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2022/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a doctoral student. I share an office with one other individual. As is customary, the names, emails, and offices of graduate students are published on the department site.
I am the victim in a stalking case. The authorities have been involved and I am in the middle of legal proceedings. Without going into too many details, my stalker is currently not being held. Until the situation resolves, would it be appropriate to ask my graduate administrator to strike my identifying details from the public graduate directory out of concern for my safety?
**Edit:** Some more relevant information... My office mate and I are moving rooms this year so my concern is more about preventing the new information appearing on the department webpage. Also, I am located in North America, and my stalker has been physically violent with me in the past resulting in admission to a hospital for treatment.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. You should ask.
There may be negotiations and compromises might have to be made. (For example, they might still list your name but not your e-mail or office.) It's also possible that, as a matter of law and or regulation, they will require a court order to not list you (and they may be more or less cooperative in helping you get that court order).
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is appropriate to ask and no law would stop you from asking. I doubt that any laws would require a court order to comply if it is done with a reasonable request such as yours. The university might have its own reasons/policies for not removing you I'd guess, whether appropriate or not.
But, I think it would be completely ineffective unless other steps are taken as well. The stalker is very likely to already know such things and very likely to have seen the web site already. If you want to "hide" your email and office, then they should probably also be changed, with, for example, the old email getting filtered through some authority (compromising privacy, of course).
What you need is more proactive measures taken by the university and by legal authorities. Probably more than just court orders to (try to) prevent contact and approach. Campus security, in particular, should be apprised of the situation. Your department and its faculty should be made aware, though it might need to be done "quietly" if that is possible.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Although FERPA allows for the release of “directory information” without the students consent, you can explicitly “opt out” and keep your directory information private. For example, at IU this is done through the registrars office at the [last link on this page](https://studentcentral.iupui.edu/personal-information/your-rights-privacy.html). In addition to people with stalkers, this is common with celebrities or children of political figures. My impression is that this is usually taken quite seriously and would stop the department from listing you.
I would suggest both asking the department directly to take your info down, and also going through this process of blocking the release of directory information. Asking nicely will make you less likely to annoy someone, but the official process is needed or else your stalker could just call the registrar and find your directory information.
As usual I’m not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and I probably have some details wrong. Talk to your local registrar’s office. You might also talk to someone at the Student Advocate’s Office (or similar) who can help you navigate this and may have additional ideas for how to protect yourself. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope you’re ok.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering if there are any journals that do not use 'doc' or any other similar file formats in the review process
In my experience I have used 'track changes' in some document editor to communicate with reviewers
I remember finding it strange at first that the academics/alchemists in their 'high tower' used such file formats. Had some snobby feeling that they should be above it. In the distance academics were graybeards that spoke Latin and used latex for everything. Now up close, as always, they are just regular people (the distance makes mountains blue and people great is a saying somewhere).
Jokes aside, I would like to know if there are any journals that refuse to use the 'doc/odt...' file formats. Some have latex as an alternative but then convert everything to 'doc' when the review process begins. Is there anywhere discussions or articles where this has been addressed (if there is any issue, not sure if there is)?
Mostly interested in the biological fields
Edit:
My question is:
What journals do not use 'track changes' in the review process? It seems like in the end they all ditch the response letter and want 'track changes'. It would be nice for once to stick to the original Latex file but if it is not possible then so be it. Just thinking out loud (sorry, but seemed like a legitimate question, I'll delete if this is just some impulsive brew).<issue_comment>username_1: I have to feeling you are asking on two different levels. Submittig the file in one format is one thing, the journal sending out the file to reviewers a completely separate thing.
Most journals I have reviewed for so far (electronics/material science/textiles field) actually send a PDF to review. I am sure that they did either receive a LaTeX or word file as submission, though.
I have never received a word file to review. In a double blind review process, a word document can be hard to anonymize: we get our MS Office Suite from the institute as a personalized version, and cannot change the user, so all comments and changes would have my name on it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Journals tend to use the formats predominantly used by people in the field. In biological (and [indeed](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/56511/17254) [many](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/30160/17254) [other](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/21972/17254)) fields, I believe that would mean MS Word. A journal refusing to use a standard format is just committing self-sabotage as most would submit elsewhere instead. (With many journals there are enough hoops to jump through as it is...) For an individual author it may be easier to go along with the flow than to use formats that are nominally supported, but in practice rarely used.
>
> Jokes aside, I would like to know if there are any journals that refuse to use the 'doc/odt...' file
>
>
>
In mathematical fields there are journals that only accept LaTeX submissions. For the reason given above that seems much less likely to be a thing in biological fields, however.
>
> What journals do not use 'track changes' in the review process? It seems like in the end they all ditch the response letter and want 'track changes'.
>
>
>
That is pretty far from my experience in physics. Typically, one submits a .tex file, from which the journal generates a PDF that is sent to reviewers. Revised manuscripts are submitted the same way. Changes may be highlighted in a PDF, and summarized in a response letter. Whether the response letter is typed up in LaTeX or in some WYSIWYG editor is entirely up to the author(s), as long as it is eventually sent in some format supported by the journal.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: A couple of decades ago I graduated from a Russian university with an MS in physics, and my MS thesis contained a critical flaw. In short, the thesis was about static perturbations in a certain physical system, but the system itself is unstable in the very same model, with the instability length being comparable to the characteristic size of the static perturbations in question. The whole investigation didn't make any scientific sense, because the assumed physical system can't be physically realized in the first place.
I discovered the flaw a few months before submitting my thesis. It happened rather accidentally: I wanted to formally prove that the system is stable, but the result of my calculations showed that the opposite is true. I had never heard from my supervisor, who had given me the problem for my thesis, or from his colleagues that the system may be unstable. Everyone simply did not even think about that possibility.
After I discovered the flaw, I faced the dilemma as to what to do about it.
My final choice was to tell no one, even my supervisor, and simply go on to get my MS degree, deliberately failing to mention my stability analysis and its outcome in my thesis and thereby concealing the flaw. I did so because getting my MS degree asap and moving abroad for PhD studies was my highest priority. If I had raised the issue about the flaw, I would have had to start my MS project over, if allowed at all, and spend two more years to get my MS degree.
I should have performed the stability analysis at the very beginning of my MS project, but I didn't, and it's partially a fault of my supervisor, who directed my work in a very rigid way, giving me very specific tasks and deadlines. He never told me to check whether the system is stable. The official research plan, which he and I signed, did not contain any mention of a stability analysis. It was my own initiative to try to prove that the system is stable, because I felt that this was needed to make my investigation complete. I didn't even talk to my supervisor about my idea to perform the stability analysis. After I discovered the flaw, I was sure that if I talked to my supervisor about it, he would say the whole MS project had to be canceled. A product of the Soviet era, he was ruthlessly strict in terms of norms and ethics and had little compassion towards students.
After I submitted my thesis, my supervisor insisted that I write and publish an article based on the thesis. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. After all, I needed good recommendation letters from my supervisor, so I had to obey. The article was published in a reputable American journal and was later cited about 20 times. Writing that article was the most unpleasant experience in my scientific career.
To clarify, neither my thesis nor the paper claimed that the system is stable. That the system is stable was an implicit inherent assumption of the model, and
it was quite a popular model at that time. The model was invented and used for other purposes well before I even started my MS project. That is, my advisor gave me a known model that no one knew to be faulty at the time, and asked me to use it for a new purpose. As explained above, I accidentally discovered and deliberately concealed that the assumption that the system is stable is wrong and can be shown to be wrong in the framework of the very same model, so the model is inherently self-contradictory regardless of the purpose of its use.
As I expected, no one found the flaw, so I successfully got my MS degree in Russia, moved abroad, got a Western PhD degree, and some years later published an article explaining the flaw. In that article, I explicitly wrote that the model and all articles based on it are invalid science. I cited some articles, including my article based on the MS thesis, as examples of invalid science. No one published a comment in response. In private conversations, my colleagues confirmed that my conclusion about the flaw is correct. And the faulty model practically stopped being used after that.
Many years have passed since then, and I have built a solid career and have articles published in Physical Review Letters, even as the first author, but I still feel uneasy about the fact that I started my academic career with a misleading MS thesis and deliberately concealed the flaw in order to graduate smoothly.
I understand that what I did is a research misconduct, but the question I'm still struggling to find the answer to is whether my research misconduct was ethically justifiable under the circumstances. My colleagues say it was, but I'm unsure whether they are frank about it, so I really want to hear what other people have to say. I want truly impartial answers from people who do not know me. This is why I'm posting my question here.
Here are some additional details:
1. If I had not concealed the flaw, I would almost certainly have not become a scientist at all, because I could not afford two more undergraduate years in Russia. My parents didn't want to help me financially any further, so I had to get my MS degree asap and move abroad. At that time (late 1990s), living in Russia was very hard because of an economic crisis. Besides, even if I had found a way to finance the additional undergraduate years in Russia, the delay of my graduation would have harmed my chances to win the prestigious Western PhD stipend that I won.
2. Formally speaking, my MS thesis and the article based on it might be seen as not containing any flaw, because I was given a specific physical model and investigated static perturbations within the framework of that model as requested; the fact that the model is faulty is a separate, although related, thing. The message of my thesis was essentially that if we take that model and make those calculations, we get those results. It was a valid message per se. I was just an undergraduate student who had to do what the supervisor said. He gave me the model and requested certain calculations. I did them absolutely accurately and wrote up the results.
3. My MS project wasn't a significant research project anyway. It was rather a training project to learn how to do calculations and write up results. Even if the model were not faulty, the article would not have had any considerable impact. No one used the results of that project. People merely cited my paper.
4. The only harm due to me concealing the flaw was that a number of scientists continued using the same faulty model for other purposes, unsuspecting that the model is faulty. If I had told them that the model is faulty, they would have spent their research efforts for something more useful. But that would have put my own career in danger, because exposing the flaw too early might have resulted in a retraction of my MS degree and a subsequent termination of my PhD studies. I didn't want to take that risk.
**Was my research misconduct ethically justifiable under the circumstances? Or should I have reported the flaw right after I discovered it, even at the huge expense explained above? Or what should I have done after I discovered the flaw?**<issue_comment>username_1: Just to make the advice formal, you were most likely wrong in not bringing the issue to your advisor when you noticed it. But, given your point 2, that might not have changed anything. On the other hand, it might have delayed your degree while you came to a more complete result.
But, with few exceptions, such as those that literally harm other people, such errors in the past can and should be left in the past. This is especially true if you have learned from them and don't intend to repeat them. Panic is understandable and usually forgivable for such things. In some religions, for example, there is the concept of "forgiveness" that don't require public confessions. No one is perfect. No one always does the right thing. But if we learn from our mistakes we do can better the next time.
So, your ethics at the time are questionable, and you likely committed a violation. But, let it rest.
And, you aren't responsible for the fact that others used the same faulty model. That is on them. Had you developed the model yourself and hid its flaws (misrepresented them) then the issue would be more serious. But if it was accepted at the time then it is an artifact of scientific enquiry.
You may have an opportunity, actually, though it would be awkward to exploit it. If that model is still being used, leading to suboptimal results, you could make your misgivings known. It shouldn't require a confession of guilt to do so either.
---
You are probably too hard on yourself in point 1.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Honestly, this sounds more like a philosophical / personal ethics question than an professional ethics question.
The "academic ethics" answers are what you already know: Withholding important relevant information when you publish something is definitely wrong. And, having done that, calling attention to it later (which you did) was the right thing to do. Beyond that, I think you're left in the messy world of being an imperfect human with competing needs and obligations and motivations.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: You had a tough choice to make under difficult conditions. To me what you did seems reasonable, I might have acted similarly in your place.
You did publish the flaw, just not as soon as you discovered it. Unless it was being used in real-life systems and people came to physical harm because of the flaw during that publishing delay, I don't think you have too much to beat yourself up about.
It might have been possible to include the flaw in your thesis (I personally feel it would have made it stronger, not weaker, if other people were using the model without being aware of the flaw), but I guess we'll never know how things would have gone for you if you'd done that.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Ethicality - and this includes professional ethicality too - of decisions has to include fair consideration of all important circumstances.
You mention two seemingly exigent circumstances:
1. An overly strict supervisor who was intolerant of everyday mistakes and would likely have you start over on a new project - something that delay your plans by 2 years and put a question mark over your abilities.
2. Financial limitations imposed by your parents on any further support for your studies.
You also imply *en passant* some other motives like wanting to move abroad for both academic and personal reasons.
If these circumstances were true **and, more importantly, complete insofar as no other facts enabling a resolution of the ethical challenge without incurring the alleged handicaps have not been omitted by you**, then you should not be so morose about it all.
But **nobody here** can assuage your doubts or feelings of guilt on the ethicality of your decision: we were not students of your supervisor in your Russian university and cannot evaluate the "facts" that you presented to us.
Your fellow academics - I assume this includes several from Russian universities just like you - will not bother to think too hard on your behalf. There is no point in expecting anything like objectivity from a wife or partner due to their prior emotional involvement with and investment in you.
Assuaging your own doubts and/or guilt is really one for a psychologist.
Personally I don't think this is a big deal. I think it not uncommon in academia when certain salient facts are concealed from those entitled to know where it disadvantages the informer.
Take a situation where Dr X of some department at U o Y who patiently prepares a bid for research funding for investigation of matters A, B, C and D related to a technology Z. After 2 years the bid is successful and a grant totalling say $3 million is awarded, the grant to be drawn down in $750,000 tranches as work on A, B, C and D commence.
Now suppose just after the research grant is awarded but before tranche 1 is drawn down, some PhD student doing exploratory work around study A discovers that the intended experimental approach to A is not going to work at all; in fact a much simpler approach involving available equipment will produce all the necessary data and understanding of that phenomenon. Moreover that student's work around A also indicates that studies B, C and D are likely to be much simpler and cheaper. Do you think that Dr X is going to immediately phone Professor W at the research council and ask him to cut the research grant to about $800,000 due to their recent discoveries ? Or that Dr X's Dean of Research would allow him to do so given its likely effect on how the department would be viewed for preliminary diligence on funding bids and the knock-on effect on future bids ? And that's to say nothing on the department's own operating budget and cash flow projection.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: One option is to focus on the future not the past. Can you do something to make sure no one junior to you is in that position?
An ethical test I was taught is to imagine what you did is one day printed as a scandal story in the New York Times. To put it in a bad light:
**"Famous professor concealed fatal flaw in early research study. Morals questioned"**
What would you want your truthful response to be?
You could already have in the article:
>
> "Friends of Dr. X note that they were in a precarious position at the
> time, not in charge of the direction of the research, and published
> their findings once they were in a secure professional position and able to do
> so."
>
>
>
But even more than that one might hope to be able to add:
>
> "Students of Dr. X rushed to defend them. 'Dr. X has always run their
> lab so that no student would ever be in that position.' The student
> continued, 'Dr, X. always has us double-check our studies for those
> kind of fundamental flaws, and ensures that anyone whose study does
> fall apart just before submission is helped to graduate, or given the
> extra funding they need. They have become a champion of data honesty
> in the field, and they passionately support journals that help
> scientists publish their 'failures' to encourage honesty in research."
>
>
>
I've laid it on a bit thick, and I'm not in the sciences, but hopefully this is helpful: is there something you can do to take the responsibility you feel (earned or not) and pay it forward?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: You are in the clear, provided you have never *published* anything you knew to be flawed at the time you handed in your final checked page proofs.
The grey area here is that MSc and PhD theses do count as a publication of sorts, although most people will know that there usually are many loose ends and (too) many theses are extremely rough around the edges.
If the thesis is available online or on a shelf in the university, then someone may consult it and be led astray or at the very least waste some of their time. And this something you should feel uneasy about (but not too uneasy... there is a strange herd instinct in academia where everybody keeps working on the same thing everybody else does, long after the flaws have become well known to anyone able to understand the point). You can write a short erratum, outlining that there is an important caveat on the results of the thesis, and ask the library or whoever manages your MSc thesis as a public resource to ensure that the erratum is physically or electronically merged with the thesis.
This is essentially how you would fix a flaw with a publication in a physical journal, where the flaw has become apparent to you after its appearance in the public domain.
There is no logical reason why this should not work, except that you are operating within the Russian system, which can be horribly inflexible and unreasonable...
As to whether you earned the MSc, yes and no. You demonstrated sufficient ability to the satisfaction of the evaluators at the time, so yes. Still, you ought to have had the scientific courage and frankness to inform your supervisor, so no.
You were afraid to speak up at the time fearing it would engender a whole lot of trouble for you with no positive outcome for anyone at the end. I understand that. I have had a Russian PhD student who was traumatised by her former Russian supervisor, and she described him in almost the same words you are describing yours.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Your assumptions about the cost of telling your advisor about the flaw are very likely wrong. **Discovering that a widely used physical model is flawed is a contribution which is definitely strong enough for a master thesis.** So, to answer your question, you should have told your advisor, submitted your proof of instability as a thesis, received a well deserved excellent grade, and gone on with your career. The second best thing would be to tell them after your graduation was sealed, but before submitting the paper.
Regardless: for a young student, feeling confused and scared about the situation is understandable, and, in legal parlance, it is clearly a mitigating circumstance. It does not nullify the fact that there was a misconduct, though. Even if nobody "used" your result, it did its share of the damage: the more papers about the model are published, the less conceivable it is that it may be invalid. However, by now, if there were any such damage, you have clearly undone it. And even the most heinous crimes, which this one is not, usually have statute of limitation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I don't think that your MS thesis has a "fatal flaw". While I do recognize that being physically possible is nice, it's not necessary. There is the entire field of abstract mathematics and I've never heard anyone seriously claiming that it's immoral and/or "academic malpractice" to be a mathematician. You never claimed that it were stable, just that *if* it is, *then* it will behave in that way describe by you.
In fact, many contributions to physics are actual physically impossible. To give my favorite example: The schwarzschild (simple black hole) solution of general relativity (and the associated properties like the schwarzschild radius) implicitly requires a fully empty universe, which is impossible, still it's well known and important.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: The general question:
---------------------
>
> Is it ethically justifiable to conceal a fatal conceptual flaw in a thesis
>
>
>
No, it's not justifiable to do so, regardless of the circumstances.
In some extreme circumstances (e.g. gun-to-your-head, not the circumstances your predicament) it might be excusable, but not justifiable.
>
> to avoid an unaffordable 2-year setback if the flaw is the advisor's fault?
>
>
>
People who are not you, nor your advisor, nor in the same department/university as the both of you, should not have faulty research misrepresented to them because of inter-personal or intra-institutional issues between the authors of the research.
---
Your specific case
------------------
I agree with <NAME>'s [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/187577/7319): Your M.Sc. was not fatally flawed. It was *somewhat* flawed. Not to mention the fact that your analysis might apply in a somewhat-similar situation where the system *is* stable.
>
> I didn't want to do it, but I had to.
>
>
>
You didn't have to.
>
> I still feel uneasy about the fact that I started my academic career with a misleading MS thesis and deliberately concealed the flaw in order to graduate smoothly.
>
>
>
Luckily, your ethical misdeed did not seem to lead researchers along invalid paths, and once you published the extra paper, you may not have been "absolved", but you cut off the possibility of future "damage" of your action, which is about the best you could hope for.
Yes, you did something wrong. No, you probably would not have lost your M.Sc. over it (AFAICT). You'll just have to acknowledge that you are not a morally perfect person - and also, that not all crimes, let alone misdeeds, are punished; so you can't be purified or excused by suffering or punishment.
Try to use your sense of guilt as a motivator to do right by others, and to encourage your students to be honest and forthcoming, on the one hand, and forgiving on the other. That's a sort of penance, or atonement, that to me seems fitting.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: There are already better answers in this thread but as mentioned elsewhere, this is more to do with personal ethics/philosophy. In this sense citing Nietzsche seems pertinent (needless to say, when taken with a grain of salt):
>
> One is healthy when one can laugh at the earnestness and zeal with
> which one has been hypnotized by any single detail of our life, and
> the bite of conscience is like a dog biting on a stone.
>
>
>
That which happened already happened, and moreover, could not have possibly happened otherwise.
Another point that I didn't see emphasized here is that rather than brooding away and being remorseful about this event, which has absolutely no value after all this time, and what is more, benefits no one, you could actually think of ways of benefiting others to make up for whatever you feel you have to make up for.
Indeed you seem to be in a position to spread some valuable lessons. E.g. you could sensibilise coworkers to be lenient and flexible to students in such situations and, what is more, lecture the students about both sides of the coin as you most clearly elaborate in your questions here.
Finally, it might be worth mentioning (another ethical standpoint) that frequently great things have muddy/dark beginnings. I would highly recommend once studying Heraclitus' unity of opposites.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Thanks to a large donation by a generous donor, my department has an "institute" that they use to host seminar speakers, subsidize student travel, support postdocs, and host social engagements. I have been asked to administer this institute for the next two years, and have to give a presentation on my plans for it at an upcoming meeting. My problem is that I do not have any additional creative ideas to use this donation beyond the uses I just listed. Has anyone had past experiences for creative/innovative ways to use donations of this sort?<issue_comment>username_1: I might add more ideas later if they come to mind, but here’s a few off the top of my head; you may find them interesting depending on whether something already exists at your institute/department.
1. **Nursing room**: At the (academic) research institute that I work at, we’ve been working on establishing and maintaining a nursing room for members of the institute. Some space with privacy, comfortable seating, a sink (for cleaning) etc. (Your university might have guidelines for how to setup a nursing room.)
2. **Conference room with good hybrid meeting equipment**: Given that so many talks (including Ph.D. defenses) are hybrid lately, it might be worth it to upgrade an existing conference room with good audiovisual equipment. Good audio speakers, microphones that allow for remote audiences to hear questions asked by in-person audiences etc.
3. **Awards for students**: Depending on how much money is available and depending on existing institute/departmental awards, you could consider setting up awards for students for excellence in research and/or service.
4. **Physical spaces for students**: Since in most departments/institutes graduate students don’t have individual offices and undergrads have no offices at all, it could be nice to setup lounge areas/rooms for students to convene at. If such spaces already exist, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a new couch if you’re able to fund it!
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are certain things that professors and departments are not particularly good at, but that can be addressed with money if you're willing to hire someone -- and depending on how generous the donation really is.
Specifically, what often does not work well at all in academia is *strategic planning*. (That's because the reward structure for professors does not provide much support for long-range planning in both their own careers and, in particular, in support of the department's mission. And departments these days largely no longer have anyone else who has the stature to address strategic things.) So things such as "Where do we want to go with the department?" and "How do we reform the Calculus sequence?" or "How do we help faculty bring modern teaching methods into their classrooms?" are the kinds of questions that just never really get addressed.
As a consequence, if your Institute also has a teaching mission, then you might want to consider hiring someone with, say, a PhD and who sits between the disciplinary aspects and the educational aspects to take a holistic look at the course offerings, course designs, and other aspects of those courses that fall within the Institute's area. If they are also teaching these kinds of courses, the Department will likely be willing to co-fund their teaching duties whereas the Institute will fund the planning and design aspects of their work.
In the research realm, one could hire a coordinator to build inter-displinary and inter-departmental connections, support collaborative grant writing, outreach to industry partners who may be interested in the research produced by the Institute, etc. There too, the "long range planning" aspect is something one could ask that person to do, and if they do not have teaching responsibilities and only a small research expectation, they may have the time and energy to do the planning that faculty often don't.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am planning to apply for a PhD in the USA and Canada in fall 2023. I'm applying to English, Film and Media and Gender studies departments. All the programs require only one writing sample of decent length.
My best piece of writing is the preface of my MPhil dissertation which is a discussion about objectivity in research and how my identity and my lived experiences relate to my research questions. It is divided into three sections. The first two are about how the idea of objectivity is based in the nature/culture divide and the last section is about my specific research question.
Pro: The whole thing is pretty academic in my opinion with a good mix of references to theorists and original ideas (in the last section). The last section relates to the research topic I want to explore in my PhD.
Con: The second section the second half of the first section are pretty much a literature review with no original ideas. It also does not directly relate to my research topic (the theorists are the same ones though).
Will it be a good idea to use this as my writing sample instead of a paper (which I'm not as confident about)?
PS: my research is about autobiographies and the last section of the preface is exactly the blend of personal and theoretical I'm going for.
PPS: I haven't put any personal anecdotes that do not directly relate to the theorisation.<issue_comment>username_1: I’m not sure what social science program admission committees look for, so don’t quote me on this. But from my familiarity with how doctoral programs and program committees work in the natural sciences, they probably just want to see whether you are capable of (scientific) writing.
So my (potentially uninformed) advice would be that you submit what you think is your best piece of writing. I don’t know that it matters if it is mostly literature review or if it’s not about your main research interest, but I could well be wrong.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you judge it as your best writing it is probably a good choice. Especially so since it seems to be related to the field(s) you want to pursue. It isn't my area of expertise, however.
But you can also ask for local advice of a trusted professor in one of those fields (or several professors).
If the requirements don't say that it has to be an existing piece of writing, you could also spend some time improving it if you get advice to do so. You would need to say that it is "based on" the preface, rather than it "is" of course.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/05
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently joined as a research staff (after finishing my PhD) under a professor, and my primary duty is to interact and provide day-to-day support (mostly academically) to all of his PhD students. Should I always keep my professor in cc when interacting with the students via Email?<issue_comment>username_1: You have to ask your professor. Some of them always want to be kept in the loop while others prefer a cleaner email inbox. There is no way around asking him directly (which shouldn't be a problem anyway?).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It really depends on the professor, some of them like to be in every correspondence, while others like to have a general overview of how the student are.
In general, as suggested by other users, I would suggest that you talk to the professor, since he is the one who offered you the "research staff" position in the first place and see his preference. And maybe explore the difference avenues with him, maybe
1. Daily update
2. Weekly summary
Or you could keep CCing him on Email tell he starts to complain about it (though I would not recommend this)
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/05
| 1,023
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<issue_start>username_0: This question falls in the general category of [another question from 5.5 years ago](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/90366/should-formulas-include-units) with the addition of the explicit request from the reviewer.
A comment from a reviewer requested that units of all physical quantities must be clarified (e.g., N, N/m, etc...). eg, F = m \* a. Assuming based on the review, it would be m is mass in kg and a is acceleration in m/s^2 and F is force in N.
Now I see a few issues and wanted advise:
1. The equations are not empirical, hence it can be any unit for mass and acceleration.
2. If I use units in terms of fundamental dimensions (as per the link) I do not satisfy the requirements of the reviewer.
3. Personally, I have not come across any data historically that has units associated to equations in a manuscript.
Hence, I am seeking advise as to, either:
1. How to reply politely to the reviewer.
2. An IEEE or any other journal guide to author that explicitly states how to make such connection for the units in the equations.
Manuscript Field : Civil Engineering / Computational
UPDATE:
Going with the suggestion below (and accepted answer) we wrote to the editor about it, and clarified that we will use units in fundamental dimensions for all equations. The editor and reviewer were both satisficed and the paper was accepted.
Looking back, I just think it was a misunderstanding of the how the comment was written plus the fact that one equation parameter had a unit missing.
Thank you for the help and suggestions.<issue_comment>username_1: Before considering a reply, I would first try to work out if the reviewer has misunderstood something about your paper/calculations which have resulted in them asking this question. If this is possible, then addressing this source of confusion could answer the reviewer's comment.
Otherwise, you could respond with stating any consistent system of units can be used. You could also specify the units in a general way such as: where m is in units of mass, a is in units of acceleration, and F is in units of force. I can imagine there could be situations where this may not be obvious. For example people sometimes use "moment of inertia" and "second moment of area" (m^4) interchangeably but this could be confused with the "mass moment of inertia" (kg m^2) which is also sometimes called just "moment of inertia".
If there are any specific values given in the paper, perhaps in an example, then make sure these have units.
In my opinion it's not reasonable to ask for specific units to be provided for expressions that are dimensionally consistent and I wouldn't do so.
I'm not aware of any style guide which addresses this specific case.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It might be worth pointing to items 3.21 and 3.22 of the ISO 80000-1:2013 standard. It's clear to me from those two items that the referee is wrong to ask for this, although I can't guarantee that it will be clear to the referee.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Some engineering papers assume a specific background set of units, and then omit all units from numeric constants. Thus (for example) one might say that an object falling with negligible air resistance obeys the law
with the implicit assumption that t is measured in seconds, h in meters (down), and you don't worry about checking that all the units cancel out when you substitute for a specific moment. This convention is particularly useful if the equations include a large number of empirical constants, and your audience is sufficiently geographically restricted to use only one unit system. (From your item (1), maybe you already know this?)
From in your question I think you do not want to use this sort of convention, but your manuscript does not sufficiently clarify that you do not want to do so. If so, a sentence like
>
> All constants in this paper have units marked explicitly.
>
>
>
or
>
> All constants in this paper without marked units are dimensionless.
>
>
>
ought to suffice.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/07
| 1,138
| 4,984
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<issue_start>username_0: I reviewed a manuscript which used my work. I recommended acceptance with minor revisions. Only after submitting my review, my wife discovered that my name is misspelled once in the manuscript. I'm a young scholar who would very much like to have one more citation. I sent an email to the editorial office about this but they never answered. Question: is it ok if I contact the author via email to tell him that I saw his manuscript -not confirming or denying that I was a reviewer- and ask him to please correct that mistake in proofs? In my experience people not always catch those by themselves, and because I recommended minor revision I don't think I'll see the manuscript again.<issue_comment>username_1: That is probably a bad idea.
But you can ask the editor to make the request instead. They won't want typos in the final result.
In general, communication with authors should be through the editor. Not the "editorial office" but the editor who assigned you the paper. An individual.
You are actually *owed* a response for this since you spent effort on behalf of the journal.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I wouldn't do anything. It's just one citation. Remember, the number of citations looks impressive in your CV only when they are many. You shouldn't care much about one citation.
Besides, the typo may be found and corrected in the publication process. I remember receiving an article proof with a reference corrected by the publisher. I guess that publishers routinely check references for correctness and have automated systems for that.
Also, since the typo is only in your name, the reader will be able to find the referenced paper anyway by the bibliographical data provided in the reference (journal name, volume, page number, and publication year).
You say in a comment below, "I emailed the managing editor," so my understanding is that you are considering a further action. I don't think that a further action will really harm, but it may be seen as weird or embarrassing, especially if you contact the author.
---
My advice is: focus on doing great research. Think how you can advance science by doing something really important and useful. Think how you can write a paper that will be cited hundreds of times. Think big. You shouldn't waste your time and energy worrying about petty things like a single citation. Remember, your success will be determined by your mentality.
---
It looks like I have to clarify the point of my answer. If you want to become a great scientist, you have to learn one important skill - the skill to ignore unimportant things. Otherwise they will eat up your time and energy. Sure, you can now fix the issue with the citation, but don't become obsessed by fixing things like this.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you saw their manuscript, you either are affiliated with the journal and in a better place to make the correction than they are, you're a reviewer, or a reviewer leaked the paper to you (and therefore they breached confidentiality).
Option one doesn't make much sense and doesn't apply. Option three is a pretty serious accusation that puts your colleagues under suspicion. The author may even feel the need to share this with the editor so they can identify the person responsible. Basically, either the authors should assume you're a reviewer or they should be ticked off.
Go through the journal instead. It seems you've already done this, and though it would be nice for them to have replied I'd note that they don't actually have to reply to you to make the correction. It's probably in their best interests to keep people happy who are willing to review for them. It's probably okay to send a follow-up email if some time has passed.
Note also that a misspelling likely doesn't remove attribution of credit to you; citation information is redundant by design, and your work should be findable with an incorrect or absent name.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with the other answers that an email, or a followup email to the handling editor is appropriate. Alternatively, if a preprint exists this would offer "plausible deniability" when contacting the author themselves (in case the editor remains incommunicado).
Be advised that a typo in a "citation" in the manuscript text along the lines of "user354948 et al. found that this discombobulation method did not reliably discombobulate" would not generally matter in terms of having your citation counted. Only the reference in the appendix is counted, e.g. by Google Scholar.
As an added point that has not yet been addressed: You mention your wife noticed the typo in the draft for peer review. Since you yourself state you are an early career scientist, I would just note for the future that peer review is generally supposed to happen strictly confidentially. Showing manuscripts you are peer reviewing to other people without the editor's consent is usually inappropriate.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/07
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<issue_start>username_0: I am thinking how to structure a paper on economics. I have some scatter data from online sources, but nothing I collected on my own, say, via a survey.
I am struggling to figure out how to organize my research. Specifically, I am unsure if I need to first have a research question and then a hypothesis. Or if both are even needed, perhaps a research question suffices?<issue_comment>username_1: Since the hypothesis is about how to resolve a research question, the former makes little sense without the latter. So, the question, and why it is important, should come first.
But without a hypothesis you can't really conclude much from a study that uses statistics. Yes, you can give descriptive statistics you derive from the data, but unless they support a given hypothesis (or give evidence against it) they have little scientific value.
And, one normally forms the question and the hypothesis and decide on appropriate statistical test *before* gathering data. Two reasons for this.
The hypothesis guides the sort of data that must be gathered to settle the question (within statistical bounds). And knowing the hypothesis helps you avoid bias in data collection, leading to misleading results.
However, at the very beginning of some exploration, it may be impossible to formulate a hypothesis and even the research question might be ill formed. In such a situation, a preliminary study might be undertaken to try to figure out what might be going on. Some data analysis might be useful, but it is generally wise to consider such information with a grain or more of salt. Such things can inform your research statement and also lead to the hypothesis to confirm (or not) the results from the prelim.
Perhaps you need to get a good book on research process since the question seems a bit naive. Gathering data, alone, isn't really research. It needs to be directed toward an end.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> I am unsure if I need to first have a research question and then a hypothesis. Or if both are even needed, perhaps a research question suffices?
>
>
>
I know what you mean by "hypothesis": you suspect something is true and you've set up an experiment that will provide evidence for or against it.
I'm less certain what you mean by "research question," especially since you talk of "doing a study" around the question. I suspect you're thinking about more exploratory or "service-based" research. For example, a new virus has just been observed; I have no idea what it is, so we'll look at it under a microscope and see what we see. Or maybe producing a nice dataset that others can use to study their hypotheses.
Conventions here, and the importance of such work, will vary a lot by field. As you say, STEM generally incentivizes proving important hypotheses, though there are certainly examples of high-impact papers that provide only data or tools. I suspect the situation may be inverted in some humanities fields, where the most important papers will present new evidence (e.g., from fieldwork) and the less important papers will simply provide a new interpretation of long-established evidence.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I would first consider your philosophical and research paradigms. For example, if you combine the positivist and quantitative paradigms, the hypothesis may proceed the question. In contrast, if you combine post-structuralism and qualitative, the reverse may be true. In summary, your ontological, epistemological, and methodological, perspectives should provide you the answers you seek.
Cheers,
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/07
| 1,759
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<issue_start>username_0: I understand in general, it is safer to NOT list hobbies on a CV.
My question is about whether is it a good idea to put these on my academic website.
I am a PhD student in a STEM field. Right now I only have CV on my website, and I want to put pictures there. I do photography as a hobby, and my intent for putting pictures there is to add a more human touch. I am aiming for jobs in academia.
The pictures will not be listed on my CV (I tailor each CV to its purpose). These are most likely to be added as a separate tab.
Are there any potential drawbacks to adding pictures on my academic website?<issue_comment>username_1: I'll assume you are smart enough not to put pictures there that harm your case or make you seem unserious professionally.
But, while such things won't actually account for much, they might induce a few readers to look around a bit. But if they don't find the professional items while looking it won't amount to much.
I can't speak against it, however, as too many "professional" web sites are overly pedantic.
Just don't lose track of what is important and make sure the site focuses on those things.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it's nice to see some photos, personal information, and/or hobbies on an academic website; as you say, it gives the place a human touch. So long as the photos themselves aren't offensive, I can't see it detracting from your website.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends on how your site is structured. If you have a tab for "Studies", "Travel", "Photography", "CV", "About", ... then yes, this is not a problem.
Having your pictures on the same page as the CV and other "professional" information is a bit weird.
>
> I understand in general, it is safer to NOT list hobbies on a CV.
>
>
>
I always look at hobbies when reviewing a candidate's CV. It gives surprisingly deep insights on them (positive or negative). So it is useful to list some but within reason.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Here's an unhappy but sadly well-documented observation. In fields like STEM where bias (particularly gender bias) is widespread, people unconciously filter what they see through biased frames: they expect to find evidence for the *suitability* of applicants from the dominant group, while they expect to find *red flags* for applicants from the oppressed group. The same hobby can then generate differential reactions like "Ah this feels like a positive aspect for this (privileged) applicant" but "Hm this (underrepresented) applicant maybe isn't serious about STEM".
So, since the question is "are there any potential drawbacks", I must add: for members of equity-seeking groups, anything outside the norm could potentially give people a subconscious reason to take those applicants less seriously.
(Comments are welcome, but only civil and constructive comments.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: One idea might be to mention "I enjoy photography" and then link to a photography-based presence (e.g. twitter, instagram, web site), with perhaps zero, one or two photos on the academic website accompanying the link; then people can indeed enjoy the photos and find out more about you as a rounded person, but it doesn't distract from the main purpose of the web site. This is just a suggestion; I can see already people feel very differently about this issue as a whole.
Just another quick thought is that many potential recruiters, collaborators, prospective students might look you up online more broadly anyway to get a fuller picture.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: **If you are *not* part of a minority in your field:**
For 95+% of hobbies it won't make a lick of a difference if you put them on your website or not. People won't think you are brilliant because you are into playing the violin, and they won't think you are a lazy bum because you are into video games. It's your personal preference if you want to put your hobbies on your website to add some personality flavour or not, it won't meaningfully change the direction of your career either way.
The only (obvious) exception are hobbies that are offensive to a significant chunk of the population - stay clear of the same topics that you also would not raise when meeting your significant other's parents for the first time (sex, politics, religion, illegal activities) and you should be fine.
**If you *are* part of a minority in your field:**
Keep your website professional. There is a serious chance that anything you put out will somehow be held against you in the future, for no real upside.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: In my experience browsing people's websites and (in very few cases) assessing them based (partly!) on these websites, I can speak only of one potential pitfall with hobby-related content:
>
> Make sure it doesn't make the main (professional) content of your website any harder to find or access.
>
>
>
Specifically in the case of photos, this means that you don't put them centered at the top of your page where they distract from other material (auto-flipping albums are particularly bad), nor set up your site in such a way that it is unnavigable without Javascript ("artsy" WiX templates are one of the worst offenders in this space). Anything behind a "photography" link is OK. This generalizes to other hobbies and aesthetical preferences, such as hacker-style green-on-black text. The order of importance for an academic website should be roughly "research > teaching > other content > visuals".
In my little experience with hiring processes, I have never seen hobbies used against applicants. Arguably, I haven't seen them brought up in favor of applicants either. But job hunting is only a minor part of what your website is for.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I think it's a good idea in general, however do consider that it's trivial to download an image on a webpage and do a reverse image lookup on it.
By doing that, someone can find potentially embarrassing social media posts if you have social media accounts on facebook, twitter, instagram etc.
My advice would be if you're going to do this, use unique photographs that you don't use on other websites.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: This almost certainly won't matter practically, but one downside to putting hobby-related content on your professional webpage is that it's very likely that your university has a policy against doing this if they're hosting the website. For example, my university says: ["Do not use Pages to share hobbies, family information, favorite links, or other personal content that is unrelated to your professional, research, or academic work."](https://kb.iu.edu/d/alcr)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Perhaps it is good if it is likely that other people in your field share that hobby. For example, I have joined some hiking parties when attending a conference --- hiking is a relatively popular hobby.
I have also gone climbing together with people at conferences. These activities are great for also simultaneously discussing research.
So maybe the hobby can act as an icebreaker.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/08
| 754
| 3,312
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<issue_start>username_0: Some authors have published a very long complex research paper (on ArXiv, theoretical computer science, math, category theory) and it contains references to three additional research-technical reports, the references of two of them included the note "available from authors upon request".
I have contacted the authors with kind request to receive those additional reports, but currently I have not received any answer. Three days have gone, I am patiently waiting, but I am loosing my hopes.
There is additional context to this story. I have posted some questions in the forums about this paper. Some threads have grown fairly large and contain valuable content. Some are not. I have been in loose touch with authors before and they indicated to me that they were feeling offended by my public questions. Although I have not seen anything offending in them (except for one post, but it was made by top notch scientist who was just jealous, it can be felt pretty clearly. It is not the usual course of actions, of course, but it happened this time, maybe the vibe of my post was a bit informal) and now I am afraid that they doesn't want to hear from me. Otherwise the authors have been very supportive and very open to the suggestions that can improve their article, but I have made almost none (others have made a lot as one can see from the 3rd version and from the acknowledgments).
It can be hard to decide. From the one side - I should be able to feel when "no answer" is answer too. From the other side - maybe apologize and more explanation can help?
It may be possible that the authors are on the Summer vacation.
There is some personal story as well. I have spent endless hours past year trying to read this article and all the necessary books, referenced articles. I have really postponed many assignments and duties and even incurred some loses due to this. So, it is very sad no to receive any answer. From the other side - I have managed to understand this paper and I can survive and do my research without those technical reports, I have ideas that are superior to any such report as far as I can guess about their content. But ideas are can not be comparable to the real work done and real report written, so I should be humble.
So - should I be ready to accept that no further communication is possible or is it tolerable (after some week) to try another (very small, gentle and final) communication effort?<issue_comment>username_1: You seem very impatient. If it were three weeks instead of three days it would make sense to ask again. Don't you ever go "offline" for three days?
Patience is suggested. They are possibly on vacation and possibly very busy. There are, perhaps, another hundred explanations for a three day delay. Relax.
To be clear, I suggest you don't contact them again after so short a wait.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It currently august, and at least in the northern hemipshere the typical time for someone to take a holiday (especially if they have kids). From personal experience people take holidays in multiples of a week. So three days is not enough to say they are ignoring you, they maybe ignoring everyone equally by not reading their email on holiday.
I would wait a couple of weeks before getting worried.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/08
| 938
| 4,375
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm new to peer-review and my experience in this domain was receiving a reviewer report rather than providing one.
A while ago, I have requested a major revision to a manuscript that I have been asked to review by a journal. The major revisions I requested included some modifications in the figures as well as rewriting the whole introduction among other modifications. Since the comments were a lot, I have requested a major revision rather than a minor one.
I have received the revised manuscript and have been asked to review it again.
Would it be unethical to just go through the point-by-point response and check that the modifications I have asked for were included in the paper, without going through the paper in detail, as if it was the first time I'm reviewing it?<issue_comment>username_1: If you would consider doing an inadequate review, after agreeing to do a review, unethical, then consider this unethical as well. You can't assume that the authors did the absolute minimum necessary to cover your points as this would seem to imply.
If the authors have done their job well, they have, indeed, done a major revision, implying that, while your points may be addressed, other things may be affected as well.
I suggest that you either decline the review, which is perfectly ok, or plunge in and do a complete reanalysis of the paper. I suspect it will be easier than the first read, but new things may require comment.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it's perfectly reasonable to primarily review *changes* in a new version of a manuscript that you have already reviewed. I would assume that most reviewers do this rather than pretending to start from scratch, though it is likely necessary to go a bit beyond "just by reading the point-by-point response" to accomplish this.
Consider all changes
--------------------
I would say a reviewer should consider *all* changes, not only changes made in response to their own comments. It's possible you will find fault with the way the authors have responded to some other reviewer's comments, or the authors may have made other unrequested changes as part of their own iteration, as indirect response to a reviewer comment, or in response to other new information in the field.
Use a complete "diff"/tracked changes, not just author responses
----------------------------------------------------------------
If the authors/journal have not provided a "tracked changes" or "diff" version of the manuscript, I'd recommend making your own using software to verify that the authors didn't make any sneaky other changes.
Cross-reference changes throughout the manuscript
-------------------------------------------------
For a thorough review it may be necessary to cross-reference changes listed with other sections of the paper. For example, if you suggested a change in methodology and the authors made changes to their results section, you should be checking that this methodology is properly described in their methods section as well as elsewhere in the paper.
One example I've often found in published papers are cases where I suspect a reviewer had the authors correct some statistical mistake like concluding two groups are "the same" or "not different" because a p-value was larger than 0.05. The paper may show the correction in interpretation in the results section, but their abstract, discussion, etc still use the faulty interpretation - a careful review should be able to identify inconsistencies like this.
Not every "major revision" has the same scope
---------------------------------------------
It's not clear simply by the designation "major revision" just how much of a paper is impacted: it's both possible for a major revision to involve practically the entire manuscript as it is to involve a narrow but crucial aspect. A reviewer will have to judge on a case-by-case basis how much of the manuscript they need to check; it's not possible to answer the title question here in a yes/no way that applies equally to every possible circumstance.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: No, but do check the author's responses to other reviews, if any.
Starting from scratch is a lot of work. I doubt the authors do a full rewrite of their manuscript every time they receive a reviewer report, so neither do you need to do a full check.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/08
| 1,295
| 5,686
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<issue_start>username_0: The goal of my PhD was to design a particular device. Such a ldesign requires many considerations, because the structure has many "moving parts" and available upgrades.
The topic has been studied for a few decades now, however I haven't seen any paper that puts all the stuff together. Finding all the papers that are useful for my design was a very long process. My beginnings were difficult and I imagine, that during my first steps in the field, such papers would be very useful to get an overview of possible tweaks and trade-offs.
From [other answers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/184571/41071) I know that it's good to have a senior expert in team, who can use their experience to give evaluation and remarks, however due to my organization's situation, I can't hope for such collaboration. I already adopted a strategy to write my introduction chapter, which is the [same as this strategy on writing reviews](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/43384/41071).
