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2015/05/26
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<issue_start>username_0: My paper has been accepted for a conference, I have chosen the ACM "License to Publish" and the publishers are happy with the camera-ready copy. According to the ACM license I may
>
> "Post the Accepted Version of the Work on (1) the Author’s home page,
> (2) the Owner’s institutional repository, or (3) any repository
> legally mandated by an agency funding the research on which the Work
> is based."
>
>
>
It doesn't say anything about the timing. My question is: may I put it online on my own website *before* the conference? And if yes, is that considered bad style?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> It doesn't say anything about the timing. My question is: may I put it online on my own website before the conference? And if yes, is that considered bad style?
>
>
>
As long as it does not say otherwise I would assume timing to not be an issue. That is, you are free to put the paper online before the conference, and indeed (at least in computer science) this is commonly done.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Whether or not it's technically legally acceptable, I would find it extremely gauche to post a publication online before it has been made available by the venue where it is scheduled for appear. Thus, for conferences I wait until the date of the conference, and for journals I wait until the "online early" copy appears.
Now, if your publication is also compatible with an alternate means of publication, like arXiv or a tech report at your institution, I would find it completely reasonable to post a version up that way, citing that, and then later update the links and citation information when the "official" version comes out.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2015/05/26
| 525
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<issue_start>username_0: It is common practice in computer science to have papers peer-reviewed, however this is often not made public and after the paper has been published it is hard to find ANY reviews on the paper. There will always be mistakes in scientific papers and if someone points out the flaws in a simple manner in a review it could save everyone a great deal of time. Some things are of course too complex or subjective, to be put into a single paragraph, but there are plenty of things that can be pointed out.
My question is why are there no reviews included on sites like ACM or IEEE? Papers sometimes have thousands of citations, but not a single comment or review has been linked. Or are there simply no reviews and comments available? Does the conversation and discussion take place somewhere else?<issue_comment>username_1: Usually the issues pointed out in a review have been corrected by the time the manuscript has been published, so old reviews wouldn't really be relevant to the online version.
Critiques of published articles are sometimes prepared, if one thinks the issue is significant enough; they're usually published as "Comments" or "Responses" to the article in question. However, since they're normally *also* peer-reviewed, they won't simply be appended to the article, but instead have their own independent status.
As for the reason why more articles don't have reviews and commentary associated with them—it takes a lot of time to do so, and that's time that can be used to make progress in one's own research. And there isn't much incentive right now for such efforts.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: My personal experience is that the review comments should be accessible to the reader.
I do not think preparing such a document is time consuming for the editorials because the review process is a back and fourth process between the author and reviewers. And their could be few rounds of re-submissions before the paper is accepted (for example in IEEE journals). Therefore, it is meaningful to make it public all the previous submissions (together with review comments and author replies). And these documents can be appended on top of each other based on their time of submissions.
The other simple approach of providing more information about the paper is by revealing quantifiable review results. For instance, again in IEEE there is a question to rate the novelty, appropriateness, timeliness etc.
Upvotes: -1
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2015/05/26
| 371
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<issue_start>username_0: I am leaving my current department in the next few weeks. We are currently in the mist of our hiring season and have 12 job talks and campus visits schedule before I leave. None of the positions we are currently trying to fill are explicitly the replacement position to mine and the areas of expertise of the candidates are pretty far removed from mine. We are a large enough department, that there will still be a reasonable sized audience and enough people for the candidates to talk to. Is it inappropriate to skip the job talks and not meet the candidates, unless they specifically ask to meet with me?<issue_comment>username_1: Impossible to answer well without knowing more and I don't think it is appropirate to post more on a public forum!
I think it really depends on your relationships with your colleagues who you are leaving behind. In some situations it is better to absent yourself from situations where people are looking forward to the future of your old department. In other situations your experience may be helpful and it may be supportive to your colleagues who you will leave, but I guess who you want to stay on good terms with and continue to support. (I have not exactly been in this situation before, but similarish ones)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You do not need to attend all 12! If anyone questions your absences -- which I doubt they will (people may well not even notice) -- you can say you are up against some deadlines, and also mention needing time for packing and such.
Perhaps you could pick out a small handful of talks that you are sincerely interested in attending.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2015/05/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I am looking for software that will automatically assess the output of student assignments, or at least the numerical parts of them. This is for a large class of >100 students and multiple assignments. As part of a scheme to avoid plagiarism each student obtains different correct numerical answers to their problems. Thus if student A should get 2.56342 for question 1, student B should get 3.42975 and no two students should obtain answers that are identical. The method of calculation is the same in each case, but students have different input parameters that change the solution. (I should add at this point that the numbers **cannot be obtained with simple or complex formulae from the input parameters**: a significant amount of work is required to generate each answer; I have written a piece of software that generates these answers.)
I am wondering if it would be possible to use an existing software package that could handle the submission of student answers/assignments and also mark/grade the results for at least the numerical parts of the assignments. So far I have looked at Moodle, Hot Potatoes and Question Mark, but none of them seem suitable because I cannot see a way of the same question having different answers for different students. It maybe that I need to try to develop a custom built system for this, but before putting that effort in I would be very grateful to hear of any suggestions of existing systems that might be able to handle this task.
I have tried to check if this question has been asked before and looked at [this question on use of automated assessment of programming assignments](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20578/use-of-automated-assessment-of-programming-assignments), for example, but I could not find a previous question that covers the question I pose here.<issue_comment>username_1: There is WebAssign, started at North Carolina State many years ago and now an independent company )<http://webassign.com/corporate/about-us/>), which provided
versions of problems from standard textbooks in physics and other fields with random inputs so that each student would have individual numerical inputs
(I had some experience with these in the early days -- the inputs were generated from Perl scripts with input constrained to be physically reasonable).
I have not been involved with courses that used these for ten years or so, but one issue that arose then was the appearance of spreadsheets that had the algorithms for solving the problems coded into the spreadsheet, so that students could simply plug their numbers into the spreadsheet and come up with the answers.
Your question suggests that you are using more complicated problems than those in elementary science courses, but perhaps you could use scripts (using Python, Perl or whatever) to generate unique inputs for each student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Along similar lines to username_1's answer is [WeBWork](http://webwork.maa.org/), a free open-source online homework system. Students interact directly with the software's web interface to see their assigned problems and submit their solutions. Each problem on the assignment has a Perl script that is run for each student to generate the question and validate the result, so that each student can get their own random numerical values, and you can do arbitrary computations to check whether it is right. It also saves a random seed per student, so that a single student can (if you decide to allow it) attempt their own version of the problem repeatedly.
Most users of this software just draw from a pre-written bank of questions, but if you know some Perl you can certainly make your own (there may be a learning curve, of course). Depending on how involved your validation code is, you can either rewrite it in Perl or use some mechanism to let Perl call your code in its native language.
WeBWork has a fairly specific paradigm for scoring, student records, etc, so it may or may not fit neatly into what you have in mind for your course, but maybe it is worth a look.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/05/26
| 1,091
| 4,701
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<issue_start>username_0: I work as an administrator at a university and will soon be resigning from my position (the job has already been posted). A student who I formerly supervised is applying for my position and has asked if I would serve as a reference. Is there a conflict of interest in doing so? I am not part of the hiring committee and, while I don't think this student has enough experience to be called in for an interview, I would gladly speak to my experience as her former employer if she was offered the job.<issue_comment>username_1: There's no conflict in my mind, and given how hard hiring can be, I would value your input if I were on the hiring committee.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If there were to be a conflict of interest for anything, that she was your (PhD?) student would be the first concern. (Your title indicates your main concern is otherwise.)
Indeed, advisors are not often allowed as reviewers for things like grants and tenure applications, but it looks more strange than not for an advisor (at least for recent PhDs) not to be a reference for job applications. That you have held this position makes you even more natural for a reference.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would say that when your student applies he or she should have sufficient *external* references and add you in addition to that. Your opinion, as an insider will be *much* valued by the hiring committee as indicated by others, but you may be biased. I think a conflict of interest may be a bit exaggerated, it's just a possible bias.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> I don't think this student has enough experience to be called in for an interview
>
>
>
You would be doing the student a disservice by not gently communicating this to her. There's no point in setting her up for disappointment.
If she wishes to apply, in order to gain more experience with interviewing -- yes, please supply a polite recommendation.
Make sure you offer (to the student) to write recommendation letters for any other positions she may apply to.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I think there is a slight conflict of interest to the disadvantage of the applicant. You might be more negative in a reference addressed to your own employer (to whom you may feel a duty to help as much as possible with their hiring process), than you would be in a reference addressed to a perfect stranger (to whom you only owe a general duty not to defraud them).
People recommend other people to their employers all the time, so this is something the hiring committee should be able to deal with. However, if you plan to actually say anything negative about the candidate in your reference ("I don't think this candidate has the experience to be interviewed for the role, let alone hired"), then you should make sure that the *candidate* fully understands the situation before choosing to use you as a reference. They might have other referees they'd prefer to use in that case.
As username_2 says in a comment, the existence of this conflict of interest isn't an ethical problem provided all parties understand it. The hiring committee knows your job and expects to take account of your relationship to the applicant when considering a reference, so no problem there. The student knows your job, so the only risk is if they don't appreciate the implications of that. After that, if either of them thinks you're too conflicted to use as a reference then they won't ask you for one, you don't need to recuse yourself.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_6: This problem is not specific to Academia. This is quite typical in Industry as well.
The hiring committee has
* on the one hand detailed information about the capacities of one applicant (your ex-student) - initially to her disadvantage (not enough experience)
* on the other hand a bunch of candidates with more or less boosted CVs.
I said *initially to her disadvantage* because if the hiring committee is not experienced in such positions (and they may not be), some hand-waving candidate with better experience (on the paper) will win.
Now, if all candidates are the same she will definitely have an *advantage* because both her weaknesses and strengths are tangible.
I would talk to her about her experience to prepare her for disappointment if she is not chosen. I would also send a recommendation letter to the committee (not via her) to explain her strengths and weaknesses. It will certainly be a candidate which will stand out (this is the bit about "conflict of interest") but having hired a lot I always valued inside information from someone who has actually worked with a candidate.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/05/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I work outside academia, but am working on a project with a master's student. During data collection, we had some skip-logic errors pop up while administering the survey online and it resulted in some superfluous data. She and her adviser decided to throw out all affected data and only analyze open-field text, and outlined these mistakes in great detail on her master's paper. While writing our joint manuscript for publication, is it appropriate to outline these programming errors?<issue_comment>username_1: In the Methods section we detail the process of obtaining data to analysis. Errors resulting in loss of data is a deviation from the said protocol and hence should be reported. The details need not be excruciating fine; a sentence to explain the skip logic pattern and that affected subsections were not analyzed should be sufficient. This is by no means an uncommon practice: there are generic missing, loss of data storage media, biological samples expired, or even contamination in lab. If any of these activities can potentially bias your end result or lower your statistical power, then they should be reported.
Judging from what you said that the student and the supervisor had to throw away all multiple choices and only kept open-ended question, I am guessing the skip pattern problem was extensive? If that's the case, you should try to gain full understanding of the error and carefully decide if any of the data are actually salvageable. For instance, if the skip pattern problem had made the survey questions appear to be illogical, would you still expect the respondents to be in their right mind when filling in the open-ended questions?
The master's paper needs to happen probably because the student has done the due diligence and finished a project, despite with technical errors. But data mishap that is sufficient for a master's thesis does not imply the data are fit for publication. As your name will be on it, if you feel uncomfortable, request to be removed from the author list. You may opt for acknowledgement or even no relationship.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It would be inappropriate not mention the mishaps in my opinion. But there is no need to document this in great detail, as you mentioned. I would comment during the revision process that you feel the description of the "skip-logic section" is too wordy, and it should be trimmed to be more concise.
Keep the focus on the positive findings as opposed to mishaps.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would also mention significant failures in the methodology because it can serve as an important warning for future researchers. For instance, needing to change the number of samples or the testing period because of experimental (or computational) difficulties may be necessary, and it would be helpful for others to know *why* you needed to change the protocol. In addition, reporting such issues is important for purposes of reproducibility.
However, as the others have posted, there is absolutely no need to spend huge amounts of space discussing such issues, unless your paper is attempting to correct the methodological mistakes of others in the literature.
Upvotes: 3
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| 557
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<issue_start>username_0: I've googled this question a few times and I've seen multiple different answers. I read that you can raise your undergrad gpa using a post bacc and I also read that post baccs provide a separate gpa. So, I'd really appreciate if I could get a definitive answer, preferably with a source. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Courses taken through different programs generate separate GPAs. When somebody (like a graduate admissions committee member) is looking at your undergraduate-level grades, they are going to pay primary attention to the grades for courses you took at your primary undergraduate institution (or institutions, if you transferred during your regular undergrad career). They are probably not going to average your grades from different places, particularly if it is obvious that you took additional courses (through an easier program) after you finished a normal undergraduate degree.
However, at many institutions, faculty members may change grades after a course has been completed. The rules for how long they have to make changes are highly variable; it could be limited to within two years, or five years, or subject to no time limit at all. This is probably not going to be very helpful to you though. Grade changes are rare, and faculty are very unlikely to raise your grades for courses you took in the past. It would take a lot more than just convincing them that you are better student now than you were then (which would be difficult in itself).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: **Yes, it is possible.**
Faculty at my university have the right to change their course grades up to five years after the course ends. I have a standing offer that if any student publishes a research paper as a result of work in my class, I will retroactively change their grade in that class to an A+. I have actually done this a few times, in one case two full years after the course ended.
(All the students involved in those changes already had A's, and my university counts both A and A+ as 4.0 in its GPA calculations, so the change did not actually change their GPA. But in principle, it could have.)
But this is the only way I can imagine a student at my university changing their GPA after graduating. In particular, I believe the university maintains separate GPAs for different degree programs, so taking any post-bacc or graduate courses would **not** effect their bachelor GPA.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/27
| 2,455
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<issue_start>username_0: Okay, I'll try to explain what I mean quickly. My research on a topic kind of strayed from its original purpose, and for some reason (bad choice, lack of experience, lack of guidance, etc) I stayed with it way too long. That was my mistake. It's done now. The question is where to go from here.
I don't think what I produced is *worthless*, but it's certainly not something the scientific world is sitting on the edge of their chairs for. I think it should be put out there but I'm under no delusions that it should be in Science or something.
I submitted it to one mid-level journal and it got rejected, but it was also because it was in kind of bad shape from a writing (i.e., not science) standpoint.
So I have two options: I could submit it to another mid-level journal, but that would require a decent bit of work. They tend to be a little pickier and of course there's a much higher chance it would get rejected again, meaning more work to submit to yet another.
Or, I could submit it to a lower tier journal that has a much higher chance of getting accepted. As the tone of my question probably implies, I want to do this one. I made a mistake staying with the research this long and I want to be pursuing this new direction, and submitting to a mid-tier journal will mean sticking with it even longer. Aside from the fact that I want to pursue this new direction, I absolutely hate pouring more time into this old thing.
So my question is, how bad is it to have a paper in a lower tier journal? (I don't mean an open-access, pay to be published one, but the next level above that.) Is it possibly so bad that it'd be worth it to put in the extra work and aim for the mid-level journals, even if it'd take a few tries?<issue_comment>username_1: From my point of view, there is nothing wrong *per se* with submitting to a low-tier, non-spam journal. I have always maintained the position that if you find out mid-way that your work isn't what you want / should be doing, it's better to submit what you have to whatever is achievable at this point than to either stick it out or throw the work away entirely.
**However**, in your case it actually sounds like you may want to go for another iteration at the mid-tier anyway, because you don't think your work is that bad, it's just the write-up - and this can be fixed with a modicum of effort, in the worst case re-writing the paper. Also, assuming you are an early-stage researcher, getting more writing practice is basically never wasted effort. In the end, we are not talking about investing a year more into this project - it's a few more weeks for re-writing, and then some on-and-off effort for revisions. Finally, would it not be annoying to you to "waste" your work to a low-class venue just because you did not want to *write it down properly*?
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I think the scientific community is overly obsessed with publishing in top-tier journals. What counts is the quality of your work. If you had not explained your situation in such detail, I might have suggested that you put in that extra bit of work and submit to another mid-level journal. Under your current circumstances, I think you can go ahead and submit to a low-tier journal. For one, publishing in a low-tier journal is better than not publishing the paper at all. Additionally, it does not hurt to publish one paper in a a low-tier journal. Try to confirm that it is not a really obscure journal or a predatory one. Having several publications in very obscure journals, that nobody in your field has ever heard of, might be damaging for your career as this indicates that you care more about quantity than quality. However, publishing one paper in a respectable low-tier journal should be fine. It's about time you just get over with this paper and focus your energies on your topic of interest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the answer has to depend somewhat on what stage of your career you're at.
If you're just beginning your career, and this is one of your very first papers to come out, I would definitely try to get it into as high-profile a journal as you can manage, and would try to avoid putting it in a journal that is known to be very low-impact.
The reason for this is how it will look to people reviewing your CV when you're looking for your next position. If you only have a handful of publications, and none of them are published in decent journals, you're going to have people who assume that your research work is weak overall. That's not the impression you want to convey.
On the other hand, if you're well into your career, a few papers in minor journals will have little impact on your career overall. Then there's really no problem in "dropping off" a paper that you think might be useful, but not strong enough to get into a more impactful journal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: In my field (which seems to be the same as yours), the high-ranking journals mainly distinguish themselves from low-ranking journals by:
1. Requirements on relevance, novelty or impact on the respective work.
2. Length restrictions.
3. Requiring the paper to be written for a larger audience.
If you do not want to perform additional research (as I assume you do), e.g., to make more general, better substatiated claims or require less assumptions for your results, you cannot change the first point. You probably cannot do much about the second point. As for the third point: That’s usually not that much work and very much related to good writing – which is helpful independent of the journal rank.
In contrast, more time is required (on average) for meeting requirements that all journals/reviewers have such as doing no nonsense, proper scientific writing, proper literature embedding and so on.
So, if you think that you already meet the relevance and length criteria of a mid-tier journal, it is not that much more work to publish there – except for the higher chance of a desk reject, which at worst would require you to adapt your manuscript to a different journal’s style, which usually can be done within an hour.
Of course, a mid-tier journal might reject your paper only after reviews. If the rejection is due to scientific flaws, you would have to address those anyway and the rejection was as likely to happen with a lower-tier journal. If the rejection is due to relevance (point 1), you can use this as a bonus when switching to a lower tier afterwards, in particular, if there are lower-tier journals by the same publisher (e.g., if your paper was rejected by PRL or PRX only due to lack of relevance, a resubmission to PRA–PRE or similar is in general easier than a regular resubmission).
---
Another consequence of the above criteria is that it’s no shame not to meet them. Not every research has a highly relevant outcome and often you cannot tell beforehand (otherwise you would not need to research in the first place) and not every research can be reasonably presented on five pages in a way that is understandable by a general audience from your field.
I once looked for a particular low-tier journal for a paper of mine, because it was in a total niche subfield (only a dozen publication in the last forty years) and was not very relevant. (It then got rejected by two journals for being out of scope, but that’s another story and due to the field being a total niche.) At the end, I put roughly a week’s work into writing and publishing this paper, but it’s still a publication I can be proud of.
---
Finally, as to whether the surplus work it takes to publish in a mid-tier journal (whatever its amount is) is worth it, depends on how you value your time against the rank’s impact on your career. And the latter is something only you can decide about as it depends on a lot of factors.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In my opinion there's nothing wrong with going for a lower tier journal if you think that you will have a hard time getting into a mid-level venue. After all, it's better than not publishing at all.
However, if your manuscript has issues with the writing, this poses a problem that is independent of journal rank. Even if you get it accepted, a badly written manuscript will backfire on your reputation a lot more than the rank of the journal it's published in. On the other hand, a well written manuscript tends to get read and cited more often, regardless of the journal's rank.
My suggestion is to fix the writing, taking into account the comments that you got from the previous version, and then send it to the journal where you think it fits best topic-wise. Your readers will appreciate the effort.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: What may really hurt you is publishing a badly written paper in any journal.
Someone may always bring it up in a hiring committee and say: "We do
not want anyone who will publish so carelessly."
If your paper is not well written, and you are admitting as much, it
is very possible that the best you should hope is that it will be
fully ignored (unless it has fantastic ideas that a courageous reader
may unearth someday). Publishers and committees who reject a poorly written paper are
actually doing you a service. If they were more lax about it, you
might later pay for it with stricter people.
So your major risk with low tier journal is they they may let you hang
yourself, rather than protect you. I had the opportunity to publish
invited papers, and, though it is flattering, I hated it because no
one would check for me whether I was going astray.
People may be surprised if you publish only in low tier journals. But
if you are a beginner, they may also consider that you may not have
been well advised on it, or possibly that you lack self-confidence (which is no scientific crime). This is much less to be feared than their
estimating the paper worthless or careless after reading it.
Journala matter. Your work matters a lot more. Do not publish
anything you are not satisfied with. Do not publish anything you would not think worth spending time on if you were not yourself. One thing people will not forgive
is wasting time because your results are not worth reading (so do not
hype the abstract - just be clear and objective), or because the paper is badly
written and requires more time reading than should be necessary.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: This is for a master's level, if a department decides to publish students' dissertations, does that qualify to be named as a published paper? or does it have to be a journal with certain impact factor?
**Edit**: if online publications are considered ok, can they be added to a resume in 'publication' sections?<issue_comment>username_1: The exact meaning of the word "publication" is dependent on context. In some contexts, it might be understood to include only articles accepted in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings. (Impact factor is not usually a consideration here.) In other contexts, it might also include books, dissertations, lecture notes, arXiv preprints, and other documents that have been made publicly available.
So whether a dissertation should be "named as a published paper" depends on your audience.
For academic CVs, people often create two sections: one that lists peer-reviewed publications, and another that lists non-peer-reviewed writings. This removes any ambiguity. A master's dissertation would go in the non-peer-reviewed section.
If you are writing a resume for the business world, standards might be different. <http://workplace.stackexchange.com> might be a better place to ask about that situation.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is published according to the usual, dictionary definition of "publish", but that is the wrong question. A better question, is "Does this publication count towards my list of requirements for X?" where X might be:
* tenure
* promotion
* hiring for research-only positions
In the academic tenure context, there will be a list of publication types that count towards your tenure case. These often include peer-reviewed journal articles, peer-reviewed conference papers, and books. The requirements might be more strict like first-author papers in one of a small list of conferences.
A master's thesis usually wouldn't count for much in this context. It might have been helpful to your hiring case as a tenure-track professor, but even that is unlikely. It is certainly an interesting piece of a PhD admissions package for someone who decided to get a master's and PhD at different institutions.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/05/27
| 1,988
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<issue_start>username_0: So I wanted to ask a question about the benefits of attending a conference and then found this: [Advantages of attending a conference](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12680/advantages-of-attending-a-conference)
I realized from the answers that there are two advantages of attending a conference:
1. Making connections.
2. Learning.
While I believe that for the second point, by not attending one can just grab a copy of the proceedings and then he will have a pretty good idea of what happened and learn better (because you really can't learn much from presentations), the first point was harder to compensate for.
Suppose one made connections from a conference, then what are the potential benefits of making those connections? i.e. how to make value out of them?! Because I personally believe that a lot of people make connections but they just end up knowing each other without any collaborations or a value that I can see. Also the majority of the connections would be with researchers and students, not hiring managers so I wonder if there are any value for job search after graduating 4 years from the PhD.
Edit: I've never been to a conference, but I hear what my friends say and also I see couple online videos.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, in certain disciplines (CS) conferences are the main publishing venue. Publishing in conferences also means that you must attend the respective conference to present, as shown [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45957/my-paper-has-not-been-published-because-i-did-not-show-up-for-the-conference-pre/45961#45961). Therefore in such disciplines you have no other choice but to submit to and attend conferences.
On the other hand, networking is much more than what you believe. The people you meet there are also your competitors and your future reviewers at the same time. Making a connection on a personal level and making a convincing presentation and answer related questions with affirmative authority, shows the conference attenders (including your future reviewers) that you really know what you are talking about. Also, showing that you are not an arrogant "newcomer" that wants to push them out of their "territory" but instead you know, respect and admire their previous work, makes your acceptance from their community easier. This in turn, will make your future papers more easily accepted and bring you more reviews to do, which in turn helps you shape the direction of your small scientific area. It also notifies you early on what everyone else is doing. Also, many times even without being co-authors on any paper, you may collaborate with those people on your next paper when they might provide their datasets or binaries or their src code, which might be needed to compare your work with theirs. Again, this informal type of collaboration is easier to be done when you have met those people in person and perhaps shared a beer in the conference banquet or reception.
Also, as stated in my previous answer [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/21072/10042), you also totally miss the other social aspect of conferences. You will get to see a new place (you would not see otherwise) for only 20 minutes of work and all expenses paid. This is in most times a wonderful experience and you should probably not miss it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Suppose one made connections from a conference, then what are the potential benefits of making those connections? i.e. how to make value out of them?!
>
>
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For most people, new connections found through conferences at a later stage become either
* Potential references
* Potential collaborators
* Friends or at least acquaintances
(or, in the optimal case, a combination thereof)
For all of those, it is hard to put a numerical "value" on them, but as you progress with your academic career, you will find that it is hard to be successful in academia without a healthy set of all of the three. Without references that vouch for your scientific merit, it is hard to get any advanced academic positions. Without collaborators, it is hard to write strong papers and grant proposals. Without friends in the community, future conferences become a chore and it is very easy to lose track of where the community is heading as a whole (also, the third item quite naturally leads to the former two items).
>
> Also the majority of the connections would be with researchers and students, not hiring managers so I wonder if there are any value for job search after graduating 4 years from the PhD.
>
>
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In academia, the notion of "hiring managers" is somewhat suspect. You can definitely meet senior professors at conferences, and those are the ones that decide whether you get a faculty position down the road. Further, never make the mistake of assuming that the "researchers and students" you connect to don't matter, and you shouldn't talk to them - the PhD students from today are the people that review your papers and grant proposals tomorrow (hence the name "peer review").
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: When I look at a conference that I have attended, two main metrics emerge to describe what benefits I obtained there:
* What is the *longest* time afterwards that I am thinking about something learned at the conference?
* What fraction of the time was I unable to attend the talks because I was taking care of business networking?
The first metric was something I learned from my advisor, and it served me very well as a graduate student. This you can sometimes learn from papers, but the best talks of a conference are often either keynotes (which typically aren't in the proceedings) or else go above and beyond their papers to offer insight, context, and motivation that often doesn't formalize well or may not be present on the page at all.
The second metric has emerged for me over time as I have matured as a researcher, because there is so much to do and so little time at a conference. Among the important types of things one does while networking at a conference:
* Get insight into how others in the field outside your intellectual bubble are thinking about things
* Float ideas and get them critiqued
* Meet potential new collaborators, negotiate potential collaborations
* Get to know colleagues better both as fellow scientists and as people
* Arrange for invited lectures or other visits, both as host and guest
* Organize plans for future workshops, special symposia, special issues, etc.
* Make plans for sabbaticals, hiring, student placement
* Meet program managers, plan grant-writing
* Actually work on collaborations with otherwise-remote collaborators
Some of these don't apply quite as much as a graduate student, but it's never too early to start getting to know your field and your colleagues at a more informal level, and much of the rest can emerge organically from that as you find likeminded individuals who share interests.
In short: learning is great and useful, but networking is the biggest reason for and benefit of conferences, so far as I'm concerned these days.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: First off: one clever trick is to take notes at the conference and use them as part of the survey or literature review for your next paper. This isn't quite the same as social connections but it's food for thought.
Back to your question: Often people go to conferences to chat about things that aren't going to turn into research papers, but you never know when you might meet a future collaborator at a conference, or a friend-of-a-future-collaborator. In my current job, I work with/for someone whom I was indirectly introduced to in this way. Another key collaborator is someone who I met at a conference, and then bumped into again online. Sometimes it happens the other way around.
In short, networking is "necessary but not sufficient" and conferences are one good place to do it. Another is to get invited to give a talk in a local seminar series (often the next step after the conference).
It's important to realise that nine out of ten possible "connections" don't take off, at least not right away. Still, even the ones that are dormant can be helpful later, since you'll know more about who's who, and what they are up to. And you get to know more about the sort of people you would and *wouldn't* want to work with.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Checking the data from some public universities, I noticed that the variability in faculty salaries between STEM fields can be extremely large, even within the same university and for the same position.
For example, at the University of Michigan assistant professors in mechanical engineering generally make [around $95k a year](http://www.umsalary.info/deptsearch.php?Dept=Mechanical%20Engineering&Year=0&Campus=1), while for Math the same position pays [around $55k](http://www.umsalary.info/deptsearch.php?Dept=LSA%20mathematics&Year=0&Campus=0).
Why is this range so large?<issue_comment>username_1: Because universities in the U.S. Operate independently of each other, there is no nationwide schedule of salaries and each college or university (or multi campus university system) can have its own policies on salaries. At some institutions the faculty are unionized and have a union contract with the institution that typically sets policies that determine the salary of individual faculty members. Most universities are not unionized and thus individual factor members try to negotiate the best deal that they can. Under this system there is typically a lot of variation between departments (e.g. Computer science professors can get a lot more salary then mathematicians or English professors.) There can also be significant variation within an individual department, even for faculty at the same rank.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Every job position is it's own little economy, and to understand it fully we basically need a wide-ranging understanding of economics. But we can at least hit the most obvious and easily understandable points, so long as we are clear that each position is distinct and unique in it's own right.
Let's say you need to hire a Professor of Basket-Weave Engineering. How much do you pay them? Well, I say we offer to pay them a $1. Ah, but that would be below minimum wage requirements generally, so that'd be illegal...ok, let's pay them $20,000 a year then.
Why pay them any more? Well, in short, we have a number of problems:
1) Quality of candidates - the best in the field just aren't willing to work for so little, they likely won't even apply even if they were rich because such a low salary indicates a lack of respect and seriousness of the position. So you likely won't get your desired quality of candidate.
2) Quantity of candidates - with such little pay you probably just won't get enough qualified candidates to seriously interview.
3) Actual acceptance - even if you get enough good candidates and make an offer, there is a good chance they won't accept at all because they have better offers.
4) Perception - national rankings and general public perception can be involved. Do you want to become known as the institution with McProfessors who are paid in beans?
5) Turn over - even if you get good people to join, they will likely leave when they get a drastically better offer. Even the most die-hard of loyalists will have trouble turning down an offer that's 4-10 times the salary they get now.
But why are similar positions paid so differently?
--------------------------------------------------
Each of the simple 5 conditions I outlined above vary by individual position. A Computer Engineering professor is just not the same as a Chemical Engineer - they are both engineers, but they have very different market factors involved.
Let's say they start off the same though, and you are able to hire and retain both at the same rate of $50,000 a year.
Now let's say IBM wants to put someone in charge of a next-generation computing research lab - will they want a Computer Engineer or a Chemical Engineer? I think it's pretty clear that they may very well have a preference for one particular type of engineer. The research produced could earn them billions, so they'd be happy to pay easily $500,000 a year for the right candidate. Not to be outdone, Intel, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and a dozen other big-name computer companies also want the same kind of candidate, and all are willing to pay the same.
Now you have a problem. If you want to hire a Chemical Engineer, nothing has changed - $50k seems to get people just fine. But if you want to hire a Computer Engineer, you are now effectively competing with dozens of companies willing to pay 10 times what you pay.
One method of dealing with this is to ignore it. Sure, you'll lose the most money-motivated or even the best candidates to companies, but you'll still be able to get what you want. But what if more and more companies want computer engineers? What if it gets to be that there's a shortage of above-average candidates, and so industry will throw stupid amounts of money at any computer engineer who seems even vaguely above-average? You'll be left with only below-average engineers or ones who are outright hostile towards industry. If you expect to get grant money and support from industry partners, you are going to be in trouble either way.
So it might turn out that it easily makes sense to pay $200,000 a year to get a Computer Engineer (because, frankly, you have no real other choice anymore), but why would you pay any more for a Chemical Engineer? Their market hasn't changed any, so why waste money?
[Complements and Substitutes](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html)
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But now we also realize something interesting. While the tech companies prefer computer engineers, they realize that IT engineers have similar knowledge and work almost just as well. They might still prefer computer engineers, but with less demand or less pay they will make use of them too (even if they were still working slightly outside their field!).
Now you will find, thanks to the concept of substitutes, that other fields are being effected by the tech bidding wars. Pretty soon you'll be paying $150,000 for IT engineers. But what if tech companies realize that, sure they prefer the specialized knowledge of computing and IT people, but research is research - why not identity suitably brilliant Chemical Engineering PhDs and hire them? Sure it might take them a little longer to get up to speed in the field, but whatever - they may still prefer other fields, but they'll take what they can get.
Next thing you know within a few years you went from paying everyone $50k to having to pay no less than $200k for a Computer Engineer, $150k for an IT Engineer, and $100k for a Chemical Engineer - minimum! Any less and all the really desirable candidates pass your institution over with ease as the other offers they get are just too high. Meanwhile professors whose primary role is teaching CS101 still command little more than that $50k, because industry just isn't super excited about people who can teach entry-level courses.
And what if other institutions start competing for top candidates, just like the industry has been doing? As Artelius points out, [Baumol's Cost Disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease) is a hypothesis that seeks to explain increases in salaries when productivity of the job itself hasn't changed, if you are interested in further reading.
This little fictional story isn't far off exactly what has happened not only in Engineering fields, but all fields. My own adviser once pointed out to me that even people who do the same job, in the same field, get paid differently based upon what program they earned their final degree in - Psychology faculty just get paid less than Business or Engineering folks, even if they both work in the same exact applied research field.
People Are Different, Want Different Things, and Value Things Differently
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimately this is the bottom-line - people with similar titles are not paid the same because our system is based upon relative values of individuals, groups, and the economy as a whole. People are different, want different things, and don't assign the same universal value to all things. One agent might not be willing to buy something for more than $10, while another agent considers it a steal to get that thing for less than ten times the price!
Even more importantly, no one really wants to pay more than they have to to get something they want. It is almost universally true that if someone pays X for something, it's because they didn't think they could get an equivalent thing for much less.
And we got to this wide variance in salaries even while ignoring concepts like price-based value perceptions (national rankings that weight faculty pay as part of their rankings, for instance), vanity/political capital (deans or department heads who believe larger pay and budgets means more esteem and rank), paying a premium up-front to reduce turn over due to cost considerations (don't want someone in charge of a big funded research lab to leave every few years, so you make sure they are considered extra-well-paid so they don't jump ship), or even differential income value of a position! Not all positions bring in the same amount of community support or grant money, nor do all departments get the same support from higher-level administration (MIT just might not care that much about their history department but considers their robotics department mission-critical, for instance).
But even if we ignore all these factors, the simple 5 factors at the beginning of this answer are more than sufficient to explain a difference in faculty pay, to say nothing of differential industry valuations/competition. The true reason faculty salaries differ so much is due to a combination of all these factors and more.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: One reason is that titles can be ambiguous. The "assistant professors" in the Michigan math department making ~$50k are all in fact postdocs with temporary appointments. The tenure-track assistant professors, per the table you linked to, are all making in the 80s or higher.
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<issue_start>username_0: There have been a few circumstances where I've had to email an authority at my school and didn't know whether they had a PhD (e.g. An instructor of mine who I knew had been a PhD candidate a few years earlier, but perhaps graduated since then). In these cases, should I address the person as Dr.?<issue_comment>username_1: I always use Dr. \_\_\_\_\_\_ whenever I am e-mailing someone at a university and do not know if they have a doctorate.
1. If they do have a doctorate, I haven't insulted them.
2. If they don't, they chuckle and are pleased.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you don't know who the person is then there is no point of insult in normal greeting; however if you try this with non-phd person it may appear that you are trying to butter the person or show you in lesser light; as a person of lower intellectual capability; as everybody appears to be a dr to you.
Lastly even if you know a person has the phd; it shouldn't insult him/her if they are your coworkers or boss; remember mgmnt in software cos usually encourage usage of first name and encourage casual informal relationships so as to foster stronger working ties (you don't want your coworker to be afraid or in awe of you so that they don't use their brains or agree blindly to whatever you say); as in a professional situation you all have the same goal and job; while in academics phd's ,post-doctoral guys are the knowledge searchers creators and you are the learners; it may insult them if they are your teachers/professors as that relationship is much different than a Professional relationship.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In my opinion it strongly depends on the culture. In Switzerland we use solely "Herr"/"Frau" (Mr/Mrs) to address even professors. If you have a look at the history of the country you get an idea why titles of any kind are somewhat frowned upon. However, in Germany the situation is already different and at least under certain circumstances the title is to be used in the address. In Austria it's even sort of a must as I got to hear. At least some people were somewhat sulky when I failed to do so :)
I do not know what role titles play in other places of the world.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Address the person by her academic role if she has one. For example, if she is a a professor, say "Dear Professor" or "Hi Professor". If she is an instructor but not a professor try "Dear Instructor".
I did this with my daily supervisor who was a professor but did not have a PhD in my early correspondence with him and it worked fine.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: It is not a secret who has a PhD. You should ideally do your research and find out.
If you don't do that you run a risk either way. If they don't have a PhD it's very unlikely to offend, but as username_2 says, you aren't doing yourself any favours in creating an impression...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It is better you inquire their background before mailing them. No confusions could arise then.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Well, I have a letter envelope from *the* <NAME> addressing me as "Professor". Which is several steps above what I could actually be claiming. He (or his secretary) probably preferred erring on the safe side over guessing whether my lack of using titles was due to modesty.
Now putting suspected titles on the envelope and leaving them off in the communication itself may actually be not a bad idea since then any possible embarrassment does not accumulate with multiple mentions but you still bring across that you consider the recipient capable/likely to have some degree.
At any rate: if you cannot find any titles in material you are able to find of the person in question, chances are that he/she is not all that obsessive about having his titles attached to his name whenever possible even in case he *may* have claim to them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: No, just put Mr. if a man or Ms. if a woman.
Phd are not doctors.
Phd is a research degree and its not a professional title to call them doctors.
Only doctors to be called doctors.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_9: In the UK, it is common to simply address academics by their name, without a title. "Dear Firstname" if you know them personally, or "Dear Firstname Lastname" to be slightly more formal or if e-mailing someone outside of your department. I would use however "professor" or "Dr" in more formal correspondence (such as appeals or anything by post) assuming I was certain of their title, but there is no harm in omitting it.
So to answer your question: I would in most circumstances omit the title even if I knew it, and it is common in the UK to do so, though there is no harm in using it. If you don't know, "Dear Name Name" will suffice.
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<issue_start>username_0: I am reviewing a paper on a topic on which I have published some work previously as an author. While going through this current paper as a reviewer, I felt I could recommend my paper on the similar topic, which addresses a particular point better than in the paper I am reviewing. My question in this regard is whether in such conditions it's a common practice for a reviewer to recommend their own paper?<issue_comment>username_1: This is a delicate issue.
* On the one hand, a reviewer is most familiar with their own work, and will certainly know if their work is relevant to the paper that they are reviewing.
* On the other hand, it can feel like a crass "citation for publication" trade.
The way that I typically approach it is to only recommend citation of my own work if I am also finding it appropriate to recommend citation of other related work at the same time.
Put another way: if the hole in their literature review is "me," then I find it likely that I'm wishing they cited me because of personal bias and my own ego. If the hole in their literature review is "me and a whole bunch of other things like me," then I find it likely that it's a legitimate gap and it's OK to recommend my work as part of the set of things to fill said gap.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it a common practice for reviewers to recommend their own papers in the review?
>
>
>
While this is likely to vary by discipline, in my field/subfield (electrical engineering/circuits and signal processing), reviewers recommending that one of their papers be cited in the revised manuscript is fairly common.
Now, this does not mean that the authors are obligated to include the reference in their revised manuscript. But, as a reviewer, if you have authored a paper that is highly relevant to the paper under review, I think it's helpful to the field if these links to other relevant works are established.
Coincidentally, I have found out about other related works in closely-related fields (but not exactly the same as my "little corner of the world") by reviewers suggesting that I cite certain papers in my manuscripts (of which, some of the suggested papers are the reviewer's own papers [because, let's face it, sometimes you can tell]). And, of course, I will take a look at these suggested works and make sure they are a good fit for my paper before I comply with the request to cite them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes. One of the jurors for my and a colleague's paper referenced his own work in refutation of our own. Our paper was rejected by that journal, but later accepted for publication in a journal with a higher impact score. I am uncertain whether this practice is ethical or not.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: The metric I use is the same as for everything else I do when refereeing a manuscript: Would I make the suggestion to the authors face as a non-anonymous referee? How would the authors feel if they knew it came from me? Would they think I was trolling for citation, or would they think they missed an important paper for discussion?
Probably, if the manuscript tells a complete story and has a fair picture of the state of the literature without it, I probably would not bring up my own paper in a review. If my paper were seminal in the field, and the authors missed it, then I'd probably bring it up. Oddly enough, papers I tend to recommend during review are not my own, usually.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I find that the existing answers do *not* address the actual question. The question was not whether a reviewer should ask for his work to be *cited* but whether he should point out his work regarding the relevance to suggested fixes to the *content* of the reviewed paper.
The reviewer here appears to me more interested in changes to the *text* rather than the bibliography.
And that's where I'd actually be drawing my personal line: trying to get your work *cited* feels distasteful to me. Trying to get your work *heeded* where doing so would substantially improve the paper's relation to the status quo of research seems appropriate to me.
Now this heeding can be done by taking the results of that paper, removing the appropriate section in the paper itself and obviously putting in a bibliographical reference. It can be done by reworking that passage, possibly just throwing out material that seems no longer motivateable in light of your work even when the act of throwing the material out does not actually warrant a separate documentation and citation.
In contrast, if the work remains unchanged but the bibliography is amended, this amounts to a do-it-yourself science kit for the reader. That makes no sense. The bibliography is not supposed to be a field survey but rather contain references actually supporting the article. Dumping unrelated or contradicting references into it does not improve the article when the article does not actually work out its relation to the reference.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: You are really asking several distinct but related questions.
* **Is it common to ask people to cite your own work?** Yes, it's reasonably common, it has happened to me and to others. On the other hand, I am not aware of any statistics on the practice and it's certainly not something everybody is doing.
* **Is it appropriate/ethical to do it?** It's delicate, others have already provided excellent answers on this point but do realise that it's extremely difficult to be perfectly honest with yourself in this context. We might be dead certain we are making a reasonable, neutral assessment of our work's relevance to the paper's topic but the psychological literature suggests we humans are usually not very good judges of that.
* **How will it be perceived?** You did not ask about this but it seems to me that it's likely to look bad. At the very least, follow Jake's and username_5's advice and only mention your own papers if you are doing more than merely asking for a citation. Even if you do it in good faith and you are right about your paper's relevance, only suggesting publications from one author will look odd.
* **Should you do it?** Anecdotal evidence suggests that some people in my field have been doing it for some time in a rather heavy-handed way. They probably suffered a bit of damage to their reputation with authors and possibly editors but it's definitely not something that's universally frowned upon and could get you in deep trouble like fraud or plagiarism. So it's up to you to assess the ethics and decide if you want to do it or not.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: If you feel strongly that your paper is more than peripherally relevant, that you have addressed the issue in a particularly relevant way, why not make the suggestion to the editors rather than directly to the authors and let the editor assess it as a third party in a perhaps more objective way?
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to learn more about a specific part of a narrow, fledgling field. I want to have a 30 minute conversation with a the burgeoning experts in this area of study -- they are all researchers at universities.
I have completed my undergrad in a related field, but at a different institution, and without formal training in the specialized area I'm investigating. But I have read up enough to be able to ask informed questions.
How can I get these busy people to give me a half an hour (or more) of their life when I don't know anyone in their network and am an outsider? What can I offer them in exchange for their time? What is a good way to make contact and avoid a totally "cold call"?<issue_comment>username_1: You are right that it is difficult to make contact with a busy expert when you have no network contacts to draw upon. One of the best ways to make contact is to attend a conference that covers your area of interest; this can be pricey, but in my field the major conference even has "Meet the Experts" lunches for student attendees. At the conference, register for pre-meeting, student, and/or special interest group events that may have a either a career development focus or are likely to have a more specialized attendance and thus more opportunities to approach individuals with whom you'd like to talk.
While some experts may, in fact, respond to a "cold call" (or cold email, as the case may be), the fact is that most are probably putting out fires and dealing with higher-level responsibilities, and may simply be too busy. In that case you may want to try moving down the ladder a bit...a graduate student or postdoc in their lab may be a bit more available to chat, and may actually have good advice for you about the next step in your career, as well as information about the nitty-gritty of the specialized area their lab works on.
My best advice is just go out there and make your best effort to get in touch, provided you convey respect for their time and withdraw gracefully if they aren't able to make time for you. Some investigators may respond very favorably--you might be surprised! Nothing ventured, nothing gained...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Start with just sending a friendly "hey, I'd love to meet with you for just a few minutes" email. You'd be surprised that a few people will actually respond and respond well to that sort of initiative. Anecdotally, I got quite a few interesting meetings with people just with that.
If they don't reply to your email, you can decide how you want to go. I'd recommend the following, but really, any of these can be done in any order.
* Send a follow-up email. I'd do this a maximum of two times. At that point, if he's ignoring you, he's ignoring you.
* Try to talk to an administrative assistant, see if there's a better way to get in touch/get on his schedule.
* Drop by his office sometime, see if he's willing to talk to you unannounced. I would recommend asking his graduate students before you do this, as he may not appreciate it.
* Find someone else to talk to. Some people just don't like talking.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Your starting point for how to think about this should be the same as with any social interaction: empathize. Put yourself in their shoes. Start by trying to imagine what their motivations might be and what they might get out of spending 30 minutes with you answering your questions. Many social interactions involve some kind of exchange; what is exchanged might vary (it might be information, or emotional support, or entertainment, or a sense of connection, or any of a number of other motivations), but try to understand what the professor might get out of it, and then tailor your approach accordingly. What value can you offer? What's the benefit to them?
Realistically, in many cases, there might be nothing you have to offer that would make it worthwhile for the professor to spend 30 minutes of their limited time answering your questions. Professors are often busy and have many responsibilities and obligations of their own, and so they simply might not be available to be a free resource for you, as much as you wish it were so. In this sense, professors are much like any other domain expert. For instance, if you needed advice from a legal expert (a lawyer), what could you offer them to make it worth their while to spend 30 minutes of their time answering your legal questions for free? Usually, you can't. Instead, you have to hire their services.
Now in some cases you might get lucky and be able to find an expert who knows the subject area and is willing to give you free advice. The motivation might vary, but here are some samples of why someone might be willing to help you out like this:
* Maybe the professor/expert gets some satisfaction out of seeing their ideas used in practice, as well as some boost to their professional reputation. (This might be applicable if you're going to build a widely deployed product, and the professor's research provides specialized knowledge that will improve the product, but it probably won't be if you're an amateur who is tooling about with this stuff for curiosity's sake.)
* Maybe the professor/expert gets some satisfaction out of serving the public. (This might be more applicable if you work for a non-profit that is working to serve the public, or if answering your question will help not only you but others -- such as if the answer is documented on a public site like StackExchange.)
* Maybe the professor/expert is doing a favor for someone else they know, who they owe a favor or want to oblige. (This might be applicable if you know someone who has a strong relationship with the expert and who is willing to ask a favor and whom the expert might want to oblige.)
So, if you're asking for free advice from the professor, start by knowing which of those motivations you might fit into, and tailor your approach closely.
