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2022/05/17
| 1,371
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<issue_start>username_0: I am reading a classic book in mathematics that was published in the 1960s. This book uses very old notation, which makes it impossible to read it. Suppose further that I want to read the whole book and, in the process, retype it using modern notation, without any addition. Can I do it freely?
Please do notice I do not aim to publish it. Would I be allowed to share it without any copyright violation? Obviously, writing the name of the original author as “the real author”.<issue_comment>username_1: **This depends on your school's fair use policy as well as how you share it and the publisher's policy**. In short, it's complicated and it depends on lots of stuff. Here are some rules from where I live, that will hopefully give you information to go looking for where you live:
1. **Fair use**: Some schools have "fair use" policies that explicitly allow you to copy parts of a text for teaching purposes. However, most of the time this does not cover the entire text. The specifics of how much is too much varies from school to school, so you'll need to understand it for your institution.
2. **How it is shared**: sharing for non-commercial purposes among a small group of people is sometimes, but not always, allowed, and will depend on your country and the country in which the book was copyrighted. Generally, if the copyright doesn't even apply in your country it's not illegal, but some countries have rules that state you can make copies for non-commercial use, often within some rules (like limits on the type of copies and how widely they are distributed)
3. **The publisher's policy**: Copyright extends 50 years beyond the death of the author in my country, but it may be different for you. This copyright can be extended by the publisher, or the book could be released into the public domain before any of this happens. You can always look into it. The publisher may also be out of business...
I think that if you are going to go to the trouble of re-writing the entire book you can probably just write your own at that point, but if you intend to just share it among your class and it is your own project you are **unlikely** to run into any issues.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: [united-states](/questions/tagged/united-states "show questions tagged 'united-states'")
In US law, this would be considered a [derivative work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work). If the book is still under copyright (which is pretty much certain for any book published in 1964 or later), then you would need permission from the copyright holder to distribute the work in any way.
There are certain exceptions in US law (["fair use"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use)) that would allow you to distribute the revised book without the permission of the copyright holder. But these probably do not apply here, particularly since you are planning to distribute the entirety of the book (rather than a small section) and it would potentially impact the sales of the existing book (since people would use your version rather than the older one.)
Conversely, if the book has entered the public domain (which is possible if the book was published in 1963 or earlier), then you can create and distribute derivative works without any restrictions.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: For your own use, you can type anything you like, modify it in any way that you like. There are no restrictions on that sort of thing, as long as it is strictly for personal use. Among other reasons, a copyright holder would have no knowledge on which to base a case and no particular incentive to make a legal case.
The problems would occur depending on what you mean by "share it". Within in a small research group there would likely be no copyright violations (likely "fair use"). Putting in on a website without the copyright holder's permission is almost certainly a violation.
The question of when "sharing" becomes "re-publication" can be a bit subtle, but the balance is probably more with the copyright holder. Translations and derivative works are protected under most copyright laws. One of the considerations in most copyright law is what is the effect on the value of the original. Things that reduce the value, which your ideas would seem to do, are normally violations.
It might be worth talking to the original publisher. They might be interested in what you want to do, and hold the rights to enable it. You could wind up with your name on the cover, along with the original author(s).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: This would definitely be copyright infringement, as discussed in the other answers. BUT: if the book is a good work that’s still relevant today, you could be doing the world a huge favor by retyping it. The economics of textbook publishing are such that only a very small number of classic books from the pre-TeX era have been retypeset to modern standards of readability/searchability/accessibility. The [Feynman Lectures on Physics](https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/) volumes, which were converted into both LaTeX and HTML, are one example. But for books that don’t have the large reach of such a classic and popular work, there is no hope for this type of digital facelift without a passionate champion like you who is interested in putting in the time and work to make it happen.
What I’d suggest is that you contact the publisher and ask if they’d be interested in publishing a new edition of the book if you were to retypeset it yourself free of charge. They might say yes and authorize you to go ahead. This will be a win-win for you, them, and any readers interested in the book. If the publisher or copyright holder is not interested in profit (or if the book is in such a niche topic that they won’t expect to make any profit), they might conceivably even approve for you to share the new version online free of charge. (It doesn’t seem very likely, but it never hurts to ask…) So: good luck!
Upvotes: 4
|
2022/05/18
| 440
| 1,857
|
<issue_start>username_0: I was planning on applying to med school. However I realized that I no longer wanted to apply this cycle. I am anxious to write an email to my LORs asking them to hold off on writing my letter of recommendations. I was wondering if something similar to the email written below would be acceptable. I plan on using the same LOR for the next cycle.
>
> Hello ....
>
>
> I appreciate you agreeing to write my letter of recommendation. However I realized Ihat I am not ready to apply and go to med school upon review of my current state of orders. Again, I do greatly appreciate your willingness to write my medical school application.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: Looks basically good, there is no secret incantation for such things. However I would eliminate your last sentence (which is redundant) and add a sentence explaining that you plan to apply during the next cycle and will ask them to write your letter at that time. Also, note that “on review of my current state of orders” is not grammatical; instead, you could say simply “on reflection, I have decided…”
Finally, I would suggest making sure about this before you send (sleep on it, discuss with an advisor, …); it will not be easy to un-reverse this decision.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This sounds good.
However, in addition, if there is even the slightest change that a referee might have already put work into this (allegedly, there exist people who write recommention letter before the deadline), I would suggest to apologize for any work this might have already caused. Putting a sentence clearly stating that the letter is no longer required also does not hurt. (Currenty, your key message "You don't have to write this letter any more" is not contained in the letter - you are talking around it.)
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/05/18
| 719
| 3,012
|
<issue_start>username_0: I noticed that many journals' rankings include the country. And also, I found that some journals are called "International ...".
I start wondering if the country is important when choosing a journal to submit my paper?
If my university and I are in country A, can I still submit an article to journal from country B? Or only "International " journals available for me?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can submit a paper to a journal published in a different country. Some journals require articles be in a specific language, but other than that there are no restrictions.
"International" could mean a lot of things, including that the journal has a business presence in several countries, or publishes in multiple languages. But it isn't a restriction on submissions.
Note that if a journal's readership is concentrated in some country, and you want to write, primarily, for people in that country, then such a journal may have some "importance" for you. But the world of scholarship is very international now.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I start wondering if the country is important when choosing a journal to submit my paper? If my university and I are in country A, can I still submit an article to journal from country B? Or only "International " journals available for me?
>
>
>
For most journals, this will not be important.
For example, the British Ecological Society and Ecological Society of America both publish journals that are open to ecologists globally.
Sometimes, there are regional journals that only focus on specific regions.
Conversely, some journals like the [Canadian Field Naturalist](https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn) historically have had geographic specific missions. For example, CFN describes (described? I'm having trouble finding this quote on their current homepage) itself as
>
> A peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing ecology, behaviour, taxonomy, conservation, and other topics relevant to Canadian natural history.
>
>
>
Hence, a paper on Australian species would not be relevant unless the paper tied back to Canada or Canadian species somehow.
More broadly, you can find this out by reading the "about", "author's instruction", or similar section of the journal as well as reading recent articles (or at least skimming titles and abstracts).
**Edit:** Based upon a comment from username_1, there are also journals that limit authors based upon their affiliation.
For example, *The Texas Journal of Science* is limited to work done in Texas or nearby areas **OR** done by Texas scientists anywhere (bold added by me):
>
> The geographic scope of manuscripts published in the Journal are generally limited to **work conducted by authors while at Texas institutions** or to work conducted in Texas or adjacent areas (surrounding states and Mexico) that has some direct relevance to Texas natural history (regardless of author’s institutional location).
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2022/05/18
| 874
| 3,583
|
<issue_start>username_0: I live in an Asian country (not China) and completed my master's in Math in June 2020. I wanted to do a PhD in math, but didn't apply in China for session 2022 due to some reasons. I do not believe doing a PhD in my country is a good option due to severe racism and corruption and related issues.
I have been thinking of writing to professors in universities in China whose interests align with mine to discuss the possibility of an internship. This would help me get my foot in the door, and hopefully strengthen my PhD application. However, I don't have funding.
My thought was to send an e-mail that explained my situation in the Statement of Purpose (including past hardships, issues in my country) along with providing my CV and master's thesis
Is this the best way to approach professors in China about the possibility of an internship? Is this likely to work out (assuming I am qualified, etc.)?
**Edit 1: I don't speak chinese**<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can submit a paper to a journal published in a different country. Some journals require articles be in a specific language, but other than that there are no restrictions.
"International" could mean a lot of things, including that the journal has a business presence in several countries, or publishes in multiple languages. But it isn't a restriction on submissions.
Note that if a journal's readership is concentrated in some country, and you want to write, primarily, for people in that country, then such a journal may have some "importance" for you. But the world of scholarship is very international now.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I start wondering if the country is important when choosing a journal to submit my paper? If my university and I are in country A, can I still submit an article to journal from country B? Or only "International " journals available for me?
>
>
>
For most journals, this will not be important.
For example, the British Ecological Society and Ecological Society of America both publish journals that are open to ecologists globally.
Sometimes, there are regional journals that only focus on specific regions.
Conversely, some journals like the [Canadian Field Naturalist](https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn) historically have had geographic specific missions. For example, CFN describes (described? I'm having trouble finding this quote on their current homepage) itself as
>
> A peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing ecology, behaviour, taxonomy, conservation, and other topics relevant to Canadian natural history.
>
>
>
Hence, a paper on Australian species would not be relevant unless the paper tied back to Canada or Canadian species somehow.
More broadly, you can find this out by reading the "about", "author's instruction", or similar section of the journal as well as reading recent articles (or at least skimming titles and abstracts).
**Edit:** Based upon a comment from username_1, there are also journals that limit authors based upon their affiliation.
For example, *The Texas Journal of Science* is limited to work done in Texas or nearby areas **OR** done by Texas scientists anywhere (bold added by me):
>
> The geographic scope of manuscripts published in the Journal are generally limited to **work conducted by authors while at Texas institutions** or to work conducted in Texas or adjacent areas (surrounding states and Mexico) that has some direct relevance to Texas natural history (regardless of author’s institutional location).
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2022/05/18
| 1,099
| 4,455
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am sorry if this question seems offensive, so I begin by reiterating that it derives from my personal perception and lack of information instead of ill intent or the purpose of attacking the reputation of academia.
Taking into account the lack of transparency concerning hiring decisions in academia (a condition which may only reflect legal incentives to being nontransparent), as evidenced by [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/150736/transparency-about-candidates-selection-for-a-post-doc-position), [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/69781/is-it-considered-normal-to-refuse-feedback-after-rejection-on-academic-positions) or [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/58777/requesting-feedback-from-a-postdoctoral-application?rq=1), I find it hard to understand which criterion is used to select candidates for academic positions.
Trying to search for answers, I have already read that candidates to tenure-track jobs in the US are judged by how much funding they can get for their department (see [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/37986/is-it-possible-to-survive-in-university-academia-without-applying-for-grants), for instance). I unfortunately do not see how this would translate to institutions outside of the US whose funding does not depend exclusively on the professors' performances.
Considering the lack of accountability and transparency from hiring committees, how not to develop the perception that practically every hiring process in academia is corrupted? If there are no mechanisms to prevent favoritism or justify hiring choices, then there exists a strong incentive for those in hiring committees to exclusively choose candidates who would support their (the hiring committee's) clique or personal goals.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can submit a paper to a journal published in a different country. Some journals require articles be in a specific language, but other than that there are no restrictions.
"International" could mean a lot of things, including that the journal has a business presence in several countries, or publishes in multiple languages. But it isn't a restriction on submissions.
Note that if a journal's readership is concentrated in some country, and you want to write, primarily, for people in that country, then such a journal may have some "importance" for you. But the world of scholarship is very international now.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I start wondering if the country is important when choosing a journal to submit my paper? If my university and I are in country A, can I still submit an article to journal from country B? Or only "International " journals available for me?
>
>
>
For most journals, this will not be important.
For example, the British Ecological Society and Ecological Society of America both publish journals that are open to ecologists globally.
Sometimes, there are regional journals that only focus on specific regions.
Conversely, some journals like the [Canadian Field Naturalist](https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn) historically have had geographic specific missions. For example, CFN describes (described? I'm having trouble finding this quote on their current homepage) itself as
>
> A peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing ecology, behaviour, taxonomy, conservation, and other topics relevant to Canadian natural history.
>
>
>
Hence, a paper on Australian species would not be relevant unless the paper tied back to Canada or Canadian species somehow.
More broadly, you can find this out by reading the "about", "author's instruction", or similar section of the journal as well as reading recent articles (or at least skimming titles and abstracts).
**Edit:** Based upon a comment from username_1, there are also journals that limit authors based upon their affiliation.
For example, *The Texas Journal of Science* is limited to work done in Texas or nearby areas **OR** done by Texas scientists anywhere (bold added by me):
>
> The geographic scope of manuscripts published in the Journal are generally limited to **work conducted by authors while at Texas institutions** or to work conducted in Texas or adjacent areas (surrounding states and Mexico) that has some direct relevance to Texas natural history (regardless of author’s institutional location).
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2022/05/18
| 1,815
| 7,059
|
<issue_start>username_0: Is it ethical to privately thank authors when you discover they’ve cited your work?
Can it be looked upon like you’re trying to gain future favour? Or like the citation itself was for any reason other than purely academic reasons?<issue_comment>username_1: It is fine, and they are not likely to look on it in those ways you say.
But they are likely to think it is a waste of time, unless you also have something else to say that is more interesting, for example a comment or question on their paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it ethical to privately thank authors when you discover they’ve cited your work?
>
>
>
I don't think it is a question of ethics, but would be weird.
>
> Can it be looked upon like you’re trying to gain future favour?
>
>
>
No, but I would view the email as unusual, but not trying to gain favor.
>
> Or like the citation itself was for any reason other than purely academic reasons?
>
>
>
By who? Both you and the author know the citation was only based upon merit (or the original author's motivation).
**Instead of thanking,** just drop a the authors a note saying you found their recent paper interesting. Perhaps something like:
>
> Dear Dr. Smith,
>
>
> I saw your recent paper, *New Widgetology updates*. I was impressed with your advancement/progress/work and how you build upon existing work/theory/etc.
>
>
> < Add a comment, question, invite to collaborate, have a Zoom call here>.
> user354948
>
>
>
That will let them know you read their paper.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: A simple "thank you" *unethical?* OMG how did we get to this place?!
It would be perfectly fine and not at all weird.
As long as you are simply thanking them for acknowledging your work and not making a big deal about it, it's simply a normal, decent thing a person can say to another person. We are after all still human beings.
If you add some additional chit-chat or mention something related to research they might find of interest, or "while I've got you here, I'd like to as a question" it may help to make your message feel more normal *to you* and to them, if you feel it's a concern.
Academicians should not live in balkanized ivory towers, they should be able to feel a sense of community and camaraderie1, and how better to do so than to treat each other in a warm and social way.
How can a simple "thank you" be anything but good?
Beyond that, you may make a friend, or find further direct discussion useful, or even collaborate some day.
Consider it an ice-breaker; *go for it!*
---
1though it may vary by field, there really used to be much more of this decades ago than there is now, and while some folks feel cut-throat competition brings out the best in everyone, I'm not so sure.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: It's not really appropriate to thank them for citing you, which is something they are obliged to do if your work is relevant and shouldn't do if it is not.
What may be appropriate is to thank them for taking the time to understand a very important point and for how well they've summarized your work and note that they've given you a new insight into it (or how it relates to other work). That is thank them for their work and insights.
Normally the point of an email in such a case would be to point out a more recent work that they've missed (of yours or someone else), or to point out that there's a subtlety that they overlooked or (more humbly) to question why they didn't use that approach or used a particular alternative, or asking them to comment on some followon work that you are doing or proposing.
Actually, this last is the most common time people contact me about my papers, to ask for comment or help on something they are trying to do or proposing to do. And sometimes it can be an invitation to collaboration of some kind.
It is a good idea to start a dialogue with people that are working on similar things and have a compatible approach - getting to know the people in the field is important for matters like conferences, grants, examiners, sabbaticals, etc. It is particularly important in times where travel is more constrained.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: There is an elephant in the room, and I feel you are not addressing it.
The citation in itself has no intrinsic intellectual value. You may be flattered that your person has been cited—but in reality it is your work (most likely with your coauthors), not your person.
Therefore, why would you be thankful? If it is because you found the citing work interesting, then you should say thanks to **all** the interesting papers you have read, not only the ones citing you.
If it is because you see your citation counts growing ... well, keep in mind that the "real" worth of citations is logarithmic: it makes no difference if you have been cited 2 or 5 times; the real difference is between having 10s or 1000s of citations. And even that difference is simply stating "how many research slaves (phds, postdocs and the likes) have the author had", unless the author is a world-famous expert on the topic (a status you do not reach with citations).
If you cheer each single citation you receive, you are (involuntarily and as a side-effect) feeding the citation gaming.
Additionally, you are enforcing (again, involuntarily and as a side-effect) the belief that citation ranking *have to* mean something and that the citation-based metrics have some intrinsic value (therefore feeding the citation games).
Finally, if I would receive such a thank mail, I would think that you are a naive young researcher that believes in meritocracy, that understand nothing of the power balance in research, that do not understand that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I would reply to you asking "***why***?".
Disclaimer: I am out of academia since years, and my h-index is 19 (yes, pun intended, citations and related metrics have no intrinsic values. I am just mentioning it for your pleasure).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I strongly advise against this.
There seems to be this fallacy that everything in academia is ''ethical'' or ''not ethical'' and that's all that matters (similar to the fallacy of people learning a language who divide things into ''grammatical'' and ''not grammatical'' in that language and don't appreciate that something can be grammatical and still sound strange).
Yes it's ''ethical'' in the sense that it's not wrong, but it's most definitely not a normal thing to do in academia and would look strange. It is not normal practice and it is just ''white noise'' to clog people's email inboxes with random pointless emails like this. If someone sent me an email like this, I would just delete it and be vaguely annoyed that I had to spend a bit of time reading and deleting it.
Edit: A few weeks ago a professor actually emailed me to thank me for citing their article. Very strange, I just ignored the message as I only cited the article as it had a result I needed.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/05/18
| 728
| 3,177
|
<issue_start>username_0: Recently, a submission of mine was declined as not suitable for the journal, but with the rejection came a request to transfer the manuscript to another journal owned by the same company.
However, the other journal has a higher (four-figure vs. zero) publication charge.
Is this standard practice? How often does this happen?
I wouldn't call it fishy, but it has what a German might call a *[Geschmäckle](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Geschm%C3%A4ckle)* to me...<issue_comment>username_1: This is a perfectly reasonable request. It would not really be possible to transfer your manuscript to a journal *not* owned by the same publisher, so that is not cause for concern. I do not know how often it happens, however I have been part of submissions where we did decide "OK let's submit to Journal A, and if they bump us to Journal B, that's fine too."
You will just have to decide if the new journal is suitable. Price may be part of that decision.
The advantages of accepting the transfer is not having to create a new journal account and you probably don't have to change format.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This has been a growing trend where flagship journals are creating separate open-access side-journals.
Usually, the flagship journal is very selective and publishes only research findings applicable to the broadest audience: the catchiest, trendiest, most impactful work, as judged by the editors and reviewers. Since these are very popular journals to read, the publisher can charge high fees to libraries, since every university wants their researchers to have access to the latest and greatest work. Therefore, their costs and profits mostly come from these fees, and they may not need to charge the authors anything.
The secondary journals may be no less scientifically rigorous, yet do not have the restriction of publishing only the most broadly impactful papers, so they don't need to be as selective. That also means they aren't as "must-read", and instead use an open-access model where journal costs and profits come from authors' fees rather than subscribers.
I don't think it's unethical as long as the parameters are made clear, but it is important that researchers familiarize themselves with academic publishing models. There are both benefits (public accessibility, completeness of the academic record) and drawbacks (costs to the author, conflicted incentive structures for rigor) to the paid open access model.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This is very normal, because there's a lot of competition for papers among publishers. If you take up their offer to transfer to another journal in their stable, then the publisher keeps up their revenue (this applies even if you do not publish open access - subscription journals need papers too).
It's unlikely the publication charge factored into this decision, since the overriding one is scope: by making this transfer, they are implicitly saying that the new journal will not reject your paper as unsuitable for the journal. If they can't say this, then it doesn't matter if the new journal charges more, less, or no fees.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/05/18
| 1,058
| 4,612
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm wondering what's the general approach to doing an internship as a postdoc?
If you have your own funding as a postdoc and are just interested in doing a short internship in industry (12 weeks) to see what it's like, are there any issues with this? What is the best approach to tell your PI?
Any other issues I haven't thought of?
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: As long as it it wouldn't interfere with your postdoc duties or deadlines then I can't see any reason why it would be a problem. I undertook additional work, like internships, during two of my postdocs (in marine science) and it greatly benefited my postdoc research because I gained additional skills and learnt to look at my academic research from a different angle. After finding out about an opportunity, I would discuss it with my PI and how it would benefit my career and even help with my postdoc research. They were always supportive of this as long as it was timed outside field work or didn't distract too much from my writing.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: As post-doc you are typically an employee of some research institution (which is often also the case when having "your own money"). This poses some duties on you. E.g., you typically cannot work at a competing institution (whether industry or public research) unless your employer allows this. Where I am (Germany), there are also limits on working hours per day/week that limit how many hours you could work in industry in parallel to your usual employment contract - even if the business is completely different from your employer's (in which case your employer *must* approve of the additional job/internship).
The consequence of this is that you need to talk to your institution about the plan and get approval for this.
If your funding is in the form of a scholarship without an intermediate employer, the terms likely require you to get approval from your funding agency.
The details (e.g. whether you need to take time off) are then negotiated between you and your employer or funding agency.
I.e., you negotiate an additional contract that says you can do this internship.
---
As one example of a context where this is actually encouraged, and done during working hours:
EU COST Actions fund short-term scientific missions where someone (e.g. a post-doc) from one institution visits another institution, e.g. an industry partner.
(Must meet some other criteria, though. E.g., being cross-borders and being in line with the scientific goals of the COST Action)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would consider what you wanted to get out of working for free when you have qualifications that would enable proper, paid work. I understand that your postdoc funding might cover this, but that needs to be cleared by your PI, funder and university, etc. I would consider looking into a [MITACs scholarships](https://www.mitacs.ca/en/programs/globalink/globalink-graduate-fellowship) (Canadian, but perhaps there are partner/parallel schemes elsewhere): these are specifically aimed at linking up postdoc research with industry applications.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The general approach would be to begin with a conversation with your PI. If you have your own funding as a postdoc, you generally have more flexibility than if you were paid through say, a grant by your PI. But every lab/PI has a different culture.
The main challenge is that fundamentally you and your PI may have conflicting interests. You desire the internship presumably to build up your skillset and/or network, whereas your PI has time deadlines for experiments and papers that may not allow for you to commit to an internship. If you have a plan for how you can conduct your internship while providing the least disruption possible to the timeline of the lab's goals, you will likely gain more support from your PI. Think about if your lab has any critical experiments, conferences, or field work and if you could time your internship around that.
Hopefully a PI would be supportive of an internship opportunity as long as it doesn't detract from your research productivity. I would go into the meeting with a clear plan of how you will ensure your work stays on track and how you will maintain communication with the lab in your absence. Would you potentially be learning new skills you could bring back to the lab to teach the PI or students? Might the company you intern at have an interest in funding some of your work in the future? If so, that could be a potential benefit you bring to the conversation with your PI.
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/05/19
| 1,870
| 7,760
|
<issue_start>username_0: So, I've received what was in many respects a perfectly normal spam message of the form;
>
> Due to your recent publication *[title of my paper]* you are invited
> to contribute a chapter to a book on *[topic of book]* called *[book
> title]*. This will be published by *[name of predatory publisher]*.
>
>
> This book is being edited by Dr. <NAME>.
>
>
>
Normally emails like that are immediately put in spam, but I happened to know that Dr. <NAME> (not their real name) is actually an honorary professor. They are honorary professor at a university with generally high academic standards, so my first thought was that the predatory published was using their name without their consent. If I was being used in that way, I'd want to put a stop to it, so I forwarded the invitation to them, and asked if they were really editing a book on this topic. My email was not accusatory, I mentioned it looked a bit like spam and asked if they were editing this book. Unfortunately they actually are involved with this.
There is nothing above board about this request;
* The publisher is on Beall's list.
* The publisher charges authors disproportionate fees.
* The topic of the proposed book is a completely different field to my field. This would be clear to anyone who read the paper mentioned in the email. So I can only assume that Professor <NAME> does not actually know anything about me, the invitation to collaborate was as random as any other spam request.
Having real professors send out spam requests is not good. It's bad for the reputation of their university, and to a lesser extent, the subject as a whole. For good reasons, publications of low quality and dubious academic merit cause damage.
What actions could be taken that would firstly encourage the professor to stop, and secondly protect the reputation of the university?<issue_comment>username_1: Predatory publishers are predatory by nature, that is why they are called this way. They will send out invitations to become an editor for a book and occasionally, people with high personal values will fall prey to them. It speaks for you that you want to help Professor <NAME> to escape this trap. The problem is that he might not want to be helped and that in the process, you might make statements that can be considered libelous by the publisher. There is a reason that Beale's list is no longer maintained by Beale, and I assume it is the result of litigation or pressure of litigation.
There is no really good way to tell someone that they have been a mark. If you tell me that I acted stupidly, I will not at first feel thankfulness for you. Indeed, if I were Professor <NAME>, I might be angry because you, apparently not of great standing in the field, are questioning my judgment. I might get defensive and lash out at you. In retrospect, I would feel bad about it, but by then I might have done some damage. It is also possible that <NAME> knows what he is doing, but maybe he thinks that his reputation is worth the bad publisher. After all, he could argue, the authors are paying to publish with him as an editor. Possibly, you were wrong about the publisher and the offer is reasonable. Neither you nor I know what <NAME> knows and intends, of course, but I would refrain from telling someone that they are a dummy directly or indirectly.
Since you already communicated with him, you should reject his offer directly. That the project does not fall in your field gives you a perfect excuse, but you were enticed by working with him.
If you want to bring up the question of Beale's list and the nature of the publishing house, do so very carefully, such as saying that you are also reluctant because someone else has warned you because of bad experience with the publisher, (as long as you stay in the confines of the truth) and that as someone with little reputation as opposed to Professor Smith's reputation you need to be very careful. Make these additional reasons for decline about you and not about Professor Smith and about the publisher.
If you make strong statements about the publisher, be ready to prove it, because it easily constitutes libel. The laws of your country and of the country were the publisher is located might apply. At the very least be sure of your facts.
In summary: Decline politely. There is a sufficient reason that would apply even if the publisher would be Springer or ACM. If you think that <NAME> has made a mistake, and you think that it befalls to you to correct him, (two different and strong assumptions), express yourself indirectly and carefully. Use "I" statements such as "I am afraid of the publisher being black-listed or (Beale-listed) and what this would do to me if I publish there" or just "I am afraid of the publisher."
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I feel like your reasoning for concluding the publisher is disrespectable is weak:
>
> The publisher is on Beall's list.
>
>
>
[Beall's word is not gospel](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23719/why-do-open-access-consortia-affiliate-themselves-with-questionable-publishers/115704#115704), and what Beall calls predatory might not be predatory. This is especially the case since Beall's list is discontinued and no longer updated.
>
> The publisher charges authors disproportionate fees.
>
>
>
This one annoys me in general because I doubt most authors have any idea how much journal publishing actually costs. I've written a lot more about this in other answers; for this question I will only point out that many of the most expensive publishers are commonly regarded as reputable (e.g. *Physical Review Letters* charges a publication fee even for non-OA articles, of all things). Also, the invitation is for a book, which presumably is not going to be published OA and so publication fees do not apply.
>
> The topic of the proposed book is a completely different field to my field. This would be clear to anyone who read the paper mentioned in the email. So I can only assume that Professor <NAME> does not actually know anything about me, the invitation to collaborate was as random as any other spam request.
>
>
>
I don't know how large the discrepancy is, e.g. did they invite you, as a biologist, to contribute to a mathematics book? Or did they invite you, as a number theorist, to contribute to a book on topology? Especially if it's the latter, then I would guess that the marketing executive is simply emailing everyone in the subject database. If you've worked with this kind of data where you have lots of people but don't know which field each are in, then separating the number theorists from the topologists becomes very time-consuming, especially when research fields change over time. It's difficult to justify when the book is not likely to make much profit.
If you're still convinced the publisher is predatory, then the best thing to do is to convince the professor not to work with them. The publisher continuing to send emails against the explicit wishes of the editor is a much bigger red flag. You could ask them about what level of control they have (or expect to have) over the submissions. If they are unaware the publisher is predatory, then it'll be a fruitful conversation; if they are aware but choosing to work with them anyway, you'll learn their reasons.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Honorary professors are usually part of a proper professor's chair. Reach out to this professor that his honorary professor is damaging the professor's chair's reputation with this predatory journal. Just point it out, don't ask the professor what he should do. For sure, he will know how to handle this.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Considering an event with a double masked (i.e. double "blind" process), **should an anonymous submission include acknowledgments** to people who helped with the research work but denied to be co-authors, or wait for the final version to include such acknowledgments?
I assume not: if they are asked to be referee and feel there is a conflict of interest, they will just declare so, leaving the doubt whether it is because they are an author or just a contact, which will nicely help with the authors' anonymity.
On the other hand, I hope such people will realize that they WILL be acknowledged in the final version and not assume that no proper credit was given to them!<issue_comment>username_1: A double-blind submission should not include any identifying information, including names of people who you know. In this case you would not acknowledgements to the submission at all (you also cannot acknowledge grants etc. because that gives hints about your identity).
If you want to make sure that it is clear there will be an acknowledgement (although I don't think that is really necessary), add the section to the submission but fill it with filler text like [removed for submission].
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Acknowledgments should always added at the final editing stage, after scientific review. The acknowledgments in fact must have no scientific content.
It is not a reviewer duty to check the acknowledgments (it may be, however, editor's duty to do that, to confirm that fundings are properly acknowledged).
Similarly, it is not a task for the reviewer to assess the author and co-authors contribuitions, the reviewer **should** judge only the content of the submission.
Ps: in the under review submission, you may already add a Acknowledgment section, with a formal sentence something like "when accepted for publication, fundings and collaborators will be properly acknowledged". Even funding informations may lead to identification of the authors.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Which **alternative names can one use to refer to a "blind experiment"** (defined by <https://www.thefreedictionary.com/blinds> as "2a. Performed or made without the benefit of background information that might prejudice the outcome or result: blind taste tests used in marketing studies.")?
A colleague recommends to replace the word "Blind" (for the sake of inclusiveness) by "masked", "hidden", "anonymous", or "unbiased", but I fear that the referees will suspect me of not knowing that I am actually referring to a "blind experiment", and negatively evaluate my submission because of that (I am sure to commit other newbie mistakes, but I do know what a blind experiment is).
*Note:* This is distinct from my other question ([For inclusiveness sake, what is the consensus about which usage of "blind" should be changed?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/185383/for-inclusiveness-sake-which-usage-of-blind-should-be-changed))
about the consensus about which of the usage of the term "blind" should be replaced: for an academic submission (to a conference, where there is no opportunity to answer to the referees, just an acceptance or rejection of the submission by the program committee based on the reports of 2 to 3 anonymous referees), I do want to replace the term "blind" so that to avoid annoying any referee...<issue_comment>username_1: I think that your best approach is to explain in the paper that
>
> Rather than referring to our trial as "blind," because [your reasons here], we use the term "masked."
>
>
>
I don't think it would be reasonable to object to mentioning the former term "blind" in the context of explaining why you are not using it. It isn't as clearly bad as some other words.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: *(single|double|triple) blind experiment* as well as *blinding* or *employing a blind\* against ...* are technical terms with well-established meaning.
I'd like to point out that substituting something else for a well-established technical term in itself makes a text targeted for the corresponding technical audience less inclusive, burdening readers with questions about the precise meaning of the employed term. E.g., whether that particular term is used to emphasize subtle differences to the established term.
And it is much less inclusive against non-native speakers of the paper language, who are familiar with the technical terms, but to whom your substitute term may not come as a natural choice.
I'd therefore suggest that you **stick to the established technical term** (and, as a side note: please give a precise description of your blinding techniques ["... were blinded by .... against ..."].)
If I'd feel an additional need to explicitly express respectfulness for blind people, I'd put a footnote that I judged the potential of verbal injury to bind people against the potential loss of inclusiveness due to non-standard terminology and decided in favor of the established term.
\*As a personal side note: \*
---
\* which suggests to me that we may be talking about blinds as in curtain or shutter rather than blind as in people. Which of course also has a root in not seeing.
Along this line of reasoning, if you are forced to substitute the term, single/double curtain experiment may be a possibility: "masked", "hidden", "anonymous", or "unbiased" all are meaningful in combination with "experiment", but do not have the same meaning as blinding (one may go for "masked", but at least in my field, masking is already used for multiple other entirely different effects/approaches). This creates a danger of the resulting text being misleading.
In contrast, I believe that "curtained experiment" is an entirely new term and while being burdensome for readers, it forces readers to look up and use your definition.
---
As an **alternative**, you could **give a precise description** of whom you blinded how and against what effects **without mentioning the term *blinding***. This would take some more space and words, but it is anyways far more informative than saying only *blind experiment*.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I've had an opinion along the lines of the other commenters for a while, that substituting blinded would be far too confusing to be worthwhile. However, today I used 'double-blind' in a presentation and was informed that my institution employs people with limited vision who have personally registered their objection to the term ‘blinded’ in the context of blinded trials.
In terms of practical substitutes, NASA uses the term ["dual-anonymous"](https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/dual-anonymous-peer-review) for peer review. This is sufficiently entrenched that they don't seem to need to define on first use.
[This paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1851996/) also offers a reasonably convincing argument to me that 'blind' isn't the best term even just for tangential reasons, and starts to make the argument that blinded could be replaced for *scientific* reasons for being imprecise. It also mentions some practical issues with its use:
>
> She is told that she is part of a double blind trial in which she and
> the doctor will be blinded to the treatment. Taking fright, she
> withdraws her consent and goes home, terrified that this “blinding”
> experiment may deprive her of what little vision she has left.
>
>
> The term “blinding”—commonly used in clinical trials—is particularly
> inappropriate in the ophthalmological setting, not least because an
> outcome measure of a particular trial could indeed be blindness.
>
>
>
They suggest "masked".
"Masked" is used as a substitute in [even quite old papers](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-393X(96)80114-7) without first defining it, and it's introduced in a few [university texts](https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH717-QuantCore/PH717-Module4-Cohort-RCT/PH717-Module4-Cohort-RCT14.html) on the topic.
The [APA Manual of Style, 11th edition,](https://academic.oup.com/amamanualofstyle/book/27941/chapter/207567296#395781925) says
>
> The equivalent term masking (or masked review or assessment) is
> preferred by some investigators and journals, particularly those in
> ophthalmology (see 5.7.1, Confidentiality During Editorial Evaluation
> and Peer Review and After Publication, and 19.5, Glossary of
> Statistical Terms).
>
>
>
A Springer journal refers to the process as "journal’s peer-review system is masked (i.e., double-blind). Thus, leave all identifying information off the manuscript."
In fact, a Google Scholar search for 'double masked study design' returns ~800K results (compare to the 2.3 M results from 'double blinded study design'); adding flags -opthamology -eye to remove that field yields ~500k results from broadly across the life sciences.
So I at least feel reasonably comfortable that my audience will be familiar with (or can straightforwardly learn) the term "masked" in place of "blinded".
[This paper](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04607-5) offers some fairly reasonable objections to even the *double-* part, mentioning the *blind-* part only briefly:
>
> In some situations, it can be confused with the condition of being
> without sight [2, 5, 12, 20, 22, 23] Some authors prefer “masking” to
> “blinding,” although the meaning of either term in a clinical trial
> may not be readily apparent to nonnative English speakers [18, 22].
> Further, some authors use the terms interchangeably [5,6,7, 10,11,12,
> 15, 18, 24, 25], others insist that only masking be used [17, 20, 23],
> and still others insist that only blinding be used [2, 5, 22]. In
> addition, masking is sometimes used to describe how treatments are
> made indistinguishable [18, 19, 25, 26], whereas blinding usually
> indicates which groups are unaware of treatment assignment
> [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Finally, searching the literature for “blinded,”
> “partially blind,” or “fully blind” randomized trials also identifies
> dozens of unwanted citations to the condition of being without sight.
>
>
>
The reviewer comments make it clear just how much of a minefield this topic is:
>
> “Fully blinded” makes sense only if everybody agrees on what “fully”
> means. The problem is not the definition proposed by the reviewer,
> which is excellent. The problem is whether researchers will define
> “fully” the same way. The literature identifies at least 12 groups or
> individuals that can be blinded in a trial. The likelihood that a
> study will blind all of 12 groups is close to zero, meaning that
> nearly all studies would have to be described as “partially blinded,”
> a term no more informative than “blinded.”
>
>
>
And finally there's a [really good suggestion](https://static-content.springer.com/openpeerreview/art%3A10.1186%2Fs13063-020-04607-5/13063_2020_4607_AuthorComment_V1.pdf) along the lines of cbeleites' Alternative (above), in the reviewer commentary, which is both scientifically unambiguous and can sidestep this problem:
>
> **We also propose that all trials described as blinded include the details in a standard “Who Knew”
> table that would indicate whether each of the 6 groups most commonly blinded was or was not
> blinded, what information they were blinded to, how blinding was implemented, and whether it
> was compromised during the trial.**
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: In academic contexts, what is the consensus on whether we should avoid using "blind" as a category of persons, or should we avoid using it as an adjective (or both or none)? Does it vary between distinct academic communities?
**CONTEXT**: In a scientific project and its report, I was using the term "blind experiment" (defined by <https://www.thefreedictionary.com/blinds> as "2a. Performed or made without the benefit of background information that might prejudice the outcome or result: blind taste tests used in marketing studies."). A colleague recommends to replace the word "blind" (for the sake of inclusiveness) by "masked", "hidden", "anonymous", or "unbiased", as a form of respect toward "blind people".
**ISSUE**:
* I have seen in the past the expressions "non seeing people" (which I think is a negative definition, a problem in itself) or "people with visual impairments" used as alternatives to the expression "blind people".
* The request from my colleague seems to be about replacing the use of the adjective itself, which describes many situations not related to visually impaired persons (e.g. "blind spot" in the mirror, "blinding light" which prevent you to see, "blind experiment", etc.).
I am completely willing to do any language change, but I am confused about whether there is a consensus about replacing the adjective "blind" in all its applications, or about replacing the name used to refer to a category of people. Changing both seems overkill, and not having a clear policy WILL lead to severe miscommunications (of content), when the original purpose was to reduce miscommunication (of connotations) to begin with.
(I am not sure if this question should belong to Academia or to English, feel free to vote to move it to another category if this is inadequate. I am interested in answers in the academic context, but me asking is probably related to my non-native-English-speaker status!)
(I am not trolling nor trying to convince anyone here, and I respect any opinion that anybody could have, and in particular people with visual impairments.)<issue_comment>username_1: The consensus is that pejorative and prejudice terminology should be changed. "Blind," in my experience, is neither.
"Blind experiment" means an experiment where something is hidden to make the experiment more reliable. That's a positive thing.
"Justice is blind" means it is fair. That is a positive thing.
Contrast that with "blacklist" which is a list of unwanted things. "Blacklist" could be interpreted as associating being unwanted with a group of people. People's opinions on the use of "blacklist" are unrelated to the phrase "blind experiment."
When referring to a person's vision, the term "visually impaired" is preferred by some because it clearly includes people with nonzero vision.
Grammatically speaking, "blinded experiment" would be more accurate than "blind experiment" and should make it even more obvious this has nothing to do with any identity group.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> what is the consensus on whether we should avoid using "blind" as a category of persons
>
>
>
I am not an expert on this topic, but a look at [this page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Blindness_organizations_in_the_United_States) suggests that “blind” and “the blind” is how blind people in the United States most commonly refer to themselves, at least in the names of their associations and advocacy organizations (e.g., National Federation of the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind). It seems reasonable to infer that this is also how most blind people prefer to be referred to by others.
For other countries, see [this page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Blindness_organizations_by_country).
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Disclaimer: I am not thinking of actually doing this. This is just a random shower thought that I had.
I am a non-tenured adjunct instructor. Would I be disciplined or lose my job if I announced to my class that I was offering a $100 cash reward for any information about cheating taking place in the class? If someone did bring me information and I followed through and gave them $100, would that change anything? This would be my own money out of my own pocket.
I realize that different institutions have different policies, so there may not be a single correct answer. I'd be interested in whatever perspective you have to offer.
Note that I'm not asking whether this is a good idea, whether it's socially acceptable, whether it would upset the students or my colleagues, or even whether it's ethical — only whether I would face disciplinary action for doing it.<issue_comment>username_1: I find it both lazy and unethical. Lazy because there are other ways to minimize/eliminate cheating, such as making cooperation among students part of the course. Unethical since you would be setting up a perverse incentive for people. Vigilanteism usually ends badly. If someone collects then they are likely to be shunned in the future. Students should be learning, not doing your monitoring job. You need to think about the side effects, and there could be several unintended consequences.
I'd be tempted to end your contract, honestly. And I'm happy it isn't a plan, but just a stray thought.
Offer rewards (probably not cash) for positive things. Best paper, most thoughtful question, things like that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: (Disclaimer: I understand that this is an idea, not a plan.)
You *should* be concerned about whether it's unethical, precisely because your institution may well have a policy about "unprofessional or unethical behavior," as my own does. If it does, you'd be exposing yourself to a question of whether a Chair, a Dean, a Provost, or whomever might find this behavior to be unethical; if they do (and username_1 shows by example that they might), you could face sanctions.
I sit on the Grievance Review Committee for my institution. If a student brought a grievance against a professor (regardless of rank, tenure-track status, or anything else) for this type of action, I would be strongly inclined to agree that it was patently unethical behavior. Pitting students against one another would be, charitably, quite gross. Having cash-based transactions with your students would put you in very dangerous territory. A hypothetical instructor who behaved this way would receive precisely no support from me.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a theory that I cannot test myself. A group that doesn't know me has the proprietary data needed to test it, and I think they could test it fairly easily (hours to weeks of work, I think). I plan to reach out and pitch my theory to them. My only contributions are the hypothesis and an argument for why it's plausible, and so worth checking out. Is it appropriate to discuss academic authorship off-the-bat in a situation like this?<issue_comment>username_1: It is not only appropriate, but essential to discuss authorship when you propose a collaboration. Pre-agreeing authorship arrangements will solve any number of problems down the track with any collaboration.
However, it is a bit tricky in this situation becuase once you've explained your idea, I guess they can say "no", and then go off and do it anyway (not that that would be very nice).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, I think it is appropriate. But authorship also is not set in stone at the beginning of a collaboration -- it is contingent upon doing the work. One way to phrase it would be like "I have an idea related to XX that I think can be tested using data that you've gathered. I would like to perform an analysis and write up a paper. I would be honored if you would collaborate with me on this paper if you would agree provide the data and check that I am interpreting it correctly. Please let me know if you would like to discuss this collaboration."
This says:
1. You would do the analysis and write the paper -- being first author.
2. They would be collaborators.
3. I also lays out expectations for each groups -- they could look at your proposal and conclude that it might only be a few days work (that's simply to transfer the data, explain it, review your analysis, and review the manuscript you write).
4. They could steal your idea, but only after you two have had a kick-off meeting to discuss the ideas. Don't send the hypothesis in an email, and definitely not the analysis plan. Make sure they get it from direct discussions from you (ideally with at least a couple of people from their group, so that nobody on the team can claim to have come up with the idea). Maybe you could share the hypothesis in a phone call, but any description of the analysis should be to a few people. Ideally you already have the software written and maybe have some simulated dataset to go with it -- stuff they could not replicate easily. At least in my field, I wouldn't be too worried about someone stealing my ideas -- people have their own ideas and existing commitments; writing a paper is always at least a few weeks of work.
Aside from that, one way to claim the idea may be pre-registration.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I noticed that people read complex research over the obvious when they see a simple and clear abstract they don't read it
why is this ?<issue_comment>username_1: I'll speak only about math and CS, by main academic interests. In both of those fields, and perhaps others, the conclusions alone, which are probably what you see in the abstract, don't contain enough of the insights that make true understanding possible.
Science isn't about just facts and it doesn't proceed from fact to fact seamlessly. The arguments are often where the insights lie, and it is the insights that lead you to an understanding of what it is important to pursue and how to go about it.
In math, in particular, the methodology of the proof of a new theorem may be far more important than the statement of the theorem itself. There are some long standing conjectures in math that yearn to be settled. But when and if they are settled, it will be the *how* of it that matters, and for that, it is the details that matter.
Note also that some proportion of papers, even published papers, have errors. Specialists in an area may find results (in the abstract) somewhat implausible, and want to know why, requiring a deep dive into the methodology.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This interpretation is completely wrong. Researchers don't select to read papers based on their complexity/simplicity.
Academics read papers primarily to learn about new methods/results which are relevant to their field of expertise, in order to stay up to date, improve their knowledge and hopefully contribute to their own research work eventually.
When selecting which papers to read, an experienced researcher usually pays attention to several criteria. A few of them are:
* First, how close the paper is related to their research, and consequently how interesting it is for them.
* Whether they already know the main contribution or not. If a paper has nothing new to teach them, there's no point reading it. Of course, original results are more likely to attract their attention.
* The reputation of the journal/conference, and possibly of the authors. This is important because a high reputation journal is more likely to publish interesting new work.
* The general "seriousness" of the work: if the paper doesn't prove their claims or contains obvious methodology errors, it's not worth it.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a math postdoc who defended his Ph.D. two years ago. I have been working on a project with some senior mathematician for 1.5 years. I also invited him to the university where I am affiliated for two weeks. We finished some preliminary versions of a paper, and then he told me he will send the complete version by June. After some time, he dropped an email to me that our technique works for a more general version which is why he was rewriting the paper. Then, I got another email from him that he was slow and asked me to extend something to a more general case. I sent him the extension, which was not complete as I was not not sure about some minor problems, but he hasn't replied to my email yet.
I told him some months ago that I am going to apply for some grant which is why we need to put the paper on arXiv, and he said "sure, I understand you". But, now, there is no news.
**Question**
I want to send an email and ask how the project is going on, but I am ashamed to ask as he does most of the project. On the other hand, I need to put this paper on arXiv because of the grant proposal. As I said, I want to send an email to him, but I am scared he tells me "what you did and why you expect to finish soon".
