texts:
The universities and programmes I am going to apply emphasizes their research, hands-on experience, startup environment, etc as well as strong academia.

Is it fine to state in the Statement of Purpose that after graduating I would like to apply the knowledge to non-academical area?


texts: How to deal with constant pressure given by advisor

texts:
I am a third-year PhD student in mathematics from a very reputed institute in my country. I have one problem to share and discuss that is related with my guide. He is a senior professor in our department. The day I joined that institute he gave me one research problem and asked me to study about that and present. I did as much as I can and presented. In return, instead of appreciation I was being scolded for small mistakes. And it has continued for the last two years. Seniors say it is his way of working. I have lost my happiness. Sometime I cry for joining this course. My prof is not impressed with my good academic record and my hard work.

Second thing that worries me is that he is not much aware of my research problem. I feel like I know much more than him. He has no paper on that topic, although he has a good number of papers in other topics.  I never got help from him in solving research papers. I have to study papers on my own and then have to present to him.  And again for small mistake I have to suffer his taunts. I am scared whether I would be able to finish my degree in such an environment or not? Is this normal? Does every PhD student suffer such mental trauma?

I need  advice. Thanks.


texts: Thinking about switching to a Masters from a PhD, advisor wants a decision now

texts:
Main Question:

Three semesters into a PhD program, I am still unhappy with my project. I am currently in a summer internship where I was offered a job, and as I have enjoyed it so far and they pay well, I am considering finishing a Masters degree and leaving after that.  I emailed my advisor to let him know about the offer, asking his advice about that and about the logistics of switching tracks.  He has now asked me to let him know what I decide so he can give my TA position this coming semester to a different student (only PhD students at my university are guaranteed funding).  I don't want to be misleading and take funding away from students who are committed to a PhD, but I honestly don't know what I want to do yet.  I wonder if there might still be a chance that everything gets better and I do finish a PhD.  But since I am not committed, is it better to officially switch?  I don't know if it is possible to switch back, because my grades have not been the best and my university is very selective.  (But I worry that the department does not look highly upon me at this point anyways - my first year was rough, and I ended up taking leave last fall for personal/health reasons.)

How should I handle this situation?

Possibly relevant background information:

almost 23, US, computer science.  Finishing the requirements for a masters degree will take 2-3 more semesters (five classes and a paper).  I majored in physics in undergrad but added a computer science major my junior year, and then decided to apply to graduate school for that because there were many things I hadn't gotten to learn about yet and found interesting.  So I am now in a highly ranked program doing a project related to AI / NLP, which I had very little experience with prior to grad school.  The project is old, in a language I hate and struggle with, has mostly been bug fixes and reimplementing things that have already been done before.  With the exception of last semester, when another student joined (she has left already) it was just me working on it and three professors giving out tasks.  Entering my third year, I am starting to feel pressure to figure out a topic, but I still feel as if I don't know enough to decide and have no clue what would be acceptable or even what I would want to do.

I miss the excitement of undergrad days when I would write simple AIs or algorithms for my own amusement and edification - I thought grad school would be like that, but I haven't done anything of the sort since.  I've enjoyed my industry internships and class projects far more than any 'research' tasks because I got to build something that actually works.  This is why I am considering not going through with the PhD and just getting a job, although not ruling out the possibility of going back later when I have a more clear idea of what I want to do, after narrowing my interests on my own time.  I am not interested in a job in academia at all but rather I just want to have a high-tech job where I can make something novel and useful - which in some cases might be more accessible with a PhD, but I think is also possible with just a Masters.


texts: Should I pursue a research area even after finding that papers have already been written on it?

texts:
I am an undergraduate and I have no experience in research papers. I have come up with an idea  to write a simple research paper on "Emerging fiber optic networks in Africa." To my utter astonishment, I have seen a few papers already published in IEEE forum: one titled "Developing a fiber optic backbone for Africa" and another one I can't remember...

How can I deal with such a thing? Should I go and do my own research on the topic and see what happens? Or should I come up with another idea?


texts: MOOC's certificates on graduate admissions

texts: Do departments look at MOOC's certificates favorably during the graduate admissions process? Will it give me any advantage over students who don't have them if I am trying to enter a PhD program?


texts:
I have submitted revisions to a journal. The editor asked that:

  Please ensure that you refer to Figure 3 in your text as, if accepted, production will need this reference to link the reader to the figure.
  Please ensure that you refer to Table 9 in your text as, if accepted, production will need this reference to link the reader to the Table.

What does the editor mean? The article contains 17 table and three figures, but he only raised issue with figure 3 and table 9.

Figure 3 and table 9 have been mentioned in the text already.


texts: Etiquette for email asking graduate administrator to contact my reference regarding a deadline extension

texts:
I've applied to the University of ....... for fall 2016 graduate admission. The deadline for my references to submit the recommendation letters is December 01.

One of my references is currently extremely busy and has asked me to request the graduate administrator to contact him regarding the reference letter deadline.

I'm trying to think of some way to communicate this to the graduate administrator. Is the following e-mail alright?

Dear .......,
I am a Physics graduate applicant to the University of ....... for fall 2016
entry. My Application Number is ...........

One of my referees, Professor .......... from the University of ..........,
is currently under extenuating circumstances and will not be able to
complete my reference letter in time. He's asked me to contact you regarding
this urgent matter.

I would be grateful if you could contact him at his e-mail address
......@.......... , and also to kindly confirm if you have received this
e-mail.

Yours sincerely,
........

Does the e-mail look proper and ready to be sent?


texts: What are examples of penalties for "self-plagiarism"?

texts:
I graduated from university in June of 2015. I submitted an essay to a philosophy professor in my second year that was substantially the same as an essay I submitted to a TA the year before for one of the the same professor's first year classes.

I wanted to use my research and essay content for the second year course because I was enthusiastic about that topic and wanted to use it again. I asked the professor if I could use textbooks and information/material studied from his first year course (which also wasn't a prerequisite for the second year course) and he said that was fine. I wasn't really aware of this "self-plagiarism" rule back then and I figured he was saying it would be fine to use the content of my old work from the previous year as well. I do remember changing some parts of the essay but the two had substantially the same gist and body.

I just realized recently that I need written permission from the professor in those situations.

Theoretically, if they could prove now that I committed some sort of academic misconduct for that back in my second year, (2013-2014, I've had my four year honours degree since June 2015 and am now working in my field) what would the penalties be? Would my degree be revoked and would I be required to take another course? Would they just adjust my course or assignment mark?

I know it depends on the circumstances so I broke it down and let me know if there are any more details you need to know.


texts: Advisor wants first author. Do I have any leverage?

texts:
I'm doing undergrad research with a team, advised by a professor. I have a good relationship with this professor, but told us after the research started that he would be first author. I was at first just excited to do research, but the more I think about it, the more I think this isn't right.

His contribution was the original idea- not a fleshed out idea that we just implemented, but a very general "try this approach," a push in the right direction. Taking this approach, mind you, would be obvious to anyone well versed in the field (as I have learned), and within this approach, there are thousands of different avenues we could go to try achieving the results we want.
We have spent months doing research, and we have weekly-ish meetings, in which he asks us questions about what we're doing (we explain how our work, because it is our own creation) and he reminds us to write down everything we do. This has been his contribution for the duration of the project.
We are expected to write the entire paper ourselves- which he will then edit.

I have a meeting with him (one on one) in the near future and I would really like to bring this up, because first authorship would be huge for me or anyone on my team, whereas he already has an academic career. But I am only a first year, and he has expressed interest in doing future research with me.

My question is: do I have any leverage in this argument? Can I present this as a deal breaker for me for future projects? Is there any other way to denote who actually did the work that I can push for here? I'm not sure if he wants to make it seem like he did the work or if that's just "what we do" in my department for undergrad research. I don't want to ruin my relationship with this professor, but I also don't want to feel like my team and I are being taken advantage of.

Responses to questions:

My field is applied computer science
I think it would make sense for either my friend or me to be first author (I don't think having to make this choice would lead to problems)
I have no objection to co-first-authorship, but it would have to be me and my friend, not one of us plus the professor.


texts: How should an independent researcher introduce him/herself in his/her to be submitted articles?

texts:
As we all know, all academic professors or students who want to submit an article (research or review) to a journal should write their affiliations (their institute name and job there) on the first page of the article.
All of the articles I have read till now were from academic authors and I haven't met a single article from an independent researcher yet.


texts: Innovative and free publication platform

texts:
I would like to create an open access journal / a platform that is free of charge for authors and readers. Ideally, I would like it to get away from the current norms: offer the possibility to publish peer-reviewed articles, but also drafts, offer the possibility for reviewers to comment on drafts, offer spaces for videos and audios, and to share parts of our data in order to facilitate the replications of studies. Finally, one part would be devoted to a space where researchers can build knowledge together, like some kind of wiki.

My question is: do you know anything existing that sounds similar to this?


texts:
So recently, my PI submitted a paper that I and another graduate student have worked on for the past year.  The graduate student and I contributed equally on this project, in creating figures, getting data, writing the manuscript, etc., and he agrees as well. However, the first authorship is going to my partner, but I think it would be more fair if we had co-first authorship.
I want to bring this up and ask my PI, but I'm not sure what she'll say. How should I explain my situation to her?


texts: Should I publish work from my undergrad now that I am in graduate school and no longer working in the same field?

texts:
During my undergrad (past 3 years) I worked in a niche ecology lab and during the time generated some data. The work I did was not exactly groundbreaking but I think it was solid publishable work and could find a home in a decent journal.

