and do not anticipate any problems -- but you should prepare for the worst-case scenario just in case.
Upvotes: 2
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| 740
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<issue_start>username_0: A student asked for a homework extension due to unforeseen circumstances in their personal life. I am generally accommodating about this type of thing if they come to me in a timely manner, but this student did not follow up until a week after the homework was originally due. (It is online homework, so I have to re-open the homework in order for them to work on it again.) I asked him to email me which sections he missed and he did not.
He spoke with me in person again two weeks later and again I told him that it was fine, but that he needed to email me right away and come to me in a timely manner about these types of things in the future, or else I would not be so accommodating. This was the end of the class week, so I was planning on giving him the weekend to work on these assignments and have him turn them in at the beginning of the next week.
However, he did not email me until the night before our class, so I would have to give him time this week to complete the assignments instead. At this point, the assignments were due over a month ago, so I am wondering if it is reasonable for me to tell him that he is no longer able to complete the assignment since he waited 4 more days to email me.<issue_comment>username_1: This would, to me, seem to depend not on dates and length of delay, but on the reasons behind them. I can easily see deciding in either direction, based on what the student gives for an explanation.
Everything may be perfectly explainable, including not sending emails. Or you could decide that the student was just slacking. But base your decision on the reasons, as best you can determine them, not just the time factor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The answer all depends on **why** the student was asking for an extension. Are they in and out because their parent is in the hospital, or were they just out with a cold the first time?
I do not think it's ever fair to email and say "you can no longer turn in this assignment," unless you have already given him a hard deadline. It sounds like you didn't explicitly say "Please let me know what sections you missed by Friday, and I will give you the weekend to turn in the assignment." Then you'd have a leg to stand on (lessons for next time!).
I would either a) tell him given the time that's elapsed, you'll drop the assignment for him, if your gradebook allows that; or b) give him a hard deadline, which could be quite short.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I have a late assignment policy in my syllabi that usually state something like "any late assignment will be penalized 10% of the total possible points every day it's late". Which means that after 10 days, the assignment is worthless points-wise.
With that said, I generally do grant extensions provided the student explains to me promptly why an assignment is late (via email or in person), and try to work out a reasonable new due date. I find that students who try to game this end up doing poorly anyway, either because they leave the assignment until the last minute, never turn the assignment in anyway, or this is the one assignment they do well on and do poorly on much of the other components of the course.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/05
| 1,445
| 5,896
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a finishing PhD student in Mathematical Physics in a very good and prestigious EU University. I have excellent publishing record, including a single authored technical paper, have been awarded international fellowships and awards and have given invited talks in places like UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford, Rutgers.
My referees except for my supervisor are world known, matching the top of the top. My supervisor is very mild, not very expressive and relatively young but excellent scientist and known in his field of expertise.
Nevertheless for a long time I got no postdoc offers although I applied to nearly 60 places. At some point I applied for three places informally without having to provide my supervisors letter and I got 3/3 offers (plus one more I had to decline for technical reasons).
This got me really worried. One of the people who offered me job told me that the letter of my supervisor was not bad at all but it was not written in a "strong language" that would convince somebody to hire me. He told me he has seen "much stronger letters" especially from supervisors from Italy, Spain, USA and Russia.
In these 3 successful offers I had in two cases I had known from before the principal investigators and I had given talks at their departments. They both were more than happy to offer me directly a job.
Isn't it weird that my supervisor did not have any role in these successes and as a matter of fact isn't it plausible that his letter is simply not well written (I am his first PhD student) and this was the reason I did not get offers from all those initial places? Not even our collaborator gave me a job offer or at least shortlisted me.
I just want some opinions and also maybe to let this note exist here for other people who might get frustrated.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. Yes it is "weird".
2. You sound like a hot runner. Please feel good about yourself.
3. Make it happen for yourself. Please. At the end of the day, you need to leave this advisor, far far behind in the dust. Go get an offer on your own. Adapt, overcome. You are good enough to do it!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: [edited following OP's comment]
It might not be the reason, but it looks to me like you had a "quantity over quality" approach in your applications. It might depend on the domain, but I find it hard to believe that each of these 60 positions you applied for really fits your profile; and I doubt it's humanly possible to carefully adapt each application to the project for so many cases.
Postdoc jobs are very specialized, it's important to target the ones which really fit your interests and skills, and to make this visible in your application. For example it's often a good idea to contact the PI to ask questions, make them aware (and convinced) of your interest and discuss the details of the project.
Nevertheless it's true that there is something to investigate about all these refusals, especially in contrast to the acceptances you received. I'd suggest that you simply ask the PIs who refused you what was the problem with your application. Some of them probably won't reply or give you a standard answer, but it's worth trying: their feedback might answer your doubts about this letter, or might point to another issue that you were not aware of.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is possible that your supervisor just gets misinterpreted. S/he might be trying to say that you are the best of the best, but writes it in such a way that it is easy to misinterpret.
Suppose, for example, that you got a letter that said "Marion knows more about Calculus than anyone else in the world." How would you interpret that?
(If you aren't a mathematician, "Calculus" can be interpreted as just a first university course. Thus, it reads like "Damning with faint praise")
This happened and resulted in a lot of pain. It isn't a hypothetical example. The example is close to the actual quote.
Suppose you later learn that the writer, not a native English speaker, is a foremost authority on mathematical analysis and one of the best mathematicians in his country and the world and is a direct mathematical descendant of Landau (Weierstraß, Gauss, etc.) and by "Calculus" he really means "Real Analysis and the Theory of Functions". It was just a language and interpretation issue that the candidate didn't learn about for years.
This was only revealed when a colleague of the writer happened to see a copy of the letters sent and gave an better interpretation. But, by then, it was too late.
I would suggest this, which would have made the above case moot. Try to arrange that someone trusted by both you and your advisor can review the letter and give feedback. Best would be one of his/her colleagues. You don't need to know the results of their discussions, but if you are in a similar situation, you will probably get better letters and your advisor will learn to write better letters.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It sounds as though you may have run into a (parts of) Europe vs US cultural difficulty, as noted [here](https://twitter.com/academicssay/status/806825718579601408) and [here](https://theprofessorisin.com/2016/09/07/how-to-write-a-recommendation-letter/).
The author of the the second link says it better than I could:
>
> American letters of recommendation, like American tenure file external
> review letters, must be entirely and energetically and overtly
> positive (but without degenerating into gushing or encomium).
> “Objective” and “realistic” are not qualities of this genre of
> writing. As a department head, I had more than one tenure case almost
> derailed by European external review letters that very reasonably
> provided a “strengths and weaknesses” assessment of the candidate. In
> the U.S. context, there can be no mention of weaknesses.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/05
| 1,121
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Masters' student in maths and it's close to my thesis oral defense. As such, I'm preparing my slides to present them. However, I'm feeling that my presentation has too many slides (albeit my equations are quite long as well), but at the same time I'm afraid of handwaving things too much if I omit some prrofs and such. To add more doubts, I watched a friend's defense and it was quite smooth, but later he told me there was 96 slides.
How do I decide if my thesis is getting too long? Is there some time metric (like time per slide) that can help? Is it OK if I omit the proofs of my theorems (and only mention the ideas of demonstrations while I'm talking)?
I saw some other questions and articles around, but I wanted some advice more related to mathematics, where rigorous proofs are expected and equations can get quite long.
**Edit:** It seems I have 45-60 minutes to present all the content, however I see fit (no presentation templates and such)<issue_comment>username_1: Your advisor is the best source of an answer for this. I suspect you have something like an hour (maybe less) to present, followed by questions. You don't likely need to present details of any lemmas, but should outline proofs of main theorems. At least give a hint as to the direction someone would follow if they wanted to try to reproduce your work.
If you say too little, you will get more questions, so be prepared to fill in detail if you don't include it in the talk. But the ones who will judge your work are already experienced in your general area, so may not need as much detail as other people might if it is a public talk.
But the *insights* into your work are much more important than the detail, which can get quite pedantic.
But you can also do a trial run a few days before the talk, presenting your work to a toy duck or to a friend or two. In the latter case, you will get some feedback on it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I would aim for 30-45 minutes for oral presentation. 20 slides max. Let the committee pick at it if they want--perhaps they don't want! If they pick, just explicate, using the chalkboard.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: The norms for defences vary a lot between universities and sometimes even between different subfields within the same department (e.g., applied and pure math). Therefore only your supervisor or somebody else who is familiar with the customs of your department will be able to answer:
* How much time you have.
* Whether detailed proofs will be expected or not.
* What you can expect your audience to know.
Given that you already attended a defence at your department, your guess is already better than what you can possibly get from the Internet.
As for the length of your talk, there is only one reliable way to find out: Test it, ideally with a human audience. If we knew your style and such, we might give you a minute-per-slide estimate, but a test talk is much more accurate and something you should do anyway. If any possible, get feedback from somebody from your group on your slides and also what you say.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: How long should your presentation be? **Find out your institution’s instructions + guidelines!** We absolutely can’t answer this part for you; every institution will have its own timetable and expectations, and you must find out what those are and follow them. How to find these? You can try asking your advisor, asking the general co-ordinator for your department’s thesis presentations, and looking for instructions in the department’s website or handbook.
And for the subsequent question, how many slides? This is just a part of a much bigger question: how to write and give a good presentation? As you get experience of presenting, you’ll develop a personal style, and the rate of slides will be part of that, but just as a guideline to start with: **a typical rate is one slide every 1–2 minutes.** Personally I prefer aiming for the slower end of that, one slide per 2 minutes (e.g. 12–15 slides for a half-hour presentation, allowing time for questions at the end); it forces you to keep the slides down to just the key points, not overloading the audience with more than they can read, and gives you time to expand on the slides with what you say in person. **Having too many slides, and too much on them, is a much more common problem than having too few slides.** But, again, finding a rate of slides that suits you is part of the bigger issue of finding a presentation style that suits you; and that’s a very big and fun problem to work on, but not one with a simple answer.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a biology student working in a laboratory. I am planning to submit a solo author paper to a journal/book. I conceived the work, drafted and revised it.
My question is if I need to include my laboratory head as a co-author. He was not involved in conceiving the work, drafting the paper and revising it. However, I did generate the data in his laboratory. Am I obliged to add him as a co-author because I work in his laboratory?
I have previously submitted solo author papers for books. But, I don't want to run into any troubles, so I am wondering what the right thing to do is.
Eager to hear your thoughts.<issue_comment>username_1: In many of the lab sciences it has become customary, and even required, that the PI of the lab is a co-author on all papers produced by those working in the lab, usually as the last listed author.
It would probably be thought unusual if you were to break this "tradition". It might even cost you in your relationship with the PI in the future.
The rationale for this is that the PI has probably done the work to get the lab funded and sets general direction for the work in the lab. Many of the ideas generated by those working there may come indirectly from others, including some insights from the head.
I don't know if this is the situation in your lab, but suspect that it is since you are asking the question. In such cases it is probably wise to go along to preserve the collegial relationships that can benefit you in your future.
You may question the fairness of this, and many do, but if it is required by the meta rules, you are a bit stuck. Ask your colleagues in the lab what is the proper approach. If they say to include the head, and you would rather not do so, then I'd advise asking the PI for permission to publish a paper on your own. I'd follow the advise given if for no better reason than self protection.
---
I'll note that in some labs many people are listed as co-author even though they have little contribution to the intellectual content of the paper. But they, in some way, enable the work and so are listed as co-authors.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Ask yourself if you could have done the work without the assistance, direct or indirect, of the head.
I do assume a minimal interaction between members of the lab/group and at least between you and the head. If you pursued a research out of black I don't really know how to answer. It wouldn't be a normal situation.
Did you rise the funds for your salary or are you a permanent researcher with at least a fixed allowance? This allows more freedom.
Opposite if the founds are coming from the head's applications, considered how hard s/he may have worked to secure that. Likely, details aside, your activity and results correlate at least with the scientific content of those successful applications.
What about consumables and equipment? What about the presence of a group and how that impacted or even just motivated your work?
What is supposed to be the role of the head on your activity? Merely an administrator of resources? And at which level?
Consider that the simple fact that you conducted an independent research can be seen as positive, as for lot of researchers struggle with lack of autonomy.
For instance, deserving finances and time machine to a certain research can be see as a factual collaboration. As a group or lab head I would not let those be used to something that I would not consider really worth of investigation. At the end in a perfect environment your current doubt should not have even emerged, as it should be clear a priori what are the freedom of single researchers (which ideally should be almost unlimited within the field but it cannot be unless you have your own allowance) and expectations.
I do realised that there could be (there are) concerns about considering all the above as a scientific contribution, but it is also true that almost every action (or absence of) of the head of a lab in biology, chemistry, and other hardware disciplines, not only influences the outcomes of research, but often permits the research to be conducted at first.
Depending on the type of lab and economical situation, I would personally be glad to have the head as a coauthor.
A specific answer might depends on a lot of variables, which not surprisingly are even personal and based on the atmosphere at the working place rather than scientific or economic. But it is customary for a head to be in most if not all the papers produced by *his/her group*. Different is the case when papers are outcomes of *his/her lab*, and this distinction is contingent to each situation.
Finally, and less general, personally and depending on career stage, I would simply go to him/her and look for an opinion. I wouldn't be surprise of an answer like "go solo, you are young and it will makes a nice display" or "I did nothing\*,go ahead just thank me for discussions". It is a real possibility, too.
What I would not do, is to submit without the other members of the group knowing. It would be at least strange if we do not profit of discussions with other scientists/researchers we have around every days, even more considering we are travelling to conferences overseas to discuss with others. As such, I would go through the above step (discussion with the head) anyway, and I will get a direct opinion or I could infere his/her expectations.
\*even if s/he obtained the funds.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It's customary in some disciplines like medicine to nominally include people in purely managerial or supervisory roles as authors, although in fact they were not the author of the paper in any meaningful sense of the term.
While the fairness of this custom is questionable, it is hard to challenge as a matter of fact, if you work in a discipline where this is considered normal. In medicine, I would not bother to raise a stink. In physics, it may depend on your lab/institute (I don't really know). In the social sciences, a blanket demand by your PI to be included as author is unusual. You normally wouldn't be asked, and if you were asked, you would have a good chance to challenge the demand successfully.
In any case, it's a good idea to resolve expectations surrounding authorship before submitting the paper, perhaps even before starting to work on it. Pragmatically, I would ask my colleagues about the general customs at your institute, and then your PI, if needed.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Besides other reasons and suggestions you should strongly consider the specific authorship guidelines of the journal that you are considering to submit to. Most journals have relatively specific guidelines, and they generally discourage "given/honorary" authorships quite strongly. One good starting point (partially depending on your subject) is the [guidelines from ICMJE](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html) (International committee of medical journal editors). Even though they might sound specific to the field, many other journals and guidelines point to them for guidance and inspiration.
In the ICMJE guidelines, being a lab head or funder of research by itself clearly does not qualify you for authorship, but it is information that should be included in the acknowledgements:
>
> Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Examples of activities that alone (without other contributions) do not qualify a contributor for authorship are acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group or general administrative support; and writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, and proofreading.
>
>
>
However, having said all this, you should clearly also just ask your lab head if it is ok that you submit the paper as a solo author. Maybe there isn't a problem? If he/she pushes for being included, then you need to carefully consider the ethics and politics of the issue, as well as the authorship guideline rules of the journal.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/06
| 1,146
| 4,666
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<issue_start>username_0: There are lots of questions on here about dealing with Imposter Syndrome throughout the whole Ph.D. experience. I have struggled with Imposter Syndrome throughout my whole Ph.D., but was able to manage it through a supportive adviser who thinks the world of my work. However, this is changing now. I am on the job hunt (graduating this spring with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics - my research is sort of straddling the line between applied math and computer science, although my masters and bachelors are both in pure math) and I am focused on teaching-oriented schools, and have a diverse teaching background (with overwhelmingly positive teaching evaluations).
I have applied to many jobs. I have gotten a decent number of first round interviews (phone, skype/zoom, conference interviews at the Joint Math Meetings) but only one on campus interview so far. And still waiting to hear back from them (probably not the top candidate judging by the time). The job most interested in me right now is a job I was qualified for with just my masters - and I only have unofficial word on that, hearing things through the grapevine. There has also been countless rejections of the form-letter variety.
Sorry for the rambling. Long story short, I struggled with Imposter Syndrome through the Ph.D., was built up by a supportive adviser and finally was feeling like I actually did belong in academia, and now the complete lack of job prospects is just making me feel like it was all a mistake somehow. Somehow I slipped through this far, but nobody will actually want me on faculty.
Those of you who have been here before - how did you personally deal with feeling not good enough after all this work? The way I'm feeling is interfering with me finishing typing my dissertation, because I'm feeling like there is no point. How can I snap out of this enhanced imposter syndrome?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. You need to pump yourself up. Concentrate on your positives and don't think about your negatives. If you are more confident, you interview better. It won't change something radically (if you are not competitive), but it will help you on the margin. Plus it feels better.
2. The job market is a more objective and larger data assessment of you. So it is natural that you may be concerned, especially versus a comforting advisor. But look at it as a challenge. If you go at it head on, you do better. Nothing to lose anyhow.
[Good luck.]
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Actually user Bob Brown has the germ of the answer in his comment. Having imposter syndrome doesn't mean that you are an imposter. It is a mental condition, nothing more. There are many such conditions that can serve as handicaps at your stage of career. Extreme introversion is another. Even, oddly, is breaking your leg so that travel becomes impossible for a while.
How do you deal with these things? The answer is "Every day, little by little".
Imposter syndrome affects how you feel, but it doesn't have any necessary effect on *what you do*. You can become the success you'd like to be if you just act as if you don't have these feelings. "Fake it till you make it" is actually good advice for such things.
You need to send out letters and get letters of recommendation and make your case for your success in a job whether you feel confident about it or not. So, just do that. If you also feel like it is just a waste of time because you aren't worthy then it will only become a self-fulfilling prophesy if you let the feeling affect your actions.
But if all you need, right now, is to feel better about yourself, then I'd suggest going back to that advisor and asking for her/his most honest assessment of your skills/position/prospects/whatever. Just a little dopamine hit to keep you smiling while you write those dam' letters.
My issue, actually, was the extreme introversion thing. It held me back until I got some advice that said "ignore it". Act like an extrovert. It was hard and took a long time, but few people other than my spouse think of me as introverted anymore.
In your case, just ask yourself, how would I act if I weren't an imposter? Then do that.
(every day, little by little)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I don't have the experience of applying for professorships/postdocs but many of my friends did. They are mostly in math or applied math. ALL of them applied to postdoc first, even if some of them are graduated from top US school. Many of them landed a postdoc position only after sending out 100 applications. None of them go straight into professorship.
Just my 2 modest cents.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: For a department focused more on industrial interactions, will going to work in industry for a while before applying for a faculty position in that department be recommended/helpful?<issue_comment>username_1: I would think that you should consider a somewhat different question. What is the best path for me, now, to obtain a faculty position later? You probably have several options and each of them takes some time to implement. Which is the best path if the goal is to become a productive faculty member?
The two main pathways would, perhaps, be more education and some time in industry. Either can probably be good, but I would suggest that further/deeper education is probably going to be more valued than industry experience, with one exception.
If you were to find a unique, cutting-edge, industry position that puts you in contact with top-level research and development in an area that is seen as vital at the time, then that would be a nice thing to brag about on your CV. But working as a drudge in some mid-level outfit won't really help you advance *in academia*. These top-level positions are pretty rare, and may not be open to you with your current background.
Note that the top-level industry experience I'm mentioning is the sort of thing that you can bring back to the university to build a research program an/or give important advantages to students.
I think it is easier to find a way to stand out in the educational realm if that is where you want to be eventually, than it is to go and then transition back with the same level of excellence. But that is more opinion than fact, of course.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you describe the field a little more, people can advise better. Perhaps there are still generalizations (helpful to others), but also you will get some tailored answers.
But I will say in general that even in rather applied subjects (chemistry, geology, engineering, etc.) that it is the norm not to have much industry experience. Even in topics like business. Doesn't mean it will hurt you per se. Or that there is nothing leverage-able. But the Academy seems to value the Academy (not saying they are right or wrong to do so).
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/06
| 875
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently applied to a fairly prestigious PhD programme in the UK and a very short time after receiving a confirmation email I was rejected. The requirements were listed as a 2.1 in an undergraduate degree, which I do not have (I got a 2.2) however I am currently studying for a relevant postgraduate masters and expect to get a good grade. I also have a large amount of research experience through internships and work experience.
I know programmes of this sort are very competitive and there could simply have been more qualified applicants but the length of time between my application being received and rejected makes me think that they didn't really look at it, just made a decision based on my undergraduate grade.
My question is, am I being far too ambitious with PhD applications and will my masters degree and relevant experience be overshadowed by my poor undergraduate grade?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> The requirements were listed as a 2.1 in an undergraduate degree, which I do not have (I got a 2.2)
>
>
>
You'll receive "desk rejects" from institutes that insist on this requirement. However, since
>
> I am currently studying for a relevant postgraduate masters and expect to get a good grade.
>
>
>
Your undergraduate degree might be ignored by some institutes, in favour of your postgraduate degree.
Also, rather than approaching an institute, try approaching potential supervisors. They'll know how to navigate their institution's rules.
You should also consider whether a PhD is for you. You don't have the required grades. Perhaps something went wrong during your undergraduate degree; perhaps you'll achieve better grades during your postgraduate degree. This is perhaps something you've already thought about.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I'm not a big fan of minimum requirements, but if any institution has them, then you have to meet them or you get immediately rejected as you see. But perhaps you just need to look around a bit more to see which programs you *actually do* qualify for. Make application to those and see what happens.
Further education may help you, of course, in getting admitted to a doctoral program, provided that you do well enough to meet the standards.
Many institutions will weight your most recent educational results higher than older ones, so the undergraduate experience means less as you go along, provided that you improve.
But if you have only applied to one program then you haven't really explored the landscape of what might be open to you. I'd suggest you look further along with your current studies. You may be in a better position than you know.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: An *expected* 2.1 in an undergraduate degree might be enough for a Masters but not for a direct jump to a PhD. A 2.2 is extremely difficult, in my view, especially under heavy competition with decent Masters holders. Not meeting minimum requirements is a quick and easy way to screen a large amount of applications, so do not be surprised if you cannot make it past admin.
The cases I know that moved from an undergraduate to a PhD relate to very strong candidates with practical/ real world knowledge of the area, that would be able to bring in practical skills and hit the ground running. An example is a candidate who was the creator, assembler and seller of a certain device, at the level where it would justify a patent. This covers more than just work experience - it brings in applied knowledge which does not need to gained via trial-and-error during the PhD, especially if it is industry funded.
If you do not have something very tangible to demonstrate, I would advise you to focus on further education.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/06
| 1,169
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<issue_start>username_0: As stated in the title (an IEEE conference). Does this create a conflict of interest antithetical to the reviewing process? Is it possible that accepting or refusing to review could jeopardise the chances of one's own paper being accepted?<issue_comment>username_1: Assuming the papers are part of a blind peer-review process, I've never seen an example of this cited as a conflict of interest. Doesn't mean it isn't a potential conflict; I haven't come across this as such.
What would the conflict be in this regard? Are you worried about providing accurate feedback on papers? Usually, as a reviewer, there's a system in place whereby you're not just saying "yes" or "no" without giving written feedback.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: No, there is no conflict. Your advice will be backed up or not by other reviewers. Likely the conference committee already knows that you are also a submitter.
But if you want double assurance of this, just send a note to the program chair that you have also submitted. If they see any issue, they will deal with it.
Just give an honest review as you would in any case. And trust that your paper will be accepted or not on its merits. Of course, there is quite a lot of competition, but that is always true.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I see no reason why it would be a conflict of interest. An analogous question would be if there is a conflict of interest in you reviewing papers in a journal you might publish in. Given that other conference attendees are in the same/similar field as you, and are interested in a good conference, those attendees would seem to be the ideal group to pull reviewers from.
In conferences where I've seen the sausage being made, accepting to review gains no advantage. Refusing any and all review requests will ultimately be viewed as rude, but will not disadvantage you in having your paper accepted. (Invitations for invited talks and membership on the conference committee may well be hindered, however.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I've reviewed for many CS conferences and never seen one that has a conflict of interest policy saying that people who've submitted a paper can't review. I'm sure I've reviewed papers for conferences I've submitted to. Yes, there is the slight conflict that a negative review for some other paper will likely mean a higher chance of yours being accepted, but it's going to look mighty suspicious if the reviews for a paper are "accept", "accept", "accept", "strong reject" and the "strong reject" just happens to come from a competitor.
I think I would decline to review a paper that was on a topic very close to my own submission because a positive review might be seen as "Oh, he's just hyping the subject so we think his own paper's awesome, too" and a negative review as "Oh, he's just trying to kill off the competition." At the very least, I'd check that the PC member who asked me to review was aware that I'd submitted a paper on the same topic. And you can always check that the PC member is happy for you to review.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: In conferences, even selective ones, the conflict of interest (as long as you do not review the paper of a past or current supervisor or supervised or obvious ally or enemy) is minimal. Also, good conferences concentrate the main experts on the field, so it would be very difficult to run it if they would perceive their reviews as conflict of interest.
This is quite different from reviewing for project proposals programs to which you submitted yourself. In these typically the total budget is very restrictive, and you are effectively placed in immediate antagonistic relation with all other submitters. Or else, if you end up being honest and recommend someone else's proposal in such a setting, if your own proposal ends up being rejected, you will keep asking yourself whether it was not your own recommendation of a competitor's that killed it. Or if you reject theirs, it is never clear how objective your judgement was.
And yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, it does occur that people are expressly and emphatically asked to review for calls to which they themselves submitted (e.g. because expertise is so scarce).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: On the contrary, the IEEE conferences I am involved with (robotics and controls), explicitly expect authors to provide 2-3 reviews per paper submitted.
Reviews are not being submitted in a vacuum -- each paper gets multiple reviews, mediated by layers of editorial oversight. The downside risk of trying to game the system by submitting unwarranted bad reviews (losing the respect of senior members of your research community) far outweighs the minuscule potential benefits (the tiny chance that your paper is on the dividing edge of a hard quota line, such that bumping one other paper down bumps you over the line [if such a ranking/quota even exists], and that your bad review of an otherwise decent paper will tip the balance enough on it to bump it down when combined with the other reviews).
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/06
| 1,019
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a layman with a series of questions regarding chemical engineering. I'd prefer to contact my alma mater and contact someone there - is there a protocol for doing that? Is this an unusual thing?<issue_comment>username_1: It isn't really unusual, and most places will be willing to talk to you informally. You could call the department office and let them know of your interest and desire to speak to someone who might be able to help.
Note, however, that people are busy but also schedule regular office hours so you would probably, then make an appointment with the person suggested.
If it is just a few questions there shouldn't be any issue, but if it is more extensive, you might want to enter into a consulting relationship which would require payment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not unusual for professors to receive questions from people outside of academia, and many are happy to share their expertise with others.
In general I think an email would be the best way to communicate with them if you have specific questions in mind. Keep your email concise and professional, bearing in mind that they receive numerous emails every day and may not have time to parse lengthy paragraphs. If you find it difficult to make your email brief and are looking for more of a discussion, you could contact them and see if they are available for an office-hours style meeting.
I suggest doing some cursory research on the university’s website on which person would be best suited to answer your specific queries. You do not have to worry too much about finding the most perfect person in the department, but it will likely benefit you more if you take this preliminary step. Additionally, be sure to manage your expectations by keeping in mind that professors hold a busy schedule and may not be able to devote time away from their duties; you may want to have more than one person in mind.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: the proper way to reach a university with an academic question is to search contact us tab form their university and look for email address, e-mail them with proper query.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Based on your question history (e.g. in physics) and your job (software), I don't see a good basis for you to have a conversation with a chemE academic, on new reactions. It is VERY likely that you waste his time. Or get, properly, brushed off, before having the chance.
It's not even like you are coming from a refinery and know some practical things but may be weak on some theory, so that you can supply part of the problem and the academic can supply other part. It's a lot more likely you are wasting the person's time with some idea to make energy like Meatloaf in Roadie (the Blondie movie).
If you're not going to ask questions on SE (I think you should, to educate yourself), than I advise to use your network (Linkedin, 2nd degree) to find someone in the chemical industry (they got a lot of that in Texas) to talk to. He may not perfectly educate you either, but it least it gets you started. But honestly, I think this will be much more a case of you getting up to speed, on even basic variables, from a naive starting point, than of your synthesis itself needing exploration.
For that matter, chemE academics can be very narrow (getting their position for a thesis in one small experiment) and not even very broad on how industrial chemistry works. Not all of them of course. And it is also likely that many of your questions or ideas are extremely simple (and misguided) and can be a addressed by anyone with basic understanding of thermo, kinetics, etc. But if your questions WERE worthwhile, it would be more important for you to find the right expert. And you strike me as lacking the knowledge even to recognize subfields, etc.
-source: piled higher and deeper and several years in chemical industry, plus both engineering and financial consulting at several plants. BD and R&D, new products, existing, inorganic and organic. And there are still VAST swathes of the G-damned thing I don't know...but I know enough to know I don't know and to start researching any new area. But you're a software guy with a chemical idea--really not that far from a crank. Nice guy, I can tell. But you need to know what you don't know.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/07
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<issue_start>username_0: If you see old pre-TeX-era classic research papers, technical articles and books the figures still look pretty good. They seem to be hand drawn but with some components of computerization.
For example see this CRAY-1 document: <http://bitsavers.org/pdf/cray/CRAY-1/CRAY-1_Brochure_1975.pdf>
How were these figures created? What tools did folks use to create and then place them into the paper or book?<issue_comment>username_1: This depends on the age in which the papers were developed. In the computer age there have been graphics programs going back to somewhere in the 1950's so it is possible that they were created on a computer. Possibly using vector graphics.
But note that the machines on which early programs ran were large and expensive.
Earlier than that, and overlapping with the computer age, artists were employed by publishers to create graphics using the same sort of tools that architects and "draftsmen" used. The [French Curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_curve) was common and every student in a course in mechanics (physics) had one to help prepare homework. Actually artists may still be employed, but they tend to use computer tools now, rather than manual ones.
Math and physics undergraduates needed to be quite adept at graphing functions by hand, but these were a bit too crude for publishing. Hence artists.
To extend it a bit, even in the 1970's mathematics papers needing formulae and equations with any complexity were prepared by hand by skilled typists using specialized typewriters. The special symbols, hundreds of them, were on individual wands that were inserted into the typewriter under the striker. The glyph was struck and then the wand removed so the next one could be inserted. The typists worked from hand written papers prepared by the author.
For publishing, pages were prepared in sets of, say, 16 and printed using something like the [lithographic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography) process. The 16 (or whatever) pages printed together became a "signature" and these were prepared and the sewn together to make a volume. High quality books often still use sewn signatures, which you can see by looking at a closed book from the top or bottom - the "spine". You can also see the threads used to sew the signatures. See [Book Binding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinding) for example.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This question has an implicit assumption that TeX graphics are the only form of computer graphics. They are not now (for the vast majority of office workers) nor have they been so traditionally. It would be better to say how were figures done, pre computer graphics, not pre-TeX.
FYI: I do all my figures in Excel, PPT or specific programs like an Xray or NMR program. I've never bothered with LaTeX. I think the math/CS/physics mafia assumes everyone else uses it. But many biologists, chemists, etc. like MS Office.
Prior to mid 80s, I assume the figures were hand drafted. (As an engineer, I saw half our large MEP firm still doing hand drafting construction drawings as late as mid 90s. In 94 or 95, it changed like a light switch and we went to 98% CAD (just revisions of old stuff on a drafting table). A good draftsman can produce stuff that is hard to differentiate from computer drawings.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/07
| 1,389
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<issue_start>username_0: This is a question specifically about mathematics.
All math people I've talked with like discussing problems (or math in general) with others, and most people claimed that they learned most from communication rather than from reading textbooks. My situation is, however, different. Most of the time I have math-related conversations, I find that I'm not comprehending what I'm being said, even if it's something not hard (unless I'm familiar with the topic being discussed very well). [In particular, this is true of lectures. However, I am able to understand my notes.] (I'm not sure what the reason is.) In contrast, I learn much more from books and, more importantly, from posting questions on math stackexchange. I was wondering whether this is normal, and whether this will be an obstacle in writing a potential PhD dissertation, since in that case my adviser would probably be the primary source of information, and I wouldn't be able to write a math stack exchange post asking for help.<issue_comment>username_1: I suspect I have similar issues as you: when others talk about complicated subjects, I find they're speaking in English, but they're also *not* speaking in English (because I don't understand them).
I've thought about this a bit and although I am by no means an expert, I think the cause of the issue can be understood with the [VAK learning style model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles#Neil_Fleming's_VAK/VARK_model). (Note that this model has been heavily criticized; however my perspective is whether it's correct or not is unimportant if it works for your particular case). Basically, people can be very broadly divided into three groups: those that learn best by doing something, those that learn best by listening, and those that learn best by reading. You are good at learning by reading, but poor at learning by listening. If you go to a lecture where the lecturer does not prepare lecture slides, only stands there and talks, you find you struggle. Comparatively if you do get lecture slides, then everything makes sense and you learn smoothly. If you can have only the lecture slide or the talk, you would much prefer the slides.
The bad news is, being bad at learning by listening is of course detrimental. It's just so much more convenient to explain something instead of get out pen and paper. The good news is, if you know what the issue is, you'll able to compensate for it. You'll need to concentrate on these conversations because if you drift, you won't be able to recover easily. Don't be afraid to say "can you repeat that?", and don't be afraid to ask for clarification if something is not immediately obvious to you either. You can also try bringing around a notebook and immediately writing down something you hear, since you are liable to forget quickly otherwise.
If you are so bad at learning by listening that face-to-face meetings with your supervisor are unproductive, try telling him that and suggesting email instead.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I have trouble understanding something said out loud because I need time to process the information. I usually have to have someone write it down. It is usually possible to request that or to bring paper and pen with you. I also learn much better when I have a carefully written textbook, but these become rare after a certain point. I think the best thing to do in this case is to ask for references (if a speaker gives a lot of expository information, ask for where to read about it).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Understanding mathematics is, in general, hard.
For me, some methods of having reliably fruitful mathematical discussions are:
1. Have someone else explain a problem, an object, an operator, or a proof to you. Ask stupid questions. Have the other person explain. Do not accept anything before it has been clarified to you, unless it is common background knowledge that one should take on faith to get to the main point of discussion. The one explaining will likely benefit, as the discussion forces them to sharpen their understanding and exposes things that they have glossed over as obvious, or simply not noticed.
2. Explain a specific problem you have to a colleague. Have them act as per point 1.
3. Try to understand a given operator or object together. Draw pictures, give examples and counter-examples, calculate an easy example explicitly, come up with a physical/biological interpretation. Here, doing the process together reduces the amount of mistakes and thinking time. If one of the people discussing is faster than the other, than this might turn into point 1 or 2.
In general, I would suggest asking more questions, even and especially if they seem simple.
I would also suggest reflecting on what the problem is.
* Can you follow up to a point, but then drop? If so, ask more questions.
* Do you think the others are following or are they simply nodding along, thinking that everyone else is following and afraid of disturbing the process? Maybe ask them after a discussion with 3+ people.
* Are you incapable of concentrating on the mathematics and thus drop from the discussion? If so, I do not have contructive advice. It might or might not be something that can be diagnozed.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I got an applied math PhD 'without' discussions. Like you, I much prefered reading papers and textbook to lectures, discussions, working together etc. I would skip class to read course material. I later found out that most people visualize math expressions in their mind's eye (I can't), which seems like a key enabler of discussions. When people 'talk equations' I lose interest pretty quickly. There are a lot of talks which one is supposed to attend. It was meaningless to me. Bring pen and paper so you can work on something else. I did not benefit much from the advisor-student relationship, which is a pity. If you can, try to find an advisor that will read what you write and give feedback on that. On the plus side, reading a lot helps you hone your writing skills. There are many routes to the PhD.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/07
| 871
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<issue_start>username_0: About 8 months ago I was about to graduate university and was trying to figure out what to do with myself then. A professor asked me if I wanted to do my masters with him and I said yes almost without thinking.
