texts: Are book reviews peer-reviewed? Are news articles peer-reviewed?

texts:
A couple of simple questions:

Books are not peer reviewed in general. Are book reviews that appear in academic journals peer-reviewed? Since they represent personal opinions, I would think they cannot be peer reviewed.
What about news articles? For example, journal Nature has various short news focus and research highlights that discuss other peer-reviewed research articles in a broader perspective. Are those peer-reviewed? Due to time pressure, I would think it would be difficult to peer review these in time.


texts: How can I deal with a professor who refuses to communicate?

texts:
Required information: Germany, maths, and undergraduate
Situation: In order to finish my undergraduate degree, I have to do one final oral exam with two professors (A & B). However, A and B refuse to communicate directly with each other and use me to communicate. The first exam was "postponed" indefinitely due to pandemic and now I have to organize a new one.
Problem: Professor A is very odd. He does not use email. He does not answer his phone (I was told to call him by the exam office and professor B) and now with only online learning, I had to communicate with A using text messages.
I asked him for available exam dates and he replied with a "yes" and nothing else. He then ignored my other messages. The examination office said if both A and B agree, I can do each part separately. Of course the B replied immediately with a yes. A did not reply at all.
Should I try to reach out to other professors or the dean? I have to do this exam to graduate so I can start my graduate studies, but I do not want escalate the situation.


texts: Different Statement of Purpose to the same advisor in two programs?

texts:
First I have to make it clear that I understand the SOP is not just written for my potential advisor to view; it will certainly be presented to the admission committee first. However, my potential advisor will be the only person who reads both of my SOPs. Below is the complete question with background information:

I am currently applying for psychometrics in both Department of Educational Psychology and Psychology (Quantitative psychology) in the same university. My potential advisor is a faculty member in both departments, doing research on XXX. When I wrote my SOP for psychometrics in Educational Psychology, I only talked about my research interests in XXX.

Now I am adapting my SOP to application for Quantitative Psychology which allows students to do research in collaboration with other fields in psychology in addition to their own research interests. I am interested in doing research in the Social Psychology and am considering if I should include this in my SOP, given I only mentioned that I am interested in XXX in my SOP to Educational Psychology? In addition, XXX is really different from social psychology in general..in other words, my two research interests are not relevant.

As my potential advisor will be reading both SOPs, I am afraid that having talked about additional research interests in my application for Quantitative psychology would make me appear not firm about my research interests in XXX (am I overthinking about this?) Or is it even necessary for me to mention my research interests in social psych in my SOP, as I will be given opportunities to work on research in other fields of psychology, including social psych, anyways?

Additional information: my potential advisor knows that I am interested in social psychology as I mentioned this to him. Nonetheless, we never had a talk about my research interests in social psych.

In short, 1) do I need to talk about my research interests in social psych in the SOP to Quantitative psychology? 2) if I do, what's the best approach to avoid my advisor feeling confused about my research interests? (for example, just vaguely mention that I would be excited about doing research in social psych etc. ?)


texts:
I have attended a few panels on applying to post-doctoral/junior faculty positions, and the topic of authorship and research direction always came up. All of the faculty on these panels noted that successful applicants needed to distinguish their research from their PI's by pursuing novel questions and publishing first-author papers.

But the women faculty also noted that regardless of the novelty of a question, a woman coauthoring a paper with her PI (even if she is a first author) is seen as less independent than a man coauthoring a paper with his PI. Consequently, the suggestion was that women should pursue sole-author publications or publications with colleagues at similar or earlier stages of their career.

These panels included faculty from physics, chemistry, and anthropology, but I want to focus on the natural sciences.

There are a few questions I have related to this advice.

Does it happen? Is what these women faculty describe true? For those of you who have served on faculty/post-doc selection committees, have you seen the evaluations of comparative candidates differ according to their gender?
Latino and Black applicants: There were no Latino or African-American faculty on these panels, but the reasons the women faculty gave for why women should go the extra mile in establishing independence seem to also apply to candidates from underrepresented groups. Have you seen evaluations differ according to whether candidates were from such groups?
Establishing Independence without Sole-Authorship: Supposing at least one of the answers to the previous questions is in the affirmative: It is not always possible for young scientists to develop sufficiently independent projects that lead to sole-authorships. How else might a candidate demonstrate sufficient independence from her PI? Recommendation letters can conceivably convey the quality and independence of a candidate, but are there things the candidate can do herself?

I recognize that the answers to these questions are likely opinion-based, but I am primarily looking for the opinions of stackexchange members in order to gauge whether the issue the women faculty cite is unique to my university.


texts: What visa to be employed by a company while completing a PhD as a foreign student in the US?

texts:
I am a foreign PhD student in engineering in the US. And I came here under a scholarship provided by the company I was working for. However, now they are offering to hire me during my PhD. I would be an employee of this company while being working full time toward the completion of my degree. It would be a way for them to retain me and pay for my degree. I am currently studying under a F1 visa.

So my question is, what would be the visa and type of contract and visa I should use ? CPT, OPT, changing to J1 visa, something else?

Thank you in advance for your time and reply.


texts: Is it a breach of protocol to contact people higher in the academic hierarchy for social reasons?

texts:
I met two people at a past conference and we had a nice conversation there, but no further contact. Recently, I've seen their names on the list of accepted papers of an upcoming conference I'm attending. Since I'll stay at the conference location for an additional day afterwards and don't know anyone else there, I planned to write them an email and ask whether they had any plans for that day.

However, during looking for email addresses, I noticed that they are both full professors, which I wasn't aware of before. I'm a PhD student. Would it be a breach of etiquette to contact them? While conferences are often used for networking, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.


texts: Which license to choose for article publication?

texts:
My editor is giving me the option to choose between:

The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
The Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivative Works 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0).

to publish my article in their journal.

If I understand it, the basic difference between the two is that the first one allows for commercial use of the content of my paper from third parties.

Would the first one be less restrictive in terms of citations to my article? What is the most common option for research articles?


texts: Can I submit/ArXiv without my advisor? I am being blocked from publishing my work

texts:
I joined a research group of a faculty member in 201x, and worked with her for three years. During that time, I collaborated with a large hospital to perform research in the domain of medical informatics. I spoke about my research at two conferences; one was a talk, and the other was a poster presentation. My advisor asked me to write up the research in a paper around the second year, which I did. Around the third year, I decided to switch research groups, because of the relationship between me and my advisor going sour, and not having funding from her (I used to work part-time to fund my PhD research).

Once this happened, she withdrew her support from me publishing my paper and ordered that I give up my work to a fellow grad student. I told her, that my manuscript is in its Nth revision, and that I would like to take it to completion as first author. She was dismissive and didn’t offer any comments on my work. I told her, that, should I pass on my work, I would like to discuss authorship issues in advance, which she wasn’t ready to discuss. She ganged up my new advisor against me, and together they forced me to give up my code, results, paper drafts. I had to then leave the university without a degree.

Fast forward couple of years, I receive an email from a student in her lab (the student whom I had to hand over my work to), saying that they are publishing a paper, and have decided I am the fourth author. I read the paper and found out that it uses my experimental setup and design, data collection, and one of the ideas I had presented (the idea wasn’t the main crux of my paper, but I believe it was novel).

I want to

Publish my original draft in ArXiv/BioArXiv, as first author.
Request my advisor to cite my work in their publication.

Given how she behaved with me, I know that despite what I am asking for sounds fair, she is likely to object.

I am asking the community: Can I go ahead and ArXiv it without her permission? I could add her as an author, but not take her permission. Also, if you have any other ideas on how to deal with this situation please let me know.

(For the record, this was at a top-10 school in the US in an engineering department).


texts: Publish a paper with flaws, improve it, or let it go?

texts:
As a PI, I have quite a few projects that have gone nowhere. For some of these projects, I have submitted a manuscript that has been rejected. In others, I have written portions of a manuscript, but feel like the results are rather inconclusive. I could submit these manuscripts as they are, but I find it difficult to write papers with inconclusive results (there's no story to tell). It feels unethical to resubmit papers where I have not addressed the flaws pointed out by the reviewers. I suppose I can just be as upfront as possible about the flaws, but this also takes some time and finesse. It seems like the amount of time I'd have to put into these manuscripts to address the flaws would be better spent on projects that are working and have promising results.
My grad school advisor seemed to be of the mindset that you should just keep revising and resubmitting a manuscript until it gets accepted. I sometimes felt like he was succumbing to a sunk cost fallacy and that the time we put into rescuing these projects wasn't worth it. There's also the argument that you should publish any work you do, even dead ends, because it will avoid duplication and save other people time. But putting anything in a publishable form takes time and effort, which takes away from other projects. What is the opinion of the community on these issues?
Another complication can be the involvement of others in the project (students, technicians), who would like to have a better publication record. However, in many cases, it might be faster to make them part of a better, more promising project than to dump time into a project that isn't working.
I'm trying to be more choosy about the projects I take on in the future to avoid this dilemma, but it's hard to know where a project will go. I'd like some advice on how to handle such projects/unpublished manuscripts. Just submit them to a preprint server and forget about them? Submit them to journals that have a low enough bar? How do you decide whether work is worth salvaging?


texts: should I include offer letter from a different institution in my application for a faculty position

texts:
I have a offer letter from a very well-known group in my field for a postdoc position. The proposed starting date would be early next year.
However, I am currently also applying for a faculty (assistant professor) position at a different institution.