But realize that most professors/experts will likely be too busy to give you this much of their time for free, if they're not getting anything out of it. You're not entitled to any of their time; if they give you any time, you should be grateful for it and consider yourself fortunate. So your traditional options are:
* Hire the professor/expert as a consultant.
* Read the professor's published papers. Read the research literature in the area. Study the field as much as possible. If you've spent weeks or months doing so, then typically you'll get a good idea of the answers to many of your questions -- and if there are one or two that remain unanswered, you might be able to frame an email that asks a well-crafted, focused, non-trivial question about their research. When you've put in a ton of effort on your own and are able to ask a narrowly-focused intelligent question about the professor's research, and you're not wasting their time, it's more likely you'll get an answer. But in this model, you're not asking for 30 minutes of their time. You're sending an email with a single, well-crafted question.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Just this week, I got a call set up with a professor. I have no connection with him or the university he teaches at. As a disclaimer, I have no idea how busy he is or whether he is an expert in my field. Here's how I did it:
For background, I am interested in learning about student engagement, more specifically using popular media in the classroom. One of the presentations on the professor's department website discussed this topic in some form, and it really captured my interest.
First off, I created an email subject that would probably capture his interest. Since he is a professor, he is probably interested in education. And since he has a presentation on popular media, he is probably interested in that as well. So combining the two, my subject line was: "Using Popular Culture to Educate Students." Note that I didn't use the word "media" because he does not use that specific terminology in his presentation.
I started out the body of my email by linking to the presentation and thanking him for creating such a valuable resource. I expressed genuine appreciation for the presentation that he (or someone else in his department) created. I then mentioned that I am exploring the topic of the presentation and "would love to learn more about [his] work." Finally, I ended the email by asking to chat briefly on the phone. I then went further and suggested a **specific day and time to chat**. The bolded part is what most people don't include in their emails. This significantly reduces the work for the person you are trying to "sell" to and makes them more likely to respond. And sure enough, I got a response.
To recap, here's how I approached the situation:
1. Create a subject line that will be likely to capture their interest.
2. Link to a specific work of theirs that you found interesting and/or valuable. People appreciate it when you acknowledge their work.
3. Show that you are working within the scope of their work, and indicate that you are trying to learn more about that subject.
4. Ask for a quick chat on the phone, and indicate why you want to speak with them.
5. Suggest a specific date/time to chat.
I believe the above steps made me successful in gaining the attention of the professor. There's also a little luck involved, so it's possible that I could have just gotten lucky.
I hope this helps!
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/27
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it possible for a young assistant professor to receive a higher salary than an associate professor in the same department with many more papers, citations, etc?
Why would this happen?
What determines the salary of a faculty member, if not papers and citations?
---
UPDATE
------
Although there is overlap, my question is not duplicate. The (realistic but maybe erroneous) example is edited away, so it changes the context of my question. In the situation I want to ask, the associate professor not only stays longer, but also has much more reputation than the assistant professor.<issue_comment>username_1: I can think of some reasons such as
1. It is not uncommon that new hires get higher salaries, even in industry.
2. Faculty A could have more grants than B. Publications and citations don't matter much if a faculty doesn't bring money to the school.
3. Faculty A could graduated from a top school.
4. For new hires, their salary could include summer salary for first few years.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There are very many reasons. For starters, some faculty have 12 month appointments, others have 9 month, and some have less than 100% for however many months. Some specializations within a department are very competitive and faculty in that area can get high salaries compared to areas that are less in-demand. Some faculty get university awards which translate into a salary bump. Som faculty are very research productive and some are not; and some deans have a policy requiring e.g. 75% of the raise money to go to 25% of the faculty (i.e. prohibitiving splitting the pot evenly).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The phenomenon you describe is known as *compression* and, in the case where salaries are actually reversed, *inversion*. Unfortunately these are very common especially at state universities. The principal cause is that faculty get hired as assistant professors at market rates, but the university salary structure fails to keep up with inflation and any other sources of increases. Given the severe funding cuts, salary freezes, and so forth that have plagued public higher education over the past few decades, this situation has been almost inevitable. The result is a salary structure such as you describe.
The only ways to fix this are either explicit allocation of funds to correct compression, or for individual faculty to obtain raises via retention packages to fight off outside offers.
In general, salaries are basically set by market rate at hiring (which for assistant professors is largely independent of citations and papers, *conditional on getting the job in the first place*) and by outside offers received later during the career. Both the availability of outside offers and their magnitude will depend on stature in the field. Even if one does not actually take an outside offer, receiving one or more such offers can prompt the home institution to put together a retention package. The willingness of the home institution to put together a top package will also depend on stature, and similarly the magnitude of the retention package depends on the outside offer and is thus also based on stature.
In principle, regular merit raises could also reward faculty in accordance with their productivity and impact. But for whatever reason (I blame self-governance, but that's another discussion), merit raises and such tend to be allocated in relatively egalitarian form, rather than proportional to differential merit and productivity.
Other answers provide additional important information. Some salaries are 9 month, some 12 month. Some faculty on 9 month appointments can cover summer salary off of grants; others spread 9 months salary across 12 months. Public databases often list total salary received rather than 9 month salary; this considerably increases the variation among faculty.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2015/05/28
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<issue_start>username_0: I've seen many academic CVs list the conferences the individual participated in, and I can't help but wonder how is this information useful? I can understand citing journal articles because this gives information as to the type of research the individual is doing, but I have no clue as to why listing conferences adds anything.<issue_comment>username_1: I typically have seen conferences appear in CVs in three ways:
1. Peer-reviewed conference publications, which in some fields (e.g., computer science) can be as important as journal articles
2. Talks given at conferences, whether based on peer reviewed papers, non-reviewed abstracts, or invitations, which give evidence that the person has experience with scientific speaking.
3. Service to the community, whether as an organizer, a reviewer, or a student volunteer.
Beyond that, just saying "I paid $600 to register for this conference and all I got was this lousy tote bag" seems rather pointless.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Going to a conference without a publication, poster or talk still shows (at least in theory) that you know people in that research field, who you might be able to tap into for advice, collaboration or when looking for new students, all of which could benefit a potential employer. It also shows interest in that research area, although I imagine most potential employers will look at your publications to gauge that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If nothing else it shows that the individual is engaged in it's particular field.
Edit: In Europe, CVs are typically shorter (about 2 pages) compared to the US, which can include anything that shows engagement, professional development, achievements, positions, etc.
I personally have 2 CVs. A comprehensive CV, which is typical for academic applications, that includes any and everything I've done related to my professional career, including workshops, conference presentations, etc. The second CV is more concise (2 pages), and is more like a resume - which is what is often wanted by industry.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/28
| 449
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a graduate student in mathematics but I've done a lot of open source software projects, some of which have even won hackathons. My question is should I put them on my CV? I've seen academic CVs only contain publications, conferences etc. But, I feel that these projects are very valuable to mention.<issue_comment>username_1: You're correct to want to mention them, CVs often probably only lack them because the writer hasn't done them or it isn't relevant to their career (perhaps they do not need to mention them any longer to prove particular skills). My CV included my programming/computing experience and was well received as the programming I had done was relevant; I was applying for computationally demanding PhD programmes.
Relevance is key so when including the projects, make sure the skills you gained from completing the open source projects are clear to the reader. Make sure it is also clear how these same skills are relevant to your application.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: On my CV, I try to list software twice: once as part of a scientific project ("I studied ... and wrote a software tool to allow other scientists to ...") and once as a software project ("SequenceMatrix is a Java application to ... that I developed while working on ..."). The first includes scientific outputs, such as publications, findings and point to research interests, while the second includes development tools, software design and engineering practice. Which one I emphasize -- and whether I drop one entirely -- depends on what I'm applying for.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I am a mathematics professor and I served on a hiring committee this spring so I've been reading a lot of CVs recently. If the software projects that you have been working on are completely unrelated to your research or mathematics in general, then I would leave them off. If he projects are directly related to your research or even just mathematical in nature (e.g. Work on the Sage computer algebra system), then I would include them.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/05/28
| 2,467
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<issue_start>username_0: A postdoc joins a group with a good idea to work on, while no specific project was given to him by the PI. After recognising the potential of the idea, the PI decides to take PhD students to work on it. When the postdoc asks, the PI says that the postdoc is going to be on this position only for a short time and the project (work) may not be finished before his contract expires. The contract is funded by the PI.
What should the postdoc do? Is it right for the postdoc to give his ideas in the first instance and should he be recognised when the work gets completed? If so, what about authorship?<issue_comment>username_1: The supervisor is unlikely to reassign project ideas carelessly that weren't their own. It is also worth attempting to use this idea to try and obtain more funding/a longer contract if it is possible at the location.
If the postdoc is not worried about completing all the work themselves then they can follow the PI's plan but should clarify at the start of this process that they want to be involved in working on it for a time and to be recognised at publication for their practical and intellectual contributions.
If, for example, the postdoc could take this new idea to a position in the near future and work on it there themselves and do the main work and publications, then they would understandably have reservations upon sharing it in the first place.
It is basically important to make ones intentions clear at the get go when sharing an idea, and to understand the scope of the idea, appreciate how novel it actually is and what is needed to follow it through. I would make it clear that you want as big a part as possible in the idea because you believe in it and then share it or not depending on whether the current position/group/lab/PI is essential for completing the work or whether there would be other more independent possibilities in the near future.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: username_1's answer addresses a good practical course of action, but I want to add one point. In many fields (definitely in the social sciences and engineering, and also most fields outside academia) the resources required to implement an idea are much greater than those required to conceive it. For this reason, achievement is measured in terms of successful implementations rather than successful conceptions. Therefore, ideas are not currency to be saved up, guarded, or traded away but intellectual bonds to be freely shared. Rather than all sitting in locked rooms with our 5 or 6 best ideas, we offer them during the Q&A of a talk, we publish them in the future work sections of our manuscripts, and we chat about them with fellow researchers over coffee. In this way, we all have hundreds or thousands of good ideas within reach when we actually have the resources to do some work.
So, this is a long-winded way of saying that you could ask for or demand authorship on any subsequent publications, or you could just be happy that your idea will be implemented and continue searching for the project that you have the right amount of resources to perform.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: To address the question:
>
> What should the postdoc do?
>
>
>
Short answer: The postdoc should come up with evidence-backed rationale why they should be listened to in this situation at all. Since the cat (idea) is already out of the bag, it's too late to think about whether it's right or not to share the idea, or for the PI to take and run with it. It's a judgment call and it's up to the PI at this point. From this point, it makes sense to adopt a future-oriented perspective.
Should the postdoc meet and directly address the issue of getting credit for the idea, specifically in the form of authorship on future publications? Yes, that makes sense. But I would do so only after taking some steps to increase the likelihood of reaching a resolution in the postdoc's favor. In this regard, my answer centers on the notion of negotiating leverage.
Worst case, the PI could completely usurp the idea and leave the postdoc hanging after the contract is up. Best case, the postdoc would get an extension and co-authorship invitation for major publications emerging from the project based on her idea.
To increase the likelihood of best-case scenario, the negotiator needs leverage, i.e. other options or resources to bring to the table.
From the description it seems the postdoc does not have leverage in negotiations in this case. Such leverage could include solid leads for other positions with favorable terms for developing this line of research.
Lets imagine the PI suspects you might have solid options or offers on the table to leave the job for another position that will give you more resources to build out the program of your research (employment at will allows you to do just that, unless you care about a good recommendation from this PI). If so, they will either (a) not care and let you go your way, or (b) recognize your value and be more willing to negotiate an arrangement where they would try to make an offer that competes with the offer you have from somewhere else, thus creating conditions in your favor.
It's a gamble, but if push comes to shove, it is better to find yourself in a stronger negotiating position that truly does give you a feasible Plan B if a compromise is unlikely. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: When I was a graduate student, my advisor told me something that has stuck with me ever since:
>
> I never worry about giving my ideas away. I always have more ideas than I can work on, so I give them away as fast as I can. The only people who worry about somebody stealing their ideas away are people who are afraid they won't have any more.
>
>
>
I have taken that to heart in my career: I give (most) ideas away as fast as I can, and it has served me well. Having ideas is not an art or a mystical experience, it is the exercise of a skill at creative thinking that can be developed and strengthened just like any other skill. Over time, giving ideas away thus doesn't diminish your stock of ideas, but instead actually increases it.
The real question, as alluded to by others, is what you do with an idea once you have it. As I see it, there are basically three honorable actions that you can take (hoarding it away not being one of them):
1. Pursue the work following from the idea strongly yourself, heavily investing your own time. In this case, if the work is fruitful, you most certainly should get a lot of credit. These are the only ideas I might not give away, in certain restricted circumstances---usually I'll share these as well, since more people caring about my problem area is generally better for me.
2. Give the idea away for somebody else to work on, but continue contributing to the work in an advisory or other accessory manner. This is the typical mode of operation for many professors, and can certainly be for a postdoc as well, even after you move on to another institution. If you continue to contribute in a minor way to the work, you should receive minor credit (e.g., Nth authorship).
3. Give the idea away for somebody else to work on, but don't contribute to the work beyond that. This is great because you don't burden yourself with the extra work, but you should probably expect an acknowledgement at most, not authorship.
In short: in most cases, it's not the idea, but the work following the idea that counts. We only think otherwise because we are scared or because our [myths of science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9#The_ouroboros_dream) frequently mischaracterize the *result* of work as the idea.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I think that the PI has not behaved very well. Postdocs need all the help they can get with establishing themselves in order to secure further positions and develop their careers. The PI, as the postdoc's superior/mentor, should be involved in helping to develop and promote a good postdoc wherever possible. If a postdoc has a great idea and one that would result in a long project, a good academic would help the postdoc find ways of funding the project in such a way that the postdoc could stay working on the project. The PI would likely remain as PI, but the postdoc would do most of the work and perhaps supervise some PhD students. That way, the institution has the chance to attract further funding, the PI still has their name on a project and the postdoc is given the opportunity to see their idea through and develop many more skills and experience that will help to further their career.
For the PI to take the idea away from the postdoc and tell them that they're not going to be around long enough to see it through seems very short-sighted to me. If I were the postdoc, I would have a look for possible funding opportunities that could fund the project, such as an early career fellowship, and then suggest to the PI and perhaps the Head of Department that I'd like to try and apply for additional funding for the project to extend my contract and have a role working on it. There are benefits there for the Department and for the PI - the PI can be on the project as a mentor/advisor which looks good for them without demanding much extra work, the department would get extra funding, and perhaps even a PhD studentship or two, depending on the scope of the project.
It may be that the field matters in this instance, as different disciplines have different ways of doing things. Computer Science, for example, is very different to Psychology, which is different to Physics, etc., in terms of how these issues are handled. In my experience, when starting out in academia, you need every drop of experience and every demonstration of merit you can get. It would be wonderful if academia was only about freely sharing ideas and working towards the common goal of enhancing collective knowledge, and everybody giving credit where credit is due, but in reality there are many who will not act that way and will actually give no further thought to quashing your career before it's even started just to get themselves some extra kudos in the eyes of their peers.
My advice would be to share ideas by all means, show your value by providing useful input to discussions etc, but if you have an idea for a project when you are just starting out, take ownership of that idea and bring it to your superiors with the stated goal in mind of securing funding for the project that you will work on. A good department will be eager to demonstrate that they make an effort to support their postdocs in securing a position beyond the postdoc, and will particularly be keen to keep hold of a good researcher while attracting additional funding.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/05/28
| 832
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<issue_start>username_0: Since public universities are nonprofit organizations, do their employees including faculty pay less taxes than those who work in industry?<issue_comment>username_1: Not in the US. There's no special tax breaks for non-profit or government employees here. They probably pay less in an absolute sense because their salaries are somewhat lower, but they don't get special rates.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In America, employees of governmental or nonprofit organizations are taxed the same way as employees of for-profits. The non-profit itself is generally exempt from taxation, but its employees are not. So there are no obvious tax advantages to working at a public or nonprofit university versus working for a for-profit corporation.
(I assume this will be much the same throughout the developed world.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: While I don't think this is true for any universities, the employees of certain non-profit international scientific organisations, including CERN, EMBL and ESA are exempted from national taxation. They are instead required to pay an internal tax which returns a percentage of their income to the employing organisation, with a tax band structure similar to conventional income taxes. In some cases this might result in an employee paying less than if they were under their national tax regime, but it might also result in them paying more.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Here is one case in which this is sort of true.
I work for a public university in the US state of Colorado. Colorado has decided that its public employees shall not participate in the federal Social Security system (states have the right to do this, under US law, though not all actually do so). As such, employees of public universities in Colorado do not pay Social Security tax. However, this means we also do not earn credits toward receiving Social Security retirement benefits. (The state used to offer its own pension system to state employees, but this is now being phased out in favor of a third party-managed defined contribution scheme.)
(We do still pay state and federal income tax at the normal rates.)
So this is one case in which university employees are exempt from a certain tax. But it is not related to non-profit status (private nonprofit universities in the state do not have this exemption) and it comes with a corresponding loss of government benefits.
Perhaps more directly related: I believe that at all US universities (all states, both public and private), *student* employees are exempt from paying Social Security tax (and from earning credits). But this does not universally apply to full-time employees.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Another "partial" case. In some states, when a teacher buys supplies for the classroom paying from her own pocket, she can be exempted from paying the sales tax on those items.
50 years ago I had a summer job at a federal lab. One of the old-timers there once joked about a time (even then it was "long ago") when federal employees were exempt from federal income tax.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: On an international note, in Germany, university professors are considered to be in a special class of public employees known as *Beamter*, and are exempted from all federal payroll taxes except ordinary income taxes and the reunification tax. This also means, as indicated by username_4 in his answer, that they are not able to participate in the federal social insurance scheme. Instead, they receive a pension paid for by the individual state governments in which they work.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/28
| 1,140
| 5,163
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently attended an editiorial panel at a conference where editors of several journals in my field advertised their journals and to this purpose listed, amongst others, the time difference between editorial acceptance and online publication.
While the averages they gave were about one month, I cannot recall any paper of mine or my colleagues in this field for which this took longer than two weeks. We get the proofs within a week, send our corrections within one or two days and the paper is published a few days later. Add two days for the rare case that another round of proofs is required.
I can guess several reasons for this discrepancy myself such as:
* authors not returning the proofs in time
* bad figures that require reworking
* bad English that requires a lot of copy editing
* a strongly skewed distribution of acceptance-to-publication times (but then journals would probably use the median and not the average for this statistics)
However, I am interested in something **more substantiated than a guess** and thus in any statistics or hands-on experiences from a copy editor or similar as to what usually makes up for the time between acceptance and online publication, which in turn could explain these discrepancies.<issue_comment>username_1: The most obvious explanation is that if the "one month" estimate reported is a mean rather than a median, it could be heavily influenced by a few large values. In other words, it seems quite reasonable that there would be a skewed distribution of times to publication: most around 2 weeks, a few that because of various problems take 6 months. As a result, you'd see a mean time of around a month even though in your experience the large majority of your observations would be around 2 weeks.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: From personal experience, I can say that while the usual time from acceptance to online publication may be quite short (for a good journal), there are occasionally situations where the process takes a lot longer. This probably pushes the mean time interval up quite a bit.
Over the last five years, I have published a couple dozen papers, and for most of them, the time lag between their acceptance and their appearance online was just two or three weeks. However, for three of those papers, the time was quite a bit longer--a matter of months instead.
The reasons for this varied. In one case, the copy editor raised some questions about my wording, and the paper passed back and forth between me and the journal several times before both sides were satisfied with the way the terminology was used. For the second paper, the proof contained a serious error in one of the equations, which took three more rounds of proofing to get corrected. (Every time I explained what needed to be changed, they messed up something else; it was frustrating.) In each of these cases, it would take a couple weeks for the editorial staff to make the changes, generate a new proof, and send it to me. When you need to go through four proofs, that can stretch the process to two months.
I don't know why the third paper took three or four times as long as usual; it just did. Presumably there was some difficulty at the editorial office, but I never pressed them to find out what it was.
I try very hard to submit very carefully composed and edited manuscripts, and I encountered a few slow-moving manuscripts. I know there are a fair number of people whose manuscripts routinely need quite a bit more editing work than mine. Mostly, I think this is because the authors are not native English speakers. However, whatever the reason, there are going to be a nontrivial number of papers that need to be sent back and forth between the authors and the editorial office multiple times. These give the distribution of time delays a long tail and probably stretch the mean waiting time out significantly.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I have been a copy editor for several academic journals at two different publishers. In my experience, things that affect the time from accept to publication include:
* Editors asking for additional data (e.g., tables, figures) to be supplied at the author proof stage, which then need to be incorporated into the accepted paper.
* Editors asking for substantive edits and reorganization of a paper post-accept by the copy editor because they don’t want to go through another round of revisions with the author, as it will affect the time from submission to accept (basically, they want to shift blame for the delay from pre- to post-accept).
* Papers being “batched” for issues by the editorial office, leading to an uneven and unpredictable workflow for the copy editors and typesetters
* The publication model (e.g., continuous publication, ePub ahead of print, number of issues in a volume).
* The length and complexity of the paper (e.g., systematic reviews and meta-analyses, in my experience, can take a couple of days to copy-edit, particularly if one is also responsible for editing/formatting the tables and forest plots, whereas a narrative review or technical note may take an afternoon).
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/28
| 608
| 2,552
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<issue_start>username_0: I an currently finishing my first year in a Masters program in Computer Science / Mathematics and thinking about getting a Ph.D. I'm not really sure, however, that I want to make my Ph.D. with the same thesis with which I'm getting my Masters degree.
I heard the opinion about Ph.D. as "doing interesting (for you) stuff, development your skills and even getting paid for it". But it seems too unrealistic for me, especially in my city/country (Russia). Probably I can think about getting a Ph.D. in another country, but how can I manage to do it without a proper Ph.D. advisor? Probably, I can determine an area of my interests, but how can I determine if it is suitable for a Ph.D. or not? And how can I find the person who can guide/help me with it?
I'm feeling a little bit nervous when thinking about writing to a complete stranger in another country "I want to do PhD under your supervision" or something like this.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on your credentials and references. But having good record enables you to apply to many good schools (e.g., Princeton, MIT etc.) in the US/Europe, via dedicated online application sites. So you do not need to personally contact anyone.
The other option is to use [Findaphd.com](http://www.findaphd.com), and other dedicated mailing lists who solicit PhD applications.
Of course, sending emails to professors, without knowing in advance whether they have the money to support a PhD student, is possible but has quite a low chance of success.
You might also use your existing professional connections within your local academia to seek potential PhD opportunities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You may misunderstand how one gets a PhD advisor in a CS department at American universities. Typically you apply to the program, then either get assigned an advisor or select one after arriving. Often, students enter one program expecting to work with a certain advisor but end up working with someone else.
Also, PhD theses usually are different topics from Master's theses. There is no assumption that they will be on the same topic, as your question seems to imply.
Most departments are broad enough to satisfy a variety of interests, although, at this stage of your career, you should at least have one or more general areas of interest, such as AI, systems, theory, HCI, etc. You would be expected to specify areas of interest and experience in your application essays, although it's okay for you to change directions later on.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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2015/05/28
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<issue_start>username_0: Subsequent publications rely on the exact same set of funding agencies. In total, that is an alphabet soup containing no less than 35 acronyms.
I'm using the exact same paragraph in the acknowledgements.
Would that be (self-)plagiarism?
It does seem to fit the definition, but... it seems silly to rewrite or to add a citation...<issue_comment>username_1: If it is truly an ordered list of funders and grant numbers, then there is no original idea that you are plagiarising. It is like reusing a list of affiliations in the author list. If you are describing how each person/funder/agency contributed, then there might be some originality in the statements and the exact contribution potentially changed between studies.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Nobody should care if the acknowledgments section of a paper is reused from a previous paper you have written. There is no proprietary "intellectual content" in an acknowledgments section, so you are not stealing anybody else's work.
It would be inappropriate (and very odd), however, to use *someone else's* acknowledgments as your own.
Upvotes: 4
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2015/05/28
| 2,787
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, on all of my projects, I do my data analysis, create my figures, put them into a word document, and then I start writing. I say things like "We saw a 35% reduction in the effectiveness of..."
100% of the time, these numbers change. We reach the discussion section and a co-author requests we change the analysis this or that way, or finds an error in my thinking.
Then, I need to go back and re-do the analysis. Then, I'll need to find every point of data that was potentially affected and manually change it in a word document. Occasionally, this back-and-forth leads to the introduction of errors.
I would love a writing platform that would allow me to integrate my data into the writing process. Instead of writing
"We saw a 35% reduction in ..."
I would say:
"We saw a <% print(reduction.round()) %>% reduction in.."
Of course I could do this from scratch on my own computer, but I then lose the ability to collaborate.
I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem, and how they have solved it?<issue_comment>username_1: One possible workflow is using [R](http://www.r-project.org/) for producing the results, [LaTeX](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX) for writing the report, and [Sweave](http://www.statistik.lmu.de/~leisch/Sweave/) to integrate both. With either [TexStudio](http://texstudio.sourceforge.net/) or [LyX](http://www.lyx.org/) (or any text editor that supports track changes) as writing environments and Dropbox, you can set up some sort of "collaboration".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Take a look at [R Markdown](http://rmarkdown.rstudio.com/). It allows to generate files (Markdown, HTML, LaTeX, PDF or even some interactive Shiny slides) based on text, LaTeX formulae and code (not only in [R](http://www.r-project.org/) - you can use other languages as well!). For a smooth start you can try using a real-time editor [editR](https://github.com/swarm-lab/editR).
Alternatively, you can use [IPython Notebook](http://ipython.org/notebook.html), it is [easy to share](https://github.com/blog/1995-github-jupyter-notebooks-3), but harder to collaborate on or convert into a nice LaTeX.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Almost everyone who has written a quantitative paper has been confronted with the problem of reading an old draft containing results or figures that need to be revisited or reproduced (as a result of peer-review, say) but which lack any information about the circumstances of their creation.
>
>
>
[<NAME>](http://kieranhealy.org/files/misc/workflow-apps.pdf) describes a workflow that uses R, Sweave and Emacs org-mode or Knitr to tackle this problem. Dropbox or github can be used to track versions and collaborate with co-authors.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: While other answers have given some very good suggestions, I wish to focus on the part "if anyone has had this problem, and how they have solved it?" of the question.
I use Sweave and can only speak for this particular method. My general thoughts are that:
1. Yes, it's awesome.
2. However, the time to make the two sets of code to work may not necessarily be shorter or less miserable than revising the statistics and tables by hand. It has some learning curve. So, I'd suggest considering using this method if you have i) some documents that need to be repeatedly created or the data are repeatedly being appended, like periodic reports, or ii) some analysis that involves a large amount of repetitions.
3. The benefit really shines for tables and graphs. Yet I found that embedded text can be troublesome. For instance, weird sentence like "the mean energy intake increased by *-1357* kcal at the end of the study."
4. As an extension of the above, sometimes the restructuring of the analysis can be so drastic that the codes will need to be revised extensively. And you'll have two sets of code to revise and two sets of bug to catch.
5. In my own circle of colleagues, it's hard enough to have them keep the statistical syntax in a standardized format. I will not even ask if they use LaTeX, not to even mention Sweave.
Having said that, it is indeed very satisfying to see a 100-page PDF analysis report being revised with one click. I'd suggest at least find a suitable environment to try once. By the way, Sweave can also work with Stata and SAS (statweave), quite versatile.
---
Now, back to the root cause. I'd like to share with you how I minimize this Sisyphean situation.
1. Remember, if you do no take charge, coworkers will take charge for you. Some statements to express firm decisions about leaving and entering a certain stage in the analysis process can be forceful and yield productive results. This is *also true if you are just a student and they are your supervisors*. Some reasonable assertiveness goes a long way.
2. Put all the data set details, variables, research questions, proposed analyses, and some reasonable amount of "plan B's" on what I call a DMAP (Data management and analysis plan.) Pay particular attentions to: i) how missing values will be handled, ii) how outliers are defined in the key variables of interest, and iii) recoding scheme if any categorization is to be done. Gather input from all of them. Once finalized, carry out the analysis.
3. In the next meeting, share analysis report (but NOT write up). Prepare a descriptive statistics package. And then according to the research questions, lay out the main findings in the same sequence. After each summary output, state 1-3 main "talking points" that will be the foundation (or topic sentences) of the Discussion. Show only necessary output and make sure to make them reader-friendly. Highlight or bold the parts that you want them to focus on. Have the group contribute their thoughts on revision or sub-analysis. Revise the DMAP. Have the previous DMAPs handy to avoid the "you said, I said" situation.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until no more input was given. Be very clear that "you are going to finalize this analysis and start writing the Discussion." Are there anyone not replying your e-mail and can potentially disrupt this finalization? Deal with them individually before moving on.
5. Go on to craft the Discussion based on the talking points that have been previously agreed upon.
6. Along the process, keep clear documentation. Keep your syntax files and analysis report files clear and dated. Include section numbers corresponding to the research question, page number, and line number. Date and sign (provide name and e-mail) all your reports and syntax files.
The main point is: do not write the Results and Discussion and distribute them before the analysis is finalized. You may draft them in private, but never circulate them while the analysis is still actively being evaluated/revised. Doing so provides too many distractions to the group, and it's just going to end up with a hot mess.
---
In my own experience 75% or more of the so-called sub-analyses are what I call "brain farts." They are a healthy sign that the brain is working, but not pleasant if happening too frequently. Most of them are "what if's" and they can be out of control especially if the results do not go with how they want the world to work.
Yet, 1 out of 8-10 times the suggestions can be good. I usually will take the pain to revise the analysis plan and restart the process. Leave the writing, and come back to deal with it with the new analysis is finalized.
Finally, some catch phrases.
* "That is a great suggestion, however it's seriously deviated from our
original research questions. For the sake of being succinct, I'd
write this idea down and we can pursue it in another setting."
* "Sub-group analysis? Yes, but be prepared that it's going to be
underpowered and please don't keep you hope too high."
* "Sub-group analysis? But the interaction terms are not even
significant and I can tell you to rest assure that the two groups
will not show any difference."
* "Another parameter? Another scenario? Sure, let's get this done with, once and for all. Let me know all possible parameters you want to try now. I will just loop through them."
* "No, it's not related to our hypothesis."
* "Would you like to follow up with that
suggestion? I can send you the codes."
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: My understanding is that IPython and Mathematica can be used to prepare interactive 'notebooks' that can be dynamically updated based on arbitrary computation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: First of all, let's set the *terminology* straight. The approach that you're planning to use and seeking applications and workflows for is usually referred to as **reproducible research**, which, in turn, is based on the *literate programming* paradigm (introduced by Professor <NAME>).
The previous answers are nice and to the point, however, they cover only a **limited range** of tools. In particular, if you're not interested in having fine control of generated data-driven document in LaTeX format, it might be more feasible to use much *simpler* `RMarkdown` (or other `Markdown` variants) instead of `Sweave` or `knitr` (for converting generated documents between different formats, `pandoc` is very helpful and is pretty much the golden standard for such tasks). Also, there exist more *comprehensive* (but, not necessarily, more convenient) software that attempts to help in automating and managing the whole process of producing data-based written artifacts (reports, manuscripts, etc.). To learn more about such tools as well as other reproducible research aspects and related tools, please see [my relevant answer](https://datascience.stackexchange.com/a/759/2452) on *Data Science SE* site.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: RStudio (I highly recommend to follow their [blog](https://blog.rstudio.org/)) does amazing job redefining the R workflow with a particular emphasis on reproducibility (see [`rmarkdown`](http://rmarkdown.rstudio.com/)).
Quite recently they added notebooks, much like those in Jupyter (formerly IPython). The newest features are always available in the [preview release](https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/preview/).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: This is an old question, and the answer largely depends on the tools you are using for analysis and writing, but I recently came across a new program to satisfy the need for reproducible research. In the past I have used RStudio and RMarkdown files for analysis, but I'd still end up copying and pasting numbers into Microsoft Word files - for those using LaTeX with collaborators this might not have been as much of an issue (by using Sweave or knitr), but I am predominantly writing with others in Word.
[StatTag](https://sites.northwestern.edu/stattag/) is a new Microsoft Word plugin that enables you to connect statistical analysis files with Word documents so that the analysis can stay up-to-date. StatTag works with Stata, SAS, or R (or Rmarkdown) analysis files. I have found the introduction and documentation pretty clear. There is also an overview and demonstration from one of the creators at the recent useR conference [here](https://youtu.be/vvU645Oyxx8). I'm hoping to use it in future projects to lead to more reproducible research.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I've received several one-year extensions on my graduation deadline, granted by the PhD progress committee. I've used them all up and am running into the hard deadlines set by the university. I completed my courses and oral exam already, it's just the dissertation and user studies I have left.
Please don't write me off as lazy. The PhD progress committee, my thesis committee, and my adviser all agree me my work is extremely ambitious, and everyone is satisfied I am making good progress towards it. I encountered some setbacks, the most major being my adviser making the tough call that much of my previous work couldn't be used because its age. I work 80+ hour work weeks like any other PhD student and have been forgoing writing papers in the interest of time.
Bottom line, I'm doing everything I possibly can to hurry, but there's not enough time left. Giving up is not an option I'm willing to take, and the technology to clone myself doesn't exist (yet).
What are my options?<issue_comment>username_1: From the details of your situation it sounds as though your thesis committee and your advisor are all well-acquainted with your situation. They will not want you to fail your PhD candidature and will be working to make sure you have all the opportunities available to complete.
You mention that your support networks are satisfied that you are making good progress. You feel that you don't have enough time to complete.
Perhaps you ought to discuss with your progress committee, advisor, whoever, what would be a satisfactory conclusion to your work. Make sure that everyone has the same end goals in mind.
If everyone agrees on what would be the satisfactory conclusion to your work, and everyone agrees that you don't have enough time to complete, and if you have everyone on your side ready to attest to your progress, then you should ask for an exceptional extension of time. This would be backed up by letters from your various sources of support. I suspect that this request could only come from your Dean (or equivalent).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This type of question can only be answered by your advisor and thesis committee. They know what caused your delay, and they can likely advise you as to what should be your only—not your top, your *only*—priority at this point. Once you graduate, all your other projects can resume, but at this point you have one task, and that is to graduate. Only the gatekeepers to graduation (your thesis committee) can really tell you how to do that.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The typical solution to this problem is, with the permission of your advisor and committee, to reduce the scope of your thesis. I have known of people who successfully defended a thesis after 7 or 8 years even though exactly the same thesis would have been considered far too slight to be acceptable for the same person after 4-5 years. Committees and supervisors are generally sympathetic to this situation and look for a way out.
In particular, though you say *much of my previous work couldn't be used because its age*, you should probably revisit that thought. If you did the work, and it was meaningful at the time, it is potentially something you could include in your thesis. The vast majority of theses are today obsolete, but that doesn't mean the degrees should be revoked.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Russia and Israel have good histories of science and technology.
But, I never saw any Russian and Israeli university in the top 50 list.
Currently, the top Russian university, according to QS World Ranking is, Lomonosov Moscow State University. [Its position is 114](http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=193+faculty=+stars=false+search=). This is far worse than China. The top Chinese university [Tsinghua has a position of 47](http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=87+faculty=+stars=false+search=). The same problem can be seen in [Israeli universities](http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2014#sorting=rank+region=+country=74+faculty=+stars=false+search=).
Why do Russian and Israeli universities score low in various world rankings?
What is the problem? And, why aren't they trying to improve the situation?
```
|--------|-----------|--------------|-----------------|-----------
|QS(2015)|Times(2015)|Shanghai(2014)|Webometrics(2014)|CWUR(2014)
----------|--------|-----------|--------------|-----------------|-----------
Russia | 114 | 196 | 84 | 129 | 48**
----------|--------|-----------|--------------|-----------------|-----------
Israel | 138 | 188 | 70 | 207 | 22**
----------|--------|-----------|--------------|-----------------|-----------
```
\*\* this ranking is an exception.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Why do Russian and Israeli universities score low in various world rankings?
> What is the problem? And, why aren't they trying to improve the situation?
>
>
>
As a researcher originally from a country in a similar situation (Austria - historically great, Nobel prize winning researchers - now all universities ranked in the far 3-digit range in most rankings), I can try to speculate. Note that, of course, reasons may differ between Russia and Israel, or between institutions, so there may easily just not be *the* reason for this phenomenon.
* **Most rankings are perceived as garbage. Not scoring highly is not perceived as a big deal that needs changing.** Unlike in the US and other places, students generally don't care about rankings, and neither do employers. Hence, historically, the universities simply did not care whether they were top-something or not. I think this was the big reason historically in Austria, but it is slowly beginning to change due to top-down pressure from the government. Note that, even today, local students and employers *still* don't care about rankings, but foreign students and funding sources do, so there is at least some incentive to do something about it.
* **Most rankings *are* actually kind of garbage. Many universities outside of the US simply are not as bad as their ranking suggests.** Most rankings are either extremely top-heavy in their criteria and hence not very good at distinguishing the 50-best university from the 200-best in a field (e.g., counting Nobel prize winners), or implicitly assume that universities loosely follow the US way of organisation and naming. For instance, my alma mater has historically lost many *points* in some rankings due to an insanely bad faculty/student ratio. However, this was really mainly due to in Austria only chaired full professors being considered "real" faculty (called "Professorenkollegium"). Hence, the way of counting underestimated the real number of teachers available to students by a factor of 4 or 5. This has, afaik, been fixed by now, but an implicit bias for an US style of organization is still prevalent in many rankings. Further, unlike US universities, there are very little efforts in Austrian universities to *tune* their numbers for specific rankings. Generally, close to nobody at your average Austrian university has any idea what even the big rankings are looking at.
* **Being historically good does not mean that the universities are *still* good. Decades of underfunding for research have severely reduced the quality of research that is being produced.** Both things above considered, one has to assert that all the "historically great" universities in Austria aren't actually great anymore. Decades of underfunding, neglect by politicians, and questionable hiring practices for professors have certainly led to big, fundamentally detrimental changes to the university culture. At this point, Austrian universities are still pretty good at teaching students, and there is still reasonable research going on, but it would be wrong to assume that any university actually *deserves* to be considered on the same (research) tier with top English or US schools. I am pretty sure that at least in Russia, long-lasting underfunding will also be a big reason why the schools don't show up more prominently in rankings.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Firstly, it has to be noted that *overall rankings*, by definition, paint a very rough picture due to averaging universities' *key performance indicators (KPIs)* across a variety of disciplines and fields of study. Since both Russia and Israel have a rich history of scientific achievements mostly in hard sciences (mathematics, physics, etc.), the **overall nature** of world rankings introduces a significant **bias** due to considering the above-mentioned *whole spectrum* of disciplines and fields of study. If you would consider a ranking in a particular discipline or research area, where Russia and Israel traditionally have powerful positions (i.e., computer science), the situation would be significantly different, confirming those positions (as have been already mentioned in some comments above).
Secondly, if you would pay attention to **methodology** used in, for example, QS, Times and CWUR rankings (see [this page](http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-rankings/qs-world-university-rankings-methodology), [this page](https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014-15/world-ranking/methodology) and [this page](http://cwur.org/methodology), correspondingly), and compare QS and Times indicators with CWUR indicators, you would notice that the former assign a high weight on some factors, which IMHO are quite *subjective* and *biased*, whereas the latter represent a much *more balanced* set of indicators. In particular, I'm talking about assigning 40 percent to academic reputation (QS) and 24 percent to academic reputation and research income (Times), where reputation is determined by surveys (thus, subjective) and research income is unadjusted for geo-economic differences (thus, biased; even the methodology itself labels that indicator "controversial"). On the other hand, the CWUR ranking contains a balanced set of indicators, **all** of which are *objective* measures. Therefore, while you call CWUR ranking "an exception", I would argue that it much more fully represents real life situation, whereas QS and Times do not.
Thirdly, there are other **country-specific factors**, which existing methodologies do not include or adjust for, which bias the results of rankings, which represent the situation very approximately in the first place. I mean such factors, as underfunding (as noted by @username_1), administrative issues (i.e., bureaucracy), economical issues (i.e., corruption) and political situation in Russia, which generates more than usual "brain drain" (thus, introducing additional bias) as well as [public] underfunding and geo-political situation in Israel (I'm less familiar with this country's research environment, so this is just my best guess, based on what I know and some common sense/logic).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Despite the absolutely excellent answers already written one huge issue goes unmentioned: Language. Let's examine the different factors accounting the QS ranking for example:
QS Ranking methodology
======================
* **Academic reputation**:
+ Determined by a world wide survey, but even in a modern non-Russian eastern European country a researcher is more likely to know English (1200 million speakers) than Russian (260 million, but declining), and for that reason is more likely to read English research coming from US and UK based institutions.
* **Employer reputation**:
+ Same story, though to a lesser extent.
* **Faculty/student ratio**:
+ Objective.
* **Citations per faculty**:
+ Same story, the more accessible a piece of research is, the more likely others will read and cite it.
* **International student ratio**:
+ If the spoken language is known by more people, then it's more likely those people will come to study at your place.
* **International staff ratio**:
+ Same story.
Some case studies
=================
A case worth looking at is how the Dutch rank in the top 100. The Netherlands only has a population of 16 million, however of those 16 million, 15 million speak English. Additionally - and more importantly - a lot of masters are taught in English, most research (depending on field) is written in English and even in Bachelors English lecturers are accepted (though a lot of institutions have rules limiting the percentage of English classes a student is allowed to have in his bachelor). Result: Six Dutch universities are ranked in the top 100. Compare that to France, a country [famous](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2003/jul/21/france.internationalnews) [for its](http://www.globalization101.org/protecting-languages/) [protectiveness](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/30/france-bids-adieu-to-the-word-hashtag/) regarding their language, with a population of 66 million and only two universities in the top 100 (and four in the top 200).
And the same applies when you scroll throughout the entire list: the more people speak the language that is predominant in the institution, the higher it is ranked. Of course this is only a factor and it isn't absolute, because if it were, Chinese (1350 million speakers) institutions would be ranked number 1 (though they have been climbing at a ridiculous speed) and Indian and South American institutions would do significantly better, however even as just a single factor of many, its importance should be underrated.
Russia and Israel
-----------------
To finish off with the two countries you mentioned: considering Russia has 260 million speakers, I would still expect them to do better, but they have quite a closed off academic culture (I have met Russian researchers that were barely able to speak and read English at all... something I can not even imagine in western Europe even including France). Israel on the other hand I have no idea about (never met any Israeli researchers), but 85% of the 8 million population speaks English and they have three universities in the top 200, which sounds quite reasonable.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> What is the problem? And, why aren't they trying to improve the situation?
>
>
>
The plain answer is that it is not a problem and there is no point trying to “improve” the situation.
Each ranking has its purpose and methodology. For instance the well-known Shangai ranking was introduced by China as this country started a cycle of reforms of their educational and research system, taking inspiration on the corresponding systems and USA, esp. taking Harvard as a model of what the best Chinese universities should look like at the end of that cycle of reforms. As a consequence Harvard is consistently first in Shangai ranking – which just means that Harvard remains Harvard – and [Chinese universities progress](http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-University-Rankings/Peking-University.html) in that ranking – which just means that reforms are accomplishing their purpose. I do not know the details and purposes or other rankings, but I assume they are similar.
There is actually a subtle problem bound to rankings. In countries enjoying a well-developed and healthy academic system but having a poor ranking, it is tempting for some politic responsible to reorganise the academic life to win some places in a ranking. This will produce the desired effect because good material is already here, and the responsible can advertise its good results. However, it is likely that this reorganisation of academic life broke an organisation that used to work well. It is not clear that the, mostly, perceived advantage of a good ranking, is worth the trouble.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Most answers here are good, but theoretical. I will try to complement them from the practical side, in particular tell about Russian universities.
Undoubtedly, all rankings are biased. However, I do not think they are complete junk: the positions correlate with the quality of research and education undergoing within universities.
In fact, it is not true that the government does not care or does not try to improve positions in the ranking. There is an initiative generously funded from budget [to have 5 Russian universities in Top100 of world rankings](http://5top100.ru/) (you can switch to English). <NAME>, rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) repeatedly condemned world rankings for their biases. As a result, in 2011, a formally independent analytical agency from Russia built a ranking where [MSU ended up on 5th place surpassing Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge](http://www.strf.ru/material.aspx?CatalogId=221&d_no=17866#.VWlXumRViko) (an article in Russian; the website of the rating itself has been discontinued), which was laughed at.
I will try to decouple the reasons of poor performance in ratings to subjective and objective ones. The former may be characterised as biases, while the latter actually explain the lower quality of research/education.
Subjective
----------
* The large weight in the rating is often given to research visibility. Universities in Russia are mostly for teaching, while a lot of research is done at non-teaching institutions (most notably, Russian Academy of Sciences institutes). Even at top universities, many professors are quite unproductive by Western standards. There is no external motivation to conduct quality research and publish, so they just resort to teaching. Many professors work both at a university and a research institution, and specify the latter as an affiliation in their papers, so they don’t count to success of their university.
* Indeed, many researches publish only in Russian journals, which are not indexed by Scopus and similar bases; thus the papers/citations are not counted. This is partly objective, since the community is smaller, thus the standards of quality are lower. But it is understandable: a lot of researchers matured behind the Iron Curtain. During the second half of XX century the interactions with the Western colleagues were discouraged and often impossible. Now, some of those professors pass this culture to their students. See also @username_3’s answer on how language affects rankings.
Objective
---------
* As @username_2 noted, most successes of Russian science are connected to hard sciences, while ratings average over subjects. Humanities and social sciences are traditionally weak. This is also understandable given the history of the country: do you need research in market economy or political science if you do not have markets nor working democracy?
* The science was indeed underfunded for 20 years, thus the brain drain. Even now, when the funding is greater, it is still lower than in the West, and is poorly managed. For example, PhD students generally do not receive a salary (just a stipend around $100 / month), so most bright graduates choose a “real job” (internal brain drain).
* The universities are state-funded; students generally do not pay for education. The interaction with industry is rare: in the natural-resource based economy, companies do not struggle to innovate. The low demand on quality research from the economy also hurts performance of universities.
Source: recently graduated from MSU.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: The earlier answers were pretty thorough, but I'd like to give an example to illustrate why these surveys have major issues. In my field, mathematics, the Shanghai survey ranks King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia #10, right above MIT which is ranked #11 and well above the University of Chicago at #23. Rest assured, this does not resemble reality; King Abdulaziz University simply does not have a top-notch math department.
Interestingly though this survey rates Moscow State and the Hebrew University #26 and #27 respectively in math. So Israel and Russia aren't being underrated in this particular case.
At any rate, these are pretty good examples of why these rankings should just be considered entertainment and not to be taken too seriously.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: My Alma Mater is Cornell, a university that is in the top 20 in most rankings. Then I worked for many years in USP, a Brazilian University. I also worked in a few Danish and French universities. Finally, I visited many universities from the top 100. I cannot believe that Lomonosov Moscow State University or Bauman University could be behind USP. In fact, I cannot understand how these Russian universities could be behind Cornell. However, I will advance two tentative explanations. The first one is that when a Russian publish a paper, it is a very good one, something like a new element in the periodical table, or the properties of graphene. Researchers from Cornell and USP are not so careful with the quality of their publications. The other explanation is language. Russian and French researchers do have a tendency to publish in their languages, and consequently are ignored by the rankings.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: All very simple (answer is in Russia) :3
first: all publicaton on russian language
two: In my University there is a Department " Russian school of Economics ".
Have any of you heard the name of such an economist "Yablochnikov" ?
But all of you, knows "<NAME>".
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm thinking about pursue my studies and doing a PhD in information technology.
