texts: English certifications: which ones are recognized overseas?

texts:
In the European Union we have a "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages". In practice all language certification programmes have one of those levels associated to them (ranging from A1, the most basic, to C2, the most advanced), so that it is possible to establish equivalences between common tests. This allows me to, say, determine if my A in the (life-time valid) FCE exam is worth more or less than a 8.0 in the (short-lived) IELTS exam.

This however doesn't help the student that wants to have an exchange program outside the European Union. I heave heard rumours that, e.g., the Cambridge exams in English aren't accepted in the states, but that could very well be FUD.

What are the most universally accepted certifications in English?


texts: Where to find easy research topics any student could write about?

texts:
I teach a writing course designed to prepare international students for graduate school, mostly social science majors. The students have no experience writing academic papers. I have found that lists of sample TOEFL and GRE writing topics, such as this list of sample writing topics found at ETS, serve as good essay topics for these students so that they can practice organizing their ideas in writing. These topics are: (1) simple; (2) can be addressed by students from any major or culture; (3) and can be supported by the students' opinions, not research.

Next term, the course will focus on introducing research methods. Were can I find topics that are: (1) similarly simple; (2) can be handled by students from any major; but that (3) will require students to rely on academic journals for support? I need students to practice gathering information, evaluating the credibility of sources, and assembling their ideas and evidence without getting bogged down in the complexity of the subject.


texts:
My PI forwarded to me the proposal of a project I have to work on. Recently, a new postdoc arrived and he is supposed to write a  proposal by himself. He asked me to forward the one I received from my PI. The issue is that I am not sure if I should disclose it without having explicitly PI's authorization. This person told me that PI was OK with it (but I wasn't  present at that meeting). Am I being too paranoid?.

My rationale behind this is that I shouldn't be forwarding something I didn't write to anyone unless the author says is fine with it. Besides, this is an ongoing project... In any case, I have already written to PI to have his authorization, but meanwhile, it is uncomfortable to deal with the other person. I would like to know your opinions about this. Thanks.


texts: Can I not ask my advisor for recommendation letter if I'm applying for an industry job?

texts:
I'm currently in my fifth year of my PhD in a molecular biology lab, and I have since last year decided to transition to computational biology field.

My advisor is very much into molecular biology and wasn't happy about my transition. We have fundamental differences in research approaches and he would always force his idea on me. He constantly threatened me not to sign my thesis or to refuse to write a recommendation letter if I don't do exactly as he says. And at this point, I'm just trying to survive grad school, but I'm wondering about the possibility of not having him in my reference list as I don't expect his letter to be very helpful.

My advisor is not very well-known in our field, let alone in any field related to computational biology. Currently I'm trying to improve my programming skills and at the same time fulfill my phd task. I'm thinking that perhaps I can try asking for references from our lab collaborators, my committee or other professors in our department who are much more aquainted in bioinformatics field.

Any suggestions?


texts: I found out my master's thesis topic has already been done (exactly), and my advisor didn't mention this when suggesting it to me - how to proceed?

texts:
I am really frustrated, I have started my research for my master thesis 6 months ago and I have to submit the final draft after 2 months.

I was interested in a specific topic and I looked for a supervisor with the same research interests.

I was looking for something related to internet security (Botnet Detection); luckily, my supervisor gave me a research plan exactly about what I wanted to do. However, a month later and after I submitted the proposal and started to read deeply about the topic; I found that exactly the same research had already done by another two PhD students and what I was supposed to do was 100% repeating what they already had done 2 years ago.

I directly contacted my supervisor explaining to him the situation. I discovered that my research plan is exactly the same (word by word, someone copied from other). Moreover, the topic itself is very specific and is not easy to build or modify on it, he said "No problem, you just repeat it and we will try to slightly modify something.", then he added "If you can not do that, it is enough to repeat it." and I just agreed (trying to be positive and avoiding problems).

Now, after I started my writing I found myself repeating the same ideas and the same experiments, the same statements and the same conclusions. Later on, I discovered that this research supposed to be done by adviser with the group who already published the work and for some reasons they excluded him.