I still had classes at that moment so for about a month and a half I focused on my courses and he did not talk to me so there was little communication between the two. Due to an error in the system, my application for a masters program got delayed to January this year, rather than July, when it was originally planned by both me and the professor. I was taking 2 highly accelerated courses, one of which was a grad course, so I in between the stress and my own ignorance I neglected dealing with that issue until it was too late.
I had an immigration status that made it so that I needed to get a job within 90 days of graduating or I would be kicked out of the country. Without talking to my professor I panicked and applied to jobs, got one and then "remembered" to tell my professor essentially a week before moving to a different city to start my job.
In other words, I told him I would work with him and then didn't communicate anything to him and then a month after went back on my word and left for a job.
This professor is the person with whom I did my undergrad thesis, so he is invaluable as a recommendation reference. But I don't think I deserve or have any right to ask him for references. Worse than that, even if I was shameless enough to ask, it is unlikely he would give me a good reference after I essentially shat on a verbal agreement and betrayed his trust by unilaterally taking fast decisions without telling him anything.
Is there anything I can do here? I messed up, I messed up horribly, but I still want to go to grad school even if at this point I probably don't deserve it.<issue_comment>username_1: I think you are being a little bit too hard on yourself. That said, you acted unprofessionally and were irresponsible in communicating with the professor. The prof may feel like you treated him with a lack of respect, so it is important to make it clear that you do respect him, and that your behavior was selfish and childish.
The best course of action is to come clean.
1. Write an email or schedule a call with the professor.
2. Apologize for behaving unprofessionally.
3. Do NOT make excuses. You can mention that you couldn't have started the masters program because of visa issues, but you should have told him as soon as you discovered that information. Remember, what you did wrong was fail to communicate. Not starting the masters is not the "crime".
4. Acknowledge that your behavior was unprofessional.
5. Thank them for their mentorship over the years. Take some time to think about what you learned from them and let them know. This demonstrates your maturity and shows that you respect and appreciate him.
6. Apologize again and mention that you hope that you haven't ruined the relationship.
Assuming the professor is a reasonable adult, they will accept your apology, and you may ask for a reference in the future.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You did your undergrad thesis with this professor so he knows you and your capabilities very well and you both are already close to each other. Professors don't think about students as students think about professors. In their young life, they had been through similar problems as you had.
Now go to him. No shame or regret. Just a little sorrow. Tell him that you like him very much but could not communicate because of certain reasons. Believe me, he will be happy to meet you.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/07
| 4,476
| 18,807
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<issue_start>username_0: I apologize in advance that I cannot write about details, as they contain identifying information about the senior colleague in question.
The low-down is that I am a tenure-track professor at a US institution, and one of the tenured professors (married with children) in my department (and in fact, in my research group) has been harassing me for the past month.
He sends me personal emails commenting on my personal life and asking about my weekend plans, he shows up to academic events in the department that I organize (but has no academic interest in these events), and "paces" the hallway in front of my office whenever I have my door open (once I counted him pace by my door at least 10 times in an hour, and my office is located in a quiet corner and he had no reasons to be there). He also visits my office and tries to come up with excuses (department politics and gossip that I have no interest in hearing) to chat with me in the evenings. These visits have gotten increasingly creepy, although I cannot describe them without going into personal details. So far, there has not been any physical touch. (It's naturally a lot more creepy than what I've written, but I'm trying to keep out any identifying information and stick to general statements.)
So far, I have been playing it safe in an attempt to not escalate the situation by responding in monosyllables and hinting at every opportunity that I am busy. I ignore all personal emails. However, this colleague in question clearly doesn't understand social cues, and being cold and disengaging from non-necessary interaction hasn't worked so far.
I am also documenting these interactions since about 2 weeks ago. I am thinking about getting a recording app to record our conversations (I live in a one-party consent state).
The problem is that as he is a senior colleague who understands my research area, I am worried about my tenure case that if I directly tell him off, he may turn vengeful and make my life difficult. But I would like this to stop, and I would like to hear some suggestions on how to handle this.
---
Addendum (which involves some of my personal opinions): I spoke to close friends in academia (but no one in my department knows yet; I was hoping that the situation would die down, but it hasn't so far). Interestingly enough, the advice I got was clearly divided based on gender.
My male friends were very cautious, and convinced me to not send direct emails telling my colleague that I do not want any interactions other than a professional one. They thought that until I was 100% sure that he was making advances, I should not escalate it and wait for things to die down.
My female friends thought that I should establish boundaries early on, and directly tell him no, because a single faculty cannot strongly affect tenure cases. Sadly, most of them experienced something similar, and they said that once you establish boundaries, these kinds of people tend to fear you a little bit, and they back off quickly.
I found [one question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/118689/how-to-build-healthy-working-relationships-with-my-male-colleagues-as-a-young-is/119103?newreg=0e4b4f8e2d504351bdf95c4cd590f5f2) somewhat related to my case (although in this case, the OP did not have tenure on the line). It saddened me to read the answers, however. A lot of the suggestions, coming from males and females alike, insinuated that somehow the OP was at fault, in the following instances.
1. The OP is a "fresh meat" so people are going to be interested, so just wait it out: I felt that being a fresh face was not something wrong; I wished that the answerers would focus on the fact that the behavior of OP's colleagues was inappropriate, and talk about how to change their behaviors instead of placing the burden of "bearing with the unwanted advances until the male colleagues got tired of her".
2. Some answers suggested that the OP dresses down (and at least one answer suggested that OP's hemlines must be elevated). I object to this answer, because the OP should not have to change her behavior or clothes if it's not wrong. I felt that this answer was the academia-equivalent of telling a rape victim that she had it coming because she was wearing revealing clothes.
3. Another answer suggested that the OP should just bear it out and establish good working relationship with these people. Again, I did not agree with this answer, as it puts the burden of reconciling with her aggressors on the OP, who is the victim here (you would never tell a rape victim to reconcile with her attacker, right?)
So, I understand that questions of this type can often bring out very biased answers (and even women can have the same type of bias as men), that it can bring out charged reactions, and that despite all of our advances as a society, victim-blaming can seep through our answers.
But the answers that I am looking for here is the kind of things that I can do that doesn't blame me for the current situation, and that doesn't force *me* to bow down to my senior colleague in order to repair the relationship at some point. I am not afraid of fights, I am not afraid of going public, I don't care if everyone in the department knows about this, and I am not afraid of giving up my job if it comes to that (this is neither here nor there, but my family is rich enough that I don't really need a job; obviously I find fulfillment and enjoyment from my job and I'd like to keep it, but not in a toxic environment such as this.) I just want him to stop and acknowledge that what he did was wrong, and that he should fear for his job if he ever does anything like this again, preferably while not jeopardizing my chances at tenure. And I'd like my future female colleagues to feel safer about my department.<issue_comment>username_1: I would recommend to set a boundary, e.g. by responding to an inappropriate e-mail with e.g.
>
> Dear xxx, thank you for your e-mail, but I have to tell you, that I feel uncomfortable with such kind of e-mails and they are inappropriate. I really appreciate your professional expertise and support, but I would like to stick to a working relationship.
>
>
>
If he ignores this, you at least tried to tell him your point of view (which could help in case of an escalation).
Incorporating comments:
I gave this answer because you wrote that he did not react to subtile indications. I know from many males that they "did not notice that their behaviour was regarded as inappropriate". It is helpful to be very clear at least once. On the other hand, I'm not resided in the US and maybe my answer would sound rude in your ears. You should modify it in a way that shows respect and appreciation for the professional experience and support, but makes clear that there is no further private interest.
Regarding the tenure: If you feel there is any kind of problem arising, you can contact an ombudsperson and show your (and his) mails and ask him to be excluded from the process.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The OP could seek support from a trusted member of their department (e.g., a senior colleague, the head of department, ...) to deliver an anonymous (verbal or written) message---outlying boundaries---to the inappropriate colleague, rather than the OP setting boundaries themselves (e.g., as female friends of the OP have suggested and as suggested in [an answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126080/22768)).
If handled well, this approach has the advantage that the inappropriate colleague need never know the OP's identity. Of course, they may have their suspicions, but acting upon them could be outright dangerous for the inappropriate colleague, since there's an established record of inappropriate behaviour (known to the trusted department member) and the inappropriate colleague may fear that vengeance could lead to dismissal for sexual harassment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Based on how you phrased your question and especially your addendum it feels like you are very strongly leaning towards directly telling your colleague to stop and potentially further escalating this if he does not react. It's also clear you understand and can deal with potential negative consequences for your career.
An escalation will be a lot more effective if you already know how well your institution handles harassment cases. It will also help to know what the general sense is in your institution about your harasser. If you know that, you can better determine how to escalate, how much material you need to convince other people, who to go to and who not to go to, etc.
You mention you'd like to have your harasser "to stop and acknowledge that what he did was wrong". That's a very natural desire but the chances of him doing that voluntarily are probably very small. So maybe don't prioritise that too highly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: From what you have described, I don't think his behavior has crossed the line into sexual harassment. Not that I'm an expert, but it might fall under "creating a hostile work environment".
I would talk to your department chair, if that is safe, or the Dean, just to get advice. At the minimum, that will create a record that you felt uncomfortable. I am not sure it is in anyone's best interest to file a formal complaint at this time, but it is certainly good to let your chair/dean know about the situation and let them take some responsibility about how it is solved. They might take full responsibility for it! Like: "Sorry you had to deal with that, I know Jeff can be a bit unaware of social cues, let me talk to him and if you don't think there in an improvement in the next week, let me know."
It's their job to handle things like this, so I certainly recommend sharing the burden of how to proceed with them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Not a specialist but sexual harassment perhaps has certain connotations that aren't evident from the Q text. It could also be a case of bothering/boring behaviour and no more. In both cases abd even if perhaps others have already suggested this:
Make clear to him/her that the behaviour is uncomfortable to you by viva voce as well as keep records of emails already received and or exchanged.
This will be useful in case escalating the situation will be unavoidable.
But it is quite possible that s/he realise that is wrongly behaving, if clearly informed. *Sometimes we really need of someone opening our eyes*.
It is somehow forced to think of retaliation. Academia is not much different from the life outside, and the vast majority of the times people do elaborate refusal without much of vengeance desire.
I would perhaps escalate just after, if the pressure from that person doesn't cease and/or that person will complicate your work in response.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm going to assume you are in the US.
Every college and university in the US that accepts federal financial has a sexual harassment policy. The first thing you should do is read the policy so that you know who the main official actors are and what would be involved in talking to them. However that doesn't mean that I would follow them immediately. This is because, as you know, in some institutions going the formal route will backfire, while in others it will not. However, sometimes you have the option to say "I am not making a formal complaint at this time, however I want to establish a contemporaneous record of what is happening." Nonetheless it may be that the office will have little choice in the actions it takes. If anything you could email them and ask hypothetical questions about the process rather than discuss your specific case.
However, at my institution "responsible employees" such as deans and chairs must report to that office. But until you make a formal report the office can't do anything but give advice to the reporter, look at whether there is a history with the person doing the harassing, and be prepared for if a report from you or someone else comes in. So what I would do is make a report to a responsible employee and tell them you do not want to make a formal report at this time, but you want them to be aware and help you to get the behavior to stop. You could even mention that you know that despite this that they will have to make a report to the Title IX officer. Make sure you document this report with a follow up email so that if there is a problem at tenure time you have that. If it turns out that the person you reported to didn't do their mandatory reporting that will help you. Similarly the fact that your chair or dean was informed of the situation will help you if in the unfortunate situation you have to appeal a negative decision from your department or if you end up having to go to court. I know it is unpleasant to think about, but you should think of the ways things could play out.
Do you have an annual official meeting with your chair? This is also a place where you can express your concerns and talk about how dealing with this situation is undermining your work. You could also mention that you are concerned that he will advocate for you to be denied tenure. Of course this puts your chair in a position of having to assure you that this will not be allowed to happen.
You did a good thing in accessing your networks, but I'm going to suggest that you activate your on campus networks of other women especially somewhat more senior women. If you don't have those networks, think about who you might have met at an event or meeting and just email them and say "could I come talk to you about about a question about our institution that I feel I can't talk to my chair about" and then ask them what they know about how these cases have been handled and what their advice is. Do not assume that if the first one you talk to is unsympathetic that others will also be. Do you know the famous thing that <NAME> said about what to do in an emergency, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
So all of that is to say that it is essential that you get what is happening on the record so that if there is a future problem you have already documented the situation and that you get some local help. This problem could be that this person argues against your tenure or that the situation escalates. Currently you don't sound like you are being physically threatened, but that could happen.
If you follow the responses to sexual harassment cases in the news you will notice that there is a repeated pattern of victim blaming where "why didn't she follow channels?" is one thing that is said, but also that contemporaneous documentation is extremely important.
Basically it will be a lot harder for him to cause problems for your tenure case if you have good records and people know about them, since they can discount anything he says about you and also make sure not to have any outside reviewers who are known to be his friends. The "don't do anything" advice is, therefore, not helpful.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that if this is a sudden change it could be that your colleague is having mental health problems. That's another reason to take steps locally.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I would shut it down hard and in an email.
If you have a spouse or boyfriend, it can be helpful to mention that you are off the market and that you don't like someone else hitting on you when you are with someone else.
Really, I think there is probably enough here to go ahead and go to HR department now. It's not like you want to kill the guy. But get him warned and that will back him off.
I am male and had a sexual harassment situation in grad school. It wasn't even flattering (like someone who likes you and you just turn it down) but a just a strange older lady who kept bugging me.
I am very far from litigious or touchy or sensitive. But at a certain point, you just have to stick up for yourself or you are letting people walk on you. Didn't want to end up with a bunny in the pot and this lady wasn't just smitten, she was creepy. I ended up taking it to the HR department and they got her shut down.
[Print all the emails.]
I wouldn't just ignore it until tenure. Yeah, there is some danger it could affect your case. But so what. Do you really want to put up with Mr. Weirdo if that gets you tenure?
Just reading between the lines, I don't get the impression that you are they type who is trying to instigate grievances. Get the impression that Mr. Weirdo is the one at fault.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: >
> My male friends were very cautious, and convinced me to not send direct emails telling my colleague that I do not want any interactions other than a professional one. They thought that until I was 100% sure that he was making advances, I should not escalate it and wait for things to die down.
>
>
> My female friends thought that I should establish boundaries early on, and directly tell him no, because a single faculty cannot strongly affect tenure cases. Sadly, most of them experienced something similar, and they said that once you establish boundaries, these kinds of people tend to fear you a little bit, and they back off quickly.
>
>
>
I'm going to agree with your female friends here; that it is best to establish boundaries early on. However, I also think that it is best to avoid accusations of misconduct in the first instance, and make your first move with a simple conversation, rather than an email or a report to HR. I would recommend that you have a frank conversation with this man, establish the things he is doing that make you uncomfortable, and give a clear indication of the boundary you would like to set in your relationship. I think this would be better done with a polite and gentle conversation in the first instance.
Some men show interest in women in a way that is not malicious, but which is discomforting to them. Such men are often not terribly good at reading subtle signals of disinterest or discomfort, and so they benefit from being told that they are making you uncomfortable. As a general rule, males are very explicit communicators, so if you would like a change in your relationship with this man, that can probably be obtained by having a conversation to that effect. Unless he is a particularly strange man, he will probably be quite mortified once he finds out he is making you uncomfortable.
If you take this approach, there is always the possibility that it will go badly --- e.g., a hostile response to your conversation, or some kind of petulant cessation of the entire professional relationship. However, I would estimate that nine times out of ten this will get you the best result.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: In our university, we are allowed to drop or cancel our classes before a certain deadline within the semester. The reason for dropping is, officially, not required but most professors I know usually asks the student why before agreeing since the professor's consent is required.
I'm planning to drop out since I'm not finding enough time to research and read outside of class hours. Don't get me wrong, it is interesting but I'm currently struggling in my thesis. I want to tell the professor that I'll drop because I don't think I'll be able to focus on his/her subject, especially since it also has a lot of required work outside of class, but how do I do this without insulting the professor or sounding rude? I'm worried he/she might not take it too kindly when the reason given is someone 'don't have enough time for their class.'<issue_comment>username_1: Tell them that you need to focus your efforts on fewer things especially your thesis as you find it challenging.
Be polite and don't forget professors have heard it all before, they will understand or should do.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: State your case with full honesty. You only do a disservice to yourself to do otherwise.
Faculty who say that dropping their course is an insult to them have their heads in the wrong place. When they are roadblocks, request that your thesis advisor take your petition to the department chair for approval.
This all presumes that you have already gotten pre-approval from your thesis advisor to make this change in your program of study for this semester. In one sense, I should wonder with some experience why your thesis advisor did not warn you in advance not to take the course in the first place because you would have a harder workload this semester. Your insult here may be to have purposely ignored any such advice. Alternatively, you may be in a situations where you feel that you must do these type of things (schedule courses) on your own for whatever reason. I should wonder what new input as caused you to realize that you mis-judged your own abilities. Your insult here may be to have incorrectly pre-judged the work you would need in the course.
Lessons are sometimes best learned the hard way. In the case that you ignored your advisor, apologize and be honest about it. You may need his/her support to get the change done. In the case where you are working on your own, you may need to reflect carefully on what exactly you misjudged. Perhaps you do owe the instructor an apology because you are ducking out of the course that you thought would be easier (instead of dropping out of the course because you are faced with an unanticipated increase in the work load of your thesis). I am not judging either way, just providing a counter point for reflection.
Finally, you have presumably made yourself fully aware of whether/how dropping a course may impact (decrease) any financial support that you have. Alternatively, you are fully prepared to pay for a late registration fee should their be one to register now for a different course in order to re-fill you program of study in place of the dropped course.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Just tell him you are too busy. Don't tell him you're not interested. (Obviously there is some scale of business to interest. But you don't need to reference this tradeoff.)
"Would love to stay if I had more time but I'm struggling on other priorities. Need to spend my time on research."
Let him sign the paper, don't open a discussion, and get out.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am Ph.D student in computer science and mathematics. I have published a few research papers and working on some papers. I am an after mid-stage student and I spend almost 90 percent of my time in my study place. I do exercise for half an hour per day. Before joining the Ph.D I was shy and now I am not shy, but my collegues around me now find me a strange person. This is due to the following reasons:
1. Many times I don't talk to the people whom I meet while going back to my room or some other place. This is because I am in a thinking mode, thinking about a research problem.
2. I don't participate in group activities as the feedback given by my collegues.
3. I don't congratulate (much) or wish people around me like on occasion like new year, birthday etc., but I congratulate people around me on their research or academic achievements. Let me elaborate more, I do congratulate my friends and family outside academia.
Although I know my behavior, when working I try to avoid distractions. Many people find my avoidance weird. I can't be perfect as I spend most of the time on research problems. How to tell them I am not avoiding them?
Note that I have many friends, but not like hundreds, but some. I usually talk with them every day.
**Question:** Is being weird okay for a graduate student?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no universal answer to this.
If "being weird" is okay varies among all places. In some places, you "being weird" would imply that other people would not give you information, not recommend you, avoid you etc., in other places "being weird" is totally okay.
Definitely, I've seen weirder (and worse) behaviour between grad students and also higher ranked people.
Ask yourself the following questions:
* Are you okay with being seen weird by your collegues? Do you face consequences which seem "bad" to you?
* Is it possible for you to change some of your behaviour and would you feel okay doing this?
* What do people "that matter most" think of you? This definitely includes your supervisor. Who else this involves, depends on your plans.
* What is the norm in your place? If your behaviour is far from the norm (e.g. if whenever someone has a birthday, the whole week the person is celebrated and nobody works this week, then not gratulating would be very far from the norm), you might want to reconsider your behaviour.
A personal remark: I find it strange if one generally never congratulates people for birthdays or New Year. It is nice and does not cost you anything - why not do this?
Something I want to add: You might also want to think about what you want to do after your pHd: In my impression, in the non-academic world, social skills count far more than in the academic world. You might want to train your social skills, your abilities to interact etc
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In some places conformity is enforced. Sadly. Sadly. In reality everyone is different and some are a bit "more different" than others. Apple Computer once had an advertising campaign "Think Different", celebrating this idea.
On a universal scale, yes, it is fine to be weird so long as it doesn't impact negatively on others. On a universal scale it is fine, even, to celebrate weirdness. But you "gotta do what you gotta do" in the real world.
You say you have overcome shyness. That is an important skill in the academic world, which tends a bit toward introversion. We think deep (we hope) and that takes effort that we don't like to dissipate with relatively meaningless rituals, such as the Friday on the Cricket Pitch.
However, there are some things you can do to blend in a bit so that the question doesn't arise. The easy ones are to find a way to be reminded to give holiday/birthday greetings. This is pretty painless. It might give you a bit of "space" to be weird in more essential ways - spending time in deep thought without communicating, and seeking quiet times for reflection.
If you practice a few things a few times, then you will probably find that they become more natural and more likely to get done without effort. I suspect that you used something like that as a way to overcome shyness earlier.
But if uniformity is truly enforced, then you need to accommodate it just for your own self preservation.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Is "OK" good enough?
--------------------
It's "OK" to be strange and reclusive, but being socially reclusive will stunt your career long term. You will not be considered for projects, not be sought after for collaborations, students who go on to success will not be as likely to reference your papers or publications in informal situations, and you will be less likely to be considered for promotions/tenure/etc. Not maliciously perhaps, but the social recluse just doesn't come to mind as often as more gregarious colleagues do. It essentially closes doors unnecessarily. This isn't to say that you shouldn't be true to your personality, but the fact is that success in any field of endeavor, even academic ones, is as much affected by your social skills as your intellectual skills.
Look at the mid-nineteenth century physician [Dr. <NAME>](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/12/375663920/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives), who identified that hand-washing and sterilization of instruments drastically reduced incidence of death from childbed fever. Because of his poor social skills (note that he was actively abrasive and confrontational rather than merely reclusive), he was unable to gain acceptance for his findings, and unsanitary medical practices continued despite his efforts.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: **Do you plan to stay in academia in the long term? If yes, then being socially reclusive is going to be a huge handicap. You really should work on your social skills to succeed.**
If you stay in academia, then there is basically one path forward: end up in a position where you are responsible for students and postdocs, and contribute to running your department or institution. People skills are critical.
To make it in academia, collaboration is essential. You must be able to find collaborators and be able to work efficiently with them. You must be able to talk to people at conferences and get them interested in your work. Again, people skills are critical.
The higher the position you apply for, the more you will be judged based on your social skills. It probably won't be hard to find a postdoc position, but when you interview for faculty positions, you will likely meet the entire department and you must appear likeable to a majority of your potential future colleagues to get hired.
---
Personally, I am a socially reclusive "older" postdoc with people skills that are not excellent. At this point in my career I am finding this to be a significant problem to the point that sometimes I am considering whether academia is suitable for me at all ...
The good news is that with willingness, one can improve. I certainly got much better at this since I started my PhD. However, you can't go in with the attitude that "in academia it's okay to be weird".
---
I'd also like to comment on this remark by @username_1:
>
> You might also want to think about what you want to do after your pHd: In my impression, in the non-academic world, social skills count far more than in the academic world.
>
>
>
This might be true, but in the long term, it is going to be very hard to find *stable* employment in academia that does not require good people skills. You will finish your PhD at some point, and you cannot be a postdoc forever. What then?
Lack of sociability is definitely a handicap in industry as well, but not necessarily a deal-breaker.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Of the 3 points you describe, #2 seems like the most limiting, as you are missing out on academic and professional discussions that are not purely social. Thinking critically about other people's ideas and approaches, and learning to incorporate others' critiques of your own work are very important skills that should be developed during a PhD. If you do not engage your peers academically, you are missing out on an easily-accessible resource for your own development.
Group feedback sessions aren't meant to be social gatherings, so opting out because you don't like to socialize is missing the point of the session. By avoiding these sessions, you are effectively sending the message that "I don't care what you're working on, nor do I care what you think about what I'm working on". That will be widely regarded as a poor attitude for an academic, especially one so early in their career. Not wanting to socialize is acceptable, but be aware of such situations that could stifle your own development.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: It depends on what you want to achieve. If your interest in working on your CS/maths topics for the rest of your life, and deeply inside are fine being a recluse; if you only consider the social aspect as a means to further your ability to think about CS/maths, then you might just get away with it. Yes, more open people are more easily visible, but it certainly is possible to create a reputation through skill/achievement, generally speaking.
I'm not in academia myself, but have a lot of experience with knowledge sharing, networking, virtual teams, extro/introversion topics etc. in the workplace. My strong experience is that being visible, agreeable and likeable on a purely human level is *incredibly* strongly correlated with long-term success/placement in a company. Being visible, aggressive and strong-willed leads to short/mid-term success and also of course helps to make money. Being invisible, reclusive, known only in your immediate surroundings is... well... leading to not so much. And I assume it's pretty much the same in academia. If you don't intend to get much anywhere else, if that doesn't clash with your deeply ingrained life goals, then that is *perfectly fine*.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: What do you mean OK? You are who you are.
Don't worry so much.
There is plenty of different personalities in academia.
If you are a graduate student you would supposedly already have had at least one such professor or two, no?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Caveat: I'm writing this answer as someone who identifies somewhat with the autism spectrum, so I'm also socially weird and thus may not be fully qualified to answer, though perhaps this perspective can help. To your question "How to tell them I am not avoiding them?", my experience has been that this is not really possible. Social rituals are part of human interaction, as you've identified, and if you don't partake in the rituals or inadvertently send confusing signals during those rituals, it can be interpreted as being standoffish. Not participating is itself sending a signal.
It sounds like you already have a reasonable model for this, so it's a matter of prioritizing. That said, you've focused on relatively small things like birthdays, holidays, etc, but what I've found to be even more effective at building connections is to express an interest in their interests and listen to how they describe them. In any case, as others here have pointed out, social interactions (and, by extension, politics) are an important part of a career in academia. So, if your goal is to further your research opportunities, it's a good idea to devote some energy to this social aspect. This comes up in most career paths, by the way, though politics might be more acutely present in academia than other technical disciplines (though, I'm only aware of this anecdotally from friends in research, as I'm in industry, personally.)
As an addendum, you've probably found that your friends become more accepting of your quirks as they get to know you, as they are less likely to misinterpret confusing signals or reticence to participate socially at times. As such, aim to cultivate some friends within the context of your research (which you're likely already doing) and those friends may help open doors for you.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Nowadays, people in biology make huge collaborations, so of course they're all having loads of publications.
Therefore, I was wondering if there is a way, on Google Scholar or on other sites, to filter for a PI's publications as last author. That would be really helpful!
Thanks in advance<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think that it is possible to search author order in Web of Science, Scopus or GS, directly from their web sites. However, if you get access to a database built on e.g. raw WoS data it is possible (author order is preserved there).
In your case the easiest solution is probably to export all publications where your PI is a co-author from e.g. WoS or Scopus and process the data in excel/R/whatever, to extract the last author name in the author string.
In Excel you can e.g. use this on the author field (AU) from a WoS export to get the last author:
```
=TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(A2,";",REPT(" ",LEN(A2))),LEN(A2)))
```
This can then be used to filter out the publications with PI as last author, maybe after some more cleaning for e.g. first initial.
Long author strings (which is partially what your question is dealing with, i.e. long author lists) may cause character number overflow though (excel cells can only hold a certain number of characters), so you might want to run e.g. `=RIGHT(A1;100)` on the AU field first to decrease its size, before running the other function to get the last name.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You could view their profile on ResearchGate? If they have a profile, all of their publications will be grouped there.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: If you have access to Scopus, and know a little bit of python, you can use [pybliometrics](https://pybliometrics.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html)
Getting all last-authored publications of someone is as easy as this:
```
from pybliometrics.scopus import ScopusSearch
author = "7103407674"
query = "AU-ID({})".format(author) # The same you'd use on scopus.com
s = ScopusSearch(query)
last = [p for p in s.results if p.author_ids.endswith(author)]
```
Object `last` contains a list of 30 namedtuples. You can easily turn them into a pandas DataFrame and do whatever you'd like to do.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm about to give submit my Ph.D. thesis to my selected reviewers. Among the external reviewers, I really like the research themes that one of them is working on. So, I want to ask him about any possibility of working in his lab as a postdoc by sending him my CV and a proper statement of interest in the specific research topic(s) he works on.
However, he is going to read my thesis during the next 3 months, and I'm not sure if my request is going to have an effect on that process or vice versa.
Also, I cannot wait for 3-5 months to see his feedback on my work (and the disputation outcome) before asking him about the position as it will be too late for me. So, either I should ask him now or not asking him at all! :D<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see any reason not to ask. I think that any "conflict" because he will review your dissertation would be minor. A post-doc position is a two-way affair in which you both give and get, so it isn't like pandering on the one hand or asking a favor on the other.
If your general relationship with the person is good, and you want to work in that area, then yes, ask. But be sure, before you ask, that you wouldn't be rejected out of hand. You need at least to know that you would get serious consideration even if you aren't accepted. An informal explorative meeting might be one way to broach the subject, followed up with a more formal (CV, SOP, ...) application.
On the other hand, there is also something to be gained from working at a different institution, with new colleagues and new ideas. Don't neglect to look for alternatives in other places.
But also note that this answer may not apply universally. My experience is in the US in mathematics and CS.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In reality, it is definitely a conflict, but US academia accepts this level of conflict readily. So I wouldn't worry about it.
In some European fields, the examination is done by truly independent scholars from other universities who are not collaborators of the advisor, etc. However this level of effort in the Ph.D. examination rigor is rare.
In the US, it is really more about making your advisor happy that you did enough papers, writing up, and then getting out. Failure of examinations is rare.
Net/net: I would go for it.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: As part of my PhD thesis I extended an existing method to a new problem. I finished my PhD thesis about 5 years ago and graduated afterwards. After graduation I started working in industry. I never published my thesis (or parts thereof) as a paper, since I was mainly focused on working at the beginning and after several years just was not motivated enough, since I was not pursuing an academic career.
Using a simple google search about the topic you would be able to find my PhD thesis even though the content cannot be accessed online, but surely could be accessed by contacting my previous school or the library.
I recently found a published paper that pretty much does the same things that I did for my thesis. It makes the same modifications to the existing method and comes to the same conclusions. My thesis is however not mentioned or cited in the paper. I am **not** implying any sort of plagiarism. Once you think about the problem, those modifications are very natural. It's just that I came up with them earlier.
As said above, I was never really interested in publishing my thesis, but now that I saw the paper I was thinking: *Hey, I was the first! They should have at least cited my thesis!*
I am now wondering, what my options would be and came up with the following two possibilities:
1. Well, tough luck! I never published my results and so it just seems fair that somebody else did (assuming that they came up with them independently).
2. Write the editor of the journal and inform them that the main message from the paper was already covered in my thesis and thus is not novel research.
So I was wondering, whether number 1 above applies or whether I should go with number 2. Or what would be other possibilities?<issue_comment>username_1: Well, if you did not publish, and your thesis is not available, you really can't complain that somebody else's similar independently performed work is not novel - they had no reasonable way of knowing about your work.
Really, the only way to approach it is the first way. And learn that undocumented work buried in a drawer somewhere does not exist as far as the rest of humanity is concerned. Going forward, document and publish (as appropriate) your work (document for internal business use, publish for the outside world).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I would suggest something intermediate between your two proposals. There is no reason not to contact the editor and point to your thesis. But don't make a claim that the new work isn't "novel" since it truly is if done independently as seems to be the case.
The one thing you might possibly get is a note, pointing to your thesis, hence to you, that the same ground was covered in an unpublished dissertation. That might happen or not,
But, if you are also still interested in the topic and want to continue to extend it, you can contact the authors also, both congratulating them and pointing to your earlier work. That, along with a suggestion of collaboration in the future.
Independent work is very common. It is especially common in popular research areas. Everyone has access to the same background and many people are thinking along the same lines.
I'll also note that Newton and Leibniz had the same sort of issue, with Newton's early work left "in a drawer".
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The editor is not the person to talk to here, but rather the authors of the paper:
>
> "I was reading your paper and wanted to share that I found something similar to you in my unpublished thesis from 2014, thought this might be of interest to you: (link to or attachment containing thesis)"
>
>
>
No accusations (they've done nothing wrong), nothing combative like contacting an editor (which would imply they did something wrong). There is nothing they need to change with their original paper, but if they do future work to follow up they can now consider citing your work.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Theses are not widely cited. I disagree with this practice. Almost all scientific Ph.D. theses are on Michigan microfiche and are readily abstracted, searchable, etc. But the bottom line is people don't really read them or cite them enough. I have even had a collaborator of mine (buddy of my advisor) publish experiments that duplicated something in my thesis (several years later). That one, bugged me.
But bottom line, lots of people don't look at or consider Ph.D. thesis to be a publication. Really it is. But lots of people don't treat it that way.
I would just ignore it. Oh...and you should have put it in a journal.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Perhaps, you should look at this question:
[What's the point of PhD theses if nobody reads them?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/124689/whats-the-point-of-phd-theses-if-nobody-reads-them)
People do not read theses even when they are publicly accessible. In your case, who want to read your thesis need to overcome the hurdle of contacting your former school or library. (I would suggest putting your thesis on ArXiv if you hope somebody to read it).
Theses are not official publication. And even publications in lower rank conferences are largely ignored, as *they are often of low quality*.
Nowadays, there are just too many papers to read, and the junk/predatory journals/conferences make the problem worse. So a strategy to optimize the time is to read only papers in well-known conferences, and hope that the authors did a good job in their related work (in good papers, they often do).
**No pain, no gain.**
Publishing papers in top venues is a pain. But there is also reward on it, otherwise people just goes for easy venue to avoid rejections.
In my field, Computer Science, a PhD student is expected to publish a couple of papers in order to graduate. What other assumption can you make about a thesis without publication?
In your case, you didn't even try to publish your idea, didn't even try to make it accessible, why hoping it get cited?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: In mathematics at least it is not uncommon that the omission of a key reference be corrected in an erratum, which may also help clarify the accompanying issue of priority.
Assuming that this approach is not entirely field specific, the course of action would be to contact the authors, indicate your priority, provide links to (if available) and bibliographic information on your thesis, and suggest that they submit a short erratum clarifying this.
(If no copy of your thesis is easily available online, consider attaching a copy to your email to the authors.)
[Here](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1971520) is an example.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: **Hey, I was the first! They should have at least cited my thesis!**
Many an academic has sung that blues. This has happened to me several times. The one thing that always makes me laugh is that *never do they even bother to change the notation.*
This may seem like a small thing, but to me it suggest that plagiarism is so g.dd.rn blatant because the perps know they can get away with it.
You could make reclamations and see what happens, but in the fight between yourself and the old-boys network, always bet on the latter.
Upvotes: 0
|
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| 3,813
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first year Ph.D. student. During my master's (which was in a different university), a professor (call him M) and I worked on a paper on banking regulations. Apart from the single idea, all of the paper and results were done by me. We worked on it for a couple of months and tried to submit our work at many journals. All of them rejected it. Finally, it has been accepted recently at a conference. This conference is not major league but niche.
Prof. M wants me to attend, but I do not have funding. Initially, he expected me to spend from my own pocket for travel and registration (around USD 2,000). Being a graduate student and living in one of the expensive cities, I am living hand-to-mouth. So, I informed him politely that I am not keen to attend due to my inability to fund myself. He asked me to apply to funding agencies, or else he is willing to fund 50% of my expenses.
The fact of the matter is that I cannot afford even 50% of the travel expenses. Out of nowhere, this conference comes up and it further cripples my shoestring budget.
**How should I proceed?** I am really hesitant to discuss my financial shortcomings with Prof. M, but if I don't, he'll assume that I can afford the travel.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see anybody "forcing" you to do anything. Prof M has given you some reasonable suggestions:
1. apply for funding
2. an offer to fund 50% of your expenses.
If the latter option doesn't work for you, you are left with either the first option: apply for funding, or other options such as A) Not going, or B) further explaining your financial situation in the hope that the professor might be able to offer more towards expenses. If you are hoping for (B) it would be best for you to at least first attempt to find other funding, as the professor suggested.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Your professor has made a generous offer if these were personal funds, I think. Your situation is difficult, I also think. It would be good if you could find a way to go, both for now and for your future prospects, both with the (prime age) professor and in meeting people.
So, the issue becomes funding. The first thing you might do is look for funding locally. It is entirely possible that your university has some funds that can be used to support students in such things. The place to start is with the department head, I would guess. See if there is some travel monies available as they certainly have for faculty. If not in the department, then possibly at a higher level in the university.