**Remark**
It is too late to finish the project myself as he changed most settings, so it takes a lot of time.<issue_comment>username_1: Why not going back to the very specific case, put that one in arXiv and then work with the needed time/effort toward the more general case? This way you put some pressure on him to finish the most general case, before someone else extend your arXiv paper.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: “Hi, just a quick reminder, I was hoping to put a version of our paper on the arxiv by DATE, before I apply for GRANT. Any chance you think you might have a draft we could upload by then? If not, could we put up the previous version for now, just so I can refer to something publicly available in my proposal? We can always add the new version later. Thanks very much”
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Strictly speaking, if you are a co-author of the work, you are welcome to [submit it yourself](https://arxiv.org/help/authority#a-note-on-authorship-in-scholarly-works). However note that bell "cannot be unrung", so once it's announced it cannot be completely removed.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student. I feel like I am increasingly experiencing situations where ideas that are explained in a way everyone can understand them are criticized as being too simple to be a major contribution to the field. I feel like people rationalize that if they can fully understand the idea then it is too elementary to be important. For simplicity I will refer to this as the understandability bias. There are obviously many ways to game this (a.k.a. baffling with B.S.) but I want to believe this does not work in the larger academic community and is more local to my experience. How much have any of you out there had similar experiences? Are there things that can be done to cater to the understandability bias without compromising your integrity? Is my sense of integrity unfounded? I promise I am not trying to simply rant and am earnestly looking for people's opinions and experiences. Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: This is a broader problem than just academia --- in general, human beings are bad at distinguishing the relative value and difficulty of two related activities:
* (1) Being the originator of an idea, where you figure out a new thing and come to understanding it well enough to explain it to others in a simple way;
* (2) Being the audience member for a subsequent explanation of the idea, who understands the idea well when it is explained clearly to them.
The first of these activities is more difficult than the second, but many people seem to believe that if they fall into the second category (i.e., I can understand this idea easily when it is explained clearly to me) then they would easily have fallen into the first category (I would have figured this out myself without any prompting even if I never had it explained to me). Consequently, people sometimes erroneously believe that if an idea can be presented to them in a simple and understandable way, then *ipso facto*, that idea is "trivial". Academics are not immune to this kind of fallacious reasoning, so it leaks into some aspects of academic work. (There is a standard joke in mathematical circles where a conjecture is presented to a mathematician and they say it is false; then when they are convinced it is true by a proof, they then claim the result is trivial.)
It appears from the comments that there are a number of people on this forum who have experienced this kind of thing in academia, either in presentations/talks on a topic, or even in the refereeing process for papers. [<NAME>](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980/) reports in the comments that he has had this experience both in presentations and in referee review of his work. I can also report having experienced this type of thing sporadically in academia.\*\* While this phenomenon does occur sometimes in academia, we also have a good safeguard against it: a substantial body of academic literature which (with reasonable accuracy) tells us what is already known in our fields and what is not already known. In principle, if a result is indeed "trivial" or "well known" then it should be possible to locate either that idea or some generalisation of that idea in the published literature. (There are some exceptions for "folk knowledge" in certain disciplines, but even then, it is usually considered to be a valuable contribution to formalise this knowledge with more rigorous work --- e.g., proving folk theorems in applied mathematical disciplines.) The academic literature in a field provides some check on what work is novel/known, substantive/trivial, etc.
As to how to deal with this phenomenon, I think the best method is to rely on the academic literature to assess the novelty and value of possibly-new ideas, and require evidence from people when they assert that a result is "well known". If you are sufficienly dilligent in searching for your ideas in existing literature then you should be able to determine whether your ideas are of sufficient novelty and value to pursue as academic research. If you encounter a situation where your work is dismissed as "trivial" or "well known" when you have good reason to believe that it is novel and valuable, you can just keep shopping it around to new forums/journals to see if you can find someone who appreciates it. Whatever you do, you should not intentionally make your work more complex/opaque merely as a means of making it less understandable, so as to make it appear less trivial. As Nietzsche put it, “Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound to the crowd strive for obscurity. For the crowd believes that if it cannot see to the bottom of something it must be profound.”
---
\*\* As just one frustrating example, I once submitted a paper with a result that I have never seen before and could not find in the relevant literature (but which was fairly easy to prove). The referee rejected this as trivial and "well known" but didn't cite any literature containing the result (which makes me suspicious). If it is actually well known, why not show me *at least one* citation of a source where you can find it!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, I think this bias exists, and in fact I’ve been thinking about it for many years, specifically in the context of research in pure math. I think there are two effects potentially causing it:
* Explaining your results in more detail leads to longer papers, and journals generally prefer publishing shorter papers to longer papers.
* In mathematics, once a theorem is given a sufficiently clear explanation, it begins to look obvious, and therefore less impressive.
My interest in this sort of bias stems from the fact that I spend a lot of time and effort trying to make my papers as complete, well-written, and easy to understand as possible. I do this for my own satisfaction and out of a sense that this is ethically and professionally the right thing to do, but I have sometimes been frustrated when I got the feeling that this extra effort I put in did not lead to greater appreciation of my work, and on a couple of occasions might have even led to a *lesser* appreciation.
I think it’s also useful to point out that this bias is an example of a [perverse incentive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive), that is, a way in which the reward system of the academic world sometimes rewards the wrong things. The point is that perverse incentives exist in almost any industry or area of human activity: e.g., politicians have incentives that encourage them to lie or to support policies they know are bad for the people they represent; employees in poorly run companies have incentives to undermine each other or suck up to the boss rather than do things that actually help the company; etc. So it should come as no great shock that academia and the academic publishing system also suffers from some perverse incentives as well. (In fact, academia has other perverse incentives that lead to practices such as [salami publishing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_publishable_unit).)
So what to do about it? I don’t really know. To be clear, I don’t think this effect is terribly strong in any case, so perhaps there isn’t that much urgency to do anything. As an individual, the best that one can do is to “be the change you wish to see in the world” and simply do your work with the same integrity you would want to see from others. Perhaps a scientific community, if it decides that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, can think of ways to tweak the incentive structure and/or raise people’s awareness of the issue in order to reduce this effect. I am not aware that this has actually been done by anyone.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In general, once you understand something, it becomes trivial. A large part of what many academics do (and more so in certain disciplines than in others) is to make things sound more complicated than they really are. Adapt or learn to live with it.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/05/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I am looking for software to create slides like [these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBR7rfdJPio&t=1691s).
* I want everything to be hand-drawn/hand-written.
* I don't want to draw/write anything at the time of presentation, but I want parts of the slides to be revealed bit by bit, exactly as if I have created them with LaTeX beamer or PowerPoint.
* I want the creation process to be easy and flexible. Sure, I can create a slide in just any software, write text, clone the slide, and add the next bit. But if I need to change something on the first slide, I have to rewrite everything else too. Ideally the software has a feature for this.
What software can achieve this? I have a tablet and a bunch of "whiteboard apps". But none of them allows for creating presentations as far as I know.
---
I am not asking the same as [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46302/handwritten-presentation-slides) (writing slides during the talk), nor [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/155491/state-of-the-art-animated-handwritten-slideshow-software) (machine typed slides to write on).<issue_comment>username_1: Take your favourite program for pen drawing / hand-writing / annotating. Set the page to landscape mode. Write the first part of the first slide, save the page and copy it to the next page. Continue writing on the next page. Repeat.
When your sides are ready, export them to pdf. Use any pdf viewer for your presentation. If you want to annotate during the presentation, use pdf viewer that has this option.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can do the first two steps using pen+paper or pen+whiteboard with the Adobe Scan app on Android.
If you want it to be easily editable, handwriting is not the right way to go.
I am highly skeptical of your goals. Do what's good for the audience, not what feels good to you.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I am not sure, but I suspect the slides in the talk were made as follows:
1. Everything was sketched on a tablet, in an app like "Notability".
2. These were imported into a blank Powerpoint deck. Not entire slides, but the elements like the headers, text, formulas, figures were imported separately.
3. The reveals were added via animations or cloning.
The only down-side is that updating the content is a bit cumbersome, there is no way to change the "figures" other than going back to the tablet and re-importing them. This is not too painful if you have a good workflow for importing the drawings. But I don't think that a truly seamless solution exists yet.
**Edit**: Soegaard's [answer below](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185441) indicates that PowerPoint-for-iOS will let you draw content directly on the slides with an Apple Pencil. I haven't tried this myself, but if true, this may be the most seamless option.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: You can also do that with a tablet, a note-taking app and LaTeX *beamer* (the LaTeX class for slides):
1. Write your text, equations and theorems with the note-taking app and the tablet, and export it as PDF. You can write them in random order, and you can can also have more than one PDF file.
2. Create a slide deck with LaTeX beamer, including the various parts of the previous PDF(s) as graphics, uncovering them in the order you prefer. It is possible to "cut out" parts of a single PDF multiple times on a single *beamer* slide.
I think that with this solution it could be relatively easy to maintain and update the slides, just change one PDF page and recompile.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: This works for PC-
1\_Download "open broadcast", install, check settings>FPS> 1to10 frames per second. Try near lossless or lossless quality.
Check "do not capture pointer".
Record fullscreen or selected area in your favorite image editor, with lots of drawing tools, multiple colors, linedraw, so forth.
Photoshop/gimp/something else.
Stop the recording after 1 hour of work.
You will have a nearly finished video containing 100ds of slides.
Load the video into Shotcut editor to extract your frames to images... Select timeline and "extract frame to image", takes 5 seconds per image. Your slideshow images are now all saved n labeled on your pc for ppt xls.
Else use shotcut change the video properties to 20x times faster than it was drawn, and play it back on a player in pause mode using the right arrow key to move frames. Also can add your voice to a finalized video.
The learning process is about 45 minutes. It is really very easy and I expect a lot of people on the internet use that method for drawing.
Use infracap or a screenshot at and press ctrl-print or whatever screengrab the images, so that you can grab an image every 20 seconds of drawing if you want and they will line up in a tidy place on the disc.
3\_If you know how to program a bit then you can search get hub 4 pencil drawing unity project and change them to serialise in an array or screengrab the images using keypresses.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: A screenshot of the beginning of the presentation:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8lQKy.jpg)
From the upper, right corner we can see the presentation is running on an ipad. The blue icon suggest that the screen is shared - perhaps to macbook.
The program in question is good old (new?) Power Point for ios.
The hardware/software used is therefore an ipad with support for the Apple Pencil running Power Point.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: You could potentially use layers in an image editor like Gimp (or presumably Photoshop; I don't use it). The attached images are a quick example where I create 4 layers in Gimp. First a plain white background layer, then a text layer, then a transparent layer with a black circle, then a transparent layer with a red star.
This makes it easy to add, edit, and remove individual components.
To export the different slides, just use the little eye icon to toggle visibility. The manual export might be tedious, though. Making sure you have everything ordered correctly in the layers will help streamline the process, but it also shouldn't be too hard to write a custom exporter that just goes through and exports everything automatically.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/unlDM.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/LgLqg.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AUDtJ.png)
Gimp also has layer groups, so you can create hierarchies for more intricate setups. Here's an example. Pay close attention to the visibility icons; I start with groups visible, but not layers (except the background)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KjTBe.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/q7saG.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y7joR.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OQZA4.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/JfK8S.png)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: My recommendation is to use [Tayasui Sketches](https://tayasui.com/sketches/ "Tayasui Sketches") and to work with layers (you will need to buy the pro version for this).
You prepare by writing each separate „part“ (to be revealed at one time) of your presentation on a separate layer. Before your presentation you hide all layers (except the first of each page if you prefer) and then reveal them by unhiding the layers one-by-one.
An advantage of this style of presentation is that you can decide on the fly whether you want to unhide the prepared content or to rewrite and even deviate from your preparation. Finally you can easily export the presentation as pdf after your lecture/talk. In have used this style of presentation successfully both online and in class.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I am against suggesting closed-source software, but why don't you use something similar to microsoft Powerpoint, create a slide, insert the image (a scan of your hand-written text) and then cover it with some white rectangular boxes filled with withe color? then you progressively remove the boxes, and show the slide.
You need to update the slide? you simply import another image, the boxes are still there.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: This can be done pretty seamlessly with IPE, at least once you learn how to use it. IPE is not very intuitive at the beginning but is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. I often use it for creating slides, including those that reveal gradually. IPE also has an option called "Ink" for freehand drawing which does exactly what you want. I just tried it out and it works really nicely.
The trick to make things reveal gradually in IPE is to put each line into a separate layer and then add views. For each view, you get to set which layers are visible.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I just did this on PowerPoint on Windows, and according to @username_6, this should work the same way on an iPad that supports Apple Pencil.
1. Create a powerpoint presentation, go to "Draw" and write whatever you want on the slide. Switch to "select" mode by clicking the cursor icon in the Draw tab when you are done.
2. Go to "Animations", select one piece of writing that you want to come on screen all at the same time; click "Appear" (or some other animation, if you want). New animations that are added should automatically be set to run "on click"
3. If you want to change the order in which pieces of writing appear, you can click and drag to reorder animations in the "Animations Pane", which you can open in the Animations tab.
4. If you wish to change any piece of writing, just erase what is there, write something new, create a new animation, and move the animation to the correct place in the sequence (it will automatically be put at the end). No need to redo anything else.
5. If you wish to move pieces of writing around on the screen, just select all the lines in the writing, and move the selection box. Animations will still remain in place.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Have a got at pencil2D
It's free and you can copy frames.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7yoxskkkLg&list=PLqazFFzUAPc4no9KK5KMpSiOFlzaQKEJA&index=5>
Also peruse google [to see various tutorials](https://www.google.com/search?q=creating%20animated%20blackboards&sxsrf=ALiCzsbZRUCorgWJKfrWdfUGScw4aNznvA%3A1654587650163&ei=AgGfYvrFCY-OlwT6qYzoBQ&ved=0ahUKEwj6zoyp65r4AhUPx4UKHfoUA10Q4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=creating%20animated%20blackboards&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgAEEcQsAM6BwgjEK4CECdKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQhwFYlQpg9QpoAXABeACAAXqIAagCkgEDMi4xmAEAoAEByAECwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz).
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/21
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose somebody is repeating a class, where the assignment topic is the same every year. Is it self-plagiarism if that person is handing in the same or a similar paper, essay, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: If you submit something you previously submitted to any previous class, even if it's the same class you're retaking, it is indeed self-plagiarism unless the instructor specifically allows it, which many do. If it's not in the syllabus, don't assume anything; you'll need to ask.
If you're retaking a class, resubmitting previous work rather than redoing it can be a poor idea. In an intro computer science class I taught at the University of Michigan where we did allow resubmissions, students often did well on projects (especially if they had strong partners) but fell down on the exams, hurting their final grades enough to force them to retake the course before they could continue. If they merely resubmitted their work from last time, they got no new practice (instead getting only more out of practice) and tended to do worse, not better, the second time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: IMHO self-plagiarism would better be called "violating novelty requirements".
Where I am, such requirements are typically spelled out as submitting "own and novel work". E.g., theses contain such a statement.
Course work over here typically has the requirement to be your own work (or that of a specified group), but novelty requirements are less typical where I am (chemistry, Germany, see below for reasons).
E.g., you cannot *submit* (parts of) your Bachelor thesis in your Master or PhD thesis. Instead, you can cite the previous thesis as state of the art. You can then also build upon this with novel work which will be judged for the current thesis.
Say, you conduct some experiments for your Master thesis. In your PhD thesis, you can cite the Master thesis as source of (some) data, and present a novel analysis of that data. The experiments will then not be considered part of that PhD, but the new data analysis is.
---
We don't do essays, though, but e.g. reports on the state of the art about some topic, say, CO2-sensors in a course on sensors.
In that context
a) handing in the same report that got you a fail last year is not a sensible strategy,
And btw., we'd usually say that if a teacher hands out *the same topic* to report on twice *to the same student*, it's rather the teacher's fault. Or, rather, we'd take this as an indication that instead of asking for an entirely novel report the teacher asks a "revise and resubmit".
Handing out the same topic twice together with a novelty requirement would create an unfair and ambiguous situation:
b) Well-conducted literature searches in consecutive years *should* yield highly similar content.
A teacher should not pose grade-relevant work for which it is inherently and needlessly difficult to judge whether the formal requirements are met. In the example, next year ask maybe about methane sensors, but not CO2 sensors again, whether same student or not.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/21
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<issue_start>username_0: Title says it all, but for specifics..
Just found out my thesis advisor published a paper last year using a figure from my thesis. The thesis is in embargo until later this year.
I do have be honest and say that the figure in question is a redraft (with some slight alteration) from an older study. However, it is clear my advisor used the exact file from my thesis work. To his credit, he added a different section on the overall figure, but the part of my redraft is identical and was not altered in any way.
I was not part of the writing process, so it makes sense I'm not an author. However, I thought I'd at least be mentioned in the acknowledgements? Which brings up the bigger question of, are acknowledgements held to the same "ethical regard"? Can you just blatantly use someone's work without giving any credit at all if they didn't do enough to warrant authorship?<issue_comment>username_1: There really aren't two ways around it: Yes, using someone else's figure is unethical.
The question of what to do about it is of course much harder to answer.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It’s a bit crass to do this and keep you out of the loop, but he did reorganize the figure so technically it is not “the figure from your thesis”, especially if it’s a redraft from and old study, *i.e.* not the final data used in “your figure”.
Even if the context is substantially different (i.e. different interpretation of the data), one would think that he would have let you know - especially if it is data you collected - but he didn’t. The correct way for him to proceed would have been to let you know he was going to *adapt* or *insert* (as these terms seem to best describe what he had done) a figure from your thesis, and indicate as much in the text.
Not acknowledging someone is bad manners, not unethical. If there is too much similarity between “his figure” and “your figure” (or more generally between your work and his work) and you are not a co-author, then it is plagiarism. The threshold with figures is quite high and it’s not uncommon for people to redraw old, already published, figure and change minor details (sometimes only the font) so they are not technically re-using copyrighted material.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The legality and morality really all depend on circumstances, i.e. on how much work was put into the redraft, is the outcome clearly different, or was your figure a "quote" of the figure in the earlier study. Also, who wrote the earlier study?
Here is a scenario. Your prof or their group writes a study with the figure and looses the original pdf file. You publish this study figure in your thesis by reconstructing it, maybe under guidance of your prof. Your figure and the study figure are difficult to tell apart. Your prof or someone else when writing the paper look for the study figure and finds your version. Nothing wrong in my opinion for using it legally (they still have the copyright to derivatives of their original work) and ethically (they were not able to tell that you contributed to the figure).
Here is another scenario. You truly embellish the figure from the earlier study so that it has changed character and you now hold copyright for your substantial changes, as maybe the only intellectual contribution of the original figure are the data. The prof or the person who wrote the section likes your version, is afraid that you would not want to give permission for use, does not know how to cite an embargoed thesis, forgets to ask you, or just assumes that you are fine with it. Then your rights were violated. Even then, what can you gain by asserting your rights? There is not much you can claim. You cannot become a co-author because your contribution is too low and the paper has already been published. You did not suffer any material damage. You benefitted from the work in the group (you got a thesis accepted so you got a degree, I assume) and some give and take in a group is expected. You might have been owned an acknowledgment: "We thank rowrow for taking the figure from X and colleagues [x] and redrawing it." I could live without that.
To long to read: Assert the facts first, e.g. was it intentional, and was your "redraft" different enough. Even if this would have been bad, you missed out on a small note of thanks. These are pretty worthless in academia and completely worthless in industry.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Briefly:
If your thesis results had already been published beforehand, your professor should have acknowledged both the original author *and you* in relation to using this figure. At least a footnote close to the figure referencing the original author's paper and your own paper, if not a more explicit mention in the *Results* section.
But that isn't what really bothering you here, is it ?
**What is - understandably - bugging you is that someone took a small but original part of your upcoming thesis results and presentation then published them ahead of you, the original author.**
The professor stole a part of your thunder.
I really get where you are coming from both professionally and emotionally.
This is not a mere lack of authoring etiquette that can be apologized away. It is a sneaky (he didn't talk to you about this, let alone ask your permission) attempt to hijack the novel and impressive side of **your effort**.
I really feel for you in this and I think you should discuss this with the Head of Department. It may well result in a situation leaves you with the task of explaining what is "new knowledge" in your own work since an extension of one of your important figures has been previously published.
How one professor behaves in this regard can have an effect on the behaviour of other faculty. If this type of hijack is uncommented on, no researcher will feel safe in working hard towards their ultimate goal of being the first to put in the results of their years of research and getting most of the credit for everything the extracted from it.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/05/22
| 1,396
| 6,022
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in a weird situation. I changed my advisors during my Ph.D. program. I received research funding for my doctoral research before I changed advisors. The funding source does require funding acknowledgment in papers.
Now I graduated, but I learned that my former advisor is doing research on a very similar topic, possibly using the data I collected (something the funding paid). When the time comes for the former advisor to publish a paper, is the former advisor supposed to acknowledge the student funding source?
I thought, 'Well, just let it go. I am graduated. I don't want to deal with that person again.' But at the same time, I am uncomfortable that the funding, which I spent weeks writing up an application, and my four years of work might not be acknowledged.
What is the general funding acknowledgment rule in this kind of case?<issue_comment>username_1: There really aren't two ways around it: Yes, using someone else's figure is unethical.
The question of what to do about it is of course much harder to answer.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It’s a bit crass to do this and keep you out of the loop, but he did reorganize the figure so technically it is not “the figure from your thesis”, especially if it’s a redraft from and old study, *i.e.* not the final data used in “your figure”.
Even if the context is substantially different (i.e. different interpretation of the data), one would think that he would have let you know - especially if it is data you collected - but he didn’t. The correct way for him to proceed would have been to let you know he was going to *adapt* or *insert* (as these terms seem to best describe what he had done) a figure from your thesis, and indicate as much in the text.
Not acknowledging someone is bad manners, not unethical. If there is too much similarity between “his figure” and “your figure” (or more generally between your work and his work) and you are not a co-author, then it is plagiarism. The threshold with figures is quite high and it’s not uncommon for people to redraw old, already published, figure and change minor details (sometimes only the font) so they are not technically re-using copyrighted material.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The legality and morality really all depend on circumstances, i.e. on how much work was put into the redraft, is the outcome clearly different, or was your figure a "quote" of the figure in the earlier study. Also, who wrote the earlier study?
Here is a scenario. Your prof or their group writes a study with the figure and looses the original pdf file. You publish this study figure in your thesis by reconstructing it, maybe under guidance of your prof. Your figure and the study figure are difficult to tell apart. Your prof or someone else when writing the paper look for the study figure and finds your version. Nothing wrong in my opinion for using it legally (they still have the copyright to derivatives of their original work) and ethically (they were not able to tell that you contributed to the figure).
Here is another scenario. You truly embellish the figure from the earlier study so that it has changed character and you now hold copyright for your substantial changes, as maybe the only intellectual contribution of the original figure are the data. The prof or the person who wrote the section likes your version, is afraid that you would not want to give permission for use, does not know how to cite an embargoed thesis, forgets to ask you, or just assumes that you are fine with it. Then your rights were violated. Even then, what can you gain by asserting your rights? There is not much you can claim. You cannot become a co-author because your contribution is too low and the paper has already been published. You did not suffer any material damage. You benefitted from the work in the group (you got a thesis accepted so you got a degree, I assume) and some give and take in a group is expected. You might have been owned an acknowledgment: "We thank rowrow for taking the figure from X and colleagues [x] and redrawing it." I could live without that.
To long to read: Assert the facts first, e.g. was it intentional, and was your "redraft" different enough. Even if this would have been bad, you missed out on a small note of thanks. These are pretty worthless in academia and completely worthless in industry.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Briefly:
If your thesis results had already been published beforehand, your professor should have acknowledged both the original author *and you* in relation to using this figure. At least a footnote close to the figure referencing the original author's paper and your own paper, if not a more explicit mention in the *Results* section.
But that isn't what really bothering you here, is it ?
**What is - understandably - bugging you is that someone took a small but original part of your upcoming thesis results and presentation then published them ahead of you, the original author.**
The professor stole a part of your thunder.
I really get where you are coming from both professionally and emotionally.
This is not a mere lack of authoring etiquette that can be apologized away. It is a sneaky (he didn't talk to you about this, let alone ask your permission) attempt to hijack the novel and impressive side of **your effort**.
I really feel for you in this and I think you should discuss this with the Head of Department. It may well result in a situation leaves you with the task of explaining what is "new knowledge" in your own work since an extension of one of your important figures has been previously published.
How one professor behaves in this regard can have an effect on the behaviour of other faculty. If this type of hijack is uncommented on, no researcher will feel safe in working hard towards their ultimate goal of being the first to put in the results of their years of research and getting most of the credit for everything the extracted from it.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/05/22
| 5,944
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<issue_start>username_0: In the comments on [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/185428), there were a two opposing opinions ([anti](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/185428/software-for-creating-hand-written-slides-that-are-revealed-gradually#comment499178_185428), [pro](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/185428/software-for-creating-hand-written-slides-that-are-revealed-gradually#comment499205_185428)) on the technique of revealing slides bit-by-bit, rather than all at once. The argument against doing so was that revealing slides bit-by-bit is "micromanaging" viewers' attention and that some people prefer to have access to all of the information on the slide before starting to process it. The argument in favor was that revealing a whole slide at once gives too much information, making the talk difficult to follow.
What are the pros and cons of these two approaches? How should I choose which one to use? Are there recommendations from authoritative sources and/or supported by reliable evidence? I'm mainly interested in technical presentations in science or mathematics, including both lectures to students and research talks to peers. There may also be diversity issues (dyslexia, ASD, etc.) that are relevant.
I think this question may be closely linked with the issue of [how much information to put on each slide](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/55120/how-much-information-should-i-include-in-my-lecture-slides). If you have a slide that just consists of a few short bullet points, then I agree that there's not much point in revealing them one by one. But for technical presentations, one often has slides that have more information than one can reasonably take in at once.
---
This was one of several questions asked [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17933/good-slide-design-for-teaching) but none of the answers there seems to address this particular question.<issue_comment>username_1: I like to use beamer with `\setbeamercovered{transparent}`, as in [this talk](https://strickland1.org/talks/splitting_talk.pdf) for example. Then the bits of the slide that I haven't got to are visible but greyed out. I think that this has the advantages of both the options mentioned in the question.
In more detail: the linked talk was prepared using [LaTeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX) with the [beamer](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Beamer) package. The preamble starts like this:
```
\documentclass[9pt,xcolor={usenames,dvipsnames}]{beamer}
\usepackage{beamerthemesplit}
\usetheme[headheight=0pt,footheight=0pt]{boxes}
\setbeamercovered{transparent}
\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
```
The fourth line says `\setbeamercovered{transparent}`; this is the option that ensures that some parts of the slide are greyed out rather than being completely invisible. Transitions between different states are created using a mixture of the commands `\pause`, `\uncover` and `\only`, which are explained in the [package documentation](https://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/CTAN/macros/latex/contrib/beamer/doc/beameruserguide.pdf).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: *Quod licet Jovi, non licit bovi.*
Some people are good enough at presentations to make otherwise-bad approaches succeed brilliantly. Steve Jobs' slideshows broke every rule and were amazing. Doing this takes perfect timing and meticulous digital choreography, as well as a heaping helping of inspiration. And it's usually brittle: if you break your rehearsed flow (e.g. for questions), it's hard to get it back.
If you have any doubt whether you're that good, assume you aren't and stick with the basics. The benefits of fancy techniques are marginal, especially compared with the benefits of good fundamentals.
If you need to ask on here whether you should do it, the general answer is "no".
---
That said, if you have a specific use-case where you are confident it will be helpful (something like successive overlays on the same data), AND you are confident you can pull it off, it's a fine technique to use *occasionally*.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There is no one right answer to this, because presentations are so different from each other in purpose and content. Rather, what can be answered is, at least in part, how can you tell which approach fits your presentation?
First question is: is the content critical to understanding the presentation? Could someone have you on audio only and still get the gist? If they could, then hopefully your content is relatively minimal and distraction-free, aimed at giving people who are more visual learners some signposts to help them along. Non-critical information lends itself better to the reveal-slowly approach, while critical information is better to leave up the whole time as different viewers will have different timing needs.
Second question, how much information is on the slides? Information dense slides can distract the reader from hearing the audio, as many people don't listen as effectively while they're reading. On the other hand, information light slides may be quickly consumed and lend themselves better to being up on the screen at once to avoid distracting the viewer with movement - unless that movement is helpful for signposting.
Third question - do you plan to release the slides to the public? Slides that will be released to the public should be created in a way where they are useful without any animations. As such, design them from the beginning to work in the all-at-once approach. Many users will view in a format that doesn't support animations (or doesn't support it easily) like PDF or still images, and instead will want to just see one particular slide to get information from it - even if there is animation support they won't appreciate the time it takes to scroll through the animation.
In the business world, I think you'll find that slides tend more towards the "animation" side, because the content on the slide itself isn't as important - the speaker is more important. In academia, in particular things like Math or Physics, the information is much more critical on the slide - the equation, the proof, that sort of thing - and as such lends itself less to doling information out in small bits. I tend to find that the first question is the deciding one for me most of the time, as a result.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: This is a personal view, but with long experience behind it. I think the answer should be different for things like classroom lectures and conference presentations.
For classroom lectures, I suggest that you give the students access to any slides a day or two in advance. This permits those who have the inclination to look them over prior to the lecture and think about questions. It also permits them to print out the slides and annotate them during the lecture as a form of note taking. The purpose of such a lecture is learning and this can enhance it.
A conference presentation, on the other hand, is a kind of performance. Few people (some) will take detailed notes during the talk and the flow can be important. Also, such lectures are normally given to those with a lot of field experience already, so insight is more valuable there than detail. A friend of mine was brilliant about using things like PowerPoint to present very dynamic presentations that didn't actually need a speaker to present commentary. The presentation was complete in itself. I never had such skill.
But, consider both the purpose of the lecture and the nature of the audience. The best solution may well depend on those factors.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: You have to compromise between the three following aspects:
* Every change/transition on your slides demands some of the viewers’ attention. Mind that this is purely about the change, not the content that is eventually revealed or there from the beginning. It is easy to underestimate this as the presenter, since changes you have control over are much less demanding and you do not need to follow your own speech in parallel. This is particularly bad for people with attention disorders who may be severely distracted by every visual change.
* Whenever you reveal a new slide, it takes some time for the viewer to process the content to the extent that they can orient themselves on the slide and can follow your talk again. The time and mental strain of this process increases superlinearly with the amount of content on the slide.
Keep in mind that humans can only have a handful of things on the top of their brain at once and half of that is already occupied by things other than your slides. When somebody sees a new slide, they first have to break everything down into processable chunks. When the number of things they visually distinguish exceeds the number of free processing slots, processing of your slides becomes considerably more difficult.
Greying out some content (as suggested by another answer) only mildly ameliorates this: While greying something out is a visual cue that it can be ignored for a while, the viewer still has to process that cue and the greyed-out content is present and thus distracting all the time.
* Managing the reveals distracts you from speaking and otherwise affects your talk, usually in a negative manner, e.g., by making you read your slides and dropping gestures and similar. In particular, while I have seen quite a few talks with quick bullet-point-wise reveals, I have not seen a single one where the speaker did not stumble over this, i.e., mistime a reveal or lost their flow of talking.
My general rules of thumb are therefore this:
1. Only split slides if revealing the entire slide at once is visually overwhelming and splitting considerably ameliorates this.
2. However, first consider whether there is any need to have the information you present on the same slide to begin with.
3. Do not split a slide if you do not spend at least twenty seconds on either side of the split.
A good example of this if you have two plots with a shared axis where you first explain the first plot (spending twenty seconds before the split), then the second plot (spending twenty seconds after the split), and then explain how the two plots relate to each other (thus having a reason to have both plots on the same slide).
If Points 1 and 3 of the above are in conflict with each other, you are almost certainly doing something else wrong, e.g., not properly explaining a plot or having useless stuff on your slides.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: This may be style-dependent. My own style is such: I sometimes like to give a presentation like a mystery-plot, and not have 'spoilers' for the big conclusions.
However, in general, a rule of public-speaking [e.g. from "Toastmasters"] is to:
* Tell them what you will tell them (intro / contents)
* Tell them (body)
* Tell them what you told them (summary / conclusion).
It's hard to see how one can avoid 'spoilers' in such a scenario!
As to partially revealing what is on a slide, if one uses this technique, use your verbal words to correspond *with it*, so that it makes sense to the audience. I.e. when new info is on the slide, start talking about it. This would then make the new slide-info into a "I'm talking about this now" marker.
The more important the presentation, the more one should stick to the fundamentals, as per Fectin's (and possibly other people's) answer.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: No. What you *should* do is refrain from using your slides as speaker notes. Your slides should have 2 purposes: 1) to pique your audience’s interest in what you’re about to say and 2) to help them remember what you did say.
Compare these 2 slides:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/41V8S.jpg)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q7tgq.jpg)
Which slide would result in the audience spending time reading instead of listening to you, the presenter? Which slide would tend to make them more interested in your presentation?
***Note:*** This isn’t a lesson on good slide design. I don’t think it’s arguable the second slide is better than the first. It is. It’s also not arguable there are more improvements we could make to the second slide to make it even better. The point I’m making here is to not put so much information on your slides that they’re effectively useless.
Now to the original question: “Should [you] reveal [your] slides bit-by-bit when giving a presentation/lecture?” That’s up to you. I said “no” initially, but it’s really up to you. **It’s neither an absolutely good technique nor an absolutely bad technique.** For presentations I deliver, I use that technique more often than not. In the example above, it may be advantageous to reveal first only the title, then the Positive Gz Effects, then the Negative G. Effects. It just depends.
Information on the slides from [FAA Advisory Circular 91–61, February 28, 1984](https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2091-61.pdf)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: I agree with most of the points presented. The slides are NOT your notes and if giving the slides out to the audience is of any value to them, there was too much detail in the slides. The slides help guide you through your presentation, enabling you to add, remove, or rearrange talking points without have to memorize (and forget) the changes, which also lets you customize the presentation for different audiences - but you still need to know the material without need notes, the slides are cues for the presenter.
For the audience, the slides gives them something to focus on, gentle reminders of what you have said or are about to say, and also a visual of new or confusing terminology so they don't have to ask you for clarification. But the slides should not tell the entire story, in fact, they should whet the appetite for your presentation. There should be no value in handing the slides out to the audience.
As for the reveal technique, that depends on the presenter, the audience, and the material. I've presented to certain groups multiple times and learned that there are "hecklers" (people who disrupt your presentation with any motive, good or bad) that will ignore your order of presentation and interrupt you during bullet #1 with a question about bullet #6. For that group, I reveal one bullet at time. Other times, I'd reveal the entire list just to prevent individuals from asking "What about X?" which is bullet #6.
If you don't know your audience, follow your gut, develop your style of delivery and run with it. If you choose to reveal bullet-by-bullet, learn how to expose the entire slide at once in case there is a revolt. In the end, you want the audience to appreciate your presentation without having to battle them, but you also need to get your message across and maintain control of the presentation or you will have chaos.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: Giving a talk is absolutely about managing your viewers' attention, and perhaps micromanaging it.
Every viewer has their own listening goal and learning style. But you have to give the same talk to everyone at once. So you more or less have to keep the audience's attention and understanding in sync with each other. At each point in the talk, you should have a plan -- not for **controlling** an engaged audience's attention, but for **offering clear guidance** on how they should direct it.
* If you are speaking a key point, they should mainly be paying attention to your words. The slide's visuals should assist without distracting.
* If they are reading text on the slide for more than 2-3 seconds, or thinking about a deep concept, or reading a plot carefully, etc., you should probably be mostly silent. Any comments should assist without distracting.
So the key principle is **do not ask the audience to split their attention.** People will split their attention different ways and nobody will get the complete picture.
* Don't reveal a large detailed slide while speaking continuously. People will try to read it and tune you out, or give up on reading it and not get any use out of it.
* Don't reveal portions of a slide rapidly while speaking continuously. Every transition takes people more time and attention to process than you think. People will miss what you're saying, or fall behind.
In general, going slowly and pausing gives people space for both autonomous thinking and following your cues.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: There are two issues here:
1. Your slides should only have about as much text as a notecard, with just as much respect for grammar
2. The appearance of text on the slide shouldn't be distracting.
I find that if you have 1 down you rarely need to have individual transitions for elements of your slide so 2 is a non-issue. A notable exception being question/answer patterns.
For an extremely pathological case: don't use the feature for individual transition animations for bullets on a slide. It is very distracting and many students stop using it even in high school.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: One aspect I've not seen mentioned yet is that an important factor is whether the points are naturally *sequential* or not. Stepwise revealing works best if:
* The points have a natural ordering such that it is useful to have digested one before moving on to the next
* Each step is "meaty" enough to warrant at least 10-20 seconds before the next point is revealed
* It is meaningful to have consecutive steps on the same slide (see [username_5's plot example](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185506/155556))
Block revealing works best if
* The points are an unordered list, ideally of minimal-text bullet points (see [afwing's example](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185511/155556))
* The entire list can be taken in as a single glance and the eye doesn't actually have a sudden wall of text to track through
* The points are **not** narrative or entirely self-explanatory (again, keyword bullet points help here) as you don't want to lose your audience because people are simply reading ahead in your own presentation (they can read faster than you can speak, after all)
The third option, when you have large, non-bite-sizeable points that are however not a natural sequence, is just to dedicate a slide to each (perhaps after an introduction where you explain that you will be showing several examples and their overarching connection) - much less visual clutter and better focus on a single concept at a time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: >
> If you have a slide that just consists of a few short bullet points, then I agree that there's not much point in revealing them one by one
>
>
>
I have the exactly opposed opinion. If you have a few short bullet points, you can reveal them one by one to keep a "thought path" for the viewers.
If you have more details on the slide (which I do not like but sometimes you have to) then I warn the audience beforehand that the slides are a reference, that they will have them and that I will just use a tiny part on them. In such a case, when you switch your slide, everyone is not frantically reading.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_13: I will usually avoid doing a sequential bullet-by-bullet reveal, and that's because I try to avoid my slides and my talk saying exactly the same thing.
Now, I'm aware that there's an accessibility benefit in conveying exactly the same message in two different forms (written and spoken), and if that's what you want to do, then there's an argument for keeping the two streams synchronised, so people get the message in both forms at the same time.
But personally, as a listener I find talks where the speaker reads the slides boring; and as a speaker, I hate being constrained by my slides because it eliminates all spontaneity. So I like to use slides that complement what I'm saying rather than repeating it verbatim. I might talk about general principles and have a slide that gives a concrete example: I will say "and there's an example of that on the slide", and give people a few seconds to read the slide, while not actually talking about the example at all.
So it's a personal thing, and it depends greatly on how closely you want your spoken words and your visuals to duplicate each other.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_14: It depends on how you structure your talk. A slide deck designed to not have animations would be prepared in such a way that slides are easily navigable to begin with. The ultimate example of this is a paper handout - there is a wealth of techniques around organizing static text on a page so as to make it readable. If you bluntly add animations like reveals to this, it would be like trying to read a book and seeing one word at a time.
Conversely if you design a talk with revealing in mind, the slides are probably too confusing when you get the full version "in your face". So simply removing the reveals would lead to a confusing, overly busy presentation. To give another analogy, imagine that instead of watching a video you had an array of every frame.
I think your first step should always be to figure out what your audience likes. Are you able to tell if they like reveals or not? How have they reacted to past presentations? If you have an audience who hates reveals, it's pointless to use them regardless of their merits. They'll be primed to dislike your presentation just on that very fact. Why stack the deck (hah!) against yourself? Just give them what they want.
If you're not aware of any clear audience preference, it's a pros vs. cons type situation. Basically you pick the problems you want to have vs. the ones you want to avoid.
No reveals
----------
* Your slides can't be too complicated - you really need to stick to "one point per slide"
* Lots of points with corollaries or tangents is probably not good - it will confuse the audience
* The deck is easier to manage - one page is always one slide
* Timing is easier because you have fewer time points to remember (just the slide changes)
* Because you are probably thinking of something like "x minutes per slide", you have more leeway in sometimes going a bit over or under time for an individual slide, so you are more flexible on time (good if eg. audience likes to interrupt with questions)
* Interruptions are generally easier to handle, especially when people ask you to skip a section or go back to past slides
* Printing slidesheets is more straightforward and doesn't use as much paper
Judicious reveals (a few, but not too many)
-------------------------------------------
* You can get away with slightly more complicated/convoluted points in each slide - it's still a good idea to make sure every slide has one point, but you have more leeway
* Managing the slides is a bit harder (not much harder, because you wisely avoided "a lot of reveals") since you have more frames and have to deal with the reveal logic and duplicated content on top of everything else
* Timing is more critical - you have only seconds per frame, so if you go over (or end up starting late!) it easily derails the whole timetable you had
* Going back or skipping slides is more annoying and distracting to the audience (since they see you flipping through animations, sometimes stopping at the wrong frame)
* The presentation is hard to keep track of. With programs like powerpoint, you can't see at a glance how many steps an upcoming slide will have. If you go the Latex route and make each frame an individual page in the PDF, you now end up with things like 100 pages for a 20 slide presentation. Audiences tend to glimpse the large number as you set up and start panicking.
* Printing is annoying - either you just accept needless duplication or you have to somehow print a subset of pages every time
Why not a lot of reveals?
-------------------------
I would say realistically you are picking between "no reveals" and "a few reveals".
The extreme of the animation spectrum would be to make a whole movie that you talk alongside, like a science documentary. Without even getting into pros/cons, making a movie would obviously be too impractical for just one talk, and it requires a lot of specialized skill.
Similarly for reveals and other animations, the more you use them, the more overhead it adds to the work of preparing the deck. Lots of animations makes sense if your talk will have a wide audience - like a TED talk that you're *sure* will go viral and get watched millions of times. But not if it's a one-time thing for a few hundred people.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: In our university, the professor has obliged the students to take the lab and the course together. In this university the laboratory courses cannot be emergency dropped from a semester.
The laboratory has to be taken after or while having the course itself. The course itself is three credits and the lab course is one credit. The professor uses the lab class for doing the assignments which were done using a simulation at home.
He claimed that the course together is complex enough to merit four credits.
There are some problems:
1. Those who have passed the course before and got the laboratory course this semester have to take the pressure of a four credit course while this is formally one of our rights in this university.
2. Those who need to do the emergency removal of the course cannot do it, because the lab course is required.
The professor is not argumentative and doesn't take steps to make the situation more tolerable.
He claims that if he didn't make the obligation to take the course a complex with its lab it wasn't something good for you and the current situation is a good point for you for being less under pressure due to these two being a complex. This is against what he claimed at the start of the course.
Who's wrong here? Should we start having talks with authorities?<issue_comment>username_1: I have had exactly this problem when teaching introductory physics classes. In my case, my concern was that desperate students were getting turned away from lecture because there were no spots in lab. Then a few weeks later when students were dropping the class, there were empty seats in both lecture and lab. Seemed like such a simple fix, but I banged on the pipes a little and was unable to fix it.
So on one hand, I agree this is a very annoying situation -- everything from the policy itself to your professor's attitude seem annoying. On the other hand, I seriously doubt you will be able to change this policy. By all means, write to the dean or department chair if you want to; they cannot fix problems that they don't know about. But unfortunately, I predict they will defer to your professor's judgment. And, be aware that if you complain about your professor before the class ends, that could lead to an awkward situation for the next few months.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not uncommon to have a lab section attached to the course and separate credit given for the lab section. Indeed, in many cases it doesn't make much sense to register in the lab section without taking the course as the labs are quasi-dependent on the material covered in the course.
At least where I work, students who repeat a course with a lab section can get permission from the instructor to use their own lab marks in the current enrolment year. This is at the discretion of the instructor and there are various situations where this permission is not granted. Administration is not involved: the instructor just looks up their spreadsheet and copy-paste the marks from the previous year to the current year. It is certainly not possible to do the lab separately from the course as a stand-alone credit, and credit for the lab is given concurrently with credit for the theory part of the course, and you cannot get credit for the lab without getting credit for the course.
There is nothing to do if you have an uncooperative instructor, except possibly plead your case to the administration, although this is unlikely to solve your problem in the short term unless the instructor is clearly in violation of university policy.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am considering a paper submission to a journal. In the submission platform, it is possible to upload a cover letter but it is not required. (In the past, I 've submitted to other journals where the cover letter was mandatory.)
Are there any good reasons to add a cover letter when it is not required, yet possible to upload in the submission platform? For instance, does it seem unprofessional to not include a cover letter even if it is not required?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes there are plenty of good reasons to include a cover letter: the cover letter is how you communicate with the editor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you have something important to say to the editor, then include a cover, otherwise it is just noise. In particular, don't use it to try to "boost" your work.
But if you can help the editor find suitable reviewers by, for example, situating your work in the larger framework then do so. I'm not suggesting you recommend reviewers unless asked, however.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I think yes, because, in the letter, you can specify those missing details in the submission form, which can help the editor with the publication of the article. And just writing a note on the fact about nothing makes sense.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student in mathematics. I am preparing to give a 20-minute short talk for a conference. I am looking at some beamer presentations [this one](https://webspace.science.uu.nl/%7Ekarem001/Diamant2019talk.pdf) and [this one](https://webspace.science.uu.nl/%7Ekarem001/Benasquetalk.pdf). Neither of these slides neither have any references, nor any numbering of definitions, theorems, propositions, lemmas etc.
I have some few questions in mind:
* Is it normal to omit proof of the main results?
* Is it normal to omit numberings of theorems, lemmas, propositions, etc.?
* Why don't people use `\begin{theorem}... \end{theorem}` for theorems and the same for lemmas, and propositions?
Besides that, **what would be the best way to present a short 20-minute conference talk?**<issue_comment>username_1: It's important to remember that a talk is not a paper.
>
> Is it normal for people to avoid proofs of their main results?
>
>
>
Yes, though it depends on subfield, and it is especially common in a 20 minute talk. Your audience does not have time or inclination to process many technical details in this format.
>
> Is it normal to avoid numbering?
>
>
>
Yes. Your slides are not a paper. Numbering schemes aren't very useful. Do not distract your audience with irrelevant text, use \begin{theorem\*} and family.
>
> How should I present my talk?
>
>
>
This is too broad to answer really. But I highly recommend that you (1) make sure to look up how remove the Beamer buttons and (2) Do not include an outline of your talk with the number of slides like one of your examples does. It's distracting and rarely useful. Do have slide numbers on the slides.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: My favorite advice comes from [Cosma Shalizi](http://bactra.org/weblog/900.html)
(his background is in statistics and physics, but the advice applies equally well to mathematics talks):
>
> ...do not overload your audience, and do not even *try* to convey all the intricacies of a complex academic argument in your talk. The proper goal of an academic talk is to convey a reasonably persuasive *sketch* of your argument, so that your audience are better informed about the subject, get why they should care, and are usefully oriented to what you wrote if and when they decide to read your paper. In many ways a talk is really an extended oral abstract for your paper. (This is more effective if those who are interested can read your paper, at an open pre-print archive or at least on your website.)
>
>
>
So yes, avoid proofs and numberings to minimize overload on the audience. Instead, make it easy for the audience to find your full paper, if you have written it already---or at least to your website where you'll eventually post the paper.
Shalizi's post has further advice on what to present and how to prepare. But if you start with "your talk is an oral abstract for your paper," the remaining details are just corollaries :)
Also, especially since you're not a keynote speaker and the audience isn't there specifically to see *you*, I also like the advice from [<NAME>](http://seriouspony.com/blog/2013/10/4/presentation-skills-considered-harmful):
>
> My path to coping with heart-stopping stage-fright is to focus NOT on what *I* [the presenter] do but on what *they* [the audience] experience.
>
>
>
and
>
> Open with a question they would very much like an answer for.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Regarding the specific questions: A 20 minute talk needs to be incredibly focused; there is not much time. Normally, explaining your results and they context they fit into will take all your time, and presenting the proofs is not a good idea. Especially in the 20 minute time frame, you should think of a talk as an advertisement for your paper, not a replacement. (Corollary: Your paper should be on the arXiv before you speak!) That said, if the key new idea that you are bringing is a proof, and if the proof has a key idea, it can work to sketch the key point of the proof.