Should I mention this offer in my application for the faculty position (on cv or cover letter) and/or include the official offer letter?

update:

there is another sublety for one application. One faculty position I consider requires experience abroad (i.e. not in the same country) of at least 1 year. I only have 6 months but the postdoc offer would be abroad giving me the 1 year total if I take it before starting the faculty position. Should I then mention the offer?

my field is health and medical sciences


texts: Transforming an MA thesis for publication

texts:
I am attempting to transform the content of my MA thesis into a piece of academic writing which can be published. This is the first time I have done this, and I am concerned that some of my main arguments will become lost in the process.

How can I successfully condense my writing but still present my points, when I have 6–8,000 words to work with, rather than the original 20–30,000, on the basis that many of my arguments are theoretical and need careful explanation?


texts: Trouble with getting PhD recommendations - almost 60% turnover in faculty

texts:
I just want to find out if this is normal, and see if anyone has any advice.

I recently decided to apply for a PhD program, and have been trying to get letters of recommendation. I first went with the professors I thought could give me the best recommendations because they knew me best, but when a week went by with no answer to my emails I did some research and found both were on leave (one with no estimated date of return). I decided to go through all the courses I'd taken, and organize the contact information for each professor. I found that, out of 12 different professors, only five are still active at the university. And wouldn't you know it, but none of the professors who gave me A's are active! (I know that grades aren't the most important thing in a letter of recommendation, I just thought it was an extra weird bit that all my B and B+ professors were still teaching).

I worked full-time while getting my MA, and so I didn't go to office hours or schmooze with the professors before or after class (because I was coming straight from work with no time to spare, and after class I was either going right back to work or tired because it was late). I participated in classes, but I don't think any professor would say they know me well. Am I screwed as far as getting into a PhD program, even if I get recommendations about my excellent academic potential or whatever, if the letters aren't personal?


texts: What should I do if I found too many typos after my Ph.D. thesis being approved but before my oral defense in mathematics?

texts:
I am doing my Ph.D. in mathematics and did not have my thesis carefully proofread before submission (which is definitely a mistake that I wish to correct). My thesis was approved after submission and I am now preparing for the oral defense.

Now as I reread my thesis in detail, I found that there are too many typos (probably more than five per page). Some are negligible, but some are essential. For example, I wrote "<" instead of "less than or equal to") in the conclusion of a proposition. Another example is that I quoted a wrong theorem number in a proof. I even wrote a same lemma with the same proof twice. One referee complains about the misprints in his/her report, but s/he still considers the thesis tolerable as a whole. But now I feel all those careless typos very annoying and they make the thesis much less readable.

Now I am seeking suggestions on what I should do. Should I correct all known typos and give each committee member a copy of the revised thesis on my defense? Is there any other thing that I can do right now?


texts: Can I predict the fate of my manuscript (from information other than a decision letter)?

texts:
On this site we often get questions along the lines of:

I submitted my manuscript to a journal. X happened. Does this indicate that my manuscript is about to be rejected/accepted?

Here X is everything but a final decision letter, for example:

a specific sequence of statuses in the editorial management system,
the duration of a particular stage of the editorial process,
a request for a revision,
some editorial communication.

Is it generally possible to divine the fate of a manuscript from such events? If not, what are some relevant exceptions to consider?
This is half of a canonical Q&A acting as a dedicated duplicate target for a certain type of question whose answers often boil down to the same point. I don’t claim that all the specific questions are without value as they can provide specific insights. However, I think that addressing this problem on a more general level can be helpful as well.


texts:
I'm going to apply for a PhD position and as you know, I need my current supervisor recommendation letter.

So, I asked my supervisor to give me a recommendation letter regarding all the researches I have done in his lab. He responds that he won't provide any recommendation letter directly to me or any other student, but instead he will send a recommendation letter to any professor/university who asks about my progress.

To be precise, he told me to send an email to the professor I want to send recommendation letter for and tell him to request a recommendation for me.

The whole process looks problematic to me, for many reasons:

I can't ask my new supervisor to ask my old supervisor to ask for a recommendation for me...I feel like my new supervisor won't do such a thing because there is a really tough competition between candidates and most of them already have strong recommendation letters.
I have to apply via a webform inside the university website. The apply form asks for at least 2 recommendation letters (in PDF format). There is no place in that form for me to add my professors email.
I didn't see such process anywhere, almost all my friends got their recommendation letters from their previous professors.

My question here is that did I miss something? Is this process looks okay in academic world or its just me that feel its wrong? Why my professor is not directly providing a recommendation letter to any student?

Edit
I'm living in Iran and I'm going to apply for a position in Sweden.


texts: Is meeting the entry requirements enough to justify applying for an MSc?

texts:
This summer, I will be graduating from the University of Leeds (BSc Mathematics) with an expected 2:1 grade. I am now looking at finance-related MSc courses.

Going to a top tier London university (Imperial, UCL, etc) would be a dream come true for me, but I can't afford to throw away the cost of making applications (approx. £70 each) if I don't stand a chance of being made an offer.

I expect to meet all of the entry requirements for these courses, but still feel that I would be (academically) a weak candidate for such courses (having achieved only ABBB at A-level, for example).

So given that I meet the entry requirements for these courses, would it be worth making an application - or would I not stand up to the competition?

Edit (additional information): I also have no relevant work experience. However, on the positive side I have good knowledge of a variety of programming languages, take on a fair number of personal projects which demonstrate a genuine interest in finance, and have done a lot of financial mathematics as part of my degree.

Additionally, I may be able to put in a plea on the grounds of extenuating circumstances on the basis of a mental-health diagnosis which had a significant effect on my grades in earlier years. Since these issues have been treated (i.e. in my third year) I have averaged a strong first (however, poor past performance means that I only expect to graduate with a 2:1).


texts: Are there reference managers which can develop/build library of references without importing/downloading PDF files in a personal collection?

texts:
In a situation where one has PDFs which one would like to have a library of references for, I notice that reference management providers (specifically Mendeley and Endnote) require that these PDF files are downloaded/imported for the product to 'scan' the reference information and generate/populate references.

I find that this takes up desktop memory space, and I believe will contribute to the memory limits of my account with the provider.

Are there any reference managers that can build references from a collection of PDFs but do not have to download/import the PDF files per se?

Thank you.


texts: Is it possible to add a new citation after a paper is published?

texts: Can I add a new recent citation to my published paper? It will be added to the discussion section, with no change to my original work.


texts: Unemployed after 1st postdoc, what should my affiliation be when introduced during campus visit & job talk?

texts:
I finished my postdoc last year end of Aug. and have been unemployed ever since (not completely, I've been doing freelance work to support myself, but not research-related). The rest of time I've spent (1) applying to academic positions (mostly R1, some R2), (2) finishing writing manuscripts leftover from my postdoc (although I haven't submitted yet, except 1 which I'm only co-authored that's already published) (3) reviewing journal papers (apparently I'm still being asked), and (4) studying to get a professional certification (which IS related to my research, although  getting the certification itself is not ever required for people doing research in my field, but the process of getting the certification contributes to my research).

So I have been getting several interviews from R1 institutions and been invited for campus visit and job talk. When I applied, it's clear on my CV that I stopped having academic affiliations since the end of my postdoc (I didn't try to hide it or fudge it). And at no point did anyone asked me what I'm doing since my postdoc ended during the initial interviews.

But now that I have to go on campus visits and give job talks, and they are asking me to give them brief bio so they can introduce me before the presentation and advertise my talk in the department. What should I tell them? Or rather, how should I phrase my current situation, so it won't sound pathetic and put me in a dejected mindset (which for sure will wreck my presentation and self-confidence). What affiliation should go on their posters and on my slides?

I'd like to think I'm not being asked/interviewed for "fake searches". In fact, in most cases, I actually applied after the stated "deadlines" (they are those "open until filled" positions). so I'd like to think no fake searches would last months (and almost the entire academic year). So I don't think they would invite me just to ridicule me or make me the obvious inferior candidate (although I guess this is possible). In any case, I'd just like some advice on how I should handle this. BTW, the end of this year would be 4th year since I got my PhD. And I didn't take anytime off (or ever been unemployed or have a gap on my CV).


texts: How to prove receipt/no receipt of work?

texts: Last term, I collected some important projects from about 200 students. When I returned all of the work the next week, one student claimed that they had submitted their work, but never received it back. A misplaced project was highly unlikely, as they were individually bound in a uniform, bright cover and carried in sealed bags, so I assigned the student a 0. Still, I would like to have proof of “no submit”, especially as my supervisor occasionally wants an explanation for failing grades. But not having something is not proof of never submitting. What method can I use in the future to prove that a student did not submit their work?


texts: Reference style where authors are abbreviated with long underscore

texts:
What is the name of this reference style? In which other fields have you seen it?