My PI is encouraging me to write up my work and submit it for publication in the next few months but I have just started graduate school and am working in an entirely different field (Biophysics with a sprinkle of cell biology).

Considering that I expect writing up the work for publication will be a significant undertaking (seeing how it would be my first time writing a paper for publication), and the disparity between the subject of the paper and my current/future research, would it be worth the time commitment to follow my PIs advice and write the paper? Would there be any real benefit for my career in a different field if this work does get published?


texts: Would language difficulties be considered a valid excuse for a poor masters performance when applying for a PhD?

texts:
I recently completed an M2 (second year of masters) in mathematics in a Paris university. I come from the UK, had never studied French until the summer directly before, and foolishly thought that taking courses in a different language would be an interesting challenge. I was admitted to the course without needing to take any language competency exams. All lectures and learning material were in French, but we were allowed to write exams in English (which I did).
I absolutely bombed the first semester, achieving a 10.5/20 (~50th percentile), which is not great, and I felt that it was at least partially due to the language barrier (though I did lack some mathematical maturity compared to French ENS students in the course). I managed to get 18.5/20 in my second semester, which is considerably better. So I finished with a 14.5/20 (or grade bien), which was respectable (in the top 15% of my course) but I don't know if it will be good enough for the competitive PhD programs that I was hoping to apply to next year. It is perhaps worth noting that I maintained excellent grades during my UK undergraduate years.
My question is; would those PhD programs be willing to view my second semester grades (which include my thesis) as more reflective of my potential than those of the first semester? In other words, are (self-inflicted) language difficulties considered to be mitigating circumstances?


texts:
(This is a junior researcher's question.)

Scientific publications contain a part discussing related work and the context of the paper. However, it is not clear where to put the section discussing related work of a paper.

Where does the section on related work belong in a scientific publication? Is there any universal standard, or is it arbitrary?


texts: Re-reviewing a previously rejected article but some authors have changed from the previous submission. Should I mention that to the editor?

texts:
I recently accepted to review an article for a journal. I actually reviewed the very same article for another journal from where the submission was rejected. This is a rather common occurrence however, as I was looking at my notes from the previous review to see if the authors have addressed the previous issues, I noticed that the new submission has actually different authors. For example:

Initial Submission: Author1, Author2, Author3, Author4, Author5
New Submission: Author1, Author2, Author5, Author6, Author7

I will clearly mention in the review that I have reviewed the article before (actually the submission is in a different journal of the same publisher) but is the change of authors something that I should mention in my review?


texts: How is it like studying a Masters in Germany?

texts: There is a masters in hydrogeology at the University of Gottingen that I am considering applying for. Are professors helpful in general? I know it’s hard to generalise but what are your experiences like?


texts: Ask for funding before or after applying

texts:
I finished my master in computer science about 2 years ago...
And I just started to apply for PhD... I have received a prompt reply to one of my email and I really don't know what should I do!? here is the response :

"Dear Ali,

It is impossible for me to know over a year in advance whether I will take any students for Fall 2016.  Your CV looks interesting and I encourage you to apply to the program so you are eligible for any potential openings."

I asked for admission on fall 2016 but maybe I could ask for winter 2015 too...

Should I ask for funding now or after applying? How should I reply him?


texts: How and why do references in academic papers work?

texts:
This question applies both to papers people write to attain a degree, as well as academic papers submitted to journals by researchers.

In theory, the way science works is by building your own original research on top of other people's work. The general idea is that if they did their work well, and you did your work well, then  new insights are revealed and human knowledge as a whole is advanced.

But not everyone is honest and not everyone cares for advancing their field. Bad science is a thing and takes many shapes. So people check each others work, and that includes the references to other people's work. After all, if you base your own work on flawed premises, then no matter how correct you make your own part, the conclusions are still going to be nonsense.

But how does this work in practice? When a reviewer gets a paper, how can they check if the references are reliable? There are so many potential obstacles in the way - many authors and papers will be unknown (so now you need to review those articles as well); articles can be taken from obscure, out-of-print books and journals that are nowhere to be found; paywalls that the reviewer would have to pay out of their own pocket; etc.

It seems to me so impractical as to be almost impossible. How is it done in practice?


texts: Should one stick to the organization of a paper while teaching a subject?

texts:
When teaching a specific topic in a subject, which is not generally covered by textbooks, should or when the instructor should stick with the structure of the paper?

A not very popular topic in computer science covered in a paper. The structure of the paper is Algorithm 1 - Lemma 1 - Algorithm 2 - Lemma 2 - Theorem 1 - Algorithm 3.

The paper is published in one of top journals. I am aware that the editors and reviewers are quite decent people and they really know how to suggest organization of the paper for the sake of readability and understandability.

In what cases should an instructor change the structure while teaching, for instance to Lemma 1 - Lemma 2 - Theorem 1 - Algorithm 1,2,3?

Answers with experiences will be appreciated.


texts: How do I deal with postdoc acceptances that come in before my preferred institution makes its decision known?

texts:
I will graduate soon from the doctoral program. I will apply for multiple postdoc positions. The results of the one that I really think is great for my career will be probably announced later than the others. If I accept an earlier offer, and later learn that I could also get the one I desire the most, then I will really regret. However, I don't want to risk by refusing an early offer, since at the end I may get nothing.

Do you have any recommendations for such situations? Have you ever experienced this dilemma? How did you manage it?


texts: What is US equivalence of "diplome du baccalaureat technologique (STL) spécialité chimie de laboratoire et de procédés industriels"?

texts:
If someone who has "diplome du baccalaureat technologique Sciences et technologies de laboratoire (STL) spécialité chimie de laboratoire et de procédés industriels" and wish to study further in the US, can he take admission as Freshman in a 4 year university? Or, can he take admission as sophomore directly? Or, is it equivalent to US Associate of Science degree, so he can take admission to a junior level?

To get admission to a US university, official transcripts are required which is supposed to be in an envelope sealed by the school and directly mailed from the school to the university. But since the French baccalaureat trancripts are in French, it needs a translation. So an official transcript can't be directly mailed as it is in French. In this case, what will be the official transcript? Should I take the original transcript to a translator/notary and send the translation along with the transcripts? But then it won't be in an envelope sealed by the school, will it be considered as official transcripts?

Thanks.


texts: E-Scroll for University Graduates: Any problem?

texts:
University of Malaya, Malaysia's oldest public university has recently deployed a new system for issuing graduation certificate named e-scroll (it seems be the 1st university in the world to deploy e-scroll system). Under this new system, university will not issue any hard copy scroll (graduation certificate or degree) and instead provides a website from which graduates can download their electronically signed and timestamped degree in pdf format which can be printed out.

According to one of the officials, UM aims to produce digital degree certificates or E-Scrolls for its graduates to avoid forgery of certificate and ease employment process.

Some parts of the above links are here:

  E-Scrolls now work exceptionally well for online applications or for employers who like to verify the authenticity of an applicant’s qualifications. When employers click on an E-Scroll, a PDF document containing the applicant’s degree certificate opens up. A verification tab will automatically pop up indicating that the digital certificate is verified and authentic. If information on the scroll has been modified, the verification tab will show up in red, indicating some form of tampering. They can also manually click on the digital signature  panels to gain technical information on the certificate and signatories.

“UM also provides an alternate method of verification for its graduates through the  Registry of Graduates website that contains the list of graduates,

According other fellows in the above links

  The security of E-Scroll is based on a technology called Public Key Infrastructure. This is a proven technology that is widely used by governments worldwide to protect the e-passport, citizen identification cards, and by the financial institutions to secure transactions and online banking

Here and here are some articles discussion in depth about e-scroll and technology behind it.

Here is they problem:
UM will NOT issue any hard copy scroll anymore meaning that we are unable to present original degree that is printed on a thick paper, has 3d stamp, and has hologram. Instead they issue a pdf that has some note on it and provide access to a website to show its authenticity.

If UM had both of the certificates, it would be wonderful since it satisfies both concern; those who need original degree and those who want to verify authenticity of the degree.

My question:

How easy would it be to convince officials to accept such a e-scroll?
Imagine a visa officer at port who wants to verify student's document before entry. If we tell him so, how likely is that he agrees? and he goes to his computer and opens the website? How can we say that the website is not fake? Manipulating university websites is not harder that forging a degree, I guess.
Even if people trust the website and agree on usefulness of this approach, how practical it is that we expect governments to change their employment, verification, or other policies?

For instance, in my country, all degrees obtained from foreign countries must be take to the ministry of higher education for validation. Upon successful validation, the government party issue degree equivalency. Now here is the point that how easy is that for us to ask ministries to change their verification and validation process?

What is the best way to talk to University officials and ask them to issue both?

Do you know, as admission committee member or university administrates, what other problems new students graduated form UM will face in your university?

