texts:
I submitted a conference (one of the best one in the subfield) paper in last minute and it was later accepted a few days ago. While waiting for the final acceptance, I found some errors and a few grammar issues after my submission. Can I still update the conference paper? Who should I talk to? The committee or the staff who is managing the publication?

I am very afraid of that the committee will think I was ignorance and reverse the acceptance, which is quite selective.


texts: Getting into a mathematics master's program from engineering?

texts:
I'm sorry if the question is not of the kind usually dealt with in the website. Honestly, I'm looking for a personal advice and/or real-world experience to help me figure what should I do.

My question is whether applying for a master's program is a good idea? or not? Given that I have no deep knowledge in mathematics, except for some engineering level linear algebra and calculus.

More details about me: I'm an electrical engineering (EE) graduate with a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in power engineering. Although I finished my degrees with high grades and a strong resume, I didn't ever feel a thing for EE to be motivated enough to go after it in my professional life. On the other side, I always enjoyed math both in high school and college, and by "enjoying" math I'm not just talking about ordinary problem solving but mathematical stuff including defining mathematical objects, theorems, proofs and so on.

For me, the good thing about mathematics is that I always felt an aptitude for it. I get it naturally and in a joyful way. In many cases, at first sight, I feel the solution or how to get that, in a strange abstract way. During my entire education, I have always had a closer connection with my mathematics teachers/lecturers. The problem in college was that the level and depth of mathematics courses in engineering programs (even EE) was too little to feel satisfaction. Therefore, I am considering pursuing mathematics itself.


texts: Cover letter: List strangers as potential collaborators? And/or, can/should I be contacting them?

texts:
From The Professor Is In and from other sources, I've gotten the impression that it's very good practice to refer to possible collaborators both within and outside of your department or academic unit. This makes sense to me. Doing so demonstrates that you're not just applying blindly, but rather have thought through how you fit in on that particular campus. It also makes the sale that you're a good fit with the folks already there.

I'm unsure if this practice should start at the cover letter. Is it appropriate to mention potential collaborators (either within or outside of my targeted dept) whom I don't know in the cover letter?

Talking about working with people I don't know feels a little bit pretentious--how on earth should I know what they want to collaborate on?--but I can get over it if I have incentive.

Meanwhile, it also feels natural that I should be contacting these potential collaborators if I'm sincere about thinking there's potential to work together. OTOH academia's a bit emphatic (relative to industry) about recusal so contacting such people might seem pushy, or even like trying to cheat.

Is it OK to contact potential collaborators at the institution/in the department to which I'm applying? Is it ever expected?


texts: Should you disclose the name of an institution that made you an offer?

texts:
I am in contact with institution A about a potential tenure track position. Meanwhile another institution, let's call it B, has offered me a position. Naturally, I have to mention to A that B has made an offer.

  Should I mention the name of B to A when being asked? Or should I just say "another institution has made an offer?


texts: Are publications on arxiv.org valued by graduate admissions committees?

texts:
Please see this question of mine first.

My question is: Does the admissions committee in grad school consider publications in places like arxiv.org as a significant achievement given the student has only completed bachelors?

I am asking this question because I have seen many math papers in arxiv.org that have not made new contribution to the field. In other words, those papers have not made new discoveries or solutions of the unsolved problems. This makes me wonder whether publishing at arxiv is considered a big achievement.


texts: Alternatives to paper handouts in conferences

texts:
So, last month I travelled to one of the big conferences in my field. The copies of my own handout weighted about 5 pounds; on the way back, I took another 5 pounds worth of other people's handouts. This was the case for pretty much everybody else. This seems kind of wasteful for a couple of reasons.

When I got back home, I ran the handouts I had collected  through the scanner, backed up the files in Dropbox, and put the handouts in the recycling bin.
The conference organizers offered the possibility of making handout pdfs downloadable from the conference site prior to the start of the conference.

In fact, a couple of people (including one of the keynote speakers) told me over a coffee break that, if it was up to them, they would forgo paper handouts altogether and just provide a pdf that people can download and look at during talks. This is something I agree with, if only because it makes post-conference storage and retrieval way easier (also, pdf handouts are awesome when you are sitting in a talk by a 23-year-old grad student who is under the delusion that older people can read 10 pt text comfortably).

Question: is there any reason, other than force of habit, to keep on distributing paper handouts? Technology is not an obstacle, I think, given how these days everybody brings a laptop or a tablet to conferences.


texts: How to explain that I do not want to visit a country due to personal safety concern?

texts:
I have been invited to visit a professor in a different country. I am very reluctant to go. The government of this country is currently under investigation by the UN for suspicions of crimes against humanity targeted at people of the same ethnic background as me. More generally, people from my ethnic background are legally considered second-class citizens (when they are citizens at all) in this country, and routinely get physically aggressed in the street without the police or army doing anything, even partaking sometimes...

How should I explain to this professor that I do not want to go? Should I get into details, invent a different reason?


texts: NIH F31 sponsor has not graduated students or post-docs

texts:
I am currently applying for an NIH F31 (PA 14-147).  The application instructions, my university's instructions, and literally everyone I've talked to about this has advised that my sponsor needs to have a record of mentoring and graduating students, or else I need a more experienced co-sponsor.  I am my advisor's first student, and none of the post-docs have finished, so effectively my sponsor has no faculty record of successful mentorship.  I have gently brought this up to my advisor, but he seems to think a co-sponsor is unnecessary.

How big of a hit to my review score is it if my sponsor has no record of faculty-level mentorship?  Is this a deal breaker, and is it even worth applying without a more experienced co-sponsor?  I would appreciate advise from people who have personally sat on review committees for this or other mentored NIH grants (even post-doc level), but any informed opinions are appreciated.


texts: What are the things one should consider when invited to contribute a book chapter?

texts: What are the things one should consider, as a postdoc, before accepting or rejecting an invitation to contribute a book chapter? The proposed book is a handbook in a developing field of engineering.


texts: How can I get my papers published formally?

texts:
I have posted majority of my academic work from MA program on Academia.edu. This past week I had the time to look into the  Analytics section and I have tons of followers, readers, downloads, student citing my work etc. Enough readers that I think I should try to get my work published.

How do I get my work published formally? Who should I try to reach out to? My informally published work is getting a lot of traffic.

Any suggestions on how to do that?


texts: what is the best email type to request for Phd position

texts:
Recently I have found a great PHD position which on some aspect exactly fit with my CV.
I am looking for the best email type to introduce my self to the professor? what information are necessary on my email.

Do you show me any examples or links?


texts:
I got accepted into a PhD program, but I wasn't offered any funding through assistantships. I emailed a person in charge, and I was told that if I receive good grades in the first semester, it would be possible to get funding. The email also seemed to suggest that there is still a chance that I could receive funding, but it's hard to understand since the email was strangely written.

I really want to go through with this, but I need to eat. Not only will I be out of state, but I need to start living like a human being. I don't even have a car for goodness sake. I finished paying off my undergraduate loans, which were significantly smaller because my family helped me out with that. But no one will help me with the graduate program.

What do I do? Do I be really upfront and clear that I need funding? I emailed the person back to make sure that if I get good grades that I'll get funded, and not just a vague potential of it. But I haven't asked about the possibility of getting some funding right off the bat (since they said I haven't been considered yet for it, and I don't want to be a nuisance).


texts: Co-authors with the same initial and surname

texts:
I am submitting a paper with my brother as a co-author. We share the same initials and surname, and neither of us has a middle name.

How should we deal with being required to use the format Initial. Surname?


texts: A life of randomly doing fully funded Masters programs?

texts:
I have an idea, although it's probably a bad one. I want to study many different topics because I'm a nerd, so I'll do several different masters degrees. A few on my list are Math, Physics, CS, Economics. There are several challenges: I am not able to pay out of pocket, so I'll need to find programs that are fully funded with RA/TA positions, and I have no undergraduate background in any of those fields (except CS).
My question is: how feasible is this plan, do you know of anyone else who has done this, and how will this look to future employers/academics?
(I also want to do a Ph.D. but want to first study some other things)


texts: Is it acceptable to point out job offers in my graduate school application?

texts:
Just some background: I am currently an undergraduate and I will be graduating next year. As of now I have an internship position doing research in my favorite area. This will extend into a job offer (doing the same thing) once I graduate. My employer will not require a higher degree for me to continue doing research, but I want to acquire at least a Masters, likely a PhD as well.

In order the strengthen my graduate school application, I am thinking of mentioning this situation in such a way as to demonstrate my determination and commitment to higher studies. For example, I can mention that I am already doing research in this area and that I have a guaranteed position doing research in this area upon graduation, without needing additional degrees. However, instead of taking the comfortable option, I want to invest in my knowledge and take the harder option which is going to graduate school and acquiring a higher degree. Would this be helpful or possibly hurtful?


texts: Is there a website for academic physics jobs in the US like mathjobs.org?

texts: I am in math, and we usually apply to most academic jobs (in the US) through a generic application at mathjobs.org. Is there an equivalent in physics?


texts: Letter of Recommendation from PhD Student for Masters

texts:
I am an undergraduate student at an American university and am applying for an Msc at LSE for the 2021-2022 school year. I need advice on a letter of recommendation. I already have one professor who is writing me a LOR, but am having trouble finding a second professor. Here are my options for the second LOR:

A PhD student who taught a class on anthropology. She can write much more personally about my work, work ethic, analysis, and character since she knows me on a much more personal level. I'm applying to LSE's international migration program, and in her class, I wrote several essays on the topic (Partition of South Asia, identity formation in diaspora, etc.), so she can directly write about my work in this field. She agreed to write me a LOR, but encouraged me to first look for a Professor.