It replaces author names (in the list of references) with a long underscore when it's the same authors as in the previous item. Also, numbers of the last page are abbreviated if there is too little change. With the latter I am not sure it's part of the reference style, or just a convention.

I found this reference in Economics, namely here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2118200.pdf


texts: What is expected when submitting to a conference

texts:
I am planning to submit an abstract to a conference (pure mathematics). In the webpage they have the options of filling in the title, providing a pdf file of abstract and an option of providing a "full text/other file". I am not sure about the last option.

Do I provide one of my paper that I will talk about? That seems weird as I (most of the speakers I guess?) will be talking about a series of works. Or do I need to make a new pdf file, summarizing all the works covered? Or do I provide the beamer file? Or nothing at all?

Is it common that when submitting an abstract to a math conference, one has to also submit a file which describe their talk in some details?


texts: Filing a patent which my research advisor will found a company on it

texts:
I'd appreciate your advice on my current situation a lot!
So I'm an international phD student getting close to graduate.
My research advisor got so interested in my recent project and he's working on filing a patent out of it with the institution's office for the related work.
Seems like he'll start the company as well based on the project.
Followings are the questions I have. As I do not have the experience or knowledge on such a situation, I'd appreciate your help so much in advance.

To guarantee any potential rights that I can possibly claim as a co-inventor, is there anything I need to make sure with my PI during the patent filing process? For instance, although I am not gonna accept his offer to work in his company, would it be still possible to secure my equity as a co-inventor or so?

In case my PI wants to exclude me out of the patent filing or any financial benefit created out of it, is there any way I can claim my portion?

Thank you so much for your time checking this, and any advice would be appreciated.


texts: Which undergraduate major leads to a research career in development of new medical drugs?

texts:
Let's say someone wants to study biochemistry and his main goal is to do research in drug design  (development of new drugs). So, his main interests concerns with Pharmacology, right?

However, there are few undergraduate programs available in Pharmacology (there are some in England and other European countries) because most of Pharmacology programs are graduate programs.

So, the question is, what should this person do?

Go directly to a undergraduate pharmacology program.
Take another undergraduate program. In this case, what would that be? Chemistry? Medicine? Biochemistry?


texts: Who should I tell about switching a group-based course to pass/no credit?

texts:
First, some background:

I'm currently involved in a course which is based around a major group project.  However, the end of the semester is coming up, and I honestly can't see this project becoming anything other than a massive trainwreck.  (4 weeks to go, and people don't even have basic features working yet)  Therefore, I'm planning on switching this course to pass/no credit, so I'm not killing myself at the end of the semester under the crunch/workload.

At my university, this is possible with just a signature from my academic advisor, so there isn't any need (from an administrative/paperwork perspective) to tell anyone that I did.  However, I'm not sure who should be told from a political perspective.  On the one hand, it might be a good idea to tell my fellow group members about this, but I don't want to add more fuel to the fire of an already failing project (I don't want them to feel like they've been abandoned).  On the other hand, because pass/no credit means that I don't have nearly as much at stake for the project, they should probably know that this course won't be my top priority relative to the others that I am taking this semester.  In addition, I don't believe that the project advisor would get told at any point in this process, unless I inform him of this.  On the one hand, I feel like I shouldn't tell him how little confidence I have in this project (as it's one that he and the department are interested to see the success of), but on the other hand, I think he also deserves to know.

What would be the best way to deal with this situation?


texts:
I came across an advertisement of an academic position (in Europe) that states explicitly:

  Application package should include:
   (1) a complete curriculum vitae (with a photo), (...)

I have never seen a photo on CV to be a requirement (although the fact that is included in parenthesis might implicitly mean that is optional?)

In any case I find it mildly strange.

Assuming that its is indeed a requirement, what is the rationale behind this? What are the benefits (for the person advertising the position) of doing so?

I am not asking what are the benefits for the applicant (for which there is a related question) but I am asking from the point of view of the person receiving the applications. Even though the position is located in Europe (Switzerland), feel free to answer for your own region!


texts:
Is it acceptable to put your nationality on a CV when applying for a position at an American university?

For your interest, in some countries it is customary to put your date of birth, marital status, or even your religion on your CV. As far as I understand, this gets an application binned immediately in the USA. But what about nationality?


texts: How to withdraw a published paper when former boss seems to be raising ethical and data integrity issues with the editor?

texts:
Recently our group published a paper in an important open-access publication. During my work, I was subordinated to a person who left the research center six months before I finish the study, but during two and a half years this person evaluated the work, and suggested some analysis and modification in both pictures and graphs (I have all this personal communication). Specifically, this person had knowledge about the way how the data were generated and about local ethics statements, formally approved by a scientific committee. Since he left the research center, we did not talk about the manuscript with each other and I remained working in both figures and analysis to be incorporated in the submitted version; obviously it seemed clear to me that we had no obligation to show the final version to someone who was not part of the group anymore (this person was not listed as author in any time during the execution of the study because he asked this). In addition, our group performed some additional adjustments in the manuscript following indications of two experts during the process of review. The new boss was informed about the manuscript to be finalized, submitted and later, accepted. The contribution of the former one was properly acknowledged in the final version of the paper.
The former boss sent us a letter where he states he did not know about our work (i.e., that, supposedly, we made our study without his agreement and knowledge - misconduct, so). It seems that he had some kind of personal problem with someone in the research center before he left, so I believe he wants to prejudice the group, and myself in particular, since I am the first author of the study.
Some days ago I was surprised by a communication from the Editor-in-Chief of the journal where the paper was published, asking about the raw data of our work and if we have proofs concerning the ethic statements related to our study after a message sent by the former boss to the publisher.
While I have at least a dozen of emails attesting that the former boss knew about the study,  I don't know if I can show them to the publisher. Thus, I would like to withdraw the manuscript in order to avoid any future trouble with this former boss. I am very, very disapointed with this (this is a serious questioning about my conduct), and I would like to withdraw the manuscript from this jornal. I would like to know how to do this. Any suggestion?

I deeply appreciated all replies, thank you all. I've contacted the Editor in chief of the journal where we published the paper and explained all the situations in a clear and open manner, and he understood the point. The paper remained published without further action since our arguments were truthful. Concerning the person who attacked us, I decided to just ignore him. Silence is the best answer for mediocre persons.


texts: Research related questions from industrial researchers to academic researchers

texts:
If an academic researcher wants to ask research related question or to start a collaboration etc. with another academic researcher, it is usually a matter of a polite and specific email. I have seem such initiatives from academic researchers towards industrial researchers (e.g., a postdoc asking about technicalities of a paper written by a Google researcher directly to the Google researcher).
Is such research correspondence, without any prior research contracts/agreements between the academic institution and industrial researcher's company, also common from the other way around (i.e., an industrial researcher initiating a correspondence to an academic researcher)?
How about research correspondence between researchers in two different companies?
I am thinking of transiting to industrial research from academia and genuinely curious about this.


texts: What are the minimum contributions required for co-authorship

texts: In this answer  it is claimed that authorship is given away for "free" in some fields (e.g., obtaining the funding). The comments to the answer suggest that this is field dependent. I am looking for documentation from a field that suggests that authorship can be given away for "free". For example, the ICMJE has authorship guidelines that put a pretty high bar on authorship. Is there any documentation that suggests that supervising a student or getting funding is enough to warrant authorship?


texts:
I am currently an undergraduate student who has a strong interest in becoming a theoretical physicist. I have applied to 4 physics grad schools this year but it seems that my chances for going to grad school this fall 2021 is dismal; I got rejected from my safety school and a top physics grad school and the remaining ones are also quite tough to get into. I do not think I will be able to make it to the other grad schools. As of now, I have done well in undergrad but my major flaw is that I had zero undergrad physics research experience (I have done two self studies, one a graduate Quantum Mechanics course and another a Mathematical Analysis course, but that's about it). I was about to get a research experience (voluneer) during the summer 2020 but due to the COVID 19 pandemic that got cancelled. Basically, I didn't want to multitask during my undergrad years with courses + research because I didn't want to mess anything up.
Here is what I want to do in graduate school: I want to go into Mathematical Physics, with emphasis on String Theory Methods. My long term goal is to study the very early universe where quantum gravity is important and where all 4 fundamental forces are thought to be unified. For grad school, however, I want to focus on something more concrete, something people see (or can imagine) in their every day lives and so my focus for grad school is string theory methods for condensed matter physics.
What I Did during Undergrad: I am a Physics and Mathematics major (Bachelors of Science with Highest Honors) and I plan to graduate this May 2021 (since I will be finished with my requirements I will have to graduate this May as per my university policy). I have taken the Physics GRE during my junior year.
My Questions
(1) Should I work for a professor in experiment(from my school) (particle physics or condensed matter) from May 2021 - August 2022? I am willing to volunteer with no pay.
(2) Should I work for a professor in theory (from my school) from May 2021 - August 2022?
(3) Should I ask a mathematics professor (from my school) for informal mentorship from May 2021 - August 2022?
(4) Can I apply for an REU or is that too late?


texts: What to do if I can't find the book of this chapter I found so I can cite it?

texts:
So I've found a .pdf file that is apparently a chapter of a book and I can't see any information about the book whatsoever aside from its title and the number of the chapter. I've tried entering a sentence from the chapter on google books and found 0 resemblance from the results that came up. Here's is the file :

https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/864/10/10_chapter%203.pdf

One thing is that I've found out that the file came from an Indian research database website but I've also tried searching for keywords from the file on the site and found nothing either. Considering the citation from the chapter, it's made around early 2000's. Are there any other ways to find the source of this chapter?


texts: How to get into research jobs after working in corporate technical jobs

texts:
I am Performance and Automation Testing engineer who recently moved into IT Security in Singapore. I hold a BSc in software system (full-time) and MSc in IT (distance learning program). I have 9+ years experience working in Testing projects where major contribution was into Performance and Automaton testing.