In short, the supervisor did not mention that this work is already published and did not mention that he was team member with them.

What I shall do?

Now I feel this work is 100% not original and I will not add and contribute anything. I am not feeling happy by wasting my time doing something like that.

Shall I escalate the story to the general adviser for master's students? Should I change the topic or should I continue and defend others work claiming that this is my own work?

I am not scared of rejecting my thesis, I am totally not satisfied about what I do write now. I am doing my masters to add something to my knowledge, experience and to feel really I will be one step a head.

Note: I work in industry field and I have no experience in academic and research fields.


texts: How to cite musical score in Turabian given the following options?

texts:
I am trying to cite a hard copy of a musical score, using Microsoft Word's References feature.

Word gives me several options. I have narrowed it down to a few but none of them explicitly say "Musical score".

Book
Book Section
Journal Article
Report
Art
Sound Recording
Performance
Film

There's also a "miscellaneous", but I'm not sure if I should categorize musical score under that.

Any ideas?


texts: Mediocre Thesis Topic. Does this Hurt my Reputation

texts:
Just curious as to the effects of publishing a mediocre PHD thesis:

After sitting down and taking a cold, detached, look at my thesis topic, I realized I was given a pair of coobook-style problems, i.e., in order to answer the questions I was given to answer, I just need to go over a list of requirements and see if the general results apply to my specific problems. Instead of research level, the problems I was given look more like exercises at the end of a book; a graduate-level book, but still, cookbook.

Question: Once I am done with this, which shouldn't take more than a few months, how will this look to anyone going over the thesis? Since I will be having some extra time, I am considering doing some extra research and tacking it into the thesis. Is there something else I can do?

I suspect my advisor may not have  a very high opinion of me and thought I could not likely handle anything more complicated. This itself brings issues as to the recommendations I may receive when someone asks my advisor for a recommendation.


texts: What is the highest degree held by Freeman Dyson?

texts: I recently learned that eminent physicist Freeman Dyson does not have a doctoral degree.  Does he have a graduate (magistrate) degree though?  Or can he be described as a highly successful graduate-school dropout?  The only formal degree listed in his official biography is an undergraduate (baccalaureate) degree in mathematics.


texts: Would it be a good idea to ask professor about academic standing relative to other students?

texts:
I'd like to know my academic standing relative to other students. This information would help me with:

allocating my time and effort between classes
deciding whether to take a follow up course offered by this professor.

How should I proceed? Is this a routine question? Or should I explain why I need it? (The two reasons I cited above don't sound like something I'd like to mention to him.)

Edit:

Many professors at my university post detailed histograms of, say, midterm results, so I don't think my request would violate any laws.
The only reason I'd like to get this sort of information is because everyone's grade heavily depends on their standing relative to other students, see Grading on a curve.


texts: How much does participation in online predictive challenges (DREAM, Kaggle, Innocentive) improve your resume?

texts:
I'm getting curious about all these online predictive challenges going on, such as DREAM, Kaggle and Innocentive.
Surely they all are good occasions to work on new projects and new ideas, to know other collaborators, to get important training about science, and to possibly win some money

And also they could represent a good point in one's resume. So I was wondering: in job application processes (in both industry and academia), do candidate selectors care about the participation of the candidate in any of these challenges?

If yes, how much?

If no, why not?


texts: Is it better to have just two good letters of recommendation, or two good letters and one bad letter, if three are expected?

texts: Some universities say that "The minimum number of letters of recommendation are 2 but we highly encourage 3". If I know that I can get 2 good letters of recommendation but they "highly encourage 3", should I send in a third?


texts: Writing an article outside of Academia. Is it likely to get supported?

texts:
I graduated from my MSc two and a half years ago, so I have been outside of the University environment for a while.
I have recently started working on some novel machine learning techniques. Writing an article by myself and submitting it to a prestigious journal is no joke. I'm wondering: how likely is it to get supported from a University, or by specific researchers that are working in a University (for example PhD or postdoc students) with my work? I envision them becoming co-authors of the paper. Would they benefit from this? For example can they get some credits for correcting the paper and being a co-author even if I'm not a PhD student?
Clarifications:

I'm developing my own technique, independent from my employer. It's a general topic (regularization) so it's not directly applied to an industrial task.
I want to apply for a doctorate, but my GPA and MSc thesis grade weren't brilliant. Hence, the need to publish an article before applying for the PhD - but also for the pleasure of writing about innovative research, of course


texts: Is there a deadline for journal submission?

texts:
I wonder if there is a deadline for submission to a journal? So far, I only know that submission to conferences has a deadline, but I'm not sure about journals.