The second option is a history professor. I got A-'s in both his classes, and he knows me fairly well on a personal level. But I don't think his LOR would be as strong as the PhD student's. I reached out to him and didn't heard back. I just sent him another email.

According to the LSE website, an academic reference is "tutors who have taught you at university" and "who know your work well, and who, preferably, can comment on subjects or skills relevant to the programme(s) you are applying for." I know LSE pays quite a bit of attention to personal character via LORs and personal statements, so I don't know if it would be more beneficial to have a professor who has more prestige and credibility, but who doesn't know me personally vs. a PhD student who has less prestige and credibility, but knows my personal character and work ethic much better.
Any advice would be appreciated. Especially those with experience with LSE admissions.


texts: Could publishing a book on a subject prior to a PhD reflect negatively on me later if it has errors?

texts:
I noticed that some scholars in my field are best known for their earliest writing, even if their ideas were later found incorrect.

I am writing a book in my area of interest and hope to publish within a year. The target audience is not academics, but practitioners, although I suspect academics would be the first to seek out a book of this kind.

Year by year, my understanding of the subject matter grows, through reading and experience. It is highly likely that in a few years time I will realize I made many mistakes in the book. Perhaps, for example, I was not aware that some of my described solutions to problems in the field did not actually work as well as I thought they did.

If I later started a PhD in the same area, would such a past publication create problems for an academic career?


texts: Should I skip MS in Computer Science and directly opt for PHD? If so, what to expect from a PHD program?

texts:
I just finished my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. I'm 100% sure that I want to pursue a specialization in AI and ML through Computer Science. And becoming a Professor is something that I really want.
I'm taking a gap year to work on my personal projects and I'm also doing some certificate courses online through Coursera.
Part of the reason why I made this decision was that I wanted to be absolutely confident in myself before I went into a professional post-grad program. But, mainly, the reason was that I was scared.
My family can't afford my education any further and not a single member(male or female) in my family (both immediate and distant) have ever studied beyond a Bachelors. I personally don't know anyone who's done a PHD and I'm not sure exactly what to expect from further education. I've been looking up post-grad degree programs in USA, and in Cornell University's MS in CS page I read that students who wish to pursue a PHD should directly apply for the PHD in CS.
That sentence intrigued me. And after looking up some more information, I found that yes, people can opt for PHDs right after Bachelors, it will be difficult obviously, but it's possible. I also found some scholarships online whose eligibility criteria I fit in, but I would still need to work while getting my degree.
But I don't know what happens in PHD programs.  Will there be lectures like in normal degree programs or just research and practicals and thesis and projects? Can I work while doing a PHD? And do I really need a Masters degree ? Will it become really difficult without a Masters? Also, what exactly is a fellowship? And what is a Graduate Research Assistant?
I'm genuinely confused. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (not that anyone needs my appreciation). Thank you in advance.


texts: Is it a good idea to self-fund a postdoc for a year?

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student in mathematics, and I'm supposed to finish this year. I've been looking for a position next year (not so much in the USA, but mainly in Germany and the UK). While I haven't exhausted all my options, I do feel that maybe it would be a good idea to have a backup plan.

Since I can afford it, I was thinking about taking myself somewhere "productive" and living there off my savings for a year, whilst working with the research group in that university to produce new results. In the meantime, to continue to apply to positions and hope for the best.

My advisor said that this is not a very good idea, but at the same time mentioned one or two people from our field who had done something like that (albeit in the 1970s or 1980s).

How bad of an idea is this? And what sort of strategy I should be considering if I want to move forward with a plan like that?

The alternative, of course, is to go out to the industry for a year or two until I find a position. But leaving and coming back seems like an even worse idea to me.

(I have money for a year in a reasonable place, maybe two if I also work a bit during that time. I also don't have an American, Canadian, British or European citizenship; although my passport is versatile enough that I can move around.)

Clarification. While the question is somewhat general, my field is mathematics. I don't think that not having an affiliation will cause me to be inaccessible to my current network of peers. I have seen several people who did not have an affiliation with any mathematical establishment, but nevertheless continued to collaborate with professors, students and all in all conduct interesting research.

As far as my personal case goes, I also don't think there are others from my field of research who got the positions "and might feel nervous if I'm around". More than implausible, it sounds unlikely.


texts: Is it appropriate to ask the professor a trick question?

texts:
I'm a CS student enrolled in a class about a certain programming language. Recently, I discovered a trick that is pretty useless in actual production code and doesn't seem to be known by many. The trick results in a program not outputting the expected result. The program is less than 5 lines long.

I am curious as to whether my professor would be able to uncover the solution and would like to ask him during his consultation time. My concern that I do not want the professor to think I am trying to be rude, disrespectful, or anything negative to him.

Would it be appropriate for me to go see my professor during his consultation hours and ask him why my program is not outputting the correct output?


texts: Should departments have a policy regarding updating online resources?

texts: My department has gone paperless and uses Moodle to provide all information to students in an electronic format. With a paper based syllabus the expectations were cast in stone (okay ink on paper). Now that we are on Moodle, we can change the syllabus whenever we want. Today, we had a staff member change the word count on an essay, that is due in two days, from a 1500 word maximum with a 10% allowance, whatever that means, to a strict 1500 word maximum. The students are confused and screaming about it. What type of departmental policy should be in place to prevent changes.


texts: Citing a paper for which a corrected version exists online

texts:
I need to cite a paper in an upcoming paper and conference talk. The paper appeared in a journal several years ago, and normally I would just cite the version that appeared in the journal. However, several important calculations in the section which is relevant to my work were incorrect, and a corrected version has since been posted to the arXiv. How should I cite it?

One approach would be to just cite the arXiv version, but I feel like this gives the impression that the article has not appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, while it in fact appeared in a top field journal. On the other hand I certainly don't want to cite the version with the incorrect calculations, as they make closely following the relevant section impossible. Is there a standard protocol for this?


texts: Transition from PhD to postdoc with an intent to change field

texts:
I'm in the following situation: In 3 months, I'll finish my PhD in theoretical physics, and I'm certain that I want to pursue an academic career. However, I'm just as certain that my PhD research is a dead end. (My advisor doesn't think so, but I disagree with him.) Thus, I seek to change the direction of my research, but I need a few months to obtain the necessary skills. Anyway, I missed the main application period for post-doc positions (in the US).

Given the following options (feel free to expand this list), which do you think provides the best perspective of leading me to a interesting post-doc position?

Finish my PhD. Get any post-doc position. Do the work I'm required to do there. Work hard in my spare time to teach myself the stuff I want to. After 1-2 years, find a post-doc position I'm really interested in.
Finish my PhD. Get a well-paying job in the software industry. Do the work I'm required to do there. Work hard in my spare time to teach myself the stuff I want to. Work harder to keep publishing papers. After one year, find a post-doc position I'm really interested in.
Abort my current work. Find a new subject and a new PhD advisor.
Live on unemployment money as long as possible. Work hard in my spare time to teach myself the stuff I want to. Work harder to keep publishing papers. After one year, find a post-doc position I'm really interested in.

Pros:

Get the PhD title sooner. Stay in the scientific community.
Get the PhD title sooner. Earn lots of money (6 figure). In a 9-to-5 job, have more spare time for private research than on a post-doc position, where work is never finished. Go to a foreign country.
It's what I should've done 2 years ago. I'll have the education I want when I finish my PhD, not later (but be older anyway).
No immediate advantages over the other options.

Cons:

If a logical continuation of my PhD work, I'll suffer from demotivation. My next advisor will not want me to work on other topics that I'm not paid for. Might have to stay for 2 years.
I'll move out of the scientific community for some time. I know it's hard to get back in.
I'll be even older when I finally get my PhD. Not sure if I would find another advisor. Open fight with my current advisor.
I don't want to live on unemployment money for long.

A particular question concerning the options above: Does being out of academia for a year kill your prospects of obtaining a postdoc position later?

I do have some collaborators who will help me to keep publishing, provided that I put enough work into my research. Also, I'm willing to familiarize myself with other topics on my own (a prerequisite for an academic career anyway).

The next application period will be from October to December 2013, which isn't far away. I'm sure I'll have most of the skills I want by then (and a paper published proving that), but still would have to work until summer 2014 wherever I am applying now.

Please give me honest answers, even if they hurt. I'll provide more information as soon as possible, if anyone has questions.


texts: How to deal with presentation time running out in a scientific conference?

texts:
I understand that it is not a good idea to speak more after your time is out during a conference presentation. So we generally distribute our total times among each slide depending the contents and priority during the preparation. But sometimes what happens one/two particular slides take little more time. As a results your time goes out before summarizing your presentation.