I wish to get into research jobs (specifically, academic research). I am looking for opportunities any place however my preference will be Germany, Singapore and USA. However whenever I have approached universities they aren't willing to consider me, stating that I don't have any research experience.

Can anyone help me with path to get into IT Security Research. I guess attending a part-time/full-time masters program (IT/INFOSEC) followed by PhD (INFOSEC) program should help. Is this an appropriate path? Will this suffice to give me a chance at getting hired into an academic research job?


texts: How to reply to an academic interview invitation?

texts: What is the recommended way to reply to an academic interview invitation? And would there be a difference in response if the invitation was sent by a faculty or a staff? Should it be very short or should the applicant express his interest again in the position, maybe provide more details of his qualifications etc?


texts: Should I ask my professor giving a lecture to switch languages?

texts:
I am an international student in a German university. I have participated in an online seminar (in English),in which lecture notes are given. There are lectures in my university discussing the notes and related stuff, I want to join it but it is conducted in German. I basically don't understand what the professor talks about. The course is not mandatory, but the course description said it is in German. Should I ask the professor giving his talk in English?
I have participated in the first lecture (but I was late) and said nothing about the language problem and I skipped the second lecture. Am I in the right position to ask for switching languages?


texts: Loss of perspective after short-term postdoc

texts:
I'm a physicist and I might have figured out too late that I really like research, even if it hurts. I had a tough PhD, during which I worked in isolation on a new technique. I didn't publish along the way (my supervisor didn't believe in conference papers, I got scooped and in general nobody cared, even if I repeatedly stressed the issue). After my defense I was unemployed and I finished the paper on my thesis work, which has a couple dozen authors (I'm first) and was published on Scientific Reports. I had a 2 years postdoc offer in the department I did my PhD in, but I felt I needed a change so I said no. I opted for a five months postdoc on a topic slightly related to the one I worked on during my PhD, and I loved it. The advisor was great and I really enjoyed being treated as a human and having the opportunity to work on a hard problem. Unfortunately the data I worked on was meh, so although I developed a new software suite it's still not clear if the data is good enough for a publication (I think so, but let's see).

I am applying for postdocs, and I am not getting any interview. Is it because I only have one paper (three more in the pipeline), although introducing a brand new technique? I have the impression I have been cheated: everybody kept saying publish and it will be better, but things are not better (except for the fact that I closed a quite big problem). I got interviews with a few software companies, but I have a strong feeling that I will miss the opportunity to do research independently, instead that implementing something... Do you think this is unreasonable?

I'm probably better than average as a researcher, but I have a worse than average track record. Is there a way to fix things or is it game over?


texts: Depth and difficulty of mandatory courses that could be elective

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Background
Some universities around the world still don't adopt the common system of elective classes. To broaden the scope of this question, one could also consider the applicability of answers in high school or any other technical degree.
Problem
Consider the following scenario: every available class is mandatory. How should a course be given knowing that is not a strong requisite for your students but you still want to give them the opportunity to go deep in to the subject?
Concrete example to discuss
In a computer engineering department, there is a course on Web Programming. Strictly speaking, Computer Engineers are not expected to be proficient in web programming, but it is a valuable skill nowadays and is of interest of many of them.
For all engineering students, there is a two-semester course on linear algebra. The second semester is focused on complex spaces and cover topics like Jordan Canonical Form. The course is highly theoretical and focused on theorem demonstrations instead of applications and engineering concepts.
Approaches
What methodology would be a best practice? If the answer may vary according to situation, what factors should influence the choice of one over another?

In-depth lectures, broad coverage but low complexity exams/assignments
In-depth lectures, basic concepts but higher complexity exams/assignments
Basic coverage overall, with in-depth extra material provided.
< Open to suggestions >

One idea I'm particularly fond of is extra credits in assignments and exams that cover the deeper knowledge available.


texts: I printed my PhD thesis and one of the image graphics came out as a black square and I sent copies yesterday to the reviewrs

texts:
I don't understand how this happened I sent the printing service a pdf. And in the pdf the image is completely normal.
And two other graphics lost their labels. I don't know how this happened.
Will this be looked down upon?


texts: How to Correct for a Less-Than-Complete PhD career when wanting to go into academia?

texts:
I want to have a career as a tenure-track research professor. I have a little over a year left in my PhD in a science/mathematical field, and I don't feel I learned enough during graduate school. I know I can (read: have to) finish my thesis in a year because my adviser is the type to just cobble something together and get you out of here (and there is no funding left)! However, I really love science, I love learning, I love reading, and I love thinking! I just feel due to various reasons (adviser putting me on projects that failed after which I had to switch, etc.), I am grossly underprepared!

I have grown intellectually so much since staring my PhD, but when speaking to professors and postdocs at conferences I feel like I can't hold my own. I know part of this is imposter syndrome that I have always struggled with, and part of it is that people can always "talk about" their research and "sound smart" in the short time we're all discussing, but I want to feel like I really understand these topics and that feels like I need more time!

They say "thats what postdocs are for!" but I get the feeling its the exact opposite! Professors hire postdocs to do something well and fast, not really bolster their education or mature as researchers. How can I convince someone to hire me as a postdoc, and allow/help me to "fill in the gaps"?

Note: this question was also posted on quora, but has so far gone unanswered.


texts: Does Joseph Campbell's advice work for the natural sciences?

texts:
This article quotes famous mythologist Joseph Campbell as saying:

"Reading what you want, and having one book lead to the next, is the way I found my discipline. I’ve suggested this to many of my students: When you find a writer who really is saying something to you, read everything that writer has written and you will get more education and depth of understanding out of that than reading a scrap here and a scrap there and elsewhere. Then go to people who influenced that writer, or those who were related to him, and your world builds together in an organic way that is really marvelous."

Based on my limited experience with computer science and economics, my guess is that the answer is no, but I was wondering if this strategy might work in Biology or some other discipline?


texts: Is there an association for academic managers?

texts:
I there an international society/association for building a community of academic managers (such as department heads, deans, etc)?

I found Association of University Administrators, but it is for administrators (e.g., directors of offices) rather than academic managers.


texts: Doubts about PhD advisor and unsure how to continue

texts:
tl;dr I think my supervisor has a severe lack of knowledge, does too many things instead of focusing heavily on just a few things and hence I can't really focus on my research project.

Long Story I started my PhD a few months back and was hired specifically to work on a certain project. We have a few very outstanding research groups as collaborating teams but all in different research areas.

After a few weeks into my PhD, I was hit by all the different side projects my supervisor tries to kick off. They are extremely time consuming and not research related at all. Besides, I noticed that my supervisor has a severe lack of knowledge in one of our core research areas. As a consequence, I can't discuss any of my ideas with him. As the other PhD students feel the same way, we have mentioned the lack of time quite a few times in our group meetings. And although he agreed that we need more time on proper research, things didn't really change yet. As a consequence, my motivation for the project starts to decline, although I continue to be extremely passionate about the project's overall goals!

So my question is, how I should cope with this situation? I thought about leaving his group, but I'm kind of stuck in a dilemma: I'd love to work on the project, and I don't want to let my collaborating teams down.


texts: Can I quote a full paragraph which contains some other citations?

texts:
I am trying to quote a full paragraph in my PhD dissertation. The problem is that this paragraph contains some citations. What should I do?

Copy the paragraph with all citations, putting the references in my list of references?
Copy the paragraph with all citations without putting the references in my list of references?
Copy the paragraph without the citations, indicating omissions by "..."?
Any other ideas?


texts: How might I get hold of a dataset from an old paper?

texts:
Say I come across a paper e.g. from 1980, which refers to a dataset which I believe could have further interesting information that was not analysed (or at least the analysis was never published). This was long before the time when datasets might be included as supplementary information. The sole author has not published recently (10 years +) and I can’t find any reference to them at the listed institution or indeed anywhere else. They are likely retired, quite possibly passed away by now.

