texts: What constitutes plagiarism when writing a textbook?

texts:
Heyall, just asking a question out of curiousity.

I'm a mathematics undergraduate, who likes to write quite detailed notes from textbooks as a method of revising. These notes tend to follow roughly the structure of the textbook chapters - with the same definitions, theorems, etc - but often with differing proofs and exposition. I've been told by classmates that these notes are quite useful for them for revision.

Now, I have no intention of ever turning these notes into anything other than notes - I wasn't even sure about keeping them after the exams ended - but thinking about doing so raised questions for me.

When writing a textbook, what precisely constitutes plagiarism?

For example, in an Abstract Algebra textbook, there are only so many ways to cover group theory - as far as I can tell, the only major differences between how several books I've seen cover group theory is in the exposition and superficially in the proofs and definitions.

If a mathematician was annoyed that the only textbook in his/her subfield was notoriously low on detail, and wrote a book that was very similar - with the exception that it were an easier read - would that constitute plagiarism? (If so, that seems a bit restrictive to me.)

It cannot be that textbooks only contain original research, else few textbooks on undergraduate maths could've been written in the last one hundred years.


texts: How to interpret the phrase "experimental approach"?

texts:
I'm writing the introduction for a research proposal and am trying to express that our approach is "experimental" in the sense that it uses more exploratory and alternative methods rather than that it uses a controlled experiment.

Is the phrase "experimental approach" appropriate in this context? If not, what are alternatives? (Words like "novel" and "exploratory" aren't quite right.) Which way should that phrase be interpreted in general?


texts: Should I give professor gift at the beginning of my PhD?

texts:
I will be in a PhD program in Germany in which the first year of the program consists of only studying courses under several different professors.

Some people suggested me that I should give gift to the professors with whom I had interview with at the beginning of my PhD. Should I do it? Would it be misunderstood as bribing?


texts: Where to solicit graduate student applicants for a unique teaching opportunity?

texts:
I am currently writing a grant proposal that involves a unique (and, I hope, very appealing) two-week teaching opportunity in the US for mathematics graduate students or recent Ph.D.'s.

I want to recruit applications via a competitive process, rather than only recruiting people whom I personally know. I intend to announce this opportunity at conferences, on social media, by sending e-mails to prospective teachers as well as senior faculty members (whom I would ask to pass the announcement on to anyone appropriate).

Are there any more formal venues in which it would also be appropriate to advertise? As a graduate student I mostly learned of opportunities by e-mails or by word of mouth, but I would like to advertise as widely as is practical.


texts: Is it possible to attend grad school in cognitive sciences without a medical degree?

texts:
I'm currently a first year undergraduate student in pure math but recently I've become interested in neuroscience and related fields. Is it possible to pursue neuroscience and cognitive sciences without a medical degree?

If yes, do you know any universities in North America or Europe that accepts people with pure math degrees in programs that are related to neuroscience and bio-mathematics?

Sorry if my question is too naive, I don't have much information about academic stuff yet.


texts: When to explain poor performance in a Statement of Purpose

texts:
I know there have been similar questions asked, but the most recent question was focused on the transcript and the less recent question was focused on courses not relevant to the major.

My general question:
When is it a valuable addition to a Statement of Purpose to explain an isolated case of poor performance in important coursework?

My specific case:
I am an undergraduate currently writing a statement of purpose. I have had a 4.0 in math up until last semester. Last semester I took the following courses (with corresponding grades):

Graduate Real Analysis 1 (B)

Graduate Differential Topology 1 (A)

Graduate Probability Theory (A)

Undergrad Combinatorics (A)

Undergrad gen ed (A)

My explanation would include things like:

I was working 15 hours a week
I spent multiple hours a week applying for a Grant (and doing some preliminary Research along the way) and applying for the Goldwater scholarship
I was naive and overconfident to think I could go beyond a normal graduate course load (or something to that effect)

My reason to think that an explanation may be worthwhile in my case is because the B was in a very important graduate math course and I feel that, in effect, I just displayed that I hit my limit and my limit is below graduate level rigor. In reality, with my explanation, I feel like I may be able to convince someone that I actually was beyond the rigor of a first semester in graduate school and was simply naive and over confident.


texts: issue with easychair for tracking communications with authors

texts:
I have a problem when using easychair that after searching on the web, I was not able to find an answer to it.

The thing is that after we sent a review and a notification to the authors, about the state of their papers (accepted or rejected), we as the PC did not receive any notification about the decision we have sent. I mean on our email account that is linked to easychair. Is there any way to get the emails that we have sent to the authors? I mean any option on easychair.

Thanks


texts: Who pays travel & per diem costs for invited lecturers?

texts: When an academic is invited to give a talk at another university, are their food and travel expenses usually fully reimbursed by the university that invited the professor?


texts: Can a private college disallow a club based on politics?

texts: I am asking this question in light of recent events, as well as from personal experience. Is a college, particularly a private college, allowed to not accredit or allow a club on campus that is political in nature. For example, College Democrats or College Republicans. Both have well established chapters throughout the country, but is there any law protecting colleges who do not want these organizations on campus? I am asking this question in regards to U.S. colleges only.


texts: When should some research be censored/blocked due to social implication concerns?

texts:
My question is motivated by this article, that talks about the publication process and failure related to this paper.

As a Summary, it is research on a mathematical model to explain the greater male variability hypothesis, that is the hypothesis that males display greater variability in traits than females do.

The paper was censored because there is a “very real possibility that the right-wing media may pick this up and hype it internationally.”

Hence, when should some research be censored/blocked due to the social implications of it?

I've found two related, but no the same, questions in here:

Akin to public health:

When should academic papers be censored due to public health/safety concerns?

Akin to opinion outside research:

Academic freedom and unpopular or offensive views


texts: Advantages and Disadvantages of learning mathematics and physics subjects through lecture videos

texts: I have been contemplating studying some subjects by watching video lectures, more specifically Topology and Quantum Mechanics. I was wondering, if anyone has tried studying a subject on his own  by watching just lectures. Alternatively, I could work systematically through a book. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning by watching lecture videos, compared to reading a book? I am more concerned more about courses in Maths and Physics.


texts: Is it too early to switch advisors if I just finished my first semester as a master's student?

texts:
I'm aware that questions regarding changing advisors have been asked frequently on this community, and I've also asked a few of my own previously. However, after doing some thinking on the answers that I've received and read I felt that I needed some opinions or feedback regarding my situation.

I just finished my first semester as a computer science master's student but have been having doubts about staying in this lab for quite a while. The main reasons that I'm having feelings of doubt are:

Different research interests. When I first interviewed with the professor the research that he said I'd be doing was different from what I'm doing now.
Differences in approaches to research. My professor is more "business-oriented" (for lack of a better word) and only cares about the results (more specifically, I'm doing research in deep learning), while I want supervision on how to analyze those results in-depth.
Differences in values and principles (I'm not sure if this is an accurate way to put it). This is somewhat related to #2, but I've noticed that most of the people in the lab share an attitude along the lines of results-first. This attitude is somewhat understandable, but again it's not exactly how I want to approach my research. I've been ridiculed when people saw I was taking classes in the mathematics department, saying that "you don't need those classes for deep learning."
Lack of supervision in general. My advisor's always attending meetings and doesn't do any research of his own. The most advisory that students receive is either during our lab seminar or right before we're about to submit papers to conferences/journals.

Some of the things that are holding me back from making up my mind are:

Perhaps I'm just having feelings of frustration and don't know particularly well what I really want to do yet, and should give it some more time. My parents (who are both professors themselves) have said that it might not be a bad idea to take another semester to think on my doubts, and whether switching advisors would solve any of those problems.
Money. The lab that I'm at now is the largest in our department (even school maybe), and the professor does do a good job of bringing in government or company-funded projects. The students including myself usually get paid on a monthly basis, and we use this money to pay for our tuition with a bit extra. I'm aware that this isn't typical for our school, and the lab I'm at is privileged in that sense.
Fear of starting over. I'm not sure if there is any objective reason for me to feel this way, as it has only been one semester. I suppose the reason why I feel this way is because I want to get results out within the next two years so that I can apply for PhD programs elsewhere, and switching advisors gives me this massive feeling of anxiety that I'd be throwing away everything I've been involved in until now.

What would your advise be to someone who's just started graduate school and is already having these feelings? Would they be justifiable or perhaps I'm just acting like a child? Switching advisors isn't a trivial issue either, so any second opinions that I may receive are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


texts: Can you submit the same grant proposal to two different funding organizations?

texts:
I have recently submitted an EU grant proposal, the chances are low as it is very competitive, and I have just come across another fellowship (UK based) which is actually more suited to my field but the deadline is in a few days. Can I apply with the same research project proposal?
Before, anyone suggests, I checked similar questions: this thread is not useful as the funding organization is the same for them (not for me): Can one submit overlapping grant proposals?


texts: COVID-19 - Should I start applying for other jobs having accepted a post-doc verbal offer months ago?

texts:
I accepted a verbal post-doc offer from my future PI through email in late January. The university has asked me to fill out some forms for paperwork and visa application from time to time since then (the position is in the US and I need to apply for a J1 visa for it) but I never received an official offer.