Numbering Theorems and Lemmas is not likely to be useful. If you are going to refer to a few key results throughout the talk, I would suggest giving them descriptive names instead: "the lower bound", "halfway to Smith's conjecture", "the key regularity hypothesis", etc.
More broadly, I am sure that every mathematician has their own method, but here is how I write a talk:
* Wander around explaining the result to myself, on long walks or while cleaning the house. Imagine how I might present it to different mathematicians I know.
* Outline the talk in pencil on a notepad.
* Make a rough draft of slides in LaTeX, omitting figures, difficult equations, references and complex typesetting.
* Print out the slides on paper, turn on my stopwatch and give the talk 2-4 times. It is important to actually speak out loud and include places where I will pause and make transitions. Note on the slides in pen any points that I want to add or revise. This is usually the stage at which a lot of material gets cut for being too wordy or complex.
* Make the edits I noted.
* Run the talk again to make sure that the edits work.
* Add figures, equations and references. Tweak slide layout. Make a cover slide.
* Ideally, return to the rehearsal stage and run the talk another 2-4 times.
I'll often memorize an opening sentence or two, so that I sound confident and say what I want to at the start.
It's been a while since I gave a 20 minute talk; I think the last time was at an AMS meeting in 2017. Here are the slides for the two talks ([1](http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/%7Espeyer/AMSColoredThreeSumSlides.pdf) [2](http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/%7Espeyer/DoldKanAMSSlides.pdf)) I gave there. The first presents a proof; the second (more typical for me) does not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Having given loads of presentations, scientific and non-scientific, here a a few nuggets for you to consider
* figure out who you want the talk to be for: to the famous mathematician in the room you wish to impress, to the professor a university you want your next post-doc to be, to young researchers, ... That will set the tone of your presentation
* even if for a mathematics talk, how technical it may be, you are telling a story. Find out what that story is and how you want to bring it over to the audience and make sure you do that in your talk
* what you say is way more important than what's on your slides. Your slides should be a invitation for the audience to listen to you. So keep them as simple as possible. If they want the nitty gritty they can go to your paper(s)
* at the start of your talk, spend some time talking about you, your work, the weather, or whatever. This may last only 10-15 seconds and is just to make sure that people get accustomed to your voice and your way of speaking. If you jump into technicalities straight away, your risk losing part of the audience straightaway.
* do not overload your slides; do not use full sentences; do not give definitions of things people know. Avoid at all cost that the audience has to focus more on what's on your slide than on what you say. The worst example of this if you put so much information on a slide that people don't have time to read it. A good way is to write your slides and then delete 50% of what you have written!
* use colors to emphasise the most important message of each slide and don't put more than one such message per slide.
* make sure you can adapt your talk to speed up or slow down, depending on how it goes. Practice your talk and if you are the type that overruns, makes sure where you can cut some parts. If you are the type that dashes through, make sure where you can expand a bit. Take off your watch and keep it visible. Have points in your mind where you want to be after 5', 10', 15' and adapt your speed. Avoid at all cost that your are being told you have 2' left and you are still at the introduction!
* for a 20' talk you need max 10-12 slides.
* leave a bit of time for q&a and answers questions directly, don't wait until the end. If you don't know the answer think in advance of some standard things you can say. And if you don't know the answer there is no harm in saying this or that this is something you are still working on. If you get a stupid question, you can always say "that is a very interesting question" and just proceed with your talk.
* if you develop an complex argument during your talk make sure you give pointers to the audience where you are and where you want to go.
* don't end abruptly; remind your audience of the key messages you want them to take away.
good luck.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: >
> Is it normal to avoid numberings of theo, lem, prop etc ?
>
>
>
Many already answered that it's normal, but I'd like to add something on *why*. Numbering theorems and equations is useful only when you want to refer to them later. In talks, people cannot go back and forth freely to check what (3) or Lemma 1 are, if you refer to them a few slides later. So if you write something like "Thus using (3) we prove Lemma 1", and they are not defined on the same slide, you have already lost most of your audience.
For the same reason you won't see numbered references: people cannot skip to the bibliography during your talk to see what [2] is. If they are really necessary, sometimes references are written more explicitly [Einstein '04], or put in footnotes; sometimes there is a final slide with a list of references, or sometimes just a pointer to the Arxiv preprint on which the slides are based.
OTOH, numbering pages is useful: sometimes people in the audience note down the page number when they have a question, so that at the end of the talk they can ask "please go back to slide 13; why is the function f there continuous"?
>
> Why don't people use `\begin{theorem}`...`\end{theorem}` for theorem and same for lem, prop ?
>
>
>
Note that `\begin{theorem}`...`\end{theorem}` is typeset differently in Beamer: it looks like a `\begin{block}{Theorem}`...`\end{block}` with a different color depending on the theme. So it is very well possible that even the slides you have linked use that environment.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Your first example is a talk about Belyi maps, and it uses the function f(x)=3x^2-2x^3 as a running example. If I were giving a 20 minute talk on that work, I would structure it as a talk about the properties of that particular map, with plenty of pictures. I would not give any precise definitions or state any precise results unless they are very short and self-contained. Instead, I would say things like this:
>
> If we used a different polynomial f(x) then we would get a different pattern of permutations, and various other aspects of the story depend in a well understood way on the cycle types of those permutations. There is a good general theory about this which is explained in the preprint.
>
>
>
In general, explaining a single well-chosen example is an underrated approach for very short talks.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: A 20 minute talk is best thought of as an ad for your paper. The goal is simply to state the main result and for the audience to understand what the statement means and why it matters. This requires giving some definitions, some context, and maybe an example. It’s ok to just end the talk after giving the statement, or if you want you can have one more slide talking about further directions or saying a sentence or two about what kind of ideas go into the proof. You will not be able to go into the proof beyond one or two sentences in a 20 minute talk, and it’s totally fine to spend zero sentences talking about the proof.
If people want to see the proof they can *read the paper*.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an assistant prof. in a public US university. I have to go up for tenure this year. The department I'm in is somewhat mismanaged, with lots of politics and favoritism. Many have left the department in recent years, and I don't see any motivation for the chair or the dean to improve the situation. Hoping for a better position, I've searched for other TT positions this year and received an official offer from a private higher-rank university with a much higher salary than what I earn now (a dream position for me). However, unfortunately due to personal problems, I cannot accept that offer and have to stay where I am.
My question is: can/should I use this new offer to negotiate my salary in my current department?
Given that I have to go up for tenure, I'm afraid that showing that I have an offer harms my tenure and evaluation. I'm afraid that the chair, dean, and my colleagues see this as an "unfaithful" act or, thinking that I may leave sooner or later, don't advocate for my tenure as much as they can.
Additionally, since the department knows about my personal problems, they can easily call on my "bluff" and be pretty sure that I won't be able to accept this new offer and leave the department this year. So, it could be an easy "no, we can't give you a raise" for them.
On the other hand, I don't want to take this chance of having a better salary from myself, if there is not much harm in asking for it. Plus, I think, this could potentially show my worth to my current department.
In this situation, would it be wise to ask for a salary raise? If yes, how should I approach it?
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: In a negotiation, never use a threat if you can't make hard. Certainly if you have much to lose.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Since personality seems to be dominant here, take any advice with a grain of salt (or a pound).
But reading what you have written, it sounds like you are trapped and it might be a mistake to advertise that. Certainly ask for a raise at granting of tenure.
But it is likely a mistake to "bluff". It sometimes works in poker, but calling it is also pretty common. "Why should we do anything extra for you if you are trapped????"
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I received a phone call from the department chair informing me that they are willing to give me an offer. Then, he sent me the startup sheet and asked me to send them my comments. This sheet contains salary, student support, travel, moving expenses, and a few other items. The chair also asked me to add any equipment I need and he made it clear that he will push as much as he can because it will be beneficial to the department whatever I can get from the university for my startup in terms of equipment.
For this position, I plan to join the target university (R1 university) as an associate professor, and thus the salary is a bit confusing for me since the salary for other department members is not online. My current institution is giving me, let's say $100K but they also give me 20-30K in the summer to stabilize my salary due to declining my previous request on raising my base salary during COVID. However, the destination university is giving me $120K as my base payment [these numbers are just random numbers :)].
I have two questions:
1. I am not sure how I should talk about my salary. Because the base payment of the destination university is higher but the total payment is lower!
2. I also need to ask them about my spouse and her employment. I am not sure if I should bring this up now or should wait until I finalize my offer and then ask them about a dual career. I am not sure when the right time is. If I bring this up now, then, they might not fully consider my requests on salary and other items. If I also bring this up later, they might say why I have delayed it since spousal hiring needs a long process and discussion. When do people discuss this matter based on your experience?<issue_comment>username_1: First off, determine your bargaining position. Do they really need/want you or can they just get the next one on the list when the negotiations don't work out? Be realistic: for most associate prof. jobs your negotiating position is very bad. So you can't get everything you want, and probably you can't get much. So you really need to prioritize and decide what is the absolute minimum you are willing to accept and when you just walk away from the negotiation (if ever, but then you're negotiating position is pretty much non-existent).
In my university, if the negotiation is over, then it is over; the university will not negotiate dual career options after the negotiations are over. So you need to find out if that is also the case in your university. If your university works like mine, then you have to bring the dual career option up at the beginning and accept lower pay (if you find the dual career option more important than your pay).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: As a general rule, if you go into details discussing issue X before you even mention issue Y, people will reasonably assume that X is more important to you than Y is. Now think of the special case when X stands for “salary” and your spouse’s employment is the Y. Is it really the case that you think it’s more urgent to discuss salary than something as critical as your spouse’s ability to work?
About talking about salary, I think you may be falling prey to the chair’s trick of asking you to send “comments” about an offer that doesn’t yet exist. This is a common trick that employers pull (more common outside academia, but I’ve seen it within academia as well) to get job candidates to disclose part of their internal bargaining parameters. It’s similar to asking a job candidate the question “how much did you make in your previous job?” (now outlawed in some places), or “what are your salary expectations?”. The professional way to answer this is “I am really excited about the position and am looking forward to receiving an offer from you”. In some situations it might be beneficial to give hints as to what might be an acceptable salary figure, but there is a risk in doing so, and the precise conditions when that could be a useful thing to do would be extremely situation-specific and probably not relevant to your case.
In any case, when comparing salaries at two different places, what usually matters to people is the bottom line, not which part is called “base salary” or any other name. Of course, the cost of living also varies from place to place, so your comparison of the offer to your current situation should take that into account. Good luck!
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD candidate (last year) and was invited as a guest editor in a peer reviewed journal. I am excited to take the experience and I am sure I will handle it well, but I am not sure if I have to be a PhD holder to qualify for such position.<issue_comment>username_1: There are no general rules, inscribed on ancient scrolls, about such things, though an individual journal might have its own preferences or rules.
But, the person(s) who invited you is(are) almost certain to know of your status. So, assume it is fine.
Also, spend some effort to determine the reputation of the journal and the one who invited you. Your advisor can probably help with this.
It will take time and effort to do this, of course, so make sure you (and your advisor) are prepared for that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that until you have many years of refereeing papers behind you, you are not ready to be a guest editor.
By the way, I get invited to be a guest editor about once a week. Unless you have strong evidence to the contrary, you should assume this is spam and delete it. One way to check if a journal is reputable is to ask your advisor.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: It'd be unusual to invite a PhD candidate to guest edit a journal. You are right to be suspicious. I would check if the journal is disreputable; simply being peer-reviewed is not sufficient. Even if the journal is reputable, I would still discuss with supervisor (not only about how to edit, but whether or not to do it, since it'll take time away from your PhD) before accepting the offer.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: The main question is whether you know the field well enough to identify reliable peer reviewers who will able to review the papers properly. You will also need to be able to judge from the reviewers comments whether the papers should be accepted and what needs to be done to improve them. It will be difficult to do both of these things without experience. Are you confident that you can do both of these things? If not experience, what is the basis for that belief?
Note that in some fields, e.g. climate, there are a lot of "fringe" scientists that repeatedly try and get obviously wrong arguments published in peer reviewed journals. In such cases the editor really needs to be aware of these "fringe" views and make sure that they receive a desk reject, or are reviewed by reviewers who are already familiar with the argument. Unfortunately "fringe" scientists often pick journals in other fields, where the topic could just about be considered within their remit, as they are unlikely to run into a reviewer that has seen the canard before. [Here](https://journals.lww.com/health-physics/Abstract/2022/02000/World_Atmospheric_CO2,_Its_14C_Specific_Activity,.2.aspx) is an example of a **very** obviously wrong climate paper that got published in a peer reviewed journal on medical physics. Note the links to the comments papers towards the bottom of the page. You would have to be confident that this could not happen in an issue for which you were the editor, as the failure of the review process is ultimately the editor's responsibility.
This means you should definitely refuse unless the scope of the journal is **very** narrow.
P.S. "fringe" is used here euphemistically because in responding to "fringe" views it is important not to attach insulting labels in order to make sure we respond rationally and factually.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: **Summary:** It took me 3 years to analyze data from one sample (n=1) whereas correct way to perform experiment would be with n>=3. Now my job and funding are in question, since I don't have more time. My supervisor pressures me to fabricate data.
I want to gather all the missing data but that will take another 3 years for same experiment; resulting in failure to timely submit internal evaluation reports, as well as termination of any fellowship. My supervisors are secretly suggesting me to somehow put some imaginary values in at this point, but that feels heartbreaking. So what is the best thing I can do now?
I am a Ph.D. candidate in soil sciences at a small academic university, where I have to do assays about different soil borne microbes such as an antibiotic assay, secondary metabolite, synergy etc. Now before starting my research, I was told to just ask the lab seniors and carry out the experiments. However, I did not have a simple and crisp understanding of biostatistics, and I was not told about what kind of statistics is applicable for my samples. I was tedious about the preparation of chemical reagents and buffers and I kept digging for historically important original papers that lack enough statistical analyses.But I missed that in the future, I will be required to submit statistical analyses that are up to the mark of current trends. I just kept doing simple experiments as shown in previous degree courses, without statistical repeats.
Honestly at this point, I am totally depressed. People all around me are pressuring me that if I do not fill up my dataset with imaginary data, my paper will not be accepted to any journal.
So what should I do in this scenario? I am extremely, severely depressed and go to therapy.
**Update to answer questions asked in the comments:**
1. Locale: Some Asian country.
2. Journals we choose: Very low impact, paid, costly. They prefer jargon rich language instead of too original language that describes how we reach to conclusion. If I write about a too detailed explanation, it would be double checked by my seniors, and at 'safest', they would be backspaced.
3. Impact of reporting? From word of mouth, perhaps many other people at respectable positions here do (and did at past) this quite casually, and rivalry among them is intense. Except this incident, my supervisors were humanitarian towards me and many other people. Now at this point if I am selected by a rival employer (although that isn't going to happen without the explicit consent of present supervisors), there is no way the rival employers are going to trust a traitor.
4. People are bloodthirsty for job and career (than actually learning), and they are immoral up to the point of stealing my personal stuff, hiding equipment, tearing journal pages to wrap glasswares, mouth pipetting broths risking own life. Period. Nobody is going to witness me. Nobody is going to get my back. Everybody will disagree with me.
I am under such a point where a PhD dropout seems more respectable than a finished PhD.
Update: Based on few more comments and answers:
1. Yes I have considered of personal safety - I took a wait and watch strategy for a while.
2. No, we don't have a statistics office. We have a stat department though, collaborating them might require consent from our department. I will consider this option. Calling the quality checking office is going to instantly identify me, and retaliation.
3. In several other university departments where I studied at past, I have collected a lot of conflicts, again, without written evidence. It is not possible to keep the mobile recorder 24 hour on. Whatever, they are not going to issue me any recommendation letters. For sure.
4. it is unlikely that I will zoom call or network. I have a very little motivation left. I want to choose some rather low paying career such as providing private tuition to children or to teach drawing or guitar or crafting, or to start a career as an animator. This will provide me more creativity and content. I would not require constantly evaluate the moods and intents of others. In future if a new system appears where people spontaneously contribute to research, maybe I will consider that in old age. I am happy with little, and that is enough for me.
5. I would suggest the scientific community to develop some other technique to prevent or detect this type of situations. Make it mandatory to submit all photographic/ videographic evidence for each and every claim. Make it mandatory to submit each mathematical details, procedures to making mixtures, etc. Also publishing behavior can say a lot. Especially a prolific amount of publication may be a red flag for predatory behaviour.
6. System needs a lot other change. Do not mandate Ph. D. for jobs where Ph. D. level skills is not necessary. Also make an outlet for partly incomplete informations to be published, with intellectual properties associated to the students; and unlike peer review by a few referees, let it be reviewed by entire world. let them make comments and collaborations.
Update:
1. I talked to superviser and made it absolutely clear that under no circumstane I will execute that suggestion. They agrees to it, sort of. They tells me to focus on "actual work" of pouring and mixing all those, than neatpicking too much with all those theoretical stuff.
2. I am seeing this type of misconduct as more of a systemic fault than individual fault, because lot of people talk about 'putting some values' quite casually and are achievement-thirsty. I maintain a distance with this kind of people because every time they makes me feel ghosted, ignored, ashamed of not completing the curricula 'as intended', or blameshifts when I try to do anything new.
3. Looks like the Ph.D. memes on social media indeed reflects a lot of unreported truth. [Recently I have found a meme regarding n=1](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02muXT3iukr7bo1qoCWeERtGaFXgYES1R4XWYCGdR4p9vzeEJx7m95MfPebgQoXd1Cl&id=113434433345200) back from 2019 that also indicates somebody else also made a similar blunder.
4. I have also heard, some of our very reputable professors said the ethics curriculum is very "boring"... that reflects they don't know to teach it an insightful way.
5. I met a very senior scholar (who is now in no means doing research or academic job though) said me once that there is credit in filling up with data because it takes "knowing the work better than others" so that "only naive people are caught".
Small update regarding demographics: Our former state education minister, currently one of the supreme power, just caught by detectives for laundering money worth approx 300000 USD (at least) while investigating a huge school teacher recruitment petitions and protests. A similar university like us, known to award him a fake Ph. D. degree as well other professors are hiding their opinion about this education minister's Ph. D. guide, and the responsibility is being pushed solely towards his guide. But we all know the rapport and networking among all those professors. This is the level of corruption in the authority to whom we are expected to "report" something.<issue_comment>username_1: This sounds more the fault of your advisors than yours for not equipping you with the supervision you need to perform your experiments up to standards.
Do not under any circumstances falsify or misrepresent simulated data as actual data.
Your advisors should help you come up with a solution for moving forward, with the understanding that their own lack of supervision has caused this problem. If their suggestion is to falsify data, well...that tells you everything about their ethics. I would feel that a PhD earned working with those people is worth the same amount as that fake data is. Hopefully you have misunderstood and this is not what they are suggesting. If they are suggesting this, then I have to say they have much more to lose than you do, and if you have documentation of this suggestion and this documentation is shared with the university administration or the public, those supervisors are going to be in quite a lot of trouble.
From a statistical perspective, I do not think the scenario as you describe is as fatal as you make it sound. There may be a standard in the field that samples are collected in triplicate, but nothing about statistics prevents you from analyzing data that are not taken in triplicate. It may be that you do not have enough samples to perform a sufficiently powered null hypothesis test, but performing triplicate sampling doesn't actually give you more samples, it just refines your estimates a bit. I assume you have more than just 1 sample per group total, though; if not, then it seems very unlikely that even 3 would be enough.
Not every project in soil science requires 3 years to complete. Do a version of your investigation that can be done in 1 year. Work with your advisors to figure out what this would look like. Use the work you've already done to make this an efficient 1 year. It's normal in science to have to throw away years of work; often, the time elapsed is about learning the methods and once you know what you're doing it can be performed quickly.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Following up on @BrianKrause 's excellent answer.
**Do not present fake data as real.**
You might be able to write something useful and interesting with the data you have along with several different invented or simulated data sets that you properly identify as such. Can you discuss the consequences for your work under different assumptions about what the data you do not have might show?
Your advisors might (should?) accept this kind of compromise as an apology to you for failing to instruct you properly from the start.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The experience you gained in this 3 years is invaluable and it is written nowhere that everybody has to finish their PhD in 3 years. I am not saying this to downplay you, but jus to state the obvious: unrealistic expectations can destroy the mental wellbeing of a person and it will lead to unethical practices (sorry for stating the obvious, and I know that most likely in your culture all these words are just empty words ... they are empty words even in many of the progressive, western mighty countries).
>
> My supervisors are secretly suggesting me to somehow put some
> imaginary values in at this point
>
>
>
You have to clearly stand your ground. Explicitly tell your supervisor that you will never produce values that were not measured in the lab. Your supervisor must provide you funding to repeat the experiments. This means fundings for 3 additional years must be secured.
Since this is going to be unlikely, that request must be your "ice-breaker" to fight to get funds for at least 1 year and start the needed sampling for statistical repeatability.
Additionally, you are blocked with your supervisor, but you must defend your integrity: data cannot be faked (not even at a Bachelor degree level). You have to fight because he has to find a way for you to publish, or at least to defend your thesis ("how sure are you about your results?" "our interpretation is supported by the experiments performed in the previous years, experiments are being repeated and when results will be available we will publish in an international peer-reviewed paper).
tl;dr
You have a crappy supervisor. Both at the intellectual and moral level. It is not your fault. Either you win their support and bring this PhD to an end, or you have to start it again in a different institution/country. With your experience, re-starting a PhD will be an experience similar to half a post-doc.
No person is equal to the other, but no one will judge you because it took you 3 years at an institution and 3 years at a different one to complete your PhD.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Under no circumstances should you submit fake data. You have data that is useful, that took a long time to collect, and even if your methods were not perfect, you wouldn't want to throw it away.
You could try to learn exactly *how* bad having one repeat instead of three repeats is. Add this information to your paper. It will likely improve how your data is viewed (you may be able to show that your data is not perfect but still useful) and that information on its own is valuable as well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I'm also going to point out that if it took 3 years to do the experiment, then assuming you're researching something useful then the data is massively valuable and you need to get it written up. Someone else can always spend another 3 years adding to the sample size (or possibly, if you have learnt things which could make it faster and you document them, less time than that), but your "initial" results are still valuable. Just make sure you document the experiment such that its repeatable.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: I will answer this from a statistical viewpoint and omit any criticism of your supervisors.
You have n=1 but claim to need n=3.
I assume this is a consequence of some statistical tool, which simply cannot be used at all for n=1.
I further assume this is due to a frequentistic approach in this tool, i.e. parameters found by this tool are direct functions of the data.
With this default approach, it would be indeed impossible to come to statistical conclusions, but by altering your approach, we can remove this constraint.
Specifically, we move from a frequentistic to a bayesian approach of your statistical analysis.
For this, we place meaningful prior distributions on each parameter in your statistical analysis.
This makes it possible to infer solutions from n=1.
Your solutions are then represented as a posterior distribution, which represents the uncertainty in each parameter.
This uncertainty will be high for n=1, assuming your prior distribution is broad enough, but the solutions are perfectly valid from a statistical viewpoint.
There are two drawbacks: First, the mathematics can be difficult. It might take you a few weeks or even months to understand this approach and implement it correctly (but this should be better than 3 more years of experiments).
Second, picking decent prior distributions can be difficult. By definition, you can pick prior distributions in a way such your solutions will tell whatever you want. This is a bad approach and people will criticize this.
Instead, you have to find 'what-makes-sense' in your application and what other people can agree on. This can be very tough, but, as a domain expert, you are in a good position to find such priors.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: 1. Never fabricate data under any circumstances. That is the worst form of academic dishonesty there is, and is unforgivable. The scientific process *depends* on our ability to build on the work of others, and we can't do that if we can't reasonably trust that work. (Honest mistakes happen, as do poor studies. But if a flawed study is written up honestly, we can judge how much we should trust the results based on the experiments described. We can't do that if the paper contains *lies*.)
2. Report your supervisors immediately. They are terrible people and need to be removed from the scientific community as soon as possible to limit the damage they can do in the future and begin mitigating the damage they've already done. Possible people you could report to include the department chair and the editors of any journals they've published in. Try to get written evidence of the suggestion first, but if you can't, you should still warn the chair so people can keep a closer eye on them in the future. The scientific community is being actively harmed as long as they remain within it.
It sucks that you've found yourself in this situation.
If you don't know the chair well, you might want to talk to other professors who you trust (preferably tenured) to get some help dealing with this. Having someone with real clout backing you up could make it a lot easier. One good aspect to come of this: if you successfully uncover people who are fabricating results, you will have made a positive contribution to science by having done so, and will earn the respect of anyone whose respect is worth having.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_8: Yes, **fake data is anathema to the very essence of science.**
However, you are a lone crusader with next to no power struggling to survive in a completely corrupted environment. Noble ethics is not going to help you.
"Virtue is its own reward - it *has* to be!"
You have my most profound commiserations. Maybe it is because I am getting old, but it seems to me that more and more of academia is sinking into this morass of cut-throat careerism and "who gives a f\*ck nobody is going to read this closely anyway"
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Comment: Sorry, I don't have enough points to post a comment. But I'd like to suggest that you should definitely get and read this book...
*"Stealing Into Print: Fraud, Plagiarism, and Misconduct in Scientific Publishing"*
<https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520205130/stealing-into-print>
where you'll see that the two most common (among many other) unethical academic publishing practices are (1)fabrication and/or falsification of data, and (2)plagiarism. It also goes into several hundred pages of detail about the issues troubling you. But my (somewhat dim) recollection of that material is that it won't really resolve these issues for you. However, I hope that maybe it'll help you to see that they've been very carefully thought about, documented, and discussed.
**P.S.** Hmm, I wonder how much of that book is completely honest **(** sorry, couldn't resist **:)**
**E D I T**
In reply to the comment *"your answer is unclear"* below, the **op** seems torn between the alternatives of (1)behaving in what he feels is an unethical manner, or (2)abandoning his career path. I'm suggesting that, although the book ain't gonna resolve that dilemma for him, it nevertheless provides numerous real-life case studies and in-depth discussions of them. And all that may help the **op** put his situation in context and in perspective. For some of those cases discussed in the book (as I recall them), it's pretty much similar to the **op**'s *"publish or perish"* situation. Whereas for others, they're just looking for additional grant money, and don't mind cheating to get it. And lots of cases in some kind of in-between situation. So there's a whole spectrum of *ethical-->unethical*. And maybe the **op** can reconcile his "Sophie's Choice" by realizing there are many more people willfully choosing to do many worse things than the choice he's inescapably faced with.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: 1. Quite obviously, most people suggesting answers in this thread are coming from the western culture and severely underestimate the consequences for you in the case they report their advisor at the point when their career is going through such a rough moment.
Fighting and reporting advisors could be postponed until you are in a safer position. I would suggest this path only if you had enough material for the defense, and they were clearly failing you, which apparently is not the case. Also, in such a situation you would be unlikely to get a reference letter.
2. You should 100% go to therapy independently of how the story evolves. Therapy is a resource, it's a new empty room in your house where you can relax, get support, and maybe even figure out what to do with the rest of your house. Also keep seeking for support besides therapy. Asking a question here was a right step.
3. Honestly ask yourself whether you are still interested in pursuing career in science. If not, there is no point in fighting for PhD. And there is absolutely nothing wrong about such a choice. Do whatever makes you happy, self-content, etc. Taking a break could also be an option.
In what follows I will assume that you want to stay in academia.
4. — What do all great scientists have in common?
— They all had a great advisor.
You advisors are clearly trash, from both scientific and humane perspective, and I can hardly imagine that you will benefit from interacting with them.
5. If I could give just one piece of advice to young scholars, it would be "find an advisor who is a decent human, i.e. the one caring about his students". How is this applicable to your situation? One option I can suggest would be restarting / transferring to a different PhD program after you find a new advisor. I know people who did this after 2-3 years of PhD, I did this myself after 5 years, and I have **never** regretted it.
I don't know if you have any circumstances completely eliminating such an option, so I will assume that you would consider it.
6. Advisor search process tuned to your case:
* Look up people in your field and find those whose ex students have nice careers, ideally in universities of higher rank than where they did PhD.
* Once you have a shortlist, contact them directly, asking for a zoom talk asap. You need to explain your whole situation and see if they may be interested in you.
* Try to talk to professor's current students.
7. At this point, you may feel like you are a loser carrying the burden of bad experience. \*\*But you are also a tough one!
* You have quite a lot of independent (with little support from you advisors) research experience;
* You have more knowledge than a fresh PhD candidate;
* You are clearly passionate about your science, if you are willing to take the risk of devoting to it more of your lifetime after what happened before.
**Who would not want to get such a PhD student???**
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: Regarding your PhD keep in mind a PhD is a learning experience. What you have to demonstrate are not results, but the ability to investigate. Demonstrating that something is wrong or explaining you did not get the expected results is a valid thesis. Just make extra emphasis in the state of the art and why your approach won't work.
This will help some other experiment with similar properties to avoid losing 3 years due to poor experiment design.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: I've worked in several countries in Asia and I think all the advice about collecting incriminating evidence about your supervisor or reporting them will probably not be helpful in your case. If an issue comes up now or in the future, everyone will work to ensure the survival of a professor and will not think twice about throwing a disposable student under the bus.
All the advice about not ever faking data is gold. You won't be able to live with yourself and if it does come out later there will be a bus waiting for you to get thrown under.
Hang in there; [this too shall pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_too_shall_pass) and as [@ username_10 points out](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185575/69206) you will be stronger and more experienced when it does.
### Welcome to Stack Exchange!
There are [almost 200 different sites](https://stackexchange.com/sites#name) to choose from and one of them is [Statistics](https://stats.stackexchange.com/)!
Perhaps this is an opportunity to join a second site and discuss the statistical situation that you are in in more detail. Have a look around that site to see what question asking looks like and then start asking questions.
* Is there any way I can say something of significance with n=1?
* Is there some subset of the work I can do instead of going all the way to n=3?
* Are there alternate analyses I could try? etc.
You can link back to your question here if you want to add some background but mostly just explain your statistical situation.
You can probably find a way to anonymize yourself there (it's a popular site!) and no need to mention soil science or link back here if you don't want to.
Use this as an opportunity to possibly learn some new statistics and to learn more about Stack Exchange - it can really be incredibly helpful in many ways.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/23
| 2,613
| 11,005
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<issue_start>username_0: What is the smallest reasonable amount of time needed to prepare lectures?
I have recently learned that professors at my university (in UK) don't know who is going to teach one of the new modules starting in October. They say they sometimes aren't allocated until a few weeks before the semester starts. It shows.
I think it should take a couple of months to write lecture notes and prepare everything. I think this explain why so many lecturers use so much poor quality half-cooked material (typos, non-sequiturs) and I can't always blame them.
Is this normal? Are all universities like this? Shouldn't professors refuse to accept a module if they haven't been given a sufficient amount of time to prepare?<issue_comment>username_1: There really isn't a minimal time. Things happen. Solutions are needed. People resign, get sick, die. Courses are required. Someone has to cover. It isn't ideal, but it is common enough.
Getting as long as a semester/term of prior notice is quite good and probably the target aimed for most places, but picking up a course in the middle of a term also happens.
In tight cases the notes and such of the last person to teach the course may be available for a quick start. But new courses also come along. Hopefully some advance planning is done in that case.
The first time a person teaches a course they might do so day to day and week to week. It isn't ideal. But, even in the case in which you have lead time, the first run of a course can be painful for everyone. Professors can/will misunderstand the proper level of understanding of entering students. They will pitch the lectures to the wrong level. Require too much or too little. But then, the first time you do lots of things you are likely to be less than perfect at it.
This can be further compounded if teaching isn't the first priority of an institution or a professor.
So, a certain amount of muddling through is expected, but it is also expected that things will improve. It is also best if professors are flexible in how they do things, what they require, and how they assess student work.
It isn't quite as chaotic as the above might imply. Most professors tend to teach the same courses year after year, relying on past experience. Or a couple/few of professors will swap off courses to get a bit of variety, but still with a lot of experience backing it up.
In my experience, the number of people who have a course completely "in the can" for the first offering are pretty rare. I've known one, I think.
For someone who has to teach a course for the first time with little lead time, I recommend that they first focus on student tasks, assignments, projects, exam coverage. Then fit other things to enable student success in those things primarily. Save time in daily schedules for student questions so that you can zero in on the appropriate level.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Many academics in the UK believe that the workload allocation models applied in many universities are broken and do not reflect the true time required to perform academic duties, forcing staff to work evenings and weekends to stay on top of their marking and preparation of lectures. This is one of [four fights](https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11818/Four-fights-dispute-FAQs) in a dispute between the Universities UK (representing employers) and the University and College Union (representing staff). The dispute has been ongoing for several years now and has resulted in quite a few strikes and actions short of striking, such as assessment boycotts, etc.
In some universities in the UK where I worked, the amount of time allocated to create teaching materials was about 2 hours of preparation per 1 contact hour of teaching. Modules typically have ~30 contact hours, so you get 60 hours (1.5 weeks) to prepare everything for your students. This includes typeset lecture notes, problem sheets and answers to them, mock exam questions and fully worked out solutions. Everything needs to be provided via some online system, and departments usually monitor the quality of teaching materials. Unlike in some EU countries, in the UK students typically expect learning materials to be provided to enable them to learn even without attending some (or all) of the classes. You can deliver a blackboard lecture, but you will be asked to provide typeset lecture notes afterwards.
For me, personally, it usually takes about 3 months to prepare the first draft of the materials which I am not completely ashamed of.
The inadequate workload allocation models put a very severe pressure on academic staff. Some better departments manage it by giving the same modules to the same academics for several years in a row, making it possible to maintain and improve materials little by little. Some less organised departments suffer from high staff turnover and (re)allocate modules at the last moment each year, as you described in your question. In this case academics have no motivation to put extra time to prepare good materials, because next year they may be given a completely new module again. Students complain, managers react by putting more pressure on staff, academics burn out and leave, turnover increases and the process spirals down.
>
> Is this normal?
>
>
>
Disorganised departments and poor admin practices in academia are not normal, but also not uncommon in the UK, as evidenced by the UCU dispute ongoing for several years all across the UK.
>
> Are all universities like this?
>
>
>
No, there are still quite a few good ones. The marketization of higher education in the UK continues though.
>
> Shouldn't professors refuse to accept a module if they haven't been given a sufficient amount of time to prepare?
>
>
>
Some may try to cause trouble, but this is not going to be popular with their Heads of Departments. However, academics can't refuse to teach a module or to take an admin role if it is within their "capacity" as per the workload model approved for use in their Department / University. Needless to say, the people who approve this model are mostly administrators and managers, not common professors and lecturers. Many professors do not agree with the workload model approved by admin/managers in their University, as evidenced by the ongoing [national dispute](https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11818/Four-fights-dispute-FAQs).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Not as long an answer as some of the others, just a point to keep in mind: When you've taught a course a number of times, the time necessary to prepare for a class is not particularly large. I can now roll out of bed, take a five-minute look at my notes for the next class period of my Partial Differential Equations course, and be in my classroom at 8am knowing what I'm going to talk about for the next 75 minutes -- and nobody would know that 5 minutes is all that it took to prepare. Of course that's because I've taught this course or a variation a good half dozen times over the past decade.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Least reasonable time to prepare for a lecture will depend on many variables such as your level of experience teaching that subject, what subject it is, what you plan to include in your presentation (slides, writing on whiteboard, online-could involve quizzes, etc) and your audience (1st, 2nd, 3rd yr, postgrad, etc).
I delivered university lectures online and face-to-face for the first time over the pandemic using zoom to a group of masters students. The subject was in the biological sciences and involved a combination of formal lectures with slides (lots of pictures), online quizzes and some group tasks. It took me between 4-7hrs to prepare as I was starting from scratch. If I was to deliver the same lecture now, I would only have to glance through the slides for a few minutes and I'll be ok.
If the subject was mathematics, it could take just as long or even longer to prepare as I would have to ensure I've gone through the calculations before attempting it in front of a class.
I would imagine most professors are very experienced lecturers and perhaps won't need that much time to prepare provided its a course they're familiar with.
I have to say that teaching generally doesn't get the attention and priority that it deserves amongst UK universities (I'm not sure about elsewhere). From my experience of being a student and now a lecturer, not every lecturer has received formal training in teaching/lecturing and certainly not every academic has the aptitude to be a good lecturer. Academics are overwhelmed with work and this may reflect on the quality of teaching.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The amount of time you'll need to prepare depends on whether it's a class you've taught before and on whether it comes with some existing course materials including lecture slides and assignments used in previous terms. That's four combinations and I've done the three that make sense. (If you've taught it before, we can assume you still have your materials.)
If I have a lecture in the afternoon for a a class I've taught several times, I'll likely still spend most of the morning leisurely preparing. I'm always looking for ways to improve my slides and it's easy and pleasant to keep polishing.
If it's a class I've never taught (often called a *new start*) and I'm given some existing materials, I will watch videos of previous lectures if available and I will likely edit the slides for style or to improve the graphics, but I'm going to hold off making serious changes to the content until the next time, when my opinion might be backed by some experience with the course. I'm probably going to need to do some research on some points raised in the lectures that are new to me. I'm very likely to need to do all the homework assignments and read the textbook so I'm prepared for office hours. For me, this could be about a day of preparation per lecture, plus the weekend for the homework and reading. It's a lot more work.
If it's a new start and there are no existing materials, this is consuming! There are simply not enough hours in the day to do this really well the first time, so you will just have to do your best. It's helpful if you can pick a textbook that comes with instructor materials, but often those are very rough, just the images or tables in the book, not usually a set of finished lecture slides.
If you don't even have a text with some instructor materials and you're simply creating the course from thin air as you go, wow! The first time I taught my search engine class at University of Michigan, where students worked in teams of 6 to build a whole internet search engine in C++, I needed to create and deliver two two-hour lectures every week. All I had going in was a two-page syllabus I'd written, so it was like a death march. I got through it and so did my students, and the course got better each time after that. But the first time took every waking moment.
Upvotes: 4
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2022/05/24
| 320
| 1,361
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently graduating student and having a thesis project to pass the course and requirement for graduation. Is it possible to fail the my program if the panelist in my defense does not like my thesis? Does it affect my possibility to pass the course and graduate?<issue_comment>username_1: It wouldn't be an exam if there were no possibility of failure. So the answer is "yes, it is possible to fail". The consequences of failing would depend on your program. If passing the thesis project is a requirement for graduation, then odds are you will not be able to graduate, but you'll get another chance to pass the thesis project next semester / next year.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As @allure already says, it wouldn't be an exam if there wasn't the possibility for failure. But it's worth remembering that (i) it isn't about "liking a thesis", but assessing \*whether a candidate has the qualifications required to pass a certain level, and (ii) the people on your panel are professionals with many years of experience in evaluating theses. As a consequence, panelists will be able to make a difference between "I don't like this" and "I don't think this candidate is qualified". Of course, in the latter case the candidate should not pass, but it isn't because the panelist doesn't like you or your thesis.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/24
| 843
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<issue_start>username_0: I am collaborating in a multi-authored paper in physics. In one part, I made a mathematical contribution and proved some important theorem.
However, I was not sure whether my proof is quite correct. Therefore, I posted a question on MathOverflow and a partial answer showed up which was very close to my proof and I would say that it was parallel (which is clear if someone reads the comments). Nevertheless, the answerer made some remark, which is well known in literature, but I wasn't aware of it and it helped me to improve my proof.
In my opinion an acknowledgement would suffice and I really would like to acknowledge him, but at the same time I don't want to cite this question in the paper, because of two reasons: 1) I'm pretty sure that it would make problems regarding who made the contributions (among my coauthors and the answerer), 2) The post is somewhat pedagogically since I was new in that field.
Now, my question is: can I acknowledge the answerer without letting him know? Or should I let him know beforehand? In the latter case he would say that I have to cite that post, which I don't want to. What is the best action here?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally speaking, if you include the real name of a living person in a paper other than in a citation then you should get their permission. They might want to refuse, depending on the paper you are writing.
There are exceptions to the above for "public figures" such as presidents and movie personalities, but those things don't apply here.
If you want to acknowledge a person anonymously then you don't need permission. But including the name of the person "connects" them to the paper in a way that they might not want to happen.
Note that I doubt that this is a universal opinion. But it is courteous, if nothing more to get permission.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Being acknowledged in a paper does not imply that the person being acknowledged is endorsing the content of the paper, or is making any other sort of statement.\* Thus, there is no need or ethical obligation to ask the person’s permission; you are free to go ahead. You can inform the person that you acknowledged them if you wish, and it would be a courtesy, but even that is not a requirement. I have been acknowledged on a number of occasions and in most cases I don’t think the people doing so bothered to let me know especially, nor have I made special efforts to contact all the people I’ve acknowledged in all my papers.
As for citing or not citing the mathoverflow question, I don’t have a strong opinion about whether you should cite it, but your *reasons* for not wanting to cite it seem not very good. In general, wanting to hide information from the readers because you think it makes you look bad (whether fairly or unfairly) is a bad motivation for hiding that information. And hiding information from your coauthors, for any reason, is even worse and may really start implying some not very good things about your motives. Your decision whether to include a citation should depend solely on whether that information is sufficiently relevant to what you are discussing and/or important to give credit to someone. It may be that there is no compelling reason here to cite the question, but at least you should make that decision based on legitimate criteria and not fears, rational or irrational, that this will “make problems” for you.
\* That is true as long as the acknowledgement isn’t phrased in a dishonest way to misleadingly imply something that isn’t true. See the discussion in the comments for examples.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2022/05/24
| 298
| 1,044
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<issue_start>username_0: How are academic papers supposed to cite multiple sources in the same sentence when enumerating?
Which of the following examples does it right? (in APA)
1. Prevalent models within this context are model A, model B, and model C (source A, p. 12; source B, p. 202-203; source C, p. 1).
2. Prevalent models within this context are model A (source A, p. 12), model B (source B, p. 202-203), and model C (source C, p. 1).
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Both might be technically correct, but the second is better for specific sources because sources are alphabetical within citations, meaning that #1's citation might become "(source B, p. 202-203; source A, p. 12; source C, p. 1)", depending on the author last names. #2 keeps the sources linked to the models.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In this case, it is better to use the second option so that there is no confusion in the sources, and it is possible to quickly refer to it without reading the text as in the first option.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/05/25
| 618
| 2,524
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<issue_start>username_0: I plan to apply positions after getting my phd degree. Between graduation and getting a formal job, I am going to use "researcher in xxx" as a job title. Actually, I plan to use it after getting a formal job as well.
I am going to use it on academic website, researchgate, linkedin etc. not on research papers.
Does it sound proper or weird?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are unemployed, then for many purposes such as a stated "affiliation" in a paper submission, "Independent Researcher" is common. Adding the field is fine. For job interviews and such, the same should apply.
But, once you have an employer you will probably get a formal title and, for many purposes, it is that title you should use. Usually the company name is also included for reference purposes. "Staff researcher at IBM", say. And some of that may be contractual, a company requirement.
Informally, you can describe yourself as you like. I generally use "Retired professor of CS" for most things, but I have no more formal relationships.
Bottom line is that context matters, especially if you have a formal relationship to an employer.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: If you tell me "I'm a researcher in rocket surgery", I might think "oh, cool! where do you do rocket surgery?", and either asking you that question or looking more closely, if the answer is "Oh, you don't actually have a job doing that, you just say you do it..." I'm going to be a bit disappointed. That taste of disappointment will be left in my mouth after reading your CV. Do you want people reading your CV to be disappointed?
Stick to things in your CV that you can be proud of and defend. If you worked for several years independently and *were productive* (that is, you have publications or some other output you can point to as evidence you were productive), then I think that's just fine to label and refer to. Anyone can say they do rocket surgery in their garage; if anyone can say that, then it's not useful or meaningful to say, so don't bother.
If you've just graduated, you don't need anything in your CV to explain what you've done for the past couple of weeks, and labeling it something it's not just makes you seem fake or fraudulent. It would make me wonder what else in your CV is embellished. Stick to what you've actually accomplished, and be prepared to defend and explain everything in your CV to an interviewer that asks you about it. If someone will be disappointed when they learn more, leave it out.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/05/25
| 1,013
| 4,443
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm pursuing an industrial PhD within a company in the context of an European project, having two directors: one from the company and another from the university. The topic of my PhD is related to the use of artificial neural networks, although the company where I work has no relation to this field at all, neither they plan to be related to it. Actually, I had to "sell" them that it was going to be useful for the company so they allowed me to select my PhD topic while I work in some other stuff. Anyway, my results belong to them as far as I know.
The problem I foresee is that:
* In order to have some real impact with my research in AI, I think it would be convenient to publish the code as Open Source so other researchers can access and check my code.
* If I don't publish some code, I will not have good proves of my work after the PhD as my thesis will probably remain confidential for some time.
* At the same time, it would probably be convenient for the results not to be completely lost, as I foresee that nobody is going to use this work once I finish my PhD in the company.
* Lastly, the project is funded with public resources and I believe unfair to privately keep developments that could be somehow useful for the scientific community (more if I achieve something interesting, and even more if they are going to waste my effort).
The question then is, what should I say to convince them to publish the code of my developments as Open Source?
Additionally, they don't have a public Github repository and so that, I think it would also be ideal to publish on my own repository (maybe specifying that they own the commercial rights?). This way, they could not remove the code whenever they want...
I insist, as far as I know, they own all the work I do. That's why I want to convince them. I'm not trying to do it without letting them know.<issue_comment>username_1: A very short example: MacOS is released under a BSD license, but you can still charge others for any products you deliver if produced using a MacOS-based computer.
Put the focus on "we do not sell the software, we sell the use of the software and the training to use it" and good luck.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When you undertake a PhD program with outside sponsorship from a private organisation (whether it is an industrial firm or some other private firm) the university will need to negotiate an appropriate arrangement for IP and publication expectations up-front. In order for this kind of arrangement to work, the university must be satisfied that you will be able to publish scholarly work and have the appropriate evidentiary backing available to defend that work, so that you can meet the requirements of your PhD. If open source code is necessary (or even valuable) for providing evidentiary backing to your work, then the university might consider it to be an important aspect of your research. If the sponsor imposes restrictions that prevent this, then the university should not accept the arrangement. On the flip side, if you are going to receive private sponsorship for your degree, you will generally expect that the sponsoring firm ought to get *something* out of it. Consequently, it is necessary to negotiate an arrangement where you have the ability to meet the expectations of your PhD (inncluding publishing your work) but you also give something of value to the sponsoring firm. If those conditions can't be met, then this kind of "joint venture" ought not be undertaken.
As to how to negotiate this, you shouldn't feel like you need to do this yourself. Universities have experienced academics and legal advisors who are highly knowledgeable about these kinds of arrangements and negotiations --- ask them to help you negotiate an appropriate sponsorship arrangement with this industrial firm. If the university is doing its job, it simply *will not accept* an arrangement that prevents you from publishing your work and meeting other requirements of a PhD program. (Often in these cases, a sponsoring firm gets the benefit of having academic research created that helps it to do its work, even if they hold litte to no IP in that research; in some cases, they might negotiate a "head start" on knowledge of the material before it is published. In any case, the university ought to be pretty good at negotiating an outcome that can satisfy both institutions.)
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/26
| 510
| 1,871
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<issue_start>username_0: I've been searching this a long time but found no answer.
Suppose I have three version
[v1] Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:59:40 UTC (5,413 KB)
[v2] Sun, 10 Apr 2022 01:50:29 UTC (5,668 KB)
[v3] Fri, 15 Apr 2022 02:27:34 UTC (5,440 KB)
I want to keep v1 and v3, can I just delete v2?