My problem is that I would like to create something new (== write code), and focus my thesis on how this new technology works (each component and global interactions), what it can do, and how it can evolves / be improved.
I'm not against doing research, reading books and work on theory - but I want to be more practical than theoretical.
I'm starting to think that a PhD is not a valid option if my goal is to develop something new instead of conducting pure research. Am I wrong ?
*About my cursus: I will receive my master degree soon (~= 3 months). I come from a highly technical background, with 5 years of programming and project management.*
---
**Edit & more information**
My university doesn't offers PhD courses, thus my supervisor don't care about my choices. Another consequence is that I have no other choices than to go to another university.<issue_comment>username_1: What you've described doesn't sound like what my institution would consider a PhD. Or even research. And a PhD is a research degree. As is an EngD, so it's not that either. There are some doctorates that are given for a portfolio of original work, such as the DSci : a decade or two or world-class work in your portfolio might get you that.
If you're deadly serious about developing the theoretical grounding of how it works, what it can do, how it can be extended, then that make up a doctorate.
But it's probably worth stepping back and asking why you want a further degree at all. From what you've written, it sounds more like you just want to write code and document it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, a PhD can in principle be based upon practical work. For example, some people study laboratory-based chemistry. However, it's all stuff that *no one has tried before*, and there is usually some significant work to do in order to model and understand what we see. That is the crux of a PhD: *do new stuff*. Whether your PhD is just crunching equations, or throwing stuff into a vacuum and then figuring out what on earth just happened, it doesn't really matter.
Your idea sounds (at least to a complete non-expert) to be far too broad, and I'm not sure it's very novel. [This is what a PhD is like](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/). If you think you can do that, start by talking to a few professors in your department. You may not end up working for them -- and it's often a *good* idea to do your PhD at a different university -- but you know them, they know you, and you should get some solid advice.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To be awarded a Phd, you can't *just* build something: there has to be some sort of novel research component. PhD's are all about asking (and answering!) questions, not just engineering solutions to a problem.
**However,** there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating something new as a part of your PhD, so long as it helps you answer a research question. For example:
* *Does this algorithm improve the speed/reliability/accuracy with which this data can be proccessed compared to existing techniques?*
* *Does this new collaborative learning tool improve a student's ability to learn a language compared to working individually?*
* *Does this new system for visualising a data structure affect the way in which users perceive/engage with it?*
Note that these are far too broad to be used in practice, but they might give you an idea of the types of questions that can be asked.
Upvotes: 3
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| 734
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<issue_start>username_0: The reviewers comments are so simple that I can correct them and send them immediately. But the editor says cannot accept the manuscript. Is there any chance that if we justify the comments, there can be acceptance? Can we write to the editor in return?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is there any chance that if we justify the comments, there can be acceptance? Can we write to the editor in return?
>
>
>
You can always try, and if you truly feel treated unfairly, you probably *should* write the editor. However, keep in mind that (contrary to popular believe) it is the handling editor, *not* the reviewers, that decide whether a paper is accepted or rejected. So from a formal perspective, it is OK to reject a paper even if the reviewers all voted to accept. Of course, from a practical perspective, this behaviour, especially if it is a common occurrence, raises all kinds of questions (such as why the editor bothered the reviewers in the first place).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You can certainly contact the editor and ask for a clarification for the reasons behind the rejection if that is not clear to you. I think any reason for rejection should be made clear to authors so that they can, if possible, still salvage the manuscript and publish it somewhere later (assuming it is in some way salvageable).
The editor has the responsibility to make decisions and usually does so based on scientific grounds and what is best for the journal, reviewers and authors. It is not uncommon that authors disagree with a rejection decision and as an editor, I have seen more than one angry rebuttal to the decision from frustrated authors.
Whether or not you wish to take up a discussion about the decision is entirely up to you. I can only urge you to be civil and provide facts rather than emotions as arguments. Editors are humans and are just as prone to errors as others. So there is always a chance the decision is questionable, at least until you know its basis. The number of decisions I have had to change over my five year "career" as Editor-in-Chief is in the single digit percent, bordering on permille.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: First things first, you should check and see whether the editor has *actually* rejected the manuscript, or whether you just received a very awkwardly worded request for revisions.
The reason I say this is because the specific phrasing about "cannot accept" you use reminds me of some *terrible* editorial communications I have received that begin: "We cannot accept your manuscript in its current form ..." but are actually a request for revisions. I've nearly been fooled into thinking a request for minor revision was a rejection this way, and only realized I was wrong when I noticed a date for submitting the new version at the bottom of the email.
My advice then:
1. Reread the email and see if you've really been rejected. You might not be.
2. If yes, or if you can't tell, get in touch with the editor, express confusion and ask for help understanding the reasons. A good explanation is appropriate.
3. Be prepared to take the paper elsewhere, because an editor once decided rarely changes their mind.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I supervise a student who is working on her bachelor's thesis. The problem is that she has not delivered anything, never asks for any help, and when I offer her some help she claims that she understands and she will work on it. But nothing really happens afterwards. We (me and my supervisor) talked to her multiple times in different 'intervention'-like sessions, with no success. Now it is the end of the semester and she has done no more than 10% of her assigned tasks.
Also, she never delivers what I ask for, even the most basic of things. For example, all students are supposed to hand in their time plan within two weeks of their work, but she has never handed it in, despite my (and my supervisor's) repeated requests. Not only does handing in a time plan help to keep track of one's work, it is also part of our grading scheme. And she knows about that, since we are very transparent about how grading of the thesis works, by giving the students our grading excel sheet before they even sign up for a thesis with us. Nevertheless, she didn't bother handing a time plan in.
All the other students in our institute have their final presentations next week, and even though she knew of it, she was asking for an extension. When I refused that via email (I saw no reason to give her an extension), she just dropped in, claimed that she is not prepared for a final presentation, and that I have to give her an extension and so on. I eventually gave her an extension, because she was extremely stressed and not in normal conditions, was almost breaking into tears, and most importantly made a scene in the institute hall. I played a little tough though, by asking her to give me an exact delivery date within two days.
I have even asked my colleagues and fellow PhD students multiple times if they think there is something wrong with my supervision of her, but they always assured me that there is nothing wrong with that and it's about her personality/character (we have a very transparent culture in our group, so we criticize each other openly). Also, my former students gave positive feedback to my adviser regarding my supervision. I even made my supervisor ask her privately about quality of my supervision, and she gave him positive feedback!
Moreover, she also has an exercise class with me, and she was the only student playing computer games on the lab computer instead of working on her exercise. She knew that I (her thesis supervisor) can see her, but she didn't bother. That, I have to say, was the last nail in the coffin.
Given this background, I already know that she cannot (will not) deliver, no matter how much time I gave her. Thus, she will almost certainly fail her thesis. But on the other hand I feel very bad failing a student in her first big project, especially since if she fails she will probably need to study one more semester to finish her studies.
Now I am struggling with these three options:
* Wait for two days, and if she doesn't give me an exact delivery date (which she probably won't), just give her a fail grade.
* Give her an extension for ten days or two weeks, and then grade her based on what she delivers eventually, which most probably is a fail grade anyhow.
* Give her a longer extension, long enough for her to pass the thesis.
I would be glad if anyone can give me some recommendations on how to deal with this situation.
PS: For all people asking if I was allowed to give her an extension: Of course I was. Otherwise I would have a very good reason for refusing her request. In our university supervisors have lots of freedom in how they want to deal with their students.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Wait for two days, and if she doesn't give me an exact delivery date (which she probably won't), just give her a fail grade.
>
>
>
Given that you already agreed to this extension, this is the only option you have. Do this.
Honestly, you should not even have agreed to this extension. I understand that you were under stress when you agreed to it, but students making a scene will happen more often to you in the future, and at some point you will get inured to it.
---
>
> I feel very bad failing a student in her first big project,
> especially since if she fails she probably need to study one more
> semester to finish her studies.
>
>
>
This seems to be your *real* question. Unfortunately, there is really no way around this dilemma. If someone persistently does not deliver assignments and refuses all offers of help, failing them is the only option. Anything else will make a mockery of the entire system of higher education. (And be sure that other students will notice.)
Look at it this way: if you pass her, and she gets a degree, what will her employer do with her if she continues this way? They will fire her, and quickly so.
---
It appears that this students needs some serious help and counselling. It appears like you already did all you could do in this regard. I would recommend that you wait for two days, fail her if she does not hand in the date, and write up an explanation like you did here. Send this explanation to her in writing. Explain that it appears she is not ready to take a course like yours. Direct her to any counselling resources available at your institution. Keep a copy of this explanation for your file, in case she escalates this to your department head/dean/whatever.
Then do not enter into any further discussions with her, unless she retakes your course.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Since you have agreed to two day extension it is the only proper thing to wait for this time period, but not more.
One of primary goals of Bachelor's degree or Uni in general is to qualify you for work. And that also includes being able to live with the consequences of your action.
If after 2 days the delivery date (Which if she provides, should be short not long in my opinion) then fail her until she improves. It can be even multiple times if she still doesn't learn.
After she learns to do the work properly she should be a person more appropriate for working environment and will be beneficial for her in a long term. Which means you were successful as her supervisor.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Sometimes a student's failure is a teaching success.
The lesson is just not the one you wished that you were teaching.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: Unless your course specifically allows for extensions on deadlines, you should not have offered one to her - this is unfair biased treatment based on coercion on her part. It also de-legitimizes any student who would come to you with a reasonable excuse for a deadline extension.
Knowing the position your student was in, you should have told her, upfront, that she had already done too little work to pass your course, and that extending the final deadline would not help (unless the final is somehow greater than 65% of the course grade, but even in that case, she has not shown any indication that she would meet even an extended deadline).
Now that you have offered this to her though, you **Must** allow her the opportunity to propose a new deadline as you've said you would. Be extremely strict about this. If she does not deliver on time, she has wasted her one opportunity for an extension and has failed your course.
At this point, you have done all you can for your student. You have reminded them of the consequences they will face numerous times, you have attempted to help them and reminded them of necessary coursework several times, and they have listened to none of your advice, done none of the work you requested, and still expect a favor from you in the end.
Do not feel guilty about failing her. Do not feel guilty **even if she manages to get her thesis in**. Unless it is perfect and your grading rubric actually does allow for more than 65% of the grade to be based on her final, do **not** pass her on that alone, and even if it **does** weigh that heavy on her grade, do not feel pressured to pass her on a less than perfect thesis.
She will complain. She will say terrible things about you. She may even throw a fit in the middle of the thesis defense or in the faculty office hallways. Do not give in.
If she can afford to slack off for an entire semester, she can afford to pay for another semester and do it right.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I guess you should let her go... it's a university, you tried everything. She's an adult now, if she refused your help but complaining about she needs more time to present something, I think you can't do nothing.
Let her fail. Of course she will hate you and she will think that this whole thing is because of you, but it's not true. She should understand that there are rules that can't be changed because of her.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: You are not failing her... she has failed. You are only acknowledging this fact.
I had a similar situation with a student in a software development class who came within one percentage point of a passing grade... and I refused to give her any slack at all because she never showed any interest in actually learning the material, never asked questions or otherwise participated in class, and never approached me or anyone else for help.
By all means, keep your word and allow her the extension. However, you have every right to expect that she keeps her word as well and gives you a new date, *and then delivers on or before that date*.
It's an unfortunate situation, but I can't see where you could have done anything to avoid it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: If she made through university to her bachelor thesis, and cannot get any work done on it, then the problem is very likely not academic but elsewhere. Could be depression, could be severe family problems. Which means that although you are willing and trying to help her, you can't.
If you are convinced that she has no chance getting her bachelor thesis delivered (and that seems to be the case), there is nothing you can do from a professional point of view to help her. From a human point of view, it would be excellent if you could direct her towards someone who *can* help her; and possibly turn things academically so that she doesn't end up with a failed thesis but as if she had never started with the thesis (which is more or less what happened) so she can come back in a year or two when her problems are fixed - obviously only if that is something that you can do without problems, and if it is something that would help.
(I suppose there is a point up to which she can abandon a thesis as if she had never tried to write it, but have no idea where that point is).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: I agree with failing this student, and here is some other advice:
1. As mentioned in other answers, make sure you have collected e-mail correspondences in case she files a grievance.
2. If you need to write to her, write as little as possible. Simply state the fact in a couple sentences. Do not put any evaluation or judgmental statements in the e-mail. The more you write, the more she can later pick on.
3. Once she misses the ultimatum, simply submit the grade as soon as you can. If she comes to talk to you again, tell her that it's been in the formal record and out of your control. Refer her to the registrar.
4. If possible, do not meet with her with just you two. Invite at least one supervisor, registrar, or other relevant person to be there. Desperate students can potentially make up a lot of delusional accusations; having a third person can avoid the "you said, I said" confusion.
5. Just give the simplest explanation, repeat that if you may. Even if she presses for more explanation or justification, always go back to the simplest explanation. And feel free to tell her there is no more you can say. If she explains with a learning disability, accident, or hurricane, do not join the discussion. Say again that the decision has been made and it's out of your control. Refer her to the higher-up.
6. Get the next in the line involved. It can be the Dean of Students or the Dean of the Department. Let them know you may refer her to see them if she requires to have her plead advanced.
Remember to chill out. Failing students is in no way a pleasant experience. However, it's our job to give objective evaluations. The student lacks fundamental cognitive input and basic professionalism; to me, it's a one-way ticket to the Fail-land.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_9: There is a reason that you give a student a *PASS* or a *FAIL*: it's because not every student is worthy of a *PASS*. In this case, the student is obviously worthy of a *FAIL*. I wouldn't give it much more thought than that.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: I'd like to contribute with a bit of personal experience, and perhaps isn't the advice you're looking for, so let downvotes ensue. A few people here mentioned possibility of a learning disability, so here goes.
Six or seven years ago, I was exactly this student. I switched majors twice in my undergrad and ended up taking extra classes to catch up with the curriculum. I was taking over 20 credits every semester including summers and running on less than 4.5 hours of sleep on an average night. This lasted for three years -- including summers. It ruined my health, my motivation, my looks, my relationships, my hygiene habits and more. I was completely lost and wasn't even looking for advice at that point. If I told my family I was going to graduate late, I'd be in big trouble.
By the end of this whole thing, I was so depressed, worn out and physically ill that when I asked to take a final on a different day (I had three back-to-back) and got rejected, I got drunk all by myself for the first and only time in my life. Something really broke in me that day, and the next semester I just couldn't force myself to do work.
If I knew then what I know now, that I could probably go and ask someone for advice, seek professional help or at least counseling, I would have certainly done that. Some professors knew something was wrong, because I was very interested in the subjects, and was ahead of most students in theoretical knowledge, especially mathematics, but I would never submit my homework assignments and lab reports. They sincerely tried helping me, but everyone missed the point that I drove myself into a state of serious mental illness. I would find myself sitting in rooms staring for hours at a single point, I couldn't force myself to sleep, I had bad social anxiety and constant panic attacks. But I didn't realize for a very long time that I was ill, that this was a real tangible thing that had a name, a physiological basis, and methods of treatment.
So what I'm asking you to consider is whether she's overall a bright individual. Does she seem to have previously done reasonably well? Is this a change in behavior? Clearly, she's gotten herself this far, so what's happening now? If you find that this is a recent development, refer her to counseling. Most universities have such services. She may not realize that she may have a problem. Most people in these situations don't.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_11: You are obviously a caring educator. I tip my hat to you.
When I was an academic advisor, I used to remind my students of something very important. It is up to the student to complete the assigned work in a manner that fulfills the instructor's requirements - all while meeting the posted deadline. The instructor only fails the student if she or he does not fulfill their end of the student/instructor agreement.
A student earns their grade. Please allow me to repeat that. A student EARNS their grade. A grade is not (hopefully) arbitrarily assigned by the instructor. A student who completes work as assigned, before the posted deadline, and with few to no errors will earn a passing grade. It's a simple concept. A student who ignores deadlines and submits an assignment that is riddled with errors cannot reasonably expect to pass. That student has not earned a passing grade.
As long as you are living up to your end of the student/instructor agreement, you are not failing the student. In this case, the student is on her way to earning a failing grade.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: Your experience is not at all uncommon. I have had similar experiences with *graduate* students at my institution. At first I "felt bad" about giving a bad/failing grade to a student or not granting extensions, but over time, I have learned not to let my personal feelings get in the way.
I sympathize with your concerns:
* Yes, it is frustrating when you care more about your
student's progress/success more than he/she does
* Yes, it is easy to believe that the student's failure reflects your own failure as an educator, especially if you have counseled the student multiple times with no results...
* Yes, "things do come up," and you should be flexible given extenuating circumstances
* Yes, it is difficult to refuse extensions to the student, because we are socially conditioned not to hurt people's feelings or be a "mean" person
BUT
* At university, the student is an adult, and you cannot "force" them
to do the work
* At some point, the student needs to learn to take responsibility for
their own work and respect deadlines. They need to develop this kind
of maturity to be successful in the real world, and by being too
nice, you may actually be doing the student a disservice
* From your account, the circumstance did not seem extenuating. You
counseled the student multiple times and she blew you off until the
last minute
* It is not fair to the other students who are, no doubt, just as busy
as that student but still managed to get their work in on time
* You, as an educator, have a personal responsibility to ensure that
people who pass your class/capstone requirements/thesis have
fulfilled the requirements to pass, be it all the course assignments
or the thesis. Not only would the student have to "turn in
something," the quality that something has to be up to standards. If
the student is unleashed on the real world with zero skills and zero
knowledge, it reflects badly on the program and may affect the
employment prospects of other students that come out of the program. If the person has to stay an extra semester, so be it.
**Now to answer your question:**
>
> Now I am struggling with these three options:
>
>
> * Wait for two days, and if she doesn't give me an exact delivery date (which she probably won't), just give her a fail grade.
> * Give her an extension for ten days or two weeks, and then grade her based on what she delivers eventually, which most probably is a fail grade anyhow.
> * Give her a longer extension, long enough for her to pass the thesis.
>
>
>
I vote for Option A (wait for two days, and if nothing then fail). Again, the student is an adult, and it is not your place to hound this person for her work. You are investing too much time in someone who cares less about her own progress than you do, and the end result can be disappointing. For example, early in my doctoral program, when I was still "nice," I had a student who kept on making up "legitimate" excuses for not turning in his mid-term exam on time ("I was doing HIV testing at X Festival this weekend," "I overbooked myself with Z"). I e-mailed him several times asking him to turn in his exam, and when he finally sent me his exam ~2 weeks after the due date, the accompanying e-mail read,
>
> Haha Sorry!
>
>
> Just being honest: I'm sitting in a house that I'm renting on the
> beach in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, Mexico right now... It's difficult for me to
> concentrate!!!!
>
>
>
Granted, your student may not be sitting on a beach house in Mexico, but my point is that your emotional investment may not be worth the reward.
This is just the first of many experiences you will have with students. It is important to be able to emotionally detach when the situation calls for it to avoid burnout. There are a couple of ways to remedy this for the future:
1. Set a strict deadline and deduce points for late work except for extenuating circumstances. In grad school, I had a prof who took off 10 points for every hour the assignment was turned in late starting at 10 minutes past the hour. He announced his policy the first day of class. I also worked for someone who made it a policy that the highest grade she would give for late assignments was 80%. The latter is a bit tricky, because if you set the maximum grade too low, you might trigger a "what's the point" reaction, so tread carefully.
2. If you allow extensions, have a clear extension policy that can be applied universally. I understand that sometimes students are embarrassed or shy to ask for extensions, but if you go over the policy you have written on the syllabus in the beginning of class, and encourage open channels of communication, this may save you frustration in the end.
3. If it is possible to break the huge assignment down to small deliverables at regular intervals, this may add some structure to the process, and the multiple deadlines may create a sense of urgency among the students. For example, ask them for an outline by the second week of the semester so that you can give feedback in a low-pressure environment regarding the viability of their research endeavor. Then ask for an intro section 1 month after that, methods 3 weeks after, etc. You can also catch students who are lagging behind before they get too far behind.
I am sure the three suggestions I provided above, which I copped from former profs, were all developed as a result of the profs' having faced similar situations during their doctoral training.
EDIT: One other possibility is that the student may have ADD or a learning disability. Maybe you can talk to her about undergoing tests for ADD and other disabilities, which may be covered by student health insurance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: >
> I would be glad if anyone can give me some recommendations on how to deal
> with this situation.
>
>
>
It is clear that you have done the right things and the advice you got from others is mostly correct. An important thing to learn is how to deal with this in the future. I would be more proactive than requiring that "all students are supposed to hand in their time plan within two weeks of their work".
In my experience even graduate students do not necessarily have good time management skills, although some do. I prefer to err the other way: *give* them a time plan, and make it aggressive: 1/2 the semester length. After all the inevitable excuses and delays, my class still finishes its projects before the others. I never tell them this is the real reason for having an advanced time plan - just that that's the way it is!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Like everyone else, I would say that you should give her a failing grade. Everyone else has expounded brilliantly on why you should as it relates to her performance and manipulation of your good intentions. I write this answer, not to reiterate what others have said but instead to offer one more piece of advice about why giving her the grade that she earned is the only appropriate course of action.
* **If you give her extensions, you have lied to every other student in your class about expectations and grading**.
+ and therein you begin to erode the confidence of those who have worked hard and met your expectations.
In a similar situation when a student was asking me for an extension, I asked the student if he/she realizes that - if I do - then they're asking me to lie to every other student just so they can have more time. When I asked that student if they actually wanted me to lie to the rest of the class, he/she understood, and said 'no.'
In the end, it is a great disservice to those who have taken you at your word and trusted your educational authority. It is those students who have worked hard to meet your deadlines and expectations that will lose faith in you, your class, and the subject, if they see that the ones who don't take class seriously get more advantages than they do.
Good luck in decision making. Do the thing that is best for your whole class and know that what you do for one student, you have to do for all students.
Let us know how it goes!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_15: There is a lot of great advice here. I just want to point one thing out, which will help when considered and applied with the other strategies.
You spent a lot of time in this question defending yourself and your performance. You, or at least part of you, feels that her failure is your failure, and you're trying to convince yourself that this is not the case.
It **is** a fact--that is, it is accurate that her failure is not your failure. You did not, in any way, fail to do everything a reasonable person would have done. However, you do not yet believe this (or at least you did not at the time you were writing the question). The answers here should help you, as anyone who is an objective observer, looking at this evidence, can tell that the student failed herself, 100%, no question.
But you have something to learn here, too, which is:
**Do not internalize the failures of your students.**
You seem to care a great deal, and there is nothing wrong with that--in fact it is a very positive quality in a supervisor. But it is going to degrade your performance if you consider it a personal failure every time someone who is under your supervision fails. It is not good for the other people that you supervise, it is not good for the people you work with, and it is not good for you.
That's all--I just wanted to bring out that point because it's something you (or anyone else in the same situation) might be missing about yourself, and it's something you can ponder and learn to recognize and hopefully overcome (or at least strengthen your defenses against) over time.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in my second year. I have not published anything yet and I feel my results I got so far are not publishable. I have two years left. I am stressed and I am afraid that I might not be smart enough to be a PhD student.
I think I lack the skill to ask a good question and answer that question as a part of my research. I cannot come up with a good idea or question so that by following those I can publish.
Anyone with the same experience, what did you do to get yourself out of this situation?
---
Edit
----
Just to clarify more. I am in Europe. Here there isn't any coursework. I studied everything so far on my own. Everyday I go to my room in the lab. I have plenty of time, at least 8 hours per day and if necessary I can spend more time too. I don't have teaching obligations.
Sometimes, I might have an idea, which ultimately turns to be useless, but even then I tell my self if it was possible to turn into a publications, others would have done that, so it must be a hard problem or idea.
My main issue is that there is no other person with my background in the lab. People with different backgrounds are a PhD student here and everyone works on his/her PhD almost alone. I wish I could pair to another student and brainstorm and discuss different ideas. However, it is not possible here. I told my supervisor, he replied first you should prepare some initial results so that we can approach others group for collaboration. But even then I won't discuss with another person on a daily basis because of the distance between those groups which are in other countries.<issue_comment>username_1: **Don't panic.** What you're feeling is very common: so called ["impostor syndrome"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) (where you feel that you're not good enough to be there) is very common in academia.
**Talk to your supervisor** about how you're feeling, and try to narrow down the focus of your research question. You have plenty of time still, but its important you take the time to understand exactly what your work is trying to answer, which will in turn help you understand where to focus your efforts (for gathering data, publishing papers, etc.).
Some supervisors are more diligent than others, so if you feel yours is too busy or not providing the help you need, don't suffer in silence but **talk to someone else.** Many institutions have some form of tutor system, or faculty position devoted to helping out students that are under pressure or struggling.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: "I think he has given me plenty of time and freedom." - although micromanagement never helps in the long run, too much of a good thing could be a problem, too.
It sounds like you are on the right track, but simply need more time, patience, and practice.
I would recommend to get a research assistantship (RA) position, if that is common in your country/institution (in the U.S. many graduate students have RA or TA appointments). This will put you in a relatively structured work environment with a plan, reasonably clear expectations for work output, and a regular opportunity to receive guidance from your supervisor.
The RA job may or may not be with your advisor, and it doesn't have to be for all of the remaining 2 or 3 years you have left in the program. (If you advisor has no funding to support you at the moment, you can work for a year elsewhere, then who knows maybe s/he will get a grant and be able to hire you to assist with the research, or you can simply stay in your job. With this in mind, try to find a position on a relatively large, long-term, well-funded project.)
Beyond the structure and direction, RA projects often become the platform for developing a dissertation, as it is typically not hard to come up with good "offshoot" ideas that are a little different from the main thrust of the research grant but are complementary to it, filling some gap in the questions that are being asked and the knowledge being gained. Also, working on other people's research projects will give you valuable exposure into how others brainstorm to come up with feasible ideas and questions, design studies to
address these questions, and implement them in a collaborative work setting.
As @username_1 suggests, the "impostor syndrome" is very typical and is probably a normal part of professional development of someone who has to operate in a loosely structured intellectual environment thinking about new concepts and ways of doing things that have not been done before. If you were totally confident every day about every intellectual leap and analytic decision that you need to make, you probably would not be doing your PhD right!
I would be surprised if many PhD students had publishable, primary data results in their second year of study. There are good reasons for this: 1. Typically the first 2-3 years are the time to complete the required coursework and pass the general exams that qualify you for dissertation research. At least in the U.S., and in social sciences, this typically happens in the 3rd year of study, and ideally the exam can be at least partially aligned with the tentative research idea/proposal for dissertation work. 2. The first years of PhD study are typically the time to become familiar with the broader and narrower aspects of an academic discipline, to gain a foothold in the intellectual milieu of the subject of study. As such, this is not the time to make bold public intellectual proclamations and throw lofty claims to the field through publication in high-profile journals.
Although successful in some cases, the latter type of activity tends to be risky and can do more harm than good, with the half-baked ideas creating a premature, less-than-positive impression in the field of your future colleagues. Not necessarily a great idea. Don't forget the "student" part of being a PhD student. You are engaged in a process of your own, personal intellectual development first, and contribution to the field at large is not expected until a later stage of your study (the last 1-3 years).
So, my advise is to let go of your worries, clear your head, talk to your advisor about these concerns, and explore opportunities for RA positions on grants that seem of interest and potentially relevant to your future goals in terms of area of research and career focus. The summer is a great time to find such a position, as many research centers and labs hire new graduate research assistants during the summer to build capacity for the following year.
I am not saying you should not be trying to publish or submit to conferences - but I am saying that it's OK, and probably best, not to fly solo. As a student, your role in research efforts is by definition auxiliary rather than primary. Focus on learning to effectively collaborate with others and support the work of more established scholars, and use these experiences to learn, learn, learn as much as you can about how research is done in this academic discipline. Be a 2nd, or 3rd, or 6th co-author on papers - this is nothing to be embarrassed by, and in fact many established scholars often make do with co-authorship way down on the list. (Note: A mark of a truly excellent PI/advisor is to come up with opportunities for their RA's/advisees to be 1st authors at least on some of their research output, typically conference papers. You can usually tell if this happens by browsing the research group's website and seeing if and where student names pop up on the group's list of publications.)
If you see some of your peers spewing out publications right and left, don't despair, and hold off on comparing yourself to them and drawing early conclusions. Who knows, perhaps this pattern is a temporary flare-up, and their productivity might fizzle out toward the later stage of their studies. Burnout happens everywhere, and not everyone develops at the same pace. Keep your mind focused on your own work and responsibilities, and your time will come. There will be a right time for you to produce research you can be proud of. Sometimes, this does not happen until *after* one's dissertation is written. And that is normal, too. It is important to find a balance between quantity and quality, and to put greater emphasis on the latter. While easy wins are rewarding in the short run, they should be mere stepping stones on a path to more difficult, longer-duration projects with delayed payoff.
If you do get an RA job, use the Fall and Winter semesters to understand the research domain of the project and brainstorm possible complementary ideas that could become a dissertation proposal. Use these ideas to structure part of your general exam. If you end the 3rd year having passed the exam and having a (rough) draft dissertation research proposal, you will be well on your way to complete the studies in 2-3 more years (within 5 years).
I have to say it is not at all uncommon to take longer than 5 years to complete a PhD (I believe the average in the U.S. is closer to 6). What would you rather choose, to give up, drop out, and waste 2-3 years of graduate school, or spend a little more time, persevere, learn a lot and build more skills, and finish a degree?
To summarize, you asked the question at the right time, and you are not behind, your concerns and worries are not unique, and you are not going to fail. You are going to succeed. With that, good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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2015/05/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I just passed my comprehensive oral exam. I took a week off and have spent the better part of another week trying to build motivation to get back to work.
Now I have about a dozen things I could do for my project: delve into the observational or modeling literature, hunt down a tricky bug in my prototype model (several approaches!), derive the more general governing equations for my dissertation model, learn somebody else's code which I plan on basing my model on, restructure my prototype code (needed, but it'll take hours), and the list goes on.
I acknowledge that this is a broad and opinion-based question, but here goes:
**What are some good ways to beat the post-orals slump?**<issue_comment>username_1: The most urgent thing to do is to take a short vacation and celebrate. Go do something fun, unrelated to your research. If you live near a beach and the weather is nice, sit on the beach with a non-technical book. Go to any local tourist attraction. Eat a nice dinner with friends. Watch a movie.
A few days delay will not cost much, but could bring enormous benefits in your readiness to get on with the next steps.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Patricia's answer works for the short term, but in the longer term you'll want to set a list of priorities. You should definitely start with a conversation with your advisor to determine what he thinks your priorities are, as you're probably going to want to work on those. That should be the start of your list.
After that, work through other tasks/commitments. Any collaborations you're participating in, any papers you're waiting to complete, any bugs you have to work through. Much of grad school can be treated just like any large project, so long as you list and prioritize your tasks you won't get too bogged down and lost in details.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Getting back into work after a break can be difficult because tasks are stacking up and taken together seem overwhelming. As you said,
>
> I have about a dozen things I could do.
>
>
>
What helps in this situation is just to get started with *something*. Begin with whatever seems least daunting / most easy. Once you are a back in the "flow", you can start thinking about priorities, milestones etc.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: The British permanent faculty system seems to differ from the US tenured system mainly in that in the former the management can 'fire' one on the basis of redundancy ([What is the difference between permanent faculty positions in the UK and tenured faculty positions in the US/Canada?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45243/what-is-the-difference-between-permanent-faculty-positions-in-the-uk-and-tenured)). How common is redundancy in practice in the countries having the British system (UK/Australia/NZ/Ireland)?
Thanks,
John<issue_comment>username_1: Redundancies are a standard management tool in UK academia at the moment. A quick Google of the Times Higher Education Supplement suggests that there were about 1,300 academic redundancies in the UK in 2011-12, or an [average of about 18 per Higher Education institution](https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/staff-redundancies-totalled-3000-before-fees-hike/2005503.article) in 2011-12. At the moment a number of institutions are making compulsory cuts by closing departments. The University of Surrey is one example, as are Warwick and London Metropolitan. I'm sure there are others. The are also a lot of institutions looking for voluntary redundancies.
This all has to do with economic pressures, managerial/strategic rationalisation and either perceived student demand or disappointing internationalisation experiments.
Academic tenure, such as it was,was phased out in the UK from the mid 1970s onwards.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This article is relevant and interesting and summarises the nature of employment in the UK: <http://simonbatterbury.net/pubs/tenurebatterbury.pdf>
The current Systems Engineering department at Reading University (UK) is being shut down and the majority of academics there will lose their jobs. They are closing down due to not attracting enough students and funding, this process is standard here, similar to if a non-academic company/business shut down or down sized. Reading has had this problem multiple times, I don't know how it varies across universities but redundancies are clearly linked with the success of the department, something that could be investigated but not predicted before taking up an offer. At a well funded and stable university, redundancy is unlikely.
2010 Reading Physics department closure: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6159106.stm>
2015 Reading systems engineering department closure:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-32978132>
Australia:
<http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/05/university-researchers-take-brunt-cuts-australian-budget> and a very relevant article about the redundancy of an Australian university Professor who was reinstated:
<http://www.nteu.org.au/article/Federal-Court-reinstates-university-professor-sacked-in-sham-redundancy--14702>
The article makes it very clear that Professors in Australia can be made redundant for financial reasons.
In NZ:
Government owned industry: <http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/275287/possible-job-cuts-at-agresearch>
In NI:
QUB's website details that academics can be made redundant.
<http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/PersonnelDepartment/EmployeeBenefits/PayandConditions/LeavingEmployment/TerminationofEmployment-AcademicResearchStaff/>
In Ireland the system is different:
<http://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowships/AcademicCareersObservatory/AcademicCareersbyCountry/Ireland.aspx>
"About 80% of the academic staff in Ireland hold permanent tenured positions. All full time academic staff are civil servants and tenured in the sense that they can not be fired without a serious cause, such as incompetence or outrageous conduct. This is very different from the systems of the UK and the US. For example, in the UK only about 55% hold permanent contracts and there is no tenure."
Upvotes: 3
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2015/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing my dissertation, and things came out somewhat different to what I had thought three years ago. Back then, I had three hypotheses. Two turned out to be true. The third, last and flimsiest, looks false. The question is: how should I describe the third hypothesis in the short list of hypotheses?
* I could phrase it the way I did three years ago. In the results and conclusions section, I could try refuting it.
* I could phrase it the other way around, as if I always thought it was untrue. There a billion problems to that, the least being: how does one then describe the experimental plan? I can't really say I wanted the null hypothesis to come true? Surely different kinds of experiments would have been more useful.
* I could leave that section out. That is madness, it's a lot of work down the drain.<issue_comment>username_1: It is hard to give good advice on this without knowing the concrete dissertation and the expectations of your community. Hence, this is one of those famous questions where the right answer really is *ask your advisor*.
However, in the dark I am not sure why you would not just use Option 1 from your list - you had a (hopefully reasonable) hypothesis, you set up experiments and tested it, and found no evidence to support your hypothesis. Assuming that the hypothesis wasn't bad to begin with and the experiments were sound, why can't you just write it down like this?
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with @username_1's advice (+1): use the first option, that is, *leave your hypotheses untouched*. There is nothing wrong with not confirming certain hypotheses - *negative results* are also **valuable** (for example, see [this paper](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3917235), [this journal](http://www.jnrbm.com/about) and [this workshop](http://press3.mcs.anl.gov/errorworkshop)). I would suggest to complement textual reporting with a *summary table*, with a minimum of three columns: hypothesis, result of hypothesis testing, statistical significance of the test. In addition, I would recommend (and this is expected in a dissertation report) to include your *interpretation* of all results (including the negative ones) in the Discussion section of the Results chapter.
Upvotes: 4
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2015/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: Since it takes a lot of time to type presentations out using Beamer, PowerPoint, etc. (I need lots of equations) I have been thinking of shifting to handwritten slides ([example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U47kyV4TMnE)).
Does anyone here have experience with handwritten slides that are not "transparencies"? What hardware/software will I need to prepare slides like these?<issue_comment>username_1: I see essentially two possibilities:
1. Write out your slides on paper, then scan them.
2. Get a Tablet & Pen combination and write directly "to your computer". I don't have experience with hand-writing slides this way, but I recently acquired a [Wacom Intuos Pen](http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-tablets/intuos-pen) which you could use for this. It has the additional benefit that you can use it in web conferences to write on a shared web whiteboard (this is the use case I personally got it for).
In case 1, you can scan your notes directly to PDF and present them. If you want to mix "classical" slides with your handwritten slides, you will need to mix PowerPoint or Beamer slides with graphics files containing your handwritten slides. You may need to experiment a bit with what picture format works best here, in terms of both file size and graphics quality.
In case 2, you can create PowerPoint presentations and write directly into the presentation with your Pen, which makes integrating "classical" and handwritten slides quite a bit easier.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's a good idea to try, but I also wanted to add some notes of caution. I've used a couple of methods, the *tablet and pen* method to write on the screen in real-time. I've done this to annotate existing typeset slides during the class.
I've also have handwritten annotations on top of slides which I've scanned and presented as PDFs, and I've also used full handwritten slides scanned as PDF.
Student's can be very sensitive to the unorthodox. If the unorthodox makes for a much better learning experience (or often in their mind - better test scores!) then they will be all for it. However, if it doesn't improve their experience and they believe you are doing it *"to save time typing"*, i.e. for selfish reasons, they can be very negative. The negativity can transfer into losing engagement and depressed results from that class.
If your institution has quality monitoring systems or formalised student feedback mechanisms you need to be sure that a learning quality improvement will result.
[\*]OK. I'm the departmental teaching and learning quality officer ... just doing my job!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: As <NAME> mentioned, using a writing tablet or scanning notes are both options. However, if you have an tablet (iPad/Android) or touch screen laptop (mostly Windows 8 like the Surface), there are many software options that allow you to create PDF slides by writing directly on the screen with a stylus. Most people I know (myself included) vastly prefer this option for generating hand written PDFs. I personally have used Notability on an iPad, which I found quite effective. To find more examples of software, start googling for note taking apps. I know several mathematicians who use hand written slides in their research talks (also, check out <NAME>'s *Funny Little Calculus Text*, drawn on a tablet PC). Some will even write on their slides as they present, though I believe this is easier to do with a laptop than a tablet.
If you are serious about open source, this call all be done in Linux as well. One of my collaborators teaches classes with a Wacom Cintiq, which are designed for professional artists, with his Linux machine. This is likely overkill.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It's hard to match both the readability and aesthetic quality of Beamer presentations by hand. Possible, but hard.
Have you considered trying some convenience layer on top of Beamer, like using [Pandoc](http://pandoc.org/)?
It has a Beamer output, and several input formats, like Markdown, Org Mode and Textile.
Another point to consider is the editor you use to write your slides. Using something like Emacs with [AUCTeX](https://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/) should dramatically increase productivity compared to plain text editors.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: tl;dr
* don't overuse equations
* don't use hand-written slides.
### Don't overuse equations
If you need to present your work with lots of equations, then the problem is not on the tool you are using to do it (PowerPoint, Beamer, etc.), but on the presentation itself.
Take time to *think about the presentation* first. Specifically, think on:
* What message do you want your audience to take home?
* What message you want to convey on each slide?
Unless you are deriving a simple result as E=mc^2 on a slide, on which the derivation itself is beautiful and is thus part of the message, there is only one reason to have a slide full of equations: when you want to convey that your result was non-trivial to derive and that this slide is not supposed to be understood by anyone in the audience.
This is because no audience will follow the technical details of a derivation anyway, except probably for 1 or 2 specialists. If your presentation is good enough, those specialists will read your paper anyway and will be able to follow the derivation *on their own pace*, along with all the technical details.
Equations are extremely useful because they summarise an extraordinary amount of information, but because of that, they are also difficult to read, understand, and digest. They are like pictures...
My advice is: do not trow equations to the slides just because they are part of a demonstration or something. Put an equation on a slide using the same reasoning you put a graph: only if it is really worth to fully explain it.
Instead, use words to describe how you got there ("using the approximation X, the assumption Y and Z, we can derive [show equation]"). If you believe that someone may ask for more details, just add an extra slide in the end with the full derivation, or just say (the technical details can be found in Ref. ).
### Don't use hand-written slides
Here are some reasons:
* **Difficult to maintain**: if you need to re-use a slide in a future presentation, you will suffer; If you try to change then in a hurry (e.g. during your flight), you will suffer;
* **Difficult to read**: hand-writing is *always* more difficult to read than computer font like Helvetica, Arial or Times.
* **Difficult to format**: unless you use topographic tools, hand-writing slides will have elements mis-aligned and improperly formatted.
* **Difficult to maintain consistency**: PowerPoint, Beamer or Keynote allow you to write slides with a consistent structure (e.g. the master slide). Hand-writing slides most likely will not be consistent.
All of these distract the audience thus hindering your ability to convey the message.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Especially if these are for a lecture, you should really be using a blackboard (or whiteboard if you must) and write everything out during class. Presenting slides typically makes you go much faster than you would otherwise -- you forget how much time it took you to figure out the sign in an equation or the limits for some integral. While superficially this might help you "cover" more material, it's sure to lose everyone in the class. By writing things out as you go, you force yourself to think about the equations you're writing and about the speed at which a normal human being is able to process and understand them.
If it doesn't matter so much whether your students can follow the meaning of the equations you're writing down, then don't include them in your presentation. Direct your students to a book (or online notes), and use class time for something that they can follow.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: I think several of the responses here have mentioned a key distinction only in passing.
If you are giving a lecture and interacting with students, then being able to write comments "on the fly" is very important. Using a SMART a Podium or other tablet makes this easy to do and also makes it easy to capture the lecture in a recording. In my experience students vastly prefer to have lectures presented in this way rather than with prepared slides, since there is a tendency to move through the slides too quickly.
If you are talking about a conference presentation to fellow researchers, then using prepared slides is definitely the way to go.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: digitalboard.salmonjoy.com
I had recently developed this website which can convert your handwritten notes into a presentable form. This is 100% free. A lot of teachers, specially those who has to deal with many equations and formulas, are using this
It is very simple and quick.
Here's a video where I explain what is DigitalBoard and how to use it - <https://youtu.be/kFme3ebYh3I>
Hope this will be helpful
Upvotes: -1
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2015/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a male 19 year old Phd student (in a field in the exact sciences), I dyed my hair bright blue. Personally, I think it transmits a great message and is generally cool. Although, I'm not sure how well received will it be in my university, in teaching, while visiting other universities, meeting new researchers I never met before and while presenting in conferences.
Picture of the hair can be viewed here:
* <https://i.stack.imgur.com/3a2Ib.jpg>
**Questions:**
What effect might dyeing your hair blue have as a PhD student?<issue_comment>username_1: In some fields with significant client-facing time, colored hair (or other similar notable features like significant visible tattoos or piercings) is generally unacceptable. My knowledge of this primarily comes from clinical psychology, but I'm sure that there are other similar fields (for instance, social work). For somewhat obvious reasons, maintaining a professional and somewhat conservative appearance is important when a significant part of your degree involves doing clinical work.
In non-clinical fields, I think that this is generally okay (unless you have some particularly conservative faculty), but I will let other answers address that.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The general advice is that when you're an undergraduate student, a graduate student not yet on the job market, or when you're a tenured faculty, you can do whatever the hell you want.
The problem is that you are vulnerable when you're in the position to be hired, promoted, tenured, or retained. In those cases, having just one conservative person on the hiring/promotion/retention committee (or at the divisional, full faculty, dean or provost levels) can derail you. In those circumstances, you want to stand out in terms of **your research, service, and teaching** but to try to avoid or mitigate any areas of friction where and when possible.
Since hair color is easily changeable, if I were your advisor, I would recommend that you dress (and hair color) more conservatively **when you go on the job market** -- and when you come up for **promotion/retention/tenure.**
I would also recommend you wear shoes at your job interview.
The benefit to risk analysis just isn't in favor of frivolity in these high stakes situations. Your departmental faculty may be 100% behind you and your sartorial style but I've seen faculty lose tenure bids at the divisional, full faculty, and provost level despite department support. I've seen grad students not get hired because they wore a t-shirt to a job interview thinking the institution was a cool, hip place. It was, just not that hip.
At all other times during your career, I think you are relatively free to do what you want within the broader norms of your particular cohort and department.
Note that while my home department is anthropology and I'm currently at a R1, I've also taught at two SLACs and have seen enough shenanigans in other departments and at divisional/university levels that my advice is not restricted to just anthropology at R1s but is intended as general advice. Ymmv.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This definitely depends on environment: your research field's culture, your department's culture and your university's culture.
As someone that had a mohawk phase often during grad school, I can only speak from my time in my PhD program in mathematics (in the USA). In my experience, I would cut it off before any conference, any research visit, and the job market as it felt not right for me. I kept the mohawk when teaching. My university never complained about the hairstyle and I won teaching awards from the students. The most I heard from colleagues was that it probably made mathematics "more relatable" to the students and the occasional "you should grow a tail in the back so you're like that jedi...." On the other hand, I would feel uncomfortable with a mohawk in my new university.
In my experience, computer science and mathematics seem culturally the least focussed on appearance. Everything is contextual, though.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: It could be an effective form of personal branding. I went to a conference recently where a graduate student had blue hair. She was the most memorable person there.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: At my former department Ph.D.'s were obtained by students who had dread locks, lots of tattoos, or changed their hair colour on a monthly base, and a male wearing skirts. So at least in mathematics blue hair should not be a big deal. At an early stage of your career some deviation from the norm might even be advantageous. When visiting a conference you get too much information to process in too little time, so you do not remember every single talk. But you might remember the guy with blue hair talking about Ramsey theory.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I've seen at least one computer science professor at an Ivy League school dye his hair an interesting colour (green, blue, yellow). And most of my class-mates thought they were cool.
Do be careful though - some people might not take you seriously. One thing I noticed about these professors is that they were incredibly confident and incredibly smart, yet friendly at the same time.
Does look pretty slick though!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Go for it. You won't be the only one. For instance, take a look at [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorrie_Cranor), a Professor at CMU in Computer Science. Professor Cranor is an extraordinary researcher, a leader worldwide in her field (perhaps *the* leading researcher in her field), incredibly well respected for her many deep and seminal contributions. She has also sported blue hair from [time](http://lorrie.cranor.org/images/lorrie-december2012.jpg) to [time](http://lorrie.cranor.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/lorrie-sept2012blue-landscape.jpg).
So, in my opinion -- go for it. Feel free to show a little personality. Academia is populated by people, and everyone is different. Don't be afraid to be yourself.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: From a practical point of view, that would depend on the background color of your slides when making a presentation. Blue hair on a blue background ... a real faux-pas. Blue hair on a red background would be even worse.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: Nice question. Though it did strike me as being somewhat out of the blue...
Smart to be asking after the fact. 19 years old and already on the Pile it Higher and Deeper track...who wouldn't get the blues! Ok I'm done.
In the academe, and the exact (as opposed to the approximate) sciences in particular, it is tacit knowledge that blue hair is a major showstopper, effectively ending one's academic tenure. Actually, security isn't really supposed to be letting you on campus (nb for those campus visits). Needless to say, job talks and conference presentations should only be done remotely (avoid using Zoot for avatar though tinyurl.com/nzo9cgo). ;)
Seriously, I would suggest the following rule of thumb: **Even a genius should look presentable during formal networking or when interviewing for jobs.**
If blue hair = presentable in the 21st century, then no worries. But some old school (20th century) profs might not be as "with it."
Applying the rule of thumb to your questions suggests that blue hair should be OK when (a) teaching (undergrads will assume you are cool and/or strange, grads will have enough problems of their own to notice/care); (b) meeting other researchers (unless...see rule of thumb).