So I sometimes skip my summary and acknowledgement slides to avoid the loss of discussion time. I am wondering whether this is a good idea, or whether I should finish my talk with more 30–40 seconds?


texts: Freedom in acknowledgments section of dissertation - writing in native language

texts:
I am currently finishing writing my MSc thesis. I am considering separating the acknowledgments section in two:

Personal acknowledgments (sorted as advisor(s)/family/SO/friends)
Acknowledging financial support

Point 2 is straight forward. My issue is with point 1.

What kind of freedom do I have here?
My thesis is in English (not my nor the university's native language) so, am I allowed to, for example, write some paragraphs on my native language when I am acknowledging non-native English speakers?

Slightly different topic but do I have the freedom to write "inside references" that likely only the person who I am writing to will understand, when addressing friends or SO?

Essentially, what will be frowned upon by the referees in the acknowledgments section?


texts: Advisors who always insist on one particular idea: How to deal with this?

texts: My advisor has developed an idea earlier in his career. While this idea is not particularly bad, he always tries to force all his students to apply it to almost all research topics we encounter. Many of them are, in my opinion, obviously not suitable to apply this idea onto, and have resulted in no research output, but he still insists on making the application of this idea work. This takes away our time to try more sound ideas and makes us work much less efficiently. What should I (and other students) do to stop this?


texts: Is it common to claim co-authorship by helping writing a paper without doing any research

texts:
In my research group, there is a researcher who usually approaches other PhD students who are about to write papers in order to offer his help. Normally, he does not actually do any research related to the paper. Instead, he reads our papers, makes comments about the writing style and sometime re-writes some sections in order to make them more readable. At the end, he will claim the co-authorship of the paper. I can see it is very helpful for new PhD students who don't have much experience in writing papers or articles. However, it is sometime uncomfortable for me to see someone who doesn't do actual research but still manages to get an authorship.

So, I want to ask if it is a common practice for someone to help writing a paper without doing any actual research relating to it, and claim the co-authorship. If it is not, how should I react if someone wants to do the same to me?


texts: What are the potential consequences of responding in kind to a rude lecturer?

texts:
What are the potential consequences, if any, of being rude and abrasive with the lecturer of a course I am taking? Could I face disciplinary action? Could it affect the way my work is evaluated? Is there a serious risk of me alienating myself with other people at uni, if the lecturer speaks badly of me?

Context.

I wrote to the lecturer and course responsible for a course which I am attending. The email I wrote contained a simple request, presented with common courtesy: could you help me determine whether I am eligible to take the exam in your course? The answer to this question would depend on the quality of the work I have submitted, feedback on which I have not received from our class instructor since I could not attend some classes due to scheduling problems with my part-time job. This I explained to the lecturer in my mail, in which I also added that feedback on said work was not present on the course website either, as is usually the case, and that I would've asked the instructor, except you have not presented us with any contact information for him (and during the classes which I did attend, I did not think of asking the instructor for such info, since I expected it to be on the course website if need be).

To my surprise, I received a rudely brief reply. I was merely told that this is my own problem, as I have decided to not show up for classes, regardless of what reason I may have, and that I should find a way to sort it out with the instructor.

I have some previous experience with this lecturer from another course, and as my perception of him is that of a lazy, unprofessional and unambitious external lecturer who probably only is in his current position due to the unfamiliarity which the administration and other key professors in my department have of the content he teaches, I couldn't stop myself from responding rudely. My reply was short, but it did contain sentences such as "let's hope the instructor has more of a clue of what's going on in this course than you apparently do" and "since my request bothered you so much, perhaps you should learn to use the basic functionalities of the course website. It's actually fairly simple stuff, but if you can't figure it out, I'm sure the office ladies in the administration can clue you in". I also said that I would make sure his rudeness would be reflected in my course evaluation.

Note.

I am not asking whether he really was being rude here, or whether my response was appropiate. The question(s) is(are) as stated above. Your opinion on my behavior or his is irrelevant.


texts: How are citations used to fairly compare researchers: fewer publications and fewer co-authors versus more publications with many co-authors

texts:
As a recently graduated researcher in the field of physics, I am in the early stages of establishing my scientific career, which involves being hired by senior researchers and professors. Much of the likelihood of being hired in a reputable group relies on my publication record and, for good or for bad, on my citation count.

I have always played a significant role in all the papers I have written or coauthored, which justified my inclusion in the list of authors. Thus I feel that I have earned the many or few citations to my papers.

In the context of a competitive mindset in which your quality is often (perhaps unfairly) measured by the number of citations your work has attracted, it has always bothered me how endless author lists from large collaborations boost the citation counts of those people. It is just a matter of common sense to assume that not all of them have significantly contributed to a paper. I am thinking especially about particle-physics collaborations, such as LHC at CERN. As an example, take this highly cited paper with a couple of hundred authors sharing authorship. The same or very similar author lists appear in several other highly cited articles. I am sure most of these are highly capable and competent researchers, some of which are leaders in their field. But did they all really contributed enough to be credited as authors? Another question: how much is enough?

How can one trust the citation count model (whether it’s fair or not) when there are these collaboration-enhanced players in the game?

How much do professors and PIs rely on citation counts in order to make a decision on hiring a researcher?


texts: Me and my friends did a project during final semester. It got accepted for publication. Later I came to abroad for studies. My friends didn’t add my name as a co author.I have given my input and it’s my project idea to initiate. Can we add my name as a co author later?


texts: How to start researching for a thesis topic

texts:
I'm senior undergraduate student who has just received a thesis project from my professor to work on for a year. However, I don't know where and how to start. What would you suggest?

The project topic is related to telecommunications and electronics and inter-disciplinary. Because of this, I will be working with a friend on this project.


texts: How to follow up with a professor on graduate school admissions decision

texts:
I applied for graduate admission to a couple of schools and a professor from one of the schools asked me two weeks ago if I was still interested in graduate studies at his university.

I mentioned that I was still interested.

In reply, he said that he was considering me for a fellowship and that he hopes that the university administration will reply before too long.

Now, it's been two weeks and he's not gotten back to me. Should I ask him if he's received the fellowship decision yet? How should I write my email?


texts:
I am analysing data from a commercial instrument. I need to set a threshold that has to do with the precision of the instrument, so I looked up the value from the manufacturer's online specifications. How do I cite it?

The university does not have any official policy, and other papers in the field either don't mention it explicitly, or give the value without citation, but I believe this is actually a quite relevant number, and thus should be specified and quoted.


texts: I have submitted my research paper inot a journal IJSER.org . But I don't know whether they are fake or not. Have any idea about this Journal?


texts: How to give opinion to my professor about writing LoR?

texts:
I have been applying to PhD positions (got offers already, thanks god) and surely I asked my master thesis supervisor as one of my letter writers.

He is quite new as a PI. He told me that it is his first time to write a recommendation letter for PhD applications.

I had a really good time working with him and believe that he is nice and thinks good of me. (of course, he may secretly think that I am stupid).

The problem is that I actually received a feedback from a position that rejected me suggesting that my reference is not very strong. On top of that, (maybe just by coincidence), I didn’t include his letter in my successful applications.

As he is lack of experience, I doubt that his way of writing the letter may be too subtle or not giving enough details or such. (Again, of course, he may secretly think that I am stupid.)

As it will possibly be good for him and any of his later students, should I hint him about this? If yes, how should I say it nicely?

Thank you.


texts: Should table format follow text format in submitted manuscript when no format specified?

texts:
I am currently writting my first manuscript and there is no specifications about tables format in the author guidelines of the journal. If I follow the text format (double spaced, Times New Roman 12 pts) some of my tables which are very extensive will look awfull.

Should I modify their structure so they look better (but only in the manuscript) or should I keep my own format?


texts:
I know similar questions have been asked before, though any links to contact Google Scholar that were provided in older answers no longer work.
I have two last names, example: First name Jane, Last name "Doe Smith". The google scholar algorithm chooses only the second part of my name as my "last name", even when the journal has published my work as Doe Smith, Jane. Instead Google Scholar will present it as JD Smith.
Is there anything I can do? Any way to contact Google Scholar, or fix it myself? I'm assuming the answer is to just live with it. I thought about just publishing under Jane Doe or Jane Smith from now on, but I've already published a lot under my name, and realistically, if I were to pick one I'd want it to be Doe, which may confuse the system that always wants to pick Smith.


texts: How to balance studies and part time job

texts: I am an undergraduate student of software engineering, second year now, in a foreign country. My family's economic background isn't very strong; so I need to work in a restaurant for part time job in order to balance my personal finance. Recently, I got so much involved in my job that I stopped paying much attention to my classes. And since the language problem in this foreign country is a black spot for me, the classes are too difficult for me to be handled. Now, I am about to fail two main courses in this semester. Should I just cut off my job load and take these subjects next semester again or just give up with this place and look for some other place, where the communicating problems don't exist?


texts: Optimize lab report grading rubric to minimize grading time

texts: I will be teaching a new course with a new grading rubric. All of my students will write a lab report at the end of each 3 hour lab session. Each lab report will have an abstract, introduction, data, results, and conclusion sections. How can I prepare my grading rubric to minimize grading time for all lab reports I will grade at the end of each week?


texts: What open access journal can I submit with almost no money

texts:
We are about to finish the development of a bioinformatic tool (plant genomic study) and we want to publish it in an open access journal. The thing is that our institution in Argentina provides no funding for publishing. I've already written to Scientific Reports asking for a APC waiver and they grant us with 20% discount because they have knowledge about our situation. Although a nice bonus, we do not count with the money for paying the remaining (about 1360 USD). We've also written to other journals like frontiers of plant science but still did not receive an answer.