You may also belong to a professional organization as a student member. Many of these have travel grants available. You might look there.
Another possible option is funding from the conference itself. Some conferences have some funds for student attendees. In some cases the students serve as "volunteers" during the conference, running errands, but can also attend as usual. The conference web site may have something about this, and the organizers may be able to offer suggestions if contacted.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> I am really hesitant to discuss my financial shortcomings with Prof.
> M, or else he assumes that I can afford the travel.
>
>
>
I think you need to get past this. You do not have financial shortcomings, you just don't have money. Working on a PhD without family financial support, with existing student debt, and with limited school support is not easy. I respect you for doing it. Take pride in making the hard choices that involves.
With that attitude, explain to Prof. M that you cannot afford any travel expense, and will only be able to go to the conference if your expenses are fully covered. Check any funding sources he suggested, and ask advisors at your current university if they know of any sources.
From comments: Also check with the conference organizers. They may have scholarships or be able to discount the conference fee, and find free or inexpensive accommodations. You may need to work several angles to align the total cost with the available funding.
If you can't get the full funding you need, tell Prof. M. that you regret you cannot attend the conference. At the worst, you will have to withdraw the paper. However, there are alternatives the conference may permit.
* Remote video presentation
* If anyone from your current university is attending, ask them to present the paper
* Prof M. may be able to get a current student or a collaborator who is attending the conference to present it.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Going to a conference as a PhD student is like a business trip if you were a regular employee at a company. And those are of course entirely paid by your employer, and asking an employee to pay for a business trip out of their own pocket would be extremely unusual.
I'm not very familiar with fields where it's customary to publish on conferences instead of journals. But it seems to me that this is also similar to asking someone to pay any journal fees from personal funds, which again is extremely unusual and would typically be paid from research grants. Ensuring the logistics of publication, including how to pay for this is part of the job of a principal investigator, that should not fall on the students.
Your personal financial situation doesn't even matter, it is quite unreasonable to ask you to pay for essentially business expenses from your own personal money. So follow the advice of your professor about applying for money to fund your conference trip. But you can decline to fund it yourself without saying anything about your personal finances.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: 1. Is he your employer? Then he will pay the expenses for something which is mandatory for this employment.
2. Is he not your employer? Then he can't "force" you.
I don't see the problem.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: I am making my comment an answer.
I think you should suggest that Prof. M attend the conference and present the paper\* for a number of reasons:
1. Prof. M is the senior author in the work;
2. probably earns a lot more than you; and
3. will likely have access to extra grant funds to fund the trip.
You can phrase it along these lines:
>
> Dear Prof. M,
>
>
> While I would welcome presenting the work at the conference, sadly my
> financial doesn't allow to spend such an amount to travel. Is it
> possible for you to attend the conference and present the work?
>
>
>
Adding to that, and because I have been in this situation, I don't it is reasonable to insist that a student attend conference out of his/her pocket. It can certainly be suggested but not **insisted upon**. The financial situation of most students is precarious at best, and in my experience there is very little benefit going to self-funded conferences during the first PhD year, in particular for a project that, as far as you are concerned is dead. The only person that can gain from obtaining feedback is your former supervisor.
\*Unless this is one of rare instances that a conference requests the first author to present the work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The professor is expecting you to make a serious good-faith effort to obtain funding. Based on your question, it sounds like you have not made any applications or enquiries about funding for conference attendance, but are assuming that there is no funding available (sadly, this is often true, but you are expected to **try** before giving up).
So, you should do a bit of research into where you might be able to get funding (as well as sources within your institution, you should check whether any learned societies or trusts have professional development funds for graduate students and/or for your area of research), and submit several applications to places where you may be eligible (in your application, indicate that you already have 50% funded -- this is generally considered a good thing by funders). By all means, ask your professor for pointers or leads as to where you might investigate.
**Funding applications are a tedious and demoralising chore, but you need to get used to doing them**. It is perfectly reasonable for your professor to expect you to make such applications. It is also perfectly reasonable for you to ask your professor to check your applications before you submit them (he/she may be able to offer valuable advice as to how to "sell" your funding application better).
If, **after having made several funding applications**, you still do not have enough funding to cover the cost, then your professor should be understanding, and should not expect you to pay for it out of your own pocket.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: At the European universities that I have worked, PhD students are seen as employees and thus receive a salary and their conference visits are paid for by the university. Often research projects have special budget for this. Master students with good and useful results will sometimes also be allowed to visit a conference at the expense of the department. Requiring you to (partially) pay to represent the university at a conference is cheapskating from your professor and degrading for you. Don't do it.
Edit: As rumtscho pointed out I overlooked the university change. Nevertheless, it is much more important for you to publish on your current PhD research, preferably in a journal. You must also ask yourself why Prof. M. wants you to go to the conference. Is he in need to add something to his publication list?
P.S: Did you send in the same paper over and over again, or did you use the reviewers comments to improve the paper before re-submitting it somewhere else?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: This might be happening more frequently than expected!
In my case (incidentally, a Prof. M too! Same person?) told me to pay everything in advance, and we "would see if the department will reimburse my expenses later, or at least part of them". Also in my first PhD year. Talking to the professor, *even* explaining my financial situation in detail turned out to be futile.
Taking a formal point of view, your prof can't exactly *command* you to do that. Of course there will be no *talking* about penalty if you do not comply - but of course there *is* an elephant in the room.
The only solution I could come up *then* was to delay flight booking (only a bit), and to report - completely truthfully - I couldn't obtain transportation any more, even if I found some way to pay for it.
In general, in relationships of dependence I have found it's much better to present (or, in a case of self-defence: silently *create*) **practical constraints** like that one than to say "I don't *want* to go there", or even "I don't want to go in debt". Sad, but true.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I understand that this is a situation where you are unsure about your options, as this is the first time you encounter this. Rest assured that it is not uncommon (though of course not nice) that especially young researchers need to beg, borrow and steal in order to come up with travel funds. In order to make your personal life work while preserving some sanity, I would recommend that you implement the following basic rule now:
1) Under no circumstances are you to pay travel expenses related to conference travel out of pocket.
Having this as a basic rule is nice, as it establishes a baseline.
Let me assume that you have already asked at your current institution, and they have declined funding you. This would be normal modus operandi. If you have not, go ask them now.
Now you have to get to work, in order to raise the missing funding. First point on the agenda is to set up a tentative budget for your travel. This should consist of:
1) Conference fee.
2) Travel costs.
3) Hotel costs.
4) Per diem (whatever is the usual amount for PhD students in your country).
Make your budget as cheap as possible, without being unreasonable. Find a 2-star hotel, find a cheap travel option (cheap airline, train or bus depending on location) etc. Once that is done, you write the professor, asking him if he will agree to pay half of your budgeted costs, instead of half of whatever the final bill will be. You should first realize that he is already doing you a favor paying half, as he is not currently employing you - normally it would be your current institution paying. So if he says no, it is not unreasonable.
Then you start cutting in your budget. Write the conference to ask if they are willing to waive the conference fee for a struggling student. This is more common than you might expect. I have definitely waived conference fees for students just for writing me. You can also ask if they have student support options. Then you start looking around for small grants for conference participation. Ask your institution. If you then end up with only a small amount of money missing, you ask your institution again, if they would be willing to pay this small amount - or your current supervisor directly.
Best of luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: "During my masters (which was in a different university), a professor (call him M.) and I worked on a paper"
So a professor from a different university from where you are now asked you to go?
I'd suggest to tell him no, it's not part of your current PhD studies at your new college.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: Do a "go fund me". Many less appealing (or deserving?) stories than "starving PHD student" have brought in thousands.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_13: ### Mid-to-long term suggestion: You all need to unionize.
As several other answers suggest, you are a junior employee of the university - doing research, which is what a university is about, even if under the tutelage of a supervisor. In many countries, and even in some universities in the US, you would be considered a university employee (at the previous university and at the current university), and as another answer suggests - the trip would be a business trip. However, that requires your employer to reach into their pockets and shell out the money, which they would rather not.
The key point here is that **this is not an individual, but a collective problem**: All hD candidates at your university either do not receive expense reimbursement for travel to conferences in which they're presenting, or have to be on their supervisor's good side, to get funding from him/her as a favor. And it's not even the problem with a single institution, because the business trip happens now, and is relevant to your continuing career, but the research happened earlier, at the previous university.
The solution is also collective: Forming a graduate researchers' union (or an untenured/temp staff union involving also teachers). At the single-university level, that is the way you can secure stable funding for everyone to be able to attend a conference several times during your Ph.D., both based on research done at the current university and independent/previous research of yours.
Of course starting a union is not an undertaking for just a single person. But you are now being "burned" by the lack of a collective organizational structure to pursue the interests of the group you're in. Remember this lesson, and try to spend some of your time raising awareness and support for this among your peers. You could also consider reaching out to other unions representing Ph.D. candidates in the US. A particularly inspiring struggle in recent years has been waged by:
<https://columbiagradunion.org/>
who won the landmark case of [The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Graduate Workers of Columbia–GWC, UAW.](https://columbiagradunion.org/app/uploads/NLRB-Case-02%E2%80%93RC%E2%80%93143012-DECISION-ON-REVIEW-AND-ORDER-20160823.pdf) (364 NLRB 90)
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: In my conclusion, I imagine what my results could imply for future developments. I want to emphasize my argument with a rough calculation. Is this allowed in a conclusion section?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see anybody "forcing" you to do anything. Prof M has given you some reasonable suggestions:
1. apply for funding
2. an offer to fund 50% of your expenses.
If the latter option doesn't work for you, you are left with either the first option: apply for funding, or other options such as A) Not going, or B) further explaining your financial situation in the hope that the professor might be able to offer more towards expenses. If you are hoping for (B) it would be best for you to at least first attempt to find other funding, as the professor suggested.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Your professor has made a generous offer if these were personal funds, I think. Your situation is difficult, I also think. It would be good if you could find a way to go, both for now and for your future prospects, both with the (prime age) professor and in meeting people.
So, the issue becomes funding. The first thing you might do is look for funding locally. It is entirely possible that your university has some funds that can be used to support students in such things. The place to start is with the department head, I would guess. See if there is some travel monies available as they certainly have for faculty. If not in the department, then possibly at a higher level in the university.
You may also belong to a professional organization as a student member. Many of these have travel grants available. You might look there.
Another possible option is funding from the conference itself. Some conferences have some funds for student attendees. In some cases the students serve as "volunteers" during the conference, running errands, but can also attend as usual. The conference web site may have something about this, and the organizers may be able to offer suggestions if contacted.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> I am really hesitant to discuss my financial shortcomings with Prof.
> M, or else he assumes that I can afford the travel.
>
>
>
I think you need to get past this. You do not have financial shortcomings, you just don't have money. Working on a PhD without family financial support, with existing student debt, and with limited school support is not easy. I respect you for doing it. Take pride in making the hard choices that involves.
With that attitude, explain to Prof. M that you cannot afford any travel expense, and will only be able to go to the conference if your expenses are fully covered. Check any funding sources he suggested, and ask advisors at your current university if they know of any sources.
From comments: Also check with the conference organizers. They may have scholarships or be able to discount the conference fee, and find free or inexpensive accommodations. You may need to work several angles to align the total cost with the available funding.
If you can't get the full funding you need, tell Prof. M. that you regret you cannot attend the conference. At the worst, you will have to withdraw the paper. However, there are alternatives the conference may permit.
* Remote video presentation
* If anyone from your current university is attending, ask them to present the paper
* Prof M. may be able to get a current student or a collaborator who is attending the conference to present it.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Going to a conference as a PhD student is like a business trip if you were a regular employee at a company. And those are of course entirely paid by your employer, and asking an employee to pay for a business trip out of their own pocket would be extremely unusual.
I'm not very familiar with fields where it's customary to publish on conferences instead of journals. But it seems to me that this is also similar to asking someone to pay any journal fees from personal funds, which again is extremely unusual and would typically be paid from research grants. Ensuring the logistics of publication, including how to pay for this is part of the job of a principal investigator, that should not fall on the students.
Your personal financial situation doesn't even matter, it is quite unreasonable to ask you to pay for essentially business expenses from your own personal money. So follow the advice of your professor about applying for money to fund your conference trip. But you can decline to fund it yourself without saying anything about your personal finances.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: 1. Is he your employer? Then he will pay the expenses for something which is mandatory for this employment.
2. Is he not your employer? Then he can't "force" you.
I don't see the problem.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: I am making my comment an answer.
I think you should suggest that Prof. M attend the conference and present the paper\* for a number of reasons:
1. Prof. M is the senior author in the work;
2. probably earns a lot more than you; and
3. will likely have access to extra grant funds to fund the trip.
You can phrase it along these lines:
>
> Dear Prof. M,
>
>
> While I would welcome presenting the work at the conference, sadly my
> financial doesn't allow to spend such an amount to travel. Is it
> possible for you to attend the conference and present the work?
>
>
>
Adding to that, and because I have been in this situation, I don't it is reasonable to insist that a student attend conference out of his/her pocket. It can certainly be suggested but not **insisted upon**. The financial situation of most students is precarious at best, and in my experience there is very little benefit going to self-funded conferences during the first PhD year, in particular for a project that, as far as you are concerned is dead. The only person that can gain from obtaining feedback is your former supervisor.
\*Unless this is one of rare instances that a conference requests the first author to present the work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The professor is expecting you to make a serious good-faith effort to obtain funding. Based on your question, it sounds like you have not made any applications or enquiries about funding for conference attendance, but are assuming that there is no funding available (sadly, this is often true, but you are expected to **try** before giving up).
So, you should do a bit of research into where you might be able to get funding (as well as sources within your institution, you should check whether any learned societies or trusts have professional development funds for graduate students and/or for your area of research), and submit several applications to places where you may be eligible (in your application, indicate that you already have 50% funded -- this is generally considered a good thing by funders). By all means, ask your professor for pointers or leads as to where you might investigate.
**Funding applications are a tedious and demoralising chore, but you need to get used to doing them**. It is perfectly reasonable for your professor to expect you to make such applications. It is also perfectly reasonable for you to ask your professor to check your applications before you submit them (he/she may be able to offer valuable advice as to how to "sell" your funding application better).
If, **after having made several funding applications**, you still do not have enough funding to cover the cost, then your professor should be understanding, and should not expect you to pay for it out of your own pocket.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: At the European universities that I have worked, PhD students are seen as employees and thus receive a salary and their conference visits are paid for by the university. Often research projects have special budget for this. Master students with good and useful results will sometimes also be allowed to visit a conference at the expense of the department. Requiring you to (partially) pay to represent the university at a conference is cheapskating from your professor and degrading for you. Don't do it.
Edit: As rumtscho pointed out I overlooked the university change. Nevertheless, it is much more important for you to publish on your current PhD research, preferably in a journal. You must also ask yourself why Prof. M. wants you to go to the conference. Is he in need to add something to his publication list?
P.S: Did you send in the same paper over and over again, or did you use the reviewers comments to improve the paper before re-submitting it somewhere else?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: This might be happening more frequently than expected!
In my case (incidentally, a Prof. M too! Same person?) told me to pay everything in advance, and we "would see if the department will reimburse my expenses later, or at least part of them". Also in my first PhD year. Talking to the professor, *even* explaining my financial situation in detail turned out to be futile.
Taking a formal point of view, your prof can't exactly *command* you to do that. Of course there will be no *talking* about penalty if you do not comply - but of course there *is* an elephant in the room.
The only solution I could come up *then* was to delay flight booking (only a bit), and to report - completely truthfully - I couldn't obtain transportation any more, even if I found some way to pay for it.
In general, in relationships of dependence I have found it's much better to present (or, in a case of self-defence: silently *create*) **practical constraints** like that one than to say "I don't *want* to go there", or even "I don't want to go in debt". Sad, but true.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I understand that this is a situation where you are unsure about your options, as this is the first time you encounter this. Rest assured that it is not uncommon (though of course not nice) that especially young researchers need to beg, borrow and steal in order to come up with travel funds. In order to make your personal life work while preserving some sanity, I would recommend that you implement the following basic rule now:
1) Under no circumstances are you to pay travel expenses related to conference travel out of pocket.
Having this as a basic rule is nice, as it establishes a baseline.
Let me assume that you have already asked at your current institution, and they have declined funding you. This would be normal modus operandi. If you have not, go ask them now.
Now you have to get to work, in order to raise the missing funding. First point on the agenda is to set up a tentative budget for your travel. This should consist of:
1) Conference fee.
2) Travel costs.
3) Hotel costs.
4) Per diem (whatever is the usual amount for PhD students in your country).
Make your budget as cheap as possible, without being unreasonable. Find a 2-star hotel, find a cheap travel option (cheap airline, train or bus depending on location) etc. Once that is done, you write the professor, asking him if he will agree to pay half of your budgeted costs, instead of half of whatever the final bill will be. You should first realize that he is already doing you a favor paying half, as he is not currently employing you - normally it would be your current institution paying. So if he says no, it is not unreasonable.
Then you start cutting in your budget. Write the conference to ask if they are willing to waive the conference fee for a struggling student. This is more common than you might expect. I have definitely waived conference fees for students just for writing me. You can also ask if they have student support options. Then you start looking around for small grants for conference participation. Ask your institution. If you then end up with only a small amount of money missing, you ask your institution again, if they would be willing to pay this small amount - or your current supervisor directly.
Best of luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: "During my masters (which was in a different university), a professor (call him M.) and I worked on a paper"
So a professor from a different university from where you are now asked you to go?
I'd suggest to tell him no, it's not part of your current PhD studies at your new college.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: Do a "go fund me". Many less appealing (or deserving?) stories than "starving PHD student" have brought in thousands.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_13: ### Mid-to-long term suggestion: You all need to unionize.
As several other answers suggest, you are a junior employee of the university - doing research, which is what a university is about, even if under the tutelage of a supervisor. In many countries, and even in some universities in the US, you would be considered a university employee (at the previous university and at the current university), and as another answer suggests - the trip would be a business trip. However, that requires your employer to reach into their pockets and shell out the money, which they would rather not.
The key point here is that **this is not an individual, but a collective problem**: All hD candidates at your university either do not receive expense reimbursement for travel to conferences in which they're presenting, or have to be on their supervisor's good side, to get funding from him/her as a favor. And it's not even the problem with a single institution, because the business trip happens now, and is relevant to your continuing career, but the research happened earlier, at the previous university.
The solution is also collective: Forming a graduate researchers' union (or an untenured/temp staff union involving also teachers). At the single-university level, that is the way you can secure stable funding for everyone to be able to attend a conference several times during your Ph.D., both based on research done at the current university and independent/previous research of yours.
Of course starting a union is not an undertaking for just a single person. But you are now being "burned" by the lack of a collective organizational structure to pursue the interests of the group you're in. Remember this lesson, and try to spend some of your time raising awareness and support for this among your peers. You could also consider reaching out to other unions representing Ph.D. candidates in the US. A particularly inspiring struggle in recent years has been waged by:
<https://columbiagradunion.org/>
who won the landmark case of [The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Graduate Workers of Columbia–GWC, UAW.](https://columbiagradunion.org/app/uploads/NLRB-Case-02%E2%80%93RC%E2%80%93143012-DECISION-ON-REVIEW-AND-ORDER-20160823.pdf) (364 NLRB 90)
Upvotes: 0
|
2019/03/07
| 3,156
| 13,136
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<issue_start>username_0: [Open Educational Resources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources) (OER's) are seeing a rise in popularity in institutions of higher ed, as both colleges and state-and-local governments [strive to address](https://sparcopen.org/our-work/state-policy-tracking/) textbook affordability and other costs associated with education.
These resources are advertised with positive aspects, including:
* OER's are free to students.
* Instructors can edit OER's and share them ([Creative Commons](https://creativecommons.org/) license type depending) freely.
Criticisms include:
1. Because many OER's are created without any funding structure, they don't receive periodic upkeep/revisions as commercial texts do. Hence, they may be unreliable as a resource.
2. OER's undercut commercial products and therefore hurt job opportunities for people in publishing industry (authors, editors, etc.). Hence, there is a financial cost to adopting OER's, paid by those who lose job prospects.
3. Pressure to use OER's (from colleges and local governments) creates tension inside academic departments because it restricts academic freedom. Therefore, instructors may be told to use a textbook because it's *free*, and not necessarily because it's *good*.
4. OER's stigmatize authors in academia from creating materials and taking them to market. Hence, authors may no longer feel that selling their own texts/materials is appropriate, receiving shame for not offering to give away their work.
**So...I want to know the real costs of OER's.**
First, is the above list of criticisms correct, and do you know about any evidence to support them?
* Are OER's damaging publishing markets? If so, do we know any particulars (numbers, examples)?
* Have any institutions adopted an OER text, only to have it become unusable because of a lack of editing attention?
* Are any faculty forced to use bad OER's in order to cut costs? Are they receiving pressure or stigma for wanting to use for-pay, commercial texts?
**And...are there other costs associated with OER's not mentioned above?** Please note that I am not positing as true any of the above positives or criticisms -- rather, these are things I have heard in conversation with other instructors.
Thank you in advance for your help here.<issue_comment>username_1: I will refer to your criticism by number, hoping that any updates to the list will be additive...
* *Criticism 1* (maintenance) is, in a theoretical sense, true, but open materials are often addressing it in their own way: with collaborative tools like github/gitlab and bug trackers that make reporting of errors and improvements easy. Meanwhile, publishers aren't always great at quality control, particularly when it would require them to reprint their books often (see, e.g., [Hefferon's gitlab](https://gitlab.com/jim.hefferon/linear-algebra)). For example, <NAME>'s *Algebra* is famous for its amount of mistakes and lack of polish, despite having seen three editions. My impression is that printed books are rarely revised to improve quality; instead re-editions often include new chapters, permute existing chapters, and try to dumb down some material so that it can fit more courses. Anecdotally, this is being done in order to make the old editions incompatible and thus scorch the used-book market; of course, intent is hard to prove in this question.
* *Criticism 2* (job killing) can be (and is) levied at pretty much any innovation. But this is how the world is supposed to move forward, by making formerly hard and costly things trivial and automatic! (And history, so far, has always shown that those who want to work will never run out of things to do. Getting paid for them is a different story... But medieval stasis cannot be the answer.)
* *Criticism 3* (pressure) is not happening anywhere around me (and I'm generally gravitating towards OA-friendly places). I have been using open texts whenever I could, but I don't see anyone pressuring me into doing that. (Students have occasionally thanked me for it, though I've more often been critiqued for not assigning a text that could be consistently read. Needless to say, with a subject properly covered by open-access texts, you can get the best of both worlds.) I suspect that intercollegiate pressure is much more a function of the climate at one's institution than of whatever is happening in publishing.
* *Criticism 4* (stigma) is probably a real effect. Once again, however, shifting standards are a consequence of any sort of improvement! LED lights have been stigmatizing old-fashioned lightbulb makers in just the same way. In many ways, book writing has already taken a large reputational hit before the Internet came along, and general advice in the academic community seems to be that the main purpose of writing a book is "so you can show your grandpa" (meaning that even the generation currently in their 40-50s will not see it as a particular milestone). The main reason seems to be the proliferation of books and the ease of publishing one (even with the established presses), not the advent of open access sources.
As you are asking for further criticisms, let me throw a couple in the air, although (being an OA advocate myself) I do not view them as heavily important:
* *Criticism 5:* The free might drive out the good. I.e., if the best openly available materials are inferior to some printed books, some teachers will nevertheless pick the former for their free availability. I suspect this is a real issue occasionally, but mostly a temporary one. At least on the undergraduate level of my disciplines (algebra and combinatorics), there are usually freely available sources of the highest quality I know (when it comes to linear algebra, I even consider them superior). Finding good free texts gets harder the more advanced (and rarely taught) the class is, but most teachers don't assign bad texts just because they are free.
* *Criticism 6:* Free resources might enable monocultures. If every lecturer has a choice between (say) 10 popular linear algebra texts of roughly equal quality, then you might expect each of these texts to have a popularity of roughly 10%. If someone writes a free text of comparable quality, you will suddenly see lots of lecturers adopting that free text purely because it is free. Subjects that are not covered in that text will disappear from classes; people's viewpoints will differ less (which is not a good thing for academia, whether or not students accept it). Note, however, that the same thing happens whenever a really good textbook comes out (say "analysis" and you will hear "Rudin"; say "differential geometry" and you will hear "Spivak"). In such cases, open access may actually disrupt that equilibrium even as publishers may lack the courage to do so.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The question asks about hidden costs of OER's, but the real hidden costs are the ones associated with non-free texts. Students are forced to pay exploitative amounts of money for a text, but this is hidden from the instructor, who typically has no idea if the book has gone up in price since last year.
STEM students are also forced to pay large amounts of money (typically $100/semester) for online homework systems like MasteringPhysics or MyMathLab. These were originally quite cheap, but then the publishers jacked up the prices year after year. Again, the endlessly rising cost is hidden from instructors. There are open-source solutions such as LON-CAPA and WeBWorK, which can easily be provided to students for free. However, book reps steer professors into hitching their wagons to their own outrageously expensive systems. This also prevents students from buying used books, since only the new book comes shrinkwrapped with access to the software.
>
> Because many OER's are created without any funding structure, they don't receive periodic upkeep/revisions as commercial texts do. Hence, they may be unreliable as a resource.
>
>
>
There are some reasons why the opposite may be true. The market incentivizes authors and publishers of non-free books to make trivial or cosmetic changes, but not to make substantive changes. Cosmetic changes are good in the marketplace for the same reason that they're good when you're trying to sell cars. Frequent trivial changes, such as renumbering homework problems, are also a big win because they prevent students from using a used copy of an older edition.
I also don't think commercial textbooks have a good track record for staying up to date. I'm a physicist. An example in my field is that professional relativists decided many decades ago to follow a convention in which mass is considered to be invariant, i.e., it doesn't depend on one's frame of reference. Authors and publishers of textbooks, especially at the college freshman level and lower, are only now beginning to adjust to this convention. This is because there is no commercial incentive for them to change. In fact, there was probably a disincentive, because they don't want to annoy professors who have gotten used to teaching things according to conventions that date back to the Roosevelt administration.
>
> OER's undercut commercial products and therefore hurt job opportunities for people in publishing industry (authors, editors, etc.). Hence, there is a financial cost to adopting OER's, paid by those who lose job prospects.
>
>
>
Yes, and that's a good thing. When the automobile came along, jobs were lost by workers who made buggy whips. It was a good thing that those people lost their jobs. Capitalism isn't a permanent license to keep on doing the same thing forever in the same way. This is the concept of [creative destruction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction). In a system where everyone is forced to pay subsidies to buggy whip manufacturers, society gets poorer over all.
>
> Pressure to use OER's (from colleges and local governments) creates tension inside academic departments because it restricts academic freedom. Therefore, instructors may be told to use a textbook because it's free, and not necessarily because it's good.
>
>
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Institutional and government pressure to use OER's are very weak (although they do exist in some places -- see note below). Institutional and government pressure not to use OER's are very strong. And it's fallacious to argue that openness is somehow opposed to quality. They're orthogonal.
What really restricts academic freedom is when a department insists that all faculty use the same text. Publishers are very good at getting faculty locked in to a specific text. For example, they get them hooked on a specific online homework system, or other ancillaries such as the slides that they provide to go with the book.
Using texts that cost money also sets up a dynamic that is opposed to academic freedom, because students buy a certain text, which costs money, and there is then a feeling that you can't change texts, because students have already bought the text for the first-semester course, and now you can't ask them to buy something different for the second semester of the sequence.
>
> OER's stigmatize authors in academia from creating materials and taking them to market. Hence, authors may no longer feel that selling their own texts/materials is appropriate, receiving shame for not offering to give away their work.
>
>
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Citation needed. I haven't seen any evidence of such a stigma.
*Note on institutional and government pressure to use OER's*
There was a series of comments debating whether any such pressures really existed, with many people expressing skepticism about their existence. They do exist in some places, but they're rather weak. I teach at a community college in California. Democrats in the state legislature -- bless their little socialist hearts -- have tried hard to legislate the creation of OER's and encourage their adoption. State senator <NAME> has pushed this hard, as did (moderate Republican) Governor Schwarzenegger and Governor Brown. Some relevant legislation was SB 1052 and 1053. There was a lot of confusion and milling about because the politicians were not particularly connected to the reality of the classroom, and commercial interests saw this as a way to promote their own interests. E.g., Apple saw it as a way to convince K-12 schools to buy an iPad for every kid. At the post-secondary level, the net effect so far seems to have been that there is some very gentle encouragement at my school to use OER's. Workshops have been offered. Every semester, my department asks me in the textbook adoption form to state whether I'm using a free textbook in my course. When I check the box saying yes, they respond by putting a little icon next to my course in the schedule of classes (which students never actually read, because they search for classes using a web interface). The main thing that IMO has been beneficial about all this is that it's at least made clear that it's OK for instructors to use OER's -- which had been very much in doubt before.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/03/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I stumbled on [<NAME> on his UCT page](http://www.philosophy.uct.ac.za/philosophy/staff/angier), but [this page](http://www.ub.edu/stageira/?q=en/members/tom-angier) details his degrees more:
>
> MPhil. in Philosophy (University College London, 1995), PhD in Philosophy (University of Cambridge, 2001),
>
> PhD in Ancient Philosophy (University of Toronto, 2008).
>
>
>
1. I grasp that a braggart may like the cachet of having 2 PhDs. But I'll assume that there are other modest reasons.
2. Couldn't Dr. Angier have studied in Cambridge, whatever he studied in Toronto, by taking more time in Cambridge?
3. In general, why'd you need 2 Philosophy PhDs?<issue_comment>username_1: Just reading the two titles, those PhD's each have a different focus.
I assume that the Cambridge PhD is "modern"...
And the Toronto one is prior to some defined date.
This means that Tom decided to augment or broaden his knowledge, perhaps due to interests gained in the first PhD. I'm guessing - only he knows why for sure.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Your wrong assumption may (or may not, as I don't know this person) be that he "needed" the PhD etc.
Many people do PhDs because of interest to explore a new field -- not because they "need" it. There are people with 5 PhD degrees.
Also, why should someone have to study in Cambridge? Maybe he found the place boring after being there for so long or had some family reasons to live in Toronto. Or Toronto was cooler to him at that point. Many people put their private life before their studies.
Or the program in Toronto was just closer to his interests or he felt like the other program could give him an additional perspective.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an American postdoc working at a university in the UK, working in a mathematics department. I am planning on applying to jobs in both the US and UK, including smaller places, and SLACs.
I have the opportunity to supervise a master's thesis. In the grand scheme of things, is it worth it? My suspicion is that nobody gets a job for having supervised an MSc thesis, but on the other hand, permanent job applications do seem to ask about such experience.
What are the pros and cons of supervising students? Would the time be better spent on doing my own research?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are planning a career in Academia that includes any non-trivial teaching component, it would probably do you good to get some experience with this. Whether it is enough to compensate for the time is a judgement call.
But, one thing that you need to learn as a teacher is that other people don't learn like you do. Every student is different and each has a unique way of learning. Things that are easy for you may not be for others. This is more pronounced at the undergraduate level, but even at the MS level you will get a sense of the kinds of struggles that students have by doing some supervision.
The experience may also give you some insight into coming up with the sort of problems that are appropriate for MS students. Problems that are hard enough so that something can be learned but not so hard as to require years of effort. Having a lot of problems at hand can serve your own research interests well.
A more remote advantage is that some of these students will continue to a doctorate. When they do, they will form part of your academic circle with you as a "senior" member. This can open possibilities for collaboration later.
I think there are a lot of pros for this and few cons as long as you don't take on too much initially. Since there is only one such offer currently, it might be worth it to dip your toe in that stream.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The main pro is that you get to pass on your knowledge to a student and thus you serve science and academia. This is one of the key tasks of academia and is often a reward in itself.
Ask yourself: Do you want to do this? Do you have enough time/capacities for this? Are you able to interact with students? If yes, go for it -- regardless of whether or not this looks good on your CV.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you're unsure, I'd say give it a go. My observation is that interacting with students is something you either enjoy or not. Until you try you won't be able to tell, and you want to know before you commit to a career that involves teaching. Then, even if you don't enjoy teaching all that much, you may want to do a bit of it while you're in academia, as it will strengthen your bonds with faculty and teaching assistants. Also, extra money does not hurt.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: In my field, it's a common practice to publish a work at a conference first, then extend it (typically with 25%-40% more content) and submit it for publication in a journal.
Often the extension is driven by a subset of the original authors, for example, because the remaining authors lost interest or don't have time to develop the extension. In this situation, the question arises whether it's mandatory to include the non-contributing authors as authors of the extension.
Arguably, the authors have already received the credit for their contribution with authorship of the original paper. On the other hand, their contribution to the original work is still a contribution of the extended work.
Is there any official guideline of how such cases should be handled?<issue_comment>username_1: The correct answer to this varies by field and possibly location. Ethically, so long as you cite the original paper, the people who work on the extended paper are, properly, its authors.
It also depends, of course, on your definition of "extended version". If the new paper includes the old then it is quite different than if it merely cites the old. In the first case the original authors should all be included.
But politically and for keeping open future collaboration possibilities it will cost little to include everyone as author of the extended version. My own preference would be to include people, with their permission. In some places it might even be necessary to mollify a powerful colleague.
But if you haven't already built the new version, you could ask everyone whether they want to participate and become authors. That would already imply, of course, that your preference would be to exclude non participants.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: An extended version of a conference paper supersedes the conference paper. A priori, this means that every author of the conference paper is also an author of the journal paper. In same rare cases it could be appropriate to drop an author (if every part they contributed to gets removed), but as a matter of protocol, I would only consider this on request of the relevant author.
This is different from a subsequent paper building on a prior paper from the same project, where a citation to the previous paper suffices. In such a case, one would not copy over important text anyway.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It would be outrageous if I took one of your papers, added 25–40% more stuff to it and published it as my own, claiming that you'd already received credit for your parts and, anyway, you didn't write any of the new stuff. What you're proposing is basically the same thing.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/03/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I was asked by a student to help him/her with a subject (probably for money). I previously taught a similar subject at a different university (that is where the student got my contact info from) but now I am at the exact department whose subject the student is attending, though I am not teaching or in any ways affiliated with that subject.
Does this situation constitute an ethical problem?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are in no way affiliated with the course or the student, this is not an ethical problem. It would not be different if the student was in some other institution.
However, regardless of ethics, the department may or may not have a problem with that. Therefore, a
sk the responsible people in the department. They will tell you if this is a problem.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Given that you are not involved in the delivery of the course (and thus have no incentive to teach it badly in the hope that people will approach you for private tuition), and you are not party to privileged information (e.g.: examination questions), there is no ethical issue here.
That said, if you work for the university full-time, you may want to check your employment contract, in case it had some sort of exclusivity clause prohibiting you from taking on any freelance or consultancy work (that said, employers do not generally enforce such a clause unless your freelancing/consultancy interferes with your capacity to carry-out your duties to the employer).
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/08
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say I get accepted to a Master's Degree Program in Applied Mathematics with a Research Thesis component. If I take 1 class a semester for 6 years and work on my thesis each semester, what could the time commitment for my most difficult semester look like? Assume I am trying to get an A in every class and publish a great thesis.
Does spending 40 hours a week on that single class and research for an entire semester every few semesters sound plausible?<issue_comment>username_1: This depends on the field, on the university, and on your preparation. A lot of places this would be overkill and students would normally manage with more than one class at a time. You call it "part time" but have described something approaching full time (40 hours per week).
But the real question is how efficiently can you use the time that you do have, assuming that you have other things that must be done (work, family, ...). If you can manage your odd moments of inactivity productively then you should be fine. It helps, for example, to always carry some course/research related reading materials no matter where you are. Every five minutes can be made to count. Taking notes while "on the go", likewise.
But there are situations in which the work load of a course plus research is more than you suggest. MIT, to name just one, has some pretty demanding graduate courses.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Let's talk about a US-based master's program. A course using the semester system is usually 3-4 credits or 3-4 class hours a week. The general rule-of-thumb is that you should spend twice the number of class hours on homework and studying so total time around 10-12 hours a week. You will also have to get yourself to and from the university so calculate your commute time.