To go all the way, you will also need to frequent the gym, and dress the part (despite comments to the contrary, I suggest suit and tie as daily wear). And you just might be taken for a blue chipper. Good luck!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: It strikes me as the type of thing which could be frowned upon in job interviews and many non-academic environments, but radical styles may be more accepted in academia. Before I quit my PhD, I knew someone in my department who dyed her hair green!
Maybe it's not the sort of thing that would create a great impression if you're very new to the department you're working with, but maybe if they already know you really well then they may just view it as a phase.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I can't bring any good example on hair color, but I think that brightly coloured suits might seem as odd and unprofessional as brightly coloured hair. [<NAME>](http://www.salaimartin.com/), professor of Economics, is popular for his brightly coloured and ever changing jackets, which he wears even in very professional contexts. When asked about them in interviews, <NAME> plainly explains that his jackets are just a marketing strategy. Therefore, username_4's answer about hair colour as personal branding or username_5's one about being remembered could be pointing to effective and not so unusual strategies.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/05/30
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<issue_start>username_0: I am wondering if it is a bad thing to cite a paper in a scientific publication for a trivial or irrelevant reason.
The specific instance I have in mind is the usage of certain terminology. I basically want to make a point along the lines:
*"We define a set to be flabby if it obeys conditions X, following the convention in [Smith]. We note that other authors (e.g. [Jones]) also require flabby sets to satisfy a condition Y"*.
Now, it is clear that if you use some definition (which is not very classical), it should be attributed, or at least a reference should be given to some reasonably good introduction to the topic. In this case, the reference the paper of Smith does the job just fine. But what about Jones? The only reason for citing him is that he happens to be using a different convention than I. On the other hand, I cannot convincingly make the point I want to make without *some* reference; and I'm concerned that I might be confusing the reader if I don't make this point. It could be that Jones gets an extra epsilon of recognision because of one more citation to his paper, which I personally don't mind at all. But it is maybe slightly weird that I cite a paper which I am not, strictly speaking, using.
I suppose this particular case is not really that important. What I am would really like to know - although that's perhaps too vague for SE - is whether it is generally OK to cite papers just because it is convenient for me, without worrying about whether I actually use the results of that paper in my work.
(If relevant, my field is pure mathematics.)<issue_comment>username_1: Even things that you aren't directly using may be quite relevant for establishing context.
The only thing that ever keeps me from being generous with citations is page limits. Otherwise, any citation that fits well with the flow of the scientific narrative and helps place your work in the context of related work is good for everybody involved, and I see not reason not to err on the side of inclusion.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Answering to your particular case: Your citing Jones is only confusing to the extent that it invites the question of why you prefer Smith's definition to Jones'. If you can explain this preference (briefly), you defend your approach against potential criticism and, doing so, have a better reason for citing Jones in the first place.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: username_1 is right on, both that you should include the citation, and why. I want to respond to something you said:
>
> But it is maybe slightly weird that I cite a paper which I am not, strictly speaking, using.
>
>
>
because it's part of a [recurring](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21666/is-it-proper-to-cite-something-when-using-it-just-as-an-example) [misconception](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24049/is-there-any-requirement-to-cite-recent-literature-in-publications) about how citations should be used. Papers shouldn't be the bare minimum necessary to claim priority on whatever's being done in them; they're supposed to be written to help other people understand what we've done. There's nothing wrong or unprofessional about including content which "merely" makes the paper easier to understand. What you're describing is squarely in that category: pointing out the alternate convention helps some readers avoid confusion, and providing a citation both supports that this is an alternate convention and gives some hint where in the literature the alternate convention is found.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: *A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,* I thought that citations should be kept to a minimum: really, I didn't want to burden the reader with references to trivial or generally known stuff.
Along the years, however, from discussions with colleagues and from received paper reviews (e.g., countless *please provide references for the notation/equation you employed on p. X*), I've grown convinced that what I once thought trivial or generally known is not really so: after all, even people working in the same field can have different backgrounds (e.g., physicists and engineers don't speak the same language).
Thus, today I think that one should provide as many references as possible: to better explain the context, to provide extended information on notations and background theory, and to outline existing differences in notation and terminology (as in your case).
So, be generous: you'll never know who your reader actually is, and providing more references won't hurt.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a good idea of what things to say in my correspondence regarding this matter; here I'm mainly asking *how* to deliver the news: by phone or by letter/email.
I have received conflicting advice about this. In many jobs (academic or not) the most common advice seems to be to make a phone call, followed up with a confirmatory email or letter. Specifically in an academic setting, I have heard at least two chairs/deans say something along the lines of "Call me with good news. Email me with bad news". Others have said "use the same medium the school used to contact you"-- in most cases I've heard of, the school often uses a mix of written and telephone correspondence.
In my particular case, declining the offer by phone would require scheduling a phone call through an intermediary, because all previous correspondences have gone through the Dean's secretary (sending contracts, scheduling previous phone calls). Based on the non-instantaneous scheduling of our other chats, I suspect this would delay things by a few days (so, it wouldn't be like I could just call his office number for a quick chat). Regardless, it seems rather awkward to go through this process of scheduling a phone call just to say "No Thanks".
Any advice on the general question and/or my specific situation is appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: I would say that the most appropriate medium would be to send a written communication, either as an email or as a letter. This carries much more weight than a phone call, as you actually have something resembling a paper trail that you can provide.
Although there is a certain wisdom in the advice "contact them as they contacted you," this is an exceptional enough situation that deviating from that rule seems more appropriate.
The route that I would use is to write a formal, signed letter, then scan it in and send a copy of the scanned letter as a PDF to the intended recipient. The scan will reach them more quickly, and you'll still have the formal communication sent by regular mail.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: [Caveat: Cultural differences may come into play here. My answer is based on the US.]
Time is of the essence in tenure-track hiring. If you are declining the offer, the chair/dean wants to know as soon as possible. They need to move on to make an offer to another candidate, before that candidate in turn gets/accepts an offer from some other institution.
So if you care about the impression you leave with the institution, don't waste time on niceties, but contact them via whatever means will reach them the fastest. If you have a direct phone number for someone, call it. If you don't, or you don't reach them, send an email. Be concise and to the point. If you want, you can include a line like "I apologize for the informality of this email, but I thought you would want to know as quickly as possible."
username_1's suggestion of emailing a scanned formal letter strikes me as overcomplicated. I think the chair/dean would rather get the news in a quick line or two of text, instead of you taking the time to compose something elegant. Note also that scanned PDFs can be difficult to read on smartphones, and this is the kind of news that a chair/dean would prefer to get immediately, even if they are out of the office.
I'd regard Nox's suggestion of using postal mail as unacceptable. When the chair opens your letter three days from now, their immediate reaction is going to be extreme annoyance that you didn't get them this news three days ago.
You can *follow up* with a letter (by mail or email) in which you express your regret that you can't accept the offer, your appreciation for their time and consideration, etc. (Indeed, they may even ask you to send such a letter, or dictate what you should include in it.) But that can wait.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would write to the dean/provost formally over e-mail. If you wish to write it as a letter, then print or scan to PDF and send that. This can be a very short letter and you do not have to detail your reasons or your regrets.
If you've been in close contact with the department chair and/or search committee members, I think they would appreciate e-mail or phone calls after you've written the dean. These can be less formal, and if you don't want to burn bridges with people who you might still be maintaining relations with, you can go into further details about your rationale and your regrets in not being able to work with them.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: A paper submitted to some peer-reviewed venue might cite some of the reviewer's papers.
Is there any research/study that looked whether citing reviewers' papers significantly increase the chance of a submitted paper to be accepted?
I am most interested in the field of computer science, and English-speaking venues.<issue_comment>username_1: I do not know whether citing the reviewer helps, but I know that the obsession with impact factors has lead journals to ask for citing articles which appeared in the same journal. I had two rejections for "not enough citations", and a friend had an article rejected because "the topic is not within the scope of this journal, which can be seen by the fact that none of the citations appeared in this journal".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I was thinking of the same question. I experienced submitting a paper in the Journal X and later on was recommended by the editor to submit the paper on Journal Y (because it doesn't fit to the scope of the journal), where he is the subject editor. I cited most of his recent work on the paper knowing he is the editor in chief of Journal X. Later on, the paper was reviewed and accepted with minor revisions in Journal Y. The review was rigorous but 'soft'. However, the chance of getting accepted larly relies on the paper's quality but citing the reviewer's or editor's work means you know who are the people working on your field, you know what knowledge is exist, hence, your paper is reliable
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I highly doubt there can be any study on this, because statistics on something that's suppose to be anonymous will be hard to come by.
I can say anecdotally that:
* If the reviewer says "you should cite these papers" (which are written by him), and the author does it, then indeed the reviewer is more likely to recommend acceptance. However few reviewers are so blatant as to return a review that's simply "you should cite these papers". They'll usually recommend other things as well, and it's reasonable that with those other things done the paper is acceptable anyway.
* There are also reviewers who recommend rejection even though they're cited. I know this because I've searched for reviewers from the references cited before, and some of them recommend rejection anyway. Of course when this happens the authors never know about it.
* I remember reading about a paper where the referee said "my group's work was cited but I still don't understand what the authors are saying", which was actually a fair report since the paper was nonsense (I don't remember if it was generated by SCIgen or was a very badly written theoretical physics paper with no real content); however I can't find it now.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student.
In about a month, there will be a conference a professor of mine suggested that I go to. The subject of the conference is part of his research field and I am interested in doing a MSc with him later on.
I was wondering whether there is a way of asking him to join me (or me to join him) while attending the conference without creating an awkward situation. What I mean to say is that I really think that being around him at the conference, sitting somewhere close to him will benefit myself in many ways (for example hear some comments during a speech, share thoughts etc.). Is there anyway I could ask him so we meet there and sit together or something? In no way, do I want him to take that in a wrong way.
I would really appreciate it if you could help me.
Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: Probably the faculty person's plans are already made, months in advance, so your asking will have no impact on their actual plans. Possible, but not likely.
That is, if they'd not already planned to attend, they had reasons to not do so, or insufficient reasons to do so, and these reasons will probably not be changed by your own attendance... especially when the faculty person has made a recommendation.
Yes, as often, there is some risk of accidental misunderstanding about motivations, personal versus professional. The usual irony is that only the scrupulous, honorable people worry about such things... :) But, in any case, I'd think that the on-the-mark question would be "are you yourself going to be there... for me to bounce questions off?"
As in many situations, asking the actual operational question, rather than any sort of circumlocutious persiflage, is ... good. In fact, the tone of many circumlocutions can accidentally/inappropriately suggest unintended intentions... of course.
This is yet-another one of those situations where worrying about "coded" communication is not productive. Be forthright.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: "Would you like to attend it as well?"
Or
"Would you mind if I came along? The conference sounds very interesting."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I am going to answer specifically based on the explanation
>
> He is already planning to attend and I want his permission to be near him during the conference.
>
>
>
I doubt anyone plans a conference visit down to that level of detail. Planning to be "near someone else" during a conference is rather counterproductive:
* You don't want to focus on following someone, you want to focus on the conference presentations.
* During the presentations, you *could* sit next to him, but what for? The options for talking or otherwise exchanging any meaningful information are rather limited while attending a talk.
* You *might* then plan for joining him during coffee breaks. But then, those are exactly the time when a large chaos starts (everyone leaves rooms and walks around) and all the spontaneous things come up (fetching beverages and food, running into old and new acquaintances that want to discuss something, starting a conversation about one of the talks just attended, going to the bathroom, ...) and all planning is in vain.
Of course, you could ask the professor beforehand: "I would like to discuss some topics with you during the conference, can we meet for that purpose?", but from the point of view of the professor, that will most likely be a [NOOP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOP), a bit of conversation with you that does not provoke any concrete reactions. Once again, because that level of detail can hardly be planned beforehand.
Rather than that, approach the professor spontaneously during the conference; that makes it likely that either he'll be free then, or he'll promise some free time in the *near* future (e.g. the next break).
This way, there will be no need for you to follow him all the time:
* You can pick the sessions you are personally most interested in.
* By *not* attending the same session as your professor, you can even contribute to gathering as much from the conference as possible (with respect to your whole "delegation", as different members of your team gather impressions from different talks).
* Maybe you can even find some contacts of your own (who might very well be quite a different set of contacts than who you might more or less get in touch with when just standing around next to your professor).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: So I was listening to this story on The Moth about a woman who earned a degree in Egypt and then an advanced degree in England and then went back to Zimbabwe to be a professor at local university: <http://themoth.org/posts/stories/grandma-mahembes-farm>
Would it be possible for a US citizen to do something similar and, after earning a PhD in the US, then pursue a professorship in a developing country? Is there any stigma against this as well? Should US citizens be expected to leave such opportunities the peoples of those countries? I know that the NSF has some bridge programs to bring people from developing countries to he US, but are there programs that do the reverse: that is, programs targeted at sending US PhDs to developing countries?<issue_comment>username_1: While I'm not aware of specific programs for international professorship opportunities (other than direct ads in regard to open positions), I compiled the following list of **international-focused research and teaching programs**, which might very well be what you're looking for. Keep in mind that the list below is not exhaustive, as there are various other programs (especially field-specific, i.e., [biomedical](http://www.whitaker.org/grants/fellows-scholars), [complex biological systems](http://www.hfsp.org/funding/postdoctoral-fellowships), [social sciences](http://www.acls.org/programs/comps), etc.), but IMHO contains the most well-known and/or important programs on the topic. Hope this helps.
* [The Fullbright U.S. Scholar Program](http://catalog.cies.org) - also see potentially relevant information on the related [website](http://www.iie.org) of Institute of International Education;
* [NSF International Research Fellowship Program](http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5179&org=NSF) - the program no longer receives proposals, see next program instead;
* [International Postdoctoral Research Fellowships](http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/ise/iprffapp.jsp) - the information specifies individual NSF programs that allow international component.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Many developing countries try to build up a university system, but they have difficulties staffing it, because the local crop of Ph.D.s is too small or of bad quality (because of lack of educational opportunity). The movement of qualified people is in general in the other direction, from developing countries to the US and Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Very often, the pay is close to miserable and the conditions are poor, such as very high teaching loads and lack of research support. In Latin America, high school teachers often need two jobs to survive (one at a morning school and one at an evening school) and university salaries are not that much better. This is balanced against the chance of being able to make a real difference.
If you decide to pursue a career outside of the US in a developing country, be aware of bureaucracy (you will need to get the right type of visa and eventually residency), the difficulties of inculturization (how do bused in Montevideo UR work, when to go to a doctor, ...), the dangers ('Don't go on a bus in El Salvador, the gangs will kill you'), the language difficulties (in India, you need to be trilingual if you want to function), the differences in the educational system and the level of administration, the attitudes of students towards the institution and vice versa, prejudices against you and by you, etc. Often, people will welcome you, but sometimes not. Your experience will be overvalued or undervalued. ...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Would it be possible for a US citizen to do something similar
>
>
>
Yes. I know of one person who moved from a wealthy country, where they were born, to a professorship at a poor country.
>
> Is there any stigma against this as well?
>
>
>
There is a stigma associated with low-ranked universities.
>
> Should US citizens be expected to leave such opportunities the peoples of those countries?
>
>
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No.
The main difficulty are the financial and health disadvantages of working in developing countries.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an 11th grader and studying undergraduate mathematics and living in India.
I want to become a mathematician, but there is one problem in this path. My parents want me to become a medical doctor, but I have no interest in biology. My parents say there is no career in mathematics and it is a total passion job, you can't get anything from it. They say: "There is no demand of mathematics and you can't go anywhere after few years. The salary is not good and no job as a mathematician. You will only get a job if you do your Ph.D."
So my questions are:
1. Is it true what my parents are saying?
2. If it isn't, then what are the careers in mathematics? It is fine if it is a bit long; I don't want any shortcut to success. Also will studying mathematics take up a lot of money? It is a huge issue in my house.<issue_comment>username_1: The answer very much depends on what kind of mathematics you study. Some purely theoretical topics may lead only to academic positions, whereas other areas could lead to positions in finance, data science, statistics.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your parents are thoroughly incorrect when they say that there is no career opportunities in mathematics.
Further to username_1's answer, many (applied) mathematicians find work in the City (as in the financial services sector of London) running risk analyses, for instance.
If however, you are looking at finding work as a research academic in mathematics, then jobs are there, but sought after. Teaching mathematics at university level provides wider prospects, however.
To answer your question about money, the amount you have to pay largely rests on the tuition fees that you can afford. This will depend on which university you choose to attend.
There is also the middle ground of studying mathematics with a view to putting that study to work in medicine. Consider that statistics (yes, probably not the subject you are interested in), was essentially developed as a response to a medical situation (plague in London). There is also a vast amount of work requiring pure and applied mathematics in medicine (nuclear medicine, MRI, NMR, for example).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Mathematician was the top-rated job according to a study [discussed in the Wall Street Journal in 2009](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123119236117055127). Number 2 was Actuary and Number 3 was Statistician. Income for mathematicians was a bit higher than either of those (it surprised me how well-paid "mathematicians" are). Computer-related careers also placed well in this ranking.
Like they say "it's nice work if you can get it"! For some sense of the available jobs, check [mathjobs.org](https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs). A PhD will likely be required for many but not all.
Regarding costs: You don't need much equipment, so that could help keep costs down. ✎ Scholarships are often available for advanced degrees in this area, so earning a PhD may be more a matter of time and effort than money.
If you're interested in going to grad school for mathematics in the US, have a look at the [Mathematics GRE Subject Test](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRE_Mathematics_Test), since your results on that test will (likely) be a strong factor in influencing where you are accepted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: 1. If you have good grounding in math, this opens you up to well placed career in anything computer related (software development, research, all sorts of finance-related positions). Obviously, that's a pretty good career path these days. You'd be surprised and how varied computer-related positions involving heavy math lifting are.
2. If you want to do pure math research, that may be harder to pursue. There aren't all that many research positions in terms of pure math out there, in India or even elsewhere, compared to amount of people seeking them.
3. However, you're not restricted to pure academic university position. If you're into number theory, any number of crypto\* related opportunities are there (NSA in US is a heavy employer of such people; and I'm pretty sure India may have it equivalent). As time goes, security and encryption gets to be more and more important.
To convince your parents, show them the numbers for those applied jobs. Both their #, and the salaries (especially for things like quants in financial firms)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: I can understand your situation since I come as well from a country where parents convince their offspring to join either: medicine, engineering or pharmacy. Because they think these are the "secure" jobs. Although the following might sound intuitive to many readers, I expect that people coming from developing countries (like me) might find this advice valuable.
Your parents speak out of their experience from what they see around them. I would assume that, like in my country, it is true that mathematicians do not have many good opportunities in India.
So to answer question (1), I assume that in India this is true. In other countries that might not be the case, although it is true that in general medical doctors will probably earn more than mathematicians, but in many countries (e.g. western European countries) you (as well as your family) can live a very decent life with a mathematician's salary.
(2) As others said already, mathematicians can get jobs in research, IT and as well in insurance companies.
Now my advice is to do what you love and let it eat you! this will sound Utopian to some, but no it is true, you can do what you love and live a decent life a the same time, you do not have to do something you hate (e.g. study biology) in order to live happily. Money is not everything, and you cannot guarantee you'll earn a lot of money even if you become a medical doctor.
If you really have the passion for mathematics, I suggest you apply at universities abroad. Apply for scholarships and fellowships and study at a place that will appreciate your passion to the field. If you really love something you'll do great at it, and I think you'll have a better chance to reach your highest potential at universities known to be strong in mathematics. Also that's where you will probably get exposed to better job opportunities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Quite simply, you're not going to be happy if you (for example) become a medical doctor and you hate the job. This is *your* life and you need to do what you want to do, regardless of whether or not it pleases your parents.
You clearly have a deep understanding and passion for maths, and if you follow it as a career path you could do great things.
You're just going to have to tell your parents that this is what *you* want to do.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I would advise that you go for your passion which is mathematics. If you do change your mind after obtaining a degree in mathematics, you can always apply to medical school as a graduate and by this time, your decision will be well informed. Perhaps explaining this to your parents might help ease their anxieties about your future. Also, bear in mind that medicine is more expensive to study at university level (more years of study) compared to mathematics. It is true that you could probably get by as an average medical doctor but if you don't have the right personality for the job, you will stand out for the wrong reasons and you will definitely hate it in the end. There is a lot of pressure on medical doctors and its not uncommon for the media to focus on them.
Think about it-if you study maths and you change your mind to medicine, you don't have much to lose. However, if you study medicine and realise its not for you, you run the risk of either dropping out of the course or forcing yourself to complete a degree you don't enjoy.
It is true that Pure mathematics may not necessarily earn you millions but you can never predict where your research will take you. There are mathematicians who consult in the industry in addition to their academic duties.
You just need to find a way to convince your parents-perhaps get the attention of someone whom your parents respect and are likely to listen to.
Best wishes.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not sure if this question is too broad or opinion-based, but I have been wondering about it for sometime.
In the old days when communication was not as abundant as is today, periodicals were a very effective means of communicating one's research and findings to interested people. Books and personal letters were also available, but were either not suitable for short communications or narrowly accessible. Thus, journals made sense at that time.
Today, however, especially with the widespread use of the internet, I find it hard to justify the existence of journals other than to preserve the status quo from the past. In fact, I can see several disadvantages such as:
1. Economic burden on institutions and individuals.
2. Unnecessary delay in publication due to processing and reviewing times.
3. Subjective editor/peer-review process with many decisions made based on personal and/or journal-specific reasons.
So my question is: are there any real advantages of having journals nowadays? Wouldn't it be better to adopt an open publication method (maybe similar to that here at SX) in which people can rank, cite, and vote on publications instead?<issue_comment>username_1: The primary reasons for the continuation of academic journals are correlaries to some of the things you've mentioned as negative.
* **Peer review.** This a key driver for academic publishing in general. It provides a way to control the quality of published material, and an enforcement of accepted standards, and (for the author) feedback prior to publication.
* **Communication.** Journals provide a means of communicating research to a targeted audience. Conventional subscription-based models do so for a fee, while the rapidly growing open-access model (which I highly commend) provides even broader and easier access for researchers, students, and others.
In short, journals serve to curate content to meet the needs of a particular audience, and thus they are unlikely to completely disappear in the near future.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: This is an incomplete answer. I think this is a very pertinent question I too have been considering for some time. I'm eager to read what other people have to say.
One of the reasons why authors seek publication in traditional journals, despite apparent nonsense such as paying an institutional subscription for access to your own work, is that funding agencies, institutions and authors ourselves rely too much on the ranking of a journal to assign a quality/relevance tag to scientific work. In practice, this means that to obtain reputation and credit for your work, secure future funding, etc. you have to publish in prestigious journals.
To give you an idea, Scandinavian countries have a ranking 1, 2, 3 that gives you points depending on where you publish. For instance Nature scores 3, and respectable journals with a lower impact factor, e.g. Physical Review E, score 1. This is regardless of whether the peer-review process was more or less rigorous in each journal.
I think the point of peer review is a non issue because it's voluntary and authors could organize ourselves to solve this in an open access non-for-profit setting.
So to sum up, I think journals are necessary only in the present context of how credit and reputation are assigned, and that both authors and institutions (in that order) will eventually realize and the paradigm of academic publishing will gradually be shifted.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Many journals have asked the same questions that you are asking, and are experimenting with different approaches to shifting the notion of "journal" to better fit our evolving world.
So far as I can see, the key persistent value that journals are serving is one of curation. No matter what call the institutions or how we organize them, it will always be necessary for science to have some means of bringing important information to the fore, winnowing out problematic information, and preserving information over long periods of time.
In most fields, journals are the institutions that have historically served that purpose. Some fields have already radically changed the way in which they interact with journals:
* In computer science, high-importance peer-reviewed conferences typically remove the problems of long delay and restrictions on number of accepted papers, though they add their own problems, such as travel requirements and single-round review.
* In mathematics, long circulation of pre-prints on arXiv removes long delay, monetary barriers, and restrictions on number of accepted papers, though it adds its own problems, such as lack of filtering and returning to a "default" word-of-mouth promotion.
Likewise, a number of journals are experimenting with alternate approaches designed to alleviate the problems from how journals are currently organized. For example, [PLOS ONE](http://www.plosone.org/) has been fairly successful without any restriction on topic or notability, and has a fairly reliable and decently fast time to publication. Another interesting example is the ["Frontiers" journals](http://www.frontiersin.org/), which have an interactive review process which invites back-and-forth discussion between authors, reviewer, and editor, followed by publicly identifying the reviewers of accepted papers, which helps mitigate many of the issues of bias in peer review. Neither of these is "periodical" either except in the loosest sense of the word: papers simply go up when they are ready, and then later might be post-facto grouped into collections.
Bottom line: I suspect that "journal" in the traditional sense is an endangered concept, but that the aspects of journals with ongoing value will continue to be promoted and preserved by the scientific community, and that some of them will still be called "journal" as well, no matter how different their model.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Well, what does the scientific community need in terms of publications?
* Somebody who organises some sort of peer review. This does not necesarily have to happen in the currently common form, but some mechanism that avoids total nonsense and ensures quality is needed. This cannot be done (in my opinion) on basis of a voting and commenting system, as people would either not do it (and thus no peer review would happen) or abuse the system (which is not to say that no abuse of peer review is happening now, but this would be worse).
* Somebody who publishes papers, be it online or in printed form.
* Somebody who typesets papers or otherwise renders them in a digestable form. While many scientists may be able to do this themselves if provided with a proper LaTeX template or similar, they are still the minority, and at least I do not want to have to read papers set in Word or similar.
Now at least in my opinion, the above points are also the defining properties of a *journal,*¹ and some journals, e.g., PLoS One do nothing more. So unless you want to propagate a different definition of *journal* (in which case this question becomes one of definition), we cannot do without journals.
Note that I do not claim that there is nothing wrong with the current publication system – on the contrary: there are a lot of things that need radical improvement. But the mere existence of journals in general is not the problem and cannot really be avoided.
---
¹ and yes, this means that even conference proceedings, which are the dominant form of publication in computer science, are some variant of a journal
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: One function is in fact to provide a way to “rank, cite and vote” on publications. Journal publications show that you can publish in journals and are used to identify people who can. It might sound circular and not as valuable or noble as disseminating findings but, for better or worse, it's a very real function nonetheless and one that is not easy to replicate from scratch elsewhere.
Arguably, it's one of the functions of universities too (it's sometimes called “signalling”). Many students don't learn that much that is directly useful to their life or their career or could learn those things in other ways but earning a degree is a way to show you can in fact earn a degree. And people pay a lot of money for that kind of certification, it cannot be dismissed as a mere historical oddity or unwelcome side-effect without fundamentally misunderstanding what's really going on.
That's also why it's so difficult to switch to another model and why the “brand” and reputation of a journal is perhaps more valuable than anything else. It's now easy to put together, print and distribute a new periodical. Conversely, it would be easy to get rid of paper journals entirely. But there would still only be one *Nature*, one *Science*, etc.
And I know some scientists who are proud not only of having published a paper in *Nature* but of having made the cover (let that sink in for a minute: any pretence that this is about communicating the substance of the research or anything like that is gone, it's only about prestige and recognition)…
In fact, on a purely technical level, the transition to another paradigm has already mostly happened, we currently have a myriad of initiatives and platforms, open-access archives, open journal publishers like PLOS and even traditional journals are already mostly read and distributed online anyway. But online subscriptions to these journals are still very expensive and the system has not fully “opened up”, which shows that the medium isn't really the issue.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: You're partly right, of course, that journals' prominence is a historical artefact.
But let's look at this some other way. Would you want to learn mathematics from a bunch of tweets? How about following developments in Ukraine by reading Facebook posts by people with very strong interests in having people think a certain way about the topic?
Well, no, that wouldn't be so great. Sometimes you want to have information presented in a way that's easier to learn, where the source conveniently contains most of the background you need to know to understand the new material (once you know the basic prerequisites). Sometimes you'd like to have at least some basic fact-checking.
And that's why you always would want something like a journal: a place where fully-crafted, peer-reviewed stories reporting on original research are published.
But many of the other features of journals are anachronistic now. Do you want to know how to run a protocol? You should have something more like GitHub for protocols (but better-indexed that GitHub) so you can search for ways to do something, then clone your own branch, modify, and update as you go. Do you want to know the latest research? Well, it should be there online *right away*, ideally, as soon as the person knows about it and manages to make it into a figure or something that they can share. (Computers are awesome at tracking citation-like metrics; credit needn't be a problem.)
So I think that the role of journals in transmitting groundbreaking research, or in evaluating the worth of a scientist, ought eventually to be replaced by something faster and more accurate. But that doesn't mean that they'll go away any more than it means that textbooks will go away now that we have Wikipedia. It diminishes the role somewhat, but a unique and vital role remains.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The key function of journals nowadays is to **certify quality of papers**.
(Of course, this is a oversimplification and it is field-specific, but I think that this is essentially true, at least for mathematics.)
It is not at all easy to judge correctness of a paper just by looking. It is even harder to judge a paper's importance. On the other hand, if a paper has been published in a journal, it is guaranteed that at least someone read it and verified that it is correct. If the journal is a somewhat prestigious one, it proves the quality of the paper - it is innovative, important, or good in some other way.
Knowing if a result is correct is crucial when you want to apply it somewhere else. Being able to prove that your results are important is useful when applying for jobs, etc.
All this having been said, there is a spreading belief that journals do not provide enough utility to justify their continued existence *in their present form* - see for instance [the Cost of Knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cost_of_Knowledge) campaign.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: My take on some of these questions, particularly as they regard public health and medicine in terms of journals:
* They help support professional societies. Profits from society-level journals, if they indeed do turn a profit, allow professional societies to engage in other activities, from political advocacy to supporting students attending their conferences.
* They provide typesetting and layout, as well as proof reading. While this is not true for all fields, generally speaking it is true in biomedicine and public health. To my mind, all but the most carefully done LaTeX templates are a poor substitute to actual page layout tools, and typesetting is something that is not necessarily an academic skill set.
* They provide a means for manditory, potentially blinded review. Most alternate systems rely on optional post-publication review, whereas the conventional journal system ensures *somebody* saw it before it reached the press. This might seem like something of a low bar, but it's better than a paper that never attracts reviewers. Additionally, it's essentially impossible to make post-publication reviews anonymous. I'd suggest that the quality and level of criticism for identical papers published by a "Senior Luminary in the Field" and a "Female Graduate Student with a Foreign Sounding Name" will be markedly different. This is just as subjective as the existing peer-review system. For something like SX voting, you're also going to conflate two issues - popularity and quality.
* You mention in the OP that there is an economic burden on institutions and individuals. Disaggregating the publishing process doesn't change that there will be costs associated with publishing and hosting papers.
* Journals, through their editorial boards, provide a means of field-wide advocacy. I would, for example, suggest that the [ICMJE Guidelines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICMJE_recommendations) carry far more weight because of the associated journals.
* Journals also provide essentially a curated collection of papers that meet a certain quality standard (whatever that standard may be) and are topical. I can read *Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology* every month and get a sense for what's going on in a particular field. And importantly, I can find papers there that I wouldn't necessarily have read if I was just searching through somewhere like arXiv. Journals provide a means to browse a field in addition to targeted searches of the literature.
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<issue_start>username_0: A few days ago I was browsing open-access social-science journals and I found one ‘author guideline’ explicitly saying that they are accepting student submissions if and only if the manuscript is co-authored with the academic advisor or a senior researcher.
I have acquaintances with several editors and editorial board members at various journals and I know from experience that some of us tends to be careful with manuscripts coming from PhD students. This manifests in practices that I find questionable (e.g., insisting on three unanimously positive specialist peer evaluations before acceptance, while a senior researcher’s manuscript may go with only two positives) and in other practices that I find to be biased (like an easier desk reject, or being less willing to deal with them, which results in longer peer evaluation cycles).
Is it justifiable for editors to restrict – formally or informally – the opportunities for PhD students to publish in their journals, like restricting them to submit only co-authored papers or subject their manuscript to more strict criteria than those of senior researchers before acceptance?<issue_comment>username_1: In my opinion, such a policy is absolutely unethical.
One of the key principles of science is that scientific work can be done by anybody. Good science can be done by people who aren't even *in* academia, let alone by students. A scientific paper should be evaluated on its merits, not an [argument from authority](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority) based on its authors.
Now, humans being humans, reviewers *will* tend to bias towards known authorities and prejudice against unknowns, students, etc. But this journal's policy, rather than fighting against such a tendency, explicitly enshrines and adopts it. Likewise with the informal policies that you describe: anything that amplifies unfairness in judgement rather than de-amplifying it is highly suspect and likely scientifically unethical.
This doesn't mean that one should drop standards. Rather, it means that one should treat [a paper coming from a well-known PI at an august institution](http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/20/author-retracts-study-of-changing-minds-on-same-sex-marriage-after-colleague-admits-data-were-faked/) with just as much suspicion as one from a student author from a developing-world university you've never heard of before. Being status-conscious primates, we're not very good at doing this, but such a condition is the goal towards which we should strive.
PS: Note that a policy the other way, i.e., [student journals](http://www.cur.org/resources/students/undergraduate_journals/) that don't accept papers *without* student authors, is not problematic because it is inverting the privilege gradient.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I know that [academia varies strongly](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1212/7734) and I am not familiar with the customs and procedures in the social sciences. Therefore this answer is based on assuming my field’s situation and it may ignore some pecularity of social sciences that plays into this. Anyway, I want to take another point of view at your example, i.e., the explicit exclusion of papers with only students as authors:
Most papers whose primary author is a student originate from some work happening under supervision, whether the supervisor is a co-author or not. Going by authorship standards, the latter question depends on whether the supervisor made an intellectual contribution to the paper. Often this is ignored and the supervisor is made coauthor for no reason other than being the supervisor. This unethical “custom” is ensured by the student’s strong dependecy on the supervisor and there is no need for journal policies to enforce it.
So, most papers that could potentially be submitted a journal without an advisor as an author are originating from work happening under a supervisor and thus the mentioned restriction can easily be surpassed by the authors by just asking their supervisor to coauthor the paper. Note that *easily* refers to the practical aspects, as it would be unethical and may have a slight negative impact on the student’s career. Thus, **the main consequence of this policy is that supervisors are added to papers ignoring authorship ethics**.
Now it is debatable whether rules that lead to unethical behaviour are themselves unethical, but in my opinion they are at least to some extent and hence this policy is unethical – in particular as I can see no positive effect justifying it. I would refuse to review or author for a journal holding such a policy.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It is both justifiable and unethical.
It is justifiable because, in practice, the peer review process is rarely good enough to catch all or even most errors that might appear in a manuscript. The presence of a senior researcher on a manuscript indicates (not in a foolproof way, but it's better than nothing) that someone with the experience and interest to catch (some of) these errors has already had a go at it.
Of course there are cases where exactly the opposite is true (a senior researcher pushes for inclusion of a flaw based upon their hunches/experience), but on balance having a senior person responsible on board improves the quality and lowers the error rate, which lessens the burden on the peer review process, which makes the journal less likely to publish something which is wrong. (And if they do, people are more likely to blame the senior author than the journal.)
But it is unethical because the long-term success of the academic endeavour depends critically upon the ability of peer review to actually be a good review of the work. The journal shouldn't be shirking its duty there, or at least if it does it should do so apologetically. The editorial staff's job includes summarily rejecting papers that have too many basic mistakes (unclear abstract, no references, etc.) that more often are made by Ph.D. students alone, but they can and should do that on the basis of the content of the paper, not the seniority of the authors.
So unless this is the *Journal of Opinions of Prominent People whose Importance is a Social Construct*, I would view the policy very unfavorably.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am curious to know whether there exists any data set that forces users to publicly release any source code written to analyse it.<issue_comment>username_1: Open data licenses apparently do exist, for instance, Open Data Commons maintains the [ODbL](http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/). I don't think that this has a restriction on code used for *analysis*, but it does put a share-alike restriction on any derivative datasets.
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> If you publicly use any adapted version of this database, or works produced from an adapted database, you must also offer that adapted database under the ODbL.
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This essentially ensures that the derived database (or steps used to create it) used for analysis must be shared, though not necessarily the analysis itself.
I imagine that you could modify this license to mandate that you share the steps used to create any work produced (i.e. the analysis code) as well under some kind of open license, but I am not a lawyer, and I did not find an existing license that does this in my (short) search. In particular, this could easily be troublesome if you use closed-source third-party software in your analysis (e.g. Stata, Matlab), though people have overcome similar issues with GPL licenses.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't think that would work in the US, where facts [cannot](http://www.newmediarights.org/business_models/artist/what_can%E2%80%99t_be_copyrighted) [be](http://www.cendi.gov/publications/04-8copyright.html#214) [copyrighted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_Publications,_Inc.,_v._Rural_Telephone_Service_Co.), so -- once you publicly publish data -- there's nothing stopping anybody else from republishing it in a different form. That might be [plagiarism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism), but you can usually get around that by citing the source of your data.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The data user agreement for this dataset (MIMIC/eICU) requires users to share their code. <https://physionet.org/pnw/a/manage-duas> :
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> If I openly disseminate my results, I will also contribute the code used to produce those results to a defined PhysioNet repository (physionet.org/physiotools/repository/) that is open to the research community.
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in a reputed PhD Programme in Computer Science. In the prior part of my PhD I was focussed on applicative research but during the course of time I developed a keen interest in the theoretical reasoning behind algorithms and methods. I would have liked to prove the correctness of my work theoretically along with the experimental results. Since I didn't have a very strong fundamental background in mathematics, I developed a habit of asking "why" behind every assumption made in any topic. For example: I had a 15 minute long discussion with my lab mate on why the sample event space for calculating probability consists of a null set and what does it mean.
Our lab has weekly presentations by various students of my lab about their research topics or something else, focussed towards people who don't know anything. My obsession to understand the fundamentals have probably led me to be able to ask questions even upon topics not remotely concerned with my field of study. And I do ask questions (I don't know about the quality of questions since I am mostly not very well versed with the topics being presented). I somehow also have a habit of being able to relate things from various fields of study, so after or during the presentations I am usually able to find the connection between my and the other person's field.
Due to this, my advisor (occasionally and in a positive manner) and other people have started tagging me as overly curious. A few students make fun of me behind me, saying why the hell I can dive into discussions with people working in String theory when I don't have to work upon it.
Though I am producing results (coding, studying and teaching the same to my co-authors) and mostly the one who brings new ideas to the table, I am mostly taunted as being unfocussed by my lab mates when I just try to discuss about some random idea during coffee or lunch break or try to know about a new project initiated in other labs. Earlier I chose to address their concerns and accepted that maybe I have a problem, but with time people even question my focus when I just express my wish to attend an advanced Algebra lecture (an hour a week). This hasn't killed my curiosity but has led me to question my abilities and is affecting my self-confidence. I am an excellent team player, but due to continuous taunting I prefer working and hanging out alone (against my nature) since I think I am negatively impacting others' work.
My questions are:
1. Does it make sense to attend these weekly presentations whose main aim in my view was to develop a habit of asking questions?
2. Is wanting to know about other people's work, even from other domains, considered as lack of focus?
3. Is there something called "overly curious" ?<issue_comment>username_1: Answers to your questions are dependent on the culture you are in, and how you, personally, want to cope with the norms and values of that culture.
For example, in some cultures, it is possible to be labeled "overly ambitious" if one voices the ambition to be the "best X in the world", or even "the top X in our country". This doesn't apply to the US, where open ambition is rarely stigmatized.
Also, be aware that your class mates and lab mates may be taunting you and make fun of you as a way to cope with their own discomforts and insecurities. Such reactions are hardly useful or informative to you as you develop your skills and capabilities in a way that suits your disposition and inclinations.
Here are my answers to your questions:
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> 1. Does it make sense to attend these weekly presentations whose main aim in my view was to develop a habit of asking questions.
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Yes, this is perfectly fine if it doesn't take away time or energy from your other work and doesn't delay progress in your PhD program. As my (well-regarded) adviser says: "Intellectual curiosity is very valuable in academic life. It is not widely distributed and it is hard to develop if you don't already have it".
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> 2. Does wanting to know about other people's work; even from other domains considered as lack of focus.
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No, not in and of itself. This is the way of the "[polymath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath)". You might just start telling people: "I'm a polymath, or aspiring polymath. This is what I do." Also, you might read some biographies of polymaths. They will give you inspiration and insights.
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> 3. Is there something called "overly curious"
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Curiosity is only excessive if it distracts from the focus necessary to develop depth in your specialty, or gets in the way of getting meaningful work done (courses passed, papers published, etc.). PhD is about *depth*, so if your curiosity keeps you hopping from question to question where you develop only a superficial understanding, then, yes, it is excessive.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Since I didn't have a very strong fundamental background in mathematics, I developed a habit of asking "why" behind every assumption made in any topic. For example: I had a 15 minute long discussion with my lab mate on why the sample event space for calculating probability consists of a null set and what does it mean.
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The weak background in mathematics is the thing to do something about. It can be a lot of fun, and productive, to ask questions. But you do need to get enough of a foundation to be able to tell, most of the time, whether a question you have asked, or are thinking about asking, is a good one.
It will take some time to build up your mathematical foundation. In the meantime, do me a favor. Carry around a notebook in which you jot down all your questions. Choose carefully the people you feel you trust enough to pose the more naïve questions to. And don't overload those people. I have a young friend who likes to interrupt whatever we are doing, to say, "A., may I ask you a question?" I have learned the hard way that there is no point in saying, "Not right now, my friend, let's just finish such-and-so up first" -- because this makes zero difference. He just asks me anyway, then and there. But he's ten years old. You can display a bit more self control than he can, I hope.
Here is a practical technique for keeping your number of questions down to a more manageable level: put three small, smooth stones in one pocket in the morning. Each time you ask one of those iffy questions, the type that you're not sure whether it's going to get on someone's nerves, like the sample event space question, transfer one stone to the other pocket. When you've transferred all three -- your quota is used up for the day.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Most people are probably (much) more driven by prestige and other social drives than you are. Engaging with them with your never ending flow of curiosity (which seems to be one of your strongest drives to work hard) will probably be quite tiresome or even annoying to them at least in the long run.
Just try and learn that you will need to curb your enthusiasm and curiosity around this category of people and try and identify the ones you can speak more openly about such things with. Sometimes these people who are more happy to discus curiosities can be outside of work or formal studies.
Maybe it can be good to follow the advice by @username_2 to write down your questions for yourself to indulge in later or to save for talking with someone more compatible with your curious personality later.
Oh I forgot at least one obvious great forum for your curiosity: the other stack exchange sites! Maybe especially **math.stackexchange** if it is usually mathematical questions which raise your curiosity. You will need to learn to formulate your curiosity into well defined questions or maybe if you are OK just surfing around lots of other peoples questions and answers.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: It has been mentioned couple of times in this site that faculty could be able to distribute their salary over 9 or 12 months. What are advantages and disadvantages of each? And can faculty who distribute their salary over 12 months work during the summer? Do they get 1 month vacation and sick leave? Any effect on taxes, health insurance, and deduction for benefits? Does it affect the amount of summer salary from the university or a funding agency?<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, there are no tax implications behind distributing a 9-month salary over 12 months. If you have a 9 month appointment, you can work other jobs those 3 months, or get summer salary from a granting agency. However, if you have a 12 month appointment, then your university will probably not allow you to take a second job (though you may be able to arrange to buy some of your "time" to work on a grant). Faculty usually do not get "vacation" per se, they just go on vacation when they feel they have the free time (during one of their 3 free months, technically). However, in strongly unionized arrangements, vacation and sick leave may be more relevant. The advantage of 12 month distribution is that you get a regular amount of money flowing in to your bank account and you don't have to be careful to leave enough in savings to survive the summer.
[EDIT] The comments point out the possibility of micro-(dis)advantages to the employee in spreading salary over 12 months. I suggest that we need a full analysis of *all* of these effects. For example, employees usually make some contribution to the insurance scheme, which is usually divided evenly over 12 checks. If you aren't paid over your off 3 months, you would have to have set aside money to cover insurance during that time. This could get bureaucratically complicated, w.r.t. factoring in the employer contribution, and might necessitate increasing the employer contribution during salaried months to balance the lack of employer contributions during non-salary months. There would also be administrative costs to the university involved in processing monthly insurance contributions from employees (assuming that employees don't just end up on their own insurance-wise during their off months). Given the various unknowns, I'd want to see a detailed economic analysis of the effect of 9-month and 12-month payouts for 9-month appointments, before concluding that one has a monetary advantage over the other.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There may be some confusion here about the difference between 9 and 12 month appointments vs. arranging to have the salary for a 9 month appointment paid out over 12 months.
In the U.S., the typical faculty appointment is a 9 month appointment. Under this arrangement, a faculty member is required to be present on campus and teaching (and doing research and service) from September through May. They typically do not have formal vacation or sick leave but in practice can stay home (and cancel classes) if sick. They can also go on personal travel when classes are not in session. Faculty don't have to formally request time off as long as they attend to their responsibilities.
In this system faculty do not have to work over the summers, although many faculty do teach summer school or work on research grants and earn additional salary over the summer. Faculty will also often work on unfunded research projects over the summer.
Many faculty with 9 month appointments choose to have their annual salary paid out over 12 months. This doesn't create any obligation to work over the summer and has no significant tax consequences, but it is more convenient for household budgeting since summer salary can be quite variable and unpredictable from year to year.
For example, I just learned today that I will be able to earn a month of summer salary teaching a course that starts on June 8. I'm still waiting to hear if some research funding for this summer will come through. I've designed my personal budget so that I'm not dependent on summer salary, so I have my 9 month salary paid out over 12 months.
12 month appointments are quite common for academic administrators and some full time researchers. These typically do accrue sick leave and paid vacation, which has some advantages but also has some disadvantages such as having to explicitly request time off.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I use the 9 to 12 month salary distribution as I do not work full time during summer anymore. With current saving interest rates at 1% (e.g., capitalone savings account), for every $1000 take-home monthly salary, they may set aside $250 out of the paycheck every month to be paid during summer.
The interest you are giving away would be about $12 (Wrong calculations are made by other respondents as they use the time as 9 months on the whole amount they set aside for the whole summer). So if your 9-month take home salary is $45,000, you are just giving away $72 of your money. Now that is a dinner out for a couple and a kid nowadays, but I end up saving more as my budget gets reset to a lower amount for the rest of the year.
There is no substantial tax implication for me, as taxes are taken on the gross income and are distributed with no deductions in the summer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: What everybody on here is forgetting or not aware of, is that you can get unemployment during the off months if you are paid on a 9 months basis. That could add up to over $7500 a year if you make 60000 a year.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: It is often told that working under big shots (I mean, recognized professors) in a particular research field is always beneficial on the way towards getting a faculty job in top research universities (perhaps in the US). My concern is how a big professor can help his students (PhDs, postdocs, project scientists who are badly seeking a faculty job) in addition to providing a recommendation letter? Is there anything else they could favor me on? Or, in other words, is there anything else I could ask them giving me a favor for? For instance, can I ask my professors to give a phone call to the faculty search committee (where I submitted my application) to consider my application with care? Such effort is nothing but highlighting one's application so that the search committee gives a special attention to it.<issue_comment>username_1: This doesn't usually work that way. When your prof gets involved on your behalf, besides writing the most stellar recommendation letter they can, they're just going to pick up the phone and call if they know someone at the place you are applying. A personal recommendation beyond the usual stellar letter from someone trustworthy that you know can go a long way towards differentiating between otherwise equally viable candidates.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: One of the advantages of having a well-known professor is that they can introduce you to more colleagues (and potential collaborators!) at conferences or graduate school than a less-well-known professor can. That improves your chance that somebody on the search committee knows you or of you, or has worked with you directly or indirectly on a project.