What journal do you think that we could apply in our situation?

Do you know any institutions that can fund open research for third parties?


texts: Are students who are asylees eligible for National Science Foundation (NSF) grants?

texts:
Are graduate students who are asylees pursuing a doctorate able to apply for funding from the National Science Foundation?

According to the proposal preparation and submission guidelines (part E):

  Graduate students are not encouraged to submit research proposals, but should arrange to serve as research assistants to faculty members. Some NSF divisions accept proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Research Grants when submitted by a faculty member on behalf of the graduate student.

The guideline also says that one category of applicants for funding are:

  Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members.

Does this mean faculty can apply for NSF funding through their academic institution for a student who has been granted asylum but is not yet a permanent resident?


texts: Can I write a systematic review by myself?

texts:
I am a nascent academic in a medical field. I want to start publishing early, even before my master's. I see people like me do a lot of systematic reviews, though they collaborate with one or two people with them.

I want to make systematic reviews alone and get published in an open-source journal.

Is it possible? Please also recommend where I can find people to make reviews with other than my workplace.


texts: Why is the Grievance Studies affair considered to be research requiring IRB approval?

texts:
I'm reading about the Grievance Studies affair and there's one thing I don't understand. Portland State University (PSU) initiated a a research misconduct inquiry against Boghossian for conducting a research on human subjects without IRB approval. I assume that PSU considered the hoax as a research project, the human subjects being reviewers which received the papers.

It's not clear to me why such an approval would be needed in this case. What exactly makes such a project subject to IRB approval:

actions classified as "research", as in "contribution to generalizable knowledge"?
project funded by the university or the government? (AFAIK not the case)
being paid by the university while the project is under way?
publications or plans to publish? (again, AFAIK no official research papers were published)
affiliation with the university?
something else?

As an extreme example, if a university professor tells their colleagues a joke and counts how many people laugh, and later writes a post about it in social media, do they risk similar sanctions if the university doesn't like their post?


texts: Acknowledgments in google scholar citations

texts: Is it acceptable to add articles under my profile in "google scholar citation" in which i was acknowledged for my real contribution rather than being a co-author?


texts: What to do if I can't find references about a listed project of my potential supervisor

texts:
I am currently preparing for my graduate school application. There is one professor whose research interest in general matches mine. He has listed several potential research projects for prospective postgraduate students and I am particularly very interested in one of them, say Project A. Since Project A's scale is very broad, I planned to read some of his related publications to get familiar with the topic before I contact him via email.

The problem is I can't find any article written by him about Project A on his website or through Google. He did list some selected publications but they all seem to relate to other projects, which are different from Project A. In my view, those projects are more theoretical and related with asymptotic analysis while Project A is related with probability and stochastic modeling. I have not opened all articles to confirm my statement.

Do I overlook anything? Is it possible that a professor lists a project that he has published any related works in the past 3 years? Do it mean the professor don't want to intake students with Project A recently?

I don't want to send a email to the professor and ask for references because I think it's not polite. Currently I am searching the title of Project A and reading related publications by other professors. I have also browsed one of his papers , which is related to another project. What shall I do next? Is it proper to send an email to his current student and ask for reference?


texts: Could research data fall under the Freedom of Information Act?

texts:
When I refer to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) I mean either the federal act or similarly implemented state laws. Clearly the validity of such requests would have to be limited to institutions which have received government aid in at least some way. In addition, there is the argument that such data could be considered a trade secret, as is the case in Mississippi.

However, the case in Mississippi is meant to protect findings themselves rather than raw data. In addition, there are many cases in which the data itself could be considered to have been public information to begin with, as is the case in archaeological excavation.

Some institutions already have an open data policy, such as PLOS, which requires all data relevant to a paper to be published:

  PLOS strongly believes that, to best foster scientific progress, the underlying data from an article should be made freely available for researchers to use, wherever this is legal and ethical. Data availability allows validation, replication, reanalysis, new analysis, reinterpretation, or inclusion into meta-analyses, facilitates reproducibility of research and extends the value of the investment made in funding scientific research. Thus, PLOS believes that ensuring access to the underlying data should be an intrinsic part of the scientific publishing process. Furthermore, by getting data into the right place on publication we can reduce the burden on authors in unearthing old data, retaining old hard drives and answering email requests.

This is, at least in part, a purpose of FOIA: verification of claims. So based on the letter of the law, would such a FOIA request be considered valid and assuming the institution simply rejects the request, would there be legal recourse?


texts: Sending a thank you e-mail to a professor as an external intern

texts:
I'm new to Stack Exchange and I apologize if my etiquette on posting a question on this platform is "wrong".

So I took a course last year with a professor who was exceptional on her subject that gave me a better perspective on the subject, and ultimately got me a really good internship in the same domain.

How should I write her an e-mail (without being awkward) with a thank you note, as I wasn't in touch since the end of that course?


texts: Why there is "Dr." before name of PhD degree holder?

texts: Is it right practice to place "Dr." before name of PhD degree holder? What is reason for placing such "Doctor" label before name?


texts: Does convoluted use of language negatively impact a work reviewed by a committee?

texts:
This question is a reformulation of a previous one that I deleted. I'll try to be more specific.
I'm a student in the field of International Relations, a sub branch of the Political Sciences.
Reading works in the Social Sciences, I'm becoming progressively aware that convoluted language and pedantry are a significant problem in academic writing.
Sometimes the text is as hard as philosophy, whilst expressing common, everyday knowledge of the field.
Other times, language is okay, but the author is pedant.
Now, I wanted to know:
How often - if at all - professional academic reviewers face this issue?
If they do, will a thesis or paper ever face problems due to language usage?

Post Script:
Writers have personal tendencies. One may write in excess detail, repeat themselves, lose focus, etc.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about affected, convoluted, artificial, forced and conceited use of language, as well as pedantry in its most evident forms.
As it turns out, I think I didn't make a good use of the "mannered" word. I edited the question to say "convoluted" instead.
I'm not a native speaker, so I think I failed to capture my intent here, anyways, a question was linked to this one that ultimately answers to much of my doubts.


texts: How to know if a paper is allowed (by publisher/journal/conference) to be put on arXiv?

texts:
I am a 2nd-year PhD student. I have published two conference papers, and now I want to upload a copy to arXiv. I am aware it is common (flexible) for researchers in some areas (e.g. machine learning) to upload their papers on arXiv; However, it is uncommon in my research area/targeted publications, but I think it would be useful for wide-access (my research area: algorithm-hardware co-design for machine learning)
I wonder how to know If a paper is allowed to be put on arXiv?

Do publishers have rules against that? Or It is the Journals/conferences have rules against that? Where can I find them (generally)?
Are there any rules on the version of the paper that is allowed? e.g. pre-publication, camera-ready, post-publication etc.

Thanks.


texts: How can I avoid inadvertently offending my female peers and getting into trouble for it?

texts:
Attention has been drawn recently to an incident that occurred at a scientific conference and its sequelae described in this article:

The fuss started when [Prof. X] and [Prof. Y] ended up in the same crowded elevator during a conference at a Hilton in San Francisco last month. [Prof. Y] said she offered to press the floor buttons for people in the elevator, whom she described as mostly conference attendees and all, except one other woman, white middle-aged men. Instead of saying a floor, [Prof. X] smiled and asked for the women’s lingerie department "and all his buddies laughed," [Prof. Y] wrote in a complaint, the details of which [Prof. X] disputed.
[Prof. Y] [...] then wrote to the association’s executive director, who forwarded the complaint to the group’s Committee on Professional Rights and Responsibilities, which determined that [Prof. X] had violated the conduct code.
[Prof. X] insists it never should have gotten to that point because he tried to resolve the problem informally, as the association’s conduct code recommends. After being informed that his conduct was under investigation, [Prof. X] wrote [Prof. Y] an email assuring her that "I certainly had no desire to insult women or to make you feel uncomfortable." He suggested that [Prof. Y], who was born in Romania and raised in Israel, might have misinterpreted his remark. When he was young, in the 1950s, he said, it was a "standard gag line" to ask the elevator operator for the hardware or lingerie floor as though one were in a department store.
"Like you, I am strongly opposed to the exploitation, coercion, or humiliation of women," [Prof. X] wrote. "As such evils continue, it seems to me to make sense to direct our attention to real offenses, not those that are imagined or marginal. By making a complaint to ISA that I consider frivolous — and I expect, will be judged this way by the ethics committee — you may be directing time and effort away from the real offenses that trouble us both."
[Prof. X] was told to write an "unequivocal apology" to [Prof. Y] and submit a written copy by May 15 to the association’s executive committee. The apology should focus on [Prof. X's] actions, rather than [Prof. Y's] perceptions of them, it said, adding that if he failed to comply, the executive committee would consider appropriate sanctions.