Given that the author is no longer contactable, is there any way of getting hold of that old dataset? My instinct is that the answer is “no”, but is there any hope? How could I go about it?


texts: Given a "Date Revision Due" for revised submission of a journal paper, am I required to submit before the beginning or the end of that date?

texts:
I am submitting a revised manuscript to an Elsevier journal. However, English is my second language and I am confused about the meaning of "Date Revision Due"!

The journal editorial system indicates "Sep 19, 2015" as Date Revision Due. Please tell me should I submit the revised manuscript before "Sep 18,2015 11:59 PM" or "Sep 19,2015 11:59 PM"?!

I guess the local timezone of the journal should also be considered. In addition, Can I submit the revised manuscript by automatic editorial system even if I miss this deadline?


texts: What is the strategy to identify natural experiment as a PhD student?

texts:
As social scientists become more concerned with causal inference, a good thesis these days needs some sort of quasi-experimental strategy. For example, an economist wants to know the effect of military service on income but faces the problem that people who enlist are different from those who don't. So he uses the random Vietnam War lottery as a quasi-experiment with a valid control (who won the lottery and did not serve) and treatment (who lost and did serve). (More examples of these natural experiments).

As a PhD student sitting in my cubicle, I'm lost on how to identify these opportunities. Reading published work does not really help since these experimental opportunities are quite idiosyncratic. I'm not averse to going out there to find my own opportunity, but unsure about how to do this effectively. Do I read history book? Or talk to policy makers?

Since experimental opportunities are not available to all (or most) topics, I'm already paralyzed at the stage of choosing a topic (and thus can't start reading history book / talking to policy makers).

The standard advice I've got is not to pick question based on method. However, I find this quite a double standard given the concurrent push for quasi-experimental design.


texts: Is it acceptable for authors of papers in a special issue of a journal to review each others' papers?

texts:
A journal publishes a special issue on a controversial area of research studied by a rather limited community of researchers.  Would it be acceptable for the editor of the journal to use the authors of the papers comprising the special issue as the pool of reviewers, so that each paper is (anonymously) reviewed by two of the authors of the other papers ?  Would this constitute a conflict of interest, given that all of the authors will be receptive to other papers supporting this line of research?

Edit: The editor also works on this topic, and it is an area with some controversy.  Should the editor include scientists who have published papers critical of this topic in the pool of reviewers, even if he personally doesn't agree with the criticism?


texts: If you are a GRA are you consider fully funded?

texts:
I have nearly completed my Master of Science. Refreshing my Resume. I have been funded as a GRA every semester I was a Master's student – meaning my tuition was waived and I received a month stipend.
Is it the correct terminology to state:

"Was fully funded as a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for _________ Institute of
Technology while pursuing his Master of Science."

Is that correct, or is the term "funded" more-so used for PhD students or those that secure guaranteed funding for X number of years. In my case, I essentially kept renewing my GRA positions on a semesterly bases.
Last, should I explicitly mention that my tuition was waived and I received a month stipend, or do employers not care about that.


texts: Is it normal to find unknown work during peer-review process?

texts: I worked on my research for about 2 years and recently submitted a paper to a reputed conference. The referee reports came back and one of the referees pointed out papers that I should have encountered in my literature review but didn't. The knowledge of these papers completely changes the way I view my own work now. Is this normal? I feel stupid for having worked on a problem for 2 years and having missed 2-3 papers that would have been very important.


texts: Is there any disadvantage to having PhD skipping M.Sc.?

texts:
In some countries like Australia, Singapore etc, A candidate may be enrolled into Masters leading to PhD program on condition that he/she will pass the candidature test after the 1st year and are subsequently given PhD in the final/fourth year (subject to successful completion), which results in no M.Sc. degree in between.

Is there any discrepancy towards these PhD holder in academic or professional life?


texts: Are there risks in sharing a paper after submission and before reviews?

texts:
After submitting a paper for publication to a computer science conference,  authors are excited about their work and want to share it with friends, colleagues. Are there any risks in sharing the paper while waiting for reviews that might jeopardize its publication?

In Computer Science, conference submissions are usually subject to a double-blind review process.


texts: What does a successful NecTAR application look like

texts:
This is quite specific question, though, it specificness is largely related to the fact it can only be answered by someone with experience with computational research in Australia.

NeCTAR grants Cloud computing resources, in the form of VM's to Australian researchers.

To apply for resources there are several fields.

The allocation documentation is quite sparse on recommendations for what they are to contain.

The most significant of which is the "Research use case" which has the description:

  Research use case [Form Box Here] Note: A short write up on how you intend to use your cloud instances will help us in our decision making.

It's not much to go on.

The box is quite small though it is expandable.
I'm not sure how much to write. It doesn't support rich text or any kind of markup. I am wondering if I should reference my statements (seems awkward without rich text).

Or if I should be describing other avenues of getting compute power attempted etc.

The documentation does note:

  If there are any issues with your request, we will get in touch with you.
  You may be asked to provide more detail about your research or to clarify your technical requirements.

So perhaps what I write the first time does not even matter,
since they will just ask for clarification until I have appropriate amounts of information?

I am really looking for an example of an application that someone has done successfully in the past. Just to get an idea of what it would be like.


texts: How to explain to department's president that my time spent as an undergraduate assistant/intern was goalless?

texts:
This is a follow-up from my question here on my atrocious relationship with my internship/assistance as an undergraduate at a teaching lab.

Since I only have some weeks left to end this awful experience, I am planning to visit the department's head(who is also my professor) at his office to explain how unproductive and pointless my "training" was and how I was being exploited by my supervisor.

The problem is that the president is also my professor(teaching courses I'm interested in), and I wonder if anything I say against my supervisor or my experience will worsen my future studies (and relationship) with my professor until I graduate.


texts: Research with Partisan Implications - Is it worth it?

texts:
I have good reason to believe that political party X engages in harmful practice Y more than other political parties.  The numbers stack up, it fits into the theories presented in other papers, and so on.  Content-wise, I believe there is enough for a paper on the topic.

However, I am concerned about the long-term career potential of this, as this would be my first paper (I'm still an undergraduate student) and there are downsides to appearing as a naive partisan hack.  Is such a paper worth pursuing, and if it is, how should I best go about minimizing that potential drawback?


texts:
I'm an agronomy major who's performing additional academic work as way of increasing my chances of getting into grad school.

This semester I'm going to be writing a literature review regarding plant breeding in ornamental plants using references from 2007 to the present year. The emphasis will be in breeding methodologies ((1)mutagenesis, (2) genetic transformation) and (3) biodiversity.

My professor has done extensive research in genetics but this is also the first time he's advising a student in writing a review. Out goal is to make it as publishable as possible.

I've already obtained multiple articles but this is my first time writing a review. Can I get advice on how to start or how to plan my creation process?


texts: What is the effect on a supervisor if a graduate student has been found to have plagiarised?

texts:
In a well voted comment in a question about responsibility to detect plagiarism it notes that it rests with the author. This well voted answer on a now on-hold question about removing plagiarized parts of a thesis states the following which could read to imply some responsibility for the supervisor.

  If you think/know that parts of your thesis are plagiates you and/or your supervisors seem to have failed.

Regardless of the above in regard to responsibility of detecting plagiarism if a student does plagiarise, I assume it must have some impact on the supervisor.

Has there been any cases that have shown what is the effect on a supervisor (career wise/reputation etc.) if a graduate student has been found to have plagiarised?


texts: Immigration and tenure track in the United States

texts:
I have plans to apply for some TT positions in the US. However, I'm Brazilian and I don't even have a visiting visa. I've never been to the US.

Therefore the whole immigration process is mainly unknown to me, with the exception of a small amount of information I managed to gather online.

Ignoring the CV, merits, etc, which I know play a decisive part in the TT hiring process, my question is :

  How much the immigration hassle can change the outcome of the hiring process?

Just to clarify further, I'm interested in the immigration factor only. Is it relevant?

Of course, a foreign superstar would be good enough reason to overcome these obstacles, but I'm no superstar and I was wondering where they draw the line, if it is even worth to do the applications... (If you are extra curious, my scholar : https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=0D1ExLoAAAAJ)

Possibly related: Is it more difficult to score a Tenure Track position in the US when applying from outside?


texts: Why would a professor agree to write recommendation letter, then mention in it that he doesn't know student very well?

texts:
I had a colleague who asked a professor to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf. The professor agreed and wrote 3 letters for this colleague. The colleague had an interview with one of the colleges he applied to and he came to know that the professor wrote that he doesn't know him very well.

My questions are: why would a professor agree to write a recommendation in the first place?! And what is the effect of this letter on one's application?