Anyone has done that before?<issue_comment>username_1: As stated in the comments by @AnonymousPhysicist, you cannot delete any versions of your paper. As the name suggests, arxiv is intended as an archive and that includes archiving and permanently making available all versions of the material. The intent of course is citation stability. E.g. if someone wants to cite your argument on page 2, then they can cite the specific version with the right page number and do not need to worry that the argument might have moved to page 3 or been replaced entirely in a later version.
The only exception to this is copyright. As a disclaimer I am no lawyer, but from what I know, if a certain revision did include someone else's material and you submitted it without permission and past the limits of fair use, then arxiv is required to remove it. Please keep in mind though that this is legal territory and do not try to abuse it. Uploading copyrighted material without permission can land you in court, as can falsely claiming that you or someone else did so.
With all this in mind, there is no need to worry about past versions. People will almost always look at the newest version only. Even if there is an error in one of the older ones, owning up to that error is better than trying to hide it. In fact, if you corrected a bigger mistake, you should state that in the comments-field for the new version, so that those who for some reason need to look at the old version know.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can't! That's a property of arxiv :).
Upvotes: 0
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2022/05/26
| 577
| 2,595
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a question about the Google Scholar Search Engine (Grawl Bot) copyright issue. Any advice would be appreciated.
Here is the story. My university library accidentally uploaded my restricted report as an open-access document to the internet without my permission. After I found this, I notified my university, and it was removed from the university library website. But Google Grawl Bot is so powerful, and it captured that report, and it is available on Google Scholar now. If you click that report, you can see something like this: "This is the html version of the file https://***(my university)***. Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web."
I just wonder do I have the right to notify Google to remove my report from Google Scholar after explaining what happened to Google? I checked online, and I found Google has a department called "Copyright removal" to handle those copyright issues.
Since this is a careless mistake of my university library, and my university library has removed my report. The only thing left is to ask Google to remove it from its own Google Scholar website.<issue_comment>username_1: It is doable, but will take time (I managed to get a picture of my son removed that he found problematic when the girls in fifth grade thought it funny). First file through the Google copyright removal department. If they don't respond (but I hear they are getting better) you can threaten with a DMCA take-down notice, since you own copyright on the text. Even if you get it taken down, Google has lots of copies, so check back every now and then.
It is better for universities NOT to engage in restricted research, in my opinion. The results should be available for all, and free of charge. But that's my personal opinion.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two mechanisms for triggering removal of this type of search result (where the content has already been removed or changed):
1. Submit an outdated content removal request through the form at: <https://search.google.com/search-console/remove-outdated-content>
The documentation for this procedure is at: <https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7041154?hl=en>
2. Ask the library to handle this through their Google Search Console account. This will work well if they have already gone through the steps to verify with Google their ownership of the domain that hosted the report. However, if they haven't done the verification, then it will basically be the same as if you submitted the request through your own account.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/26
| 1,429
| 6,002
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<issue_start>username_0: I live in an Asian country and completed my master's in Math in June 2020. I want to do a PhD in Europe, but I have had some difficulties in finding a suitable position. I do not believe doing a PhD in my country is a good option due to extreme racism and corruption, abuse. These issues had already taken a toll on my mental health and the system is delibrately and very heavily gamed against my group in the country I was born.
I wrote to professors in Europe 3 weeks ago whose interests align with mine to discuss the possibility of an internship. This would had help me get my foot in the door, and hopefully strengthen my PhD application. However, I don't have funding.
I sent an e-mail along with SOP that explained my situation (including past hardships, issues in my country, etc.) and providing my CV and master's thesis.
Many professors have already replied back negatively due to various reasons and hopes are not high that I will get an internship in Europe. It was already suggested by answers in this question: [What is the best way to approach professors in Europe about the possibility of an internship (as an unfunded, international student)?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/184628/what-is-the-best-way-to-approach-professors-in-europe-about-the-possibility-of-a). But I really want to do an internship. I was also thinking of writing to profs in China but I came to know that they are not much specialized in Pure maths and hence I didn't wrote to them.
**A professor of France suggested that I should apply to USA, Canada as this sort of arrangement is more common there and there is no money for internships in France.**
Before, writing to professors in USA and Canada, I wanted to make sure by letting know of your opinion that can such a plan with internship of atleast 2 months and atmost 1 year can materialize in the system in USA and Canada when a student is unfunded?<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately, in the USA or Canada, funded internships in math are rare to nonexistent. I have never heard of any professor hiring for such a role: in my observation, opportunities for short-term funding are rare, specialized, and are limited to applicants who either have a PhD or are currently doing well in a PhD program.
Probably the easiest way to get your foot in the door here is admission to a graduate program. Admissions everywhere are competitive, but some programs are more willing to take chances than others.
Best of luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In order to get a visa into the US, you need to show proof that you are not going to be a burden to the country, i.e. have funds to sustain yourself. This requirement is not unique to the US. You also have to show that you are likely to return to your country at the end of your stay.
If you have substantial means in your country, you can qualify on both of them. But any professor dealing with you wants to know about the visa hurdles.
Second, I assume that you do not need funds. Otherwise, no place I know of would invest money into an intern. Academic projects take much longer than the few month of an internship and as someone being there for a ten weeks period, you would have to be trained and talked to, but you would not be productive to justify the efforts. Even if you can pay for your stay and are not a financial burden on the username_1 group that you are joining, you would be an investment that is not likely to pay off. Somebody might take you on, but this would be an act of charity.
If you approach someone, professors are in fact quite busy. They will not have the time to read lengthy letters, and they already get their fair share of ill-directed requests from someone wanting to join their group. You need to keep your request clear and simple, and you should not go into the details of your tribulations in your home-country. Most professors read newspapers and tend to be better informed than the average citizen of their country. They will either already know about the situation in general or they will not care. Your motives also do not need to be explained at length. However, even if you write a good request letter, do not let your hopes get to high. Helping someone to get into a Ph.D. program elsewhere is not good for the professor and the institution, and regrettably, most people do not look to do good works, though most professors will really not be able to help you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **Recommendations**:
1. Focus on the research only. Which means drop any story regarding being a victim of prejudice. That sends all sorts of red flags. In my opinion, the story of your troubles will significantly lower, not improve your chances.
2. Be very selective about whom you want to work with. Make sure your research proposal is directly related to their research. Start a dialogue by humbly asking questions about the interface between what they have published and your interests. If it isn't a good fit, then chances are that you won't find the best experience.
3. Think long-term, whomever you select as an advisor will have an impact on your entire career.
4. Carefully craft a research proposal worthy of a PhD thesis. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the better the research proposal the better the discussions that will follow.
5. Be humble and ask for feedback on your research proposal. That will start the discussion and allow you to ascertain the quality of a potential advisor's feedback, which is a measure of how well you will fit into your advisor's research team.
6. Only after you have a good discussion, should you ask about the possibilities of funding.
7. Should your contact be unable to fund you, (s)he may be able to recommend another professor to contact.
**To summarize**: Your initial goal is to open doors. This means starting discussions that demonstrate the quality of your mind, which will allow you to network into a funding opportunity.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2022/05/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a third year math major at a top 30 US university. I fear that I may have destroyed my chances for graduate school (or perhaps I am being dramatic). I would really appreciate if someone could give me some unbiased advice and perspective.
It is likely that I am going to fail a lower division class (Multivariable calculus). I have As in my real analysis courses so far, but I struggle with calculation focused math classes geared towards Engineering majors.
I have a 3.9 GPA in upper division proof based courses (I've taken six so far), TA & tutor experience, and an REU this summer. I am so thrilled by mathematics (especially algebra), and I cannot wait to get involved in research - and yet what will graduate admissions committees think when they see my checkered transcript? Am I doomed?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, grad admissions is broad based. It is unlikely that any single thing is determinative. Letters of recommendation are especially important. No, I don't think you are doomed, but a failure isn't helping.
The rest of the things you mention ae all very positive. You might get a question about a failure, of course.
It is also possible that you have more insight in some fields of math than others. That is to be expected. Have a chat with your advisor or another trusted faculty member about your options.
---
Caveat: There are a few things that, alone, will keep you out of grad school. Academic dishonesty might do the trick, or being accused/convicted of serious crimes. I add this only for completeness, as there is no indication of it here.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: #### Yes, you're being dramatic
Admission to a graduate program does not require perfection in all past activities; it requires that a student has worked themselves up to a point where they can show solid evidence of being at or above the required level of skills/mastery for admission. If you fail a course that is bad, but you can retake it and do better next time. You can still get through your courses over time and show the requisite level of knowledge/skills/mastery to be a good candidate for a graduate program.
As I've noted in a [similar question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/182925/182928#182928) (in answer to another student being similary dramatic) there is at least one example of a person who led a militant group that conducted bombings of public buildings in the US, and then he later became a university professor in the US. So if he can do that and still become a professor, you can certainly fail multivariate calculus and still get into grad school.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/05/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I am doing a closed and open book exam recently. I was working so hard on it and hoping to pass the exam. However, I received an email that said there’s an evidence that I plagiarized. I was crying for days and couldn’t do anything. I can’t even concentrate on reading and understanding the link they send to me. In the meeting, they shown me an evidence and what surprising to me was, one sentence that I wrote almost 99% identical to a paper that I might read in the past. I have done some exercise question that is related to the subject/theme in the exam as well as listen to zoom classes audio. I’m not a native English speaker and I used grammarly to help with my grammar and the program most of the time suggest me to rewrite what I wrote, concisely. I also grew up in a country that used ‘memorizing’ as a way to study and answers exam. The evidence clearly not on my side but I am not cheating. I state that I am not guilty although it’s highly unlikely that’s going to be the outcome. Am I doing the wrong thing?<issue_comment>username_1: In case you grow up in a place like mine, where memorialisation is stressed too much, it is absolutely necessary to know the standards and ethics by studying and realising on our own. Especially when we aren't encouraged to embrace the ethics with life, and the ethics remains confined within some dull and boring literature or study material.
Read about different kinds of plagiarism. Plagiarism doesnt always have to be word to word copy. If you have took an information from somewhere else, may it be your textbook or may it be from an website, but do not credit it properly, it is plagiarism. Looks like in your case, you have done it unintentionally. Confess your situation. Don't feel guilty; your professor's behaviour is not your responsibility. The best you can try is to remain as original as possible. If I was in your place, I would be rather thankful for spotting my mistake.
My suggestion - Next time be original. Write what you feel. In case you cannot remember the source, write that.
For a place like ours, where people have to write absolute lies on essays, or there is 'a right way' to draw something; originality is punished. Still, in long run, originality wins.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Am I doing the wrong thing?
>
>
>
Assuming your characterisation is honest and complete, it would seem that the university is overreacting. If you have studied by reading books and papers, and then in a closed-book exam write a sentence that is almost identical to a sentence from those books or papers, I wouldn't consider that cheating or plagiarism. I've never seen an exam where one is required to cite sources, and exam answers are not a publication, so I'm not sure if one even can plagiarise when answering questions on an exam.
If their evidence of cheating relies on one sentence that is very similar to a sentence from a book or paper, defend yourself. One sentence is not much. It is reasonably possible that you have read the sentence, that it is an obvious way of formulating it, and that you subconsciously came up with the formulation you had already read, during the exam. Bring that up as your defence.
I hope that the university will not bring serious consequences based on what seems to be rather thin evidence. Defend yourself, because a "conviction" of plagiarism or cheating may impact you negatively for a long time to come.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/27
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<issue_start>username_0: This hasn't directly happened to me, but it's come close. Basically I meet a professor for other reasons (I attended a talk by them, I requested a recommendation from them, during a social visit to their department, etc), and we talk about their work. They are clearly very passionate about their subject, and they eventually offer further collaboration with e.g. "We have this open position and are looking to hire. Would you like to apply?"
Problem is, I don't find their work very interesting. What is a good way to say I don't intend to collaborate further because I don't find the topic interesting? What if we are already collaborating, but I intend to end the collaboration because I lost interest in the topic? Does it matter if the topics (i.e. the one I work on / would like to work on vs. the one the professor works on) are different niches in the same subject, or if they are completely disjoint? For example, if I'm a number theorist, do I respond differently to a professor in algebra or to a professor in medicine?<issue_comment>username_1: Be polite but direct. "Thanks for thinking of me. I'm really looking for opportunities in [area] - I think that's where my research interests lie."
But consider (depending on your career stage) if you might find the collaboration interesting or useful after all. I didn't have much interest in my PhD topic when I started it, but it led me to all sorts of fascinating places.
If you're already collaborating with someone and it isn't working out, that's trickier. It's probably worth looking for a natural stopping point if you can (a publication or the end of a grant perhaps). Again, polite but direct - "I think our interests are diverging - I'm hoping to do more work in [area] and I don't think this research is leading in that direction."
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Actually, I recommend keeping such thoughts to yourself. There is really no need to say you aren't interested. It is hard to say it in such a way that isn't negative since they are highly committed to their own path.
If offered collaboration just say, "Sorry, but I'm too busy/involved in my own research to be able to offer anything".
If breaking an existing collaboration, express it as an opportunity to pursue a new direction that will take all your efforts.
At most, "Sorry, but my interests are elsewhere" is about as far as you should go.
But to, in essence, say to someone that their research is boring isn't going to be helpful to anyone. Let them be them and you be you.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> we talk about their work
>
>
>
Possibly out of courtesy, even though you don't find it interesting.
Extend the same courtesy when answering this question.
They have not, after all, sought your opinion on their work; only whether you'd like to collaborate. There are numerous reasons you could turn down the offer; lack of time, lack of core competence, misalignment with long-term plans, the existence of a more suited candidate, personal choice of country/city/university to work at, etc.
This will probably be easier if the professor is from a vastly different field. Within the same area, they may be able to suggest mutually attractive projects- in which case you could either reconsider, or go with one of the personal reasons.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: #### Just tell them straight-up that you don't find the topic interesting
Honestly, if I were in the position of these professors, it wouldn't bother me at all if you just told me straight-up that you don't find my topic interesting. That is a perfectly acceptable reason to not want to do research with me. Most academics are well aware that we work in niche areas that the vast majority of people would find boring. Even within our general fields, there are research preferences and problems we find interesting and problems that we find uninteresting. My expertise is in statistical theory, which I absolutely adore; I'm well aware that the average person would consider that field about as interesting as watching hair grow. I'm also well aware that there are areas of research in statistics that I am personnally uninterested in, even though I find the field in general to be fascinating.
The best thing you can do long-term in academia ---both for yourself and your colleagues--- is to find a research field that you love, that will sustain your interest for decades of research. Those professors know this, so if you don't find their topic interesting, you're doing them a favour by saying so and bowing out of research in that field. They will want to hire someone who is passionate about the subject, so if that's not you, no problem --- just say so. (Also, your present interests may change over time; you might find that in five years you start to find that field interesting. If so, your previous candour on your lack of interest will stand you in good stead when you tell them you have now developed an interest in that field. At least, that is how I would look at it if you were dealing with me.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: **Be honest, be polite, keep an open mind**
Do tell the professor that you’re happy with your current employment, current line of research, etc. Or tell them that the area or research is a little too far outside of your knowledge for you to delve into it right now. Thank the professor genuinely for the offer. And I’d suggest stating your position as “right now”, not in absolutes (“it’s a little outside my focus right now” vs. “I don’t like that research area—it’s boring”). And keep in mind that what sounds boring now may fascinate you in the future. Don’t burn bridges, and keep an open mind about the type of work you want to do. For my own part I’ve been surprised to find that work I thought was super boring I now find totally fascinating.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: "Professors" aren't arcane creatures who must be talked to in ritual ways. Just tell them as you would tell anyone else you aren't interested in an offer made to you.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/27
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it possible for a professor to write for an undergraduate student who is applying for a graduate program, a negative letter of recommendation? More like a minor criticism? If so doesn't this affect the student's academic career?<issue_comment>username_1: If a letter of recommendation doesn't affect the student's academic career negatively, then it's not actually a negative letter of recommendation (LOR).
It is perfectly fine to add minor negative points about a student, provided that they do not indicate unsuitability for what the student is applying for. If your interaction with the student was in a way that you *have* to do that in order to write an honest letter of recommendation, the best course of action is to advise the student to seek a different LOR writer. If they insist on you doing that, then they have been warned (depending on the culture, you may need to add explicitly that the LOR won't be positive only for them to get the message).
Actually, a minor negative point can add trustworthiness to a letter of recommendation. If everything you write about a student is completely positive, then it may not appear to be representative of the student's performance or ability but may look like a canned LOR given to all students. To avoid this impression, adding some information "between the lines" is however sufficient.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes. Letters of recommendation are sometimes called letters of reference, to emphasise that they can contain both positive and negative remarks on person's performance, achievement and character. Most people are not perfectly excellent in everything they do; they have strengths and weaknesses. A fair letter of reference should reflect both.
>
> If so doesn't this affect the student's academic career?
>
>
>
If you ask someone to write you a letter of recommendation, you should expect them to speak their mind and give you a fair assessment that you deserve. If you are not ready to accept their judgement, do not ask them to serve as a referee. Surely, a negative reference can negatively affect student's academic career, just like a positive one can positively affect it. The same can be said about academic grades --- you pass an assessment, it is graded, and your academic career is affected by this grade. Not every grade is good, and neither is every reference letter.
Having said that, many academics will probably refuse to write any reference at all, if they don't feel that they can write a positive one.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Sure, it's possible. If you're asked to write a letter of recommendation then it is open to you to do so, and to write a negative recommendation if you think that is warranted. In practice this is rare, because most of the time, if an academic has a negative view of the student then they will just decline to write the letter. So it is possible to write a negative letter, but it would be unusual.
As to putting a minor negative point in a generally positive letter, that is much more common. Indeed, you don't always have a student who is so good across the board that there is no area of development that is worth mentioning. Usually a positive letter of recommendation will give an overview of where the student stands relative to their cohort (e.g., all students in their year, students you have previously taught/supervised, etc.), and then it will talk about their strengths and then talk about areas where they might need some further development if accepted to the relevant program. For a positive letter the positive points will substantially outweight the minor areas for development, but you would usually still mention them if you think they are substantial. In some cases a student is good enough across the board that the letter is entirely positive, but not always.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: tldr; Many letters have varying comments, it won't necessarily sink an application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have written many letters and read many as part of our graduate admissions committee.
I'd say that there are a wide range of letters from the absolutely glowing to the "tell it like it is" variety. After all, there are a wide range of students interested in graduate school.
Having some level of criticism, minor note of critique, or measure of faint praise is not uncommon. For our chemistry graduate program, we often have ~350-400 applicants.
Does it affect a student's academic career? That depends a *lot* on the whole portfolio. And probably what school is evaluating you.
If we see one or even a few negative comments from one letter writer, but the rest of the application is strong, we'll probably write it off as a possible issue between the student and one professor. (After all, we're all human and personalities don't always mesh.)
If we see multiple notes across the letters, we may have a reservation about a student. But that doesn't necessarily sink the application. Maybe we decide to admit and give them a shot, but they don't get a fellowship. We'll still read the personal statement, transcript, etc.
Most faculty will be up-front when a student asks for a letter. I can remember one case, where a frankly mediocre student in my class asked for a letter. I suggested they ask someone else since they were currently getting a "B" average in an upper-level course. They felt despite their current grade, that they needed a letter from a classroom instructor, because they had two research experiences and letters from those.
My letter was fair. I mentioned that I believed the research letters would better evaluate how the student would do in grad school, and that they had a "B" in an admittedly tough upper-level course (quantum chemistry).
I don't know if that student got into their top choice, but they did go off to grad school and got a Ph.D.
Top schools likely have hundreds of top students. A minor critique could sink your application. On the other hand, there are plenty of strong grad schools (we're usually ranked 25-40) that are willing to take good students even if there's a minor note here or there. Students are human and there are often stellar students with imperfect applications. I've seen countless in this category.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I don't know about negative, but you can certainly write a lukewarm letter of recommendation which is basically not a recommendation.
I knew a mathematician who I won't name, but he/she had a famous supervisor who wrote him/her some ''lukewarm'' letters of recommendation. This caused him/her to end up at a rather obscure university despite his/her ability and definitely had an effect on his/her career.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/05/27
| 1,782
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<issue_start>username_0: Academic publishing are here to stay and keeping the discussions about already well voiced topics (ethics, open access charges, paying reviewers) aside, as an academic, what changes would you like to see in the manuscript submission and peer review process for major companies like Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, MDPI?
As a previous postdoc researcher, I think, submission of manuscript should be as straightforward as possible and review should be double blinded for all journals.
What are your thoughts? I am currently a scientific editor with a publishing house, so I am just interested to know if there's any pain points that I have not witnessed during my PhD and Postdoc experience.<issue_comment>username_1: My pain point is, as I experienced, many of the tedious, sincere but not-so-well-guided works are not really sufficient to publish ; but they totally rot in University closet. Either it is get to published, or a huge amount of intellectual and physical labour just rot without any credits.
I am looking for a new kind of publication article type; where students/ Early career researchers would be able to publish their partial work/ conference presentations/ dissertations, in order to get some intellectual property of their work. Preferably in form of blog or preprint or stack posts or threads/ science exhibition. But the world will thoroughly read and criticise/ collaborate/ feedback on that work. People all over the world from different expertise will be able to ask questions to the researcher directly.
I believe a major portion of research should happen on a very open way like people collaborate in Wikipedia or GitHub. May be it will not suffice to honor with a Ph.D or Post doctoral degree; but it will be more rewarding for enthusiasm, truth and small but sincere work.
This will give a scope to reseaech in spite of staying out of competition and careerism.
Another of my pain point is, choosing the exact journal is very difficult; and within same field of expertise, journals may have different specialisations and tastes. Now if a not-so-appropriate journal is chosen, a lot of time is wasted for both the researcher and the reviewer.
So journals should collaborate themselves and help forward the article to more appropriate journal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Thanks for trying to do things right.
My primary complaint is the astronomical prices and extortionate business practices of some publishers. For example, [The Cost of Knowledge](http://thecostofknowledge.com/) is a boycott of Elsevier with over 20,000 participants (I am one), by researchers who object to their practices. I recommend that you read their [statement of purpose](https://gowers.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/elsevierstatementfinal.pdf), signed by world-famous mathematicians including multiple Fields medalists, and avoid the practices which they object to.
You mentioned MDPI. I reviewed a paper for them once, and I will never have anything to do with them again. They made ridiculous demands, such as a referee report within three days -- totally out of line with what is expected in mathematics. They also have spammed my inbox repeatedly. Please do not do this.
Another complaint is that [copyediting can be terrible](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11441/how-should-i-respond-to-a-terrible-copyediting-job). There is nothing worse than to pour your heart and soul into a paper, submit it to an expensive journal, and watch it get mangled by careless journal staff.
You should keep in mind that [academia varies more than you think it does](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4471/academia-varies-more-than-you-think-it-does-the-movie); common publishing practice in one field will be totally unheard of in another. Researchers will not adapt to you; you will need to adapt your workflows to the customs and conventions of each field in which you intend to publish.
Finally, accept that as a publisher *you will have little influence*. For example double blind review is a very interesting idea, with [very compelling arguments](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937822000680) in its favor. Math doesn't currently use double blind review (with some exceptions), and there are significant drawbacks as well. If this changes, then it will be because *prominent people from within the profession pushed for it.* So by all means push for changes you would like to see, but push gently, and don't expect all of your initiatives to pan out.
Good luck to you!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: They should accept .tex source file and provide a decent publishing experience or support, at minimum grammar&spelling checks as well as replotting figures if needed. Wtf do I pay thousands of €/£/$ to some company just to have them exploiting peer review for free and then providing (gated) access to a pdf file?
See one of the few smart pictures from [PhDcomics](https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/files/2021/08/tektonika-fig-1.gif), (<NAME> (c) 2009, Nature Vs. Science Pt. 2, 07/17/2009
PhD Comics, Piled Higher and Deeper Publishing, LLC, . republished by [2](http://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/16)) (which otherwise is perpetuating PhDs exploitation by trivializing it).
In short:
Do something tangible for the money you receive, instead of being a simple matchmaker between scientists and reviewers plus watermarking the document provided to you by the scientists or get ready for the moment community-efforts like [volcanica](http://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/16) or [tectonika](https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2021/09/01/tektonika-diamond-open-access-journal/) will bypass you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: By vanishing.
For profit publishing has little left to offer researchers. We host files we review each others work. A publishing company only has a name, reputation, a scope, expectation of some quality and copyrights to the work it already holds. Most of those are parasitic and only serve the profit interests of the publishing company, not science.
Name, reputation and expectation of quality are simply branding choices that the company made. These days they only serve to rank papers by the money spent on them and by boards who don't want to think too much when deciding who to promote.
I don't want to talk about the ethics of holding copyrights to most likely publicly funded research works here but a company holding them forms an adversarial relationship with scientists. They can at best be decent about making the works available at low cost but nothing on that front won't improve by making the work public domain in the first place.
That leaves the scope and to a lesser extend expectation of quality. Which is useful for categorising work and making choices on what to read. With the advent of internet and ease of communication, post publication peer review, I think it is best for this to be handled by researchers and not publishers' advertising choices
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/27
| 1,552
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<issue_start>username_0: Over the past several months we have developed a new way of handling very large numbers in order to turn handling these numbers into a storage problem rather than a processing problem.
The system is now operational but we cannot get into contact with any university departments in order to check the software and tailor it to what the mathematicians need.
Could I please have some advice as to how to proceed?
---
Edit:
>
> Very few mathematicians work with large numbers.
>
>
>
OK, then do you know who these people are so I can tailor my search?
>
> Chinese remainder theorem
>
>
>
No, I am not using the Chinese remainder theorem. My method is much more elegant. I am actually hunting Mersenne primes, and have found a neat way of storing the very large prime numbers for later use. I can't go into detail here because quite frankly I need the money from the uses this could be put to.
>
> Get into contact with departments directly.
>
>
>
I have been on the phone/e-mail trying many diferent maths departments. None even bothered replying, so I am clearly approaching this in the wrong way which is why I have come here for advice.
The software is effectively complete, but I don't have the money to complete construction of the hardware. On top of this it would be useful to have a contact in order to tailor the software for how the mathematicians want to use it.
---
Edit 2:
Received a comment to the effect that since I am cagey with the details I come across as a flake. Well I can't deny that, but the problem is that if I give away enough detail to make a firm case, then whoever I give that detail to could go away and do it themselves leaving me high and dry. In the interests of transparency, I do need the money I stand to get from this so I need to meet any prospective partners in the middle.
---
Edit 3:
I have a functioning version of the software that I can run as a demonstration without giving away how it works. What I need is for the person I am demonstrating the software for to provide with enough hard disk space to run the software up to the largest number that he/she desires.
In testing we are creating lists of Mersenne primes and checking them against GIMP list in order to validate output. With the larger bank of hardware we can get up the number line to more exciting sizes of numbers but due to the world being the way it is we cannot currently afford the hard disks.
This is why I am asking here. It would cost a pittance for universities to front the hardware that is invaluable to me.<issue_comment>username_1: Academics might work "for free" on things that advance knowledge for the public in their field of research.
You shouldn't expect them to work for free on developing your idea that you hope to make money on.
You need to hire an expert consultant it seems, not find an academic mathematician to check your work for free.
It's probably worth it to you to offer a substantial hourly rate if an hour of an expert's time will save a lot of yours.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me try to answer your question.
1. It's highly likely that almost nobody wants what you have made. Above, say 20000 digits, there is little demand for integer arithmetic that I know of. The GIMP is a bit of fun for geeks, it's not serious mathematics, and nobody will pay you (except the GIMP team) for being able to find another Mersenne prime. They are way too big to do cryptography with, and also completely terrible for cryptography, as there is literally a list of them. Finding another one is of no mathematical significance.
2. Why do you think your discovery is novel? There are current methods to work with integers of arbitrary size. Magma computes with multiplying 10000-bit numbers almost instantaneously. (The recorded time to multiply them is 0.000 seconds.) More than that (20000-bit) seems overkill for public-key cryptography. Magma uses the Schönhage-Strassen FFT-based algorithm for multiplying large numbers. Is yours better than that? And why?
3. If you aren't willing to publish the algorithms behind your work, mathematicians will not be interested, full stop. Regardless of how good it is, any algorithm not publicly described is fake, and not to be trusted. Publication before purchase is necessary. Universities will pay for software, but mathematicians will not pay for software whose inner workings are secret. That's a hard no. Open source is not necessary -- Magma is closed source -- but it tells you which algorithms are used in every part of the code.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Here's one possible path to monetization:
1. Go to America, or find a partner who is in America.
2. Get a Software Patent.
3. ???
4. Sell the patent, or the products it protects, for cash.
Once you have an open, examinable, demonstrable approach, then you stand at least some chance of being able to commercialize and sell the idea.
There is no way for you to monetize the idea, without giving people something they can take apart to find out how it works, whether in hardware or software.
You cannot monetize a closed idea. As others have hinted, the *overwhelming majority* of ideas that lay people come up with, don't survive even the most cursory examination by specialists, in any field. Statistically speaking (and math specialists are usually pretty good at stats!), your idea is very unlikely to be different. Is it any wonder, then, that specialists are unwilling to waste time examining the claims of yet another naif who claims to have done something that the specialists could not?
Academic mathematicians get countless papers from laypeople claiming to have proven some outstanding proof or other. These people lay out every step of their logic, and expect no funding or money... and even they get ignored. Why should they waste time on someone who gives no information, and expects money?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: If your method actually needs you to construct hardware, there's very little chance anybody will be interested. If you just mean assemble regular computer parts, then even if you don't have the money for that, you could rent an instance from AWS with 512GB of memory and 16TB of storage for around $6/hr. Seems like you could record a demo for not much money, which would give people a much better idea of whether it's interesting.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/27
| 358
| 1,557
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently completed a final round interview for an AP job. I told the interview committee that I only have about a few days to respond to other offers and would appreciate if they could let me know the decision as soon as possible although I know that they are interviewing other candidates as well. Is it a good idea? The interview went really well.<issue_comment>username_1: Putting on prior conditions isn't going to help you as they have constraints. If their rules require interviewing n (say 3) candidates they need time to arrange that and probably don't have a way to make it work as quickly as you require.
Asking for a decision asap and stating that you have your own constraints might be ok (or not), but anything beyond that will likely hurt, not help. Even Einstein wasn't recognized for his brilliance in his earliest days.
You can't always force the world into the lane you would like. Make your decisions at the point you need to make them.
Asking others for a few extra days to decide is another alternative that is probably less likely to be a problem if you have an offer. ("Probably", not certainly)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If this is in the United States, making a job offer will require multiple levels of approval. You will not have a firm job offer in a few days. If the committee thinks you are going to decline because you have accepted another offer, they will not offer you the job. Communicate clearly if you are still seeking the job.
We cannot predict what they will do.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/28
| 1,337
| 5,765
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<issue_start>username_0: I've a PhD in pure math, with postdoctoral experience in theoretical/statistical aspects of machine learning, with over seven years of teaching experience in math *in English*, and **currently a part time lecturer** of math in an engineering school in France. This year I applied to 44 **full time** [MCF positions](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%C3%AEtre_de_conf%C3%A9rences_(France)) (assistant professor) in France, and **all** the places that I thought had something to do with my research, didn't call me *even for an audition*. However, only a French engineering school specialized in mechanical engineering called me to audition - to my (somewhat pleasant) surprise. **For reference, MCF comes with mixed teaching and research responsibilities.**
I had applied to this school of engineering (this is one of the "Ecole Supérieures") in the CNU Section 26, just to take a chance. I also communicated with the people in charge and specified that my French was only intermediate and they replied by saying that nearly 100% of the teaching would be in French, and thus not being able to provide the lectures in French will be a unfavorable point of any application. **I cannot obviously ask the school why they selected me, because that'd obviously negatively affect my application**.
I looked the faculty research interests, that got nothing to do with mine, and on top of that the language would be a barrier at this point (not that I don't want to improve my French, but I'm just not there at this point...).
**So my question is:** why am I being called for an audition? I'd hazard a guess that they didn't get a lot of applications OR that they're planning to give me a lot of teaching load, having seen my teaching experience; both would be a point of serious concern, considering my professional goals and my passions related to it - which is research in theoretical machine learning, and not a lot of teaching (no more than 200 hours a year). I emailed the selection committee asking if I could audition in English, and the answer was no. **Also, anyone looking at my CV would figure out that I'm not a statistician (although I do know a fair bit), and yet they asked me to present a teaching demo of inferential statistics, something where I've not published nor taught in a classroom setting!!!** So I don't understand why the school is trying to have it their way and yet asking me for audition - seems *genuinely* confusing to me. **I can't obviously ask the school why they selected me to audition, as that'd negatively affect my application** (although in case, I'm certain that I'd not be offered this position anyway, perhaps for the better).
I'd appreciate responses, **especially from people who were in the same situations so that I know how some assistant professor selection process goes - this is one of my goals to know**, or those familiar with French higher academic system. Thank you in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: Theoretical aspects of machine learning might just be in high demand. Machine Learning in general is now very attractive, students and industry demands it, and apparently, there is no-one else there with your knowledge.
You should go and see what they have.
They will want to know whether you can teach in French. If your French is truly terrible, then you should beg out. Presumably, they will just want it to be passable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: First, it's worth noting that to my knowledge most of the "Grandes Ecoles" do not belong to the same system as regular universities. They use the same job titles and similar procedures, but they have more flexibility in various aspects, in particular the hiring procedure. I don't know if this information is relevant here, but I assume that most of your rejected applications were for regular universities positions, so this might not be a coincidence.
About their motives, one can only speculate:
* They might need to fill a teaching position which fits your profile, for example in pure maths. Especially for "Grandes Ecoles", the teaching part of the position may be given high priority compared to the research part.
* The chance factor: one of the reviewers may simply have found your profile interesting enough to give you an interview, and convinced the panel.
* A more unpleasant reason: some political move is at play, for example if they already have a favourite candidate that they want to select. This is not supposed to happen, but it could happen that they would purposefully fill the interview slots with plausible but inappropriate candidates to justify the final decision.
* ...
Note that they could have decided to ignore the language issue for now in order to assess your French level at the interview.
In general there's simply no way to guess their reasons. When I was applying for MdC positions in France, whether I would get an interview or not seemed almost random to me. In fact, my guess was more often wrong than right about which universities would give me the interview, even though I was fairly well informed of the process and sometimes even had a bit of information about the places where I was applying.
If you're really interested to discover how the French selection process works, there's no harm going to the interview. People often say that it's worth doing it, if only for the experience (personally I question this point, to be honest). Of course, you probably know that the expenses are not reimbursed (unless this changed since I was doing it, but I doubt it). If you're not even interested in the interview, you can make up an excuse and withdraw your application (don't do this if you want to have any chance in the same institution in the future, obviously).
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/28
| 881
| 3,835
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<issue_start>username_0: If a respectable professor writes the same recommendation letter for all students they recommend, especially when it looks like merely a character certificate, i.e. the professor knows the student X, s/he is good, sincere, hardwarking, qualified XYZ; but does not mention any details of strengths and weaknesses of the student; does it make a bad impression of the recommended student (X)?<issue_comment>username_1: This probably varies by place. If LoRs are relatively unimportant then such a thing is probably fine. This student isn't an idiot.
But in a place like the US, where LoRs are quite important, such a letter is just noise to the committee. It isn't exactly bad, but it gives no support where support is needed.
I'd suggest not asking people for letters if they are known to behave like this. Find someone who you trust and who will write you a more personalized and positive letter.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: To add to username_1's good answer: It also depends on the reputation of the professor. If a Nobel price laureate writes a letter that means something. Since they get so many requests, they will not be able to write something specific for each person, and they usually will not accept many requests.
Sometimes you are required to provide three letters of reference, but you only have two people that can write such a letter. The third one will be a canned one by necessity.
Committees that screen are made up of people that are asked to write letters of recommendation frequently. They will be able to read between the lines and accept that a canned letter is just saying that this appears to be a good student, but they do not know them very well. If you did an undergraduate research project with one professor, that letter will be important.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Since a candidate might only get to submit 3 LORs, if one is worthless, that can't possibly be as good as 3 strong ones offering actual reasons why they're such a great candidate. So, yes, I think it would hurt, maybe enough to matter, maybe not, depending on the competition. It's important to carefully choose someone you trust.
As an instructor writing an LOR, there's really no excuse for submitting empty drivel. But if someone's doing that, I think they're an exception. I think most instructors appreciate that when you agree to write an LOR, you accept responsibility to take it seriously and put some thought into it.
It's just not that hard to write a helpful LOR. It's okay for the letter to be formulaic (most are, since we do them over and over for so many students) but it has to provide helpful information beyond just the final grade.
Even if all I know about a student is that they were one of 1000 in my intro CS class and they got an A, I can still write a useful LOR explaining what that A means by providing additional objective information, e.g., specifics about the nature and difficulty of the class, the projects, number of lines of code in them, how the student performed, especially class rank, not just final grade.
To go beyond that, I'll ask the student for copies of their transcript, any statement of purpose or other essays they expect to submit, a paragraph or two describing the sort of career they want, and anything else like awards and achievements they'd like me to mention, even if they weren't in my class. If I don't know them well already, I'll suggest they drop by office hours to chat about the future they want.
This allows me to mention those awards or achievements and report that I've talked to the student, describe their interests and plans, and state that I support them. I'll close by inviting them to contact me if they have questions or would like to discuss my letter, but that's only happened once.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2022/05/28
| 725
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<issue_start>username_0: Ability to get a Recommendation letter / other career success often requires good perception by teachers. But when a large number of professors aren't very insightful, they tend to prioritise traits like politeness, diplomacy and sociability. In other hand, there are a little number of students seem to excruciatingly truthful but they appear to be very restless, clumsy, noisy, struggling with studies, yet hyperfocused into a topic, and can be bluntly direct, may be unable to 'read in between the lines', may not recognise professor's tone or body language, may interrupt within talk. (Maybe this is undiagnosed ADHD or some other kind of behavioural disorders). In such cases; especially when the student doesn't have a medical diagnosis; what should be ideally the perception of the student in Academic community?
And if not ideally; how does the present academia see such deviant or divergent behaviours?
In my locale, in several universities this kind of 'divergent' behaviour is seen as wilfull disrespect to the authority, indiscipline, bad manners, rulebreaker, untrustworthy or dangerous; and in my life I haven't seen anysuch student is being practically selected for independent research work in good places.<issue_comment>username_1: A professional academic wouldn't make assumptions but seek evidence. One could ask students in private about medical questions or disruptive behavior, but a student need not reply (in some places, anyway).
But, it is hard to change culture if that is the issue and you are being accurate in your assessment of the local situation. Such issues can be self reinforcing.
There are also situations in which the sheer scale of courses is such that it is nearly impossible to take individual differences into account. Dealing with 25 individuals is possible, 250 not so much. Institutional solutions are then required.
But, to turn it around, if a student with any health issue affecting their academic behavior or performance knows of their condition (not all do) then they should consider an appropriate set of actions. That might include talking to the professor or having an intermediary do so. But many universities also have an office with people trained to handle such issues.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: According to a review; ADHD symptoms and the teacher–student relationship: a systematic literature review , by <NAME>; <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/13632752.2019.1597562?scroll=top&needAccess=true>
>
> Thus, teachers experience less emotional closeness, less co-operation and more conflicts in their relations with their students with ADHD than with other students. Teachers’ rejection of ADHD students poses a risk factor for not only school failure, but also peer exclusion and rejection, leading to low self-esteem and loneliness.
>
>
>
However this says more at school settings than higher ed.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/05/28
| 1,122
| 4,959
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<issue_start>username_0: One referee report is awful. Comments are basically two types:
1. Please re-invent the wheel and write a primer to the whole field.
* Must supply more basic background to the field (analogy: paper is about one aspect of mouse genetics, referee wants me to explain what genetics are, and what mice are - the request is that broad, that absurd.)
* Must supply all details of my source material because paper must stand alone, just referring to previously published work (mine and others) is insufficient (That would require a shelf of books to cover it.)
2. Clearly you don't understand the technicalities of the subject.
* I don't understand the subject. (I quite literally wrote the standard reference book).
* I use the technical terminology wrong. (This is a "scientific use" / "popular use" issue, I think; they use the looser laypersons' definition, I use it as per our discipline.)
* Half the publications I refer to don't understand the subject either. They are wrong about everything. (Again, these are publications by respected authorities.)
---
Editor says "revise and resubmit". But how? Do I just write to the editor and refute these points one by one? What are my likely outcomes if I do just that?<issue_comment>username_1: Since I don't know the editor, consider this as a suggestion to be considered, not necessarily a recommendation, but it is what I would personally do.
Revise the paper as best you can taking whatever is valuable from the reviews. In general, it isn't necessary to take every recommendation, but each should be considered.
I would resubmit my best effort with a note to the editor that you believe that one of the reviews was wrong in (nearly) every respect and so much of it couldn't be incorporated. Further, I'd suggest that the reviewer was possibly (probably) the wrong person to do the review.
Then let the editor(s) do their job. If you get rejected, submit elsewhere. You might, however, get a new review cycle with a different reviewer. That takes time, of course, but gets some additional advice that might be valuable.
But a detailed rebuttal probably won't help and will possibly seem defensive. Possibly offer to submit a detailed rebuttal if the editor requests it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Where the unreasonable referee says "write a primer to the whole field" perhaps instead you can provide some references of primers to the whole field.
Where the referee says "I don't understand this technical point", you should add a reference for that particular technical point.
If the referee objects to a usage that you consider correct in the technical sense, add a bit taking the time to explain that it is, indeed, a technical usage.
In general, you can probably make your paper better (and satisfy the editor) by adding references and little explanatory sentences here and there.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been in situations like this before, also from the editor's side. As editor, as long as I don't reject the paper, I have some hope that it can be brought up to publishable standard. If the negative reviewer actually recommended to "reject", this already implies that as editor I don't fully agree with that reviewer. This means that you'd probably have a chance to convince me that the points made by the negative reviewer are mostly invalid. I would however expect a point by point response and that you make an effort to understand if some of the issues raised by that reviewer actually can be used to improve the paper. Ultimately as an editor it is my interest to have a paper that is as good as possible. Sometimes this does *not* mean that I want everything fulfilled that a reviewer wishes. I'd be open to arguments from both sides and would like to be convinced by you in case you don't follow that reviewer.
I can't predict the outcome obviously without having any idea about the paper and its content, however with me as an editor you'd have a chance to convince me in a point by point response. Less so if you generally write that the reviewer has been bad and shouldn't have been chosen as a reviewer in the first place (even if I may ultimately agree; I have for sure seen reviews that made inappropriate demands and as editor I will not impose these - but even then there may be one thing or two in such a review from which you can learn and improve the paper).
I should maybe add that as author and reviewer I occasionally have seen editors who wouldn't take a clear stance against one of their reviewers, and ultimately won't accept a revision if you can't convince the critical reviewer themselves, regardless of whether their demands are justified and reasonable. I don't think this is good (my interpretation in such a case is that the editor may be too lazy to think through the issues themselves), and I think it's a minority behaviour, but it does happen. A bit of luck is needed in publishing.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/05/28
| 1,574
| 6,253
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<issue_start>username_0: I was born in the US and stayed for a little over 2 years, thus English and Spanish (my parents' native languages) are both my native languages. I've stayed in near constant contact with English and never lost the language even if I was raised for the rest of my life in a Spanish speaking country.
I'm currently looking for scholarship options abroad, and most will require me to take an English proficiency test as if learned as a second language (like the TOEFL or IELTS exams), which is not the case. I haven't been able to find any information on how scholarship language requirements work for native speakers and even then, I'm not sure how I could prove that it is, indeed, one of my native languages.
Is there any certificate that I could get to prove that I'm a native speaker? Or would I have to take one of these exams despite that anyway? I'm aware my situation is uncommon so I don't know if any information is available; either way I appreciate any kind of advice or info anybody has on this.<issue_comment>username_1: I would guess that the easiest way is just to take the test and provide your scores when asked. The advantage is that it is the expected and "normal" thing for those applying from a country with a language other than English as the dominant one.
Alternatives would probably require tailoring a request for each institution that you apply to and they may not have an obvious process for dealing with it. Phone calls, pointing to published work, and some other things might suffice, but each case would require some work on everyone's part, where supplying a test score is standardized.
I assume you wouldn't have any problems getting a high score on any of the tests. Costs a bit of money and time, but only once.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is there any certificate that I could get to prove that I'm a native speaker?
>
>
>
* That is exactly what the TOEFL and IELTS people give you after you take the test. (keep in mind most native speakers will not get the top score)
* Usually a transcript from an English-language high school or university is sufficient.
Nobody cares what your native language is. They want to know your current language ability. Plenty of native English speakers do not have sufficient skills to succeed in a university. People from English-speaking countries are evaluated with transcript instead of a standardized test.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: The simplest course is just to take one of those exams, though, yes, there is some expense of time and money.
Colleges/universities do not want to spend time on customized treatments. What's their motivation? They're not being hostile, it's more like they simply don't have anyone whose job would be to appraise non-standard certification of sufficient English fluency.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, in some cases self-confidence in fluency is more a personality test than a certification of fluency. :) Rather than getting embroiled in such stuff, there are many motivations to just go the standard route(s).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: At my institution (CUNY in New York, USA), the criteria for identifying "native language" (and hence exemption from TOEFL testing requirements) is basically that you hold a high school diploma from an English-language speaking country. The web page for [undergraduate admissions](https://www.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/toefl/) says this (note different schools even in the same system have varying cutoff requirements):
>
> Applicants on a temporary visa who were educated in a non-English
> environment are asked to submit results from TOEFL, IELTS, PTE or
> Duolingo. This is one of several academic components evaluated during
> admission review.
>
>
>
Similar language is given for [graduate admissions](https://www.cuny.edu/admissions/graduate-studies/international-students/#1439494878736-9f43f8d5-5556):
>
> Please note that if you are an international student who completed a
> bachelor’s degree program in the U.S. or an English Speaking country
> like the U.K or Australia (India, Bangladesh and Pakistani students
> are still required to take the TOEFL exam) then you are exempted from
> the TOEFL exam.
>
>
>
[See here for a specific list of country-by-country requirements](https://www.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/secondary/) for the undergraduate program. Perhaps the universities you're applying to will likewise have their own specific definitions for this requirement.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Requirements vary by jurisdiction and school, but they are usually abundantly clear. For example, see [the requirements to obtain a UK Student Visa](https://www.gov.uk/student-visa/knowledge-of-english), in which you must have an approved SELT certification (such as an IELTS certificate) unless you are from one of 18 English-speaking countries or obtained UK "high school" qualifications (GCSEs, typically taken at age 15–16; or A Levels, typically taken at age 16–18) when you were under the age of 18 (e.g. someone from India moving to a UK school at age 16 and obtaining A Levels).
Notably, the last point implies that people born as UK nationals but who did not obtain GCSEs or A Levels, renounced/overrode their UK citizenship to one other than the specified 18 countries, and subsequently returned to the UK to study, are required to demonstrate knowledge of English, even though they theoretically may have lived in the UK and spoke solely English for decades before changing their citizenship. That may very well seem unreasonable or just plain annoying for such people, but those are the requirements, and you have to meet them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I am from India and know many people who have done all their education in English - kindergarten/preschool to Graduate (say 17-18 years) and whose English is pathetic. Largely this is due to the fact that these people think and converse in their native language (we have many) and dialect (many for each language), with English used only for academics.