Unfortunately, all US visa services have been halt due to COVID-19. I am really unsure when I will be able to start the visa application and when I may enter the US. The planned starting date was in April which is definitely impossible now -- I do not know how long the PI is willing to hold the position for me. Given all this uncertainty (also chaos from recent family issues), I am reconsidering applying for some local jobs.

I know that in the industry, it is commonly advised to continue looking without a written offer. Is this also the case in academia?
Will it be unethical to start looking, potentially rescinding my acceptance of the verbal offer if I secured another one? I have not signed anything and the circumstances are quite special, but breaking a commitment feels wrong. I do not know if this will burn bridges with the PI.

What will you do if you were in my shoes? Any advice will be much appreciated.


texts: Are M.S. degrees considered more "valuable" in the industry as compared to M. Eng degrees?

texts:
Specifically in chemical or mechanical engineering. Are the M.S. degrees considered more "valuable" in the industry as compared to M. Eng? Where might having only an M. Eng. degree be a detriment in the industry? (Since I have no plans of pursuing a PhD)

Do these two degrees experience about the same approximate "pay bump" as compared to those people with only a B.S. ?


texts: Why is a PhD thesis typically 150 pages?

texts:
I just don't understand why the overall findings & implications of a PhD cannot be communicated in the style of a research paper?

Succinctness is a virtue in a field characterised by time pressure.

The research output is equal to or less than that of a 3 year postdoc - which is always communicated as a research paper.

Just seems like added embellishment for the sake of embellishment.

What am I missing?


texts:
I joined "X" university (US) for my PhD to work with a specific adviser (Y). For 3 years, I prepared my background to work in Y's area (through education and research exp.). But now Y says that, "I am not sure if we can work together. I am not saying no but I can not say yes too."

During my admission process, Y told me that we can work together. And I made my decision based on this promise. Since everything worked out well, I did not feel the need to approach other faculty members from the department. But as a result, now, I am without an adviser. And Currently, my department is trying to patch me up in areas that are completely new to me.

This situation has forced me to start thinking about my options and I came across following queries,

a) should I graduate with a 2nd masters degree?

b) since I want to gain my PhD, do I need to explain my 2nd masters in my statement of purpose?

c) is 2nd masters going to raise red flags while being considered for the PhD admission in new university?

Any advice on (a), (b) & (c) will be really helpful. Thanks in advance.


texts: Obtaining abstracts for symposium talks before vs after submitting proposal

texts:
As an early-career researcher, I would like to get some organisational experience with chairing symposia, and am considering proposing a symposium for my (sub)field, at a major conference of the (general) field, which is psychology. I have the following doubts:

1) How is it best to time the symposium proposal's submission relative to obtaining the full talk details (titles & abstracts) from speakers? Some suggest that the latter can be obtained later once you have the symposium accepted; but to me it seems to make more sense to first enquire among colleagues what a possible symposium theme might be (seeking a convergent theme among everyone's current research keywords), before proposing it. Perhaps, as a mid-point, it's reasonable to just get acceptances from presenters, with only a rough idea for the symposium's thematic "centroid"? Trouble is, the conference I was considering actually requests (as do others) that the full talk details be included with the symposium proposal itself!

2) Organising a symposium is of course peanuts in comparison to organising a whole conference, but I anticipate even that will take a bit of time (negotiating talk topics, handling withdrawals/replacements, etc), so I wonder: alongside my actually enjoying it, and academia being arguably a 'gift economy', is there a real career benefit in having 'symposium organiser at conference X' in one's CV, i.e. are there real points 'scored' with this activity when applying for grants & jobs?


texts: Still no response from potential referees... Suggestions?

texts:
About a week ago, I emailed three of my MA tutors to ask them if they can write me a letter of recommendation for my PhD application. No one has answered yet, though. I know that tutors are busy people, but really, it was just a "yes or no" answer. In addition, I explicitly stated on my email, that if they didn't feel comfortable writing a LOR for me, they shouldn't feel obliged, etc.

My question is: Should I interpret their silence as a discreet 'No' or am I to assume that they've probably forgotten or the email slipped through the cracks, and send them a second email to remind them?

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated!

P.S. I know what I'm asking sounds a bit funny, but I'm really at a loss here, cause I definitely don't want to be annoying, but without references from my MA tutors, I probably can't apply for a PhD, at least to some UK universities.


texts:
I am so tired of contacting potential supervisors and submitting applications only to get rejected! Is the problem in my qualifications?
I graduated university with a GPA of 4.94 out of 5 (A Saudi Arabian University), and then I got my masters from Warwick University with a Merit but a distinction on the dissertation. I scored 7.5 in the IELTS exam as well.

Additional details: I am considered as an overseas student, and I have a sponsorship. My field is in digital marketing but my Bachelors was in Management Information Systems, and my masters was in e-Business Management. The research proposal I wrote discussed the bad and good behaviour of customers in the financial services industry, and its implications on the companies' ecosystems.

Thanks


texts: I peer reviewed a paper and found it to be sound - technically and language-wise. How should I write the review report?

texts:
I reviewed a research paper and found it to be well-written with no technical or language issues. How should I go about writing the review report for the paper?

If I write something on the lines of "the work is well-written and well-presented" and keep the review report succinct, I am worried that the editor might think I did not review it critically.


texts: Format of the manuscript at the revision stage

texts:
I recently submitted a paper to an Elsevier Journal (Biomedical Signal Processing and Control). I wrote the paper using the Elsevier article class (elsarticle.cls) with the option "review" which is one column format (text width = 12.5 cm) the final print copy as can be seen in published papers is two-column format (text width = 18.5 cm), when I was waiting a response from the editor I reread the paper carefully trying to correct possible errors and prepared it in a two-column format so that it matches as possible the final published layout.

Now I received an email for minor revisions but I found some comments about this topic, most of them say "to send the revised manuscript in single-column format and let the journal worry about which of the formats they use in the end", now if I worked by the last advice and since the preprint layout uses a larger line width, I did not face problem with displayed the long equations but in two-column format the long equation will overlap.

Is the Latex expert (person specifically employed to do the layout of the journals) Takes upon himself the formation of the paper in two-column format (for example : break the equations in the appropriate points)?

Another chose, if I put a figure of 10 cm of width it looks fine in one column format but in two-column format if I put it as one column (\begin{figure}) it will overlap, and if I put it as two-column (\begin{figure*}) maybe it looks much smaller and if the Latex expert they use Latex instructions to reduce or enlarge the figure maybe it loose its nice shape.

Finally,as I said before I have two-column format it Much like the final published layout, should I sent the two-column format or one column format?


texts: How formal should I be when sending an email to the University's staff?

texts:
I'm about to write an email to the department of an English speaking University (I'm not a native speaker) to clear up some doubts I have regarding enrollment. I have never spoken to them before. How formal should I be?

My questions: is it OK to use contractions ("I've... I'm...")? Is it OK if I try to throw in one or two polite jokes or should I be strictly formal and as objective as possible? Does anyone suggest a template for such an email?

Thanks!


texts: Referencing - Harvard Australian Government Publishing Service Style and Abbreviations

texts:
I'm working on my dissertation with the University of Sydney and need to use Harvard Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS) referencing. I'm assuming that the below question will be applicable to all Harvard styles, but if anyone has specific advice in relation to AGPS that would be very much appreciated. The question specifically is in relation to abbreviations. I'm using Endnote for what it's worth.
1) Several of my references are from international organisations such as The World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
For the in-text references, I'm hoping to use the abbreviation eg. (FAO, 2014) or (OIE, 2017) rather than every single time I use a reference from these organisations, to have to write out the full name e.g. (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2014) or (World Organisation for Animal Health, 2017) - I've got a 10,000 word-limit, and writing this out every time could take up to 5% of my word count.
Would it be acceptable to use the abbreviation  under Harvard AGPS provided that the first time FAO is referenced, for example, I spell out the full name and provide the acronym, and then subsequently just use the abbreviation?
2) Also as a second question for anyone who may have used Harvard AGPS with University of Sydney - is the correct style to use in Endnote Harvard_UQ or harvard_usyd?  On the Library website - https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476130 - they say to use Harvard_UQ, but I'm wondering if that page is out of date and there is an actual accepted Usyd Harvard Style.


texts: Logistics of co-authorship for assisting business

texts:
There is a business(sole proprietorship) which has collected a large amount of data relevant to a scientific (psychology) publication, and is providing access and helping implement unique meta-analysis of their data in assistance to the research.

Should I consider a co-authorship with this individual, and if so (given they themselves only previously had a bachelors degree in a different field and are unaffiliated with any university or large institution currently) what would be the proper format for their inclusion in the publication?

They have not been involved in previous publishing work as part of their business so they do not have a previous protocol for this. Their contributions could be considered to be worth more than an acknowledgement.


texts:
In the UK a portion, and in some cases all, work is "second marked" where an independent marker also marks the work. In cases where the 1st and 2nd marker disagree, a 3rd marker may be used. Finally, the entire work of each student over the course of his/her studies is evaluated by an exam board with (sometimes) 2 additional independent markers. These exam board markers tend to only consider cases that are on the border of different degree classifications.