So is it a good idea to convert my intro chapter into a survey and publish it?<issue_comment>username_1: It might be workable, but whether it is a "good" idea or not is up to the reviewers of any such paper. Note, however, that there are a couple of issues.
The most important is that you avoid self plagiarism using necessary citations. The paper and the thesis might need to cross cite in the worst case. It might not require any changes, but you need to keep it in mind in writing both.
The second is that such a paper would need some specific focus or central idea to be cohesive enough to get good reviews. Your "device" probably provides such a focus, but maybe not for a survey paper.
And you should also consider whether your thesis itself is where you should expose the world to this summary. It might increase the interest in the thesis - a good thing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In almost all cases I would say that this is not a good idea (at least in STEM). It may be possible to get such a paper accepted somewhere, but it may not be viewed favourably by the community.
The main reason being that a survey/review paper is not the same as a literature review in a thesis. They serve different purposes and target different audiences. A good survey paper should discuss the current state of the art, synthesising research and providing insight, and discuss where the field is heading in the future. It's unlikely a PhD student would have sufficient experience in the field to credibly judge future directions for example.
If there is a senior researcher that you could co-author such a paper with then this could work. They don't need to be at your institution, it could be someone you met at a conference for example.
All journal papers should make an original contribution, including a survey paper. In the case of a review/survey paper this original contribution comes from the author's original (and well respected) insights into the field and expert opinion about the future.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, by all means, go for it! As long as you did a decent, accurate job, you will surely be able to find a journal that will be willing to publish a thoroughly executed literature review. However, depending on the quality of the review, there is no guarantee that a *selective* journal would publish it.
As some of the other answers have indicated, a senior colleague as a coauthor could definitely help improve the quality of such a review. However, if you have the right technique for executing a high-quality review, even as a doctoral student, you could still produce a review that could be valuable to a wide scholarly public and could be published in a journal with a wide readership.
Excuse me for promoting my own work, but I have a working paper that specifically addresses what selective journals are looking for in what they consider a high-quality review: [Developing Novel and Relevant Theoretical Contributions with Literature Reviews](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3774487). In summary:
* A mere summary of what the literature says is rarely appreciated by selective journals.
* What they typically appreciate is reviews that highlight conflicts in the literature and either meaningfully reconcile these conflicts or, for unresolved conflicts, convincingly show why such conflicts are practically important.
* "Conflicts" in this context include practically important issues that the literature has neglected, as long as the review convincingly shows that the issues are truly important.
* If there are no important conflicts in the literature (including important neglected points), then selective journals would most likely not find the review to be interesting enough to publish. When there is no conflict in a story, then the storyline is bland.
Hopefully, my working paper could give you ideas and strategies for finding interesting conflicts and framing your survey as an interesting and important contribution. Without a doubt, having a senior colleague would help to more effectively find valuable insights, but with the right technique, I believe even a doctoral student working alone could raise some valuable points.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: yes, you can do that I totally agree with @Tripatio ACM accepts some introductory communications too but in most cases, it is entirely necessary to at least hold some reproduction of results. Any introductory papers are too hypothetical to take it to the acceptance level and literature work is extremely neglected by EICs because these days EICs hope that it will not make an impact on the readers.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/08
| 719
| 2,865
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a European doctoral candidate about to defend her PhD dissertation. I'd love to eventually get a job at a small teaching university with a relatively larger focus on education rather than research; I'm thinking of something like SLACs (small liberal arts colleges) in the US.
I am given to understand that early-career European academics are unlikely to be hired at a US SLAC. If this is indeed the case, where do I look for a list of such institutions within the European Union? Does such a list or database even exist? If not, how do I compile one?
(I am aware that some European countries are reluctant to hire you unless you speak the local language - let us please disregard this for now.)<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not in the EU so this is a bit speculative. But this is how I'd go about it. I think many (most?) countries have a national education office (ministry). They may publish a list of accredited colleges and universities. A web search will probably turn up many of these, though you might need to know the local language to understand them. There may be some indication in such lists about the mission of those places. You can then go from there to the websites of places that seem interesting.
Another possibility is that such colleges (in the US, at least) are potentially members of various associations of similar places. If you can find one, you can, perhaps, go from there to the association to find a list of members.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This is an answer for Germany, which is probably not applicable to other European countries.
I cannot answer where to find such universities, since no equivalent to SLACs exist in Germany. However, I can say where to find teaching focussed jobs in Germany:
1. Many of the rather teaching focussed universities are calles *universities of applied sciences* or *Fachhochschulen*. There are quite a lot of them with many open positions. (Note that there are quite specific conditions you need to have to be eligible to be hired, see e.g. [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/173916/returning-to-academia-continuously-rejected/173932#173932). And note that the pure focus on teaching is in the process of been given up and much more research is being done.)
2. As I guess is the case in many European countries, Germany also has many private universities. These are quite often ratger teaching focussed.
3. There are some pure teaching position in all kinds of public universities. Look for positions called *Akademischer Rat* or *Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben*. Requirements vary widely, and research might be a requirement. And often people are being hired that are well-known to the university.
Academic job posting in Germany (at least for 1 and 2) can usually be found on [zeit.de](https://jobs.zeit.de/).
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/08
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<issue_start>username_0: How do you cite a paper whose preprint title differs from the published version?
It's not so uncommon that publishers ask the authors to change the name of paper in the publication process. This is after the paper is up on the arxiv, and so it already is known by its first title.
So how do you cite this paper with two titles? The default on Inspire is to just cite the published version from the few examples I could find. What if the original arxiv version has a snappier name, and a name by which the paper is just more well-known?
Also, aside from citing this paper directly, what would be the best way to list this kind of paper on your CV?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, the journal-published version is the more authoritative version going forward. Cite that one, even if you like the preprint's title better. The title is completely irrelevant to what gets cited.
If something is available in the preprint that is later left out of the final version, it's okay to still cite the preprint, though I'd certainly consider citing both if some aspect of what is cited is in the final version.
For a CV, I'd also list the published version and omit preprint versions of papers that have a published version.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: A preprint and a published document are two separate documents. It is *not* one document with two titles, but two documents. Even if the two documents are nearly identical, this is the case.
Even if the only difference is the title, they are different documents.
So, if you are pulling information from one of them, you should cite it. If both, then cite each as a separate document. The citation should be clear in that one is published and the other is a preprint.
You should cite each document with exactly the title that appears on that document. This applies to other information such as author names, their institutions, etc., if you are including such information. No "tidying" or anything. Right down to spelling or grammar errors, cite the document exactly as it appears in the place other people can find it. You want to avoid confusion. If you use anything other than the exact information as it exists you may create doubt as to the exact document you are citing.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a first-year medical university student and was given a Microsoft email with the uni's domain that is also connected to a free Office 365 subscription.
The uni wants us to use their email to contact them regarding anything related, and that's pretty reasonable. But, I was experimenting in the past with OneNote and was planning on using it for note-taking in the upcoming year(s).
My question is, how good of an idea is to use my uni's OneNote account and not my personal? Yes, I'm *a bit* paranoid regarding privacy, etc., and I seriously consider the things that could/may happen. I have changed my password but I'm sure that won't stop them ... Legal issues? What if they have 100% access to my notes? Everything?<issue_comment>username_1: The privacy concerns are not to be dismissed, but my first worry would be retaining access to the notes in the future. A few years from now you will no longer be affiliated with the university, and they will probably close your university account. Will it be possible to export your notes to keep access to them? Will it be easy to do? Will you remember to do it before they disappear?
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Assume that the university, as well as Microsoft, has access to anything you write on "their" systems. How they use it is up to them.
The same is true for other providers as well unless you use encryption. The same is probably the case for any "cloud" based system.
If security is a serious concern then use your own systems, and back them up to an external drive (or such).
Remember that "free" isn't necessarily *free*. You pay in other ways than money.
My university also uses MS systems. I know for a fact that MS reads all my incoming mail, and outgoing if sent through the university system. In particular, they process every link in every mail. I've been fighting this for months.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Before you use the uni service for this, you should just check that you are permitted to do it. The fact they have exposed one aspect (email) does not necessarily mean they intend you to be able to use the other aspect (note taking). It is possible that they did not intend you to have that part of the service. Or that they don't intend you to have more than some tiny amount of storage or bandwidth etc.
The worst possible consequence is likely to be that they shut off the note taking ability, possibly without warning. Or that you find you can only take some trivial amount of notes, ten pages or some such. Or that they don't retain the notes past some not-very-useful time, like one week or some such. Or various other highly annoying restrictions that could easily interfere with your use of the service as you thought you could.
So check first.
Meantime, consider an ordinary dead-tree-paper notebook in addition to electronic note taking. It is only my personal process. But I prefer to take notes on paper, then transcribe them to an electronic format. The transcription process is very often a very useful learning process. I uncover parts of the material I did not understand, and I "burn in" the material when I go over it again.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Personally, I think you are framing this problem totally backwards. You need to be worried more about Microsoft selling your personal account data to a data broker. As username_2 notes, *you are the product*, so of course they are going to sell it. The "de-identified" data they sell is [trivially easy to re-identify](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650473/). Also, the US government has no qualms about [buying it in bulk](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/how-federal-government-buys-our-cell-phone-location-data) and using it without a warrant.
In Microsoft's [privacy FAQ](https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/faq) they say:
>
> In many cases, data collected in relation to your work or school account is owned and controlled by your organization.
>
>
>
As Microsoft notes in their [privacy policy](https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/privacystatement#mainenterprisedeveloperproductsmodule):
>
> Enterprise and Developer Products are Microsoft products and related software offered to and designed primarily for use by organizations and developers. ... In the event of a conflict between this Microsoft privacy statement and the terms of any agreement(s) between a customer and Microsoft for Enterprise and Developer Products, the terms of those agreement(s) will control.
>
>
>
However, the usage of your data is dependent on the exact agreement entered into by your organization and Microsoft. At my institution, we maintain full control over all of the data, and I would expect a medical school to do the same. You can usually find more information at the [Privacy and Cookies page](https://myaccount.microsoft.com/settingsandprivacy/privacy) when you are logged into your institutional account. You can also ask your institution's Office 365 administrator for full details.
Sure, there is the risk that your institution could use your notes against you if some sort of conflict arises. They almost certainly have full and total access to your data. However, I trust my institution to not be miss-using the legitimate notes I'm taking much more than Microsoft.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: This is a decision you need to make for yourself, weighing up the issues
discussed below.
Both accounts have the same issues: reliability, security and privacy. But the
university’s account has these issues with both the university and the service
provider (Microsoft).
On one hand, if the notes are an important part of your course, you might want
to use resources provided by the university for those notes. That way, if those
resources fail for any reason, you have an organisation to hold responsible.
Generally, with a *free* personal account, the service provider is under no
obligation to continue providing the service (at least beyond whatever notice
period their terms of use specify), so you do not have such reliability. Of
course, a *paid* personal account is a different matter.
On the other hand, if you do not intend for the university to see these notes
(which seems to be the case, based on your question), then you might want to
keep them off university systems. This avoids any issues with your privacy,
other people’s privacy, and any other legal rights that might apply (such as
copyright). In particular, it helps to prevent the notes from being used
against you in any dispute with the university, an issue mentioned by other
users.
You would still have the privacy issues with the service provider, but you
could deal with those by *locally* encrypting the data before uploading it.
This might not be an option for OneNote, but if you can make it work, then
there should be no problems. This is true for a university account too, except
that they might object to your use of encryption.
Another issue is that the notes are not just part of your course, but also your
writing that you should be able to use for whatever purpose you like. For this
purpose, you want to ensure reliable *personal* access to those notes, which
suggests that you should either:
1. ensure that the university account has an effective export mechanism (that
you are disciplined enough to use when necessary); or
2. use your personal account to begin with (but note that if it it is a *free*
account, it still might not be reliable, as discussed above).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> My question is, how good of an idea is to use my uni's OneNote account and not my personal?
>
>
>
* MS has access to your notes and can use them to the extent of the contract that either you (personal MS OneNote TOS) or the university (MS Enterprise contract) has signed.
* Your university is likely to have access to everything you store within their realm because they will have administrative rights. Whether they can/will do it or not depends on the country.
---
A few other points to take into account
If your notes are **closely bound with the MS universe** (adding flags for the calendar, attaching Outlook messages, ...) then you are indeed better off with MS OneNote.
Keep in mind, however, that you may be able to **efficiently** export the notes or not. Best case, they will compatible with your software, worst case they will be PDFs or plain text and you lose all the MS specificities.
Now, if you will have **plain notes** with references and backlinks, you should seriously consider using a system that stores notes in a text format that is wildly recognized. Markdown is probably the best one today.
* you can use software such as [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) to manage the notes and their interconnections
* you can store the notes in a more privacy-friendly environment
* you always have a copy, so even if terrible things happen, you do not need to access your MS account to recover them
I would strongly consider switching to something more portable.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: Using a hosted not-taking system is a bad enough idea already:
* it may stop operating at any moment at the company's discretion (just check out <https://killedbygoogle.com>)
* the company may change it at any moment in a way that makes it unusable to you
* the company will go bust at some point (feel like speculating when?)
* your notes can be lost in a datacenter fire
* your notes can be lost to a hacker (deleted or modified, that is, not leaked – I doubt that privacy is much of a concern regarding uni notes; but as you state that privacy is an issue for you, that's even one more reason for you though not relevant for most people)
* the service may become unavailable at any moment due to a whole host of reasons (DDoS attack on the service, failure of technical infrastructure of the service, you not being able to connect to the internet)
* if you don't live in the U.S., consider what happens when there is diplomatic conflict (the GitHub repositories of Russians recently got deleted due to diplomatic conflict between the U.S. and Russia)
* etc., etc.
Carefully consider the fact that you have somewhere between virtually no control and absolutely no control over all of these and consider what losing access to your notes would mean to you at an inconvenient time. Also carefully consider the fact that you will have absolutely no recourse if any of these happen.
Now you're trying to add even more modes of failure by putting your university's mail server admin in charge of your notes. You're also adding another failure mode: At some point, you will lose access to that email account. If you forget to move your notes (if that's even possible and if that's possible by the time you want to move them – remember that features may get scrapped at any time), you might regret that because you will never be able to look at your notes again.
I know that I still sometimes look at the notes I took at a student, and I can rest assured that I will continue to be able to do so because I took them in Emacs via org-mode. If you want to do the same, a hosted note-taking system definitely isn't the way to go for you.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/09
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<issue_start>username_0: My research proposal received many comments such as "is not convincingly sound", "is not convincingly demonstrated", "is not convincingly developed". I was not able to draw the hints to improve the proposal using those comments. Does that mean the reviewers are so lazy to review it in details to make a clear comment or are they imply something else?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> My research proposal received many comments such as "is not convincingly demonstrated"
>
>
>
As a potential PI, it is your task to communicate the benefits of your proposed research clearly, and to convince the funding body (represented by reviewers) that your research program has a good chance to succeed and have a positive and strong impact. Reviewers can not engage in a lengthy dialog with applicants; hence, if application makes claims of novelty, importance and affordability of the proposed research, that are not properly explained and justified in the application, the reviewers can not say much except what "I dunno if this is true or not", or, in a more professional form "so-and-so is not convincingly demonstrated".
>
> I was not able to draw the hints to improve the proposal using those comments.
>
>
>
I am sure this is not because you were lazy, correct? Implying something like that is never helpful or constructive.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to help without seeing your proposal and the exact reviewers' comments. Please consider asking a more experienced colleague in your vicinity to act as a mentor. An extra pair of eyes may really help you make sense of the reviewers' comments and find ways of clarifying statements in your proposal.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This is more a long comment than an answer, but...
When I started my (current) tenure-track position (and I am now tenured), I did what many people in my position did, which was to write a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation. It was soundly rejected with fairly unhelpful comments.
In part because I managed to get the same proposal funded (for much less money) by another source, I did not apply for an NSF grant the following year, so the NSF did what they frequently do to help unsuccessful applicants understand the process (and because they need panel members): they invited me to serve on a panel to evaluate grant proposals. (This was many years ago; confidentiality of panel service is no longer much of an issue.)
Reading several (around 10, in a month) grants closely and participating in the discussion of many (around 40, over 3 days) more grants helped me tremendously in understanding how certain proposals were much more convincing than other proposals.
In my case, I learned that, given my publication record and the quality of the ideas I could come up with, the best proposals simply blew any proposal I could write completely out of the water. Since funding rates are around 20%, I have never found it worthwhile to submit a proposal to the NSF ever again. Indeed, there were no helpful comments I could have gotten on my first proposal, because the only reasonable comment was that, given the competition, it wasn't close to being competitive.
Upvotes: 4
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2022/08/10
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a prospective psychology PhD student, and one of the most intimidating problems was tuition expenses, but I've checked a number of PhD programs (NYU, Carniege-Mellon, Princeton) and they all say something along the lines of "anyone accepted into this program has fully funded tuition" and it feels too good to be true. Is it? Are there any expenses as a PhD student or am I studying for free?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, *most* doctoral students are funded, usually with a Teaching Assistantship. Almost all TA positions come with a stipend and waiver of nearly all fees, including tuition.
There might be some exceptions. And there might be some fees, but, compared to tuition, they are low.
In some fields Research Assistantships might also be available, probably grant funded, and also very likely to include tuition waiver.
Of course, this limits the number of students to the funding available. But TAs provide a valuable service to the university in assisting in undergraduate education.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The first thing to remember is this: "Free is too expensive." Having said that, most universities provide between 2 and 4 years of "soft" (i.e., university or advisor TA and/or RA) funding. The problem with such funding is twofold: (a) too many mouths to feed and (b) too little consistency in the system. You should consider writing your own grant before starting your PhD program or at least within the first 18 mos of starting your program. This will do a number of things for you, including; (a) focusing your research, (b) building a reputation, and (c) reducing your reliance on others.
Cheers,
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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2022/08/10
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<issue_start>username_0: As a history student, my research proposal is about a comparative research of xx in country A and B. Does the potential supervisor need to be interested in both A and B? Or either of them is fine?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not a historian, but I expect it is most important that your adviser is experienced in comparative research. However, if your adviser is focused on country A, you could look for a co-adviser or collaborator with deeper knowledge about country B. In my field, such constallations are quite common.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer is more general than the humanities.
An advisor needs both an interest in your research and an ability to guide you when necessary.
Lack of the first is too likely to lead to delays and disruptions.
If a potential advisor is sufficiently knowledgeable about the common research methodologies in your specific field, then they probably have the necessary background to guide you. They don't need knowledge of the specifics. In fact, since you are doing research, which involves the unknown, you can't expect too much knowledge in any case.
In your particular case, I can envision situations in which a good advisor had little knowledge or interest or background in either A or B. But they need to know about how to attack such problems and how to judge the reliability of answers. It is up to you to apply those methods to the specific research questions.
You don't even need a co-advisor, I think. It is up to you to make the specific application to the case at hand. An exception might be if the two places differ culturally and you seek advice about how to approach those cultures if you need to gather data that might be influenced by those factors. Then, you might need someone to give you warnings about things you should avoid. But that can be a short term relationship rather than a co-advisor.
---
In some fields, the advisor also needs to be able to provide sufficient funding for the student and/or the research. But that is a very different issue.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/10
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<issue_start>username_0: We have finished the work and are now planning to submit it. We are targeting a journal. But then we found the journal is only six pages. Six pages only allow us to write down our brief idea and some conclusions. So we have to omit a lot of details in the paper. But we also want to publish those details. Is it possible that we submit the work to the journal first and then extend the journal paper with the details and submit it to another conference? Are there any better solutions? Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: While it is improper to submit the *same* paper to different venues simultaneously, what you suggest is reasonable since the papers are not the same. It might be hard, though, to make the shorter journal article interesting enough for publication if you need to omit so much. But if the longer article is sufficiently different then it should be fine.
Make sure to cite the "earlier" work in the later one. And cross citation might be needed if the two works are too close in time.
But, another alternative might be a journal that doesn't have such a small page limit. Major works might be hard to condense sufficiently for some journals. The American Math Society, for example has journals with short papers and another with quite long ones.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Not all conferences publish their results - this is a convention that is common in CS, but not all disciplines. In cases where no publication is made by the conference, it is common for articles to be both under review and under discussion at the conference.
For example, the Southern Economics Conference (SEC) does not publish the accepted papers. It is entirely acceptable to submit papers to the SEC that are in progress, under review, or even recently published. It is considered part of getting feedback or drumming up publicity.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2022/08/10
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<issue_start>username_0: A former MSc student asked me to write her a recommendation letter, so that she can apply for a PhD position. Although I feel that she is bright and dedicated, I only teach her in a hands-on course which last for 2 weeks. Sadly, during Corona time, we can only work online. Therefore I do not have a strong opinion about her. Should I proceed or inform her that I may not give a recommendation that she expects (Of course I will still say positive words but obviously not outstanding)?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that you let her know that she probably has other, better, options and that the best recommendation letters come from those who know her, and her work, well. They need to make a positive recommendation of the likelihood of her success and that, while you have a generally positive opinion, you don't have sufficient knowledge to do a good job.
Write the best letter you think is honest if she insists. She may or may not have better options in fact.
Informing her of how such letters are evaluated can help her make the best application, even if you aren't the recommender.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I would suggest you create a system for providing letters of recommendation. For example, before providing letters, I have:
* known the requestor for at least 9 months,
* read or reviewed at least one of their manuscripts, and
* participated in at least one professional function (e.g., class instruction, research, conference presentation, article) with them.
I also ask them to write the rough draft for the letter. I then edit the letter to reflect my understanding of the requestor - this also acts to identify those people with an active interest.
Cheers,
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/11
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<issue_start>username_0: May a person whose job title isn't instructor of labs/instructor of PhD students/lab-assistant and who is working full-time (non-student) in a research university lab under a professor who recruits PhD students refuse to teach their boss's PhD students how to do lab work or ask for additional pay if they were to ask them to be a surrogate instructor?
If there's no pay, it's not part of the contract, there won't be any recognition, and for all they know the PhD student might lie to the professor that they know everything, didn't need to be taught, and knows more on how to do lab/bench-work than the expert who works there full time in the lab not as a student, takes credit for a protocol they did not invent, puts it into a PhD thesis without acknowledgement, etc.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> it's not part of the contract
>
>
>
You can legally refuse to do anything that is not required by a contract or the law. Be careful, as some contracts require unspecified "other duties" or permit termination for "no reason."
Depending on your contract and local law, you "may" refuse, but you should not. Teaching useful skills is the right thing to do; that includes teaching the skill of honesty and the skill of giving credit where it is due.
You should certainly be paid for your teaching efforts.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Of course you can always refuse to do so, and legally you may or may not be in the clear (as username_1 says, you would need to check your work contract carefully, and particularly check if there is wording related to "other duties" if it does not mention training explicitly).
**However**, refusing to train others and/or refusing to cooperate with others on grounds of your job not being an "instructor" is a seriously career limiting move, pretty much independently of where you work. In a scientific lab this may even more be the case, since many labs do have a fairly clear expectation that providing practical training to research students is, in fact, a key element of permanent research staff's job.
My impression is that there are deeper issues that you should try to resolve instead. Is the lab hiring students with too little practical knowledge, so that training consumes too much of your work time? Would you expect more acknowledgement for your own contributions to the student's research? Do you feel underpaid for what you do in practice? It's probably more constructive and practical to focus on these questions rather than straight-out stopping to help others in the lab.
---
As an aside, my answer would be different if this was about teaching formal classes or providing undergraduate courses. These are very different activities which you can and should indeed refuse to do unless your contract explicitly covers undergraduate teaching. However, helping research students (who are after all your colleagues in the lab) one-on-one is, at least in my mind, a very different story.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Who does that person refuse to? If the person responsible for your employment asks you to do something, you will very likely do it. (In this case, there would be an exception if teaching those PhD students required some official qualification that isn't there, or if someone asks you to teach people how to interact with 110kVolt power lines, or if the person has been sexually harassed by the PhD student and similar).
If a PhD student asks for help, they are not in any position to give you orders unless orders have come earlier from a different place. Especially if you don't have the time because you have another job to do, and if their behaviour is such that you don't do it because you are nice.
If the PhD student lies about what they have been shown, or what they have been taught, or not, that PhD student very likely is putting themselves into a totally untenable situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: This will depend a little bit on your contract and/or whether you live in a jurisdiction with at-will employment. If you *do* live in such a jurisdiction and your contract doesn't say otherwise, you would be perfectly free to refuse to do that and they would be perfectly free to fire you for your refusal.
That being said, whether you're technically required to or not, refusing to do this is a very fast way to alienate your boss and co-workers. No one like people who refuse requests that they perceive as reasonable because "it's not my job."
My job title has nothing to do with teaching, but it's generally expected that I'll conduct training and knowledge transfer as required, and that I'll make myself available to answer questions from other staff members.
Also, unless you're being asked to work unpaid overtime, you're paid the same way either way.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/11
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose you're working on a lengthy text that you would like to publish as a book or a "research monograph". For example in mathematics stuff like Springer Lecture Notes, Memoirs of the AMS, or any other book series.
Then say you upload a preliminary version of the book somewhere, say arXiv (with the usual non-exclusive arXiv license), or to your personal website. Is there any issue with this, if later you want to submit to a publisher? I am wondering how common it would that a publisher would desk reject your book, if it is already on the arXiv. Most of the publishers do not seem to provide this kind of information very clearly.
And if later you publish, do the agreements with the publisher usually allow you to update your arXiv draft with corrections?
Of course it is best to confirm directly with the publisher that one wants to work with. But I would be interested in any general advice or anecdotes on these issues, especially in the fields of mathematics and physics. I have seen several authors who put all their papers on arXiv, but do not upload books/monographs.<issue_comment>username_1: Every publisher has its own standards on whether it will be willing to consider publishing something that has already appeared in some form, including ArXiv. You will need to check their websites and/or editors to see what is acceptable. I suspect that for books, they tend to be a bit more conservative than for articles, since they normally have a larger investment in the production process (copy editors, for example).
But you should also consider, as any publisher will, whether publishing the work, largely complete, will kill most (all?) future sales. I'd be especially careful about publishing complete exercise sets for any text books as those exercises are often the most important part, unless the topic is some advanced one that has few competitors. The latter may be your situation, of course.
But self publishing (ArXiv or other) will limit your choices, so ask before you jump. It is useful in any case to talk to one or more editors about your manuscript to explore their interest.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I "published" versions of my textbook on my personal website (with an explicit copyright notice) so that students and some faculty elsewhere could use it when it was under development. The feedback was very valuable. No potential publisher objected to this, even after the book was under contract.
When the published book appeared the publisher naturally wanted those versions deleted. I still sometimes see them posted elsewhere, and ask for deletions (same for pirated copies of the actual published text).
I think arXiv would be a mistake. You can't simply "delete" there. Nor would it be the right place to post updates and corrections. That's your publisher's call.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/11
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| 4,125
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<issue_start>username_0: I have written a manuscript and want some feedback from experts. So I sent emails to different professors to ask their permission if they want to view my manuscript. I did not attach my manuscript to my email. Would it be considered spam? Would it ruin my reputation?<issue_comment>username_1: This might be considered spam, but it might also be considered okay, especially if you have worked with a mentor or advisor to get your paper into excellent shape first. When I was a grad student, my advisor encouraged me to send a copy of my first paper to researchers whom I didn't know. (My advisor *did* know them.) More recently I have received, and replied to, emails with unsolicited manuscripts from student researchers.
If you go this route, I'd recommend that you (1) make sure your paper is immaculate, and typeset in the same way as other papers in your field, (2) have it read by someone at your home institution first; (3) attach your manuscript with your initial email; (4) be happy if you get *one* reply, and don't expect a longer back-and-forth.
If you are claiming a solution to a famous open problem, then your claim is very unlikely to be believed and your paper probably won't be read. If your paper is on a niche problem in an active area of research, you are more likely to be taken seriously.
Above all, accept that these professors don't have any obligation to you. Some might write back, but they're not being rude if they don't, so don't send any follow-up or reminder emails.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: How are you going about it?
If you blast a generic email to 100 groups that are *approximately* in your subfield, I would not expect a great outcome. Most people will ignore it; a few might be annoyed, especially if a) they perceive the paper as low quality or irrelevant to their work or b) multiple people realize they received the same email. I doubt this will have severe, longterm consequences, but it certainly wouldn't help.
On the other hand, you could certainly send a few *targeted* emails asking for feedback. This will work best if you identify people who are very likely to be interested in your work and explain why in your initial email. The authors cited in your paper might be a good place to start. I would consider asking a grad student or postdocs as well; I think you're more likely to get a response and it may be more in-depth too! It wouldn't hurt to ask for feedback on specific parts of the paper too. For example, I think an email like this would work reasonably well:
>
> Dear Dr. Eisenhardt,
>
>
> I am <NAME>, a 5th year PhD student in Dr. Xavier's group at State University. I enjoyed your 2008 paper about color matching in very young children. We adapted that paradigm to study color preferences in baboons and have collected some data demonstrating that they, like humans, have color preferences that vary throughout their lifespan. I'm currently writing this data up for the *Example Journal*, and would appreciate any feedback you might have.
>
>
> Our preprint is here [link to reputable preprint server/website]. I am also presenting this work at next month's Hypothetical Research Conference in Springfield.
>
>
> I would be particularly interested to know whether you think we have
> correctly controlled for interactions between colors' hue and
> saturation, as I know that was a focus of your followup work. We would be happy to recognize your feedback in the Acknowledgements of our next version.
>
>
> Thank you!
>
>
> -- <NAME>
>
>
>
If your field uses them, I would consider posting the manuscript to a preprint server, rather than attaching it directly. This sidesteps @NuclearHogie's concern about security, expands the potential pool of readers, and prevents anyone from "scooping" you. One potential downside of this approach is that if you solicit comments from someone, you should acknowledge their efforts somehow (formal acknowledgement, or even coauthorship), and doing so will likely preclude them from serving as a peer reviewer. Good luck!
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
|
2022/08/11
| 434
| 1,640
|
<issue_start>username_0: Having spent quite a lot of time going through the literature on my research topic, I've been disappointed by the search features offered by the dominant academic databases and search engine (Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar etc...).
The search feature remains pretty basic and allows us to search by common theme.
We cannot search for ideas shared between papers, how one paper contradicts or supports another, or create nodes graphs by citations etc... I've thus relied on doing Knowledge Extraction by myself, but I'm sure someone has encountered these issues before.
Has anyone found a better tool or approach ?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> ... how one paper contradicts or supports another
>
>
>
The tools to go for this feature are:
* [scite.ai](https://scite.ai/)
* [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/)
>
> ... or create nodes graphs by citations
>
>
>
You may be interested in:
* [ConnectedPapers](https://www.connectedpapers.com/)
* [VOSViewer](https://www.vosviewer.com/)
* [CitationGecko](https://www.citationgecko.com/)
* [CitNetExplorer](https://www.citnetexplorer.nl/)
* [CoCites](http://www.cocites.com/)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I ask new researchers to generate a conceptual model by identifying 3-7 key terms, authors, and journals before implementing any review of literature through a search engine. This prepares them for either a narrative or systematic review of literature. This also allows them to quickly begin the process of understanding how their future work "fits" within the larger corpus of literature.
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/08/11
| 1,029
| 4,450
|
<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I found a monograph that includes results from my dissertation. Those results have also been included in conference presentations. They have also been disseminated by the funding agency that supported my work in various fact sheets. This monograph includes links to my website but does not explicitly cite my work. They also mention a program officer associated with the funding agency in their acknowledgments and thank him for providing "information" about the program that was the subject of my dissertation. Is there anything I can do about this situation now that the monograph is already published?
I would just like to be listed in the references so that I get credit for the citation. I feel like the program officer shared my work with the author of the monograph, without also sharing the appropriate citation information. I don't want to burn any bridges, but I feel disrespected by what I view as plagiarism.
Any advice? What would you do if you were in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Your description does seem to support a charge of plagiarism unless they attribute the ideas from your dissertation (and related work) to you specifically. Then, it might just be sloppy (very) scholarship. That is also to be avoided, of course.
You can inform the editor/publisher of the monograph that a citation would be needed and provide details. The fact that it is published isn't relevant, other than that it complicates things for them. Errata might be published. Even a revised (corrected) edition might be issued.
But there is no reason not to complain. Just keep it civil. It is primarily the publisher that needs to be informed. Work through them rather than complaining directly to the authors, though copying the authors might be courteous.
---
While it is possible in theory to avoid plagiarism without a specific citation, doing so breaks the chain of context that is needed for good academic work.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I would turn this around and point out at various opportunities (conference talks, social media, conversations with colleagues) that your contribution made it into a monograph. Technically, you could complain, but the negative connotations of this are likely not worth it.
Note: It happens all the time in academia that people don't get credit for their contributions, and others get credit for what they didn't do. It's so common that some of it averages out in the long term. I would fight for credit only in the rare case of an exceptionally important/influential piece of work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I suggest you first get in touch with the funding agency to understand exactly what their involvement was; perhaps they gave the monograph author the wrong impression about something? Anyway, make sure they had informed the monograph author that they need to cite you.
In parallel with that, or right after that, I suggest you talk to the monograph author. But - don't begin the conversation in an accusatory tone; rather, describe the situation as dry facts and talk like you assume your interlocutor is also interested in rectifying the situation. If they refuse to act - again don't get into a shouting match, but sternly say that you expect this to be rectified and are not satisfied with their answer. It's better to set up a voice conversation rather than having this exchange in writing; then, if the voice call doesn't work, make your request in writing.
After that's done, approach the editor/publisher - either together with the author ("together" can be an email from the author CCing you that clarifies you want to resolve this together) or just yourself like @username_1 [suggests](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/187700/7319).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It sounds like they tried to properly attribute this but failed to find the relevant conference proceedings (either out of laziness, because they’re genuinely not easy to find, or because they weren’t published at the time they wrote that section). I would simply send them an email saying something like:
>
> I was reading your monograph, and I see you cite [funding agency’s fact sheet] for my work on [topic], and I just wanted to let you know that work is now publicly available at [proceedings].
>
>
>
I would also look at your website and see if you can edit it to make it easier for people to find your publications.
Upvotes: 4
|
2022/08/12
| 274
| 1,188
|
<issue_start>username_0: I want to do my Master's Degree from Japan, for which I sent an email with my research proposal on 3rd August, 2022. The Professor replied within 2 hours of email, showing interest in my profile and asking for funds, to which I responded positively (will be able to manage funds). It has been 10 days and I have not received any procedure for interview. Should I send a follow up email? Is there any holidays period in the University? How much time should I wait before directly calling the professor?<issue_comment>username_1: Sending him a reminder after about a week is certainly okay. Make sure to be polite and do not blame him for not answering. Re-express your interest and emphasise again that you have funding available.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: If you need advice on how to apply, consider emailing professor with this very explicit question. The professor does not know that you do not know how to apply. From their perspective, a student inquired about a possibility to do a PhD with them and received a positive response (subject to funds), student then confirmed the funds available --- all good, no further action required.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/08/12
| 358
| 1,563
|
<issue_start>username_0: I looked into the colleges given above and under requirements it says that electrical engineers would be eligible for CS degrees.
I'm going to study ECE as my undergraduate course. Would that also be enough to enroll into those colleges?<issue_comment>username_1: For each available seat in their Masters program, MIT gets around a dozen applicants, all eligible under their published requirements. This means they are accepting less than 10% of qualified applicants. They get to pick the best of the applicants.
Keep in mind that many qualified applicants don't even bother applying to MIT because they know they are not competitive.
If you are going to an average college in India, you realistically need to be among the top 1% of students to be accepted to MIT. This will be attested to not only by your marks but also by the recommendations of your professors based on their assessment of your abilities, not just in your studies but also in any research you might do.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Any engineering degrees students can study computer science specialization or non-specialization masters. But computer engineers can't study Electrical Engineering in masters specially specialization subjects. You should show the syllabus that you studied in your ECE degree. We need to see if it was more like Computer Engineering or EEE degree.
Getting entry into them is tough though. Unless you're from IITs in India. But it doesn't matter because anywhere in the west, there's good education than in India.
Upvotes: 0
|
2022/08/12
| 498
| 2,321
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am trying to find additional research about a certain topic. I have found one study that is specifically about this topic, and the results are very interesting. I would like to find out if any additional studies have attempted to reproduce the results.
I have tried searching online using several ID numbers found on the nih.gov site where I am viewing the original study. There are very few search results, and the search results seem to all be referencing this same original study.
I have tried emailing the author of the original study as well. To my surprise, I actually received a response, but it was short, contained merely a list of some links to "more information" about the topic (these websites were just general information), and did not respond to my question about additional studies. (To be fair, this author is an active professional, so I understand that they may not have time to email with me. I have not attempted to reply asking my question again.)
Perhaps I am not finding additional studies because there have not been any. It may also be that I am not using the correct tools/resources.
Is there an established way to find if a particular study has been replicated?
This question is intended to be generic enough that it is relevant for any study. However, for my particular topic, I have managed to find one study that repeated the original in another country. I am currently looking for more.<issue_comment>username_1: Whoever tried to reproduce the study and published about their attempt would surely cite the original paper, as commented by @<NAME>. So looking through papers that cite the original could be a start. I found that "Cited by" in Google Scholar has good lists of citations for a paper, including preprints. However, there would be a delay before publications appear. Also, some reproduction attempts, especially failures, might never be published.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not a general way to check if any study has been replicated, but the journal [ReScience X](http://rescience.org/x) publishes replications of experimental studies and its sister journal [ReScience C](http://rescience.github.io/) publishes replications of computational studies.
These could be a place to check for possible replications.
Upvotes: 2
|
2022/08/12
| 3,104
| 12,959
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am international STEM PhD student in the UK.
My advisor asked me to try and attempt a question that he has been thinking about for more than five years. He was always very encouraging, but wasn't confident that I would be able to solve it. I wasn't very confident either.
It turned out to be much simpler than expected (and the simplicity of the solution was perhaps his blind spot). I managed to solve it. Since I told him about my solution, he has turned markedly cold towards me, hardly ever replying to emails and appearing a little aloof/defensive during meetings.
I am not a mind-reader, and hence wouldn't like to speculate on why he is acting this way. What are some things that I could do to make him like me again/not screw up my job application? He has collaborators at the very top places, and I'd love to do a postdoc with them.
I have thought about offering him co-authorship, playing up his contribution to the project, etc. But all of these attempts could backfire, as he may feel insulted, etc.
Like I said, I think he is in general a very decent person, and has always been encouraging towards me.<issue_comment>username_1: I'd guess offering him co-authorship is a mistake as he might take it as condescending, plus the usual reasons.
I'd guess the advisor is disappointed in themself, not in you. That can be hard to accept. Acting badly in such a situation is common enough.
It is hard to suggest that a student act like the adult in the room, but that may be what you are faced with. Let me suggest two alternatives, with the first recommended over the second.
If you have good relations with another faculty member who also has good relations with the advisor, seek advice from them. They may, actually, be able to be an intermediary. It is also good to have someone on the faculty knowledgeable about such things in case things really fall apart.
The second is to ask for a sit-down with the advisor and start off with "Where are we? How can we move forward?"
Congratulations on finding the insight to solve the problem. If it has been hanging about for several years it is likely an important contribution. Your solution method may be more important than the question itself, actually, as can be true in pure math.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Unless there's some context not specified in the question, the advisor's reaction is not normal.
If they didn't think you had some chance of solving this problem, they were setting you up for failure, which is awful. Now that you have solved it, they should rejoice and be congratulatory, glad that you have together\* cracked a long-standing problem. Arguably an advisor's greatest success lies in their students going beyond where they have gone.
You are self-aware enough to resist speculating; so do consider that the apparent distance might be unconnected to this incident. You are in the best position to judge this.
\*As others have pointed out, many of us would view this as a joint success shared between you and the advisor. There's a high chance that the advisor sees it the same way, and they could be greatly offended by you suggesting co-authorship.
Since your primary question is about what to do, I suggest you don't bring up this solution for a while. Let them decide where/when to publish it, while you focus on other research areas (assuming this wasn't your only research problem). Attend meetings (if that's a thing), interact normally, keep doing your work and wait to see if there's any change in their outlook towards you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would follow the advice from @mhopeng's comment, prepare a draft of an article with two names of the authors and submit it to your advisor for approval. From the ethical point of view, he seems to have made significant contribution to the matter, and you may be mistaken about what is "a norm in your field". Let him explain it to you if it is indeed not "a norm in your field". If he declines co-authorship, at least you will have offered it to him.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: With the caveat that any answer to this question is a bold attempt at mind-reading, I will humbly add my two cents.
It is not uncommon for academics in STEM fields to have a pet question, on which they hang a (usually over-optimistic) internal belief that when they finally find (and publish) a solution, they would be able to upgrade their academic and even social standings among their peers.
From that point of view, having a younger and less experienced person solve the problem, is hard to reckon with, and even more so if the solution was simple (or seems to be simple in hind-sight).
It is very possible that you advisor is confused by this turn of events, for several reasons, including potentially a perception that his very ability to advise you in your studies is now in question.
My advice therefore would be to:
1. Give your advisor the time he needs to come to terms with the new situation. If your advisor is a decent person, he won't hold a grudge against you for long, and would be happy to recommend you to their peers. As long as you don't take advantage of the situation, your advisor will finally come to the correct conclusion which is you should not be blamed or accused for finding the solution.
2. Think of all the different ways this person has been good and kind to you and how that attitude has contributed to your PhD's experience so far. Find the time(s) and place(s) to express your favorable view of him, and your gratefulness for his kindness.
3. Keep up your academic work and consult your advisor as you did before - This will help signal that nothing's changed from your side, and that you would like to restore the routine. If he doesn't immediately reply - simply remind him that you want to keep advancing your work and that his inputs would be appreciated.
HTH!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I think @ScottSeidman may be [on to something here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/187724/patching-things-up-with-advisor#comment505860_187724).
>
> Feels like we may be missing important info about the interaction that you didn't notice, or didn't think is important. Also, even though this is in the US, you might mention the cultural background of your advisor to help us rule out underlying cultural sensitivities.
>
>
>
More details are also needed about *how exactly* you told them about your solution. If it was as a surprise in a group meeting and you said "Oh it's easy!" then that could really have been a serious *faux pas* for some "old style" professors, whether they are from another culture or not.
Instead, in a private meeting, something like "Professor, I think I may have found *a way forward*" only, along with the *first half* of your solution, pointing the way would have been the appropriate way forward for some.
This way you feel them out carefully, to see if they want your solution to work or not.
Some professors may help you complete it, even encourage you by saying "you're almost there, what's next?" and, believe it or not, others may say "No. You're completely wrong. That can never work" at which point you create the appearance of disappointment and simply drop it.
Later, they will "discover" the solution themselves and appear to forget your contribution. This happens *all the time* though much more so in context where [Confucian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism) influence is afoot, at least in my experience.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Other answers have done a good job of capturing how your advisor may reasonably be feeling, and that your advisor "should" be able to maturely handle those feelings and treat you fairly, but in terms of reality it is helpful to accept that,
1. everyone has feelings,
2. feelings are not always rational,
3. even someone who tries to objectively handle irrational feelings may struggle, it is simply not always easy,
4. doing some small things to help your professor resolve their feelings in a productive way will lead to the maximum happiness for you.
So I agree that your current thoughts about what you can do for your professor will probably backfire, because they are pretty transparent and sort of rub it in your professor's face that you solved the problem and not them.
>
> I have thought about offering him co-authorship, playing up his contribution to the project, etc. But all of these attempts could backfire, as he may feel insulted, etc.
>
>
>
Instead, use the [Ben Franklin effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect). Find something your professor can do/provide for you that you want/need, and ask your professor for it as a favor. The key is that it must be absolutely sincere, the more serious it is the better.
The good news is that this shouldn't really be that hard, because you do seem to think your professor is good at their job, and it's part of your professor's job to teach you (and your job to learn) (both math and non-math things like collaboration, publishing, etc.), so you should be able to identify some area where your professor is particularly strong (best if they are *proud* of being strong in this area) and you aren't that strong and ask them to help you.
The best part is that this is, once again, absolutely sincere. You are not just inflating your professor's ego to soothe them, you should actually get something of value out of this, and that it has a side effect of reaffirming your professor's self-worth and re-establishing the teacher-student relationship is also nice. This means that even if your professor recognizes what you are doing it's almost impossible to resist the effects because they are just natural outcomes of things that are true.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: To provide a slightly different point of view - if your field is a slightly more experimental or engineering related one, maybe the problem is a different one? Maybe you (in your inexperience with the specific challenge) have oversimplified the problem and have "solved" an easy case, or produced a solution that will not really work in practice?
I see this happen quite frequently in applied CS - advisor poses a challenge to student, motivated student disappears for a couple of weeks to return with a glorious "I have solved X by applying well-known method Y", only for the advisor to point out that this straight-forward solution really only applies in highly idealised special circumstances - and that the goal is more to think about how to do it with practical complications A, B, and C in mind.
With that in mind, maybe the "coldness" you perceive is more disappointment that you have not really grasped the problem yet. Or, alternatively, the meeting when you presented your solution has not gone well, and what you are experiencing now is the aftermath of you discarding the limitations your advisor wanted to you to teach about.
---
Just to make clear, I don't *know* if that's happened, it could certainly also be the case that OP's solution is great and the advisor is being unreasonable. I just wanted to raise this as an alternative possibility and it's up to OP to decide if that's possibly the problem here.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Well, I'm glad you cracked the problem set by your project supervisor, whether by luck, determination or genius.
I'd say *most* students are underestimated by their PhD supervisors. Academics often evaluate people by their everyday manner rather than by their actual output and younger people always seem too happy-go-lucky to older people.