As a male member of academe, I am worried.  I feel bewildered and fear that I might also offend someone some day.
How can I avoid committing an equivalent faux pas in an academic environment, such as an international conference?


texts: What should I do as a reader if a paper misrepresented earlier papers?

texts:
I was reading a paper from a reputable journal and found that the authors misrepresented earlier papers that they cited, by saying something like

  Theory X was developed in [A, B, and C], but the underlying assumption was not general enough, and therefore it is insufficient to address our problem, which warrants a more general approach.

The fact is that A, B, and C (which are well-known papers in the field) actually presented a general theory, which is applicable also to the problem considered in their paper. The rest of the paper sounds like an argument against something that was not there in the first place.

I think it is a serious misrepresentation if they did it intentionally. Otherwise, they should have been more familiar with the papers they cited. The fact that such misrepresentation slipped past the peer-reviewing stage also suggests that the review was questionable.

As a reader of the paper, what should I do if I find such misrepresentation?

In my case, the first author of the paper is someone I personally know.


texts: Should I tell my supervisor that I added his/her name as a reference for my next academic position?

texts:
Recently I finished my PhD level and I did an interview with a research group for a postdoc position. After my review, they asked me for some references to contact them.
I choose my supervisor and other visiting professors as references.
At this point, should I contact each of the professors that I added in my references list (including my supervisor) and tell them that they might be contacted soon to be asked about me?
I am asking this question as I am not good in "academic protocols". It could be yes (kind of respect as I am asking for his/her "help"), or no (it's something obvious that s/he could be asked by someone about his/her students).


texts: How should I confront an under-performing coauthor?

texts:
I'm working on a study with a coauthor; the ratio of the work distribution is about 90/10, me. On the one hand, this person was the one to approach me about collaborating on a project, and suggested a specific venue for presenting it. Yet since that initial invitation, I've been the one to come up with the topic of study, the methodology, compiling the resources we'd need for data collection, and to date have done more of the data collection so far. I've basically called all the shots in this study, and have had all the ideas (I always ask for their thoughts, but they basically agree with everything I say). I've indirectly brought this up once, indicating we were pressed for time and pointing to everything I had to do without pointing out how little they were doing. They offered to help pick up the slack, but then never followed through.

At this point, I think I need to be more direct about the issue; I don't want to be mean, but I also want to make clear that a) I'm carrying too much of the burden; it doesn't need to be 50/50, but what we have going on right now is really unfair to me; b) if they're unwilling/unable to shoulder more of the work, then I don't think we should continue on this project together.

I always struggle with directness, as I feel like I'm being rude. Any suggestions on how to nip this particular situation in the bud?

EDIT/UPDATE: I've since emailed my co-author. They responded in what feels like passive aggressive gas-lighting. Basically, the gist of their response was (this is not a direct quote), "it seems like you're the one who's overwhelmed and I'm questioning your commitment to this project. If it's too much for you or you have other priorities, we can take a step back...but I for one am ready to work."

I'm not even sure how to respond to this. They did offer one explanation for why I haven't seen any work on their part (they said they were working on it in a separate document instead of our shared document), which is fine and I can accept that, but turning the tables and going "it's not me, it's you" is really bothering me. I don't want to escalate this or seem like I'm making a big deal if it isn't one (yes, despite naming this gas-lighting, I can't seem to escape its effects), but I also don't want to stand for that kind of behavior. Any further suggestions on how to respond to this coauthor would be appreciated.


texts: Two professors want me to work at their labs, and I'd rather work with one of them than the other

texts:
I'm an undergrad who wants to do research but I don't know many professors, so I asked my school's Dean for Undergraduate Research for help. He told two professors about me, and both showed interest in having me in their labs.

So my problem is, I only have time to work for one of them, and I'd rather do research with Prof.A than Prof.B because Prof.A is more senior/experienced professor, and just seems to be a much more interesting and approachable person than Prof.B. However, they share almost exactly the same  research area/interests, so I can't really say "I prefer working with Prof.A because his research interests align better with mine". But of course I'm not going to say to Prof.B's face "I think I'll have a better time working with Prof.A" either...

How should I politely/gracefully let them know of my decision?


texts: How to start a collaborative online research project?

texts: I am interested in solving some mathematical combinatorial problems. Besides the Polymath project, are there some other online projects where I can state the problems, my approach towards a solution, and then to expect some people to help and collaborate in order to solve the problems and then together publish the solutions?


texts: Methods section and location of materials

texts:
This is probably an irrelevant question but curious to know because I couldn't find answers.

What city, state, or country should one use when listing reagents or materials in the methods section? And when is it even needed? Do you use HQ?

Some companies (i.e Thermofisher) have brands under their umbrella and there's merging and changes to product brands, would you use Carlsbad for Invitrogen or Rockford, IL or Mass? How to handle the changing HQ and companies/branding?

When is it necessary to list the company, city? Antibodies I can understand, but what's the determination for what gets the company/city? It seems to be random on papers and you could list endless amounts and it'd be too much.

Thoughts?


texts: How important is the academic staff to student ratio?

texts:
I've been looking at some universities abroad (I'm from Norway) like in Hong Kong (HKUST), but the academic staff to student ratio seems dreadful compared to others with 1:23. Still, people seem to think it's a really great place to go. Also, it's ranked 19th in the world in the course I want to take, Mechanical Engineering, despite this.

So, my question is, how much weight should I put in this ratio? Will it impact my education greatly when the ratio is so high?


texts: What national agency in Russia codifies research ethics?

texts:
I am coordinating the funding proposal for a joint Austrian–Russian research project.  The proposal needs to briefly discuss compliance with relevant ethics regulations and guidelines, preferably not just at the institutional level but also the national or international level.  For the Austrian side this is easy, as I already know that the relevant guidelines are the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity's Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice and the European Commission's Ethics for Researchers.  But what are the corresponding guidelines in Russia?
That is, are there any national agencies in Russia that issue ethics regulations and/or guidelines for scientific research in general?  If so, what specific publication of theirs should we be reading, accounting for, and mentioning in the proposal?
So far the only somewhat relevant agency I've found is the Independent Interdisciplinary Ethics Committee on Ethical Review for Clinical Studies.  However, this body seems to be concerned only with clinical research, and the project we're proposing doesn't involve clinical research.


texts: Second Masters (Art therapy and then educational psychology)

texts: Im doing a masters in Art therapy. Im not sure how the job scenario would be for it moving forward. However, is it ok to do a second masters in educational psychology?


texts: Affiliation for a student's internship project

texts:
Though related to this question on undegrad student affiliation, I am in a somewhat different situation…

I am an undergrad student at the Miskatonic University. For completion of their BSc, students at MU are required to perform a 6-week research project in a research lab, which I did with a professor at another institution: Unseen University. I loved it, extending my stay there for 3 more weeks into my summer break. Now, we will submit a paper with the results of that internship project, but I don't know what affiliation(s) to put.

The specifics are:

I am not paid by MU, and did not set foot there during my research project (not using the library, nothing)
I was not paid by the research institution (UU), either
Though I am keeping an eye on the research project, I did not do any significant work since my internship ended (vacations, then too busy with courses)

I think I should put UU as my affiliation, because I used their resources. But maybe UU being the affiliation of the main authors (grad student and professor on the project) is enough? And should I put MU as affiliation?


texts: PhD or MSc without undergraduate degree?

texts:
I am a first year Biochemist but I am sick and tired of being told to wait and that will be covered in Level 5 (2nd Year) or Level 6 (3rd Year).

I have a couple of areas of research that I would love to go into and feel that I would not be held back by a lack of education.

Is there anyway to get onto a PhD or MSc at all without the undergrad as I fell that by the time I am in my 3rd year I will have gave up with the whole of science.


texts:
I have seen a couple of images in several papers like those attached below. These images are really expressive also nice i.e. look very scientific. I have no idea how to generate such images since I have in the past used powerpoint/excel. I'd appreciate some pointers on the tools for generating such images or even better ones.

UPDATE Just to clarify about duplicated question(s), this question is quite specific to graphs like those that combine several features concisely into a line /bar graph or scatter plot e.t.c. (as provided in the attached images). Some similar questions e.g. this one is about illustrations as seen in the answers provided. I think my question is different, so are the answers provided different from those in the referenced question.


texts: I gave up on a PhD because of time management, shall I try a second time?

texts:
Background

A year ago I gave up on my (first attempt at getting a) PhD because I could not stand the needed time management.  I am a mosaic autist but I do live with it without major issues.  My only apparent problem is that I get emotional very quickly at anything that goes differently than planned, i.e. I do not like surprises and I recover (emotionally) very slowly from surprises.

Do not get me wrong, I have been often praised for my talks and seminars.  I have worked in industry for years and I can live independently alright.  The only thing that I always need to do is to plan things in advance, and plan them extremely thorough.  I need to admit that questions and answer sessions after a talk are pretty difficult, but I can manage with enough preparation.