Unless the master's program is set up for professional/employed people, classes will be during the day so your employer will have to agree that you can be gone during the day for a minimum 2 hours (assuming 30 minutes commute each way) three to four times a week. Or the class might meet twice a week for 90 minutes / 2 hours.
You might want to ask your employer or find another one that will let you reduce your hours to the minimum that will keep benefits. That's usually around 30 or 32 hours a week. That would help free up some time for class, homework, and research.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Your planned schedule sounds reasonable, but I would be more concerned about the *energy* commitment with full-time employment, particularly with a learning disability. Depending on the nature of your disability, the kind of work you do at your job, and your schedule, you might find that you have very little left over for quality academic work after your job commitment. So try it for a semester, but have a backup plan in case you find yourself overloaded. Six years is a long time to run yourself ragged.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I am not a member of an academic institution right now, but am working on a paper for publication, partly to improve my prospects for admission to PhD programs after a long gap in my education. Two absolutely necessary books for my research are only available in academic libraries (one is also for sale on AbeBooks for about $450).
So my question is, would it be appropriate to email a former professor and ask him to get these books through an inter-library loan (ILL) for me so that I could skim them for several hours, take necessary notes, and return them on the same day?
This professor has taught me in the same field, and was personally supportive. Aside from former professors, I don't know anyone else in an academic institution, and am not in a position to fly across the country to visit libraries where these items are held.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see an issue with this. In fact, you can probably do it yourself. Many libraries will offer library privileges to people for research. I live in a small town with a nice library. My local librarian has, on occasion, gotten such resources for me through contacts with a university library.
Libraries generally are there to help. They need some assurance that you will treat such privileges properly, of course, but you might just go ask to see what is available to you.
But, the professor might be willing to do it and will certainly serve as the trusted intermediary that might be needed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: You'll have to answer this one yourself. It's similar to asking someone else for a favor.
If you read the rules of your library, chances are they'll say that the person who borrows the book is liable for it if it is damaged. This also applies to ILLs. For example, if you spill water on the book by accident, it's your professor who gets in trouble. If it's just a fine then you can offer to pay for it, but there could also be other consequences (such as the incident being noted on your professor's record, or the other library might be reluctant to lend to your institution's library in the future).
It's also possible the library has explicit rules against a borrower giving the resource to someone else - you will have to check.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As the other answers point out, this depends on your relationship with the professor. But it might be possible to get access to these materials directly either as a "community" member of an academic library (ask) or even through a public library (again, ask).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Since you are an alumni of at least one university, check with those libraries about the services they offer to alumni. Inter-library loans are not usually included in library alumni services, but many libraries are happy to make exceptions for good reasons.
As well as asking about inter-library loan, ask the library if it is available as a e-resource.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: It depends on your relationship with the former professor, however, I've had the opposite experience: of late fees incurred when I was a research assistant for a professor who borrowed my ILL book. (The fees were paid by the professor later, so the result was fine.)
Are there any libraries near you that also do ILL? My local public library uses ILL.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/09
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<issue_start>username_0: I am enrolled in a university close to my home in a bachelor of electrical engineering and a bachelor of data science. The university I am attending does not offer a lot of math courses. The only math courses they offer are first year calculus, discrete math, vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, abstract algebra, real and complex analysis. I am intending to do all these math courses as electives for my bachelor of data science (they are not core courses). My university does not offer any courses such as topology, analytic number theory, differential geometry, measure theory and other advanced math courses which undergraduate students in other universities have access to.
The only option I can think of is to transfer to a university where they offer the math courses I need but that requires me to travel about 6 hours each day (3 hours each way). Also, moving out is not an option since accommodation is expensive and I can not afford it. So that only leaves me with studying in my current university.
What options do I have to learn and do more advanced math courses?
I may be going to graduate school in math and I do not think that the math courses my university offers is suitable for graduate level math since other students have done a lot of advanced courses not available to me. What can I do to ensure
that I am a good candidate despite the fact that my institution does not offer any advanced math courses? Would self studying suffice? How can I then convince the graduate admission committee that I am ready for graduate level math courses?
I live in Australia and I like to do my graduate school in USA.<issue_comment>username_1: It is very unlikely that your university will start giving full-fledged advanced math courses at one person's request. However, there are multiple things you could try instead. I suggest discussing these with your program supervisor. (or whoever you can best talk to about your course program)
Take a single course at another university
------------------------------------------
It might be possible to follow a course at another university without enrolling there. Advanced mathematics courses tend to be highly specialized, so it is not uncommon that a single university is unable to provide a diverse program of advanced math courses. For this reason, some universities have programs to 'share' their advanced math courses. (see e.g. [the Mastermath program](https://elo.mastermath.nl/) in the Netherlands)
It is possible that your university does not have such arrangements with other universities, but you may be able to make arrangements for yourself.
Guided self-study
-----------------
While self-study is an option, feedback from a teacher is be very useful when learning. You could ask a faculty member at your university whether they would be willing to have a short weekly meeting where you can ask them questions and they look at your progress. An additional advantage of this is that while you will not have this 'course' listed on your diploma, you can mention it during applications, as there is someone who can 'verify' that you have learned this topic.
There may be no faculty at your university that can or is willing to help you here, but they probably know someone at another university who would. It never hurts to ask around.
Research project
----------------
Since you mention you want to do research, consider approaching someone to do an undergraduate research project. This may not work out due to a lack of pre-knowledge, but as there is usually an expectation that some self-study is required, you might be able to find a project that fits.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Since you say that transferring (which sadly would be by far the best option, see the note at the bottom) is not feasible, the next best solution might be to just will those courses into existence. From your question I get that you haven't done the available courses yet, so start doing those as soon as possible. Most of them are soft prerequisites for the more advanced courses anyway. Try to excel in those courses, in order to get noticed as a bright and interested student. (I assume that you are good enough to do so, otherwise going to grad-school will be a bad idea.)
Then, once you are finished with some of those courses, talk to the professor and tell them what you told us. Make sure that the focus is on you being interested in learning about things, not in padding your transcript (which is just the means to study more math in graduate school). Teaching the same old basic level math year in and year out to students only interested in their grades can be quite boring, so at least some should jump at the chance to break the monotony.
From there on, I see several different options you might discuss, in rough order of desireabilty:
* The course you want is actually created, at least as a one-off. This is more likely if you find a few other people which are interested as well, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen, as preparing and holding a new course takes quite a bit of time which simply no professor might have.
* You do the advanced topics as a "reading course". This is not a common format, but the basic idea is that the professor assigns you a textbook to read and you periodically meet up to discuss your understanding and any problems you might have had. Then in the end you do an oral exam to determine a grade. I'm not sure about Australia but at least here in Germany this can count as equivalent to a regular course and is sometimes done in this exact situation if there aren't many interested students and the prof has not enough time.
* The prof might just assist you in studying the topics on you own, by giving you some hints and opportunities to periodically discuss things together. Sadly you will not have formally passed a course, but this might be the only solution in the not completely unlikely case that bureaucracy simply doesn't allow for a certain course to exists in your university.
In any case, an important goal will be to get a good personal letter of recommendation. This won't get you to your top choice of place but could at least open up some possibilities at places where the professor is known. So to maximise your chances, before you choose a professor to ask, have a look at their CV. Find out under whom they did their PhD and with whom they have collaborated in recent years. If those people are still actively involved in some graduate program, your prof might be able to send you there even with holes in your transcript. Just never tell him that this is the reason you chose him...
**Footnote:**
But all this being said, the harsh truth is, if you truly want to have a career in math, try to transfer to a university with a proper maths program as soon as you can. You'll be able to learn much more at a much faster pace by having more proper courses and by simply having other math students around you.
Also while it might be a prejudice, math courses from some applied university without a proper maths program are generally seen as second rate and lacking in depth. So given the choice between a student who passed introductory math courses for engineers with perfect grades and a student who only got mediocre grades in identically named courses at a place renowned for its math program, many will choose the latter. In the same way, your professors generally won't be the best mathematicians, both in terms of ability as well as in terms of connections, otherwise they would teach at some "better" place.
So I'd suggest to think about transferring again. There might be a scholarship program that you could get into, which would pay for accommodation or a way to condense your physical presence at the other university only to certain days in order to make traveling more feasible. Even if you decide to stay at your university for now, keep looking for opportunities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I will put in a minority view that complements the answer suggesting doing a guided study etc.
Your list was "first year calculus, discrete math, vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, abstract algebra, real and complex analysis." It is true that for an elite PhD program in the United States (which you mentioned as your goal), that would not be enough.
On the other hand, very few people get into such programs at all (by the numbers). There are plenty of smaller regional universities which have PhD programs that might be eager for "the best maths student in a generation at our college" (if that is you) to apply, and get a full assistantship. Some (not all) of the domestic students getting into these programs may not have significantly more theoretical preparation than these courses (though they may have more math total).
Nowadays there are more and more ambitious people coming from other than the "usual suspects" who are pursuing research careers (granted, also pursuing working in finance or risk analytics) so if this is your goal, it is plausible to do so without being at a "top-10" place (as might not have been the case 30-40 years ago).
So I wouldn't necessarily say you need to transfer. Abstract algebra and real analysis will show you can do proofs. Crush the math subject test GRE (which basically has the topics you mention), do as many of the other things mentioned as possible - particularly an undergraduate research experience or two. Then work hard to find a program that will be interested in you and want to invest in you succeeding.
---
Final note: In the US there are also many (even) smaller regional universities which have master's (but not PhD) programs that would offer a lot of the types of topics you are mentioning. Some of these also have assistantships. I don't know whether that would be the case in Oz, though, nor whether the ones I'm thinking of typically have overseas applicants. That is a possible route as well, though not one I'm as familiar with people eventually going to a PhD using (I do know of some very successful examples of this).
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/10
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| 3,053
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<issue_start>username_0: I am experiencing conflicting reviews with my manuscript that recently received its reviews. The reviewer #1 wants me to delete the analysis X for the clarity and focus of my MS, while reviewer #2 wants me to further discuss the results of analysis X, as it appears to be interesting for them. Both comments have important points. Reviewer #1 will make the MS short and clear, while reviewer #2 will make the MS longer and open more discussions.<issue_comment>username_1: Although this seems like you are stuck [between Scylla and Charybis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_Scylla_and_Charybdis) it isn't that bad. It is annoying that the editor is unhelpful, but they are often non-committal in these situations.
Remember that when you send your resubmission with a response to the reviews, each reviewer will see the other's comments. So, in your response, include a section titled "Consideration of reviewers #1 & #2 comments about Analysis X". Explain that both reviewers had good points. And after careful consideration you have decided to do ... whatever you decide.
Depending on the journal / field, one option is to move an expanded version of the analysis (satisfying #2) to the supplement (satisfying #1). If supplement is not available, you can at least put that analysis into a subsection, clearly titled, so that readers (and #1) can more easily skim/skip that subsection without disturbing the overall flow.
I always lean toward including more rather than less, so I would probably end up saying something to #1 like "Based on the thoughtful remarks from reviewer #1, we realized that we failed to clearly explain analysis X, since we, and reviewer #2 both think it is important. As such, we have re-written this section emphasizing how it contributes to our main conclusions."
I have never heard of a reviewer rejecting a paper because an extra analysis was included. If the paper is too long after being accepted, the editor will ask you to trim it down and that can be another opportunity to move things to supplement/appendices.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: What this means to me is that Section X needs to be revised.
Reviewer #1 is pointing out that section X is not well-motivated as it stands -- because they can't figure out it's relation
Reviewer #2 is pointing out that section X is not good enough as it stands -- because it doesn't address relevant issues about X.
Thus, the two are not necessarily opposite. Reviewer #1 is telling you that you need to better explain why X is as state *if you want to include it*. Reviewer #2 is saying you need to better address what is at stake in X but recognizes X is significant.
When I get this sort of review, I rewrite that section to make very clear why discussing X matters to the paper (thus addressing Reviewer #1) and try to improve and focus my arguments so that it really answers the objections raised related to X (thus addressing Reviewer #2).
I'm in philosophy, so maybe this advice doesn't apply to your field.
Upvotes: 5
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2019/03/10
| 1,552
| 6,717
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<issue_start>username_0: My significant other (SO) and I are in five years of relationship. We met working in a lab and she already earned her PhD at that time. I was a graduate student. She was the main person I went after my adviser if I had logical questions about my project and helped me the process throughout. We now have two publications together. We worked professionally together for almost three years. She knows my potential both personally and professionally.
I am wondering if it is okay to use a letter of recommendation from her to apply for a PhD program.
Updated: I edited the word "supervisor" as suggested by a commenter. She wasn't an official supervisor but, provided tremendous help with analytical issues. We also stay collaborating on other research projects until today even after we both were out of the lab.<issue_comment>username_1: **No.** If she discloses your relationship in the letter, the reviewer will likely disregard the letter completely, and may question your judgment for having asked her for a letter. If she does not disclose your relationship in the letter, that is a serious enough omission that it could have consequences for you later on (I can't quite tell where you are in your career, but the more senior you are, the more severe these consequences could be).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm going to come in with a **no.** (See *edit* remark at the end).
I originally said **cautious yes**. You can use a letter from your SO, with some caveats, as follows:
1. It should be an extra letter. Like, if they asked for at least 3, your SO should write the 4th.
2. If your SO is a postdoc at this time, the letter is already not worth that much, so after discounting for SO conflict of interest it might not be worth it.
3. The answer from username_1 is correct that your SO **must** disclose that you are in a relationship.
4. Given the nature of your relationship, your SO should make a huge effort to write a balanced letter, including your weaknesses / where you have room for improvement. If I read a letter from an SO that seemed honest, I might weight it even higher than another because the SO knows the applicant better than other letter writers.
So, after taking all that into account, should you still use your SO as a reference? Probably not. But as someone involved in admissions into PhD programs, I understand that in lab relationships happen, and I would be interested to hear what an SO had to say.
edit: It seems I'm more open minded about these things than other people in academia. There is a risk that having your SO send a letter will offend someone on the admissions committee, or be taken as a sign of bad judgement on your part. So the safe thing to do is to avoid using an SO (or any immediate relative) as a letter writer.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Look at things from another perspective:
Suppose, you use the letter **with full disclosure** of your relationship.
Suppose, you get admitted to the program. Suppose, somebody who didn’t get admitted finds out that you got admitted based on a recommendation letter from your SO¹.
Suppose that somebody causes a ruckus about this, be it legally, internally, or publicly.
Now put yourself in the position of the decision maker who is handling your application and is aware of the possibility of the above scenario.
The decision maker knows that it might be easily their head that rolls if it comes to the above situation.
Even if they have not read the recommendation letter, they cannot provide evidence that they didn’t².
It’s far safer for the decision maker to just reject your application.
Using a recommendation letter from an SO gives them an easy argument for this.
In case there is **no disclosure**, this might be an career ender for you and your SO due to not disclosing a blatant conflict of interest.
I can even imagine that you may even face criminal charges (e.g., if there are rules that compels you to declare any conflicts of interest, etc.).
---
¹ For example because your relationship ends badly, and your SO wants to take revenge.
² In exceptional circumstances such as pre-vetted applications, they may, but that’s nothing you can predict.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm going to say yes, **but**, there is a conflict here. If no one else has worked with you this much, then perhaps it is not the worst choice. If this loved one writes a letter they must disclose their relationship to you, and **stick to facts**, such as how many papers you've written, grants you've gotten, your punctuality and relationship with peers etc. and how you would fit well into the position. They should avoid generally complimenting you as a person as this is too open to interpretation perhaps.
I know of two different couples who publish together constantly and write grants together etc. and are heavy hitting researchers, and write letters for each other all the time. These are ethical and good people and they seem to make it work. Clearly there are issues with doing this, but perhaps it is not an impossibility. I don't recommend it as a first option.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: While it is clear this situation calls for some thought, it is of my understanding that your personal life should have little to do with your academic/professional life when it comes to making decisions such as these.
When your SO makes you a recommendation letter, they will be speaking as an objective and professional academic with reputation on the line who has had experience working with you and has published credible papers alongside your - also professional - name. Not as as someone whom they've simply shared ice cream and would like to go to the Caribbean with.
The reason the relationship must be brought up in their writing is to recognize your personal and professional lives as two different things. If someone still goes at length about how it is a nepotism affair like other answers hypothesized, they'd be slandering your SO's and even your own reputation because it should not be the case.
If a reviewer who "notices" that you are together declines the letter "immediately" as other answers have suggested, then they have acted unprofessionally because you being in a relationship with them does not take away your credibility as a professional academic or your experience in any way.
---
**tl;dr** - Your SO is a reputable professional whose recommendation is as valid as any other. And like any other, it all really depends on how much real impact your SO's recommendation would have over someone else's.
If you don't have any meaningful recommendations in comparison, go with your SO's, and have no fear.
Upvotes: -1
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2019/03/10
| 421
| 1,805
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm assuming that all good universities in Europe/North America have PhD as the minimum requirement for a teaching job. What I want to know is:
1. How much **experience** (research and teaching both) is generally
required? And how to get this experience during your studies?
2. How important are **grades/gpas** for such positions?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US it is possible to get a tenure track position in math fresh out of a PhD program. Having the doctorate implies that you have done *some* significant research and have at least one publishable work. But most doctoral students in math here also work as TAs along the way, so they have at least *some* experience working with students. Some are permitted to teach low level courses with only minimal supervision. So, that is the minimum. Your grades were pretty good also, if you complete a doctorate.
But in most cases a job being offered will have many applicants, meaning that the competition can be quite strong. Thus, if you are better on any or all of the scales you suggest then you have a better chance to actually get the job.
But personality also matters, which is why applicants are interviewed before hiring. It isn't considered to be just a paperwork process or a spreadsheet algorithm.
If you are a student in a doctoral program and want a teaching position in the future, find a way to TA, and, if possible, teach one or two courses in the department.
But it will still be the letters of recommendation you get, about both teaching and research, that will make or break your chances. Do a good job and get recognized for it.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: To answer the second half of your question, grades are of very little importance in hiring faculty.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/11
| 488
| 2,034
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<issue_start>username_0: In the context of applied maths, physics and engineering. Videos/animations beat pictures and thousands of words, as is known to all. Is it bad to put too many videos/animations in a presentation? It's hard to define 'too' though.<issue_comment>username_1: It is good to use things in moderation. If the videos or animations are really important to make your points use them but not in excess. If they are not meant to make your points, they will only serve as distractions to your audience. Also, consider the time you will have for the presentation and tailor things accordingly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you have "too many", then, of course, it's "bad". This is more or less the definition of "too many".
How many is too many, is dependent on the situation and who you give a talk to. I have seen good presentations with videos illustrating a point and also short animations/memes which made the audience laugh and gave them time to breath after a long and heavy theoretical slides. (I don't like memes, but nevertheless I enjoyed those animations).
(Keep in mind that here are many mathematicians and a typical math talk has no animation/video, so you will probably get a lot of answers/comments similar to "I've never seen a good talk with animations in my life". It would be best if you would write your field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The number of videos does not matter. What matters is:
* Is the video relevant?
* Is the video effective?
A video that clearly communicates the message of your talk should definitely be included. If it is off-topic, confusing, or has distracting flaws, it should be removed.
Do not be one of the many speakers who brings a video that does not work.
Do not use the "animations" built in to presentation software. They are distracting.
I disagree with @username_2. Do not use memes unless they are the topic of your presentation. Using memes suggests that your topic, and your spectator's time, are not important to you.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/03/11
| 967
| 4,121
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<issue_start>username_0: I am being considered for a very nice industry scientist position but this involves many interviews and assessments and can take some time.
However I have also accepted an invitation to the US (I'm in Australia) to give a presentation in relation to high likelihood of employment as a postdoc in a research institute.
The postdoc supervisor has arranged for sightseeing and lab visits and hotels. I feel bad if somehow I wish to pursue the industry position.
Has anyone had a similar experience and have you turned down something like that before?<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like you are in the interview phase with no stated commitment in the form of having accepted an offer. Having your travel expenses reimbursed for an interview is not in any way a commitment to accept a position should it be offered. This is a completely normal expense that's part of finding good candidates. It is not expected that everyone they offer a job to will accept.
As long as you approach the interview in good faith, meaning that you haven't already accepted a job elsewhere, and that there is some reasonable non-zero probability that you'd take the job if offered, you shouldn't feel bad about having your interview expenses covered because of the possibility you might not wind up there.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: If your date pays for dinner are you obliged to go home with them? Of course not! Same in this instance - you are under no obligation to accept, but as the prevoius poster says it's only good manners to go only if you are seriously considering the role, were you to be offered it.
Good luck with the whole process and hope you find a position you're really excited about one way or another!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: After Skype interviews we brought the top two candidates over from another continent for face-to-face interviews, tours etc. It's part of the recruitment process to get people on site and spend some time with them, though of course sometimes the money just isn't available.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> I feel bad if somehow I wish to pursue the industry position
>
>
>
Yes, I have experienced such feelings. Don't worry too much about it. Job application and interviewing is just that: process. You spent your time flying, making presentation, they spent some amount of money because they are interested. There is no obligation or expectation that you'll say yes just because they organized your visit.
Also, they probably have institution account that pays for flying candidates, or grant funds potion that is dedicated for travel. Don't feel like you are cheating anyone if you are just exploring your options.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In addition to the other good answers given here, I think it's also important to understand that what feels like a large sum to a graduate student is often *not* a large sum for the interviewing organization.
Australia's a bit on the farther side, but a quick bit of searching shows that a ticket is still likely to only be on the order of $1000 US; hotel accommodations and meals will likely bring the total only up to around $2000 US.
In contrast, if you're there for a two-year postdoc, the total cost will likely be on the order of $200,000, when you count in all of the benefits and overhead.
Spending a couple percent on investment to make sure you have a good match is entirely reasonable, as long as everybody involved is being honest about intentions and not wasting anybody's time.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: When I had something similar, my rejected host took it rather unkindly. However, it works both ways, what if the only compensation for a rejection from them would be the "tour" they paid for? In most cases I would not consider it enough compensation, what kind of jobseeker can go on tours when "the house is burning", meaning those few days you take off other interviews, applications etc may be a hefty price to pay. Sure, only occasionally, but your host would also suffer from the hosting expenses only occasionally.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/11
| 2,331
| 9,170
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<issue_start>username_0: I graduated from my undergrad with a B.S. in math and cellular/molecular biology in 2017. Shortly after, I started a fully funded Ph.D. program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. I spent a year there and did very well. However, I felt as if something was missing. At the time, I thought it was the fact that I wanted to have more math in my studies. One thing led to another, and I was able to get funding and a transfer into the math Ph.D. program within the same college of science. I thought this was the right decision at the time but I feel as if I rushed into it too quickly.
This upcoming May, I will have spent a year in the math program, as a fully funded student. I did okay my first semester, and I chalked up not doing as well as I am used to due to it being a while since I had done this upper level math. However, now I am realizing it’s mainly because I don’t actually enjoy this anymore. I thought I would enjoy upper level math but I don’t seem to have the passion I used to. At times I feel absolutely miserable. I have no motivation because I don’t enjoy any of this anymore. I can’t see myself doing this for another year let alone 4 to finish my phd. My grades have fallen drastically. I’m not doing well.
I’ve thought about this a lot, and I believe I made a mistake. I want to go back to more biologically based research mainly and apply some mathematics to it when able. Not the other way around. So I’ve applied to transfer to a biological sciences Ph.D. in the same college that will be able to take some of my credits. I’ve looked deeply into it and I believe that is where I would be most happy. I truly believe it. It took me 2 years, but I think this is the right choice.
However, the transfer has been difficult. I need to get my departments approval to transfer to the other department. I thought my transfer would be guaranteed according to the new department’s head, but after some emails back and forth she has to “consider my application” and so now I’m not sure if I’ll definitely get in. The issue is I need this paperwork done before she can consider it. If I get it done, I’m out of my math program. And if she doesn’t allow me in to her program, I’ll be stuck not enrolled in anything. This is a major issue as most of the jobs and internships I’ve been applying to require me to be an enrolled student. I’ll lose these possibilities (I’ve applied to 18 positions all requiring student status).
To top it off, I feel so disheartened by all of this. I feel like I’ve set myself so behind, and that I’ve really screwed myself. I feel like I can’t climb out of this. Funding is near a 0 chance in this new program and I’m even willing to take that chance because of how miserable I am in my current program. I’d rather go unfunded than stay here. But it feels so hopeless. Can I recover from this? Is it even worth the risk of losing it all? My grades have gone from perfect to below average and I’m worried this will also be a huge stain in my records putting people off. I don’t even know how I’ll tell my current advisor who helped me transfer in that I’m leaving. It feels as if I’m letting her down after she helped me so much to get in. This past year my mental health has deteriorated exponentially. I have 0 motivation. I’m barely able to get the minimum done. I used to be a near perfect student. But I’m so unhappy with what I’m doing that I’m suffering. I’m trying to make a change and do something I’d enjoy but I’m not sure if I can make it happen.
My main questions -
1. Is it worth giving up most of my credits to transfer to a program to be happier even though I would be setting myself behind and losing funding most likely?
2. How do I attempt to explain to my current advisor that has done a lot for me to get into my current program that I’ll be leaving?
3. I’m not sure what I can do if somehow I leave and my transfer isn’t accepted and I’m stuck without being enrolled in anything, losing the possibility of a lot of paid internships I’ve applied to.
4. Is this situation salvageable? I’ve done poorly these past two semesters and I feel like it will be a major stain on my records.
**My biggest concern right now** is the fact that I'm doing horribly right now. I have fallen very behind. I do not think I can pass my courses this semester at this rate and I will most likely fail out. The first year in my biology based program I got a 4.0. This year, I will most likely do very, very badly. I'm hoping that when I apply to the new biology based program they consider how well I did in that field, and not how badly I did in the math field.<issue_comment>username_1: Without analyzing your post deeply or even in detail, the answer should really be obvious if you step back. Life is short and you don't get a do-over. There is little worse than continuing on a path that you think is wrong for you no matter how much you already have invested in it.
Hopefully you will live long enough to enjoy retirement (as I have). You want to be able to look back on what you have done with pride and satisfaction, not with regret.
It is good, actually, that you explored something that you thought might be good. You did so with imperfect information, as we all do. It hasn't worked out.
People in general understand these kind of things and that people's goals change. The hole is only filled by time and effort. Digging deeper won't improve your life. Do watcha gotta do. ("Do what you've got to do" in case you aren't from NYC).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **What is your long-term goal?** I think that's the question you really need to try to work out. That could point you to either of these programs or a third path entirely.
* Realism is important -- becoming a professor might be a nice "dream job", but there are so many applicants and so few jobs that you might want to reconsider if this is the only acceptable outcome.
* Also consider the job market as a whole. PhDs in math (particularly those with good technical and soft skills, such as coding and presenting) can find lots of good jobs in the US right now, for example.
Anyway....
>
> Is it worth giving up most of my credits to transfer to a program to be happier even though I would be setting myself behind and losing funding most likely?
>
>
>
From what you describe, you will not be able to slog through another ~5 years to finish your PhD in your current department. So, you should transfer at any cost. (But, consider what I wrote above -- there are options besides "PhD A" and "PhD B". With a solid goal in mind, you could also recommit to your current program.)
>
> How do I attempt to explain to my current advisor that has done a lot for me to get into my current program that I’ll be leaving?
>
>
>
He'll get over it. It's annoying when we put time into training a subordinate who leaves right as he's becoming useful. But that sort of thing happens. Further, if he has been tracking your difficulties, he may be glad you've identified and fixed the problem early before he had to get involved. Changing the course of your life for this guy is not a good idea.
>
> I’m not sure what I can do if somehow I leave and my transfer isn’t accepted and I’m stuck without being enrolled in anything, losing the possibility of a lot of paid internships I’ve applied to.
>
>
>
Again, this is not something that should change the direction of your life. I realize this is a serious short-term practical problem for you, but it's a second-order problem; the first-order problem is figuring out what the goal is and how you're going to achieve it.
>
> Is this situation salvageable? I’ve done poorly these past two semesters and I feel like it will be a major stain on my records.
>
>
>
After the PhD, the only thing people care about is: (a) did you get a PhD, and (b) what was your research about? Maybe also: (c) what skills did you acquire? [for jobs] or (d) what do your letters of rec say [for post-docs]. Absolutely no one cares about grades or whether you transferred schools. In that sense, it's much better to have problems like this as a grad student than an undergrad.
Now this stain will be a larger problem in the short term: once you decide what the goal is, you may have difficulty with admission to a new grad program (indeed, you indicated that this may already be a problem). But you'll find something. Further, there's a very nice "story" here that is easy to tell: I was great at subject A, thought I might prefer subject B, but I was wrong and I'm now 100% committed to subject A. That's a straightforward enough story that it should be easy to tell, if that's the direction you decide to go.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: My own experience: I got a Ph.D. in EE {Electrical Engineering} US. It was mostly applied math backed by computer simulations (MATLAB). For several years I worked in digital audio firmware, then I became a software engineer which suits me much better. So you will probably find something, but if you gear toward your strengths now, you will wind up on a better path more quickly.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/11
| 768
| 3,347
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in a situation when I am a co-author of a manuscript. I returned back to this manuscript after several months and I don't think it should be published as it is. I am not the main author and my co-workers want to publish it as soon as possible. I do not want to block them in publishing it, but there are some parts which I do not agree with. The paper can have impact on public policy and I have a bit different views. My colleagues already postponed the submission because of my comments. A colleague of mine suggested that I should care more for my own papers rather than the papers of others.
Is it ethical to submit the paper as a co-author and wait for the reviews and trying to improve the paper later or is it more fair to remove my co-authorship before the submission?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it ethical to submit the paper as a co-author and wait for the reviews and trying to improve the paper later
>
>
>
Submitting a paper with major errors is unethical, whereas submitting a paper that needs polishing isn't.
>
> or is it more fair to remove my co-authorship before the submission?
>
>
>
You can remove yourself, but the paper would probably benefit from your continued support.
---
>
> A colleaque of mine suggested that I should care more for my own papers rather than the papers of others.
>
>
>
This is one of your papers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Your coherence and trustability, on the eyes of others, can rely, and will tend to rely, in what you publish (especially in intellectual affairs and environments). In a world of works obtained by collaboration with others, *co-authorship* is authorship. Still, in the long term, you can build yourself a clear trustability anyway. Everyone knows that when working in collaboration, perfect agreement is scarce.
It is unethical (*that depends of your ethical criteria!*) to publish unfounded research, for responsability and compromise with society. However, depending on the type of paper, some sections can be a matter of interpretations and weighting of data presented. So I do not find disagreement unethical, but erratic behavior rather than straight-forwardness and honesty are probably improper in intellectual environments working in **publishable and potentially influential material**. Talking about ethics: everyone has free will, so you may not be able to prevent publication (if that was necessary), but looking for discussion and agreement will probably lead to better results.
My suggestion:
1. Expose your opinions clearly and request an answer (some people omit their opinions; requesting explicit answers is increasingly necessary).
2. Be proactive: suggest solutions that would solve the problems you expose.
3. Debate to find agreement if there is no agreement after the first step.
4. If no previous steps worked sufficiently for your personal criteria, evaluate whether you can afford not publishing it or you actually win by not publishing that.
5. If found convenient, politely indicate that you would prefer to withdraw from the authorship of the paper if certain considerations are not stated differently.
I would never delay the straight-forward approach: waiting until review will make the potential future corrections and agreement impossible.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2019/03/11
| 511
| 2,201
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<issue_start>username_0: I work in an institute where I am more concerned with Development of systems and solutions rather than actual research, but of course the head is a professor and writing papers is an important task when it comes to *productivity*.
My ordeal is that I would rather be:
>
> on the programming, developing side of the research, where I like to give things a try than just writing ideas and concepts
>
>
>
I have however been a second author on a couple of papers; one a demo/poster paper and one for a conference (in the pipeline).
I have been stressing myself because I realize that writing papers isn't my thing but the work that I do is still enjoyable and fun and I would like to continue working as much as possible
Is being a second author most of the times accounts to something similar to publishing things as a first author?<issue_comment>username_1: This depends strongly on the field. In some, it is a big deal, in others not so much. But it is always a good thing to be an author, wherever you appear in the list.
If you are comfortable with it, don't worry too much. Your preferences may change, of course, in which case you may want to take more of a lead in the research and thus in the "perceived rank" of authorship.
Of course, your institution might put more emphasis on "first" authorship and it may affect your advancement. Don't neglect that.
In some fields we don't worry at all about that and just list names alphabetically, assuming that if they are listed, they contributed.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a lot of variables here. The author contributions section of the paper will matter a lot too. For example, I'm a biomedical statistician so I have a huge number of 2nd/3rd author papers where the author contributions statement says the 1st author designed the experiments and stuff, and I did all the stats.
If I'm applying to stats focused positions, that 2nd author 'did all the stats' contribution could mean more than a 1st author 'designed the experiment'. Make sure the author contributions statement accurately reflects what you did. This was commented on in my interview for my current position.
Upvotes: 1
|
2019/03/12
| 2,975
| 12,721
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<issue_start>username_0: I am composing a manuscript using data collected by a PhD student over two years. She doesn't have enough statistical or analytical skill to publish her work. On top of that, language is also a huge issue for her.
I redid the analyses, created the graphs and started writing with my own flow and conclusion. I am also receiving supervision from a post-doc who got his PhD in the relevant field as the topic of the paper while I don't have much experience on the area.
I am quite confident I have the right to claim as the first author but when I allocate the second authorship to the post-doc, the student was acting up with me. Without me writing and the post-doc supervising, she will never be able to publish her work. So, who really deserves which?
Updated : Let me clear a few things here. I understand the conventionality of assigning authorship here in the US or other advanced countries. PhD student is from a country where even young faculty doesn't know what peer-review publication is. Post-doc(the supervisor) and I (research associate) are based in the US. PhD student collected the data 3 years ago and she and her adviser came up to me to collaborate on research projects and she handed the dataset to me to write. She has no interest in taking part in the writing process (no phone call, email or no showing of desire to learn anything from the process). When post-doc and I started writing, there is not even a promise of her data and research design can produce anything. We had to recraft research questions, redid analyses, graphs and everything. It was much like you download the someone esle collected data from public website, you write analyze and write a paper on it. During my Master year, my US adviser used the 10 years dataset from a peer who collected the data but didn't express interest in writing it. The guy offered us with the data, we wrote it and his name came as 3rd author. Seriously, we don't even know this paper can even be publishable and we are just making the best out of it.<issue_comment>username_1: Put yourself in the shoes of the PhD student. She spent 2 years of her life conducting a study and collecting data. She needs help with statistics and writing (this is very common). The person helping with this claims first authorship (in my field this is already questionable) and on top of this even wants to give the second authorship to their supervisor. I can't see how this is supposed to be fair to the PhD student. The post-doc at most deserves third or fourth author. Where is the advisor of this PhD student? You are doing their job (and in my field the advisor would be last author).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> the student was acting up with me. Without me writing and the post-doc supervising, she will never be able to publish her work.
>
>
>
That's a quite serious issue here: as a PhD student she's supposed to learn to write papers. Otherwise how is she even going to write her own PhD? Maybe she's acting up not only because of the order of authors but also because she wants to be more involved in it, and I'd say rightfully so: a PhD student is not a research assistant, they are researchers at the training stage. It is the duty of the supervisor to provide them with this training, and that includes writing papers.
In my opinion, ideally she should write a significant part of the paper and get at least first or second author. This might involve a lot of back and forth with the supervisor until her part reaches adequate quality standards. If time constraints make this option unrealistic, I would suggest planning a future paper where she would do most of the writing and get first authorship. It might take some time and effort, but it's the right thing to do.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally the PhD student would be the first author, because it is her research. You would be the second author and the other postdoc the third. But typically she would also write the paper herself, and I do not understand why exactly this is not done in your case - whether she gave this job to you or whether you told her that she is not good enough herself. If she has at least tried it, but then "failed" in some way according to your assessment, she still deserves to be the first author.
*If she however communicated clearly to you that you should do the writing part*, then it would be okay that you are the first author and she the second author. **But in this case, you should have told her that and talked to her about it.** As her supervisor, you should be invested in her scientific career, and you should have told her how not being first author negatively impacts her career. In my country, it is often necessary to publish at least one paper as a first author if you want to get a PhD, and since this is a paper about *two years* of her work it sounds like this should be an important paper for her.