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a very enthusiastic person academically and I love to gather new (sometimes irrelevant but useful) knowledge about my field in my free time. I am now at the point where I would like to start writing a paper on something in my field of interest and based on my own research.
*If my paper is credible, contributes to my field and fulfills the standards that apply to any PhD thesis, would I be awarded a doctorate if I applied for the degree and publish the paper?*
As an undergraduate, I don't know much about a PhD program. From what I know, it's simply you and your research that counts. I understand that, in the last analysis, it is the contribution to your field that counts. Am I missing anything?<issue_comment>username_1: No, as commenter <NAME> points out, doctoral programs also have other requirements, such as courses and sometimes exams.
UPDATE: As commenters have shown, my answer was US-centric and thus incorrect. I'd delete it, but that would delete the helpful comments below.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> If my paper is credible, fruitful to my field and otherwise fulfilling the standards that any PhD thesis should
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A research paper is not a thesis. Theses are usually expositions upon some field that the author has contributed to, and frequently contain extensive background that is typically omitted in academic literature. Indeed, many of my colleagues in industry have published research papers without having PhDs.
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> ... would I be awarded a doctorate if I'd publish and wish for it?
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In addition, you would need to find a university to endorse your work, which often requires collaborating with faculty.
Although, if your work is truly groundbreaking and you spend a lot of time *hanging out* at a particular campus, you might qualify for an honorary degree!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: All this depends on the field, the country, etc. but in theory, if you already have a master's degree, it *is* possible to get a PhD based on previous (published) research. But typically not on a single *paper*. (Over)generalizing and assuming your research is genuinely interesting and meets all the (sometimes arbitrary) requirements of your field, a rough guideline is that you need material corresponding to at least three papers.
You would also need to write some intro/conclusion putting the research in context, make revisions based on your advisors' comments, find a jury and satisfy them. You cannot just show up with a paper and “wish” for a PhD, at least not from a real, reputable university. That's assuming you really manage to make your research publication-worthy (which means not only rigorous but also connected to recent literature and current problems in your field) and find a faculty willing to accommodate you as it's not the “normal” way to get a PhD.
Don't overlook the bit about finding an advisor: It's incredibly important. The PhD is really an apprenticeship under the supervision of a full professor. You don't ask a university or department for a doctorate, there is no process to submit a thesis and have it evaluated on your own, it's all driven by faculty members and you won't even be allowed to defend a thesis if it's not endorsed by one (he or she would also typically help you recruit a jury).
Realistically, a mediocre thesis can be validated if a professor puts his or her mind to it, asks friends to sit in the jury, etc. but even brilliant work is nothing if you don't find an interested academic to move the process along.
Beyond that, others have mentioned extra requirements but the thesis is really the most important thing. In my experience, in Europe (I got my PhD in the Netherlands but I know a little bit about France, Germany, or the UK), it's increasingly common to organise some mandatory courses for PhD candidates but the load is very light, a few short courses about soft skills or methodology with no exam, only pass/fail based on attendance. And there are ways around that if you have a good reason.
But to be perfectly honest, your question suggests you are not very familiar with academia so it seems highly unlikely you would succeed in getting a PhD without proper support. I am not sure why you want one but if it's important to you, it might be a better idea to simply enroll in a PhD program.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: **Just write your paper**, as long as the writing does not distract you from your undergrad studies. If the paper has merit, you may be able to present it at a colloquium of your university, at a workshop, or even at a conference. If you put some more work into it and are lucky, you might eventually be able to publish it in a journal. Certainly, your paper will open up more questions than it answers. Now you have a research trajectory that you can follow up and that may lead to a PhD thesis, based on but surely not limited to your first paper.
In other words: There is no reason why you should not start to work on your PhD topic already as an undergraduate, **but it seems to me that you underestimate the time and work it takes to finish the PhD**. And since PhDs require a lot of work, there are PhD programs, which facilitate the process and in which most PhDs are actually produced. In that sense, writing your PhD outside of the designated framework is a bit like digging a well with a spoon. It can be done, but it is not too efficient. On top of that (as others have said already), at many institutions, the written thesis is only one requirement among others to be awarded a title.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: An example of someone who did just this was <NAME>. So yes you could, especially if you are a genius.
Wittgenstein wrote the *Tractatus* during his free time and it was used as his thesis for his Cambridge PhD.
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> Wittgenstein came to feel that he could not get to the heart of his most fundamental questions while surrounded by other academics, and so in 1913 he retreated to the village of Skjolden in Norway, where he rented the second floor of a house for the winter. He later saw this as one of the most productive periods of his life, writing *Logik* (Notes on Logic), the predecessor of much of the *Tractatus*.
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> In the summer of 1918 Wittgenstein took military leave and went to stay in one of his family's Vienna summer houses, Neuwaldegg. It was there in August 1918 that he completed the *Tractatus*
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> ...
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> he could not initially work at Cambridge as he did not have a degree, so he applied as an advanced undergraduate. Russell noted that his previous residency was sufficient for a PhD, and urged him to offer the *Tractatus* as his thesis. It was examined in 1929 by Russell and Moore; at the end of the thesis defence, Wittgenstein clapped the two examiners on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I know you'll never understand it." Moore wrote in the examiner's report: "I myself consider that this is a work of genius; but, even if I am completely mistaken and it is nothing of the sort, it is well above the standard required for the Ph.D. degree." Wittgenstein was appointed as a lecturer and was made a fellow of Trinity College. ([Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein))
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Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: PhD programs provide funding for, typically, no more than four years. Given that the average time to completion is well in excess of that (it was ten years in the UC Berkeley English department last time I checked), the reality is that the majority of PhD theses are completed during time not spent doing remunerated work, which is another name for "free time". So yes, not only *can* you do a PhD thesis in your free time, in most cases that's what you'll end up doing even if you enroll in a formal PhD program. Hope that helps...
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: The front page of every PhD thesis states "Submit as Partial Fulfillment of the Degree". So, a thesis is a must but not all for a PhD degree. The degree requires years of academic training, not as simple as just one thesis, or several published research papers.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I finished my PhD a few months ago and am now settling into a postdoc position. The last 6-8 months of my PhD had been quite stressful (well, nothing unusual there, of course) and when it came to thinking about the next career step, all I knew was that I was a bit more inclined towards staying in academia than moving to the industry. So as soon as the offer for this postdoc came, I accepted. **Just to prevent any confusion before I go any further: I am certainly not regretting that decision.** As in, I am happy with my research work, one reason being its multidisciplinary nature (both physics & electronics are heavily involved). It is likely therefore that I continue on this career path.
But one never knows what life brings, so it is good to keep one's options open. So this is more about obtaining knowledge/collecting information for alternative career avenues.
In that regard, one area that sort of intrigues me is academic publishing. I have tried (by means of web-search, talking to the employees of scientific journals I met at a conference booth, etc.) to find out on how it is to be involved with the scientific-publishing industry, e.g., what does a typical day at the office look like, what are the challenges they face, what kind of freedom is possible in the various tasks, etc. But I somehow haven't received any concrete information based on which I could assess this as a potential career option.
So below are my main questions, asked from the perspective of a PhD/Postdoc. As such, any references (books/articles/memoirs) that may serve as a good introduction to this topic would be very much appreciated. Even more, if someone on this stackexchange community comes from a similar background, then it would be really great if he/she could share their experiences.
Q1. What kind of full-time career paths can be envisaged in the publishing industry?
(This is one [advertisment](http://www.aps.org/about/jobs/aeditor-pra.cfm) that I recently saw. It sounds nice but I'd like a detailed description about the job role, for example).
Q2. How is the career progression? What kind of challenges does one typically face in this profession?
Q3. Are there any short-term jobs or internships suitable for PhDs/Postdocs in this field?
Q4. What are the typical exit options? For instance,
* Is it easy to switch back to your research career (postdoc/professorship)?
* What kind of secondary and tertiary industries, if any, be interested in hiring someone with an experience in the world of publishing?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm in a similar situation, meaning that I'm also a recent (less than two months) Ph.D. graduate and currently focus my effort on a job search (both in industry and academia). The differences between you and me include the discipline (not essential) and my lack of postdoctoral (or any other, for that matter) job offers at the moment. Since I briefly have been considering a **temporary** career move toward a scientific publishing world, while I do not have a direct work experience in the scientific publishing industry, I think that I have browsed through enough job advertisements to form and share my opinion on the subject, as follows (certainly, take it with a grain of salt).
I consider the temporary career move toward scientific publishing that I've mentioned mostly as an industry career option and not an academic one. While in the context of scientific publishing, there is an intersection between classifying such career option as one of industry or academia, I believe that a career in scientific publishing cannot be considered as an academic career. Therefore, my first point is that, if you, as myself, consider academia as your main ultimate career avenue, going the scientific publishing route is not a good option (unless it is very short-term and due to circumstances). Continuing my *road terminology analogy*, the above-mentioned avenue and route are not parallel, thus, after some time traveling the scientific publishing career route, one can find themselves **too far** from the academia career avenue. That will most likely make returning back to academia very difficult, if not impossible.
Based on various job descriptions that I've looked at, a career in scientific publishing seems to involve **much less scholarly activities** at the expense of *much more project management, marketing and operational ones* (especially, for non-senior editorial roles). Moreover, internal organizational politics, tight deadlines and other time-related issues, as well as stress of juggling multiple publication projects add insult to injury.
Finally, I personally dislike the scientific publishing industry's negative role due to lack of openness in dissemination of scientific information and corresponding strategies and tactics they use (that includes [their "implementation"](http://www.davidketcheson.info/2011/12/16/in-defense-of-submission-in-scientific.html) of the *open access* paradigm). Therefore, it would make even more difficult for me to work in such environment and organizational culture.
Considering all the above, I would not go the scientific publishing route, even temporarily, but, instead, would try my best to join **academia** as a postdoc or junior faculty member and progress there or, alternatively, go the **real science-related industry** route (less perfect, considering the ultimate goal, but, can be either temporary, or long-term, combined - in a form of *consulting* - with academic positions).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I used to work in academic publishing. In the following answer, job titles are very variable; the word "editor" can mean one of a multitude of jobs.
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> Q1. What kind of full-time career paths can be envisaged in the publishing industry?
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At the bottom tier there's the proofreader. You read the paper and make sure everything is in the right format, e.g. perhaps your journal follows a style where the word 'datum' is used as the singular form of 'data', and it's your job to fix it if you spot it. You don't really do copyediting, you only do proofreading. To do this job you don't really need a PhD, or even a Bachelor's. It's also (in my opinion) very boring.
Next up there's the journal production editor. When the editorial board accepts a paper, these people get it through to published form. This could involve copyediting, typesetting, sending to author for corrections, uploading online, etc., or (rather more likely) working with the people who actually do these things. The JPE acts as the overall coordinator and is expected to be able to answer author questions "my paper was accepted three weeks ago and I've not yet received proofs, what's going on?" For this job you'll typically need a Bachelor's degree.
Then there are the desk editors. They can do all the things JPEs do, and then some: they might for example be responsible for the content on the journal's website, they have to work directly with the editorial board (e.g. editorial board says let's take advantage of [this conference] to promote our journal, the DE is then responsible for getting management to approve the expenditure, work with the artists to put together flyers, posters, etc.), handle author questions "my paper was submitted three months ago and I haven't heard anything, what's the review status?", etc. There's also a good chance that desk editors handle books (JPEs usually don't, because they can easily handle papers from many different journals at the same time). Desk editors usually need a Bachelor's degree, but it is also a somewhat more advanced position than JPEs.
Next up is acquisition editors, who are tasked with acquiring new projects for the publisher. This could be new books, new authors, new journals. AEs write to academics and convince them to publish with [publisher]. They could conceivably be asked to attend conferences to promote the publisher's products. The better desk editors can conceivably also do the AE's job, but this is usually a more senior position for which an advanced degree is preferable - a Masters or PhD. Because of this advanced degree they can also be asked to resolve peer review disputes, make a final decision on a publication proposal, and so on.
This covers only the editorial jobs. Of course at various levels you also need marketing executives (who market the publisher's products), HR, people management, and so on, but these other positions are less specialized to the publisher and you'll have them in other industries.
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> Q2. How is the career progression? What kind of challenges does one typically face in this profession?
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Progression kind of stops with acquisition editors - once you become an acquisition editor, the "next step" is doing it more, in more fields, manage other people doing it, and so on.
Right now I'd say the main challenge is dealing with people who [think publishing is a scam](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/109003/why-are-academics-not-paid-royalties-on-published-research-papers-in-ieee-acm-e) and that you, by working in it, are complicit in the scam.
[Description of typical day](https://www.vault.com/book-editor/day-in-the-life-of). Based on the description this person is at the interface of desk editor and acquisition editor - she both acquires projects and produces them.
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> Q3. Are there any short-term jobs or internships suitable for PhDs/Postdocs in this field?
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You'd have to ask, but in my experience, no. You could get short-term jobs or interns as a Bachelors student, but not for the more advanced roles performed by PhDs and Postdocs. It's not something which you can easily hand off to an intern and then pick it back up when the internship is over.
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> Q4. What are the typical exit options? For instance, is it easy to switch back to your research career (postdoc/professorship)? What kind of secondary and tertiary industries, if any, be interested in hiring someone with an experience in the world of publishing?
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Like with any field change you'll need to convince someone you have transferable skills. If you remember your research skills you could move back, although of course the longer you wait the less you'll remember and the harder it gets. Moving to another industry? Same thing: you could argue you can work under tight deadlines (if you did production), you are good at networking (if you did acquisitions), you can handle multiple different projects simultaneously, etc.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: The organisers of a conference have informed the session chairs what is expected from them. On the list of duties listed is for chairs to familiarise themselves in advance with the pronunciation of the speakers' names.
In practice, how do I do this? Speakers come from all the countries in the world. It's not practical to contact the speakers in advance. Is there any way to try this systematically?<issue_comment>username_1: When I am chairing a session, I always check a few minutes beforehand to ensure that all of the speakers are there. That's also a good time to check on pronunciation of names. Just say something like:
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> Can you please say your name for me? I'd like to pronounce it right when I introduce you.
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Then it will be fresh in your mind, there'll be a decent chance of getting it right, and the speaker will know that you cared to consult them and try, even if you do end up screwing it up.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One possibility is to have a chat with the speakers over breakfast, if this is served at the conference place for all the participants. For example, a well-known conference in my field organizes the so-called *speakers' breakfasts* to allow a first contact between chairmen and speakers.
A second possibility is to check a few pronunciation guides on the internet (e.g. [Inogolo](http://inogolo.com/)): though not exhaustive (both in breadth and depth, because different pronunciations of the same name might not be adressed), they can sure be of help.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: When a name comes from a non-English language, there's always the question whether the pronunciation has been anglicized or not. In such cases, I see no sound alternative to asking the speaker directly. For example, some of my siblings have anglicized the pronunciation of our common name "Blass" more than I have. I experienced another example a few years ago, when I chaired a session and had to introduce three or four speakers with non-English names. I knew that I had to check about the pronunciations, but I thought I had a clever idea: All the speakers had been either students or postdocs of a certain professor, whom I knew. So I just asked this professor about all the names. He said they all used the anglicized pronunciation. That struck me as unlikely on statistical grounds, so I stopped being clever and asked the speakers themselves. It turned out that all of them preferred the original non-anglicized pronunciations. (So much for my cleverness and my statistical intuition.)
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I plan to do my PhD in Computational Linguistics in the near future. As one would imagine, it requires a bit of knowledge in Computer Science as well as Linguistics. Particularly, I enjoy French and Japanese.
The problem is that I want to *teach* too many topics at the university level. In my imaginary world, I would teach courses in Computer Science that overlap with Computational Linguistics (e.g. Structure of Programming Languages, Artificial Intelligence, etc.), as well as French and Japanese.
As far as I know, we have only one professor at my university who overlapped topics - the Russian department needed a temp, and one of the Computer Science professors was a Russian native; he filled in for a semester.
Presumably I would only teach courses that overlap with my research (the Computer Science courses I listed, French/Japanese Syntax/Morphology, etc).
Granted this is pretty specific to my case, so how about I generalize: *how plausible is it to teach multiple subjects that are inter-departmental at the university level?* If it is indeed plausible and is something that I can specifically work toward, *what steps are necessary to be **able** to do so?*
**Edit**: To clarify, this would be teaching *as a postdoc*, not particularly *during* my PhD. I think my brain would explode if I tried to take on that kind of workload.<issue_comment>username_1: As someone who is doing my PhD in Natural Language Understanding I first of all recommend you are careful what you wish for. Undertaking a teaching post while doing a PhD is very time consuming and I have found that it has got in the way of my research. So much so in fact that I limit myself to no more than 6 hours of teaching a week.
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> In my imaginary world, I would teach courses in Computer Science that
> overlap with Computational Linguistics (e.g. Structure of Programming
> Languages, Artificial Intelligence, etc.), as well as French and
> Japanese.
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I'm sure it's different depending on the university, but whatever department is paying your PhD stipend most definitely has first call on where and what you teach. Although I'm a mathematical linguist, I spend all of my time teaching programming and artificial intelligence. Another reason for this is because my background is mathematics and computer science.
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> Granted this is pretty specific to my case, so how about I generalize:
> how plausible is it to teach multiple subjects that are
> inter-departmental at the university level?
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Taking on a PhD project is about becoming a specialist, not a generalist. Everyone is arguably a generalist. If you are a Computational Linguist, just take on modules such as Intelligent Systems, Computational Linguistics, Mathematical Linguistics, Logic Programming, Math for Computer Science, etc.
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> If it is indeed plausible and is something that I can specifically
> work toward, what steps are necessary to be able to do so?
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I think it is possible. However, you would need to get explicit permission from your project advisors which I imagine would be difficult. You would then have to discuss how you can help with the other departments such as Linguistics. However, be prepared for rejection if you are not classically trained in the subject and hold some sort of academic merit.
When you start your PhD you will not become a lecturer most likely. You will be encouraged to take on a teaching assistant or demonstrator role, aiding a lecturer. This is still good as it's the next best thing and sometimes you can get loads of marking. It will also give you loads of time to reflect and decide what you want to teach.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Regardless of the stage of career at which you would teach, the basic issue is the following: at least in the US, faculty and teaching staff are normally hired by individual departments, and approved up the "food chain," as it were.
Consequently, your teaching duties are expected as much as possible to be a part of that department's work—since you're being paid by them, you should teach their classes. If you want to teach classes in multiple programs, you'd need to find a way to secure a *joint appointment,* in which you could teach in multiple different departments.
An alternative—although this would be harder to do as a postdoc—would be to look for a smaller school in which several of the programs are lumped together. Obviously, this is much easier in your case to do with the languages (French and Japanese), rather than CS. I would be hard pressed to think of a case where someone would get a joint appointment in CS and a modern languages department. (CS and linguistics is another issue, but linguistics staff wouldn't teach modern languages.) The reason it would be hard to do this with a postdoc is that schools small enough to lump lots of languages into a single department probably aren't big enough to support large numbers of postdocs (or in some cases, any postdocs at all).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Postdocs are short-term and hard to get, and I don't think it's wise to make such restricted plans (at your current stage stage). It might be for example that if you get a postdoc, they will have in mind a specific course that they want you to teach, and it almost certainly would not be a language course. On the other hand, such planning could land you a first job (not a postdoc) somewhere that had multiple instructional needs. Setting aside the postdoc restriction, it is plausible and potentially advantageous to be in a position to teach multiple areas, even in multiple departments.
Speaking as a linguist, I know a number of linguists who are also in language teaching. Sometimes the language (modern) is taught in the linguistics department (which may be a "languages and linguistics" department), and sometimes this is via a joint appointment. In the latter case, the person usually is hired in one department and later splits the appointment. I doubt that you could get an initial position in a French department with a degree in CS or Linguistics, but if you had an appointment in Linguistics, that could be split later. Though if you spoke something "exotic" (in some contexts, that could be Japanese), you might actually get your first appointment in language teaching.
In R1 institutions, such arrangements probably exist for 5-10% of appointments, and for smaller colleges I expect it would be much higher (because they might only have need for a half of a Japanese instructor).
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently an undergraduate student at a university in Canada. Over the past couple of years, it has become very clear to me that I want to pursue teaching as a career. My issue is that the level I want to teach at is the university level, as I feel that I am more likely to encounter students who are interested in and passionate about the material they are learning, just as I have a passion for knowledge and sharing that knowledge with others.
I have been fortunate enough already to have had opportunities to teach and lead study groups ranging in size from one-on-one sessions to larger groups of 40+ individuals, and I have experienced firsthand the joy of helping someone come to a realization, of using a great illustrative analogy, and facilitating someone else's discovery of knowledge. I mention this in an attempt to illustrate the passion I have for sharing knowledge with others.
I have also been lucky enough to develop good relationships with faculty at my institution, including instructors who have a definite focus on teaching above research. However, my understanding is that these faculty are still required to dedicate a significant portion of their time to working on research, and generating output. I have discussed my ambitions with them, and they have been supportive, but I also worry that they are perhaps painting a more fanciful picture for me than reality would warrant.
I have not yet had an opportunity to take on undergraduate research projects, but I hopefully will be able to do so in the next year or two. I am pursuing a double major in biology and physics (with an emphasis on biophysics), and am hoping to be able to undertake research projects in both disciplines.
My concern is that the academic world is very competitive, and I am not certain that I will be well-suited to the networking and politicking that such a career would require. I am aware that it is possible to get contract positions as a sessional lecturer without a PhD, but these positions are inherently unstable, and perhaps not as rewarding.
The other area I have considered is attempting to find work as an educator in the public or private school systems. However, I worry that this work would not be as rewarding, being as many high school students do not have the passion for knowledge often found in higher-level undergraduate or graduate students.
As mentioned above, I am in Canada, but I am not adverse in concept to relocating, either for purposes of study or permanently. English is my first and only language.
So, at the end of it all, my question is: what advice would you give someone hoping to find a stable, secure job teaching in biology or biophysics at the university level?<issue_comment>username_1: In my part of Europe a teacher at a university is obliged to have a PhD (although the law defines also a "sufficiently large contribution to the field" to warrant an employment without a doctorate, however this is very rare and usually reserved for artistic fields, e.g. a successful writer teaching a literature course). This does not apply to teaching/research assistants which are commonly on a PhD track. One can't stay an assistant until retirement though, so you are looking for a professorship.
On the other hand, I know a number of professors who are primarily devoted to teaching (I hesitate to say exclusively) and that is not uncommon at all. They are also required to publish, but, as they receive no grants, the pressure is minimal. And that amount of papers, they are required to publish by university law, typically comes from collaboration with other faculty.
To summarize, I expect that you do need a PhD (and the required research that goes with it) to get a professor position. However, once you are there, I think you'll find it easy to keep up with the minimal requirements required to keep that job. This career path is not so stressful and competitive as you fear. Good teachers are very important to universities and they are also entitled for tenure.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: **This answer pertains to the United States**
Given your interests, a possible avenue to consider is a college dedicated to teaching, such as <NAME> and the other SoCal colleges, Haverford, Swarthmore, and the cluster of teaching colleges in western Massachusetts (Smith, Mt Holyoke and the like).
In all of these places, your primary job is to teach. You will also have a chance to do research, and your research productivity is valued, but the amount of research you need to do, and the amounts of grant money you pull in, have very different expectations from a typical R1 university.
You will still need a Ph.D. You will still have to do all the usual networking required to get a job. But you won't need to do battle for grants in the same way, and often teaching at an undergrad college can confer a slight advantage when it comes to asking for grant money.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In Sweden you don't have to have a Ph.D to teach but you really need to be very knowledgable in the subject. I know five people at the faculty of my department who only have master's degrees but still teach courses at the undergraduate level. One of them is my program coordinator, he's been here for 25 years.
But, they are not allowed to teach graduate level courses although one of them has been a thesis advisor for some students opting for a master's.
This is at the Computer Science Department though. I have never heard of a non-Ph.D teacher in the Physics or Math Department.
I know you're based in Canada, but English only courses is not uncommon in the EU. Although migrating here could be a huge hassle with paper work.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently finished my PhD and moved on to a postdoc research position in a semi-related subject area at a different University. I have an idea for a narritive review in my old subject area and I have some time to make a start on it before the current project gets really busy.
My issue is that I would like to invite my old PhD supervisor and another researcher from a third University, who we have collaborated with before, to co-author the paper with me as they are experts in the area that the review would cover. My current postdoc supervisor/line manager and other research colleague do not have any expertise in this subject area.
Is it ok to start writing the paper with my old colleagues without permission or notification of my current research team/boss? Or should I tell them that I am writing a paper with my old colleagues, without being able to offer them the chance to be involved? Not sure what the expectation is and don't want to annoy anyone at my (very new) job.<issue_comment>username_1: You should *not* start working on an independent project without telling your current supervisor. After all, he acquired the funding which pays your salary, so he needs to be on board with everything you do that takes up a significant amount of time. (Of course, I am not talking about asking for his permission every time you review a paper.)
Then again, as a postdoc (as compared to Ph.D. students), you are *expected* to start spreading your wings and collaborating with people outside your supervisor's immediate group. So chances are that your supervisor will be supportive, especially since you write that you have some time to kill.
But ask first; it's possible that your supervisor knows something that needs to be done before your project "really" starts.
This question is related (full disclosure: I answered there): [Should postdocs work only on the projects they are hired for, or can they work with other people in the same research group on other projects?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/18832/4140)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As henning said, it's always good to be upfront with your supervisor on your current activities, especially if they may overlap with your current duties.
I would have a chat with my current supervisor about what their expectations are for extra-curricular research, especially if it is not in their domain of expertise.
I would be surprised if they said no. The only reason they may have a problem with it would be due to worries that your efforts are being directed toward a non-work related activity. Also, double-check if there are any contractual obligations you have entered into in your new team to share credit. You may be obliged to include authorship to your supervisor in any work you create whilst at your workplace.
All of these are big if's; but I would say that it would be no problem at all, if you mention it in passing to your new supervisor, and just get their assent that it is all ok :)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an international student and was enrolled in a PhD program for the last 4 years. My GPA is above 3.8.
I was recently given a termination letter(without any warnings) from my department regarding my PhD program. Apparently my termination is because I missed a deadline for an article submission. I am surprised as I was not given probation for even one semester before termination. It could be because in the last 6 months my progress on my thesis was slow because I was busy with a few personal commitments.
i was getting married and had a couple of unexpected deaths in the family.
EDIT: "The deadline I missed first was a mutually set one to review the final draft of an article to publish. I missed it by more than 10 days as I had a death in the family. I sent the final edition of the draft 5 days before actual submission date for the journal. But got no response. I missed the submission date as I had no feedback from him."
I am in the last year and finishing my data analysis. I was outside the US for my research and my I-20 expired last week and now I am stranded outside the US.
As it is the summer vacation, the staff and my adviser are unavailable on the phone.
I got a reply to my emails as follows:
For the i-20, since you are currently no longer in the program. I cannot complete a graduate student program extension form for you.
I wish it had turned out better for you. I am available at any time to talk.
But the office line is still under answered. I don't have any other number. I have emailed him asking for a time and number I can contact him.
Weirdly got an email today saying let's talk on 17th June. The other members havnt responded.
An old student of the my advisor told me something similar has happened before where a student was told to look for another advisor by my advisor. But she was in her first year. It was because he felt the performance wasn't up to the mark. It was also very unexpected as he was always very cordial with her too in team meetings and department meeting. The girl took up another professor and completed her PhD.
What options do I have?
Should I wait to get back in contact with my department or should I look for other universities and programs?
What happens to the data I have collected? As I was outside the USA during the data collection, I was not given any stipend while I collected the data. Do I have rights on my data or does my adviser or does the department? The data is in audio format collected by me using a set of guidelines created by me but approved by my adviser.
I might be getting ahead of myself, but I am, to say the least, feeling panicked right now.
UPDATE Jan 2020: The advisor never explained properly, but 5 years down the line I understand what happened. My advisor wanted to leave the institute. I believe his contract/commitment made it impossible to do so while I was a student there. He did write me glowing recommendation and helped me secure a good institute in my own country. Due to the setback and credits not transferring, I had to "sit" through some courses but I will be defending my PhD this year. In the mean time I have written chapters and articles with my new and my old advisor. The old advisor runs his own research institute. The data is mine to use without issue.
I do not like being in the dark and my life partner helped me live through those times. What I will say is that power dynamics for an international student make the advisor more powerful than should be. And without an option I had to spend more time than I should have to complete an already long PhD.
Thanks for all the responses. As you can tell I opened this account and have worded everything to ensure that there is anonymity for all involved. The advisor is highly regarded in my field and his willingness to work with me is a disincentive to reveal/smear his name. Now that he has a private research institute without any international students, I hope the same will not be repeated with others.<issue_comment>username_1: Departments generally do not terminate PhD students without letting the student's advisor know in advance. The fact that your advisor has not responded to you for 3 weeks, suggests the possibility that he/she is ignoring you. This is reasonable behaviour, if in fact your advisor was behind your termination.
As you are not currently in the US, you need to call your department chair and/or the chair of graduate studies and figure out what is going on. In my opinion, it is too soon to look for a new program or to start really worrying about your data.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, I've never heard of a student who was dismissed from a PhD program without sufficient warning and advance notice to make necessary alternate arrangements (for instance, write up and leave with a terminal master's instead of a PhD). The fact that you've been summarily terminated from a PhD program comes as a complete shock to me—you should have been given some knowledge and warning that this was coming.
However, the silence from your advisor is quite unusual. Even if your advisor were not supposed to converse with you about your situation, a short email saying "You need to address all of your concerns to [person X]" would not violate any such issues. So, it's not clear why your advisor is ignoring you—but it does seem rather obvious that your advisor has consented to your termination. (In my experience, if the advisor is willing to fight for a student, then only very serious issues such as plagiarism or sabotage will lead to termination.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Out of curiosity, can you explain the significance of the article submission deadline? I finished my PhD in the life sciences, years ago. Having peer-reviewed publications certainly helped me complete in a reasonable amount of time, but the ‘deadlines’ to have these submitted were not true deadlines, but moving ones I decided upon with my advisor to push our projects along. I’m certain I missed more than a few of these.
In any case, my guess would be that your advisor is solely responsible for having you terminated for what they deem as lack of progress, and is presenting this as a decision made by the department. I’d agree with the others that this does seem very childish on their part, and if the only criticism they have is that you missed a paper submission, then you definitely deserve more of an explanation that that. I'm not sure exactly what your options are - but if I were you I would first want to know why I'd been terminated, and I wouldn't be satisfied with the reason you've been given.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/01
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<issue_start>username_0: Arguably the most time-consuming component of teaching is preparation of study material (especially when in comes to a fresh lecturer of a new module).
1. First of all, every presentation should have slides. Who takes a lecturer without slides seriously? (with the only exception of, perhaps, really senior professors). If one dares to use a black- or whiteboard, students will take pictures on their iPhones instead of following the lecture, pretending they will follow it at home, which they never do. And students who miss the lecture will complain, since the slides are not available.- Secondly, some question / exercise sheets are important to keep students entertained and busy in class / tutorial. - Question sheets imply answer sheets, with (some) of solutions worked out, to help students prepare to the assessments. - Lecture notes, to collect all relevant information in one place, and save students some trouble looking for it in various textbooks. Helps with those students who are hip enough to never use a library. - Practice instructions, to carry out lab classes.
This is just a basic list, which comes to my mind, and I'm sure that other types of study / supporting materials are used in teaching.
I've heard rumours about some *loci amoeni* universities in the US, which provide their lecturers with all (or most) of these materials, professionally prepared by academic publishers. Apparently, this is not the case in the UK, at least not at every university. And I can now appreciate, that preparation of all these materials to every lecture / tutorial class can take a very considerable time.
**Question:** How do we decide, which materials are the most important for the class, and which are not? How do we assess, that the amount of materials prepared is sufficient?
*Specs* (by popular request): I am teaching Maths at BSc and MSc level in the UK. However, I would appreciate answers regardless your discipline / profile.<issue_comment>username_1: A short answer (not snide or sarcastic) to "How much course material is necessary?":
**As much as is necessary for all sorts of students to effectively learn and meet the course objectives.**
This depends on the varying skill and background of students who take the course, your teaching approach, the nature of the course (i.e. where do students have the most difficulty, etc.). As a student, I always appreciated ***more*** study material, and was frequently frustrated by ***too little*** study material.
---
Longer answer:
You could use a "Management By Objectives" approach to teaching. (see Peter Drucker) This goes beyond just listing "Course Objectives", which usually just enumerate statements like this: "The student should master X, Y, and Z".
I suggest created a list of *Teaching Objectives* for yourself, and *Learning Objectives* for students. The Teaching Objectives apply to the work *you* do and the goals you need meet, and likewise for the student's Learning Objectives.
These objectives should not be generic. They should apply uniquely to *you* -- your teaching style, your strengths and weaknesses, etc. They should apply uniquely to the types of students you get in the course -- their background, their capabilities, their strengths and weaknesses, etc. Most of all, a good set of objectives help you and your students ***focus*** on a few key things that deserve special attention and make the most difference in success. (Avoid "laundry list" objectives that includes every little task you and they need to do. These are not "to-do" lists of activities to "check off" when completed.)
After you create these two sets of objectives, ask yourself: "What sorts of teaching experiences and learning experiences will be most effective in achieving these objectives?" (*Teaching* and *learning* are complementary, and not perfect substitutes.) Generally, sometimes "repetition" is most effective (e.g. memorizing multiplication tables). Sometimes, "trial and error" experiences are most effective. Sometimes, "watch a demonstration, and then imitate" is most effective. Sometimes, Socratic questioning and debate is most effective.
FINALLY ask: What sorts of **course materials** support these teaching and learning experiences? If "learning by repetition" is most important, then you need lots of material that supports (rewarding) repetition by students. If Socratic dialog is most effective, then class lecture notes are either unimportant or detrimental. This is where academic research in Education might be able to inform you.
Too often, course material is designed for one type of student. The value of your course will be significantly raised if you design course material for the diverse range of students you are likely to encounter. Please don't assume that students who do poorly in the course "aren't good enough" or "didn't try hard enough". Those same students might do much better if the course material was better suited to them.
---
What ever you choose to do, you don't have to rely only on your own past experience or what professors in your university have always done. There is abundant research on the topic of effectiveness of course material relative to various subjects, levels, and teaching methods. It is a specialty within the discipline of Education. I mention this not because they have *the* answer, but because you might be able to find evidence for or against any given type of course material.
---
While you are thinking about this topic, have you considered computer-based study materials? If your course has significant math content, then interactive coursework using Mathematica, MatLab, iPython Notebook, or R could replace much of the traditional material (exercise sheets, answer sheets, lecture notes, etc.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: At first I thought that this question is too opinion-based but I think some general rules can be worked out. However, I think that an answer is always depending on the field.
I follow your numbering:
1. What for? I barely ever use slides except for showing verbatim quotes. The students are old enough to know what they have to write down and what not. If not, they are anyway unfit for academia.
2. Most discussions arise from the topic treated in the lecture. Therefore I do not really prepare questions. I challenge the students with statements they have to prove or disprove. It's my job to make them think on their own, not to answer prefab questions. If they can't do that: again, unfit for academia.
3. Irrelevant (cf 2.)
4. Academic research is all about finding ways to get the information you need. If one can't do it for something as simple as an exam (where you know the topics), then one's surely not fit for academia.
5. In my case irrelevant (liberal arts), but the disputes mentioned in 2. come very close. But as I wrote there: I do not really prepare the discussions. They arise from the ductus of the lecture.
The tl;dr answer: It's all about experience. You'll figure out what to prepare for which class.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Use [backward design](http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/planning-a-class-with-backward-design/33625), start with what you'd like the students to become or to achieve at the end of the course. Then, according to each of these "wishes," determine the best way to collect evidence on learning, and according to each of these evidence, design the teaching/learning experience. Formats should not drive the contents; it's the experience you wish to achieve that drives the formats. If lecture with slides is the best way, then lecture with slides; do not add lecture with slides because it's your institute's status quo.
Here are some of my anecdotes addressing your points:
>
> First of all, every presentation should have slides. Who takes a
> lecturer without slides seriously? (with the only exception of,
> perhaps, really senior professors).
>
>
>
Teaching in a US university, I have started to see students showing excitement because a certain lecturer does not use slides in the class as early as 2010. That got me start thinking if slides are still a viable teaching tool. After some thought, I made the decision to go slide-free and have complete done away with slides two years ago.
I like the format so far because slides had been acting as an invisible wall between me and the students. Just because I have clicked through them does not mean I have taught them. However, I felt *safe* behind the screen, and perhaps had grown to relish that false security too much.
I replaced the slides with what I call a "learner's package" (more details below) and I immediately felt a lot better. There are more discussions, questions, and interaction. The questions became a lot more spontaneous. In the beginning it can be daunting, but once I got into the rhythm I can never go back to the slides. As of now, four cycles into this new scheme, 80 students taught, and none of them complained the lack of slides in the evaluation.
>
> If one dares to use a black- or whiteboard, students will take
> pictures on their iPhones instead of following the lecture, pretending
> they will follow it at home, which they never do.
>
>
>
It's not if they will or will not follow up; it's if you have structured the activities or evaluation exercises to make them follow up or not. If there is no reason, why would they be motivated to look at something they have already archived?
>
> And students who miss the lecture will complain, since the slides are
> not available.
>
>
>
Many technological solutions here: e.g. First, make it clear in the syllabus that it's their responsibility to solicit notes from their peer if they miss a class. Second, consider video-taping your lecture. Third, consider using screen capture with audio recording if you will be using slides. Talk to your IT folks for possible supports.
>
> Secondly, some question / exercise sheets are important to keep
> students entertained and busy in class / tutorial.
>
>
>
While I love the idea of enriching the types of formats and interactions, it should be based on the desirable outcomes of the course, and not based on entertainment (though I sense that your questions are portrayed with a bit of sarcasm). Different types of format have their pedagogical pros and cons and they should be used to best fit what you want to achieve.
>
> Question sheets imply answer sheets, with (some) of solutions worked
> out, to help students prepare to the assessments.
>
>
>
I'd disagree with making it a routine to provide answers; this can cause them to rely on the eventually available right answers. Instead, I'd suggest base the questions on a defined set of skills (that you can point to at a section of the text, or on a certain page of the notes) with mild to moderate modification. That way, you can point them to the section to see how similar questions are solved, and encourage them to revise their answer.
If possible, base your answer scheme on instant feedback of the class's performance. E.g. if last week's quiz shows that only 35% of the class got question 6 correct, then consider making a detailed answer scheme for that.
Use your teaching assistants. Make them try your questions. They can i) find typos or errors, ii) give you a sense of how much time was needed to complete each question (multiply it with a factor of 1.5 to 3.0 to factor in the fact that the TAs probably can complete the exercise in a shorter time,) iii) draft the model answers.
>
> Lecture notes, to collect all relevant information in one place, and
> save students some trouble looking for it in various textbooks. Helps
> with those students who are hip enough to never use a library.
>
>
>
I agree a one-stop reference point would be helpful. It can be a set of notes or a list of materials hosted on the online learning website (like Blackboard.)
In my "learner's package," I included the followings:
* List of learning objectives
* Learning resources, which include corresponding sections in the textbook, readings, videos, etc.
* Self-assessments. This section contains a list of activities and exercise with answers for students to test their own understanding. It's not graded.
* Lesson evaluation. This section details how the students will be evaluated formally. I often put the link to the weekly quiz here. And if appropriate I also suggest some mile stone that they should achieve in this week with their personal final project. (I provide rubrics and so, but this answer is long enough so I'll save it for another day.)
* All the notes, with citations.
* In-class exercise and activities.
* I use the [Tufte LaTeX codes](https://tufte-latex.github.io/tufte-latex/) to compose the notes. I picked it because of its pleasant layout and ample amount of space for students to write.
---
Lastly, here are some titles that have inspired me with trying different instructional designs (I'm not affiliated with these authors nor Amazon.com):
* Wiggins and McTighe. [Understanding by Design](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0131950843).
* Smith. [Conquering the Content](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0787994421). It's for online course design by the contents helped me greatly in designing the online teaching platform.
* Dirksen. [Design for How People Learn](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0321768434)
* Ambrose et. al. [How Learning Works](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0470484101)
* Davis. [Tools for Teaching](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0787965677)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a personal relationship with a psychology professor. We have 2 situations where I may have some claim on authorship but I'm not confident.
1. I was a participant in a research project in the spring semester. Due to my performance, I was asked to continue. The theory behind the research is that getting 2 types of training will improve learning of a specific task. Each session, I received both types of training.
He wasn't happy with the data from the spring semester. After spending hours looking at the data, he found some way to eek out an abstract. As we continued, I started to realize that although my performance varied from session to session, I either increased or decreased on both tasks. In other words, I thought that if I did better with Training A on Tuesday, I also did better on Training B. If I did worse on Wednesday, I would do worse on both tasks.
I told him about this. He looked at those particular data and I was right. There was a clear correlation. Within a few hours, he was saying it would be publishable.
My contention is that he provided the theory for the study but I proposed the hypothesis. He said "You don't think I would have eventually looked at that?" Then I pointed out that he hadn't looked at those data when he was struggling for an abstract. He says I'm just a subject who provided feedback but I did more than that. I predicted the correlation between specific data.
2. He's been working on a book chapter. His original plan was to write about his subject from the perspective of a different branch of psychology, one in which I hold a masters. His original interpretation was not good and I told him. We spent hours discussing this. I found the main reference on which he is basing this claim. Also, I spent hours teaching him the principles of my area. I gave him the interpretation from the perspective of my discipline which is the point of that section of the chapter.
He had me read the relevant part of the chapter. I found it confusing. He failed to explain some things and implied information that was incorrect. Also, he explained things in an order that would leave the reader confused. He was frustrated because he had not planned to rewrite that section but said "You're right." To be helpful, I sat down and wrote that section myself. Initially, I had given him an example that I'd heard elsewhere. This time, I included a new example that explained things more clearly. I shared the document online and he continued working.
A few hours later we were discussing it and I asked if he was using my new example. He said "No, because I don't want to give you a co-authorship." I was stunned. It's one thing not to give me credit but he is going to a great deal of trouble to avoid crediting me. Later he said he was excited for me to see the acknowledgement.
Yes, I should have discussed authorship with him before making these contributions. Setting that aside, do I have a claim to anything beyond an acknowledgement? I feel like I made "significant intellectual contributions" to both. The study has not been written but I provided a lot of the material for the chapter.<issue_comment>username_1: This is one of the most singular situations I have ever encountered on this site. In general, having multiple relationships with the same person can makes things complicated unless the parties are on especially good terms and/or are especially good at setting and respecting boundaries. Academically collaborating with someone with whom you're romantically involved is not (inherently) a conflict of interest, but it *is* a source of potential complication for both relationships. (I say this as someone who has never had both kinds of relationships with the same person, but who has found successfully navigating one or the other type of relationship separately to be complicated enough!)
I am simply bowled over by the fact that you are in a situation where the above two relationships are joined by yet a third: that of a **participant in a psychological study**.
My academic field (mathematics) is pretty far removed from psychology, so please discount accordingly, but my strong suspicion is that being romantically involved with someone in your psychological research study is already a potentially fatal (to the academic project, I mean!) conflict of interest. My understanding is that this is the sort of thing that should be cleared with IRB in advance, and in the absence of compelling reason to experiment on you and not someone else the practice looks iffy. When you compound that with the fact one of the subjects has a personal relationship with the psychologist *and* that personal contact led to a discussion of the study *while the study is ongoing*....holy moley. I think the professor should either submit the entire case to a body who is competent to authoritatively advise on the ethics of the situation or -- and I think this is better -- drop you from the study, remove all data which pertain to you, and consider whether it is worthwhile to try to replicate "your data" on a new and unrelated party. Continuing on to try to publish in this situation seems like such a bad idea, in which full disclosure and resulting failure to publish in a reputable journal is one of the better-case scenarios.
Having accomplished this, you will have reduced to the only ordinarily complicated double relationship that I mentioned at the beginning: being in a romantic relationship and a possible academic collaboration. I think you and your psychology professor friend are well overdue for a general talk about the boundaries between your personal and professional relationship. You don't list your own professional identity, and somehow I gather that you are not a psychology professor. Nevertheless you have a master's degree in psychology, which is more than enough for conversations about your friend's work to have a potential professional component. Your interactions with your friend about his work go way beyond the norm for "off-the-job" conversations with friends and significant others. Namely you:
* analyzed his data (from the inside!) in a way that he regarded as making the transition to publishability
* gave critical feedback on a subject in which (from the sound of it) you have more expertise than he does
* read his writing in detail and gave critical feedback, both on the content and the presentation
* rewrote a section of the work, changing the content to what you thought was superior
As it sounds like you know, any one of these contributions could be held up (and has been, at least once on this site) as being sufficient for coauthorship. In the confluence of all of them -- or let's say the last three, since the first pertains to something which may be to problematic to see the light of day -- I think it would be unethical not to have a conversation in which the coauthorship is carefully discussed and analyzed. Some may view your contributions as being essential to the point that it could be ethically problematic even for the two of you to *agree* not to list you as a coauthor: academics are not supposed to get substantial, expert help in their academic work "under the table".
>
> He said "No, because I don't want to give you a co-authorship." I was stunned. It's one thing not to give me credit but he is going to a great deal of trouble to avoid crediting me.
>
>
>
Unfortunately I agree completely. It's unfortunate because this is really a tough situation: even from a professional ethics standpoint there is nothing to do other than to have the coauthorship conversation with someone who doesn't want to have it. If I were you I would plan this very carefully in advance. It may be that you will not be able to salvage both the personal relationship and the academic work you've both done, so it could be helpful for you to go into the situation knowing clearly which one is your priority. Good luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Without delving into the particulars of your case, the IMCJE has suggested four criteria that stipulate who should and who should not be considered an author.
>
> * 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.
>
>
>
They also happen to be supported by COPE, who helpfully also has supplied these guidelines: [How to handle authorship disputes: a guide for new researchers](http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/2003pdf12.pdf)
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/02
| 668
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<issue_start>username_0: I am considering dropping out of my mechanical engineering PhD program (only a year in) to return to a career in software engineering. During my job search I feel I have had a mediocre response from potential employers for jobs where I should have been a knock-out, home run candidate.
On my resume I have listed that I am currently a PhD student. **Is it possible the in-work PhD is hurting my response? If so, what should I do to better sell myself to potential employers?** Furthermore, is the fact that my PhD and career choice are in different fields hurting?<issue_comment>username_1: It's possible that they're not taking you as seriously as you would hope because they think you might want to make your PhD the priority and quit the job soon and return to academia. Or, they may see you as non-committal—one who jumps careers—and they are looking for somebody who will stay with them.
Also, software engineering is a hot field right now. There might be a ton of other really stellar applicants, so you might be facing stronger competition than you expected.
Of course, it does depend on a host of other factors, some of which are in your control and most of which are not.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that such questions do not have general answers. IMHO, it all depends on your particular situation and variables, associated with it. In particular, I believe that it is crucial **who** is looking at your resume or CV and through what **"lenses"** (*perspectives*). Additionally, some **other factors** might be at play, such as *timing*, *areas* that you're trying to find jobs in, how well your cover letter, if any, is *customized* to a particular position, *style* and *contents* of your resume/CV, and many others.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I had a similar case, though my incomplete Master's came before a completed Master's in an entirely different field. Any gaps or oddities in your past are questioned. In my case, I had not completed a Master's in Biology, left, worked for a few years, finished a Master's in Computer Science, and then got a much better job.