Firstly, look at the bright side of your situation. The supervisor has **not** gone into indignant denial of the validity of your solution. So he is at least sane.
One way to get things "back on track", i.e. both you and your professor standing beside each other and facing a common challenge, is to look at the implications of your solution for the technology in question.
Obviously, your supervisor will have thought more about this than you: you say he's fancied this problem for a few years. But that is no reason why you should enter his study limp-armed and begging for pointers to the next summit. **You** must also start to think about the implications of your (and take modest pride in that word) solution for the branch of science/technology concerned.
Give this matter some reflection time just as you lie into bed at night. Hopefully some ideas will flush out in the days that follow. Then schedule a meeting with the supervisor and present your ideas - or lack of them - to him for the extraction of maximum benefit from your (plural) recent advance.
He will probably have a positively critical approach to your ideas and advance some useful ones of his own. Either way you should both be back together in joint conspiracy against the often secretive world of natural philosophy.
Upvotes: 1
|
2022/08/13
| 741
| 3,231
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have recently received a decision on a manuscript in the field of mathematics, which I have submitted to a journal a while ago. The reviewers comments were typical: modifying the abstract, ameliorating the language and "what do you think of" type questions. The editor's decision was major revisions and I was given two weeks to resubmit the revised manuscript without mentioning any possibility of requesting an extension.
Is it normal to have this short amount of time to accomplish major revisions?.
Based on the given period, could it be that the editor thinks that the concerns of the reviewers can be addressed in a short amount of time? If that's the case, why not suggest minor revisions instead?<issue_comment>username_1: I can't explain such a short window for a journal, unlike a conference. I'd guess that the editor is thinking of a slot in a particular issue that your article would fit if you act quickly. The example would be a special issue that has a firm deadline.
Two weeks might also be reasonable for a very short paper, though you don't describe yours in that way.
But, normal journal process would make future issues a possibility.
You are the best person to accomplish this, of course, so it is probably worth accepting the challenge if you can. But if you miss the deadline but improve the paper you will have other, future, options, with that journal (most likely) or another.
If you think you must miss the deadline ask for more information and an extension, preferably with your best estimate of when you can resubmit.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it normal to have this short amount of time to accomplish major revisions?
>
>
>
No. In (pure) mathematics, my experience is that typically there is no set time limit on when to submit a minor or major revisions for a journal (exceptions are for special issues). [**Edit:** Since I posted this, a journal gave me 8 weeks to submit minor revisions so it does happen (see also comments below), and maybe this is becoming more common now.] In any case, 2 weeks is quite short.
I would think about how long you need to revise the paper to your satisfaction, and if you think it's more than a few days, ask the editor about whether this deadline is flexible. Particularly, you can point out wanting time to think about questions the referees suggested.
As for why this is counted as a "major revision" rather than a "minor", I have no idea. Possibly the editor indicated "major" to mean it would go back to the referees again. Possibly they just clicked the wrong option, or they have a different perspective on what minor versus major means.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Focus on the changes requested. If you can do them in the time given, you can just do them and the question why the editor plumbed for the one word rather than the other will just be one of those mysteries of life that is totally moot.
If what is requested will take more than 2 weeks, months even, you clearly do need to consult with the handling editor, who will be happy give you more time.
The default time lines are short because *authors* favour quick turn arounds and journals try to accommodate them.
Upvotes: 0
|
2022/08/14
| 1,141
| 4,799
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have studied different insects for my entire academic career, but I've never had to work with live specimens before. I am considering a project where I will need to capture live dragonflies and look at their wings under our SEM. However, I will likely need to remove the wings from some live specimens. **For this question, assume that is my only option.** Several papers might come from this project, and I'm not sure what ethical considerations would need to be addressed when preparing or submitting the manuscript.<issue_comment>username_1: Different ethical systems will give different answers to such a question, depending on how they consider insects to have *independent rights*, such as a right to life or to not be injured. Even the Dalai Lama, it is said, will swat at mosquitoes, though Buddhism has a high respect for all life.
But, in the US, to convince a journal that you have acted ethically, you run your research proposal before an ethics board, such as the IRB (Institutional Review Board). They will make a determination whether what you propose is ethical or not.
That isn't a perfect solution, of course, since the members are also people, but, I'd think that the recommendations of the IRB would be "conservative" enough that few would object (not *none*, however). But it gives you formal permission to act that will almost certainly be accepted by a publisher.
As noted in comments, the IRB is for human subjects, but a more general ethics board might be available, even one specifically for your field.
There is ethical danger, however, in making up your own rules without some outside, independent consultation. Too many past research projects have fallen into serious difficulty when that is done.
Note that this question has been examined in the literature. A google search for "ethics of experimentation on live invertebrates" turns up a number of papers.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: One of the most bizarre things across the various ethical standards that government agencies in many countries require one to meet, is that insects are not recognized as requiring protection. Insects are invisible; they simply fall outside the purview of most country's IRBs (e.g., note for example, the [scope of the Australian code](https://file:///C:/Users/Admin/Desktop/Australian-code-for-the-care-and-use-of-animals.pdf), as described on page 1 of the requirements). I think it is correct to say that, in the UK, it is harder to experiment on ***oneself*** than it is to pull wings off a fly.
On a slightly different note, I appreciate your request that responders view your proposed activity as being your only option. But as with most ethical choices, there are *other options* ... in your case (and I am ***not*** asserting a moral imperative here, merely an option) the alternative is not to do what you a proposing.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Apart from one's personal moral considerations, research studies on live animals are overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Organisms collected from the wild will likely require some sort of permit.
Check the rules for your institution's IRB. Insects usually don't require special approval so you may not need to submit a plan, or you might submit one and it would be waived. (But don't listen to me, check with your IRB.) If you're proposing pulling the wings off while the animal is alive, and the IRB wanted to get involved, they could work with you to find ways to minimize the animals' suffering.
For collecting the animals, determine where you will get them and who manages that land. You will need their permission to collect, and if the manager is a government agency, that would require some kind of permit. Try to get these submitted well in advance (like months) since those approvals move at the speed of government. You will need to state exactly what you want to collect, justify why you need to make the collection, and probably discuss mitigating factors.
If the organisms have any kind of special status, like being rare, endangered, or invasive, you might need even more permits. Check for any laws applicable to your jurisdiction.
Finally—this isn't required by as many journal as should require it, but it's still a very good idea—have a plan for how to voucher your specimens. Vouchering is a way to keep your specimens available in perpetuity so the scientific community can check and build on your work. For the dragonflies this would be an entomological museum. If you're unfamiliar with such a museum, find your nearest one and talk to the manager there about how to go about making a proper specimen (you may even be able to store the actual SEM samples with the rest of the specimen, which would be great for future work).
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I have noticed several polisci or economics papers in the past few years such as [this](https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=5EIL7zMAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=5EIL7zMAAAAJ:SdhP9T11ey4C) or [this](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3757135) that address important research questions on political behavior
but in political environments where data on public opinions have been historically scarce or unreliable (e.g. China, Russia, etc).
However, my question here is that I noticed that the authors emphasize the data used in the paper as a major contribution to the literature (e.g. because it was collected from online textual data and the effort it takes to clean and prepare the data for the analysis).
As a junior social science researcher, I was wondering if it makes sense to write a paper where one emphasizes that a main contribution to the literature is the originality and uniqueness of the data used?
Specifically, I have been trained in my PhD program that it is the questions and results that make a paper 'good', rather than the uniqueness of the data, but then I am noticing more and more political science papers that may study a question already addressed in democratic countries, but the contribution is that it's currently studied in an autocratic country like China.<issue_comment>username_1: My view is that the data itself wouldn't be a research contribution, but the "research methodology", would be if it is an advance over standard practice. That methodology is (a) subject to analysis and (b) potentially reusable in other studies.
The data itself is interesting in so far as it is used to answer the initial question(s), but of more limited value otherwise. It is, in particular, difficult to validate without reference to the methodology that gathered and processed it. There might be tidbits of information that might be tweaked out of it, but, IMO, that would be anecdotal evidence of whatever is found without an analysis of the methodology.
So, other things than the research question and conclusions might be considered a "novel" contribution to research, but the data, not so much *per se*.
And note that the methodology in such situations *must* be analyzed lest it introduce biases that affect claimed outcomes. That goes doubly for reuse of the data.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: I will disagree with @buffy's answer that data itself is "boring" (I'm paraphrasing her answer here :-) ).
There are many cases where the data itself is the main product of research. For example, you find a well-preserved tree trunk from thousands of years ago and you do an isotope analysis to infer the climate year-by-year in that tree. The methodology for this is well-established, there is nothing new about this. But you get data that was simply not available before and that others cannot easily get either without finding their own well-preserved tree. So the data is the important part.
Or you have access to a unique resource that allows you to do an experiment that is not easily repeatable by others. Say, a large telescope. Or a big computer. In *principle*, everyone can take pictures with a telescope, and there is nothing about the data that needs to be described regarding *how* exactly you used the telescope. But if you come up with pictures of 100 black holes at centers of galaxies and can do some simple statistics about them, then the *data* is the important part, not the methodology.
In other words, data can absolutely be the important part of a publication. The key piece is whether it is data that is easily generated by others, or whether you have a unique resource that makes it difficult for others to reproduce things.
(I will note that this is no different from *software*. Traditionally, specific software you wrote was not a topic you could publish on. But over time, people have realized that software that consists of 100,000s or millions of lines of source code is a resource that can not easily be reproduced: Nobody has the time to re-write such packages even if the underlying *algorithms* are well documented. As a consequence people have started writing papers that describe the *implementation* of these algorithms in software, and I tend to think that these are worth-while publications to write.)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a mathematician/computer scientist (my interests lie around the intersection of the two), and often when I want an introduction to a new research area I find that well-written dissertations are the best way to get up-to-speed quickly.
The problem is that I have no good way of finding these resources. I just Google "[subject name] dissertation" and look through the topics, or if I'm lucky someone in the field that I know will point me to a specific person's thesis. Is there any better resource for finding recent dissertations that are publicly available?<issue_comment>username_1: The only comprehensive international compendium of theses and dissertations that I know of is [ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global](https://www.proquest.com/pqdtglobal). I think it is especially good in covering the United States and Canada, but I cannot personally vouch for its comprehensiveness in dissertations from other countries.
Other than that, most collections seem to be on a national level (e.g., [HAL for France](https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/)).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is good to see which university is a powerhouse of your field and search for something like "University of XXX thesis repository". For example Eindhoven University is very good in photonics and they have a repository [that looks like that](https://research.tue.nl/en/studentTheses/)
For most of the European universities there's [DART initiative](https://www.dart-europe.org/basic-search.php) that offers a wide search.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing up an essay, like a sort of project. It is not an academic paper, but it will be read and judged by some fellows.
I am trying to document or base my statements on a topic by including some proper references, and I am really in a bit of a hurry, so I do not have much time to search for 'the best' references.
Recently, I found one book (at Google Books) which seemed appropriate to me. I was somewhat suspicious because both the author and the publisher were unknown to me. I performed some additional searches at Google Books and at Google in general, and I found another book from the same publisher (and different author) which had overlapping paragraphs with the first book. And I also found some paragraphs of the first book in several websites, even Wikipedia.
I have not been able to determine whether there is an initial source or a mix of original sources.
So, this is the situation. My question: **I would like to use the 'plagiarist' book as a reference. Is it appropriate to do so? Do you think I should add a sort of footnote stating that the reference is valid despite it seems to be plagiarising from other sources?**
---
EDIT
Regarding the authorship, it seems pretty convenient to me that, in the copyright page of these two books (which happen to be included among the preview-available pages at Google Books), you can find the copyright symbol before the publisher, but not before the name of the respective authors.
On the website of the publisher, you can read a short bio for each author, but you cannot figure out which university or company they work for. They seem made-up texts to me. So, maybe, the authors are totally fake!<issue_comment>username_1: It’s pretty common to encounter weird issues in the academic literature (whether it’s plagiarism, incomplete material, sources that are unavailable or only partially available, sources that contradict each other, etc) when one is reading up on a research topic. The general principles that govern how to deal with this sort of situation in your own writing are:
>
> 1. Do not hide information that you found in your search because of fear of embarrassment or because you believe this information will make you look bad.
>
>
>
That means that if you want to cite a source that in your view suffers from credibility issues, you *must* explain what those issues are, and also explain why you still find the source appropriate to use despite those issues. Not doing so could be seen as dishonest. Adding the explanation in a footnote sounds appropriate.
>
> 2. Do not think you have a responsibility to completely sort out every weird issue you run into.
>
>
>
My understanding is that there are two sources and it appears that one of them plagiarized from the other, but you can’t be sure exactly of the extent of the plagiarism of or who copied from whom. Well, don’t worry about it too much. It’s not your job to sort it out and would seriously distract you from the actual topic you are writing about if you had to start digging deep into the issue and solve this mystery.
So basically, if you think the two references together provide the information your essay’s readers will need, cite them both, and as I said, include a note explaining the possible plagiarism issue. Lay out the facts, but don’t jump to conclusions you are not sure about. (E.g., for all you know, the two references could even be by the same author, who is a person who changed their name at some point.)
>
> 3. It’s okay not to have time to do a perfect job.
>
>
>
There are best practices for academic writing, and for example in an ideal situation you might not want to cite a source that you weren’t able to obtain a copy of and look at in full instead of just snippets on Google Books. However, if you are in a situation where time constraints are preventing you from following such ideals, that’s another thing that it’s appropriate to be transparent about. E.g., you can write in a footnote that you didn’t have time to obtain a copy of the second source but still found it credible based on the parts that were available online. I am sure your professor and other readers would not find this at all shocking or surprising or think that such an admission reflects poorly on you, assuming that in other respects your essay looks like a thoughtfully written piece that you invested the appropriate amount of time writing.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The thing you maybe encountering here is the practice of bundling a bunch of Wikipedia content and "publish" it as a print-on-demand book without much (or any editing). This typically doesn't violate Wikipedia's licensing condition, as it allows commercial use of their content as long as attribution is given. For this reason you will often find a very minimal "source: Wikipedia" somewhere in the book. (Whether that really is sufficient attribution for the licensing standard as somewhat questionable, it certainly isn't enough for academic plagiarism standards.)
If this is the case, it is probably better to stay away from this source, as you have no way of judging the reliability of this source. Even citing the Wikipedia page might be better (there at least you have access to the version history).
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a master graduate in the field of material science. I didn't continue my PhD, however, my supervisor involved me as a co-author of a paper (due to my work during my master thesis), and I received so many invitations to be a speaker in conferences all over the world. Can I accept and go abroad to learn from the experience or is there no chance that they will accept me because I'm not a PhD student?<issue_comment>username_1: You can of course publish at conferences and journals without a formal degree. There are still some rather famous people in CS who never got a doctorate, though the number gets smaller and smaller, in part because some do get one while they are closing in on retirement. Your MS thesis is not the first one that has been made into a publication.
Be careful however about these invitations to be a speaker. There are many low-level and outright scam conferences and journals, who will not give your work a platform but are solely or mainly after your money. A common strategy of predatory journals and conferences is to go through respectable contributions and send you an email telling you how impressed they are with your work. You need to be careful. One of the disadvantages of not having a terminal degree is the apprenticeship into academia that comes with the Ph.D. Another disadvantage is the lack of colleagues, friends, and advisors that you can ask for feed-back. At least you have your MS advisor, who you can ask before you spend time, money, and effort on fake conferences.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Sure: you don’t need a PhD and you can go there but who will pay?
You should not assume that because you are invited your expenses will be paid or reimbursed. In fact most of the time (but not always) the invitation will get you a discount on registration but you still have to travel to the venue, pay for your hotel and meals.
In my experience, it would be rare for a graduate student (PhD or otherwise) to have *lots* of invitations for which expenses are paid. It does happen to superstar students, but - in all modesty - conference organizers more are likely to spend their budget on well known researchers with star power who will in turn attract other participants.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: <NAME> never had a PhD. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson>
So it can be done, and one can climb up the ladder quite far.
For average people getting a PhD might be the easier road to such goals though.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It may depend on the conference, but in 2009 I submitted [a paper](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1596550.1596578) to a well-respected computing science conference, the ACM [International Conference on Functional Programming](http://www.icfpconference.org/), which passed through peer review, was accepted, and I presented it, despite my having no degree at all (I have only a high-school diploma from a high school of no special distinction). So it's certainly possible.
ICFP is clearly a legitimate (i.e., not predatory) conference and I was not invited to submit. I paid all the normal conference fees that any attendee would pay (ICFP waives fees only for invited speakers) as well as my own travel costs.
Since then I have of course received many "invitations" to predatory conferences, and even invitations to become the editor of predatory journals; this is normal these days whenever you publish a paper. You'll obviously want to avoid participating in those; they exist not to move the field forward but simply to take your money.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Unsolicited invitations to conferences are almost always scams, especially when you receive a lot of them. Ask your supervisor if the invitation looks legitimate, and if so, just be bold and go for it :-)
From first-hand experience, there are usually no requirements for any type of degree. Back in the day, I submitted work from my Bachelor's thesis to a CS conference and got accepted and presented even before I had my B.S. degree. The top 15% of contributions got invited for an extended IEEE publication, and my work was among those selected (I was first author). My advisers were coauthors and did have PhDs of course, but in general all that matters is the quality of your work.
Often, conferences give out travel grants, and as someone who would not be supposed to have any grant money of their own like professors do, your chances of getting support that way might actually be good.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: This is a follow-up to my previous question: ([Advisor's paper fundamentally flawed, what do I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/183662/advisors-paper-fundamentally-flawed-what-do-i-do)).
My advisor and another student collaborated on a paper. After reading it carefully myself, I've come to the conclusion that the approach, method, and analysis are all fundamentally flawed and the main result is plain wrong. A main result of the paper is a mathematical theorem. The paper was published in a peer-reviewed venue.
I've asked for clarification, which the authors (including my advisor) were not able to give. I've then pointed out the mistakes and errors in the approach and analysis, and gave counter examples that invalidate the main result. My advisor seem to agree with the errors during one of our meetings, but as far as I can tell no further actions were taken on the authors side. I then did not bring this up as I did not feel that was a good idea, since my advisor said I should "move forward instead of find mistakes in the past". However several months later my advisor is still endorsing the paper, and after I pointed out the errors again I received no reply.
So my questions are:
1. What should I do regarding this paper? Should I let this slide, or is there some higher authority I should report this?
2. What should I do moving forward with my Ph.D. studies? Does this event indicate the incompetency of my advisor? I know a suggestion might be switch advisors, but I've already tried working with several faculty members and the experiences are all none-the-better, and this has already taken a huge amount of time and I'm already several years into the program.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. No, there is no higher authority. The academic knowledge system is specifically designed to be dependent on the individual and the distributed community judgement of a piece of work, and not a single authority. If the work is flawed, the community will come to know this in time. If you want to accelerate this, write a paper setting out your objections and let the community decide. But don't do this while your advisor is still your advisor.
2. All academics will have published work in their past that has flaws in it, it is just in the nature of scholarship. In more empirical studies all work is wrong. Its not a case of if someone will find flaws, or contradict it, but a case of how long our work remains the best currently available approximation to the truth. Some people will recognise the flaws in their work. Many won't. Get used it it - its how academia is.
Unless your advisor is insisting that you build directly and inescapably on work you believe to be wrong (or won't let you explore the exceptions or counter examples), then just let it go.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, your advisor's attitude says something on their competence and honesty. Yes, there is a difference between works that are correct (at least technically) and works that are "plain wrong". And yes, everyone makes mistakes, but there is a difference between researchers who correct their mistakes, and people who always "move forward" without making reliable contributions to science.
Regarding the flawed paper, you should probably do nothing. There are so many wrong papers out there that it is a waste of time trying to correct them, except those that attract much attention and follow-ups. Most papers quickly fall into oblivion anyway.
Regarding your PhD studies, this is a tricky question. There are many options, depending on the particulars. Formally switching advisors may not be needed for distancing yourself from your advisor scientifically.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I've just finished high school and am looking at different options for undegrad. My long term goal is to get a PhD. I wanted to know what admission committees think of online undergraduate degrees. Are they considered on par with regular offline degress? I'd prefer an answer from a STEM perspective because my field of interest is Computer Science.<issue_comment>username_1: Admission will depend partially on whether the previous institution is accredited and has a good name (in the eyes of the evaluator). There are a few online degrees that are considered to be on par with a traditional university, but not many.
As a member of the admission committee, I would also worry about the lack of socialization into academia that comes with presence on a campus. I would not have this problem with an online MS degree.
Online education has certainly received a boost due to Covid, but the experience in general seems to me to be that the online years were not good and left students without some essential skills.
TLTR: There are very few undergraduate online degrees that are considered to be good and on par, (such as Open University or Fernuniversität Hagen).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If the university is respected it won't make a difference if it is online or on campus, but personally I found online leaning difficult. I tried doing it online myself and the lack of having peers around me made it very difficult to stay motivated. I changed to a traditional university and the support networks are on another level. I could share ideas with students or get feedback from lecturers in person without needing to wait for responses. It won't be an issue if you do achieve an online qualification, but it is also important to consider which method of obtaining the degree will give you the best grade as your long term goal is a PhD.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Academia has a pronounced bias towards supporting people who have prestigious backgrounds. "Prestige" is composed of two parts: the experiences of those in power, and money.
If your PhD admissions decision is made by faculty, most faculty at PhD-granting universities do not have experience being a student in an online undergraduate program. Online degree programs tend to have less money. Therefore, in general, they have less prestige.
In my opinion, prestige should not be your primary concern, either in choosing an undergraduate degree program or in selecting PhD students.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I was very passionate about my PhD. The institute, research topic and funding is good. One year has passed and I covered PhD coursework credits with good grades. However, during the last 5 months, I gradually lost all motivation for my PhD.
For the previous month, I did absolutely nothing. We have a weekly meeting. Last week I told my advisor that I was sick and couldn't work. This week, the meeting is approaching and I can't even write 5-6 lines of my research topic abstract (or I don't want to write, maybe due to procrastination). Last week, I gave my advisor some hints that I lost motivation and can't work. He just said it's normal and encouraged me with some concrete goals for this week that I never met.
This situation gives me a strange stress and I face behavioral and mental problems. How to get out of it? I sometimes think to quit the PhD and do a job. But still deep inside me, I want to do PhD and want to do in the same topic and same institute. I feel I'll regret if I quit. Please guide me. I did much online research but nothing helped me. I've been a quite good researcher and published three works in my master degree. But now I feel low energy, exhausted and demotivated.
(this paragraph includes details for diagnostics, skip if you want) In April, I visited my home country for my marriage. I promised my advisor that I would work remotely and will take vacation for only 1-2 weeks during the marriage. But I could not work at home and didn't do any work for 1.5 months. Then I went back to university but missed my wife. I tried to bring her to the country where I study but could not due to visa problems. So, I was always distracted and extremely less productive. After spending a couple of months at university, I lost my mother in my home country and I left university again and came back home. My advisor gave me all the mental support and never pushed me. After spending a couple of weeks at home, I felt like I should resume research. So I emailed my advisor that I want to continue remotely. However, a month has been passed and I did nothing productive.
At the end of this month, I plan to go back to my university and I hope I shall be on track there. However, I am not sure and feel guilty for my advisor.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I face behavioral amd mental problems. How to get out of it?
>
>
>
Depending on where you are, free or inexpensive counseling, psychiatry, and mental health services might be available to you. For example, in the US, it is common for universities to provide these to their students.
If possible, I recommend that you seek them out. It sounds like your advisor is a kind and supportive person, but PhD advisors are not trained in mental health counseling, and you might benefit from speaking with someone who is.
Very best wishes to you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I will bring a couple of strong points.
**First** (of four): what you face is not that uncommon among PhDs and Postdocs, not even when they pursue their goals in an environment close culturally and socially to them. The problem is that the academia is not ready to accept it, on the contrary, since who is now a professor survived that, the average attitude among managers and porject managers and research managers is "if it does not kill you it makes you stronger". I have a bit of hope that your supervisor is not one of them, but surely he/she has some of that pressure from the top.
You are facing immense hurdles, although you did not realize it, because in the first year you worked intensively (quality, see your marks) and extensively (quantity, since you worked in pandemic times, managing to complete a big chunck or even all of your courseworks), but you repressed your social life (remote calls are not a substitute, they are a mere surrogate).
You do not say that, but I have been in research long enough to see a pattern (no judgement fom my side, but if you come from a non-christian non-european or non-US country you face immense differences and even bigger misunderstanding).
**Second**: it is time to be frank with your advisor and with yourself. You do not want to live any day away from your family, but you do not want to miss on the PhD opportunities so you are being split. If you are not doing lab experiments, it is time to exchange some of the money you receive for freedom. Take a non-paid leave, try to see if you can pursue your PhD staying in your country with your wife and working fully remotely.
If you are doing lab experiments: the same, but on top of that you have to move to a different thesis, either analytical or numerical or bibliographical work.
**Third**: the fact that you could not reunite with your spouse in the country where you are pursuing your PhD is both a sign of luck (in case of positive outcome from my second point), it may allow you to stay with your family in a country where your family feels at home instead of being the wife at home in a foreign-hostile country) and a "test" you would have had to take sooner or later... (prospects of) career or family?
Trust completely your supervisor, either they will prove to be a reasonable person or a total idiot. Then make up your mind, if you value more your PhD or your wife and then cut the branch you care less.
Please be absolutely egoistic, consider only your wellbeing and ignore social pressure and cultural pressure from your culture or from the country where you pursue your Phd while doing this choice... a person may vote in favor of the fmaily, another in favor of your career, the median western anglosaxon culture would consider career to be dominant, but in the end
**Fourth** you have your life, it is one, not a median-plusminus-3sigma life, so it is up to you.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It seems like you're in a difficult situation. But I also believe everyone, at some point in their career, whichever it is, get demotivated and feel like they need a break. I don't have a PhD, but I'm finishing my master's degree right now.
I've faced the same problem you did during this master's degree and also at work. What I can say is that there's nothing worst for your sentiment of guilt than taking an "unofficial" break.
Right now, you feel like you need a pause, but at the same time you aren't asking for it. So every time you're not working, you're feeling guilty. This guilt makes you feel bad so you don't work, which makes you feel worst. If that's how you're feeling right now, what you need to do is ask for vacations. Real ones, that are official, where you'll be able to free your mind for a bit.
From what you've written, your advisor sounds like a reasonable person. Explain to them how you're feeling and state that you think you need time off, just to reset. Feeling guilty of being unproductive will probably only make you more unproductive.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: My reading is *not* that you are demotivated, which happens to many people. Sometimes (my case) it is/was burn out from a too intense experience. But I think that the issue is that your life has been thrown into chaos for reasons mostly outside your control and not because of your own actions. You need space in which to sort things out. The chaos is affecting you emotionally as well as reducing your effectiveness.
I suggest two things to try to get to a better place. First is to talk to a counsellor about your entire life situation and how you can better deal with it. Many larger universities will provide this as a service. Some religious institutions do this also.
Second, you need to ask your advisor for a sit-down, not just to ask for a break, but to work out between you a good path forward to your degree and career. Everything should be "on the table" in such a discussion.
Two additional things can interfere with this plan, though. The first is your funding and how it can be maintained. The second occurs if your work is essential to a larger project that must continue. Both/either of those can cause a larger disruption, even a pause in your plans so that you can return home but maintain a slot for your return. Is a year off feasible? Is a distance relationship with the lab feasible? Is a half-time position feasible? Is quitting and starting over later, perhaps somewhere else, feasible?
Think about your life as a whole and see if the advisor can support necessary decisions. And see what options they might be able to suggest. It is more than asking for a vacation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Covid travel restrictions, the passing of your mother, getting married, and being unable to be with your wife must have all added up to a huge amount of stress, on top of the stress of pursuing a PhD and being a stranger in a strange land... A single one of these events is stressful, but you are faced with 5 or even more.
My advice is that you must seek out professional help, perhaps via your university's mental health services. Seeking help for "Mental Health" carries a stigma, and you may think that you're strong enough to deal with things yourself, or that you're not the kind of person who needs to resort to this. That perspective is a dangerous trap. For your sake please do seek out this help today. We can all cope with stress well enough up to a certain point, but once someone is close to their breaking point the risk of self-harm becomes very real very suddenly.
A professional will help by providing proven techniques and teaching coping skills that help manage stress, burnout, thoughts of self-harm, etc. A burnout is a medical condition, just like having a broken leg that requires a cast, and nobody would expect you to run a marathon with a cast. A professional diagnosis will also make dealing with your advisor much simpler, as the mental health professional may even notify the university that you're unable to continue for a valid and diagnosed medical reason. This would make putting the PhD on hold much simpler.
Also, in an unrelated matter, as a parent of 3 kids I'd advise against having kids until after the above is sorted out or at least improved, and you have a stable professional situation.
I suppose we're not supposed to diagnose people online, but in my opinion only helping your with how to communicate with your advisor would be a disservice.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm offering a new grad course this semester; this is my first teaching role. One student reached out to me four months ago, asking about the attendance policy. I did not have one because I had not considered it, being new to teaching.
I told him I'd have the syllabus ready a week before the start of the semester. He reached out recently asking about the syllabus and I sent him the syllabus, which does not discuss attendance. Then he followed up with a question about attendance policy again.
As this is a grad-level topics course and is highly specialized, I don't see an attendance policy as a good fit for a grad course in general, and I don't want to enforce one. At the same time, I don't want to have it in writing that I don't care about the attendance. When it is not in the syllabus, it is not in the syllabus. I'm not too fond of the student's attitude, who keeps asking about the attendance policy four months in advance. I want to let him know that being absent is fine, but if that is his plan, this may not be the right course for him. But I don't want to book a negative teacher assessment for myself either.
**Question**:
Should I be straight with him and reply that this course may not suit him? Should I ask the department to remove him from class? Should I just answer that what is in the syllabus is what I care about?
**Update**: Following Dan's answer, I sent a short reply stating that I don't have an attendance policy. I received a reply thanking me and stating that he asked only because he will be missing 2 sessions for a conference (I hadn't even asked why). I also added a short section to my syllabus (per David's answer) stating that I don't have an attendance policy but that students should talk to me if they will miss many classes. Thanks to all for the advice.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I'm not too fond of the student's attitude, who keeps asking about the attendance policy four months in advance
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I'd much rather a student ask about a policy in advance than after they've missed classes.
I would consider also that students in your course may have a lot of reasons to miss class that are not merely because they don't care about the course. They may be considering travel for conferences, and if they are undergraduates/masters students they may have graduate school/PhD interviews to schedule, which often interfere with ordinary coursework. They may have once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities or important family obligations like a sibling's wedding. They may have a medical condition or ill child or parent and know they sometimes need to change their plans at the last minute to take care of those things. Your world might revolve around your course, but theirs does not and while they should make their courses a priority they need not make every course their *top* priority.
I would ask the student to clarify why they are asking about attendance in advance. I would guess that they have some known reasons that they may need to miss one or more classes, and are trying to plan ahead. I think it's fine to warn them that they may struggle if a class is missed, though I also think you should make at least a moderate effort to help them keep up, such as pointing them to reading material (you don't need to design a separate curriculum for them, just inform what will be covered). In some classes based on lab work or discussion, presence is absolutely necessary and you can certainly tell them this and let them make a decision based on that information.
Particularly for a graduate-level class, I would operate under the assumption that your students want to be there. These are the courses closest to their area of interest, not merely a necessary box to check to get a degree. I understand not wanting to be explicit about this sort of thing in the syllabus, but consider that this student is close to being a colleague of yours as a person educated in your field. It seems rude to me to refuse to answer their question or to answer by responding with a syllabus that lacks information about attendance expectations and leaving them to read your mind.
I think you should trust them with something similar to what you've written here: you don't think attendance policies are appropriate for a graduate course, your expectation is that students do everything possible to attend every class, and that they will miss out if they can't be present. If it were me, I would also ask if they are planning to miss certain classes and how many, and be honest about any way that will impact their grade. I think it's certainly reasonable to ask they do not take the course if they plan to miss an unacceptable number of sessions (and very reasonable for them to ask to find what this boundary is!).
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Since he asked about an attendance policy and you don’t have one, the appropriate way to reply would be to tell him “I don’t have an attendance policy.”
If he asks for clarification, you can say “that means that there is no requirement for you to attend the lectures.”
I don’t see what basis you have for wanting to tell him that your course “may not suit him”. That’s potentially an offensive and unfair thing to say to a student when your only reason for saying it is that he asked an administrative question about the course’s attendance policy.
If you think that the course might not suit people who don’t attend your lectures, well, it sounds like you might need an attendance policy after all, or at the very least a note in the syllabus expressing your strong belief in the importance of attending lectures. But jumping to the conclusion that the course might not suit someone merely for them *wanting to know what the attendance policy is* is uncharitable and, in my opinion, illogical.
Upvotes: 9 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Why all the negative judgment? Either you have an attendance policy or you don't. A grad student is an adult who can make his own decisions. If you expect people to attend and will penalize them if they don't, then you have an attendance policy and you should put it in the syllabus.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: [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). Policies -- and implicit norms -- regarding attendance (and much else) differ *widely* from university to university, country to country, department to department, and professor to professor. What may seem clear to you may seen quite unusual to another.
As such, my advice is to cheerfully and politely explain your expectations to any prospective student who asks.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I would not consider a syllabus to be complete without an attendance policy. I think you should fix your syllabus.
I am not saying the policy needs to require you, or the students, to do anything. The policy does need to set expectations. For example:
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> Students are expected to attend the scheduled course sessions.
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Is a good policy because students know what you expect (attendance) and they know how attendance relates to their grade (not at all).
No policy at all is bad because some students have a history of success in classes they did not attend. No policy sets expectations that your class is not worth attending.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: **Don't remove them.** The student sounds great. They want to know what is expected.
The student explicitly asked about the attendance policy and instead of answering the question directly, you hinted it would be in the syllabus.
The syllabus was distributed with no mention of the attendance policy. Instead of apologizing for misleading them when asked again, you get annoyed. They have every right to know about the policy / lack of.
Leaving things vague seems like a lazy way of trying to cover yourself in case of problems.
Another reason to keep the student: The student hasn't complained. The student has every right to be frustrated with you for not including the information they requested in the syllabus you suggested it would be in. They waited almost four months for an answer for no reason.
I believe a short email from the start would have been the best way to go.
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> "There is no strict attendance policy; however, if you expect to miss a lot of [activity], please speak to me by [date]."
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Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: After a certain age, it is in a students responsibility to know how they can learn and how they can't. If he asks, it might well be that he has big other plans that conflict with the lectures, like an internship or living with his girlfriend who lives in another country.
You should just answer the question as early as possible, in order for him to be able to make plans - "No, you don't need to be present in the lectures."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: If you don't have an attendance policy, *you don't have an attendance policy.* **This is the answer to the student's question.**
Your reply email could consist of a mere six words. You are wasting your and the student's time by not answering a simple administrative question directly.
You can't have the cake and eat it. If you want to encourage attendance, then implement a soft or hard attendance policy in the syllabus. If you don't, don't try to make it look as if there is one.
*Besides, the student's question is very reasonable. The requirements for your course right now are unclear. Even considering kicking him out of the class seems like an overreaction.*
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_9: I almost fell off my chair reading that you were going to remove a student for asking about attendance policy, that is really unfair to even think about. Lecturers don't usually come up with the policy, the university policy makers do that, so all you had to do was forward him to the correct department and it sounds like for 4 months you didn't do that. Unless you make something optional it falls under university policy usually.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Others mentioned that this might, or might not be, a student with a bad attitude and/or one that intends to skip your course.
Another possibility is that the student is being extra diligent or has a specific reason to ask. Many people with Autism function best when they are given highly detailed rules checklists and flowcharts rather than expected to rely on social nuances. If this is the case, providing explicit guidance on attendance is just a reasonable accommodation. Another possibility is that the student has had previous experience at an institution or with an instructor with a highly draconian attendance policy and is actually in fear of facing major negative consequences for minor attendance issues. The high school I attended as a child had a policy that any student with nine unexcused late arrivals during a quarter *automatically received a failing grade*. If you had passing, or even high, grades throughout the quarter but had already racked up eight late arrivals, you were right to be frightened as being even 30 seconds behind the bell would result in losing every one of those of those hard-earned points! If your student was previously at an institution like that, they may just need some reassurance that you will accept a reasonable good-faith effort and that you won't automatically flunk them for being 30 seconds behind the clock.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: My wife taught at an institution where there was a mandatory attendance policy in place. The history, so she was told, was that there was a trucking college that got in trouble with various government funding agencies because students were not really attending classes. I've put that history here before and various people think it may not have really happened.
In any event, if your institution has a mandatory attendance policy, then implement one, because it is mandatory. If it does NOT have such a policy, it is up to you.
When I was an undergrad, two of my co-students skipped 1/2 a certain class to attend another one that met at the same time. The instructor didn't like this, but they did just fine as students.
Some lab courses, or courses with integral pars such as labs, have mandatory attendance, so the grading would flow from that. [NOTE: I re-worked this sentence based on a suggested edit, but with my own wording].
If you have a virtual option, it makes it easier to attend classes, especially as there may be a recording, but that was not available in my time as a student, nor really for the courses my wife was teaching in the late 1990's.
I tend to concur with the opinions registered that it would be too harsh to not allow the particular student in your class.
Best wishes on your journey.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/08/16
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<issue_start>username_0: This post is related to [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/187099/what-should-i-do-when-someone-publishes-a-paper-based-on-results-i-already-poste) one. It's been almost a month, and both of the publisher and the journal have done nothing about the plagiarism. Every time I call Springer (I called them like 5 times), they say "Once they make a decision or progress, they will contact you". I also emailed some of the staff a couple of times asking what they have done so far and how long is it going to take them to decide. I was completely ignored.
They already have the proof of plagiarism and they created a plagiarism - ticket ID. Is it normal that it's been a month and they have not decided yet?
I feel something fishy about the way they are handling this issue. Since they have the proof of plagiarism, I think the article should be retracted within a day if not couple of hours.
Should I wait longer, or should I assign a lawyer? By they way, are there some organizations I can complain to regarding this issue in case I find the journal and publisher careless or taking sides?
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**Update 29 Jan 2023**: The article was retracted about two weeks ago<issue_comment>username_1: It's summertime right now for most people in the world, and therefore vacation season.
There isn't a lot of urgency to this issue; it'll be taken care of eventually. It seems simple to you, but I'm sure they have a specific process they go through, and that process is likely not simple because it'll be designed to handle a whole range of cases. It's not like just one person there who has a "remove for plagiarism" button, probably they have some busy people who all need to review the issue and who have a bunch of other things going on and may be on vacation at any given time.
They may have other more complicated issues to handle in the meantime, and are doing things on a "first in, first out" basis rather than handling the simple cases to get them done with fast.
If you contact them through a lawyer, they'll probably want to handle all responses through *their* lawyer, which will make everything that much slower and careful, not faster, and cost both you and them money that doesn't need to be spent.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it normal that it's been a month and they have not decided yet?
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Plagiarism investigations often last years. So yes.
Springer is a for-profit organization, and they are not getting paid to do this. Expect corresponding disinterest.
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> should I assign a lawyer?
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In my non-laywer opinion, you have nothing to gain by taking any further action.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/17
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<issue_start>username_0: I wanted to the submit my newly written paper (my first paper) in the prestigious physical journal "Annalen der Physik". Incidentally, a problem arose. I filled out all of the boxes except the institutional information on the author login page. I am a school student from India, but I have no connection with any college, university, school or institution, thus I have no institutional information. I need another option for submitting my paper to this journal as an independent, self-taught researcher (nor as professional information, nor a student, nor as a member in a research project group etc). How can this be done?<issue_comment>username_1: However prestigious can be the journal, do you really want to submit a paper that has a close defined institutions' list?
In their submission login windows they claim to be prestigious "Based on the fame of seminal papers by Einstein, Planck and many others". Yes, they exploit the fame of some great minds of 100 years ago to exploit the work (and the naivety) of researchers like you to make a huge profit providing a platform where it is *difficult* even just to submit a paper.
Have a look at preprint servers, like <https://arxiv.org/> , since it is your first breakthrough idea, this will put a kind of timestamp on it, protecting to some degree paternity of the idea, and it will as well make your contribution available to the physics community as soon as possible, so you can ask for feedback by providing a link to your arxiv submission.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems odd to me that a journal published by Wiley would restrict the authorship to any "approved" list. I suggest that you approach the editor of the journal through their system (or through Wiley) and ask them directly how an *Independent Researcher* can submit a paper. I can't promise you success in this, but it would be an appropriate step.
This is just a guess, but their most famous author was Einstein, and I'm guessing that at the time he first submitted he had no academic affiliation. Historians of science might prove me wrong in that. He might still have been associated with U. Zurich, but was employed by the Patent Office at the time. But see: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annalen_der_Physik>
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: You can always approach Wiley directly to help with the submission process. However, it would seem to me that you might want to make sure that you are not wasting people's time.
You say that you are a school student from India. To be able to published in the Annalen, your work needs to be really good. And really good in Physics supposes a thorough understanding of modern Physics and Mathematics. If you are such an exceptional student that you have (presumably largely on your own) mastered these difficult subjects, then your teacher and your principal should be able to put you in contact with a good university. They after subjecting you and your paper to some scrutiny will be happy to give you an institutional address so that you can submit your article. If they do not succeed with an institution, they can surely find a physicist with a Ph.D. and some background in the field of your article to have a look at it. If that verdict is positive, then it will be easy to find a university interested in talking to you. Even if your paper is not good enough to be published, you might be recognized as a talent worth fostering.
If on the other hand you are not that exceptional, but maybe just a very bright student, your paper is not going to have the qualities needed in a publication there and if you overcome the lack of an institutional address, you will just receive a "desk reject", having wasted the time of a lot of people. If you have talent, that time would have been better spend on finding ways to groom you into a physicist. If you do not have talent, then you are deceiving yourself and the sooner you know this, the better for you.
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/17
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<issue_start>username_0: Our students recently sat an exam and A LOT of them failed. As part of the moderation process it was noted that there were some questions that none of the students had answered correctly. Is there any justification (evidence based if possible) for removing the 'difficult' questions?<issue_comment>username_1: [UK-focused answer] If the academic marking the exam, the internal moderator, and (when the external examiner visit eventually takes place) the external examiner all agree to it, then yes, it can be done. What standard of justification is required for it is up to those people.
One way of justifying such an action that I've used in the past: if there are some questions on the exam that have already been used in previous years' exams, then you can plot student score on the exam overall against student performance on those questions, both for the current year and for previous years, then try fitting a straight line to each plot. Taking the scores on the repeated questions as a directly-comparable indicator of student ability across year groups, you can say that, if the fits indicate that students of the same ability have typically been getting lower overall exam scores this year than in previous years, then this year's exam is too hard (in a criterion-referenced sense), and this year's exam needs to be adjusted, perhaps by removing the super-hard question.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: One worry I have in such situations is that removing some of the questions has a different impact on different students. If there is an issue with a question and some of the students spent an inordinate amount of time on that question then it can affect how they do on others because of the time factor (assuming a timed exam). This impacts the fairness of the solution.
There are several reasons for what you are seeing including ill stated questions and poor instruction on the required material.
If you want to have a completely fair solution, just void the exam itself. Repeat it with different questions after an analysis, perhaps. Another fair solution is to give everyone full marks. If grading has any competitive aspects, such as limits on grading levels, then giving everyone minimal pass isn't a fair solution. Likewise giving full marks on just the difficult questions is also potentially unfair to some students, again assuming that time is a factor.
Note that another possible reason for this is that you just have a statistically unusual set of students. That happens, and, statistically, it must on rare occasions. But most experienced professors will have already recognized that from other indicators.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I think in this case it might be better to adjust the grading curve instead. Suppose your exam has a theoritical maximal score of 100. After grading it you notice a few questions were too hard and these questions are worth 20 points.
The initial plan was to require 90 points for the top grade and 50 points as the minimal passing grade.
This would result in a lot more people failing the exam than you intended to fail.
I would suggest to require say 72 points for the top grade and 40 points as the minimal passing grade (adjust as needed). For a student who scored zero on the too hard question this is exactly the same as removing the too hard questions from the grading (that is 90% for top grade and 50% for passing). But if a student still got some points on the too hard questions this method still gives them credit for it whereas removing the questions would not. The students in the exam didn't know these questions were too hard and might have spend a considerable amount of time in the exam trying to solve them. They shouldn't be punished for that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: My solution in a similar situation may not be applicable or fair or legal in yours, but here it is.
Although I try not to, I often write exams that are too hard (in part). I want them to be learning experiences for the student, not just evaluations.
By the time I give exams in a course, I know from other interactions that there are some students on track for an A and some on track to fail. With that information I can adjust the grading curve. The top scores, no matter how low, represent outstanding work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I have been in a similar situation. While a lot of this will depend on the level of your students (i.e., I would treat freshmen differently from graduate students), my process was to look over the test carefully and re-evaluate how I assembled it. Were the questions fair (hard is OK)? Did the students have a chance to work similar problems as homework or during class?
Then, I'd look at the overall distribution of grades. Did some students ace the test (or come close)? If so, the test was fair. Was the distribution "double-humped" (indicating two populations of students - those who studied and those who did not)?
Testing should, in my opinion, be fair. If it was your fault (e.g., the test was too long or too difficult), then I would remove the "offending" questions for the next exam and I would curve the graded exam appropriately. If it was *not* your fault (i.e., the students just didn't study), then I'd leave it as is. Those are, of course, the two extremes; you may need to combine those (with potentially other) solutions to meet your needs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't have an evidence-based answer, but I've always taken the position that if a preponderance of students miss a question either the question was faulty or my teaching was faulty. Either way, it was *my* fault, not theirs.