I've looked at several journals of Elsevier, IEEE, and Springer, and I cannot find any information about the deadlines. I did some search on Google and understand the process as follows:

One journal may publish multiple issues per year. If at the moment I submit a paper to a journal and miss the deadline of the current issues (which I do not know of), my paper will be reviewed for the next one.
Although there is no "fixed" deadline, but if I submit a paper and it is to be revised, I will then have some amount of time to finish the revision - so that's some sort of deadline, but it's relative to each paper.

Another question is that, as a Ph.D. student in machine learning/artificial intelligence, should I focus more on conferences or journals? It's been 6 months since I started my Ph.D. and I haven't published anything. In France, a Ph.D. lasts for only 3 years and my doctorate school demands at least 4 papers published from a "successful" Ph.D. student. Should I start worrying now?

Thank you very much!


texts: Applying for PhD scholarships with an MPhys vs MSc (UK)

texts:
I completed a MPhys course with a 2:1 recently, and I'm trying to determine the best path for applying to PhD scholarships in the coming years.

My question is whether it's worth applying to MSc (by research) programs, as has been suggested to me, before applying?

I can imagine that it'd make me a better candidate, and it'd provide some valuable experience of academic research not dissimilar from a PhD.

What I want be sure of, however, is that I'm not spending the time, and money, for the wrong reasons - for example, my main concern in applying for PhD scholarships is that I didn't really make any contacts with the faculty at my old university, and I'm anxious about getting good references (I did do some work that I'm proud of, it's more that I didn't stand out or make an effort to be known).

I figure that an MSc would give me an opportunity to really throw myself out there and at the very least get a recommendation based on the strength of my work. But of course it's a big outlay if the only real thing stopping me at the moment is an anxiety around talking to my old department!


texts: If I previously failed to follow up with professors, are they likely to remember this and hold it against me if I ask them for advice again?

texts:
I'm going into my third year of university, and the past year (my second year) was a very bad time for me. I was admittedly overzealous, and quickly exhausted myself with my research work, overloading with courses, and my campus job.

Between all this, I also was taking a course that required me to seek the advice of a professor, for which I talked to about three professors in my department. While these professors were happy to meet with me and talk with me, however, I didn't really follow up with them as well as they asked (i.e. I didn't show them the final product, because I ended up not doing so well in the course).

I'm wondering if I seek the advice of these profs again, how high is the chance that these profs will even give me the time of day?


texts: How to remind a professor about sending papers to read?

texts: In a face-to-face meeting with a professor, he told me he would send me some papers to read. It's been almost a week, so I assume he's forgotten. That is understandable, since he has a lot to do. I would like to send an email to remind him, but am having difficulty writing it. How can I phrase it nicely?


texts: When writing referee's report after paper revision, can I discuss the reports of other referees?

texts:
I reviewed an article for a journal, suggesting some revisions. The authors made revisions and now the journal has asked me to do a second round of reviewing. As well as the revised manuscript, the journal also sent me the report written about the original submission by the other referee of the paper.

I'm not a very experienced reviewer. This is the first time I've got to see someone else's report on a paper I've reviewed. When writing my report about the revised paper, am I allowed to discuss or respond to the other reviewer's comments? (When I've received referee reports on my own revised manuscripts, I've never seen referees discussing each other's opinions.)

In this case, reviewer 2 and myself wrote very similar reports, with reviewer 2 being a bit harsher. There is however one point in reviewer 2's report that I'd like to reply to directly. He/she criticises the authors' results X because they don't also show Y. Showing Y at the same time as X has been a long-standing goal in our field. But nobody has ever succeeded, and recent studies suggest that probably X doesn't imply Y after all. The authors do a poor job of defending themselves. There was no mention of Y in the original submission and I didn't mention it in my report either.