So, it does make sense for universities to insist on an English language test. I do not think you will be able to avoid taking this test.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/29
| 2,315
| 10,254
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate studying in Australia aiming for a US PhD program. I want to apply for a PhD in statistics. I have good grades in all of my math and stats courses in general.
Unfortunately, the statistics department has quite a few very bad lecturers. And the two lowest grades I got are from two probability and statistical courses. As the discipline I am applying for is statistics, I think I really need to explain them in my materials.
These two courses were organized badly. For one of them, the lecturer was basically incompetent. For the other one, the lecturer might be a good researcher, but horrible at teaching. I am not the only student saying this; numerous complaints were filed for these two courses and many students dropped out during the term. I worked hard on these courses, but the results are still significantly lower than what I would normally achieve.
How could I properly address my lower-than-expected performance in these two courses, and if I should address them at all?
I am afraid if I say something negative towards my lecturers, I might leave a bad impression to people in the admission committee since many of them are lecturers themselves.<issue_comment>username_1: **I recommend you don't mention this at all**. Here are some reasons:
* Variation in the quality of lecturers is already built into the grades and GPAs of all other students, so this does not raise any special issue that differentiates your experience from the experience of other applicants. While cases of lecturing leading to student complaints is unusual, it is not so rare that other students would not also have experienced it. It is rare to meet a university graduate who cannot point to at least one bad lecturer they had, or even one who could reasonably be described as incompetent. (Note: I am not endorsing this situation; just observing that it is the reality of academia at the moment.)
* Following on from this, reporting bad quality lecturing as a reason for bad performance is likely to sound churlish. Admissions committees want to know that incoming students are professionally generous people who can act in a collegial way in the Department. Ideally they want people who are tolerant of shortcomings in others, don't draw attention to these shortcomings unless absolutely necessary, and are able to work around deficiencies in the work of others without complaint. Over the course of your own career you will probably make some mistakes and do some work that turns out to be of insufficient quality --- learn to tolerate that in others. As Kant said (although he said it in German), "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made."
* The explanation you propose to give identifies the problem for your bad performance as being located in *someone else*. The admissions committee will want to know what deficiencies you can identify *in yourself* that come out of this experience, and *what action you have taken* to improve since then. For example, if you can't follow along with certain lecturers (e.g., because they are bad teachers), what alternative sources of learning do you seek out, and what have you done since then to ensure that you can learn material independently?
* Finally, assuming your report of this is accurate, and even assuming we accept that these were indeed bad teachers, it will indicate that you find it difficult to succeed in statistical learning from independent written resources without lecturer assistance. There is a lot of this type of learning in a PhD program, so anything you say that indicates a difficulty learning independently will count against your application.
If you feel the need to say something about these cases, or if you are asked about them, it would be best simply to say that you had difficulty following the lecturers in those cases. Avoid any criticism of the lecturer and focus on your own inability to follow along, then explain what you have done since this time to put yourself in a better position for learning in cases where you have difficulty following the lecturer. Any experienced academic will read the obvious variation in lecture quality into this without you needing to say it. They will appreciate if you "take the bullet" for the outcome instead of blaming your lecturer.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree completely with [Ben's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185664/79875): you should not attempt to blame your lecturers in your application materials, even if your complaints are justified. Most students have to deal with their fair share of poor lecturers; further, even poor lecturers typically give a reasonable proportion of good grades.
One point to add: if there really was an anomalous circumstance that put you in a truly unusual situation, then it would be far better if the person writing your letter of recommendation explained this situation in their letter. The report of an anomalous circumstance will carry much more weight if it comes from a professor, who is more impartial and has more insight into what is usual and unusual. Of course, it would be highly unusual for a letter writer to criticize their colleagues and state that grades were assigned unfairly, so this option will only be available in **highly** unusual circumstances (which does not appear to be the case here).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: One possible idea to alleviate a bad grade is the (heh) statistics. If you have the data on the average grade in your "bad" course, and it is significantly lower than over averages, you might be able to argue that it's not your performance but an especially hard exam or something like that.
Otherwise, I would not "baselessly" blame the lecturers, nobody in the committee knows neither you nor the lecturers, so you are basically badmouthing them without an evidence.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Your best option is to say nothing, and talk about your strengths rather than weaknesses. Most students have weaknesses, whether it's low grades in some courses or something else. Admission committees know that it's rare to get a student with no flaws, so what's important is whether the student's strengths are worth tolerating those flaws.
This is assuming you're not applying to the very top programs. There, bad grades in a fundamental course are unlikely to fly, unless you have some truly amazing accomplishments to balance it out.
Your plan of excusing the bad grades by citing lecturer incompetence is a bad idea. There are too many students who do poorly in a course and blame the instructor. There's no way to know whether you are one of those. Other students agreeing with you means little: Most students are not good enough for PhD programs, hence a minority of applicants get admitted. Besides, the committee is not going to canvas your classmates or look up your teachers on ratemyprofessors.com, they'll just throw your application in the bottom of the pile, and see if they can find a less complicated application. Moreover, some may very well feel that you should have found a way to teach yourself the topic regardless of poor instruction (such as reading the textbook) - in research, one often must learn things without any instruction at all.
If your grades in statistics are truly bad, I would recommend not applying to PhD programs in statistics right now. This by itself is a very strong reason not to admit you and no amount of skillful rhetoric in the application will save you. If it sounds unfair, it is - students from grade inflated schools absolutely have an advantage over others, but such is life. If you try to apply anyway, you will be fighting an uphill battle. I recommend delaying your application and taking some steps first to even the odds a little:
* Do an internship, get a job, or find some other way to obtain experience that will make you seem impressive to the program you're applying for *regardless of grades* - typically you want something where you get research experience, ideally with publication authorship
* Do a project or take a more advanced course in statistics and do really well, which would show that your understanding of statistics is strong in spite of bad grades in lower level courses - this would be the best way of "excusing" your earlier poor grades
You'd have to separately research what specific topics would impress PhD programs in your field. Usually some kind of short program can tick a lot of the boxes, such as a Master's Degree, or working in a research group. You'd lose 1-2 years but end up qualifying for a much better PhD program.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: In case you have just completed your masters and not in a hurry to enroll into a Ph. D. (I would suggest you not to hurry); do a short course (either from online or from a less competitive environment where people may have good teaching skill regardless of their research skills).
In the mean time; pause and reflect inside - how much concrete is your insight into statistics. Such as are you explain some statistical concept (such as 'randomness' , 'emergence', 'central tendency' etc.) to an absolute novice? how would you explain them to a 7 y/o? Have you skeptically derived each and every formula you use? What strategies you would take to identify 'noise' associated in a phenomenon? What tools you can offer to some other field, such as biology or physics? this will help you identify the gaps in knowledge and prepare you for solving research problems.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm not sure that the reason for the bad grades is really relevant. If the professors didn't teach the material well, you didn't learn the subject, and that's what the other programs presumably care about. So unless you believe you did learn the material (on your own, presumably), but for some reason the course grade doesn't reflect this, the grades should stand.
Yes, this puts you in a lousy situation if you're applying for positions in this field, but you really should have expertise in the field you plan to work in. If you've tried to remedy the problem by studying independently, you could mention that to mitigate the poor grades.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm taking a gap year and I plan on applying to grad schools again this fall. I'm wondering if the GRE Math subject test is helpful/required anymore?
Personally, I have very low grades in some important math courses (imagine like C+'s/B-'s in algebra/analysis because I could never force myself to study for them) and I haven't taken anything like topology/geometry either. I want to go to grad school for applied math, but I do think proving that you are capable of understanding these fields is somewhat necessary?
But, does the math GRE actually show that? Most of it is calculus based, so does it actually help? And does anyone know if grad schools in general still care for it? Most waived requirements during covid, but since we're in a post-covid(-ish) time, would anyone happen to know if it still matters?
Edit: adding some more details.
I plan on applying for both masters and PhD applications (I'd prefer a PhD but I don't have too much research experience). Since I messed up my GPA a bit (~3.25), I know that top ranked programs are probably out of reach so I'm mostly planning on applying to mid-high ranked programs (imagine ranked top 30-100 in the US.) I have done a senior year research project but it didn't lead to a thesis/report and we were only required to do a presentation. But it was using a niche-ish topic that isn't taught at the undergrad level mostly. I've taken majorly graduate level math courses, and I do have at least 2 good recommendation letters, and possibly a third from the instructor who taught my C+ (grad only) course. I've also been a head Teaching Assistant for a calculus course this past semester, and I'm trying to get a TA-ship for a differential equations course this summer. But yeah, pure math course grades are still pretty low so I wanted to see if there's anything that can prove I can still work on those subjects.<issue_comment>username_1: This question should go to some of the universities that you are applying to. The program determines what is required and what can be provided. There are admission directors of graduate programs and admission office people who will be able to answer your question. They will also tell you if they would look at secondary data such as the scores of the GRE subject test if they do not require it.
Since you are applying to a Mathematics program, it makes sense to invest into taking the GRE subject test as well. You can show that you understand the basics of an important subject. Calculus is pretty fundamental in applied Mathematics, and showing that you master it despite having gotten a so-so grade in Analysis would be information that I would like to see if I sit on the admissions committee. More important would be of course a good recommendation letter that has some information on your thesis.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: While the GRE is required less frequently than in the past, the advanced (subject) tests can measure your overall understanding of a subject. But, unless things have radically changed in the last half century, the math test is very hard. I was a top student and did well on the test, but there were quite a lot of questions that I had no basis to answer, as it is very broad. I don't recall applied math being part of it then, but that may well have changed.
But you need a reality check. Analysis, Algebra, and Topology are core subjects in most math programs and if you did poorly in some and missed others you are in a poor place to do well on the math GRE since it reflects that core. It is possible that you learned a lot outside class, of course, as some do.
I recommend that you take the exam without sending your scores anywhere and see how you do. If you get great scores then send them everywhere that it is possible. If you get mediocre scores then send them only to places that require them.
But, expect a very hard test. Expect to feel disappointed when you leave the test (as I did), though you may do well in spite of that feeling of dread. The exam is very broad and the undergraduate curriculum can hardly capture the breadth of mathematics. And, repeating, it is very hard.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a faculty member, and my department chair's son is enrolled in a course I'm teaching. Actually, this happened twice during the past academic year and is slated to happen again this fall.
I'm uncomfortable with being placed in this position; my point of view is that the situation is improper if an instructor feels in any way threatened or influenced by the fact that a student's parent is the instructor's boss.
However my online searching failed to bring up much discussion relative to this type of scenario. May I ask the Academia Stack Exchange community for opinions on the ethics involved here?<issue_comment>username_1: The ethics are simple, actually.
For you, ethical behavior is to treat the student exactly like any other.
For the department head the ethical behavior is not to apply any pressure, even implicitly, to get you to behave other than as suggested above.
For the student, ethical behavior is not to try to exploit their relationship with their parent to get any advantage.
Not everyone behaves ethically, of course, but most places provide some procedure to address unethical behavior, though they can be difficult to bring to bear if you are vulnerable and pressured.
But, act ethically, hope for the best, and evaluate your options if the best doesn't occur.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: As noted in the comments, the children of departmental chairs and administrators who have matriculated at an institution have a right to the services that are provided by that institution. *Someone* has to teach these students. Assuming that everyone is committed to behaving ethically, there is no problem here.
Some practical considerations:
1. If you are in the US, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that you keep your educational records private, and that you do not share those records with third parties. How this interacts with college students is a little complicated, but the long-and-short of it is that (in the US) you are not generally *required* to share educational records with parents, and there are circumstances under which you *may not* share such records. If you are worried about your boss demanding information about their child, you might have a conversation with someone else in the hierarchy (e.g. a dean if you are teaching the chair's kid; your chair if you are teaching the VP's kid; etc), a union rep (if you have one), an institutional ombud (if you have one), or someone in your legal department.
2. My general policy is to grade *everything* anonymously. There are services out there which make it much easier to do this, e.g. I have used both GradeScope and CrowdMark in the past (I don't necessarily want to drive traffic to those sites, but a quick Google search should give you the information you need). Grading anonymously makes it much easier to defend a claim that you are not giving any particular student any special treatment (either positively or negatively).
3. Generally speaking, the expectation is that everyone is going to behave ethically. One hopes that you are an ethical instructor, that your boss is not going to attempt to exert influence upon you, and that your student is not going to attempt to exploit their relationship with your boss. You really should not have *any* reason to fear teaching your boss's children—this happens all the time, and is rarely a problem.
In the highly unlikely event that things go wrong (e.g. your boss attempts to influence your instruction of their child), make sure to document *everything*. Keep contemporaneous records, add some narrative, and make sure that *your* behaviour is impeccable. Should your relationship with the student and their parent rise to the level of formal proceedings (e.g. a grievance is filed), you are going to want to make sure that you have covered your ass.
That being said, I must reiterate that it is *very* unlikely that this will be a problem. Teach the class, treat your boss's child like any other student, and don't sweat it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Teaching your chair's child presents a *minor* conflict of interest for both the instructor and the parent/chair. Consult your university's conflict of interest policy.
Fair grading and a positive evaluation are in conflict for the instructor. This is a minor conflict because most instructors have little interest in their chair's evaluation as it is not in doubt.
Fair evaluation and obtaining a good grade for the child are in conflict for the supervising chair. This is a minor conflict because most chairs would see fair evaluation as more important than helping their child fraudulently get a good grade.
Ideally, the student's parent should not be permitted to evaluate the teacher's work. Someone else should be assigned to do the evaluation, such as an assistant chair or dean. This would eliminate the conflict of interest.
In practice, I would guess most people just ignore these situations to save time and money. It is perfectly reasonable to decide the cost of changing the faculty evaluation process outweighs the disadvantages of a minor conflict of interest.
Off topic clarification: Conflicts of interest are not unethical. They are situations. Decisions may be unethical, but situations cannot be. A conflict of interest is a situation where a decision-maker may benefit from two different choices.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Background: I am a former department chair at a large university, and also served for several years on my university’s conflicts of interest committee.
---
The situation you are describing can indeed reasonably be categorized as a type of conflict of interest, specifically one involving nepotism, but it is not *your* conflict of interest; rather, it is the department chair who will be said to be in a conflict of interest, or at least a potential conflict of interest, in this situation.
Moreover, this is a relatively weak or indirect sort of conflict, in the sense that between the holder of power (the chair) and the family member whom they might be inclined to favor (the son/daughter) there is at least one intermediary level of decision makers (you, the instructor). This makes it less likely for nepotism to occur, but does not altogether eliminate the possibility for it.
I found one US university that covers this situation in [its policy on nepotism](https://policy.umn.edu/hr/workplacerelationships). The University of Minnesota defines a class of situations that are considered prohibited nepotism conflicts, and another class of situations that are considered *potential* nepotism conflicts. Your situation falls into the latter class, precisely because of this indirectness I mentioned above, see this quote (bold formatting added by me for clarity):
>
> **Nepotism is a prohibited conflict of interest** that occurs when:
>
>
> * a University member **directly influences** the University employment (e.g., hiring, promotion, supervision, evaluation, and determination of salary) or **academic progress** (e.g., grading and advising) of a University member with whom they have a personal relationship (e.g., **a relative**, romantic or business partner, or close personal friend); or […]
>
>
> The following are examples of nepotism:
>
>
> […]
>
>
> * when an instructor grades the work of an individual with whom the instructor has a personal relationship;
>
>
> […]
>
>
> **Potential nepotism situations** occur when University members in a personal relationship interact in their University roles in a manner that does not constitute nepotism, but that gives rise to a reasonable possibility or perception that nepotism may occur. Examples of potential nepotism situations include:
>
>
> […]
>
>
> * **when a parent faculty member and child student are members of the same academic department** and: 1) the parent faculty member does not currently advise, instruct, or evaluate the child student, but reasonably could do so in the future; or 2) **the parent faculty member’s status or relationships with other department members are reasonably likely to influence, or be perceived to influence, those department members to provide favorable treatment to the child student**.
>
>
>
Despite making the distinction between nepotism and potential nepotism, the policy goes on to say that both of them must be treated in the same way:
>
> These and other potential nepotism situations do not constitute a prohibited conflict of interest. However, to prevent prohibited conflicts of interest from occurring in the future, and to prevent the perception that a prohibited conflict of interest exists, potential nepotism situations must be addressed in the same manner as nepotism.
>
>
>
The policy then refers to a companion [procedure document](https://policy.umn.edu/hr/workplacerelationships-proc01) that explains how these sorts of situations need to be addressed. You can look up the details in the link, but I’ll emphasize one important point that touches on a surprising and counterintuitive aspect of conflicts of interest: in academia, conflicts of interest are not considered an absolutely unethical thing that must be avoided at all costs. Of course it’s good to avoid them when it is practical to do so, but at other times, the discussion will be about how to *mitigate* or *manage* the conflict. This is the case here: your situation certainly warrants a healthy dose of caution and awareness on the part of the involved parties, and compliance with university policy and fairly obvious ethical principles. But, since you ask about the ethics, I wouldn’t say that the situation (based on the few specific details you described) is necessarily evidence of any unethical behavior.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Firstly, I have no personal experience of this one.
It seems this is more frequent in the USA/Canada due to children of faculty getting some advantages at the institution employing their parents. With this benefit available, scenarios of faculty children being taught and examined by colleagues becomes much more likely. Yet universities have the right to use benefits wisely to recruit the best faculty at the least cost. And students have the right to go to whichever college they matriculate for and select for themselves - regardless of family ties. At the same time, there are serious potential moral - and educational - conflicts here.
But similar - maybe equally hazardous - conflicts arise in the case of the children of personal friends of a faculty member who undertake studies in the latter's department. A common scenario might have a child of a friend (or close neighbor who over the years became a family friend) to a professor winning a place in that professor's department. That professor simply wouldn't be human if he/she didn't have an additional concern for that student. And everybody wants academics to be human, have personal friends outside of workplace colleagues and participate in the community, of course.
I doubt if any student or academic (least of all, a Chair) would want to find themselves in this sort of situation. It is simply how the cards were drawn for them: what they want to study, where to do it, how much they save and so on.
So to me it looks like an eminently predictable eventuality has not been given adequate reflection by those drawing up universities' regulations. (Maybe those faculty whose task is to interpret the limited existing regulations might be more vocal on this.) I fear that taking the approach that a serious conflict is very unlikely, all parties will show sensitivity and any situation arising will be immediately referred to senior faculty - while humanly understandable and convenient - does not address the real anxieties here. OP has not once but twice and now possibly a third time been stuck with the child of his/her Chair. This is clearly unfair on OP (the academic fall-guy in this whole process) who *does seem conflicted* between their need to maintain educational equity and a normal professional desire to avoid friction with the Chair.
My advice is twofold.
1. Go to Dean or whoever is above your Chair in the college hierarchy and *put a human case* to be spared a third test of your professional character with the same student child of your colleague and Chair.
2. Find the university's authority in relation to this type of conflict and request a greater study into the conflicts arising in this type of situation. (Beforehand you might look around other national and international universities' regulations and/or provisions regarding the especial case where faculty children have educational benefits that must be exercised at the parent's employing institution. It would be nice if you found inter-university student-pairing somewhere on this one !)
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm working through an MS in Statistics and considering career paths and curious if a specific career path exists in academia. I would like to work in an academic statistics core and provide support to researchers. I'd also like to be able to teach. I realize as an MS my teaching would likely be restricted to introductory, lower division courses in math/stats (and I further understand that I'd probably only be given math courses if I were somewhere without a separate statistics dept, but wanted to state that I'd happily teach either). Are there positions that combine teaching and service as a statistician to researchers across university departments?
Aside: I want to keep this general (since it is SE) but I do have a PhD, if it changes the types of positions I might be eligible for, though I am assuming not. It's not in statistics, but is in a STEM subject.<issue_comment>username_1: There is the concept of "Professor of the Practice" or similar that exists at some good institutions (Duke, Stanford, ...) I know this happens in CS and so assume the same institutions do it in other fields. The people holding these positions serve on long contracts (maybe seven years) but are not tenured. They teach lower division courses and do some research. The people I know have held these for long enough to assume that it is a career path, not a temporary gig. Most of these folks hold doctorates, however, though I know a couple with only MS degrees but really superior teaching skills.
These are faculty positions, not support. A few of them are actually administrators eventually. Support positions in math and statistics I'd think would be rare since those fields aren't heavily driven by external grant funding as are some of the sciences. But if a university wants to free its researchers from many of the normal teaching duties it might have such positions available. I doubt that it is especially common, however. Most of the places I know of are private institutions.
At the other end of the scale, some community colleges will hire people without a doctorate since teaching is the primary mission there. They teach a lot of lower division math courses and maybe a few statistics courses as well. The question of tenure probably varies from place to place. Some of these places provide a very high quality education as well. I have a family member who is tenured at a fine community college. She has a doctorate, but I doubt that all faculty do.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Well... In these times where $$ is scarce, do you think this kind of position would bring in more $$ to a unit (through research grants, consulting or teaching) than hiring a full research-active faculty or a contract lecturer with a PhD?
In other words, is this
1. an income positive position and
2. more income positive than someone with a PhD?
If the answer is yes then there is probably a way. If the answer is no, then likely you also have you answer as well.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: UCLA has such service organisation : <https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/>
It is just one organisation, so the chance of getting hired there is slim. But maybe knowing an example helps your search.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I hold a master degree. Currently, I'm preparing PhD applications for several universities in the USA and Canada. I already know quite well my research interests. At some universities, there is only one professor researching in this area. I would only state the name of this professor in my statement of purpose.
Is it recommandable to apply for a PhD at a university where only one professor is doing research in your desired field?<issue_comment>username_1: There is the concept of "Professor of the Practice" or similar that exists at some good institutions (Duke, Stanford, ...) I know this happens in CS and so assume the same institutions do it in other fields. The people holding these positions serve on long contracts (maybe seven years) but are not tenured. They teach lower division courses and do some research. The people I know have held these for long enough to assume that it is a career path, not a temporary gig. Most of these folks hold doctorates, however, though I know a couple with only MS degrees but really superior teaching skills.
These are faculty positions, not support. A few of them are actually administrators eventually. Support positions in math and statistics I'd think would be rare since those fields aren't heavily driven by external grant funding as are some of the sciences. But if a university wants to free its researchers from many of the normal teaching duties it might have such positions available. I doubt that it is especially common, however. Most of the places I know of are private institutions.
At the other end of the scale, some community colleges will hire people without a doctorate since teaching is the primary mission there. They teach a lot of lower division math courses and maybe a few statistics courses as well. The question of tenure probably varies from place to place. Some of these places provide a very high quality education as well. I have a family member who is tenured at a fine community college. She has a doctorate, but I doubt that all faculty do.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Well... In these times where $$ is scarce, do you think this kind of position would bring in more $$ to a unit (through research grants, consulting or teaching) than hiring a full research-active faculty or a contract lecturer with a PhD?
In other words, is this
1. an income positive position and
2. more income positive than someone with a PhD?
If the answer is yes then there is probably a way. If the answer is no, then likely you also have you answer as well.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: UCLA has such service organisation : <https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/>
It is just one organisation, so the chance of getting hired there is slim. But maybe knowing an example helps your search.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted my review paper for publication to more than two journals. I was unaware of the consequences. The paper got accepted at al three journals. They asked for payment and copyright etc. I haven't processed anything as I only want to publish it in one journal only. I also became aware that it's unethical. So far, I only have the acceptance emails, but no further processing has been done by me. What can I do now to publish my paper? I think that one of the three journals is best one and I want to publish my paper there. What do I have to do so that I'm not being unethical nor breaking any rules?<issue_comment>username_1: To get to a stage where your paper has been accepted, multiple people from each journal have spent their time and effort to assess your paper (editors, reviewers) - while in the case of the reviewers not even getting payed for their efforts. By submitting the paper to three journals at the same time, you have basically wasted the time of all people involved in the submission process of two of the journals. The proper way to do it (for the future) is to submit to your first choice, and then if you don't get accepted send it to the next one in line. This is a more time-consuming process but the morally and ethically correct one ([see also the answers to this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21742/is-it-ethical-to-withdraw-a-paper-after-acceptance-in-order-to-resubmit-to-a-bet)).
As this train has already left the station (and you already behaved unethically by wasting peoples' time and resources) you should try to do damage control and inform the other two journals as politely as possible that you have to decline the offer. Don't try to make up lies (like you don't have funding anymore) as the editor of one journal might be well aware of what articles are published in the other, related ones and will probably see that your article will be published there.
You could try to be brutally honest and tell the other two journals what you did and that you are very sorry, but being an unexperienced academic you did not know better and will not do so again in the future.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with the answer by @username_1 but I think that there is a pitfall with ***some*** journals that is just waiting to trap the unwary or inexperienced. I regularly submit to several journals where the succession of informative responses from the editorial desk is along the lines of:
1. received
2. on editor's desk
3. under review
4. 1 of 3 reviews received
5. awaiting editor's decision ...
The pitfall is that some of those same journals ask "Is your paper currently under review by another journal?"
You can see where this is going ... If one is inexperienced, one might think that the journal means what it asks, in which case one would quite reasonably reply "NO" until a notification of the kind at point 3 above has been received. But of course, what these journals actually mean by their question is, "Have you *submitted* your paper to another journal without a decision having yet been made?" .
It only happens with a few journals, but they do bear some responsibility for problems.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm trying to find the following paper:
<NAME>, “Decomposition of a complete graph into subgraphs isomorphic to a given graph.“ Congressus Numerantium XV (1975), 647-659. MR0396347 (53:214)
Also seen cited as:
<NAME>, “Decomposition of a complete graph into subgraphs isomorphic to a given graph.“ Utilitas Math, Winnipeg (1976)
I cannot find it anywhere, online or offline. How am I supposed to progress here?<issue_comment>username_1: Kindly ask all the authors that recently cited that paper ... at least one of them must have a printed copy or a pdf that can be shared privately with you.
Start from [here](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2018&hl=de&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5&cites=2818007291403935765&scipsc=) to look for all citations since 2018
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Based on similar references elsewhere, I think it is in "Proceedings of the Fifth British Combinatorial Conference". <https://lccn.loc.gov/77361732>
See reference 4 in <https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02321683/document>
or reference 1 in <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016750600870654X>
So now you just have to get this proceedings from a library.
I found this by googling "Congressus Numerantium XV" to find out what that was.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If you are at a university, you can go to your library and request the article through their document delivery service. This is a service available through every university library I know of, and a librarian will find a copy one way or another. There may be a cost; often it is paid by the library, and if this is for research then it should be possible to pay for it through the associated grant.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The following *may* be useful if you have access: <https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/pdf/396347.pdf?pg1=MR&s1=53:214&loc=fromreflist>
I also found the following citations with slightly more information:
* https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/S0097539792229507 [14] <NAME>, *Decomposition of a Complete Graph into Subgraphs Isomorphic to a Given Graph*, Utilitas Mathematica Publishing, Winnipeg, MB, 1976, pp. 647–695.
* https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0396347: MR396347 05C99 Wilson, <NAME>. Decompositions of complete graphs into subgraphs isomorphic to a given graph. Proceedings of the Fifth British Combinatorial Conference (Univ. Aberdeen, Aberdeen, 1975) , pp. 647–659. Congressus Numerantium, No. XV, Utilitas Math., Winnipeg, Man., 1976.
* http://staff.computing.dundee.ac.uk/kedwards/biblio.html (<http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:sA6vqpGSoXkJ:staff.computing.dundee.ac.uk/kedwards/biblio.html>): 198. <NAME>, Decomposition of complete graphs into subgraphs isomorphic to a given graph, in *Proceedings of Fifth British Combinatorial Conference (Aberdeen, 1975)* (eds. C. St. <NAME> & <NAME>an), *Congressus Numerantium*, 15, (1976), pp. 647-659. **MR0396347 (53 #214)**
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Occasionally it happens that a referee suggests [citing their own papers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/46150/958) [in a review](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/127171/958). This may be a problematic practice, since there is a thin line between appropriate and inappropriate recommendations, and since it could help the authors identify reviewers.
As an editor, what should I do when I see it happening in a paper I am handling? Please base your answers on your own experience or on official recommendations.<issue_comment>username_1: This is very simple: You are the editor. This is not a problematic practice but just part and parcel of the review process.
If you are the editor, you get to make the decision. (I assume that there is a way to handle complaints about your decision, as most journals / professional organizations provide that.) A referee is obliged to check whether references are suitable. You as the editor in charge selected the referees because they knew the field, so it should be relatively common that the referee also has published in the field. Objectively, there will be cases where a referee's publication should be cited and maybe discussed into the revised version of the paper. Subjectively, a referee will sometimes err and occasionally sin by demanding that one of their publications be discussed.
(Also, there are predatory journals who will ask a paper to cite other papers from the same editorial group, but this is not our topic.) This is where your job as editor comes in. You need to make a decision:
* You can tell the author that they might want to consider the request but that acceptance will not depend on their decision.
* You can tell the author that they definitely should include the reference and discuss the connection. You can also invite them to send you a message discussing how they see it.
* You can tell the author that the paper is rejected because it duplicates results that the referee already published.
And there are of course more possible outcomes.
However, *you* are the editor and *you* have to make the final decision. If you feel uncomfortable or need help, there should be other editors or maybe a senior editor to ask for advice. You as editor are the guardian of scientific integrity.
You would be a fool if you invite someone to review a paper and then do not listen to what they say. But you are not the reviewer's peon.
If you feel that the reviewer is revealing their identity, you can redact what they are saying or play this back to the reviewer if the editorial system does not allow for it. However, just because a review says that the results of X and colleagues should be referenced does not mean that X or a colleague of X is a reviewer.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If the citation is relevant, it should be included. In this case, the editor need not do anything.
If the citation is not relevant, the editor should direct the authors to ignore the request.
In my experience, editors do not check the reviewers' recommendations.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: There are already good answers, but let me add a few thoughts on top.
My perspective as an editor for 10+ years and an editor-in-chief for 4 years is that editors are leaders in their community. With that comes the prestige, but also the responsibilities, and that includes communicating your expectations to authors and reviewers, as well as upholding the standards of your community. It isn't just about sending papers to reviewers, reviews back to authors, and hiding behind the reviewer ratings when making the call on a paper. It also includes sending papers back to authors without review when they are clearly not well written or simply not very interesting upon first reading. It also includes sending reviews back to reviewers if they are ethically questionable, or telling reviewers so if a review is just sloppy and unhelpful. In some cases, this may ruffle feathers; in the majority of cases it will earn you a reputation as an ethical person interested in upholding the reputation of science and the publishing process.
In your case, you will have to make a call whether you think that the request to cite a specific paper is justified. If it is, then everything is ok. If you think it isn't, you have the choice to either tell the authors to disregard the reviewer request, or to have a conversation with the reviewer about the request. If you do think that it is ethically questionable, then that is something you should let the reviewer know, and ask them to revise their review accordingly.
At the end of the day, if nobody ever calls out unethical behavior, we will have to become used to it. It is your role as a leader in the community to speak out if you think something is not right. I bet that in the long run, this will earn you more friends than enemies.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: It depends on the appropriateness but also on the phrasing. Is the inclusion of the reference stated as a condition for acceptance? Or is the reference more of a suggestion like "Hey, you miss this area of research - this reference is an example, but there are others and possible better ones!"
Demanding to cite a paper (of a reviewer) is less often ok and I would carefully check this demand of a reviewer. I consider it more acceptable to politely point to a paper, but even that practice is debatable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I will add to the existing good answers with a heuristic that I use to distinguish appropriate and inappropriate requests for citation.
I always read the reviews before sending to the author, for a number of reasons, and when I see citations recommended, I apply a two-point test:
1. Is the reviewer recommending only their own papers, or do they recommend a mix of papers? It's often appropriate for a reviewer's papers to be cited: after all they are experts contributing to the field! That same expertise, however, means they should know about others making relevant contributions as well.
2. Does the reviewer just say something should be cited, or do they explain how the citation relates to the narrative (e.g., "The authors appear unaware that Xing et al. have recently conducted a similar study, albeit with opossums rather than groundhogs: it would be valuable to discuss the similarities of the two results.")?
If a request for citations passes both tests, then it's generally valuable and legitimate feedback. If it fails them both, it's almost certainly not. In between, it's a judgement call.
If it's legitimate, I'll generally say nothing in the editorial comments. If it's dubious, I will try to gently make it clear that the comments are not mandatory, e.g., "The authors may wish to consider whether or not Reviewer 2's suggested citations are appropriate to include."
Finally, note that in some journals an editor can *rate* a reviewer, so if you find a person is giving poor reviews, you can convey that information to the other associate editors of a journal and make them think twice about asking the person to help.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m a computer science student in the second semester. I passed all my first exams fairly well and can follow my lectures quite decent (usually).
But whenever I want to dig deeper into a topic and try doing some studies on my own reading books it’s often hard for me to follow the author’s points and I often lose interest.
So my question is how do you read scientific books/paper?
Is there any pattern you follow and how do you keep yourself motivated and what’s your strategy to get the most of a book for you.<issue_comment>username_1: At your stage of learning (early), I suggest that you focus on doing exercises based on the texts you read. I assume that most of them are textbooks and hopefully they include many exercises.
In CS, you can write a lot of programs at this stage to solidify your learning.
Another option is to take notes and, especially, make notes on the questions you have that you can get advice on from a professor. I find it useful to use index cards for such notes. Initially write on one side so you can revisit the idea on a card and update it.
But reading is, in itself, too passive for deep learning and building insight. You have to move to some form of active learning. Exercises and sample programs are good for this.
If you are reading books that go beyond texts, one way is to form a small study group. Even two people is enough, three probably better (best?). Read the article and discuss it with your group. Others may understand some points better than yourself and you can help them understand other points perhaps. Again, take notes to capture insights. Ask someone knowledgeable (the professor) for things left unresolved.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think this may vary a ***lot*** from one person to the next, but my preferred method is to first read through the text from cover to cover. When I do this I am not attempting to fully understand the specifics as I go, I am trying to see the big picture and connections between things, as that is the framework that my deep understanding will be anchored to. I can't understand the detail if I can't see the big picture, but there are others that can't see the big pictures if they can't assimilate the detail. Don't force yourself into a method that doesn't suit you. I try to read a textbook or two each month, usually reading a few chapters each lunchtime, so this passive reading stage is not unduly onerous - I find it quite relaxing.
Then I write programs (if it is a programming textbook) or I solve maths problems (if it is a maths textbook) and go into the material where I am interested in more detail.
I don't take notes, and I don't try and remember details. That is what books are for, what I try to remember are the fundamental concepts and methods. Especially for programming, don't try and remember details of APIs!
username_1's suggestion of a study group is a very good one.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: A female instructor has had conflict with a much younger male co-instructor and has complained to her chair and associate chair about what she experienced as sexist and other difficult behavior. When the new schedule for the following year again has her paired with the same co-instructor, she asks for a different assignment. The entire message is very short, basically, *"Oh, please don't pair me again with X. He's an uncooperative young male. You said you'd pair me with Y."* Y is also a much younger male, only slightly older than X. She's worked with Y in the past and it's clear she likes him.
Unfortunately, instead of replying only to the associate chair, she accidentally reply-alls to the entire department. She apologizes to the department a few minutes later for copying everyone on what was intended as "a private response". In a private email to the associate chair a few hours later, she makes clear she's complaining about gender bias, that she believes her co-instructor disrespects her in part because she's a woman. (Complaining about gender bias is a [protected activity](https://www.eeoc.gov/facts-about-retaliation) in the US, meaning, e.g., it can't be used as a reason for an "adverse employment action" like denying promotion.)
Most recipients of the reply-all did not know about the previous complaints. The chair and associate chair both knew about the complaints. Only the associate chair also knew about the later email.
A few hours later, the promotion committee begins discussion of her major review, leading up to a vote on her contract and possible promotion. The unfortunate reply-all is discussed and some of the members express shock. Only the chair and associate chair are aware of the previous complaints and neither reveals that information. To the contrary, the chair uses it in his words as an "opening" to argue she was involved in lots of conflict and that questions of who "instigated" the disagreements should "explicitly" be set aside, remarking, "We're really not trying to adjudicate any of the disagreements." So, different people knew different things. In a split vote, the review fails. (Months later, everything becomes more widely known.)
Was it appropriate to discuss the reply-all and did that taint the process? To answer, you may need to decide if it was a protected complaint about a gender bias or perhaps something else, and whether the chair and/or associate chair should have disclosed the previous complaints or the follow-up email declaring it to be a complaint about gender bias.<issue_comment>username_1: Edit: The question has been modified 19 times so far.
>
> How important is it to know about the previous complaints and the later email to be able to decide she was probably complaining about sexist behavior?
>
>
>
If you are a member of the department who receives an email like this, it is not important because the whole situation is none of your business.
>
> would you likely regard her characterization of her co-instructor as an "uncooperative young male" as a merely an unflattering description, a personal attack, unprofessional, a protected activity, or perhaps something else?
>
>
>
I would describe the inclusion of the words "young" and "male" as both bigotry. Bigotry is unprofessional. Imagine how people would react if the email said "It is fun to teach with this cooperative young male." The implication seems inappropriate.
Complaining that someone's behavior is sexist is fine. Implying that someone's behavior sexist because they are young or male is wrong.
You did not ask, but my advice to the female instructor would be:
* Apologize for mentioning the other instructor's age and gender in that way.
* Pursue complaints about sexist behavior, difficult behavior, and teaching assignments through university policy or legal mechanism.
* Carefully consider the risk of libel/slander accusations before making public complaints.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My first impressions are that it had something to do with gender (and by extension gender bias). This is for two reasons:
* If details aren't necessary, they won't be given. If the focus of the phrase is on 'uncooperative', then 'young' and 'male' would not be necessary. In the same vein, this is why the phrase is 'uncooperative young male' and not 'uncooperative young human male with a height of [1.8 meters] and who was wearing [a blue blouse] today'. The fact that 'young' and 'male' are given implies they are important to the context, so this had something to do with either gender or age, possibly both.
* The fact that the word used is 'male' instead of the more common 'man' implies the gender angle is more probable.
However: since I lack the details to draw any firm conclusions, I am likely to brush the incident off (unless I am the co-instructor, in which case I cannot predict how I will react).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **Edit:** the answer below answers OP’s original question, which she has now edited, clarifying that the actual main question of interest is substantially different than what was originally posted. My original answer now appears to be less relevant, but I’m leaving it up since it may still contain some useful insights.
---
**Original answer:**
I have been a witness to many embarrassing situations stemming from someone’s unintended use of “reply all”. I have often thought that the prevalence of such incidents is largely due to the poor design of email software that should make it more difficult to send emails via reply all. So perhaps we should point the finger of blame where it rightly belongs: software designers. :-)
That being said, there is an aspect of the instructor’s behavior that would be unprofessional even if she had sent the email as a private message. It is never appropriate to imply that a colleague’s gender, age, or combination of gender and age, or combination of gender and age together with certain personality traits, is a valid reason for not wanting to work with the colleague. So, complaining about a colleague for being “uncooperative” is fine. (And complaining about a colleague’s sexist or harrassing behavior, if that’s what she meant, is also perfectly legitimate of course, if she indeed experienced such behavior.) But complaining about an “uncooperative young male” is unprofessional, either in a private message or a public one.
I wish for your instructor female to find a way to move on from this incident. I wish for all of us to be more tolerant of slight human mistakes and transgressions (and I say this as someone who has said some embarrassing things myself on occasion, as I’m sure everyone has), more willing to apply the [principle of charity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity) and give people the maximum benefit of the doubt about their intentions being good, and less quick to judge others and cast blame.
But in order to move on, I think it’s important to recognize the facts and not seek shelter in denial and excuse-making. The instructor’s choice of words was unfortunate and wrong, and she would do well to acknowledge that fact when dealing with the aftermath, rather than defend her behavior with the claim (even if it’s a correct claim) that the email was “intended as a private measage”.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The questions asked are not about the contents of the email reply but rather
>
> Was it appropriate to discuss the reply-all and did that taint the
> process?
>
>
>
Hard to tell. A candidate's professionalism matters when making personnel decisions, and the language in the reply-all suggests some doubt (not much in my eyes). So perhaps discussing it in the meeting was appropriate.
But if it is to be discussed then the whole history should be known. That didn't happen.
Did the discussion taint the process? I can't offer a legal opinion. Nor can I tell from the data in the question whether the discussion switched votes in the split decision.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I am a male and I have been in power position. If someone below me, with whom I do not have much personal relation but only professional relation would write me what the complainer wrote, I would think "wow, she wrote this impulsively, she must really feel uncomfortable working with X".
Additionally, I would see a clear try in avoiding offensive expletive words, I would read young as *immature* and male as *sexist* ... so the complainer wrote impulsively, but trying to avoid slandering and defamation.
My (not asked) verdict: possible but unlikely bigotry, more likely impulsive writing moderated by 5 seconds thinking, instead of being stopped by overnight thinking.
Sum-up: I think the chair was correct in bringing up the reply all as an evidence of " she was involved in lots of conflict ", but it may be a classic case of "can't see the wood for the trees": if the "median" instructor is a young, narcistic, male chauvinist person, whoever tries to fight back the "median" instructor attitude would come out as a conflictual person.
Necessary reading: [Science falling victim to 'crisis of narcissism'](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/20/science-victim-crisis-narcissism-academia)
Upvotes: 2
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2022/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: For students who identify as nonhuman animals, should the requests for *nonhuman pronouns*, *animal names*, and *animal vocalizations* be taken seriously in **college classroom settings**?
My question is *not* about specific school's policy (after reading all the official documents, I have a pretty good understanding of the university's policy: The decision is mainly the instructor's). My question is more about the general culture in higher education. I want to make sure my handling, if leaked to social media, will not cause me trouble finding a faculty position years from now (if I decide to move).
Admittedly, this is a very strange question that I never thought I had to deal with. I have been teaching for almost 20 years, and I have never even heard of such things. Until now.
This Summer, I'm teaching an online class in a different university through a visiting position. At the beginning of the semester, I used a Google form to collect some information from the students, including their academic background, career directions, and how they like to be addressed.
The last item is important, because class meetings are held over Zoom, and knowing how to get someone's attention is useful. This is where I get a rather unusual response.
One student stated that...
* "She" identifies as a nonhuman animal. The correct pronouns should be it/it/its.
* "She" also prefer to be called by "her" animal name (e.g. Dumpling) rather than "her" first name on the roster.
* "She" also warned me that "she" would occasionally start sentences with animal vocalization (e.g. "meow meow") when talking, and "she" hope I'll be okay with that.
(there are few more unusual requests)
It is hard to tell if this is a prank. And I can see some danger from both sides of this decision. I don't have many friends in the department with whom I feel comfortable having honest discussions. Even if I do, I doubt they can offer any meaningful advises since this situation is new to all of us.
I'm hoping there's someone here who have dealt with such rare (but definitely not unique) situation.
---
In case relevant, the course in question is a senior level topic course in applied mathematics. The class is large, and the atmosphere is generally serious and professional. The university I'm teaching in (as a visiting professor) and my home university are both in the United States.<issue_comment>username_1: To the aspects your student mentions which are not disruptive, I think this is not your problem: Pronoun requests, atypical but not disruptive vocalizations, it's hard for me to think of any reason not to respect these. Unless you have a specific reason to expect those behaviors to be disruptive, preemptively guessing that they will seems unfair.
To the name request: It's hard to know without taking a poll, but the name "Dumpling" is obviously colloquially a pet name. I'd personally have to think somewhat more carefully about handling that, as using it without context really could be very distracting to your other students e.g. that it could appear like you and your student have an inappropriate relationship. I don't think there's a ghost of a chance that navigating a lack of comfort with that in a professional way will impact your job prospects.
I don't have any insight into good strategies for predicting what kinds of things could go viral on social media and would be enthusiastic if another answerer can do better.
Regarding whether these requests are a prank: Always possible, in which case it's just a minor waste of your time to handle things professionally.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You're really asking two very different questions in the first two paragraphs, namely: what is the ethical way to handle this, and how to minimize any risk of career damage.
These questions are clearly in conflict. Your first duty as an educator is towards your students, therefore basing your actions on what is best for your career rather than what is best for this student and for the rest of your class would be unethical (in more or less the same way it would be unethical for you to treat a student who is known for making complaints about instructors more leniently just because you would prefer to avoid having to deal with their complaints). Now, one could have some sympathy for your career concerns, but taking them into account *is* unethical. I will therefore focus on the ethical part of the question.
Looking at the student's requests, let's be real – there is, for all practical intents and purposes, no psychological condition which makes people involuntarily produce meowing sounds. (If there is and the student suffers from it, the student needs to ask the appropriate office at your university for an accommodation, rather than asking you directly.) This behavior is a consciously cultivated personal affectation which no-one has any obligation to indulge. Indeed, to the extent that it is distracting to other students, you have the obligation *not* to indulge it. One can contrast this with Tourette's, which might also lead to distracting vocalizations but which is an actual existing condition beyond the person's immediate control.
What is in the student's best interest? It's in their best interest to be treated as an adult capable of participating in a university course for adults rather than a child who would undergo some grievous psychological harm if others don't go along with their fantasy identity. **Let them know that you know that they are capable of behaving like an adult human, and that university courses are a place for adult humans and not cats (whether fantasy cats or real cats). To not treat them as a competent adult is to disrespect them, contrary to what the student might claim or believe.**
If you can teach them the lesson that respecting a person does not oblige anyone to go along with their made up identity, and indeed in some cases obliges other people *not* to go along with their made up identity, this will probably be the most valuable thing they will learn in your course. This would be an especially valuable lesson given that probably the message they are getting in other places is that a reasonable person will at least try to accommodate their pronoun request (or tie themselves into knots trying to decide what to do). In my view, not respecting their "cat pronouns" is part and parcel of not respecting the rest of their made up cat identity.
It is not exactly the same thing, but it is somewhat similar to handling a narcissist – a narcissist does undergo narcissistic injury when they are not seen the way they wish to be seen (as extremely competent, compassionate, smart, etc.) and this is unpleasant for them, but one does them no favors by trying to avoid any narcisstic injury. It is in their best interest for other people *not* to go along with their narcissistic fantasies. Sometimes the easiest way to effect actual psychological harm is to put undue efforts into avoiding any kind of perceived psychological harm or discomfort or conflict.
**It's perfectly reasonable to say to the student: "you are not a cat and I will not treat you as a cat".**
What is in their classmates' best interest? Not to be distracted by a person cosplaying as a cat while they are trying to get an education.
What is in society's best interest? For instructors not to have to ponder such questions under fear of adverse career consequences. If you want to live in a society where people have the obligation to bend over backwards to accommodate someone's made up cat identity, then by all means contribute to that society by your actions. If you want to live in a society where such requests are not given serious consideration, again, by all means contribute to that society by your actions.
What is in your career interest? There is no serious push for animal identities to be respected, so you're going to be fine.
Avoid a comparison with trans issues. Of course, while this is a wise move career-wise, it is only *ethical* to do in case you actually believe this.
As a final remark, since you say that you "can see some danger from both sides of this decision", perhaps it is best to be judged on actions that are in line with your own ethical beliefs rather than on actions that do not align with your own ethical beliefs?
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: For what it's worth, satirical hoaxes have been floating around lately about these topics in education outside the university level, for example:
<https://apnews.com/article/Fact-Check-Fake-Indiana-School-Email-109748870442>
<https://www.wsaw.com/2022/04/06/wisconsin-school-district-does-not-have-furry-protocol/>
At times, these have been initially incorrectly reported as true. While I am not certain if any intent has been definitively ascribed to these hoaxes, many commenters have responded as if this was a real, predictable next step after policies supporting transgender and nonbinary students, and used this as an opportunity to ridicule trans kids.