Here is the sample e-scroll


texts: Can publisher alter or invent writing and attribute that to the author without consultation?

texts:
Is it legal to publish a document under an authors name without the author seeing the manuscript?

What if the author's manuscript is radically altered to the extent of say the opposite of the original and is published without authors seeing the manuscript - would that be legal?

The question of course is not if it is unethical but rather not legal.

What does "moral rights" cover?


texts:
Once I expressed an opinion on a question in a discussion with a person working on the problem. My opinion didn't work in its original form but could be modified a little to make it correct, i.e., although not completely correct it contained useful information.

Recently I found that the person I was having the discussion with has quoted me in a paper in an incorrect form by mentioning that I'd expressed the statement. But he has made no claims about its correctness. The person never asked me later for explanation and didn't even check if the way he is quoting me is correct. The discussion was brief and spoken. And he did not even send me a copy of his paper afterwards.

I feel that he should have asked me for clarification before quoting me in the paper or at least he should have given me notice that he is quoting it. At the time of the discussion he agreed to what I said and told me he would contact me about it and even send me a draft.

I don't like being quoted for a statement I don't know, and moreover I am a little bit pissed off by his action (quoting a brief informal discussion about a possible proof of some result without notifying me or asking me for clarification). What should I do now?

The paper is not published yet, it is on arxiv.org.


texts: Is there any efficient non-linear note-taking software?

texts:
I'd be interested in tools helping to organize thoughts and ideas, especially in a non-linear way (i.e. not as most existing note taking tools, working with lists and bullets, but rather as a post-it application). Ideally, something like the tool they use in Minority Reports would be cool (without the fancy-touch thingy), but an important point would be the ability to visually connect different ideas/notes together.

EDIT: Maybe to make things more explicit, I have a visual memory, and it helps me a lot having a graphical disposition to classify things (like important things at the top-right, urgent ones on the middle-left, etc). Basically, I'd like to find my messy desk on my screen :)


texts: Not able to find peers to publish with. Will publishing alone affect the credibility of the paper?

texts: I am a Master's student, and I'm nearly done with my first paper draft. Although the paper I am currently working on will be published with my advisor, I want to work in research areas that my advisor is not interested in. I can publish on my own but most papers I have reviewed have multiple authors. Will submission of a paper with only my name on it affect the chances of the paper being accepted? How can I go about finding like-minded people to work with?


texts: Appropriate to say "Nice to meet you" over a phone interview?

texts: I have a phone interview for a tenure-track position. It's always awkward because you want to say "Nice to meet you, Prof. X" but it sounds so weird. What would be the alternative? You wouldn't just want to say "Hi Prof. X". Would you?


texts: Is it appropriate to ask for more than one recommendation letter from the same person

texts:
I will be applying for Ph.D programs in mathematics and hence I'll be needing letters of recommendation from my professors. There are two or three professors with whom I have a lot of academic interaction and which are also famous in their research areas. As such, having a recommendation letter from them can significantly increase my chances of selection.

Now my question is: Since I’ll be applying to 5–6 universities, is it appropriate to ask for that many recommendation letters from the same person? If not, then how many recommendation letter is considered to be “normal number” to ask for?

I would be very happy if some of the professors here, who themselves write recommendation letters can tell their experience.


texts: What is meant by real-world scenario in research papers?

texts:
I'm asked by a reviewer to extend my manuscript (which is about cognitive radio network) to include one real-world network scenario. The exact words are:

  "The authors should augment the paper with one particular
  "real-world" network scenario and demonstrate the functioning and
  performance of SE-CRN (my scheme name)."

Now I'm in puzzle. What is meant by the real-world network scenario? Should I take simulation parameters exactly as those stipulated in the IEEE 802.22 standard, and will this suffice to satisfy the reviewer's question? Or does it mean that I have to implement my scheme in real experimentation?


texts: How does one organize their publication pipeline?

texts:
In the field of computer science, there are numerous conferences and journals to seek publication in. It's almost overwhelming! How does one go about organizing, prioritizing, and planning a workflow or "pipeline" for meeting the variety of submission deadlines?

For example, is there a "definitive" resource like wikicfp that most researchers use? Do you simply track your deadline dates on a calendar, even years in advance?

Or do folks tend to just write the papers first, and see what CFP dates are in the near future, and submit to what's in the near future? (Submitting "now" to what's available, as opposed to waiting/planning/timing in advance for particular avenues of publication.)

Or do folks tend to target just a handful of top-tier conferences and journals, and then investigate, ad-hoc, for other opportunities after being rejected from the top-tier publications?


texts: How to handle student plagiarism appropriately?

texts:
I am nearing the end of teaching a course for first year students with a fellow student.

We assigned a paper and 2 students have submitted almost identical papers. The policy is that if a student is caught they get a 0 and possible legal action on a case-by-case basis governed by department heads.

I know that one of these students is a 4.0 students and it seems odd that she would either share or copy her paper from another student. I'll refer to her as student A. Student B's paper is about a 90% copy and normally cases where this happened it's evident that the students are friends and socialize during classes. I have never seen Student A and B talk to one another and I find it hard to believe student A would plagiarize off of another student.

I do not want to have to fail both students if only 1 copied off the other without the other's knowledge. How can I appropriately handle the situation without seeming like there is a favoritism towards student A? Student B has been on the lower end of the class grade wise but is still a passing student.


texts: Reporting multiple undergraduate GPAs for PhD applications?

texts:
I am looking for advice on how to present myself in the best light to future PhD programs in the humanities.

I currently am completing my MA from a respectable state school in the subject that I wish to get a PhD in. I expect to graduate with a GPA of 3.98. I have good GRE scores, letters of recommendations, statement of purpose, and writing sample.

My concern is my undergraduate GPA. I transferred from a top liberal arts college after two years to an Ivy League institution. My GPA from my first two years of college is high (3.8). However, the last two years of my college, my GPA dropped significantly (3.1). Combined, I have a respectable GPA of 3.45. However, most applications to the PhD programs make the applicant fill out the GPA boxes of the institutions attended separately (i.e. "was your GPA on a 4.0 scale?" - "If yes: enter GPA"). I do not have a good excuse for this decline. Furthermore, the PhD applications make you choose which was your "primary institution." To exacerbate my issue even more, some have a cut off of 3.3 GPA, which would make my application seem to be automatically rejected even though it is not reflective of my whole time as an undergraduate.

My questions are:

How much does undergraduate GPA matter compared to a master's degree GPA? Do I even have to report my undergraduate GPA given that I have an MA degree? (It seems that I do, but it's worth asking here.)
Is there any way to list my college GPA as "combined" given the very specific constraints of the application? Or would any efforts to show a holistic grade appear dishonest? I would not like to draw more attention to my low GPA if possible.
Is it prudent to list my liberal arts college as my "primary institution" even though my degree was conferred by the Ivy League one? Which would make my application stronger?

I am applying to extremely competitive programs and I really hope to get into one. Any and all suggestions on how to handle this is appreciated. Thank you for advice on the matter, I really would be grateful for it.


texts: I’m a grad student working on an assignment that involves stating the effectiveness of an intervention for students with learning disabilities. I used a meta analysis to support the effectiveness and am not sure how to report everything in one page and which sections to include. Specifically, I don’t know where to report how the effect was calculated (under which section). I don’t have much  knowledge in this area so any help would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Unaddressed ethical violation I know about but have no connection to: Do I report it?

texts:
I've been made aware of a situation that blatantly violates the honor code at my institution (also every institution). However it does not involve my lab, and the folks in the relevant lab are not keen to address it in any official capacity.  What to do?

The Situation:

A graduate student proved to be unfit for the lab he worked in. After one year he transferred to a totally different department/school/program at our university--one that is not research intensive.
Upon leaving, my friend hounded him for the data he collected, which was part of a project she is lead on.  He provided her with an excel spreadsheet. The Day 1 observations appear normal, but the subsequent days were simply a formula that changed Day 1's values by a constant and added some variance. To be clear, he actually left the formulas (which linked to the Day 1 observations) in the cells. So, clearly it's fraudulent data.
My friend told her PI and is not using any data collected by this RA in any of her work.
However, what is problematic, IMO, is that the PI and my friend have no intentions of addressing it further. I believe they are motivated by a desire to avoid the bureaucracy and the awkwardness that comes with making such an accusation. They have also pointed out that the program he is in now is totally different and does not involve real research (but still writing up reports about observed data, I would imagine).

The Question:

This student is still at our institution and I feel that the lack of ethical integrity he demonstrated should (must) be addressed!
Am I being a self-righteous, cotton-headed ninny muggins?
If not, what course of action should I take?
NB: I am not in any way associated with that lab or PI... it's a different department too. I am a 2nd year PhD student.

Thank you for any insight.