In general, is it okay to write in a referee report "The other referee says... but actually...". Or should it be in a separate comment to the editor? Or should I try to rephrase so that I'm responding to the authors instead of the other referee (not easy in this case).

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it seems to me (i) I'm supposed to be reviewing the paper, not reviewing the other referee, and (ii) if this should go to yet another round of revision, it shouldn't develop into an argument between the referees!


texts: Is it wrong to cite a source I did not use?

texts: I am writing a paper for an English class on a topic that I know well. for this paper, there is a minimum requirement for cited sources but I did not meet that requirement and was able to meet the length requirement for the paper.


texts: When to publish and what to include in a work in progress?

texts:
I have often seen conferences which invite papers on "work in progress" or "work with not too mature results" along with the original and exhaustive research. So, when is it apt to present your work in such conferences as work in progress in terms of the expected level of maturity, implementation progress and results ?

My field of research is Computer Science.


texts: After received my PhD, can I publish a sole-author paper for some extended results?

texts:
After receiving my Ph.D., I then became self-employed and as a job-seeker. So I use my spare time to continue doing research in the field of my dissertation on my own and came up with some results that I view as an extension of the results which are not included in my thesis nor published anywhere.  Here is my question

  Is it ethical to submit these results as a sole-author paper and perhaps list my advisor name in acknowledgment section for thanking him to bring me into the field ? or should I contact my advisor and asking his permission for publication?

p.s. I do theoretical research, so there are no experiment issues or budget concerns.


texts:
I'm not sure if this question belongs here - if not please redirect me to the right place. I want to cite http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/cccr2018/National-CCCR-2018.pdf in APA format, but I'm not sure how to do it. I don't understand how to classify it. Can anyone help me?
If this question does not belong here, can you redirect me to the proper place?


texts: How should I interpret the result of AMS annual survey

texts:
I'm going to be a first year graduate student in mathematics and is thinking about which field to specialized in. Besides the important factors such as potential advisor I can find, personal interest, and my background knowledge I want to know the academic job prospective after graduation.

I take a look at recent AMS survey, for example,
AMS survey 2012-2013, and for each field of thesis I sum the number of first 8 row("Math Public Large" to "Biostatistics") and divide the number by "Total" to estimate the chance of random Ph.D. in that field get an academic postdoc(in US). I'm slightly worry about the fields I'm interested in have relatively low ratio on this.

My question is, do I interpret the data correctly? If so, how much weight should I put into these data when determining field of specialization? If not, what should I look for?


texts: How hard is it to succeed in research after an adviser's death midway through PhD?

texts:
TL;DR: How hard would it be to finish out a Ph.D. and have an effective early career (as a pure mathematician) after my adviser has unexpectedly passed away? My department does not have any tenure-track faculty able to take on students in my field at the time, but two postdocs in my field have offered to help, and the department has offered to fly me to visit researchers in my field. I am currently in my fourth year at a U.S. university.

I read this similar question, but it seemed to address practical plans for going forward more than the costs and benefits of doing so. What I'm looking for is advice on how difficult it would be to have a successful career and/or finish the Ph.D. in a reasonable amount of time, in addition to talking about what options I have.

I am a pure mathematics Ph.D. student in my fourth year. My adviser recently passed away unexpectedly, and my department does not have anyone else in his field who is able to take on students. He was a great loss to all of us, as he was a deeply intuitive mentor as well as an excellent researcher. Before my adviser's passing, I had anticipated 1.5 to 2.5 more years to Ph.D.

In the next six months or so, my department has offered me the option of working with a couple of postdocs (in my field) at my current institution, as well as flying out to occasionally meet with more senior mathematicians at different institutions. It is unclear whether the department will hire another researcher in my field anytime soon, especially one who is not fresh out of a postdoc. The department is currently uncertain if there will be tenure-track faculty there who could advise me anytime before I graduate. The department tends to offer at least 6 years of funding to Ph.D. students.