While there certainly are communities (primarily online) of people who take on a non-human identity within that community (whether animals like cats or humanoid fantasy creatures like elves), I am not aware that membership in these communities has been taken as serious expression of identity distinct from other fetishes or cosplay anywhere in the psychiatric/psychology/medical literature.
In contrast, there is a lot of supporting research around gender dysphoria and gender identities that differ from the identity assigned at birth: these are real phenomenon with real consequences, and affirming gender identity in the classroom is the best known response for educators.
I agree, it's hard to know whether this is a prank or intended as serious. I would recommend getting advice from a superior (for example, your department chair) and/or a university office that ordinarily handles complaints and policy regarding similar issues; this may be an office that handles disability accommodations, diversity, and/or mental health, a title IX office in the US, etc.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> "She" identifies as a nonhuman animal. The correct pronouns should be it/it/its.
>
>
>
Fine. Address people by their name or preferred pronoun. No problems there.
>
> "She" also prefer to be called by "her" animal name (e.g. Dumpling) rather than "her" first name on the roster.
>
>
>
If a student named "Richard" asked to be addressed as "Dick," that would be fine. "Dumpling" is no different.
>
> "She" also warned me that "she" would occasionally start sentences with animal vocalization (e.g. "meow meow") when talking, and "she" hope I'll be okay with that.
>
>
>
If a student wanted to speak Japanese in class, I would just mention that Academic English is the language of instruction for the course and all students are expected to use English to participate. I would treat this the same way. I would overlook an occasional sound that is not English.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: My only contribution is to reach out to the student’s academic advisor to see if it’s come up before. You might tell the student that you would rather they not meow, because you don’t consider such vocalisations appropriate in the university classroom. If the student puts Dumpling on their Zoom moniker I would use it.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I think your assumption
>
> The last item is important, because class meetings are held over Zoom,
> and knowing how to get someone's attention is useful.
>
>
>
is wrong.
Why should you address personally someone in a Zoom setting?
I would suggest avoiding addressing students directly. You can always refer to any of them with a neutral "Dear student" (lucky you, english language is devoid of genders for articles).
"Dear student that wants to ask a question"
"Dear student that is sleeping"
"Dear student that just had the cat passing in front of the webcam"
At the oral exam:
"Dear student, please demonstrate that [...]"
Discussing laboratory team-work:
"Dear students, please [...]"
I actually do not see why you should refer to them personally. If you will build up a personal relation with some student, you will then find a moment to ask them directly how to address them, or you will read the signature they use in their mail/sms/whatever written mean of comunication you will use if you have a personal relation with someone.
But I think that in a classroom setting it would be better to keep some distance.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/05/31
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted an article to a journal last year in July. It took some months for it to be processed and peer reviewer to be assigned.
I received the first decision in March (major revisions). The article went through several rounds of revision. The last exchange I had with the journal editor was a month ago. The editor stated that they would go ahead with publishing the article.
I was required to make one last small change after which my article would be sent to typesetting and proofreading.
I revised accordingly and emailed the editor.
Since then, radio silence. 10 days after I sent the latest version of the article, I emailed the editor asking whether it would be possible to receive an official letter of acceptance at this point as I needed it for a deadline at work (the deadline came and went). No response. It has been 20 days since then, and I have heard nothing.
I understand that the editor must be very busy, and I do not want to badger them.
However, I am getting extremely apprehensive given that the issue my article is supposed to appear in is this month's issue and that it usually isn't supposed to take longer than two weeks for typesetting and proofreading, yet I have not heard anything yet.
So, do I contact again with a polite question as to what is going on? Or do I just wait?<issue_comment>username_1: There is absolutely nothing wrong with contacting the editor. In fact, instead of the editor, locate the email that deals with publication related matters, which you are likely to locate on the journal site. Mail them. They usually respond way quicker than the busy editors.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The decision is yours, but note that writing to them won't have any positive effect on speeding up the process. There are a lot of reasons why things take time and others why you may not get an answer. Even in the smoothest running organizations, things happen. In a pandemic and in which a lot of people need to "touch" your work in some way to get it published, bad things happen.
While I recommend patience, since it is what it is, a (very) polite note asking for an update is not out of line.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: There should not be any harm in asking them politely if there is anything more they'd need from you to publish the manuscript.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am preparing a poster for an in-person (finally) workshop and I know that the general guide for posters is that they should be readable from 1-2 meters away. What I don't know is how this translates to what I see on a screen.
Since we have this guideline (1-2 m viewing distance) and know that the poster has a fixed DPI and final size this made me wonder: **Is it possible to work out a zoom factor that I should set in software to virtually "view" the poster from about 2m away to check if the content is readable and looks nice?** Has anyone worked this out before?
I am using Inkscape, but this should apply to other programs that allow zooming, e.g. any browser or PDF viewer.<issue_comment>username_1: Set the zoom to 100%, and look at your screen from 1-2 m away.
If you want to be sure it's *really* 100%, you can check with a ruler to confirm that 1 cm (or 1 in if you use freedom units) on your software actually corresponds to 1 cm on the screen.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Visual angle is the same for [A0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216#Dimensions_of_A,_B_and_C_series) on 2 m distance and A4 on 50 cm distance.
I thus find it a good, practical rule to make sure an A0 poster printed out on A4 paper (i.e., scaled to 25 %) is easily readable.
Or, the other way round, to work on the poster as if it were an A4-size flyer.
My 24" monitor has a height of about 30 cm, so approximately A4 length. It is placed at a viewing distance of about 70 cm, and I check an upright A0 poster scaled so that it fits the monitor height. (Since I tend to put too much stuff on posters ;-) and since I have good eyes the 70 cm instead of 50 as calculated seem appropriate to me)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: If x paper says "y et al. [1] have found so and so in the water of India", why can't I use the exact same words as the "x paper" and just cite [1]? My understanding is this- since x paper does not own the set of words that was used to explain what y has found, it's not their 'idea'. And stating that another paper have found something doesn't give x paper credit for the findings. It's a bit like saying that just because some person said "This store makes tables", I can't use these words and instead I have to say "Tables are made by this store", which, I think is an unnecessary restriction.<issue_comment>username_1: If x paper says "y et al. [1] have found so and so...," then you need to [read and cite the original **y** paper](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/12391/43873), not the citing **x** paper.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: No, paper x does not own the words. You could obviously write a very similar, if not identical, sentence like it is written in paper x after reading paper y. And as long as you really, really do not use paper x as a source there is no issue at all. In this case, the identical wording is pure conincidence and you would not have to cite paper x.
However, if you use paper x as a source you must make that transparent, especially if you in fact copy and paste their words. Never ever simply copy words you read without citing properly. There really is no reason to deny the authors of paper x the credit.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally there are two things to consider and they are not the same: copyright and plagiarism.
Plagiarism is attributing the ideas of others to yourself. Your reuse of "a few words" doesn't have that effect, so it isn't plagiarism. In most places, plagiarism is a social, not legal matter, though there are some exceptions.
Copyright violations involve copying and republishing the words (music, ...) of others, even if you properly attribute it. Copyright is a civil law matter (most places) and laws differ though there is a movement to unify national copyright laws. One of the principles of most copyright law is whether the copying reduces the value of the original to the copyright holders. Again, a few words is almost always unlikely to do that and certainly not in your case. Copying a paragraph, or a chapter, from a copyrighted work is a much different matter.
But another principle of copyright law (generally speaking) is that for some things there is really only one way to say it. Some mathematical definitions and theorems fall into this category and they aren't limited by copyright which is aimed at creative expression.
It seems like you are operating ethically. You properly attribute the idea to Y, just as X did. It is only a few words. There are few ways to express the same (proper) idea.
There could be closely aligned situations, however, in which the idea you are trying to get across is that X agrees withy Y, rather than Y says something. In that case, a citation of X might be needed.
The title question, however, can't be answered without context. Sometimes yes (as above) and sometimes no, depending on what you want to copy. When in doubt cite and also quote, while minimizing your quotes.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If this is a piece of assessed work, then leaving aside the copyright/plagiarism issues (well covered by @username_3), it is worth bearing in mind that assessments are set to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the topic (as that is generally what is being assessed). Direct quoting or close paraphrasing only demonstrate that you are able to identify a suitable source, not that you understand it. Use the literature review to demonstrate that you understand the relevance of the source for your project/work. All to often literature reviews are just thinly paraphrased quotes from the abstracts of the papers, which does not create a good impression and conveys little useful information.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The fact that you are able to write "x paper says 'y et al. [1] have found so and so in the water of India'" strongly suggests that x paper has been helpful to you in identifying the original Y et al. reference. This suggests that you did not come up with these exact words yourself, but that you got them from x paper. This raises the issue of copyright. Facts and ideas are not copyrightable--no one owns the fact that y et al had a particular finding. However, the precise way that ideas are expressed in recorded form (specifically in writing, sound recording, video, etc.) is copyrightable. The first person to express an idea in a specific way gets copyright to it. Others who come after them are supposed to find their own original way to express the same idea.
You seem to object to this application because the phrase ("y et al. [1] have found so and so in the water of India") is so short. But if it is so short, then you should have no problem reading y et al yourself and then expressing what they did in your own original words. **If you read y et al yourself and then use your own words to summarize what they found, then there is no need to cite x paper at all and then there is no problem.** But if you somehow feel that you cannot come up with an original way of saying "y et al. [1] have found so and so in the water of India", then indeed you should quote and cite x for their original way of saying that. (That said, as some of the other answers have indicated, scholarly rigour expects you to read the original source and cite it directly rather than taking the shortcut that "x said that y said…".)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> It's like saying that just because some person said "This store makes tables", I can't use these words and instead I have to say "Tables are made by this store", which is totally unnecessary.
>
>
>
I don't think you have a correct understanding of the issue of plagiarism. If copying the words "This store makes tables" were plagiarism, then changing it to "Tables are made by this store" would still be plagiarism (but the change in words might fool some plagiarism detectors). If you find yourself changing words or "paraphrasing" then you are trying to hide something, you should stop and reconsider what you are doing.
Plagiarism is about presenting somebody else's work as your own. It's not about whether you use the same words or not, but whether you use the same ideas (without proper attribution). If you write your literature review by very closely mimicking the structure of another literature review (citing the same references in the same order, synthesizing the ideas in a very similar way) then it's plagiarism. It doesn't matter how many words you replace by synonyms and how you change the structure of the sentences, it's still plagiarism.
As a general rule, I would never, ever, use the literal ctrl+c, ctrl+v way of copy pasting anything from another paper without immediately putting it in quotation marks with a citation. Even if the amount you copy is "small enough" to not be plagiarism, I think the fact that you are even considering copying and pasting from a paper is a very troubling sign that you are writing your own work with the other's work too close in hand, and there's a very real risk you would mimick the structure and synthesis of ideas too much.
If you end up writing the same words by chance then it is okay and not plagiarism. A good lithmus test is the following: if you were to forget about the paper for a week and then continue writing (without consulting the source you are "copying" from again), would you still use the same words?
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/01
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<issue_start>username_0: My PhD thesis has the following structure.
* Introduction [5 pages]
* Lit Review [50 pages]
* Project 1: Preliminary study [25 pages]
* Project 1: Extended study [30 pages]
* Project 2: Preliminary study [25 pages]
* Project 2: Extended study [30 pages]
* Conclusion + outlook [10 pages]
Is it OK to have a preliminary study as its own chapter?<issue_comment>username_1: You definitely should not call it "Preliminary Study". An introductary chapter could make a lot of sense. Having topics in a two chapter sequence looks a bit odd. Since you do not tell us how you understand the difference between preliminary and extended study, it is hard to come up with better names. However, having a thesis with five chapters is just as OK as having one with seven. You just need to structure your material in a way that makes sense.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: While this is really a question for your advisor, I'd suggest, contrary to the [answer of tschwarz](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185769/75368), that this is fine. If the preliminary study for the second project gave you important insights that led to the extended study then, yes, present it that way.
It might be important, even necessary, to do so if the parameters needed to be changed for the extended study.
But, run this by your advisor who hopefully has better knowledge of the work as a whole.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/01
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<issue_start>username_0: This is the first semester in which classes aren't online anymore after the pandemic where I lecture (For information, this is in Brazil, and English is not my mother language). It's been two years of classes being online.
This is the second exam I've given and I keep receiving small written phrases that go on the lines of "Sorry, I can't do it", "I'm anxious", "I don't know" and the like. This has never happened to me before, except in very particular cases, but this time it's simply massive. I estimate about 30% of students sharing something like that. When it happens, I usually tell the student - if I can - to search for help. We have psychologists who are ready to help at our university. In my experience, when I see this kind of message, it's not because they're disappointed at their performance as students but rather they are disappointed with themselves in a broader way.
Obviously, these students must have lost the habit of being examined by presential tests during the pandemic. This class consists of new students of my university, and they probably have had a terrible time over their last two years as students.
So, the question is: how do I approach such a large group of students that seem to be having the same problem, aiming to attend to their mental health and, of course, improve their learning?<issue_comment>username_1: Some of these notes merely express difficulties answering the question (e.g., "Sorry, I can't do it" and "I don't know") and some express broader distress (e.g., "I'm anxious"). Examinations are not a particularly good forum for either of these types of comments, so it might be worth giving a general address to your students in lectures to note some of the issues raised and direct them to appropriate avenues and resources to deal with these problems. It would be worth noting the following:
* **Exam technique:** It is not necessary for students to apologise on the exam for not knowing how to answer a question, and it is not necessary for them explicity note their inability to do the question. If the answer is left blank then their inability to do the question will be inferred, and it is not something for which an apology to the lecturer is necessary. Students should just try to stay on task, answer the questions they can, and use any remaining time to review their work for errors.
* **Anxiety and psychological difficulties:** For students experiencing anxiety or other psychological difficulties, there is a university counsellor available that can offer advice or psychological assessment and treatment. Look up the available people/facilities at your university and give your students a brief summary of the available services, and how to contact them. As a lecturer, if you wish to do so you may be able to give low-level advice on effective study habits, university progress, etc. (including generalised advice on reducing anxiety and coping with study load), but you can leave it to professional counsellors for larger issues.
* **General advice on putting disappointments in perspective:** Encourage your students to be proactive in seeking assistance for any serious problems they are experiencing. With respect to generalised feelings of inadequacy or disappointment, it is worth stressing to students that lack of success in a particular assessment or university course (while it is not nothing) is mererly a diagnosis that they lack competence in that particular skill at this particular time --- it is not an indictment on their broader personnal qualities and it is a deficiency that can be remedied with additional study and practice. Encourage students to put their disappointments in perspective, and consider these alongside the progress they are making. The vast majority of students are making at least some forward progress in their degree program and the skill-growth corresponding with their program of study.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I am answering you from India, though I am from the US.
What you are observing is a world-wide phenomenon, and not something particular to Brazil. Unfortunately, there are probably no good support services available in your place. In the US, the counseling centers at universities are probably very busy. In their absence:
* It helps a lot knowing that my difficulties as a student are not unique to me. Explaining your observations to all your students in general terms can be quite helpful.
* Covid has taught us that being part of a learning community is quite valuable. Somewhat inappropriate messages like "I cannot do this" is one of many symptoms that have been lost. Mention this in a letter to your students.
* Part of your job is certification. You cannot just pass students because of their personal difficulties without creating difficulties for the society later on, when the "Covid generations" lack basic knowledge. Plead for understanding.
I would take these points (and maybe a few other ones that you can get from other answers) and write a short letter to your students. What this does is that it validates their feelings, which helps getting over them. Clearly, in an ideal world, there would be a support structure not involving you that helps students get on track again.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Would you be willing to float the idea of a whole new course (or module) to address this?
I know of at least one university that teaches a course on [professional resilience](https://rl.talis.com/3/chichester/lists/A349B16E-EB45-93F7-2B19-2DAD5956CFFF.html?lang=en-GB). It's about the mental health skills that are particularly helpful for the student's subject (which in the linked example is Music). So the exact content should be directed towards the skills most relevant for the subject the student studies, for Music that includes addressing performance anxiety, for many subjects that includes addressing imposter syndrome.
The example module given is optional but very popular, and is always well attended.
It's not a one stop solution, there will be people who need more individual support, but you mentioned that your university already offers this. It is a way great to help many people at once, and foster a culture of mental health awareness.
Yes, it does take time away from the great many other things the students must learn. But as you have seen, without these skill the students are not able to learn efficiently, so overall, it is likely to be a net gain.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As described by other answers, this issue may have many different factors that contribute to it, but I think there is one more that needs to be considered: these comments are not always complaints. During my undergraduate studies, most student/professor relationships were casual enough that the students felt very comfortable saying "Sorry, I didn't have time to get to this question," or "I got lost on this one," etc, simply because we felt it was *more* embarrassing to leave a question empty than it was to leave a brief explanatory message. We understood the failing was ours, and asked for no special treatment.
As an educator, my students have been fairly open with me, often giving me the same kind of comments on their work when they leave unanswered questions/problems. When I chat with them to check in, they're often in good mental health and in good standing academically, and explain to me that they just blanked, or were a bit short on time.
And I think this may be a cultural shift with younger generations. So while there are surely many comments that are mental-health-related, it may also be true that some of them are benign. In short: some comments may just be an effort to say "I'm leaving this comment to let you know that I considered the question, but I feel awkward leaving it blank." Whether this is acceptable practice is another question, of course.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/01
| 2,404
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<issue_start>username_0: So I did a ppt poster presentation. In one of the sections of my PowerPoint, the entire section was highlighted as having a 10% similarity to a website, which is already cited in my PowerPoint and paraphrased. Now on looking at the word version of my PowerPoint it highlighted generalized statements and common examples. Now I contacted the student union advice team and they said I plagiarized because I didn't put the statements in quotes.
I have been accused of this same thing before and took the fall, however I don't want to go through that again and I am truly confused about what to do. I have inserted a picture of the word version of the PowerPoint:
The hearing is in five days. What should I do?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FREVP.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Gg3P3.png)<issue_comment>username_1: In examining the image, my judgement would be that you have not plagiarized anything. You include only short phrases that were marked, but those phrases are also just about the only way to express the ideas. Moreover, the citations (assuming correct) are listed for each of your paragraphs, indicating that you are attributing the ideas to the authors not yourself.
If they penalize you then you are being abused.
Speaking for myself, there is no plagiarism here at all. Missing quotes for the phrases might be a minor infraction of some local rules, but it isn't plagiarism. It is clear, to me, at least, that you have paraphrased a cited source including key essential phrases.
Unfortunately, I'm not on the board of judges here, so can't guess what will happen, but I'd complain up the hierarchy if you get any sanction.
Especially since this is a poster, not a paper, where some stylistic flexibility should be allowed. Quoting each of the "offending" phrases makes it less useful as a poster.
Some of the words marked as offending are just facts. I doubt that there would have been any way to produce the report had you not actually listed the source since those facts will appear as phrasing in many similar sources.
As to what you should do, insist that everything you said is cited. There is no attribution of any of the ideas to yourself. It is not plagiarism.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree that this seems at most to be a borderline case on its face, and 10% is not an unusual percentage similarity for non-plagiarized work.
However, there are some things counting against you:
First, I suspect that your work here may not be meeting the learning goals of the course. Typically, you should be able to synthesize multiple sources for a college-level presentation. Relying so much on one source suggests that you haven't made a unique presentation, rather, you've found someone else's presentation and summarized it. Possibly the topic you've chosen is too generic.
Second, it does seem that you've directly copied from [the source](https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/special-subjects/principles-of-radiologic-imaging/magnetic-resonance-imaging) rather than internalizing the concepts and generating text in your own words. For example, the source states "MRI is relatively expensive, requires longer imaging times than CT and may not be immediately available in all areas"; you transformed this into two bullet points "MRI is relatively expensive/requires longer imaging times than CT". It seems likely to me that you did in fact copy these phrases directly, or perhaps wrote them down verbatim in your notes as bullet points and then copied those into your writing. If, instead, you read this article, internalized it, and then reproduced it, your bullet points might have been "Cost" and "Long imaging times". These are not concepts that can only be expressed one way. The more times you choose exactly the same wording, the more it appears that you've taken the source verbatim and then tried to adjust the language to evade plagiarism detection. I still think you're in a sufficiently grey area where I'd have trouble arguing you should see a substantial penalty for this, but it might be worth a warning to be more careful in the future.
Finally, and this is I think the most damning, ***your words come in exactly the same order as the source***. All of them. You have taken the exact order and structure of the original source. This is not merely a reproduction of selected phrases from another article, *all of the words bolded in red occur in exactly the same order in the source as in your work*. There is no reasonable way this would occur in exactly the same sequence if you did not copy from the article. Further, **even more of the content is substantially identical than was directly flagged**. You write "MRI machines have enclosed, tight spaces that can trigger claustrophobia in people without anxiety or phobias". The original source sentence is "...MRI machine is a tight, enclosed space that can trigger claustrophobia even in patients without preexisting phobias or anxiety". All you have done is changed verbs (machine is -> machines have), rotated some words (tight, enclosed -> enclosed, tight; phobias or anxiety -> anxiety or phobias), and used synonyms in context (patients -> people). **This is not acceptable, it looks like you're just trying to beat a plagiarism checker.**
I think what you did is to copy the article you are citing and then go through, line by line, remove some of the words and insert your own. Some may argue it does not represent plagiarism in the worst form, but to me it is a dishonest representation of original work. This is not an acceptable way to write an academic paper. You can avoid this in the future by first reading from multiple sources and learning about your topic, then writing from your own memory about the subject, supporting your work with citations and quotes from what you've read. One way I was taught to do this in grade school was to use note cards where you express a concept and a source on each card, and then use those cards independently of your references to compose an essay.
I don't know whether you intentionally plagiarized to make your assignment easier, or if you've learned incorrectly what the academic standards for plagiarism are. **It is important that you recognize that you are not being accused because there is some 10% overlap detected by an automatic plagiarism detector**, which may be perfectly defensible, but because you've lifted an entire article on the subject and merely modified it to appear like it's different. I'm also wary to advise what you should do about this accusation, because it depends a lot on how your instructor and institution will behave. I think in the best case, you will admit how you have crafted this work, recognize that what you thought was acceptable behavior is not, and re-do the assignment or an equivalent the correct way and be assessed on that assignment. If this is the first time you've been sanctioned for plagiarism, I think it would be fair to let this additional work be your primary punishment, and not have your final grade be affected. I don't know how consistent this outcome will be with the policies at your institution.
---
I've thought about this some more, and I really think the evidence is strong enough that you've plagiarized that I think your best option is to admit you've closely paraphrased your work from one source, to make a case that you did not previously understand this action was plagiarism, and that you now understand this is not acceptable and that you will correct this in the future. The best way to demonstrate this would be to redo the assignment appropriately, clearly explain what it is that you did wrong (without excuses or "to be honest I didn't plagiarize"), and ask offer additional work to demonstrate meeting the learning objectives of the course. I think the hardest part will be re-learning your understanding of plagiarism. Here are some references that may help you:
<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/referencing/page_05.htm>
<https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-writing/avoiding-plagiarism-paraphrasing> (see "unacceptable paraphrase" example #5)
<https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/quotingsources/> (see the "Word-for-Word Plagiarism" and "A Patchwork Paraphrase" sections)
If I were involved in this hearing, I would be least likely to advise strong penalties against you if you:
* Completely re-did the assignment *correctly* before the hearing, and submitted this version to your instructor
* Explain coherently the issue of close paraphrasing and how you have learned that it is plagiarism to reuse the sentences and structure of someone else's work even if you substitute words. Your best option may be to write an additional essay on what close paraphrasing is, in your own words, citing sources appropriately.
* Promise that you've learned from this and won't do it again
Frankly, if you use the excuses you've tried to use here in the comments and chat, I would have very little sympathy, especially as you have had previous accusations of plagiarism and seem to have made little effort since then to learn what you've done wrong.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: * Plagiarism checking software should have rules for entering text that
should be excused. For example, my university used Turnitin for
plagiarism checks. Our professors told us that if we were citing text
from anywhere, we could include the text in double quotes, and
Turnitin would ignore it. At my university, 20% was the plagiarism threshold.
* The alternative is to write the text in your own words, instead of
copy-pasting it.
* If you've already submitted it, it's just a matter of providing proof
of innocence to your professor by mentioning that you've cited the
text.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/02
| 614
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<issue_start>username_0: I believe in some fields like physics or other experimental science, hiring a student without PhD degree as a research assistant is common. In pure mathematics, do professors have the need to hire non-PhD students as their research assistants?<issue_comment>username_1: In pure Mathematics, there is less need for research assistants. The typical jobs of an RA such as conducting experiments, wrangling data sets, doing literary search, are not there. Research in pure Mathematics tends to be very specialized. In some research areas like algebraic number theory or algebraic geometry, you can spend years just to get to the current margin of research. A professor in those areas needs to groom students in order to work with them. There are some exceptions, such as graph theory or combinatorics, where it is in general easier to understand a research question. I got my Ph.D. in non-associative algebra and I would never have been able to use a non-Ph.D. research assistant. Maybe if I would have been interested in working in computer algebra, I could have used a non-Ph.D. research assistant.
Also, funding in pure Mathematics is very restricted. NSF grants in pure Mathematics tend to not contain funding for research assistants that are NOT Ph.D. candidates, but this is the case for other disciplines as well. Undergraduate research is a different subject. A professor in pure Mathematics will have to think of something that undergraduates actually can do, and it would typically not be in their main line of work.
TLTR: My experience suggests that there is no need for research assistants in pure Mathematics.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In pure mathematics, student employees don't usually "help" their advisors do the adviser's research. They generally do their own but on a topic of interest to the advisor, perhaps extending their work. Applied math is potentially different.
But RA isn't a globally defined term. A university, even an undergraduate university could use it as a title for an arrangement in which the student does some research and gets some stipend. Thus it is a term for a certain kind of funding that has few external duties beyond research.
So, in that sense, a student other than a PhD student might get such an award. But not in every institution. And, the funding might be entirely internal to a department. Perhaps a really good student has a really severe financial constraint (poor as dirt). A department might be able to do some things while giving a student opportunities. Rare, but possible. And it would probably be the department that "hired" the student (gave the grant), not a professor.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: It is my first article ever in this field. I submited it to a high impact journal last year and just got the decision today -- acceptance with major revision. I have no idea whether this bad or not. One of reviewers sounds unreasonable while the other was asking relatively good questions. Can someone explain to me what to do, my co authors honestly did not believe in the idea of the paper and called it bullshit on multiple occassion .<issue_comment>username_1: Congratulations. If they give you major revision, you have to revise the paper thoroughly. While they are in their rights to reject the revision, this is now somewhat unlikely, unless, of course, you do not do the work on the revision. Pay attention to all the reviewers comments and suggestions. You usually have to provide an additional paper on how you addressed them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is a strange double message here.
First: acceptance with a major revision is a *good thing*. It's an acceptance.
In response to
>
> One of reviewers sounds unreasonable while the other was asking
> relatively good questions.
>
>
>
you pay attention to both reveiwers. Read the "unreasonable" one's comments carefully. Put your prejudice aside and think about whether what they say is sometimes reasonable.
When you send your revision to the editor, explain which suggested changes you accepted, and which you rejected (and why).
But
>
> my co authors honestly did not believe in the idea of the paper and
> called it bullshit on multiple occassion
>
>
>
is weird and raises several questions. Why did they think so? Why did they agree to submit that work? Might the unreasonable reviewer be right? Are they willing to work on the major revision?
Answers to those questions might affect your decision about what to do next.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: First, it's concerning your co-authors didn't support the idea of the paper. It makes it sound like you wrote the paper alone.
As for your *major revisions* question, most papers require revisions after you submit it to a journal. Some papers require minor revisions (e.g. like graphs, tables, or grammatical fixes)
Major revisions refer to the claims you made in the paper. Meaning, your paper looks promising, but your claims are so big that you must support them more thoroughly.
For example, perhaps you made very big claims, but you didn't provide sufficient information/data/stats/equations to support your claims.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I've finished writing my thesis and have done an online plagiarism check. I used <https://www.check-plagiarism.com/> to check and got a lot of plagiarism. I don't understand why. You can find an example below. For instance, I don't see where the plagiarism is in the first sentence which is marked red. When looking into the suggested URL, I don't even find the key words from this sentence there. What should I do?
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zpu2V.png)<issue_comment>username_1: The questions in the title and in the body of the question are different; I'll answer the question in the title, which I cite here in case of a later edit:
>
> Online checker for plagiarism: How accurate are they?
>
>
>
Answer: **They are inaccurate, but moreover - they are simply *not* "checker[s] for plagarisms"**, even if some of those programs have names which appear to claim the contrary.
The reason is that *plagiarism* is a subtle concept; determining whether some piece of writing P is plagiarized or not requires, in many cases, a proper understanding of the contents of P as well as of the context of P. Understanding those things is far beyond what software can currently (2022) do.
What software tools like the one you showed in your question really do is some kind of automated (probably statistical) analysis of texts, and highlighting of some parts of the text. The output of the software does not determine whether something is plagiarism. The fact that such a tool shows some absurd text message as a result (such as "33% plagiarized content" in your screenshot) tells us something about the software, not about the text it analyzed.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: [username_1's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/185810/60119) provides a good description of the general problem with "plagiarism checkers."
Looking at this particular one, clearly its statistical analysis (or whatever it's doing) is failing pretty badly. In tests on my work it's often not able to identify my original sources (from which there may well be a few phrases I did take verbatim), it suggests I've plagiarised from sources I've never seen, it claims that trivially short phrases and even single words are plagiarised, and, perhaps most astonishingly, it claims that large portions of my text are unique when it's comparing against a copy of that same document.
To see how this particular plagiarism checker works I took a couple of items from my personal technical notes and ran them through it. I picked [this item on the technical details of video standards](https://github.com/0cjs/sedoc/blob/master/8bit/video.md) (dropping the last part to get it under 2000 characters) and [this item on the design of the CMake language](https://github.com/0cjs/sedoc/blob/master/lang/cmake/README.md) because these notes happen to have taken a particularly large amount of work to properly write up. (The first one because it's a complex topic where I had to use a lot of different sources, and the second one because CMake documentation is just terrible at explaining the core principles of the language design.) I am quite sure that these notes bear little resemblance to the original sources because I wouldn't have had to put such much work into them otherwise. (I am not particularly concerned about plagiarism in the notes I take for personal use in any event, but it's unlikely there would be much anyway because if a source is already in the form I need, I would just link to it rather than re-typing it.)
These didn't come out as high as your example did, 16% and 22% respectively, but some characteristics of the output are interesting to note.
In the first example it identified 22 "plagiarised" bits. Almost all of them are from pages that were not sources I used. I checked only the first few before it started to seem rather pointless because without exception in the ones I checked the text given in the plagiarism match was from my document and there was nothing resembling that text in the source to which they linked. (In the case of a link to a BBC page, the source had not only no technical information about video standards, but almost no text at all.) Several of the matches were for a single word and, in a particularly hilarious example, the word "this" from the Merriam Webster thesaurus:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VB1Lb.png)
(There was more than one of those, actually.)
In the second example it correctly identified "plagiarism" from my on-line copy of the document linked above. (Given that it's from the same repo on GitHub as the first one, I have no idea why it failed to find the copy of the first one.) But somehow it decided that, though it was comparing against *exactly the same document* (albeit formatted slightly differently) the copy I'd given it was still "78% Unique Content."
I couldn't even be bothered for this one to chase down the sources given by the checker, but I am pleased to note that the letter "g" followed by a period is apparently quite original to me:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cvwYC.png)
(I am guessing this is from one of the five uses of "e.g." I made in the text.)
In short, this "plagiarism checker" seems pretty rubbish.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: No, plagiarism detectors are not accurate. They produce lots of false positives. All they can do is identify *candidates* for closer inspection and the bar is usually pretty low on what it takes to become a candidate. From there, it takes a human to carefully review the evidence (the matches) that were found and apply experience and judgement to decide if it's compelling.
They work well for what they're designed to do, quickly comparing a set of submissions against a vast database of possible sources that may have been plagiarized and producing a ranked list of submissions worth reviewing.
We used the MOSS (measure of software similarity) system at Stanford to do cheat-checking for one of our large intro CS classes at Michigan, each time comparing 1000+ new submissions against each other and our archive of roughly 10K prior submissions. This would have been impossible by hand. It scored and ranked the results and did a good job of identifying matching sections. For example, it wasn't fooled by common obfuscation, like variable renaming, simple expression rewriting, statement reordering, rewriting a for as a while, changes to comments, and so on. It really is very good at this.
If it flagged 30 submissions, we might commonly write up six to perhaps a dozen after a careful discussion with my cheat-checking team. We often agreed the rest were a little suspicious, but there just wasn't enough evidence to support a case. By these numbers, you might argue we saw a false positive rate of 40% to 80%. But as a practical matter, what we also experienced was that the cases we reported were usually the ones MOSS ranked highest.
While plagiarism detectors work well at comparing a large set of submissions against another far-larger set of possible sources of plagiarism to find possible matches, they do not work well on an individual submission except to produce a list of the closest matches it found, which may not be good matches at all.
The ranking score for a single result is completely meaningless.
Ranking scores are only helpful for sorting a list of suspects (or similarly, search engine results) because rank values only have to obey ordering, not linearity. (A score of .8 may be better than .4, but it's probably not twice as good.) You need the context of other submissions it scored higher or lower to know what a score means.
In your case, you've reviewed the output and decided there's no real match. Good for you. It was a false positive, which is no surprise because these tools generate *lots* of false positives. (And presumably, you already knew you didn't plagiarize anyway.)
If you expect a plagiarism detector to be right most of the time, you're going to be wrong most of the time.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Some similarity checkers are moderately good at finding text that is similar between two documents. If a reputable checker says two sentences are the same, it is almost certain that they actually are. Producing such tool, with a sufficiently comprehensive database of sources to check against, is also *very* expensive. This is why universities and colleges pay very large sums for access to software like Turnitin. Its unsurprising that a free tool on the internet cannot do such a good job.
There is a reason that often universities don't allow students access to these tools (although this is not universal) - doing so helps them to plagiarize. Reading a source and then rephrasing it sufficiently to pass a plagiarism check is still plagiarism, its just plagiarism that can't be detected as easily. Plagiarism is using other peoples thoughts without attribution, not using their words.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/02
| 989
| 4,206
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<issue_start>username_0: It's been almost a year now that I've been working as an intern in a research institution. I've worked on several research projects in the institution now and some of them are already published. However, the only benefit that I get out of the internship is *network*, *publications*, and *promises*, without getting paid. At first I was excited and was enthusiastic in working with them, but now I feel burned out.
My questions are:
1. Is it normal for research interns to not get paid?
2. What are the benefits that research interns usually get?<issue_comment>username_1: No, it is not normal to be unpaid for the kind of work your describe, though sometimes students will work on research projects for credit rather than pay (which, in fact, they may pay for), and sometimes students may opt to volunteer to work on research for free. However, there are both legal and ethical guidelines for when this volunteer work is okay. Generally, if the person is taking a place of a paid employee while going unpaid, it's not ethical (and often not legal). However, sometimes a student takes more work to supervise than the value that they provide. For example, if all of their tasks have to be done under the observation of someone who could otherwise be doing those same tasks instead of supervising, it may be justifiable that the position is unpaid. That does **not** sound like it describes your circumstances.
"Benefits" includes both the tangible ones associated with employment and some less-tangible ones. The tangible ones depend a lot on the country you work in. Less-tangible benefits should indeed include building relationships that allow you to get recommendations for future positions, and importantly *learning*: about the field, about research, etc.
If you're not being paid, you don't really have to do anything but stop working. It would be polite to let someone know, of course. You may also have legal recourse, but you'd really want to speak to a lawyer to know your position.
I'm not sure how best to handle the costs you've already sunk into this position... you have no guarantee of the recommendation you seek, and your time is being abused in the meantime. It doesn't seem that they have a reasonable valuation of your efforts, so I would not trust them for a good recommendation. It may be time to cut losses and find someone else to work for that respects you.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it normal for research interns to not get paid?
>
>
>
No. If they do useful work, it is wrong not to pay them.
>
> What are the benefits that research interns usually get?
>
>
>
Low pay and reference letters, plus whatever is required by law.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Depends on your short and long term career goals.
Some people take unpaid internships because of local culture. However, in some countries unpaid internships are frown upon as the society is capitalist. For example: in America, it's uncommon to take unpaid roles. However, most internships paid near or below poverty levels.
Therefore, you must evaluate life reality (your livelihood) often when working as an intern as you cannot be a student or intern forever. This means that at one point in the future you have to take earning professional grade salary seriously in order to survive. Professional grade salaries vary depending on geographic location.
If you're interning at a university, YOU MUST put a deadline on yourself on when you'll decide to leave or apply to a professional (paid) level job within the institution or outside.
If you are working at a private organization, you must decide what direction to take with your career, This follows a very similar path as if you were working at a university.
Here are the types of jobs in the world:
1. Public organization (e.g. listed on the stock market)
2. Private company
3. Government agency (local, state, or federal)
4. Academia (e.g. administrator, professor, scientist (non-faculty), research assistant, or leadership)
5. Independent Research labs (may be located outside or inside universities, hospitals, or government agencies but operate independently)
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/02
| 839
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it common for universities to admit graduate students who speak the language of instruction but not the local language? For instance,the program might be taught in French, but everyone in the community speaks Arabic on a daily basis.
This question is sort of the opposite of [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/84230/why-do-universities-require-international-students-to-show-language-proficiency).
For context, I am a foreign researcher living in a house with some other foreign students including "Bob", a recent arrival who does not know a single word of the local language. Bob's program is taught in English, but almost no one (including most people at the university) speaks English here, and knowing the local language is essential to pretty much every interaction and task you could think of. Due to this language barrier, Bob is basically nonfunctional without the help of me or the other English speaking student at our house.
Our university requires proof of local language proficiency for international undergraduate students and graduate students whose programs are taught in the local language. However, they did not require any proof of proficiency in Bob's case or even suggest local language training.
So, is this sort of situation common? Do universities assume that a graduate student in Bob's situation would take the initiative and start learning the local language before arriving?<issue_comment>username_1: From what I have seen in different places at least throughout Europe, the standard is indeed that the only language requirements are those for the language of instruction. However if the program is offered e.g. in English then at least everything directly related to it can normally be done in English as well. Even if there is some ancient part of university bureaucracy that is not able to do so, there is usually some department for international students to counter that. There is also commonly some way of taking language classes before or parallel to the program and a recommendation to do so.
That being said, the general idea is that everything else is your private problem and while sometimes that could be said a bit more directly, I think a university student should also be mature enough to realize that living in a foreign country without knowing the local language can be hard.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, it's common. Graduate students generally need to know English because that's the language of academia, but the local language is not necessary even if it is highly advantageous. Source: personal experience and also the fact that student exchange programs exist.
On the other hand, going to a foreign country without knowing the language is risky, as Bob is discovering. So to actually go to the foreign country *and* to not attempt to learn the language is not common. It's more common to at least try to learn something.
That said, it's easier to manage a lack of language skills in the modern world with Google Translate. For example, I know someone who went to Japan and relied on Google Translate to communicate with the locals.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As others have stated, universities will frequently accept students who don't speak the local language (at least, I've seen this in much of Europe).
What I'll add is that there may be some requirements for graduation that require the local language in some way. In the Netherlands (at least at the University of Amsterdam), your PhD dissertation *must* have an Dutch-language abstract. (I believe the dissertation itself can be written in either English or Dutch; almost everyone I knew wrote in English.)
Of course, by the end of your PhD, hopefully you've either learned the local language or found someone who can help you translate the abstract!
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/02
| 1,132
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergrad studying pure mathematics, and graduate school applications are around the corner. *My ultimate aim is to do a PhD in pure mathematics.* I understand that in several places (e.g., Canada, the UK, Germany, France, & Switzerland), it is the norm to require a **Master's degree** before one can pursue a PhD.
While it is clear that PhDs are funded, there doesn't seem to be a blanket rule for Master's degrees across universities, in terms of any financial support. I have visited several universities' web pages, and some do provide funding through TA/RA stipends, but this seems quite variable. I figured it would be helpful to ask a question here so that I can understand the situation beyond the fine print (i.e., if there is financial support, is it sufficient? What ways of securing funding exist?). I am certain this post and the answers to it shall be of massive help to everyone looking to do a Master's degree in pure math.
**Question**: Are there universities that have financial support (in terms of TA/RA stipends, fellowships/scholarships, etc.) for a Master's degree in pure math? In particular, I'm asking for universities in:
* The US & Canada
* The UK
* Germany, France, Switzerland
Note that I shall be an *international student* in all of the above countries.
Also, if funding is available, is it *guaranteed* for the duration of one's Master's degree, or are there any strings attached (such as *excellent* academic performance and/or research)? If there are any country/region-specific scholarships/fellowships one should know about, feel free to let me know!
I believe graduate students and professors may be most equipped to answer this question, perhaps based on first or second-hand experiences, or even just common knowledge. Thanks a lot!<issue_comment>username_1: I can only answer for the US, though it might apply to Canada as well.
Since people get directly accepted into the Ph.D. program, there is no support for people who only want to get a M.S. degree (or, like you, who want to get the M.S. in order to apply for a Ph.D. elsewhere). Also, funding in pure Mathematics is tight. The reasons for someone to only want the M.S. are usually that they see it as a good investment or because they want to be student a little bit longer. The time is too short (two years or less) for a student to be likely to be productive in pure Mathematics, so faculty are not incentivized to spend time and resources on an MS student. They are more likely to spend time than money, because they do not have the money.
You might be able to find support as a TA, but if there is also a Ph.D. program, the TA positions are given to Ph.D. students. Thus, you should be looking at Mathematics departments that do not have a Ph.D. program, but since you are coming from abroad, it is unlikely that you will get hired into a TA position (just because of fear of lack of language skills or teaching skills).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Unfortunately, the answer here is sometimes yes, sometimes no, and that you have to read the fine print at each individual place. Masters programs in particular are a grab-bag of different kinds of programs. This is very crude, but basically they tend to fall into programs that function like the first year or two of Ph.D. or like an extra year of undergrad.
At most universities in Canada, a masters is a required part of the progression to Ph.D., and in that situation, I think you can start with the expectation that master's programs will have funding packages similar to a Ph.D. program: they will include a stipend and cover your tuition, that this will be a part of your offer of admission, and that while "guaranteed" is probably too strong, since you can always get kicked out of the program, any withdrawal of it is quite rare.
On the other hand, there are other kinds of masters, the most notable one being as part III at Cambridge, which typically do expect students to pay tuition and to function basically as a bonus year of undergrad (these are also called "post-bacs" at some schools). Master's programs at US schools are often in this category ([NYU's](https://math.nyu.edu/dynamic/masters/ms-gsas/overview/) is one I've seen come up often).
So, you're just going to need to do your research on each individual program. You shouldn't be shy about emailing the relevant graduate administrator at each program, to ask them the questions above, since they know far better than we do. Even people on here with experience in particular systems can't really speak to what will be happening next year.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/03
| 1,866
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<issue_start>username_0: When I did my Master thesis, I discovered a new physical phenomenon and realized a novel technique in our prototype device. However, due to the rush of graduation, I didn't have time to collect enough data for the formal publication.
After I graduate from the master's degree, the work was handed over to the Ph.D. in the group with other master's students to finish up. Using exactly the same technology I developed, they formally collected data from the standard device in use and going to publish the paper on that technology. However, I will be listed as the nth (n>3) author in the publication (the front are several PhD and Master students who is participating in the follow-up).
So the problem is, on one hand, they collected data for the publication and wrote the manuscript, so I understand the issue about first author. On the other hand, I almost individually developed the technology that is being published, but only named as a nth author. Is it a proper author arrangement?<issue_comment>username_1: I have had this conversation multiple times with my supervisors. It really depends on a few things and the order is usually agreed upon by the authors. You can put the order of the authors:
1. Alphabetically
2. By Seniority
3. By Reverse Seniority
4. Who contributed the most
However, usually the first author is the one who contributed the most AND is the corresponding author. I think the best practice is by order of contribution.
My supervisor once told me that two authors decided the order by playing a game of croquet.
If it really bugs you, ask the lead author why you were placed where you were.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Congratulation for your publication! It is always nice to be part of a productive group and being able to contribute toward the progress of science&technology.
Regarding your reward for giving a fundamental contribution: it looks like you would be a succesful researcher, if already at the Master level you were able to develop such a technological feature.
Since it was not a stroke of luck, it seems you are fit for R&D activities.
Why do you care so much about the order of authorship? Since you are speaking about a technology you developed, I would be much more concerned about patenting it: did you (ever) speak with your former advisor? It may be that you gave up intellectual property on whatever was published in the Master thesis, so if you published your core diea and the demostration, you basically give it out for free to the University and to the Department.
Anyhow, please ignore the fact that you were listed as n-th co-author: being co-author is already an important step, even more if you did not contribute to the publication (equally smart people with equal access to publications will develop the same idea ... but the difference is the one concretizing the idea, even if it is through menial formal data collection).
Since you are so sure your contribution was so relevant, when you will be interviewed you can present yourself as self-confident (but please do not overstate your capabilities). Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, there's no such thing as a proper author arrangement. There are no laws or regulations about this, and there's even no universally accepted meaning of the author positions, so the authors are arranged as agreed between themselves, and that agreement or understanding is usually reached early on, in the very initial stages of the research to be published. That is, when researchers want to do some research together, they negotiate who does what and who gets which position on the author list. If you are not happy with the proposed position, you are free not to participate in the project at all. In short, the position on the author list is a result of a negotiation, and your leverage in that negotiation is your ability to contribute to the project.
It looks like you did your work without having negotiated your position on the author list. This is pretty usual for MS students, and they don't have good negotiating skills and leverage anyway. You are thus entitled only to be listed as one of the authors, not to be in any specific position on the author list. You get what you negotiate, not what your work is worth. The earlier you learn this the faster you will adapt to this harsh and unfair world.
A few other remarks:
(1) Be happy you are listed at all. The thing is that if you develop some technique and then this technique is used to do some study, you are not necessarily entitled to be listed as a co-author of that study. It's a grey area of ethics and there are no rules about this. <NAME> developed the relativity theory, but he isn't listed as a co-author of each and every paper in which that theory is used.
(2) Your co-authors may value your contribution differently and consider your position to be fair. The thing is that MS students are usually heavily reliant on advice, ideas, and mentoring by their supervisors and often do only relatively low-skilled work.
(3) It looks like you were not shown the manuscript before its submission to the journal. If so, it's a research misconduct. When you submit a manuscript to a journal, you have to check the box or declare in some other way that all authors were shown the final version and agreed with its submission to the journal. However, even if you had been shown the manuscript, you could not have done anything about your position on the author list. Your only leverage would have been the ability to say no to submission of the manuscript with your name on it, in which case they could have simply removed you from the author list, see Remark (1) above.
(4) As long as you are not the first author, it doesn't really matter much which position you are in. The thing is that when you apply for academic positions, what people count in your CV is the number of first-authored papers and the number of co-authored papers. I have seen people negotiating the first position, but have never seen people negotiating other positions. People don't bother fighting over such minor things—so neither should you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It depends.
If the publication is about *results* using your method, then certainly you cannot expect to be first author, especially if you did not participate in the collection and/or analysis of the data.