I removed such questions from the computation of the grade and adjusted the point values of the remaining questions, *with the caveat* that removing question(s) would never lower a student's grade. I computed the grades with the question(s) in place, and again with the question(s) removed. If any grade went down I added an adjustment to that student's grade to return it to the original score.
If I removed a question from any but the final exam, I also cautioned the class, "You *will* see that question again, so if it needs more explanation, be sure to ask me."
PS: As username_2 has commented, I always warned the class that the questions have equal points, so make two passes through the exam and answer the easy ones first.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: I try to *not* make the exams too hard, but sometimes I don't reach my goal. I've come up with a "curve" policy that I think is fair, and that students haven't complained about.
This is how it reads in my syllabus:
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> Exams are curved to a B– mean at worst (score mapped to standard normal curve + 2.7), though adjusted such that a numerical grade of 80
> on an exam is never lower than a 3.0. The instructor will adjust this
> as necessary to reward good performance. For example, an exam in which
> every student scores 95 or higher would result in A’s for the whole
> class on that exam.
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UPDATE: To expand on the question's premise, I would do *everything I could* to not remove a question from the exam post-hoc. I think there can be tremendous fairness issues over that. Think of a student who spent an inordinate amount of time on the question, to the point that other questions get ignored, only to find that the question didn't count, vs a student who didn't think they'd be able to answer the question and skipped it entirely, comfortably finishing the rest of the exam. I can say that I believe the first student is harmed whether you leave the question in or not, but removing the question post hoc certainly doesn't help. It's a bell you can't unring.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Your school might have a policy. Check that, because we can't know. There may be laws that apply as well, depending on location and the level of your institution. If you have a student union, council, representatives, etc., consider seeking advice from them as well as other faculty.
You have several good answers already (though I disagree with grading curves on principle) but I'd like to focus on a question/challenge that's not getting as much attention.
Student success rate can be an indicator of exam quality or "appropriateness", but because of confounding factors you should not let it be the ultimate judge. As an educator you are often in a conflict of interest between having your students *pass* (keeping them and your institution, at least temporarily, happy with you) and having your students *learn* (doing your job).
"Most students failed" - or even "all students failed this question" - is not enough evidence to conclude that the exam - or question - was too hard. It may be that students were distracted by other events, that you had a statistically anomalous (but still likely to happen once in a while) group of students, or that they weren't taught the concepts well. Adjusting the exam won't give them the knowledge they are expected to have.
Therefore the next step should be to determine whether the questions were reasonable, not based on how many students answered correctly, but how many students *should* be able to answer correctly. [Daniel's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/187835/39086) explains a method for just that.
If the question is reasonable, you probably want to keep it and address the failures some other way. Perhaps remedial classes - with a different approach or instructor if possible - and a second attempt at the exam. We have done evening classes to help classes catch up in relatively short order, but of course that's not always possible. If this was not the *final* exam of the class, you can be more charitable with grading it, but make sure to use similar questions later on.
If the question was not reasonable, you should remove it from grading or find another way to compensate students, and consider offering a second attempt to any students who feel that they spent too much time on the difficult question. Again, other answers handle this case already.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I wouldn't remove the question altogether, because that might feel too unfair. Instead I would propose a system which rewards those who did well on the question, but does so without punishing the majority who did not get that tough question.
In the past, I had a 4 question exam to grade, and one of the questions had an abysmal median over each of its parts. That 'hard' question was worth 30 points, with the other 70 points spread over the 3 remaining questions. So, I made the exam worth 70 points, and gave students a score based on their 3 best questions. For most, this meant the hard question was dropped entirely. If someone got the full 30 points on the hard question, those 30 points would replace their lowest question score, which presumably would be a question worth 15 points. This means that they would get 15 bonus points, or just over 120% on the exam.
This scoring system received no complaints from students, as it could only ever help them (either dropping their bad scores, or giving them extra credit).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I can't speak for the OP's situation, but how about offering the missed questions as a homework set, or even the entire exam for that matter, and giving half the missed credit back? That way students who worked hard on the hard problems will have a leg up on those who didn't. It's also a great way to force students to review what they should have known for the exam, so it reinforces actual learning instead of cram-and-forget.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_11: My June 1980 O Level Mathematics exam (UK) was voided after 86% of us failed it.
Several of the questions related to things none of us had even been taught (our tutor told us he thought they'd mixed up the O level paper with the A/S paper). The A/S paper was the halfway point between O level and A level.
We all got a resit in the August.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/17
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, I am applying to funded PhD programmes in Europe. Not long ago, I thought it would not be so competitive, but now I am losing my self-confidence, receiving constant rejections. The other cause of my frustration is that I want to get an offer faster since my home country is invading Ukraine, and that is why I might be (at least to some extent) judged by my nationality or banned from getting visa. I am trying to make more applications, but their quality decreases, and I am becoming depressed. Some university has also rejected me, claiming it could not approve my forein degrees, which is also very insulting.
Here is my short background. I have a bachelor degree with 98% GPA from noname university of a second-world country, master's degree from a world top 50 university with 95% GPA, two Q1 first-authored papers that were cited more than ten times during the first year. I also have more than five years of industry experience.
So my question is how to overcome frustration and imposter syndrome during PhD application process? How to deal with the fact that I could be rejected because of my nationality and bureaucratic requirements to education?<issue_comment>username_1: I can understand the frustration, though you don't seem to be suffering from imposter syndrome. And the competition would have been high in the best of times.
Yes, there is probably some level of discrimination going on at the moment for the obvious reasons. That will be hard to counter until the war in Europe is no longer an issue.
But, given that, there are some things you can do. First, make sure that you thoroughly understand the application process in any country/institution you apply to, especially since this is a cross border situation.
Second, make sure your statement of purpose, if required, is clear and forward looking. Have someone local and knowledgeable review all of your application materials and give you feedback.
Third, and maybe most important, make use of faculty at your home institution to speak for you in any way possible. In the US, that would be great letters of recommendation. But, in other places, where it is necessary to contact professors (potential supervisors/funders) directly, they can do more.
Since your current/recent institution is highly rated, the faculty there most likely have international contacts in their field. Instead of a direct contact from yourself, see if you can arrange a call or email from some faculty member who knows your work and will speak well of you to colleagues/collaborators outside Russia.
You might also consider expanding your search. The US is a bit more removed from the war, so there might (might) be less of an issue for Russian students, especially for those who aren't strong war/Putin supporters. Canada similarly. And I'm not suggesting you express opposition in any public way, as that can have negative consequences at home, as you likely realize. And, the world is a big place so explore it a bit more widely.
---
It also occurs to me, from the way you stated this, that you might be using a shotgun approach, flooding the zone with poorly targeted applications. While I believe that a search should be wide, covering a range of institutions, each individual application needs to be carefully crafted to match the requirements of the institution/supervisor. What do they need, specifically, that you match well with. In particular, cold emails are rarely effective and using respected intermediaries often so.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I am sorry to hear that you were not lucky so far in securing a PhD position. Based on your description, your academic profile is competitive (at least in my area of numerical mathematics I would definitely be interested in a candidate with such background).
A few random thoughts.
1. What is your funding situation? In some countries in Europe, PhD program is considered work and students are payed salary. In some countries in Europe, PhD program is considered studies and students receive a stipend. In some countries in Europe, PhD program is considered training and students are expected to pay tuition fees, although they may apply for a scholarship to cover those. The more you are willing to pay your way, the better are the chances to be accepted.
2. What kind of places are you applying to? Top-tier Universities may be much more competitive than a more local, say second-tier University. You may have a Prof Less Famous as your PhD supervisor, and you may be expected to help with teaching a bit, but they are usually happy to admit any capable candidate (particularly with funding).
3. If you aim for top-tier places, your research proposal should be very well written and your research goals should be well articulated. Do not hesitate to contact potential supervisers directly and discuss your proposal with them first. They may even give you input on how to modify / tailor it to what their group / Department needs.
In any case, do not lose hope! The application process can be draining and depressing, but you are a strong and competitive candidate and I hope you will find an excellent place for your PhD very soon. Удачи!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> How to deal with the fact that I could be rejected because of my
> nationality and bureaucratic requirements to education?
>
>
>
Both criteria you mention would not be a judgement of your person, just of your career up to now and of things out of control (totally like your place of birth or "partially" like citizenship).
Get in touch with LGBQT communities and philosophers, or at least with feminist thinkers, or with anti-racist thinkers, to understand how to cope with rejection and discrimation for things that are out of your active control, like gender or skin color or sexual orientation.
Good luck!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> how to overcome frustration
>
>
>
You cannot. Applying for a PhD is always frustrating.
Applying for a job after the PhD can be worse.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: One of the reviewers has asked a technical question that is not related to the main scope of the paper that I submitted. On top of this, I am not sure if the answer I am going to give is correct or not (I have tried it but the technicality involved is not my area of research, so I am hesitant whether I am even correct or not). Can anyone suggest what one should do in such cases? Should I write what I have tried or get external help (the latter is a bit difficult at this stage)? Any ideas would be great.<issue_comment>username_1: The reviewer is making comments to the editor, suggesting refusal or acceptance. You have to reply to the editor, to address (or to confute) these comments.
It would not be nice to ignore the comments, but if you think that the question is outside the scope of the paper, spend as less time as possible.
If you honestly think that not knowing the answer is not an issue for what you present, that even if you do not know the answer to that question you master the methodology presented in the paper and the data collection has been sound ... then just write this.
Contrary to my opening statement, reviewers are doing the reviews to help your product to be as relevant and correct as possible, not to help the editor/journal/publications indexes.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The best course of action for these types of questions along with the "what do you think of" questions, is to avoid giving answers you're not sure of, as this might give the wrong impression to the referees and even question the reliability of your other results. Don't forget that you are addressing experts in your field, if you are absolutely sure that the question is outside of the scope of your paper, then, you have nothing to worry about, and the effort in your answer will not be in answering the question itself but rather explaining why this question is outside the scope of your paper, along with the references, if any, justifying your claim.
However, things are different if you are unsure that the question is outside the scope of your paper. That's why I suggest you give the question more time, especially if you were given a long time to accomplish revisions. In case you find out that the question is not outside the scope of the paper, but rather hard. Then, you can respond to the referees by mentioning that due to the complexity of the question, you have decided to leave it for your future research. Once again, the claim of the complexity of the question must be justified.
Finally, from my personal experience, referees usually don't insist on having an answer to these types of questions as long as your argument for not addressing them is solid and as long as you have addressed their other concerns well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The best approach to interacting with reviewers is usually honesty rather than trying to be adversarial or evasive. In your situation, I think a paragraph like the following is entirely reasonable:
>
> Regarding your question about whether our approach could also be useful to applications in X: We don't really know. We're not experts in X, and we don't feel like we have a sufficient background to tell one way or the other. We have, however, given this a bit of thought, and here are some ideas we have come up that could go in this direction: [... some (educated) speculation ...]
>
>
> That all said, as this is outside of the area where we feel competent, we have chosen not to address this in the paper.
>
>
>
And then you just don't mention it in the paper at all.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The other answers are great, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't point out that the reviewer might believe you are in a great position to advance an idea. Thus, they might ge offering you a license to publish a wild guess in your discussion section.
Of course, such discussion would require caveats, and creates the risk of kicking up trouble in the next round of review. It's not the safest course.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm from Europe and would like apply for PhD in the USA. On my university it is mandatory to take 70 credits of courses in order to finish a master's degree. However, I decided to take extra courses to push my GPA.
How is that managed?
I can write my 'better GPA', but still I'm obligated to send all my grades.<issue_comment>username_1: US universities will likely expect you to report your overall GPA, not just the GPA of your "best X credits". Having extra courses can still improve your overall GPA if you have better than your average grades in those courses.
If your institution allows you to report some other official GPA based on your best courses (I've never heard of this; maybe it happens, though?), you may be able to justify doing so, but should still make clear how this GPA was calculated.
As you mention, schools you apply to will likely expect to see your entire transcript, so if you try to mess with numbers to make yourself look better than your transcript indicates, you're going to get caught and you don't want to get caught inflating your application.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your GPA is the average of the grades or marks you earned as part of a degree. No more, no less. If your university awarded you a degree for completing x courses, and you take another course later, the additional course does not change your GPA. If your university awards you a degree for completing x+1 courses when only x courses were required, then the additional course does change your GPA.
This is why American universities only award a degree to a student who has met the course requirements if the student also applies for graduation. Otherwise, they are permitted to include more courses in their degree, if they pay for them.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a thesis which consists in a literature review and I came across some articles whose titles seem to be appropriate for my research, but they don't have any abstract and their full text is unavailable. Before even trying to get those full texts, which might require some time and effort, my question is: are they reliable? I mean, what are the possibilities of finding a peer reviewed article which doesn't have an abstract?<issue_comment>username_1: It is impossible to say without actually examining them, but you can get a fair idea by knowing the journal in which they appear. If it is reputable, then the chances are that the paper is.
Also, there is a difference between not having an abstract and not having a *published* abstract.
You probably need to get the articles to be sure, however, but that is true of everything. See an academic librarian to ease your task. They can probably also give you advice on the reputation and reliability of publishers.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: As to the literal question on papers without abstract, I would say that not having an abstract is becoming less common, but it not really a sign of quality. Shorter papers really don't need an abstract (or a discussion section) if they have a good introduction. This is the "say something once, why say it again" philosophy.
Many journals will not allow a paper without an abstract. The journal that published a paper of mine with no abstract now says "the article should include an abstract of at most 150 words" so it seems you might be able to publish a paper there without an abstract if you insist.
Of course, you still need to look to the paper to see if it has an abstract. No database covers all papers and has zero omissions.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: It's definitely possible. For example most news articles don't come with abstracts. Same goes for most popular-level articles, editorials, monographs, etc.
The publication venue says more about the reliability of the article than the presence of an abstract.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: It is quite possible that the answer is *whatever database you are using* does not have the abstract, rather than the original paper not having one.
This is quite common for older papers - many of the literature databases are stitched together out of all sorts of older databases, some of which had citation details only, and going back to add them in is a laborious task which may not be very highly prioritised.
Take *Nature*, for example. Web of Science has it covered since 1900, but abstracts are only included from ~1990. In Scopus, it is covered right back to 1869, but the abstracts only go to ~1950 (and seem to miss 1965-66 for some even odder reason).
And of course papers that are harder to find online may be more likely to be older, obscure, etc and less likely to be comprehensively indexed on databases. So it's unlikely to automatically indicate it's of low value or not worth investigating.
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<issue_start>username_0: I had asked all of the students during introductory class why they were taking this particular course. And one of the students replied they were taking it for the credit hours. I found it disrespectful and chewed the student a bit in the class. And it might have impacted my grading for that student. What should be the proper reply to such an answer? Should I ask them to drop the course?<issue_comment>username_1: As <NAME> wrote in the comments, it's unavoidable that students will take courses solely to comply with credits requirements. It's also unavoidable that some people simply will not find your topic interesting. This doesn't mean they shouldn't take your course - the final exam presumably only tests the student's mastery of the material and not their passion for the subject. If they are not interested but can still learn the topic, that's more power to them and they deserve a good grade.
Since their motivation for taking the course isn't really relevant to you, commend them for their honesty and say you hope they'll learn something interesting from the course, then move on.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_2: This is a structural issue at many (probably most) institutions, and isn't the student's fault. They may have a specific goal but the institution requires them to take certain other courses. You've probably dealt with this in life as well in many places. Who enjoys spending a day at the passport office? Should the passport official turn you away because you admit that you are willing to fill out a form but don't enjoy it? Of course not!
What you can do is teach the course so well that the student realizes its importance, relevance, or just how fun it can be! Do your job!
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Your response to this is very toxic. If being honest in regards to the attendance of your courses results in hostility and possibly poorer grades, then nobody will continue to be honest with you in the future. I would hope that everyone recognizes that this is an inherently bad learning and teaching environment.
In addition, in this day and age, if your goal is to acquire a degree, you will have to chew through courses solely for their credit points. It is **100% inevitable**. Should a student give up on their bachelor's or master's because you deem their reason for participating in your course not good enough? That is a ridiculous line of thinking and is out of touch with reality.
It is not your place to judge any students reason for participation. They are all adults and they chose this, and your job is to teach and help them pass your course. If they pass, it's because of merit and not because of some arbitrary reason you deem good enough.
As for the question in the title, those not interested in the course will helpfully sort themselves out by simply not interacting with you more than they need to.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: I think you should first figure out the following:
* Why are you a teacher? Do you teach because you want to help people learn, do you teach beause you want to have a sense of authority and this was the simplest way to get there, etc?
* What are the policies of my institution? For example, does our college only teach to people that say publicly they want to be there. If the answer is No, as it should be, you're in violation.
* Are you the kind of person that takes offense easily?
* Do you need to discuss with the student further, maybe involve their advisor and figure out a way for the student to take classes that they are interested in - which might not be possible.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I guess the fundamental issue is whether your course is *filtering*, or is *educating/exposing* students. If you are required to give a sufficient number of bad grades, etc., then, really, I don't see any truly educational content in the issue.
Yes, the more delicate, interesting, and important issue is about classes that kids have been coerced, one way or another, to take. Ideally, yes, the course is "good for them". But they will often have heard gossip in advance, and be somewhat hostile, or, at best, indifferent. Even in my graduate courses, often a large fraction of the people have imbibed a skeptical, if not hostile, attitude. So I view my job as two-fold: explaining the *why*, in addition to the *what*, ... and maybe, further, saying that, yeah, of course, I do trust their sensibilities, and that I'm not here to attempt to beat them down by trying to invalidate their own judgement. :)
Occasional snide comments about Central Administration do tend to suggest that we're all on the same side. :) Seriously, I do want to communicate to the students (undergrads or grads) that I am not "tool of the administration", or any such thing.
In that context, for people who've shown up "just needing credits", I take it as a challenge to tweak them, getting them "sucked into" engaging with the topics. That kind of thing. And, if they don't, well, I can't begrudge them that, and I won't disparage them, although I might give them advice.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: OK, I was sort of in the students' shoes at one point in my life and I believe the correct spin on the matter is "You guys took this for credit? Good, because that's all the more people I can convert to having the same love of the subject that I do".
I mean, let's be real, cultivating interest is the main point of having a lecturer. If a person is determined enough, then they could most likely learn any subject from any field by themselves using public resources.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: **You don't.**
This is unavoidable. If the system requires the students to collect X credits, but they are only interested in courses totaling Y < X credits, they will take X - Y worth of courses solely to get the credits.
There is nothing wrong with this. The student will take courses they wouldn't choose on their own, which will expand their knowledge in other directions than their main interest. They may find it more interesting than they initially thought, and focus on the topic more in the future.
>
> And it might have impacted my grading for that student. [...] Should I ask them to drop the course?
>
>
>
***I find this statement very concerning***. You openly admit to have a big negative bias on the student as if it was a natural thing. It is not. Not only is it a **serious** misconduct, but it is totally uncalled for. The reason for the student taking the course is totally irrelevant for their grades, and does not reflect their work at all. Frankly, this have been the introductory lesson, and you are already deciding on lowering their grades. **Please, grade the students fairly, based on their performance, and not on your prejudgement.**
Depending on the way you *"chewed"* the student, I would also be concerned about the student sensing your negative bias. This could reflect on your student ratings and may also reach the dean as a complaint if the student feels discriminated or harassed. The other students may also be repelled by your reaction. I'd suggest that you may want to sort this out.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: I will not repeat the numerous excellent points in other comments (in brief, it is not the student's fault for being honest that they are required to take some courses that they are not required to take), but I will add one point to answer your question of what you should do.
After chewing out a student in the class for such a reason, the responsible thing for you to do would be to follow up with an apology in front of the same class for humiliating the student for no good reason. Such an apology would probably greatly improve all of your students' perception of you (which you have probably severely damaged, whether you realize it or not) and would also greatly help you to become objective and fair in grading the student whom you had chewed out.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: There is a very good text about the systemic reasons which force students to attend to classes which they are not interested in. It is called *No cops in the lecture hall: cheating and what (not) to do about it* and you can find it [here](https://www.justmathematicscollective.net/cheating.pdf). I always wanted more people to read the text, and this is a good opportunity because it fits perfectly.
It is not your job to morally police your students, which are grown up people and know what is good for them and what not. People are interested and motivated if they have the freedom to do what makes sense for them in their situation, and when they are not forced by external pressures. You do not know the situation of your students.
**Edit:** Since I was asked to, I will try to summarize the argument of the essay in my own words. But be aware that the argument lives from the long explanation, the personal experience and the examples given in the text, which are hopefully relatable to any reader who has gone through school and university.
We do, as a matter of fact, live in a capitalistic society. As a consequence people in all countries of the world, even in the more wealthy countries, do not have a right to live, eat and be healthy per default. Instead they must either work, or they must be rich to begin with. For example in Germany (which is the country where I live), even though the state will prevent you from starving if you are unemployed, the money you get is by no means enough to live in dignity and it doesn't allow you to be an active part of society. In most countries of the world poor and unemployed people have it significantly worse. In the US the only good way to access health care is employment, and the state doesn't do very much to prevent homelessness (correct me in the comments if I am wrong).
On the other hand a school education and often also a university degree is often necessary or extremely useful if you like to get employed. Especially mathematics is an integral part of many degrees, and students have to pass their mathematics exams in order to have a reasonable chances for a well-paid job. (I am thinking about programmers for example.) It is thus not surprising that students will sit in courses (and even whole programs) in which they are not interested in to begin with, and which they only attend for the credits. It would be weird to blame them for it, since wanting a good job, a secure future and a life in dignity is a very good reason to go through higher education. Studying just for the sake of it is a privilege of the wealthy. Of course at some point (be it a PhD or a postdoc) you can expect people to do it because of their interest in the subject, but a mathematics undergraduate degree (or worse, mathematic lectures for non-mathematician) is way to early in my opinion. Here are the facts:
* *The language of mathematics, as practiced as a professional discipline,
is esoteric and inaccessible to an overwhelming majority of people.* (Cited from the essay)
* *People who do not perform conventionally well on mathematical assessments are often shut out from opportunities to secure the basic essentials
for life (for example, being hired for a job, even if the job has little or
nothing to do with what one might see in a mathematics course).* (Also copied from the essay)
As a consequence people will go to mathematics courses not because they like them, but because they need to do them. And they will cheat if they do not have the resources or abilities to complete the course with good or reasonable grades. I understand that this goes against the grain of a teacher, who really likes their subject and wants to share their excitement about it with their students. You can do that anyway: Make the requirements to pass the course as low as you can (without getting into trouble). Allow your students to engage with you and your material independently from grades and course requirements. Those who are interested will engage with you and be happy to learn, and those who can not or don't want to won't learn a lot anyway if you force feed them. Their is no reason to think less of them. They will have very good reasons why they sit in your course, and they will put effort into those things in their life which are most important to them in their current situation. You are doing no harm whatsoever if you let students pass and give them good grades even if they do not engage actively with your course material. And what you really shouldn't do is punish them for a situation, which isn't their fault. After all, is it the job of a university to teach mathematics and do research together, or is it the job of a university to gatekeep and decide who is worthy of employment, success and a good life?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I'll add to the other answers that, depending on how dramatic the actual incident was, you might consider saying in class that your question and response to the answers were a bit out of line. The targeted student and others might appreciate it, and it might help you get back any respect you might have lost. If it wasn't a big deal in the classroom, you should probably not do this.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: Let me take a slightly more sympathetic approach to answering this, even if I do ultimately come to the same conclusion as others. I will then offer some concrete suggestions.
As someone who teaches a lot of compulsory classes that students really don't want to take, at least at first (yay, stats for biologists 101), let me start by saying I sympathise with the feeling when students don't want to be there.
Someone up-thread asked why you want to be a teacher. For most of us, we are absolutely in love with our subjects and have dedicated our lives to their pursuit. Many of us, even those that value or enjoy teaching, are, or at least started off as, primarily researchers. It’s more than just a dedication to the subject; it’s a dedication to the life of the mind - irrespective of its utilitarian consequences. We often, at least initially, value teaching as a way of allowing others the same access to the life of the mind as we had. Far from being more interested in our power over others, rather than education, it’s the exact opposite. We'd do away with grades if we could and are only interested in students coming and really learning.
It then seems to us that someone who is there for the credits is not interested in learning. They are just interested in getting a licence to get a job, and they'll do the learning to get it, they suppose, if they have to.
I have often felt like saying "If you're here for the credits, come to me at the end of the lecture, and you can have them, then we don't need to waste each other's time further".
**Of course I shouldn't and don't ever do that.** It would obviously be against university rules. But it would also be wrong. Apart from anything else, the student loses the opportunity to learn, even if they don't realise they wanted it.
As others have outlined, there are many reasons why a student might take your class without a preexisting interest in it. They might need the credits to continue with their degree - this isn't just about "getting a piece of paper"; they might not be able to learn about the things they do want to learn about without keeping their credits up. Also, making someone feel like they don't belong in a class is not a good way of creating a welcoming, safe feeling, productive learning environment for others in the class, let alone that student.
Over time I've come to realise that while I might have thought that there was something almost morally superior about learning for its own sake, that was my prejudice, and letting go of that is essential to your own happiness in your job. Because, surprise, you are going to have to deal with many students taking your class for credit, perhaps even the majority, over your career.
You have a chance now to make the student love your subject, or alternatively (like with my stats class), teaching them something they will only realise was important later.
In terms of grading. I actually don't see how perceived enthusiasm can't help but affect our grading when we are grading anything that isn't 100% objective, right or wrong answers. I might even go so far as to say that anyone who claims otherwise is fooling themselves. So good on you for identifying biases that might stay unconscious for other people.
However, acknowledging our biases is only any good if we act of this knowledge to counteract our biases. Perhaps just self knowledge is enough to reduce our bias, but I think probably not. This is why I think anonymous marking is important in summative assessment where possible. Many online marking systems will allow you to hide the identity of students until after all the marks are finalised. Or you can ask students to put their student ID on the paper, rather than their name.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_12: Not only will there inevitably be students who aren't really that interested in your class, it is quite likely that at some point *you* will have to teach a class that you are not really that interested in. Unless you're in a very privileged position, everyone has to teach entry-level courses some time and after a few repetitions of the same material it gets old. Or you have to pick up someone else's class because they got sick at the last minute and it's not really your area, or you just have other stuff in your life that you would rather be doing at that exact moment.
Would you rather have students appreciate that you are still doing a good job of teaching even if there are maybe other things you would rather be doing, or would you have them deem it unacceptable that it wasn't your very favorite thing even if you still do a good job of teaching?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: Consider the various service and administrative requirements at your school that are part of your job. For example: serving on a committee, writing reports, submitting grades, undergoing mandatory training (harassment, workplace bullying), vaccination requirement, etc. Whatever.
Now, let's say for the various tasks in this vein that are required of you, an administrator showed up and asked, "Why exactly are you [serving on this committee/writing this report/etc.]?"
And if you responded with "Because it's required for my job" instead of, "Because it's so inherently exciting!", then the administrator suggested that this was disrespectful and that you should be fired, how would you feel about that?
You should treat the student the same way you think you should be treated in this analogous situation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_14: In your situation, here is what I might say.
*Good morning, students! If you remember, yesterday I asked why you were here, and one of you said "just for the credits", and I said some pretty harsh things in reply. I've had some time to think about what I said, and why. And the first thing I want to do is to say sorry, without any reservations at all, to [insert student's name]. And I'd like to say a bit about why.*
*Let's imagine something together. Imagine if I said right now, "I will keep teaching this course, but from now on, **none of it is for credit.** I will deliver my lectures, but the university won't officially count it as attendance. I will set you assignments and mark them, but the marks will not count towards any final grade. And you will sit your final exams, but the grade will not appear on your transcript. You will have to find another course to fill out the credits you need."*
*If I really meant that, I'd expect very few of you would turn up to my next lecture. I'd expect some of you to walk out right now!*
*But what this demonstrates is that **all** of you are here for the credits. Of course, some of you are **also** here because you are deeply passionate about standard deviations and F-tests. Some of you are here because you really **want** to be here. But all of you are here because you **need** to be here.*
*Indeed, I too am here because I need to be here. I love stats. I love teaching you all about stats. But if the university told me tomorrow that I was now going to do it **for free**, that I would no longer be paid, I too would walk out of class. I am here teaching you statistics for the cash, just as you are here learning statistics for the credits.*
*Is there anything wrong with that?*
*Well, for starters, there is a little voice in my head right now saying, "No! No! Students should be here purely for the love of the subject! It's a shame if they're only here because they need to be!" But my reply is that over the course of life all of us do many things mostly because we need to. We should not be ashamed of that! Interestingly, the people who can devote their energies purely to what they **want** to do are usually people who somehow have extra time and money to meet their basic needs. They also happen to be people with extra time and money to shape culture and tell others what is right and wrong. It is a mighty suspicious coincidence that they end up glorifying 'doing what you want to do' and putting down 'doing what you need to do', isn't it?*
*But here is my other fear. I would feel very sad if you felt, week in, week out, that dragging yourself to my class was an unenjoyable chore. Just because you need to be here doesn't mean it has to be a terrible time! In fact, because you **need** to be here, it is my **job** to make sure that, at least some of the time, you **want** to be here! And the wonderful thing is that as humans, we are wired to love learning new things, both because we crave novelty and we enjoy the feeling of a good logical puzzle clicking together. If I am doing my job well -- if I am showing you that the statistical tools in this course are sensible, useful, and vital for modern life -- then I am sure we will have many wonderful 'aha!' moments together, and you will enjoy coming here.*
*So, please come along with me on this journey. I will do my best to teach, and I hope you will do your best to learn, and together let's do our best to explore the wonderful world of statistics. Precisely because we need to be here, let's make it a joy to be here. You've come here for the credits. I've come here for my paycheck. But let's see if we can come away with a love of statistics.*
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: A habilitation (in Germany and Austria at least) gives you the *venia legendi*, or the formal licence ot teach at higher education institutes - and now comes the important part - **for a given discipline**.
Does it mean that if I feel home in two different disciplines (say, sociology on the one hand and computer science on the other), and if I want to teach in both, that I need two habilitations?<issue_comment>username_1: The venia legendi gives you the right to teach independently in a certain field at a certain university. This does not mean that you are not allowed to teach in a different field but you might have to get permission from the department or organize your lecture with a professor from the department.
From my personal experience different departments have very different attitudes towards habilitation. In all computer science departments I have been part of the habilitation was not really necessary for anything.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: For teaching you don't need the habitation at all. And more specifically: I dont think that I've ever seen a person with two different habitations (because it requires not only significant teaching experience but also a lot of publications in the area which hardly anyone will have for 2 different areas).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The habilitation is awarded by **your faculty** and is only valid for that faculty. Even if you feel at home in two disciplines, you can only belong to one faculty. Thus, you can only have one habilitation.
There is something called "Umhabilitation" (re-habilitation) for when you change faculties or move to a different university. That is a simplified procedure where you give up your habilitation at the old faculty and get a new habilitation at the new faculty.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Asking on behalf of a friend's relative to maximize anonymity.
(Most details are left out to protect the identity of this person, and I was also not given much detail to begin with.)
Dr. X is an early career scientist who had to flee his home country due to credible threat for his family. His situation is not unlike those in a witness protection program --- he and his family fled the country, settled in the US, and got new names. And they do not want to be found.
Dr. X got a new research job at University A in the US. But during the hiring process he had to reveal his old identity so that the university could verify his degree and publication records. And he was still hired as Dr. X, his old name (for a variety of additional VISA-related reasons).
The university is kind enough not to list him on any publicly accessible website, and within the department, he has a nickname. So there is no problem on this end.
However, Dr. X still wants to continue publishing papers, and be active in his research community. What's the best way to publish under a different name?
Some current suggestions have their weakness:
1. Publish as Y, Ph.D., University A --- This will likely cause problem as anyone looking into this will not find a Dr. Y in University A.
2. Publish as Y, Ph.D., independent researcher --- Dr. Y's Ph.D. cannot be verified. Not acknowledging his affiliation is a tough request for a new-hire, and may cause problems with acknowledging grant funding.
3. Publish as Mr. Y, independent researcher --- He may not be taken seriously (by those who do not actually read his papers). And this also has the problem of not acknowledging his affiliation.
4. Officially change his name to Dr. Y --- This is not easy while he is still in the immigration pipeline, which can take years.
5. Publish as Dr. X from his old university
--- This will produce too much searchable mentioning of Dr. X, and it's hard to prevent something leading to his whereabouts from being accidentally leaked. The recommendation (from those who know about this kind of thing) is apparently that Dr. X should appear to be dead on the internet.<issue_comment>username_1: The venia legendi gives you the right to teach independently in a certain field at a certain university. This does not mean that you are not allowed to teach in a different field but you might have to get permission from the department or organize your lecture with a professor from the department.
From my personal experience different departments have very different attitudes towards habilitation. In all computer science departments I have been part of the habilitation was not really necessary for anything.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: For teaching you don't need the habitation at all. And more specifically: I dont think that I've ever seen a person with two different habitations (because it requires not only significant teaching experience but also a lot of publications in the area which hardly anyone will have for 2 different areas).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The habilitation is awarded by **your faculty** and is only valid for that faculty. Even if you feel at home in two disciplines, you can only belong to one faculty. Thus, you can only have one habilitation.
There is something called "Umhabilitation" (re-habilitation) for when you change faculties or move to a different university. That is a simplified procedure where you give up your habilitation at the old faculty and get a new habilitation at the new faculty.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Is an ISBN a sign of prestigious publishing?
Will the conference paper with ISBN appea in Google scholar, ResearchGate and orcid?
Is ARICBET CONFFERENCE PRESTUGIOUS?<issue_comment>username_1: No, ISBN is for identification purposes. It has no intrinsic value other than as a means of distinguishing (usually) books. It awards no "prestige". If a conference publishes its proceedings then the proceedings would likely have an ISBN and you can search for the volume by that alone. But the individual paper wouldn't have an individual ISBN.
Whether the paper appears in indexes is a completely separate matter, but conference papers in some fields often do.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As its name suggests (International Standard **Book** Number) and username_1 also said, ISBN are normally used for books only. Journal papers and conference papers are usually given [a DOI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_object_identifier) instead which serves the same purpose: providing the document in question with a unique digital ID that makes it easier to find.
As to the second part of your question: nothing gets added to *Researchgate* automatically, you (or one of the other authors) will have to add it to your account yourself. *Orcid* ususally (but not always!) updates automatically, if you provided the publisher / the conference with your orcid ID when submitting the paper. If you didn't, there is a high chance of having it to do yourself. *Google scholar* also mostly (but not always) updates automatically. In doubt, check and add manually if necessary.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/18
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<issue_start>username_0: We have [discussed before](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118554/79875) that consequences for not getting [irb](/questions/tagged/irb "show questions tagged 'irb'") approval might include: (1) not be able to publish in a reputable journal, and (2) getting sanctioned or fired by your employer. But I am wondering: what other consequences could you face in really serious cases? Could you lose your eligibility for federal funding? Could you go to jail? Personal liability for any harm? [The HHS "common rule"](https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html) doesn't seem to lay down any possible penalties.
To make this more concrete, here is an example. Bob is a computer engineer who has no real training in human subjects research. He gets a federally-funded grant about using machine learning to detect tumors in a publicly-available dataset. On the grant proposal, he correctly says that no human subjects research is anticipated. But his initial results show that (say) a certain ratio of potassium and chocolate kills brain tumors. So, Bob gets very excited and gets a bunch of people he knows to take potassium + chocolate in various doses and then draws their blood. He has clearly crossed the line here: among other problems, he is storing human blood and PII. What kind of consequences could Bob face?<issue_comment>username_1: The penalties you suggest wouldn't be levied for failure to obtain IRB approval, *per se*, but certainly could apply to some kinds of research misbehavior. The IRB system was created to try to assure that some sorts of unethical studies aren't carried out in the future, but it is the studies themselves, and how subjects are treated, for which legal penalties could accrue.
I would guess (only a guess) that the same applies to losing eligibility for federal funding and similar administrative penalties. If a study is actually carried out that has unethical elements (that might have been caught by an IRB review) a person might lose eligibility. But it is the study, not the IRB, approval that would seem to be the important factor.
On the opposite side, if an unethical study is carried out after getting IRB approval it won't lessen the potential penalties. Whether it would accrue back to the board itself, I wouldn't know, but it might in an extreme case (guessing again). Culpability would need to be shown, of course.
---
IANAL, just using common sense and general philosophical principles.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Depends on how far it goes. For example, if it somehow triggers an investigation of your institution, and your institution's Human Subjects protocols are really problematic, your institution could conceivably lose their compliance number, and become ineligible for government funded research.
The procedure for this is described [here](https://ori.hhs.gov/policies-regulations-qa). In most cases, the funding agency will merely "assist" your institution's misconduct proceedings. However, if it finds that your institution was itself deficient, it can take action against the institution and/or move the investigation to its own misconduct board. As for the researcher, the worst that can happen is getting fired, barred from receiving additional funding, barred from advising the HHS, and forced to return any funds "spent in support of the activities that involved research misconduct." And of course if the research involved other crimes or torts, those may lead to additional consequences.
I'm sure any infraction you're talking about falls well short of this, but I do want to point out if this is serious, coordination with your institution might become important.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Getting IRB approval is not intended to prevent unethical or dangerous research from happening. It is only necessary to ensure that *published* research satisfies minimal ethical standards, and it protects the institution to some degree.
In the example you cite, Bob is not only doing unethical research, but is possibly endangering his participants' health. As a consequence, lack of IRB approval is probably the least of his worries: The law will likely contain provisions that make such conduct illegal and punishable. That the resulting research might not be publishable is a consequence of substantially lesser relevance in my view.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: The statutes about IRB approval of research are all about eligibility for federal funds and the expected consequences are threats of losing current and future funding for the researcher and their institution. Institutions are expected to (and do) take this very seriously, as serious sanctions could practically destroy an entire university's research program. A criminal case would only likely appear by related activity that is covered by other statutes.
Criminal prosecution for research misconduct is very rare in the US. I am unable to find any cases on the specific situation described here: failing to obtain IRB approval. However, I think another case may be instructive:
<https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.17660>
>
> Rare is the scientist who goes to prison on research misconduct charges. But on 1 July, <NAME>, a former biomedical scientist at Iowa State University in Ames, was sentenced to 57 months for fabricating and falsifying data in HIV vaccine trials. Han has also been fined US$7.2 million and will be subject to three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
>
>
>
You will not find anywhere a statute in US law that states criminal penalties for falsifying HIV vaccine data, despite the sentence in this article that suggests this. However, further in the article you will read:
>
> In February 2015, he pled guilty to two felony charges of making false statements to obtain NIH research grants
>
>
>
These are the sorts of crimes that could *potentially* be charged in this sort of case. Not getting IRB approval isn't a felony; lying to the government about getting IRB approval might be. I found [at least one example](https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/university-pittsburgh-professor-pays-132000-and-agrees-exclusion-resolve-allegations) where someone was charged for submitting fake IRB approvals to the NSF, though they settled in a deal that did not require admitting to criminal wrongdoing, only return of funds and restrictions on future funding.
Civil liability is more likely, though plaintiffs are probably more interested in suing institutions with deeper pockets than individual investigators.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/18
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm I PhD student in X engineering in the university X (top ranked program in the US, big university) and I'm finishing my first year with a first author paper in an important journal, 3 conferences (1 of them as invited speaker) and accepted to two more international conferences in October (my field is in physics actually but my group is inside the X engineering department). I've also completed all the credits required for candidacy and I'm going to take the exam in January of 2023.
As far as I know, PhD students (in particular international students like me) in the US are not allowed to legally work as research assistants for more than 20 hours per week during semesters (which makes sense if you are not a candidate yet) but are allowed to work full time during the summer (like I did during this summer in my first year). But my stipend remained the same during the summer... while I worked twice as hard...
Did I miss something? Why am I getting paid the same amount of money than during the semester if I'm working more hours... and I'm supposed to work 40 per week in the summer. Apologies if this is a silly question but I really don't understand this situation at all.<issue_comment>username_1: The idea of the 20-hour rule is that the "work" you do for 40 hours per week is half for your own education, and half for the project that funds the work. That has presumably not changed during the summer break.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is normal, though not universal. Some schools do exactly as you suggest, paying double over the summer. But this is a bit inconvenient for the students, who may resort to banking the summer surplus and slowly parsing it out over the rest of the year. So, many schools instead pay the same amount but in twelve equal installments. This may or may not reflect the "behind the scenes" view -- i.e., your advisor may indeed be paying more for your time in the summer than during the year, but that is not necessarily visible to you.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: As an international student, you might be confusing the federal 20-hour limit for F-1 visa students and your school's policies.
Most school policies consider you to have a full time workload all year. During the school year you are expected to take a full class load and do research, and taking classes is part of your full-time load. During the summer the time you would have spent on classes is spent on research instead. Your school doesn't think you're doing more work during the summer- just different work.
The federal government sets a limit of 20 hours of work per week for students on an F-1 visa during the school year. Time spent studying is specifically not included in those 20 hours. The limit is 40 hours per week during school holidays and summers. These limits exist to ensure that F-1 students have enough time to make adequate progress toward their degrees and to prevent abuses of the F-1 visa system.
On top of that, most PhD students are supported by a stipend- not an hourly wage. This is almost always an agreement to pay a monthly amount, and this is good for you. Many international students go home once or twice during their PhD, and they continue to receive their stipend during that time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Hey congratulations on all of those accomplishments! Though with regards to the question, I don't think they are relevant. The following focuses mostly on STEM experiences, but I think applies broadly.
The 20hr work restriction has nothing to do with being an international student. It applies equally to domestic students. The reason, is that 20hrs / week is the minimum requirement to be labeled as a "student", i.e. in order to maintain student status in the eyes of the university and/or government. From what I understand though, this practice differs between private and public institutions. Graduate students live in a strange state between students and faculty. Student status is important for several reasons, like: (1) the university paying for your tuition (2) student benefits like class enrollment and healthcare (3) tax reasons, for both yourself and your institution. You may notice that you pay a suspiciously low tax rate on your earnings.
Over the summer, it's a different story. There is no required time to be in school, meaning that legally, students are free to work >20hrs / week while still maintaining student status. In terms of hours, you can be paid for 40 hrs / week, and indeed like other posters mentioned, often times students plan for this over the course of a year, and will save those earnings to help out during tougher times in the academic year.
So legally, you are free to earn a ton of money over the summer. In practice though, this usually doesn't quite happen for several reasons.
First, your department needs to have funding, which is often a major blocker.
Second, assuming the money is there, your advisor or source of funding needs to *agree* to pay you for your time. This has both an agreed upon hourly component, as well as agreed upon start and end dates. With regards to advancement to candidacy, most universities have tiered pays, meaning that before advancement you will have an upper bound on your researcher salary. But again, that has nothing to do with hours worked, it's only w.r.t hourly pay. After candidacy, some departments will set standards for payment, while others leave this up to negotiation between students and advisors/department.
Third and finally, there is one additional problem with earning too quickly over the summer, that doesn't apply to everyone. If you were the recipient of a prestigious fellowship, or some other means of earnings, you can go over the annual cap if paid out too quickly (I think the cap starts/ends over the summer). This is not a fun situation to be in, and you basically just lose your money, it doesn't roll over. In this case you may opt for half pay over a longer period of time, even if the working hours were only during a fraction of that time period.
All in all, if you don't feel you're getting the pay you deserve, it's likely a conversation to have with your advisor.
*Added note*:
You can also work two jobs over the summer. You can pick up 20hrs / week teaching and 20hrs / week researching. I was only focusing on the initial post, but this is further evidence that there is no working restriction.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Getting your PhD at a prestigious university, doing a postdoc at a prestigious university, publishing in fancy prestigious journals, etc.?<issue_comment>username_1: This information is used as predictors to forecast your success. There might be better predictors but sometimes those are not available to the person doing the forecast. And of course, some people are not very good at forecasting.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: We have an evolved basis for status pursuit. The persons with higher status attract mates more reliably, and the attracted mates tend to have higher status. It works both for men seeking women and women seeking men. This has direct impact on the reproductive success of the persons with status, and on their offspring who share in the penumbra of the higher status. It is effective in many cultural contexts, and even transfers between many cultures. Here are just three items I found in a quick Google search.
* <https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1606800113>
* <https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1613351113>
* <https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_2571>
So, to put it in colourful terms: Status is important because people with high status get all the girls.
Or rather, our ancestors with high status got all the high status girls. So, any genetic predisposition and any cultural tendency to seek or gain status was reinforced by reproductive success.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If your potential employer judges you on the quality of the university where you got your PhD rather than the content of your PhD (e.g. papers), that is a bit of an indictment of them (lazy academic snobbery). I'm not sure I'd want to work for them because I would want to work somewhere that my skills were actually useful and of interest.
Of course, if the PhD is not necessary for the job, then this isn't so much of an issue.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: In an ideal world, the prestige(tm) of your alma mater doesn't matter. As a researcher, you will be evaluated by the quality of your research output.
But it turns out that the world is not ideal. In the real world, there are plenty of situations in which a researcher will be evaluated by people who can't look at the papers of the respective person in detail and make a fair judgement:
* Hiring committees for academic positions
* Companies hiring people "out of academia"
* Panels in funding agencies
* ...
Especially when comparing different researchers to whom grants or jobs may be given, it is normally unrealistic to compare their research works in total. There is no time for this, and probably nobody is qualified for a real comparison if the candidates are not exactly from the same niche of a sub-field.