Bonus Details:

This was intentional fraud. The data are behavioral observations of mice, there should be original video files, and there are for Day 1 but the subsequent files are missing. When asked several times this week it was "oh yeah yeah I'll get those to you... it's just my login isn't working since I'm switching departments..." indicating that he did not actually collect the data. He did not reply "just kidding," "my bad," or "actually I did something stupid." (Sidebar: his inability to realize how obvious he is reminds me of teaching while students not-so-covertly text... I see you!)
The specific formula was Day1Value*1.1+(RAND(-2,2))... so while he added variance it was a naive attempt at doing so... even if he hadn't left the formulas in there it would be as clear as day.


texts: What degree is necessary for a career in conservation?

texts:
I'm currently in school studying towards an A.S. in Natural Science. I'd like to have a focus on marine life, which leads me to believe I should get a B.S./B.A. in Marine Biology, however I want to be able to work in other areas well; such as aquatic life, land mammals, botany, forestry, &c. My question is, what degree should I work towards to be able to work fluidly between conservation efforts. I'm rather lost in all the different degrees out there, I don't know which to pursue. The school I'm considering offers degrees in Marine Biology, Natural Science, Environmental Science, Agriculture and Management, Plant and Soil Science, Wildlife Management.

I'm also going to pursue a Master's after my Bachelo'rs. I was curious if it might be a good idea to get a Bachelor's in Marine Biology, then maybe a Master's in something much broader in order to expand my horizon so to speak. Or is it a better idea to just stick with one area and focus there?


texts: International Students transferring between graduate programs

texts:
I'm an international graduate student in my first year as a PhD candidate. I'm looking to transfer schools for two reasons-

I had a hard time here with my health in jeopardy, so I'm looking to move to a school which is close to my extended family.
My research interests seem to be more aligned with a different school, which I had not considered when initially applying abroad.

I have a good research background in my field, and a four year bachelor's degree from a highly accredited institution in my home country. While I've taken all the first year courses necessary at my current school, I'm just finishing up and I haven't chosen a permanent advisor yet because I'd like to consider transferring.

Is this possible? If yes, could you guide me on how this process works?
Thank you in advance.


texts: Blind grading for exams isn't very blind

texts:
TL;DR:

How should I blindly grade exams when I can recognize over half of the papers by the handwriting?

Situation: I'm a TA for an first year physics class of approximately 50-60 students. Due to a complaint along the lines of "the grader hates me so I failed the class" that the department got last year, there is a proposal in the department to ensure that tests be swapped to blind grading. However, as the class assigns a fairly large amount of homework, from experience I know that I can reliably recognize more than half of the class's handwriting. The proposed system goes along the lines of having students use an ID number that they get when they take the test that isn't shown to me until I'm putting grades into the computer. The problem is that I feel that this would do very little to actually reduce bias if TAs can just recognize handwriting without a name.

Short of putting people on rotation for grading this stuff, which has its own problems, are there any better ways to implement a blind grading system to remove any handwriting bias?


texts: If the poster gets a prize, who gets it, the person presenting it or the first author?

texts: Suppose I have done a collaborative work, where I do 80% of the work. Hence, I am the first author. Now my collaborator goes to a conference to present a poster of that work. In the poster too, my name is (for the obvious reason) first. But my collaborator is the presenting author. Now if the poster gets a prize, who gets it, the person presenting it or the first author? Technically, who should get it?


texts: What percentage of research papers have been digitalized?

texts:
Is there any research/study/survey that tried to quantify the percentage of research papers that have been digitalized?

I understand that the notion of "research papers" may need to be defined in such a study, as well as other boundaries (e.g., date range).


texts: How can I get back on track after falling behind on my online courses?

texts: I need some advice on how to catch up on my online courses. I have gotten really far behind on my work and lack the motivation to keep going. This my second year taking online courses and it seems harder than the first. What should I do to move forward?


texts: Listing GPA on undergrad CV when reaching out to professors

texts: I intend to apply to PhD programs in computer science, and I have been advised to reach out to professors I'm interested in working with by sending them my CV. My GPA is 3.6, which is not bad, but it's not great either. I think the rest of my CV/profile is quite positive, but I am not inclined to list my GPA for this 'reaching out CV', since it may create a bad first impression, even before I apply. So the question is whether I should leave my GPA on.


texts: Posting solutions to textbook problems online

texts:
I'm interested in knowing whether there are any legal issues (e.g., copyright infringement) in posting solutions to problems of a (paid) textbook.

I have mentioned these problems in class and did not have the time to thoroughly solve them on the blackboard. I thought about typing up the solutions with an extended discussion on each problem and the concepts employed. However, before I do that, is there any legal action about which I should be concerned? More specifically, I'm thinking about typing them up in Jupyter Notebook-style and was planning on putting those up on a public Github repository.

I had initially typed up the problems as well, but decided to reference to the exercise number in the book, as the "wording" problem itself may be proprietary.

I'm aware that the book has a paid solutions manual to which I don't have access.


texts: Do I publish a paper independently or ask a professor to mentor me?

texts: I am an undergraduate studentcurrently in my 3rd year. I have worked on a project for the last year. I was thinking of writing a review paper about the topic. It was a graded project in my curriculum and I had a mentor to guide me(for one semester, after that I have worked on it independently), except that my mentor was not interested at all in my work. (I got similar opinions about the said mentor from my classmates who were working with her) Should I go to her and ask for guidance related to writing the paper or should I go ahead and try to publish it independently?


texts: CV and/or resume for PhD Student with industry experience?

texts:
I spent 10+ years in industry before going back to grad school to pursue a PhD, and therefore I have extensive industry experience, as well as ongoing academic work.
Is there a good way to represent this on my CV? Does anyone know a good CV format or template that would allow me to show this?


texts: Why do journals have limits on the number of references?

texts:
I was rather shocked when hearing in a conversation that journals sometimes have explicit limits on the number of references that can be included in one article. I understand that there are space concerns for print publications, and that word/page limits, as well as limits on the numbers of figures and tables are common. But placing limits on the number of references strike me as rather close to impinging on the integrity of the articles themselves (would anyone support a motion to limit the number of authors?).

  Question: What are some reasons that have led journals to limit the number of references?

Clarification: I am not asking whether this is a good idea in general. (I think it is silly, but that's just my opinion.) I am not asking whether this can have some potentially good effect on the quality of scientific writing. I am specifically asking whether there was an official explanation ever issued on the part of the publishers explaining this rule, or whether there was some event (say, an abuse in the form of many gratuitous references or an observed trend for the average number of references to keep growing if not otherwise checked) or some strong personality (famous editor-in-chief X) that led to these kinds of policies being formulated.

For example, Applied Physics Letters has limits on number of words (with some conversion factor applied also to figures and tables), but (in my opinion, rightly) excludes the title, the author list, and the list of references from the limit.

For examples of journals (from various publishers) that have limits on number of references:

Nature "strictly enforces" a limit of 50 for articles and 30 for letters. (Science, I note, does not for research articles. For review articles the limit is 100.)
Earth and Planetary Science Letters limits to 50.
Blood "recommends" a limit of 100 references, though I don't know if this is a hard limit or not.
Journal of Clinical Ontology limits to 10 for "correspondences" and a "suggested limit" of 150 for "research articles".
Journal of Genetics (more reasonably, in my opinion), have different limits for different types of articles. But notably for research and review articles there are no limit to references: the reference number limit applies to shorter submissions such as correspondence, commentary, or "research notes".

Some additional information:

(TL;DR: Nature put in their current policy sometime between the years 1986 and 1988, with no reference limits prior. Did something happen in the 80s?)

I went down to the library and looked at the old issues of Nature (not because I want to single them out, but because the library happen to have all the issues since the 20s available on the stacks). After some binary search I've found that in December 1986 the instructions to the authors look like this (with no mention of limit to references)

and in October 1988 it became almost the same as present day (apologies for the flash... the lighting in the stacks wasn't good).

(I don't have the exact date of the switch, since only some of the issues in the library came from the original magazines; others came from bound reprints ordered from the publisher which stripped out pages like these. So in particular I found no "Guides to Authors" in the 1987 issues I had access to.)

Back in the 20s and 30s most of the items in Nature had no references whatsoever. By the 50s and 60s we start seeing articles more in the form of what we expect today, but the number of references are generally not too many. Even in the 70s and the 80s (before the change of rules) the majority of the articles do abide by the modern rules, with occasional exceptions.


texts:
While in undergrad in my final semester, I cheated on an exam and got caught. The teacher gave me a zero on the exam, I got a C- in the class, and I got a warning from the Dean's Office, which is on my academic record, but not on my transcripts.

Fast forward 2 years after graduation, I want to apply to a masters/PhD program. However, I am afraid that nothing I have done since will make up for the fact that I cheated.

I know I did something terrible, and I was in a very low mental health status back then. I have since attended rehab, and worked a full time job,to give myself time to figure out my life.

Are my chances for higher education zero? I feel like there is no point in even applying because of my terrible mistake.


texts: Letter of recommendation from Professor who I have not done research with

texts:
I had a meeting with a well respected professor to discuss issues in the research field (biomedical engineering) I am interested in. I am not seeking to do a PhD with him as I intend to go overseas for my PhD studies. During the meeting I asked him in depth questions about why things are the way in the field, and received good answers. He also suggested potential PhD advisors in the research field who are doing good work. I felt the meeting was productive and he may have a little impressed with me (knowledge of the field).

At the end of the meeting he suggested that he could write a letter of recommendation for me, because he knew all these professors.

However I had not done any research with him. That meeting was the first time I met him and my only interaction with him.

I mentioned this to him and he said, that's ok, he can still write a letter of recommendation based on my resume and transcript.