From my understanding of statistics, having all of these different markers will regress marks towards the mean. As I am currently faced with the daunting task of 2nd marking a large stack of off topic papers, I am curious what are the advantages of second marking?


texts:
I currently hold a BA in Middle Eastern History, which was a pretty good fit for my last job in the Army.  I'm getting ready to move on to the civillian world now, and computer science/programming has always been a hobby for me that I'd like to look into turning into a career.

My question is, what type of program should I look into in order to deepen my knowledge and verify my abilities?  Should I look at getting a second undergrad, or would a programming education certificate be enough to get my foot in the door for employment/grad school later on?  Are online certificates such as Kaplan/Phoenix respected enough, especially if they are in addition to a traditional degree?

I basically want to know where to set my sights, in order to get going in software development.  Getting an additional qualification seems necessary, so which kind makes the most sense for getting started?


texts: Is there a standard dictionary for referencing English words?

texts:
I am working on a paper in which we need to reference the meaning of english words as foundation for the analysis in the paper (we are categorizing situations using these words, and there is no method of categorizing these items, so no precedent).

Before internet, using the encyclopedia Britannica or merriam-webster dictionary was easy for referencing the book itself.  These days, words and meanings change and are sometimes updated.  Even more, looking online for a dictionary for finding a word returns many results.

When searching for oxford dictionary there are three results
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/
http://www.oed.com/
http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

Merriam webster:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Cambridge:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

The online dictionary:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

And of course wikipedia usually has some definition.

For example, if we categorize something as 'multi-' , In this dictionary: http://oaadonline.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/multi multi is "More than one".  However, in this http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multi , multi is "More than two".  That is a huge difference in terminology.

Is there an academic standard for the age of online dictionaries?  Have words just begun to mean different things and its futile to use dictionaries in this way?


texts: How do I reference a publication in my CV where I am alphabetically listed as an author but the citation lists the organization?

texts:
I recently was part of a large writing group that produced a publication. Authorship, including myself, is listed alphabetically in the acknowledgements however the group leadership chose to list the organization as the author in the citation/reference rather than acknowledge contribution for authors. I previously brought this up as a problem when there was a proposed order of authors and sent the group leadership standard criteria for authorship listing.

How can I list the publication in my CV?


texts:
I was writing a take home exam where I was allowed to use notes. I copy-pasted some of my lecture slide show into one of the answers, to speed up the process of referring between my notes and the slide show and this way I could easily reference my notes. It was around two sentences and the font was completely different than my answer. I ran out of time on the test and I am not sure if I deleted the two sentences copied from the slideshow.

My question is: Do I email my professor and let him know this just in case I did not erase it? I do not want him to think I plagiarized, I had no intention of keeping it there, and it is blatantly obvious that I was not trying to pass it off as my own (because you can tell it came directly from the slideshow and is not incorporated into a sentence).

Do you think I should be worried about getting in trouble?


texts: I got a request to review a paper from a journal. I know the topic area well, but I've had some recent collaborations with some of the authors. Should I decline the request because of this? What is the common practice here?


texts: How to test my understanding of an academic paper?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student in Computer science who has recently developed a very strong interest in logic and computability. I enjoy a lot reading academic papers but I am afraid that my understanding of them might be incomplete or skewed.

This question is similar to: How can I prove my self-studied knowledge? but my unlike the OP I want to specifically test my knowledge of academic papers and I have no one to talk to (other than Mathematics/Mathoverflow)!

There is some graduate courses at my University that are "seminars" where a group of graduate students with a professor discuss a new paper every week. It looks awesome and so interesting... but I am a first-year student and I don't want to come across as arrogant. What to do?


texts: "no derivatives" clause for CC licensing

texts:
I’m wondering about whether it might hurt to use the "no derivatives" clause when licensing a scientific article under a Creative Commons license. My impression is that nobody ever creates "derivative works" in academia, that would simply be considered as plagiarism.

A related question is the usefulness of the "share alike" clause. Note for instance that the arXiv proposes both CC BY and CC BY-SA. What is the difference? Are there any derivative works of an article that would not be plagiarism?

I’m only talking about an article, for instance a theorem and a proof in mathematics, not about any kind of computer code which one may want to reuse.


texts: Issuing of CAS number without proof of completion of degree

texts:
I hail from Singapore and have applied for the Msc Insurance and Risk Management at City University London and have been offered a place provided I have evidence of the completion of my degree. However, I am unable to provide evidence of the completion of my degree as I am currently in the midst of my Final Year Project (FYP) and will only submit it on 22nd August. Physical evidence of the completion of my degree will only be out in October which would be too late for the start of the program at City University London. Do note that physical evidence of the completion of degree is a requirement set out by UK Visa office, not City University London.

City University London refuses to issue me a CAS number because of the reasons mentioned above. CAS number is required for the application of UK Student Visa (Tier 4).

I have tried the following ways to get City University London to issue me a CAS number

1) Request for the fast track of my academic transcript from my university but it has been rejected by the academic dean of my university.

2) Called UKVI but even they were unsure of what to do with my situations. The advisor said it may be possible for me to get a Short-term study visa before changing to a Student Visa (Tier 4). I am unsure of how this exactly works and if it is even possible. I would appreciate any help.

3) Contact one of the UK Immigration Advisor for help. Anyone have any idea which one would be best suited for me ??

The best I could do was to get my academic dean to issue a letter stating that he is confident that I will complete my degree given my current stellar results.

I am at my end's wits and would appreciate advice, failure to get a CAS number would mean that I have to wait 1 year to enter City University London which is extremely disruptive to my life


texts: Can a professor make your final pass or fail?

texts: I current have an 85% in his class but my final is pass or fail. I’m horrible at math and have really tried my hardest to get that b but my professors math final is either you pass it or if you fail it, you fail the course! Is allowed? I also asked around and it seems he’s the only professor that is doing this.


texts: When should academic papers be censored due to public health/safety concerns?

texts:
A recent paper in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, which reports the discovery of a new botulinum toxin, has been censored:

  Because no antitoxins as yet have been developed to counteract the novel C. Botulinum toxin, the authors had detailed consultations with representatives from numerous appropriate US government agencies.

The team sequenced the bacterial DNA corresponding to the toxin, but did not publish it.

I can understand the reasoning, and see how it might make sense, but I wondered: in such a case, what are guidelines that should be followed? The editors indicate consultations with governmental agencies, but I think the government might in some case be overly eager to censor data that should, from an ethical and moral point of view, be disseminated.

So, without turning this into a political question: what are guidelines (written rules as well as unwritten moral standards) that an author, reviewer or editor should follow concerning potential public safety issues? I looked for information on the COPE website, but could not really find anything relevant.


texts: Is it possible for people with a stutter to have a career in academia?

texts: I understand that it is difficult for people with stuttering to verbally communicate and explain their ideas/research or to give lectures. Does that means there is no chance for them to work in academia even with the PhD degree?


texts: Doctoral Consortiums: When, How Many and Are they actually useful?

texts:
I am a fourth year graduate student of information science. Broadly, I work in a rather interdisciplinary area at the intersection of location based social networks, usable privacy and surveillance studies.

I am post A exam - which in my university refers to a combination of qualifiers, orals and dissertation proposal/prospectus confirmation. I am regarded as ABD/doctoral candidate in my university. I go on the job market in another 6-12 months (depending on certain criteria such as in progress journal articles being published on time etc.)

In my specific field, folks publish in a combination of journals and conferences tending more towards the latter although my committee prefers the former.

My adviser and I have been discussing the possibility of my presenting a general overview of my doctoral dissertation work in doctoral consortiums in various conferences to get feedback and exposure to the community as a whole. Some of the sample conferences where my work is a good fit are here, here and here. I am looking to go into academia primarily (looking for both calls for tenure track positions as well as post doctoral positions)

My questions to the academia.stackexchange community are as follows:

How useful are doctoral consortiums for feedback and presentation of your dissertation in-progress to the broader academic community?
When is a good time to start attending doctoral consortiums?
How many doctoral consortiums are "enough"? (assuming funding to attend multiple ones)

Thank you for reading this question.


texts: Removing some citations between initial and final submission of paper

texts:
Is it considered bad practice or unethical to remove some references/citations between the initial paper submission and the final one? I submitted an 8-page conference paper, it got peer-reviewed, it got accepted, and now I have to submit the final 6-page version. In order to cut down on length, I'm thinking of removing some less important/relevant references that I included in the initial submission.

Are there any general "rules" against that? It's an IEEE paper btw.


texts: Is it unheard of to pursue writing a relevant master's thesis while enrolled in a capstone-project based masters program?

texts:
I am currently enrolled in a capstone project based maters program (in Analytics, from a business school) openly geared towards developing practical industry specific skills for its students.  However, I am beginning to feel strongly that my calling might be to attempt to pursue a career in Academia.  Without opening a can of worms about how a pivot ought to take place (or might very well be improbable), I am wondering if I might be able to have my cake and eat it too.

Though my program obviously does not outwardly support it, assuming (BIG assumptions probably) I was able to build the appropriate relationships, invest the sweat equity, and carve out a pathway, would that even be possible?  Or have I jumped the shark here?

Thank you in advance for your consideration!


texts: Is it legal to share an electronic copy of a few book chapters?

texts:
I have scanned a few chapters of a textbook (about 10%) and I want to make the electronic files available to my classmates. The reason why I scanned the chapters initially was so that I could print them out and give it to a friend, and that is what I did.