I asked him to write one on my behalf, and he might have written similar statement.


texts: Citing yourself on slides when your lastname consists of multiple words

texts:
When citing a paper that you coauthored on a slide it is common to abbreviate your name to just the first letter of your last name, or your initials. So John Doe would become D or JD.

My last name consists of multiple words like 'van der Broek'. Should I then abbreviate it to 'vdB' or just 'B'?


texts: Web service to subdivide projects among students

texts:
For a course I teach, I would like to assign projects to students, so that each student chooses a different project among a list of alternatives.

It seems to me that one of the simplest ways to assign them in a fair way is the following: sort the students in a random order, and then ask them in this order to choose a project among the ones that are still available.

I would like to know if there is a web service that handles this process automatically. More specifically, it should do something like the following:

Takes as input a list of 'objects' to choose, and a list of e-mail addresses.
Optionally, randomizes the order of these addresses (but I can do that off-line)
Sends a mail to the first address of the list, asking them to choose one of the available objects.
Once the owner of address #1 has chosen, takes the chosen object off the list, and sends a mail to address #2 in the list, asking them to choose one among the remaining objects.
Repeat until there are no more addresses in the list.
Displays the results of the process for everyone to see.

Is there a website where I can set this process up without too much trouble? Doodle does something similar, but without the constraint that users must choose in a specific order; it uses a first-come-first-served approach.

(Before someone suggests it, I think that this question is more suitable for this site than for [softwarerecs.se], and I would prefer not to ask it there.)


texts: How hard is it to change a (sub-)field right after starting a CS PhD?

texts:
I am a senior undergrad in computer systems field (specifically, computer networks) and applied for CS PhD this year.
My question is:
If I find a new interest in a different field before starting a PhD, is it possible to change from the field that I applied for to the different field as I start my PhD?
I can see many problems that would prevent me from changing my field. For example, I would have almost no depth in the field yet compared to other students who came for that field, but I would have to somehow find a way to find an advisor in the field who can advise me.
And I just wonder if you think any problem you see would make it almost impossible to change, so I would just have to get research experience again in the field and then reapply for CS PhD for the field
To give more about my context, I am now a 4th year undergrad and enjoying research projects I have participated in, but I really don't think those (computer networks) are what I can do or enjoy for at least next 5 years. I've been always thinking of exploring as many fields as possible and changing my field (which can be a huge change like from system to theory) after going to PhD. I think I already knew such a huge change would be almost impossible, but maybe I just pushed myself to continue my research because I felt like it was quite irresponsible to quit in the middle of the projects that professors worked with me on (I just... don't know...).
I feel very lost now as I realized I applied for PhD without knowing anything about it. If needed, I am even willing to explore new fields for several months, find a research assistant position in a new field, and prepare for grad school application again.
Thanks for reading this long post.


texts:
Can one get paid while conducting research at a US university lab, without being a staff, student, visiting student, or a postdoctoral fellow? What are possible titles that are acceptable by grants? Assuming the grant sources are NSF and IARPA.

According to wikipedia, visiting scholar is a high level recognition. Is there an alternative for a paid researcher who does not hold a PhD and is not initially affiliated, but whose research is valuable to the lab?


texts: How to promote young researchers at a conference designed for young researchers?

texts:
I am currently co-organizing a conference targeted at young researchers (mostly PhD or post-doctoral people). All talks are to be done by these younglings. However, there are only around 10-15 scheduled talks, while we expect at least twice as many people.

What kind of activity can we set up so that the attendees who don't get to talk still get an opportunity to share their research (with other attendees and more senior researchers)?

Our go-to option is a poster session. However, I have been at the same kind of conference before, and these tend not to be very successful. I think this is because the conference is rather small, which means few people by poster. Posters also don't seem to promote discussing with other attendees (people tend to stay beside their poster, to speak with the occasionnal interested bystander).

A few years ago, somebody organized on the fly a "research speed dating" event: from what I have understood, everybody gets five minutes to explain their reasearch head-to-head with another attendee, then the people mix up and start again. It was quite successful, or so I have heard, but the details are fuzzy and I have no experience whatsoever in organizing this kind of thing.

Our default option is still a poster session, but what other possibilities are there? Or, if nothing else, how may we run a good poster session?

Edit: the conference was last week, so I have some feedback. There were few posters, so we did a little introductory session for people not among the plenary speakers (some who submitted a poster, some who didn't). I think it was successful in fostering discussions for those who submitted posters. Thanks for all who answered here, and who helped us choose this option.


texts: Can a systematic review only review one article?

texts:
I got asked to review a systematic review in a peer-reviewed Pubmed-indexed journal. However, based on the author’s inclusion/exclusion criteria, they only review one article.

Isn't that peculiar? As a reviewer, how should I respond to this? Is this acceptable, only one article...?


texts: My manuscript gets "with Editor" then "Editor invited", What is the main reasons for this?

texts: My manuscript status shows "With Editor" after initial submission. Then, (after two days) it takes "Editor invited". So, once, it with Editor, It should take the next step. However, it backs again to the first step. I really do not understand why it takes this two different status in a very short time?  What would this indicate? That is, my paper at the first time finds an editor, then they look for an editor to my paper?!


texts: Strategies for getting involved in students' work during labs?

texts:
As a TA I conduct computer laboratory classes (the lecture is conducted by one of the professors). These are part-time studies, so labs take place during weekends, 3 clock hours each. Some students are older than me and are mostly male (I'm female). Some students have longer job experience than me, but I still feel I can teach them something important, not particular technologies, but rather an engineer attitude.

I prepared detailed written tutorials for these classes, which students follow step by step. At particular steps there are some general remarks included, like as you just saw, it's a good idea to include validation both at client and at the server site. The reason I don't say these remarks by myself, is that the speed of work differs significantly from student to student.

The result is that I don't have anything to do during these tutorials. I say a small introduction at the beginning, but it's not extensive, because the theory is covered at the lectures. Students don't ask me for help because the written tutorials address a large set of mistakes that students from previous years already did. When they really don't know what to do, they ask their colleagues.

In rare occasion they ask me a question I rush to them and explain everything, I also say in the beginning that if they have any questions I will be happy to help, so I don't think I deter then from asking for help.

But still I sit silent for most of the time. I only make few rounds around the lab, asking if they achieved the particular step, but they say they did and that's all. The rest of the time I do other things related to the classes (for example review tutorials, check homework, answer emails).

Last year I overheard students saying they like the written tutorials very much, because they are clear and include everything they need. Still I'm worried they can give me bad notes for my teaching, because from their perspective I do nothing and I am of no use to them during labs (last year my final score wasn't count because too few students decided to grade me).

What could be strategies to make tutorial-based lessons with tutorials more interactive? Or maybe I should not worry about it?

My idea was to make the tutorials more vague so that they ask more questions but it seems ridiculous. The tutorials are also used by students who could not attend classes or couldn't finish during labs. Also only first part is step-by-step, because the second part contains homework, on which they can practice self-reliance.

Edit

This situation also makes them ask if they can do the work at home, without attending labs and just send in homework. I'm ok with that, but I think my department is not.

I also had a situation when student send me an email with finished task during labs instead of showing it to me.


texts: Myth or Reality: Employers will contact your academic supervisor and past collaborators to acquire information about you

texts:
Recently in a presentation about networking the presenter mentioned that it is important to maintain a good relationship with your past academic supervisors and collaborates (teammates) because employers (industry employer, not academic employers) will go contact these people to gain information about you, especially you are a recent grad with net zero industry experience.

Is this a common practice? Does anyone know if employers will actually go out of their way to contact your supervisors even your teammates?


texts: Has the reaserch on the back cover of journal been benefitial for you or your group?

texts:
You can highlight your article and the work of your group on the back cover of ----Name of journal from RCS-----, if you are interested in this opportunity please contact me for more information

Have you ever got this offer from above mention publisher ( or in general ) and can it be beneficial for visibility of your research? Is there any scientific evidence ( publication ) that backcover brings more readers and attention to your work? or this is just atempt of publishers to capitalise on scientist ego?


texts: Is it advisable to report a 56 percentile in GRE maths subject test if i am applying for Phd in neuroscience?

texts: I am an undergrad from biology background. I want to pursue a Phd in neuroscience and would be applying by the end of 2017. I read in FAQs of many graduate programs that they recommend taking a subject test but it's not compulsory. I prepared for two months and took the GRE maths subject test. I was able to solve all the calculus problems but couldn't do other topics like group theory and abstract algebra. I ended up with a score of 680 and 56 percentile. I have a good research background in this field and i am hopeful of a publication by next year. I don't want my 'non-math' background to hinder my application from getting selected for computational labs. Should I report this score?


texts: What is "salami slicing"? Does it preclude presenting similar papers on a similar topic at multiple conferences?

texts: What is meant by "salami slicing" ?   I see that a few researchers present papers at multiple conferences with a very similar theme or topic, but was not sure if this was permissible.  My own research could fit multiple conferences, even if the topic at each of these papers would be virtually the same.


texts: How to mention analysis tools/functions developed during a thesis

texts:
I am just about to finish my Master thesis. During the analysis, I wrote two functions which simplify certain tasks and put them into a R package. Furthermore, I extended an existing R package by parallelizing it.