I gave up at my first attempt at getting a PhD after a year in.  After that time I got so emotionally distressed I could not continue.  This happened dues to simple disorganization of the environment I was in, for example:

I needed to change office three times during that period;
switched (university) email systems two times;
all courses for the PhDs were announced with only two days of antecedence;
courses were canceled with hours of antecedence if there were not enough people attending;
reports were not scheduled, my supervisor literally popped in my office and asked for a report within a week (not once, a couple of times);
some (internal) talks were to be prepared on an short (a day or two) notice.

(By "courses" I mean small lectures available to the PhD students as Learning to use the Library or Statistical Methods, and yes they were mandatory)

I understand that a PhD is a training exercise, where one learns to do research.  Therefore learning different things, performing talks and writing reports are things that I definitely need to learn over the course of the PhD.  I just could not perform any of it with a decent performance because my mind was distressed with things appearing and changing too fast.

I did raise the fact that I need a more stable environment with my supervisor and with the administration.  Yet, the only answers I got were along the lines of: If every other PhD student can deal with this you can deal with it too.

I gave up just before my 1 year report.  I really wanted to write there:

  I did almost no research work because you did not allow me a moment of breathing to do any actual work!

(Of course, I did not write that)

The Question

A year has passed since I gave up on my PhD.  Recently a friend of mine which does a PhD in a different institution showed me a programme topic that I would love to work in (a very similar topic to my original PhD).

My question is.  Is it common for PhD programmes to be disorganized and everchanging?  It is very likely that I will find an unstable environment in the new institution?

My original institution (which I explicitly omit the name here) was within the top 100 of several world rankings.  And my (possible) new institution is way below in these rankings.  I need to admit that I do not believe in these rankings, but, nevertheless, I am very afraid that my previous endeavor may repeat itself.

This all happens in the UK, in the field of computer security.

Career note: I am not planning to follow an academic career.  In the field of computer security it is common to get to a PhD and then work in research labs that perform bug hunting and security analysis.  Labs that are not part of academic institutions in any way.  It is true that a PhD is not strictly necessary for such positions but it is very common (some 70% of people working in computer security labs do have a PhD), and I would like to advance in that career path.


texts: Why are we not teaching university student how to learn/study?

texts:
Question is simple:

  Why are we not teaching university students how to learn/study ?

Motivation:

I've seen many university students who does not know how to study something, or learn something by themselves or by taking classes. I consider myself as someone who knows the basics about how to teach something to myself; I've various self-study experiences.However, all my experiences about topics that are well-localised, such as linear algebra, or analysis etc. However, for example, when I want to learn Analytical Mechanics with all of its mathematical backgrounds (starting from smooth manifolds), I get lost; I need to do both mathematics and physics at the same time in a rigorous sense, and the task has many faces, so regardless of how experiences I'm on self-studying, I don't know how to teach myself this particular subject.

Considering the fact that some student even cannot how to learn something even at the end of their second year in university, naturally this questions comes to mind.


texts:
I started my PhD in physics approximately a month ago. Now I am working on my first project with my advisor and a postdoc that follows me. I made several big mistakes for a little task that my advisor gave me, and now I feel really bad. They were stupid big mistakes that put me in a bad light, as if I didn't understand anything. It seems that I really didn't understand concepts.

I have the bad habit of always waiting for instructions, without taking initiative because in my past studies, professors usually told me what to do next as little exercises. I also have the bad habit of doing things mindlessly and not reviewing them, often resulting in errors.

I know that I am capable of completing this PhD and that I have the possibilities of doing very very well. I have the mental resources to do it(hardware) but the problem are my bad habits(software).

Now I am facing the problem that it will be harder for me to build trust with my advisor. What steps could I take to start building it again? Does a bad start affect things in the long run(like if my first two month are bad, but then I finish great my first year and do well on the other years, will my references for a possible postdoc be bad)?

I am slowly reading articles and concentrating on my little tasks, trying to understand everything I do. Apart from that I don't know what else to do.

Edit: Thank you very much! I will take all your advice and go ahead! Good luck also for the other PhDs


texts: How I do politely indicate that I am expecting my name to be added to the paper

texts:
I am composing this question on behalf of someone but as a first person. I am a postdoc at a top university in the US. I had recently been requested by my PI to help with setting up experiments and getting data for the latter part of a research that was to be submitted as a paper.

I spent 3 months aggressively working on it along side my own work towards other projects. The first author went ahead and submitted incomplete work without notifying any of us and without my name in it.

I had, thereafter, spoken to my PI and it looks like he is defensive of her submitting the paper because 'she was in stress and had to graduate. Not in the right frame of mind.' Between the two of us he said that he's going to insist on adding my name when they submit the revision (the paper already, as I expected, has request for data/corrections).

EDIT - I have indications that he is giving excuses and is currently passing the buck/lying to get the work done. Personally I have had no papers since I started this postdoc and I am afraid if I sound reluctant the PI will take away my work in my projects. This stresses me, but I also am not getting credit for where I worked. This is like a lose-lose situation for me.

The first author agrees to send the paper and review comments but doesn't. They expect real time work as though this is my only project. I am happy to spend time with some urgency if I at least get my recognition in the paper.

How do I word my emails or communications or speak to them and politely, yet clearly establish that this work from me has to be recognized in the form of addition to the paper?


texts: Is asking your PhD supervisor a basic question considered inappropriate?

texts:
I've done my Master's degree in Computational Mathematics. Then, because of several reasons, I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in the field of Quantum Chemistry.

The problem is, obviously, my lack of knowledge in this area. I'm studying, but even in my second year there are still many things I don't understand or which I understand incorrectly.

Now I'm stuck on one, probably pretty basic, concept, where I'm not able to find the proper explanation either on the Internet or in my books and my friends seem to be also quite confused by it (they seem to have just some general idea, as they have, probably, never needed to use it).

Now I'm not sure if I should ask my Ph.D. supervisor about it. Is it considered appropriate to ask your advisor about (probably) basic concepts in Ph.D. program? I'm afraid he'll think that I'm not willing to study the topic myself and that I'm wasting his time.


texts: Can you plagiarize a fact- or evidence-based, objective conclusion/claim?

texts:
Suppose a secondary source proves that poverty was rampant in the Middle Ages by using a variety of primary sources (or statistics from other secondary sources). If years after reading this secondary source I decide I want to make the same claim (that poverty was common), would it be plagiarism to make this exact same statement using the exact same sources (supposing I actually noted and remembered them)?

In other words, can you plagiarize an objective fact or claim when it's backed up by concrete facts, regardless of whether or not someone else has made the same claim?

If that example above is too vague, let me paraphrase with a problem that I have encountered recently. I once read a source that said that Sultan Suleiman (who led an attack on Vienna hundreds of years ago) had his good and his bad qualities because he was ruthless in war yet was very chivalrous domestically. If I can't find this source again, can I just find other sources that talk about his ruthlessness and his chivalry, and then make the same conclusion?

My personal opinion is that yes, this is totally fine, because these conclusions are not the author's own voice, but rather what evidence shows to be a fact. If a source tried to make the claim that Suleiman had bipolar disorder, then this would have to be cited since this is not a fact but rather a subjective interpretation. However, an identical piecing together of "microfacts" to create "macrofacts" does not seem like something that could be categorized as plagiarism.

Notwithstanding, I'd like some second thoughts on this. Am I correct?


texts: How would a small liberal arts college view a PhD from Germany or the UK? Factors other than teaching ops?

texts:
Main concern: I am looking at PhD programs in Germany and the UK (vs US programs). Ideally, I would like to end up at a small liberal arts college (I got my BA from one). So I know I want a program with teaching requirements. I think this rules out France and Switzerland, but I believe many German PhD programs have teaching requirements. I also think the UK has teaching opportunities as well.

Are there other factors I should be thinking about?

Specific Concerns I've thought of

First, am I wrong in my assumption that there are only small liberal arts colleges in the US? Or are there places in Europe, where you can get the same research, teaching, and mentorship balance?

I know that liberal arts departments are smaller. Should I be worried that a foreign school that is good in my field might not be known in the department that I am applying to?

Also, I had a friend at Oxford, who said that she would need to do a postdoc (in a field that doesn't normally require them), because US universities will not see her 2 year masters + 3 year PhD, as equivalent to a master + 5 year PhD in the US. I'm in the sciences and my field doesn't normally require a masters. Should I also be concerned?

Reasons
I am currently a Master student in a European program that allows us to do research in multiple countries (theoretically anywhere that will take us, but we have specific connections to France, Germany, and Switzerland). So far I really like the science culture here. I like how easy it is to collaborate with and even work in different labs. In my experience, PhD students in the US just don't have the mobility that EU students. I have an interdisciplinary focus, so this is very attractive to me. I also am interested in a very specific topic and there is better funding for it in Germany and (I think) in the UK.