So in this second case, I think that the question shouldn't have come up for you, because you should have had a discussion about it with her. And you should have pushed her to at least try to write the paper herself. It seems weird to me that you don't mention a conversation like this at all.
Frankly it sounds like you just don't like her and don't want to give her proper credit, but I realize that I do not have enough information to make this judgment. I'm just going by the way you phrase it as her "acting up". Currently the opposite seems true to me - you are taking away her research and then you even consider to not even give her *second* authorship. It sounds like you are the one acting up.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The answer depends on the quality of the work the PhD student and you did. I would recommend to read Recommendation 12 (english version on p.82f) of
<https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_im_profil/reden_stellungnahmen/download/empfehlung_wiss_praxis_1310.pdf>
which gives very good guidelines.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: My own view is that every disciple's professional societies should settle the entire issue by moving to alphabetical by last name.
There will be complications for some names, but that can be settled best by a committee of those affected.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: In my opinion, I do not feel she is in the wrong. A reasonable authorship order would be Her, You, Postdoc, PI. Or perhaps with an asterisk that says the first and second author contributed equally.
She collected the data, it belongs to her. She needed help, turned to you. Now, she is having people step in on her data and publish it without a discussion on authorship. And do not be so certain that without you or the postdoc, she would never publish. That is not an attitude you want to cultivate in yourself.
Can you imagine if you did this to your PI and their grant funded data?
I will also give a word of advice about this behavior- this could have short term benefits but long term damage to your reputation. Nothing will make potential collaborators balk at working with you like being unfair with authorship. Be very careful about the reputation you cultivate. Having a reputation as a positive, fair, and reasonable collaborator opens many doors in academia.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Assuming your are coming from a STEM field (or any other field) where the rank of authorship is determined by how much every author contributed to the publication, **the PhD student who drafted the paper should be first author.**
Here's why: You do not only have to think about the work load every author had, but also keep in mind the creative work, i.e. doing an outline, drawing graphs and so on. Apparently, you did some analyses, graphs and minor text contribution (compared to the rest of the text). Proof-reading should not be taken into account, since somebody who only proof-read an article would not deserve any authorship, some might argue not even an acknowledgement (but rather nice "Thank you" in person and a free coffee or something similar).
It seems like the PhD student did most of the manuscript which you then revised by adding your analyses and conclusions. This is a substantial part in writing a paper, **but it does not grant you the right to take first authorship**.
Now to your post-doc supervisor's role: Even if this would not have been able without the post-doc, merely being in a supervising role and giving advice or guidance will put your name at the end of the author list, where the supervising professor is usually the very last author (as this is the position that most likely tells the reader who is the big supervisor behind the research effort).
To summarize:
* Lots of experimental work and drafting the paper: First author.
* Additional work and revisions: Second author.
* Supervisor who is not the professor: Second (or third, fourth, ...) to last from the professor.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: Another possibility is to list the authors alphabetically and state this choice in the acknowledgements or in a first-page footnote, if the template allows that. Although this may not be immediate to grasp, the readers who really bother will easily deduce that this means equal attribution. (\*)
This way out of the sorting dilemmas requires that everybody buries the hatchet, and that each understands that the paper could have not come to light without each of the authors: no properly collected data, no thoughtful interpretations, no accurate information delivery. Effectively these are the three pillars of a well-written, say also 'well-readable', good paper.
The first author in lexicographic order will be perceived as the main one in plain references, wishing for you all that you get spades of them in the first place. This is a little advantage but not a substantive or lasting one. The other authors may still direct their own readership to the equal-attribution statement when this is appropriate, say in their own résumé, with a side annotation or the like. Really interested readers will find out the disclaimer while reading the paper.
Also, there are the other marks of seniority such as who is the corresponding author. Without using the above disclaimer, you might trade the first author position -- ownership of production -- for the corresponding author position -- ownership of communication. Ideally nobody should really 'own' the paper (and factually copyrights are being hander over), rather feel like a steward/stewardess of the findings and achievements in it. Ideally.
Let the emotions simmer. Then double check with the journal information, and possibly with the responsible editor, if your preferred option is feasible. It would be a pity to waste the negotiation efforts for a plan that is not implementable.
(\*) Actually you could also plainly write: X did this, Y did that, etc. Each part demands responsibility and professionalism, so no-one should feel vilified for dealing with the lesser, menial tasks. This goes well with the alphabetical order.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: If, as according to the edit, the PhD student handed you the dataset to work with (with apparently poor explanation, purpose, or quality), and you recrafted questions to ask based on the data, analyzed, summarized, and drew conclusions from your data, that is *your* paper based on *her* data. Since she provided a comparatively small portion of the work (since she only collected data, not did anything with it), and you did a larger portion, at the University I am going to (University of Washington - Bothell Campus), you would be attributed first.
It's also worth noting that, if we use pre-compiled datasets, we cite where we got the dataset from, but don't include them as an author. In this case you and the post-Doc would be the only authors of the paper, and citing the PhD student as an author at all would be up to you.
Additionally, if the paper were to be presented at a conference, it is the first author who is invited to present (according to my research professor). Since you said that you were the one to come up with the questions and analyze the data, it would make more sense for you than her to present, and it also indicates the work done, so you should go as first author.
You can also look at it as the definition of *author*(n) a person who writes. As she did no writing, editing, proofreading, or such, she is not an author in general, and wouldn't receive any authorship credit.
You can also always ask the post-Doc, or your college's Research Board (or equivalent, whoever is in charge of releasing research papers), or put names in alphabetical order and specify who did what.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I asked two potential referees, 1 month before application deadline, to write me a letter and both gladly accepted, and one asked me to write a draft (which I learned was a common practice).
It has been 10 days and I have never heard from them after I responded thanking them for accepting my request (and supplying the draft to the one who asked).
What is the best time to follow up with them without appearing pushy?
Also, one of my referees had an academic email address, which means the application system sent him an automatic electronic reference form by email, and I have no idea whether it was completed or not. Should I still follow up with him?<issue_comment>username_1: Given that you have approximately 20 days before the deadline, I would wait a while to do a follow up. The “proper” amount of time is very subjective, but I’d personally wait about a week until the deadline. While you have prepared well in advance for your application, you need to keep in mind that your letter writers are busy people who are going out of their way to do you a favor and will do so on their own time.
Your referees will likely let you know when their letters are submitted, but it would be good to initiate confirmation when the due date gets closer. Generally, the institution that receives your letters electronically will send you an automated email once your referee has submitted their letter.
There is usually a feature for electronic letters that allows you to send a push reminder email from the institution (just as the original letter request is), which is a good way to follow up without appearing too nagging. In the event that you decide to do a personal follow up, I would phrase your emails around the words: “if there is any other information you need to complete my letter, please let me know,” and remind them of the due date.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd wait until about 5-7 days before the due date, and then send a polite email reminding them that the letters are due, and offering to have the links to the forms resent if they need it.
There is a balance between being "pushy", and sending them a reminder too late for them to avoid feeling time pressure if they haven't written it. I try to stay on top of things, but if I forget, I would prefer to receive notification more than a day or two before the due date.
Of course, if there's a situation such as "rolling admissions", where an on-time submission can still be a bad thing, I'd ping them earlier --- but a situation such as that should never come up, as you would have let them know that an early letter was really necessary at the time you made the original requests.
It might be a good habit, when sending them the "thank you for agreeing to write me a letter" message, to say something like "unless you ask me not too, I'll send out a reminder about a week before the due date".
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a mostly self taught programmer. I read books and make things in my spare time. I want to go back to school soon for a CS degree and one of the ways I stay sharp is to help with stuff that's within my ability on Stack Exchange or Reddit. For example things like "How to print the reverse of a string" or whatever.
My question is that a lot of schools have policies against letting your work be used in someone else's assignment. As far as I'm concerned helping out on internet forums is just doing a public good but are there schools that see it differently? Could that come back to bite me when I'm enrolled somewhere? Should I hold off from answering questions until I'm through the educational system? Or is it a baseless concern?<issue_comment>username_1: Answering Questions from others on stack is one thing which is fine - it is outside your course.
Posting an assignment to get it solved for you or posting the solved assignment for others is not...
Students have long helped each other, by working through problems and applying the process etc but NOT by handing over a complete solution to a graded assignment - that is cheating and most institutions will be after both the cheat and the person helping them...
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> one of the ways I stay sharp is to help with stuff that's within my ability on Stack Exchange or Reddit. For example things like "How to print the reverse of a string"
>
>
>
Perhaps what you should do is change the way you assess whether something is within your ability. If you tackle questions which you're not *certain* you can answer then
1. You can't possibly be giving away your answers to homework, which addresses your main question.
2. You stretch yourself, and that will sharpen you more than doing the same thing again and again. For all that katas are popular, programming isn't karate.
I would also recommend not giving full working code to any question which you think smells like homework. That's partly playing it safe with zealous honor committees, if your university has them, and partly trying to avoid fostering a culture of "help vampires".
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student working on a double major, one in mathematics and the other in geology. The minimum required workload/semester for a grad student in my school is 9 credit hours/semester.
This semester, I am taking 13 credits hours, the majority of them are math classes. There is no research credit. That said, I still have to work on my research (both in geology and mathematics) independently. I am also a teaching assistant, working on average 9 hours/week.
I found the workload overwhelmed, but only after the deadline to drop courses without being counted as withdrawal (meaning a 'W' in the transcript). The instructor for the math course I want to drop, my advisors, and the maths department head all advised me to drop the course so that I can focus on finishing my thesis in geology by the end of this semester. FYI, there has been no grade/test/exam so far in the course.
My school has a petition form for students to fill out so that they can drop a class after the deadline. I submitted the petition with all the approval signatures from the advisors, course instructor and department head to the office of the registrar. In the petition, I told them the same reasons as above. However, my petition was disapproved by the university registrar. He left a comment: "I see no basis for drop, but withdrawal".
I am looking for a way to get my petition accepted. I believe my reasons are valid and they shouldn't make it hard for me. I am dropping the course not because I am slacking off or failing the course. In fact, I am already doing extra workload, more than most other graduate students.
Could you please give me some advice about how to convince the university registrar to approve my petition?<issue_comment>username_1: Answering Questions from others on stack is one thing which is fine - it is outside your course.
Posting an assignment to get it solved for you or posting the solved assignment for others is not...
Students have long helped each other, by working through problems and applying the process etc but NOT by handing over a complete solution to a graded assignment - that is cheating and most institutions will be after both the cheat and the person helping them...
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> one of the ways I stay sharp is to help with stuff that's within my ability on Stack Exchange or Reddit. For example things like "How to print the reverse of a string"
>
>
>
Perhaps what you should do is change the way you assess whether something is within your ability. If you tackle questions which you're not *certain* you can answer then
1. You can't possibly be giving away your answers to homework, which addresses your main question.
2. You stretch yourself, and that will sharpen you more than doing the same thing again and again. For all that katas are popular, programming isn't karate.
I would also recommend not giving full working code to any question which you think smells like homework. That's partly playing it safe with zealous honor committees, if your university has them, and partly trying to avoid fostering a culture of "help vampires".
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I got an invitation from a professor to contribute a chapter in one of his/her upcoming books. I am a novice in this field. I am still a student but simultaneously I do not want to lose this opportunity. I have a few published articles. I am quite confused about the content of the chapter. Can I use my results from the accepted manuscript and add them as chapter content of the book? Is it totally ethical? Kindly help me. Suggestions are most welcome by heart. Thanks a lot.
***P.S. Checked their profile. They are some professors in an university but I never met them. And they did not talk about whether its a normal chapter or some proceeding type chapter in the book. And no mention of money also.***<issue_comment>username_1: You were approached because your work is suitable for the particular chapter of a book on a larger topic.
Usually, in such cases, the book is either a monograph or a textbook (again, not exclusively). A monograph can be regarded as an extended research paper. That means that you largely put your own research into a larger perspective of related work, seen through the scope of the book. While a textbook demands a more pedagogical approach. Where you are expected to write the material with regard to the more commonly known basics of your field, which you would skip in a paper. Also, some exercises for the reader might be expected, depending on your field and scope.
Writing a part of a book is a iterative process. The professor will probably provide you with the introduction to the book and the expected scope of your chapter. Once you finish a draft, he will review it and probably provide feedback.
Do not let the fact that you are a student discourage you. You have written accepted papers and you were approached by a more experienced researcher, who probably knows why you are a good pick. Like you said, you shouldn't miss the opportunity. Every author starts somewhere.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Rather than answering the specific question ("*What to write in a chapter of a book?*") I'm going to suggest that this is an [XY Problem](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem). The real first question is whether this is a real book, or if it's a predatory publisher sending out an email blast to random victims. The limited evidence in the question and comments suggests that it may well be a predatory publisher:
* The recipient is not a well known researcher
* There isn't a clear and well-described topic for the chapter
* The recipient doesn't know the putative professors personally
An edit to the question suggests that the authors may be real people, but with the other red flags that are raised I would still be very suspicious. The professors may not be the actual senders of the letter, or they may in turn be victims of a scam.
It's not impossible that this is a real book, but the odds are very much against it. Please be cautious before doing something that may damage your reputation and career.
*Edit* since in the comments someone is skeptical that there is such a thing as predatory book-chapter scams:
* [Example 1](https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_InTech_Open_Science_a_predatory_or_a_ligitimate_publisher)
* [Example 2](https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_do_You_think_about_intechopencom)
* [Example 3](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15570/has-anybody-received-any-solicitation-from-nova-press-are-they-a-scam)
* [Example 4](https://www.chronicle.com/forums/index.php?topic=90018.0)
The claim in the comments is that book chapters can't be predatory because "*You can't have a predatory book*". These examples show charges for chapters, but also through selling worthless, low-quality books to libraries.
In general these predatory publishers depend on naive people; that includes people who think "*You can't have a predatory book*".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Under ["Information for Authors" at the American Mathematical Monthly](https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/pubs/AuthorInfo_Monthly.pdf), there is this statement for color charges in publishing:
>
> Color art will be reproduced in color in the online publication at no additional cost to the author. Color illustrations will also be considered for print publication; however, the author will be required to bear the full cost involved in color art reproduction. Please note that color reprints can only be ordered if print reproduction costs are paid. Print Rates: $900 for the first page of color; $450 per page for the next three pages of color. A custom quote will be provided for articles with more than four pages of color. Art not supplied at a minimum of 300 dpi will not be considered for print. Please ensure that color figures and images submitted for publication will render clearly in a black and white conversion for print.
>
>
>
What does this mean? Am I understanding correctly that if they decide to publish your article, then they will charge *you, the author* for color figures in the article?
I also don't understand the distinction between online and print - does the author have a choice which to submit to? I don't see this information on [their website](https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/american-mathematical-monthly#Submission).<issue_comment>username_1: By default, color figures will appear in color online and black and white in print. If you want them to be in color in print, you need to pay the rates they indicate. All their papers appear both in print and online, it is not that you choose one or the other. They also advice on the required quality (resolution) of the figures (regardless of color) and ask that if you use the default option the colir figures are understandable and meaningful when rendered in black and white.
Other journals have an option for slightly different figures for color and black and white, which may make things easier sometimes (for instance, in black and white you use different kinds of shading as different "colors"). It doesn't hurt to ask if this is also an option here.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Color in an online publication costs nothing for them to reproduce so it is free. In a print journal, it requires a different than normal process, so the author (or preferably her/his grant) will need to bear the cost. The color pages are printed separately from the rest of the article and then assembled.
If you provide color illustrations then they can be "flattened" to greyscale and printed in the normal way so there doesn't need to be a charge for that, but not all color figures flatten properly. When they say "black and white" they probably mean greyscale, but maybe not.
The article will probably appear both in print and online. If you provide color figures, but don't want to pay the fees, then the color will be preserved online, but flattened for print.
Upvotes: 5
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm planning to apply to competitive PhD programs in theoretical physics. Unfortunately, I received a C+ grade in one relevant graduate-level course. I really don't know how I got this grade, because I think I did well in the final examination. The final exam was worth 100 % of the total grade. Now, I received 5 A's, two B+, and two B's in the 10 graduate courses that I took. Unfortunately, my undergraduate degree is unrelated to the field I intend to do a PhD in. I didn't even attend undergraduate courses in calculus. I taught myself math and physics from calculus up to algebraic topology and Quantum field theory. I have also scored high in the subject GRE test.
I would like to know if these grades would have negative impact on my PhD applications. Should I attempt to do anything about this C+ grade?<issue_comment>username_1: One bad mark is unlikely to have much if any effect. Especially if it isn't the most recent. People are looking for indicators of success, so you have to provide plenty of that in your admissions package. Someone may ask you why you got a poor grade, but most will accept a reasonable answer. But your record is what it is and you can't change the past. Apply to the programs that interest you and make your best case.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Clearly, if they were A+'s, it would be much better, but it is still better than not having taken that course; even if we think the worst that you didn't get the material from that course, you are at least familiar to that material compared to a student who haven't taken it.
Plus, you have the chance to explain that "bad grade" in the statement of purpose if there was some exceptional situations, or you can argue as
>
> since I had a lack of the material from that course, I did this, this
> and this to compensate those missing pieces later etc.
>
>
>
of course, if you do such thing; this might even be better who knows!.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I got a paper accepted for a data science conference. It has a more "philosophical" tone and does not talk about any concrete method from data science, but more about how data science should be conducted.
One reviewer criticized the lack of methodology in my paper. What I actually did was going to Google Scholar, look for a recent review paper about the topic, and then swinging from reference to reference until I had a good argument. The argument itself was commended by the reviewer.
How can I address the reviewer's criticism?<issue_comment>username_1: I think the term you're thinking of is "paper review". (Or simply a review of the current state of the art.)
It is quite common to write papers that do nothing but review already existing methodology and to dissect their advantages and disadvantages.
I don't know if swinging from reference to reference like a scholarly Tarzan is an actual method in itself, though. It's just a way to find other studies. Maybe you could sell it as some kind of sleuthing or following the paper trail. I don't think that has any other name than "tracing arguments and methods back to their roots".
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: The "method" you describe is probably not rigorous enough to be called a method in the scientific sense. There is a lack of rigor apparent in your admission that you swung "from reference to reference until I had a good argument." The quote suggests some bias in the procedure and in your selection of information, and your search strategy doesn't seem to be reproducible.
There is a method called "[systematic review](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_review)" that ist different from what you describe by its (relative) objectivity and reproducibility.
But more than a *method*, what you applied is a common *practice* that most researchers apply, without thinking much about it, to find literature to include in a review section or in a review-type article. If swinging from "reference to reference" involves going through the references of each paper you dug up, and looking at their references etc., you could call it "a [snowball procedure](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/96887/31917)".
However, fancy words won't impress a reviewer. As far as the review is concerned, I would not suggest to claim that you applied a rigorous method if you didn't. Rather, I would reframe the purpose of your paper: Call it a state of the art review, or an exploration of some topic.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/12
| 2,950
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<issue_start>username_0: I studied for three weeks straight for an exam because I was really anxious to pass it with a high grade, while everyone else didn’t study much. Now the problem is, I had access to the exam from the previous year because someone gave it to me. I don’t know where this person got this exam, but I think it was made public after he completed his exam. The thing is I don’t know if I was allowed to have them or not.
Now the exam is over and I didn’t receive my grade while everyone else received it. The average grade for the exam is approximately 50%. Now my professor wants me to see him in his office about the exam, but doesn’t tell me why. The only explanation I can think of would be cheating. My guess is that I scored way higher than everyone else and now I’m kind of panicking.
It’s also important to note that on the exam, half of the questions were very similar as the one from previous year and that no material was allowed during the exam, so I could not have looked at it while doing the exam. Also, I have a high GPA, so it’s not implausible for me to have good grades.
Do you think I could get in trouble for having access to past exams even if there’s no way someone could know I had access to them? And is it really considered cheating?
---
**UPDATE:** Thanks everyone for sharing their thoughts on the answer. I'm writing this answer to give some feedback. So I met with my professor this morning and I admitted having the exam from a previous year. I went with honesty, because I thought that it was the best way to go. The professor was happy about my honesty and he just asked me to elaborate some answer which I did. He saw that I knew my theory well and he didn't punish me further for it.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm assuming from my experience with Canadian academia that this is a test that is taken in class, you turn it in at the end of the period, and then your professor either gives them back, graded, or allows you to come to their office and see your graded test.
Before you meet with the professor, you should find out whether your friend should have had a copy of the exam. Yes, if you saw a copy of an exam that was not released after the exam, it *could* be considered a form of cheating and you *might* get in trouble.
If it was released to the class (or is a take home exam everyone had a chance to see), then there is no issue.
To be clear, I sincerely doubt you will get in trouble here. What you did is reasonable and expected, but at the very least, you should be prepared to explain the situation and know where the test came from. Maybe the professor would like to know who is leaking their tests.
I have had classes where professors kept their tests well-hidden enough that if someone had a copy, I would immediately have suspected them of wrongdoing. Without more details, it's impossible to know how your situation fits in.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: You haven't said whether you were actually accused or not. I'm assuming that you are just worried about what might happen in the meeting that hasn't happened yet.
The most honest way to proceed, though you may suffer for it, is to tell it exactly like it happened. You studied three weeks, you had access to old exam materials and used those to prepare. All you had in the exam was your memory and your skills. You had no knowledge of any question to be asked on this exam.
If the professor thinks you cheated, then s/he is very naive about how the world works. Student fraternities typically keep records of old exams and students study from them. If the professor uses old questions they should expect that those questions are available.
You might be asked for the source of the materials and you would be unwise to conceal them and might face larger issues if you try.
As the answer of [Azor Ahai](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/126354/75368) suggests, make sure that what you did isn't explicitly forbidden by available course materials. But I don't really see a way in which requirements could be stated that really disallow such a practice. It would be completely unenforceable. Doing well is not a crime. Studying hard is not a crime.
If your professor disagrees and wants to punish you, I'd suggest taking it to a department head or dean, again explaining exactly what you did and how.
If you suffer for honesty, then it is deeply unfair.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: While the other answers provide good advice how to handle the situation in a polite and diplomatic manner, we should nevertheless get the actual questions straight:
>
> Is having access to past exams cheating and, if yes, could it be proven just by a good grade?
>
>
>
**(1)** No, having access to past exams does not constitute by any means a case of cheating.
**(2)** No, an (unusually) good grade cannot be taken as a proof of cheating.
The following describes the legal situation in **Germany**, where cheating in an exam actually has a pretty narrow definition: It is constituted by unauthorised behaviour *during the exam*, such as taking unapproved material into the exam, talking or communicating with another student, and so on – the exact cases of unauthorised behaviour are defined by your institution. However, you have to be caught in flagranti or by clear proof of an action you did *during that exam*.
The situation may be different in other legal systems.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Absolutely not. Any work that any professor does is something that can and should be studied. He's the professional and it is his responsibility to change the questions if he does not intend for them to be known in advance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: You just said that you think the exam was made public. Why would be using something that the teacher made public be considered cheating?
I had a teacher at the university whose exams were 80% a combination of old exams and 20% new questions. My university had a very strict rule where all teachers were required to make their past exams public. Most subjects even had them for download at the e-campus.
This guy once went into a public rant about how everyone passed his subject (this was unusual, as the rate of passing for most subjects was around 30%) and the unanimous response from the university was to put some effort on the exams.
If the exam is public and the teacher doesn't put any effort into making a new exam, why is you studying from the material considered cheating? Seems to me like your dilemma lies in the fact that the rest of the students didn't use the exam to study, and well, that's on them for not taking advantage of all the studying material.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Depends on your testing regulations.
The ones at my university (and department) state that professors CAN NOT stop or punish you for 1) photographing it when examining it (i don't know the english word for this, but we can check our stuff for correction errors after the grades are published) and 2) distributing said photographs.
In Fact, some professors even share PDFs of the last exam, to make it fair for everyone.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: When I worked at University our professor used to do this to ~10 people each semester.
He usually picked some of the best results (just to be sure), but mostly people who handed in assignments way above their expected level.
He showed them one of their answers, and asked them to elaborate.
If people could give some background information, their thinking process, etc, the whole thing took less than 5 minutes, and people just left with their graded assignment.
People who cheated could usually not tell him anything except what they had written and he failed them.
So: If the exam had the same questions as last year, and you got the answers from your friend you might be in trouble. If you genuinely learned for the exam and the result represents your knowledge about the topic you should have nothing to worry about.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: **In the UK, the norm** (insofar as one can say there is any norm -- each university has its own rules and procedures) **is for past papers to be available, and for the onus to be on the examiner(s) to devise a new paper for each examination session**. The exception might be if you had to sign something saying explicitly that you will keep the material you see/use confidential.
In the university where I did my undergraduate degree, the past papers were available as bound volumes in the library reference sections, and we were at liberty to photocopy or transcribe any part of these volumes. Towards the end of my undergraduate degree, an official initiative was started by the university to also make the past papers available for download from the web. In addition, examiners' reports, giving general (anonymised) feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the cohort that sat the examination, were similarly available for perusal.
**In short, past papers were not only considered fair game, but we were actively encouraged to look at them and use them for practice purposes**. Our tutors would set mock examinations using past questions, and we would discuss in detail approaches, strengths, and weaknesses. Sometimes, tutors would re-use materials from year to year, but such re-use would never occur for anything that counts towards an official assessment, unless the material is a very generic starting-point, made known to the students at the beginning of the academic year, for a coursework assignment.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: When I was in college studying electrical engineering, professors regularly made the previous year's exam available at the local copy center for us to purchase as a study aid. Some would also offer extra help sessions where you could come in and discuss the exam with a TA, etc. One of my friends was in a frat and he would regularly show up with copies of the exam from several previous years. We would study all night, passing each exam around until all of us could do every question on every exam. Not only was this NOT cheating but a solid study tactic because many of the questions were similar to actual exam questions.
As some have stated, you should have looked into whether or not your friend was supposed to have the exam or not. Some professors collect them afterwards and don't allow the actual exam to be had outside of the class room. If that was the case, I don't think you cheated since you didn't have fore knowledge of the actual exam but one could argue that it was unethical. Either way, I would be honest with the professor if he asks about your study practices and how you achieved such a grade.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: In the UK, normally past exams are readily available. For public exams (GCSE/A-level) the most recent year is held back (it is available to schools but not to the public, so they can use it as a mock exam). Earlier exams are considered "fair game"; a few years worth are on their websites and it may be possible to get earlier ones. The same is true of university exams, at least in "academic" subjects - these are typically on the website, or at least on a password-protected part, and in the university library.
Some professional exams, especially multiple choice exams, do have stricter regulations. Medicine (both undergraduate and postgraduate) is one of the subjects where this applies. Cambridge mathematics, computer science and philosophy, on the other hand, let the world see their past papers. The Freedom of Information Act is also a way to get past papers.
<https://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/pastpapers/past-ia-ib-and-ii-examination-papers>
<https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/teaching/exams/pastpapers/>
<https://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/curr-students/ugrads-exam-folder/IA-past-exam-papers>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: If it was the same exam, then it's sort of cheating, but not really. It's the teacher's fault if they simultaneously did not want to change the test and did not want people to study from last year's test. If it's not the same exam then it's not cheating at all, it's just studying.
Upvotes: -1
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2019/03/12
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently in my first year of a humanities PhD program at one of the ivy-league colleges, and I've decided to leave the program at the end of the current spring term. (Yes, I'm 100% certain - I simply can't stand my field, dread every minute of my classes/research, and no longer desire to work in academia anyway. I also have been admitted to a certificate program elsewhere starting in the summer, and I have already accepted enrollment there.)
I do feel bad about quitting and want to tell my advisor and the director of graduate studies in my department that I'll be leaving at the end of May, so that it is not too sudden or abrupt. I have good grades and have never mentioned any problems with them out of politeness - none of my issues are the fault of the program; I am just a bad match for this work - so I'm fairly certain they do not suspect how I feel at all. I'm not especially close with either of them, but we do generally have a good relationship, I think. They both seem courteous and genuinely interested in helping me succeed in the program.
However, I am worried that if I tell them now, they will cut off my funding right away. (Normally, I would receive a stipend at the end of each month through May.) I need that money through May to pay for my current lease, which doesn't end until the summer. Basically, I would be in huge financial trouble if my funding ended now.
Is that even what would happen if I told them that I had decided to leave though? I am leaving without even a Master's degree, so I'm worried they won't see the point in letting me continue through to the end of the semester. I believe my funding cannot be terminated until my academic review at the end of May (and only then if I haven't received good marks), but I don't know if this guarantee would be voided by my decision to leave.
I would appreciate any advice for this situation. I believe the right thing to do is to be honest about my intention to leave, but practically, I also need to consider my immediate financial welfare.<issue_comment>username_1: The policy here is going to differ from institution to institution and from department to department, but I think it's likely that as long as you plan to continue participating in the program until the end of the term, your funding will also continue until that point.
If you don't want to broach the subject with your advisor or other professors yet out of fear of losing your funding, maybe there's a department administrator who would be able to advise you about this, or a grad student support office at the university who you could ask.
As anecdotal evidence, a close friend of mine recently decided to drop out of her PhD program, and does not want to even continue until the end of the term. She told this to her advisor last week, and he told her that since her funding is already allocated, she will continue to be funded until the end of the term, even though she's already stopped doing any kind of academic work. I don't expect all departments to be this lenient, but it does happen.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Among the things I've learned growing older is that we deal with people, not just students or faculty. I suspect that's true for most people, including the faculty in your department. As a consequence, I suspect that your advisers may want to ask you why you want to leave, but will ultimately understand because they have learned that (i) students are also people, (ii) people are all different and each person has their own problems and reasons.
The older I get, the more I have seen people struggle with life decisions, make professional decisions rooted in their personal life (having to deal with ageing parents, wanting to step down from management roles because the long work hours had an effect on their marriage, deciding that raising their kids is more important to them than their work, etc.) These were things I did not know nor understand when I was a student, simply because I had not been around enough people making such decisions, and having close enough relationships with people in their 30s and 40s where this commonly comes up. I know this to be true for many of my friends as well. As a result, I've become more understanding of people's personal decisions, and more willing to work with them.
Assuming that your advisers are like me, they will understand that you have your reasons. They may ask you whether there are accommodations that would allow you to stay on. They are unlikely to "punish" you over the minor issue of a few months of salary. Of course, there is no guarantee that your advisers are like me, but I've found that most of my colleagues are in fact like me (they're an important piece in me learning all of this) and good people wanting to do the right thing for their students.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This is an interesting question and it’s really more about ethics than academia.
I’m absolutely sympathetic to your position. You started your degree in good faith and have had a change of heart.
If I were in your position I would probably give them notice 1 month before you intend to leave. Is that the ethical thing to do? No. I think, ethically, you ought to tell them now, but as you say it may cause you financial trouble.
One thing you might do to mitigate your sense of taking advantage of the program is to be a good community member for this last semester. Help other students out. Volunteer for things when there is an opportunity to do so (like organizing seminars or even at the university level, like peer counseling) That way you can feel like the university is getting something back.
Another option is to be honest and then if you get cut off just get a job to pay your rent until your lease is up. Your PhD stipend can’t be so high that it would be impossible to find a job of equal pay.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/12
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m about to get dismissed from a PhD program because I failed in the 2nd attempt of the qualifying exam.
Currently, I'm thinking of the option to appeal the dismissal decision due to a long history of mental health problems (anxiety & depression) and have the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ([ADHD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder)) just before my 2nd attempt in the exam by 10 days as determined by the school psychological counselor & confirmed by my physician assessment. I’m not sure of this could be used as a ground for my appeal because I can present evidences for this ground and not able to use other grounds such as potential bias from my adviser as he was not willing to have communication & advisement after failing the 1st exam attempt. He actually told me “just do it and best of luck!!”.
Additionally, during the exam, there was one committee member who did not attend in person (joined us via a conference video call). I was notified several times during the exam that this professor was not able to hear me especially while presenting or answering some questions (when standing next to the projector or the white board to demonstrate some answers). The academic evaluation by this professor could be biased based on the fact that could not catch up all of my answers. However, I can not use this as a ground for my appeal because simply I do not have the evidence nor the presence of non-committee member auditing person at the exam. The director of the PhD program attended all of my previous qualifying exams (the 1st part that I passed & the 2nd part that I initially failed), but not the last attempt for the 2nd part.
I’m not making an excuse of mental health issues or ADHD diagnosis, but really made great efforts to study and prepare for this exam, and I believe that I answered most of the questions with logic and scientific rationales. I did also seek a confirmation of addressing each question asked by each committee members whether they had sufficient answers or they need more elaboration from my side.
My question is: How I can a valid arguments supported by evidences from my counselor & physician on the ground of mental health issues and ADHD?
The other question: What is my chance of admission if I apply in the future for another PhD program?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm sorry for the tough situation you find yourself in.
First things first: no one outside your university and department can speak with any authority whatsoever as to what this particular group of faculty administrators will do. At best they can speak in general terms and give general advice. That is what I will try to do. Let me also begin by indicating my own experience: I am a mathematics professor at the University of Georgia. For the last three academic years I have been the Graduate Coordinator of the mathematics department. Thus if you were in my department you would be appealing to me (more precisely, to the committee of which I am the chair).
It seems to me that you are getting overly caught up on the legalistic aspects of your "appeal." You grasp at several things that *might* perhaps lead to bias on the part of committee members. But let me be honest: in the kind of academic culture of which I am familiar, this is not a very good strategy. Without evidence of clear and bias *that changed the result of the exam*, I think it is very unlikely that (say) the director of the PhD program will do more than inquire of the faculty members whether there were any serious problems or irregularities with your exam. When they say "No," there is not really any other group that can spring into action at this point, again unless you have something much more serious to allege and more material reasons to allege it.
Here is the reality of the situation: the committee who administers a graduate qualifying exam has *extremely broad latitude* in deciding whether the student passes or fails. There is probably not going to be a "rubric" that they did or did not follow or anything of the sort -- rather, they are empowered to use their best judgment. To be honest about it, a student at this stage is probably not in a good intellectual position to question their decision: you don't have the experience to know whether their standard is a good one.
Rather than thinking of the appeal as an argument that you have to win, I suggest that you *appeal to the sympathies* of the most sympathetic faculty member in sight. In particular, I **do suggest** that you mention your health issues of anxiety, depression and ADHD. As a longtime faculty member and administrator, I can tell you that (i) many students have these problems, (ii) they can become significant impediments to otherwise very strong students and (iii) these issues are (happily!) not nearly as stigmatized as they used to be, to the extent that "zero sympathy" for such a student is not such a tenable position for e.g. a public university in the United States to take. If you bring medical documentation of the problems, explain the serious steps you are taking to treat the problems and ask for another chance when your health issues are under better control, then I think you have at least a fair shot at getting another chance.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is an honest and heartfelt answer from a History PhD student.
My university was not a tier 1 school, but it is one of the University of California unis. Our Qualifying Examinations were designed such that it is nearly impossible to fail them if you do all the preliminary work prior to the oral evaluations. Essentially, you have to write several long essays that survey the bibliographies of your field and demonstrate your position inside of that academic conversation.
The people who failed their QEs at my school did not put much effort into (or did not complete) the written portion. The oral evaluation is mostly just a demonstration of your memorized knowledge of research/researchers in your field and a defense of your position/dissertation.
I have some bad news, but please take it as best you can: members of your QE committee all have PhD's and they all advise doctoral students for a living. They fully understand the stress and strain of graduate school. They are aware of the attrition rates and even the problem of suicide among grad students (we lost one of our own to suicide during my time in the program).
That being said, there is no way a committee would vote to dismiss someone from the program unless they felt that person was incapable of moving forward with productive research. Unless you are producing research on why vaccines are bad or why Nazism wasn't such a bad ideology, you are likely being dismissed for the reason that the committee feels you are not in league with the expectations of a PhD graduate. Specifically, their decision is not about the fact that they had trouble hearing you or interpreting your answers. It's that your answers revealed to them that the depth or breadth of your knowledge of your topic is not at the level it needs to be at for you to advance to PhD candidacy.
There is another factor in all this you might not be aware of: At the time of QEs, your advisor submits a holistic evaluation of your progress to the committee and to the administrative department with his/her recommendation about your candidacy. It is not at all unheard of for advisors to act with favoritism or to mistreat advisees, but the more likely explanation is that your advisor feels the same way the committee does.