And in these cases, prestige matters. Being affiliated with a good university (or one that is perceived as such) can get you through initial screening rounds, and since the selection processes for positions at these good institutions are often quite competitive, being affiliated with a very prestigious university can give you a subconscious head-start in the heads of the selection committee members. Given that these processes are extremely noisy and often many candidates compete for the same position, such a head-start is highly valuable.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student in the field of social science --sports marketing and public relations. Lately, I have submitted a manuscript to a reputable journal X in my field, my choice was hinged on two reasons: 1. My research addresses a niche that can be published only in a handful of journals, X is the most suitable among them; 2. This journal X, has a relatively short submission to first decision period, which is important in my case as I need a certain number of published articles to be able to defend my thesis and I'm running out of time.
A few days ago, I received the Editor's response which was "rejected". The editors took longer than usual to deliver a decision. When I read the email, I understood that initially the manuscript was assigned to two reviewers. Reviewer 1 made easily addressable comments; reviewer 2 made a low-level review that addressed the tiniest details and explicitly advised the editors not to publish the manuscript in its current form. Apparently, the two reviews were conflicting, so the Editor decided to send it to a third reviewer whose review was more aligned with that of reviewer 2. Although a few comments were unfounded, 90% of the comments were fair.
As a result, the editor rejected the manuscript stating:
>
> In view of the criticisms of the reviewer(s) found at the bottom of
> this letter, your manuscript has been denied publication in X. We hope
> you find the reviewers' comments useful as you revise and consider
> alternative venues for your research.
>
>
>
I have summarized the reviewers' comments and am currently editing the manuscript to address them. I am very tempted to resubmit my manuscript to the same journal, but I wonder whether this is advisable. I'm also contemplating the possibility of sending an email asking the editorial board concerning the matter. I would like to read your thoughts on this before I do anything.
EIDT: I initially thought that I shouldn't consider resubmitting to the same journal, but some fellow researchers told me that some journals plainly deny publication just to reduce the "Time to final decision" metric, which left me a bit puzzle as to what I should do next.<issue_comment>username_1: Some journals don't permit resubmission after rejection. Check to see if that is the case here with your submission.
But the paragraph you cite seems to be pretty strong advice that a resubmission won't be considered. It would be written quite differently otherwise.
But, you can certainly ask whether a resubmission would be considered.
And if you do a major revision, rather than a minimal one, there might be a possibility of considering the paper as a new submission, though doubtful for those journals not accepting revisions after rejection.
You should also start the search for an alternate venue, as suggested, even if you make enquiries of the editors.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If the journal was interested in receiving a revised version, the decision would have been a "major revision". But they rejected the paper -- a strong indication that they are not interested in seeing the paper again, even after revisions.
I would suggest to try your luck elsewhere.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: They said:
>
> consider alternative venues for your research
>
>
>
So yeah, resubmitting is not likely to be useful and will most probably result in a desk rejection.
You write that some fellow researchers told you that journals will reject to reduce the time taken to final decision metric, which does happen, but in that case the decision will be 'reject and resubmit' instead of 'reject'.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/19
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<issue_start>username_0: This is my first semester being a TA. When students email me and include personal reasons (e.g. sick family member or mental health struggles) when they ask for things like extensions or to switch recitation slots, how much detail should I include when raising these issues to the professor teaching the class? I want to be careful about respecting their privacy, but also making sure that I'm not overstepping as a TA. I'm way overthinking this, but like I said, it's my first time TA-ing!<issue_comment>username_1: Since the professor is ultimately responsible for the class and for the student outcomes, there is very little that should not be shared. Many things need to be shared to protect student welfare, in fact, and you are probably not in a position to make decisions.
Something like mental health issues in particular, including feelings of suicide, need to be shared since you aren't a mental health professional and the professor has more experience (though isn't a professional either). The professor probably knows the appropriate response, such as referral to a counseling office.
Trivial things need not be shared, but anything that potentially affects student outcomes and might require interventions should be.
You can also ask the professor for general guidance on this. In fact, if you have group meetings it would be useful to do it there so that all the TAs get the same advice.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When it is sent to your address you may not even be username_2wed to share it.
Here it is important to distinguish, if the student had the expectation to reach you as a person (possibly trusting you more than the professor) or the expectation to reach some lecture related address which may spread the e-mail to different people, rely it to a mailing list or post it into some internal chat system.
I think it is reasonable to assume that an e-mail sent to "firstname.lastname@" is meant not to be shared with other persons without asking, while one can assume that mails to an address that does not specify the recipients before, like "lecture@" can be shared with other people which would be plausible recipients of the mails to such an address.
But are you sure your prof needs and wants to know? He probably only needs the summary, not the details. And students don't even need to share details with you (but usually will even when not asked), but only have to tell the examination office when they ask for extended deadlines and so on. And the examination office has strict privacy requirements, which protect the students.
---
When in doubt, you can always ask the student if you may share the information, or ask them to re-send the e-mail to the professor, or the examination office, or whoever gets the last word on excusing students for sickness. Another reason for this is to stay on the safe side yourself. When you acknowledge something to the student you may be liable when they try to sue the university.
Let's say you answered that their sickness is a valid reason and you believe them and the examination office says they are excluded because they didn't provide proof. Then they may try to sue because you promised something and it wasn't obvious to them that you are not in the position to make such promises. Or the other way round they take your word and don't get a sickness certificate and later on they have a disadvantage because of it.
Because of such issues it's best to advise the student to contact the relevant people, who can and must make binding promises. When you direct them to the examination office and the examination office says everything's alright, then they can be sure and having them get the confirmation from there is the best for you and the student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: When in doubt just cc your professor on your response email. Calling in sick or other small things not really worth it.
If you're actually worrying about the student, it's usually best to call the professor. Most schools have an anonymous system to refer students to people that can actually do something about mental health.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Make sure you are aware of the policy for granting extensions at your university. It is possible that the prof is not involved in the process. At my university, each department has an "extenuating circumstances panel", which has the discretion to grant extensions etc. rather than being dealt with informally by the teaching team. The main reason for this is to limit the number of faculty that need to know personal information that the student may not want widely known, but also to ensure consistency and fairness across courses/modules.
The "golden rule" is quite useful in such situations, consider whether you would want the prof to know the information if you were the student and act accordingly. You can always ask the student if they mind you passing on the information.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I'd like to add a few points mainly to @DikranMarsupial's and @all's answers.
* First of all, I'd like to thank you for being careful about student privacy.
* You can always **put the case in anonymized/pseudonymized fashion to your prof**. E.g. saying, "A student asks for extension because of private reasons. From what they told me, I think it's genuine. Is that something I can decide? On what reasons should I grant the extension, on what reasons not?"
Even better would be to ask/organize a session of all involved with the course where the prof outlines the policy. You may start an (anonymized) case collection for future use.
* Personally\*, I'd "negotiate" with the student, telling them that you cannot decide this on your own and will have to consult the professor. Offer that you put the case in anonymized fashion but ask them how *they* want you to proceed in case the prof asks for details. I.e., whether they want you reveal details in that case or rather keep their privacy at the cost of not getting the extension.
\*I'm not a junior TA any more. With a standing of almost 20 a of professional experience I'd take a stand shielding a student's privacy against any head of course, professor or institute director where I judge that is what needs to be done.
* You mention **mental health problems revealed**: a privacy-friendly way of asking your prof would e.g. be "In case a student reveals mental health problems, where do I refer them? Do I need to inform someone or do I just tell the student where they can go for help?"
Personally (and according to how things work where I am), I'd possibly tell the student anyways that they may want to consider getting a medical certificate. These medical certificates over here say basically "X is unable to work". They don't reveal reason/diagnosis but they legally mean that the student must get appropriate accommodation.
(BTW, university policy may anyways require the student to bring one)
* **student revealing too much private information**: you may find that students tell you more than is actually required, and more than you'd have liked to know (see next point).
It may be important feedback to the student that you think they revealed more private information than necessary.
* It may be stressful *to you* to know private details the student volunteered (e.g. in case of health or harrassment). This is part of the TAing/teaching profession, although likely noone ever taught you about it. And it is part of the teaching profession\* that you must keep this information appropriately private.
I'm writing this because I've witnessed an occasion where private student information was inappropriately revealed by a head of course. And I think this happened (also) because the head of course needed to relieve *their* stress by telling someone (which turned out to be a whole group of TAs). This was all very sympathetic, but still definitively inappropriate and unprofessional. All we needed to know was that in case of *X* happening, we should do *Y*.
Some professions (medical, psychological, pastors, ...) regularly face similar stress. They have supervision processes established to deal with this in a way that doesn't violate privacy.
In case you need that, it's fine to talk to someone in a way that keeps the student anonymous (maybe not even mentioning it's one of your students). One key thing to keep in mind here is: your close colleagues or friends from the department/university are not a good choice: the risk that the student's identity is accidentally revealed by circumstances entirely outside your control is substantial.
\*It's actually not that rare: If you move to industry and become team lead or manager, similar things are likely to happen. Even if you volunteer as trainer in the local sports team, head a scout group, ...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: US Specific (non GDRP):
If it's concerning a student in a course, the student should have very little expectation of privacy over any communication you have about it with the course director.
Much of what the prof would like communication about is going to be up to the prof. For individual types of scenarios, like a student asking for an extension, for some courses TAs may be empowered to make those decisions, and for others, they may not be. Even if you are empowered to make such decisions on your own, many profs would still want to know who is handing in work late, and when it comes in.
Bottom line, the prof has responsibility for teaching the students and issuing a fair grade based upon performance, and is entitled to all the information surrounding that endeavor. Sometimes a prof may username_2w TAs to make some decisions, but that doesn't relieve profs of their responsibility, and they might choose to keep track of things.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Like most students and professors during the pandemic, I attended my classes online for over a year. The online lectures weren't mandatory, and I stopped attending after the first day and relied on my readings to guide me.
During our first test, the class had a practice test that if completed (right or wrong) added points to your overall grade. I did so and finished my test.
Now, here is where the issue occurs. I had no problem with the material on test one but needed more help with understanding the material for exam 2. Before exam 2, I hired a tutor to explain to me the areas that I needed help with, with practice test 2 (which wasn’t against the academic policy) before taking the actual exam.
This is where I messed up. I met with the tutor and went over the practice exam. Well, unfortunately for me, the practice exam that I thought I was taking was the actual exam. Apparently, there was only a practice exam for exam 1 and not exam 2 or any other following exam (there was no password needed to take the exam).
I should have doubled checked that I wasn't taking the actual exam and if there was a practice exam.
Should I confess to the professor?<issue_comment>username_1: If it was accidental, then it wasn’t cheating (**edit:** *see the comments at the bottom for a clarification of what I meant and why I stand by this statement*). The only wrongdoing I can think of that you might be legitimately accused for is not bringing this to the attention of the professor immediately after you discovered the issue (or soon after, as opposed to letting the matter slide for more than a year) — that is indeed not appropriate and likely to be seen as dishonest.
But as they say, better later than never. If you confess, it’s unimaginable to me that you would be kicked out of the university, especially if your confession comes with a suggestion for how to make amends for what happened. The most logical thing is to offer to retake the exam in an honest way and be assigned a new grade based on how well you do in it. If I were your professor, I would welcome seeing a student demonstrate this kind of personal growth, and would be happy to help make things right.
I can’t say if you should confess or not. But as a general rule, I am of the view that it’s good to live one’s life in a way that one can sleep well at night. Good luck!
---
**Edit:** I see some people in the comments are disagreeing with my basic premise that “if it was accidental, it wasn’t cheating”. I think this disagreement is based on one of two possible misconceptions, so let me address those:
1. You might be conflating between some behavior *being* cheating and that behavior *appearing to be cheating* to people on the outside who do not know the state of mind of the person committing the action.
In the law, most crimes require a [guilty state of mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea) as a necessary element for a person to be considered guilty of the crime. This isn’t universal, and some crimes explicitly don’t require this element, but nonetheless a guilty mindset is a basic principle that underlies most legal systems and the ethical theories the legal systems are based on. So the same issue would be relevant to a question of whether someone cheated on an exam.
For an illustration of the distinction between actually being guilty of something and only appearing to be guilty (or actually being innocent and only appearing to be innocent), see [this answer](https://law.stackexchange.com/a/81846).
2. You might have understood that I’m claiming that OP didn’t behave dishonestly at all. No, I’m not saying that; what I’m saying is that *the act of accidentally taking the exam using improper help* was not cheating. The aftermath of that event, in which OP didn’t report to the professor the accidental violation of the exam rules and allowed their course grade to benefit from the violation, was in fact dishonest, and could reasonably be described as cheating. But that part consisted of action (or, rather, inaction) that was *intentional*, not accidental.
The fact that actual dishonesty did take place is likely why OP feels anguished and is thinking about confessing. If my position was that no dishonesty had occurred, I would not recommend confessing, as there wouldn’t be anything to confess.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes. It is bothering you now and will continue to do so.
Personally I find going over even a practice exam with a (paid?) tutor problematic. The goal of an exam is to see what YOU have learned, not what the tutor knows.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: To the extent that what you've described *is* cheating, it was the wrong thing to do. However, whether what you've described is, in fact, cheating in the first place isn't entirely clear. Moreover, as with most moral questions, beyond being simply a matter of right vs. wrong, this is a matter of degree.
Was this cheating at all? As you tell it, you had no intention to cheat. Does one need to intend to cheat to do so? Perhaps not, but the phrase "accidentally cheating" in your question's title strikes me as a contradiction, which suggests that there may need to be some premeditation required for an act to be one of cheating.
You elaborate on what happened with your tutor in some of your comments to other answers:
>
> I always explained my thought process with each problem and only used my answers (even if they were wrong) ...
>
>
> If I was wrong, the tutor would show me where I went wrong to help me learn.
>
>
>
Presuming you didn't change your submitted answers after the tutor pointed out where you went wrong, your answers would appear to be entirely your own. To me, this indicates no cheating was involved.
But again, even if this *was* cheating, it was limited in its effect. If this was a midterm or final exam worth a significant portion (e.g., >30%) of your total course grade, that would be one thing, but it sounds like that isn't the case. You mention neither this nor "any other following exam" had practice versions, suggesting more than one followed the one in question, and I think we can safely assume you didn't make this mistake again for any of those.
In other words, you sought help by having someone explain why your own answers on a single exam were incorrect. (Frankly, I'm unconvinced that even rises to the level of transgression, but...) Recognizing you may have made an error, you avoided doing so in the future. And your error, if it was one, likely had a relatively small effect on your overall course grade. So *if* this was cheating at all, it was to such a limited degree as to be *almost* trivial.
As a fellow human, my conclusion is that your apparently profound regret about this matter is enough to serve as both penalty and deterrent. As a professor who has seen some questionable exams, as well as dealt with confirmed, blatant, bad faith instances of cheating, my assessment of what you describe is that it's a minor infraction.
So to answer your question about confessing to the professor: if this is an infraction at all, it's minor enough that, were I your professor, I would prefer never to know about it or have to address it. Given its limited significance in the overall course, not to mention your ongoing regret being its own punishment, I wouldn't see this as needing an institutional response. (And given the amount of paperwork those responses require, I'd be more upset about dealing with the bureaucracy of it all than I would have been with what you did in the first place.) Ultimately, I'd suggest that having confessed to the Internet, you can leave your professor out of it, give yourself a break for being a conscientious student doing the best they could during a global pandemic, and work on forgiving yourself, while of course allowing the experience to guide your conscience and future actions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I would say the fault is not in mistaking the actual exam for the practice exam but in not admitting the fault immediately when you noticed the mistake. Personally, if I wasn't still taking the class, I wouldn't bother the professor with it. Similar experiences of not admitting faults quickly in my own past have taught me that it is important to try be above reproach in everything that I do.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Honestly, I think the university screwed up here. If they leaked the exam before the actual exam *everyone* will have done the same as you, but knowingly.
I don't think you did anything wrong. I think besides learning some stuff and making valuable connections in life uni is actually about learning how to take shortcuts.
In the real world you aren't paid for wasting time doing everything by the textbook but for solving problems. You have this difficult situation going at home and this should be your priority. I would take any shortcut I could find.
As long as you aren't trying to shoot rockets into space and putting people's lives at risk because you were cheating on this exam it really does not matter.
Uni will make everyone re-take the test if they find out. I think you studied hard for the test and learnt everything there was to learn. I would not mention it or beat yourself up. Focus on the things that matter - your family, your health, your energy. The next course in uni will keep you busy soon enough.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Short answer, in your case, based on the legal definition provided below, no, you did not cheat, quoting [a reference example](https://www.kaanoon.com/223064/legal-definition-of-cheating):
One cheats by
>
> deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to consent that any person shall retain any property, or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived, and which act or omission causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to "cheat".
>
>
>
So, if you suspected or have prior knowledge to the fact that the practice exam was de facto the real exam, or even probabilistically could be such, then you "cheated".
However, as you claim no prior knowledge, you are innocent, but only you can honestly make this assessment.
I would advise not to personally report it, perhaps anonymously at some future time, as you are placing the matter in the hands of others to subjectively assess your honesty that, in my opinion, is not generally pragmatically advisable.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/20
| 1,791
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<issue_start>username_0: Dear Academia Community,
I would like to ask the following question:
In my department, there is the culture of "IF first", which implies that the IF is the most important (and often sole) criteria when submitting an article to a journal. My supervisor insists on a list with 5 journal suggestions for a ready-to-submit paper. Then again, he would just order the suggestions by IF and direct the submission to the journal with the highest IF. I am working in medicine / lifestyle medicine - which is at the intersection of medical science, social science and economics. Thus, when presenting him journal suggestions, he always insists on submitting to the same journal (a 6.8 IF MDPI journal). More recently, I asked him about an alternative option that would fit very well with my latest work. The journal has 1.6 impact points and he immediately dismissed the idea.
Is this department-specific or also the case in your departments?
Sincerely
M<issue_comment>username_1: Why would you not submit to the highest impact factor journal? Impact factor acts as a proxy for prestige and visibility. They are harder to publish in, ergo, if you successfully publish there then it's a mark that your paper meets some high standard. Furthermore, when you publish in a high impact factor journal, more people see your results.
There's basically no non-personal reason not to publish in the highest impact factor journal possible. You could have ideological reasons against it (e.g. <NAME>'s comment about publishing with MDPI), or maybe financial reasons (if you can't afford to pay any publication charges then you certainly cannot publish there), but absent these things, there's no downside.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Depends on the system / country you are in. Some countries provide a list of *recognized* journals or conferences -- usually they are based on IF. Hence, if your supervisor is going for promotion or/and funding, he/she must have *recognized* publications as per the system. Any journals/conferences not on the list are basically useless, despite their corresponding community holding them in high regard.
Note also that the IF of a journal can be manipulated.
The IF of journals can act as a signal as to what is currently hot. In my areas, journals for old, established, areas have low IF despite having top quality journal articles. Hence, if you publish in journals with a high IF, that indicates that your research is current.
I'm with some readers -- MDPI is a dodgy publisher.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Focusing on high Impact Factor, or believing that the IF of a journal is a useful proxy for the quality of a paper published in that journal is an toxic behaviour that has a negative impact on Academic research.
Unfortunately the IF of published papers is often used in recruitment and promotion assessments, as well as proof of researcher capability in grant applications therefore Academics who want to progress and achieve success in their career are effectively forced to game the publication of their papers by choosing journals to target on the basis of the IF of those journals.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Like the other posters, I would not aim for the highest impact factor journal. My process is:
1. Exclude journals with mandatory publication charges. I can and do use ArXiv for free.
2. Identify the set of journals that are likely to accept the manuscript.
3. Select those journals that fit my professional brand. For example, if the paper could be published in a biology journal or a physics journal, I would choose the physics journal.
4. Select the most prestigious journal.
5. Use impact factor to break the ties and admit that is arbitrary.
Since I am biased towards physics-branded journals, I tend to end up somewhere with a bit lower impact factor than some of my other options.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: IF is just another case of a generally useful, easy to understand metric that is vulnerable to being gamed (or manipulated). Somewhat similar is the h-index.
It is widely known and recognized, despite debates about its merits/relevance. Therefore, in the absence of other criteria, IF is one way (arguably the most objective) to select a suitable journal. The issue is that the 'other criteria' almost always exist.
Researchers are as subjective as anyone else; we make value judgements based on our perception of status. Respect for members on the editorial board plays a role, as does a vaguely defined but strongly motivating sense of prestige.We also consider historical precedents (certain journals have traditionally carried important papers from some field). We worry that a senior interview panel may not quite appreciate a young journal with skyrocketing IF as much as a classical journal with low IF.
The conflict between this inherent subjectivity and the cold objectivity provided by a single-numbered metric (IF) is one that we often don't acknowledge.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: There is one more consideration I don't see discussed in any other answers: **time**.
Often (but not always), the higher IF journals have a longer *"time to first decision"*. Even if they do not, the higher you aim, the lowers your chances of acceptance, and if your paper gets rejected, resubmitting to a different journal takes time. So, given infinite time, I agree that the best strategy is to start with the highest IF journal *which matches the topic of your work* (and a good match is essential), however, most researchers do not have infinite time.
There is definitely something to be said about aiming high enough: if *all* your papers are getting accepted with minor to no revisions, you are likely aiming too low. If *most* of your papers are getting rejected, you are likely aiming too high. And striking the right balance needs to take time available into account.
We recently had to decide on a publishing strategy with a postdoc nearing the end of their contract. Their publication output in the first part of the postdoc was a bit on the low side, especially because of "aiming high" (not "too high" mind you -- then, they still had plenty of time to shoot that high). So when discussing targets, we **ordered the journals according to IF, as well as *time to first decision*** (as much as we could find that information online), and discussed how likely we consider the acceptance to each of those (both according to the topic, and the level of novelty). The final decision was made to maximise (in our opinion) the chances of their work getting published before the end of their contract in good, but not the best, journals and conferences.
So, my own personal strategy is highest-IF-given-available-time (and given a good topic fit), which often does not mean only my time (I'm in a permanent post, so have plenty) but also the time of everybody on the author list.
Note that most of these considerations don't really hold for MDPI journals -- they have a suspiciously short turnaround time. I also echo what many others voiced about MDPI -- I do not like their practices, and while some of their journals are better than others, I would not consider submitting there any longer.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Unfortunately, I doubt that any reputable supervisor would recommend an MDPI journal, which are considered by some as a predatory publisher.
On the other hand, this is a good example why we shouldn't (and indeed most academic don't) care for IFs: they tend not to represent accurately the prestige of a journal.
Indeed, while prestige and importance of the journals in which one publishes in is crucial for one's career, it is *not* the impact factor but other factors that normally determines the prestige of a journal.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/20
| 594
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<issue_start>username_0: I am building the glossary of my master's thesis. To redirect readers to it when they come across a technical word, I stress them with a `*` at the end, like : `preemption*`
How should I deal with words appearing more than 50 or 100 times?
I thought about stressing the first one appearing in the paragraph, or maybe the section. What peoples do in general?<issue_comment>username_1: You are not stressing the words. You are marking that they are in the glossary.
Do it for the first appearance in the section.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I personally don't want them marked at all. But when I stumble over an acronym that I don't know or a peculiar word, then I consult the list of abbreviations and/or the glossary. If it is not explained, then the trouble starts. In any case, the people who will be reading your thesis will not need to have markings in the text as to which word is to be found there.
If you absolutely must, then as @username_1 says: First appearance only.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Agreed with other posters. It is on your reader to look in the glossary you helpfully provide when they stumble on a word or term they're unfamiliar with. A word marked with an asterisk and "see glossary" would confuse me, personally. If you truly feel the need, I would mark it with a footnote that gives what page the term appears in your glossary.
If you're coining a new word/term in your thesis, you would explicitly define that in the text rather than direct a reader to the glossary.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I would say it depends on the field. In STEM, you will probably have definitions that should be clear on the first occurrence and used afterward. There you can emphasize the term you define, like
>
> We call a number *positive* when it is greater than 0
>
>
>
so it is clear which term you're actually defining. If a glossary or list of definitions is present, it is helpful when it contains every emphasized term. The other direction may or may not be useful depending on if the glossary is meant to contain everything needed or only the essential terms defined through the text. In the example above, you could also have a definition for *number* in the glossary, but you wouldn't want to emphasize it in this sentence because it is only used in the sentence but not defined there.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/21
| 1,361
| 5,579
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an upcoming assessment worth 45% of our final grade which I do not think is fair.
We have been allocated into groups of twelve, which is further split in half. Each sub-group is to prepare a report on a topic which is broadly related to the other sub-group's topic. Material co-operation between the two sub-groups is optional.
However, the whole group receives the same mark. I cannot fathom why this would be and why the sub-groups wouldn't receive seperate marks. I think it is unfair that we will be given very limited opportunities to appropriately vet or contribute to the work of the other group yet are still marked for it.
I asked my professor to change it, and she refused. Should I escalate this to the department chair? I don't want to come off like someone who is complaining without merit, nor do I really want my professor to know I complained against her.<issue_comment>username_1: It is an interesting grading concept, I think. It introduces a positive but competitive aspect, a goad to good work. Under those rules you do best by doing a superb job to make up for the possible failings of the other half of the "team". They have the same incentives. So, I find it hard to condemn.
Many competitive teaching aspects are, IMO, unethical, but this one doesn't seem to be, since you aren't graded *against* one another, assuming I'm reading it correctly. You each get to support one another by doing good work.
But, yes, if you think it unfair and the professor disagrees, then you can escalate it, though I doubt you would be successful. Most likely, the head or dean or whoever, would seek advice from the professor, using your name or not, and some of the above reasoning might come out.
If you do, escalate it, don't make it about the professor, but about the scheme itself.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: **Don't escalate to department chair**
Upon closer inspection , this assessment is nothing special : You have 11 groupmates , report on 2 similar topics . The ‘sub-group’ part is just telling you to distribute the work .
Poor combination of the 2 topics , poor corporation etc. may lower your grade , like any other group work this should be no surprise .
The department chair is very likely to see you as a non-team-player if you complain to them .
---
**General etiquette :**
In general , you’re not in a position to "ask my professor to change it", which may even come off as rude .
It's your professor's job to decide how to evaluate your performance under university's policy .
You can escalate if there's obvious policy violation , be sure to collect strong evidence . False accusation may backfire on you .
If you're just uncomfortable , you may kindly address your concern to your professor/school counselor , don't make demands or accusations . You may also provide honest feedback e.g. via the "end-of-course evaluation survey" .
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This grading method is unfair and difficult to defend. Grades are meant to assess your *individual* work and abilities — that is their whole purpose. Now, it’s true that this principle can reasonably be compromised in a small way in some project-based courses that have as their secondary goals the acquisition of “soft skills” such as teamwork and collaboration. That means that it’s defensible to give the same grade to small groups of 2-3 students working on a project, since this is a situation in which a student can reasonably stay informed of what their team members are doing and help ensure that the final work being submitted by the group is at a good level (by cajoling their team members, or stepping in to help as needed) even if there are some differences in the abilities and work ethic of the team members. The ability to collaborate with others and bring a collaborative project to a successful completion is a very valuable real-life skill, and it’s reasonable for a professor to want to encourage developing it.
However, in a group of 12 students, there is no realistic chance for a single student, however talented and hardworking, to ensure that the final work of the group as a whole is at a satisfactory level. If all the students in such a group get the same grade, that means some of them will almost certainly be unfairly penalized for the lackluster performance of other students. And some of them will almost certainly get a grade that is much better than they deserve. For a professor to willfully implement such a grading system seems to me deeply misguided at best, and unethical at worst.
I don’t know if you should complain. If your university and department are reasonably well-managed, I’d say yes, since it does not take a genius to see that this is not an appropriate pedagogical practice. But plenty of places in academia aren’t as well-functioning as we would like.
Even in a well-run department, grading policies traditionally fall under academic freedom (up to some limits of common sense, which are not frequently tested), so if the professor is a senior faculty member and will stand by her grading system, it is not guaranteed that there’s anything the department chair can do about it. If a direct complaint to the department doesn’t work, you could perhaps explore other avenues, like complaining to the student union, university ombuds office, etc, but as some point a cost-benefit calculation may make such steps seem not worth the effort.
In the end, the only thing we can say for sure is that if you don’t complain, the situation will not change. Good luck!
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/21
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<issue_start>username_0: In the course of an experimental study, I sent a few samples for testing at a commercial lab. By commercial, I mean that they provide standardized testing services for a fee, and are not engaged in research or development. These tests are a paid service rather than a collaboration.
The tests are routine engineering tests, generally used to qualify materials. I would like to include some of these test results in an upcoming manuscript, which contains several other experiments done at my institute. What is the appropriate procedure for using these results?
I'm considering:
(a) Include them with the other experimental procedures, specifying the standard that was followed for the tests. This would include all the details needed to reproduce the tests, without mentioning the specific lab where they were carried out.
(b) In addition to (a), mention the lab in the acknowledgements. I doubt this will benefit the lab in any way, but if its more ethically appropriate, I'd pick it. This is also what we'd do for tests done at another research/academic lab.
(c) Mention in the 'Methods' section itself that these tests were carried out at a commercial facility. This seems a bit jarring and awkward to me, and I've not seen it anywhere (yet).
Better suggestions are most welcome, examples (if available) would be great.<issue_comment>username_1: All of what you describe seems completely appropriate. In the methods section you should probably say why you use the lab. Independent tests according to a well-defined standard can be a plus in your methodology, lessening any hint of bias.
For the second point, I think it is more of an etiquette concern than, strictly, an ethical one, since the lab gets paid and isn't a "research collaborator". But, it is good to do in any case.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In your paper, you need to describe all the methods you used. One of the methods you used was to send samples for processing at a commercial lab. This is very common, I'm surprised you haven't encountered it before.
While you do not need to lay out all of their SOPs and specific sources of their reagents, you at **minimum** need to state the commercial lab you sent the samples to (typically by name, city, and country and any appropriate intermediate stages like US state) and the tests they performed. Also good to include *some* of the methodological details they used if they are not completely standard as these may change.
No need to put them in an acknowledgment.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I recommend citing the lab as a vendor, and then listing and citing any quality assurance standards the lab complies to, such as ISO9001 (or ISO 15189, for clinical labs). This way, you're off the hook entirely for describing the commercial lab's methods.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/21
| 567
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<issue_start>username_0: I was recently contacted by a journal editor where they effectively requested that I update my citation database. They said that they came across one of my pre-prints where I reference another pre-print, which has since been published in their journal:
>
> I was interested to see your article [some title] on [pre-print server]. In particular I noticed that you cite another article on [same pre-print server] that has recently been published in [journal that they are editor of].
>
>
> ...
>
>
> I wondered if you would be able to update your future reference lists to include these citation details in the published version where relevant.
>
>
>
While I'm happy to do so, this seems an odd request to make. It also seems like an issue that would sort itself out (*i.e.* if I were to cite the article again, I would naturally double-check for correctness and in the process see the published version and update the reference anyway).
Thus my question is: Is this common? How should I respond to this? While the email could conceivably have been generated by an automated script, it appears to have the human touch and be genuine.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm assuming this is a reputable journal and editor (if not, I'd ignore it). In my experience (in pure math, where we emphasize citations less that some other fields), this is not normal at all and would immediately lower my impression of this journal (and possibly the editor, though the editor may be acting on instructions from the journal).
That said, I'd still be polite, and say something like:
>
> Thanks for the update. I'll update that citation when I make revisions.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Documents are called pre-print for a reason. If you cite a pre-print, it means you cite something written in the internet, without any peer-review but only a marginal control on the author (speaking about authority principle).
If I were an editor, I would try to replace all pre-print with published, peer-reviewed papers, for the sake of science and to avoid propagation of pre-prints instead of peer-reviewed papers.
The fact that the editor contacts you about a paper of their own interest: you already gave your knowledge to them for (their) profit, be happy that they are providing some kind of helpful service!
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/22
| 566
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently in the following situation:
Another person (not from my department) and I did a study together.
The other person is an associate professor, I am a junior researcher (medical doctor).
We performed a secondary data analysis of clinical data. The data is his and I performed the analysis. We both wrote the manuscript. When discussing about authorship my collaborator was very liberal replying "XX, it is really up to you. Take the first or last authorship, whatever you prefer and like best". We are both from different countries (in Europe). The manuscript contains an author contribution section, detailing who did what.
How would you handle such a situation? I read that this is field-specific so I was wondering what would be best for medicine / statistical science.<issue_comment>username_1: In many fields (I cannot speak for the medical field, though), first author is the most coveted "spot" in the authors list.
Your professor probably has enough of a publication history amassed, so that he doesn't need another first-authored paper to enhance his reputation.
If he really doesn't mind, take the first author spot.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: * First author: The person who did most of the practical work
* Last author: The supervisor - most often had the idea/data
In your situation I would think that you should go first and he should go last as senior author. Would possibly benefit you both most. As Professor he doesn't need first authorships any more but you do (EDIT: and it might even be expected that he has primarily last authorships).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If it is deemed appropriate for you here some journals allow a symbol which marks *Authors contributed equally*, making the order of the names less significant. perhaps this applies here.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Most journals implement the concept of *shared first authorship*, A.K.A. *equal contribution*. How it is indicated varies, but ultimately it signals that the two of you made equal work and should be credited equally. Mentioning this to the editor should be enough. This concept is well understood in academy, so explaining this later will always be straightforward
Which one of you goes first in such a shared authorship has only symbolic value, so it's up to you two. Don't overthink it, I'm sure two polite academics can decide on it without either of them getting hurt.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/22
| 457
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<issue_start>username_0: In a Springer journal, one of the items in Authors Guidelines is :
**Manuscripts should be submitted in LaTeX. We recommend using Springer Nature’s LaTeX template.**
However, I have already typed the manuscript using the standard LaTeX template and I'm about to submit it.
Does the word **recommend** give me the freedom to choose not to use the journal's template?
Will this give a bad impression to the editor?<issue_comment>username_1: I can speak for math - usually the editors don't care. I can imagine that if you do something silly, like setting ultra-narrow margins with small text (to decrease the page count for example) then they might object. But otherwise, just send your paper in a readable format.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, you can choose not to follow their recommendation and if your template isn't too different from the recommended one, then the editor will likely pass the paper to reviewers as usual (depending on the quality, of course).
But they are unlikely to publish your paper with that template, seeking a uniform look for what they publish. At some point in the process, assuming you aren't rejected, you will be asked to reformat the paper to the recommended (now required) one. So, think about whether it is worth the effort to do it now, knowing it will probably be required later.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Ask the journal editor(s) about this, not us.
2. You asked two questions: Can you submit, and will this give a bad impression. Most likely your submission will not be rejected outright because of the template, but you might be told you need to fix this ASAP, or fix this for the galley proofs, or whatever. Or you might not - depends on the journal's policy; maybe the typeset things themselves? Again, see (1.) . About the impression - you will at most give the impression of being absent-minded, which is typical in academia...
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing my masters thesis at a company. The thesis is about customer segmentation. One research contribution of the thesis was to propose a way to validate the found clusters in an unsupervised setting.
That being said, to find clusters, I followed a very standard process. From raw data, I made a feature table, did some data pre-processing, dimension reduction and then clustering. I did not have to do any literature review for that.
Also for the cluster validation, me and my supervisor kind of came up with the method.
Now that I am writing my thesis, I don't have anything to write in this 'Related Work' chapter. Or it seems to me like that way. There has been some customer segmentation related work done at the company before, but there is not any scientific work. Can I mention those works?<issue_comment>username_1: From the question I see at least three opportunities where including a discussion on related work would be useful.
>
> One research contribution of the thesis was to propose a way to validate the found clusters in an unsupervised setting.
>
>
>
In order to qualify the proposed method as a research contribution, it would be very useful to include other existing methods on cluster validation and describe why they do not meet your needs.
>
> From raw data, I made a feature table, did some data pre-processing, dimension reduction and then clustering.
>
>
>
While you might consider such process as standard and thus not requiring any literature review, it will be useful to include a description of the "standard" machine learning lifecycle\* and the theory behind the methods applied in each step. This will help demonstrate you have mastery of the materials.
>
> There has been some customer segmentation related work done at the company before, but there is not any scientific work.
>
>
>
While previous approaches may not be scientific, they are nonetheless approaches. Presumably, the project you are doing is providing some extra value to your stakeholders and thus it will be a useful discussion on how is it doing so.
---
\* Spoiler alert: A "standard" machine learning lifecycle is less standardised than you think.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is common to feel like you have nothing to say in the "Related Work" section of your thesis. After all, you are writing about your own original research. However, it is still important to situate your work in the broader context of existing knowledge. In this case, you can mention the customer segmentation work that has been done at your company. While this work may not be scientific, it will still be helpful for readers to see how your work fits into the larger landscape. Additionally, you can use this section to discuss any related work that you have found in your literature review. By situating your work in the broader context, you can help readers to understand its significance and contribution.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/22
| 1,687
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<issue_start>username_0: My advisor has become increasingly toxic since the beginning of the pandemic. He makes belittling comments about my competence over small things like typos, shuts down my ideas as "bullshit" (and sometimes comes up with the same ideas "himself" a day later). Frequently skips our scheduled meetings, yet refuses to give comments/feedback on manuscript drafts unless we go through them together. He has been blaming the lack of productivity on my unwillingness to work weekends/late evenings (while he never comes in to work before noon) or on not being "proactive" and competent enough.
Some of my friends have encouraged me to go to the department. Our department seems to have an ok culture, and I feel like if I were to go to the grad chair with my concerns and incidents that I have documented, the department would want to help. However, I am close to graduating, so do not want to switch advisors, so I am not sure the department can do more than give him a mild slap on the hand and tell him to be a better advisor. I'm also terrified of him finding out this way that one of the students has complained about him, I can imagine things getting much worse for us after that. But I wanted to post this in case I'm missing something and there are ways for the department to help us out? My goals would be for my advisor to have more reasonable turnaround times so that I can publish my work faster and graduate and get out, or for the department to allow me to graduate without completing all of the projects in my proposal.<issue_comment>username_1: Given that you are close to graduation, and provided the supervisor isn't standing in your way, your best solution is probably just to struggle through it and ignore the negatives. Assume it is their problem, not yours, as long as your path remains open.
But, the worst case would be for you to complain and the administration to consider it a serious breach and fire the person, leaving you without an advisor.
I agree with the comment that the advisor seems to be under some pressure that they don't know how to deal with and lash out at everything. Try to separate your mental state from that.
At your state of completion, don't try to take responsibility for the woes of the other students. Prioritize finishing.
While the advisors supervisors (head, dean) can advise and discipline the person, it isn't likely to benefit you. They might actually need counseling, but that is not your call.
Another option, open to some students, is to have a chat with another (very) trusted faculty member who might offer advice and/or try to deal with the issue without you being involved. Another faculty member can talk to the head or the dean about issues of concern, where it is more risky for a student.
---
Let me also warn against making a complaint soon after you finish your degree. While it may seem satisfying, it can come back to haunt you. In your early career job search, especially in academia, you may need the support of your advisor, whether for postdoc or regular positions.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Do you have any co-supervisors? If so, it may be beneficial for you to start relying more on them for support if you're not getting it from your main supervisor. Direct more of your queries to them, meet up with them if you can't get hold of your main supervisor. If your main supervisor complains, frame your response as sympathetic to their situation. Say something like "I know you are very busy at the moment, so I thought it would help you if I worked out this problem/got feedback on this report with co-supervisor X instead." This puts them in a situation where they're going to sound very ungrateful if they chastise you for trying to help them, so either they have to accept the situation and delegate more control to a co-supervisor, or improve their relationship with you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I was in a very similar situation. My advice is to take it on the chin and finish. In a couple semesters this will be behind you. You will never have to speak to this guy again.
Understand this: from the perspective of your department, your professor is an asset. You are a liability. There is no 'slap on the wrist' for him. There is a 'he cant work well with others' FOR YOU. Now, of course your department might be filled with bigger character integrities than mine (I certainly hope this is true), but the black and white is that you are an invited guest and the department is one meeting away from conspiring to get you out the door with not even a 'good luck' to show for it. He is valuable. You are not.
Everyone wants a PhD until its time to PhD. Take a big whiff. This is what it takes. God bless you, sir. You are not alone.
Edit: Here is what you should do. Approach a third party within your discipline. Do not mention you're having problems with your advisor. This third party should be a relatively established respected member of the department. Say something along the lines of, "Please join our regular group meeting as I am approaching graduation and I would greatly appreciate extra eyes and feedback on my work". A group dynamic should help reduced the toxicity. It is imperative they join as an extra observer. Do not mention any personal problems. Do not take no for an answer. Do not attend one on one meetings with your supervisor.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I experienced a similar situation and here are my hints on how to prepare the ground for an explicit confrontation:
* Look around for a possible new supervisor. Implicitly. "Dear professor XYZ, I am about to finish my thesis soon and would appreciate your high-level feedback. Would you mind spending one hour with me?" This conversation can help you to get oriented more objectively - where you are right, where your supervisor is right. It might also increase your courage in any possible direction. You will see to what extent the person is willing to help you and if you can trust him/her. You can be more open then and say: "Would you be able to finish supervising my thesis if the situation gets wrong?" This offer might be more attractive to them than you would expect. Yes, it might be a bit risky, but still. They can claim they have supervised one more Ph.D. and it will cost them weeks, not years.
* Collect evidence about the improper behavior of your supervisor. What are the dates of missed meetings? What are the examples of arrogant communication? Turn the communication with your current supervisor into a written form as much as possible. Be factual and assertive. Use open questions if relevant like: "How can I finish my thesis without having your feedback on Chapter 3?"
One more hint: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014DUR7L2/ref=dbs\_a\_def\_rwt\_hsch\_vapi\_tkin\_p1\_i0](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B014DUR7L2) or
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89iQAAxBBaQ> .
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/23
| 3,579
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<issue_start>username_0: I will be completing my PhD soon, and my supervisor is asking me to sign an IPR declaration where I have to mention the research works where I had direct or indirect contribution. However, it also states that I will not get any authorship in the resulting publication.
Here is the text of the declaration:
>
> I will disclose any research result during PhD that may lead to intellectual property. I also completely understand that my name shall not be included as inventor/ author of the IP filing/publication.
>
>
>
This is not a university policy; only the students in my lab are signing this. I do not know where this document originated; my supervisor may have drafted it themself. I am not concerned about the IP part of this, but I do want authorship in any papers based on my work.
I have not yet asked my supervisor whether I have to sign this or whether I'm allowed to revise it before signing. However, my understanding is that he will want new students to pick up the ongoing work, but he figures (correctly) that new students will not be motivated to continue with mostly-finished lines of inquiry unless they are promised first authorship. So, this is his way of doing just that.
My question is, can authorship of someone's own research work be denied in this manner? I may have to sign it now under indirect pressure (to get a PhD without hassle with my supervisor), but can I challenge the declaration in future if papers are published based on my work that do not list me as an author?
Recent Update: I talked to my supervisor. He told me that he is not interested anymore in the particular work that I am concerned about and therefore he is probably not going to publish it. So according to him my authorship in that work is out of question. I am still clueless as he had shown interest in that work previously. Later he sent an email to me and other graduating students, requesting us to submit the IP declaration again. In the email he mentioned that "your contributions will be duly acknowledged", but he didn't ammend the declaration itself. Many of my colleagues (who are going to graduate) have submitted the declaration already and are not interested in arguing with him.<issue_comment>username_1: Your question asks "can" authorship be denied? That's probably a legal question, best suited for another forum. But you might also be interested in the ethical question, "should" you be denied authorship?
I'm sure that every field and country has its own norms. You live in India and study chemistry; I live in the US and study medicine. However, I believe the ethics of authorship are relatively *generalizable*.
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has provided recommendations for "[Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors](https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html)":
>
> **Who Is an Author?**
>
> The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:
>
>
> * Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
> * Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
> * Final approval of the version to be published; AND
> * Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are
> appropriately investigated and resolved.
> ...
>
>
> All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, **and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors.** ... The criteria are not intended for use as a means to disqualify colleagues from authorship who otherwise meet authorship criteria by denying them the opportunity to meet criterion #s 2 or 3. **Therefore, all individuals who meet the first criterion should have the opportunity to participate in the review, drafting, and final approval of the manuscript.** [Emphasis added]
>
>
>
Thus, we can see that authorship should be an inherent quality of an individual based upon their contributions to the research endeavor, not a right or privilege merely to be optionally asserted.
Just because you sign a piece of paper, that doesn't somehow change your "substantial contributions" to the work.
Thus, I hold that ethically, you cannot *and should not* have your authorship discharged by contract.
---
##### So, what should you actually do?
I would recommend having a discussion with your advisor asking for clarification. I hope that most researchers would share the opinion that research team members that make "substantial contributions" to a work should be authors.
Perhaps you could have the wording of the document amended to something along the lines of:
>
> I also completely understand that my name shall not be included as inventor of any IP filing. Moreover, I will not be listed as an author on any publication to which I have not made substantial contributions.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Are you sure that you correctly understand the meaning and scope of the document that has been proposed to you?
It is generally hard to try, after you have signed something, to undo the effect of a written statement you have signed, and much better and often easier not to sign it at all.
If you are under some kind of pressure to provide a document of the kind proposed, then it would be advisable first to try to have a dialogue with your supervisor or other person proposing it, to try to understand better just what s/he thinks it should suitably cover or contain. If you have taken part in an ancillary way in work that is mainly being done by others, and the circumstances are that you would not yourself think it fair for you to claim co-authorship in their publication, then in principle I see no harm in making a statement of the kind requested, so long as it is limited to that kind of involvement and that particular activity.
If on the other hand the supervisor turns out to be expecting you to make a disclaimer for work in which you have taken a part important enough for you to claim authorship or co-authorship, then you need to consider saying so, and claiming that authorship or co-authorship. There you have a potential dispute on your hands and you need to take advice beyond what is available in this forum.