The class of 93 people has an intranet with a chat room. I could ask them to email me of they are interested in getting the files. The folder size is large, so I would need to provide a link for them to download the files off, say, Google Drive, and Google gives the option of restricting the download to a specific person if they have a Gmail account. The other option is to post a download link on the chat room that could be used by anybody. Would that be legal and/or ethical? If I do share the files individually, would it be fine to send a link to an individual email that could be used by anybody? The students have access to the book in any case, at the library.

I understand that when my classmates share an entire textbook on the chat room in this way, it is illegal and unethical. But there is a finer line being drawn here because what I want to do is not dissimilar to sharing the files with one or two people.


texts: Can a student with a weak or average undergraduate math GPA realistically become a professor?

texts:
I just finished my second year of undergraduate studies as a double major in computer engineering and mathematics at the University of Iowa. Although I came in believing that I wanted to become a software engineer, I've become more interested in pursuing math as I learn more about it.

To be completely honest, I was somewhat directionless and unmotivated when I started my studies and I didn't quite achieve the grades that I wanted. I finished my first year with a GPA somewhere around a 3.45 on a 4.0 scale. However, I managed to put forth a lot more effort into my coursework this year, pulling my overall GPA up to a 3.60 (and achieving a 3.8 this last semester).

The problem is that my mathematics GPA is still somewhere around a 3.48. The graduate school at my university requires a 3.4 to pursue doctoral studies in math and (assuming that my grades continue to stay on track) I know I will be able to satisfy that.

My question is, are my grades able to become competitive enough to reasonably pursue a career as a tenure-track professor in math at a state university? I still have two years of undergraduate coursework plus all of graduate school and post-doc studies to make myself more appealing, but if I've already caused too much harm to repair then I'll probably skip graduate school altogether and go into industry as a software engineer.

I don't know all that much about expectations and qualifications for becoming a mathematics professor so I was hoping that somebody who might be a little more knowledgeable here could help give me some guidance.


texts: College in high school and math graduate school admissions

texts:
I am a senior in high school and will be starting at the University of Washington in the fall.  My goal is to become a successful research mathematician (in academia), and, from what I can gather, my chances at this goal are increased if I am admitted into a "top" math graduate school for my PhD studies.  Hence I am trying to be as proactive as possible in preparing for graduate school.

Here is the deal: I have had a very different educational experience; namely two years of basically no math in 9th and 10th grade, and then math at community college in 11th, and finally an honors sequence at the University of Washington this year, in 12th grade. The class covers single variable calculus, some multivariate, ODEs, and linear algebra, all with rigor.  Going in to college in the fall I will have over 100 quarter credits completed (so I will be at the level of a junior).  Moreover, I will be in the senior level algebra sequence and in another honors sequence that covers some real analysis and complex analysis.  After my freshman year I will only have a few undergrad classes left to take (namely one year long sequence).  Lastly, I am currently self-studying (baby) Rudin.

So considering my background and current level, it seems I will be taking a large number of graduate courses in my college career if I stay for four years. (Indeed, theoretically at least, I could largely complete the coursework for a PhD by taking two sequences per year). I am worried that if I do stay for four years I will be looked upon negatively by graduate schools, since they might think I am being lazy.  Moreover, what will they think when they see 6 years of college transcripts? Should I plan to finish my degree two years from now to avoid this situation?  Or perhaps in 3 years?

Edit: Perhaps lazy wasn't the appropriate word.  I get the intuition that if an applicant had taken 6 years to complete his/her degree, whilst taking graduate courses even, the admissions committee would think them strange.  What I am wondering is, would my situation be any different?


texts: Emailing multiple potential Ph.D advisors, post admission and visitation

texts:
I have recently been admitted into a Ph.D. program for Engineering, and have already visited the campus and met with potential advisors.

After my meetings, I have decided that I would be interested in working with several of the professors I met with, and I am unsure of how to go about reaching back out to multiple professors at the same school to learn about potential work in their respective labs.

Is it frowned upon to email various professors at the same department and school, and if not, is there a good way to go about asking them for a bit more information (than I had received in the initial meeting) about exactly what projects they have funding for?

Thanks for the help!


texts: I've read that in Belgium academic salaries are based on years since PhD. If this is the case, is this always the case? Are there special cases where someone would be paid more than their "years since" rate? Like, for example, if an early career scholar brings in a very large research grant: still the "years since" rate? It would seem difficult to keep talent with such a system so perhaps I am misunderstanding something.


texts: Referee did not fully understand accepted paper

texts:
I just got a paper accepted without revisions in a prestigious journal. This is of course nice. Reading the referee report makes me a bit worried, though. It is clear that the referee has gotten the basic ideas of the paper, and has identified what we also think is the primary contribution. It is, however, also clear that quite a lot of details regarding the implications of the primary result, were not correctly understood by the referee.

What actions should I take from here? I of course want the paper published, but I am worried that people in general will misunderstand the parts about implications. Should I contact the editor and ask for another reviewer? Should I ask permission to re-write that part of the paper? Or should I just shut up and be happy to be accepted without revisions?


texts:
I am a assistant professor in engineering at a branch campus of a larger university. I have a few questions about the tenure process I would like to hear people’s opinion on.

I would be in my 6th and final year of the tenure process next year, but I took the 1 year extension on the tenure period the university offered due to COVID19. How are tenure committees viewing this extension? My main concern is some member of the tenure committee saying “Well he had 7 years instead of 6, so he should have more publications”. Is anyone working on a tenure committee and can speak to how this extension is being perceived?

Just out of curiosity for people in a similar position to my self, how many journal papers are you hearing to get tenure? I constantly hear 5-6 papers, and right now I’m at 5. My goal is to publish 1-2 more papers within the next year.

For those of you in engineering fields, how heavily is having a paper published in ASME, ASCE, IEEE, etc. considered? The reason I ask is I tried 2 times to get a paper published in my respective engineering society journal and failed  (didn’t even get the chance to respond). The ironic part is I went on to publish those papers in higher impact journals in my field, but I am still worried that some engineering faculty on the tenure committee is going to penalize me because I don’t have a journal paper in my respective engineering society journal.

What is the real weight on research vs. teaching and service on these tenure committees? My teaching is great and my service is good, but I honestly worry that nobody on the tenure committee cares about that. I feel like if I was one journal paper short the committees would not give me tenure despite great teaching and good service. If this was flipped and I was a bad to mediocre teacher with 10 journal publications, I feel the committees wouldn’t care and just approve the package for tenure immediately. I apologize as I’m ranting a bit.

How closely does a university committee review a tenure package with respect to tenure policies of a branch campus? For those of you that have been on these types of tenure committees, have you noticed any significant biases in the amount of journal papers and grant funding that is expected out of a branch campus faculty member for tenure? The reason I ask this is I teach a 3-3 and we just established our master’s program last year. I don’t want to be held to the same research standard as a university faculty member, as I teach more classes and have less resources than they do.

Any advice on people to recommend for external review members? The conferences in the type of research I do are mostly industrial in nature, and I just don’t meet many other faculty members. I don’t know how I’m supposed to come up with this list of faculty members I’ve never collaborated with for external reviews. I could always the names of some researchers in my field. Also, I’ve heard that some universities ask external reviewers if they would give tenure to a candidate at their school? I don’t see how that is a remotely fair question as schools can have drastically different researching and teaching expectations. Therefore, should I look for researchers that don’t work at a more prestigious college than mine?


texts: How does time off for a serious illness affect funding and duration of PhD?

texts:
I am a PhD student from India studying in the UK and I have been diagnosed with Hepatitis B during my recent visit to India. The sad part is that it is a recurrence of the disease as I contracted it before my PhD and had to delay my PhD for a few months in the beginning.

Now that I have been diagnosed with it again, I'm afraid of telling my supervisor and sponsors about it as I feel they might cancel the funding as I have such a recurrent problem.

I say this because my project is funded by a German company who are a stickler for time and want me to finish my work on time as there have been enough delays.

I also took 2 months off in the summer to work on a separate research project outside of my PhD to build experience. It was not taken nicely by the company but I went anyway as I had a very good first year viva and report. I took it with the thought that I would make up the time by working extra once I get back and my supervisor supported me in this regard. Plus, UK PhD students are allowed 6-8 weeks off during their PhD for holidays and I haven't taken any time off since except to visit India for a conference, which has led to my predicament.

I feel completely lost and I do not know what to do.

What I exactly want to know is, If its normal for PhD students to take time off for illnesses? Can sponsors withdraw funding in that event? How does it affect the time of the PhD?


texts: How to express success of the found solution in a thesis?

texts:
I currently write my thesis, therefore I develop and later implement a solution for a problem and do a performance & security evaluation afterwards.

The results of the evaluation are quite good in my opinion, because they are just slightly below the solution considered optimal (which can not be applied in the given setup).

But I have problems on finding terms to express that success in the end of the evaluation chapter / conclusion as I can not simply write "This is a success".