In the US, it is hard to find a school with more than one lab working on the topic, I'm most interested in, so I like the idea of applying to the lab rather than the school. I am willing to consider working on related areas, but I'm not sure if I can spend 5 to 7 years working on something that is only tangential to my main interests. On the other hand, my Master program has a general focus and I would be interested in taking more classes that are specific to my main interests.


texts: Professor deletes me from Skype contact list after Skype interview and promise to give offer. Could this be a rejection?

texts: Recently, I had a Skype interview with a professor several weeks ago, and professor also promised me the PhD offer. My GPA is not high enough to meet the requirement of Department, but she said she would argue for me. After that, I also sent an email to professor and tried to talk about two academic questions, but no reply had been received. Recently, I checked my Skype and found professor has already delete the contact with me. And after I submitted the application, I also sent an email to inform the professor, no reply has been received either. So can I think it as a rejection?


texts:
Is there a specific way to cite the unpublished procedures of a research lab, or even to use the lab itself as an information source for citation?
I'm writing a mock SOP for a course that requires a reference for the procedures, but my lab supervisor only told me to "cite the lab" for an unpublished and informal list of steps for MIC determination.


texts: Should I write a peer-review in third person?

texts:
While it is generally accepted to write papers using the collective we, what is a common practice for writing peer-reviews: I, this reviewer, or something else?
For example,

This reviewer has a minor concern with how pink elephants are defined in this paper. It would have been helpful if authors defined an elephant first, and then added the color pink.

I have a minor concern with how pink elephants are described in this paper. My recommendation is to define an elephant first, and then add the color pink.


texts: Should I answer students' questions immediately or teach them to ask better questions?

texts:
I'm teaching an online lab (to accompany an in-person course) to undergrads in their 3rd or 4th year of an engineering curriculum this semester. The aim of the lab is not to teach them any particular technical skills. It's only meant to supplement the content of the course by exposing them to some more advanced concepts in a hands-on way. The lab itself is the means, not the goal.

So beyond a single "orientation" lab, they don't get a whole lot of training in debugging things that go wrong in the lab, and I don't expect them to become advanced users of the lab infrastructure. They're encouraged to post questions on a course forum if they have trouble running a lab exercise, and I answer their questions there.

Having said that, some students post questions that would be closed immediately on a Stack Exchange site for lack of detail, and for good reason. Questions like:

  I can't log in to the website, please help.

or

  When I run the experiment, it gives me an error. Can somebody help me???

or

  I can't see the results of the experiment.

with no further details. These are perfectly reasonable things to ask about, but the student hasn't even attempted to give me any details as to what went wrong. In the "real world," people that ask questions like this won't usually get help.

Since I operate the computing infrastructure for the lab, I can actually find out the specifics of what happened by checking the student's username against the server logs. So I can give them an answer even if they ask a really incomplete question (e.g., I can check the server logs and see that their experiment failed because they mistyped a command).

But I'm not sure if I should answer their questions (because I can, and I want to encourage them to ask questions if they have trouble), or if I should try to train them to ask better questions.

On the one hand: it seems like I am doing them a disservice by not teaching them how to ask for help properly.
On the other hand: students are (legitimately) frustrated when they're using infrastructure they haven't been extensively trained in, and they can't get it to work. If I try to get them to ask better questions, they'll feel like I'm being deliberately unhelpful and making them jump through hoops to get an answer to their question. (I know this because that's been their reaction the few times I tried this.) They may stop asking questions and just give up on the lab exercises.

Should I risk the actual course goal (delivering content to the students) in favor of a general educational goal (teaching them how to ask questions)?

Is there a way to train students to ask better questions without making them feel like I'm not helping them?

Just to clarify: I already provide answers to commonly asked questions, and a lot of material to help students formulate better questions before they ask. Some students ignore that material and ask very non-specific questions anyways. My question is how to address this once they've asked the question: should I walk them through the process of reformulating it before I answer? Is there a way to do so without frustrating them further?


texts: Engineering Ph.D. from another country searching TT position in US

texts: I had my complete education up to Ph.D. in Engineering in a country on the other side of the planet. However, I did a postdoc at a tier 1 US university for two years and then went back to my country, worked in a reputed multi-national company for 6 years. I had 6 publications in top journals with my advisers. More importantly (I believe), in the last four years, I published on my own (as the corresponding author) 6 more papers in top most journals (considered rank 1, 2, and 3) in my field. I am writing 4 more papers at present. I left my industry job, as I am interested in doing research in academic setting. Therefore, I came back to the US on another postdoc position. I am tempted to try my luck, applying to TT positions here, but, not sure about my chances. Another fact, I think, is against me is that I am in early 40's. Could any one let me know if I stand a chance here for a TT job?


texts: Acknowledgements in an industry-sponsored dissertation

texts:
I am a doing a dissertation funded by a company and my dissertation is basically a report of my progress on the problem they have given me. I have an academic supervisor, an industry contact who has given me occasional guidance and basically the company itself who sponsored it, to acknowledge.

Should I acknowledge the industrial sponsorship the same way one would acknowledge a government grant?
Also, Since this is a mathematics dissertation, It is written in First person plural: "We do this we do that". For the acknowledgements section, should I use 3rd person to keep it formal: "The author would like to..." or first person singular: "I would like to thank"
Finally, I think the order should be sponsorship, academic adviser, and lastly the industry contact. Is that the right order?


texts: How to deal with supervisor who required me to share all my work with him?

texts:
I am graduating with my Ph.D. very soon. In addition to my thesis and published journal papers, my supervisor required me to copy all my work—code, figure files, data, etc.—to him before my leaving. However, all the works during my PhD have been done by myself from scratch, including the ideas and research gap searching, although he was the co-author of the papers. And my scholarship has been provided by the university. So I feel this requirement is not reasonable.

In fact, my supervisor didn't like my research topic and we had very little communication during my Ph.D. study. He gave me very little help on my work and was also never interested in my work and research field. In this case, could you suggest me on the following two specific questions:

Should I share all my works with him? If yes, why and if no, how to negotiate with him?
If I can only share partial works with him. What is a good strategy?


texts: Where is the Latex Template for the journal Digital Scholarship in the Humanities ( Oxford press)

texts: I want to submit my paper in the journal Digital Scholarship in the Humanities (Oxford press). However, I cannot find any template(in doc or latex) for this journal on the journal website or in the oxford press website. I found many templates of other journals of oxford press but not this journal particularly. Where I can find that one? Thanks in advance. Journal link: https://academic.oup.com/dsh/


texts: Before proposing reviewers, should I notify them?

texts: Some journals require the author to propose potential reviewers. Should I just propose reviewers and let the editor contact them? Or should I first contact the potential reviewers myself and ask if they agree?


texts: How common are academic positions in theoretical physics offered to master graduates?

texts:
There are no academic positions in theoretical physics offered to master graduates worldwide based on my personal experience.

First, when I was still a master student in physics, a professor in theoretical high-energy physics in my department told me the faculty is never given funds to employ master graduates to do research in theoretical physics, so all he can do to help his master students needing time to prepare for applying for foreign PhD programs is postponing their graduation so that they can hold the part-time assistant positions associated with his research project while making the preparation.

Despite hearing about that, I still didn’t quite believe the fact that there are absolutely not academic positions in theoretical physics offered to master graduates, so after graduation I made an exhaustive search for them in my country, but have never seen even a single such position. The positions of the kind closest to the theoretical physics I’ve seen are those having virtual contact with others’ experiments, which usually require computer programming to simulate or analyze experimental data though there is no need to actually operate experimental apparatuses; these for me are counted as experimental physics as well.

Then I finally accepted the fact that a master graduate in theoretical physics seems to be only able to submit to either landing on a position not closely related to his master studies or staying without position if they can’t pursue a PhD immediately. Either way is not ideal for those who are dedicated to studies of theoretical physics seriously in the hope of taking it as their professional career. To my frustration, I often wonder the purpose of conferring the intermediate degree master in theoretical physics between bachelor and PhD since there is no associated position offered at all.

However, recently I have new discoveries. First, when I checked the CV of an assistant professor in theoretical physics having PhD position opening, I surprisingly found he had a stay of one year in a research institute for theoretical physics in Turkey between his MSc and PhD studies. Second, I found there were open research-associate positions in theoretical physics regarding gravity and cosmology in a university in England, with the requirement of the applicants being those who have a PhD degree in theoretical physics or those who have an equivalent level of professional qualifications and experience (will be given a lower salary than the PhD holder). Third, I heard on web that university lectureship and non-tenured assistant professorship in theoretical physics and math in India only require master degree. Then I recall one of my collaborators (a master student senior than me) during my MSc studies coming from Malaysia was given a university lecturer position, which was, nonetheless, in math rather than theoretical physics, when she came back to her country before pursuing PhD. However, I know she majored in math in her bachelor studies—this probably contributes a factor to her being able to get a position in math though she majored in physics in MSc.

Thus I wonder how common academic positions in theoretical physics are offered to master graduates worldwide. Are such offers commoner than I consider? Or are such positions I heard in Turkey and India as above just few exceptions? If theoretical physics positions for master graduates are not so common worldwide, how can the aforementioned research associate positions in England expect to find applicants with an equivalent level of professional qualifications and experience as that of PhD? If there are not associated research positions offered to them, where do they get an equivalent level of professional qualifications and experience? Can they study and make publications at their own home and write these on CV as experience? I doubt. Only given positions can be counted as professional qualifications and experience, right?


texts: International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSNs) in References (APA style)?

texts:
Question

When, if ever, do you include an ISSN in a references entry; and if you do, then in what form to comply with APA style?