If in addition the supervisor is really expecting you to make that kind of a disclaimer for work on which your part is really that of an innventor or coinventor, then the supervisor would be making a proposal which is actually illegal in India as in practically all other countries, and the people who wrongfully apply for a patent as a result of it would be at risk, if discovered, of losing the rights and of subjecting themselves to other legal risks also.
But in my experience there can indeed be situations in which a person P has had a (definite but slight) degree of involvement with a piece of work and its investigators A, B, &c, but not so much that a co-authorship is warranted for P in the resulting publication by A, B... . P's part may be worth a collegial acknowledgement but no more. Examples of such involvement can be those that go no further than generally useful conversation, or routine ancillary assistance.
If your department has a policy of clarifying the non-authorship of people in that ancillary position, and is not just aiming something specially at you, then I see no injustice or harm in your agreeing to take part in that precaution, just so long as you think carefully and take care about the breadth of any statement to which you may consider putting your name.
It may be useful for you to think through (1) which parts of your activities are those for which you definitely feel entitled to be an author or co-author in a resulting publication, and whether there are (2) activities that you have been involved with in an ancillary way, or parts you have taken in the work of others, for which you would not justly make such a claim.
If there is anything in category (2), then it seems to me that it would be reasonable and harmless for you to acknowledge it, as well as reasonable for the main investigators to ask for such an acknowledgement, to prevent disputes arising later. If there is anything in category (2) on which you feel prepared to give such an acknowledgement, then naturally the relevant description of the work of others to which your acknowledgement applies should be written in carefully limited terms, so that there is no risk of its effect 'spilling over' onto some activity or topic more important to you.
If you feel that you have not taken part in anything in category (2), i.e. that you have had no ancillary involvements that are too slight for you to claim to be a co-author, then your reply to your supervisor can simply be, that there is no work or activity in that category to which his proposed document would properly apply.
For your activities in category (1), the boot is entirely on the other foot. You should be prepared to state what your activities have been, and make positive claim of your activities and entitlement to be an author or co-author of any resulting publication, and you ought to be prepared to describe what those topics or activities have been. If, as it might seem, it is a policy in your department for ancillary helpers to be asked to disclaim being a co-author, then you should also consider making just that same kind of request in respect of any others who you are aware to have had an ancillary involvement in your own work that is so peripheral that they should not in justice seek to be named as author or co-author on the strength of it.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The declaration is rather sweeping, and while it may be meant to facilitate transfer of projects, it could be made oppressive.
Since you are close to finishing your PhD, most of your primary/'first author' manuscripts would presumably be in some partially prepared state. Your interest is to secure those. The best move would be to send those manuscripts to your professor over email before signing the declaration.
This may not be practically feasible, so you could mail the professor a list of manuscripts that you have planned, and ask if these could be exempted from the declaration.
The point of having it on mail is that you have tangible support for your case, should there be any future difficulties.
Personally, I don't read any bad faith into the declaration, but it is certainly unusual. There may be mitigating factors though; one is that the continued research (across batches of students) is funded by the same grant/funder, and continuity of work is essential. This would also explain why it is lab policy, rather than university policy. Still, you must take reasonable measures to protect yourself.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Based on your update, you are confused about what is being asked.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Your supervisor is not asking you to sign away authorship; he is asking you to sign away any *patent rights* you might have.
Doing so looks a little sketchy. However, without knowing how you are funded, what your lab does, or what agreements you have already made, it's very hard to say that it's actually bad, and I would tend to think the intent is innocent.
Here is a quick example of how this might be entirely legitimate:
You are working in a group doing research on blood clotting. You finish up your work and move on. Five years later, your lab patents a cool new band-aid that instantly stops bleeding, and spins off a startup to start marketing them.
To make this work, they need clear ownership of that patent. It's actually fine if you have partial ownership of the patent (they can plan for it and negotiate with you), but it is very bad if you *might* have ownership. So to fix that, your lab demands that you claim any IP you might have before you leave, and waive claims to anything that you don't claim now. The language you posted looks consistent with that.
---
Of course, they *could* also be strong-arming you into giving up IP that you rightfully own because they are bad people. It just wouldn't be my first guess.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I am going to try to answer this from a legal perspective. You should really consult an IP lawyer if you have concerns over this.
Yes, you can waive your right to be named as an author. The most obvious cases of this happening are where there is a “ghost” writer. But quite often an employer will ask that you waive these rights too. In the EU/UK this would be called waiving your Moral Rights.
However, when that is done the document/contract that states this will be quite detailed, not three lines.
I am not a lawyer, but if I were I would seriously doubt the validity of this document, or at least what it purports to achieve. The first reason for this is that you evidently believe that you are being coerced into this position, and contracts formed via coercion cannot be legally enforced.
The more elaborate arguments against it involve the terms stated "shall not be included as author/inventor". This is an odd turn of phrase. Great, you are not named as author/inventor, but can you still claim to be the author/inventor? Are you entitled in equity to the benefits of authorship/inventorship? If the answers to those questions are “yes”, then for practical purposes you would be the author/inventor. That is to say that you get to claim authorship/inventorship and you get all the financial rewards of such…
The main purpose of contract is to attempt to remove doubt from any agreement between parties. The agreement you have posted does not appear to achieve that in any realistic way.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: **You should not sign the document.** It is common for PhD contracts (in the UK and USA) to have a clause stating that any IP generated in the university's facilities belongs to the university and not the student. If that is the case, then there is no need to sign the document. However, if it is not the case then there is no reason you should be pressured into signing away any rights of authorship or ownership that you may have.
Your supervisor claims that he is uninterested in the work and will not publish it. If that is true, then there is no benefit for them if you sign it anyway, which would make me even more suspect of their motivations. They may want to make their life easier in the future in case they realise some of your work has commercial/IP value - but you should not lose out for the sake of their convenience. Don't be afraid to push back on unreasonable requests.
Practically, you still have to deal with your supervisor and get your PhD. If I were you, I would first check what my signed PhD contract (including any official departmental policies you agreed to at the time) says. If the situation is still unclear then I would say I'm not comfortable signing something without getting independent advice (e.g. a lawyer) given how broad the scope is, and make sure that any communication with your PI regarding this issue (e.g. if they hint that not signing will delay your graduation) is in writing. You can see from the other comments here that it is very unclear what you would actually be agreeing to, and that is reason enough to not sign something.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/23
| 1,195
| 5,366
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's some backgound...
I wrote a master thesis several years ago in my native language (Not in English).
And recently I am planning to further my studies and so I think an English version of the paper will help my applications for English-speaking schools.
And here goes some tricky parts...
How should I deal with some claims in the paper , which were the most reason why I did the research, like "no one has yet applied tech A into field B" which was true by then (appreantly not true now)
Should I untouch these claims or should I adjust them to the nowadays facts.<issue_comment>username_1: I am not sure why you think translating your thesis will help you with admissions, but I will make the assumption that you want to be able to submit documents in English that demonstrate your previous research work.
In terms of translating your master thesis, simply indicate when the original was written and when the translation was made. The fact that some assertions in your master thesis are no longer true does not make it "wrong".
Whatever you do, do not modify the content of your thesis when you translate it. If you do, than that would no longer be a translation and you risk falling into self-plagiarism.
The fact that you are aware of more recent research related to what you did a few years ago is a good thing that you will be able to discuss during interviews. But that doesn't allow you to make a revision of your Master thesis.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: When making claims in a paper, it is important to be accurate and specific. In your case, if you are claiming that "no one has yet applied tech A into field B," you should make sure that this is actually the case. Citing sources that support your claim can help to add credibility to your argument. However, if it turns out that your claim is inaccurate, you may need to revise your paper. In some cases, it may be possible to explain away the inaccuracy by providing context or additional information. For instance, you could note that your claim was true at the time of your research but is no longer accurate. Alternatively, you could qualify your claim by adding a time frame or geographic location (e.g., "to the best of my knowledge, no one has yet applied tech A into field B in the United States"). If none of these options are possible or desirable, you may need to delete the claim from your paper altogether.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you produce an "annotated translation" rather than a "strict" one then the problem goes away. You can asterisk the phrase "no one has yet applied tech A into field B" with a footnote that updates the claim with a more modern one, providing a citation.
You could actually go further by producing an "updated translation" that gives even more information if you have it now but didn't then. If you've done research on the topic since then it might be useful to do this.
A third option is to product a new paper that isn't a translation at all, but a new work based on the old one, citing it appropriately and with newer results. That is probably more than you want at the moment, I'd guess.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Before you actually start translating your master's thesis, you really should ask yourself whether the effort that you are going to expend on this is proportionate to your intended goal. If you intend to embark on such a time-consuming process, it should be based on more solid evidence than simply "I think an English version of the paper will help my applications for English-speaking schools". In particular, if this really is your main motivation, then it may be a good idea to post a separate question here asking to what extent such a translation can be expected to help your application.
Concerning your actual question, there is no reason why translating your thesis would need to involve updating it. A translation is just that: a rendering of an existing document which was written in one language in another language. You wouldn't go back and revise your thesis simply because it no longer reflects the state of the art, therefore there is no need to do so in a translation.
That said, while there is no *need* to do this, you can certainly *choose* to add some updates to your thesis. However, such material would need to be clearly marked, i.e. you would need to clearly distinguish between the original text and any later additions. One reasonable solution would be to add footnotes in some appropriate places. Such footnotes would then need to be clearly distinguished from footnotes which are part of the original thesis.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: My suggestion would be to instead write a condensed paper in English, describing your research question, approach, and main results, properly referring to the relevant sections or page numbers in the thesis.
This paper would then also include a *"Discussion"* section that details those advances in the field since your thesis was done that you mentioned, and maybe some other insights you've since developed, or ideas for future work. If you could find some link to the research area of the group you're applying to, that might also go in that section.
You could then even publish that paper on ArxiV, to make your results more accessible for everybody.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/23
| 2,821
| 9,676
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<issue_start>username_0: As far as I understand,
1. In the USA, they use "X, PhD."
2. The rest of the world use "Dr. X."
In Germany, they use the latter form.
If someone completes an interdisciplinary (chemical sciences and computer science) **PhD in Germany, can they use #1 in Germany**, if they want to?<issue_comment>username_1: Degrees that were awarded as PhD are styled as such in Germany and written after the name. Doctoral degrees that are awarded in Germany or the EU can permit you to shorten from "Dr. rer. nat." to just "Dr." before your name. Using a doctorate that you have not been awarded is a serious crime in Germany and can bring stiff fines and even a year's jail time. See [StgB § 132a](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__132a.html).
Doctorates awarded outside of the EU have to be formally recognized by the state education ministry and then the name of the granting university has to be appended. For example, our Russian instructor uses:
Dr. (Staatliche Kuban-Universität)
If you have defended your doctorate but haven't published your thesis yet (mandatory for using the doctoral degree in your name) you are permitted to write "Dr. des." (designated). You also don't have to correct people who mislabel you "Dr." anymore.
If you went to the Czech Republic or Slovakia and got one of their PhDr degrees thinking it was a doctorate, you lose. For bizarre reasons, it is only recognized in Bavaria and Berlin as being worthy of the "Dr.", not in the rest of the states. The former Minister of Transportation was thus "Dr." when leaving home in Munich, not "Dr." during the flight to Berlin, and "Dr." again when he landed.
If you have two doctorates, then Dr. Dr. is used. If you have a professorship (and only then, not when you are just an instructor) then you may use Prof. Dr.
At Universities of Applied Sciences you may still encounter the style "Prof. Dipl.-Inform.", which is what I was until I got my doctoral dissertation published.
When speaking German, you research and use the proper titles. People on the same level (i.e. professor to professor, doctor to doctor) do not use any titles. Speaking English will vary by field. In Computer Science we generally try to avoid using titles, if we have to and are speaking "up" we would use just "Dr." or "Prof.". If you read German, there is a nice long [article](https://www.unker.com/de/akademische-titel), and of course many more at sites that sell phony doctorates.
Some relevant comics for English: [PHD Comics](https://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1153) - [What should I call my professor?](http://www.unwrittenhistories.com/what-should-i-call-my-professor/)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Using degree titles next to your name is regulated by law in Germany, and there have been cases where people got in trouble due to being careless - The [federal law](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__132a.html) forbidding the use of an academic degree that you don't have lists imprisonment as a possible punishment (not sure if that happens often, though).
IANAL, but as a rule of thumb, you are *not* free to choose the abbreviation for a doctoral degree to your liking. You have to use the ones you are *allowed* to use. To make these matters complicated, these are regulated in the laws and regulations of the respective state.
For instance, for the state of North Rhine-Westfalia, you can find the rules on who is allowed to use "Dr." that *extend* the respective law here [here](https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_bes_text?sg=0&menu=1&bes_id=11587&aufgehoben=N&anw_nr=2) - as you can see, it's complicated.
While I currently don't see it spelled out, it is unlikely that calling yourself a ", PhD" is allowed unless your degree was conferred with this abbreviation because that looks like listing a degree that you don't have. German PhD certificates will state the correct abbreviation.
Note that it is however perfectly legal to call somebody "Doktor" who isn't. So after a doctoral defense, the members of the committee will often call the person who just passed "Doktor" while it is customary for the head of the committee to remind the candidate that he/she is not legally able to call herself a doctor until he/she has the respective certificate in her hand.
Oh, and until you have the degree certificate in hand, calling yourself a "Doktorand" if you are working towards a PhD is the (safe) way to go!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Short answer: you are allowed to use the academic degree in exactly the way it is stated on your certificate ("Promotionsurkunde") and in no other.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I assume that the academic degree in question as granted by the faculty is “Dr. rer. nat.” (or similar). There are some faculties in Germany which grant you a “PhD” either exclusively or in addition to a “Dr.”, in which case the situation is clear.
First of all, we have [Section 132a](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p1373) of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) which says:
>
> Whoever, without being authorised to do so, uses domestic or foreign […] academic degrees […] incurs a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine.
>
>
>
Since *PhD* is clearly an academic degree, you can only use it when authorised. Usually, this authorisation can stem from the degree itself or the [nostrification process](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostrifikation), which can authorise you to use a foreign doctoral degree. Apart from such individual processes, there are state-wise laws governing the automatic conversion of degrees and similar. Unfortunately, there are sixteen of them and their content and structure differs. For example:
* North-Rhine-Westphalia has [§69 Hochschulgesetz](http://www.lexsoft.de/cgi-bin/lexsoft/justizportal_nrw.cgi?xid=2566366,70) and [Verordnung über die Führung von akademischen Graden und von Bezeichnungen im Hochschulbereich](https://recht.nrw.de/lmi/owa/br_bes_text?sg=0&menu=1&bes_id=11587&anw_nr=2).
These are mostly about foreign degrees and mention nothing of automatically converting *Dr.* to *PhD.*
* Bavaria has [Art. 99 Bayerisches Hochschulinnovationsgesetz](https://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/BayHIG-99), which says (translation mine):
>
> Die von staatlichen oder staatlich anerkannten Hochschulen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland verliehenen akademischen Grade dürfen nur gemäß der Verleihungsurkunde oder in der sonst festgelegten Form geführt werden.
>
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Academic degrees granted by the federal or federally certified universities in the Federal Republic of Germany can only be used according to the diploma or in the otherwise specified form.
>
>
>
There is a separate law about converting foreign PhDs.
While I haven’t checked all sixteen state laws, they are usually homogeneous in such respects.
This is confirmed by [this article from *Der Spiegel*](https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/job/promotion-doktorspielchen-mit-dem-phd-a-330409.html) about *PhD* vs. *Dr.* from 2004, which mentions (translation mine):
>
> […] So wird aus Dr. Heinzel wie selbstverständlich Heinzel PhD.
>
>
> […] "Das ist nicht okay", hält <NAME> von der Kultusministerkonferenz dagegen. "Akademische Grade dürfen grundsätzlich nur in der Originalform geführt werden, wie sie an einer Uni erworben wurden." Zwar kann beispielsweise ein PhD aus England oder USA hier zu Lande in den Dr. umgewandelt (im Fachbegriff "nostrifiziert") werden. "Umgekehrt läuft das aber nicht", so Conrad. "Wer das nicht beachtet, begeht eine Ordnungswidrigkeit oder Straftat und riskiert eine saftige Geldbuße."
>
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
> […] This way, *Dr. Heinzel* naturally becomes *Heinzel PhD.*
>
>
> […] “This is not okay”, conters <NAME> from the Kultusministerkonferenz [conference of ministers of education]. “You may only use academic degrees in their original form in principle.” There is a way to convert a PhD from the UK or US into *Dr.* here (“nostrification”), but Conrad says: “This doesn’t work the other way round. If you do not adhere to this, you commit an infraction or crime and risk a hefty fee.”
>
>
>
Now, this article is from 2004, but I could not find anything that changes this.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: I shall take myself as an example. I received a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge. This lets me use the following styles in Germany:
* Dr username_5 Pauly [which is what my German passport says]
* username_5 Pauly, PhD [because I have a certificate stating that I've got a PhD from a recognized university]
* username_5 Pauly, PhD (Cantab) [if I want to highlight that my PhD is from Cambridge]
I am not allowed to style myself as "Dr rer nat username_5 Pauly", despite the fact that German doctorates in Computer Science have the "rer nat" designation. This is because I don't have any certificate stating that I do have a "Dr rer nat". [There is a process how I can obtain such a certificate though.] Dually, someone who received a "Dr rer nat" can go with "Dr Rer nat X Y" or "Dr X Y", but not "X Y, PhD" - because they have a doctorate, but not specifically a PhD.
There is a further complication, and that is the mentioning of the awarding institution. You can only drop it if it is a fully recognized doctorate at a fully recognized university (everything in the EU is fine, and there is an official list). There is also a category of universities where you are allowed to list the doctorate, but ONLY in combination with the name of the awarding university.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/24
| 706
| 2,833
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm second author on a paper I have been working on with 7 others for a while. It has to do with machine learning in medicine. I did a bit of the programming but I mostly got help from my mentors (and from Stack Overflow). The parts of the paper I wrote were scrapped/revised by others in my group. The things I wrote barely impacted the paper.
However in the end I ended up being listed second author out of 8 people, which I don't think I deserve. I asked the person who is third author if they wanted to switch with me but they gracefully declined. I still feel genuinely like I don't deserve to be second author and I don't want to be accused down the line of inflating my position on the paper.
Should I insist to be taken down to third/fourth author (which is what I think I deserve)?<issue_comment>username_1: Evidently the 7 other authors think you deserve it, including the person with whom you generously offered to switch authorship, so I would recommend [not to look at the gift horse's teeth](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/don%27t_look_a_gift_horse_in_the_mouth) any further.
If you were worried that the paper might not be up to your quality standards and that you'd be criticized for the *quality* in the future, I think you would have mentioned that, and that you wouldn't want to be an author ***at all***, so I'm fairly sure that's not the case.
I would be happy to know that my co-authors value my contributions to the extent that they do for yours :)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Reading a paper presenting a list of 8 authors, I would think "that was a big team work effort".
In my eyes, the difference between the 2nd and the 5th would be negligible. And even regarding the contribution of the first author with respect to the others, I would expect it to be only marginally larger.
In the long run, if your curriculum is composed of only 3 papers, it is not that important if you are first or fourth author, it is important that you can leverage on one paper because you enjoyed the work and you think the message of the paper gives something to the scientific community.
On the other hand, if you have 20 papers, it is not that important if you are first or fourth author because you are in a big group and you should be able to present a coherent research story treading altogether various papers (well, not all of them altogether :D ).
Disclaimer: unfortunately my opinions belongs to me, you will find plenty of a\*\*holes doing all sort of nasty things to be in position (n-1), producing all kind of weird rankings to "rationally" quantify importance of an author based on the median and sigma deviation of the co-authorship position. "Don't feed the troll": don't give too much importance to co-authorship position that would feed those behaviours.
Upvotes: 4
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2022/08/24
| 1,705
| 7,777
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<issue_start>username_0: I was hoping someone can help me with an issue that has been bothering me for some time.
Last year I came up with an idea for a project for my PhD. I don't know why, but for some reason myself and my supervisor decided to work on this project in collaboration with another PhD student and his supervisor from another University in a different country.
Throughout the project both PhD supervisors had very little involvement in the project. The other PhD student had only very minor involvement. The project lasted about a year, during which time we met as a group maybe 5 times and we would simply tell the two supervisors what we had done and they would just say it looks good.
Now I worked on this project about 92-95% myself and the other PhD student contributed, about 5%. I did all the background work myself and wrote code myself, and ran experiments myself. The other PhD students contributions involved mainly helping me to debug code or helping to make my code more efficient.
One thing that annoyed me was he was in the final year of his PhD and devoted as little time as he possibly could to this project. He always had some excuse as to why he cant work on the project right now. It was always "I'm submitting my thesis in January and cant work on this project until then", followed by "I got an extension on my thesis until March so cant work on the project till then", followed by "I got an extension on my thesis till June so cant work on the project until then". Then he finally submitted his thesis and these excuses changed to "I'm doing an online course for two weeks so cant work on this project until this is finished" or "I am going on holidays for two weeks so cant do anymore until I'm back". Keep in mind throughout much of this time he was always on standby to offer minor help such as helping me debug code, but he did very little. He was also present in all our online meetings with our supervisors and he would always keep himself informed on what I have done and he would be interested in knowing my progress and he would offer suggestions on problems I encountered. But his attitude was always like "i can help but cant devote too much time into it". Before we started the project he did mention before how he tries to be involved in many projects but do only a small amount of work just to "get his name on a paper". At the time I never thought much about this but towards the end of this project I realized that's exactly what he was using me for.
Before I knew it, the project was done practically entirely myself. It then came to write the paper. I wrote the entire paper myself from start to finish. This PhD student then changed a few minor grammar details and said "I corrected a lot of mistakes and can't contribute anymore until after my thesis defense". He then had his defense and continued not to be involved in the writing of the paper, but said he was happy for it to be submitted. My supervisor also agreed.
Then the other PhD supervisor was "too busy" to read the paper until about 6 weeks have passed. He read a few paragraphs and said he doesn't want it submitted until he has read all of it. The paper is about 20 pages and he read about 10. He then made a few minor changes and said he wanted other things included and said he cant do anymore as he is going on holidays. That was about 3 weeks ago now and there is still no sign of him reading or editing it anymore. Bear in mind this supervisor had no involvement in the project until all the work was done and the first draft of the paper was written. He is now essentially holding the project hostage and putting me at risk of another group publishing a similar paper before we do and thus affecting my PhD and the countless hours i put into the project.
The other PhD student at this time is not helping implement suggestions from his supervisor and is expecting me to implement everything he had previously demanded the first time he read the paper.
My question is, do I have good enough reason to remove both of these people as co authors and stop them from holding my work hostage? The difficulty is primarily on the fact that the other PhD student made very minor contributions, but as little as he could. The other PhD supervisor is someone who could be grading my PhD down the line so I don't want us to fall out, but I'm sick of him not taking this project seriously.
One thing I never mentioned was my supervisor also did little to nothing, but because he's my supervisor I'm less annoyed at him being included as an author.
Edit: To simplify the question, I should have stated that I meant removed as an author but kept in the acknowledgements section. This is when they made very minor contributions but were "too busy" to do any real work throughout the project.<issue_comment>username_1: From what you describe, I do not think you have any basis to remove these coauthors (particularly the other graduate student). They have given you intellectual and material support throughout and expect to be authors based on your earlier conversation. If you want to change the parameters of what was agreed in that initial conversation, you need a new conversation where everyone agrees with the new plan. That might include changing someone from an author role to an acknowledgement, but this is not something you can simply do unilaterally without a discussion.
It's very rare for collaborative work to be divided evenly - you should not expect a paper with 4 authors has 4 equal contributors measured in time spent. Usually one person leads things and does the majority of the work, while others may contribute particular elements or provide guidance, advice, and direction.
In my field at least, this asymmetry is captured in authorship order: the first author is expected to have given the primary effort toward the project. However, it's still expected that not all authors contribute "equally" even in fields where authorship order does not indicate level of contribution. Many journals now ask for a statement about author contributions, which will indicate which parts of the project different authors were responsible for and will generally highlight the person who did the majority of the work.
I'd also note that thesis writing time is a very stressful time for a graduate student - they're preparing a document of a form they've likely never produced before that is going to be used to judge their entire PhD. It's the ultimate final exam. I don't think this other student has been trying to lead you on or get away with doing the bare minimum - they are busy and perhaps feeling overwhelmed. Stress doesn't stop when you finish, either - they've got to figure out what things come next in their career. Your project is a side project for them, so they're putting in side project effort.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Co-authors holding work hostage by taking too long to review/contribute is unfortunately very common. Once the parameters of authorship are decided (as they were in this case), delays would not generally be considered sufficient reason to make major changes (remove them as co-authors).
This experience will, however, make you more cautious of picking co-authors in the future, that's a long term benefit. In the worst case, you may get scooped by the other group-which also happens and is painful, but not life-altering.
The best bet is to use all persuasive means at your disposal and convince these two co-authors to move faster. I venture to suggest that your supervisor may do a good job at this, so you could try to bring them on board first. You could diplomatically hint that this would be a major contribution from them (given that they have otherwise had a minor role).
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/24
| 2,971
| 12,710
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<issue_start>username_0: I have dedicated four years of my life in a journey at a so-called "respectable" university in the Middle East as an undergraduate student pursuing my degree. In this journey, a period equivalent to half of my time spent in the university had arrived whereby unrest and protest coupled with surge in COVID cases saw our classes shift towards online learning and online exams.
It was during this period that I got to encounter countless cases of cheating and corruption among my colleagues mainly during online exams. I offer four main cases of far-fetched cheating:
1. In my Calculus III and IV courses, I recorded approximately 120 students cheating via WhatsApp groups by sending each other snapshots of the exam questions.
2. Other than the de facto method of obtaining answers to assignment questions from experts (Chegg), I have a huge amount of evidence that students hired academic professionals who would complete semester-long projects for them in exchange for adequate amount of money (and final year projects!)
3. The department I am enrolled in during my undergraduate studies allows for junior/senior undergraduates to take part in undergraduate research with professors who are working with PhD students. I had two individuals (who also took part in mass cheating during exams) asking me and even attempting to bribe me to do their research tasks.
4. Four students openly boasted about hiring experts to sit and do GRE exam for them (during lockdown period)
For (1) I sent an email to the coordinator of the course showing them all the evidence needed, for which I received a reply with an encouraging note from the coordinate vowing that they will investigate the matter. Eventually, nothing really happened and no one was disciplined.
For (2) I received a response in one instance from my instructor telling me that no cheating was eventually concluded and that all the projects were graded fairly. In other instances I did not receive a response at all.
For (4) I don't have anything other than confessions plainly stated.
Regarding (3) the only reason why I didn't report to the professor is due to what any honest student fears mostly about, which is developing personal feuds with other students that could escalate into being kicked out from their jock-dominated-social environment, i.e., forced isolation.
I must note that my country is facing a financial crisis and so my university is having a financial burden and sinking slowly. Thus, most students are dependent on financial aid that can be tossed off if a student fails or performs poorly in a course. This type of fear gives ground for individuals to rely on others to do their work or hire tutors for a couple of bucks to accomplish their work and research. This increases their boldness and pushes them to cheat more and more on an unprecedented scale.
The sad part is that professors are also affected by this financial burden and so they are embedded to their research work so much that the rope that connects a professor's support to a concerned undergraduate is cut as it is apparent that professors just "want to get the job done" and they have no time for us. Therefore, no professor seems to be taking any complaint from a student seriously.
>
> Question 1: How should a student go on to address issues of cheating if instructors are unwilling to take these issue seriously?
>
>
>
>
> Question 2: How should a student willing to disclose evidence of cheating handle the possible repercussions involving a social pressure exhibited by these cheating students towards the honest student?
>
>
>
I have personally developed mental health problems due to this issue and I lost motivation to study or look at my classmates as human beings. I personally am still in a state of shock knowing that cheaters got away with it (GRE!!!) in a period of 2 years and are now currently pursuing their graduate studies in top European and US universities or working in top industrial companies. This has led me to develop a grudge against my university as I feel that my university's poor response to cheating was a personal attack on me and many hardworking students.<issue_comment>username_1: At the end of the day, you have very little influence over what others do and what your university does. You can write expository pieces in newspapers if you want, but the likelihood of fundamentally changing anything is relatively small, certainly if you are in a country that has bigger problems than dealing with students who cheat on an exam.
But you can (and probably should!) see things differently. The purpose of a university education is not to get a specific high GPA. It is to get an *education*, which if you took studying for exams seriously, you did. The point is that cheating on exams might get you hired somewhere, but if you don't actually know the material, it will also get you fired just as quickly -- both in industry as well as from graduate programs abroad. In the end, it is probably true that playing by the rules and being a generally ethical person does, in circumstances like yours, occasionally require a longer path in life. But in the end, *you* will be the one who succeeds in work life because you *actually know stuff*, whereas those around you who have cheated do not.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally speaking, you have put in your work and tried to expose them. Maybe the teachers don't care because it's too much work or maybe so many students are affected that they'd have empty classrooms if all cheaters got expelled. Since you mentioned that 120 students cheated, I personally believe it's a mix of the two.
At the end of the day, will the students that cheated and proceeded into top universities and jobs drop out straight away because they unjustly got through Calculus III and IV for free? Honestly speaking, I kind of doubt it. Someone who cheats because it is convenient to do so doesn't suddenly invalidate everything they are capable and knowledgable of because of that fact. They can still have great paying jobs with their unjustly acquired degrees because not every knowledge gap is important.
You didn't cheat. You didn't take that convenient shortcut that was presented to many students during COVID-19. That is commendable and it was the right thing to do. But doing the right thing is not always rewarded and doing the wrong thing is not always punished. The ones in charge have no intention of doing anything about it which means that you can not do a thing about it. For your own sanity's sake, you should let go of the topic.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Sadly, this sort of thing happens. It probably happens to a greater or lesser extent in every single university in the world. Sometimes the culprits are caught and penalised, sometimes they are not. I realise that you are passionate about things being done honestly and fairly. This is very commendable.
However, there is probably not much more you can do now that you have reported the issues. You have done the right thing and now it's time to look after yourself. Try not to get disillusioned about the process of education - there is still, I assume, education to be gained at your university despite the corruption you have seen. Take advantage of that, learn and understand everything you can. You know that you have done the right thing and that you have not followed other students' unethical behaviour. You know, you absolutely know, that you are right and they are wrong. It may be frustrating if you see students gaining advancement from cheating, but try not to let it get to you. You are right. You are right.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It appears that cheating is "socially acceptable" at your university.
That leaves you two options:
1. You can try to change the system. Apparently, the students, the teachers and the administration are all (more or less) OK with how things currently are, so you'd be fighting all of them. Alone.
2. Or you could accept that, unfortunately, there is injustice in the world, and that it is not your job to fix all that. You tried your best, now move on. If you can, continue your academic journey at a place that more closely matches your moral standards. In my personal experience, cheating is taken more seriously in Europe than in the place you describe, and even more so in the US.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: As I see it, you have two possibilities:
* You can become an activist about this issue, and figure out ways to publicize the issues, and work to imrpove the system.
* You can focus on yourself, get your own stuff in order (I assume that is already the case), get a degree as well as you can, and then move on to find a job outside of academia.
(Presumably the third option - i.e. focussing on yourself and then staying in academia, is not one you are even remotely considering, since it already puts you into mental issues right now.)
There are pro's and con's to either route. Obviously, the first is harder than the second. Depending on which country you are in, it might just a futile waste of your time and energy - or it might put you into actual bodily danger. The chances of success are probably very, very tiny. Fighting corruption is usually not something a single person can successfully do, unless they are an incredibly and extraordinarily stable personality (which you might not be, as you are already developing mental issues simply by witnessing the issue).
The second solution is safe, straightforward and easy and you would have done it anyways, if you had never witnessed the corruption. It will incur no further drawbacks, and will allow you to put that phase of your life behind you and move on.
So far the choice is clear. Move on.
The only reason to fight the corruption (for you personally) is if you decide that you simply could not live with the decision to turn your back on it. If the rest of your life basically becomes impossible to live with you knowing that you did nothing, then it might just be the better path for you to indeed try and fight.
So what should you do? I would suggest to take a long and deep soul-search and really decide whether you can move on or not. Take into consideration that some things simply are as they are.
* Consider that it is highly likely that the uni administration is perfectly aware about the situation.
* Take into consideration that they might actually be working on some solution (in which case they don't need you) - or if not, that they have decided that this is the way it's going to be, for whatever reason (in which case you might not only be fighting the students, but also the management).
* Assume that COVID will eventually pass, and the overabundance of remote work (and tests) might eventually go away.
* Accept that cheaters *will* have less chances in the job market simply due to the fact that they will have less knowledge - and if this is not the case, then what was the knowledge useful for, in the first place? Then this points more to an indication that whatever that uni offers is useless (at least for jobs - which is the only spot where the test results matter).
If all of that, and maybe additional arguments from the other posts, don't turn you around, then I would suggest to find like-minded people (within or without the uni management - the first probably only if you can *really* trust them, and if you find a way to feel out their stance about this before unleashing tons of accusations) and figure out together how to proceed.
It would be hard to give you more concrete tips, as we know nothing about your situation. You might start by researching how corruption was generally fought in the past, in other countries/situations, and check if you find inspiration from that - I'm sure there are books etc. about that around.
If your mental issues do not go away, or become worse, try to get someone to talk about that (professional or friends, possibly far away from the uni to avoid even more issues stemming from that discussion...).
Good luck, whatever you decide to do!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Post the material online, anonymously. Then focus on *your* education and research. Sadly, there are "cultural differences" in how education works in different countries. - By the way, professors and administrators will not want to be embarrassed and may well try to sabotage you, which is why it's better to post this anonymously. Also, keep in mind that universities in Europe and the US aren't necessarily oblivious to this. It's not a new problem, and they may well know that academic records from certain countries are not reliable.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/25
| 1,558
| 5,879
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<issue_start>username_0: Pretty much what the title says (I know this question is quite strange).
I have some extra money (my research stipend is fairly generous, and I get paid by doing TA work on top of it) that I'd like to spend to increase my research productivity. I am thinking of hiring an undergraduate to help me with odd jobs (not actual research). This is the "job" description I've come up with:
>
> ***Calling all maths students interested in research!***
>
>
> ***Want to learn what a PhD involves, get hands-on experience, and be paid for your time? Keep reading.***
>
>
> I’m a second-year student in X, working with Prof. Y. I’m looking for
> help with some research-tangential tasks. This would be a flexible
> role, both in content and schedules. It’d probably involve a few hours
> each week, whenever it fits our schedules (maybe one hour/day Mon to
> Fri, or ~5 hours every Saturday).
>
>
> Tasks you would be responsible for:
>
>
> * Helping with the **design** of my **research posters** (eg, see my previous posters here), and printing them (which can be done for free
> in the Faculty).
> * Help with the **design** of my **presentations** (both technical research presentations and science communication tasks). You can find
> a list of my past talks here, with links to slides and videos.
> * **Proofread** my **research manuscripts** and other research-related documents (eg, cover letters for applications), for grammar mistakes
> and to improve the language style.
> * Help me with my **research planning** and **accountability** (e.g. setting goals with me and make sure I achieve them).
> * Occasionally **typing maths** into **LaTeX** (my handwriting is good!).
> * Very occasionally **drawing pictures** in **Tikz** (eg, see these diagrams in my previous paper).
> * Help with **Overleaf/LaTeX documents**, eg formatting my references.
>
>
> This list is not set in stone. If there is anything here that you
> would prefer not to do, please let me know. If I find other tasks that
> I’d like you to do, we’d discuss if you’d like to do them or not.
>
>
> Requirements:
>
>
> * Be at least a second-year student, but a third-year would be ideal.
> * There is no definite minimum grade required, however, you must demonstrate high academic standards.
> * Be a highly motivated individual.
> * Demonstrate a specific interest in working with me (at the very least be considering pursuing a PhD, better if in X).
> * Excellent time-management, organisation, and admin skills.
> * Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (native-speaker strongly preferred), including scientific terms.
> * Familiarity with LaTeX and willingness to learn Tikz.
> * Familiarity with PowerPoint or similar (I now use Google Slides for my presentations).
> * Be able to meet in-person during term-time, at least once a week (We’d decide later how to proceed out-of-term, perhaps less frequent
> remote meetings), for at least this coming academic year.
>
>
> What you’d gain from the opportunity:
>
>
> * Direct insights into the work and life of a PhD student, and how academic research works in general.
> * Soft skills that are useful in both academia and industry (eg, communication and design skills).
> * A payment of 10 pounds per hour.
> * Life-long regular academic mentoring from me.
> * The opportunity of obtaining good letter of recommendation from me (if you do a good job, of course).
> * This is **not** a traditional research assistant position (you won’t do any research). However, I might host a summer research student this
> summer or next summer. If so, you’d have priority over other
> applicants, should you be interested.
>
>
> I know this is an uncommon job advert, so please get in touch with any
> questions! If it helps, I’m thinking of this role as something in
> between an executive assistant and a personal assistant. To apply
> please email xxx your CV and a short text explaining your motivation
> for the role.
>
>
>
---
I can expect there would be quite a lot of interest from undergraduates in my university. I was also an undergrad here, and I would certainly have said yes. My questions:
1. Is this ethical?
2. Would it be ethical if I didn't offer pay?
3. Should I tell my supervisor before doing this?
4. Is this reasonable?
5. Any other ways I could get a similar (ideally more) benefit? Eg, hiring a professional proofreader for my manuscripts, hiring a graphic designer for my posters/talk designs, etc.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. Why wouldn't it be ethical, you are hiring an assistant (a bit like a secretary)?
2. Unpaid work is almost always exploitative, and unpaid interships luckily mainly a thing of the past. Yes, no pay = unethical.
3. Definitely.
4. While creating an assistant job per se is not unreasonable, offering someone *life-long* counsil just for a student job seems pretty unreasonable, as does requiring the person to want to persue a PhD in the same field, when the job is basically layout/proofreading and organizing stuff.
5. As 10 pounds per hour is quite low pay, I wouldn't imagine finding someone that does more/better work that is not a student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: All of your “research-adjacent” tasks are actually a part of “research”, and develop skills that are essential to an academic career. Your view that you can outsource the grunt work of research so that you can focus on the “fun” part of thinking about cool science seems rather misguided.
Whether or not it’s ethical for you to outsource these activities to an undergraduate, I’ll leave to others to discuss. But if nothing else, I think you’ll be undermining your own development as a researcher and scholar if you don’t do those tasks but outsource them to someone else. So about question 4, no, it’s not particularly reasonable.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: After a PhD, why do people **generally** do postdocs at universities rather than work in research firms or organizations?
Is it only because they want to become academicians?<issue_comment>username_1: There are several reasons to do a postdoc:
* be author on more publications (which in turn means higher success rates for
more senior academic positions (eg Assistant Professor) and/or grant
money). In research firms it is not always possible to publish the results due to financial interests of the firm
* get more scientific experience outside of the lab of your PhD
supervisor
* built up a network for your later scientific career
Generally doing a postdoc if one is not pursuing an academic career doesn't make very much sense (with rare exceptions). Especially if someone is doing a lot of consecutive postdocs the CV might even look a bit desperate and might even lower employability in industry.
EDIT: As pointed out by buffy below the chances of actually getting from a postdoc into a permanent academic position are rather slim nowadays. This is why I wrote "higher success rates for
more senior academic positions" which in turn does not necessarily mean that you will have success.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Unlike the [answer of username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/188112/75368) I need to mention something less positive.
In today's academic market, people do postdocs because they have no other good option if they want an academic career. A tenure track position would be the far better choice if it were only open. But, currently and recently, there have been too many people seeking too few regular positions. Therefore people take postdocs to try to get into a better position for a regular position. Or, simply to hang on for a few years.
Long ago, when I was a student, this wasn't the norm. There were very few postdocs and people usually moved from a doctoral program to a tenure-able position if they had any promise. I knew only one in a faculty of about fifty (with three times that many doctoral students). And even his case was special in some ways. The marketplace for faculty was very different.
Now, however, if you want to move from being a student to being a professor, a postdoc is considered essential since the old pathway is no longer as open as it once was.
Note that (US perspective), the Assistant Professorship was designed to be a fairly long (typically seven year) probationary period in which candidates can prove themselves in ways important to the institution, usually Research, Teaching, and Service. Now, however, it has become a 9 or more year process in which you have to prove yourself before you even get a chance to prove yourself.
I consider this a step backwards, because of the risk it puts on people, but I have no solution, other than massive influxes of money into education. That would be a good thing, IMO, but isn't likely.
Trying to use a research firm as a "fill in" to an academic career is very unlikely to be successful today, since very few firms do pure research as opposed to product oriented research. There are a few, but not many, and they are focused on only a few fields. Even a research slot at IBM is unlikely to bring you back to academia. Google, perhaps, but not many.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Another positive reason for doing a postdoc is simply that you love your subject and enjoy doing self-directed research.
As a student, you may have coursework as well as research. You are also more likely to be carefully directed by your supervisor. And above all else, you don't necessarily yet have the skills or experience to explore all the avenues you'd like to.
At a company, your work has to be focused towards the priorities of the company. Different companies will allow different amounts of freedom of direction to their employees, but at the end of the day, you need to be solving problems that are relevant to your employer.
As a professor you've got to worry about teaching, admin, committees, securing funding, supervision of students and postdocs etc. Actually doing research is rare as a tenure or tenure-track faculty, at least in experimental subjects.
In many ways postdoc is a golden mean - your are experienced and qualified enough to follow your ideas, but not encumbered by all the responsibility that comes later. You can come in each day, sit and your bench/desk/computer and just do the research you want to do.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: If you want to keep doing research in your field then you will quite often have to do postdocs. That's because these other research positions will ask for postdoc experience (or things that are effectively postdoc experience, such as "proven track record of publications in top venues").
Another reason is that the kind of work you want to do might not be available at industry research positions, because the funding system is different. It's not always the case, but especially in the commercial world, you might be asked to work only on things that are related to the company's products.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There are very few firms offering post-docs in mathematics. Moreover, postdoc at universities offers teaching experience, which is very valuable if one wants a position in academia later.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: *After a PhD, why do people generally do postdocs at universities rather than work in research firms or organizations?*
I disagree with this premise, albeit with a sample size of 1.
However, you question shows that many grad students do not know about non-academic research opportunities.
Many people such a myself do a postdoc working for a government research agency.
Likewise, I know people who have done industry post docs.
These post docs allow us to obtain the skills, credentials, and other background necessary to be research scientists.
*Is it only because they want to become academicians?*
Nope, many non-academic research jobs require research experience after a PhD to be qualified to lead large research projects.
Also, it's worth noting that government and industry post docs pay well compared to academic post docs.
For example, I got full US Federal employee befits during my post doc as well as time in service for retirement benefits.
**Edit:** This is field specific, but examples exist across many fields. Here are examples of different non-academic positions:
* [Johnson & Johnson postdocs in the life sciences posted on Glass Door](https://www.glassdoor.com/Jobs/Johnson-and-Johnson-postdoctoral-fellow-Jobs-EI_IE364.0,19_KO20,39.htm?filter.countryId=1)
* [USGS and USGS/NASA postdocs in the earth, life, and physical sciences](https://www.usgs.gov/youth-and-education-in-science/post-doc-opportunities)
* [Google postdocs](https://research.google/outreach/visiting-researcher-program/). Although Computer Science focused, many positions could be filled by a quantitative humanities person such as linguistics or ethics
* [Microsoft has ecology and environmental postdocs](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/research-area/ecology-environment/?)
* [Microsoft has economics postdocs](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/theme/economics-and-computation/postdoctoral-researchers/)
* [Santa Fe Institute](https://www.santafe.edu/research/fellowships/overview) and the [Institute for Advanced Study](https://www.ias.edu/math/csdm/postdocs) both are non-academic research institutes with postdocs from many different field
* Think tanks such as [RAND](https://www.rand.org/jobs/recruiting.html) hire postdocs for both STEM and non-STEM fields (e.g., political science).
These examples show how non-academic postdocs may be helpful for some people, given their career goals. But, if one does not want to lead a research group, they probably do not need a postdoc
**Edit number 2:** Given a recent [*Nature News* career article](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02781-x), it looks like many people are *not* doing a post-doc. Basically, the job market has changed such at people can go straight to industry and do not need a post doc. And, more people do not see the appeal of an academic job that requires a post doc.
Thus, to re-answer your question:
>
> After a PhD, why do people generally do postdocs at universities rather than work in research firms or organizations?
>
>
>
People increasingly are not doing postdocs at universities. Please see my linked article for why.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: To stay in the US, though it depends on who you are are talking about.
I'm in the US, and many of my friends and acquaintances are foreign post-doc students.
I would not be surprised if 9 in 10 of them, when asked why they continue their studies, would say, "to stay in the US", despite often severe burnout or low pay.
Many of them, despite years of academic experience and post-doc or multiple PhDs, are in, incredibly, precarious visa situations that prevent them from taking private sector jobs, and the last thing they want is to have to go back to, say, Iran or Vietnam, possibly for good. Staying in academia means keeping one's visa.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I'm going to [copy and paraphrase from my answer here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/103682/1033):
>
> **Because it's fun!**
>
>
>
I did a PhD because it was fun, and I wasn't ready to quit after my PhD. By doing postdocs, I had the opportunity to spend time in various different countries around the world. A postdoc is not only an opportunity for another job that is more or less 100% research, but may also be another chance to explore the world. Want to spend 2–4 years in Japan, Australia, Spain, Canada, or Argentina? If the right postdoc opens up, here is your chance. Where visas are needed, they may be easier to get for temporary positions than permanent ones (US example J-1 vs. H-1B). Going into a permanent position and leaving after 2–4 years may be not appreciated, but for a postdoc it is *expected*. And the privileges of a PhD position apply too: do what you love, and with some luck getting paid for conference travel to amazing locations you would otherwise never visit.