If the publication *introduces your new method* and includes practical use in data collection, then you should probably be higher up in the author list.
You cannot expect to be part of papers by others who simply use your technique.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Consider it your mistake not to have realised the magnitude of your accomplishment, and to have secured complete ownership of your intellectual property in the public domain. Claiming sole authorship of publication was quite approriate in this case where you can acknowledge your sponsor and supervisor's name in passing (if you so choose).
In this case though, an explicit (indexed) reference to your dissertation needs to be cited within the preamble of the publication's text so that the reader is in no doubt as to the paper's origin and basis. It is not necessary to add you as one of the authors since you aren't an author of this particular (derived) work. If you want deeper credit for your contribution, submit a publication under your own name.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I hope you describe your discovery in your master thesis. And you gave it enough space and emphasis of the novelty and impact of your discovery. It could even be an appendix, if it would not fit into the overall story line of your thesis.
Then you could ask the authors of the paper, to cite your paper. Then it is obvious you did the discovery and the paper is meant to spread the word to the wider community and provide data to "prove" the discovery.
You are the sole author of your master thesis. Everybody would know, that you received according help from your professor or advisor. The right ordering of the authors in the paper is less important compared to this, as the master thesis predates the paper.
Probably it is too late for this, but others might profit from my answer.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2022/06/03
| 2,533
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<issue_start>username_0: A couple of months ago, I submitted a positive recommendation letter for one of my students for a master's program, and she got accepted by the university. However, after my submission, I've noticed unethical behavior from her side – cheating at an exam –, and violation of the university’s code of ethics – insulting one of her professors.
My questions are:
* Should I change my positive letter to a negative one?
* If I did this, what impact is it likely to have?
My inclination to send the negative letter is motivated by my strivings to be clear and honest with my colleagues, and provide authentic and true information.<issue_comment>username_1: You cannot ethically change your recommendation without first discussing it with the student. So, if you decide to make a change, please arrange to talk with the student.
The student presumably has or will pay the appropriate penalty at your institution. Unless that penalty is academic dismissal, the student has presumably paid for her mistake, or will do so. (She has paid if dismissed, too, but that suggests an incident so egregious that you might feel obligated to take action on the recommendation.)
An unrepentant cheater will cheat again, and get caught again, at the new institution.
Her offense may appear on her transcript, which may be seen by the other institution. (Some institutions request a transcript at decision time and also after the completion of the student's current term.)
My advice: Do nothing unless the cheating incident was so egregious that you feel compelled to intervene. Note that you *still* have to have that discussion with the student if you decide to intervene, regardless of the reason for intervening.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: As a general rule, if you send a letter stating that you believe a fact X to be true, and later get new information causing you to no longer believe what you previously wrote, it is completely ethical and reasonable to inform the recipient of the letter of this change in your beliefs.\* After all, you not only have an ethical obligation to the student, but you also have an ethical obligation to the Master’s program to not mislead them about who they are admitting into their ranks.
It is also in most cases ethical and reasonable to do nothing, since the original letter you sent is dated, so it is implied that you are only stating that *at date Y*, you believed fact X to be true. This says nothing about what you will believe in the future, and indeed, in the context of LORs, most people will have a reasonable expectation that your opinions about the person you are writing the letter for will change over time. So I don’t think you will be compromising your integrity by failing to update the letter. (If the update was meant to correct facts you stated in sworn testimony to the US Congress though, the [calculation could be different](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/28/read-the-letter-comey-sent-to-fbi-employees-explaining-his-controversial-decision-on-the-clinton-email-investigation/).)
The bottom line is, I don’t think there’s an objectively correct way to proceed here. It’s a personal decision, and I’m not even sure what I would do in your situation. It would probably depend to some extent on the severity of the cheating incident and what I felt it says about the student’s future prospects to succeed in her graduate studies. For a relatively minor incident, I would probably let it go.
\* For the current LOR context though, you will want to make sure that you are not breaking any laws or university policies related to protecting the student’s privacy by discussing her cheating incident.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Suppose you sent her transcript to the other university, then later discovered that she had broken into the registrar's server and changed her grades. The correct action in such a case would obviously be to inform the university that the records sent were incorrect (and that the student was the one responsible for falsifying them).
Grades are meant to represent the student's knowledge. By cheating, she effectively tricked the grader into entering an incorrect grade into the system. The mechanism by which the grade was falsified differs between the two scenarios, but in both cases, the student knowingly caused a grade that does not reflect her ability to be placed in the system.
Assuming that the letter of recommendation was based in part on class performance, it was inaccurate, and for the same reason the transcript was. The other university should be informed of this.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You wrote the personal recommendation in good faith on the evidence available to you at the time you wrote. A decision was taken on her master's course. It seems unethical to seek to later modify such opinions and the decision on the basis of new personal experience; where would such a process stop?
Only if there was formal recorded institutional action taken against cheating, and only if that action nullified the grounds of admission to the masters' program might you have cause to notify the accepting institution of the false premises on which it had admitted the student to the masters' program.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Sending a negative letter would put the student at an unfair disadvantage because students strive to have the most positive letters of recommendation that they can have. If you no longer hold a positive opinion, you are not among the professors that should provide recommendations for this student. No one is supposed to have a LOR from a professor that holds a bad opinion on them.
If you feel you can't stand behind your letter anymore, you may withdraw it. But it would be unprofessional and even petty to go into any details why you stopped supporting this student. And you should also take into account that the student might find it out ("Prof. Sane withdrew their LOR, you need another one."), so maybe it's best and most fair if you notify the student straight away as well.
The withdrawal could be as simple as
>
> Hello, Admission board. I wish to withdraw my letter of recommendation for Student. I've also notified Student that I'm withdrawing the recommendation.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> Should I change my submitted recommendation letter due to the student's unethical behavior?
>
>
>
No.
1. Because once sent, you can't *change* a submitted recommendation letter. You can write a second letter, but no party has solicited such a letter, and receiving institution may not even have a mechanism to deal with "errata" in recommendation letters appropriately. They asked for a snapshot with a timestamp and you provided it.
2. Drawing outside the lines and trying to do other people's job (evaluating the student for the program) no matter how well-intentioned can lead to unexpected consequences, perhaps even to you. If the student learns of multiple letters, might they perceive potential harm to their future and take academic or legal action?
3. Where does it end? What if you learn more? Should you send a third letter? A fourth? What if you discover your new view is incomplete and/or nuanced in such a way that you regret your second letter? Will saying "Oh please ignore letter B and go with letter A"? Will they just toss all your letters?
If the letter was honest, correct and valid on the day on which it is dated, your responsibilities were completed.
By getting in the driver's seat and trying to manage or steer the repercussions of the students new actions in a certain way I think you're going down a rabbit hole of unpredictable outcomes that might even come back to bite you.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: First, academia is based around the search for and discovery of truth. This often requires changing positions and conclusions to fit new observations, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient that may be. That should be your guiding principle in everything you do as an academic.
To answer your first question, if you had submitted a research paper that drew conclusions based on data you later learned to be faulty, *would you submit a retraction*? I would hope so, as you now know the conclusion to be unsupported by the data, and to continue to allow people to make decisions as if it were would be unethical. You have a duty to correct that misinformation.
As for your second question, it is irrelevant. You do not have a responsibility to ensure the success of her academic or professional career, only her instruction and the development as a student. The academic dishonesty this student has shown in cheating ultimately calls into question their entire body of work (*falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus*), including that which you based her recommendation on. Allowing the institution they have been admitted to to operate under the assumption that they have legitimately demonstrated themselves academically and should be admitted rewards that dishonesty and will only serve to deny them accountability and stunt their personal growth. Your student is the one who engaged in unethical behavior, and the consequences are theirs to deal with. They are responsible for their own success, academically and professionally, and if this negatively impacts this, it is of their own doing, not yours.
Your desire to be clear and honest with your colleagues is exemplary and the correct course for many reasons. If you were in their position, you would expect the same candidness and truthfulness. Your reputation is also at stake. If they later observed such behavior from this student, they may call your judgement into question. If they were to learn that you knew of this behavior and maintained your positive recommendation at their expense, I would expect them to question your judgement as well as your character. Lastly, whatever program this student was admitted to likely has limited room, and their admission comes at another student's expense. Failing to inform your colleagues about this behavior and inform their decision making may potentially deny a more deserving student this opportunity.
As for your actions moving forward, the best course of action in my opinion is to contact the university she has been admitted to and explain the situation, as well as explain your position and actions to the student. If you still believe they should be admitted to the institution and the behavior you have recently learned about is an aberration that is not indicative of their entire body of work or their character, then let them know. You can maintain a positive recommendation while still being frank and honest. If you no longer believe this student should be admitted into the university based on their actions, then change your recommendation. The pursuit of Knowledge never benefits from the obfuscation of the truth to fit personal or political agendas, and taking a course of action based on the convenience of the ramifications does no one any good in the long run. In short, be truthful because that is where your ultimate duty lies.
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/06/04
| 818
| 3,673
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently preparing a manuscript for publication, and will likely upload it to the arXiv first. However, let's say I'm submitting to a journal with a *very* identifiable formatting style, like, let's hypothetically say, an IEEE journal. While most articles I see on the arXiv are fairly "format agnostic," I wonder: is it frowned upon to upload a preprint using the aforementioned distinct formatting style (provided that all mention of the journal is excluded from the preprint, of course)? Little clarification is given on that specific question by the journal's guidelines. Should I instead downgrade the article to a more bare-bones style/format?<issue_comment>username_1: No, it is not generally frowned upon. Using the same format as for the journal submission is less work, and commonly done regardless of what information content it might provide. In my field I often have a decent idea of which target journal a given preprint is written for. And sometimes I see formatting changes in the next version indicating a lower-prestige journal. Some authors might want to make the submission history less transparent by using a more generic format, others don't worry about it. As far as ArXiV's [instructions](https://arxiv.org/help/submit_tex) are concerned, all they say is not to include actual journal template files in your submission, but any documentclass they support is fine.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: *[The following isn't strictly an answer to the question, but rather an argument for why the question doesn't need to be asked.]*
In my area (pure maths), it was a bit of a revelation to me to realise that although most journals have quite specific formatting guidelines, it **does not remotely matter whether you follow them in your initial submission**.
The process of getting your paper refereed, and deciding whether or not to accept it, is in the hands of academics -- the editorial board and the referees -- who couldn't care less about the publisher's house style guidelines. They aren't going to reject your paper because the margin is 2mm wider than the guidelines, or the font is Computer Modern instead of Times; they will only even notice the formatting if it gets in the way of reading the content [\*]. The only people who care about formatting niceties are the journal production staff working for the publisher, and they will only get their hands on papers after they've been accepted.
So there is no point (in my field at least) in spending ages reformatting your paper for the guidelines of the specific journal you're submitting it to. Just choose a standard generic latex template like `article`, `amsart`, `scrartcl` or whatever, and use this for everything (preprints on your personal webpage, preprints on the arxiv, and submissions to all journals). You can worry about reformatting things to match the journal style later on, *if* the paper gets accepted -- which means you only have to do it once for each paper, even if (as usually happens) you need to try multiple journals before one of them accepts.
[\*] There is an exception here: one factor involved in accept/reject decisions is the length of the paper, and if you are obviously trying to game this by using really narrow margins and tiny font sizes to make the paper look shorter, then it will annoy the referees and editors. Evidently, annoying these people is not in your interest. So using latex packages like `savetrees` is probably an own-goal -- these are sometimes useful for grant funding applications, where the page limits are strictly enforced, but don't use them for journal submissions.
Upvotes: 3
|
2022/06/04
| 1,672
| 7,234
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<issue_start>username_0: What special measures does one take into account to deliver lectures in classes including +100 students (compared to those of less-crowded classes)?<issue_comment>username_1: With 3 TAs you have a reasonable staff/student ratio. You need to use that staff to address the challenges a larger class size brings.
One of the main challenges is that the likely range of skills in the students is wider, meaning that if you want to afford an equal opportunity to everyone you need to work on making the process better for the strugglers who are willing but less prepared.
You also need to assure that marking of assignments and feedback are uniform over the class. In particular you need to produce detailed grading rubrics for everyone doing grading and you need to monitor the output of the TAs.
Keep in close contact with the TAs, with regular meetings in which they can bring you problems that need to be addressed.
Do some of the marking yourself, or, maybe just review the marks and (more important) comments that the TAs provide, perhaps by cycling through reviewing each TAs work periodically.
Lectures will be harder to manage if questions from students are to be considered. You might consider providing notes to students prior to lectures and a way for questions to be asked online so that lectures are more effective.
You might even want to think about the [Flipped Classroom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom) concept making face time an exercise lab with the TAs assisting the students.
In some fields, like CS, having students work in pairs can be effective as can group work with larger groups (say 3-5 students).
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, a key thing about teaching larger classes is to keep in mind the scaling of workloads for different things. E.g. the time needed to prepare and give a lecture is more or less independent of the number of students, while the time needed to correct homework grows linearly.
This might seem somewhat obvious, but there are some aspects of giving a class that one tends to forget about, like all the organization that has to be done. If say on average one in twenty students sends you an email with organizatorial questions each week, that is barely noticeable in a small class, but if you are dealing with several hundred students that can result in multiple hours of work per week.
Part of this simply needs to be taken into account, but often there are several ways of doing things that scale differently. Stuff like preparing good lecture notes is constant in the number of students, but linear in the number of reduced questions. Similarly on the organizatorial side, a good FAQ and precisely worded instructions can work wonders. This will not stop some people from asking stupid questions, but at least it allows you to just point them a the information instead of having to repeat it in full.
Finally, keep in mind that TAs are not just additional working hours for tasks, but that they need to be managed as well. Most are highly capable individuals, but you will need to check in on them from time to time in order to make sure that things are on the right track. Also, while I am not a fan of hierarchies, keep in mind that discussion is the one thing where time spent can grow quadratically in the number of participants. So don't be afraid of telling your TAs how things should be done (e.g. by a precise grading rubric). You should still listen to their feedback of course, but sometimes a quick suboptimal decision is better than endless discussion about minor details.
In particular the latter might not be too much of a problem with your example of around 100 students and 3 TAs, but I have seen classes of "Math for everybody" with 1000+ students and 15+ TAs, where organizing in itself was more or less a full-time job for one post-doc and each exam was a logistical masterpiece, taking weeks of preparation.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The other answers cover the most important stuff, I think, but haven't touched (much) on the classroom component of the course (I'm assuming this course is being delivered in-person ...) @username_1 mentions lecture management, but here's some more detail.
* the lecture room will be a lot bigger, you'll need to carefully consider visibility/legibility of materials. Working on a blackboard (if you're in a discipline that does this) probably won't be feasible any more, you'll most likely need to work with a document camera *or* write on a tablet that's connected to the A/V system *or* write on a touchscreen if one is provided. Figure out your presentation technology and visit the classroom in advance to work out the details. You should also figure out where the light switches are, how they work, and what the best setting(s) are.
* Student engagement gets harder. Clicker/polling questions definitely come into their own for large classes. Find out what system(s) your institution use(s) — are students already buying clickers for another course? Systems like PollEverywhere are phone/tablet/laptop-accessible, but also require payment [either from students or from the institution]. "Think-pair-share" approaches can work, with students working with whoever happens to be sitting near them and reporting results via clicker. There are no/low-tech approaches as well — these approaches were originally developed by [<NAME>](https://mazur.harvard.edu/research-areas/peer-instruction) using coloured cards students could hold up — but the technology-assisted versions work well, can allow you to assign low-stakes credit for answering questions, etc..
If the course is online, there's a whole other set of presentation-scaling issues to consider ...
* Will whatever online system you're using to present (Echo360, Teams, Zoom, WebEx, ...?) handle your class size gracefully? (There was a minor disaster at my university on the first day of fall 2021 [I think] when instructors realized that the university's Teams license didn't cover >1000 students in a meeting.)
* do you have your system locked down to avoid outsiders crashing your class, or disruptive students within your class? (This can be an issue for smaller classes but gets much worse for larger ones.)
* Do you have a TA moderating the chat/question-and-answer channel?
All of the issues raised by other answers about "if you have one problem student in a class of 20 you will have 5 problem students in a class of 100 and 50 problem students in a class of 1000" apply here, but now you have to manage the problem students **remotely** ...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Your lecture should be thoroughly prepared, no matter what size the audience is.
Your writing should be visible to all. A digital overhead projector is better than a blackboard. Plus, it can be recorded along with your audio.
Your voice should be clearly audible to all.
Dealing with disruptive students is the hardest part. Even just sustained whispering among a small bunch of students will significantly degrade the experience for the rest of the room, but addressing the offenders can easily end up with them filing a spurious complaint against you.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/05
| 1,905
| 7,778
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<issue_start>username_0: Especially where there are numerous possible answers to each question, e.g. 5.
If one doesn’t know the answer to a question but puts forth a (somewhat) educated guess, at what point is the chance of getting >0 for this question secondary to lowering the value of ‘definitely’ correct answers?
In other words, by how much does ‘indiscriminate’ guessing devalue points accrued from confident answers?
Perhaps this is more of a statistical question, but hopefully there are some general opinions on this matter.<issue_comment>username_1: As Daniel correctly observes, whether or not guessing is a good idea depends on the scoring system, more precisely whether you lose points for wrong answers or not. By doing a (very simple) assessment of your expected (point) value we can distinguish the following cases:
**Case 1 - No point loss for wrong answers**
This is the simple (and probably most common) case - a wrong answer is 0 points, same as not answering the question. It should be fairly obvious that in this exam design there is no reason not to guess. Quite frankly, if there is no punishment for guessing, you should *always* guess, independently of what else is going and or how much of an idea you have what the answer might be. You can only win.
**Case 2 - Wrong answers lose some points**
An alternative exam design is one where correct answers give a point, and wrong answers lead to some amount of point loss (either a full point or a fraction thereof). Not answering of course neither gains nor loses a point. Now it depends on how sure you are and how much you will lose if you are wrong:
**Case 2.1 - Full point loss for wrong answers**
In the most extreme (realistic) case, a right answer gives as many points as a wrong answer loses. Statistically speaking, it's ideal to guess here if and only if the probability to be right is >50%. So if you are quite, but not 100%, sure you should still take the answer. If you can narrow the options down to 2 but you don't know which it is, it's statistically speaking a wash if you pick one or skip the question. If you think three or more options could be right it's ideal not to pick any of them and move on.
**Case 2.2 - Fractional point loss for wrong answers**
If a wrong answer loses a fraction of the points that a right answer wins, you need to generalise a bit from Case 2.1. It's easiest to analyse this case by considering how many of the possible options you can exclude, and then assess your expected value of randomly guessing between the remaining options. For example, if there are four options, and you can exclude two of them, you really only have two plausible options left. When a wrong answer loses less points than a correct answer gives you, you should still guess. If you cannot exclude anything, you should probably not guess (under reasonable assumption about the test design).
**Some further considerations:**
*If multiple answers are possible:*
If multiple answers can be correct (e.g., answers A and C are correct, but not B and D) the same principles from above still apply, but the space of possible choices explodes to the product of all possible answers. If there is no point loss for wrong answers it's *still* always ideal to take a guess, but if a wrong answer loses points it becomes much more unlikely that guessing is ever really the right choice unless you are pretty sure you know what the right answer(s) are.
*If "none of the above" is a possible option:*
Statistically speaking "none of the above" is just one more option to consider in your analysis. That said, in practice this is a bit tricky since you will never be able to exclude this option unless you already know the correct answer for sure (and then you don't need this analysis). So if "none of the above" is a possible answer and wrong answers lose full points, you should only guess if you are pretty sure that one specific answer is right.
---
As a note for educators looking at this - you may read this answer and (correctly) conclude that the best way to disincentivize guessing is to subtract a full point for wrong answers, combined with having "none of the above" as a possible choice. While this is undoubtedly true, consider what the impact on students is who are *not* guessing, but who simply made an honest mistake. Essentially, this leads to the awkward situation where a partial but slightly incorrect solution is *worse than knowing nothing and skipping a question entirely*. If you intend your exam to be a measure of student knowledge, that's not what you want.
For exams with calculations, I found "none of the above" to be a particularly nefarious exam design - this prevents students who know in principle how to do the calculation from sanity-checking for simple calculation errors (did I arrive at one of the possible solutions?). In my opinion, the only reason to pick this design is if you want as many people as possible to do poorly, independently of how much they actually know.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Before answering a question, calculate your [expected value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value). If it's positive then you should guess, otherwise you should not.
*Expected value* is how much you expect to get from the guess. It's calculated by multiplying p(correct) \* points for correct + p(incorrect) \* points for incorrect. So for example:
1. If you are 100% sure an answer is correct, then p(correct) = 1 and p(incorrect) = 0. You should always guess.
2. If you are 25% sure an answer is correct (as is typical for a 4-option MCQ for which you have no idea), then you need the points for getting the right answer to be at least 3x that of the penalty of getting the incorrect answer. If there's no drawback for guessing wrong then the penalty is 0, and you should always guess.
3. Similarly, if you are able to eliminate two of the options then p(correct) becomes 0.5. You need the points for getting the right answer to be at least equal that of the penalty of getting the incorrect answer.
I once took an exam which awarded 8 points for getting the right answer and deducted 3 points for an incorrect guess. With these numbers, a 50-50 question is still worth a guess. You'll have to do the calculations for your specific case (and also estimate p(correct)).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If you are guessing completely at random from `n` choices, then you have `1/n` chance of guessing correctly (if completely at random). That means with probability `1/n` you get 1 point, and with probability `(n-1)/n` you get 0 points. Your expected value therefore is `1/n`.
Typically, it's desired that a student with 0 knowledge should get a 0% on an exam, rather than 25% or 20% from guessing. This can be done by penalizing incorrect answers by `1/(n-1)`: Then your expected penalized value becomes `1*1/n - 1/(n-1) * (n-1)/n = 1/n - 1/n = 0` which is what we want. Another way to think of it is for say 5 choices, on average 1 out 5 guesses will make you gain a point, the other 4 will collectively make you lose a point to balance it out, therefore the penalty is 0.25 per wrong guess.
As soon as you can eliminate even one of the incorrect choices, the expected value of course goes above 0. For example, in the same 5 choice test, if you manage to narrow every question down to 4 possible answers and guess them all, you will end up guessing 1 correcly for every 3 wrong - you get 1 point for the correct, -0.75 for the incorrect, and come out with 0.25 points. The more you narrow it down the better it gets. But then again, if you were able to eliminate even one choice, then it cannot be said that you came in with 0 knowledge. You clearly knew at least enough to eliminate the one choice.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/06
| 1,165
| 4,994
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a strange request - I am looking for ways to get started on publishing a few papers in a couple of years. Ideally looking to collaborate with researchers/professors to contribute to their work and ideally become co-author in some capacity. Is this a reasonable route ? If yes, where can I look for such opportunities ?
**My background**
I am a regular software engineer. I currently work at one of the [FAANG's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tech) at a fairly senior role (IC7) and have 10+ years of experience working on large scale systems & databases. I am self taught and I do not have a research background so a bit confused on how to go about this.
**Why am I doing this ?**
I am starting a perilous journey working towards building a case for EB1-A visa, I already satisfy few of the criteria and looking to improve my profile over the next few years, it is a long shot but unfortunately this is as good as it gets for me to get a green card in a reasonable period.
Appreciate your help !<issue_comment>username_1: Given your career success and credentials, it certainly sounds like you possess a level of talent and professional competence that would make it possible for you to make useful contributions in research. So yes, it sounds absolutely like a reasonable idea. But you are correct that it is an unconventional place to start from. I think the main difficulty would be getting your feet in the door of academia and finding experienced researchers who would have use for your specific skills. I’m convinced that such people exist though.\* The labor of a professional software engineer is worth — well, you probably know better than me how much it’s worth — and if you would offer it for free, I’m sure that would be appealing to some people.
Of course, you would also want to get involved in the writing of any publications that would follow from the work. Given your background, you might need a bit of help in that department, but probably only very little, and you should still be quite attractive to the right people as a collaborator.
In terms of where to look for opportunities, I don’t have very specific suggestions, but if you are in the Bay Area (as I’m guessing you may be), there are several world-famous universities around with great activities in computer science, so I’d suggest cold-emailing people at those departments and explaining your situation and interests. You can also probably find people in your current company who have a leg in the academic world and can offer you advice and maybe introductions to relevant people. By reaching out to random (but not completely randomly selected) people and a bit of networking, I think the chances of finding a project you can help with are pretty good.
\* Actually I am such a person, although in an unusual sense that may not be exactly the sort of thing you had in mind. You can email me for details though.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Ideally looking to collaborate with researchers/professors to
> contribute...
>
>
>
Let's be pragmatic: researchers are doing research, professors are research manager, they almost do not perform research, they keep the overview on the many small steps performed by PhDs/PostDocs, write the usual breakthrough papers summing up 2-5 years of research and getting lauded for that by popular press.
I say all this without downplaying their importance, on the contrary, to stress you have to get in touch with professors.
You have a senior technical role, you have no time to perform research but you can provide two very important things:
* experience, since you easily keep the overview on plausibility/industrial feasibility/interest on a certain topic of **your** choice;
* money;
The logical conclusion is: you can be co-author because of these two contributions you can bring. How? build a shortlist of professors dealing with topic you worked in the past 5 years, get the funds to pay for their research (i.e. for their PhD students), closely supervise their work, keep thinking about how their work can impact your work.
Since you have a personal interest/goal, explore the feasibility of starting your own small company (0 employees, privately funded by you, to get a very rough order of magnitude estimation keep in mind a PhD costs about 50k $/£/€ per year, senior PhDs are expected to publish 1 paper per year) and propose your small company as funding body for small research projects at your shortlisted professors. Set clear goals, like publications, in advance.
Either this way, or you manage to squeeze R&D money from your company to tackle a relevant problem you are facing now and solving it would provide you a clear commercial advantage against your competitors ...
Ps: side question: how much did you spend for the last car you bought? are you ready to spend the same money to increase your visa chances, while at the same time progressing our knowledge in a certain topic?
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/07
| 994
| 4,033
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<issue_start>username_0: I got into an internship with my PI this summer. She accepted me. I’m so thrilled, I’m loving it, but today was the first day she actually came in, as she is usually at her other lab in NY. I mean, she glanced over at me and my mentor for like half a second because she was going by in a hurry and even with that I almost fainted. When I meet her for real one on one I’m gonna die. I’m ready to go to heaven.
But seriously… This is my idol, my #1. I don’t even think she knows how much I value her and know her work by heart. If you asked me to write a summary of all her research I could give you at least 20 pages, probably more.
Anyways, as a professor do you think this is too much or over the top? What would you think if a student was like this about you? Is it too much if I ask her if I can meet her one on one or about autographing her dissertation?<issue_comment>username_1: I've given signed copies of my thesis to my PhD adviser and to friends and colleagues who helped me with it as a token of gratitude. Signing books is also common. I see nothing wrong with you asking her to sign your copy.
As others have pointed out, you have to figure out a way to have a *professional relationship* with your adviser. Whatever her status in your (research) community, *to you* she is a professional contact with whom you have to productively interact. In your specific context, you aren't some screaming fan at a K-Pop concert, but you're the stage hand making sure that the microphone is working or the person at the back of the stage singing backing vocals -- a professional who is necessary to keep the show running. You've got to keep your cool to make sure it does.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Wait to ask her until you've worked with her and know better how she might respond. Perhaps that's when your summer internship ends in a few months. In the meanwhile, don't faint at your first meeting. It's unprofessional.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It never hurts to ask. I would not ask for a meeting for the sole purpose of getting an autograph, but it's perfectly reasonable to email a professor (especially one you're interning with) and ask whether they have time to meet with you and discuss research ideas. If at some point in the meeting you ask for an autograph, it's not too weird in my opinion (though it really is personal - some people might find it weird). I would suggest having the autograph bit at the end, so that it won't set the tone for the entire meeting.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> What would you think if a student was like this about you?
>
>
>
Extremely uncomfortable. This is absolutely subjective; others may find this behavior flattering or appreciate the enthusiasm, but a non-negligible set of people will become cautious.
By and large, one expects a certain level of maturity and professionalism amongst research colleagues. Both those qualities imply moderation of emotions and appropriate expression. Bear in mind that gushing is communication; communication can make or break a researcher.
This is not only about academic mores and conduct; maturity is critical in research because work must be done dispassionately. Negative results must be accepted as readily as positive results, findings that reject your initial hypothesis must be clearly reported, and competition with research rivals must be above board, no matter the temptation. Each of these (and many more) can get difficult when one is emotionally driven. You must take care not to cultivate qualities that could impede your own research career.
As to the primary question; getting a dissertation copy autographed is no big deal under usual circumstances. Your adulation of this person makes the circumstances somewhat unusual, and the verbal/non-verbal cues you may give off could lead to uneasiness.
As others have said, your passion and enthusiasm are commendable. It's just that there is also a case for dispassion and stoicism in this domain.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/07
| 1,961
| 7,840
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<issue_start>username_0: As a general rule, I'm a laid back person and don't take life too seriously. So while I have a PhD, let's say, I don't wave around. (So much so that my PhD scroll hasn't been framed yet).
I work outside academia and for my job, I write governmental papers and submit to various committees. Yet despite members knowing I have a PhD, I always get referred to as "Mr" in conversations and minutes/agendas. Initially this didn't worry me but I see other staff who are PhDs as well do getting their titles acknowledged and titles seem to have 'sway', let's say.
Am I being petty to ask that official meetings/documents refer to my correct title? And what is the best way to raise this?<issue_comment>username_1: Outside of a university or a research institution, the only people routinely called doctor are medical doctors. And their doctorates are MDs and DOs, professional degrees considered lower than a PhD earned through research.
If being called doctor is really important, you need a new job in academia or research where that will happen. If you like the job you have, you will have to accept that it comes with being called Mr. No one is disrespecting you. They're simply behaving according to custom.
You could make a fuss and insist that people call you doctor and maybe they will. But the most likely outcome is that they will think you're a petty and self-important asshat. I think you should find a new job or let it go.
**Added:** I wrote all of that before OP clarified that other people *with PhDs* were getting addressed as Dr but OP was not. It wasn't about people with very different titles like Senator or General getting addressed by their titles.
It's caused me to reflect on the many times over the last 50 years in industry and academia that I've worked on teams with some mix of PhDs and folks (like me) without. I can only recall two places, IBM in the 70s and (now-defunct) Prime Computer in the early 80s, where people with PhDs were commonly referred to as Dr.
I think it mostly died out after that. By the early 2000s at Microsoft, where they had lots of PhDs and lots without, I can't remember anyone being called Dr. Even at Michigan, where they had lots of PhDs and lots fewer people like me without, if someone got called Dr, it was on some kind of department press release.
Naturally, I can see why OP would feel disrespected. But it's possible there are other reasons people do this that have nothing to do with OP. For example, is it possible people are simply sucking up to people higher up the food chain? Is it possible some simply aren't aware that OP also has a PhD?
Whatever the behind-the-scenes reasons this is happening, I'm going to stick to my advice, that OP could try to fix this case-by-case, perhaps by approaching people privately in their own offices (their territory) to request equal Dr treatment, starting with the worst offenders. After one or two such requests, OP will quickly know whether this will work without creating hard feelings. If it can't be fixed, OP will need to find someplace else where they feel better respected, or get over it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not petty, but it may set you apart if it is not common in your company.
>
> And what is the best way to raise this?
>
>
>
The first step is to change your email signature and your name in the IT system (chat, email...) so that it includes "Dr.". Depending on how your company is organized, it may be possible to ask HR to address you as Dr. in their communication with you (payslips and the like).
People will then gradually get used to the title "Dr." next to your name. For meeting minutes or other documents in which your name appears without Dr. and others' names appear with Dr., you can just ask the person who wrote the document:
* Hey, can you add my title "Dr." to my name, to be consistent with other people's names in the document?
In conversation, it is trickier. Having your colleagues always address you as "Dr. Lastname" will create distance and may make spontaneous collaboration harder or more awkward. For example, I am in Germany (a country well known for "Dr." being an important thing and people being happy to be called that) and in my company many people are called Dr. in writing but no one wants it in speaking. It is probably a good idea to follow company culture in this case.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: There are three basic modes of referring to people:
>
> Formal: Mr. X, Dr. Y, <NAME>, etc.
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> Full name: <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, etc.
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> Informal: Andy, Bridget, Cindy, etc.
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It's petty to care about people using your title if people are not using title otherwise by using full names or using informal address. If everyone is calling each other "Tom" and "Suze" then demanding that they address you as "Dr. 153" is out of kilter but if people are referring to you in a formal fashion then it is *entirely reasonable* to expect people to use the correct form of address. The only reason for formality is politeness and correctness, and using the wrong title is impolite and incorrect. Doubly so if they're bothering for other people and not you.
Even so, making a big deal about it is probably not worth it. Ensure that your signature, email name, etc. use your formal name, and that when you're introduced that colleagues correctly identify you, perhaps gently correct from time to time. But starting a massive fight is unlikely to pay dividends.
You mention not being given your correct title in minutes, that's a good place to start. Contact the person writing up the minutes to discretely note the error, e.g. "I notice you're including people's titles in the minutes, just to make you aware: I also have a PhD."
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: When I worked in industry, colleagues with PhDs had "Dr" on their business cards an in email signatures. They were occasionally addressed as such by external contacts (even I was by mistake) and in paper mail auto-generated by internal systems such as payroll.
Apart from that, it was almost always first names, except where surnames were needed to disambiguate. We normally reached that point pretty quickly when dealing with customers and suppliers as well.
Now I've got my own PhD and am in academia, titles of any kind are rarely used, except when formally introducing a speaker - even then, name and role ("<NAME>, professor of Semiconductor Physics at...") would be a common alternative. Outside academia I prefer *not* to be known as "Dr", when titles are used. I'd rather not be confused with a medic, and it feels unnecessarily ceremonious.
This is in the UK; my understanding from the people I've met is that NZ should be pretty similar
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I feel it is important to point out that the context here is neither academia, nor business, but government, and the creation of government reports that may shape policy.
The creation of policy is a political struggle, and political struggles can be sneaky and childish. Folks will sometimes seek political advantage by referring to the experts that back their point of view as "Doctor", and those that oppose their point of view as "Ms." or "Mr.", undercutting their nominal expertise and standing to speak. It's a stupid trick of rhetoric, but that's the world you live in when you are politics adjacent. I believe this trick cropped up a number of times in hearings and reports on COVID policy over the last two years.
If you are giving formal testimony or preparing formal reports I think you absolutely want to get your qualification on the record. You also may need to stick to it when engaged with actual politicians on the job. Around the office with your co-workers, forget about it.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/06/07
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a graduate student and I organised a series of online lectures spread over many days. The total number of registrants was 50 but those who actually came were around 10 to 11. Now, today one of the speakers did not agree to continue because he was expecting more attendees, so it was awkward.
There is one more lecture tomorrow. Should I tell the professor coming tomorrow to give a virtual talk that the number of the anticipated attendees is around 10? I fear that they won't come to the talk or make it awkward.
What is the best thing to do now?<issue_comment>username_1: It would be courteous to tell them, and it give you options. I think the one who refused to speak to a small group was acting badly. You can't control the number of attendees, of course.
But if they do indicate they want to drop out you might try to convince them otherwise. The ones who do show are likely the most interested. And if they don't go through with the talk you can inform the ones registered that they can free their schedule.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's a good idea to tell the lecturer beforehand. There's a surprising benefit of having a small group as if the lecturer is up for it, you could keep the session more interactive and personal. Instead of doing a lecture and then questions, you could consider doing something more casual and for example discussing through their content.
I believe this would be a good option as it would leverage the strengths of the online platform while giving the few participants more interesting experience while giving the lecturer an option to discuss through the content in a more in-depth way that fits the audience.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Thing to do now: cancelling the event would be very disrespectful to the 10 or so people that registered and made space in their agenda to attend to the lectures.
Things to do in the future: never contact that speaker again.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/08
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<issue_start>username_0: *Note: I am aware of this [other post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17232) that covers why doing many PhDs in different subjects is not a good path. My question is different: can I do multiple PhDs **in the same subject**, or very similar subjects, rather than climbing the ladder?*
I chose to do a PhD because I like to design and manufacture very novel microstructures for the betterment of the mankind. I did pretty good job. I will be graduating in a couple of months and I'm thinking what to do next.
* I don't want to work in industry, because as I witnessed, you end up in endless "project meetings" with not much space for actual intellectual or laboratory work.
* I thought it would be nice to do a postdoc, but as I read on the internet, it often involves supervising students, writing grant proposals and doing lots of bureaucracy, with very little actual research compared to a PhD student.
* The worst possible ending is to steer my career towards becoming a professor, because as one of my befriended professors said "my job is 75% about workplace psychology". I hate dealing with people. "Please solve our quarrels for us, daddy professor, we are just a group of adults who need a nanny." I know from [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/177320/how-can-a-professor-avoid-becoming-a-manager) that "exceptionally good" professors may be able to avoid this fate, but I know I'm not exceptionally good, just good.
So instead of those three paths, I think it would be good to do a second PhD in a very close field. This way I could still do meaningful work while using domain knowledge that I already have. That would get me much better research results, because I could skip "learning basics".
So is my idea viable? Is it a good idea to do two phds in a row in very close fields? I don't expect high salary. I just want to do interesting research and solve technical problems, and I don't want to go to a completely different domain.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it a good idea to do two phds in a row in very close fields?
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To the title question: **no.** The article you linked already explains that the purpose of a PhD is to teach you how to do research. You now (should) know how to do research, so there is no reason to do another PhD. In practical terms, governments, universities, and advisors effectively subsidize PhD programs: for example, by funding a PhD student when it would be more efficient to hire an existing PhD. They do this because training a new generation of R&D leaders furthers the university's mission and the national interest. Now that you have already been trained, it does not make much sense to subsidize you again.
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> So instead of those three paths...
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I think you are far too dismissive of these three paths.
* *you end up in endless 'project meetings' with not much space for actual intellectual or laboratory work* -- industry is a very big place, I seriously doubt that every position is like this. Moreover, you are likely to find that your share of intellectual work increases as you gain seniority, since you'll spend more time thinking about the big ideas and less time doing tedious work.
* *as I read on the internet, it often involves supervising students, writing grant proposals and doing lots of bureaucracy, with very little actual research compared to a PhD student* -- your mileage may vary, but post-docs usually do relatively little bureaucracy. There may be some supervision and grant proposals involved, but these also bring advantages: you can choose what you work on and outsource some of the less interesting work to students. Further, post-docs usually have some control over how they spend their time (more so than PhD students).
* *The worst possible ending is to ...[become] a professor, because as one of my befriended professors said "my job is 75% about workplace psychology".* 75% is an exaggeration for sure. It is true that if you are running a large lab, you will need to secure funding and supervise your staff, which will cut into your other responsibilities. But not all professorships involve running large labs and supervising huge staffs.
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> I don't expect high salary. I just want to do interesting research and solve technical problems.
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I recommend reconsidering all three of the above paths. All three present paths toward permanent, well-paid positions doing interesting research and solving technical problems. In particular, it sounds like you may want to consider permanent positions as a technician or (non-tenure track) staff scientist, or the analogous roles in a private company. Some of these paths will be more attractive than others: for example, if you want to stay in the exact same field and not become a supervisor nor a principal investigator, then many of the more lucrative positions may indeed be closed to you. But even the less-lucrative positions will be more secure and better paying than trying to remain a PhD student forever. Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are many positions in academia where one can maintain a research heavy lifestyle, without mentoring/teaching. One such position is a research track faculty member. Essentially you pay your salary by getting research grants. Another alternative is to get postdoctoral research fellowships (which is less stable, but I know of one person who lived like this for many years, just traveling the world and doing research). They don’t always require grant writing or mentoring students, that’s only for those who want to become professors later on.
Some academic bodies will offer pure research faculty positions (e.g. the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, the CNRS in France and non tutorial fellows in Oxford). These are more competitive and kinda niche but they exist.
Doing two PhDs in a row is probably not viable, if they’re in the same field. While it’s probably ok to do (like I’m not aware of any rule precluding you from doing it), I don’t know if you’d be able to find an advisor willing to take you. A good part of taking PhD students is to mentor and help them grow. How will that happen with you? You seem set in your research agenda, and already got a PhD. So to conclude- I would suggest the paths I offer above instead.
As a meta comment, quite frankly- I think you are missing a big part of what research is about. If you do not like to teach and collaborate, then you don’t like a significant part of the scientific endeavor.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I am postdoc working at a university, and I was hired by the PI of a specific project, let us call it Project X.
Apart from working on Project X, when time permits I like to concentrate on my own research, and from time to time I end up writing a paper. Now I have a doubt. If I write a paper that is completely unrelated to Project X, should I still acknowledge funding from Project X?
According to the head of my research group, who formally is my boss, I should do so. However, the answer to this [previous post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/140606/98721) claimed otherwise.
What is the correct way to move forward? Should I simply accept the boss recommendation, or should I instead ask the funding agency directly? I am hesitant to accept because Project X has a very explanatory title and so it would be evident to the reader that it is unrelated to my paper.
I know that some journals have specific guidelines about this. But the problems comes even before proper publication, if one wants to submit a preprint on arXiv.
Thanks in advance for your input.
EDIT. Perhaps "completely unrelated" is too severe a judgment. Certainly the paper lies within the same discipline (mathematics); it deals with some theoretical aspects while the project is applied.<issue_comment>username_1: It is simple:
If project X is paying for your (entire) salary, then you need to acknowledge project X in any publication you write. More generally, you need to acknowledge project X in any publication that has used resources from project X.
For as far as there are any ethical issues, these occurred when you decided to use resources from project X (your time) for work that is completely unrelated (in your words) to project X. For the record I don't think there is much of an ethical issue though, since it is generally understood that project members do some work that is at best tangentially related to the main goals of the project.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If its appropriate the use the university affiliation, its probably also appropriate to acknowledge a funding source. However, if the topic is so unrelated that the funding agency, or reviewer might rise questions why funding was used to work on an inappropriate topic, then better don't do it. But if the research is even slightly tangential related to the project X that payed full or part of your salary: Whats the disadvantage of acknowledging it? Really i would suggest to be a bit more like [<NAME>](https://youtu.be/7_JUBgPHYmY?t=49) and be flexible thanking or acknowledging people or funding agencies almost never hurts. I could very well imagine that funding agencies, use web-crawlers and keep stats counting the output of those who receive the funding and possibly even of those receiving funding salaries.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am looking at doing a PhD in UK with a recent taught master degree (just graduated last year with distinction, all courses with A grades). However, my first bachelor degree was only in third class (which was over 15 years ago). Will it be possible for me to get a PhD offer in UK? Since normally I think they ask for 2:1 for undergraduate degree minimum. Both my bachelor and master degrees were in relevant subject (media studies) and both schools are top universities (top 50 in QS). Is it safer to look at those not-so-top schools? Or it's simply impossible anyway? Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: All I can say is that no, it is not impossible. Its not impossible even at a top 50 university, it will mostly come down to the supervisor in question. Admissions offices can *usually* be persuaded to waive the requirement for 2:1 at undergrad if there is a particularly convincing performance at masters. But it will be harder and if you had a 2:1 at undergrad.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I work at a UK university as a lecturer (though different discipline), while we have minimum entry requirements, it is usually down to the person advertising the position who interviews the candidates if they want to go ahead with them. I am not aware of any case where the admin team has blocked an application. What I find more important than your marks / distinctions / cv formatting is if you are fit for the position. That's what the interview is for. If you can demonstrate to me that you have the skills I'm looking for in a phd candidate and more importantly that you have a track record of showing how you can cope with challenging situations (learn new concepts quickly, finish work before deadlines, etc.), that would stand out much more to me than someone fresh out of university, top of the class but no experience that is relevant for the position. My point is, a transcript only tells you so much about a person and you can swing things around in your favour with a strong cv / cover letter / impression at an interview. Furthermore, if you can self-fund your studies, you will find people more willing to take you on board, especially young and new academics who don't have multi million pound grants to manage (any income they generate will be viewed favourable by the university and that is a quick thing they can do).
My suggestion is to approach a selected group of people by email with your cv and see if they are interest but do make sure to make each email relevant to each person. Whenever I am getting an email starting with "Dear Sir" or "Dear Professor", I don't even bother to reply anymore (I used to in the past). I'm neither a sir nor professor and the lack of research into me and no name does indicate a spamming approach. Think about it this way, a phd will be full of small little problems and attention to detail, if you can't even look up my name and title then how will you be a student with attention to detail?
It's better to select perhaps 2-3 academics you would want to work with and send them a relevant email (I.e. State why you want to work with them (maybe one of their paper is relevant to your work, or you share common interest that they state on their university profile)). It's surprising how few people do actually make an effort when applying so if you follow this you will already stand out.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think it is possible. You just have to persuade them that your recent master's degree grade supersedes your bachelor's degree grade. This should be possible as it is more recent and it is a higher level.
I don't think you need to rule out "top" universities. But getting in to the very top three or four is hard, so you should also consider ones that are not at the very top.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/08
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<issue_start>username_0: At universities in Germany, there are the following standardized job titles that I find difficult to express in English in a useful manner:
* **[Studentische Hilfskraft](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftliche_Hilfskraft#Studentische_Hilfskr%C3%A4fte)**: a student who does not yet hold a degree and is paid to perform tasks often only remotely related to their field of study (such as data entry, helping older professors with digital technologies, etc. I was myself once paid to be the driver to a group of visiting scientists during their stay). This is the lowest pay grade and there's a time cap of 20 hours of work per week at most universities. The max average (it varies between the various federal states) salary is around 12000€ per year before taxes, so let's say it'd be 24000€ if they were allowed to do the 40h/week which are kind of seen as the country-wide default. The most common English translation is **student assistant**.
* **[Wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftliche_Hilfskraft#Wissenschaftliche_Hilfskr%C3%A4fte)**: a student who could either be holding a *Bachelor's degree*, which is one pay-grade higher than a Studentische Hilfskraft, or even a *Master's degree*, which is the highest pay-grade for this job title. There's quite the discussion in some circles about these employees being underpaid and overworked, both in the sciences as well as the humanities. From my own experience I know that their tasks often (but not always) far exceed anything one could see as "unskilled" labour, as the "Hilf-" in "Hilfskraft" would imply. This is especially true if the employee has had non-academic vocational training or even work experience before going to university. Up to around 18000€ (would be 36000€ for 40h/week, but same or similar time cap of around 20h/week). It is permissible for employers to keep employees in these positions for 5 more years after removal from the register of students ("Exmatrikulation"). The most common English translation is **student assistant**.
* **Wissenschaftlich/technischer Mitarbeiter**: the least-known of the bunch; these could be employees who are not academics at all and instead hold a title they gained by doing an "Ausbildung" (the traditional German vocational training system held in high regard by many employers; in an English-speaking country someone might write "did a 3-year degree to become a state-certified chemical-technical assistant"). Others might have done an Ausbildung in one field and then studied at University in some other field and end up as a Wissenschaftlich/technischer Mitarbeiter because of a combination of skills from both fields. Obviously there is a wider range of salaries for this title, perhaps somewhere between 38000€ and 62000€ per year (if you happen to be really good at something that's in high demand, such as, say, performing PCR tests). Unless the employee manages to attain a Master's degree, even better yet a PhD, there's little chance of climbing the ladder any further, but if you get *real* lucky you might end up with a life-time job in government service, which does provide a high degree of perceived social security. The only English translation for this that I'm aware of is **scientific-technical staff**.