Background

International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSNs) are used to uniquely identify serial publications, and the numbers can be helpful in distinguishing between publications that have the same or similar titles.

I am editing a dissertation and don't know how to advise the author about when, whether, or how to include an ISSN in a reference.

As best I can deduce from perusing the APA Manual 6th edition and searching the apastyle blog, there are no circumstances where you include an ISSN.

But is that so? If it helps, the author of the paper included this entry:

Getkin, K. (2009). Reforming or changing educational leadership. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 32(2), 15-19. ISSN 10409602.

Note: I posted a question about this on the apastyle blog in December 2018 and followed up in January. No one seems willing to tackle the question ...)


texts: How can a researcher in his early career attract good PhD students?

texts: As stated by the title, I want to know what a researcher in his early career, i.e., having not had any graduated PhD student yet, can do to attract good candidates. The reason I am asking this question is because PhD applicants usually look for supervisors who have many successful PhD students.


texts: Dropping "acknowledgement section" in thesis

texts:
I've finished my Bachelor thesis, and it's been a fairly independent work since it was a very niche topic that I didn't really have anybody to talk with about other than my advisor. I also don't want to thank any friends or family for "support", it seems a bit silly and melodramatic.

Almost all of the theses that I have read have acknowledgement sections with several people being thanked. Is it a requirement? Should I include it, and just write a sentence or two about my advisor? Is there another appropiate way to thank just him without dedicating a section to it? Should I not thank him at all? Does anybody read this stuff, or is it just skipped? Will not acknowledging anyone give the reader a bad impression of me, in the sense that I am an arrogant jerk, or of my work, in the sense that since I am not thanking anybody, I must not have used all of the ressourcess or given it a lot of effort?


texts: In a 3-year PhD programme, what are the tasks of the first year?

texts:
As a supervisor, how should I reasonably set the task timeline for a new (Engineering) PhD student, given there is a candidature confirmation at the 9-month mark?

In other words, how long is reasonable for settling down to a new country, literature review, defining a research topic, data collection, drafting a publication ...etc?

The programme is 3 years, and the student has a scholarship from the university without a defined research project. We agreed on a field of research, though.


texts: Very short phd interview presentation in just 2 slides

texts: I have been invited for a phd interview and I was asked to prepare a 4 minute presentation with a max of 2 slides only on myself and my research interests. The fact that it's extremely restricted in time and number of slides makes me a bit too anxious. I'm not sure what info I'm expected to present in such a short time and in just 2 slides. Any tips?


texts:
I am applying to Grad School. I have indicated three references. However, one of them has not yet completed. He has stopped responding to mails and phone calls too. Would it be wise to change him with some other reference ?

If it is of any importance, the person in the question is my undergraduate thesis advisor.

Since I don't have commenting rights I will add some more info here.

@kostia I visited his office some days back -> he disagreed to write then. Then some days after I visited, he writes to me saying he can do 5. And so I indicated him in requests. That was the last I had heard from him. I write him reminder e-mails almost every day, he doesn't reply.


texts:
I'm a citizen of a third world country, currently living in Canada. I've completed a 2-year postdoc position here and recently got an offer for an academic position at one of the reputable universities in my home country. They want me to initially obtain a research funding, though, which will take at least a year to get.

On the other hand, I was offered a second postdoc fellowship at one of the top universities in Canada.

I'd like to follow a career pathway where I can be an academic member eventually. However, if I accept the faculty position, I know that I'll never be able to have much funding throughout my career. On the other hand, if I accept the postdoc position and work hard, I might be able to apply to few Canadian universities for a faculty position, tough I don't know what my chances are, as it will be more competitive.

I just wanted to hear your opinion on which path to take.


texts: What will be implications of not publishing officially?

texts:
I am not a professional academic; I am an amateur mathematician.
I have developed an entirely new mathematical theory.
I have written a book about my theory and put it online at my web site.

I am considering whether to put it at an online Git hosting (such as GitHub.com) under a copyleft license instead of publishing in an official academic way. What could be the consequences of me violating the normal academic way?

I doubt whether professional mathematicians will refer to my work that is not published officially.
Since two objects cannot occupy the same place, I prevent others from publishing their own research duplicating my content.

This could have both negative and positive consequences:

The negative is that I may stall research in an entire part of mathematics, so that nobody could publish their own research on this topic.

The positive is that my little nail would be a nail in the coffin of continuing the existing way of disseminating scientific knowledge, as nobody would be able to step over my sharp nail. As an unbreakable obstacle on the way to do scientific research in the old way in an entire field of mathematics, this could crash the entire existing system (which is probably good).

My question: Please help me predict the implications of me disseminating my research in this rude way instead of publishing articles in math journals as most mathematicians do. Who would win in this struggle to integrate my research into the academic system: I or the rest of the world?

I want also to note that publishing with Git will greatly help in hunting possible errors in my book. It will also much ease publishing new revisions of the book.


texts: Writing two different books with some overlap

texts:
I am in the process of writing a book on machine learning. I have also been contacted to co-author another book, on the topic of deep learning. The books are quite different, but they do have some overlap.
Is this going to be an issue?

I just e-mailed the editor to inform him, but I also wanted to have some independent advice. The book with the editor will probably go out first, the second one is a project with a friend we started a while ago and we are progressing slowly, and will look for a publisher later.

Is this a matter of possible concern? Of course I will not write the same things, but the overlapping topics will probably have a similar style if I am to write both books.


texts:
In the Economics profession, there is a free service called RePEc:

https://ideas.repec.org/

This service, amongst other things, ranks the top 5% of registered authors over a number of metrics (their publication number, citation, impact factor etc).

I'm wondering whether other fields (e.g., biology, physics) have a similar service which ranks top contributors to their fields.

Many thanks.


texts: How to report pirated textbooks on Academia.edu?

texts:
I received a notification today from Academia.edu of a recently-uploaded "paper" that was similar to one I previously downloaded.  On clicking through, the "paper" turned out to be a PDF of a pirated textbook.  (Just to be clear:  the account that posted the PDF was not the author.)  Is there a way to report this?  The info at http://support.academia.edu/customer/en/portal/articles/1734342-reporting-a-fake-offensive-or-spam-profile explains how to report a "Fake, Offensive, or Spam profile", but that doesn't seem to exactly describe this situation.

I know Academia.org is a problematic site in many ways, but this is the first time I've seen it cross into LibGen territory.


texts: Does one invite adviser / cohort / lab to one's wedding?

texts:
For a PhD student getting married in the middle of the degree, is there an established etiquette for invited your peers and/or your adviser to the wedding?

Obviously, circumstances of the wedding affect the answer. But for the sake of argument, assume we're talking about a medium-sized affair in the US that includes extended family and friends (i.e. it's not a small, intimate affair).

For a specific example, I'm talking about a small lab of 8-10 people plus the adviser, most of whom have at least 2-3 years of working together.

The issues I think need to be considered are:

Does an invitation cross any boundaries?
Similarly, does the lack of an invitation imply some offense?
And lastly, is it all-or-nothing binary? That is, do you invite everyone or no one?


texts: How to supervise an undergraduate student if I am a PhD student coming from a different field?

texts:
I have joined a new research group as a PhD student about one month before. Few days ago my supervisor told me I should supervise an undergraduate student for a research project. However, the things this research group doing are totally new to me. When I had discussions with the undergraduate, I sometimes find he knows more about me in the project. I find embarrassed, and don't know how to supervise him when I can't quite understand his project.

I know as a PhD student, learning new things is essential (and I enjoy a lots). However, I do not have the time now. The undergraduate needs to have some results in few weeks for some sorts of mid-term review report. I agree to supervise him because I don't want to reject my supervisor, I just join the group and it seems inappropriate to turn down.

What should I do in this situation? I don't know if it is common for a fresh PhD student to supervise undergraduates even you are coming from a different field. Of course, I am doing a lot of reading for this, trying to beef my background knowledge up.


texts: Is this considered "research worth publishing" in computer science?

texts:
I am a freelancer software developer and I developed only commercial applications so far. I am thinking of publishing a paper and I would like some help.

Is re-rewriting the core function of a world class - well known open source project (where performance is a crucial) and optimizing it to be 2-3 times faster, considered research?

I am talking about using the exact same computer and exact same input and compare the performance. The idea is to parallelize it as much as possible, modify (a bit) well known data structures to be faster for the specific case, use a more suited language and (a bit) more suited algorithms than the open source project used.

In my view, I am applying what others made. I don't create an entirely new algorithm or data structure. But on the other hand, I guess there are 1,000s of papers published out there and many of them add little value, while my work will help improve the open source project.

What do you say, is the above considered "research worth publishing"?


texts: should your CV include unfunded grant applications?

texts: It seems that more and more schools are encouraging their faculty to apply for (and secure) external funding.  I have not yet been awarded any research grants.  If I'm applying for jobs at research schools, should I include on my CV my unfunded grant applications?  The obvious argument against this is that these applications were unfunded, and will be viewed as failures.  The obvious argument for this is that many administrations are eager to have their faculty applying for grants and reward them (very modestly) even for unsuccessful applications.  Which view carries more weight?