If you want to [postpone growing up](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/103682/1033) a bit longer beyond doing the PhD, postdocs offer you the opportunity.
---
The other reason is that I wanted to do research, and almost all research positions are temporary, thus either actual post-doctoral positions, or post-docs in all but name.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: I'd like to chime in with @username_8, but I personally disagree with the growing up (or not) aspect both in username_8's and some other answers. To me, a postdoc is not about growing up (and much less about postponing to grow up):
When I was a fresh PhD student, on some occasion my professor made me realize that with my graduation (Diplom back then, before I started the PhD) came the **full** professional rights and duties.
I decided to adhere to that perspective: Diplom (or Master) means fully qualified professional. Not (yet) much experience or seniority, but definitively "professional adulthood".
The qualification "argument" IMHO is just a try at subduing people (e.g. wrt. wage level, [micro]management). Employers do this all over the world, just the mechanisms may be a bit different between industry and academia. But I definitively recommend to be grown up and take your stand there as academic postdoc the same as if you were in industry with the same amount of professional experience.
---
I did a bunch of postdocs\*, and to me that was always **working in my profession**. In contrast, the next step in an academic career, becoming group leader, would have meant to *change profession*, at least partially, from researcher to manager. There is nothing wrong with doing this (I also teach, which I also count as another profession), but IMHO it's good to be aware of what is happening and to consciously decide what one wants to do professionally.
Colleagues did the step to manager without being aware, and found themselves being almost completely manager. Some have explicitly told me that they strongly miss *doing* research since *managing* research is not the same.
I also think that from a macroeconomic perspective the "prescribed" academic career (postdocs *should* go on to be group leaders) is a huge waste: the transition occurs roughly at a point where researchers have gained sufficient experience to become really efficient in their research profession. And then they go and become inexperienced (and untrained) managers...
So, **one reason for "staying" postdoc is wanting to *do* research**, together with the practical consideration that such a suitable position is available at what happens to be an academic institution (rather than industry or other organisation).
---
\*postdoc as in being researcher on a project (with fixed time contract)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: I'd say the reason is that they enjoy studying and enjoyed their degree and they would like to further it and "they want to study m0re".
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: I did 2 years of post-doc because it was the first form of employment I found after my PhD. I was hoping to be an academic, but prof jobs are fewer than PhDs. At least in my subject area. So, after 2 years, I went outside academe.
I knew a guy who was basically a permanent post-doc. He was in his late 40s, and there was no way he would ever be a prof. But he knew enough about his areas of study to keep getting contract work with profs in the department. And he was prepared to do teaching and mark papers and such. He got papers published regularly in collab with several profs in the department. And he seemed to be accepting of the level of income, which was substantially less than even a junior prof. It was not a situation I could have lived with, but he seemed to find it to be OK.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: You've asked a very good question which reminded me of several issues in academia very close to heart. There are lots of good answers here already. I would say the reason most PhDs do postdoc is because this is really the most readily available route to progressing their academic careers. As with most things in life, there are pros and cons of doing postdocs.
Pros
1. A natural progression from PhD into postdoc where most early researchers can continue in their field of research (or even change their field of research)
2. Great opportunity to work with other research teams and move around the world
3. Academic freedom and opportunities to get more publications
Cons
1. The path to an academic career is not very clearly mapped out which means it can take any number of years to get into a more permanent position
2. Salary for postdocs is not great and if you continue doing several postdocs, your salary remains static over the years. Also, if you have a family and you wish to settle down, get a mortgage, etc-temporary postdoc positions isn't going to help with this
3. Doing postdocs often involves moving around a bit which is best suited to a single (more difficult for a researcher with family commitments)
4. After doing several postdocs, if you're unable to progress into a faculty position (or permanent role), you reach a dead end in your career. At this stage, industry may not be so welcoming.
Myself and my wife are both PhDs who have decided not to go down the postdoc route. We both genuinely love research and academia. My wife is a PhD in STEM who managed to get into a research role with a large institute of research (UK). I am fortunate enough to have a clinical career alongside my academic career which pays a lot more income and has the stability that postdocs lack. I have continued to do research in my own free time publishing when I can. Ideally, I would like to spend more time doing research but the low income and lack of career structure deters me from taking up a full time role in research. I have a young family too and having a career with stable income is very important to me at this stage of life. I really feel academics deserve better and a clearer career path will attract more talents.
In summary, yes most PhDs do postdocs but there are a number of PhDs who have also gone down non-postdoc routes.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a pure-math paper.
I want to cite a paper where the authors are not listed in alphabetical order, e.g.:
>
> <NAME> and <NAME>
>
>
>
I know that the latter is the supervisor of the former.
I assume that when citing this paper, I should not change the order of authors (if this is wrong or more complicated, please let me know).
What I’m less sure about, is where to list the paper in my bibliography. Typically, I just sort the bibliography alphabetically. But here it is not clear to me if I should do this.
For example, should a paper by Kay Roberts be listed before or after the above paper in the bibliography? Or is there no consensus on such situations?<issue_comment>username_1: The order under which the paper was published must also be kept during citation. Note that, in the mathematical field, the alphabetical order is not a general rule, some authors follow an order in terms of the amount of contributions.
As for the bibliography format, if you are using the LaTeX editor, it generates the bibliography for you, you just have to choose which format do you want to have your bibliography in.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Do not change the order.
Alphabetize by the first listed author.
If in doubt, I could imagine adding a "dummy" entry in the bibliography:
Perez & Smith, *see* Smith & Perez.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In your bibliography, the author order must match the author order given on the paper you are citing.
When sorting your bibliography alphabetically, sort by the first author surname.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: In a cited publication, use the author order given in the original.
(In the case of a paper you are co-authoring, the order of authors is generally by established *seniority* or *standing* within the relevant community. If this becomes a contentious issue you could always randomise the order and note that it is '(in no particular order)'.)
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the process of writing a paper. I have done the data collection, and am in the process of analysis. But somehow my supervisor does not show much interest in my work or my research topic (i am in 2nd year, this is my first paper ), we meet once a month to review my overall progress.
I have a paper submission deadline approaching, Should I mention my supervisor as a co-author?
How should I ask my supervisor, if I can add their name as a co-author?
The thing is that I don't mind either way, adding them or not adding them,
I am just too awkward to start this conversation with them.<issue_comment>username_1: If you send them a draft, say that you are about to submit this draft, and this draft does not have any authors listed, I would expect your supervisor to bring up the question of authorship themselves.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: **Please** have this conversation with your advisor rather than with us strangers on the Internet. Independently of what you choose, there is a chance that guessing wrong may have severely negative consequences for your future relationship with your advisor. Adding somebody as an author without their knowledge is a big no-no, but on the other hand you can scan our archives to see what fallout may happen if you submit the paper without your advisor if they expected co-authorship.
Also, there is absolutely nothing awkward about this conversation, and you should learn to discuss authorship with your collaborators sooner rather than later.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This varies by field and probably by place as well. In math it isn't usually the case that the advisor is a co-author unless they are a true collaborator. In some lab sciences (and elsewhere) it is common, even expected, that supervisors (PIs especially) will appear on nearly all work.
By rights, if not by custom, if you are the sole source of the intellectual ideas in the paper, then you should be the sole author. Author should mean that the person has an intellectual contribution. But in those lab sciences, that contribution might be there in fact, but somewhat remote.
For example, I don't appear as an author on any of my student's work (CS), though I gave them considerable guidance at times. But they were the intellectual drivers so get sole credit. Likewise, my doctoral advisor doesn't appear on my dissertation (math) or resulting paper, though he is the (attributed) creator of the proof of one of the key theorems (I had a different, less interesting, proof).
If you need to know, you need to ask directly. It isn't likely that this would be the first time the question has come up for them. And you need to learn the conventions of your field in any case.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I will be visiting a university in the US to give an invited talk. The organizer told me that I could choose to arrive a couple of days early, and leave a couple of days late. They will be paying for my hotel reservation and airline ticket.
I love to explore new places, and do not have constraints on my time. Hence, I'd love to to be able to stay a couple of extra days in the city and explore. However, this would mean that the department I will be visiting will have to pay more money to the hotel.
What is the etiquette for negotiating this? Will it not be looked upon disfavorably if I tell them that I wish to stay an extra couple of days? Can I tell them that I'd like to pay for my own hotel reservation for the extra days?<issue_comment>username_1: Most likely they will pay for the days they expect to and you will be responsible for any extra days. This is easy to arrange with any decent hotel. In fact, some of these arrangements are that you put the bill on your own card and get reimbursed later.
You can ask if they'll pay more, of course, and it is not likely to be insulting and they sound flexible. But don't expect that they will pay for too many extra days. You can also decamp and move to a cheaper hotel if you like for the extra days.
Likely the flexibility comes from a grant fund for just such a purpose and it isn't too constrained.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Matters of etiquette are (i) personal and (ii) cultural, so there is probably no one-size-fits-all answer here. However...
If you are invited to "arrive a couple of days early and/or leave a couple of days late", there is usually an implied "and spend the time meeting people from our institute". Typically you will be given a desk to use, a few meetings will be organised for you, and some students/postdocs may be assigned to take you for lunch. Your formal schedule will probably be quite relaxed, allowing some time for sightseeing and other 'vacation' activities, but you should be prepared to prioritise meetings and other work-related matters.
If you want to combine a visit with anything non-standard, the best thing is to be straightforward and just ask your host: "I'd like to extend my stay for personal reasons/bring my partner/come via Las Vegas/etc. What is the easiest way to arrange this?" Generally you'll get one of three answers:
1. Don't worry, we'll just pay for it.
2. OK, we'll pay your travel costs and a hotel for these dates; sort the rest out for yourself.
3. OK, why don't you make your own arrangements and we'll reimburse you up to $XYZ.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In my experience, if you are exploring several days on your own you need to pay for a portion of the hotel cost.
On the other hand, it is common that the locals will want to show you around, do a hike or visit a museum with you. And drink coffee and later alcohol with you if that is legal and appropriate. If you are doing that, and suggest you want some time on your own to visit some odd-ball attraction, or get some forest bathing done on your own, that is not an issue; you can still expect them to pay for the entire hotel bill.
Generally one needs to hint to your host that you are interested in seeing their glorious city. Talk about what restaurants you want to visit. Most researchers want to have some down time where a great idea might pop up, but the main focus is on the hike or dinner or snake museum. They also like to have a bit of time apart where they can catch up on email and take the kids to the dentist.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have sent my paper to the Annals of Mathematics. They emailed me:
>
> The expert consulted has determined that the paper is not suitable for the Annals. The nature of the reporting was such that there are no details to share. There are no reports to be shared with the author.
>
>
>
What does that mean?<issue_comment>username_1: This is similar to a desk reject. The paper is off-topic (out of scope) for the journal and you need to take it elsewhere. Everything after the first sentence just says there is nothing more to say.
If you send the paper elsewhere, make sure you know the stated scope of the journal to save yourself time and effort.
An outside chance is that it was considered unsalvageable for some reason other than scope. Further communication will probably not be fruitful.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The Annals is the most prestigious journal in mathematics. Unless your paper solves a famous long-standing problem (correctly!), there is no point in sending your paper there. The editor sent the paper to an expert and the expert determined your paper did not do something important enough to be published in the Annals. Try one of the several hundred less prestigious mathematics journal.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Submit to another journal.
Do not be discouraged. Most mathematicians *never* publish a paper in a journal as prestigious as the *Annals*.
If your papers are always accepted in the first journal you send to, then you are aiming too low.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Prestigious journals (and Annals is *very* prestigious) will routinely contact one or more people for a "quick opinion" about whether the paper could plausibly be strong enough for that journal before sending it off to be properly refereed. If the answer is "no", they will immediately respond to the author with something like the email you received. Because all they asked the consulted expert(s) to do was have a quick look, and they probably based their opinion purely on the abstract and introduction, there will normally be no extra feedback to give you - the most you might hope for is "I think a more appropriate journal might be XXX", and the editor may well decide not to pass that on.
When this happens, you should normally get a response quickly, say within 2-3 weeks. The purpose is to avoid wasting time - it is far better for the authors to get a quick rejection and be able to submit to a different journal straight away than waiting 6+ months for the full refereeing process and getting proper feedback. It also avoids wasting referees' and editors' efforts.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Consider the following situation: A student is at a university U, funded by a certain stipend, with the ambition of pursuing a phd in research area X. After a year he drops out because things are not working with the professor. Another year later he starts work on a paper in the research area X that is not based on work he did while at U. Would it be
a) necessary (I don't think so)
b) appropriate (neither)
c) possible (maybe)
to mention that previous funding in an acknowledgement of a publication?
Before you ask:
Why not ask the professor? - He's a difficult person.
Is it really not based on work at U? - X mainly is an application of Y the basics of which you learn during you bachelor's and master's and which is easily enough to develop the idea for the paper. No reference to notes taken or things learnt while at U, only benefit is some knowledge of the literature on X, helpful in preparing a final manuscript. Which I don't think usually warrants an acknowledgement, does it?<issue_comment>username_1: The situation is not clear, only you can assess how much work (even preparatory work) was done at U.
A note of caution: since you are working on the same area X, there is a non-zero risk that your previous advisor at U find some part of your new work as plagiarized, or influenced, or done while you were at U, or said advisor may even think you are using some work/ideas/etcetc from *them*.
You state that new work is not based on old work at U, but if you did not publish anything while at U, there is no external, independent way to say "OP worked on X in a different way while at U".
You are also admitting that you earned some state-of-art knowledge at U, that you will use that knowledge in the final manuscript, so I tend to think you should not only put the U funding in the acknowledgement, but also both the current and the **old** affiliation at U in your author details...
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Note that there are two quite different sorts of funding. First, there is general funding of a person engaged in some scholarship endeavor. Scholarships and many fellowships are like that. They are independent of the details of what you work on.
The second sort of funding is specific to a project. Some government grants are like that. A person/team is going to pursue a particular line of enquiry and needs funding for equipment, or students, etc.
For the second sort of funding there is no need to acknowledge it on other unrelated projects. For the first kind it is courteous if not always necessary to acknowledge old funding. Current funding of the second kind should probably be acknowledged.
Given the circumstances you describe, I doubt that acknowledgement of the early funding or even the first university is needed, though it might be courteous to do so, especially if it was funding of the first sort described above. That funding helped get you to where you are - in a position to do the current research even if it didn't contribute directly to the project.
It is probably better, however, to err on the side of acknowledgement in edge cases. You lose nothing by being generous.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I was reading some papers and I came up with some ideas that I think are interesting. But I am worried that someone else is working on it. It would be a waste of time if I try to prove something and then somebody else proves it first. I'm in math. What kind of ways are there to minimize working on problems that other people are working on?<issue_comment>username_1: In some fields, like CS, you attend a lot of conferences and talk to a lot of people and keep your eyes and ears open.
But it isn't possible to know everything. If you are working on a hot area just assume others are along for the ride. If your area is a bit obscure, then you may have the field to yourself.
But if you have a lot of communication lines open to others in your narrow area then you may get a whiff early enough. And that can open lines to collaboration, rather than necessarily leading you to abandon your thoughts.
And of course, read at least the abstracts from the obvious places to publish such work, as well, perhaps, as scanning preprint servers to see what pops up.
No guarantees though. I know two people who got simultaneous PhDs for essentially the same work done completely independently even though they knew one another. They just hadn't communicated their research. It took a year, actually, for both universities to determine there was no plagiarism and the work was independent. But the awarding of degrees is a slightly different matter.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Which early career stage are you at? If you are a PhD student discussing interesting topics for further study is one of the key tasks of your advisor, especially early in the PhD when you haven't yet found a thesis topic.
If you are a bachelor or masters student I would assume your ideas are closely related to one of the lectures you took, so you should talk to the lecturer.
In general figuring out whether other people are currently working on a problem is hard but senior people in the field usually have an idea who is working in the area and what they are working on.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/25
| 619
| 2,494
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a phd student in a lab. PI has been sending out an email to everyone to prepare for a conference. They already booked hotels and flights and all. I only noticed this because the other phd student in the lab told me about it. So I was a little shocked about the news. I have assumed I will also be there. I am very shy at asking these kinds of things, but of course, I know I should have been more vocal about this.
Does he think it was not worth asking me? He knew I wanted to go (or at least I thought he knew). Does he simply dislike me? Should I tell him what I think?<issue_comment>username_1: The best guess, mine and that of several commenters, is just that you were inadvertently left off of some email list. Even a typo in an email address would do it if it isn't well maintained. Or you might find something in your junk/spam folder.
If it were intentional, then I doubt that you would have any doubt about it and you'd have seen many other signs.
Just send a note, or visit the office, and say you seem to be not getting emails sent to others. It will probably be cleared up. If you get a good response then you can follow up with something about the conference or any other concern you have.
No, don't tell him how you feel, unless you get a negative message in a face to face talk. The issue might even have been caused by a clerical staff member and the faculty member could be unaware.
But being to "shy" to speak up isn't going to get you anywhere, now or in the future. Speak when you have a need. That was a hard lesson for me, actually, and it cost me a lot until I learned a better way.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes he dislikes you and he intentionally left you out of the group going to a conference.
In fact, he is secretly preparing your dismissal letter.
Can you believe this?
I don't. Now that you see in writing the most perverse trick your anxiety is playing on you, do you see how absurd it is?
Even if he dislikes you, you have been hired to contribute to the group work, not everyone can be friend of everyone, but people can still work together (I would even say that it is best to have friends outside the close colleagues).
Plain tell (or write) the PI that you would like to join the conference, but you did not receive the invitation to book the flight/hotel, so you are wondering if you should contact the secretary or if you should do it on your own. And wait for his response.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/26
| 747
| 2,822
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Congolese grad student who has received two PhD scholarship offers.
I got the first quite a while ago but when I saw the call for the Irish program I applied because it fit everything I've been doing in my career like a glove, and at the time I was having second thoughts about the first offer and I got the offer as well, just last week.
After thinking hard about the housing situation in Ireland which every single student on the program complained about (some people sleep in labs), compared to the first, the stipend, the interdisciplinary nature of the program and how no one complained about anything of all the students I spoke to, and a bunch of other things I decided to go with the UK offer.
I have no issues with Irish immigration. I'm almost certain that I would get the visa since the program is funded, so I would like to hold off on making a decision.
How do I ask for some time before accepting or declining the Ireland offer so I have the opportunity to hear back regarding my UK student visa application?
Do I reject the second offer? Or ask for time while waiting to hear from the UK immigration? How do I politely ask for time?<issue_comment>username_1: Considering the economics, if you compare [cost of life in the two cities](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United%20Kingdom&city1=Nottingham&country2=Ireland&city2=Dublin#:%7E:text=Cost%20of%20Living%20Comparison%20Between%20Nottingham%20and%20Dublin,to%20compare%20cost%20of%20living.) and the current exchange rate [EUR-GBP](https://www.google.com/search?q=eur%20gbp), life in Dublin would be a nightmare in comparison with Nottingham.
And £18'500 per year in Nottingham is already a quite low salary.
I will let others chip in about the advisor. I do not know enough the UK and Irish systems to judge the importance of having a good advisor. The only thing I would consider, is that since you have a rather small scholarship, a good advisor may be preferrable because they may be proactive in finding funds for you to attend conferences/workshops/etcetc ...
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I recommend you don't reject the second offer until you are *certain* that you can undertake the first (i.e., when you have sorted out all your visa requirements, etc.). If you need more time for this, you can ask for it, but bear in mind that an unaccepted offer can be rescinded by an institution at any time. If I were you, I would let the second program know that you are presently examining visa rules and eligibility and this this process is taking some time, so you need more time before accepting their offer. While it is possible that the second offer might expire, or they might even rescind, I would think that they would be likely to have some patience.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/26
| 1,292
| 5,568
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in the social sciences and I already have a first advisor.
A few years ago, eyeing the possibility of a PhD, I had informally asked a professor of mine if she would be possibly interested/have the capacity to be my advisor. I had already worked with her and liked the collaboration very much. She is very competent on the data analysis techniques I will use, knows my specific subfield really well, and has a good network. She has invited me twice to discuss my project ideas informally in her team meetings with her other PhD and postdocs, despite me not being an official member of the team. All in all, she has been really encouraging and supportive.
However, she has some ongoing conflicts with different members of the department (I do not know exactly why, who initiated them, etc.). I am not sure about the relationship between her and my first advisor. For sure, the first thing I will do is talk with my first advisor about it. I would like to avoid any forms of conflict in my committee. Also, the techniques she is an expert on might have a relatively minor/subordinate role in the whole architecture of the dissertation.
In case my first advisor expresses preferences for other professors, how should I deal with turning down her offer to supervise my work? Have I behaved unethically by expressing interest, profiting from her feedback, and now having to retract, and if yes, how can I make up for it?
I would especially like to further the collaboration in the future, even if it is not in the form of advisor-PhD student role. I am thinking about telling her that my first advisors suggested other co-advisors and that the project will use, for the most part, a different methodology, so other advisors might be a better fit. I am also thinking of asking her if we can further collaborate and suggest co-authoring a paper about that specific subsection of the PhD dissertation. However, I will also have to ask my first advisor if she agrees to that.
Do you have any thoughts on how to approach this situation and how to best communicate with this professor?<issue_comment>username_1: You seem to know her fairly well; enough for a serious conversation. I suggest that you initiate one with her, first, rather than your formal advisor. Some departments can be very political with several factions. I'm guessing that you suspect that but don't have details. She will know about that better than you.
Tell her you have a current advisor and would also enjoy working with her as well. Ask if there are any issues around that concept that you might not be aware of. She will probably give you enough information, though not in detail to guide you now. If she suggests that it would be a bad idea, don't press it, but you can say you hope for a future opportunity to work with her.
You can also mention the other faculty members suggested by your formal advisor.
There is nothing wrong with any of that.
I suspect that she has a pretty good idea about how a formal relationship would work out.
You may wind up suggesting her participation to your current advisor or not, depending on what you learn. But don't get caught up in squabbles, whether rational or not, that might be surging around the department. Nothing good will come of it.
Also, if your advisor was assigned to you and you aren't happy with the choice, don't be shy about requesting a change. You don't hint at that, but it happens. Failure to speak up for yourself can set you back years.
I was a student in a very political department. There were people that wouldn't talk to other people or work with them. It mostly didn't affect students but there was a lot of sniping.
---
Note: "Political" just means factions. It needn't be about "politics" as in elections. Some of it can be racist and such.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It is fairly common that students change advisors or switch groups. For the professor running the group this is often not good news, since they might have invested time and resources on the students. However, professors are supposed to be adults and accept decisions of others that they do not like. You have not even yet established a formal relationship with your professor, so she is expected to be fine with your decision of not having her supervise your thesis.
It is fairly common for graduate students to collaborate with professors that are not their supervisors, though of course if this collaboration is to the detriment of their thesis then the advisor is supposed to intervene. Thus, some collaboration with her would be acceptable in academia.
Usually, professors should not "steal" other professor's student, meaning actively pursue them in order to leave a group or an advisor. As a student you can prevent the impression of stealing by being more open with your advisor and potential collaborators.
Finally, she might not be interested in working with you if you do not look for her as an advisor, since she might be spending a lot of effort on you without getting much back in return.
Overall, exploring opportunities for having someone as an advisor and trying out the relationship does not oblige you for the future. It would be nice if you can get up the courage to talk to her directly and thank her for what she did for you. You can ask her then directly what are the possibilities for a smaller project together, if that is what you desire. In principle, graduate students are to be protected by conflicts among the faculty, but this rule is not often kept.
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/27
| 365
| 1,606
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<issue_start>username_0: I received a response from potential supervisor, in her response , she said ' I would, in principle be happy for you to apply to the university'. then she asked me whether I contacted with Professor xx (another potential supervisor), she said 'so I think your project will fit really well in their department! You are of course welcome to apply to more than one department, so keep me updated on what you decide to go ahead with.' How should I reply? Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: With the truth: you either contacted the other potential supervisor or did not. In the latter case, you can still contact potential supervisor B.
It is completely understandable you want to find the best project/supervisor/university/etc. for yourself (I mean 'best' in the sense that it fits you best). As long as you are open and honest about it, you should be fine.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I already gave thumbs up ao username_1's answer. Just wanted to emphasize.
A PhD supervisor will be a big part of your life for several years. And hopefully it will be a life-long relationship with many positive interactions. If you stay in academe it is very likely you will want to keep a good relationship with your supervisor. It is a good thing to be as open and honest with them as possible.
At least with respect to the subject of your academic work. You may or may not want to be telling them about your personal life. That's a very different subject.
If being honest on such a point causes them to reject you, you probably did not want to work with them anyway.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/28
| 1,625
| 5,995
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it OK to specify your school next to your "Ph.D.": in your email signature, in the title of your web site, etc.
For example,
>
> <NAME>, PhD (Harvard)
>
>
>
*Edit:* added [united-states](/questions/tagged/united-states "show questions tagged 'united-states'"), because I think there might be some cultural differences.<issue_comment>username_1: I know some professors who list the degrees/qualifications they have and the universities they attended on their websites. Personally speaking, I think it is completely normal (professionally) as long as your purpose is not to show off (or even worse, expecting other people to think about you the way you think about you). It would be annoying if <NAME> always signed off his Facebook posts with *<NAME>, PhD in Mathematics (Harvard)*.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: One of the key points of the university system as it grew up in c13 Western Europe was that there was no such thing as a Paris degree or a Cologne degree or a Toulouse degree. A master was a master was a master. A doctor was a doctor was a doctor.
I can’t speak for the USA and, on the other side of the Atlantic, Germany is a bit of an outlier. But in the UK, putting *D.Phil (Oxon)* is definitely saying “look at me, I’m important.” As such it says “I am unimportant enough to need to boost my importance in this way.”
The information about where you got the doctorate might well be relevant and so should be findable. CVs, which list your whole educational history, might well include it. But in terms of your name, on business cards, letter headings, email signatures, it seems out of place.
Would you be asking this question if your qualification were *PhD (Possum Trot)*?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I will be more straightforward than the other answers.
No, this is not done in the US and would look strange.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: If you sign off your emails as "XY, Ph.D. (Minnesota State University)", this will be unusual, but probably will not make a negative impression on the recipient.
If you sign off as "XY, Ph.D. (Harvard)", this will be interpreted by quite a few people as showing off and attempting to piggyback on the prestige of your institution. Therefore, it could very well be seen negatively.
I would personally interpret it, rightly or wrongly, as implying that "Ph.D. (Harvard)" is worth more than a plain Ph.D. – otherwise, why bother emphasizing that you got your Ph.D. from Harvard as opposed to Minnesota State? That would probably make a negative impression on me.
In particular, it would make me guess that either (i) you don't understand that that's not how science works, i.e. that the value of your Ph.D. is determined by its content rather than the institution it was done at, or (ii) you do understand how science works but still want people to partly judge you based on your institution rather than your work. In the latter case, it would make me wonder whether this is because you want to get ahead at all cost (including hamfisted appeals to institutional prestige) or because are not very confident about the quality of your work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: If academics from universities that were not conspicuously prestigious commonly did this, then there would be no perceived subtext to doing so. However, I don't think they do - I wouldn't write "username_5 PhD (Essex)", except in mild self-deprecatory humour. So if you are from a prestigious university and you do this, e.g. <NAME>, PhD (Harvard) you would first need to work out what your *intended* subtext actually was, and secondly what subtext the reader is likely to assume/perceive. If you have no subtext, then why are you doing it when it is not a common custom? Assumed subtexts are likely to be related to academic snobbery (either that you are an academic snob, or that you think they are an academic snob). I don't think I'd bother, but the key is *why* do you want to write it?
[I have some difficulty in picking up subtext, so it is something I have to actively think about - it is quite important in social communication, for instance applying for a job]
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: The place to display such details about your academic history is your CV, not your signature line.
People in situations where they need to evaluate your academic performance will examine your CV. People who need to know your current title and position will look toward your signature line.
In academics, like in many fields, your performance will be constantly reviewed, for many reasons. One aspect of that will be your continuous productivity. While a PhD from Harvard can be considered an accomplishment, think about how including that info in an email signature will look in 10 years. The recipient won't be thinking "Wow, Harvard!!" -- it's more likely they'll be thinking "I wonder if that's the sender's last major accomplishment??"
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: From [Crazy Ex Girlfriend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Ex-Girlfriend), [season 1 episode 2](https://transcripts.thedealr.net/script.php/crazy-ex-girlfriend-2015-HB76/s1/e2):
>
> Valencia: Wow, did you, like, go to Harvard or something?
>
>
> Rebecca: Um, yeah, but I don't like to talk about it, 'cause people get weird.
>
>
> Valencia: Your shirt says Harvard.
>
>
> Rebecca: That way I don't have to talk about it.
>
>
>
I couldn’t find a video clip of the whole scene, which sort of answers OP’s question in the best way possible. But [here](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/669e72e2-31e3-46b3-a62d-4a66504b511c) is a snippet.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_8: Funny thing is: Despite being very unusual in English some people in German-speaking countries have started doing that e.g. [Msc (WU)](https://www.wu.ac.at/en/programs/masters-programs/marketing/overview/) or BSc (TU). This looks also very weird to German native speakers ...
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/28
| 1,141
| 4,661
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<issue_start>username_0: I received a referee report for my single authored paper recently in Mathematics. Both the referees have asked for a revision.
I am having a problem with a proof of a theorem in the paper.
Reviewer A asks to add more details to the proof of the theorem. He/She says it is not possible for him/her to understand one step in the proof.
Reviewer B says delete the proof of the theorem as it is not necessary. It is easy for him/her to follow it without any details.
The editor has asked me to revise the paper taking into account both the reviewers. I am confused now what to do to the proof of the theorem. Shall I keep it and add more details or shall I delete the theorem? If I delete it, then Reviewer A will get offended and if I add more details, then Reviewer B may reject the paper.
What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: In this particular case (and if the journal allows for it), moving the respective part to an appendix (and expanding it) seems to be a solution that should satisfy both reviewers. Those readers who are like Reviewer B and do not require the proof can ignore it and those who are like Reviewer A can read the proof in its full glory.
Moreover, Reviewer A’s request itself gives you an excellent argument against the complete removal requested by Reviewer B:
You can argue that you want to keep that part because you consider it relevant for some readers, as evidenced by Reviewer A’s request.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Of course without knowing the paper and detailed reviews it's impossible to tell, but I want to provide a slightly different view than username_1.
In my opinion, this is most likely not even a real case of conflicting reviews. The key information I tend to take away from requests such as "delete X" or "greatly expand X" is that **the reviewer did not like the current version of X**. Notably, I read statements such as "proof XYZ is too high-level and needs to be expanded considerably" **not** as an endorsement that the proof is useful in general, but as a statement that the current version is not.
If viewed through that lense, both reviewers have actually identified the same problem, they just propose different approaches to fix it. In that sense I doubt that either reviewer will be greatly upset if you take the other reviewer's suggestion - and in the response letter you can always point to the other reviewer to explain why you have chosen a different approach to fix the problematic proof than the one that was suggested.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: **When an editor asks you to revise a paper taking reviewers’ comments into account, they mean just that — they do not mean “follow all the reviewers’ suggestions precisely”.** In my experience as an author, on any issues bigger than typos, it’s fairly usual that I (and/or co-authors) don’t quite agree with a referee’s suggested edits, but their comment helps me understand what was sub-optimal about my/our original version, and so find an alternative way to improve that shortcoming. And when I’m a referee, reading revisions, I never expect authors to have followed my suggestions to the letter — just to have considered my concerns and addressed them in some reasonable way.
So in cases like yours, the kind of things which might help allay both referees’ concerns are:
* Start the proof by explicitly signposting/acknowledging what is easy about it. “This proof will be routine for experts, as a fairly standard application of pseudolinear estimation techniques.” This allays two possible sources of Referee B’s unhappiness: it lets them know that they can safely skip the proof, and it makes clear that you’re not overstating the novelty of this theorem.
* Within the proof, be conscious which details are more difficult (bearing in mind Referee A’s comments), and explain those clearly; but also, to help highlighting them, don’t belabour the parts that really are routine. A step-by-step argument like
>
> A = B (by the second unitary condition) ≤ C (by convexity) = D (by Kane’s lemma, part (iii)) < E (by Chen’s inequality).
>
>
>
can often be clearer as
>
> It follows directly by unitarity, convexity of *f*, and Kane’s lemma that A ≤ D; then D < F by Chen’s inequality (with ε = 1/7, and the stochasticity hypothesis ensured by Lemma 3.2).
>
>
>
I don’t mean to suggest that those are necessarily applicable in your case — but rather to illustrate how even when the referees’ specific suggestions are incompatible, the concerns behind them may both be reasonable, and it can be possible to find a revision addressing them both at once.
Upvotes: 3
|
2022/08/28
| 454
| 1,920
|
<issue_start>username_0: So there are two professors at my university that have the same name (the only differences are their titles), and incidentally they both know me well enough to write my letter of recommendation, and I also have no other option. Does this affect my application?
Edit: Thank you all for your answers! They have the exact same name and this is confusing even for student at the school, and may I add even their title are kinda similar (one is Assoc. Prof., doctor in clinical psychology and the other is doctor in psychology).<issue_comment>username_1: Clearly, this situation is prone to cause confusion.
However, you should be able to easily avoid this of by informing whoever processes your application in an appropriate space, e.g.:
* >
> Please note: The authors of both my recommendation letters happen to be named *<NAME>.* This is coincidence; they are distinct persons.
>
>
>
* >
> Recommendation letters: <NAME> (astrochelionologist), <NAME> (theoretical lepidopterologist).
>
>
>
I cannot imagine that anybody would even subconsciously hold this against you as long as they know what the situation is.
If anything, it makes your application more memorable.
The only exception I can think of is if the two professors are related or married, in which case somebody might consider them not sufficiently independent, but then again many professors at the same department are not completely independent either.
(Mind that I do not consider this a valid reason to consider your application less good, just something that others might think.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I would say it won't affect your application in any way.
Certainly, the professors would include their titles along with contact info such as phone numbers and emails in their letters of recommendation.
Now, as you mentioned that their titles are different, that would suffice.
Upvotes: 3
|
2022/08/28
| 1,482
| 6,494
|
<issue_start>username_0: Let's say a group of students decides to study an existing subject X collectively without a professor. What general guidelines should be followed so that the group can make the most out of it?
I am mainly interested in things like
1. What should be the ideal size of the study group?
2. Should all the members do the same thing or different things?
3. Should there be a categorization of members, like should some members do fundamentally different things than the other ones?
etc.
(for context: subject is math)<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think there is an ideal. Lots of things can work if people are committed, though continuing commitment will be an issue for most.
I'd suggest asking a professor for some guidance, especially initially. They can suggest books and papers to read.
More than six in a group will start to get unwieldy. Two is fine if both are committed. But the process will differ depending on group size. I'll suppose closer to six than two in what follows.
Someone should take the lead in scheduling meetings but that is probably enough.
One way to make it work is for everyone in the group to study the same material for a week (or so), but one of the members (rotating) is tasked with making a presentation to everyone on that material. That can include both an oral presentation and a written summary. Everyone else is expected to read and actually put some effort into the same material, but that will probably be the hardest part to maintain.
But someone needs to be the "leader" for any given meeting; the presenter. If no one leads then little is likely to happen.
The presentation of the material includes a discussion of it with corrections suggested. To really do a good job of it the presenter then produces a second written report that includes updates from the presentation. This is distributed to everyone.
People could volunteer for some set of material or the "organizer" can assign people, say in round-robin fashion.
Let any of the members suggest new material. Check back with the professor on occasion, perhaps by showing them the reports.
Since this is math, don't neglect the fact that a lot (most?) learning takes place while doing exercises. A group can be used to get feedback on individual attempts at problems - especially difficult problems. It is easy to be misled as to your level of knowledge if you don't test it with application to problems.
Note that this isn't limited to students. A group of professionals can do the same thing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: First to answer your specific questions.
1. The group size is going to depend on how effectively you can choose active contributing members. Three useful members will be better than any number of unhelpful persons.
2. Uniform activity for some phases and type of group, individual for others.
3. See point 2.
The primary thing is to get people who will work and not simply coast. If you can find more people who will be active and contribute meaningfully and usefully, then more is better. But each person in the group who does not help is worse.
Keep in mind that project managers nearly all say that if you are going to fire a project member, you want to do it early rather than late. Early replacement means you have more time to make up for the problems. Ideally you want to filter out the bad apples before any work at all gets done, but that is usually impossible.
Once your group is selected, then what is the goal? Is it to keep everybody motivated? If so, how? Maybe you set goals, set each other tests or homework assignments, kick each other's chair if the other person starts to slack, or whatever. Make sure everybody knows the goal and the method that are to be considered acceptable.
Or possibly the goal is to perform some practice task. Will that task be one-person sized and done by everybody? Or broken down into different one-person sized tasks that build up the complete task? Each of these now involves some degree of management. You need to decide these things very early. And you need people to understand and agree to the plan.
Getting this far will give you some idea of whether you have the right people. If you wind up not completing this, you are probably doomed. Pay attention to who doomed you, keeping in mind it might have been yourself.
Just some possible models for a study group.
* Quiet study time. Get your study material and go to the same place as your study group. The group is empowered to push people back (shush them, etc.) to keep them working. If somebody gets stuck on some question then ask your neighbor.
* There are many variations on the previous one. For example, it might be possible to hire a tutor. The tutor could give a quick lecture on a topic, then quiet study time would start. The tutor would circulate and answer questions as required.
* Get old exams. Divide the questions and each person or set of persons do some part of the exam. Then when everybody is ready, regroup and compare answers. Record which types of question gave the most difficulty, and use those to guide where more work is needed.
* Get a textbook (or other document such as a research article, etc.). Assign each person some part to read, chapter or section or whatever. Then regroup and report to the others on your portion. If your portion is too easy, go ahead and read other parts. After each section there should be practice problems. These could be done individually or taken up as a group.
* Pick a subject. Each person (or sub group) researches some part of that subject and prepares a report. Then regroup and give presentations on the reports. The trick here is choosing the right sized parts of the subject. And again, there should be practice problems.
Of course there are many other possible patterns. You need to decide what and how based on the people available, the level of work you are prepared to do, the time available, and so on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Quite a late answer, but it seems so this is a very well studied topic. The key search term is "Organizational communication". [This book](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/0134636171) in particular discusses some of the important outputs of research in this field.
I found this [Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@orgcomm) also quite helpful as a primer of the many ideas in this field, which I believe would be useful to academics of various different fields.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/28
| 895
| 3,697
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<issue_start>username_0: My university has a course called "Technical Communication" that aims to teach undergraduate math and computer science students (usually sophomores and juniors) how to give good talks. We have [lots of great materials](http://techspeaking.denison.edu/Technically_Speaking/Home.html) for teaching them how to speak clearly, how to engage with the audience, how to construct a technical talk, how to make good slides, etc. We also bring in external speakers so that students can see how professionals do it.
I'd like to add a bit to the course teaching students how to ask good questions when attending seminar talks. I have my own technique for coming up with and keeping track of questions I want to ask speakers, but I'd prefer to have some article or chapter on this topic that I can share with the students.
**Can someone please recommend such a reference?**
I very much like the advice in [this Academic.SE question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/51631/how-to-ask-dumb-questions), but asking students to read that thread feels a bit informal. I'm hoping for a source with similar advice but written with an audience of students in mind (ideally, a pdf I can give them to read, like a book chapter).<issue_comment>username_1: This isn't really an answer to the question in the body of your post, but it is an anecdotal answer to the question in the title of your post. (And it's too long to be a comment.)
In short, I'm not sure that reading an article is really going to teach students how to ask *good* questions. In my experience, the most important thing is to (1) ask lots of questions and (2) listen to questions that other people ask. I have found that over the years of asking questions and listening to other people's questions at seminars (and elsewhere), my sense of "good questions" has gradually improved.
I think what you really want to teach is: how do you learn to ask questions? As you know, this is an essential skill for mathematics in general. I don't know a good answer to this version of the question, but here's something that stuck with me personally.
As an undergrad, I took a second-semester algebra course taught by a geometric group theorist. It was an awesome course that got me hooked on the subject. Around midterms, he scheduled a meeting with each student to check on their progress. During our meeting, he told me something along the lines of:
>
> "You're doing great on the assignments and exams, but you're missing the point. You need to ask questions. You take these courses to learn how to be a mathematician, and mathematics starts with asking questions."
>
>
>
I learned a lot of great math in that class, but this lesson has paid off even more.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I have no references that you can read, sorry.
Just a couple of points:-
1. I take your point on making a brief note on points they might want to question. To that end, would it be beneficial if a handout of the slideshow notes made available to each of the audience beforehand would make it easier for jotting notes near the relevant items ?
2. I wonder if a seminar's format allowed for pertinent **observations** to be made as well as questions - would that make contributors less shy about speaking ? Observations are usually less challenging to presenters than questions. Plus after submitting a few observations at seminars such attendees might be moved to ask an odd question.
3. Credit/demerit prizes and penalties for
* Best contribution
* Best contributor
* Worst contribution
* Worst contributor
The above awards to be initially nominated by the class and accepted or modified by the chair.
Upvotes: -1
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2022/08/28
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<issue_start>username_0: I reviewed a manuscript for a journal from a well-known publisher.
I received
>
> A gentle reminder that we sent you an invitation on ... to review the revised version of the following paper
>
>
>
I responded with
>
> Please allow 18 days. My partner just had emergency surgery.
>
>
>
The journal said
>
> We are truly sorry that we would cancel the revised invitation.
>
>
>
Then 93 minutes later, the same editor at the same journal sent me
>
> We kindly invite you to review this paper and evaluate its suitability for
> publication
>
>
>
for a different paper.
What is the professional way to respond?<issue_comment>username_1: If you can assume, perhaps over generously, that this was an inadvertent mistake, then you can just say "For personal/professional reasons, I can't accept any requests until Oct 1 (or whenever)".
People make mistakes.
---
Best wishes to your partner.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd respond just like I would for any paper I'm not in a situation to review -- "I'm sorry, but I'm not available to review this manuscript at this time." There's no reason to call attention to the editor's faux pas.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/29
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<issue_start>username_0: So I will be applying to graduate schools in Computer Science this fall. I am an undergrad senior currently.
Last summer, I participated in an REU. I am wondering whether I should get my REU mentor's recommendation letter or not. The thing is that it was an REU outside of my college, so my mentor does not know me that well apart from seeing me in the 9 weeks we worked together. Am I better off just taking letters from people from my home college and those I have taken a good number of classes with?
I already have another summer research with a prof from my college so he will write one letter to talk about the research results.
Can I exclude my REU advisor and take the other two letters from professors who taught me?
What should I do? The REU was alright I guess; I feel like I did okayish during my stint.<issue_comment>username_1: If you can assume, perhaps over generously, that this was an inadvertent mistake, then you can just say "For personal/professional reasons, I can't accept any requests until Oct 1 (or whenever)".
People make mistakes.
---
Best wishes to your partner.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd respond just like I would for any paper I'm not in a situation to review -- "I'm sorry, but I'm not available to review this manuscript at this time." There's no reason to call attention to the editor's faux pas.
Upvotes: 2
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2022/08/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I will join a college by the end of Sept/Oct. I will pursue Physics (Hons), and my target is to get prestigious research internships at places like LEAP (Leidan observatory in Netherlands) or CERN, so what small steps should I take in the first and second year to achieve my ultimate objective?<issue_comment>username_1: I have no experience with LEAP or CERN , but here’re some general advice :
Since you seek research internships , it’d be great if you could get some research experiences . I recommend against doing research without prior consultation with relevant professors because
* Doing research in fall or spring semester may heavily harm your GPA due to poor time management .
* literature selection . With relatively little prerequisite knowledge and mathematical maturity , you may be wasting you time reading some very advanced papers .
* High risk of having little demonstrable research progress . Related to previous point . This’s especially important in your case .
That’s why I recommend consult relevant professors first and
* Check out undergraduate research opportunities program (UROP) or something similar at your university . An advisor may be assigned to you , which may write you a reference letter and help you . There may also be courses to teach you research skills . Those’re usually offered in summer term .
* Boost you prerequisite knowledge , mainly for reading papers and you also have more tools to implement your ideas . Many papers assume you know advanced calculus & linear algebra and statistics , of course depending on your field .
* Improve presentation skills with PowerPoint . Explain technical concepts succinctly . This may also help you in interviews .
* Explore your interest by investigating different topics at high level . Also pay attention to lectures , sometimes professors may briefly mention a few ‘keywords’ , if they interest you then do further investigation . Recruiters may value your ambition & interest .
A final note to university freshman is that your "ultimate objective" may change , don’t tie yourself up to any certain identity without good reason .
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I'll note that you have set a very narrow target, so you need a clear path if you are to be considered at all. I'll assume that the number of slots in such internships is small with a lot of competition. For CERN, at least, that competition is worldwide.
To be considered you need an application that is supported by letters of recommendation by people who can be trusted to know the requirements but also trusted to give you a very positive letter of recommendation. People who don't know you and your work well aren't in a position to do that. People who don't know what goes on at, for example, CERN may not be the best, though I don't actually know.
If your institution is such that there are people who know these research institutes, perhaps by having worked there, then you want to find a way to interact with them. You are a first year and they are probably senior professors so that won't be trivial.
The first task is to do well in your beginning courses and impress your professors with your potential. Spend time, as much as possible, getting close to them in office hours, seminars, and whatever else is available. If you can impress them, they see if they can introduce you to others, perhaps someone in their circle who does have experience with Leiden or CERN.
If they have research opportunities available, follow up. Not every institution will offer research openings to beginning students, so you will have to search for it. The experience will be valuable, even if it makes you realize that you'd rather be doing something else. Speaking to a faculty member whom you've already impressed might open a door.