I currently have enough material for roughly one paper, but I feel that I still need guidance to finish my Ph.D., and I felt like I was really benefiting from weekly/biweekly meetings with a single adviser. My adviser helped keep me confident and excited, as well as explaining difficult techniques and offering new approaches to proofs or counterexamples.

I have heard some people advise on transferring institutions at this point, though my department does not recommend that. In addition, some people have pointed out to me that an adviser is an important early-career research collaborator, to the extent that it is difficult to do good research early in a career without having them to collaborate with or ask questions of.

If my time to Ph.D. is going to be lengthened significantly, I would like to know that going forward, as it would help me make decisions about whether to transfer, etc. So my question is: how hard would it be to finish out a Ph.D. and have an effective early career without an adviser in the traditional sense?


texts: Is it negatively viewed by PhD programs if I completed my masters in 3 years instead of the standard duration of 2 years?

texts:
I am doing my masters in Mathematics in Germany and I wanted to switch my major area from Geometry to Probability Theory after my first year, so that after my masters I can get a PhD in Statistics.
This would mean that I would finish my master's degree in 3 years instead of 2. Is that negatively viewed by graduate admissions committees in US / Europe?
Edit 1: The candidate must write their masters thesis in the major area and also get  more than a certain number of credit points in the major area
Edit 2: I might be getting the opportunity to be a TA in the stochastics department if I do take another year. So money might not be ab issue(except maybe in the mid semester break)


texts: Changing the status of my paper in a job application

texts:
Two days ago, I have applied for a lecturer job and my CV & cover letter included a paper which was under review at that time. Yesterday, I got this paper accepted and will be soon published.

As an accepted paper makes a difference in employability in my field, should I notify the university of the new status of my paper? If so, should I send the email to the HR department or the Head of the academic unit? And what is the best thing to write in my email?


texts: Paper under review a second time without being sent back to author

texts: I submitted a paper to a journal and had it returned with "revise and resubmit".  After the revision was submitted, the journal's status page told me that it was under review.  Once the reviews were completed the status changed to "awaiting editor recommendation".  However, I checked it today and it appears to be back out for review.  Is this common?  Any ideas what it might mean?


texts: Is there an archive like arxiv.org for agricultural papers?

texts: Is there any internet archive like arxiv.org intended for publication of agriculture-related conference papers or similar?


texts: Should I ask for a submitted recommendation letter to be retracted in order to submit another, stronger recommendation?

texts:
I am currently applying for a Ph.D. in Physics in the US. One of my recommenders has already submitted a letter to the schools I'm applying to, but I was advised by another faculty member that I should have gotten a letter from a different professor I worked with since the submitted one wouldn't be as strong. The latter professor would most likely write a stronger recommendation.

All of the programs I'm applying for require three letters, and most allow for four; would simply adding the extra recommender be sufficient or should I contact the school to remove the weaker letter entirely if possible? In other words, would having it there bring down my application if there is a stronger one I could replace it with or would it reasonable to assume that reviewers would consider all four and think of the weaker one as extraneous (since I cannot define a ranked order)?


texts:
During PhD studies (math/applied math) is it considered ok to have mainly or solely joint papers with other authors? For example three-author papers, me, supervisor and another author.

Can such papers form the basis of the PhD thesis? My concern is whether if only first-author or single author papers are considered useful for PhD studies.


texts: What should I do to make the new University appeared in the Webometrics ranking?

texts:
What should I do to make a new University appear in the Webometrics ranking?

http://www.webometrics.info

Are scientific publications by researchers affiliated with this University (additionally assumes quoted) sufficient?

We assume that the University has a website.

Theoretical question.


texts:
My university made a mistake on my graduation parchment, which is the graduation date (they wrote the whole date in words so I guess that's how they made mistake, even I myself take years to realize that). But luckily, it's correct in the transcript.

Should I inform them to correct it now? It's been years since then. Problem is I'm in the middle of an application and the deadline is coming soon. Should I just submit as usual and respond if inquiry arises?


texts:
I'm writing a series of study guides for a programming class I'm supporting.  The study guides are broken into three main sections: concepts (syntax, mainly, as well as common things to do), skills (using multiple concepts to achieve common or useful tasks), and applications (applying skills to an open-ended problem).