**Do not remove that entry about being a PhD student.** It can potentially come back to bite you down the road if it is found during a background check/re-evaluation, as you are purposely concealing potentially vital information.
Instead, prepare to be asked why you are leaving the PhD program during your interview phase. I am not sure of your reasons, but you should be able to bounce your answer off any friends and supportive colleagues to see if they are convinced.
Also, consider contacting a technical recruiter to go over your application to evaluate your portfolio. That will help you narrow down any other potential issues with your resume.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: Please read the following background paragraph carefully to understand the meaning of "review" in this question - it may not be what you think. In particular, this is not a duplicate of [Is it acceptable as referee to contact an author on a paper you review?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9523/is-it-acceptable-as-referee-to-contact-an-author-on-a-paper-you-review), and the [peer-review](/questions/tagged/peer-review "show questions tagged 'peer-review'") and [review-articles](/questions/tagged/review-articles "show questions tagged 'review-articles'") tags are not really applicable here.
In mathematics, we have two well-known "review databases": [MathSciNet / Mathematical Reviews](http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/) and [Zentralblatt MATH (aka zbMATH)](https://zbmath.org/). These services aim to create a comprehensive database of papers that have **already been published** in peer-reviewed journals. For each recently published paper, they invite an independent expert in the subject (not one of the authors) to write what is (perhaps confusingly) called a "review", which is really just a **synopsis of the paper's content** - a sort of third-party extended abstract, perhaps 1-4 paragraphs long. The review is generally ***not* expected to make a judgment of the paper's quality or novelty**, though it may cite other papers for context. When the review is finished, it is posted in the database along with bibliographic information for the paper, **including the reviewer's name** (so these reviews are not anonymous). The databases are available by subscription, and are the field's primary tool for literature searches.
---
I have been invited to review a paper for zbMATH. In reading the paper, I got confused by some notation that seems to be unclear; it could be an error or omission in the original paper, or maybe just something I have overlooked. I would like to contact the authors to ask for clarification. **Is it appropriate for me to contact them directly?** If so, should I identify myself as a zbMATH reviewer, or just a reader with a question?
I can't think of any concrete reason not to do so. My review will eventually be printed with my name, so I don't have anonymity to protect, and it won't say anything controversial. But I do have some vague sense that my review is supposed to be "independent", so I am hesitating.
I suppose I can ask the zbMATH editors / administrators, but I would also be interested in opinions from the community.
(Note that the database editors are not generally in contact with the authors of the paper - they just grab the published papers and send them out to reviewers. So it isn't as though I would use the editors as an intermediary.)
---
For reference, the invitation from zbMATH reads as follows:
>
> [W]e would like you to contribute a review of the attached item for
> zbMATH. We hope that you will find the publication to be of interest to
> you. We would appreciate if your review would give an independent
> description. If you cite parts of the original text please label
> extensive verbatim quotations as such.
>
>
>
More information about what is expected in a review can be found at <https://zbmath.org/reviewer-service/>, but the issue at hand is not addressed.<issue_comment>username_1: I contacted the zbMATH editors with this question, and received the following reply from staff member <NAME>:
>
> It is totally okay, if
> you contact the author for clarification.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I have written almost 100 Zentralblatt reviews and contacted authors numerous times for clarifications. In one case, the author forgot to include part of a proof, which I put into the review for him. Usually it's just some notation I don't understand. I think there is no problem contacting the author and in fact the author may appreciate it.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: For a couple of days ago I had an in class online quiz consisting of multiple choices. I had read and prepared for the quiz and got a 80%, not too well but not bad either.
Several days after the exam I got a email from my professor saying that two different persons had come to him and told I was observed cheating by searching the web for answers. I met up with the professor and he blamed me straight away for cheating. I never talked with him before but he sided immediately with the other side rather than me, even though he had no "past impression" of me. He tried to scare me to admit to something I did not do while I repeatedly told him I did not do it. He made me very uncomfortable, saying I should drop the class and so on...
He was being very childish and immature, I told him it was unfair to take someone’s word over mine when there was no prior relationship, he just started working here. He kept threatening me and I told him I would never admit to something I did not do and it is wrong to accuse someone based on a rumor, this means that I could potentially wrongfully accuse someone of cheating and they would be in trouble.
I am very scared now and I suffer from social anxiety, I have been scared to show up to class as I feel the professor is out after getting me. After this incident, he has also given me very bad grades, borderline failing me, even though I am a student with a 3.5 GPA and very hard working. Also he has been talking about me "cheating" to other students, started a rumor about me that has spread among several classmates, which makes me very uncomfortable being around people.
I have gotten several reports from classmates that he has shared this private matter with them. Whatever I do in class now is not good enough; he keeps on punishing me with bad grades and gave me a zero on the quizzes, making the class hard to even pass. I have no clue what to do in such a situation, and as mentioned before I suffer from heavy social anxiety and I am scared of going to class.
We had a quiz with the same format as the other one shortly after with same amount of questions from a different chapter, I had to finish that quiz while he was looking at me and I got the same exact result as the previous one. I thought that would be proof enough, but he told me that he believes the other person more than me, without giving any reason for why.
I don't want to be labeled for something I am not or punished for something I have not done. Is he allowed to talk to other students about such a private thing? What about my rights? What can I do?<issue_comment>username_1: First, you should check and read the entire academic dishonesty statement at your university. This should give you an understanding on how the university normally treats these types of issues. Actually being proactive on contacting an office of academic integrity or student conduct, depending on its name at your university, can help you understand what the standard route for a professor to take for academic integrity.
While it is appropriate for a student to come to a faculty member to talk about another student's cheating, it seems to be a red flag for your instructor to ask others about your cheating by name. A vague announcement about seeing that people are not looking at their own papers or looking at their phones is appropriate, but actively singling a student out for their academic misconduct could violate one's privacy in a case of academic dishonesty. This is something you should check with your university though.
Another person who may be of help is the undergraduate chair of the department in which this is occurring, but it seems in the comments you have tried.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You give no information on the country where you are studying, and I really only know about the German examination system. In Germany, university grades are administrative acts, implemented by an examination board, which is governed by public law. Therefore, students can lodge a formal objection (Widerspruch) against an unjust grade, which then is readdressed.
Having said that, I would recommend to look into your exam regulations, as a first step, to find out whether a similar procedure exists at your institution. In many English-speaking countries, complaints can be brought to the student ombudsperson. They might also explain further options.
You seem to have a good case, as you have been accused based on hearsay where you should have been given the benefit of the doubt.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Your university should have (a) a formal process to be followed for accusations of cheating and (b) a formal process for resolving disputes between students and academic staff. Contact either your student support or your personal tutor (or both) and seek to get these formal processes engaged. Do not try and resolve this personally by engaging with the professor. Ensure you continue to attend class and perform further coursework to the best of your ability.
Your professor should be following process for dealing with your alleged cheating not arbitrarily punishing you with lower grades on unrelated tests.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I do not know in which country you are studying in, but in the UK all universities have a Student Union or Student Association. I always recommend that students seek advice from representatives of the Student Association who will have some experience of handling this kind of thing in the past. The Student Association can also support you by providing representative to speak to the department on your behalf.
I know this might not be available everywhere but I felt it should be included as an answer to a question like this to remind staff and students about the excellent role that Student Unions provide in the case of difficult disputes between staff and students.
I also have significant experience in the university pastoral care system of representing and guiding students who are experiencing similar accusations of unfair means from their departments. Some universities do provide neutral academics who can advise students who find themselves in such difficult positions.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: When teaching, at some points I sometimes have to go over "boring" technical stuff. By doing so, I see students attention decreasing: they look at their mobiles, at their laptops or, in lab environments, fool around in facebook, youtube etc. Their attention comes back when the lecture moves on to "lighter" subjects.
The thing is that you cannot just omit the content from the slides, as it is crucial for the course (e.g. IPv6, TCP/IP protocols etc.). However, only a small percentage of the students seems to be interested, even after I underline that the material will be examined in the final exam.
The question is: how to increase student interest and maximize the percentage of students that actually assimilate the lecture content?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, you can't expect that all students are interested in the same manner. Concentration has its ups and downs over time. Also, some things are dull and will remain so, no matter how good a lecturer presents or how interested the audience is. This doesn't mean that you should skip it on the exam, students just have the choice to absorb it in class or later by themselves.
You seem, however, to face that the majority of students is uninterested. You could try to change the dynamic of class, for example, by going over the "heavy" parts at the beginning. That may include that you pace your schedules so, that that particular part of the curriculum comes at the beginning of the next class. If the "heavy" part is too elaborate, try splitting it into meaningful blocks, that can be intersected by "lighter" material, of course in a meaningful way. Ideal would be blocks that you can cover in 20-25 minutes.
Being a good lecturer is not only about the eloquence of talk or the skill of rhetoric, it is also about understanding that how to "pre-chew" the material for a given audience to keep their attention but still convey the knowledge. Dull things must be included, you can't change that. You can, however, change how you approach them.
PS: I don't think forbidding cells, laptops, youtube, etc. would help very much.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Try to lighten the load as much as possible without reducing the actual amount of information taught. An example I found last week, in a certain setting we want to find the maximum of a function. Now, knowing that we have that gradient is a good thing, because we can optimize it more efficiently; but writing down the *specific formula* for the gradient is not that useful, unless you are actually going to implement it. And furthermore, computing it in class is even more boring, as it only involves standard algebra manipulations.
Once you have chosen your battles wisely, try to justify why you have to go through this. After all, I know that TCP/IP is *that thing* that makes computers talk to each other, and I have been very happy not knowing more than that. Some of your students may feel that this is something that only the people working on IPv7 would ever use it. Briefly explain why this is not the case, and why should they learn the details.
Lastly, candy is always good. After a hard lecture learning a complex algorithm, you can explain how someone used it to do something completely unexpected or fun. This gives the motivation to go back to the topic, study it deeper to better understand the particular application.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Not all students learn in the same way, so not all will find the lecture presentation the best way of understanding or engaging with technical material. Injecting an element of practical or laboratory work is often a way of focussing their attention.
I find with networking they often do not **realise** that it is technical or detailed. They just look at the surface layer (the application in ISO model) and think they *understand* how email or the web works because they click on it every day. I ask them to program small clients and parts of protocols and they begin to realise that it may not be as straight forward as they thought, this then brings the lecture material back into context and focus for them. This only works, in my experience, when the practical work has some assessment marks associated with it. It depends if you are in a position to make changes to the assessments and the teaching facilities that you use. Some people might be stuck with an exam and a lecture theatre!
I did create a *role playing game* to teach some of the aspects of networking protocols which worked fine for 12 year olds, but for some reason I could not get 19 year olds *en-masse* to engage. Those that understood RPG loved it; but at least I can say I used *kinesthetics* in computer science teaching.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It seems obvious but: Make it come alive!
My subject is something completely different (philosophy of religion). Under my professor's predecessor (I'm "only" TA), the subject had somewhat of a niche existence. Students went there, because they had to.
Students hate it, when they are just "receivers". They want to be involved. I do not know your field enough to give any particular advice, but I can tell a little what we did.
Instead of just "feeding" the audience with information for the exam, we let them do research on it on their own. We bring quotes, each can choose one and from that they have to figure out who said it and how to understand it. Furthermore my professor and I have some very distinc differences in our views on certain topics (e.g. the "liberus/servus arbitrius"). We both set up small challenges for students where they can try to "silence" us (meaning: bring us to the point where we cannot directly reply to their arguments anymore without having to read up first). They get some small rewards for that. Furthermore we re-introduced the old academic tradition of "disputationes". It's between professors and students and gives them an opportunity to actually use what they learnt.
I don't know if any of these suggestions can be applied to your field, but one thing for sure can: Let them try out and make mistakes. That's where they learn most from.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Change the way you deliver content for such topics, and break lectures into segments.
For example, once you get to a technical topic, say "The next topic is going to be a bit technical, so let's take a 3 minute break before we get back to this." They'll have so much more attention if you don't just glide into it.
One thing that's worked well for me in such situations is to just shuffle class. I ask students to leave their seats and come huddle closer to me with their chairs, a bit like in a circle if the tables weren't in the way. You can't do this 3 times per lecture, but once a week is totally possible, and it changes the dynamics: it's more like a personal communication than a lecture, and it allows me to talk in a different way about things I find important. It doesn't work if you need to use the projector of whiteboard, but it allows to talk about the big picture at least. The shuffling to get everyone away from their phones and seats also serves as a nice break from the previous topic and clears everyone's minds.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I like many of the answers that have already been posted, but there is one additional aspect that I think is important in all cases -- your own attitude.
Make absolutely sure that you aren't projecting the idea that this topic is boring! You need to raise the energy level and show a very positive attitude toward the topic. Your voice should be loud, your gestures wide, and your face beaming -- you're absolutely blessed to be teaching such a great topic. "Hey, look, isn't this cool? The SYNACK flags being set will tell the client that their request has been accepted -- and further, that the server wants to talk to the client! Whoopee!"
Otherwise, the students will sense your disinterest and immediately head to their laptop, without taking the time to figure out the topic is boring on their own.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I belong to the field of literature and in that to make things clearer our professors give us examples from the daily life. It not only helps to understand the the thing momentarily but it somehow seeps into your mind and you tend to remember it longer than the information given without examples.
Another great technique is to try to elaborate the tough or the boring part in their own language. As in, if English isn't the first language of all the students and they all share the same language then try explaining things in that language. People tend to grasp things faster in their own language than any other language.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: If you're teaching it, and calling it 'boring', what must the students think?
The simple solution is to tell the kiddies that this subject will be on the exam, and it will also be on the retake exam, so it's best to learn it now.
Not all of the problem is yours. If the students don't *want* to learn, you can't force them. But you also don't have to give them a passing grade if they don't know the correct answers.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: Give them a project to do. Tell them that they can create any program they want, as long as they use the technical stuff you talk about.
They could, for example, develop an RPG. Or, they could make a program that allows them to, say, turn off a computer using another computer.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: When traveling, there are many things that can possibly happen or go wrong that would require extra money to fix. While these things may not be directly related to the research travel one is doing, these expenses would not pop up if you weren't traveling.
For example, if one gets stuck in the airport on the way back to one's home institution, you may need to get an extra night at a hotel before you go home.
The question is the following: When is it appropriate to claim such an expense on one's grant?
There are clearly varying levels of such events. One is something out of your control like weather pushing your flight back a day. Some are completely in your control and you messed up, e.g., you miss your flight and need to pay a fee to get on a later flight. Others are due to scheduling conflicts and new plans arising, e.g., another talking engagement shows up and one needs to pay the flight change fee in order to make sure one can present at both conferences.
Are all/some of these scenarios appropriate for claiming against a grant or asking reimbursement for?<issue_comment>username_1: These things happen, and as long as the expenses are reasonable, they should be covered by any reasonable funding body. It is a good idea to make a phone call to see whether you are permitted to spend the money, or at least to find out what budget limitations you have.
For instance, the other day my plane was diverted to a different airport. The only way I could make the PhD defence on time was using a taxi. So I took the 80 km trip and paid the 230 euro and fully expect that I'll get this money back.
If I had have purchased a used car to get me to the defence and a bottle of whisky for pain and suffering, I wouldn't expect to get that money back.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: With few exceptions, I consider all travel done as part of my university appointment (be it project meetings, formal academic visits, conferences, etc.) as regular business trips. That is, going to that project meeting isn't my personal choice, but something I have to do as part of my job.
This means that I expect not only to get fully refunded for all expected costs of the travel, but that my employer also takes over the risk of unexpected costs. This includes cancellation or rescheduling costs, as long as the reason for cancellation is another business appointment or any other reason that is outside of my control (but not if I cancel for personal reasons - I have in the past been refunded after cancelling for personal reasons, but I saw this as a nice gesture by the grant holder more than something I would have *expected*). These expectations are also clearly covered by the travel guidelines of my current university (the same was true at the place where I did my PhD).
If additional costs come up due to a screw-up from your side, things get a little bit messy. In theory, my university would not be required to pay for any travel that you booked in error. In practice, my university has a tendency to cover even major screw-ups (such as booking a wrong flight on a ticket that cannot be changed), as long as these circumstances are rare, clearly unintentional and of no profit to you. They would probably be very suspicious if you, for instance, ended up in Hawaii for an additional week due to your "mistake".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Everyone recognizes that your business trips are, well, business and not for leisure. Consequently, everything that can go wrong is part of what you do for work and should be reimbursed (and typically will). For example, I have missed the plane from Houston to my home town more often than I care to count (either because my inbound flight was late, or because the connecting flight had been cancelled altogether because of weather). In such cases, I rent a car for a day to get me home. Nobody has ever asked me to justify this: everyone understands that it would be unreasonable to hang out at the airport for the night to take the next flight in the morning. This is simply the cost of doing business.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: In general, it is always reasonable to ask for unexpected expenses to be covered. Unlike the other answers, however, in my experience, getting reimbursed for unexpected expenses almost never happens if you go over budget. For travel on large grants the PI can often shift money around to cover unexpected expenses, if he/she wants, but that money has to come from somewhere. For small grants (e.g., $1000 travel grant) or internally funded travel, there is usually a budget and there just is not any extra money to shift. When visiting another university to give a seminar, they take on the responsibility, to an extent. Sometimes they give the visitor an explicit budget and other times they deal with over spends.
I would suggest prior to spending any money, but especially money that you do not have, that you contact the "funder" to confirm. Without prior confirmation, I would assume that I will not get reimbursed for unexpected expenses.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: In the universities that I have worked, the university carried an insurance policy that covers business travel. Exact coverage details vary. Depending on the details of the insurance policy, you might have to declare the trip in advance. You might also have to contact the insurer when you incur/about incur the expenses. I suggest to check with the relevant authorities in your university.
If your university does not have such a policy, it might be a good idea to buy it when you buy your travel, especially if you go to places where you do not ordinarily have medical coverage (e.g. a foreign country). Such an expense is normally reimbursable (but you might have to go through the university's preferred insurer; check!).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Not only with respect to travel, emergencies happen and money needs to go from category A to category B in your account.
For most situations, Universities won't just set up an account for sponsored research for X dollars and say "go spend it on your research". Money will be apportioned by categories as were specified in your application -- A dollars for salaries, B for bennies, C for travel, D for capital equipment, E for supplies, and so on.
Because the government can audit whenever they feel like it, most systems are set up to meet the regulatory requirements of the big government agencies, and they will audit on their own every now and again to make sure they're in compliance.
Now, most agencies will have strict rules about how much money can change categories before you're supposed to give them a ring and ask for permission. My experience is that a $200 hotel bill will generally not exceed those limits.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: For the reimbursement of business travel cost, it usually **won't matter whether the cost was expected or not**. You had certain costs, and when you hand in your travel cost account, you will be reimbursed or not depending on regulations that should have been defined in advance.
Before going on travel, you will usually get a business trip admission from your employer that defines to what extent travel costs are covered. Usually, this definition will refer to some local regulations, that (at least in my case) try to define very specifically what cost can be covered. Sometimes, an upper limit for reimbursement may have been set, and then you're bound by that, whether the cost was unexpected or not.
If you don't get reimbursement from your employer, you may have a travel grant or stipend, which usually define an upper limit on the cost that is being covered. Again, for that limit it generally doesn't matter whether any cost was expected or not.
In case you're going over any predefined budget due to unexpected circumstances out of your control, it may be worth negotiating to have that reimbursed as well. However, I wouldn't expect that to work, unless there's other funds to reallocate from, and usually you wouldn't have legal entitlement to that.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: Scientists and other academics often embark on studies or make research findings of interest to a wider audience of laypeople. Sometimes this work gets covered in media devoted to pop science or pop culture ([*Popular Science*](http://www.popsci.com/), [*Quirks and Quarks*](http://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks), etc.), and sometimes even in general-purpose news magazines and newspapers like [*TIME*](http://www.time.com/) and [*The New York Times*](http://www.nytimes.com/).
If your peer-reviewed research has produced something likely to be of interest to the general public, what are the best ways of bringing this to the attention of non-academic media outlets? I imagine networking could play a big role here (that is, once you've been covered in the media once, you could contact the same journalist with news about related research by yourself or your colleagues). But what if you have no prior contacts? Do newspaper editorial desks welcome tips for science/humanities research stories the same way they do for general news events? Is it a *faux pas* to write an enquiry directly to a magazine journalist who has previously covered research in a related area? If a press release is the way to go, exactly how and where should it be posted or submitted?<issue_comment>username_1: I suspect the PR or Marketing department of your university would be very keen to help you place a story and advise you on writing for the media.
In every University I have worked in, this has been important, and media training was part of the staff development program. I was sent on a BBC media training course, for example, and can now operate a remote radio or TV studio, learn how to be an interviewee or interviewer and record students and staff for media inserts.
Tabloid writing was a skill I also picked up which is **so** different from academic writing. Learning to write in a style that the bulk media might pick up and use is not a natural skill for the everyday academic.
So go and ask. Might be fun.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Press releases are important for getting widespread attention. If your university is anything like U.S. universities, then they will have a PR office that can help issue press releases. Of course they won't do it unless they feel there's a plausible story, but if they do then they can be extremely helpful. Some top journals (such as Science and Nature) also try to pitch stories to the press, with embargoed access to papers before publication.
It's absolutely critical to think about timing. At least in the U.S., science journalists care a lot about newsworthiness. If they are writing about a single paper, then they generally want the story to come out when the paper is published, rather than a month later. (In some cases, they would lose interest even a week later. The only way they will maintain sustained interest over time is if the story is extremely important.) If they are writing about a larger trend, then they want their story to appear while the trend is still new and surprising, rather than being a retrospective account. This is radically different from how scientists typically think about public communication. We'd like to see stories that teach the public something valuable, regardless of how fresh and newsworthy the topic is, but journalists lose interest incredibly quickly.
>
> Is it a faux pas to write an enquiry directly to a magazine journalist who has previously covered research in a related area?
>
>
>
It usually is. My understanding is that science writers get a lot of unsolicited requests to write articles on the requester's work, and having to deal with this does not make them happy. Instead, you can build contacts in other, more constructive ways. One is to offer tips for hot stories on other people's work. Of course you should do this exceedingly sparingly, but if there's a major breakthrough in your field that is very recent and exciting and has not yet had any news stories on it, then that could be a useful tip. Another way to get your name out there is by being interviewed. Your university PR office may be able to connect you with journalists as an expert they could interview regarding stories in your field. It wouldn't be about your work, but it would get you some attention, and if you impress the journalists they are more likely to remember you and pay attention to your work in the future.
Having a high-profile science blog is also a good way to attract attention from journalists, since it establishes you as an expert who can communicate well with the public (which is ideal for getting good quotes).
>
> If a press release is the way to go, exactly how and where should it be posted or submitted?
>
>
>
You shouldn't do this yourself, since it would look tacky. If your university or publisher is willing to do it, then they will know how, so you should ask them. (But don't bother asking the publisher unless it's a fancy journal that is used to doing this.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Is it a faux pas to write an enquiry directly to a magazine journalist
> who has previously covered research in a related area?
>
>
>
No, there is no harm in writing an editor with a story idea, but keep in mind that editors are looking for stories and writing styles that appeal to their audience.
Keep in mind [the 7 news values](http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/NewsValues.html):
* Impact: the number of people influenced by the subject of the story
* Timeliness: recent events have a higher news value
* Prominence: people in the public eye have higher news value
* Proximity: stories about events and situations near home are more newsworthy
* Bizarreness: man-bites-dog is more interesting than dog-bites-man
* Conflict: public anger or disagreement over fundamental issues
* Currency: stories about issues currently in the public spotlight
So with that in mind, the likelihood that your recent conference paper on a theory for a new space elevator -- though revolutionary -- will be front page news of the Wall Street Journal is next to zero... but if you founded a company to build a space elevator and you're prepping for an IPO, than that might get some prominent placement. Then again, the conference paper about space elevators might get some coverage in Popular Mechanics.
>
> If a press release is the way to go, exactly how and where should it
> be posted or submitted?
>
>
>
Those are pretty much guaranteed to go into the trash. Nobody reads those things in a newsroom. There are just too many cheap, online PR companies offering to spin those things out full of fake quotes and exaggerations. I have seen them used more frequently in the business world by prospective applicants looking to make their name more prominent in a Google search, or posting that stuff on their LinkedIn and personal website to make themselves look good... but it looks cheap and artificial.
My advice would be to start a blog featuring your work and covering the work of others in the field. Think and act like a journalist: talk to people, interview people, write stories, explain the big picture and provide lots and lots of visuals.
There are [fantastic examples](http://www.thefunctionalart.com/) of this sort of working coming from the [cartography](http://www.mapbox.com/design/) and [data science](http://flowingdata.com/) communities. Those guys are bootstrapping to try and create a name for themselves, and its working very well. A few years ago, you'd have to be familiar with scripting and programming languages to make those visuals work, but there are [lots](https://plot.ly/) of [free](https://cartodb.com/) [services](https://public.tableau.com/s/) to get around that.
Your blog entries don't have to be masterpieces of fine art. Keep it short, timely, and within the public interest.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: Will it make any difference if you do a PHD full time or part time ?
In my case my diploma/certificate **will** mention that the PHD was done part-time, how will this affect my career afterwards? will it have any implications on an academic career ?
The reason for which i have to complete my part-time PHD in 3 years is that i am working at the same university, and my job is actually a researcher on the exact same topic of my PHD. I was initially registered as part-time due to the nature of my situation, but apparently i can change that in to full time, however i want to see if it will be worth the struggle.
I find it unfair that i get the PART-TIME on my diploma although i did in 3 years as any other Full time PHD
Also, i would like to mention that in my case, a part time PHD will also have to be completed in 3 years\*, same as the full time PHD.
*Lets assume money is out of the question in this case*<issue_comment>username_1: My impression: no difference. Anyone thinking of hiring you will consider primarily the Ph.D. thesis and your advisor's recommendation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I will give two answers, you are welcome to choose which one to pay attention to ;)
**Short answer:** If you can change to full time without negative consequences, then I don't see why not. It might look a little 'cleaner' on the diploma and might prevent some biases or questions that part-time doctoral work might arouse in your country (assuming you want to remain in your country, here you are a better judge, since our countries are probably not the same as 3-yr PhDs are definitely not the norm in the U.S.). So if the benefits outweigh the effort, go for it!
**Long answer:** I realize everyone's circumstances are different and there may be reasons to rush a PhD for the sake of the diploma and a brighter future with higher salary. With this disclaimer, to me, any (part or full time) PhD done in 3 years by design of the program (rather than special case as with some highly talented students) raises suspicion about the quality of the PhD program. However, from your comment it sounds like it's not that the program is designed to be have 3 year typical duration; it's that you have 3 years of funding on your job contract. That changes the situation, because it means that you are potentially rushing like crazy through a PhD program that is intended for a longer average completion period (e.g. 4-5 years).
This is important because regardless of what your transcript will say, it's what is left in your head that will ultimately determine your worth as a professional in your field.
Students who complete a PhD in 3 years are either highly talented and do so with no detriment to their knowledge - to say it different, they complete the PhD in 3 years because when they are done, their knowledge is at least equivalent to that of typical students who take longer. They are ahead from the start, hence the typical program is too slow for them. That's an OK situation. Different strokes for different folks.
Another situation is that students who complete a PhD in 3 years are in a big rush, the reason being that there are strings attached, and a longer term carries a higher cost either in money, or time (e.g. fellowships that require a student to return for home country for a minimum of 2x the duration of PhD study).
This is problematic for the obvious reason that simply being in a hurry does not make one more qualified by the end of the 3rd year, i.e. more ready to graduate. The reason why this is problematic is the same as the reason why it is problematic if a medical student completes medical school in 2.5 years instead of the typical 5, or an attorney graduates from law school in 1.5 years instead of typical 3. Even if you study really hard, it raises eyebrows. To me personally, a PhD completed in 3 years raises eyebrows in the same way.
I offer this as something to think about because being in a hurry seems to be at least partly the case here. If I am wrong, please correct me. I might also be biased by my own graduate study, which I did not rush. As a result it took longer than average, but I did not see it as a race, and I honestly believe that I have gained more skills, knowledge and experience (and perhaps a little wisdom) than if I had rushed it.
**Bottom line:** If at all possible, I recommend to reconsider your plans, taking into account factors other than the contract duration of your job. So far it seems that this single factor is the main consideration. The assumption is that once 3 years is up, that's it, life is over, there is no money left in the universe to fund your study. Is that truly the case? Could it be possible to find fellowships, or part-time work with tuition waiver, to fund a continuation of the study for another year or two? Would this make you a better academic, with better skills under your belt? Or would it only make you look lazy and weird compared to all your peers? I hope you use long-term thinking and consider all options. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a PhD student in my third year (4-6 is common in my country) and seriously consider abandoning my current topic.
The new topic is in the same general field (CS related), yet in a vastly different domain and would need a quite different methods. My advisor suggested this switch, he could keep me funded in both cases, yet probably better with the new topic.
Arguments for switching are both personal interest in the new topic (it's recently trending, I was interested from the beginning, yet few positions were available) and lack of progress in the current area:
1. I could produce some publications, yet not up to my advisors expectations (should be easier with the new topic, given the impact factors of the journals my advisor suggested)
2. For the last 6-8 month I made barely any progress (lots of failed experiments)
3. I would probably have to abandon my current methods anyway due to 1./2., so half a year or so will be lost learning new methods no matter how I decide
Yet I shy away from switching, mainly due to already being quite old (combination of personal problems and a switch of my major as an undergraduate) and fearing how my C.V. would look if I did take about a year longer and had this second switch...
Thanks for any input.<issue_comment>username_1: **Most people won't care.**
The time to PhD isn't really considered all that important unless it's *highly* anomalous (much shorter or longer than standard), and if you get good publications out of it, nobody is going to make a big deal about switching topics. It happens for all kinds of reasons—funding changes, or because the original project doesn't pan out for whatever reason (technical or logistical).
It will also not impact your career much, unless you're planning to continue studying one of those areas as your post-graduation career. Again, the overall quality tends to matter much more than the actual topic in most cases (particularly if you're moving into a different area from your graduate work).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> For the last 6-8 month I made barely any progress (lots of failed
> experiments)
>
>
>
This sounds like you have not treated your [prelims as a contract negotiation](http://matt.might.net/articles/advice-for-phd-thesis-proposals/).
The best advice I've received is that when you pitch your thesis topic to the committee, make sure that everyone agrees on the structure and methodologies involved. That way, if your work falters or your experiments fail, but you followed the guidance outlined by your committee, then you have still earned a pass.
Another piece of great advice is this: [nobody is going to read your thesis](https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2011/09/12/essay_on_the_role_of_dissertations_in_an_academic_job_search).
Do not switch your program and do not start over, just complete the tasks you were given and move on. If you decide to switch fields later on, fine... that's normal, reasonable, and expected.
And just because you're studying one thing in school doesn't mean that's what you have to do for the rest of your life. There have been plenty of PhDs that completely jumped fields of study, out of CS and into sociology for example... or vice versa. Besides, the latest rage these days is adding "multi-disciplinary" to your grant proposals.
Upvotes: -1 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I know a businessman who has received a LOT of mileage off of using "Dr." and "Ph.D." with his name - in fact he puts it front and center. However, it turns out that he never had more than two years of undergraduate work. Is there any teeth behind either of these titles, or is it just a matter of how many you can deceive for how long?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I know a businessman who has received a LOT of mileage off of using "Dr" and "PhD" with his name
>
>
>
I don't know which country we are talking about, but at least in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland "Dr." is a protected title, and pretending you have one when you don't is a criminal offence. In Austria, for instance, this is part of federal law (see also the [*Bundesgesetzbuch*](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10000172)). I would assume that PhD is also a protected title in the US and Great Britain.
However, note that this law explicitly only covers "pretending to have a doctoral degree", which leaves some wiggle room. For instance, there is an notorious Austrian bus company called "Dr. Richard", where the "Dr." are officially just the initials of the name of the owner (<NAME>).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In the United States, the appropriate response to such a fabrication is to call the person out and shame them publicly. Once this happens, it is often quite effective, as attested to by infamous cases such as [Marilee Jones being forced out of MIT](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/us/27mit.html). The same goes for people claiming to have proper credentials based on a ["diploma mill"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mill) degree.
This will not, of course, stop [a person who has no shame](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_McKeith#Controversy_over_qualifications), but it will at least make their life harder and make it difficult for them to maintain their lies with people who actually care about qualifications.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In Portugal, due to historical reasons, almost anyone that has some education can (high school degree suffices), and sometimes demands, be referred to as 'Doctor' (Dr.), although in Portugal as well, the title is legally protected today. So ultimately it depends on the cultural context and whether the person you refer to goes beyond putting the letters 'Dr.' in business cards, or actively lying about his/her qualifications.
>
> In Portugal, up to recent times after the completion of an undergraduate degree – except in architecture and engineering – a person was referred to as doutor (Dr.) – male or doutora (Dra.) – female.
> […] Nowadays Portugal is a signatory to the Bologna process and according to the current legislation the title of Doctor (doutor, doutora) is reserved for graduate holders of an academic doctorate.
>
>
>
[Source: Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_%28title%29#Portugal)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: In the US, I know that when you apply for a job and post your credentials, most basic background checks will at least ensure you graduated from said school with what degree you put on it. Lying about it, depending on what job, will probably result in you getting fired or potentially arrested depending on who you lied to.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: It is also not uncommon to find mistranslations from spanish regarding the term 'Professor' (usually holding a PhD title), since the word for 'teacher' is the same in Spanish for both, altought the second does not generally require to be a doctor. The same happens with "Associate Professor" and "Full (time) Professor". Further, some medical practicioners are always regarded as doctor whether or not they have a Phd or even some sort of postgraduate or advanced studies. As long as the misinterpretations are not due to malign intentions, this does not suppose a matter to worry much about, but it is always a good idea to find out more about the context where the term is forged. Also be on the look for slight transliterations such as 'Doctorand' or 'PhDc' (PhD candidate) that people generally use when they are in the final stages of attaining the title, but not officially there yet, such as when right before submitting the dissertation or after doing so, while the academic authorities issue the title with the seals and all. But no, the title Ph.D. is not meaningless at all (neither all of the others) and it is generally respected worldwide. There is always of course some trouble with homologation across regions, universities, countries or supranational areas, which is one the the issues that the Bologna process is struggling to deal with across European member states. Some other treaties to be on the look for is the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, a.k.a. "the Apostille Convention", or the "Apostille Treaty".
Upvotes: 0
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to do [first-class research](http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html). However, how do I actually accomplish that when my supervisors design not-so-great experiments and I don't have the resources to do more independent work?
In many fields (e.g. psychology, neuroscience), graduate students work in a group (i.e. lab) studying topics that their advisor finds interesting. Each student might have their own thesis topic, but all of the work is focused on the same big question or general research topic.
Typically the data collection is mostly dictated by the senior researchers, as it is very expensive. Once it is collected, the lab might spend several years analyzing it, especially in bigger projects. This means that the potential of a project is mostly determined by the experimental design. If there is something wrong with it, not much can be done afterwards and the results must still be published.
So what can a young researcher do in these fields if the experimental designs (decided on by the advisor or other senior researchers) are lacking? Especially if I have done most of what I think is possible post-hoc (e.g. with the statistics)?<issue_comment>username_1: Though I am not familiar with the specific field you are referring to (neuroscience &c.) one big question presents itself:
Did you actually talk to your adviser/other students about the "problems" you perceive in the experimental setup? Are these actually "problems" or maybe (just maybe) an insufficient understanding on your part?
If it is indeed a problem of experimental design I would propose to contact the ones responsible for the design and try to work something out - i.e., additional experiments or (if possible) looking for external data.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no easy answer for this (I speak from experience having been in this situation).
I found some of the thoughts at the following link helpful:
<http://sphinx.mythic-beasts.com/~mark/random/mediocrity/>
Good luck!
Upvotes: 0
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Ph.D. candidate in a theoretical field, so there is only math and programming involved (as opposed to a wet lab). The environment is very casual, everyone just wears jeans and a t-shirt everyday. Sometimes I dress semi-formally (e.g. a dress shirt tucked into nice slacks) just because I like to. I notice people tend to give me quite odd stares when I do this. In the [blue hair](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46317/what-is-the-effect-of-a-phd-student-dying-their-hair-blue) thread, a highly voted comment remarked:
>
> I only remember one situation in my field where somebody’s looks were commented on and that was somebody wearing a tie and a suit as a PhD student.
>
>
>
and further in the [conference appearance](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30851/should-i-dress-up-for-conference-banquet-gala-dinner) thread (which is a dressier occasion than daily lab work):
>
> if you are young (<30) , wearing a suit and a tie would probably seem a little weird.
>
>
>
I'm likely over-thinking this, but is it inappropriate for me to wear dressy clothes in the lab? Obviously it's not offensive or anything, but I wouldn't want to make anyone else feel uncomfortable or have them dislike me for what I wear. Any thoughts?<issue_comment>username_1: It is perfectly appropriate since most university dress codes for students is to make sure nothing offensive or too revealing is worn (local definitions for both of those are widely variable). It sounds like you are having trouble working out if it is simply that you are unusual or if it is actually a problem. The simple solution is to ask some of the folks in your lab what they think.
If it turns out you are worrying on their behalf when they don't care, then keep wearing nice clothes.
If it turns out they care then you actually need to address that, whether by asserting your right to wear what you choose to within the official dress code or by making adjustments. Since clothes are social markers it might be what they perceive to be your statement that is the problem and not the clothes themselves.
It is always possible they are glaring at you for completely unrelated reasons. Again feeling that out is worth your time.
A personal story, I wear Hawaiian print shirts every day while teaching. One day I wore a plain button down shirt and my students asked what was wrong. It was laundry day. So don't discount the possibility that the only thing going on is that you stand out from the norm and nothing beyond that.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is nothing wrong in dressing formal. The whole point of dressing "casual" is to feel comfortable. If you like dressing up then for you this is comfortable.
I myself have noticed that people in science/tech start treating their "casual" wear as some kind of a uniform, like forcing everyone to wear a jeans and a t-shirt just because <NAME> did. This obviously misses the point of "casual" wear.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/02
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<issue_start>username_0: I am really interested in translating academic material to my mother tongue. However the other day, I was talking with a professor and he advised me cease translating and start writing research papers if I want to continue my studies and start a PhD, he pointed out translation is of no value to English academicians!
I know it is very important to show your research capabilities by actually doing so but I feel shocked and a bit disappointed if this is true about the attitude towards translating academic material.
Would you tell me what you think on this and whether you think by translating I am spending my time in a wrong area?
I need to add that I am going to start my PhD outside my home country and probably in an English-speaking country.<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you're in the humanities, where the ability to translate source materials may be a critical need, what you're doing would be considered an example of a "service activity." You can certainly list such an activity on your CV and applications, but its impact on an admissions committee decision will be minuscule. You're much better off, as your advisors suggested, producing original research results.
Moreover, if you're planning to study in an English-speaking country, you will want to spend time improving your written and oral communication skills, rather than translating materials into your native tongue.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: For PhD admissions in the humanities and social sciences, yes I think there would be some value. One has to have a fairly good knowledge of the topic material in order to do an adequate translation. If your translated work was authorized, was of a substantial nature, was published by a notable press, and has received a warm reception in your home country then I think it'd be a net bonus to your application.
However, if you're just translating bits and pieces or translating to the web or other non-reviewed outlet, then it's not really a notable use of your time.
If you've already done the work, put it on your CV but if you have a choice, you'd be much better advised to put your energy into writing peer-reviewed research articles -- either in English, or in your home language and translating those to English.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I was a member of the [AMS](http://www.ams.org/home/page) in 2014, but my school had cut funding for 2015, should I still list I was a member in 2014 on my CV?<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on the target of your résumé
1. If the company is (uninformed) and (uninterested) you get no
particular advantage for putting that. Then, why putting that?
2. if the company is (uninformed) and (interested) you could win a small advantage by doing so.
3. If the company is (informed) and (uninterested) see case 1
4. If the company is (informed) and (interested) then they will ask you during the interview, and feel deceived when you tell them that this is a contact that they will not be able to take advantage of. So it's a loss on your side and may harm your chances of getting a job.
I cannot see a clear win in putting that, so I would remove it. Maybe being member you went to a conference, or shared some presentations to them, or did something for them. Focus on that instead.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: When you did some work for the organization (e.g., organize a local conference or chapter meeting), you can put exactly that (e.g. 'co-organized annual XYZ regional meeting in 2014').
When you have built up a network relevant for the employer through the organization, you might also list your membership.
Otherwise, leave it out.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: There are the obvious worries about getting scooped (discussed here <http://www.quora.com/When-is-it-wise-to-blog-or-talk-about-your-academic-research-work-before-you-submit-it-for-publication>).
But I'm wondering if there are more subtle concerns. Could it hurt your chances of publishing in a venue that doesn't allow preprints? Should I cite myself if I copy text?<issue_comment>username_1: About your first question you should consult with the conference or journal about putting your content on preprint servers (e.g. Arxiv), the policy of different publishers might vary.
About your second question You should cite every content you copy, even the content you copy from your previous research and papers otherwise it would be a case plagiarism or self-plagiarism (copying your own content without citing properly).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I remember very clearly when an editor for Science was asked about whether or not they would publish work if it appeared in a blog post, the editor replied with "so long as it has no more than 70 likes, 20 share, or 30 re-tweets".
She was actually being satirical, and ended up having to restate that Science doesnt care so long as "the core scientific message" is novel in their publication.
Truth is, I hear a lot of stuff like this from journals claiming to be all about the dissemination of science. What i DONT hear is people who's work was rejected specifically because of a blog post. Probably because the rejection letter is the same old standard "Better luck next time." and the real reason is never known.
Long story short, if you want to keep publishers happy, do whatever you can to make the article valuable...
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/03
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<issue_start>username_0: In my field a number of different styles are used in titles.
Many publications present scientific names in italics, [such as this one](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00328689). Others do not italicise scientific names, [such as this one](http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/286087?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents).
Some publications are in uppercase, [such as these](http://www.esajournals.org/toc/ecol/89/12), while most others are in lowercase.
When citing, should I follow the original style exactly, i.e., use capitals and italics whereever they were used in the original? Or should I adapt citations to my own consistent style?<issue_comment>username_1: Personally, I was taught to keep all of my citations completely consistent, even if it meant changing the title from block capitals to a normal capitalisation. However, I always italicised scientific names in my citations because they're supposed to be italicised in the rest of the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The journal or conference to which you submit your manuscript will likely recommend or require a citation style. Follow that.
Yes, that may well mean having to reformat your manuscript's references if you are rejected and resubmit elsewhere.
[Some styles](http://www.apastyle.org/) are legendary for their attention to detail, up to and including whether periods should be typeset in italics or not. If the style you are required to use does not address one specific point, like whether or not to keep an italicized word in your reference's title, feel free to make your own choice, striving for consistency.
And don't worry too much. As long as you don't do something enormously strange, not following every detail in the required citation style will likely not harm your submission's chances.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I think that one's citation style should match the *required* (or *desired*) style for the target **document** and/or the publication **outlet** (APA, Chicago, etc.). I believe that the target document's citation style is not related to and, thus, absolutely should not depend on the style of the original source.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: All-caps are just a typographical decoration or emphasis of the whole title. You do not need to keep them for the same reason you do not need to use the same font and font size (as used for the original paper title) when citing. Something similar holds for [title case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_case#Title_case) (i.e., capitalising the first letter of all words except *of, the* an similar) – it’s just a typographical choice and does not affect the content.
Italics (unless they apply to the whole title) on the other hand serve some non-decorative purpose. In your examples, they allow you to directly see where a potentially complicated species name starts and ends. In other cases they may signal that a word is standing for the word itself, such as:
>
> On the evolution of *the* in Old English
>
>
>
In those cases, keeping the italics may really ease reading and thus I would personally opt for it in general. Keep in mind that the italics of italics are upright if you choose to italicise titles in general in your style, and you would e.g. get¹:
>
> <NAME>, *On the evolution of* the *in Old English,* Journal of Definite Articles (2015)
>
>
>
Finally note that you may have no choice regarding this anyway, as your supervisor or the journal you are submitting to prescribe some citation style.
---
¹ LaTeX does this for you automatically if you use `\emph` instead of `\textit` or similar to italicise.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is closely related to this:
[Options to publish a paper "as is" without being able to produce "more results"](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14796/options-to-publish-a-paper-as-is-without-being-able-to-produce-more-results)
I'm curious if posting on arXiv adds to your online scholarly profile, such ason Google or CiteSeerX. I know some arXiv papers indexed by Google scholar that have quite a few citations in good peer-reviewed journals directly, but conversely I can't find an example of an arXiv paper in the publication list of any author on their scholarly profile (though I have found the subsequent peer-reviewed versions listed).
Are arXiv papers somehow excluded on such profiles? Do they not affect you h-index on such sites?
This seems relevant if you don't want a low tier publication on your CV but do want your results to be out there and visible for someone viewing your track record.<issue_comment>username_1: Both Google Scholar and CiteSeerX can detect arXiv publications. I know for certain on Google Scholar because it has detected mine (and it is also adding to my H-index on the site). For CiteSeerX, if you search by publication venue, you will find many publications in arXiv. Both systems will, however, attempt to merge versions (and Google Scholar at least allows a person to do this manually as well), so a subsequent journal publication can supersede the arXiv version, making such an arXiv version apparently invisible even if it is part of the profile and collecting citations.
Neither system makes any guarantees, however, about how *quickly* it will detect papers in particular venues, so it is possible that arXiv is updated less frequently or more erratically than others (particularly for CiteSeerX, which is often plagued by maintenance issues).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The short answer is yes. Google scholar and even DBLP (for computer science) do record arxiv publication. Though they might treat them as "informal" publications. As far as I checked it is also counted in your citation counts.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying directly to several Professors for a PhD. As part of my applications I usually attach a CV, two references (one is a professor, the other is a research project leader in industry), and if asked I add a note transcript too.
My second referee just told me he quit his job as project leader. As contact info I had attached his work phone and address. Obviously, he will no longer be reachable at those.
What makes things worse is the fact that I recently submitted two PhD applications.* To professor A: I sent it a month ago, and he recently replied asking me for my note transcripts. Regardless if he is satisfied or not with my academic performance, when he calls/writes my second reference, the fact that he is unreachable would be a red flag. * To professor B: I sent the application a week ago, and have not got any response. Same problem applies, he won't be able to reach my second reference. In such case, he would probably not even bother to ask for my transcript.
What would be the correct course of action now?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see much of the problem here. You are applying to a PhD not a faculty position. The second reference should or might be contacted by email. The fact that he quit his job has no relevance (unless he tries to politely decline serving as a reference for you).
Otherwise, just ask your second reference to email directly the reference to the Professor.
The point being is that the bureaucratic side is unimportant.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The first thing you need to do is check if your reference is still willing to act as a reference even though they have changed jobs. In general, they will, but if they have retired or left the field completely maybe they do not want to. Potentially, a reference who works in industry has signed some sort of non-compete agreement or an NDA that does not allow them to write a reference any longer. Once you either get the referee's new contact information, or a new reference, you need to email your potential supervisors.
In the email, you need to tell the potential supervisor what happened. A job change is pretty typical and does not look bad in any way. Having to change referees is a little more problematic, but just explain briefly what happened.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/03
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an American citizen and a Junior at a US institution and I've recently been compiling a list of graduate schools to apply to. I'm mostly interested in differential geometry and geometric analysis. In addition to domestic institutions I have been looking at institutions in the UK such as the London School of Geometry and Number Theory, Cambridge, Oxford, etc...