Are there any common phrases, or don't I judge my results like this?


texts: How to respond to a comment when two reviewers ask the same or similar question?

texts: I got the comments from a journal where two reviewers asked almost similar query. How do I respond to it? Can I answer it at one place and in the other place, I can briefly describe the answer and say a more detailed response is presented before in page so and so..


texts: Changing research field as PhD applicant

texts:
I am a CS undergrad currently thinking about my post grad application. I have a couple of questions.

So far, I published 2 first author papers, one in SODA, and one in VLDB. However, they're on two totally different topics (One on compression algorithms [theory], one on graphs [DB related])

I recently (last year) started getting interested in Machine Learning and specifically reinforcement learning, and have been spending a whole lot of time on it. I decided I want to apply to a PhD in that field.

Would my unrelated previous research papers add any positive thing to my application, or would it just be better to apply to a PhD that relates to my my published papers?


texts: How will the 2013 US government shutdown affect NSF postdoc applications?

texts:
Does anyone know if there will still be NSF postdocs offered (the current deadline is the 16th), given that the NSF website is currently down due to the government shutdown in the US?

Also, in case it is still open, if anyone has the PDFs that could previously be found at

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5301

regarding the information, application process, and forms to be submitted, perhaps they could mirror a copy on a website, and post the link here?


texts: Undergraduate transcript for graduate addmission

texts:
If your undergraduate degree transcript shows that you failed one subject, and in the other you barely passed but still you have a good WAM (say 85) or GPA (say 6.5 out of 7), would those two subjects in your transcript destroy your chances of being admitted?

To be more specific, I graduated last year with a combined degree (Electrical engineering and Mathematics). I got 40 in Digital Fundamentals and 61 in physics. These two subjects were first year, first semester subjects of my undergraduate. All my other grades were greater than 85. My current GPA is 6.8 (out of 7) and my WAM (weighted average mark) is 86 (out of 100). The second time that I did digital fundamentals, I got 96.

I am planning to do a phd in electrical engineering.


texts: How can I balance the reading requirements for a large survey course?

texts: I'm currently developing the lesson plan for a large (~100 students) survey course in history for the fall semester. Since this is my first time as instructor of record for the course I'm having some problems balancing how I would like to teach the course (several books worth of reading) with feedback from others in the department (i.e., limit the reading). My concern is that while the textbook is quite solid, there are some significant gaps that I think should be addressed. How can I balance the reading for the course so that I don't overwhelm the students in my course?


texts: Will the publications on Open Acess journal (like Hindawi) harm the PhD application to economics or finance departments in USA (or MPhil in UK)?

texts:
How will the departments view the PhD, PostDoc, and AP applicants with SJR tier Q3(4) publications and/or publications on open access journals?

Personally I believe that at the specialization level of Postdoc and AP, committees are looking after publications on specific good journals rather the name of the publisher. But at PhD level I am not sure what will happen. I doubt that the super busy faculties in top departments will bother reading the applicant's publications in detail just because s/he paid $100 application fee.

Is a publication on a Springer journal (but with SJR tier Q3) looks better than an open access journal with tier Q2?

We often do not have time to go through an article in detail. In academia, will you pay more attention to articles published by prestigious publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Sage, academic societies, Etc.), provided that all the other credentials (affiliations, ranks, names) of a paper are the same?


texts: Is a letter of recommendation from a suicide line worth anything in academic career in STEM?

texts:
I'm finishing grad school in STEM. I have a postdoc offer already, but will be applying for more. During grad school I volunteered at a suicide line taking phone calls. If you volunteer a certain number of hours (I have) they will write you a letter of recommendation.
I chose to volunteer just to volunteer. It has been helpful training in other areas though. Learning how to listen, empathize, etc. has been really helpful and surprisingly relevant to other areas of life.
Is there anything I can use that letter for as I go from grad school/postdoc to TT and beyond? If not that's fine, I was just volunteering to volunteer.


texts: Publication dates: accepted date, version of record online, issue online – which one to use?

texts:
I have seen the other questions regarding which publication date to use, and it seems clear to use what the publisher uses.  But what if the publisher provides several dates such as the following?

Issue online: 25 January 2016
Version of record online: 25 October 2015
Accepted manuscript online: 7 October 2015

I find these definitions confusing. Which data should be used as the official publication year? What does version of record online even mean; is it important?


texts: What if the value cannot be accurate to one decimal place?

texts:
I have read a lot of papers, and the tables they draw are accurate to one decimal place. But my data looks like this: 0.003% 12.736% 19.255 and so on. If it is accurate to one decimal place, 0.003% is zero. There are three more data in my table: 5.265*10^8  6.840∗10^4  2.213∗10^3 and their sum is 5.266∗10^8, but if I am accurate to one decimal place, it becomes 5.26∗10^8 6.84∗10^4 2.21∗10^3, their sum is 5.26∗10^8. The sum equals the first addend.
How precise should I be?


texts: How important is the keyword section in a paper

texts: I am writing a computer science paper that has a keywords section that comes directly after the abstract. Currently I have just one keyword in there, how important is that section? Do I have to come up with as many related keywords as I think of, or nobody actually uses this section and I can ignore it?


texts: Check Robustness of ISI Q1 enlisted Journal?

texts:
Recently, I've received an acceptance for publishing my paper in an ISI enlisted Journal called Indian Journal of Science and Technology. Definitely, it's great.

How can I check the robustness of this journal? How much value will carry on it in academic world?

Can anyone help me, please?

http://www.indjst.org/index.php/indjst/index


texts: Correcting a mistake in my journal article after it's been published

texts:
My research is in humanities and social sciences and my article was published in a journal in Dec 2016. When the online issue came out, I immediately realised that a mistaken was made, where quotation marks should be in my article title. This was mainly my fault given that said quotation marks were removed from my original and revised submissions when the first proofread came through to me, and I mistook that as a journal style issue.

Now I'm asking the editor about erratum procedures but based on their responses, I'm beginning to think they don't have such a policy in place. If that is so, what would this community advise I do? Part of my title quoted a well-known figure and the last I want to be accused of is plagiarism! E.g. can I add an errata on my personal/academic webpages and will that be of any use? I'm a final year PhD candidate.

Appreciate any useful help I can get here. Thank you.


texts: Editor rejected my paper stating that reviewers had refused to review it long after submission; How can I understand what is wrong with my paper?

texts:
I am having very  frustrated at the turn of events and review process. I had sent a paper to an International Journal. The paper was based on my work and well received by PhD committee of my Institute. The paper was submitted 3 years back. The paper was in status "Editor Assigned" for 6 months. After that its status changed to "Under Review". After 9 months in this status (15 months after submission date), I sent a polite mail to editor asking about how much time it will take to complete review? There was no response. After I month similar gentle mail was sent. There was no response. After month, I again sent query (18 months after submission). At that Editor replied saying that they could not review the paper as assigned reviewers either refuse to review or did not agree to review. The paper was rejected after 18 months without any review comment.

So how does one know where it requires improvement? If paper was not of required quality why they kept with them for so long?

I feel that it is wrongly rejected.

Is it correct answer?

How can it show status as Under Review and then Editor says no Reviewer did not accept or refuse. My understanding is that paper goes in "Under Review" state only after "Reviewer" accepts to review. So what would have happened? Why Editor requires 3 months just to tell the status and comes back with mail like this? Editor did not bother reply to mail. Is it that he got angry because of persistent queries.

I had even worst experience with next Journal. The paper was submitted and it remained in status "With Editor" for 9 months. Wiser by experience, I asked Editor about status? After persisting with it for about 2 more months, Chief Editor said that they rejected paper based on quick review as paper is not suitable to Journal as it does not meet its criteria like Originality, Depth etc. Again there no review comments about improvement.

It is not sour grape, I do feel that around 60% papers in that Journal do not possess these qualities and have been published in 6-8 months (after revision).
If paper is not of required standard, they could have rejected in 2-3 months, why it took them such long time. If I would not have sent mail, probably it would have remained with them for long time. This work is now 3 years old not published anywhere and I even do not know what to do to improve. I am feeling very bad and really do not know what to do?

What would happened? Is it wrong to ask editors about status even after 9 months or year? Our University requires two Journal publication for PhD thesis submission and really do not what to do?

Many friends are suggesting that publish in Open Access Journals.


texts: Addressing research of faculty members in statement of purpose

texts:
Is it recommended to refer to research done by specific faculty members in a department in the SOP for graduate school admissions?

Does it not imply that you are interested in their research ONLY and thereby reduce your chances in case they don't have funding or had already other applicants/students who wanted to work with them?

If it can be beneficial, how can one address specific faculty research without limiting the audience of their application to them? (More specifically, consider physics PhD programs in US).


texts:
I was flying from Canada back home, after all the in-person classes and tests were canceled.
So my country(Kazakhstan) has strict laws that were enforced in regard of the new pandemic. They include closing a passenger of an international flight coming in to Kazakhstan in a quarantine hospital.
In my case there was only 1 city that had a working airport in the country, my only resort was going there and later traveling to my city.
The whole process took place in a prisoner-like environment in which i was held for 4 days. By my release from the first city, i was already late on one of my assignments, and by the time I actually got home in my city, but without luggage and got back to relatively normal state, i was late on the second one.
My question is, should I be contacting my professor about this messed up situation, or should i consider something else. Im asking this because the missed assignments could make me fail the course.


texts: Which journals make peer review history documents publicly available?

texts:
Nature Communications has had a policy since 2016 that authors are given the option to publish the peer review history of their paper.