While these actions do not have any value for the scientific outcome of my thesis and just simplified my analysis by saving me time, I wonder if I should mention these tasks within my thesis?

If yes, in which section? My idea was to put it in a section in the discussion called something like "additional outcomes of this work" and link to the specific packages on my Github account. However, as the package I wrote is not yet published to the public and the package I parallelized is not yet updated, I question myself if I have enough "serious stuff to mention".

If not, what are the reasons for not mentioning such results in a scientific work? If I would be the supervisor, I would like to know about such outcomes of a thesis although they just affect the technical analysis part.


texts: How does academia handle bookbinding in the US?

texts: To explain further, I have loved books for a very long time. I've always been interested in how they're made, and the possible "illnesses" that can befall books and how one goes about to "cure" them. I want to do it as a job, and the research I've done has lead me to learn that there's printing press bookbinding, with machines, and then "craft" bookbinding, the work by hand. I want to know how I can obtain the skills to become a "craft" bookbinder. The "old" way. Are such programs offered at US universities? If not, what is the usual path for gaining such skills in the US?


texts: What should one consider when pondering a career as a scientific editor?

texts:
I'm in my 2nd year postdoc, considering getting a science-related job. I looked for jobs at PhD level, and found that one of my options is becoming an editor for a scientific journal.

How many years' experience (after a PhD) is typical for an entry-level editor role? What else should a recent PhD know when considering such a position?


texts: Clarifications on American graduate school for an European student

texts:
My advisor strongly encouraged me to check out two (highly renowned) American universities for my PhD study.

Her collaborators in these two institutions are good people and great mathematicians, so, assuming I can get in, working there would be very pleasant.

However, I'm confused by the structure of these graduate schools. In the first two years I'm supposed to follow courses and do a comprehensive written exam and an oral one  which are mostly about topics (complex analysis, basic functional analysis, ODEs) that we do in the first two years of undergraduate study in my current institution.

The exam questions from the past years appear to be quite difficult, but revising those relatively elementary topics and spending a great amount of time solving difficult problems on them  seems like taking a step back after a Bachelor's and a Master's degree (which had a quite significant research component).

So my questions are the following:

what is the rationale behind this structure of graduate school in the US?
why is it effective?
should I be concerned about "wasting time" revising basic topics in my area instead of diving directly into a research program after a Master's degree?

Added context from comments:

"Students who already know the material can take the exams in the first month of their Ph.D. program" is exactly what my advisor's collaborators told me. However, although the core material is well-known to me, it appears that the exam consists of many problems in a short amount of time and that such problems are mostly about clever ways to sum series, evaluate multiple integrals, do contour integration, solve tricky ODEs, and so on. That is, it is about elementary things but requires lots of exercise. That's why I'm concerned that it could be an unnecessary detour.


texts: My advisor tried to find my faults and kick me out of the research?

texts:
I am a international student in a ivy league school under J1 visa ( i can work only in school). I am now working as a researcher after I got the degree. I did sign the contract that I will work for 2 years with funding. The contract said that I will work mainly for one particular project but I also have work with any other works that the school want too.

My adviser has two funding project in his hand. One is a cellphone project and another one is a Darpa project. In the beginning, I worked with a cellphone project. This project is something plan to be commercialized and funding by private investors. There were two people mainly working on this cellphone project, me and my friend. We both have separated funding from different sources to work on this project. After I had finish the project ( 6 months), I was moved to work in the Darpa project, with another team. My friend who I worked with in a cellphone project is still working in the final part and marketing it (also continue to find money from investors).

One day, my cellphone-project friend's funding were all gone ( he started this work one year before me). His fund is about two years and he cannot find the investors to put more money in his cellphone. Then this is my problem because I am not a main person in both the cellphone and the Darpa project. My adviser want to move my money to support my friend and want me to quit (because no need for my programming skill anymore, programming part is done). He started by telling me that I watched YouTube in the lab. (He did see me once that I listened to the music while I was programming). He told me that no one in the lab watch YouTube, everybody just read paper for relaxing. (All of my friends watch YouTube and Facebook, trust me). Then he continued with I am not eager to improve me code and make it faster. He told me that all PhD, researcher will eager to make it very fast. ( I programmed something is called SIFT and the speed is the best I can do, due to the nature of the algorithm ).. Anyway, 3 months ago he told me the speed is good enough for this work, that's why I didn't improve it. He told me that I have a problem in communication ( I asked him could you give me some examples about the communication problem, then he changed the topics).

Since I am holding J1 visa, If he kicked me out, I have to go back with nothing. I feel this is very unfair. When he asked me to work, it is very nice. However when I completed the work, he want to kick me out and get the money back. I have no idea what to do? What should I do after this? I feel really bad about my adviser.

PS: my professor is the member of the start-up-company of the cellphone project. but I am not, I am just a reseacher


texts: Is it plagiarism and/or copyright infringement if research started from one person but another diverged onto a different path?

texts:
TLDR at the bottom.

Odd situational question for everyone (or maybe not) since this is out of scope for me. Hoping to get a clearer insight from a more experienced crowd about research, plagiarism and copyright. Unfortunately, I'll have to be vague about specifics and names. Apologies for the long post but I hope someone has some insight.

Just for background information but the theory has been around for almost 100 years but different concepts/ideas are used to prove or further research the theory. I'll start the timeline in the year 2000 just for convenience but information is easily accessible at this time.

Researcher A uses proven concepts that have been used in different fields of study but not widely used specifically in their field however it's not known whether or not they're the first to use. The concept used by Researcher A was discussed on a community forum in 1996 (4 years prior) and on another forum in 1998 (2 years prior) to researcher A starting their own initiatives in 2000. A also made their concept and findings publicly available on their website and started self-publishing a book in 2004 in relation to their findings, 4 years after they first started.

Researcher B is new to the field and comes across the concept from researcher A via their website around 2005 and becomes interested in the concept. During this time they're also reading other researchers' findings (100-year-old theory so lots to catch up on). The more B learns the more they find that while the concept may be feasible, researcher A's findings, definitions of the theory and methodology are flawed so B stops referring to A's research a few months later and starts to conduct their own research. In order to do this, B builds up the concept's methodology from what they believe should work after months of research. Because of the flaws that they found with A, B never read the book that A made either.

After B conducted their own research and findings they also release the information publicly and have changed the methodology of the concept. It's shown that both A and B while using the same theory and similar concept have different results and definitions for the theory. A also congratulates and supports B during this time and admits that their findings and methodology are different from B's. After 3 years of research (2008 now), B decides to publish their findings in a book. While writing the book they never referred to or looked at A's findings but did cite any work that they did look at when writing. A is now claiming that B has plagiarized and infringed on their copyright because of 2 of 6 the definitions written in the book have similar passages referring to the concept; the concept itself is somewhat limited as it's limited to 2 variations for each aspect (so if there are 3 aspects there are 6 definitions). However, these definitions which are similarily written are used for different aspects of the concept which results in people achieving different results for the theory more than half the time. Also since it's a limited scope there's only so much you can write that differs from others' writing.

As far as I'm aware you can't copyright an idea which is the concept in this case and even more so since it's been around even before A started. However, I'm not too sure about the plagiarism. A is demanding to be acknowledged for their work however they didn't contribute to B's research nor were they the originators of the core concept. They just happened to popularize it a little and were B's introduction to the concept.

Has B plagiarized A? Does A deserve the acknowledgement for the aspect definitions despite them being different and resulting in different results? Or just acknowledgement for getting B started on this concept? Or none at all?

TLDR: A accuses B of plagiarism and copyright infringement. B was introduced by A to the concept/idea but never used their information due to inaccuracy. Concept/idea has been around before A started just not as popularized.


texts:
Can anybody post a template letter on how to ask a science journal to serve as a reviewer. Here's what I have..
I would like to serve as a peer reviewer for manuscripts submitted to your esteemed journal, XXX. My areas of expertise are XYZ. I have published n articles in this field and have reviewed manuscripts pertaining to these subjects before.
My CV is enclosed for your perusal


texts: Is it OK to ask for deferral of graduate school admission because one has failed courses to make up?

texts:
What would happen if a student was admitted to graduate school (only consider US institutions here), but failed a course later and would have to wait till the next time to take the course to make up for it and get the bachelor degree?

Do they have a chance in this situation to apply for a deferment of admission for a fraction of a year?


texts: What can I expect from a Skype interview for PhD admissions?

texts:
I contacted a lecturer from my alma mater. He replied me a few days later that he had funding, explained me his project and application process and even attached a detailed research proposal. He asked me to skype with him.