Are there any fundamental differences in the way UK PhD programs admit and train their students? As an international student would I also be able to obtain funding for my education the same way I would be able to in the United States? Finally, how are UK PhD's looked upon in the American Academic job market? I imagine there shouldn't be much difference but there could be some politics I'm overlooking. Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: I am a first-year PhD student at Oxford, having done some graduate work (and my undergrad) in the US. My answer might be a bit institution specific as <NAME> suggested above, but it appears there are some trends across the UK that are quite different from in the US.
"Are there any fundamental differences in the way UK PhD programs admit and train their students?" - Most students seem to enter a PhD program in the UK with a fairly specific field of study in mind. For my applications to Manchester, Warwick, and Oxford I had to write a research proposal for a fairly specific topic for each application, as well as have an idea of who might supervise this research. Many students deviate substantially from these ideas, but almost all students here work in a very similar area to what they applied for. In contrast, I know many US students who started out doing pure mathematics preliminary exams and found themselves finishing a thesis in a very different area, such as Numerical Analysis or Mathematical Biology. These things happen much more infrequently in the UK, in part because the programs are much shorter. The Oxford PhD is designed as a 3 year course, though many students take 4 or more years in practice. Some institutions are starting Doctoral Training Centres where a first year of training and project mentoring occurs. This is similar in flavour to US institutions having preliminary or qualifying exams, but these are often much more directed than in the US. I have not heard of any UK program where anything like preliminary or qualifying exams takes place, so that appears to be a US component of graduate school not present here. I would suggest looking at specific institution overviews of their PhD courses to get an idea of how they compare to US PhD programs.
Another important difference is the emphasis here on research as opposed to teaching. Most students in my program do some teaching, but it is frequently less than three hours a week. In comparison, my MS program in the States had me teaching 10+ hours a week, often with 10 or so hours of prep and grading. I also began doing research the week I arrived, whereas a US student may spend some years deciding on a specific topic to study. PhD students here also spend less time attending classes, and coursework requirements seem to be incredibly minimal compared to most programs in the US.
"As an international student would I also be able to obtain funding for my education the same way I would be able to in the United States?" - Probably not in general. Most US students in my experience are funded as Teaching Assistants, and they spend a lot of time teaching. Students are paid for their teaching services here, but the quantity is so much less that the funding from teaching is nowhere near enough to cover tuition and living expenses for most students. Exceptions probably exist, but most students here seem to be funded from grants their supervisors have, grants or scholarships they have gotten (e.g. Fullbright, Marshall scholarships), or similar things. You can apply for loans subsidized by the US government as well, just as you would for a domestic program. Many students are now funded through the Doctoral Training Centres, but at Oxford the funding for these is almost entirely for UK/EU students.
Your third question is a bit difficult for me to answer without any experience, so I will refrain from conjecturing. Most people have suggested to me that other factors, such as quantity and quality of publications, conferences and connections made, etc, are more important than where you obtained your PhD.
I would suggest finding a copy of <NAME>' book[4](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/082183455X), and read through it as soon as you can. It is directed almost entirely at students applying for or entering US programs, and is useful just to get an idea of what the whole enterprise of a PhD is about.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel like I wrote this rant somewhere else, but at the danger of repeating myself, let me just say: going to the UK (or Europe more generally) for a Ph.D. after a Bachelors in the US is not a very good idea. The philosophy about what a Bachelors degree is is so different in the UK vs. the US that only the best US students are really ready to start a European Ph.D. program and complete it in a timely manner before their funding runs out. Most European Ph.D. programs start from the default assumption that you will finish in 3 years (though I think in the UK especially, there's been a recognition of the flaws of this system, and move toward getting students a 4th year), and have a fairly hard deadline. Most US programs will guarantee you 5 years of funding, with a 6th often being possible in practice (and sometimes a 7th, though this depends a lot on the university situation). European students are starting having done much more serious coursework, which in theory makes a shorter Ph.D. with minimal coursework and starting a thesis problem instantly more reasonable (though it's still a struggle for a lot of people; theses don't necessarily come on deadline).
I think it would be more reasonable to join a European program after doing a serious masters (note that username_1 who answered above already had a masters before starting at Oxford). However, there are still other concerns: the funding situation in most EU countries is not all sunshine and rainbows for local students and usually heavily biased against non-EU students. LSGNT (which sounds like a more reasonable option than most) says that funding for non-EU students is "limited," for example.
Of course, it would be silly to say it's never a good idea, but going anywhere outside the US and Canada is making it harder for yourself in a number of ways, without it being clear what the payoff is. In terms of reputation, a few places in Europe have very strong reputations in the US (Oxbridge and Imperial in the UK, some of the Paris's in France) but beyond that, the situation is basically like going to a respectable but not especially prestigious school in the US: if your work stands on its own, it will take you places, but the name of the school is unlikely to even help get you a second look except through the reputation of your advisor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Here are some points on UK PhDs:
* Most Uk PhDs are 3 (up to 4 years) and applicants have completed a masters when they start.
* Applications are generally directly for a particular project and done directly through your proposed supervisor.
* Little or no coursework is included as part of the PhD, focus is entirely on research.
* The London School of Geometry and Number Theory is a Doctoral training centre (DTC). These are more similar to the American system. They are 4 years and only require a bacholars. The first year involves taught course and results a Masters, then you choose a PhD project for the next 3 years. Admissions are generally done centrally.
* Funding, if available, will generally cover tuition fees and a stipend ~£12000 per year. Some additional income can be made by teaching/marking. Although generally the time spent on this is small.
* A large amount of funding comes from EPSRC and other research council grants. These are generally limited to UK/EU students. However, other sources of funding do not have these restrictions. You probably need to enquire on a case by case basis.
* An additional issue is that non-EU students generally have to pay higher tuition fees. This makes them harder to fund than EU students.
* There are various scholarships and funds that provide funding to international students. For US students I know of the [Fullbright commision](http://www.fulbright.org.uk/fulbright-awards/exchanges-to-the-uk/postgraduates). Although I'm sure there are others.
Upvotes: 3
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| 2,761
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a a PhD in the UK, and they ask for my bachelor transcript. Should I only include the third year transcripts or full three years ? Since I am translating it from another language it is better for me to only include the last year<issue_comment>username_1: This may vary by university, but a transcript is a full academic record of your time at an institution. As such, they will expect information on every course that you took, all three years. A partial transcript is obviously acceptable for degrees which have not yet been completed, but omitting completed courses may look like you have something to hide.
There will likely be a firm requirement to provide a full original transcript, and if not in English, an authorised translation, before your place is confirmed, regardless of whether a partial transcript is acceptable for an offer to be given.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: When evaluating applicants for PhD studies, the reader of your application will check whether you seem to have a good chance of finishing the degree within the suggested time span. This is especially important in the UK, where the duration of PhD studies if relatively fixed.
Now for checking whether you have a good chance of finishing in time, they need to see what courses you took in the past. In some fields, there are considerable differences between universities (and countries of study), especially regarding whether the focus is more on the theoretical or more applied topics. Thus, the full transcript allows them to estimate whether you bring the needed background knowledge with you for the PhD program that you are applying to, as they want to avoid that you have to spend time on filling your gaps in knowledge before your can work on research in a productive way.
**As a summary, full transcripts are essential for a good application!** Even if you can - for some reason - only provide a partial translation, if your certificates are good enough for, say, Google translate to extract some of their meaning, it makes sense to include scans/copies of the original non-English transcript. This holds especially for languages such as Spanish or Italian, which are close enough to English for a rough translation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: The simple and clear answer is YES. Include all year's transcripts. This is especially important in the UK, where the final marks are more crude than other places (e.g., 70% and up is concerned to be A).
Also, many colleges in the UK might have independent offices for initial evaluation of your application, and they would require all transcripts.
In case of doubt just ask the relevant supervisor/faculty. This is a crucial point to understand.
Upvotes: 2
|
2015/06/03
| 1,274
| 5,341
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<issue_start>username_0: I was kicked out of my lab late in my graduate school career, which destroyed my confidence and obviously delayed my graduation by 2+ years. What's more, my advisor tried to convince me to drop out of graduate school, saying I was just "embarrassing myself", that I just didn't have any ability.
After me, there were many more awful events-- one person (non-student) was fired and rather slandered in an email to the lab; multiple postdocs had their projects pulled out from under them and were forced to start over in another lab, no papers; I know another graduate student there who has been struggling to decide whether to drop out; in all cases this advisor tries to destroy the person's confidence and convince them they are incapable of success.
I tried to talk to the administration a year or so after I got kicked out... just to suggest that such things should not happen without any scrutiny from the uni. I think it was just viewed as sour grapes, and nothing happened. Recently, my (second) PhD advisor suggested in a veiled way that I should try again, and maybe if I got all the other "survivors" together, we would have credibility. I think it would probably be useless and risky for me. But this person should not be in such a position of power over vulnerable junior scientists. Is it morally wrong for me to do nothing? But what could I do? (I think the best action would be for my advisor to organize something but like all advisors, mine 90% only cares about his/her own career).<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Should I try to warn administration about truly unacceptable professor behavior?
>
>
>
While it's tempting and noble to want to help others who have to deal with your previous advisor, my suggestion would be:
1. Move on with your life,
2. Do the best research/teaching you can, and
3. Try to make a positive impact on those in your relatively local area (students, collaborators, etc.)
I have some familiarity in dealing with unacceptable supervisor behavior. My former PhD advisor threatened me with physical violence and kicked me out of the program. Another senior faculty member and most of the students in our research group witnessed the event, but none of them would admit to my face what happened. I effectively had nobody willing to provide an eyewitness account of the events (I suppose they were too worried about their own fate; one of the students who witnessed the event is now a tenured faculty member at a top 5 school in my field).
From the fallout of this situation, it was hard enough for me to move on with my goal of getting a PhD without having a recommendation letter from my previous advisor. Once I was able to get into another program, I set out to do the best work I could do and this drives what I do to this very day.
Sure, there are times I wished I would've brought this matter to the attention of administrative staff of my previous institution, but then I recall how difficult it was for me to get back to where I wanted to be, and I try to do the best I can in my little corner of the world using my abilities and not worrying about that "other guy." Plus, I'd like to think that if they screw up enough, someone "important enough" will witness it and take the appropriate actions.
I personally see way more downside in lodging an official complaint with the administrative personnel than moving on as I suggest, simply because you have no way of knowing the severity of how painful your former advisor can make your life and the impact this can have on your career.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Abusive advisors can be found in a lot of universities. That is why most (all?) universities have ombudsman or help group to address harassment and similar issues. I've heard of people in similar situations bringing up the problems they face to the administration of their department. Like you, they got ignored. If they had contacted the ombudsman, the matter would have probably been dealt with differently.
I understand that there is a potential cost to your career if you try to warn the administration. My suggestion would be the following steps:
1-Find out who at your university is in charge of dealing with harassment case. So, not just bringing up the subject to any part of the administration. Usually, student association are well informed about what kind of help you can get. Your university web site could also provide the information.
2-Have a meeting with the person/group in charge of harassment issues. **Usually, those meeting are confidential**. Describe the issue, ask them if they can do anything. **If anything can be done, ask if you can remain anonymous**.
3-Having all the information in hand with what can be done, you can now make a decision. The rest is up to you...**Are the cost too high ? You might want to say yes and that is ok**.
**You might think this process is useless. It isn't.** If someone else lodge a complaint or if somebody already have, it will help the ombudsman or any relevant authority to create a file against the abuser. Even if you do nothing, they will be aware of problems. As the process can, in most universities I know, protect you, I would encourage you to do it. You will help someone someday by doing it. It takes a lot of courage, good luck !
Upvotes: 3
|
2015/06/03
| 870
| 3,539
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<issue_start>username_0: I am very interested in Physics and I want to read as much as I can. Most people, including my teachers, advise me to take notes as I read. But I find this very difficult. I can concentrate only on one thing at a time -- whether that's reading or making notes. When I concentrate on reading then usually the notes that I make are of very bad quality and eventually I lose interest in reading. When I focus on reading then usually I read particular content from various resources and I find this very fascinating. On the other hand, if I focus on taking notes then usually I lose interest in reading.
How can I get rid of this habit of mine? How can I take notes effectively?<issue_comment>username_1: I tend to have problems documenting-while-reading as well. What tends to work for me is either:
1. Read all of the resources on your topic that you find, and then write a summary of what you've learned immediately afterward. Try to have enough detail that someone following behind you can make sense of what you write. (In a few days, **you** will be that someone!)
2. If I have a specific need (say, to defend a point I'm trying to make), then I'll quickly jot down bullet points while I research, but no more than that. Then when I'm finished with my research, write the summary described above.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a bunch of resources available online. I hope you have gone through those. I also have faced similar issues as yours and these resources were of great help.
Many Universities know that students often struggle with such issues and they offer help. For example:
1. Learning Strategies Center, Cornell University
2. Library, Georgia Tech and Communication Center, Georgia Tech
3. Academic Skills Resources, University of Melbourne
4. Learning Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
5. Student Success Resources, College of Natural Science, Michigan State etc.
If you want I can provide actual links. I have named only a few (those I have looked up and have benefited from). There are plenty other universities that offer such help.
***PS.*** *They won't be able to help you personally if you are not a student there but there are plenty of reading materials, tutorial videos, templates available for free.*
Coursera has a series of courses offered by the University of Sydney titled 'Academic Skills for University Success'. You can check that out too :)
**EDIT**: To be more specific to your questions, the following are some of the readings I would suggest:
* [Reading Textbooks Effectively](https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/reading-textbooks-effectively/)
* [Taking Notes While Reading](https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/taking-notes-while-reading/)
* [Highlighting](https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/using-highlighters/)
* [Annotating Texts](https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/annotating-texts/)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: If you read a paper book and use a paper notebook for notes, try to switch to digital. Might be you find this variant more convinient, just because you could copy and paste some quotes from book to note-taking app and you will feel, that you could easily change you notes (edit or make some structure from
Just want to share my post on Medium in case you want to take a look at different digital note taking methods and my thoughts about thinking spaces in digital
<https://alexmind.medium.com/thinking-spaces-and-note-taking-methods-275bd80d0df6>
Upvotes: -1
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2015/06/03
| 635
| 2,368
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<issue_start>username_0: Due to my country's education (we finish high school later than other countries), a year off, doing master's degree, I am finding myself in my first year of PhD in States being 26 years old, possibly graduating when I am 30. I have recently become very anxious about my age, since scientific career has been always my goal, I feel like I am too old and behind everyone else. In Europe, where I am from, I have been told that age does not matter as much, and what matters is papers/scientific output, especially since the end of PhD, in support of me pursuing the doctoral degree in USA, where it takes longer. I am doing my PhD at one of the top tier schools in a very prolific group, where I am surrounded by people that got their PhD when they were 25...
In addition I know from experience of me and others that in my field (physics) women are heavily biased against at all stages. Also, my field requires completion of usually 2 post-docs before applying for positions, which would take around 5 years.
I am looking for some input on this and **how realistic my chances of staying in academia are**, **how much age matters when hiring for post-docs/faculty positions (in Europe)** and **how to cope with age related anxiety in academia**.<issue_comment>username_1: Probably, age at graduation is not the most important factor for a career in academia. But assuming it was, then according to your estimate (30), you should be rather competitive.
>
> For the 2003 doctorate recipients, the median total time from
> baccalaureate to doctorate was 10.1 years, while the median registered
> time was 7.5 years and the median age at doctorate was 33.3 years.
>
>
>
[Time to Degree of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients](http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/)
(Being 33 and just about to submit my thesis, I'm right on target.) Also notice that with your pre-PhD degree, you are already looking back at a a few years of scientific education that your US peers lack, if they start grad school with a bachelors degree. Academic employers know this.
Maybe this is not a full answer to your question, but at least a consolation. Don't panic.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In the US it is illegal to discriminate in hiring based on age (or on gender). So if your Ph.D. is superb, then you are in no trouble.
Upvotes: 0
|
2015/06/04
| 2,614
| 10,756
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<issue_start>username_0: As someone not in academia but beginning professional work in science outreach and communication, I'd like to stay well-versed and abreast of the research. However, upon performing rudimentary searches on these topics, I'm blown away by the number of results.
For instance, a [Google Scholar search on "science communication" (in quotes)](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=) yields about 298,000 results, and a [Mendeley](https://www.mendeley.com/) search yields thousands also.
So, any words of wisdom on how to go about this? I'd like to dig in and do my homework over time, but I'm not sure how to work with the obvious limitations. I don't feel I have the benefit of specificity of a topic or previous familiarity with the research due to not being in academia also (to narrow down my concerns). I'm also not satisfied with simply reading popular accounts, as I would like to be able to back up my perspective with research when needed (and ideally in a less ad-hoc fashion).<issue_comment>username_1: The situation for academics is actually quite similar to that of non-academics, when faced with any discipline where they are not already an expert. In cross-disciplinary interactions, we are all the laypersons for the other disciplines.
I find that when I am trying to learn about a new area, often the first problem is even just to figure out what the right words are to search for. Every discipline has its own specialized vocabulary, and often the words have unexpected meanings.
As such, my approach tends to be as follows:
1. Start with Wikipedia or textbooks or some other similar popular (but well referenced!) source.
2. Identify key terms and key sources, and use those to find some good scientific review papers to read.
3. That will often be enough, since I'm often less interested in bleeding-edge theories or origins than in the current community consensus. If not, however, then the review papers generally give enough context that I can follow references forward and back from the review papers, search key words I learn from those articles, or look for other papers authored by key players.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Generally, there are no *easy* solutions to that and the underlying problem, which is usually referred to as *information overload*. Having said that, I can think of various approaches to the problem that you have described, including the following ones.
* Mastering the use of *keywords* and corresponding databases' search engine *syntax*, when performing **direct search** of research papers on a specific topic. This approach includes using *alerts*, which I find as quite an effective tool to fight information overload in academia.
* Using various [citation indices](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_index) and [citation impact indices](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_impact), with my personal preference being the *open* (non-commercial) ones, such as Google Scholar, CiteSeerX, RePEc and SSRN (obviously, I mean here *indexing* and *ranking* functionality of the corresponding services).
* Using **professional** *curated sources*, in particular, research- and science-focused online portals (including ones, affiliated with major professional societies and research journals), where popular, significant or promising research if often *featured*.
* Using, similarly to the above-mentioned curation services, **personal** *curated sources*, such as thematic or topical websites, blogs, discipline-focused social media and other online resources.
* Last, but not least, using the power of *professional networking* (both online and offline), **tailored** to your research or professional interests, IMHO promises to increase chances in staying up-to-date on important classical and emerging scientific trends and discoveries.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: 298,000 search hits indicates a mature field that has attracted significant attention. There should be textbooks, and, yes, repeating the search on Amazon gets hits. Begin with one or two well-reviewed books.
After reading a textbook or two you should have the general outline of the field, and some questions about it. The next step is to pick a sub-area, defined by terminology you learned from the books. Do more focused searches for papers.
The ideal type of publication at this stage is either a survey paper or the "related work" section of a doctoral dissertation. Either will give you references to foundation papers in the subarea of interest. Now look for recent papers referencing those foundation papers, with additional keywords related to your current question. You should get a feel for who is doing, or at least supervising, research that may interest you. Pick out some of the papers for which they are a co-author.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: +1 to both [Alexsandr's](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/46575/4140) and [username_1's answers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/46574/4140), especially username_1's recommendation to look at review articles, i.e., articles that review the state of the art in a particular topic, summarizing many individual contributions and articles. Reviews are definitely something to look out for.
Depending on your specific field(s), there may be entire journals set up to publish nothing but reviews. These are the journals you want to find and set up alerts for, as per Aleksandr's answer.
---
Three things I'd like to add:
* First, try to attend a conference once in a while if your budget permits. It's a lot easier to figure out who the central people in a field are when you see who is on a conference organizing committee, who is invited for keynote talks, and who generally makes insightful comments at others' presentations. Get their cards, google their names, find out what they do, and follow them as appropriate, by subscribing to blogs or Twitter feeds, friending them on Facebook, or following them on [ResearchGate](http://www.researchgate.net/) or [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/).
* Second, develop the art of skimming. You simply won't be able to read everything, even if you restrict yourself to review articles. With any paper, start by reading the abstract. If that does not appear to be useful, don't feel guilty about putting the entire article aside and focusing on a different article that *is* helpful.
* However, *do* also develop the art of not only checking what's immediately relevant, but also what is only tangentially related to your main focus, because this is how you acquire breadth, as opposed to depth. I'll save any article that sounds even vaguely interesting and have made it a [habit](https://productivity.stackexchange.com/q/5246/4716) to at least skim one of those on a daily basis. (Yes, I do need to explicitly track this, because otherwise this daily reading will be crowded out by short-term issues, and I'll *never* get around to reducing my "unread" pile. YMMV.)
---
Edit: Regarding my first point, on conferences, [@Josh comments](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46572/how-do-i-deal-with-the-vast-number-of-research-papers-on-a-topic-for-non-acade/46578?noredirect=1#comment106938_46578) that it might be difficult to network one's way into those.
At least in my field, you can simply attend a conference without presenting anything, so there is nothing to stop you from attending. I don't know whether there are conferences that only allow you to attend if you present something, but I would be surprised if such restrictions were common.
Conversely, large conferences will eagerly welcome new attendees. For instance, the [American Statistical Association](http://www.amstat.org/), at their [Joint Statistical Meetings](http://www.amstat.org/meetings/jsm.cfm), have "docents", long-time attendees that are available to show first-timers how to navigate a convention center full of thousands of statisticians.
I agree that there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem in finding the *right* conferences to attend, if you want to attend to get an overview of a field... because looking for an overview by definition means you don't know enough about the field to choose a good conference. You will likely need to do some homework about this.
* Look for good publications, check which academic societies sponsor those publications, look whether they organize conferences.
* If you found someone who does good work, see what conferences he or she tweets about attending.
* In computer science specifically, where most of the science is done via conferences rather than via journals, once you find a good publication, check what conference it was published in, and more importantly, what conferences its *references* were published in.
The entire "find a good conference to find good researchers to get an overview of a field to find a good conference" loop will likely need a few iterations. But there is positive feedback involved: the more high quality people/journals/conferences you know, the more *new* high quality people/journals/conferences you will get to know, because your network will gain dynamics and traction!
---
In fact, I started out in my now current field as a blank slate in 2006, with a completely unrelated Ph.D. and no academic connections to this field whatsoever. So I simply googled around, found some papers, then a [journal](http://forecasters.org/ijf/index.php), then the journal's sponsoring [association](http://forecasters.org/), then its [conference](http://forecasters.org/isf/), simply attended this conference in 2006 without knowing anyone whatsoever, chatted up everyone I met, contributed a little to the associated [practitioners' publication](http://forecasters.org/foresight/) and pretty soon felt very welcome indeed in this particular community, although I am of course not an academic per se. The approach I propose works.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: The answers you have been given are pretty comprehensive, but an additional avenue you might find beneficial is to ask an academic librarian.
Whilst not all are experts on the field (or even have a qualification in that particular area), their profession is to deal with information. As such they might be able to help you navigate resources and construct search queries to refine your result sets.
They are often well placed to suggest resources or databases to help manage your research that you might not be aware of.
Most university libraries are pretty accommodating to visitors (the University I work at allows free access and limited access to some e-resources, with a paid option for borrowing entitlements) especially at this time of year as the exam period draws to a close.
Upvotes: 1
|
2015/06/04
| 970
| 3,829
|
<issue_start>username_0: After an article/book has finally reached the pre-publication stage, the authors have to check the proofs for errors (introduced by themselves or during type-setting). I find this one of the least enjoyable aspects of my work and also think I might not be particularly efficient. It varies with the length of the manuscript. A five-page article in conference proceedings is obviously less of a problem than a monograph.
* When proof-reading my own contributions, it is the umpteenth time that I am reading the same text. I find it exceedingly boring, which might make me ineffective (taking a long time to read the text, and potentially overlooking errors).
* The delay between the actual research and publication of the work can be quite extensive. After such a long time, I am less likely to recall all the details of the analysis, making me more likely to overlook errors in the manuscript.
Asking colleagues to help with this also seems ineffective. They might be less bored while reading the text, but (a) might not be very attentive because they have more pressing issues at hand and (b) can only spot clear inconsistencies, but not other errors you can only notice if you did the research yourself.
How can I make my proof-reading more effective and enjoyable/increase my motivation?<issue_comment>username_1: From Google:
**Proof-read:**
* from hard-copy
* backwards
* aloud
* a few days after the last revision
* after revising the text for clarity and brevity
* line by line, covering the remainder
* double-checking small words ("if") and proper names
* looking for one type of mistake at a time
* looking for mistakes and idiosyncrasies to which you are prone (using the search function or even [more sophisticated](http://matt.might.net/articles/shell-scripts-for-passive-voice-weasel-words-duplicates/)).
**Helpful links:**
* [Proofreading and editing tips](http://www.lrcom.com/tips/proofreading_editing.htm)
* [Top 10 Proofreading Tips](http://grammar.about.com/od/improveyourwriting/a/tipsproofreading.htm)
* ["Proofreading", from The Writer's Handbook](https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Proofreading.html)
**On motivation:**
* schedule enough time to divide the task into small chunks and take breaks
* reward yourself after completion of each chunk
* listen to music
* have a nice cup of tea
* you have the soon-to-be published result of your hard work in front of you. Indulge in some pride as you go through the paper.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Read it as if you are someone whose opinion on the work matters to you. That will help you read it with their eyes, or as if you are reading it aloud to them.
I find that this, along with the natural anticipation of their (imagined) response gives me the fresh view necessary.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Double space it and print it. Nothing tops paper.
2. make a check list of items that you usually forget. You can write macros and codes to check your common mistakes. However, this list should be ongoing and always around your desk. People have blind spots that lives with them. For example lower-case, upper case in the reference list is something I always miss, even though I hoped Mendeley would take care of it (but it is still very unreliable).
3. Read it from the end to the front, and chapters in random orders depending on the type of paper.
4. You can use software like Grammarly, but don't expect 100% accuracy.
5. If you are doing it on computer, change the color of pages and fonts every once in a while.
6. You can also assign a memory map to each chapter of the book; for example, assign the whole road from DC to SF to the book and create a road trip by reading each chapter in each state. It helps you also memorize where did you say what in your book.
Upvotes: 3
|
2015/06/04
| 2,531
| 9,628
|
<issue_start>username_0: So I am going to write my master thesis in psychology. It is expected to be of roughly publishable quality since I am a research master student. I always struggled with writing and am often overwhelmed with the vagueness of theories and concepts in this field. I often get lost and thrown of path without a good structure.
What books can you recommend me that are for "dummies".
The things I would like to improve and know more about are:
* The right attitude for academic writing
* Academic writing pitfalls (e.g. when does something become too speculative?)
* Smart ways to structure the process
* Ways to make my writing more readable and make it flow better
Are there recommendable books that address such issues that are considered standard in any way?<issue_comment>username_1: Different books work well for different people, depending on your natural writing style, how you think, and your writing process (long writing sessions or short bursts, frequent iterative revision to 'perfect' each sentence as you go, or drafting the whole thing and revising from start to end later, etc.).
I recommend first googling "thesis writing tips" and reading reviews of the books that pop up in the results (on Amazon, etc.)
Also you might find some ready-made lists of resources helpful, such as this one from UIUC:
<http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/research/writing_tips.html>
In addition, there are some fundamental classics on general writing strategies that can dramatically improve your academic writing. One such classic is Zinsser's "On Writing Well" (<http://amzn.com/0060891548>).
You might also appreciate some one-off resources that offer advice about specific sections of a thesis, such as the literature review, methodology, analysis, results, and conclusions. Google "tips for writing [fill in section here]" and see what comes up.
For instance, doing this for "literature review" brings up resources such as this handout, from the University of Toronto:
<https://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/default/files/LitReview.pdf>
or this presentation from faculty at UCSD:
<http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/student/student_grad/docs/How_to_Write_an_Effective_Literature_Review.pdf>
or this page from the UNC Writing Center:
<http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/>
In general, university writing centers exist for the very purpose of assisting students with writing needs. I highly recommend spending an hour at your university's center perusing their resources and learning about the types of support they provide. Try a consulting session with one or two of their writing assistants and see if it helps. Often a 1-hr consultation can help to correct some persistent trouble spots. They can provide actionable advice on everything from the right 'attitude' (ways to motivate yourself to write and to structure your time accordingly) to thesis organization, to grammar and style issues.
With regard to technical aspects, a helpful resource would be the [APA Publication Manual](http://www.apastyle.org/manual/index.aspx), now in its sixth edition. Proper formatting seems a trivial after-thought, but appearances do matter in the academe. How you cite authors in a citation, or what part of the citation you italicize, can jump out at your reviewers (professors or journal peer reviewers, should you choose to submit the thesis for publication - which I recommend) and either enhance or hurt the overall impression about the quality of your written work. Good luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I found <NAME>'s «[Publish & Florish](http://taragray.com/workshops/publish.html)» useful. It is very hands-on and emphasizes the practical and motivational problems of productive writing. Having said, that there are countless other guides and you can check their reviews on amazon etc. (Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my daily writing routine.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I can recommend the book "How to write a lot" from <NAME>. It specifically addresses all questions that you pose: the right attitude for academic writing, writing pitfalls, and guidelines for the process as well as the text itself.
What I like particularly about this book is that it clearly distinguishes academic, technical writing from writing prose. It compares this metaphorically to painting a wall vs. painting a piece of art. As with painting a wall, there's a clear way to getting it done, and if you follow guidelines of good practice, there's not a lot to get wrong with it. I found that reading this book really leaves you wanting to write more.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: **On attitude to academic writing**
I like [Write to the Top](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1403977437) by Johnson. It has 65 short gems on how to structure an academic writing life; most of the tips are applicable to graduate students.
[On Writing Well](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0060891548) by Zinsser is a classic. It's not a recipe kind of book, but closer to something like those "Chicken Soup" series for writers. When I felt not very productive I read this as a "cleansing."
**Academic writing pitfalls**
A must have is Booth's [the Craft of Research](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226065669). It talks about the whole process of research from generating arguments and hypotheses to writing up the thesis or paper.
I also like [A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226816389) by Turabian. It's more of a style book, very clearly laid out and approachable.
**Smart ways to structure the process**
This is really "my grandma's potato salad is the best" kind of answer. No one can tell you because they probably will tell you different things that work for them. Here are what I use and have found useful. (If that helps, I work in biomedical field.)
I use [Evernote](https://evernote.com/) to organize writing projects. I also incorporate [Zotero](https://www.zotero.org/) or other bibliography software like [Endnote](http://endnote.com) (I like how Endnote allows me to link to PDF and comment them). I have also recently started using [Docear](http://www.docear.org/) to manage the thought process and it was fun. I also like [Scrivener](https://www.literatureandlatte.com/) although I prefer physical note cards and Evernote. The key is to keep all resources in one place that is very accessible. ***Keep backups*** of your work.
For the writing process, setting up a ritual is important. Silvia's [How to Write a Lot](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B001Y35G60) would be a nice inspiration. Pretty much the key point is: write every day for a fixed amount of time at a comfortable place. One hour, two hours, it does not matter, what matters is that you write.
**Ways to make my writing more readable and make it flow better**
Two eye-opening titles for me are Williams's [Style: Toward Clarity and Grace](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226899152) and Schimel's [Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0199760241).
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace is just simply wonderful. Starting from just "Subject + Verb," the book builds a framework on how to structure a statement based on one main theme: to be clear.
Writing Science dives further to analyze different levels from word use, syntax, sentence, paragraph, to the whole article using components seen in storytelling (Opening, Challenges, Action, Resolution) and their variation. It even discusses how different words in a sentence form a relational "arcs" and how to place and pace these relations for best clarity.
A classic that I must also mention is [The Elements of Style](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/020530902X) by Strunk and White. Also having an easy access to Chicago Manual of Style, APA Manual (I use AMA), and Gregg Reference Manual on your desk would be tremendously helpful when any stylistic questions arise.
If you'd be writing about statistics, I'd also recommend Miller's [The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226527875) which covers basics on par with writing statistics for news. For more advanced writing examples, Huck's [Reading Statistics and Research](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/013217863X) is a good option. It talks about how to read results of different statistical techniques with plenty of examples from journal articles.
---
**Freebie that you didn't ask but I want to tell anyway:**
Break in by practicing [free writing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_writing). It helps me focus in the morning before my writing hour.
Meet with an editor or academic writing coach who is familiar with your field for an assessment. Show your work and get a general sense of areas to improve on.
Just write. It's not possible to become a good writer by reading about writing. Remember: to suck at something is a start of being excellent at it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Take a look at *Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day*
([http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Your-Dissertation-Fifteen-Minutes/dp/080504891X](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/080504891X)).
It doesn't deal explicitly with writing quality per se, but others have found it helpful.
One thing you'll find there is an endorsement of @Penguin\_Knight 's free writing strategy.
Shameless publicity department (the author is my wife).
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/04
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<issue_start>username_0: Student starts a PhD at University A, the student is offered a project conceived by University A supervisor. Then student transfers to University B in agreement with University A supervisor that they will keep working on the project together. Student expands and develops the project and after 9 months at University B the external advisor at University A pulls out of the collaboration due to lack of time to properly supervise student. Student wants to keep working on the project independently given the time and money investment (salary from University B) and the interest for the topic but University A supervisor claims the ownership of the project. Student offers maximum flexibility to A supervisor to try to keep the supervisor involved in the project with little time commitment. Student has now developed a sense of ownership to the project.
How should the student handle the situation? Who owns the project? And what happens if the student keeps working on the project even if A supervisor has not given the green light?<issue_comment>username_1: For what it's worth, I don't think either university can own the project directly. Anybody can work on anything, pretty much, but there are many caveats. If code or data were produced, that may be owned by UniA. If there was funding, it's definitely going to stay at UniA. So you may have to find some alternative source of funding to work on the project, but if the supervisor at UniB wants to pay you to work in the same area, you almost certainly can. Now, if you can't come to agreement with the supervisor at UniA, you may also have some trouble publishing when it comes to things they wrote. It would be best to get the two supervisors to come to an amicable agreement to work together on it with you at UniB.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: University A can claim ownership of part of the project, because of the work that has been done when the student was in UniA.
UniB can claim the project as well, if they can show that the work is related to what you are getting paid for in UnivB or it is been done by using their resources from library, wifi, computers to their faculty supervisorship and stipend.
Student also owns part of the project.
Rule of thumb, Universities are generally are more laid back when it comes to acting on ownership than claiming the ownership.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/06/04
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<issue_start>username_0: I am enrolled as a student in a U.S. university. I will be applying for a PhD program in physics in the coming months and I can't really move to another city. Therefore I am considering to stay at my current university A for my PhD (where I will receive my B.S). I am 100% sure that I will be accepted and I am very happy here.
However, there is no research going on at university A that I am interested in for graduate school or for a career. My main interest is in theoretical physics.
There *is* a top-ranked school B for physics about forty minutes away. This school has exactly what I am looking for in graduate research, but for other reasons I did not like school B at all, when I briefly attended it. Moreover, it is very unlikely that I will be accepted there for a PhD program.
I am wondering:
* Can I pursue uni A's PhD program and have an advisor from uni B?
* *If so, should I bring this up with both universities before I apply or should I wait until I am in the program and chose my adviser?*<issue_comment>username_1: It is not uncommon to have a formal PhD position at university X, a supervisor at university X, and a co-supervisor at university / institution Y. This may happen for example, if the PhD topic is on the interface of two subjects, or if Y provides essential experimental / lab / other facilities for the research.
It is also not uncommon to have a PhD at university X, a supervisor at university Y, and a co-supervisor at university X. This usually happens when a professor from X moves to Y some time before, or shortly after, the PhD is started. The role of a co-supervisor may be solely to observe the process and make sure that the research will succeed and the thesis will be submitted in time and in good order, to university X's satisfaction.
In the UK, the so-called Doctoral Training Centers, are sometimes organised between several universities, sharing the same direction of research. I have not heard of any examples, but I assume that a collaboration of a PhD candidate with several professors at different universities in this case is more than likely to happen.
Another example, which can happen very naturally, is when a PhD candidate is closely involved in a research project, which is already collaborative.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I was the "advisor at a distance" for such an arrangement in the US, so it is in principle possible -- depending. The student went through "the other university", and I was one of his co-advisors. Thanks to the interwebs, that was easy, and thanks to their rules, it was possible for me to be co-advisor (though not sole advisor). So analogously, you could stay put while working with a relevant faculty person at that institution. However, institutions differ in their tolerance of outsiders, and my own institution would not tolerate an outsider as co-advisor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Depending on the specific universities you are considering, it might also be possible to do a **cotutelle** program. In the words of the [University of Ottawa](http://www.grad.uottawa.ca/default.aspx?tabid=3763):
>
> A cotutelle doctoral program offers you the opportunity to complete your doctoral studies at the University of Ottawa as well as at another university (outside of Ontario). In a cotutelle doctoral program you are jointly supervised by a thesis supervisor at each institution and you attend the two universities alternately. You need to take a single comprehensive examination, and you work on a thesis to be defended only once in front of a jury chosen by the two partner universities. Once you have completed your doctoral program, each university confers a separate degree, with a mention of the cotutelle collaboration on the degrees.
>
>
>
If you want to go this route, you need to tell the university well in advance, so they can come to an agreement with the other university.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Everything is possible (well at least, as other answers have already shown there are many forms of multi-university PhD). But it's not extremely common either and an important question for you is how will you go about finding/creating such a position?
In the examples I know (admittedly in Europe, not the US), the position was often funded from the get-go as a collaboration (perhaps as part of a specific grant application) and advertised as such. Alternatively, I know people who have been hired at some institution and added an external supervisor after one or two years, obviously with the consent (or perhaps on the advice) of their first advisor because of the direction their research was going or some other opportunity for a collaboration.
Often those projects were cross-disciplinary (and sometimes transnational) in nature and the secondary advisor came from a different field/country. (National funding agencies often have some money earmarked for cross-disciplinary projects and the European Union encourages transnational projects through its Framework Programmes, thus providing additional incentives.)
In your case, if there is no research on your topic of choice at university A and nobody interested in starting such a project, it's difficult to see how it could come about.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Three aspects to consider:
* Funding: who is going to pay your tuition fees and give you pocket money? It's often not obvious for an advisor to fund a student located in another school. But maybe you have some fellowship or TA.
* PhD committee: schools put conditions on who can be in your PhD committee (e.g. at least 2 profs in your department), so at some point you may have to deal with profs from your school.
* Administravia: the school's policy might force you to have an advisor from the same school.
In my grad school, I've never seen anyone working with an advisor from another place only (except when the advisor recently moved of schools): there is always one local co-advisor.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/05
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<issue_start>username_0: During my academic studies, I have always been ambitious in pursuing academic research with no luck. I have not gotten along with any of the professors whom I attempted to set up an advisor-advisee relationship with. This was not due to my lack of knowledge or incapability because they acknowledged my competency many times.
I have started to think that they were too lazy to adjust to my eagerness and wanted to take it easy. Maybe they thought that I will be a burden for them. Also, I get the impression that they hate me, because of the disgust they seem to exhibit when I talk about the work of leading researchers in the field. If I do not follow or discuss the leading researchers work how can I contribute to the field?
Please give me some advice on ego problems of academics, and how to politely show them that their research is inferior without making them hate me.
I am very respectful. But my former professor asked me if I do not like his work. I criticized the professor's work, and professor could not tolerate to it. If I was wrong prof could have told me the true value of the work, instead he stayed quiet and took revenge on me. I always choose wrong persons - I can't recognize good and bad people in my relationships. My love life is also a disaster. Always credit bad ones in every aspect of life.
I am in a 3rd world country in the Middle East. Here, finding someone with an inferior work is like finding a water in a desert. My intention is using them for future Ph.D admissions in the western world. I am interested in their connections and network. But, they hide it from me, they want me to stay with them forever, and then they hate me. They are usually western educated PhDs - from the ones that return back and usually produce low-quality papers.<issue_comment>username_1: Back when I was in grad school and everybody I knew lived with roommates due to housing costs, some sets of roommates got along well and some had serious problems sharing space with one another. Over time, I noticed that while most people had mostly decent experiences, there were certain people who I knew who *always* seemed to end up with nightmarish roommates. The same way, while most people seemed to have their share of ups and downs in their love life, certain people *always* seemed to end up with nightmarish relationships.
Was it just bad luck or a bad environment? Generally not: when a person has an unusually long string of failed relationships, usually that person is somehow involved in creating their luck.
I tell this by way of suggesting that you may want to reflect on your own choices here. Are you poisoning the relationships with your professors by holding a contemptuous attitude towards them? Is your ambition somehow leading you toward selecting professors who are incompatible with you? Is it something else entirely?
It's impossible for we strangers on the internet to tell what's really going on for you. It is certain, however, that every failed advisor/advisee relationship that you have been involved with has at least one thing in common: *you*. It's worth reflecting on that and seeing if you can figure out something that you can change in your own attitudes that might make it easier for the next one to be better.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, you get back from a relationship what you put into it. In your next attempt at a student-advisor relationship, I suggest concentrating on two questions:
1. What can I learn from the advisor?
2. What can I do to help the advisor and the advisor's other students?
You are dealing with intelligent people who typically have more life experience than you, have met more people than you have. They probably know how you think of them.
Suppose you met someone who believed themself superior to you and who intended to use you only to get access to your contacts and network. Would you like that person? Want to help them?
If you go in with a wish to learn and help, appropriate to the relationship between student and advisor, you are more likely to have a positive experience.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Of course, I may be wrong (note my attitude here!), but here are some insights of mine, based on my reading and interpreting your question. Firstly, it seems to me that your ambitions (and, by the way, I am rather ambitious as well) **cloud** your *judgement* and, thus, an *objective* **professional assessment** of both yourself and your advisors, who are essentially your *colleagues*.
Secondly, your knowledge and capabilities *in general* do not automatically imply that the work of your advisors or other colleagues is inferior - it is all a matter of *opinions* and, more importantly, *perspectives*. Just because you have a particular opinion (via your *subjective* "lens" or even *objective* perspective) on a subject, it doesn't mean that you are right and they are wrong (and vice versa!). It is worth repeating: **most things in research (and in life, for that matter) are matters of perspective**. Plus, a scholar IMHO should be *modest/humble* and *open* to other opinions. The key phrase in that regard is *being tolerant*. You can pursue your own opinions and agenda, but do so in a diplomatic way, without hurting others' feelings and ego and, thus, damaging professional relationships. In particular, when presenting your "correct" views on the subject, position them not against others', but rather as an *alternative*. You can use various verbal approaches to *frame* your views as alternative. For example: *"what do you think about ...?"* or *"I was thinking about different approach ...?"* or similar. This approach that I've just described above is very much applicable not only to your own views, but to the work of "leading researchers in the field" - of course, your should follow and mention it, but downplay the "leading" part (which, by the way, often is a very subjective aspect) and *concentrate on ideas* themselves.
Thirdly, unless the **relationships** you're talking about are too damaged, try to *repair* them by using the approaches I recommend above. If you feel that it is impossible, consider changing your advisors and apply the *being-humble-and-tolerant* approach to new professional relationships.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Often big names in a field are the big name because their work represents a well established status quo.
The "small names" are often exploring alternatives that if successful would represent a major deviation from the tried and tested. They are in essence the potential big names of the future. If you show up very excited about the status quo it's hard for them to be enthusiastic about it because that research represents the here and now, not the big deviation they're hoping to unleash on the field when the peices come together.
In short by focusing on the rock star names you're probably limiting your exposure and lacking the vision for revolutionising the way a field approaches a whole class of problems. This, combined with a view that the less established work is inferior doesn't exactly endear yourself towards people.
Finally when I read your point on egos my initial reading misinterpreted it - I thought you were referring to another seemingly large ego in the situation than the one I think you meant to refer to. You would do well to consider that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Not so much an answer as a suggestion:
There are (at least) two types of students who think they are right and the professor is wrong: those who have done something correct beyond what they professor can get their head round, and those who are so clueless the professor cannot communicate to them why they are wrong.
I have no way of knowing if this applies in your case, but I would suggest at least considering whether it's possible you fall into the second category. Even if the answer is 'no', the process itself may help you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: You can ask your former supervisors what they thought of your collaboration. Ask it in an open, non-offensive way. Do not go into arguments, but write down their answers as verbatim as possible. Then re-read the answers at home, and try to conclude what the most important message is.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> I have started to think that they were too lazy to adjust my eagerness
> and wanted to take it easy.
>
>
>
There is an old good saying "**Think big but take baby steps**". Ambition is a good thing, but only when your ability can afford it.
If you consider research of your adviser(s) easy, their papers low-quality. Can you do similar research, write the same quality papers? If yes, start by doing it. Having low-quality papers is still better than having no papers. Experience of writing (low-quality) papers can also help you to write better papers. Take baby steps.
Leading researchers are great. But less-known researchers also deserves to be respected. The fact that they are in a position that you are dreaming to reach (western educated PhD) means there are something you can learn from them (if you really want to learn).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: >
> During my academic studies, I have always been ambitious in pursuing
> academic research...
>
>
>
That is a positive quality
>
> All the professors whom I came across with or I attempted to set up an
> advisor-advisee relationship with, in some way kicked me from the deck
> of the ship.
>
>
>
If it is one or two, it may be rough patch, but if it's many, than maybe you need to change your approach. Sometimes when we show we are too ambitious, people do not take kindly to. This is human nature.
>
> This was not due to my lack of knowledge or incapability because they
> acknowledged my competency many times.
>
>
>
It's great to have knowledge.
>
> However, at the end of the day my hands were always empty. I have
> started to think that they were too lazy to adjust my eagerness and
> wanted to take it easy.
>
>
>
They say "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all". This fragment "they were too lazy to adjust to my" shows you need to work on the heart part. I'm not saying what they are doing is right or wrong, but when you wish to change a situation, you need to look within first.
>
> Maybe they thought that I will be a burden for them. Also, I believe
> that they developed a kind of hate and dislike to me because when I
> talked about the work of leading researchers in the field, I could
> feel the disgust in their faces. If I do not follow or discuss the
> leading researchers work how can I contribute to the field?
>
>
>
Not only you are showing your ambition (without heart), and you feel they are lazy, they probably think you are comparing them to leading researchers, basically telling these advisors that they are simply not good enough for you.
>
> Please give me some advice on ego problems of academics, and how to
> politely show them that their research is inferior without making them
> hate me.
>
>
>
Look at how you can change yourself before blaming others. I have had personal experience with this, and continue to do so. Many times I ask God (or Universe or whatever you believe) for help in tough situations.
All the best.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: >
> Could not get along with any advisor, is it ego?
>
>
>
In short, yes...first and foremost, yours. Most of the problems we experience in relationships originate in ourselves, our attitude toward the outside world. The attitudes of others toward us are but a consequence, a reflection of this. This is a difficult concept to accept for those of us brought up in the Western philosophical empirical tradition, which looks for causes in the external 'objective reality' (which still turns out to be in the eye of the beholder).
In contrast, the Eastern philosophical tradition begins with the internal, subjective self.[1](http://www.differencebetween.net/science/differences-between-eastern-and-western-philosophy/),[2](http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultures_east-west-phylosophy.html) In this tradition, questions of the "why is this happening to me" type have a default answer: because I have done something to deserve this. The cause is invariably within. The external impact that we suffer (or enjoy) as a result is merely a natural consequence of our own ego-driven choices. I choose to use this perspective to address questions concerning relationships and attitudes, because in my experience this perspective has proven vastly more effective in achieving the desired positive change, or at least in providing a proven recipe for it.