But personal/professional relationships can make the difference in shooting for such a small target. It is the same situation as if you were trying to get accepted to one of the top universities in the world. You need more than grades, since a lot of people have good grades.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: 3 years ago, i had a friend who go accepted to a internship of 2 months to do some research in CERN. it was not an easy proccess of selection, people from all the country where involved. The internship was to help postdoc student (from México, my country) with some results and to open the oportunity to this person to the research field. Of course, one of the most importants things that they asked you to go to this internship, was to:
(i) have at least 2 recommendation letters from profesional researchers (professors at your university may help you if you don´t have any contact),
(ii) write a prupose essay of why you wanted to do the internship,
(iii) a power point presentation where you present all your background and why you´re a good candidate to the internship, and
(iv) an interview with the postdocs students.
Of course that great grades are a must have, but the point before may help you trouhg the process of getting an intership or something similar.
Maybe not CERN, but any other research opportunity during college may help you to get future opportunities. Good luck, my friend
Upvotes: 1
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2022/08/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been working with some data from a technical report that is freely available online as a PDF document from the website of the institution that published the report. I've cut and pasted the data from tables in the report for my research (and written a program to process it as the data are stored in an odd order in the PDF tables). I'd quite like to use this data as a part of a machine learning benchmark (with proper attribution, of course). Would the data be considered as being in the public domain and available for use for academic purposes, and made available in a more machine readable format?
I should add, I will of course be asking permission to distribute the data, I was just interested in the expectations surrounding this; is it a courtesy (as it is in the public domain) or is it a substantial favour that is being asked (or somewhere in the middle)?<issue_comment>username_1: Without a license or a clear statement that it is in the public domain you must assume that the creators hold all rights. In most jurisdictions these days copyright is automatic. It need not be asserted, though it is helpful to do so.
You should ask the creators for permission (a license) for any use beyond fair use. Using "all" of it is likely not fair use.
But no, you can't assume that the things you find online are public domain.
You may be able to "use" the data for another analysis, but probably not able, ethically, to republish it in any form without permission.
---
Note that I've assumed that some level of "creativity" was involved in producing the data.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question asks about "public domain" but these are really the wrong words to use, as a) it's complicated but unlikely that these data are public domain, and b) it might not matter much for what you are asking to do.
If you just want to *use* the data, I don't know of any law that would make this illegal, even if the data could be considered a copyrightable database (that is, data are not copyrightable, but collections of data can be). Academic convention is of course to cite, and if the primary data in your paper are from some other source you'll end up going quite a bit beyond just a simple citation and likely have to describe specifically where and why you got the data from that source.
If you want to also *distribute* the data, rather than just your analysis of the data, that's where you could possibly get into trouble if they were indeed deemed a copyrightable collection (which, of course, they might not), were not associated with a license that allowed you to distribute in the manner you would like to distribute, and it would be safest to just get permission. However, you probably do not need to post the data at all if they are freely available, just point others to where they can be found.
This is a good reminder that if you do produce and distribute data you would like others to be able to use to remember that you should include a license with those data to avoid any ambiguity as to whether people can use the data; if there is no license given, it must be assumed that the authors reserve all rights allowed to them. If your preference is that others use your work, let them know by using a license! Note also that even for data that *are* released as public domain or with a similarly permissive license, academic standards of citation still apply; licenses give you legal rights only, not ethical ones.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Taking your question literally: In the United States, data is not subject to copyright. Some sources state that only creative works can be in the "public domain." If you use that interpretation, then data is not in the public domain.
Example references:
<https://sco.library.emory.edu/research-data-management/publishing/copyright-data.html>
<https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/copyright/datamanagement>
Upvotes: 3
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2022/08/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a final year Ph.D. collaborating with people in my lab (Biomedical) and spent more than a year on this side project which is not part of my thesis research. My results combined with some calculations (which I also performed a bit) from a colleague (research associate) can make up a story and we decided to write the manuscript. In the beginning, we agree that I can lead the manuscript and she can co-lead to help with writing.
But now, she wants something out of the project as soon as possible and feels that this manuscript may add on too much workload on me in my final year. And she would like to bring up a discussion with our supervisor that due to timing issues, she wants to lead the manuscript. It's true that she can speed up the processes as I will be busy writing other manuscripts and my thesis. The whole project does need a published paper now so that subsequential works can rely on that.
However, I feel a bit uncomfortable about letting someone else lead a manuscript (I will be a coauthor for sure) when I performed most part of the analysis. I don't mind having more workload on my shoulders but I can be slow with many parallel projects. My always states that it's a decision between me and the colleague. So my question is that：
（1）is timing a strong reason to let others take the lead in a manuscript, given that I really want to lead the writing of my own work?
（2）Shall I let my colleague lead the manuscript and take the first author in favor of time? Does the authorship ranking mean a lot? I only had one paper published for now.
(3) If I want to make the conversation, how shall I start?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it's a strategic mistake to give up first authorship on a project if you've done most of the work on the experimental side of things just to have someone else write the text. When people browse through your CV in your field, **they will likely assume that the author listed first did the work**, and that the last author is the primary senior person supervising the work. Any other middle author presumably had *some* contribution, but it's not clear how much.
It doesn't seem fair to me for someone to take over a first authorship position just by writing in order to get the paper out quicker. The balance might shift a bit if the overall time you put in to this point is not extensive (i.e., collecting data from a repository, running calculations, etc, is all important work, but may be marginal relative to doing a year of bench experiments). I think ultimately this is something you will need to weigh for yourself, as well as weigh against opportunity costs - if you're going to be writing this paper, does that prevent you from doing something else that's more valuable to you than having this first author paper?
On the other hand, I think it's perfectly normal especially in the biomedical area that the person who does the research and is listed as **first author need not necessarily be the person who writes up the first draft of all of the paper**. You definitely want to get some writing experience as a student, but it sounds like you're already doing your own writing, and this is just an additional project for you. You have to decide for yourself how much value you put on the additional writing experience (and mentorship that comes with revising your writing in consultation with your coauthors).
A reasonable middle ground you could propose is that you keep first authorship and draft the "meat" (methods, results) of the paper while your colleague helps with the "framing" (introduction, discussion). However, if your colleague is just trying to grab a first author paper for themselves and not acting in your best interests, this arrangement would not be suitable. Someone more senior might have a better "big picture" view of the field that is helpful in writing the introduction and discussion sections.
When discussing authorship issues with colleagues, I think it's important that you be prepared to defend your own interests - in your case, it seems those interests are 1) a first author paper is valuable, and 2) you feel it is important (perhaps especially as learning experience) to write your own work. Any negotiation should start there, and you should be careful to consider others priorities without sacrificing your own. If *time* is really the main concern, then maybe you are willing to sacrifice (2) but not (1).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think some crucial pieces of the story are missing here. As far as I understand, the topic starter collected the results, and his colleague analyzed them.
1. Who actually conceptualized the study and designed the experiments? Was it you? Was it your colleague? If it was one of you two - that person is a likely genuine first author. If the third party was involved, it is reasonable to engage this person now and get their input on the final authorship.
2. How (non)trivial were the experiments vs. analysis? Some experiments are routine procedures usually done by assistants, and others are out-of-this-world procedures. Vice versa, some analysis is just numbers pushed through the standard pipeline, and others are unique.
3. You should ask yourself one practical question before disputing the authorship/writing: will you ever have time to finish the manuscript yourself? You said you are in a final year of a Ph.D. So, now you are busy, but it will not get better after the defense. Will you leave academia for the industry? Go for a postdoc in another group/university/country? Neither of these places will give you time to work on the past things. So you may never actually finish the paper. On the other hand, negotiating co-first authorship now and "moving on" with other projects/jobs may be the best strategy to see some outcome. Of course, no one but the topic starter can assess the situation here.
Upvotes: 0
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2022/08/29
| 3,575
| 15,472
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a third-year PhD student at a university in the Netherlands. The program is normally four years but students finish averagely in 4.5 years. By the end of each year we have progress evaluation. The first and second went well, just some advice, nothing critical. However, about 10 days ago I received a shocking feedback from my supervisor saying that it's better to quit because we (the committee) don't think you will be able to finish. Me and my supervisor then discussed things back and forth, and I argued that I had big delays due to covid and he agreed with me, but still the advice is to stop. And if I want to continue I have to try to find something (somehow) in 3 months and present again in front of different committee. And he won't be there.
The thing is, we have very bad data. Some interesting insights but his general expression is that we can't publish anything out of it. Of course he is stressed about the grant he got for the project and that the project didn't work as desired, but does that give him the right to want to terminate my PhD?
The thing is I'm still in shock and don't understand why this is happening. And more, why now? If I was a bad PhD, why not let me go before?
I'm sorry I'm just sad and confused at the moment. I don't know where to go and whom to ask for advice.
Edit: so the committee is pretty much useless and the supervisor is not interested in my data or PhD anymore. He can't however effectively terminate my contract, I can stay but mostly no degree in the end.
Should I fight against that somehow? Should I ask for ombudsman advice?
Or maybe just cut loses with all the stress and anxiety I'm getting from all this?
Update: the ombudsman sympathized and suggested to leave once I manage to find work somewhere else.<issue_comment>username_1: *(Edit; TooTea points out that you specified the Netherlands in another comment. I'm going to leave this answer basically intact, because I think it best covers the general case, but there are some additional notes in italics.)*
So it's not impossible that you missed some poorly articulated indications that this project had issues. Some cultures don't give very direct criticism. Impossible to say without a lot more information, but it's neither here nor there at this point. *(If the supervisor is culturally Dutch this seems less likely, they probably just didn't keep track of things well enough to spot the problem when it was smaller).*
For whatever reason, your supervisor is not going to help you anymore, but I see no reason you should quit.
You are fully funded, and so there is little reason to walk away prematurely. There are a couple of ways you could play this, depending on your priorities;
1. You want to optimise your chances of graduation. It's not exactly great odds, but they would improve a lot of you could find another advisor. Is there anyone else at your institution who might be relevant to your topic? Have a chat with them, and start out just asking for their perspective. Tell them you fear you may have misunderstood earlier communication, and maybe missed a big problem. If they agree that the situation seems strange, and there wasn't a clear problem earlier, ask if they think you could graduate. If they think it possible, ask if they would be willing to supervise your last year. During this conversation absolutely resist the urge to say anything rude about your current advisor, it will kill any chance that another academic will take you on.
*(This is apparently complicated by the funding stipulations, as described in [username_6](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/188277/70455)'s answer. I'd still advise you start with this chat though. Another faculty member who was supportive and willing to take you on is probably the best way to persuade the department to transfer the funding).*
2. Maybe you actually don't want that stress anymore? A reasonable move at this point would be to do the minimal work required to present something to a committee, and spend the rest of your time job hunting. I suspect that by creating a minimal thesis to present you would make it harder for your supervisor to kick you out earlier, therefor maximise your time on the stipend. Having longer to job hunt, particularly while you can honestly say you are still working towards the PhD, might be very beneficial. Maybe this isn't the most ethical of approaches, but your supervisor's failure to communicate well (or possibly just lack of oversite) has put you in an unfortunate position, so I think it's justifiable to prioritise your own long term security now.
*(With reference to [username_6](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/188277/70455)'s description of your funding model, this looks like a very viable approach. They would struggle to force you out if you just coasted for the remainder of your funding period).*
Whatever you do, best of luck. I'm sorry you got this thrown at you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I can only answer in general terms, because you do not specify which country and which department. Being "in Europe" (note it is a continent with heterogeneous laws), you may have some legal resource, but the most important thing is that you have a contract and money.
I will therefore focus on the half-full glass, looking forward to a way out of this situation.
In no PhD's contracts is written that the employer will give you a PhD, so your situation is not illegal per se ... and you have the big advantage that your financial/working relationship with the university is independent from your relation with an (any) advisor. You have to find a new advidsor, because you have already a salary to perform research (yes, I know, with no renewal perspective... welcome to the academic world!).
Now is time to bang to all the doors of all the department and even neighbouring departments. You have money, you have some data, you have one-two years left on the contract, ask every professor, every heads of department if they can take you in to bring your PhD to an end.
You still have money **and** time, so your situation is already quite stable. You just need to find a different thesis advisor with a different thesis topic.
Basically you are restarting your PhD, and you have two years of experience, so it is possible to finish your PhD in one-two years (hard, but possible).
Good luck!
Ps: you may be able to write proposals for grants. Time-consuming, but then you may obtain your own money to perform research.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Consider starting another PhD at another university. Working together with your supervisor to get a PhD is hard enough. Working against him, you need to have pretty good results or some other allies.
Your three years won't be lost, as you probably learned a lot and will pick up a similar topic more rapidly and are able to do smarter choices compared to yourself three years ago. You might be able to finish your second attempt within three years.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: **Dead ends happen in research, I don't think it is feasible to quit PhD over a dead end**. However, there is something you should know, a dead end is a big setback. You will most likely take much longer than average length to graduate. Now you say the data is very bad. You could try to side step to a similar topic with different data to analyze.
However, you will need to persuade your supervisor to do this. Tell him/her you understand the problem and you are ready to start over. Obviously it will not be starting from zero, you gained experience, you have now better tools to deal with the task. If he/she accepts, you will probably finish in two more years and everything will be fine.
If not, try to find another supervisor. Talk with the dean or head of graduate studies for help. They might be willing to help you find another supervisor with similar interests. This route will probably take longer as you will have to find another supervisor who might have different work habits.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your situation, and I truly hope you'll find a solution.
I've been in the situation myself where it was hard to publish anything during my PhD, since most of the results we were getting were negative results, as in "the answer to this question is no, what we want to achieve is not doable". Took me long long enough to realize that: "negative" results are still results, and it is just a matter of what one does with it. It can be hard, that no one can deny, but you probably can do something with the data you acquired. Furthermore, the data, as bad as they can be, come from somewhere: you provided some work, and by doing so you brought some insight on your field and the way it is performed, at the very least in your group. And it is not nothing, and a try is *usually* rewarded in European universities (of course there are exceptions, but well that's case to case...).
As per your supervisor, that might be a bigger issue. As mentioned in the answer, and as I actually saw it happen to a friend of mine, you might not want to go against them. It will bring you further pressure, and you probably don't need it right now.
My advice would be, try to talk this through with them, and also your coworker (Assuming your have coworkers), and figure out what the best solution is with them. And do not fear to express you wishes, since you were involved for about four years in your project, it is but normal to feel attached to this project and having trouble to let it go.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Knowing that the OP is in the Netherlands allows for a more tailored response.
In the Netherlands most PhD students enjoy employment as an "AIO". This is full employment contract that gives the PhD "student" all the rights and benefits of a normal employee of the university. Since you have satisfactorily passed your previous performance reviews, it will be very hard for the university to make a case for terminating your contract (unless you give them cause to do so).
This employment contract however is formally distinct of the process of getting a PhD. While the stated goal of the employment contract will be to prepare you for getting your PhD, there is no guarantee that this will be the case.
Essentially, your advisor seems to have given up faith that your current project will lead to something. Rather than trying to get your PhD back on the rails, they seem to want to convince you to quit (because firing you is hard). This will save face for them. PhD candidates quit, it happens. If you stay, this will reflect badly on them as the failure of the project will become their failure. They are trying to make their problem your problem
This leaves the OP in a tough spot. Their contract as an AIO will likely require them to report to their line manager, which in all likelihood is their advisor. So, while some have given the advice to try to find a new advisor, this is not so simple, since their funding is essentially linked to their advisor. They will not only have to find someone willing to act as a promotor, they also have to persuade the department to transfer them to a different line manager. This may or may not be possible.
On the other hand, it seems your advisor is effectively refusing to do their job. So, you might have a recourse in complaining about this to their line manager (probably the institute director). However, this may also escalate the situation in such away that it becomes hard to resolve, and your best outcome becomes accepting a severance package.
My best advice is to get advice from somebody that actually knows the situation in your department. In principle, you should have been assigned a secondary advisor that you can talk to in case of conflict with your advisor (but unfortunately this does not always happen), you might be able to talk to this person. Alternatively, contact your university's ombudsperson for advice.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: I got my PhD in Astrophysics few years ago.
My best advice: search for another supervisor willing to continue with you from the point you stopped with your current supervisor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: One way or another, this is your supervisor's fault. If the title was your proposal and the project was designed by you, the supervisor should have evaluated that thoroughly before taking you as his PhD student. Secondly, a failed project is 50% of the supervisor's responsibility. The supervisor seems to be not experienced enough to salvage your research. These are signals that you should not continue working under this person.
Find a new supervisor with a PhD program at a new university, possibly outside the Netherlands but in the EU.
I hope you have published some papers. If that is so, there should be no problem with getting admission to another PhD program. Your previous experience will help you to streamline your next project. Therefore, never give up!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: 1. I think you should immediately go to the Head of Department to discuss this situation. **You really should bring a friend to this meeting to act as a witness should the HoD later try to deny the conversation.** Do this even if you feel that the Head will not do other than support your supervisor's opinion as **it's important to register the problem with the HoD as soon as practicable**. Have your case clear beforehand, i.e. (1) how your supervisor as well as you undertook the programme with all the attached risk of unimpactful results; (2) how no serious criticism of your work was made by your supervisor till very recently; and (3) how your supervisor callously "advises" you to give up work entirely on this doctorate without any regard to the time and effort put into it nor to its professional impact on your career in research.
2. Consult with your postgraduate students' association's Education Officer. See if similar scenarios occurred in the past - check any files they have - and what actions were taken. **As before, bring a friendly witness to these meetings.**
3. If there's any member of your Department capable and willing to discuss the matter with you without partiality to your supervisor, please talk to them on the matter. The purpose of this is to get a fresh academic perspective on the overall study and see if an acceptable thesis can be salvaged from what's already done as well as potentially identify some new work that could add more impact to it. Do not broach on transfer of supervision to the other faculty member at this point. Just look to salvage a thesis from what your supervisor considers a wreckage of your work to date.
4. On a personal level discuss the situation with someone friendly and non-academic so that you get some personal support through this.
These are the immediate steps.
You have to review all your work to date **for yourself** and coolly evaluate its merits yourself.
Perhaps after doing this you might consider making contact via this forum, or some other suitable one, with an academic in your general area of research with a view to getting their evaluation of your work done so far.
It's understandable that you are in shock just now. But you must gather yourself and **not lose momentum towards gaining your doctorate** by actively doing all you can to preserve the merit of your efforts.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: This post is from the perspective of the management of a master’s degree in computer science (not from the perspective of a single student).
We have a 2 years master’s degree (= 4 terms). In 3rd term students use about 15 to 20% of their time to find and plan their master thesis topic. In the final 4th term the students then use 100% of their time on carrying out the research and writing up their thesis (70-80 pages). The master thesis defence is at the end of the 4th term. The hand-in deadline for the thesis is about a month before that.
Once the thesis is handed in the students are asked to write a 3-5 pages (scientific)paper about their thesis and handed it in 1 week before their master thesis defence (so they have 3 weeks time to write it and potentially get feedback from their supervisor). Usually about 25% of these papers are (i) interesting enough in terms of findings and (ii) of high enough quality to be worth a shot for a journal/conference publication.
The problem is however that most of the time a few iterations between student and supervisor on the paper would be necessary to make the paper ready for a submission to a journal and even if this is achieved the journal review process takes months at which point the students have already graduated. At this time most students have already found well-paid jobs and show little interest in getting the paper published e.g. doing the revisions the reviewers ask for.
What’s the best way to get the (often very interesting) results of the students still published? Just uploading the papers as pre-prints on e.g. the arxiv yields relatively low visibility. Writing the master paper before the actual master thesis write-up usually yields lower quality papers. Another student continuing the paper submission is also not really an option as each student needs an independent topic and the topic cannot be something like “I got the results of Smith at al. published”. The supervisor is usually not deep enough in the code etc to do additional analysis during the revision(s).
What is the best way to get the results of master theses published? How do other universities approach this problem?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd guess that it is pretty hard to get publishable results in most fields, including CS, with only one term's work. It is hard to even get started in that much time, much less produce results and write them up properly. You point out other obstacles as well.
But one option, though it takes work, is to have the department start a local journal with an editorial board consisting of professors and possibly others (faculty from other places, graduates, etc.).
Students are given the option (or are required) to publish in that journal unless they submit elsewhere. Depending on the reputation of the institution this could actually be a valuable resource generally if you can find a way to make it visible.
This is easier if the faculty is large. It is also conceivable that such a journal might be multi-disciplinary, increasing the options for both papers and editors.
When I was in grad school we had such a publication. A couple of faculty (out of about 50 in math) made it happen and kept it interesting. It was for more than MS theses, however, and some interesting but short mathematical papers were published there. It was good practice for us, the students. Some faculty also had papers there.
Note that Law Review publications by some major law schools are actually student run and a position on the editorial board is considered a career booster.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You are seeing the obvious problem, but you are not writing it in the correct terms. Let me rephrase your problem.
>
> How can I retain students, so they can perform the necessary additional work to prepare and revise a paper?
>
>
>
There are many workaround, but the only obvious solution is this one:
```
to get a job done, pay a professional to complete the tasks needed
```
After the student completed their studies they are professionals, whatever work done in terms of research/literature study/paper writing is **work** (and research work, and personal growth, and science progress, like the **work** of any PhD/PostDoc/Professor/Research Assistant/etcetc, of course) and **work** must be paid.
Find the way to fund 6 months of additional work for the student that is doing a good job and for which you can reasonably see a scientific publication.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> What is the best way to get the results of master theses published? How do other universities approach this problem?
>
>
>
The three universities I worked and studied in all published a certain fraction of master's theses successfully, and it always worked in the same, boring principle. A paper, by and large, does not get published based on thesis work unless there is somebody available that is willing to continue pushing for it after the student graduates. This can be PhD students that collaborated with the student or a supervisor (faculty), but it needs to be somebody with a sufficiently long clock on their contract to see the paper through to the end. Expecting students to commit to any non-trivial work after graduation is a fool's errand - there is no way to force them, and very little incentives for them to voluntarily deprioritise their new paying job over writing a paper.
As you observe, this does indeed require the responsible person to be more involved with the work than simply grading a finished report - some familiarity with the data, analyses, and maybe even code will often be required to do the kind of revisions that are often necessary (not only because of journal revision requests - it happens quite frequently that student work is *decent* upon submission but is missing one or two more advanced analyses to be actually publishable). Herein actually lies a key advantage of the model *to the student* - supervisors that are looking to potentially publish a paper often are much more involved because they have to be, and consequently in a position to provide much more detailed feedback than a supervisor that is mainly evaluating a report as it develops.
My personal model, which has led to around 10 published papers based on thesis work so far, works like this:
* When the student is about 50% done I evaluate if I see the potential for a publishable paper in this work.
* If yes, I ask the student if that's something they would be interested in, at the same time explaining that I have no hard expectation on them to do anything on top of what they have to do anyway to graduate.
* If the student agrees, I start to observe the project (much) more closely. I ask to be added to all repositories, check out if I can understand and reproduce what the student is doing. Essentially, I try to make sure that I can do at least simple extensions in case they are needed for the paper.
* After the project is over, *I* start drafting the paper. As much as I can I try to re-use what the student has already produced (text, figures) etc., but more often than not significant re-writing is necessary, some or all of the figures need to be re-drawn, and sometimes additional analysis is required. **I add the student as first author of the paper,** and keep them in the loop what I'm doing. The only thing I require from them is that they give a final ok to the paper I produced based on their work before I hand it in. Sometimes they volunteer to do more themselves (like conduct additional analysis or revising some text), but quite frankly it's rare.
This means that these papers aren't "free" - there is still non-trivial work from my side that goes into each and every one of them. But even with this model the amount of work from my side per paper is much less than doing an entire paper from scratch. On the other hand, it does happen (more often than I'd like) that publishable work never gets submitted, either because the students do not agree (rare, but not unheard of) or because neither me nor one of my students finds the time to go through the steps outlined above.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Been there, done that. Being on both sides of the process I have seen basically three approaches:
* **A first and obvious way** is indeed to have the master's thesis available on some university hosted website or open repository. The master's thesis would be referenced and cited much in the same way as a PhD thesis. If the work has merit and is well referenced on search engines, why wouldn't it be cited?
* **If you want to have the student publish themselves in a reviewed conference or journal**, one approach is to help the student find a position in academia after the master's thesis. Typically they would work towards a PhD thesis. If the PhD is related to the master's and you are involved, publishing the paper is logical and the student would be expected to do that. However, the student may also work on another research topic, in another lab. This is basically not different to the situation where a reasearcher switches lab (for instance for a postdoc) and continues collaboration with their previous lab. In this situation the student only works for glory. Publication is not guaranteed and is a delicate balance between will, interests, curtesies between labs, and some actual involvement of the advisor in the writing process (see next point).
3. **The best option is to publish the work yourself**. If only one student's work is published, put their name as the first author except if you contribute significantly with your own additional work. What works best in my opinion, is to publish one paper after a series of master's theses done on the same subject. In this case, having the advisor as the first author and actual writer of the paper also makes sense since they promoted the theses and have an overview of the work done; the paper would also cover a larger scope, which makes it more interesting. There are some curtesy rules to follow:
* You must list the students as co-authors, after getting their approval to do so;
* You must give the students an opportunity to contribute to the act of writing the paper;
* You must respect the fact that the students may not be able to contribute to the writing and by default expect to do the additional coding, debugging, simulations, analyses, yourself. The students should still get their names on the paper.
In fact, I have the feeling the whole discussion boils down to this:
>
> The supervisor is usually not deep enough in the code etc to do additional analysis during the revision(s).
>
>
>
The work published by a lab should be *owned* by the permanent members of the lab, otherwise the ideas are vaporware. You, as a researcher and advisor, should ensure reuse of the code and ideas --even if it means re-coding a bad student's code yourself to make it useable-- and know enough about the work to put it into persepective. In CS, a good way to ensure reuse and citation is to integrate the student's work in a library published by the lab, and well curated by the permanent members of the lab. This also promotes involvement of the permanent members, yourself included, in the actual code.
You cannot expect to get papers published with your name on it, just by sitting in the back and without getting your hands dirty.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: In various universities I've looked at, there are some course prefixes that seem common, e.g.:
* CSC: Computer Science
* BIO: Biology
* MTH and MAT: Mathematics
I have also seen four-character prefixes, and there have been times when a prefix is wildly different than what I would expect. I would imagine this would make it hard to read transcripts from universities you are unfamiliar with.
**Is there a standard, or suggested standard, that exists for these abbreviations?** Or are they ad-hoc decided by each university, and their consistency is a coincidence?
For comparison, there are some widespread classification systems (for libraries, not courses), both originating in the US:
1. The [Dewey Decimal Classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Classification) system, which has problematic facets in history and is entirely composed of the digits 0-9.
2. The [Library of Congress Classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress_Classification) system, which uses 26 distinct classes each named after a capital letter in the Latin Alphabet, and includes abstract classes like "General Works".
**Edit 4:** Taking the advice from @AzorAhai-him- (thank You for the edits, they were quite illustrative) I'll mention I am currently in and have grown up in the USA, but I am more than open to suggestions/comments from other nations (including those with other national languages), as education is a fully human practice and I think there is value in hearing from diverse sources on this issue. In short: Surely every country with a system for higher education needs to refer to its courses in some way, and I for one would like to know if there's a standard out there I'm unfamiliar with.<issue_comment>username_1: In the US at least, there is no hierarchical governance or oversight of academic institutions, so that means every institution pretty much does their own thing, with the exceptions being small groups that act as one body at some level (e.g., multiple campuses of a state university/college system).
I don't think it's necessary to invoke "coincidence", though; there are fairly standard common ways to abbreviate things (beginnings of words, acronyms, omitting vowels, keeping together consonants that make a single sound), as well as the possibility that someone that needs to use a label might look to their neighbors and see what they have used or might have simply encountered some abbreviation before that they may not even realize they are copying.
In my experience, these labels usually relate to other organizational levels of an institution, such as departments. That is, they do not represent an attempt to systematically classify areas of learning, but rather that someone needs to be responsible for a class, therefore the names indicate the responsible department and only indirectly label the course content. Departments are clumsy to reorganize, so it's very likely that the departmental organization of an institution is reflective of history rather than an ideal arrangement for the present. As an example, when I started as a graduate student, my institution had a "department of anatomy" that was something like 80-90% professors who worked in neuroscience and many of which would probably not be well described with the label "anatomist". Eventually a reorganization occurred and this department was absorbed with others into a new Department of Neuroscience.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As [username_1's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/188286/43873) states, there is no US-wide system of numbering courses. However, at a more granular level, there is at least one state (**Texas**) that has created a standard set of course numberings and a mapping from that set of numberings to each of 134 universities and two-year colleges.
>
> The Texas Common Course Numbering System (TCCNS) is a voluntary, co-operative effort among 134 Texas community colleges and universities to facilitate transfer of freshman and sophomore level general academic coursework. TCCNS provides a shared, uniform set of course designations for students and their advisors to use in determining both course equivalency and degree applicability of transfer credit on a statewide basis. When students transfer between two participating TCCNS institutions, a course taken at the sending institution transfers as the course carrying the same TCCNS designation at the receiving institution.
>
>
>
<https://www.tccns.org/>
For example, the TCCNS designation for the calculus I course is MATH 2413, which is also MATH 2413 at most participating institutions in the state, but it's MATH 185 at Abilene Christian University, MTH 1321 at Baylor University, M 408K at The University of Texas at Austin, and so on.
This system facilitates transferring coursework credits from a two-year college to a four-year university within the state, allowing students to get many of the first two years of credits out of the way at a much less expensive community (two-year) college.
For example, a 15-hour semester at [Houston Community College](https://www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/tuition-calculator/) costs $1270.50 for an in-state student, while the same 15-hour semester at the [University of Houston](https://www.uh.edu/financial/undergraduate/tuition-fees/index.php) costs $5934.90. Both of these numbers are for tuition and fees only and do not include room and board or books.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: The title might seem vague but please bear with me:
I always liked pure mathematics, I believe I understood the purpose of applied mathematics as well, but just until I am finishing up now my thesis. The thesis involves PDEs and numerical schemes. I spent almost now 1.5 year with the subject. I didn't read a lot of papers, but the ones that I consulted give me the impression that they are 'everywhere', and it doesn't seem like there is a purpose (a unique or many) to what is going on, I mean what are applied mathematicians doing anyway?
Are they taking problems from real life / i.e. physics and trying to solve them using the mathematical machinery? Or are they taking some mathematical machinery and looking for fields to apply it? Is there a historical or contextual explanation to the research going on?
More importantly, how do you decide if an idea is quite original and worth publishing in the field ?
I can argue that any 'application' of known results proven by other Mathematicians, is just an application and not an original solution?
I assume to believe that, for example, some biologists are doing some research on live creatures and they stumble upon a problem which will take them years to crack just because they didn't have enough background in ODEs or mathematical modeling, so when they solve it they will publish the results, but it is still known to mathematicians that this ODE problem has known solutions. Of course, their publication will contain other results not just the problem solved but the consequence of these results.
This is very understandable to me and I have no issue with it.
On the other hand, what I do not understand is how does an applied mathematician 'pick' his problems? say someone who doesn't come from any of 'real life' backgrounds, like physics, chemistry, biology, geology... One who is just doing applied mathematics.<issue_comment>username_1: "Applied mathematics" is a fairly broad term. While it's frequently associated with modelling and PDE's, that's really only a small portion of what falls under the umbrella. I'm employed by an Applied Math Department and consider myself an applied algebraic topologist and geometer, for instance.
If I can somewhat ambitiously offer a definition: Applied mathematics is mathematics about methods which are intended to result in or understand algorithms usable on a computer within 20 years of their inception.
You may ask at this point what's the difference between this definition of applied math and computer science. That difference seems mostly to be some accident of history as to what subfields are associated with each.
You ask what types of results are considered novel. I think I can answer this by listing a few genres of results that I personally interact with:
1. Mathematical foundations and algorithms (preferably with an actual implementation) for computing or estimating quantities which have been investigated by theorists. For a theorist, knowing a solution exists is often enough. For an applied mathematician, one needs an actually feasible algorithm to obtain a solution. This often requires entirely new theory.
2. Data analyses with domain experts to solve a problem of interest using "cutting edge" methods. This often also requires new math and/or methodological innovation. Some computational strategies are just too new or too niche for anyone except an expert to implement. There's usually a positive feedback loop between new things done to get answers in an application and theorems one proves to understand how those methods behave.
3. Efficient algorithms and software implementations of new methods applicable to a broad category of frequently recurring problems which are usable by non-experts. This is more than code monkey work. Someone has to understand a method well enough to direct how an implementation should work.
4. Entirely new theoretical results which consult (or establish) questions in the theory underpinning applied methods. The goal here is more traditional math: generalization, better frameworks for talking about and understanding objects of interest, etc. But I think there is almost always at least some motivation that the theory will precipitate computational advances on a human time scale.
How do I pick what problems to work on? Mostly like a pure mathematician, though if I have an idea and don't think it can be put on a computer within twenty years I scuttle it. For applied problems, I'm always on the look out for colleagues with data sets that could be well-served by the types of methods I develop and study.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Personally, I think that the line between abstract/pure and applied mathematics is a very thin one, because in order to be a "good" applied mathematician, you need to dig deeper into the theoretical background of your "applied problem".
>
> what are applied mathematicians doing anyway?
>
>
>
An applied mathematician is one that tackles problem arising in real life using tools from mathematics. Personally, I think that the hardest step in the work of applied mathematicians and what gives value to their work is what they call mathematical modeling. Note that at the beginning, they are faced with a real life problem, which then must be converted into mathematical equations. Now, the question asked is how to construct the adequate mathematical equations and how to pick the **right** mathematical theory which can serve as a tool to model the real life problem. I emphasize here that they must also have a sufficient background on the subject of the problem they are modeling (biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, etc.)
>
> I assume to believe that, for example, some biologists are doing some research on live creatures and they stumble upon a problem which will take them years to crack just because they didn't have enough background in ODEs or mathematical modeling, so when they solve it they will publish the results, but it is still known to mathematicians that this ODE problem has known solution.
>
>
>
I would like to mention here that most problems in pure mathematics were initially motivated by problems from applied mathematics. To illustrate this, for example, assume that you are trying to model the spread of a disease within a population, but you want to take into account different aspects such as the environmental noise, the incubation period, etc. Then, once you construct your model, you are faced with a stochastic delay differential equation (dde). Now, assume the the theory of dde has not yet been developed. Then, this gives rise to a pure mathematics problem which consists of developing the theory of ddes.
>
> On the other hand, what I do not understand is how does an applied mathematician 'pick' his problems? say someone who doesn't come from any of 'real life' backgrounds, like physics, chemistry, biology, geology... One who is just doing applied mathematics.
>
>
>
By definition applied mathematics is the application of mathematics to real life problems. So, the problems addressed by applied mathematicians are by definition problems arising from real life in different fields such as biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, etc. Note that some applied mathematicians can also address pure mathematical problems **if they have the necessary background**.
Finally, I would like to mention that the existence of applied mathematics has always been a subject of debate, since initially some of the founders of applied mathematics (if not all) like <NAME>, <NAME> and <NAME> were actually pure mathematicians.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: "Pure" and "applied mathematics" are maybe not quite the right terms because they are most commonly used to delineate fields within mathematics, not styles of work. For example, algebraic geometry => pure; PDEs => applied. Whether the person doing research in these areas is motivated by applications or not is an entirely separate dimension, and I (and others) like to make a distinction whether some research is "applicable" or not, where "applicable" means that the research is intended to address questions motivated outside mathematics.
In this sense, I am an "applicable mathematician", and my perspective is this:
People who do "applicable math" are using mathematics to solve problems that originate elsewhere. For example, I am a numerical analyst by training (i.e., my background is the analysis of schemes that can solve ordinary/partial differential equations -- numerical analysis being a part of what most people would call "applied mathematics"); I am using this background in collaborations with people from the geosciences/chemistry/physics/nuclear engineering/biomedical imaging to solve equations that they have come up with through the modeling process, but don't know how to solve (or solve sufficiently accurately, or sufficiently quickly). I have colleagues whose background is in algebraic geometry (what most people would call "pure mathematics") but who are solving problems that relate to identifying the location and speed of objects from the data obtained via radar (definitely a problem outside mathematics) and whose research is consequently "applicable".
Many of us in these roles see ourselves as "technology transfer agents". That is, we have the skills to talk to people outside mathematics and understand the language they use to describe what they want to but can't do. Then we use our mathematical background to solve these problems. In your question you suggest that this is simply an application of known stuff to a new area. But this is not generally true, one almost always has to adapt mathematical techniques to a new area. Moreover, the street is not one-way: We frequently learn that mathematical tools can be applied to a simplified problem, but that the real problem is more difficult, and then we take that back to our more mathematically oriented colleagues to look into, analyze, and prove something. Good technology transfer is definitely a two-way street.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Echoing and re-emphasizing some of @WolfgangBangerth's good points: "applied" (math) versus "pure" math is more about (self-)labelling than scientific/intellectual content.
That is, there is a common tradition in which numerical or heuristic solution of PDE's is "applied math". And, surprisingly often, conversely, "applied math" means (in many peoples' minds) numerical or heuristic solution of PDE's.
So, no, the label "applied math" cannot be relied upon to refer to math that is (genuinely) applied. In many peoples' minds, it cannot refer to cryptology, or big data, or ... lots of other things that are obviously math, and obviously fairly immediately relevant to tangible things.
And, currently, "persistent homology" seems to be relevant to Big Data analysis... but the traditional gate-keepers of "applied math" do not seem to be in any hurry to count algebraic topology as "applied math". :)
As some people will admit, there is a traditional attitude in which "pure" math means "irrelevant to nearly everything", while "applied" math means "relevant ... and fund-able".
Although it does seem necessary to know the appropriate code-switching to talk to "applied" versus "pure" mathematicians, I sincerely do not see scientific grounds on which to distinguish. At my univ, the basic grad-level "applied math and modeling" course introduces the same ideas (solving canonical PDE's on non-Euclidean spaces, Sobolev spaces, singular potentials, perturbation methods, semi-classical analysis, ...) that are essential in my own work in (what I call) number theory... related to zeros of zeta and such.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: My team submitted an article to an MDPI journal 7 weeks ago. The manuscript quickly went into peer review. After a few weeks, MDPI contacted us and asked us to provide a list of potential reviewers. They had troubles to recruit reviewers at this stage. We provided them a list with known experts in the field. A week later, another researcher uploaded our manuscript to ResearchGate.
Notably, it was our manuscript with the typical MDPI template. She uploaded the manuscript but attached it to one of her own articles, so that the attached document did not match the title/abstract. We saw it because RG informed us that our work had been cited by others...
We were very surprised and contacted both the uploader and MDPI.
After one week, the uploader replied and apologized for falsely uploading it. She admitted that she was a reviewer of our manuscript and removed it. MDPI never gave a concrete reply and just said that they would look into this matter.
Two days ago we saw the reviewers' reports. They were both very positive.
Today, the manuscript had been rejected for an odd reason (claiming the statistical method is not correct, although the method requested by the reviewer is included in the manuscript).
We feel that we are part of a larger intelectual theft. It is the first manuscript dealing with this particular topic - although it is a negative result piece.
EDIT: What would you do in such a situation?
EDIT: We had no pre-print uploaded.<issue_comment>username_1: It is unlikely that you will get any more information from MDPI than what you already know (the identity of the offending reviewer).
Expecting MDPI to treat this matter seriously and transparently seems too optimistic. They will likely brush you off if you persist on asking them about it.
I would suggest you draw your own conclusions on whether to submit anything to MDPI or support them in any other way.
Let me suggest an alternative. You seem to have the name of the offending reviewer and their written admission of academic dishonesty. Assuming that the reviewer is an academic, I would suggest that you simply let her employer know. A simple email stating the facts of the case to her direct supervisor (department head or dean) would probably result in this matter being dealt with in a more appropriate manner.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In some of the answer/comments, there are already some judgement about the publisher.
I always recommend people to take a deep breath and have a read on ["how" the current reputable publishers started their business](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science) and think twice before putting the stigma. There is enough material to describe every publisher as "dodgy" or "questionable".
Coming back to your question, I consider the upload of your document on Research Gate an honest (and very clumsy) mistake, not part of a evil plan to steal your idea.
However, I understand you are afraid someone (someone in contact with the editor, to be more precise) is blocking the publication of your (positively) reviewed article, to copy and publish the same thing before you. Unfortunately, I am pessimistic and old enough to know that this thing already happened in the past and will happen again in the future (speaking in general terms, I am not sure it will happen to you, but I understand your concerns).
You have some chance of defending yourself by putting out **now** a pre-print (maybe an older version of your paper, or even a version missing some details), to provide a proof that you are working **now** on the topic. If in the future you have to accuse someone of plagiarizing your research, you have some additional fact to prove you were already working on that specific topic.
Other than that, you have not much in hand, you may end up in a litigation "your words against plagiarizing researcher words" and it will be time consuming and stressful, so keep safe all the possible communications (upload confirmations to MDPI servers, correspondence with the editor) to build a timeline of your research progress and where it was possibly "leaked".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> What would you do in such a situation?
>
>
>
Nothing. It seems like a simple mistake. Your reviewer did something they shouldn't have done, and when it was pointed out to them, they immediately acknowledged it was a mistake and corrected it. This kind of error happens to everyone and there's nothing else to do.
The other details in your question (like which publisher it is, what the ultimate result of your paper's peer review process was, etc) all look extraneous to me. You might not approve of MDPI, but it's not like they can do anything in this situation (what can they do anyway, blacklist the reviewer for being human?). Some reviewers approved of your paper and some disapproved, and the result was reject; this is not uncommon at all for highly competitive journals so it's also not surprising.
If the negative review is flat out wrong (requested method is already in the paper), you could file an appeal with what should be a decent chance of success. If you are concerned about being plagiarized, you could establish precedence by putting out a preprint. Aside from that it doesn't look like there's much to do.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in my last week of my mathematics masters dissertation and I don't really know how to refer to my own work and to myself in the dissertation. To refer to myself I'm using "this author" but it sounds a bit hokey, but obviously I feel like using "I" is a bit too informal.
Likewise, I'm referring to own workings, as an example, as "we will complete this proof ourselves" which again sounds odd (and I've put in my introduction that this is how "this author" will refer to own workings). I don't particularly want to refer to all my work as "this author's work" as I feel like it's a bit pretentious for just a masters diss.
In my undergrad dissertation I just omitted this phrasing and stated that all work without a citation is my own, but my referencing style has changed since then and it would be easy for the examiners to mistake my own work as something from a source.
On the flip side, my writing style is pretty eloquent for a maths student so perhaps using more pretentious language isn't out of place?<issue_comment>username_1: It is ok and IMO important to refer to yourself in the first person in this situation. *You* are presenting *your* work in person before a live and for attribution purposes you need to make this clear.
Doing so also also makes it clear when you refer to work done by others, or when you refer to work done in collaboration. In the former you can use “the author(s) of this or that work…” and in the latter you we use “we”.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I find both "the author" and "we" to be acceptable.
Note that there are two interpretations of "we". The first is the "royal We" indicating that the speaker is somehow superior. This is rarely the intent, so don't capitalize "we". See: [pluralis modestiae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosism#The_author%27s_we_or_pluralis_modestiae).
But the other interpretation is an invitation by the author to the reader to come along for the ride as the proof/argument develops. We implies both the author and the reader. This is, of course, quite informal, somewhat like a conversation. But it seems, to me, to fit well with a variation on your example: "we will complete this proof as follows".
"The author" treats the work as something in itself, external to its creators. It is more formal. "We" treats the work (more) as a human construct and is more informal. But either can work.
I prefer not to use "I" for the same reason I don't like the "royal We" interpretation. It is a bit pompous. And referring to yourself by surname may be too formal and does (IMO) seem weird.
Your advisor can probably give advice valuable in your local context about how formal your writing should be.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: The other answers make sense to me. You may be slightly hung up because some the results you're writing down, or proofs, aren't new. But this is reasonably common in dissertations and theses, which are longer form documents and have a more pedagogical purpose than research articles.
**If you need to refer to content within the same document, there are approximately three "standard" options:**
1. Use "we" in the first person plural sense. Example: "The statements of the results we consider here are not new. Adam's textbook [--], for instance, provides a thorough accounting of Fizzbuzz Theory. The proofs here are new, though they largely follow well-known strategies."
2. Direct references to a numbering scheme. Example: "Theorems 2.3-5 are standard results in Fizzbuzz Theory. See Adam's textbook [--,Thms 1.1.1, 1.1.2], for instance. Proofs using the standard approaches are included for the sake of completeness."
3. Indirect references. Example: "While the results from Fizzbuzz Theory included here are not new, proofs using the standard approaches are included for the sake of completeness. See Adam's textbook [--,Thms 1.1.1, 1.1.2], for instance, for a thorough introduction to Fizzbuzz Theory.
**If you are using well-known proof strategies but want to provide some more explicit details that are usually omitted, you can say so either near the proof or inline:**
Example:
One of the fundamental theorems of Fizzbuzz Theory establishes the relationship between fizzes, buzzes, and fizzbuzzes. The standard introductions to the subject omit in their proofs the details of a computation involving wizzbangs [citations] and the following proof completes these more explicitly.
Theorem 1.0. Fizzes buzz if and only if they fizzbuzz.
Proof. ...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: #### Try using "the present author"
In this answer, the present author is suggesting that you use the attribution "the present author". The present author feels that this attribution gives the requisite formality and critical distance of the third-person, while still reminding the reader that the writer is talking about their own work. The present author uses this assignation occasionally in academic writing, with pleasing results.
Upvotes: 1
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