Are there other journals with the same initiative?


texts: Can a paper accepted as an extended abstract be submitted to other conferences?

texts: Recently, I have a paper only accepted as an extended abstract by a AI conference. Is it still possible to submit this paper to other conferences like KR (International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning)?


texts: How to prevent students from having an unfair advantage on exams, when they are held on different days?

texts:
I teach a writing course to different sections, across different days of the week. From the schedule, some students will take their mid-term exam early in the week, while others will take it later in the week. Recently, I found one student who was “just checking to see what the exam was like”, but was planning to go to another session to actually take the test. I realized there might be a variety of ways that students taking the exams on Friday would have an advantage over those taking it on a Monday.

I've taken the following steps in an attempt to address this problem:

I build multiple tests, e.g. "A", "B", "C", etc., which are of similar difficulty, have the same types of problems, but different subjects. "A" is given to one section, "B" to another, etc.
Provided a sample test that students can print and practice with and discuss with me in class.

Note that, there are several challenges to administering this:

The classes are large, and the school offers me no assistance in managing the exams.
Many students regularly attend my lectures during sections that they did not register for, so I will not easily recognize who belongs in which time.

Are there any additional steps I should consider to make sure the test is administered fairly?


texts: If you plan on getting a PhD could you strictly take classes in your field to prove yourself and not get your bachelors?

texts: Could one potentially get into a PhD program if they don't take college graduation requirements and instead take more classes in their field?


texts: Why there is a lack of transparency in US tenure-track job searches?

texts: I find it strange that most US departments have so little transparency in tenure-track jobs searches. In the UK the system is a little cleaner. Jobs are generally announced in one place (jobs.ac.uk) and the interview date is often set in advance. In the US there is no central list of jobs and it is difficult to determine where in the process the search is. Why don't search committees set a date for the short list to be decided at the outset and make it publicly available? Even for searches that move sequentially through the short list inviting candidates one at a time for interviews, could still send out a notification. It seems it would reduce the stress of the search for many applicants and not be too much work for the search committee.


texts: How can I sell independently created software to my university?

texts:
I am in a situation that I think is not uncommon nowadays.

I wrote software on my own time, by my own decision, and with my own resources during my undergrad career at a university in the US, and now I want to be monetarily compensated for it because my software is used on a regular basis by a department in the university. I have heard of a couple cases where a student wrote a program that he/she thought would be helpful to the university in some way, after which they purchased it because they also thought it was valuable.

I want to go through the same thing, but the head of the department seems to refuse to pay (or at least say they are unable to pay for it). They claim it was a "senior project" even though that is not true, but somehow that means they can't pay for it. I think the intellectual property and my work that went into the software is worth money, so I feel I should be compensated.

Since that department is already using it and finds it valuable, shouldn't they pay for the product? If they completely refuse, is it smart to take the software away?

EDIT for clarification:
Nothing has been signed. There have been no agreements written on paper that determine who has ownership. We have only spoken about this.

As a "trial period" I gave them the software's source so they could use it while I was away (because I graduated and moved away) and so I could make updates to the code. This was not a senior project. My work on this project had nothing to do with the university while I was writing it. The only relevance was that I intended to have it be used by the people at the university once it was finished.


texts: Tax write-off for research-related expenses in the US?

texts: I am wondering if any research-related expenses can be applied toward a personal tax write-off (in the U.S.).  For example, assume I traveled to a conference or meeting to present my research, and all the expenses were paid out-of-pocket.  Or, assume that I purchase some equipment or supplies that is used for my research.  Does a provision in the tax code exist that would allow the expenses to be considered a tax write off?  If so, a link to the IRS rule would be greatly appreciated!


texts: What should I do if a Professor yells at me and a fellow student in class?

texts:
So I'm taking a storyboarding class at my college and we have a big project coming up. I've been working on it a lot and talked about the story with my professor and he seemed to really enjoy it. We're on week two of working on it and I've finished my treatment and have been working on the storyboards digitally at home. When I went to class, my friend who gets sick often was there (a rare occurrence even though she tries her hardest) and we chatted a bit at the beginning of class. The professor handed out a list of shots we should use in our story if we wanted. As I already had my shot list at home with my storyboards, I decided to help my friend since she didn't completely know what to do.
I was helping her develop her story and we decided to watch some videos on my computer for inspiration. The project theme was "Escape" so we were watching escape scenes from movies. The professor notices and comes over and I make a joke about how we're watching one of the best scenes in film history (it was a scene from Shrek with the princesses). He tells me to stop the video so I do, but at this point I can't tell if he's joking or not. I stop the video and he tells me to turn it off so I exit full screen and close the video. He then proceeds to ask me a question I don't hear (tight fitting mask plus my anxiety making my blood pound made it hard to hear). I ask him to repeat his question and he gets mad. He then asks me what the video has to do with my story and if I'm using it for my shot list. I explain to him, no, I'm helping my friend since I'm pretty much done with my project. Then he asks me something else, this time I didn't understand him at all and my anxiety was through the roof. The class by now is dead silent. I ask him to repeat his question and he takes my handout of shots he gave us earlier and rips it in half. He asked me what about the shots we talked about last week. This still confuses me because we didn't discuss shots. I told him about my story and that was it. He then asked how long we've been working on this project. I say "around two weeks" he said it's been longer than that (it really hasn't). Then he tells me if I don't tell him what shots I have I get a zero in class for the day. I said that I have my shot list at home but I can gladly go through the script with him and tell him what I remember I wrote down for that scene. He gets mad and rips the paper in half again.
At this point, he turns to another student and makes him read what he has so far for a shot list. Then other students. By now, my friend has gone to the bathroom because she started crying. She can't handle being yelled at.However, the teacher keeps going. One class member has less than I do, but he tells them good job. I keep working silently and decide to just copy down what I have on my computer at home onto my notebook so he won't blow a gasket again. I felt humiliated and angry, and I don't know what to do about it. My brother says I should go talk to the head of the department but I don't know if that's appropriate to do in this situation.
TL;DR: I was helping my friend in class and my professor thought I had done zero work, embarrassed me and my friend, yelled at us, threatened me with a 0, then humiliated me by using my classmates as "examples"


texts:
Do students need books to learn in courses? For example, I found that books often contain some mistakes and therefore it is better for me to study those things on the Internet where I can concentrate on one thing, learn the best knows methods of that subject and then move to the next. Okay, that course wasn't really advanced.

But if you have to decide whether one should write a traditional book or editable lecture notes like in http://stacks.math.columbia.edu/, which one would a lecturer choose?


texts: Can I ask a professor to do work for him/her during the summer as a form of an internship?

texts:
I am a newly transferred undergraduate Earth Science major and because of this I haven't had any internship experience in my field, even though I will be going into my senior year this fall (I also might have to take an extra semester to make up for time lost).

In my previous major, I remember my advisor saying he had a student who just filed data for him all summer for free, and at the end he gave her a letter of recommendation and she put it on her resume. It seemed like a kind of informal internship, and since I'll be taking a summer class, the casualness of it seems preferable as a way of getting some experience, as compared to a rigorous 9 to 5 internship that will take up all of my time. So my question is, could I simply email professors at different universities close to my hometown and ask if they need any help with their research this summer? I would prefer to ask my professors at my University, but because I'm taking  a summer class in my hometown (about an hour away from my University) I wouldn't be able to drive everyday.

I feel like professors who do their own research would want all the help they can get, like someone to do grunt work, which I would be fine with as long as I can get something to put on a resume and/or a letter of recommendation for a better internship/job down the line.


texts: What should be emphasised in a statement of purpose when applying for STEM PhD programs in the United States?

texts:
This question might be more suitable for they who are or were application reviewers of STEM ph.D. programs in U.S. universities.

I want to know what kinds of s.o.p. do catch reviewers' attention? Should I emphasize more at biography or more at research experience and intention or more at introducing past works? May I make my s.o.p. concentrated solely on research?


texts: Is offering to use personal funds for research a good idea?

texts:
I'm at an engineering department at a public US university, and I'm somewhat new to writing proposals. The call I'm submitting to wants know if the project budget is higher than the amount of the grant, what other sources of funding the PI will use, presumably to ensure the success of the project.

First, I'm not rich. But this leads to me to think, is it okay to use personal funds to do research? For example, if a piece of equipment costs $4000 and I only have $3950 left, can I supplement it with personal funds?

What might end up happening is that I might convince a colleague to lend me his instrument. But I don't want to say this in the proposal. Also, I'm not sure saying the project will be "supplemented by personal funds" is a good idea.


texts:
I am studying Masters in one of the top IIT in India and looking forward to apply for Phd, and here I got a problem.