* **[Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftlicher_Mitarbeiter)**: things seem to become more comparable from now on. It's difficult-ish, but not impossible, to land one of these jobs with only a Master's degree. Normally, you'll hold a PhD degree, though. I've known Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter in their early 20s who I feel might best still be described as **research assistants**, but the most common, and probably most apt, English translation is **research fellow**. You can end up holding this job title for the rest of your (working) life and your salary will increase based on how long you've been employed, anything between 42000€ and 57000€ if "the internet" is to be believed.
* after that, and only achieved by very few, there's **Juniorprofessor** and **Professor**, of course. I won't get into these as they're so easily and aptly translated into English.
My question is: for the above-mentioned job titles, *what are the best English translations* in terms of conveying, without much explanation, to a prospective future employer or an academic colleague from an English-speaking country, what your job encompasses and what salary level you're roughly at?<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, no-one really distinguishes between *Wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft* and *Studentische Hilfskraft*, the difference is in the pay: in general, the pay of university employees (even student ones) is fixed on a federal (or in some cases national) level. For students, some places there is no differentiation between student employees with a degree (BA) or without, in other places there will be salary tiers: without BA, with BA, with MA (although if you already hold an MA and are not enrolled in another MA or BA program, the time that you can actually work under student conditions is very short). The translation for such a position would be either student assistant or student researcher.
As for *Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter (WiMi)*, it is quite common that those positions go to recent MA graduates that get their PhD while being fully (or, quite often only at 50%) employed as a WiMi. There are also people with PhDs that hold WiMi posts. The salary here is [also regulated](https://www.oeffentlichen-dienst.de/tvoed/rechner.html) and normally at Level E13, with your salary increasing with time. The best translation is either research fellow or simply researcher.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I was faced with the same dilemma. I just used the original German together with my attempt at a literal translation.
If your experience is pertinent, you will have to elaborate on what you did anyway. If you are applying for a job involving teaching for instance, you better lay this out. If you had Übungsgruppen as a Hilfskraft to supervise, this would be useful to you in the teaching context and you describe elsewhere what you did. In this case, you would be closest to a Teaching Assistant.
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter are not exactly the same of post-docs, since they usually have different tasks. At the FernUniversität, we wrote exercises and their solutions, organized the grading, and drove through Germany in order to supervise exams and to give tutorials. If you were on a grant doing research, then researcher would come close.
TLTR: I propose using the German with a literal translation. If you are applying, describe your pertinent job experience elsewhere.
As you move on with your life, this problem becomes moot.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/10
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<issue_start>username_0: Yesterday, before my exam, I went through as many practice questions as possible, and incorporated anything I missed into my notes - this included cases not taught in the textbook or lectures. I am a law student, and all our in-person exams are unrestricted open book - we can bring in anything use anything save for electronics.
Lo and behold, I go into the exam, and about 60-70% of it exam is verbatim questions I did last night. I had with me a textbook with those questions and answers in it (this textbook wasn't assigned for the course) because I was planning to use the answer structures from it.
I tried to keep my answers distinct by using *some* different cases, I retained the same structure and discussed the same issues and got most of it 'right'. I looked at the textbook a few times if I had forgotten something, and also to make sure my answers weren't too similar. It was a difficult exam.
Did I do anything wrong? Will the lecturer likely catch me if it is wrong (they might not want to get themselves into trouble)? Surely it isn't a case of academic misconduct.
I should report it - but but I don’t want to do a supplementary exam in a few weeks as I’m going overseas in a few days. I'm worried sick - surely I wasn't wrong?<issue_comment>username_1: As long as looking back at previous material was allowed, you did nothing wrong. You studied for an exam, and took the exam following the same rules as all the other students. The professor is at fault here for blatantly lifting exam questions.
If your professor had any sort of integrity, they would have cited where the question came from, but that is more-so for HW/practice questions. The exam should be made up of their own questions so students can't just search online for the answer (or luck into owning the book like you did).
I think the only scenario where taking an exam question from a textbook verbatim would be ok is if the class was assigned said textbook, and the professor previously assigned the question as practice (either mandatory or optional). This at least gives everyone a level-ish playing ground.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Did I do anything wrong?
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Nope, you're ok :-)
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> Will the lecturer likely [rephrased: notice what I did]?
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Unlikely - unless you were exceptionally poor in homework assignments/midterms/etc - which would make a high exam score suspicious to the course staff. But it sounds like that's not the case.
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> I should report it - but but I don’t want to do a supplementary exam in a few weeks as I’m going overseas in a few days.
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You have nothing to report: The instructor knew, when using questions from a textbook with official-textbook-answers, that there's a chance some students will just have those answers.
But if this bothers you, then you could go see the lecturer, or even one of the TAs. You would mention the fact that the questions seemed very reminiscent of material you saw in one of the textbooks. Don't "report having copied a textbook answer". You will probably be told something like: "Oh, yeah, sorry about that, we didn't have the time to write original problems for the exam because [EXCUSE HERE]". That should at least make you feel better, I guess.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It was an open-book exam. You found the answers in a book. What could possibly be wrong with reading a book to learn the answers?
Whether it's OK to copy the answers verbatim will depend on additional conditions in the exam instructions, as well as whether the questions admit to multiple wordings of the answer. If a math question asks for a numeric answer without asking you to show your work, there's no way to distinguish copying the answer from working it out yourself. If you happen to stumble on the exact same question somewhere, it's hard to unsee it and I don't think you can be faulted for copying the answer; it was a poor choice for the professor to copy the questions exactly in the first place.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: As the other answers explain, considering the circumstances, there is nothing wrong with what you did. It's only about the philosophical question about how you view yourself considering you looked at the answers in an examination, traditionally meant to test your knowledge and skills. My take: if in your view examinations are a poor measure of this, and there is undue importance given to marks, then I think you should be okay with your actions. If you don't, I still wouldn't go asking for the supplementary exam; you could just choose not to do this in the future.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: In my opinion, the right approach is to think through what you owe the other people in the situation.
One goal of the exam is to give each student roughly the same challenge. Through no fault of your own, you happened to be significantly better prepared than your classmates. The challenge was far easier for you than for them - and not just because you studied hard, but because you happened to study the right book (this was just a stroke of good fortune). So you ended up gaining an unfair advantage. I think it would display integrity to explain what happened. And if I were the lecturer or a classmate of yours, I would be deeply impressed by that integrity.
Insisting that you, strictly speaking, played by the rules is not the approach I would admire the most. The rules are usually not written to accommodate all situations, and you have a responsibility to think further, beyond what the rules say, to find out what you ought to do.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: The professor is certainly guilty of plagiarism by verbatim copying text from a source and failing to cite where it came from. Depending on how your answers were generated, you may have *also* committed plagiarism by failing to cite where your answers came from. If you used the book answers as a starting point and just rearranged some things to make it less obvious, you likely plagiarized by presenting the book answers as your own, without giving any credit to the book. If you answered the questions independently on your own and used the book as a reference after the fact to check that you didn't miss any important points, it is less likely plagiarism.
You certainly didn't cheat on the exam, but you may have plagiarized if you presented the book's answers as your own. To avoid any possibility of academic misconduct, it would have been better to be entirely up-front, clearly citing the book that your answers were based on - proper citation is an absolute defense in cases of plagiarism, since plagiarism requires misrepresenting another's work as your own.
All this said, I don't really expect anything to come of it. One could argue that plagiarism may be more "forgivable" in an exam setting with tight time pressure, as time could expire after writing an answer but before listing the proper citation. It would likely be viewed more harshly in another setting like a term paper, since the absence of citation there is far more likely due to deliberate misrepresentation, rather than other factors like time or stress. But be aware that if you want to report the professor for having plagiarized the questions, it's quite possible that you're guilty of the exact same offense by plagiarizing the answers.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: If you are going to get your questions from a book on the shelf, then what is wrong with getting your answers from that same book on the shelf?
They should prepare more original questions if they have a problem with people doing that.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: Some details are needed before giving an accurate answer.
1. Did the professor cite the textbook, at least somewhere in the course?
2. Did you cite the textbook?
3. What is your program (LLB, LLM, JD, PhD), country, and year?
4. Is it a research-level course, practice-level course, or an introductory course?
You can use the country tags when updating your question. The answer really depends on the background.
For example, if you are taking a first year introductory level LLB course, it will be *usual* (yet unrigorous) that the professor failed to cite some sources, for two reasons: 1) the professor believes that the materials are too fundamental or 2) some previous students used the citation to get original answer and directly copied it.
Of course, not citing the material you use is a wrongdoing of some degree, for both your professor and you. To what degree? That depends on the rigidity of the course and your program.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: You did nothing wrong. If your prof is lazy enough to pull answers from a book students can access, then all I've got to say is good for you for preparing well.
The only potential flag here is that you may have copied the material from the textbook -- for open book exams it's tricky *if there's an expectation to cite* anything.
Otherwise, you're fine. The prof plagiarized, not you (lol).
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently submitted the abstract for a journal. After a couple of months, its editor emailed me and told me that my email was in her junk folder. Also, she asked me to resend the abstract. Is it ok to say, "Thank you to take the time to notify me," in the beginning of my email? I want to thank her.<issue_comment>username_1: Please be aware that this is not a first or second class academic journal, but you probably know that. Since you have to communicate with the professor anyway, there is no reason not to thank her for noticing.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Considering the circumstances, I would agree that her email should have contained an apology, but considering it is academia, I would agree that starting out the email with "Thank you for taking the time to notify me" makes sense.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/10
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm reading a research report. I encountered several times 'S' which I don't know what it stands for.
Examples:
'The first directions to S were as follows.'
'After the record was played, S was asked to grade the music as a whole on a four-point scale.'
It's a study about *musical humor* and 30 college students were the subjects.<issue_comment>username_1: This is most likely a stand-in for a name to preserve anonymity. It is, perhaps, an initial of one of the subjects, perhaps standing for something like "Stephen" or "Sally".
It is fairly common usage. It actually helps the author keep track of things, but doesn't reveal the names of research subjects.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In the paper you have quoted, *S* stands for a noun, probably *Subject* but possibly *Student*, and not a specific name like Stephen or Sally. This is evidenced by its use in the plural:
>
> The *Ständchen* was chosen for the purpose of detecting a bias in our *S*s toward finding humor... (p. 560)
>
>
>
And with a qualifier:
>
> Every *S* observed separately and in two sessions. (p. 560)
>
>
>
And with an article:
>
> If, upon being questioned an *S* was found to be already familiar with a given composition... (p. 561)
>
>
>
The paper does not explicitly say "S is for Subject," but first paragraph of the *Method and procedure* section starts out (emphasis mine):
>
> Thirty Sweet Briar College **students** recommended as 'musical' were **subjects** in our study. (p. 560)
>
>
>
Source:
<NAME>. (1949). A Study of Humor in Music. *The American Journal of Psychology, 62*(4), 560–566. <https://doi.org/10.2307/1418560>
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2022/06/10
| 1,818
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm working under a professor as a research assistant. She is preparing a proposal for research she wants to do with unmanned vehicles. A part of this proposal is showing that the past research doesn't focus on large numbers of vehicles, and the ones that do are not as intelligent and use "swarm behavior". Her research will focus on large groups or intelligent vehicles, and wants to show that she is doing something that is rarely researched. She's tasked me with putting together a list of the past research in this field noting the number of vehicles each paper experimented with and whether it was low level swarm behavior or something more intelligent.
As I'm putting together this data, how can I show there's a hole in the current research without citing hundreds and hundreds of papers? Does what I'm doing have a name that I don't know about?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> As I'm putting together this data, how can I show there's a hole in the current research without citing hundreds and hundreds of papers?
>
>
>
You *are* being asked to cite hundreds and hundreds of papers (if that's how many there are).
>
> Does what I'm doing have a name that I don't know about?
>
>
>
Depending on exactly what you are doing, this is most likely a "systematic review," or (less likely) a "meta-analysis."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You might want to start by testing whether the hypothesis is correct. Try and actively look for papers that are similar to the proposed work.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: You must cover all the ground but you don't have to start at one end and chop your way laboriously through the forest of papers on this topic.
Your main task is to demonstrate that existing literature/conference proceedings on this topic do not really explore UMVs that are "highly intelligent" nor the behaviour of large collections of UMVs.
1. You must do computerized literature searches that check past publication archives on UMVs for any papers having certain phrases like "intelligent", "very intelligent", "swarm", "swarm behavior", etc in the English abstract of the journal/proceedings.
Clearly, if you find a significant amount of work already done on this you will at least save yourself (and the professor) considerable additional effort and/or avoid duplicating research.
2. You can, and should, make use of the existing **review papers** on UMVs from the commencement of research into it so as to expedite sourcing all the seminal and salient contributions. Give close attention to the papers cited on your topic in the review papers and then follow the trail of citations in each of these. You'll often find important review papers/presentations at major conferences for this topic. If no conferences exist that are *wholly* devoted to this, find the *general* heading for such research and locate the conferences embracing your area. **It might also be wise to survey the more industrial conferences covering UMV applications** for papers that might be published there. In the latter regard give especial attention to application areas where intelligent UMVs or UMV swarms could be very effective. (People may choose to publish here if they seek industrial support for an approach that is seen as less popular to the usual research council sponsors.)
**Make sure you study every relevant paper cited in a review paper and note the paper details.**
3. Enumeration of *major* past UMV research should initially be done chronologically, I think. This will help *you* to comprehend the timeline evolution of this approach to the art from the beginning to its present state, the impact of supporting technologies and driving factors for the technology like the emergence of promising applications.
4. About a quarter of the way along the chronology, start sketching out the **purely technological evolution** of UMVs as a sort of tree diagram where notable developments and associated researchers are briefly noted. This tree will likely have 'branches' that lead to:
* Dead wood (ideas that proved unsuccessful);
* Sudden thinning out to nothing (e.g. researcher changes research topic / gets new university not interested in old topic / dies young, all without assumption of his past work by others);
* Branch thickening as a new idea produces interesting results and thus more activity by others;
* Re-branching as an active research objective offers alternate approaches, etc.
That much should be adequate to help your professor decide if there's a point in pursuing your professor's angle on UMVs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It is not possible to enumerate all works. First, in the area of unmanned vehicles, there are upwards of 10K+ papers. Second, it is impossible to check whether you have covered all papers. Moreover, each day, there will be new papers posted online. Lastly, authors may call a concept by a non-standard name, which means you will miss their papers.
My strategy:
First, determine the key contributions that you wish to make. List all potential gaps or ideas you think are new.
Second, from your list, draw up a bunch of keywords, e.g., 'vehicles+platoon+swarm+intelligent'.
Third, search for these keywords, and read the Abstract of papers to determine whether they are closely related to your ideas. If there are too many keywords, you may not find any works. Then it is time to remove or change some keywords. Alternatively, you may find too many papers. Then it is time to add or change keywords.
Fourth, form a mind map of what the general research aims or setups of works in your area(s).
Fifth, write down identified gaps and how your work relates to prior works. This is where you will say 'To the best of our knowledge, ...'
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Although some other answers have suggested a comprehensive systematic review, I do not think that is feasible or even desirable for your purpose of providing evidence for novelty for a single project. Let me suggest a different strategy that might be more practical.
1. You should search for articles on this topic published in the past two or three years. Presumably, such articles will have tried to do some kind of review to demonstrate their own novelty, so read these sections carefully to see if there are any articles that they have identified that are similar to what you are doing.
2. Look up any articles referenced by the first round articles that seem relevant and then likewise carefully read their novelty sections to see if there is anything similar. Repeat this process iteratively until you are satisfied that you have found what is considered to be "new" in the relatively recent literature.
3. The previous steps are a good start, but are not sufficient. So, next, among the most relevant articles that you have located (all of which have been published relatively recently), try to contact the authors of those articles and ask them directly by email if they have anything to recommend to you related to your topic. Recently published authors should be quite knowledgeable, so if they reply, they could quickly cut your work short for you. To increase chances of replying, I recommend that you email each author of each highly relevant article individually (not as a group). Hopefully, even if just a few reply, you should get some very valuable pointers.
Concerning the last step of contacting authors, be sure to get your professor to agree first, and to get her to preapprove the email that you send out--you do not want to divulge more details about your project than she is comfortable with.
One point to note about contacting authors is that when your article is eventually sent out for peer review, there is a good chance that some of those authors whom you have contacted might be selected as anonymous peer reviewers. This might or might not be a benefit. The positive side is that, if they respond, at least you wll be sure to include references that they include important.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/11
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<issue_start>username_0: I've seen second editions of philosophical articles. For example, Quine's From a Logical Point of View is a collection of articles, some of them updated. But I have never seen a second edition of an article in journals. Are books the only option for this?<issue_comment>username_1: Papers are certainly more one-off than books; they are meant to be a permanent archival record of some study.
However, some studies, especially long-term longitudinal studies, will produce multiple papers. Some of the data are shared paper to paper, and the new combined dataset is just published as a new paper. It needs not be in the same journal, but typically will have some reference to the ongoing nature in the title, something like "a 15-year follow up on the XYZ study".
The other case is in review papers or theoretical position papers, where one person may summarize the state of the field and/or their position on some open problem, and then do so again in the future. However, they won't make this an "edition 2" of the previous publication, instead it will stand on its own even if it references the older summary.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here are the options I've seen:
1. I definitely agree with Bryan's suggestion like "a 15-year follow up on XYZ" or a review/survey paper.
2. You can sometimes republish the 2nd edition of the paper in another journal, often because your previous paper had an impact, or the original journal was terminated and thus very hard to be obtained by researchers. This serves the need of other researchers and could be done if you arrange this with publishers.
3. Republication in another journal in a distantly related field, in cases your paper has multi-disciplinary values. Be sure to check with the publisher's policy: you *might* need to significantly update your paper.
4. Republication in a book or paper collection. This is the easiest way.
5. Republication in a conference proceeding. Be careful that some conferences allow paper published elsewhere while many do not allow.
Depends on how much you updated the original paper, here are some addition options:
6. Addendum to the original paper in the same journal
7. Corrigendum to the original paper in the same journal
8. Comment, note, or correspondence to the original paper in the same or another journal. Be careful that some journals accept comments or notes, some do not.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2022/06/11
| 363
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student at an institute in maths department. This year my brother also has applied for Ph.D. in the same institute in Civil engineering department. Now he has to face a written test first to get qualified for the interview. The syllabus of test is given on the website but no information about exam styles or paper pattern is provided. My brother has told me to ask the professors about the paper pattern. Personally I do not think it is a good idea because this way my brother will get advantage over others and I am also worried about my impression on the professors. So should I ask my professorship this? If not how should I convince my brother that it's not proper way?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't judge but it is possible that the question you want to ask might be open to anyone, including your brother, to ask directly. It depends on whether the format of the exam is intentionally held secret, which seems possible but implausible.
You could first ask your advisor whether it is *proper* to ask about the format. If you get a *yes*, then ask, or tell your brother to ask.
Some questions that could be asked simply aren't for various reasons.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not improper to ask for information. Your brother does not gain an advantage by asking for information, either with a direct or indirect request. Any applicant can ask for information.
It is up to the department that has the information to decide if it is proper to grant the request.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/11
| 1,513
| 6,326
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<issue_start>username_0: **Background**: I am a junior postdoc who has been working for some years with an overseas collaborator who is much more senior. I have previously had no issues at all with this collaborator. For the last few months, I've been working on **project A**. I came up with the idea for project A on my own, and have been leading the analysis - my collaborator has only been involved in giving me feedback during meetings. Meanwhile, this collaborator has a PhD student at her institution who has been working on **project B**. They are under a lot of pressure to publish project B, as the data on which it is based becomes public in a few weeks. Projects A and B are similar in terms of the methods and the type of data involved, but use entirely different data sets, and are focused on entirely different systems which are in themselves not similar at all.
---
A few days ago, I gave an update on project A during an online meeting. In attendance were myself, my collaborator, and some other collaborators, including a couple of people I'd only met once or twice.
As soon as I finished giving my update, my collaborator became quite upset, seemingly out of nowhere. She said she didn't like how similar project A is to project B, and sort of implied that I'd piggy-backed off her PhD student's research, and said that I needed to add her student to the paper. She said we need to protect grad students in the current environment of fast-paced research (which I 100% agree with), and that she did the same for me when I was a student (which is completely true). As all of this was happening my body kind of kicked into fight-or-flight mode, so I can't actually recall anything she said exactly, but the way she was talking, she was clearly very exasperated. It got so heated that one of my other collaborators interjected to defend me at one point.
In the moment, I apologised profusely and said it wasn't my intention to "scoop" her student, and that I'd add them to the paper (which honestly doesn't bother me).
After the meeting I was extremely shaken and upset. The things she said really hurt, because project A is really the first project I conceived on my own, and I had been feeling positive about the work I'd done. I also felt like she'd humiliated me in front of my other collaborators, and that she'd possibly tarnished my reputation in their eyes, particularly those I don't know very well.
The thing is, I don't really understand where she is coming from. I only became aware of the details of project B about a month ago, after I'd already completed most of the analysis for project A. I absolutely did **not** take any ideas from her student to use in my own work. In fact, the analysis I've done for project A is similar to previous projects I've worked on with this same collaborator, and are not anything particularly novel. Also, she's been aware of project A for quite some time, and has never mentioned getting her student involved up until this point. Finally, in my opinion, project A and project B do not really compete - they focus on entirely different systems and use different data, so I don't understand why she thinks my work is threatening that of her student. If anything, they complement each other. I suspect she is feeling a *lot* of pressure to publish project B, and I wonder whether I might have just caught her on a bad day.
---
**My question is, should I say something to her about how I feel, or should I just let it go?** I've been turning it over so much in my head that I really need an external opinion.
I want to clarify why exactly she is upset with me, to explain my perspective, and to let her know how she made me feel. However, I'm afraid that if I talk to her about it, it will only make matters worse. What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: First, my advice is to let it go and see if if simmers down. If not, then you may need to speak up.
It is hard to diagnose the problem with little information, but some people just behave badly under pressure. I think that is what happened to her. She is a bit lost on some issues and let her frustration spill onto you. I don't think it was fair, but things happen.
FWIW, I think you have behave generously up to now. I'd suggest letting that continue as long as it is a viable path. You see more than I can, of course.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> My question is, should I say something to her...
>
>
>
It sounds like you have an ongoing collaboration with this person, and there is still some work to do before these get published. So, a private follow-up conversation would be appropriate.
>
> ...about how I feel...? ...I want to clarify why exactly she is upset with me, to explain my perspective, and to let her know how she made me feel.
>
>
>
I would suggest that the purpose of this follow-up conversation should be to (1) resolve any misunderstandings and (2) clarify the path forward. Try to minimize the discussion of feelings and grievances.
Beyond that, I would "follow your nose" a bit here. Hopefully the conversation will be amicable and it will go without saying that you hope situations like this could be avoided in future. But it may be necessary to mention that you didn't appreciate her conduct in the meeting and hope that this will not happen again.
>
> I apologised profusely and said it wasn't my intention to "scoop" her student, and that I'd add them to the paper. ... project A and project B...focus on entirely different systems and use different data
>
>
>
It is understandable that you panicked in the moment, and now that you have agreed to add the student as a co-author, you may have more limited options. Still, normally adding an author who has not made an intellectual contribution would be considered misconduct. So, you may want to think carefully about whether this is appropriate. Maybe the student could make some contribution to your paper so that they could honestly earn authorship.
Moving forward, of course, you may want to practice the (difficult) skill of not panicking, speaking slowly, and not committing yourself to things in the moment. "I see things a bit differently [or, think there might be a misunderstanding], but why don't we table this for now and discuss offline" is a good go-to phrase.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/11
| 411
| 1,795
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<issue_start>username_0: Are there professional standards which discourage the circulation of a submitted scientific work, in order to get feedback from colleagues?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, private circulation is fine. Sending it by email to some people, with a request not to pass it on, won't cause any issues.
Putting it in a public place (website, ArXiv,...) is a different matter, however, a bit more subtle and is a form of publishing. Some publishers don't object, but some do. This is true at any point, before or after submission. Some publishers want complete control, of any "publishing" actions. Just be aware.
But circulation in a private group has no issues, partly because it is invisible to everyone else. Some results, in fact, are widely known already before publication since some experts in specialized fields communicate much (most?) of what they do with each other. This can result in those most interested in an advance already knowing it long before publication.
Note that this is also somewhat field specific. In mathematics ArXiv is widely used. And, it seems that standards for such may be loosening over time.
Also note that few papers are published in exactly the same form as first submitted due to the review and editing process. This means that at time of submission the work is still a "preprint". Some requiring heavy revision are still works in progress when first submitted though the author(s) may not think of it that way.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In the sciences, circulating unpublished manuscripts on the internet is the standard.
In order to receive useful feedback, you have to get pretty lucky.
In my opinion, the extra effort of circulating a manuscript is rarely justified by the benefits.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/12
| 167
| 693
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently received reviews for my manuscript from Elsevier.
There are comments from Reviewer #3 and Reviewer #4 only, does that mean reviewer 1 and 2 rejected the article??<issue_comment>username_1: Most likely they did not respond to the reviewer invitation, or accepted it but did not submit a review in time. The system still logs them as reviewers #1 and #2.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: For most journals two reviews is standard, so as the others noted it's likely Revs. 1 and 2 did not submit a review at all, probably because they either forgot or didn't feel like they had sufficient expertise in the subject matter.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/12
| 1,344
| 5,552
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it acceptable in cases when your last name changes based on your gender, to change the name to make it simpler for English language readers? This is common in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc.
So for example, I might be called <NAME>**a** (even though my husband's name is <NAME>**i**). I don't want to let my surname be aligned to my gender as female. So I want to submit my paper just as *Ellen Bartowsk**i***. Is it acceptable? Are there some formal requirements about this?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can submit under a name you choose, even a pseudonym in many cases. But you should probably choose a name early that you will stick with throughout your career to make it easier to find your work as a whole. Some people, often women, will choose their birth name.
In particular, you don't need to choose your legal name (as on a passport) for purposes of publishing.
There have been cases in which a prominent person chooses a name that is purely fictitious, sometimes to make it possible to publish in several different fields or in both a scientific and popular or political field.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Based on the [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/16771/70298) at another similar question, it seems like a good idea to use your real name as that's useful for proving your authorship in the future. Here's the full quote:
>
> First of all, always be consistent. Whatever you decide, that is what you will always have to use.
>
>
> Considering the first point, might be better to strive and use your real name as it is with the non-english characters. You will have less problems in the future to prove your authorship in case questions rise. Complain to systems who do not accept your non-english characters...
>
>
>
It's a little bit more difficult when you have non-ascii characters in your name as systems can be limited and not support them even.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is acceptable but careful what you wish for. I know a person twice married who insisted on attaching her husband’s name to her maiden name in early publications, but life can get in the way and now it’s a bit of a mess to search for her papers. (Thankfully she has always used her maiden name in all publications and she does have a distinctive name.)
It’s hard enough to get proper recognition in most academic fields so simplicity and uniformity is the key.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: **Short answer:**
* If the venue at which you submit your work supports digital identifiers, such as those managed by <https://orcid.org>, creating and associating such an identifier with your work might prevent any future issue with whichever name you wish to use in your publications.
* In any case, yours is a completely reasonable question to ask to the chairs of a conference or to the editor of a journal before submitting your work: even if they have no issue with your choice of identification, they should be aware of the situation in case there are some complications later (e.g. from the referees).
**Longer Answer:**
* There should be no legal problem in using whichever identification you wish for your work, but you should check with the chair or editor of the media to which you are sending your work, in case they have their own specific rules.
* As for the consequences in the long term, you should be aware that being consistent in which identification you use (whether official or fictional) in all of your publications used to be critically important for recognition in general, and when applying for academic positions in particular. For instance, many divorced scientist women from cultures where the wife adopts her husband's last name endured some complications later.
* Such problems were in great part addressed by the introduction of codes to uniquely identify authors and contributors of academic communications, such as ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID). Dixit <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORCID>,
>
> This addresses the problem that a particular author's contributions
> to the scientific literature or publications can be hard to recognize
> as most personal names are not unique, they can change (such as with
> marriage), have cultural differences in name order, contain
> inconsistent use of first-name abbreviations and employ different
> writing systems. It provides a persistent identity for humans, similar
> to tax ID numbers, that are created for content-related entities on
> digital networks by digital object identifiers (DOIs).
>
>
>
* Insuring that your name does not make too explicit your gender might be a good idea if the venue to which you submit your work does not implement a double masked reviewing process (where the referees are unaware of the identity of the authors of the work they review), in order to avoid any suspicion of gender bias in the referees (see <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534702025454> and <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34237278/> for a longer discussion).
Good luck with the reviewing process of your work!
May referee number two be gentle upon you!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As other answers have said, yes you can generally publish under whatever pen-name you like.
However, at some point you may find your self applying for jobs and therefore providing at least a CV and a publications list, so you should expect to be able to explain why you are listed under different names in different places.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/06/12
| 266
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<issue_start>username_0: My wife and I want to go to Australia. She wants to pursue her diploma in hotel management and so we are on the verge of writing our SOP. Should I state that she is single or married, as we heard that there is a chance of cancellation of the visa if the diploma student is declared married?<issue_comment>username_1: Tell the truth, it's that simple. It is not in any aspect more complicated than that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You must tell the truth, because if you don't, any visas issued can be cancelled. When you fill the visa application form, there'll usually be a box that goes "I declare that all information contained in this application are true to the best of my knowledge. I understand that false declaration may lead to consequences up to and including the cancellation of your visa". There is probably a similar box in the university's application form. You are supposed to tick it to say you understand.
If you lie about your marital status and are discovered, then you can expect some pretty severe legal consequences, and you can expect to be expelled from the university.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/12
| 3,863
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<issue_start>username_0: **TL;DR:** First, all of this is happening in the US. I was a PhD student in X, in good standing, but had a shift of interest towards field Y, so I switched programs and universities to study Y. A year is passed since I switched, I'm currently in good standing in Y, but have come to the understanding that I really don't want to build my career in Y, and want to go back to X in my previous university. My request to go back was declined shortly after switching, but that was in different circumstances. I'm hoping there might be a chance now, but I don't know if there is any chance for a PhD student leaving a program for another to go back to the previous program by just saying "I made a mistake, I am sorry". Am I, in principle, qualified to return? What's the best way to go about this? Should I first make arrangements with potential advisors in my previous department, or should I first contact the department?
**Full story:**
I was enrolled in a top-tier PhD program in field X, but I left it for another top-tier program at another university in field Y, sufficiently distant from X that switching post PhD would be practically impossible.
When I left my previous program, I hadn't yet started my dissertation yet and hadn't advanced to candidacy, but I had a couple of (unsubstantial) publications, and was past my exams, and was overall in good standing with a high GPA and the department seemed overall satisfied with me at that point. But I had been experiencing a shift of interests, which I explored quite a bit, studied on Y, collaborated with researchers on Y, talked to a lot of people, and eventually decided I like to switch my field, despite the fact that all of my undergrad education and post-undergrad background was in X.
It's been a year since I left X and joined Y (immediately). I realized this change was a mistake for non-academic reasons quite early on, asked my previous department if I can go back after a semester, and they said no. Now, I'm past my core courses in Y, have a couple of papers going on, am in good standing again, but besides the personal reasons, I actually realize I'm not "compatible" with this field. I am interested in questions researchers ask in Y, but, coming from a background in X, the process of research in Y is fundamentally different from how I think about problems. The non-academic aspects are hopefully going to be fine in long-term, but in 5-10 years, I can't see myself doing Y for a living or even identifying my professional character with this field.
Now I want to go back to X, I don't know if I'm at all at a position to even try, and if I do, I don't know how to do it to maximize my chance. I am afraid of receiving a negative answer right away if I contact our department. I thought about first making arrangements with a prospective advisor, but I also don't want the department (i.e. chair and DGS) to think I'm going around them or trying to manipulate the system.
Does a person in my situation typically qualify for getting back to my previous program and continuing from where I left? If so, what is the best way to do this?
Keep in mind:
1. Most PhD students in both departments are funded centrally, by the department. Occasionally some advisors might have their own funding in X, but I'd guess department typically tends to accept a student only if they can afford them disregarding advisor's funding.
2. At least one current PhD student at my previous department dropped out recently, so I'm guessing they might have vacancies, but can't be sure about that, and don't know if they already filled that in in the regular admission cycle.
3. This is in the US, and clearly past the regular admission cycle by a few months, and I want to ask if I can go back from this upcoming fall.
4. I had some (completely unrelated) personal complications when I was a student in X, and my previous department was incredibly helpful and considerate, but that makes me think I've already bothered them enough and "used my tickets".
**Review of other questions:**
I looked at [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/143619/quit-phd-two-years-ago-now-i-want-to-go-back), and [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/145135/going-back-to-academia-after-quitting-my-ph-d-and-taking-a-year-off), but they are not asking about going back to a program after leaving it for another program, but rather going back to PhD after leaving the PhD and being out of academia for a while.<issue_comment>username_1: **You probably can't.**
Good PhD programs get lots of good applicants, and the program can only accept a fraction of the number they can accept.
Your history now has you wanting to leave not one, but **two** programs before you have finished. You may have been a good candidate to start (where good candidate = someone capable of and likely to obtain a PhD degree), but now you've shown, twice, that you don't have the follow-through to be successful.
Why should they take you back? Why should they keep a spot for you when they have a fresh applicant who looks as good as you did a couple years ago, except hasn't decided twice that they didn't want to continue? It's very, very difficult for admissions committees to identify candidates who they are sure will succeed; for ordinary candidates, the signal between someone who will be successful and someone who will not may not be very clear. Your history, on the other hand, now has two very strong indicators that you will not be successful (=complete a PhD degree), specifically that you have twice decided you wanted to leave your current program.
I don't know you at all, I've only read this post, but my honest assessment from reading this briefly is that I would probably not take you back as a student. Finishing a PhD is not about briefly staying in "good standing", it's about gritting it out through a multi-year research project, which is *hard*.
It sounds like X has already said you are not welcome back. You could try further to convince them, but I suspect you'll be mostly wasting their time and yours. It's very reasonable for them to determine that no matter what you demonstrate to them, under no circumstances will they take you back.
For the specific points you mention:
1. This seems to mean that you ultimately need to convince the department; I think this decreases your chances, because if funding was typically from professors directly, it would be more likely that some individual professor would be willing to take you on to fill a specific need they have or otherwise be convinced that you are worth taking a special chance on.
2. Maybe this helps you modestly, but probably not.
3. Though I don't think it particularly matters when in the year you try to go back, I think this probably counts against you; you've exited the system and are now wanting to cut back in out of schedule. That comes off to me as a bit entitled.
4. I don't think this is relevant at all.
---
It has become common for people to change careers multiple times, sometimes using few of the domain-specific skills from their previous careers and instead relying on "soft" skills (which might include how to work with other people, how generally to find information and understand papers, etc). You seem to think that once you get a degree in Y, you will be stuck in that area forever, but that's probably not true. Most likely you will *not* continue in that field in academia, simply because most PhD graduates do not: there are simply not enough jobs. That means that, more likely than not, you're going to be taking what skills you have to the private sector or to public service outside of academia. I would think broadly about what career options you have, what skills you've developed in the broadest sense, and determine whether it makes more sense to leave your PhD entirely and apply to jobs outside academia, or to stick it out with your current program to get the degree.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If I understand you correctly you did not have a supervisor or a faculty member you worked with closely before you left. In that case I think your best chance is to contact the department, explain your situation and ask them if you could either join the program again off cycle or if they would consider your application, if you applied again next cycle. If they accept you again immediately that’s great. However, most likely they won't but they will allow you to apply again. In that case I think that you can immediately get in touch with faculty members (ideally people, you have talked to before) and discuss potential dissertation topics. That way you would not lose too much time and you have strong support in the faculty once the next application cycle starts. You may want to stay in your current PhD program until the next cycle for funding reasons and do the minimum work required for that. Alternatively, there may be someone who would hire you as RA at your old department.
During the next cycle I would do a full round of applications to all interesting schools because there is no guarantee you will be allowed back into the same program. However, even if you have to settle for a lower ranked school, you will still have connections in your old department and may be able to go there for a visit during your PhD or Co-Author with people (if field X does not require Co-Authors to be in the same place because they need to share a lab or other physical resources).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I agree with Bryans assessment: **you very likely can't**.
The only situation in which I could see myself taking back a PhD student would be a circumstance that is drastic and was out of the student's control: for example, you had to move states for a cancer treatment. But in your case, you conciously made that decision- whether you suffered from a grass-is-greener syndrome really doesn't play into the situation here. A PhD is a long-term investment; it is high stakes, lots of money and effort involved- and you are flip-flopping as if this the choice between which books to read.
I answer here **because my Bachelor and Master degrees are also in X, and now I am in Y**. There is, as you say, very little overlap (read: none) between the two fields, and soft skills can only get me this far. When I chose my PhD program, I elected to take on a subject that would at least give me training in the methods of field Y. There was no option to leave X, because no-one in Y would have taken me with my credentials from X.
So, I can relate to the feeling of doing a PhD in a field of which you know that you won't stay in. So my advice is to make the best of what you have:
1. **Consider all options**. How much leeway do you have with the topics and/or methods? Are there cross-disciplinary approaches in the field that connects you back to X?
2. **Cross-disciplinary skills**: A PhD is not just for showing proficiency in some field, it is also about proficiency to carry out and write research. I wouldn't discard the ability to return to X with a PhD in Y, given your previous background in X. You also show ability to work in different disciplines- this takes commitment and makes you more of a generalist than a specialist. This can be an advantage especially in cross-disciplinary work environments. I am currently doing research in Z, actually. What I believed to be a weakness, in that I never had just *one* thing that I found worth pursuing, I turned into my USP. Of course, I am not a tenure track professor and likely never will be.
3. **Lower your expectations**: what are you afraid of missing out when continuing your current PhD? Were you expecting to become the upcoming rising star in X? Statistically speaking, you are lucky to get a postdoc and unbelievably lucky to get anything beyond that. Once you realise that, you may find that you actually could qualify for (research) work in X after finishing the PhD.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: The best way to do that would be to provide **strong** evidence that you have stopped being the kind of person who discontinues their Ph.D. program due to sudden "shifts of interest" or due to suddenly "coming to the understanding that [you] really don't want to build [your] career in" some field or another.
To obtain such evidence, you need to first critically **ask yourself** what makes you think that "this time it's different". If the answer is just that you're really, really sure this time, then not only will that most likely not convince anyone else, but you should honestly **ask yourself** whether your inner feeling of being really sure about your choice this time is something that the future you can be expected to adhere to. I suggest you think of it less as "*how do I convince my old department*" and more as "*is it really true that I am going to stick around this time, and if so, **how do I know this***". After you have cleared that hurdle to your own satisfaction, only then does it make sense to get in touch with your old department.
If you don't have that kind of evidence (and I will venture a guess that you don't, since nothing in your post indicates this), or if the evidence is of such nature that it cannot be subjected to scrutiny by others (your own inscrutable inner feeling of certainty), then coming back may be nigh impossible, and rightly so.
Of course, if you are planning to quit your current program anyway, then there is probably no harm in trying to come back to your old department, just for the sake of your own peace of mind.
[Note that I have never been on any admissions committee, so take the above with a grain of salt. I am submitting this as an answer because it is too long for a comment.]
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It sounds like **you are ignoring the harm caused** - by you - **to department X**."
>
> I really didn't treat it like choosing a book. I did due diligence.
>
>
>
Yeah, sure... you probably did.
To you that matters - but why would that matter to department X?
username_1 put it best:
>
> You quit on them, you're now telling them you want to quit on your second option.
>
>
>
Try this answer - I don't think you'll do it - but here it is
If you *ever want a chance* to get a PhD in X:
1. Finish your PhD in Y
2. Work a while.
3. Save enough to fund your PhD in X (with no stipend, and with no tuition assistance)
4. Reapply to X with the condition that you will not accept financial assistance to finish your PhD in X.
5. If some payment from them to you is required in this program (for some reason), promise to return the full payment as a donation back to the department (as unrestricted funds) as you receive the payments.
Does this seem like absurd or unreasonable advice?
Pretend that the person who quit isn't you.
* Reread and think about the first sentence in this post.
* Think about being in department X when a student did this to you.
* Think about the person who didn't get in, because you picked the one who quit.
* Think about all the time your department spent training that student who - instead of being there now and writing good papers which increase the value of department X - left you.
* Think about the embarrassment - to you - because that student quit.
* Think about how the student wasn't even gone a semester, and wanted to come back.
* Now think about the person who quit, who was already told they couldn't return, asking again, to return.
Does those steps *still seem* absurd or unreasonable?
Honestly, I don't really see a path for you to return to department X.
However - if there is a return path - I would bet that it involves **proving that you can follow through** on a PhD commitment before you're seriously considered.
It wouldn't hurt to make financial donations to that department, but I don't know that it would help.
(If you donate a million plus, different story. The amount shouldn't matter, but reality is what it is.)
Upvotes: 1
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2022/06/12
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working in the field of HCI. My relationship with my advisor turned sour due to difference of opinion and eventually I changed my advisor. Now I am stuck in a situation where my paper as a first author is on hold because the ex-advisor is not letting me submit it. This is primarily my work of 2 yrs., while my ex-advisor is a coauthor based on guiding me throughout the research, reading my writing, and giving his comments. What should I do in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: According to the comments, your ex-supervisor is a coauthor of the paper. The nature of their contributions likely makes it impossible to cut out parts of the paper to obtain a version they would not be considered a coauthor of.
**You need the consent of all coauthors for submitting a paper.**
How to proceed will depend on the nature of your ex-supervisors refusal.
**Scenario A**: They refuse based on objections to the research itself or its presentation.
Work under the assumption that their objections are genuine as much as possible, and address them. Do keep in mind the possibility that there could be a flaw in your research approach, maybe even a fatal one. Also keep in mind that publishing a paper with coauthor will on occasion involve making compromises in how to present stuff (and that having the paper published probably is more important than having everything presented just the way you'd prefer it).
If above assumption becomes difficult to sustain, consult another expert in the area (maybe your new supervisor). If that expert is very positive about the merits of the draft, ask them to support your case. (If you get a mere "well, I'd consider this draft publishable somewhere, I guess" - forget about the paper and move on.)
**Scenario B**: They explicitly refuse, in order to spite you.
I would consider this a very unlikely case, because it would not only be unprofessional to do this to a (former) student, but also be unwise to admit this. Here a complaint to their head of department seems in order.
**Scenario C**: They just don't consent, either giving you silence or delaying getting back to you forever.
Try to get someone both you and your ex-supervisor respect involved. Maybe your new supervisor, maybe a head of department, etc. The involvement you ask for is simply to ask your ex-supervisor for an update on your paper. Ignoring them will be more problematic than ignoring you, and you'll probably find yourself with either permission to submit, or a variant of Scenario A eventually.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: This is quite a tricky situation. You can't really submit until they either approve or withdraw from the paper. I think, assuming you have asked them several times, then your best option may be to drop an email to your head of department. Stay very polite - emails often get forwarded on, and ask them for advice on what to do. I would think they will most likely forward that to your co-author (without you being on the email) and ask what they are playing at, and things will then move.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/06/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I suggested an interesting research question (exploratory data analysis) to my advisor and he really wants me to get started. However, I realized today in reading the agreement attached to the data enclave (with deidentified patient data or allegedly that), that there’s an obvious potential conflict of interest given that I founded a company sometime ago that focuses on a specific, but relevant patient population.
My advisor, to my knowledge, doesn’t know about this company. And this data set has millions. The other, non-government data set I’m considering has tens of thousands or thousands but may not have as immediate means of answering my research question, if it has them at all.
What should I tell my advisor?
I have this other research question that he liked that would not require the government dataset. Does it look wishy washy to say I want to return to that without saying exactly why? And this same COI would likely come up in the publication of any report I do with this lab group. (For context, I’m a first year MA student.)
I do have a third idea that I feel is as interesting and would not require me to access government data. So, should I pivot entirely and bring that up? I am almost certain that he would be interested in it based on what he’s mentioned in recent lab meetings. So, if I bring this up do I still add that the reason I am abandoning the other idea is a conflicting commercial interest?
He himself has disclosed a conflicting commercial interest in past work. But my preference is to keep that side of things as separate as humanly possible from academic work so there is no room for mishaps or cognitive dissonance. I also want separation because I don’t want to give the university ammunition to claim stake in anything on the entrepreneurial side.
Basically, I really need help in figuring out how to redirect him without sabotaging my academic/research future with him re letters of recommendation, etc?<issue_comment>username_1: Your institution almost certainly has a policy regarding conflicts of interest that requires you to disclose potential conflicts and develop a management plan if conflicts exist.
Note that *conflicts* of interest refers to *interests conflicting*, not to bad behavior itself. In this case, that would be your financial interests involved in this company, and interests involving protection of research subjects, research integrity, etc. The action that is "best for" your personal finances might be different than the action that is "best for" research integrity: that means there is a conflict of interest.
The presence of a conflict of interest does not mean you have acted or will act in a way that benefits you privately or violates academic integrity, rather, it means that you *do have interests that potentially conflict*, and it's necessary to come up with a plan for managing those interests. The details of that plan will depend on the nature of the conflict and the possibilities for mitigation.
However, failure to disclose conflicts of interest is itself a major breach of ethics, is almost certainly against the policies of your institution, and could easily get you expelled or even create further legal consequences, possibly even criminal penalties (the details will depend on your specific jurisdiction, and aren't really on-topic here).
It's not up to you to separate these things on your own: you must disclose so that the decision of what is appropriate separation can be made by someone who is unbiased. You are incapable of doing this yourself. The goal is not merely to prevent research work from being tainted, but to **remove any reasonable suspicion or speculation**, a much higher bar.
You need to find out what the specific policies are at your institution and make sure you are in compliance immediately. Likely your advisor can help you with this and direct you to the appropriate actions, but it's not only their responsibility but yours, and it is very unlikely that you can resolve these potential conflicts by disclosing *only* to your advisor: the institution needs to know about it, too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It’s curious that you are trying to do the ethical thing and avoid putting yourself in a compromising situation vis-a-vis the conflict of interest, but you’re going about it in a way that is itself ethically compromised, by hiding from your university the existence of your startup. And your stated rationale for this,
>
> […] so there is no room for mishaps or cognitive dissonance. I also want separation because I don’t want to give the university ammunition to claim stake in anything on the entrepreneurial side.
>
>
>
does not hold water. I’ll ignore the vague “mishaps and cognitive dissonance” part. As far as “ammunition”, the way to not give the university ammunition to claim stake in anything is by carefully reading all the relevant university policies, and making sure (including consulting a lawyer if necessary) that you are fully in compliance, for example with any requirement to disclose and/or get approved for any of your external activities, and that the university doesn’t have any basis to claim ownership of any part of your venture.
Once you have ascertained that, you will have nothing to hide, and no reason to have to bend over backwards looking for plausible-sounding (but disingenuous) explanations to give your advisor for why you want to avoid the project you already suggested to him.
To summarize, the obvious way forward is to tell the truth. If you feel like you have to hide things to avoid your advisor becoming suspicious of your motivations, to me that’s a sign that you’re doing something that’s quite possibly unethical — like founding a startup that your university can legally lay an ownership claim to but not disclosing its existence. If that is the case, my advice would be to drastically rethink your approach, since one way or another I expect that your behavior will come back to bite you in a very unpleasant way in the not-too-far-off future.
Upvotes: 4
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