My question is will this letter of recommendation be helpful? Is it a good idea to submit this as a 4th letter of recommendation? Is the worst case scenario that at most the letter just counts as nothing?

Some additional information:

I have funding for my PhD studies
I am tangentially related to this professor, he was the boss of my supervisor, but he has sinced moved away and that was the first time I met him.
I may only have 2 good letters, from people I did research with. The third letter is from my programme tutor


texts: Does grant funded equipment result in authorship?

texts:
Just a quick question regarding authorship. Recently, a PI won a grant, which was used to buy some computer equipment (~$1000 piece of computation equipment along with some other equipment not relevant to the post).

I am a student that has been using the piece of equipment, as it was not being used by their students.

I am now going to be submitting a manuscript, which used the equipment as mentioned above. Does this entail the PI who won the funds to pay for it authorship? Or, as I believe, just acknowledgment (for both the grant and the PI who won it)?

EDIT 1: I should note, my research has nothing to do whatsoever with the PI's grant or their research.

EDIT 2: I found this interesting paper on the subject.


texts: Repeating technical terms using varied ones

texts:
One of my supervisors told me that the language should not be varied, but instead we should use the same technical words (not synonyms) again and again. Is that really true?

PRE- & POST-EDITED SUBQUESTION (related to accepted answer):

How should paragraphs and sentences be formatted/structured in technical academic writing such as a master thesis (based on your personal experience/recommendations)?


texts: What is my professor thinking right now?

texts:
Professor routinely post lecture notes to the blackboard website. The professor had storage folders for the current and last semester.  After taking an exam, My professor routinely post  the solutions to be studied or compared against your own exams.

While studying for the final, I thought "perhaps he has the exam posted for last year's course?" I looked in last year's file and sure enough , the final is posted with all solutions! Now I have an idea of what to expect.

The day of the final exam comes, I look it over and it is the same exact exam...

Before escorting the class to the testing center, the professor begins to explain that the solution to the final will be posted later that night, and we can expect our final grades by there next morning.

As the class leaves to the testing center , I am the only one left who has yet to leave. I confront my professor and ask him "do you know that the answers to this exam are posted online in last semester's folder?" Frantic he says "why didn't you tell me yesterday?" And he runs off to his office to remove the files.

That was a week ago, my professor never posted the solutions , nor did he post our final grades.

I have a very good relationship with him

What does this mean? Does this make me look bad?


texts: What is the origin of the "underwater basket weaving" meme in Academia?

texts:
"Underwater basket weaving" is often used as a placeholder for "irrelevant, useless university course." (Despite the fact that it's an actual thing.)

More generally, "Basket weaving" and related courses (e.g. "quantitative basket weaving") are often used as a placeholder for "some university course."

This phrase appears several times on Academia.SE. It has also been used in official university documents (e.g., this sample curriculum change request, this sample assessment plan, this sample thesis title page, this guide to curriculum changes).

What is the origin of this usage? When/by who was it first used this way?


texts:
A couple of months ago I've discussed some question (the question itself might not be too creative, as a in-some-sense natural although not asked before followup for an open question that was closed last year) with a superstar in my field with whom I'm in decent working relations (and he's a very very nice person).

We've discussed the question and possible directions for a couple of times in emails and a meeting over this two months, had no real progress at all, but in the last one after some discussion he mentioned a direction that we both agreed should be checked. Afterwards I went abroad (academy related) for a few weeks so I didn't get to continue thinking about it.

When back, he informed me that this general direction (after using interesting and non-trivial tools) has worked and that he has solved the problem, started writing it, and will write me an acknowledgment.

Now, as I made no contribution to the right solution or writing, I assume that even if he would offer coauthorship I was supposed to decline. Yet, I'm unhappy for not being informed during the progress and given the chance to make this contribution even if it was clear to him that he can solve it by himself...

As I don't really think "What should I do?" would sprout any answers that will be very helpful, I'd rather ask what do you recommend doing in order to avoid such situations in the future? And also, if indeed I get that supposedly big acknowledgement in a paper written by one of the biggest names in my field - is there anywhere or anyway where it is appropriate or helpful to mention it?

Thanks!


texts: For what reasons might a full professor lose tenure?

texts:
Recently, a full professor at my university lost their tenure and had their employment with the university terminated. I have never heard of a tenured faculty member "being fired" before. I am not sure why this happened or what the former professor did that resulted in this outcome.

I know that assistant professors can be denied tenure for poor performance. But for what reasons might a full professor (or an associate professor) lose tenure?

(In this question I use US-centric academic ranks. An assistant professor is tenure-track, an associate professor is tenured, and a full professor is tenured with a slight increase in pay/benefits/responsibilities.)


texts: Is it possible to write a masters thesis in 10 days?

texts: Was it ever possible for anyone to finish writing a master thesis in 10 days? I've been struggling for a long time now to focus on my writing due to several personal problems and I'm running close to my deadline so I'm starting to freak out. I welcome any suggestions at this point.


texts: Can a scientist meaningfully be an author of more than 1000 papers?

texts:
In chemistry and physics, there are now a number of scientists who appear as authors on over 1,000 papers. Famous professors can have good funding and then a large research group where their research fellows work in parallel while they apply for more funds.

However, when it comes to 1,000 papers, to me it no longer seems possible for a person to make a legitimate contribution to each paper. In other words, it seems the famous professor's contribution must be trivial to many of these papers. I even wonder if there is time to read all of their papers carefully.

Do these authors simply get authorship in return for getting funding and running a group, or is it possible for them to be a full author in the normal sense of the word for most or all of their papers?


texts: Remove author identifying information and resubmit. Is it too much time 2 weeks later?

texts: I submitted a manuscript to a Taylor & Francis journal. Three days later they asked me to remove author identifying information from the anonymous manuscript before they could send it for review, I think they were referring to a self-citation. I resubmitted the manuscript 2 weeks later, and this time I didn't receive a confirmation e-mail. The status of "submitted to journal" hasn't changed for six days. Is there something wrong resumitting the manuscript 2 weeks later just to remove author identifying information? Is it too much time for "submitted to journal" status?


texts: Do visiting professors make for good PhD supervisor?

texts: I am currently thinking about pursuing a public policy PhD after my MA is completed. One of my top target schools employs a visiting professor who has been at that university for the past several years. The main reason I wanted that particular professor is that his previous background included posts at several very high-ranking positions within the US government that I feel like would be helpful to me throughout my doctoral education and with the potential dissertation. But I'm worried that as a visiting professor, he'd make for a poor choice as a supervisor due to him being "visiting" instead of a more permanent professor at the school (is it?).


texts: I'm submitting to a journal. There is a drop down menu to choose your area, and each area has a specified editor with his name readily found on the journal instructions. So the assigned editor is known. Should I refer the cover letter to the editor in chief or the editor.


texts: I have worked on a problem for close to two years. I feel I have an adequate theoretical solution. However I feel to get some backing on the theory I need some quantitative hard computer data. It is only a few days work of programming. Would it be ethically wrong to recruit an undergrad for a few days volunteer work without pay to get the computer crunching part done and not mention him as a coauthor and only mention as acknowledgement?  This is only for time reasons as I am not familiar with tools required. Everything will be given as cook book to the interested programmer.


texts: Funding during graduate study (phd, masters) in math in the US

texts:
I have some questions and concerns in mind:

When somebody says a program is "funded", does that mean the money is conditional (whether he TAs or not) or unconditional? Or is it clarified in context?
Is there such a thing as entirely unconditional funding? If it's not tied to teaching, will it always be tied with progress (or something else)?
Are there programs that will ask you to take out loans? In other words, do (most) schools generally have some sort of funding available? How does this depend on rankings/tier? Is there a specific ranking, say 50, below which you'll mostly likely need money through loans? Does it depend on type (masters or phd)?
For the sake of avoiding confusion, what are different sources? Fellowships, scholarships, the department, "TAships" (what is an exhaustive list?)

My personal concern is whether or not I can depend on being funded, even if I'm not a very strong student (or if I'm a student coming from a different discipline).


texts: During a PhD, what should I do that is not research?

texts:
I am PhD student finishing my first year in Computer Vision. While I take my research seriously, I was wondering what I could (or should?) do that is not research. I can think of very different things:

Studying related subjects that do not directly benefit my PhD as Natural Language Processing;
Studying completely different subjects that interest me: Finance, Chinese, Management, etc;
Go to the gym;
Sleep more;
Play PC games;
Watch movies;
Travel;
Look for jobs for after my PhD;
...

So far, I have been focusing on research during the week, and if I'm tired of it during the evenings or the week-end (which is usually the case), I just rest or read a book.

Not sure if this is being lazy or having a good life-work balance, but at least I am still very motivated and things are going not too badly (I am quite close to completing the key experiences of my first paper).