My institute follows relative grading. Faculties are allowed to assign grade themselves. Normally the student with the highest score in the class will be given (S-10 points). The students who score next 3-4 high scores will be given (A –9 points). It followed grade B (8 – points) for next 5-6 students who scores. The next 5-6 students having higher score will be given C (7 points) and followed by D (6 points) grade. All the remaining students will be given E grade (5 points). For elective courses, The situation is even worse. For some elective courses I studied, there were less than 15 students and so it is possible only for 3-4 students in total to get S and A grade. While applying for Phd, how should I have to deal with this? My Head of department agreed to provide me my position in her course.


texts: Should my PhD thesis be submitted under my legal name?

texts:
I married during my PhD and changed my legal surname however (for many reasons) I will continue to publish under my maiden name. My (UK) university says that a thesis has to be submitted under the name held in registration records. They seem happy for me to revert my registration to my maiden name so I can submit my thesis as "maiden name" and this means my degree certificate will also have "maiden name".
I think it would make more sense to have the name on the thesis the same as on the published papers that it contains (i.e. maiden name) but would there be any issues with graduating with an old name? I do have birth & marriage certificates that show my maiden name.

Note: As others mentioned in the comments, technically the concept of a "legal name" does not exist in the UK. However, in practice employers, banks, airports etc. ask for evidence of your name and to change a name on a passport, for example, requires a marriage/divorce certificate or deed poll.


texts:
I'm a PhD student and I've written a paper on a numerical method, whose main contribution is a solution for piezoelectric problem. The paper uses some equations from the work of my MS degree. These equations are not the main novel parts in this paper but they are still important for the completeness of the method. I believe the paper's method is based on the work of MS and the current paper is a generalization of the MS work to a multi-physics problem.
Of course, I will talk with my previous advisor. But before that, I would like to ask here how do we deal with such a problem basically?

Which association of this paper belongs to? The current PhD university or the previous MS university? Or both?
I would be the first author, who will be second author and third author? My previous advisor or current advisor?
Is it possible that the previous advisor just lets us publicize without adding his name because he is also very busy and may have no time to revise this paper? (If he wants his name on the paper, he must give comments on it).

For me, I will be the first author for sure. So I am happy to include both advisors since it has no differences on me. But the problem is about the revision of the paper: I am a little worried that, if the previous advisor is busy,his comments on this paper may come very late. It may delay the submission of the paper. He is a good professor but he is very busy.


texts:
I know that keywords do not matter that much any more, however they are still required by some conferences and journals. Is it a good idea to include acronyms in the keyword field that are not self-explanatory or should they be expanded instead?

Example: People might have heard of EU or NATO and know what the abbreviation stands for, but a few non-experts would guess what a "DoS attack" means, before explained in the paper. Should it be written as "Denial of Service attack" instead?


texts: Citing part of a work when using IEEE style

texts:
Is it acceptable to be very specific in IEEE-style citations (always providing the section or paragraph)?
In the IEEE Reference Guide, there are examples on how one can use IEEE-style citations to refer to which part of the reference the reader should look at.
Doing some research, I learnt that, when citing a work using other styles, one may be specific about which part of the work they want to reference (example).
More specifically, I am considering using citations that look like this:

[1, Para. 1]
[2, Abs.]
[3, Sec. 1]
[2, Review and Suggestions sec.]
…

The details about which section or paragraph readers should look for has the benefit of making it easier to find that part in the reference.
However, I have not seen this used much. Such citations could make the paper look cluttered and perhaps reading would be cumbersome for people not interested in the citations.
Is it, in the end, bad practice?


texts: How to cite a source that has vanished due to link rot?

texts:
My colleague is writing a manuscript about a subject that is rarely reported in the mainstream literature (predation events). A few years ago on a fishing forum she found a photograph that demonstrated this phenomenon pretty well and saved it to her computer, but unfortunately between then and now the original source has vanished: Google Reverse Image Search can't locate it, the website is no longer running and is also unavailable in the Internet Archive. The original URL to the photo was also not retained.

What's the proper way to cite this source? It's not critical to include but it would definitely improve the final manuscript.


texts:
I teach a language course on 1st year BA level. The students should be able to translate basic sentences, and this is to be tested in a written exam. I'm looking for resources on how to design the exam. I have already made an assessment matrix and determined the weight of the translation exercises in the exam (they also need to parse some forms and the like).
I understand that most of what we have treated should appear at least once and can come up with sentences for the students to translate. What I'm having trouble with is the scoring. From what I've heard I should divide sentences into smaller blocks, like a verb or noun phrase, and assign points. I'm looking for some hands-on explanation how to divide the text into sensible blocks and assign points, to make sure that the blocks are as independent as possible.
Searching for tips on how to do this is difficult, I mostly find results about taking translation tests instead of designing them. Any references or tips on how to search would be appreciated.
This will be a written exam, taken on-campus.


texts: Is it appropriate to send an email to a professor at the end of the semester thanking them for their teaching?

texts:
I'm aware of very similar questions previously asked - all with good answers. These usually pertain to following up with a professor after a recommendation. My question is specifically about sending a thank you letter to a professor at the end of a semester.

My current semester is ending in three weeks and it has been my favorite semester by far. My professors taught their material really well and I was engaged non stop from the beginning of the semester. Among my professors, some assigned great homework questions, or lectured really well, or were very accessible during office hours. Overall, I had a great learning experience this semester and I want to express my appreciation because I haven't had a semester like this in the three years I've attended school.

I understand it may seem silly to question what is just a polite and appreciative gesture (I think it's silly myself), but I'm a little intimidated about the impression it will leave on my professors. I want to avoid the stigma of "teachers pet." For this reason, I've considered writing anonymous notes, but that seems creepy.

Kind of a light dilemma but I'd like some input because after thinking about it for a while I think it's an interesting topic. Thank you!


texts: Should I review for a new journal whose publisher is unjustifiably listed in Beall's list of predatory publishers?

texts:
I received a review request from an open access journal, which is brand new. It has published about 10 articles so far. The articles seem to be of mediocre quality but do not seem to plagiarize other articles. The journal has all important sections and features in place (review/editorial process, ethics, editorial board, wave waiver policies, working DOIs and article metrics, etc.). However, the publisher of such journal is in Beall's list of predatory open access publishers. As it is the case of many publishers listed there, the publisher is unjustifiably included in the list. There are no posts (as far as I know) explaining why it ended there. Most of Beall's criteria for determining predatory open access publishers do not seem to apply in this case.

I cannot see the article text nor the author names before accepting the review request. However, by judging the name of the journal, the aims and scopes, and the abstract of the article, it seems that the review request per se is legit.

I looked at related questions, e.g., Should I accept review requests from dubious journals?, Is it a good idea to cite paper from publisher listed in Beall’s list, and How to identify predatory publishers/journals. The present question seems novel enough to me – it looks different from the one in the first link. Even though I am quite sure about what to do, I am asking this question with the hope that it (and the answers) will be beneficial for the visitors.


texts: I've finished my master's program. How can I improve my credentials so I can do a PhD?

texts:
I have read a few posts here about the matter, but I don't think other posts fully address the situation I'm in. I apologize if this thread is redundant.

I would like to do research in the future, I think getting a Ph.D might be a reasonable step to take (if I were to be capable of doing research, at some point). Fields of interest: Neuroscience, neuropsychology. University I would like to apply: Yet unknown but somewhere in France would be ideal (current location: Argentina); would rather not pursuing higher education here if possible. Some background will be useful to give a proper assesment of my situation

(1) I'm fairly old at 28, and likely will not apply until 30. I believe this might be a problem when applying to some universities, since they receive brilliant people still in their early 20s.

(2) As you might have guessed, my undergrad grades are very much below average. I have three undergrad degrees and two masters in which I did good enough (not GREAT unfortunately).

(3) My grades report gives a full account of my activity, which is very unfortunate considering how bad I did stuyding mathematics: even if I passed the last courses with the highest possible grade, it will always how many courses and exams I failed before the last three semesters before graduating (and it goes up to 10). I don't think our grades here work like in the US. It's not possible to make your "GPA" go up after you failed. Taking extra-curricular courses and getting a good grade will make the final grade higher, but it will still show how many I've failed. I also graduated late when an undergrad.

(4) I am certainly not aiming at a top university, not even top 200 due to the fact of being a failure. But the fact that I am quite old and with a broken academic record makes me question if even the lower tier would take me in.

I'm very much in need of advice. If I were to apply when two years from now, there are several things I should do and it would take much time and effort, and it is unlikely I will go through those matters if the chances of going into research are way to slim to bother. Is there something I can do to make a future application "decent"? What should I consider when sending an application to a university?

Would it be better if I apply for a master X university before applying for a PhD in the same university?

What general advice could you give me? I would consider dropping the PhD plans if it is too unlikely.


texts: Is it possible to apply graduate program in a different major?

texts: I'm a business student and I'm really fond of computer science and engineering. Is it possible to apply for cs major in computer science? If not, is it possible to apply for MaSc in Master of Business Analytic then continue to study in CS?


texts: Should I provide experimental results for a paper presenting an algorithm?

texts:
In a paper I proposed an algorithm for something (extracting data from a webpage), I described the steps and the result of the algorithm using a sample webpage. Do I need provide experimental results on various websites?

Here I think my purpose is not to compare something with another thing, the precision of the algorithm depends on its input provided by the user, I just want to say the application based on this algorithm is easier to use by providing how the application works, and extendable to similar websites by justification its approach.