>
> How to politely show them that their research is inferior without
> making them hate me
>
>
>
This is like saying, "can you tell me how to **politely** tell people their looks are inferior, without making them hate me."
Lets think about it. How many examples do you know when pointing out others' deficiencies did not undermine one's relationship with them? Self-esteem is a very fragile asset which people naturally seek to protect from harm. When they detect possible threats to the integrity of this asset, they naturally act to remove the threat. Basic psychology. Typical results are either avoidance or confrontation. Hardly the recipe for making the world a better place!
There are certainly ways to talk about research without harming egos. EVERY program of academic research has flaws. There are no perfect theories, every theory is only as strong as its weakest claim, methodological step, or piece of evidence. Academics aren't dumb. They have a good grasp of the field and more often than not, realize (if only privately) the limitations of their research. What they definitely do not need is anyone rubbing their nose in these issues.
Surely there must be ways to manifest your brilliance in ways other than this. It is a matter of consciously reorienting your focus and attention, from the negative to the positive. Leave the negative and the weaknesses to others to sort out. Focus on what your professors do right, find what in their experience, wisdom, or skills is worthy of respect. You might have to try harder with some than with others, but everyone possesses such qualities and characteristics.
Thus, it is a matter of personal choice. What do you choose to concentrate on in your interaction with this person? Making one choice will result in straining of the relationship. Making another choice will result in the growth of professional collaboration. Cause and effect. But the chain reaction of change for the better must begin with you. Waiting for others to change is only wasting time. One must always begin with oneself.
How you react and what you point out in others, inevitably comes back as either a blessing or a punishment. If looking back, you see more punishment than blessing from your interaction with advisors, what has to change here? Only one thing: the intent and purpose with which you approach the interaction.
So find the things you can appreciate and respect in others, and cultivate these aspects in your perception of these individuals as scholars, colleagues, and your advisors. Leave the deficiencies for them to sort out on their own. Trust they have the wherewithal for that. If you are not seeing it happening, then there must be reasons.
The role of an advisee is first and foremost the role of a student. Appreciate the opportunities to learn and gain experience, which advisors can provide for you. If critical reflection reveals weak points, make a mental note, learn from their mistakes, but it is not your place or your responsibility to blow the whistle on them. As your own experience shows, doing so bring nothing good. So, learn from your own past experience, and work on changing your perspective during interaction with other academics.
The problem is not all these other people, the problem is deficiency in understanding of how to interact with them in a positive and productive way.
Arrogance comes from disrespect, and disrespect comes from insecurity. A useful exercise is to ask yourself, "What am I compensating for by not being nice to people?"
Start by working on yourself to cultivate humbleness, respect, and kindness toward others, and the solution will emerge.
If you don't want to be knocked off the ship, don't rock the boat.
Give them the benefit of the doubt and instead, train your critical eye (which apparently you have perfected) on yourself, first and foremost. This is a difficult and unpleasant exercise, but if you try it earnestly, it will pay dividends and make you a more sensitive and positive human being. These effects will extend far beyond the professional relationships, and you will see positive transformations in your relationships with relatives, partners, friends, and complete strangers.
Changing oneself is difficult. But it is the only way to see guaranteed progress. You seem to possess the reflective capacity to accomplish this. The very fact that you asked this question suggests that you might suspect that you are doing something wrong. This is the first step in the right direction. Good luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: There hasn't been a lot of discussion about the issue of contacts and networking, so I'd like to take a moment to address that issue in particular.
A network of colleagues, mentors, and collaborators is fundamental for the success of the modern academician. That network is cultivated over time, but is based on both competency and respect. If you do something to violate someone else's trust, you poison your relationship with that person, perhaps irreparably.
As an example, I know of several long-standing "relationships" that have soured when faculty members tried to send unqualified graduate students to other groups to work as postdocs, knowing that things probably weren't going to work out, but not saying anything in advance to the other advisors. As a result of this, how can the receiving graduate student trust anything the old advisor has to say? That poisons the well.
Another way to cause problems within your personal network is to introduce into it someone who's going to cause more problems than help you. Someone who has a bad attitude and is unpleasant to work with is one of the big things to avoid, because you just make your life (and everyone else's) that much more difficult. (How do your advisors know, for instance, that you won't treat their colleagues the same way you do them?)
Until you give an advisor reason to believe that you won't cause more trouble than you will be helpful, they're simply not going to trust you, and therefore they almost certainly won't take the time to take advantage of their connections to help you out.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_11: There is always the option of pursuing academic research on your own. Nothing stops you from reading the scientific literature in your field of interest, doing your own research, writing your own papers and getting them published. Without the benefit of close supervision, this is going to take more effort, but it will allow you to collaborate with others on a more equal basis.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: It sounds as though you enjoy comparing the work of your supervisors to the work of leading researchers in the field, and talking to them about the inferiority of their work.
They do not enjoy this. They signal to you their lack of enjoyment by expressing disgust, and you've noticed that signal but carry on anyway. This happens repeatedly. They don't wish to spend their time defending their work to someone who is in their eyes an obnoxious novice, and who is in any case applying an irrelevant standard. Almost everyone is inferior (in some sense) to the leading researchers in their field, that's what "leading" means. There's no need to bang on about it.
If you have no respect for their work then *you should not have applied to work with them in the first place*. They'd rather have a student who is enthusiastic about what they do, who wants to contribute to it, than someone who spends his time criticising them, and who wants to talk about how much he prefers other people.
Either apply to work with someone you respect, or consider very carefully whether you enjoy these discussions so much that you prefer alienating supervisors rather than give up criticising them in this way.
>
> Please give me some advice on ego problems of academics
>
>
>
It's very easy, through ego, to think that your opinion is the only important one, and that everyone you meet has an obligation to listen to it and either accept it or else disprove it to your satisfaction. Learn from these experiences that *this is not true*, and that's why it's an ego problem for you. Other people do not share your high opinion of yourself, and they're perfectly able to show you the door instead of put up with it.
>
> how to politely show them that their research is inferior without making them hate me.
>
>
>
They know what their research is, and they know what the leaders in the field are doing. It is not polite to presume that they'll benefit from you showing them your views on the matter. However unremarkable their research record is, yours is even less remarkable, and that's how it's going to stay unless you can drop the ego. If you apply to work with someone, work with them, don't try to explain to them how you think working with them isn't worthwhile.
You say that your goal is to get contacts and recommendations. By no means am I certain that this is best done cynically, but if that's the route you're taking then stick to the goal. Wanting these people to *agree* with you is ego, and it's distracting you from your goal. Try agreeing with them, you'll get a different response.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_13: What you have to remember is that professors have a LOT of students to deal with. So if you demand something from them, then that will probably be met with rejection.
From my own personal experience, I didn't really build a rapport with professors at first. I just sort of hung around some of the nicer ones and talked about subject matters, etc that went on in the class. Pretty soon they just came to me with opportunities or at least hinted at something they had going on.
My thought is build a relationship this way. Don't go to a professor demanding something just go there and talk about something in the class. Try to go to ones who are polite and open to discussions.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/06/05
| 361
| 1,427
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<issue_start>username_0: Given that a lot of prizes or grants are specific to a particular university, is there any point in listing the exact name of a prize or grant on one's resume?
For example, if I say that I won "<NAME> Scholarship" or "<NAME> Thesis Award", it won't really mean anything to someone outside the university. Would it be easier just to say you won scholarships/grants and an award for your thesis?<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you won a huge amount of awards, I would be quite specific: "<NAME> award from XYZ university for best master thesis in 2014".
Even when you have won many awards, it still makes sense to be specific about the most important ones, and be brief about the others.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Would it hurt to name the prizes and grants? Between "some grant" and "x y grant" I would always choose "x y grant". It doesn't matter if the reader is unfamiliar with it, as such a reader would gain the exact same amount of information as if you stated "some grant". But, by being specific you also don't leave room for ambiguity and provide additional for the informed reader.
On a personal note, I dislike such vague statements as "some grants and prizes". Somehow it immediately gets me thinking about somebody patting you on the back or giving thumbs up. If you won a competition, you should be proud of it and show it on the resume.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/05
| 305
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted an abstract for presentation in an international conference. The paper was accepted, but with a caveat. The organizers replied me that it is an abstract-only presentation. Please what do I do?<issue_comment>username_1: You go and present a talk. No paper will be published in the proceedings. If proceedings are published at all for this conference, your abstract will probably be published therein. This is a pretty common conference format in many engineering disciplines. You should take any review feedback, apply it to your article, and find a journal to send it to. If there is a distinction between published papers and abstracts at this conference, you should think about beefing up the paper before you send it to a journal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't think there's a problem with an abstract-only presentation. Possibly the caveat is to remind you that only your abstract will be published in the conference proceedings, and not the full paper. This would work well for you as you can take the feedback at the conference and use it to improve your study. Moreover, for conference papers to be published in a journal, you need to have at least 30 percent new material (field specific); however, in your case, since you'll be presenting only the abstract at the conference, you don't need to think about these things.
Upvotes: 1
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2015/06/05
| 1,175
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<issue_start>username_0: I see that every paper which propose (present) something (new) (over existing methods) should possess an experimental result section and some tables and figures and numbers. Some papers may be rejected if they don't follow this format regardless what they are going to say. They may are needed for the evaluation of the method or comparison of it with the related methods.
I myself, when read some papers, based on the arguments in them, propose a new or more general techniques which covers their shortcomings. Or I may propose a new formalism or tool which can be shown that is novel or useful.
However, providing some experimental results for them is not always easy. Some measures should be defined and samples should be gathered to get some statistics ( for something that you know works in practice). In fact some times, I don't know how can I offer such results or whether it is necessary or not.
Then, I would like to know which type of researches need those quantities and tables and diagrams?
Or in the other words, which articles don't need a results section? How can I write or put my arguments to show that it doesn't need further evaluation.
I give some examples to show my problems (first I should say my filed of study is computer science):
* There are some grammar or annotation scheme to build a linguistic corpora for English, there is no such corpora for Persian, I justified a similar scheme for building such a corpora for Persian based on the language features, Should I provide (experimental) results?
* I developed a software which filter a webpage and remove noise and reformat the content to enhance readability and comprehension for non native English speakers ..... I used the results of another article on reading comprehension which didn't implement a web tool for their foundings.. Should I provide (experimental) results?
* There is an algorithm for converting a linguistic corpora specially designed for English language, I generalized it to cover some other languages and justified that with some arguments, should I provide results?
* I proposed a formalism for extraction rules for a data extractor from webpages, I provided many examples how it works, and how it is more robust, understandable and easier to use and based on previous tools and methods and how it borrowed their features ..., should I provide (experimental) results?
......<issue_comment>username_1: I think that you answer your question yourself in its title: experimental results section is needed in papers, reporting on *experimental research* studies. However, *not all* studies with quantitative results are *true experiments*. Thus, speaking more general, all **quantitative research studies** are expected to report their **results** by including corresponding quantitative results sections.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In all the work you are giving as examples, you are essentially developing methods. Not giving any experimental or very strong theoretical evidence that those methods do what they are supposed to do has many negative effects:
* It strongly diminishes the value of your work to the extent that you may have trouble publishing work that you could otherwise publish it in a high-ranking journal. Peer reviewers may very well demand that you report on the results of applying your method to some data and may reject your paper if you have no very good arguments for not doing so.
Publishing methods without giving such evidence is the exception and usually only done, if deriving and explaining the method makes for a whole paper and applying the method is done in a follow-up paper or if the method paper and the experimental paper are better published in separate journals. And even then, there is usally some short application to (often artificial) example data in the method paper.
* It makes it much less likely that people ever use your work, build upon it or cite you. If I read a paper in which the author proposes a method but fails to show any application, I would strongly suspect that this is because they can’t, which in turn hints at something being very wrong with the method. I would be very skeptical about such a method and would be much less likely to use it.
* It will be harder to get funding for your work or justify that you spent your funding well.
* Whether you publish it or not, applying methods is one of the best ways to learn what demands and problems occur in reality, which allows you to develop better methods.
* If you repeatedly do something like this, you may obtain a bad reputation due to the above.
How bad all this is, eventually depends on your field’s openness to theoretical work and how difficult its is to apply the methods and properly evaluate them. But as far as I can tell from my limited insight into the computer-science literature, I would consider the impact to be rather strong in your case.
Given the nature of your work, I expect it to be impossible to provide convincing theoretical evidence that your methods work. For example languages are notorious for exhibiting weird behaviour and having tons of exceptions. Thus only by applying your method can you demonstrate that your it isn’t rendered useless by peculiarities or special cases you did not account for.
So, to sum it up: **Yes, it may be possible to publish your methods without experimental evidence that they work, but I would strongly advise against it.**
If you strongly despise experimental work, I suggest that you team up with somebody who does this work for you.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/05
| 929
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<issue_start>username_0: Variation of [When is it wrong to look at previous exams?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27872/when-is-it-wrong-to-look-at-previous-exams)
Suppose students are taking a certain subject and are divided into classes A and B at different times but under the same professor.
Say the students are assigned an exam that is said to be sometime in a certain week. Is it wrong for the students of the other class B to ask the students in class A about the exam if they know that the teacher will change the questions in the exam?<issue_comment>username_1: I do not believe that this is ethical, as it gives students in the second class an unfair advantage over students in the first. As keshlam mentioned in [his comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46665/when-is-it-wrong-for-students-to-ask-about-previous-exams-known-to-change/46667#comment107074_46665), if you want to give students access to previous exams, then both classes should be given access to the same set of prior-year exams.
This is less of an issue if the exams are graded by separate professors (which does not seem like the case) or if the grades will be curved separately, though I would still lean towards it being wrong in the latter case.
Though, when it doubt, the answer is the ask the professor (as [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27879/20375) suggests). If you aren't comfortable asking the professor this question, then that is a sign that it is almost certainly unethical.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The ethical answer for students is easy in this case: if it's not clear, and remotely borderline, ask the professor. Ideally, ask the professor publicly, so that everyone hears the answer.
That said, the real problem is that in this situation, the professor should be dealing with this publicly in one of two ways: either clearly instructing the first class not to discuss the exam until the second class has taken it, or making the exam available directly to the second class (so as not to benefit students who have friends in the first class over those who don't).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It's not ethical as a one-timer, but can be ethical as a long-time trade. When one time group A has earlier exams and shares questions with group B, and next time it's the other way around, then it should be ethical.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: This is an artificial issue, creating an unenforceable rule, stress for students, etc. The teacher should create a situation in which people have enough information about prior exams to (rightly) feel that they have an idea what will be on the upcoming exam. And if two exams are given at two times, they should not be identical, certainly. It should be arranged that students in the later exam should find nothing surprising or particularly in formative in seeing the first exam. That is, the marginal information content of seeing the first-given exam, with all prior exams visible, for example, should be close to zero.
Edit: it is never genuinely wrong for students to get information about past exams. It is not the obligation of students to "refuse" to give information about exams they have taken. It is not the obligation of students to "not ask" students who've already taken exams about their content. Students should be allowed to behave sensibly. It is, instead, the obligation (if any) of their teachers to create contexts in which the students do not have to worry about artificial (and extremely awkward) constraints on information.
Unenforceable rules create stress, trouble, and fatigue, to no good purpose. Students shouldn't have to think in such terms.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/05
| 1,167
| 5,025
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently I have received a peer-review letter on my article. While preparing an answer I've found that I have no idea what I should include in the answer.
There is multiple "idea" notes and few language issue mentioned.
It's my first peer-review, so it would be very useful to have some idea how to compose a good reviewer reply.<issue_comment>username_1: It is not actually appropriate to reply directly to the reviewer, instead, you should summarize to the editor (knowing that the reviewers will see your response) what changes you made (especially relating them to what reviewers tell you you should do), and what changes you did not make (briefly justify not making a change requested by a reviewer). Most of the time, you should make a change, though it may not be the change requested. For example, if a reviewer tells you to used method X rather than Y, you don't have to use method X but you should explain in the paper why method Y is not appropriate. The reason for doing that is because if the reviewer didn't understand your paper well enough to see that, other readers are also likely to be perplexed, so you need to explain better. Sometimes reviewers are just embarassingly wrong so that *anybody* in the field should know why you use Y rather than X, in which case you can keep the discussion out of the paper, and simply tell the editor why Y is the appropriate method.
There is no need to give a detailed accounting of every criticism, and you could summarize criticisms of exposition with a general statement like "problems with language have been resolved throughout the paper".
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, the best way to respond is with a detailed rundown, discussing every point that the referee raised in turn. (This may be unnecessary if there are only a handful of minor changes asked for, but it doesn't hurt even then.)
What I generally do is to start with a two or three sentence introduction, stating that I have made all the changes that the referee suggests. If there were changes that I was unwilling to make, I just say that I have made most of the changes but that I feel that one or more of the referee's requests were not appropriate.
Then I begin a point-by-point analysis of what the referee said and how I have responded. Usually, I address the points in the same order as the referee raised them in their report, but not always. (Sometimes there may be just one major revision that was requested, and I want to discuss that first, before the minor points, even though the referee did not order things the same way.) It's often a good idea to quote directly what the referee said in the report and then follow up with an explanation of the changes that have been made.
Sometimes, just stating that the change has been made is sufficient. This is typically all that's needed for linguistic problems. If the editor and referee may have trouble finding a change, you can point out where it is. If the changes are more substantive, it's a good idea to give a summary of what the changes were. These don't need to be long, but the should point out the main significance of the changes.
If there were changes that you were unwilling to make, you must carefully explain why. If you think the referee was wrong, this should be pointed out very tactfully. A good referee will recognize their error if they really made one. If there are matters of opinion, it may be trickier to convince editor and referee that things are really better your way. It is also important that you make it clear that you are reasonable about making changes. If you refuse to make anything but the most trivial corrections in response to a referee's report, that makes you look stubborn and probably unreasonable.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The format that works for me, looks like that:
1. Thanking the reviewers and editor for comments
2. Stating the major issues of the referee report, and how we address them in the new version.
3. Summarizing major revisions done, if any. This includes re-organizing the paper; change in terminology; adding / removing results; etc. Sometimes this part blends with the previous one, but sometimes there are changes that you have done which were NOT requested by any reviewer, but were needed in the revised paper.
4. If the referee report contains a list of specific comments: add a list of these comments (copy-pasted from the report itself). Below each comment, reply if, and how, the comment was addressed.
5. thanking the reviewers and editor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: <NAME> [explains on his blog](http://matt.might.net/articles/peer-review-rebuttals/) a very systematic step-by-step procedure to address reviewer comments, which I recommend you to read. His premise is that every response should ensure the reviewers that
>
> We acknowledge your criticism and advice; we understand your
> misunderstanding; and we can fully integrate this feedback.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/05
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently on my University he dies and now I was wondering how should be the ideal candidate. Taking into account that he/she is the one above all the faculties.
1. Does he/she need to have a Doctor degree? and of what kind?
2. Does he/she needs to speaks more than just one language?<issue_comment>username_1: This will vary hugely between countries and individual universities.
In the UK most universities are formally led by a Chancellor: see [this link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_(education)) for more information. Since their role is largely ceremonial, what is important is that they are people seen as being prestigious enough to represent the university. The current Chancellor of Oxford is <NAME>, who used to be Governor of Hong Kong and chairman of the BBC trust. To the extent that a chancellor may sometimes publicly advocate for the university (especially for funding) it's also valuable for them to be something of an 'establishment' figure on good terms with those in positions of power.
If you mean to ask about the qualities of the person who actually controls the university (which in the UK would normally be the Vice-Chancellor) that deserves a separate answer, but one would expect them to be experts in the education sector and experienced at leading large complex organisations.
To answer your numbered questions:
1. It wouldn't normally be a requirement that they be a doctor.
2. I imagine speaking multiple languages would be a benefit (particularly speaking English in a non-English-speaking country), but I can't see it being a formal requirement.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is probably similar to the skills of a ceo, the position is about leadership, management, teamwork and being able to represent the University. Although an experience in academia might be tangentially useful in order to relate to the people working in the university, their job is so broad, they work with so many people on different levels that this is potentially irrelevant.
You can look at previous people who held the position to work out whether certain universities have more specific requirements.
Upvotes: 0
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2015/06/05
| 337
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm just finishing my PhD but don't yet have the qualification.
I'm applying for a post-doc and need to construct a CV.
Should I include my PhD as "ongoing" in a separate section to the rest of my education? Or can I just indicate it as part of my education, but with a note like "2011-present" or something?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Should I include my PhD as "ongoing" in a separate section to the rest of my education? Or can I just indicate it as part of my education, but with a note like "2011-present" or something?
>
>
>
The second option. I.e., just indicate it as part of the education while noting explicitly something like
*"2011- 2016 (expected)"*
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Building on the above answer, to be completely clear, you should also consider stating your status explicitly afterwards, like so:
2011-2016 (expected) PhD/doctoral candidate, Name of University
Thesis Title: "XXX"
"Doctoral candidate" would be a further acceptable alternative to "PhD candidate" and some people add the name of their doctoral supervisor, especially if the application is for a faculty/research position and it's someone in your field who might be known to the committee.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/05
| 585
| 2,584
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<issue_start>username_0: I notice that the majority of admission questions on this site regarding admissions specifically refer to Ph.D admissions. That being the case, are Master's applicants evaluated any differently in regards to focus on research, grades, letters of recommendation, etc.? For instance, research potential is a big determining factor for Ph.D admissions I know, but the Ph.D is a research oriented degree. Is there the same focus on research potential for Master's students?
This is specifically focused on STEM fields, particularly the "E."<issue_comment>username_1: A masters in research applicant is usually assessed for very similar things to the PhD, all the things that you mention but to a lower level, the amount of experience and strength of the candidate is not required to be as high, the masters is much less of a commitment than a 4 year PhD for example and so the entry requirements aren't as stringent.
It is for this reason that some bachelor students who cannot obtain a PhD offer may do a masters first or why a thesis not good enough to gain a PhD may be awarded a masters instead.
A purely taught masters candidate would not be necessarily assessed on research potential, mainly grades and motivation instead (which could include desire to do future research).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In universities I've been at (in Sweden & Belgium), students apply for a masters at the department level or higher and all candidates are assessed collectively. PhD candidates are assessed by the individual professor who holds the grant that will pay the student.
A few important additional criteria used to assess PhD candidates include:
* Is the candidate's background and interests suitable for this particular project?
* Is the candidate likely to fit into the research group?
* Is the candidate likely to last the distance?
* Is the candidate likely to become independent?
* How creative is the candidate?
* How does the candidate approach problem solving?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The difference is huge, at least in my field, computer science. Master's programs are typically money-makers, with students paying full tuition. Some programs are purely coursework; others require Master's theses or projects.
In contrast, PhD programs accept many fewer students, none of whom pay tuition, instead receiving stipends paid for by fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships.
Because of the difference in the size of these programs and who pays whom, PhD programs are far more selective.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/05
| 283
| 1,083
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for readmission to UC Berkeley after taking a semester off. In the *Application for Readmission*, one question asks, "Will you be in residence at Berkeley for the entire semester?"
Does "in residence at Berkeley" mean "using on-campus housing" or just "living in the vicinity of the university"?<issue_comment>username_1: This is the response I received from my graduate program's coordinator:
>
> It just means physically being here, so doesn't have to be on-campus housing.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It means being on-campus for your studies: e.g., attending classes, doing research, collaborating on research, whatever. It's not a question about where you sleep at night (whether your home residence is in on-campus housing or not) so much as about whether you are physically here for your studies.
This is aimed at separating out "working remotely". If you are living on the other side of the country and trying to do your studies remotely, then you're not in residence at the university.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/05
| 1,994
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<issue_start>username_0: This is a follow-up to this question: [Should I recommend rejection for a paper I referee if the authors don't make changes that they could have made?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/45929/should-i-recommend-rejection-for-a-paper-i-referee-if-the-authors-dont-make-cha)
To recap: I was sent a paper to referee by a top journal. My first report pointed out that the authors had only considered one of two possible behavior patterns that their system might have. When the authors resubmitted, they basically ignored what I had said (although see below). So I sent it back, asking that the changes I had asked for before actually be made.
When I read the second draft very carefully, I saw they had actually added a very short paragraph that seemed to be arguing against the second type of behavior I was worried about being possible. It was so minor I didn't even notice it before I asked my earlier StackExchange question. However, the manuscript authors made an error in their attempt to demonstrate this point quantitatively; as I pointed out in my second report, their argument actually showed that I was correct.
Now, they have submitted the paper a third time. This time, they very enthusiastically acknowledge that I am right--both types of system behavior are expected to occur. However, they now claim that their numerical calculations actually include both possibilities, and that they actually did all along! The letter says that they just explained things really badly.
They have made more changes to the manuscript. It now states that both behaviors can occur and that both are fully included. I am not in a position to check whether their results are consistent with this. The paper does a lot of heavy numerical calculation, which would take a long time to replicate. Since the bottom line result is not going to depend much on the intermediate details, it is plausible that their graphs could have been showing the fully correct answers all along.
However, the format of the paper suggests otherwise. Add to that the fact that the second draft of the paper actually argued obliquely against the type of behavior that they now admit is natural. I feel like there are two likely possibilities. The first is that the authors are being dishonest. They missed the second possibility, and now that I have pointed out that it definitely occurs, they have reasoned that they can fib about the matter and it will be difficult to refute their claim. I am rather unhappy about this possibility; I hope it's not the case. The second possibility is that the communication between the two authors of the paper was extremely poor. The person who did the actual writing would have to have been quite ignorant of what his coauthor was actually calculating. This is a less troubling but still far from ideal situation.
So, once again, I find myself unsure what to do. Should I share my misgivings with the editor? Or should I take the current draft's claims as is--chalk the whole thing up to incompetence rather than dishonesty? I have, after all, no concrete evidence of fraud.<issue_comment>username_1: I have found myself in similar situations in the past. However, in such cases, the fraudulent behavior was much more obvious. This is a bit of a mixed case.
So long as the results are plausible, the authors do have some liberty to do what you say they have. However, given that they should have also known that the same referees would review the paper again, the way they have addressed the changes does seem to be in poor taste.
I would recommend mentioning what you find problematic in your comments— confidentially to the editor if necessary, but preferably in the "open" comments the authors get to see. This will make it clear exactly *why* you believe the paper should (or should not) be accepted. You could state something like the following:
>
> Scientifically the results are acceptable, but I am highly uncomfortable with and concerned by the way in which the authors have incorporated the changes. The editor should take these issues into consideration before rendering a final decision.
>
>
>
That puts the decision in the editor's hands (where it rightfully belongs), while you get to make whatever case you feel is appropriate.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is hard to tell from just your description alone (and without knowing the actual paper and revisions), but honestly this does not really sound like unethical behavior to me. Basically, what seemed to have happened was the following:
1. Authors hand the paper in. You review and claim that one of two important aspects is missing.
2. The authors disagree and, in an attempt to calm you over, write a short token paragraph about the second aspect (that they, in all honesty, don't believe to be very important).
3. You **insist** that the second aspect is super-important and needs to be covered more explicitly.
4. The authors give up and describe what the may think to be a minor aspect in much more detail than what they originally planned to do. Note that it is well possible that the authors were fully aware of this and had the data to do this all the time, but just did not think about it as something important. That they now agree that this is super-important sounds more like an attempt to win you over than anything else.
I have seen these kinds of exchanges play out in many, many journal submissions. Whether this actually improves the paper or not depends primarily on whether the second aspect *was* actually important or not. You say it is, but I have definitely seen reviewers get hung up on absolute sidenotes as well (which I am sure they honestly thought were essential), ultimately to the detriment of the manuscript.
More generally, it sounds a bit like you were a bit the "*damned if you do, damned if you don't*" kind of reviewer in this process. What kind of change did you expect after the second review round? You wanted this additional behavior covered, and they did - and now that they did, you wonder why they did not do so from the beginning and presume that something unethical is happening. If they wouldn't have addressed this point, you would have been unhappy because the authors did not fix your major comments.
What I generally try to teach my students is that when you review for journals, *you need to recommend fixes that can actually be done*. That is, there needs to be a reasonable and doable change that would actually make you happy to accept the manuscript. If you think that a paper can in no reasonable way be fixed, recommend rejection (and don't accept another review if the editor decides for revision). Never recommend revision if you won't like any outcome.
**Edit based on Lohoris' comment to aismail's answer:**
>
> I've no clue why is the other answer who got all the upvotes, [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/46707/10094) seems reasonable and to the point, while the other one basically says "you suspect something, don't bother, go on, everything's nice" which is a wtf for me.
>
>
>
Accusing authors of fabricating the data is a **serious** suspicion and should not be raised lightly if there are other plausible explanations. It's not that you *"shouldn't bother"*, it's that it simply does not *sound* like the data has been fabricated to me (or, at least, it does not sound significantly more likely than in any journal submission where the code etc. is not public, which is a systemic problem). There are any number of (good or at least less bad) reasons why the authors may now have data that they did not report on in the first version, including:
* The authors generated this data in the many months between revisions
* The authors had the data all along but did not consider it very important
* The authors wanted to save up this data for another paper (either to salami-slice, or because they truly thought that those should logically be two separate papers)
It is widely accepted that even major changes to the data and analysis can happen in between major revisions, and indeed it is common-place at least in my community to add more data to the paper based on reviewer request. This is basically the reason why we do peer review in the first place - if we always remain suspicious when the authors do more than cosmetic changes, why do we recommend revisions in the first place?
I understand that the authors were talking about a "miscommunication" in the response letter, but frankly, after two revisions (especially with a very critical reviewer in the loop), most authors tend to write in the response letter whatever they think gives them the best chance to calm the reviewer over. I would not give too much weight to whatever people write in this non-public document.
Upvotes: 6
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2015/06/06
| 579
| 2,409
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<issue_start>username_0: How is the grade `F` viewed in US academic system, is it abhorred or people see that grade as any other grade. If a student gets an `A` retaking that particular course, the previous `F` grade he got would be overwritten, even though there will be a mark on the transcript.Is there any sort of negative stigma because of that?<issue_comment>username_1: As F stands for **failing**, of course there's a stigma associated with it. How much depends on the course in which it's received. For example, failing freshman biology matters much less if you're in art than if you're planning on applying for medical school.
Also note that different schools handle repeated courses differently. Some schools count only the last grade, while some count both equally in the final average (a zero plus whatever an "A" grade counts as).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: At my university (in the United States), a failure grade (which is `E` here) can only be replaced if in a lower division (of undergraduate) class, and only a certain number of times. After that, or for upper division courses, the failure grade and the passing grade are recorded in the transcript.
As for the stigma associated with failure grades, I suppose that there shouldn't be any *immediate* negative stigma as there are many possible factors associated with the student:
1. The student took too many courses at once, or the particular course was very challenging.
2. Any social/health/familial reasons that have the student leave the university.
3. The student does not study well in general, or take exams well (more present if the course grade is primarily based off of exams).
Of course, there are other reasons for a failure grade, such as academic dishonesty (a grade of `XE` instead of `E`) or pure laziness in not completing most/all of the course requirements.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: A very wise supervisor of mine gave me an interesting aspect to ponder here. He also ran a a business, and when hiring, he *liked* to hire people with F grades on the record. He didn't like to hire people with a W (which at our school stands for "withdraw" - students who don't complete the class). The F, especially when combined with success when retaking the class, to him indicates the stick-to-it-ness that he was looking for in his employees.
So an F may not be all bad.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/06
| 522
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a PhD student, and I invented a new method to assist and semi-automate the writing process. Since I need to add more papers to my CV I decided to teach some of my PhD student colleges the method and convince them to put me as a coauthor in one of their papers. I know getting a paper is quite hard, because I've written some during my PhD.
Since I could get trouble at work, how to do this is an elegant and professional way, like a technical assistant?<issue_comment>username_1: You invented a new writing method? You're kidding, right? As far as I know, there exist only one writing method known to mankind, which hasn't changed much since the invention of writing. If you're talking about some NLP technique, not only it is likely not novel, but I think that the **value** of all that is close to zero and actually can be *damaging* to research and writing skills of potential users of such method and corresponding software.
However, what is more important and troubling is your planning of a rather *unethical* behavior with your "smart" payback scheme (unless you've poorly described your role). It is neither elegant, nor professional - the indication of that you can see in a series of downvoting of your question as well as comments. I would suggest you to reconsider your "shortcuts" approach to earning *academic reputation* or, at least, be careful with similar approaches, as they might be damaging career-wise.
The minimum requirements for an *authorship*, according to the [Vancouver protocol](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations) are:
* Conception, design, analysis and interpretation of data;
* Drafting an article or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
* Final approval of the version to be published.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I, like many others, am skeptical that your new writing method is actually valid and/or useful.
If by some chance your method is actually valid and useful, however, then you should not be given a co-authorship by those who use the method. Rather, they should *cite* your method, just like they would any method that they used in conducting the experimentation.
Upvotes: 3
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2015/06/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I have completed my Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) from India. The minimum requirement for admission into the MS in Computer Science program requires a 4 year college degree. My BCA degree was a 3 year degree and I am planning on pursuing a 1 year Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA) from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and would like to find out if these total 4 years satisfy as minimum requirements for admission consideration.<issue_comment>username_1: Maybe you should ask a professor you know that has some connections with professors in US to tell you more about that.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I suggest you to inquire such information at one or, better, more international academic credential evaluation companies, such as [WES](http://wes.org) (be careful, as I've had some negative experience with them in terms of accuracy of evaluation). Nevertheless, you can check the WES' [international-to-US academic credential equivalency tool](http://www.wes.org/evaluations/preliminary.asp).
Upvotes: 1
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2015/06/06
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a student from <NAME>, and I have just finished my degree. Because of the rules of my University ( My program was a direct intake for Mathematical Finance specialization, and despite this I have followed mathematics subjects the most) I was not allowed to take any abstract algebra courses. I have completed the other courses which Pure Mathematics Special students undertake such as in Analysis and have good results. I will be undertaking a reading course for Algebra with the senior lecturer at the University at whilst he said he will give a letter as evidence as possibly at best a letter from the faculty it won't be officially recognized in the transcript
So my main question is that would such a letter be recognized, even if it is signed by the dean of the faculty when apply for a phd? I hope I will be able to cover the usual algebra syllabus and maybe even more.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I would also like to know if its possible what kind of undergraduate
> requirements does an Applied Maths program usually look into? Would I
> be correct in assuming that they won't be looking in to algebra that
> much?
>
>
>
Not having had an undergraduate course in abstract algebra wouldn't be much of problem for admission to the graduate program at my institution (which focuses on applied and industrial mathematics.) Background in analysis, differential equations, modeling, probability, and numerical analysis is much more important. Significant background (such as a minor) in some area of science or engineering is also helpful.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Seemingly the question and username_1' answer refer to "applied math" in a certain popular (if narrow) tradition, so probably Brian's answer answers the question appropriately.
However, if "applied math" is construed as "math that is applied", then it would certainly include abstract algebra and number theory, for cryptography and error-correcting coding. It would also include things toward design-of-experiments. Game theory? It really does appear that there is no simply-described subset of mathematics that is "applicable" while others aren't.
But/and then returning to the part of the question about certifying acquaintance with abstract algebra: a direct letter of recommendation commenting on a "reading course" could potentially be stronger than a mere grade-on-a-transcript, so I'd think it'd not be an obstacle. If anything, the evidence of taking initiative is a big plus, in itself, when I look at grad applications.
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/06
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<issue_start>username_0: In UK/Ireland/Australia/NZ, they don't seem to have a set retirement age. However, when do faculty members actually retire, or 'have to' retire (due to peer pressure, for example)?
This question is related to: 1. [How common is it for tenured professors to retire?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/40374/how-common-is-it-for-tenured-professors-to-retire?rq=1),
but my question is specific to the British system, and
2. [How common is redundancy in the British (UK/Australia/NZ/Ireland) system?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/46297/how-common-is-redundancy-in-the-british-uk-australia-nz-ireland-system)
If there is no tenured position in these countries (except Ireland, perhaps), isn't it easier to pressure the older faculty members (who may not be doing much research but at least be doing all the mandatory teaching) to step down?
In a tenured system such as US/Canada, it would be difficult to fire a tenured and aged professor even if he/she is research inactive, I believe?
Edit: With the follow up comments, the refinement of my question is: can the management in a university in the British system use the redundancy as an excuse to remove an 'old' and research inactive (but ok at teaching etc.) faculty member?<issue_comment>username_1: In the UK there is no longer a mandatory retirement age because having one would be discriminatory on grounds of age under [2011 legislation](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15127835). So you cannot be compelled to retire. In fact, the current generation tend to retire at 65 more or less because that's when their pensions can be fully realised.
Future generations of academics in their mid-60s may respond differently because they will have different (as in, less generous) pension structures.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: To be a bit more specific:
username_1 is correct to say that there is no mandatory requirement age, as this was indeed phased out, but from the [UK Government website](https://www.gov.uk/retirement-age):
>
> [S]ome employers can set a compulsory retirement age if they can clearly justify it.
>
>
>
In practice, this seems to vary from university to university. Oxford, for example, do set a compulsory retirement age for their staff. From their [website](https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/personnel/end/retirement/acrelretire/ejra/):
>
> Council has agreed to maintain a retirement age for university academic and academic-related staff[...] All existing members of academic and related staff who have a normal retirement date of 30 September immediately preceding the 66th birthday will be deemed, from 1 October 2011, to have a retirement date of 30 September preceding the 68th birthday, which shall be the EJRA.
>
>
>
Cambridge have a similar policy: see [here](http://www.equality-law.co.uk/news/2305/66/Cambridge-academics-approve-compulsory-retirement-age-for-intergenerational-fairness/) and [here](http://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/policies-procedures/retirement-policy/statement-policy).
Others, such as the [University of London](http://www.london.ac.uk/4265.html) and [York](http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/hr/resources/policy/retirement.htm), seem not to.
In the other direction, UCL suggest that their employees may need to work until 65 to access their full pension. From their [website](http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/retirement.php):
>
> Effective from 1 October 2011, there is no compulsory retirement age at UCL. Staff may voluntarily retire at a time of their choice, subject to providing appropriate notice. Many staff may continue to retire at their pension age (currently 65 years) because **this is when they can access their full pension benefits** although they have the choice to work beyond this age. Staff may be able to flexibly retire or retire before 65 years (normally accessing reduced pension benefits) depending on their pension scheme rules. (*emphasis mine)*
>
>
>
The answer seems to be, then, that it depends on the individual university. Oxford and Cambridge do seem to be in the minority in enforcing a mandatory retirement age; most universities stress in their policies that the age of retirement is a choice.
As to when academics actually do retire: I couldn't find any hard figures on this, although the general consensus for the UK across all job sectors is that people are choosing to work longer. I should imagine, however, that the default is still somewhere between the former mandatory age of 65, and the 67 or 68 set by Oxford and Cambridge.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The retirement age in New Zealand is, officially, the state retirement age of 65. The politicians are flip-flopping over raising this.
However, as far as I am aware there is no *mandatory* age of retirement. It's simply the age at which you are allowed to collect the state pension. Some professors continue working well into their seventies, just because they love their job.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: In Ireland there is no statutory retirement age. That said, under the [Employment Equality Acts, 1998 (see Section 34 for more detail)](http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1998/act/21/enacted/en/print.html) to 2011, it does not constitute discrimination on the grounds of age for employers to fix mandatory ages for retirement of employees so a university can fix a retirement age if it wishes.
Also the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 removed the compulsory retirement age for new entrants to the public service (covered some universities) with effect from 1 April 2004. This means that staff do not have to retire at the normal retirement age of 65.
Staff who are ‘new entrant’ on or after 1st April, 2004, the minimum
retirement age is 65 years.
Staff who are deemed not to be ‘new entrants’ shall be entitled to hold office until the age of 65 years. However, a person may retire on reaching the age of 60 years
For an example of polices in some Irish Universities see [here](http://www.ucd.ie/hr/pensions/normalretirement/), [here](https://www.tcd.ie/hr/assets/pdf/retirement.pdf), and [here](http://www.nuigalway.ie/media/humanresources/documents/nuig_retired_staff_policy_beartas_o_gaillimh_do_chomhalta_foirne_scor.pdf).
Upvotes: 2
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2015/06/06
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<issue_start>username_0: Perhaps, it's a naive question, but I'd like to have some clarification of my own thoughts on the subject. I'm curious about what is the *rationale* or need of 1) transferring copyright from authors of an academic artifact (paper, chapter, book, etc.) to a publication outlet and, consequently, 2) an inability for the authors to publish *their* work via other publication outlets.
I realize that the above is somewhat questionable from the *ethical* perspective of accumulating publication credit for essentially the same work. However, I think that this problem has an easy solution (which I've seen used by some people) - specifying in CVs and other materials that paper B, published in journal BB is the same (or lightly changed) as paper A, published in journal AA.
Assuming that the ultimate goal of scientific research is to enrich the human knowledge on a global scale is much more important than the above-mentioned slight ethical concerns (which can be easily alleviated), publishing scientific artifacts via multiple outlets IMHO makes quite a lot of sense from the perspective of exposing the work to a larger potential *audience*, which, ultimately has a **positive** effect on scientific research *knowledge sharing* and distribution.<issue_comment>username_1: Publishers have to eat too, and if you can take the same thing you published with them and publish it again with someone else, who will buy it from them? Their argument is that they invest in the publication process and need to get a return for it. I have some skepticism about this argument (these days, universities could pretty easily and cheaply operate open-access online publications, etc. etc.), and am personally a much bigger fan of open access, but that's the standard argument.
N.b. there's also a (smallish) benefit for authors in having a central place to go for things like reprint requests.
Also, many publishers these days are ok with a certain amount of republication. For example, most copyright transfer agreements I've seen for journal articles explicitly allow the author to republish in a larger book, e.g., a collected papers book or a follow-up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As with many questions about giving up (or not) versus retaining it, and why one should give it up in the first place, a criterion of something like "added value" is clarifying. In the first place, why "publish" with anyone who needs/wants to take the copyright from you? Duh, because those same people seem to have the power to grant *status* (nevermind the arguable business of "peer review"/correctness). Thus, from an economics viewpoint, many/most publishers are entirely happy to give you "status points" while making money by charging a fee for access to your work.
Naturally, as long as such publishers control the status-game, they will be happy to grant status while charging fees for access.
Naturally, there is an ambient confusion cultivated by for-profits about the supposed benefits-to-all of this system.
Naturally, in the short term, it is hard to generate status-points by "free" (but, therefore, mostly not "peer-reviewed") publication. (In fact, the very word "publication" in academia no longer seem to mean "a thing that has been made publicly available", but only something that has entered the formal peer-reviewed (and mostly corporation-controlled) "publishing" game.)
Now, yes, maintaining a web-site is not really "free", especially worrying about long-term maintenance. Filtering manuscripts even for basic sensibility is not trivial... It is a slightly pathetic form of "luck" that for most submissions to refereed journals, nothing is claimed that is sufficiently scandalous, or perhaps even widely interesting, to invite too serious skepticism, so that even if it's wrong or garbled, it really doesn't matter. In all that, and in light of recent years' journals' comments to referees that it's not our responsibility to verify correctness (!?!), but more "appropriateness for the journal" (this is about status), unless some alarm goes off about significant content... "peer review" absolutely does not guarantee exact correctness. Maybe ball-park correctness, on general principles of sense... which should be ok most of the time, etc.
So, for the time being, we are caught in a legacy system that had insinuated itself into the very fabric of academic function... and will be hard to surgically remove without endangering the patient, etc.
Still, some (especially not-for-profits, but not *all* not-for-profits!) are willing to negotiate limited-rights-transfers, ... which makes sense. But, even these days, one must speak up, or the default is that you surrender all rights, which is senseless.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2015/06/07
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<issue_start>username_0: So let me give a little info of who I am and what my interests are. I just graduated with a BA in Mathematics, concentrating almost exclusively in pure math courses (favoring analysis, algebra, topology, number theory, and combinatorics over computational/applied classes). Next semester I'm beginning a 2-year masters program in computational mathematics (at a group-1 public school, under old AMS rankings).
My research interests are currently strongest in the following areas:
* Combinatorics, especially algorithmic/computational and combinatorial optimization
* Cryptography, information encryption/decryption and security
* Number theory, but really just for the purposes of encryption/decryption
After doing some research on the Web, it seems to be the case that my interests fall into the field of theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics.
At this point in time, my idea of an ideal career would be a professor of math or CS at a university, probably a doctoral-granting university. I might also consider working for the government in information security, data analysis, etc.
Also, I definitely want a PhD. It's just been one of the constants in my life as a goal.
So, I pose the question. Given the above information, would a PhD in Math be more appropriate, or would a PhD in CS (probably concentrating in Theoretical CS) be more appropriate?<issue_comment>username_1: I am not a mathematician, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I would say that your current interests belong to two broad categories: *applied mathematics* (via combinatorics and, to a lesser degree, number theory) and computer science with an emphasis on *information security* aka *information assurance* (via cryptography, etc.) - so either of those areas seem to fit your **current** research interests.
However, notice my special emphasis on the word "current". Considering the IMHO high likelihood of your research interests might change in the future, I would recommend you to prefer an applied mathematics over CS, as that will give you more *flexibility* career-wise (i.e., you could apply your knowledge and skills to the fields of operations research, financial engineering and many others).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> After doing some research on the Web, it seems to be the case that my interests fall into the field of theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics.
>
>
>
Yes, I agree. Moreover these fields have substantial overlap, and your interests lie safely in this intersecting region. You could plausibly attend either program, and the post-PHD opportunities and career trajectories would be very similar.
One way to think about the decision is that the differences between a math program and a CS program will be more cultural and incidental. In a US PhD program there are going to be a lot of required components besides your thesis work. If you attend a math PhD program you will be required to take courses and pass qualifying exams in areas of mathematics somewhat removed from your stated research interests: e.g. I don't know any math PhD program in which you would not have to take graduate level analysis, including measure theory. Similarly, in a CS program you're going to have to take coursework and pass exams on *non-theoretical*, *non-cryptographic* computer science. Which of these sets of requirements sounds better to you?
If it's really a coin flip, then I would argue in favor of breadth and diversity of skills. At a certain point you have to specialize, but all other things being equal, I find basic knowledge more useful: it is so much easier to learn *more* about something than to get a first, rudimentary clue. Your undergraduate career gave you training in many theoretical areas of mathematics that are not directly related to your current research interests: great! Now give yourself the advantage of getting some broad training in CS topics as well.
Anyway, it ought to be clear from this answer that I think there is no bad choice. Good luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I believe <NAME> gives a good answer. Let me just supplement it with my personal experience. I was in a very similar situation a few years ago, choosing between pursuing a PhD in Mathematics with a focus on discrete fields including graph theory and optimization, and Computer Science with a focus on algorithms and data analytics. I had done research in both fields as an undergraduate, and I would be attending graduate school at the same institution I completed my undergraduate degree. I had the advantage of getting a little taste of the culture and expectations of each department.
In the end, my decision came down to how much I liked each department in terms of faculty, research groups, other students, and degree requirements. With regard to degree requirements, I found one department seemed to offer more flexibility and more chances to take classes that I thought I would like.
Perhaps most importantly, finding a research group that you like could determine which degree you choose. I think it's often much easier to work with an adviser if you are in the same department.
So my advice would be to take a look at the requirements of each department at whatever schools you apply to, talk to a faculty member and/or student if possible, and generally try to get a sense of the culture of each department. Especially look at the research of different faculty members and see if there are any groups which you particularly like. Surely it's not an easy task to gather all of this information if you don't go to one of those schools already, but you should be able at least to look up the degree requirements for each department and the research of different faculty.
Hope that helps some. Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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