So, what should I do?


texts: Balancing coursework, research, and teaching

texts: I'm a first-year graduate student, and I just joined a computational chemistry laboratory. I have three tasks now: pass all my courses, fulfill my TA duties, and start research. I'm finding that I'm spending all my time doing the first two, and very little doing actual research. I'm worried that my advisor will be upset that I'm not getting up to speed quickly enough on my research (currently, learning the python programming language and reading a whole bunch of papers). Are first-year graduate students typically expected to do a lot of research, while still managing their grades and TA duties?


texts: Research between different campuses of the same university

texts:
I was recently applying for a tenure track position at a university.  I had found people who had adjacent research interests, and thought it would be good to mention them as possible collaborators for research.  However, I just found out that these researchers work at a different, smaller campus under the same university structure.
How common is collaboration between different campuses of the same university? To clarify, in my case,this isn't a state university either (for example,university of X- cityA vs university of X- cityB... these do tend to feel more like separate universities altogether), but rather a private university with various campuses and satellite locations. I'm sure that this is dependent on the university culture, but I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this.


texts: How to respond to "When are you graduating" when I'm behind

texts:
I'm a 5th year Ph.D. student. I've worked on several different projects in the last couple years, some of them not related to my dissertation topic, so I don't yet have enough results to say for sure when I will defend. I'm working solely on my dissertation project now, and I'm working as quickly as I can.

We have group meetings once in a while. Another faculty member and his student also attends because they collaborate with my advisor. In the past several meetings, my advisor has been too busy to attend, and the other researcher, who is not too familiar with my research activities, has been asking me things like:
Are you writing any papers?
Have you formed your committee?
How many years have you been here again?
When are you going to graduate?

When I say "no" "I don't know" etc., he has an expression of concern (or maybe pity). I am really annoyed by this. It's like someone keeps on asking me about my fish when it died recently. I'm already under enough stress trying to do research. The last thing I need is someone reminding me I'm behind schedule - it's demotivating. Not to mention this makes me look bad in front of my group mates.

What should I do? Tell him bluntly "it's none of his business"? Stop attending group meetings?

While it's unfortunate that my graduation is delayed, taking into account my own abilities and changes in research topics, I'm happy about where I am, working on something I'm interested in. I would much rather do some meaningful and quality work than slap together something half-baked for my dissertation. (Of course, I know I could be making more money by getting a real job sooner, but these are the best years of my life and I would rather spend it doing something I love.)


texts: Correct verb for professor "writing" student exams?

texts:
On their CV, how should an associate professor go about making a bullet point accomplishment that they "designed / wrote / created / produced" student exams? that is, devised several pages of questions (and corresponding answers) meant to test students' knowledge about the subject or sub-field.
How does this verb change for an assistant professor who serves a higher rank professor, but who was given lee-way or freedom to similarly also create/write exams from scratch as they see fit?


texts: Is it possible to remove an author's name after publication?

texts:
If a paper was published with an author's name without that author's consent, what can be done about it?

It there a way to disassociate oneself with a published paper? is retraction the only way?
If the paper is retracted, does it still stay online and is associated with that author's name?


texts: Can I understand the rejection reason of an article by reading the reviewers' comments?

texts:
My paper is rejected with this comment from editor:

  Unfortunately, the reviewers generally agree this paper should not be
  considered for publish in....

My question is do all the reviewers reject the paper?

While, I read the reviewers's comment, some of them suggest some notations in order to improve my paper.


texts: How to respond the reviewer who reject my paper but editor ask to revise

texts:
The editor asked me to revise my paper and answer the reviewers' questions. Two of three reviewers asked me to revise some parts and agree that it is quite new and can improve it but one of them reject my paper in all parts e.g., contributions, research model. How can I response to the reviewer who rejected my paper? Do I need to email to editor to consult him?

Thank you very much


texts: How to approach potential advisor who's going on sabbatical?

texts: I am a Math PhD student at a US university. I have made a decision on who I want to work with for my PhD, but I was made aware that the professor in question is going on a sabbatical next year, to be spent in a different university (not in close proximity). What is the best way to approach a potential advisor in such a situation? I have not yet asked the "question", but have met with the professor in question multiple times on research related issues.


texts: Are contributions to conference proceedings considered to be "archival" publications?

texts: While technical papers are generally considered to be "non-archival" and journal papers "archival", I couldn't find a clear statement about papers that appear in conference proceedings. Does it matter in which for the proceedings are published, e.g. only online, on CD/USB drive, or printed with/without ISBN?


texts: Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement examples

texts: I am applying to some schools in the UC system for graduate school, and I have to write a Statement of Purpose and a Personal Statement. I was wondering if there are some good examples online, so I can have a better idea of what is expected.


texts: Difference between article and letter in Nature

texts:
As I was reading today an article from Nature I was wondering: Does anybody know what's the difference between article and letter in the Nature Journal?
The blog of Nature points out the following:

Articles are original reports whose conclusions represent a substantial advance in understanding of an important problem and have immediate, far-reaching implications.
Letters are short reports of original research focused on an outstanding finding whose importance means that it will be of interest to scientists in other fields.

Source:
http://blogs.nature.com/nautilus/2009/12/difference_between_nature_arti.html


texts: Referee recommends paper rejection with no further comment - how to react?

texts: I submitted a paper to a journal, after 2 months and some days of review I get a rejection with a referee report "I find the paper not suitable for the journal", without any further comments and without explaining the reason of the rejection. However the journal publish articles in the topic of my paper! I find it unfair. How could I react to it?


texts: Is it ethical to watch recreational videos or listen to music on a portable work computer bought from a research fund?

texts:
I am in my first year of a PhD in France. My adviser recently bought a laptop for me using the research funds on which the computational codes for my research work are installed. According to my adviser, I can take the laptop to my residence when I leave the lab.

  Is it ethical to listen to music, watch videos or movies I love on the work computer?

I am well aware that discussing with my team would be the ideal thing to do but I am not sure how my supervisor would take it. I cannot reach a conclusion of whether listening to music and videos helps me constructively in my research. One favorable justification I found is that listening to music helps me concentrate better, but I am not sure it is always the case. The reason is that at times some movies feel very motivational, music feels soothing but on some other occasions I find myself investing hours in them when I am supposed to complete a task. This may be purely attributed to my personality but I am unable to reach an answer.


texts: How can I convince the university to apply security upgrades to the online learning system?

texts:
In my university, we've been using Moodle for many years (>5y). There was a general negative opinion on the Moodle for very different reasons, from "it's ugly" to "it's not up to date", going through "everyone thinks it's crap, me too". Since 2 years I've been pushing the staff to update it, and hopefully fix all the concerns raised by the student and staff using it; and more importantly, fix all security issues that have been patched in the 7 new versions. (We're using version 1.9, and the latest release is 2.8).

At the beginning of this year, a new staff responsible for coordinating the teaching, set up Google ClassRoom as a mean to fix the general issue that people were not happy with the Moodle. But leaving the security issue of the Moodle which is still used as Google ClassRoom doesn't provide everything Moodle provided.

Eventually, an administrative staff worked the estimates on how much it would cost to perform the upgrade, and everything is ready to be updated. We just need the permission of one or two people, who keep saying that it can wait, or that's not the priority, and security issues are not really an issue.

How can I convince people to update Moodle? Am I paranoid on the security issue?


texts: Academic job search: protocol for asking for letters of reference

texts: Asking on behalf of my client (I'm an academic editor). Person is up for tenure next year at a small college. Wants to apply for a job at a better school with a higher salary. What is the protocol/things to be aware of when asking for letters of reference when she has not told anyone in her department that she is thinking of leaving? This is not a case of being engaged in an intensive job hunt; rather, she came across an intriguing position. What are the possible repercussions if it becomes known that she's looking for a job one year before tenure? Tenure is likely because her achievements exceed the standards of her current position.


texts: How to get a tutoring position in Melbourne, Australia?

texts: I'm starting my PhD in neuroscience next month at the University of Melbourne and I've been told that graduate research students often work part time as tutors. I've been trying to find this information on the website but haven't really found anything. Would anyone be able to help me figure out how to go about getting a tutoring position for some extra cash and teaching experience? I've seen websites like learntmate etc., any recommendations for the best one and the process?


texts: query related to Teaching Assistantship award

texts: As a newly admitted student in PhD program, I have been awarded TA ship by my department for academic year Fall 2020-spring 2021. the stipend is quite generous that is 2300usd/month. In funding letter they have mentioned TA award for first academic year and for the rest of my studies it is only mentioned that they are committed to provide funding support. so i wanted to ask if it is usual that the program only provide detail funding info for first year? or they do provide full funding details (mentioning of awards) for all 4 years?


texts: Why is personal information (DOB, marital status) listed on CVs in Europe and can it be omitted?

texts:
I find it irrelevant to specify personal information on my CV, and frankly I do not see why they should be listed in academic applications. What is the advantage for the hiring committing to know if I am 18 or I have 17 children, aside from creating a chance to bias the hiring process with personal beliefs. Is it because they want to know that I am a prodigy child who got his/her PhD at 18 years old, or because if I am a 28 years old female married without children I will want children soon and so I will have to take maternity leave? Is this just an influence of the age/status discrimination in Europe where I see at times that  job offers are only open to certain categories of people (i.e.,younger than 30 years old) ?

If I omit this information will my CV be frowned upon? Or will they think I am hiding something? I do not know what I would be hiding because age can probably be guessed from the CV anyway.


texts: Journal ranking statistics on scimagojr vs. the "prestige" of its editorial board

texts:
My advisor and I are considering where to submit a paper based on my thesis. Originally we planned to submit it to Journal X, but an opportunity arose to submit it to Journal Y following a conference invitation (where "X" and "Y" are so named to preserve the generality of the question and my privacy).