In such case, please advise me what kinds of questions during interview can be asked.


texts: Is it acceptable to publish student names with the label 'stupid question', on a publicly-visible website?

texts:
While I was browsing faculty websites, I came across this  page (new link: http://www.pdmi.ras.ru/~iaroslav/teaching.php?screen_check=done&Width=360&Height=640).  Near the bottom there is a section called Top 6 Most Stupid Questions & Remarks That I'he Heard from my Students where one can find a question and the first name (followed by one letter) of the student who asked it!

Just in case the page is eventually taken down here it is on archive.org


texts:
As a postdoc and junior faculty member I was involved in mentoring and training a PhD student who went on to a faculty position. I have now heard that the person I trained has been investigated and suspended by their university for harassing students.

Looking back I cannot think of anything that I did whilst mentoring and training to encourage this behaviour. However, neither can I think of anything I did to discourage it. I also can't immediately think of what I'm doing now, with current graduate students, to discourage this behaviour in the future.

What are good strategies for faculty mentoring and supervising students to reduce the chance of training a future harasser?

EDIT: Thanks for the answers so far. However, none have added specific strategies that I feel I could act on. As an example of what I'm looking for:

When discussing conferences that students may attend, I would talk with them about

How good/useful the list of invited speakers and sessions looks;
What the expected participants are like, and whether they'd be useful for their future network (is this a good/useful community to engage with);
Whether it fits within their travel budget;
What opportunities there are to present talks or posters;
How useful associated training activities may be;
Whether they'd be able to combine the conference with visits to nearby groups that may be useful;
How it fits around other commitments in their calendar.

I am now thinking of extending this to include

Discussions of the meeting's Code of Conduct: why having one is good, violating it is bad, and my expectation that they should follow a suitable Code of Conduct even if the meeting doesn't officially have one;
Noting the balance and diversity of speakers (I've been doing this more anyway, but making it more explicit that this is good, and that students should interact professionally with all participants), and discussing in problematic cases if lack of diversity at a meeting indicates other problems in the community around that meeting;
Emphasizing that students should pay attention when meeting participants talk about "personalities" in the field; that this information should be respected, listened to, and considered carefully; and that they should think about how to avoid causing the sort of problems that others discuss.

I need to consider the points that @Fomite and @D. Salo bring up, particularly how to implement a group Code of Conduct that works with, rather than at cross-purposes to, existing university policies. I'm looking for detailed ideas that I can use in other frequent interactions with students.

Finally, I refuse to believe that there's little more that can be done other than setting a good example. We continually demand improvement in our research and our teaching: in these parts of our professional lives we know that concrete, incremental steps show real gains. Building and training a community of professional researchers that act professionally in personal interactions is also part of our jobs. I don't expect perfection, but I'm extremely angry that this has happened, so I do expect improvement of myself, and I think the field should too.


texts: Walk up and talk to random people at academic conferences - is that appropriate?

texts:
As a graduate student, I am relatively new to my community. From my point of view, the best approach to get to know new people is randomly walking around and start conversations (with anyone, no matter what age or known/unknown). But is that appropriate at academic conferences? How do established researchers think about that?

I am asking because in my previous conference visits, I often felt that people are annoyed or not interested when I just walked up and started a conversation. What would be better approaches for getting to know the community?


texts: Bored with PhD - should I tell my supervisor?

texts:
I am in the fourth year of a part-time PhD. Lately I have found it very difficult to stay focused. I was really motivated at the start of this academic year, but my supervisor wanted me to do things in a slightly different way to how I was doing them: I wanted to collect field data from all over my territory sporadically - this would have made things fresh and interesting and I would have weaved things together at the end - whereas they wanted me to focus on one thing over a period of time.
Since I had this discussion with my supervisor things have fallen really flat. I have no motivation, I'm continually procrastinating and I keep making excuses at tutorials (a lot of which are true, but they haven't affected things quite to the extent that I have made out).
Should I be honest with my supervisor and tell them the way they suggested I do things doesn't work for me? Or should I just force myself to continue in the way they suggested? I often think that if I did things 'my way' I would have more success in collecting field data but if I do things 'their way' I just end up more bored. This is not to say my supervisor hasn't made good suggestions - she has in many cases - but this is not one that makes me more productive.
I am not thinking of quitting, but something in the methodology has to change.


texts: Is copying numbers from published scientific articles considered plagiarism/copyright infringement?

texts:
Considering that proper reference is provided (journal, author name, date etc.), is copying exact numbers from published scientific articles could be considered plagiarism or copyright infringement?

For example, there is a research called "Dancing can reverse the signs of aging in the brain". I need to cite in my own research some data from it, including how many there were participants, their gender (how many men/women), age and BMI. There are some tables as well, from which I intend to take some baseline numbers. As a result, I'm making my own conclusions (words or sentences are not copied, only numbers).

Thanks.


texts: Can I trivially change a definition still citing the main reference?

texts:
I am going to directly use the following definition of reconfiguration (as a quotation) from A Dictionary of Computing as follows.

  The process of redefining and in some cases reconnecting the units of
  a multiple-unit computer system. This procedure may be accomplished
  automatically, manually, or by a combination of both. The purpose may
  be to provide different system functionality or continued operation
  after the failure of one unit. If done automatically the latter case
  would represent a fail-soft situation. See also configuration.

However, this definition only considers computer systems. So, I need a more general version of the definition referring to all kinds of systems. To fix the issue, am I authorized to simply eliminate that computer word in the definition and still citing the source dictionary?


texts: How to manage an interview by videoconference?

texts:
I am working in academia in a position that is similar to instructor. The job is great but I am working under a short-term contract system with last-minute renewal notice, so I am trying to move for a more stable position.

Since the positions I am looking for are mostly in other countries, my interviews are held by video-conference. Some allow Skype interviews, but others ask for a "professional" video-conference, with high-quality video, and good and stable internet connections. Basically, they want me to use the video-conference room in my current institution.

I was wondering how people usually manage their organization for this kind of interviews. My question is 2-fold:

Questions

How do institutions feel about letting their employees using their video-conference resources for job prospecting?
How do researchers that are not currently working for an institution find the resources to participate in this kind of interview? High-quality webcams are expensive.


texts: Suspecting an undiagnosed learning disability in a student

texts:
I have a student whose academic performance seems starkly disproportionate to his potential. He is full of interesting ideas and questions and enthusiasm, and frequently talks to me before and after class. I enjoy his company and I was fully expecting that his classroom work would be excellent.

It's not. In fact, he's only narrowly passing my course. His homework assignments are painfully underdeveloped and his test scores mediocre. Other instructors have reported similar experiences with him. It seems so incongruous. I don't think it's a problem of work ethic; he is in his late thirties or thereabouts and is happy to be pursuing a degree in my field (linguistics). I can't shake the sense that he puts a ton of effort into his work but can only get so far. Given the level of our oral conversations, it's difficult to believe how much and how regularly he misinterprets written guidelines.

Obviously, it's possible that there's something going on here that isn't any of my business. But the student himself keeps looking really disappointed in himself and his results, and my suggestions thus far that he simply keep at it and ask me lots of questions are starting to feel useless.

I have no actual credentials in psychology. However, I keep wondering if I should give the situation a little nudge. The idea of suggesting that my student get evaluated for learning disabilities makes me feel like I'm meddling or overstepping a boundary, but I keep wondering if I'm looking at an executive function disorder or even some kind of dyslexia.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?


texts: Apply to the same University after a rejection

texts:
I applied for a faculty position last year and did a video interview, but got rejected (for some unknown reason because they asked some routine questions). However, they did not hire anyone eventually and have opened the position with a bit difference and description this year.
Do you think that I should apply again given that they reviewed my case last year and did not give me a virtual campus interview (the campus interview, based on what I heard, was conducted virtually due to COVID-19)?
Or, do you think that I should approach the search committee chair and ask if they recommend me to apply again? What I am saying is that it will be a waste of time on both sides if their concern about my application was serious last year.
P.S. One of my friends applied to the same place twice, got an interview twice, and got rejected twice!


texts: Publish book chapters without giving away the rights

texts:
I'm currently writing a book where I, during the writing process, would like to try to publish some individual chapters (more or less unchanged) as standalone articles . Once I've written all of the chapters, I would then like to be able to do retain the full rights to my text even though it would heavily overlap with articles published in different journals.

Are there any kind of code words or licenses that I could look for in journals when searching for potential places to publish my book chapters in order to be sure that I don't give away the rights to my own work in this regard? I realize that I could ask the staff of individual journals directly, but I would like to know if there's a better way to scan potential journals to find suitable ones.


texts: I'm not comfortable with paying for a practicum that involves doing work for a company, that also pays the school. How to handle this?

texts:
My department has the undergraduates and the graduate students do a practicum. The department tries to get a corporate "sponsor," who pays the department to solve a problem, like an Operations Research problem. If the department doesn't find a sponsor, they usually do a math competition or work some other problems.

We, the students, have to pay about $1,200 in tuition to take this course and do the work for the company.

I don't like the idea of paying my school to do work for a company that the company also pays the school for.

I'd be fine with this if I didn't have to pay tuition or if the class was an elective.