If you are going to be dismissed, you are owed an itemized list of reasons why. You could try to counter-argue those points. Your strongest argument might be that your advisor is guilty of dereliction of responsibilities to you, but that is a hard thing to prove against a tenured and respected faculty member. Even if you do win, he's going to be even more obstinate moving forward.
My honest advice is this: you do not really have a case. Arguing that you studied really hard and used scientific rationale to the best of your ability during your exam is insufficient; it's the kind of thing undergraduates tell their TAs all the time when they fail a test.
**To address your first question:** "My question is how I can a valid arguments supported by evidences from my counselor & physician on the ground of mental health issues and ADHD?"
You cannot make this argument. You are literally saying "I should be allowed to remain in this program because I have mental health issues that prevent me from performing acceptably in this program."
**To answer your second question:** "The other question: what is my chance of admission if I apply in the future for another PhD program?"
If you wait a few years and have considerable success managing your mental health issues, I see no reason why you couldn't get into another program - but you'd have to be forthcoming about the fact that you were removed from your first program, and you'd have to demonstrate that you are now capable of succeeding. That will be tough.
**Two other things you should consider:** Graduate school and mental illness are an explosive mixture. Grad school is decidedly *not good for anyone's mental health*, and if you already have these issues, I can't imagine it's a good fit for you. Also, there is very little actual use for a PhD unless you want to teach at the university level. An M.S. is plenty to land you a decent job outside of academia and sometimes still inside it as a researcher. Take your Master's (which you were probably awarded during your second year) and grab a job! There is no shame in not finishing the PhD.
edit: for clarification, I do not mean to imply that a person struggling with mental health issues should never be in graduate school. But I do mean that it is reasonable to expect that grad school will exacerbate those issues. It's a big enough problem that this warning is repeated to virtually all incoming PhD students, and it's a topic that's discussed openly during the program. Good schools will have good resources available to students who feel mentally unwell during their program. But if you were my son/daughter and you struggled with those issues, I would say "Don't go."
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: MAHT\_5050, this sounds like a hard circumstance. I don't have an answer for your 2nd question (chance at another PhD program). For the 1st question (appeal after the fact due to health issues) unfortunately I am pessimistic. If you're in the USA and you have documentation that you need accommodations, find out who is your school's Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) administrator.
The idea behind the ADA is equal opportunity. To create equal opportunity normally arrangements go before a test. It's up to the student to request accommodations on time. Also here's an unofficial page: <http://studentcaffe.com/prepare/students-with-disabilities/ada-your-rights-college-student>
So, you might ask the ADA administrator.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a computer science and software engineer that worked in industry for some years with deep applied knowledge in ML and AI, i commonly read research papers and this year started a graduate scientific research program , in this first weeks we are studying basic concepts like what is research, and common descriptions like :"research seeks to generate new knowledge" , "you observe a problem or a phenomenon , create hypothesis about that which then you seek to prove experimentally and collecting data" , my question is in computer science and AI, what are the problem and phenomenon? and what are the hypothesis in AI research? Commonly in papers researchers propose new algorithms or new models but what were the common "observed problem" and the hypothesis? it's not clear to me how CS and AI research fits in this classic research definitions.
If possible can anyone provide examples on specific AI research papers ,how they fit in the classic definitions, what are the problems under study,hypothesis and all scientific method parts in the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> what are the problem
>
>
>
Problems are numerous, e.g., [unsolved problems in computer science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_computer_science). (I'm unsure what is meant by phenomenon.)
>
> what are the hypothesis
>
>
>
A hypothesis is a starting point. E.g., P is not equal to NP.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: AI is a very applied domain, so from a big picture point of view the problem is often defined by a real world application. For example, machine translation fills a need for low cost translation (so this particular need is the problem). In this general setting, an hypothesis is for instance: "the machine can produce good quality translation", and researchers try to prove it.
However it's more common for a paper to motivate the work at a more fine-grained level using the existing body of literature. For example many approaches have been studied for machine translation, with varying levels of performance and flaws. A researcher in this field might want to study a specific question, e.g. "how to improve translation of multiword expressions from language A to language B" and formulate an hypothesis such as: "recent approach X can improve translation of multiword expressions from language A to language B". Here the problem is formulated as the need to improve over the current state of the art, implicitly assuming that the underlying problem (machine translation in general) is sufficiently established.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm guessing that the descriptions you have seen are from fields that work very differently from math and cs, including AI.
In the social sciences and most of the physical sciences, an hypothesis is a statement that might be true or false. It is stated in a certain way for technical reasons, but it is normally stated at the beginning of a study before there is any evidence whether the hypothesis is true or false. Depending on the field, some methodology is used to gather evidence about whether the hypothesis is true (accept) or false (reject).
The reason for proceeding this way is that the gathering of evidence, say with experiments or questionnaires, is an expensive and time consuming endeavor that is actually guided by the statement of the hypothesis. For example, if the research is guided by questionnaires to people, you don't ask the people a lot of random questions and try then to figure out what it means. You ask them questions related to the hypothesis so that certain answers (determined in advance) support the hypothesis and the opposite answers work to refute it.
But math and much of cs works differently. We have an idea for a theorem, or a way to improve garbage collection (GC) in a programming language. We work to prove that theorem or build a program to test out the idea. If we prove the theorem we have the basis for a (part of a) paper. In the GC case, we run the program to see if it is an improvement over other known approaches or not. This gives the basis of a paper, perhaps.
But, we don't usually call the (possible) theorem or the idea for GC the hypothesis, though in some sense it is. But in both math and CS you often just *try* something to see how it works out. Note that the *trying out* is actually the gathering of information and it may come *before* the "hypothesis" (theorem or gc idea) is ever stated. The time scale is often reversed.
Another way to say it is that we often start with an informal idea (rather than a formal statement), work on the idea and if we learn something, only then make a formal statement. The social and other similar sciences normally don't work that way, or at least don't present their work as if they did.
In fact, though, a social scientist will him/herself need to have that bright idea first about what might be worth studying, just as a mathematician does. But they will still state a formal hypothesis to guide their actual experimentation.
I'm guessing that you are puzzled by this since the formal hypothesis idea seems a bit foreign to what you see in papers. You are likely to see first the "idea" that drove the research, then the proof of concept experiment (a program, perhaps), and finally the conclusions. Not hypothesis is stated, and it isn't expected, though it could be formulated that way. But since the work was done before the hypothesis was formulated, there is no real notion of accepting or rejecting something stated in advance.
The difference is actually driven by the different kinds of evidence required in order to find truth that advances a particular field.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a PhD student, and my advisor published what appears to be the theoretical frame I came up with for my dissertation as a standalone paper with some other people (not me). It seems (to me, though who knows) like I was going to make a reasonably important contribution to my subfield, so I'm even more cut up than maybe I would have been. And now I have to finish my dissertation as other people are now using this theoretical frame on data similar to mine. There is also, of course, a small chance that my advisor came up with the same idea as me, but it smells wrong, since we don't work in quite the same area. (My feeling that something is wrong is bolstered by knowing that he very definitely screwed me over in another incident.) How do I handle this? Do I have to cite his paper? I cannot switch advisors --my department is small, so there isn't someone else who can advise me in it. I'm also too close to done. I have no desire to fight; I only want to survive, preferably with some of my dignity intact (i.e., some way not to cite my advisor's paper). I'd be grateful for comments from folks who are well along in their careers in academia, since I think part of my problem here is really not understanding academic culture.
Context: I did a masters in another subfield before starting my phd; my idea is basically drawing a common set of ideas from the master's subfield into the new subfield (where they are almost never used); I cited all of these things in my dissertation proposal, which I turned in before my advisor's paper came out, and which my committee read. The tricky thing is that I could still see my advisor saying the idea came from him - which is false and unlikely, since again, they don't know my other subfield. But still, I am terrified as well as angry.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> what are the problem
>
>
>
Problems are numerous, e.g., [unsolved problems in computer science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_computer_science). (I'm unsure what is meant by phenomenon.)
>
> what are the hypothesis
>
>
>
A hypothesis is a starting point. E.g., P is not equal to NP.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: AI is a very applied domain, so from a big picture point of view the problem is often defined by a real world application. For example, machine translation fills a need for low cost translation (so this particular need is the problem). In this general setting, an hypothesis is for instance: "the machine can produce good quality translation", and researchers try to prove it.
However it's more common for a paper to motivate the work at a more fine-grained level using the existing body of literature. For example many approaches have been studied for machine translation, with varying levels of performance and flaws. A researcher in this field might want to study a specific question, e.g. "how to improve translation of multiword expressions from language A to language B" and formulate an hypothesis such as: "recent approach X can improve translation of multiword expressions from language A to language B". Here the problem is formulated as the need to improve over the current state of the art, implicitly assuming that the underlying problem (machine translation in general) is sufficiently established.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm guessing that the descriptions you have seen are from fields that work very differently from math and cs, including AI.
In the social sciences and most of the physical sciences, an hypothesis is a statement that might be true or false. It is stated in a certain way for technical reasons, but it is normally stated at the beginning of a study before there is any evidence whether the hypothesis is true or false. Depending on the field, some methodology is used to gather evidence about whether the hypothesis is true (accept) or false (reject).
The reason for proceeding this way is that the gathering of evidence, say with experiments or questionnaires, is an expensive and time consuming endeavor that is actually guided by the statement of the hypothesis. For example, if the research is guided by questionnaires to people, you don't ask the people a lot of random questions and try then to figure out what it means. You ask them questions related to the hypothesis so that certain answers (determined in advance) support the hypothesis and the opposite answers work to refute it.
But math and much of cs works differently. We have an idea for a theorem, or a way to improve garbage collection (GC) in a programming language. We work to prove that theorem or build a program to test out the idea. If we prove the theorem we have the basis for a (part of a) paper. In the GC case, we run the program to see if it is an improvement over other known approaches or not. This gives the basis of a paper, perhaps.
But, we don't usually call the (possible) theorem or the idea for GC the hypothesis, though in some sense it is. But in both math and CS you often just *try* something to see how it works out. Note that the *trying out* is actually the gathering of information and it may come *before* the "hypothesis" (theorem or gc idea) is ever stated. The time scale is often reversed.
Another way to say it is that we often start with an informal idea (rather than a formal statement), work on the idea and if we learn something, only then make a formal statement. The social and other similar sciences normally don't work that way, or at least don't present their work as if they did.
In fact, though, a social scientist will him/herself need to have that bright idea first about what might be worth studying, just as a mathematician does. But they will still state a formal hypothesis to guide their actual experimentation.
I'm guessing that you are puzzled by this since the formal hypothesis idea seems a bit foreign to what you see in papers. You are likely to see first the "idea" that drove the research, then the proof of concept experiment (a program, perhaps), and finally the conclusions. Not hypothesis is stated, and it isn't expected, though it could be formulated that way. But since the work was done before the hypothesis was formulated, there is no real notion of accepting or rejecting something stated in advance.
The difference is actually driven by the different kinds of evidence required in order to find truth that advances a particular field.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Masters student in computer science. My current advisor is completely un-professional. He doesn't only write bad letters of recommendations for his students in order to keep them working for him, he even wrote bad letters of recommendations for students who did not ask him for these letters. I think this is egregious. I don't really know why. It might be psychiatric issues. Now, he is the only one in my school doing research. I don't know how to deal with it. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: In computer science you can build a reputation without your advisor. Get on github and start contributing to open source projects related to your interests. Go to conferences and network.
People probably know this guy is not honest and discount his letters (assuming what you say is true).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the answer largely depends on your particular circumstances. You mention bad recommendation letters. Okay, this is awful, but apart from this issue *it seems* you don't have any other complaints. Thus your course of actions depends on whether (1) you need recommendation letters while you are doing your masters and (2) these letters have to be from your supervisor.
If changing your supervisor and/or school is not an option, think about these questions. In a sense, your original question begs the trivial answer: if your supervisor writes bad and unwanted letters, you have to get these letters elsewhere and somewhat quietly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Run away! The most important thing to success in your graduate education is your desire to succeed and your advisors desire for you to succeed. I've had friends and family with advisors who were immoral or emotionally unstable, and they are much happier now that they switched institutions/advisers or left the field entirely.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it incentivised to pursuit two (related) majors (eg. Math and Aero- Space Engineering) or a single major (eg. Math)?
The question is asked with the premise that if one chose a single major, one would have more time and thus achieve better grades (assume top 5 or 10 percentile), whereas with a double major, one would only be able to achieve slightly above average grades, but have a broader scope and be better prepared for industry (at least that was my line of thought).
I guess that the answer is very different for someone who wants to go into academia, as opposed to someone who goes into private industry, so I would appreciate a split answer regarding the two cases.
Thank you very much in advance.
Edit: With "double major" I mean two separate (masters) degrees. At least in Germany, that means much more work load: 1,5 times is an optimistic guess. This supports the premise that grades would suffer by doing a double major.<issue_comment>username_1: Although a double major makes a candidate more interesting I would say it’s better to have high grades for graduate school.
I don’t think most industries care about grades as much.
The main advantage of a double major is to keep your options open. But I think math majors can pretty easily jump into other fields (biology, neuroscience, psychology).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I actually have doubts that those two majors are "related". It sounds like a statement from someone who knows only a little about either. The thought patterns and insights are very different. It isn't a question about accumulating things, but about how the things fit together.
Note that academia is about specialization - more and more the farther you go. But at the beginning it is natural (and good) to be undecided and hence flexible.
You can do well (most places) with a double major but you have to work a lot (a lot) harder. Mathematics itself is a flexible position from which to go forward, as it is applied in many fields. The most flexible field (IMO) is actually philosophy, but that is a different discussion.
I'll note that you don't have to decide early to accept one field and reject another (or others). If you develop a career you can branch out into other things that interest you. But you need to start from a solid base.
But if you want to establish a solid base for doctoral study, a single subject with great grades would seem to be the best choice, by far.
I don't know the rules in Germany for doing two MS degrees simultaneously. The thing I would suggest you be very careful about, however, is how much "double credit" you get for overlapping courses. If this is a common thing to do, then a given course may "count" in both degrees. Otherwise, you may actually be required to repeat things, or, more likely, to substitute elective courses for those you have taken in another degree. Just be sure of the rules and be wary about 25% "overlap".
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am dealing with this class that somehow became very cynical. We have constant complaints about the pace of the class, people asking literally the same questions over and over, blatant plagiarism, students pretty much insulting the lecturer and staff or laughing (sometimes at others asking questions) and being noisy during lectures etc.
This is especially weird since this is a professional education class. We are talking about people in their 30s on average paying $10k at a top 10 university and just for this one course. So it is not like this is some filler core requirement people are forced to attend against their will. These people were interested in this class before start and something messed up the morale.
We had the same staff --instructor and TAs-- for other cohorts and never had such issues. I am thinking it has to do with the composition of this cohort - one or two know-it-all types had a negative attitude from the beginning and some others somewhat struggling a bit started taking on their attitude. Before we realized this all snowballed into the cohort turning into a classroom of 30+ yr old high schoolers.
We have another 3 months to go and it is getting very exhausting for the staff and for the students still trying. People blatantly slowing down the class is not helping either. The instructor has been trying to talk to the whole class as well as the individual troublemakers along the lines of maintaining professionalism but that is simply having no effect. So the question is, how do we address this to salvage as much as we can and make it to the end of the class without it devolving further?<issue_comment>username_1: Identify the troublemakers and eject them from class as soon as they step out of line. As you say, this kind of situation often snowballs out of a few bad elements. These students are not there for entertainment and this isn't a high school. Someone who doesn't want to learn isn't worth wasting any time. Removing the bad elements might help restoring a professional environment, keeping only people who are actually intent on learning the content of the class.
Usually these students end up getting the hint. If they don't, ban them outright from the class after a few times. The other students deserve a quality course from you and the other teachers, and these troublemakers are preventing it. It is highly unlikely that the whole class is really "cynical", and you will be left with actual students, not people who want to pass the time. In the rare event that literally all of the registered people don't care about the class, congratulate yourself on getting paid time off and watch movies or read a book during scheduled class time.
Now, since you used a dollar sign, wrote "top 10" and mentioned students "paying $10k", I'm pretty confident that you are in the US, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I am not from the US and it is my understanding that the motto "customer is king" permeates even non-mercantile aspects of society such as higher education. If these troublemakers try to get a refund which in turn provokes the administration into pushing back on your decision to eject/ban students, try to make the argument that movie theaters are well within their rights to kick out noisy spectators and not refund them anything. But in the end, it's up to you to decide whether the fight is worth it and whether you have the political clout to pull this kind of stunt.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This happens to almost everyone who teaches in academia. We all eventually get "that class". Let me lay out some options for you:
**Look for experts on your campus outside the department**
First of all, if you have a college of education at your school, head over there and find a professor who was a former K-12 teacher. Further, if your school has a teacher prep program, you are in even better luck. There will likely be a few teaching veterans who have plenty of experience getting unruly classes (kids to adults) back under control. Some of those education professors who were former teachers have classroom management down to an art form. It can be really interesting to watch how effortlessly they do it as well. I recommend reaching out to the department head there and asking if there is a professor (or even graduate student) who might be able to give you some advice.
**Look for advice in your department**
Ask others in your department if they have had a similar situation. Reach out to the department head. First of all, it might be best to fill your department head in on whats going on anyway. I have not known too many department heads who like surprises. Especially surprise calls from administration asking what they know about students complaining being kicked out of a class they paid $10,000 for.
**Self Fix it**
Grab a book on classroom management and see what you can do on your own. Its tough getting a class back in line mid semester, but there is plenty of help advice in books and from blogs. The usual remedy is to implement increased structure in the class. Get the class into doing routines.
Remember, kicking out a student from class is not what you want to do. Banning a student from class is the nuclear option. Once you go down that route, things get out of your control. You might end up with an administrative problem. This gets even worse if you end up kicking the wrong person out. How are you going to even determine who is the ring leader in the first place?
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: **If they want to act as high schoolers, you'll need to treat them like high schoolers.**
I've taught in high school for a little time and while your semester already started, it is not too late to get a handle back on your class. The first few minutes after the class start is the most important moment to make it clear messing around will not be tolerated.
I would try at least once, at the beginning of a class, to say something like this:
>
> You guys are being hard to manage and I'm sure you're aware of it. You are being disrespectful towards me, the rest of the teaching staff and other students who are trying to work. I'd like to know what is wrong, is there anything you think might make your experience better?
>
>
>
This way, you make it clear you want to work **with them** to find a solution and that it is bothering many people. Give them a chance to work it out with you before going the "full authority" route. You might give some troublemakers to turn into "positive leaders".
Even if this works, you need to start making it clear who has authority in your class. When you start your class, state your rules and don't move away from them. You'll probably need to set an example a couple of times before your students understand. You need to systematically apply the rules you gave your students or else they'll start exploiting you.
---
Regarding what you said in your post:
>
> People asking literally the same questions over and over
>
>
>
Offer the student to come see you after class if they asked a question that was already asked, this way you do not slow down the pace of your class and if it's an attempt at "trolling" the student simply won't come to see you.
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> Blatant plagiarism
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>
>
Your school clearly has a policy against plagiarism, start using it without exception. These students lost their right to second chances. If you catch plagiarism, report it to the correct instance at your school and let the comity in place decide.
>
> Students pretty much insulting the lecturer and staff or laughing (sometimes at others asking questions)
>
>
>
Respect is the most important thing in a class. If a kid in high school (where, at this age, education is a right not a service) can get kicked out of a class for being not being respectful, so can an adult. If I paid 10k$ for a class, you can be damn sure I'd stop this after being kicked out once. If you want to make sure you won't have repercussions, go see the head of your department to make sure they have your back if something happens.
>
> Being noisy during lectures
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>
>
To be fair, this can happen. If this is repeated, refer to the point above.
---
You said in a comment
>
> "That is a straightforward solution but the lead instructor in this case does not want to take authoritarian measures. So that's another challenge here"
>
>
>
This is sad but University teachers aren't often good at managing this kind of class (because they don't have much experience with them). You should try talking to him/her about it, stating that it really messes up the flow of the class, the confidence of all the teaching staff and the overall credibility of the class.
As a last resort, when your class gets out of control, stop talking. More often than not, the students will deal with themselves and silence should come back to the class. If it doesn't well it is their loss.
To make this work, the best case scenario would be for the whole teaching staff to be on the same line and to make sure your boss has your back, but University students are customers of a service under certain conditions. If some students mess up with your class, they interfere with the students who are respecting the rules and this is not acceptable.
**Edit**
I've seen an OP's comment stating:
>
> "That's basically the case. No one academically that advanced afaik but we have bigwig corporate managers that can barely use computers alongside software engineers wanting to learn about data science and everything in between"
>
>
>
This is a very complex problem to address, because it is hard to pace your class for the large diversity of backgrounds, which means either some students won't understand or some will find the class too slow and since you're alone, it's hard to find a middle ground. What I might propose is to:
* Either match students of different backgrounds together so that they can help each other (by whispering, of course) regarding their different expertise.
* Show examples that can "talk to" your different kind of students. You have, maybe among others, managers and software engineering students, so try to give specific situations/examples where each of these students can bring their expertise. It is likely, I think, that your problematic students are the kind of people that like to hear themselves talk. By getting them to participate, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to have a better handle on your class.
In the case of a *professional education class*, I think it's important to let the students talk/participate in class. These are not people who are used to sitting hours in a class to listen to someone talk like University students are used to. By giving more opportunities to participate, you'll probably have a better experience.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If it were 100% of the class acting this way, I'd say you have some time to experiment and find the best way to fix things. But, if there has been a single student that has acted properly and done their due diligence throughout the semester, I think that makes a big difference.
If I were a student in this class who was *not* participating in counterproductive behavior, I would rely on the instructors acting quickly to ensure I was still getting the quality of education I deserved. I would (personally) not want to experience a few months of professors experimenting with different disciplinary methods. If the situation above is accurate, this would be the point at which I'd already be reaching out to administration for a refund or class reassignment and I'd specifically say "the professors can't control the class" even though the class itself is intentionally out of control.
If 80% of the class can't conduct themselves in class properly, I would expect them to be asked to leave. If you can construe this as an absence, then they have a finite number of removals before they automatically fail. If it's for disrespecting staff or other students, I can't imagine there being much pushback if you can get the person who was disrespected to sign a paper saying it happened.
Instituting class conduct rules, with definite consequences for breaking them, is also a quantifiable way to show your expectations and their lack of respect for them. The bottom line is that if you have to take disciplinary action at this level of academia, prepare for it to be challenged, so back it up with quantifiable evidence (not anecdotal).
Also, given the course"s topic, as a student I would respect the logic of saying "Some of you can't figure out how to conduct yourselves professionally amongst your peers, which is also the topic of this course. **Classroom performance counts for 51% of your grade**." I feel like that's a no-brainer, like you said, it's not just some core requirement they'll have to repeat, they are *purchasing* their own F a la carte. Remind them of that.
Not wanting to use authoritarian methods is admirable, but the longer you wait the more legitimate complaints you may get from the few students who want to be there and are making the proper effort. I think the burden is on you to show (starting very soon) you have enacted policies to combat, if not solve, the problem. If not, you (or the profs) could be held responsible for legitimate students asking for a refund, which is worse than disciplinary cases asking for one.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm afraid that, as a TA there is probably very little you can do. The instructor might be able to do something and there are some suggestions in the other answers here that can help, but you need a certain amount of recognized authority to make it work.
I have had to deal (once) with an equally difficult, though different situation. I was able to handle it with a "shock therapy" trick, but only because I was a senior professor at the institution. A junior faculty member probably wouldn't be able to make this work.
In my case, the students weren't disruptive, just disengaged. They didn't take notes, didn't seem to study, didn't ask questions. Completely passive. I asked one student before class why he didn't take notes and he just pointed to his head as if he learned everything immediately without effort. Of course it doesn't work that way.
My solution was to announce at the beginning of a class that I was willing to just fail everyone in the class and we could all stop pretending. I would stop pretending to teach, they would stop pretending to learn, and we wouldn't even have to waste the time coming to class.
Shock and dismay.
The real problem is that most of them had had an easy time up to then with their education and no one had challenged them very deeply. It wasn't that they were lazy but just that they didn't really know how to learn. So I spent a couple of classroom hours teaching them how to learn. This was in a second year Computer Science course, by the way.
The problem the OP states is different, but, with sufficient authority, recognized by the university, if not by the particular students, a shock therapy might work. Walk out of the classroom at the first sign of disrespect. Ask a disruptive student to immediately carry a note to the department head and wait for a reply. The note would mention the disrespect. Announce a snap quiz. Make it hard.
Very risky.
In my case, the story went around the department and added to my mythical powers. The students improved. The time and effort wasn't wasted.
But, if you try this, you'd better be certain that you will be allowed to follow through and that the department will back you. A junior member of the faculty would be advised to try it only with permission of the head and, in the current situation, concurrence of the staff of the course (all TAs).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Well, I think the crucial information here is in the comments to the post, which reveal that the root cause of the problem is **big difference in the skill levels between the attendees**, the lower skill level guys happen to be managers who are accustomed to be outspoken and steer the conversation out of it's professional realm.
In this case, the reasonable solution will be *dividing the classroom* and providing for each skill group *appropriate information*, so that for all groups the pace will be manageable.
It will likely require time investment in creating two parallel curriculums. Also assignment levels may vary according to the skill set.
The managers are also likely interested in different aspects of the data science from the programmer guys, so it's reasonable if they will show their discontent about spending time on the material which has less value for them.
Additionally, an approach for smart kids at school may work, if the managers' ego will permit it - make time for workshops, and when working on assignments, *make the people who catch the material faster, help the guys who struggle*. If done well, it may prove a valuable experience for all the participants.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have read about reprinting other authors tables and figures, but I couldn't find anything on reprinting laboratory instrument pictures from their manufacturer websites. Can I use instrument photos that I took from manufacturer website without permission?<issue_comment>username_1: It might be legal or not, depending on where you are as well as on your purpose in reproducing them. If your purpose is something that they would object to, then you might be in trouble even if what you did is technically legal. Lawsuits, even unfair ones, filed by large companies are difficult and expensive to fight.
They probably hold copyright on the images and some companies wage war to protect both their copyright and their public image. If you think you are in this sort of situation, then I'd proceed cautiously and only with legal advice.
But if it is something that they would likely approve or find uncontroversial then asking might be the best route. For example, if you were wanting to write a user guide, they would probably think it fine.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You almost certainly need a copyright release in the form prescribed by your book publisher.
Track down the manufacturer's public relations office; one or two phone calls should be sufficient to find the right people. They will be very happy to supply you with pictures and the necessary copyright releases.
If you use these instruments in your own lab and they are at all expensive, or you have a lot of them, there will be an account executive (*i.e.* sales person) assigned to your institution. That person will likely be ecstatic to help you get what you need.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a paper submitted in an Elsevier journal. The review process has been quite long. I submitted the paper on the 20th of December 2017. After 7 months, I have received first-round reviews. It was a major revision. Then, I submitted the revised version of the manuscript. The reviewers took 2 months to say that everything is more or less ok and they asked for some minor revisions. The editor changed the status of the paper: Accept, after minor revision.
I submitted very quickly the manuscript and it has been 5 months that I did not receive any news. I contacted the editor at the beginning of the third month, he said he reminded reviewers to send their reviews but any news. I am a bit concerned. Did they really forget the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: The first long period may be due to the "major revisions" part. The latest may be just scheduling or something more, with inconsistent feedback from (possibly new) reviewers. But if it has been about two-three months since you have heard anything, you could ask for an update.
I'm pretty sure they haven't lost your paper or forgotten it. I think that is rare enough to be dismissed.
But asking should be fine.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some journals are just really slow and dozy in their processes, and the weeks can add up to months quite quickly. For example, I recently had a paper accepted after three rounds of review that stretched over two whole years.
Consider for example, a process like this:
* The paper comes to the editor and they take a week to assign reviewers.
* The reviewers take a few weeks to respond, and then some say no (it can happen even in a second round) and the editor has to get more.
* Once reviewers have accepted, the journal gives them 8 weeks to return reviews (on the longer side, but not uncommon).
* A reviewer is late returning their review, and the editor doesn't bug them for a week or two.
* Then reviewer says they've had a very busy time and can they have a couple more weeks to review, for which the editor says yes, since otherwise they'd have to start the clock all over with a new reviewer.
* When the final reviews come in, the editor doesn't look at it for a week, then sends a recommendation to the editor-in-chief, who also sits on it for a week.
That's more than 20 weeks "in review" right there, and it can easily stretch to more if you mix in some holidays or lost emails. You got your reviews eventually the first time and you'll likely get them soon this time as well---it seems like it's just a slow journal, as some are.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I've seen situations like the below happen quite a few times.
>
> Alice writes a paper. It's well-received and receives a hundred citations. Bob also works in the area, and he engages a student Charlie to study the paper. Shortly after starting, Charlie tells Bob he couldn't get from equation 10 to equation 11, in fact he thinks the derivation is incorrect. Bob is incredulous (after all the paper is well-received and has a 100 citations) and tells Charlie to check it again. A few weeks later, Charlie tells Bob he still can't get equation 11, and in fact he's increasingly convinced the derivation is wrong because he's tried it in a few different ways and always gets the same result.
>
>
> Bob starts looking at the paper himself and after another few weeks he also runs out of ideas. Finally they write to Alice asking for details. Alice responds quickly with, "you've made this mistake. After correcting it and making this transformation, equation 11 follows."
>
>
>
The specific details vary, but the core of what happens is the same: Bob and Charlie can't do what Alice has done, but instead of asking Alice for help, they insists on trying it themselves. After weeks of struggling and many tins of coffee, they finally give up and ask Alice, who proceeds to solve the problem very quickly.
The question: why would Bob and Charlie grind away for weeks when help is just an email away? If I managed a team of employees who refused to ask each other for help, especially when someone has already solved the problem, I'd be quite annoyed. After all, time is precious.
I find this especially surprising because virtually every professor I've seen teach encourages their students to ask questions. Instructors tell their students they're welcome to interrupt during class, to approach TAs, or to visit them during office hours. They discourage their students from working without progress for weeks before asking for help, and yet they're reluctant to ask for help themselves. Why?
The only reason I can think of is that Bob and Charlie want to be sure that the results are robust. If Alice made a mistake, then they would not be able to duplicate the results, but if they just ask Alice for help, then they're at risk of making the same mistake. But this doesn't seem like a strong reason: they can ask for help but then critically examine what Alice says.<issue_comment>username_1: Bob and Charlie are not only looking to know the result or to verify it; they are also interested in understanding and having insight into the result, possibly with the goal of extending it.
If Charlie understands the result the same way Alice understands it, then Charlie is unlikely to have any insights into extending the result other than the insights that Alice has. Hence, Charlie's goal is to develop independent understanding of the result which is different from Alice's understanding.
If Charlie just asks Alice, then Charlie will now have the same understanding that Alice has (only to an inferior degree), and hence will have difficulty extending the result in directions Alice didn't think about.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I have never been fully immune from this kind of behavior, though I've suffered less from it than others, a fact that most likely helped me land two really nice jobs. Let me survey a few reasons why I think it happens.
Note: I'm talking of mathematics, where "robustness" is not a thing, and talking to someone does not "contaminate" your thinking (unless you are really careless).
1. Bob and Charlie are too proud. They don't want to be seen asking possibly stupid questions in writing.
2. Charlie feels that he doesn't know enough to even pose a good question, and Bob doesn't care enough. (Students generally tend to have trouble gauging their level, and I have occasionally blundered into conversations I wasn't prepared for by asking a too-advanced question.)
3. Bob and Charlie have seen their questions ignored too often. (My personal experience is that the usefulness of emailing an author about a paper they wrote declines sharply with the age of the paper. If the paper is 15+ years old, they most likely don't remember anything and have the same perspective as any other reader.)
4. Bob and Charlie don't want anyone to know they are reading the paper, as they are worried of creating expectations. (This sometimes does happen -- in that an author takes a question as a stronger sign of interest than it was intended. Though it does not appear to be a big deal, but more of an awkward moment.)
5. Bob and Charlie are worried Alice will view their question as a personal attack or at least as a threat. (In my career of reporting errors, this has happened 1-2 times out of somewhere near 50. But this sort of risk aversion isn't exactly out of character for much of academia...)
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: **The story you describe has people behaving irrationally.** If everyone behaved rationally, this would not happen. Asking why people "tend to" behave irrationally is not well defined.
**Alice**. It could be that Bob and Charlie are assuming that Alice is irrational, and want to avoid contacting her. This is belied somewhat by Alice's prompt, helpful response (though, one could argue that she should not have had something so difficult in her paper without explanation).
**Charlie.** It is reasonable that Charlie, as a student, would assume he is missing something obvious and does not want to waste Alice's time. Indeed, having Charlie spend a few days digging into this is probably a helpful exercise for him. But after he spends some days doing his due diligence, it is time for him to contact his advisor, which is exactly what he seems to have done.
**Bob**. It is reasonable that Bob will spend a few hours with Charlie to gauge his understanding of the problem and related work as a whole. Further, them trying to figure it out together is a useful pedagogical and (potentially) even mathematical discussion for both of them. But after a few hours of this, it is clear that Charlie is up to speed and Bob cannot get the answer after a reasonable amount of time. This is where they should have called Alice -- any time spent beyond this is irrational and difficult to justify (unless Alice is indeed so difficult to work with [irrational] that it's better to avoid her at all cost).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm going to have to assume that this is some field of mathematics that you are discussing. I can't really visualize it in other, unrelated, fields, even Physics, for example, unless it is highly theoretical physics that depends, like math, on deduction.
I think that Bob and Charley are acting completely rationally and normally and congratulate them for not giving up. But to see why depends on a deeper understanding of mathematics and mathematicians that the "non-anointed" don't share.
Bob and Charlie seem to believe that they have found a gap in an argument that Alice has left too wide for understanding or has made an error of deduction. Either could be the case.
If you aren't a mathematician you likely think that mathematics is about the *results*. About the theorems. The theorems need to be *proven*. There can be no gaps but trivial ones. But trivial to you and trivial to me can be quite different things, depending on our training and experience.
I'll note that many (*many*) papers have been published just like Alice's. Alice could be a world renowned mathematician and can make wider jumps of logic than you or I, but Alice can also make mistakes of logic. Some arguments are tremendously complicated and it is easy to get a bit twisted up. Reviewers might not catch what is happening, so papers get published.
But, in fact, and you may need more than a doctorate in mathematics to realize it, mathematics isn't about the results.
Mathematics is about insight. And insight is tremendously difficult to gain if you have studied mathematics in a traditional way. A professor presents a theorem on the board, then proceeds to prove it. You may think that is the essence. But somewhere, perhaps long ago, perhaps last week, someone had to wonder why that statement written on the board might be a theorem at all and not just a random positioning of neat ideas. This takes insight. What problems are worth pursuing? It isn't obvious. There isn't a clear path from A to B if A is known and B is a statement that might or might not follow.
Without insight, "mathematicians" would just be wandering around in the dark, finding the occasional interesting thing, but without any method to follow beyond random guessing. Theorems don't write themselves.
So, back to the story. Lets assume that Bob (the advisor) *is* a real mathematician, and wants Charlie to become one. He puts Charlie to the task of studying Alice's paper, not primarily to follow the argument there, but to gain *insight* into the problem(s) posed. Charlie doesn't yet have the insight to see why we can expect Alice's conclusions to be right or wrong, so needs to depend on the proofs/arguments. He can't make it happen. Bob, on the other hand may have enough insight to believe the conclusions, but again, can't follow the argument. But, since insight isn't infallible, they have a problem.
Bob's real problem is that either (a) Alice is wrong or (b) he lacks the proper insight into why she is right. This is galling. So he has an even stronger incentive to gain that insight than Charlie does, so he pounds and pounds, looking for the answer.
If he just asks Alice, Bob will short circuit his search for enlightenment. Having it explained represents *failure*. He will never be able to gain that insight if told the answer. So he resists. And resists. Only yielding when his own work is impeded by not knowing.
---
A corollary to this is that when professors in math and related fields are asked for help by students they should give minimal helps, to overcome misconceptions, say. Giving the answer denies for all time the possibility that the student can grow in *understanding*. It isn't about the facts. It is about the insights.
---
An anecdote. There is a certain kind of tricky program in CS that I know can be solved, since there are well known solutions. But I've never been able (over about 40 years) to come up with the solution on my own. I don't think of it very often anymore, but I reject any hints about how I might do it, since I want that "a ha" moment for myself.