Journal X is a popular journal with a distinguished editorial board. On ranking sites such as scimagojr it appears to be ranked Q1 or Q2 depending on the subject field with the rest of the statistics similar.

In recent years, 2010 and onwards, Journal Y seems to significantly outrank Journal X in virtually all the statistics offered by scimagojr (e.g. its H-index and "impact factor" are several times higher), though their subjects of interest only partially overlap. It ranks among the top 5% journals in its listed subjects (it seems to have exploded in 2010 or so). So, to me it naturally seems a better target for publication.

The issue is this: my advisor (a well-known researcher in his field who knows a lot of people) is unfamiliar with this journal, and is generally unfamiliar with its editorial  board, which seems to him of not very high quality. As such, though he seems impressed by the rankings, he is unsure if I should submit it to this journal and left the decision to me.

The question is this: how should I weigh the "prestige" of the editorial board of a Journal as compared to the more numerical statistics offered by scimagojr? Should I be concerned that my advisor doesn't know anyone on the board?


texts: Advisor threatening to pull his name from accepted paper that I submitted without his knowledge

texts:
Recently, I submitted a research article in the journal "Applied Mathematics and Computations" and fortunately my work got accepted with a very good response from reviewers.

However, I made the mistake of submitting this paper without the knowledge of my coauthor (who is my advisor). When I told him that our paper had been accepted, he became really upset with me and warned me that he would withdraw his name from the article.

Nothing is wrong with the article except that I did not ask him before submitting it. The reason I did not ask him was because he took an unnecessarily long time (2-3 months) to edit the draft of the manuscript.

How should I convince him now?

PS. Please also see this "Query".


texts: Ethics of a potential collaborator removing another researcher from a project?

texts:
I work for an organization that has some research restrictions -- for instance, we do not allow non-employees to have direct data access for security purposes.

I recently invited an academic collaborator to work with me on a new (social science) project that may get launched. It would involve data collection from a non-profit. The plan was for the non-profit to send the data to my organization. My potential academic collaborator and I were in very early talks over the ideas and direction of the overall project when I mentioned the data restrictions. His response was that not having direct data access is unacceptable (although I offered to try to facilitate an on site visit) and as such, he is going to directly contact the non-profit, thereby eliminating me and my organization from the project.

The original contact was made by another employee at my organization, meaning that he would have not had access to the non-profit without me.

My gut reaction is that this behavior is unprofessional and unethical. My understanding was that many organizations restrict data access to give preference to their employees, so that this restriction is not unreasonable. My question is whether others agree regarding 1) those restrictions and 2) the ethics of this professor's behavior. Thanks.

  Added:
  A follow-up question, given the response below, is whether we have any obligation (ethical or otherwise) to keep the academic on the project. We built the relationship with the non-profit for months prior to contacting the academic, so I certainly would feel comfortable moving forward with the non-profit on another idea (and possibly this one, if the logic holds on both directions).


texts: is it possible to have different research topics for the MSc and PhD?

texts: Here is my case, before I studied my master´s degree I managed to write a research paper jointly with a Professor (not from my university) on databases. After that I pursue my master´s degree in CS, but on neural networks rather than databases. The thing is that I would like to do my PhD in databases with the professor I wrote the research paper with. Do you think that I can have problems with the admission committee? I would not like to go to study a PhD without any financial support at all.


texts: Are Assistant professorships with no starting packages/benefits and high teaching load considered normal?

texts:
I am asking this question because I simply do not know.

The story is that some department (northern continental Europe for what is worth) is (unofficially for the moment) negotiating an Assistant Professor position. The offered teaching/research load is 50-50 which sounds OK in theory.

In reality though, this translates to a minimum of 3 and an average of 4 full courses per year (38+ class hours on classes of about 100-120 students) plus supervision of bachelor's and master's candidates as well as administrative tasks. I can't possibly imagine how this is 50%.

On the other side of the spectrum, they do not offer any starting package whatsoever: no PhD students, not even basic equipment like laptop or traveling allowance, only a relatively good (for EU standards) salary with no additional benefits (married/child, whatever). They said that I should (imperative hint) apply for external funding (i.e., more work).

Thus my questions:

Is this considered a true 50-50 research/teaching? I do not see how is this possible. It seems that for research would be only a modest 30% of the time and mostly during summer which is absurd for younger people (more ideas for new research). Even taking out research, this proposal is at least 60% teaching to me.
Is this considered a normal offer? I would like to see other people's opinions/experiences.

The argument for the offer is basically: take any position that comes in the way, given that the academic job market can be brutal. But I am really afraid this would mean the end of my research at least in its current form, given also that I won't be able to even have any PhD student at least in the next 3 or so years at least, if I ever have them.


texts: Why do UK universities often have Classics and History MA courses separated?

texts:
In many UK universities Classics courses (study/research of the history and culture of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations) are singled out and presented distinct from History courses. They even might be provided by a different department or college at the university - for instance, History courses might be provided by a Department of Social Studies whereas Classic courses by a Department of Arts.

I assume that Classics have their own set of study/research methods and practices but this could be applied with  fair amount of legibility to virtually any other historical subject (Ancient Middle East, Middle Ages, Early Modern period etc.)

I have seen that some universities also have distinct programs on Middle ages and perhaps also on other historical periods but Classics are almost always put into its own category. So what makes Classics to stand out that much?


texts: How much professional development should I share on my CV?

texts:
I am currently in the process of applying to Ph.D. programs in sociology and, as such, have started compiling my CV to accompany applications. As an M.A. student, I only have one publication to date and a couple of conference presentations. However, I have also taken part in several professional development activities over the course of my graduate study. Examples include...

a workshop for which I received a certificate of completion
a Lynda course relevant to my work
attending non-conference presentations on topics relevant to my work

Which, if any, of these sorts of activities could (or should) viably be listed under professional development on my CV?


texts:
I'm graduating this summer (2014) and trying to find a job in the UK so I can go live with my husband. I am thinking of applying for the Newton Fellowship, however, they have a really strange schedule and timing. That is, I wouldn't find out about the award until late October, and the position wouldn't start until January 2015. That would leave me with an awkward six months without a job or funding, unless I managed to get a short-term job. I've decided to start applying for other positions (lectureships and funded post-docs) with an eye toward the more immediate future and because the Newton is very competitive.

My questions are:

what happens if I take a 1-2 year post-doc offer and then find out I am awarded the fellowship?
Am I allowed to use the funds wherever I am?
If I accept a job-offer do I have to notify the fellowship and withdraw my application?


texts: Is it unwise to list coursework on CV for PhD application

texts:
I'm a Master's student currently applying for PhD programs. I've seen conflicting advice about including coursework on my CV.

I'm wondering whether it's ever helpful to have relevant coursework listed. In my case, for example, I'm applying to programs that are more computation-based than my current program, and I'd like to show the CS course that I took while here.


texts: Drawbacks of participating in a conference boycott

texts:
There is a petition going round at the moment regarding not attending US conferences. It has been signed by many academics. In theory I would like to sign, but doesn't doing so shoot the academic in the foot by not contributing to conferences and therefore their field [in the case that the conference cannot be relocated]?

I include the link below for the interest of others who may want to:

Link


texts: How can a PhD student enlarge his academic collaboration network?

texts: I am a new doctoral candidate of information and computer science and about to initiate my research, and typically collaborate with my supervisor and other group members. But seldom will a researcher limit his collaborators to those within the department he's in; he has to enlarge his network. I believe energetically participating in academic activities/events surely brings benefit. As a student, my quick thoughts are, for example, applying for internships at some research institutes, summoning team members for contests, or taking part in open source projects. Can you kindly share other experiences?


texts: Handling academia politics - an early career case

texts:
This question is based mostly not on relevant personal experiences, but is largely inspired by reading here and there mentioning of the politics aspect in academia. At the present time, I am interested in this subject from practical perspective - as a recent Ph.D. graduate, looking for a postdoctoral or junior faculty position. In particular, I'm concerned about the following aspects:

Should I care about this issue at this point of my career? (Next questions are based on Yes)
How should I assess the political situation in a department or lab of potential employment? (Here I imply both online assessment and on-site, should I be invited for interviews.)
What strategy and specific steps should I take, based on the assessment results?
What are political differences, if any, between postdoctoral and junior faculty positions? How should they impact my strategy and what steps should be taken, based on position type?


texts: How to network as a new graduate student in a new country

texts:
First of all, let me admit something from the beginning; I don't understand exactly what is meant by networking in an academic setting.
I am a new Master's student in a country where I never studied before (Germany). Until now, as an undergrad, I have done several internships, worked within a couple of research groups for some time, attended many seminars & workshops, taken several graduate-level courses. During each of those occasions, I had the opportunity to meet with several academics who could (I guess) help me while I am shaping my career, but I've never tried to communicate with people whom I didn't have to. Sounds quite a bit of lost opportunity, but in my defense, I don't like socially interacting with people whom I don't know and don't comfortable being around.
My first question is that what have I (possibly) lost by not networking?
Secondly, what is meant by "networking" exactly in an academic setting? Just knowing each other exists, or being some kind of friends, or just knowing who is interested in what?
Thirdly, how can a graduate student network in events where most of the people are way older, and academically more senior?