I am confused!, if I always for any algorithm I should provide experimental results, then please let me know by Yes always, if there are exception then please let me know what are those?


texts: Looking for a postdoc: How to approach professors in a conference

texts:
I'm in the last year of my PhD and I'd like to get a postdoc after my program is done. In a few days, I'm going to present a poster about one of my projects  (manuscript to be submitted soon) in a conference and I want to know how to approach professors.

I have a pretty good idea about the professors that will be present and the ones I'd like to join but how to approach them is something new for me. I don't think it's appropriate to focus on my current work when approaching them since I'll not work on the same subject in a postdoc. Moreover, I feel that some subjects are more delicate to discuss such as funding, flexibility and independence in the group.

How should I proceed in this matter ?

I've found the answers and comments in this question very informative but they work for the specific case of a talk:  "Looking for a postdoc" ad inside a conference talk?.


texts: Offering admission and then no response!

texts:
I have applied in a US university (let say it is A) in a natural science department for PhD admission.
One weeks  ago I emailed the  graduate director to know my status because I received admission from another university. I wrote him that, I will not accept the other university's admission offer if I'm in their consideration pool. The graduate director emailed me back that I have received the admission. He also suggested me to sign the offer letter he sent me  and to complete the admission within two weeks.

After carefully checking the email, I saw that  I didn't  get  the offer letter in the attached file. I replied him back immediately regarding the missing attachment. I replied the professor two times regarding the missing attachment  in the consequent  two days but still I haven't received any reply. The admin and the graduate director are not responding whereas 7 days have been passed.

Somehow I had a connection with a current student who is studying (PhD) in that department and I requested  him  to talk with the admin.  He discussed my matter with the  admin who writes and handles the  documents. The admin told him that, She didn't process any document for me regarding admission offer.

What should I do in this case? I have another admission offer from another university but I'm very much interested to the program I'm taking about.

EDIT: I'm an International Student


texts: What are some proven methods for keeping track of research and programming in a lab notebook format?

texts:
Are there any proven methods for keeping a computer science lab notebook? What sort of stuff goes into a CS lab notebook, and what notation is used? Are there any reliable ELN methods, preferably integrating with Git?

I want to keep a lab notebook that helps me keep a running narrative of my research as well as my programming, in the same way you would keep a natural science lab notebook. It would be handy to be able to write down what I'm doing as I'm programming, then when a bug mysteriously appears in the software, I can see the last time the software was working, see where the bug started, then read the running narrative in between to help figure out what is causing it.


texts: Publishing a preprint while having another related work on review

texts:
Preliminaries

As coauthor, I sent a work X to a reputable journal. The work X deals with two problems A and B. The reviewers asked for some minor clarifications/corrections. I performed them, and sent back the corrected version to the journal.

For related studies, two methods M1 and M2 are commonly used (and many times were compared with each other). Part A of X is an insight on M1.

Working on X lend me to use similar techniques to provide the same insight for M2. I've been working on this for few weeks, in my private time, and got very interesting results.

Both works are linked in that those insight let compare M1 and M2 in an categorical way (so the new work needs to use the final results of part A, citing its preprint). Also, a conclusion of M1 which is automatically derived form X is stressed (I did not added it to X as I naively missed it before). If it matters, the new work also explores M1 and M2 in new ways.

I wish to make a preprint (that I've already written) immediately because:

1. I found that the results are very significant.
 2. X is almost an invitation to perform the more relevant results of my new work. I've seen relatively recent works in top journals (of the field) comparing M1 and M2, so I think that it is very plausible. (The main difference with my work is that, previous works are numerical comparisons of few samples (due to cost) and I have found the analytical expressions).

Question

What should I do?

I fear that making this preprint goes in detriment of the decision of the reviewers of X, for example, asking for adding those news discoveries (in case that they found the preprint). Although I found it unreasonable as the author list is different and I suppose that they should give a review of the work sent (X). Even more, they already gave they positive feedback.

Thank you


texts: Is it unethical to give a gift to my professor who might potentially write me a LOR?

texts:
Undergrad going to apply for graduate school. I recently came back from a trip where I got some goodies - I thought it would be nice to give some of my favorite professors gifts. However, I am now concerned there might be some ethical issues at hand here. I will definitely ask them for LORs and it is unlikely they will refuse. However, will giving them the gift before requesting a LOR prevent them from being able to say yes to writing a letter? Also, is it just wrong to do such a thing - it might be considered close to bribery (but then again I am not deliberately stating that I want a better LOR nor am I giving them the gifts because I want such a thing).

Giving them the gift after having requested the letter is not an option as this goodie does have an expiration date. I am not sure how to proceed. (The goodie is less than $13)


texts: How will the graduate committee regard two different TOEFL or GRE scores sent to them?

texts:
Suppose a student gets two GRE and toefl scores and he can't decide which scores are more suitable for sending, so he sent all of them anyway. The students may want to decide recipients of their scores even before they know their scores just to save money(ETS allows up to 4 free recipients but they must be decided before or on test dates).
His scores are:
GRE

V 152 Q 168 AW 3.5
V 158 Q 164 AW 3.0

The student improved his score a lot in verbal reasoning and dropped in Quantitative Reasoning and analytical writing since he focused too much on the preparation of verbal reasoning.
TOEFL

Reading 29 listening 27 Oral 20 Writing 25
Reading 27 listening 24 Oral 24 Writing 25

The total score of the first one is greater but the second one is better in speaking session, which is important for getting TAships.
My question is, in such cases, how will the graduate committee consider this student's scores. Will they feel annoyed by having to look at two ETS transcripts? Will they only look at the latest scores?


texts: What undergraduate work stays on a CV once you start graduate school?

texts:
I'm about to graduate with my BS and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it to submit a paper for publication in an undergraduate journal, given that I've already applied to and picked a PhD program and I start on the fall.

What sorts of papers, presentations, and awards that I received as an undergrad are still worth mentioning on a CV even after I graduate? Do my accomplishments restart like they did after graduating high school?


texts: Are there meta-analysis or systematic reviews that implement slightly different inclusion/exclusion criteria all in one?

texts:
I recently talked with someone doesn't tolerate any meta-analyses because they are too easy to tweak the inclusion/exclusion criteria to the researcher's or backer's liking. (Personally, I wouldn't just hand wave off such research.)
Anyway, are there meta-analysis or systematic reviews that contain multiple sections for different inclusion/exclusion criteria and then discuss the findings for each 'branch' among the other 'branches'? By branches I mean slightly different criteria used.
For example, say a meta-analysis is conducted about the digestibility of a certain food for a specific age range. Then, another meta-analysis is conducted for the same food for a different age range. This is just off the top of my head, but I hope the basic idea is understood. (I do not only mean a meta-analysis or systematic review that analyses different cohorts.)

Related ideas

Why are meta-analyses the most quoted type of research paper despite being often flawed?
Why is data falsification reported to be more usual in some fields than others?
Is it possible to submit a paper to a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal without PhD and get it accepted?
Can anyone write a paper and then publish it in a journal?


texts: I just received the answer for my first submitted paper. It was rejected but they annexed the answer of just one referee. Is it normal to reject a paper based on the review of a single referee? Can I use this as an argument to ask for reconsideration? Of course this would not be my single argument, since I found issues with the review itself as well. (It questioned the validaty of my methodology even though I cited a review just about the methodology used.)


texts: What are the benefits (if any) of disclosing a mental health diagnosis/disability?

texts:
It's no secret that academics have a high rate of mental health diagnoses (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03803-3), and that academic career paths may disproportionately attract people with serious mental health issues in the first place (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5824688/).

At the same time, many countries are beginning to recognize certain mental health diagnoses as disabilities.  I have always hid my diagnoses as much as possible-- partly because of the inconsistency of the diagnoses themselves from year to year and doctor to doctor, and partly because I had been advised by older mentors to do so.

So I wonder: are there benefits to disclosing a serious mental illness and applying for disability status?  I am thinking specifically of postdocs or professors; for students I am already aware of all the accomodations provided (at least by American and Western European universities).


texts: TAing for two young hotshot postdocs (possible "in" for future research)? or TAing a lab with more student engagement?

texts:
Incoming theoretical physics PhD student in the US.
I hope to get into academia after my PhD.
When listing TA preferences, would it behoove my career goal more to list as my top preference a course that is being taught by to young "up and coming" hotshot postdocs in my fields? Or (as a theorist whose job prospects may increase by having some lab experience) would TAing a lab which enables more engagement with students be a better choice?
The course TA could potentially just be a grading job, which doesn't help my career objectives, whereas the lab experience and more experience with students would.
Thoughts?


texts: What is expected in my academic CV as a new PhD student?

texts:
I just started my PhD a few months back after completing a MSc. I've been asked for a CV but I don't know what to put in it, and various templates are hard to use because:

I don't have any papers nor have I reviewed anything
I haven't been to any conferences
I haven't received any competitive awards or research grants
I haven't been on academic visits

In other words, I'm in the early stages of my academic career, I've done well enough to get where I am, but I haven't yet done anything that I can drop into a standard format academic CV (except for my education).

How can I write my academic CV when a standard format for those with a more advanced career looks, well, skeletal?
What would be expected on an academic CV for someone just starting a PhD? Is literally just handful of lines acceptable?


texts: Whether to italicise the name of government program in APA style?

texts: I am writing a paper in APA about a government funded program. Do I italicize the name of the program?