I'll also note that I already had a doctorate in mathematics before I really knew the centrality of insight. Advisors need quite a lot of it so that they can help doctoral students find reasonable and important problems. Even better if they can impart some of that insight to the students, but it doesn't always happen.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: **If everyone did it...**
Imagine getting an email every time someone doesn't know how to proceed from A to B in one of your papers. Imagine answering each of those emails, every time.
Imagine learning exactly how to derive B from A every time you're stuck. Now you never actually have to put effort into understanding a paper anymore. Say you start out asking for help every time you don't understand it if you didn't get it in a day. Everyone is always happy to answer you, you ask every time you don't get it. What's very likely going to happen is that you start sending the email earlier and earlier...
**Academics are good at what they're doing. They probably got there by being stubborn at trying.**
Finally, I remember reading (but I forgot where) that one of the best predictors of mathematical skill is the amount of time you're willing to spend on a problem before you give up. Assuming that the average population of academia ranks decently high on mathematical skill, you'd expect them ot be more stubborn than the average person at solving problems.
Upvotes: 3
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2019/03/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a paper after finishing my Masters. I did all the lab research and writing of the manuscript. My professor was only involved to guide me throughout the research and read my writing and give his comments.
Can I argue with him and tell him I am not letting the article to be published if he insists on being the first author?<issue_comment>username_1: Occasionally (and more than occasionally in private / Ivy League institutions), professors will have their names credited as the primary author of a paper that was produced by their graduate advisees. In my view it is unethical, but in the eyes of some academics, it's customary. Some professors view their advisees as underlings to further his or her brand recognition in whichever field he/she works in.
in my view, your advisor is in fact not the author, if it's true that you did the research and literally wrote the paper. Before confronting him about it or giving him an ultimatum, I would go to another professor in your department whom you trust, and have a confidential conversation about the appropriateness of your advisor's demands versus the general attitude of the department. Sometimes you'll find that "nearly everybody does that" and sometimes they'll say "that's unacceptable."
If you consult with other professors and you get the impression that you are in the right, you will have more clout in dealing with the issue if your advisor becomes obstinate and makes a big deal out of it. But beware, all of the professors in your department are probably friends, or even worse they could be extremely factionalized. In either case, you run the risk of this "private" conversation being circulated around the proverbial "teacher's lounge."
Unless you are in an insanely competitive field at a flagship research university, I don't think this is going to blow up in your face. But only you can make the judgement for yourself.
After conversing with a trusted faculty member, I recommend you next present your concerns to your advisor, and see if he is willing to be reasonable about this. If he still isn't, this is a situation where you might need to get the administration involved, but they largely bend to the whims of tenured faculty members who bring in the big bucks with their research.
There should be a discussion here on the benefits versus detractors of submitting to your professor and having your name published second on the paper...versus not having your research published at all. I am a somewhat stubborn person and refuse to let anyone take credit for my work. But this might not be the most expedient approach for a person who is trying to get his/her name on publications under any circumstance. You'll have to decide which one you are, and I hope some other folks chime in on this particular subtopic.
addendum: If you produced your research using a program or model developed by your advisor, or some kind of privileged archival/digital/etc. access through your advisor that you'd otherwise not be able to use, I can see his demand being slightly more legitimized, so consider that as well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It isn't a good career move to counter your advisor in things like this. You need him to sign your thesis (already done) and to write you a good letter of recommendation - maybe still to come. If you anger him, whether rightly or wrongly, it will be you that pays the price.
As I said in a comment, this kind of "authorship" is common, accepted, and perfectly natural in some fields, even if it is a bit stupid.
Having joint authorship with a professor can actually be a help to your career, even if he takes first authorship. Some people will just assume that he did all of the work (no matter the order of authorship), carrying you along. Others will just assume that you did all the work and he is first author by courtesy.
This is something you can't control.
But a publication with your name on it anywhere is a plus for your career.
If you want to fight a system that you think is stupid, wait until you have some power and standing in academia to back you up. Otherwise you get squashed before you have a chance to fly.
Work with him and get a good letter.
I realize this isn't the answer you wanted to read. But think long term, not the short.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Can I argue with him and tell him I am not letting the article to be published if he insists on being the first author?
>
>
>
Other answers have already indicated this is potentially a somewhat dangerous move if you plan on continuing with a career in academia.
However, I believe that you can, and perhaps you should. It would be especially useful in such an argument/discussion if you could bring examples of similar cases - with the same advisor or in the same department or subfield - where the advisor was credited last.
On the other hand, I notice you've written:
>
> My professor was only involved to guide me throughout the research and read my writing and give his comments.
>
>
>
And I have to say - "only"? If he was guiding you the whole time and giving you comments all the time, isn't it possible that the research progressed in a way that he envisioned? Perhaps you're misjudging the extent of his contribution. While the work you did seems arduous to you, that's partly because you're new; perhaps for a more experienced researcher, you just did the "grunt work". I'm not saying that this is necessarily the case, but don't go arguing with your advisor unless you can be certain this point of view cannot be defended.
Also, regardless of the above - don't start this discussion with an ultimatum or with a declaration you intend to "bury" the paper.
---
Finally, another alternative I would suggest, on principle and irrespective of who did how much, is *alphabetical order of author names*. The practice of listing names by order of decreasing contribution is very problematic and IMHO should be opposed in general. Author names should be listed alphabetically, and if the authors do not explain who did what then people can just ask; or better yet - not ask. Of course, the advisor might theoretically be even more averse to that than to being listed second; it depends.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Can I argue with him...
>
>
>
Rather than taking a starting position where you want to get in an argument, a much better approach would be to try to have a mature conversation where you can each agree on what your contribution to the paper was, and what each of you feel is the appropriate criteria for first authorship. Ask your supervisor for his opinions on this matter, and be open-minded and respectful. If you have a different opinion, then let him know your contrary view, and let him know that you are feeling aggrieved.
It is not unreasonable for you to raise authorship concerns with your supervisor. This is a conversation that is a legitimate part of joint research work, so you don't need to repress this. However, like all professional matters, it should be raised in a respectful and professional way. Begin by assuming good faith on the part of your supervisor, and don't start off framing the matter as an "argument" you need to have. Try to figure out where you agree and where you disagree, and just be mindful to make sure you don't allow your frustrations to lead to escalation into an unproductive conversation.
Before raising this matter with your supervisor, it would be a good idea for you to read some material on authorship conventions so that you are able to put your case with some support for outside sources (e.g., see [this report](https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/wp-content/uploads/CSE-White-Paper_2018-update-050618.pdf)). However, you should expect to have a preliminary meeting where your only initial goal is to exchange views on the matter, and then allow each party to go away to consider the views of the other. An initial conversation on this topic might end in disagreement, but if you can support your own view with reputable outside sources, that is likely to be more persuasive than if you cannot.
These kinds of cases really shouldn't arise, since supervisors and students should **always** discuss authorship expectation *before* they begin a research project and papers. I think your supervisor probably made a mistake in not discussing this up-front with you before the work on the paper was done. Even if you are unable to resolve this particular disagreement, it would be a good idea to formulate clear expectations on future papers with your supervisor. Inquire into the requirements he would expect for you to be first author on a paper.
>
> I did all the lab research and writing of the manuscript. My professor was only involved to guide me throughout the research and read my writing and give his comments. ...
>
>
>
If that is an accurate description of the contributions (who came up with the research idea?) then it does not sound to me like enough to warrant first authorship on the part of your supervisor. Conventions will vary from field to field, but in my understanding, the first author should generally be the person who did the most work on the paper. (When I have supervised students in research projects they have always been the lead author on the resulting papers, except in one case where I did the majority of the work on the paper and wrote the first draft.) Ethical guidelines on authorship, such as in the linked report, may give some guidance and references discussing authorship-order, so these are worth reviewing.
Please note that there are some reasonable counter-arguments to this view, especially within the scope of research done in a Masters degree. In that context, research work is usually at a low level and the supervisor often has a substantial teaching and supervision role. One might reasonably make an argument for first authorship of the supervisor in this case, but in my view it should depend on the specifics of the contributions on a case by case basis.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: You underestimate the work your adviser did. He choose the topic, he figured out what to prepare (or get prepared) that you can have a topic which fits the requirements of a master thesis regarding amount of work and depth of knowledge.
Eventually you will do a PhD and supervise bachelor or master students yourself. Then you will learn home much work it is to advise a student well and to prepare a topic.
If the adviser is able to figure out a topic leading to a publication, that is superior and ennobles your work. As far as I know engineering, math, physics, computer sciences, and human sciences, most master theses are not worth to be published. These are rare exceptions!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: You should note that "important professor et al." usually brings more attention and citations than "student nobody knows et al.". Thus, I would not fight his decision.
Is his last name ahead of yours in the alphabet? Then you could ask him, whether you can make a footnote "Authors in alphabetical order", after writing him first.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I would suggest to him that you be the first Author, but he be the corresponding author. In my department, for a tenure package (for example), professors are rewarded equally for first author or corresponding author papers. I don't believe this is that uncommon, and would be a win-win for both of you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: You face three issues.
First, what is the merit *to you* of being first author versus being co-author on a journal with only two authors? This question is independent of your "feelings" about being first or second. Can you make an objective statement that says your future success in your field of study absolutely depends on you being first rather than second author on this publication?
When you can categorically make a statement that is this strong, you need to make it and do so now. By comparison, when your best statement on this issue is no more than the equivalent of a nebulous understanding that "it gives me more exposure in my field", you should weigh the two other factors more heavily.
Secondly, what is the merit *to your advisor* of being first author versus being co-author? This is the mirror question to the above. For example, does an upcoming tenure and promotion decision for your advisor depend absolutely on the number of first author papers that he/she has published?
You should at least discover the background for this question. You may claim an injustice is being done to you by your advisor based on the first issue. Yet how far have you gone to appreciate where your advisor stands by mirror comparison?
Finally, what are the rights that *each of you* bring to the table in order to complete the publication? In your role as the primary worker and documenter for the work (taken at face value as being truly stated), you have a right to negotiate authorship. Your advisor however may be due full acknowledgement due to his/her greater role of having provided all of the ideas behind the research. To what extent did he or she completely initiate the work that you did, proposing all of the approaches that you took and defining all of the analysis that you were to do? Perhaps your advisor does have a greater right to claim first authorship because of his/her greater role in setting, maintaining, and directing the success of the work.
These issues are what you face at a negotiation table. It is not an argument table ... it is a **negotiation** table. The negotiations should be done up front, hopefully before the publication is started.
In practice, at this point, you should first decide whether your case has strong merits on the three issues above. Regardless of your decision, you should still talk with your advisor to clarify what you understand about them. You should strive to present your case honestly, not argumentatively. You should do so even with the understanding that you may have accept the pre-ordained outcome of being a second author, not a first author. At best, you may make a strong and sufficient objective stand to sway your advisor to appreciate the greater need that you have to be the first author. At worst, you will leave the presentation as a second author but knowing that you will not be carrying an unreconciled resentment about what you *could* have done but did not do.
Finally, discussing this with your advisor may not be an easy task. You may already face a sense of being held hostage to the power of your advisor to sign away your thesis or your future career. Do not let this fear put you in a place where you believe that you cannot at least assemble and put forward an honest, objective, and balanced case for your views. You may never change your advisor's mind regardless of the strength of your case. When you learn to state your case with no need to win it under situations of authority, you will learn how to do it better the next time at the outset when it may count even more.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: I have faced the same issue several times when I was still studying. I have written three articles and was always in the second position. Of course this may seem "unethical" and not correct, but just take a look at what **you have done on the topic so far** and **what your professor has done so far**.
I can only speak for the field of meachnical engineering, but several points to mention in this field are:
* Most probably you didn't start from scratch. You based most of your work on previous work of your professor, PhD-candidates and other students
* your supervisor guided you through your thesis. Looking back at my thesis, I have to acknowledge that I'd have not been able to make my thesis in 6 months without my supervisor putting lots of effort in it. And also looking back I have to say that many good ideas were brought up by my supervisor and I was just there to "implement" these ideas. Also the "basic" idea on which the whole thesis was laid out was, of course, coming from my supervisor. Honestly: implementing ideas when being guided by a supervisor is the easy part in doing science. Being the one to guide others is the hard part.
* your supervisor guided you through the process of writing the paper or even teaching you how to write the paper.
* Having a "known name" as the first author always helps.
Of course it felt bad to be the second author in articles when I wrote my thesis, but looking back it seems like the right way. Perspectives change when you are on the other side and you see the "real" workload of being a supervisor. :)
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/14
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is the flip side of [Mistook new faculty member to be a student, how big a faux pas is it?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/85186/mistook-new-faculty-member-to-be-a-student-how-big-a-faux-pas-is-it)
I'm an associate professor, and apparently I look young for my age. When I meet new people at conferences, they often start the conversation with something like "So, are you a grad student or a postdoc?" It doesn't particularly bother me in itself, but when I politely say something like "Actually, I'm faculty", they get embarrassed and it kind of puts a damper on the conversation. I think this sort of thing has probably spoiled a few potential networking opportunities for me.
* Are there more tactful ways I can respond to this kind of mistake?
* Are there things I could do to "look" more like a professor? I already dress reasonably neatly (e.g. no T-shirts) and faculty in my field don't normally dress up much more than that. Should I carry a briefcase instead of a backpack, or something like that?
(I happen to be cis male, work in mathematics, and live in the US, but it would be good to have more generally applicable answers if possible.)<issue_comment>username_1: I would take it as a compliment to be mistaken for being younger. And, even if you don't actually feel complimented, that's a good way to respond. For example, you could laugh and say "Thanks. I wish I was still a young and carefree student, but, unfortunately, I'm a professor."
If you make it appear like you take it as a compliment, people won't feel like they have offended you and it is less awkward. The other party may also intentionally be erring on the side of underestimating your age, because it's seen as less of a faux pas that way.
(I often get people commenting on my height. I always act as if I take it as a compliment and that seems to work well. However, in reality, I'm pretty bored of discussing my disinterest in basketball.)
At conferences, you always have the option of putting "Prof." on your nametag. There is a small risk that this looks pretentious relative to the norms of your community, so it's a tradeoff.
Finally, one sure-fire way to appear older is to use gray hair dye!
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: If you'd like to be more readily recognizable as a professor, change your dress to be a little bit more formal than the graduate students and postdocs around you dress.
In US professional dress for men, there are actually quite a number of noticeable gradations between T-shirt and suit. The rough levels that I've observed, in order of increasing formality are:
1. T-shirt
2. Collared shirt without buttons
3. "Comfy" button-down shirt with pocket (e.g., a flannel)
4. "Nice" button-down shirt (generally thinner and finer fabric, more subtle pattern and color)
5. Formal button-down shirt (i.e., the sort of thing you might iron and wear under a sport coat)
6. Tie without coat
7. Sport coat + tie
8. Suit
Those middle levels from 3-5 are subtle but highly communicative. Graduate students and postdocs usually land at levels 1-3, while professors more tend to land from 3-6. From what you've written, I would guess that you're probably typically coming in at around a 2-4 right now, and could upgrade yourself to somewhere in the 4-5 range.
For a woman, the general advice would be the same ("dress a little bit more formally than the graduate students"), but the specifics of how to achieve it are a) more complex, and b) can often take advantage of accessories such as jewelry.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Storytime. When I was lecturing, I once waited for the students outside the classroom (casually against the wall).
A student came to me and asked "Hey, do you know dr username_3? Is he tough?". To what I replied "Oh yeah, but he is a great guy".
We came in together, our ways split while he was walking towards the other students and I went to the head of the classroom. I smiled a few times when looking at him when he was trying to somehow shrink.
I still smile when I think about that, nobody makes the mistake anymore (sigh).
**Bottomline: enjoy being seen as younger than you are.** The way you look is only a part of how students will see you (from experience on both sides of the fence - the part "how do I look" is not that important).
Ah, another story. I had my first lab as a lab teacher (during my doctoral studies - I was running the lab for the students, asking them questions, marking, etc.). I was late. I ran to the lab and the janitor stopped me yelling that I have to change because if all the students came with their stuff it would be the end of the world (more or less).
He closed the door and told me to be back when I am without my coat etc. - and that I am lucky that the teacher is late :)
It took me some time to get in.
**Bottomline: you may actually consider, in specific conditions, to look like a teacher.**
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: People often think I am much younger than I am, and they might express said confusion with remarks similar to the ones you get. When people do get my age/position wrong, I normally point out they are ~ a decade off in their judgment, which always elicits surprise, never embarrassment.
My take therefore is that if you point out people are misjudging your professional position people might get embarrassed and forever try and avoid you, whereas if you causally drop 'thank you, but that was X years ago!' people will not feel so embarrassed. Do not drop you status as faculty on their heads immediately after correcting them, let them ask you.
Let people think they complimented you for your superiors youthfulness rather than tell them off for dissing you -- that seems the outcome you wish to get.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> It doesn't particularly bother me in itself, but when I politely say something like "Actually, I'm faculty", they get embarrassed and it kind of puts a damper on the conversation
>
>
>
I'm answering this based on that you do not appear to be bothered my the initial mistake, but how the conversation ensues. In that case, I'd recommend against changing things like how you dress or what you carry, and instead focus on how you respond. Being polite when you tell them the mistake is fine, but the way you express it will define the rest of the conversation. So yes, if you're polite, but serious, they might feel awkward. But if you smile and take it as humorous mistake and tell them with a light, almost laughing tone (not actually laughing, but maybe a little chuckle) that you are a faculty member, then, yes, they might still be a little embarrassed, but they will probably be comfortable about it. Maybe even inject an "I get that all the time." This would be less drastic than changing your dress style or daily behavior.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: As a staff member (in the no man's land between students and faculty) who dresses casually, others on campus would always ask what I'm studying. Then over a summer vacation I stopped shaving my salt-and-pepper beard. When I returned, everyone suddenly treated me like I had tenure. I was flabbergasted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Facial hair could help
======================
As a guy in his upper thirties who until recently was still getting pegged as being in his upper teens to lower twenties, growing facial hair (a mustache and goatee) has helped quite a bit. I now routinely get called "sir", which didn't happen before. I'm not saying this will solve your problem, but if it's an option it can definitely help.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is a special case of [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/62528/citing-a-paper-with-multiple-versions), which has no satisfying answer in my opinion.
I often encounter papers that have been published twice (or more), without any modification. An example is [this one](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2384577.2384589). First presented at the DLS'12 conference, and published in the proceedings. Then, the proceedings have been published in an issue of the ACM SIGPLAN. Notice that the paper is the same, same DOI, etc. However, there are two bibtex entries (one `@inproceedings`, one `@article`) which are similar, but not identical.
My question : in such cases, how should the paper be cited ? Using the `@inproceedings` entry or the `@article` ?
(Side question : Why is it the case that a single paper is published twice ?)<issue_comment>username_1: Manuscripts should (generally) never be published twice. (Exceptions exist, e.g., a famous academic's works might be compiled into a single volume.) A manuscript may be published at a conference (@inproceedings) and then subsequently be published in a journal (@article). However, journal versions are required to extend conference versions. In such cases, you have several options:
* Cite both
* Cite the version where the relevant result first appeared
* Cite the conference version and mention the journal version in the reference
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This may be a special feature of CS or not. We depend a lot on conferences for publishing work. The conferences usually publish proceedings. The first version is distributed at the conference to attendees and may have a limited run. It typically has the conference name on the cover. In the case cited, SIGPLAN, as is typical, will put a separate cover on the proceedings, turn it into a (regular) issue of the Notices and distribute that to all members whether they attend or not. It is really a service to the community, since not everyone can attend an important conference. It is possible that corrections are made between the two versions, but I don't think that is common.
If they are identical, you can cite either one with confidence that readers needing to follow the citation will find the paper.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: As I'm approaching to the end of my PhD, I recently applied for a postdoc position. Before applying, I contacted the scientist offering the position, sending my resume and some publications which are of interest for the position. He encouraged me to apply as my experience would be important for his project and he also scheduled an interview at the end of this month, saying that he's making a decision in April.
However, he didn't ask me for recommendation letters, he just told me to apply online just to make my application official. The online form only requires a resume, any other document is optional.
Neither him nor the position advertisement specyfied any information about recommendation letters (e.g., the minimum number, or whether I should upload them online or just provide the emails of my references).
Is this common in research (the position is in the USA)? Should I ask him more info now or wait untill the interview?<issue_comment>username_1: While it seems unusual, I'm going to guess that he knows what he wants and needs. I wouldn't send things that aren't asked for in this case, as you seem to have already made it over the line. An accidental statement in a letter might actually hurt you, but I don't see how you can be "more" accepted than accepted.
If asked, send them of course. But you will likely learn more at the interview.
Depending on his funding, he may have wide latitude in who to hire and how to do it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1 that it seems unusual, and I think it's quite likely that you'd be asked to provide references or recommendation letters at some point in the process. If your letter writers have already written letters for you, you can probably just apply and relax. If not, I'd suggest asking the scientist ahead of time if they'd be needed, and if so, in what quantity. That way you avoid risking having to scramble for letter writers, or risking giving your letter writers short deadlines.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Just put a section with the names and contact info of a few references at the end of your resume. It is certainly quite common for jobs in the US to not ask for reference letters up front. They may want/need them eventually before the offer can be made. Or they may want to personally call your references to ask about you, and will worry about that at the last minute.
If the school is in a state with at-will employment, and treats postdocs as staff, they can lay you off anytime with two weeks notice. Hence the PI is more free to do pretty much what they want in hiring, including not bother with references (aside from rules about requiring proof of the PhD and such). Other schools handle postdocs with specialized contracts and have a lot more institutionalized hiring system with more paperwork and formality.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/14
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<issue_start>username_0: How can we create an environment in which academic institutions are responsible for the carbon footprint of the research carried out under their auspices?
For context, I am a postdoc working several thousand miles from home. I try to mitigate my carbon footprint, but there is absolutely no incentive not to travel, other than personal conscience. In fact, one actively harms one's career prospects by not travelling to academic conferences, for research visits, etc. Currently I am using my own money to carbon offset every flight I take, but I cannot avoid flying if I want to retain my job. I am certain that I am not the only academic unable to reconcile my love of my research with the entirely unnecessary environmental damage which it is causing.
The individualism of academia means that my university appears to take no interest in mitigating the climate impact of the research going on within it, and seems to consider any action on the matter to be my personal responsibility, rather than their responsibility as my employer. This should not be a matter of personal conscience (or financial resources) for junior members of staff on precarious contracts.
I am aware of initiatives such as Flying Less, but these largely rely on individuals to risk their career progression by participating. It clearly is not enough to tell academic staff not to attend conferences or to travel to perform research that will further their careers. How can institutional change be effected?
Some thoughts, which would likely need support from national-level funding bodies to implement:
* Could carbon offsetting costs be factored into research grants?
* Could carbon trading schemes be instituted?
* Could universities cap the maximum air miles of their staff?
* Could remote participation in conferences be incentivised?
* Could conference funding be made contingent on climate mitigation measures being implemented?
* How can we push institutions to create the systemic changes to our profession which are clearly required?
I am of course aware of the arguments that, e.g., academic travel is a negligible fraction of total air travel; air travel is by no means the largest part of the problem; we need more research in order to combat climate change, not less, etc. However, it is my opinion that academia needs to be an exemplar of adapting to become sustainable. **If we as scientists cannot alter our own behaviour in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is actively harmful, how can we expect others to moderate theirs?**<issue_comment>username_1: If you want to affect how universities do business in this or any other way, you have to get the policies changed. Those policies may be set by governments and/or boards of directors/overseers. To affect those changes you need to do things at that level. You can petition governments. You can elect better leaders. You can make public protests, etc. All of this requires collective action - organization. For private boards you can petition them at their (infrequent) meetings or you can try to push proposals upward from lower levels. Again, collective action.
These sorts of things can be effective, but big organizations have a lot of inertia. So, to move them takes a pretty strong force. None of the actors with power to change things like bad publicity, however. That can be an element of your collective action. Some people can be shamed into doing the right thing.
On the other hand, you can just ask individuals to behave better and to show them how to do it without disrupting their lives any more than necessary. Given the climate change potential disaster, a lot may be necessary, but individuals, like institutions have a lot of inertia. Make it easy to do the right thing if you can. Make it hard to do the wrong thing when you must.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I can think of two main ways to reach these goals:
**Method 1: grassroot campaign**
For example it could go something like this;
1. Create a group of researchers from various fields who share this goal.
2. This group reaches a consensus for a set of realistic measures that an institution could pledge to apply.
3. Reach to the most prominent scientists from various fields, ask them to:
1. publicly support the pledge
2. lobby the institutions/organizations they belong to to sign it
3. boycott the conferences which don't sign it.
4. Keep the pressure from the scientific community until most major institutions are compelled to sign the pledge. At this stage extend the scope of target institutions to funding bodies and big industries.
Rationale for targeting the most prominent scientists: because they have the visibility and influence, they are on the board of the most important conferences, they can afford to boycott conferences and their boycott could destroy these conferences.
**Method 2: patience**
This kind of measures are going to be taken sooner or later, when the damage is too obvious to be ignored (recent research point to more death caused by air pollution than by smoking). At some point it will simply look ridiculous for academic institutions and funding bodies to insist on ethics in research while paying travel expenses across the globe for researchers. But that's going to take a while.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been invited to visit a professor in a different country. I am very reluctant to go. The government of this country is currently under investigation by the UN for suspicions of crimes against humanity targeted at people of the same ethnic background as me. More generally, people from my ethnic background are legally considered second-class citizens (when they are citizens at all) in this country, and routinely get physically aggressed in the street without the police or army doing anything, even partaking sometimes...
How should I explain to this professor that I do not want to go? Should I get into details, invent a different reason?<issue_comment>username_1: This answer assumes that the professor is reasonable. If you know them, use your social skills to judge whether they are reasonable.
Tell the professor that you don't want to go there for the reason you told us. They will understand (since they are reasonable). If possible, make another suggestion how you can achieve the goal you had.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If I were you I'd have the same concerns. In fact, I'm not like you, and I have the same concerns.
But don't confuse the people of Israel with its government. Certainly there are bad actors there, but I also know many Israelis who are more than decent people and oppose the government actions and attitudes that you worry about.
That said, you may be wise to avoid such a trip. But don't assume, necessarily, that the professor would disagree with your true reasons. There is no way to predict, of course, since opinion about Israeli-Palestinian issues come in "all shades of grey" in Israel.
If it is a question of meeting, rather than visiting the professor's institute, you might suggest meeting elsewhere, say at an international meeting.
To flip it a bit, there are quite a lot of people in the world unwilling to visit the US because of recent trends and attitudes here - and some that are not so recent. And I won't visit Mexico, for example, though I love the place, not because the government is bad, but because of the danger of drug gangs and killings and an ineffective government.
---
Note that I answered the question based on its original form which was tagged [israel](/questions/tagged/israel "show questions tagged 'israel'"). However, the same concerns would apply in other contexts and there might be serious issues for some people visiting some countries. But my general advice still holds. Don't conflate the government of a place with its individual citizens. Some of them would support government actions and others would not. The world currently has far too much of this. I've actually known people who won't visit Germany because of its Nazi past, though, til recently at least, it has seemed completely redeemed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I work in a country where a few colleagues do not wish to visit, for various reasons. Some of these reasons are based on accurate perceptions and others are not. Some of those colleagues have been willing to frankly discuss their concerns with me, and in some cases I have been able to appropriately assuage their fears; in the end, these people came and were glad they did. But some had legitimate concerns or were simply unwilling to budge -- including some close friends and collaborators. I respect their concerns and opinions, and we have continued to work together even though I know they will never visit. I do not think any less of them for this, and I believe they do not think less of me for working in this country.
My recommendation is to **just be honest, but don't let your concerns evolve into a debate over political issues in your colleague's host country.**
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I understand that this is an awkward situation but I recommend being honest about it. Remember that being honest doesn't mean you have to be rude, aggressive or confrontational. Make sure that it doesn't look like you're blaming the professor personally for the situation in their country.
The problem with making up excuses is that this professor wants to work with you, so will try to help you overcome whatever reason you state.
* "I can't afford to travel there." – "That's OK, I have some spare money on my grant!"
* "I'm really busy this summer." – "That's OK, let's wait until autumn!"
* "I'll find it difficult to get a visa." – "That's OK, our departmental administrator (CC'ed) is *great* at getting visas for people!"
Now, hopefully, we can continue that list with the real reason "I'm sorry but I'm really uncomfortable about visiting your country because XYZ" and the professor will try to help you out with that, too. Maybe the professor can help allay your fears or give practical help to avoid the problems; maybe they can't but you can find some other way of working together.
All of the above is based on the assumption that you know the professor and you're confident that he or she doesn't engage in or approve of the things you object to in their country. If you suspect the professor isn't "on your side", then you presumably don't want to work with them under any circumstances and that's a rather different issue. If you say you're uncomfortable about XYZ and their response is to justify XYZ, that would definitely be a username_6e to disengage.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: One way forward is to ask the professor for their advice. Put the situation and your fears forward in a non-confrontational way. You could simply say, "Thank you for your invitation, etc. ... I'm concerned about visiting because of my ethnic background, what do you advise?" The professor may say it's unadvisable or it's fine. In either case you are not obliged to accept the advice. You could say, "Thank you so much for your advice ... I have decided on-balance that I would prefer not to visit, etc." Then you can suggest other possibilities, e.g. invite them, set up a live link, etc. etc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: There are no legal second-class citizens or [apartheid](https://www.adl.org/resources/fact-sheets/response-to-common-inaccuracy-israel-is-an-apartheid-state) in Israel, Arabs have the [same legal rights](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-human-rights-in-israel) as anyone else.
Using any of these false biases when explaining not wanting to visit might very well [offend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_test_of_antisemitism) the other professor. If you want to stay on good terms with them, I would suggest not using highly controversial or political reasons.
You could explain that you personally would feel unsafe; nobody can - or at least should - argue with the feelings of somebody else. If you are open to it, this could also lead to a discussion that can alleviate some of those fears. If you are not open to that, that's OK too.
You could also highlight other reasons, if there are any. Maybe you don't like to travel in general, maybe right now isn't a good username_6e professionally (swamped at work) or personally (new baby, family issues, health, money), etc. I would suggest staying close to the truth here though; lies have a habit of coming out. The other professor might eg notice that something is up when you say that you don't like to travel, but often take part in international conferences.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: You can ask to speak with students of the same ethnicity as you, who study in the university of that professor or in other universities of that country, and ask them whether *they* feel safe. You may get one of two responses:
* They may tell you "we do not feel safe". Then, you have a simple explanation to give the professor: "I am sorry, but students of my ethnicity do not feel safe in your country". Nobody can argue with facts.
* They may tell you "we feel perfectly safe". Then, you may wish to re-consider your presumptions about that country...
As an additional benefit, you will gain new acquaintances, both from your ethnicity and otherwise, which is always a good thing.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I am curious what is the current industry standard for delivery of online course materials. I have in mind coursework which traditionally has been graded on the basis of in-class residential tests which are closed-book and timed. For example, Physics, Chemistry, Calculus, Economics, Biology at the university level. When we offer these *same* courses online then:
>
> Is there an expectation of **proctoring** of exams.
>
>
>
Proctoring generally meaning that either the student goes to a testing center where they are monitored by a service with no conflicting interest. Or, perhaps a webcam service where video is recorded to check if the student is:
1.) who they claim to be,
2.) actually doing the work on the test without using cheat sites.
Thanks in advance for your insights. I am particularly interested in scholarly articles, but anecdotal evidence is also useful.<issue_comment>username_1: This answer assumes that the professor is reasonable. If you know them, use your social skills to judge whether they are reasonable.
Tell the professor that you don't want to go there for the reason you told us. They will understand (since they are reasonable). If possible, make another suggestion how you can achieve the goal you had.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If I were you I'd have the same concerns. In fact, I'm not like you, and I have the same concerns.
But don't confuse the people of Israel with its government. Certainly there are bad actors there, but I also know many Israelis who are more than decent people and oppose the government actions and attitudes that you worry about.
That said, you may be wise to avoid such a trip. But don't assume, necessarily, that the professor would disagree with your true reasons. There is no way to predict, of course, since opinion about Israeli-Palestinian issues come in "all shades of grey" in Israel.
If it is a question of meeting, rather than visiting the professor's institute, you might suggest meeting elsewhere, say at an international meeting.
To flip it a bit, there are quite a lot of people in the world unwilling to visit the US because of recent trends and attitudes here - and some that are not so recent. And I won't visit Mexico, for example, though I love the place, not because the government is bad, but because of the danger of drug gangs and killings and an ineffective government.
---
Note that I answered the question based on its original form which was tagged [israel](/questions/tagged/israel "show questions tagged 'israel'"). However, the same concerns would apply in other contexts and there might be serious issues for some people visiting some countries. But my general advice still holds. Don't conflate the government of a place with its individual citizens. Some of them would support government actions and others would not. The world currently has far too much of this. I've actually known people who won't visit Germany because of its Nazi past, though, til recently at least, it has seemed completely redeemed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I work in a country where a few colleagues do not wish to visit, for various reasons. Some of these reasons are based on accurate perceptions and others are not. Some of those colleagues have been willing to frankly discuss their concerns with me, and in some cases I have been able to appropriately assuage their fears; in the end, these people came and were glad they did. But some had legitimate concerns or were simply unwilling to budge -- including some close friends and collaborators. I respect their concerns and opinions, and we have continued to work together even though I know they will never visit. I do not think any less of them for this, and I believe they do not think less of me for working in this country.
My recommendation is to **just be honest, but don't let your concerns evolve into a debate over political issues in your colleague's host country.**
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I understand that this is an awkward situation but I recommend being honest about it. Remember that being honest doesn't mean you have to be rude, aggressive or confrontational. Make sure that it doesn't look like you're blaming the professor personally for the situation in their country.
The problem with making up excuses is that this professor wants to work with you, so will try to help you overcome whatever reason you state.
* "I can't afford to travel there." – "That's OK, I have some spare money on my grant!"
* "I'm really busy this summer." – "That's OK, let's wait until autumn!"
* "I'll find it difficult to get a visa." – "That's OK, our departmental administrator (CC'ed) is *great* at getting visas for people!"
Now, hopefully, we can continue that list with the real reason "I'm sorry but I'm really uncomfortable about visiting your country because XYZ" and the professor will try to help you out with that, too. Maybe the professor can help allay your fears or give practical help to avoid the problems; maybe they can't but you can find some other way of working together.
All of the above is based on the assumption that you know the professor and you're confident that he or she doesn't engage in or approve of the things you object to in their country. If you suspect the professor isn't "on your side", then you presumably don't want to work with them under any circumstances and that's a rather different issue. If you say you're uncomfortable about XYZ and their response is to justify XYZ, that would definitely be a username_6e to disengage.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: One way forward is to ask the professor for their advice. Put the situation and your fears forward in a non-confrontational way. You could simply say, "Thank you for your invitation, etc. ... I'm concerned about visiting because of my ethnic background, what do you advise?" The professor may say it's unadvisable or it's fine. In either case you are not obliged to accept the advice. You could say, "Thank you so much for your advice ... I have decided on-balance that I would prefer not to visit, etc." Then you can suggest other possibilities, e.g. invite them, set up a live link, etc. etc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: There are no legal second-class citizens or [apartheid](https://www.adl.org/resources/fact-sheets/response-to-common-inaccuracy-israel-is-an-apartheid-state) in Israel, Arabs have the [same legal rights](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-human-rights-in-israel) as anyone else.
Using any of these false biases when explaining not wanting to visit might very well [offend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_test_of_antisemitism) the other professor. If you want to stay on good terms with them, I would suggest not using highly controversial or political reasons.
You could explain that you personally would feel unsafe; nobody can - or at least should - argue with the feelings of somebody else. If you are open to it, this could also lead to a discussion that can alleviate some of those fears. If you are not open to that, that's OK too.
You could also highlight other reasons, if there are any. Maybe you don't like to travel in general, maybe right now isn't a good username_6e professionally (swamped at work) or personally (new baby, family issues, health, money), etc. I would suggest staying close to the truth here though; lies have a habit of coming out. The other professor might eg notice that something is up when you say that you don't like to travel, but often take part in international conferences.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: You can ask to speak with students of the same ethnicity as you, who study in the university of that professor or in other universities of that country, and ask them whether *they* feel safe. You may get one of two responses:
* They may tell you "we do not feel safe". Then, you have a simple explanation to give the professor: "I am sorry, but students of my ethnicity do not feel safe in your country". Nobody can argue with facts.