Addendum:
I've just come from my first, proper academic event. It was more for a celebration than a networking event, but still, I've met a lot of people and it was great. There were a lot of people who think in the same way as I do (not necessarily we agreed on everything, just our way of thinking were the same; analytical, based on data, etc.). I think I've made some "academic friends", and there was a lot of interesting discussion on almost everything but above all, it was really fun.
But, all the things were with the people whom I had already known a bit, and I found it a bit hard to join the discussion with the people I hadn't know.


texts: Publishing in Mathematics and Computer Science related journals

texts:
I have seen Elsevier journals offer Gold open access and Green open access options, when I was checking for journals related to Mathematics and Computer Science.
I have understood that Gold open access can be gained by making a publication fee. However they have mentioned that waivers are offered for countries eligible for Research4Life program.
Can someone help me to understand whether you have to be a part of some program to have this waiver? i.e. if you are in a country mentioned in the Research4Life program page in Elsevier, do you get free publication open access in Gold open access journals?
https://www.elsevier.com/about/corporate-responsibility/research4life
And do Elsevier and Springer offer reductions or discounts in Article Processing Charges for low income countries?
Can someone please advise if you are aware of this.
Thanks a lot in advance.


texts:
Recently, based on my collaboration with someone else in our department, we submitted a paper to a highly reputed journal (IF ~ 8) and we received a minor revision a couple of weeks ago. My name in this article is the second author. The first author is a PhD student, who would be graduated next month, the third author is a professor from a national laboratory, and the last one is the PhD adviser of the first author.

From beginning of this project that lead to the submission of this article, I was involved in modeling and its details, input data preparation and output information interpretation, as well as reviewing the draft paper before submission. There was no problem at all before receiving the revision and the first author and his PhD adviser acknowledged and my contributions.

Today, I was informed by the first author that my PhD adviser that has nothing to do with paper at all, accused me that I didn't have any contribution to this paper and I don't deserve to be on the authors' list despite the fact that I had contribution in developing the model, gathering the input data and interpret and discuss the outputs as well as reviewing and revising the draft paper before submission. Even, the initial idea of the whole project was mine and I proposed it to the first author due to the fact that first author's area of expertise is not modeling or computational science.

I'm so angry (again!) and I don't know how to respond... The first author and his PhD adviser are in my side and they want to prepare a summary of contributions for all authors including me to close this case, but still I'm going to lose my mind. So my question: Is this possible to drop an author from authors' list of a paper after revision? What are my options at the worst scenario? Is it normal (of course it's not!) that somebody that has nothing to do with a paper question the contribution of a paper that is not published yet even?


texts:
So I normally see master graduate student apply for a position as a lecturer.

Is there any other career that is available for a master (science) student asides from lecturer? Which is for computer science students


texts: Is job experience more valuable than taking more courses?

texts: So I've been offered a job at a company specializing in my field of study. However, one of the things they ask is that I take one less course, so that I can spend more time working for them. This makes me hesitate,  as I feel someone looking at my transcripts may take my less full schedule to be a product of laziness. In your experience (as I am sure my situation is not unique), does this come across the wrong way? It seems like academic institutions in general seem to prefer that you take as many classes as possible. Is real work experience more valuable (to admissions officers, in my case) than just taking more classes?


texts: Rejecting a PhD offer after having accepted it. Advice?

texts:
I have accepted a PhD offer from a very good university to do a project very close to my interests. I have told the project supervisor I accept it. In the meanwhile I have managed to secure a PhD offer from another 2 universities much better in world rankings and with better research groups and better faculty. Additionally these 2 universities do research exactly on what I want to devote my PhD research.

My only commitment to the first university is a mail confirming I accept. Nothing else. I understand declining the offer after already having accepted it is quite dishonest but it is a huge decision that will affect my future in a very significant level.

I would like your opinion and I would also like to ask for possible consequences of such an action. As far a postdocs concerned, in the first university there is no chance I ever get a postdoc since they do not actually do research on my area (except for the prospective supervisor and even he not as much).

UPDATE
I have decided to do as I was afraid to. I have decided to choose a different university than the first one that I have already accepted the offer. My offer acceptance included:

An online "I accept" statement.
An e-mail I sent stating "I accept the scholarship and this University is my first option"

I do not have any legal commitments since I have not signed anything. The supervisor of the first university though is really nice to me and continuously was sending me mails. How do I very nicely tell her I will not be joining in the end? Additionally the place I will go in the end will be for research in Mathematics and not Physics. Can I use this as a part of a sensical excuse?

WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WERE

I think that I should let people, especially other beginning grad students know what happened with my case. I have chosen to nicely tell the first university I got accepted that I will not be attending and will not be pursuing a PhD there since I decided I have different research interests (which is true). I had applied there in the first place since I was not sure what I wanted to do and because it was a nice program. Despite that, I got an offer from a World top university to work on 100% my research interests. I explained this to them, the first uni, and they happily let me go and wished me good luck, especially the supervisor who faught a lot secure me funding. I was lucky.


texts: Are the university's acceptance rate something trusted?

texts: When universities are being compared using TOEFL or other standard exams, those numbers are trusted since they are managed by a single organization. However, when universities announce acceptance rates, are there agencies or auditors that check those numbers?


texts: What to do when you are suspicious about numerical results in a submitted manuscript that you are reviewing?

texts:
I am currently reviewing a paper and feel suspicious about their numerical results. I feel their results have been slightly modified to exhibit their superiority compare to other comparative methods.

I cannot give an exact mathematical reason why I think their numerical results have been manipulated, but it is so odd that in all 15 scenarios they have been better. Actually, I am pretty sure that their method is better than his benchmarks but not always. Maybe they modified some scenarios.

As I don't have a mathematical reason why I think some of their numbers are altered, should I ask for their computer code and run them myself?


texts:
I'm a computer science graduate student (Master degree), I have done my thesis defense, and it is accepted. So, the problem is that I want to publish a paper based on my thesis but the advisor wants her name to be the FIRST name! Claiming that she has done enough work to be as first author. So, here how the research has been done:

At the beginning she didn't have any good idea to be done as thesis. Thus, I had to go through existing research for couple of months until I came up with a new idea.
As any new idea, it develops with the time. What I mean is that she suggested few things to be added. However, I added much more things to enhance the algorithm (my idea) and achieve better results .
I wrote the whole thesis, but she revised almost all of it (except Related work and conclusion) because English is not my first language.
She did the mathematical proof ( I mean she found the equations to proof that our algorithm is better)
However, I codded all the simulation programs, and I did the simulations and collected the results.
Also, she stayed in contact with me during the summer (one Skype call a week)

I spent almost two years working on this research, and I don't want to be unfair with her. I would like to have your opinion


texts: Is there an accredited doctorate in gastronomy?

texts: Can someone do research and eventually obtain a PhD in a gastronomy-related field (not approached from the side of chemistry, history or culture but rather from the culinary side) from an accredited university?


texts: Is a professor allowed to require me to give him permission to speak with my doctor before letting me make up an exam?

texts:
I study in the USA.

Can a professor ask me to waive my right to privacy so he can talk to my doctor about my medical condition? He says he needs that in order to allow me to take a make-up midterm for an exam that I missed, even though a medical note certifying my illness is provided.

Also, the doctor that gave the note is usually a nurse practitioner (NP), but he instead wants a note from a doctor of medicine (MD).


texts:
I am an undergraduate student with no experience at all.

If you are writing a research paper, that you are planning to submit for publication, how do you state that a particular statement/fact is commonly known to all and it's dicoverer/inventor is not known, and that there exists no research paper that introduced the concept but there do exist various books/websites that discuss the very concepts and a few derivatives of the concept?

I am not able to cite a particular statement/bunch of statements as I am not able to find any research paper related to that at all.

The particular thing in question is: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/161661/source-of-probably-the-most-simplest-math-trick

What should I do?


texts: Publishing graph of unpublished work in paper

texts:
I am writing a paper which is building up on the work I have published earlier. It includes experimental results which were used to further develop the model.

To show that the model has improved I would like to include a graph of one of my experimental work showing the model predictions before and after the implementation of the improvements. The graph of the data has not been published and will be included in my PhD thesis. I would like to publish that data together with a similar series which I will use to evaluate my model (can can be used to evaluate similar models) in a separate paper.

Can I use the graph and reference it as my unpublished thesis. I have a thesis title already.

Many Thanks


texts: What is a customary startup package for a USA Engineering TT position at an R1?

texts:
My colleague and I, both postdocs, are going to TT positions at separate R1 public universities. For various reasons, our advisers have little idea what present startup packages look like. I am in Industrial, he is in MechE.

Here are some guesses from our last brainstorming session:

Equipment (thinking 100k or so)
Cash for travel, supplies, etc (Thinking 50k or so)
Grad student support (thinking 1-2 grad students for 3 years)
Postdoc support (might be substituted for a grad student)
Summer salary (for 2-3 years)

Thoughts? Additional things?