* They may tell you "we feel perfectly safe". Then, you may wish to re-consider your presumptions about that country...
As an additional benefit, you will gain new acquaintances, both from your ethnicity and otherwise, which is always a good thing.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/14
| 1,459
| 6,363
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international student from an Asian country. I recently emailed one PhD supervisor at a well-ranked university in London with my CV attached to see if there are any PhD opportunities for me. The supervisor replied to me very quickly and invited me to have a Skype conversation with her.
She only asked about my research interests but nothing else during the Skype chat , which I actually considered as an informal interview (she even didn’t introduce her lab to me). After the Skype chat, she asked me to write my own proposal and proceed with the formal application, which made me to think at least she was happy with my application. After that, I drafted a few research ideas and sent them to her. She finally agreed with the ideas and edited the proposal for me for a few times.
From sending her the first email to finishing the research proposal, it took me around three months. We had more than 20 emails and one more Skype chat during that time. As it was an extremely complicated and tiring process, I think the reason why she continued to help me with the proposal was because she wanted to take me as a student. Otherwise, she can say no in any stages during this process.
The requirement of the university is to have a formal interview for all prospective phd student. The interviewer was the phd supervisor. However, I was rejected by her after the formal interview, which I couldn’t understand at all. If you want to reject me, why did you spend so much time on me and give me false hope? I just think this is not very ethical, as if you said no earlier, I would have had chances of finding other supervisors in the same university (I really wanted to get into this uni, the supervisor was actually less important).
So I am wondering here how you think about this supervisor (i.e why she rejected me in the end while writing the proposal with me during the past three months) and if this is normal in Western/UK culture?<issue_comment>username_1: It doesn't matter what we think about this person. We are not their judges. You will meet many people who act extremly unethical (and get very far in their career by this strategy). The best for you is to forget this person and move on with your life -- this case is just over and you cannot do anything about this. Don't get unhappy by constantly thinking about some toxic person. Talk to some friends and make sure you get mental support from them.
If there was a bit of useful critism (you mention something about some hypothesis), take this to your heart and if you come into a similar situation, try to learn from these thinfs (e. g. find out to effectively communicate your knowledge about those hypothesis).
While there is a lot of unethical behaviour in academia, for what it's worth, this kind of behaviour I've never ever seen before.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I have seen this pattern play out quite often, and there never was any foul play involved.
Two things to keep in mind here are: First, assessing someone's potential for doing a PhD in general, and fit with a particular supervisor, is difficult. Doing this based on a short proposal and a transcript from a university in a system you are not familiar with becomes near impossible. Second, taking on a PhD student is a huge commitment (at least in the UK). Just getting rid of a student if they underperform is rarely an option.
The prospective supervisor here gave the OP a chance to convince her of their suitability as a PhD candidate, and clearly invested significant effort into this. After the formal interview however she was still unconvinced, and thus did the right thing in rejecting the application. Rejecting a student you have invested significant time into, and interacted quite a bit, is not an easy thing to do - so while it might have been possible for the prospective supervisor to reject already after 18 emails exchanged, I really can't fault her for wanting to give OP yet another chance.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Here is another perspective: a professor offered you substantial help with your application and you end up complaining that they wasted your time. Trying to figure out whether you’d be a good fit, they discussed research with you at length and help you draft a research proposal (which you hopefully use to improve your acceptance chances in other applications). After several days (or weeks) of discussion they decided that you’re ultimately not a good fit.
There can be a million reasons: another student was a better fit, funding was denied, research needs changed and so on. Rejection sucks, and I do sympathize, but it sounds like the professor went waaaaay out of their way to help a stranger; their reward? Getting trashed online for it.
Your lesson from this should be to not place all your chips on one advisor so to speak. When I interview candidates I implicitly assume they’ve applied to at least 10 other places and discussed their work with others. I had prospective students and research fellows rescind my offers after I had invested a ton of time and effort into getting them admitted. It sucks, but that’s life.
*Edit:* seeing the discussion in the comments regarding foul play, I don’t think that’s likely. While there *might* be a chance of that, think about it - why would anyone not want to hire someone who has great ideas? I don’t see the causal relation here. Coming into research with a non-cooperative mindset won’t help you in the future.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Yes, the story *as related by you* reflects poorly on the person. But there are details missing, such as where the funding would be coming from. As an academic, I've often poured time and effort into a prospective student who had indicated that they would be self-funding or able to secure funding, which then turned out to be false. If it was going to be up to the supervisor, her likelihood of securing the funding should have been discussed: was she sitting on some money, would she have to apply and if so, within the institute or outside of it? All of which shifts the balance. (BTW many academics habitually exaggerate their ability access money.) This should have been discussed during the first conversation. Another matter that should have been brought up is what the formal requirements were going to be.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/15
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<issue_start>username_0: In the United States, if a university lab develops code while receiving public funding, are they legally obligated to release their source code?<issue_comment>username_1: No, in general they are not.
It is true that [works prepared by US *federal government* employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_the_federal_government_of_the_United_States). This applies, for instance, to journal articles by scientists at DOE or DOD laboratories. It does not apply to public university employees (they work for state/local governments) and, as far as I know, it does not apply to computer code.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: All the work done for an employer belongs to the employer (the software belongs to the University, not the research group). The employer, depending on its legal status, might have some legal obligations in terms of copyright and IP of the work it is done on its behalf. In addition, when the funding comes, it comes with, or without, a number of other specific obligations about copyright and IP. These are potentially overriding those imposed by the employer (because the employer accepts the funding and the conditions).
So the answer to your question is: check if there are any conditions attached to the funding (which are pertinent only if they fund the project) and if there are any condition your employer needs to fulfil.
Upvotes: 0
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2019/03/15
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<issue_start>username_0: **Background**
So, I got into a premier institute of my country but had a hard time there. I always had to look for some sort of a job to support my family and as a result I graduated with six technical internships and a very poor GPA.
Now after four years I got myself into research and have an otherwise good profile, it's just that my GPA is so low that I have to explain about it in my SOP.
Is it okay if I talk about this? Or will this further hurt my chances?<issue_comment>username_1: With a low GPA, your chances are already quite slim. You need a way to explain it. But it is even more important that you can explain why the institution can expect that you will be a success in the future. Your poor background doesn't help with this, no matter the reason. If your situation can be expected to continue, then it will be especially difficult to convince anyone that your outcomes will be different.
You have to make a case for the future, primarily.
But the SoP isn't the place to explain the past and certainly not the place to make excuses for past failures. It needs to be future focused on plans for research and thereafter as well as how you intend to achieve them. If you have somewhere else to explain things, do it there, such as a personal statement. Make the SoP positive and future focused.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: **Yes you should**.
Low GPA is bad. You need to explain it, and you need a reason that 1) most people will sympathize with and 2) will not recur. Assuming your finances are more stable now, you satisfy both these criteria, so you have no reason to hesitate.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the previous answers here offer some sound advice, but I’ll advocate the other opinion and say *no, you should not mention it* based on my personal experience (low gpa, didn’t mention it in SoP, got admitted).
I think your SoP should generally focus on the positives of your background and the reasons why you are a great fit for the program. Discuss your *progress*, as this can be a way to subtly address a troubling past and ease your reader’s worry about your potential success.
The SoP is not a place to make excuses (regardless of how valid they may be), and it certainly should not turn into a “trembling steps” narrative. My answer to [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/79098/how-do-i-add-a-little-bit-of-personality-to-my-sop-without-turning-it-into-anoth)
question offers some other tips on writing an effective statement.
As an aside, my recommenders took care to address my weaknesses (like my gpa) in their letters. I recommend asking your letter writers to do the same, as this can be an effective way to dispel weaknesses when the defense is coming from a trusted academic.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: According to Deans of Admission committee at Harvard and Princeton that I attend through one of their events, they said it totally make senses to write about it. You just have to keep it short. For example, "due to my personal problem,...." is one of the example they gave. I think the link to this video is also posted on their official websites, so you can also check there as well.
Upvotes: -1
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2019/03/15
| 4,051
| 17,522
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<issue_start>username_0: **TL;DR**
What can a PhD student on a research stay abroad do about postdocs that are supposed to be collaborators but behave like "helicopter advisors"?
**Background**
A friend of mine is doing her PhD (fourth year) in Europe (in a STEM field) and she asked her PhD advisor for the possibility of a research stay abroad. So the advisor told her to contact some professor-acquaintances of his and one of them (at a very famous US university) had a project she could work on but no funds to pay her. She therefore applied for funding and stipends in her home country and managed to scrape up enough money to go and stay for some months. Half of this time has passed by now.
**The Situation**
She is working on said project together with two postdocs who will be co-authors on a possible paper resulting from it. The professor who invited her will of course also be a co-author but he is not very closely involved. The postdocs, on the other hand, seem to believe they need to track her every step and micro-manage her. All while being very demanding since they are looking for faculty positions. They will (both, sometimes one after the other, sometimes together) come to her office on an almost daily basis to be shown any progress she made. Also, they will schedule frequent meetings (in addition to the weekly group meeting) for her to report on what she has been doing and to give her tasks to complete. From what she's telling me, for her these meetings feel like it's two big guys against her. She tried to involve the professor in the meetings but all that did was make it feel like three big guys against her. She has also started working in the library and that has taken some pressure out since now the postdocs won't just come by and demand seeing her progress.
**The Problem**
However, the feeling of constantly being pushed and having to prove herself is starting to take a toll and I'm seriously worried about her mental well-being. She's not sleeping well, has considered just dropping everything and going home (something she usually never does), and sometimes she seems close to breaking down.
Now on the one hand I don't think the postdocs are doing this maliciously (they haven't reacted negatively to her starting to work in the library), it just seems to me like they have little experience in supervising students (which is odd, considering that they are looking for faculty positions) and interpersonal relations aren't really their strength. I mean not even an undergraduate student should be supervised so closely in my opinion, let alone someone reaching the end of their PhD who is funded from abroad and is basically a visiting collaborator. And on the other hand, to some degree, it's probably also her personality that's making this difficult since she really values working independently and maybe it's a cultural/language thing that has prevented her from being able to make that clear. But all this does not change the fact that something has to happen. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to give her any good advice on how to make them understand that they're pushing too much and need to give her more freedom.
**The Question**
So what can I tell her to do when she asks the next time? How can she improve this situation without burning bridges?<issue_comment>username_1: It's hard to tell exactly what's happening here.
* It does not seem unreasonable for collaborators to sync up daily. Ideally all three of you would be syncing up with each other, rather than just this student syncing up with her supervisors -- but since she is only staying for a short time and working on a single project, it is sort of natural that there is an imbalance. I wonder if the student is interpreting standard collaboration/teamwork as "pushing" and "having to prove herself".
* But I can also see scenarios where the supervisors are really being overbearing and negatively affecting progress.
Either way, this is not the student's preferred work style, so I would consider trying to schedule some standing meetings. Maybe send a **brief** e-mail that says something like:
>
> Hi guys,
>
>
> I'd like to schedule some additional meetings where we could all sync up on the nuclear waste project. So far we've just been doing these discussions "on the fly", but I think it might be better for all of us if we had a set time for the three of us to sync up. Maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 PM? Please let me know.
>
>
> Worried
>
>
>
They may react with
>
> No, things are fine, you're doing great, just keep doing what you're doing
>
>
>
In which case, you can say bluntly:
>
> I'd really prefer to have a set time -- that way I can prepare a summary of my progress/questions in advance, and won't have so many interruptions during the rest of the week. Could we give it a try?
>
>
>
If they still push back after that, you may have to accept that this is how the group operates.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's possible that we do not know how to address the real issues here because we do not know exactly what is being said between the supervisors and the student. However, overall it seems like you have unreasonable expectations for how supervision should occur.
* Daily meetings are perfectly reasonable for a PhD student working in a new environment. Some PhD students do not need to have a meeting every day, but some do. It should take months to figure out the appropriate meeting frequency.
* Supervisors should, in fact, push students to do better work. If this is done appropriately (we do not know based on your question), the student should feel they are improving themselves, not proving themselves.
* Avoiding the supervisors is not appropriate, professional behavior.
* As @username_1 says, it is appropriate to request that meetings occur at predictable times.
* If supervisors express themselves in a way that is not constructive, it is appropriate to ask them to rephrase their criticism as constructive feedback. For example, "What would you like me to do to improve X?"
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Seems fairly normal to me. Suggesting alternative meeting spaces or meeting types may be the right solution.
Your friend may suggest an alternative meeting space under the pretense/reasoning that it would be "more conducive to productivity" or "offer a change of atmosphere".
* Pre-schedule the meetings like others have suggested.
* Pick a neutral location she feels comfortable in.
* A co-working space with unrelated others around.
* Suggest keeping "impromptu" meetings remote via Zoom or Skype.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: It seems possible that both of these things are true:
1. The situation is fairly standard, there is no intentional disrespect or interference, and your friend's input is valued
2. Your friend's colleagues are failing in important and unnecessary ways to contribute to an environment in which she can be happy and productive.
We don't really know about #1, but IMO it's best to assume that's the case unless it becomes very clear that it's not.
You ask what *you* can do, and I think the most important thing is simply to listen, and affirm/validate her take on the situation, and encourage her to talk it through with you.
Beyond that, she might focus some careful thought on who her strongest (potential) ally in the university is. It might be somebody in the department that she relates to and communicates with well, or it might be somebody she doesn't know very well, but who has a lot of experience managing student projects. She should talk to them as well, and see if there might be some insights/nuances *she* is not picking up on due to linguistic or cultural barriers. Since there are real and/or perceived professional consequences for each of her co-authors, she may have an opportunity to build a better relationship with the "helicopters" by demonstrating that she is mindful of them, and can contribute to positive outcomes in their own careers.
I think the key is to find a way to broach the subject in a clear, non-judgmental, and non-confrontational way. More or less, "You may not realize it, but my work style is easily disrupted by frequent interruptions. Do you think we could find a way to change our communication patterns so they have a better effect, but with less negative impact on my work routine?"
Doing that with the input or participation of an ally who understands the significance to her would probably help.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: There is clearly a mismatch in how your friend is being supervised and how she is most effectively supervised. Resolving this will be both helpful for her and her postdoc supervisors: your friend will learn how to create an effective collaboration and her supervisors will learn that supervision requires a certain empathy and understanding of the person you're supervising.
For me personally, for example, the behavior of those postdocs would drive me up the wall. I have no problem whatsoever with daily progress reports and supervision, but a feeling that I'm being pushed/rushed is very counter productive to me. I'm very capable of pushing myself. I would also be quite surprised if a fourth year PhD student who has managed to get funding for a research stay abroad needs any sort of external motivation.
Obviously, your friend working in the library to avoid her supervisors is not a workable solution and will lead to an ineffective collaboration.
Your friend should probably reach out to her supervisors to discuss exactly how they want to structure the collaboration. If I had to have a conversation like this, I'd touch on the following points: everyone wants this project to succeed in an ambitious time frame, she's grateful for the amount of time the postdocs are spending on her and there's nothing wrong with daily progress updates. However, the way they are currently structured (your friend should mention more clearly what she finds difficult) is counter productive because they are unduly stressing her out and this is close to influencing the quality of her work. Maybe they can find a better solution?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Seeing that many answers that seem to actually come from the US find the described supervision pattern good/normal/expected,
I'd like to put in a (slightly old-fashioned) European STEM perspective.
However, I'd first like to say that this cultural difference is somewhat unexpected for me. I did a research stay in Canada between finishing my Diplom and beginning my PhD (so a bit earlier than friend) and the experience was quite different from what is described here: true collaboration as opposed to checking up on progress.
So together with the other answers, I'd say that the cultural difference probably does play a role but inexperience of the supervisors probably also adds to that (not recognizing that the close supervision isn't needed and actually hampers progress).
---
About the cultural difference:
For European PhD "programs\*" a sufficiently good Master is typcially the prerequisite.
So any PhD student\*\* in Europe is a fully qualified professional (though I do see recently a tendency to tell the PhD "students" that the PhD is still part of their qualification program/schedule)
* The Master thesis demonstrates that the (then-still) student is able to work out a research topic of manageable complexity (6 - 12 months) essentiall on their own, i.e. with slight guidance by the supervisor.
(The more guidance the lower the mark)
* A PhD thesis in this framework demonstrates that the candidate is able to work out a fairly complex (3 years FTE) research topic *on their own*. On their own means very importantly means that they'll organize themselves, get collaborations going etc. Of course they'll discuss with supervisors and peers, and of course senior scientists have far more experience of a wider fiels - however in the narrow field of the PhD topic, the "student" is expected .
I wrote above that this is a slightly old-fashioned point of view: things develop into the direction that PhD students are less free in their choice of project and milestones (but paid more) and also more closely supervised.
If the friend comes from a group with the old-fashioned European perspective, the **described micro-management** is not only unpleasant as micro-management, but for the student it **may carry the unspoken notion that the student is essentially failing**: if they were doing fine, such a close supervision would not be necessary.
>
> So what can I tell her to do when she asks the next time?
>
>
>
Maybe you could reflect with your friend whether this is a contributing point to the issue. If so, I'd suggest that
* *knowing* about the cultural difference may already relieve the friend's stress a bit, and
* explaining to the collaborators (incl. professor) that this difference a) unfortunately means that the current close supervision causes a lot of stress and b) friend is actually used to and able to work far more independently and would wish to do so already there.
I've been in a micro-managed research group (in Europe) after 8 years in various not-micro-managed research groups and found it quite stressful and prone to conflicts. For me it certainly diod carry the impression of distrust in my work/professional abilities. It took a considerable amount of reflection to realize what exactly was going on. I ***decided* to refuse that suggestion**. I think this kept me healthy - but it certainly did not make me a meek member of staff (i.e. from their point of view: difficult to manage). I'm emphasizing this here because getting to that decision and not just becoming mad at the supervisor **took considerable mental energy**.
* I find that being in a foreign country with a foreign work culture (even if within the Western cultures) and probably foreign language already requires more mental energy than just living "as usual" at home.
Here this may mean that friend's mental resources are already strained without the difficulties at work. Which firstly hampers reflection about what is going on. Secondly, even with reflection she may not be able to brush off of the micro-management as she'd be able to do at home.
However, she may still be able to communicate this to the collaborators. The collaborators in turn may realize that micro-management is counterproductive here if that is clearly pronounced. (At least, there's a chance)
* Another nuance to this is that at some point during my stay I got **homesick**. But I didn't realize it until long afterwards that that's probably how it is called. Nevertheless, it didn't help in terms of equanimity - I'm afraid I became quite grumpy. I'm writing this because what I remember is that I felt decidedly hampered and restricted (by external circumstances, not by collaborators - but I do smell a possible relation to what you describe). That could be a contributing point that doesn't have to do with the collaborators themselves - but again reflecting and communicating this may allow them to help her.
* What is worse than micro-management is the combination of micro-management with **unspoken rules**. So I totally agree with the call for clear spelled-out rules and explanations in some of the other answers.
One such communication could be to say (friend) that she does want to productively collaborate with her supervisors. As the current mode is hampering her due to the stressful experience/connotations she cannot help (for the moment), she suggests to turn around the mode: the supervisors will let her work undisturbed, and she'll call on them (alternatively, schedule meetings).
* Possibly, also the style of the meetings could be changed. The description in the question is supervision, not collaboration: supervisors hand out tasks and check completion. Collaboration means that they all should also work on the subject together. (To put it a bit more bluntly, pushing and checking completion of tasks is management, but not an intellectual contribution to a paper in itself). Maybe friend can close her description of what she did with a description of what her next steps are going to be. The collaborators of course can suggest changes, but they'll need to convince her, as she ultimately decides what she does next.
* There is no description in the question whether the collaborators actually do think together with friend through her recent results and discuss these scientifically and intelligently. Acting as such discussion partners to help friend to sharpen her thoughts and ideas and contributing their insights are proper contributions on the side of the collaborators.
@OP: maybe you can reflect together with your friend whether such scientific input does take place. If so, that's what she's actually come to that group for - it may be helpful for her to fully appreciate this. First for herself and then also to communicate to the collaborators that she does realize and appreciate this.
If on the other hand this is lacking, I'd say she should clearly formulate her expectation of such a collaboration.
---
\* they are often not very much like anything that is usually called a program. They are almost pure research.
\*\* In German, they are not even called student (nor do they have to enroll to university as students - although they are allowed to do so in order to get some benefits such as cheap bus/train tickets)
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am going to apply for graduate school a year later. My institution is adapting an GPA algorithm which take all course grades record in to GPA calculation. But there is a consequence I think is unfavorable to students.
For example, I got a 1.0/4.0 for my calculus course in freshman which is a 6 credit course in freshman year.I retake it and get a 4.0 a year later to prove that in fact I am well versed in this area. But the net effect for GPA calculation is that the two grades are all included which means (1.0+4.0)/2=2.5 GPA for 12 credits which is still of negative effect. I have a number of courses badly screwed up and I find it difficult to pull my GPA up in this circumstance.
So, is this algorithm used widely among universities? If it is, how to overcome the downsides or the only way is to face it directly? How would admission offices in, e.g. US graduate schools, view this?<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, this is fairly common. There is generally an overall gpa feature that averages grades from all courses, regardless of repeated classes. Departmental gpa does this same thing, but on a smaller scale (general education classes are calculated separate from your major and minor). These should be designated separately on your transcript.
A low gpa is difficult (but not impossible) to overcome. Grad school applications generally involve transcripts, test scores, a statement of purpose (SoP), and letters of recommendation. Focus on the things that you are able to change. Overall gpa can only be helped with doing better in future classes, but your concern over improvement between individual classes will track on a transcript.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Graduate schools generally don't worry as much about your GPA as about the actual grades in the courses that are relevant to your course of study.
Let's take the example of a math graduate admissions committee. They will see applicants who get A or A+ in every math course they take, and get Bs in other courses. These applicants may have a lower GPA than other applicants who have a number of math courses with A- or B+, but the graduate admissions committee will greatly prefer the first set of applicants.
So the actual algorithm the school uses for calculating your GPA has a relatively low impact on your chance of admission.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My university has the same (default) GPA policy.
There is a reasonable argument that the effect you describe is actually desirable. Especially for graduate school, what people are looking for in your grades is not *mastery of calculus* but rather **success in mastering new material**. By that standard, a student who gets an A in calculus on their first attempt has a stronger record than a student who gets a D the first time and an A the second time.
I don't really agree with this argument, in part because I don't think GPA is either so important or so fragile that a single bad grade is actually dangerous. Grad schools won't care about one D in a freshman calculus class, and your improved grade on a second attempt is good evidence of your ability to recover from setbacks.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first-year doctoral student in Computer Vision, and have some confusion about my research direction recently. I hope I can get some help and advice there.
A couple of months ago, I was arranged to do research about optical flow, which is a kind of motion representation and can be used in many computer vision tasks. In these days, I read many papers and did lots of experiment about optical flow about its history, datasets and criterion. Therefore, I began to believe maybe I could make some contribution to that. Since some previous ideas are proved not working, the professor suggested me to give up the research on optical flow and change to another.
Now I am very hesitant about the next plan, there are two reasons. On the one hand, I am not content to give up just like that, and I think we could do more. On the other hand, I know very little other directions in computer vision, so I am not certain which direction I should choose. For computer vision, I want to try everything. Although optical flow is not my favorite one, I can insist on it. I really want to choose a research direction, and spend several years or the whole PhD stage to do some meaningful works.
What should I do? I hope experienced people can give me advice. Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: You should be talking to your advisor(s) and you *may* have some good points to discuss.
If you think you have some relevant ideas, then you should discuss them with your advisor - one may be the "key" you are looking for.
If, after considering your points, the advisor still has good reason to think that there is no future, then you should accept that decision, clear in the knowledge that you put your points across.
So, discuss with your advisor and make an informed choice with them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends how convinced you are and how willing to go against accepted opinion. History is full of predictions of impossibility, for example the advancement of AI in general and neural networks in particular nearly came to a dead stop at one point because of a book written by influential authors.
>
> In 1969 Minsky wrote the book Perceptrons (with <NAME>), which
> became the foundational work in the analysis of artificial neural
> networks. This book is the center of a long-standing controversy in
> the study of artificial intelligence ... It is claimed that
> pessimistic predictions made by the authors were responsible for an
> erroneous change in the direction of research in AI, concentrating
> efforts on so-called “symbolic” systems, and contributing to the
> so-called AI winter, a period of reduced funding and interest in
> artificial intelligence research. This decision, supposedly, proved to
> be unfortunate in the 1980s, when new discoveries showed that the
> prognostics in the book were wrong.
> <http://scihi.org/marvin-minsky-artificial-neural-networks/>
>
>
>
I did a Masters back then and wanted to do my dissertation on neural networks. I was strongly advised not to because 'the subject is dead'. I went ahead anyway, got my Distinction and sure enough a few years later neural networks were back in fashion. My paltry efforts were soon overtaken by cleverer people but by then I had moved on to something else.
If you are very confident of your abilities and are willing to gamble somewhat then you may prove everyone else wrong - it's happened many times in history, just read a few biographies. Are you tough enough?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Some people have enough ideas and a secure enough background to be able to carry on doctoral studies with very little advice or direction and be successful. Others depend more on their advisors, who usually have more experience and insight into what is likely to work and what is probably unproductive.
You need to decide whether you are more like one of these or the other. Often the professional insight needed to be successful in research doesn't come in the doctoral study years, but within (hopefully) a few years afterwards.
I worry about your statement that "I know very little other directions in computer vision", which makes me wonder if you are ready to take the lead at this moment. If not, then you might follow your advisor's advice at this time and wait until later to explore the wider world. But you need to decide for yourself whether the possibly more risky path is right for you.
People can be successful either way, but not always the same people.
Upvotes: 2
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| 559
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my PhD dissertation and was wondering in what order I should list committee members in my dissertation? What is a good order that does not offend anyone? I know the advisor has to be listed first. For the rest of the members, some of the options I considered were: (a) listing by decreasing order of seniority, (b) alphabetical, (c) list external last. The problem with (a) is that the senior most professor is an external (from a different university) and comes up before Profs from my own department. The problem with (b) and (c) are that the senior most person, who is also quite famous, now comes last. Am I overthinking this?<issue_comment>username_1: Probably you are overthinking it. If they have different roles you can list them with their role and avoid ordering problems. Otherwise I'd consider alphabetical.
I'll admit that in some fields there may be a tradition about how to do it, but I've never heard of that. And note that in some circles the one listed last is considered the most prominent. It is hard to really draw conclusions, hence alphabetical.
And, your advisor might have some good advice about this.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Besides asking your adviser, you could look at some of the recent dissertations written in your department to see whether a specific format tends to be used. Print copies of the dissertations are probably shelved somewhere in your university library (and/or you might have access to digital versions using your university library), and copies might also be in your department library, department reading room, department common room, etc. (if any of these exist).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I suggest checking with the graduate school administration of your university (not just your department). There may be amazingly specific rules about the format of your dissertation, including the list of committee members. For example, in my university, the title page of a doctoral dissertation must say that it's "submitted to The University of Michigan" with a capital "T" in "The". I think the committee members are listed with the adviser first (labeled not as adviser but as chair of the committee) and then the other members in alphabetical order; I don't guarantee that, though, since I never paid much attention to the ordering of the list.
Upvotes: 1
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2019/03/15
| 657
| 2,859
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for postdoctoral positions and when I get rejection letters there is no reason given. Is there any way I can tell if there are "red flags" in my application that are getting it shot down? My adviser has reassured me that there is nothing wrong with my application but after so many rejections I am not so sure...If there really is a simple reason, I would like to know so that I can remedy my application.<issue_comment>username_1: You haven't said how many applications you've submitted or whether you've had any interviews. It's possible that you're just being unrealistic about how many applications it will take to obtain a position.
In the US, employers are reluctant to say anything about why an applicant was rejected because of the possibility that this information will be used against the employer in a lawsuit. It's likely that the faculty involved in the hiring decision will be under instructions to not say anything about why applicants weren't chosen.
Furthermore, even if you could get one of them to talk off the record, the likely reason would be something like "other applicants were slightly stronger or were better fits for our needs." The reason for this is that the academic job market in most fields is extremely competitive for job seekers, and thus most positions attract many (dozens or even hundreds) of very well qualified applicants. You should not expect that your application will have better than a 1 in 20 chance of being selected for an interview.
If you're making to the interview stage but haven't gotten any offers, then it's possible that your performance in the in-person interviews has hurt your chances of getting the job. However, you shouldn't conclude that until you've had several interviews with no offers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You do not have the right frame of mind. You are asking a question that doesn't have an answer. People who have positions to give don't need a reason to *not* give it to you. They need a reason to give it to you. When you ask, "why didn't I get the position?", most of the time, there is nothing meaningful to answer beyond "we gave it to someone else". These days, competition is so fierce that for any position, there is a dozen candidates that the university would be lucky to hire. A choice needs to be made. And since we are not robots, this isn't an entirely rational choice. Hiring someone is a very complex decisions with many variables; who is the "strongest" candidate depends on many different things, like the person's skills, whether the hiring party thinks that you will continue to do good research/teaching, whether your future colleagues think you will be pleasant to work with, etc. In the end, a hair can separate the top candidate from the next one, but the choice is binary. *C'est la vie.*
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/16
| 1,100
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose I was back at the beginning of my undergraduate career, and I decided that while I was willing to *do* human-subjects research, my real career goal was to sit on an IRB and guide lost souls who can't be trusted to figure out right from wrong.
Is there a typical or expected career path for IRB members? More specifically,
* Would I be expected to first "make a name for myself" as a researcher in a field involving human subjects and then get additional ethics training (e.g. Advanced Introduction to Intermediate Best Practices in IRB Ethics for Geneticists)?
* Would I be expected to concentrate my efforts on gaining a broad and deep education in ethics (majoring in philosophy, etc.), and then top that off with subject matter-specific training (e.g. Introduction to Genetics for Ethicists)?<issue_comment>username_1: The notion of [IRB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_review_board) is actually international and covers many different situations. I don't know all of the variations that are used, especially by large companies that conduct medical and pharmaceutical research. But I doubt that there are very many people in the world who are specifically hired as IRB (or equivalent) members. Hence, I doubt that there is really a career path for this.
However, if you are interested in doing it, I think there are two ways that you can work towards being selected for it. The first is to become a prominent scientist in your field of interest, perhaps psychology. The other is to become a prominent philosopher of ethics. Then your skills and opinions would be seen as valuable to those making up an IRB.
That isn't to say that you can't be paid as an IRB member. Some people might be hired as (part-time) consultants to serve on an IRB or to give advice in some situations. Faculty members who serve (part-time) on an IRB, can get released from other duties and hence paid indirectly. Or you might even be a full-time member in a large institution, but likely for a limited period, returning afterwards to normal research.
The requirements in the US, require that a team consist of at least five members, with at least one scientist and at least one non-scientist. A full time career would mean that you aren't really a scientist anymore, so that you wouldn't qualify for the scientist slot if it were full time over a long period.
But if you want to do this, learn a lot about science (and practice it) and learn a lot about ethics (and practice that too).
---
I'll also note that one of the problems with being a full time IRB member in a for-profit organization that needs to monetize its research is that that there can be a lot of pressure to allow things that should not be done. Standing in the way of what some vice-president really, really, wants to do doesn't make for a secure future.
But one of the most valuable things an IRB can do is to look at a problematic proposal, decide what is fundamental in the research goals, and then suggest an ethical way to meet those goals. That sort of thing takes a lot of experience and sound judgement.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The IRB is only one portion of of regulatory oversight. I think the career you are looking for is a regulatory officer. This [webpage](https://www.mhaonline.com/faq/how-do-i-become-a-regulatory-affairs-specialist) lists a number of programs that offer an MS is Regulatory Science. The best place to get information might be the [Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS)](https://www.raps.org/rac-credential).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: There are administration jobs involved in the ethics processes. My university employs several "Ethics Officers" which facilitate the various ethics reviews. Most of them do not have PhDs. While these employees may not directly decide ethical issues, they do provide advice to researchers before the application is made which ensures the application is successful. Knowledge of local laws is at least as important as knowledge of ethics; researchers usually need more help with the legal aspects than the ethical aspects of their ethics application.
If this sort of job appeals to you, then yes it exists, no you do not need to be a researcher to hold it, and I doubt you need to study philosophy.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Depending on the size of the institution or the amount of research it does, there are a number of professional roles. A graduate degree in bioethics, medical ethics or similar would be one way to go in terms of training.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I know that the thesis is needed when doing their master.
But do people still need to write a thesis when doing research as a past-time?
What if they just want to publish an article but not thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: No, people don't have to write theses after the Masters/PhD. The thesis is a formal requirement for those degrees, but after that, it's just not necessary anymore.
Actual research papers, though ... those are effectively "compulsory".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I am not sure in which academic system the other answerer works, but yes, theses are actually required after the PhD sometimes. A categorical answer like this makes little sense and would probably benefit from a broadened point of view. For example, the habilitation, which one obtains after the PhD, requires a thesis in many countries (Germany, France...).
However they are not required to publish articles. Even students who have never written a thesis can publish articles, if their research is good enough.
Upvotes: 2
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2019/03/16
| 1,369
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<issue_start>username_0: I got this comment after more than 75 days of submission:
>
> The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
>
>
>
What does it mean?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/K6lgL.png)<issue_comment>username_1: Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
>
> The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high **school** mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
>
>
>
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
>
>
>
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: This seems really odd. Is [this](https://link.springer.com/journal/40096) the journal you submitted to?
**Why**
* It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
* Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
* There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
**What to do**
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
>
> I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
> received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
>
>
>
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
* If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
* I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
* The German word *[Übung](https://www.dict.cc/?s=%C3%BCbung&=DEEN)* translates both to *practice* and to *exercise.*
* In German universities, *[höhere Mathematik](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6here_Mathematik)* (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
>
> This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
>
>
>
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
>
>
>
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
>
> In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
>
>
>
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: The editors are implying that what you have reported in your manuscript is already out there. It could be a theorem or a technique already in use by mathematicians, and therefore cannot be published as your research finding now.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I've been doing a research attachment as an undergraduate in a malaria culture lab and my project involves the screening and hit prioritisation of anti-cancer drugs for repurposing use against malaria. Since the attachment is an official programme under my school, one of the deliverables is a paper at the end of the attachment and I was keen on writing a paper to be published in a journal(if it's accepted!)
I mentioned this to my mentor and he said it might not be worth publishing the paper or something of the sort but didn't elaborate on it much. Should I look into it and ask if it can be published in an undergraduate journal or should I let it go?<issue_comment>username_1: Perhaps your advisor is worried about the depth or novelty of your work, suggesting that it might not be worthy of publication. s/he might be correct or not. But there is no reason to restrict yourself to an *undergraduate* journal. If the work has the right quality it can be published anywhere that the referees and editor will accept it. The fact that you are an undergraduate has no bearing on the issue of quality.
You can submit a paper, certainly, though whether as a sole or joint-author depends a bit on your field and location. It might be worth it just for the experience.
But speak again with your advisor/mentor to find out why they were originally a bit dismissive. And look at what appears in any journal you might submit to in order to judge your paper against what they normally accept.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Not all types of papers are publishable
---------------------------------------
Many papers produced in the course of undergraduate studies and research projects don't meet the criteria to be published in an academic journal - and not because of writing quality (which can be fixed), but due to the type, scope and domain of that research. It may well be that whatever research work is described in that paper doesn't fit the basic criteria of novel, unpublished research results, and so it won't be publishable no matter how well you write about it. You can write an good paper about experiments reproducing some well-known result - that wouldn't be publishable. You can write a survey paper of some topic that'd get a great grade, but that wouldn't be publishable unless it's in some meaningful way superior than the currently best published survey.
It may well be that some undergraduate research project *does* contain publishable results, I've seen multiple such projects, but most of them don't, and would not be publishable (no matter how well written) without substantial further research/experiments/etc. I have no idea whether your results on "the screening and hit prioritisation of anti-cancer drugs for repurposing use against malaria" constitute publishable research results, but *your mentor* is the person who *should* know best whether your research constitutes something that's considered publishable according to the standards accepted in your field, and if they have said that it's not, then I'd trust them.
Upvotes: 1
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