The study guides are going well, but I feel that a lot of this work has already been done, or that there are templates I can be using to make things more effective.  What I am looking for is a type of resource that fits the following criteria, if it exists:

I'd like to present the students with a framing problem in high level language.  I want to go through my design process.  At each stage, I want to have links to relevant sections of the study guide/relevant practice problems.  I want an effective way to organize these links so that students are not overwhelmed by having a deluge of meandering problems to follow through before progressing through the main problem.

Does such a thing exist?  If so, what's it called, and where can I find advice about writing them?  Alternatively, if they are common and available for multiple courses, I'm happy to not re-invent the wheel and just use something already made.

Edit: I'm aware that what I'm describing is technically just a web page.  I'm looking for best practices for its design, rather than a technology to do it.


texts: I believe my PhD dissertation was unfairly graded too low (cum laude): what should I do?

texts:
I recently completed my Ph.D. in Germany. I believe my dissertation was evaluated extremely unfairly. For my dissertation, I published seven papers in high-impact international medical journals (IF from 3 to 6). I used four of them as core papers and three of them as additional publications. I also have six conference papers. My seven papers have been cited about 34 times so far. The first one was published in Oct 2017.

For the written theses, I had two main reviewers and one of them suggested my grade to be “strong magna cum laude” and the other one said it should be cum laude¹. Then, I was very much prepared to change the second reviewer during my defense. I did an excellent presentation and defense (that is what everyone who was there told me). The second reviewer asked only four questions during the defense. I them properly although one was unrelated to my work.

After the defense was over, I was told to go out with the entire audience until the review committee decides my grade. They took a long time and I was sensing there must be something they didn’t agree with. Finally, I was called to go in and one of the reviewers said: “Congratulations, you passed. Unfortunately, your grade is cum laude. We are stuck in the middle.” This was extremely disappointing to me and I believe the whole process was totally unfair as everyone else also think so.

As I heard from the student members who sat with the committee, this reviewer said I didn’t include a reference for the animated graph that I have produced myself, and insisted that I don’t deserve more than cum laude. They were fighting for a long time until the first reviewer gave up. I, my wife who also has a Ph.D. many years ago, and the entire audience didn’t expect my grade would be like that. In fact, many believe that I am unfairly treated because of my skin color. This is the most difficult situation for me. I am very much stressed and I don’t know how much impact it will have on my career at least to get a postdoc position. What bugs me is that this reviewer doesn’t have a major point.

I am now considering to appeal to the university. But, I am scared.
I also wish to retract my thesis and submit it to another university in Germany and defend it again. Please advise me on what to do.

¹ There are usually four passing grade for a PhD in Germany: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude and rite (from best to worst).


texts: What is a 'classic paper', and when do we refer to a work as a 'classic work'?

texts:
I have come across a few times in research papers or in books, where the authors refer a past (mostly an old) research paper as classic paper. For example, in a book Bratko refers the following:

  The procedural meaning of Prolog is based on the resolution principle for mechanical theorem proving introduced by Robinson in his classic paper (1965).
  [1]

In another example, the author mention such a statement in the abstract itself,

  Notes that the stimulation from a classic paper in the heuristics and biases tradition does not come only from the insights provided into processes of judgment and decision making; ... [2]

What is a classic work? Can we say a work as 'classic work', if it cited more number of times? Or, it is a breakthrough work? Then, how do we define a breakthrough work?

[1] Bratko, Ivan. Prolog programming for artificial intelligence. Pearson education, 2001.

[2] Sloman, S. A. (2002). Two systems of reasoning. In T. Gilovich, D. Griffin, & D. Kahneman (Eds.), Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment (pp. 379-396).


texts: Is it common for people in academia to experience prolonged lack of sleep and how to deal with it?

texts:
Stuck in the lab again, for the third night in a row. I have never done three in a row I think I might just break a record. I cannot sleep, because the lab is super crammed and uncomfortable and I am afraid that someone will come in and take my belongings, I am afraid that I will fall sleep for so long that I will miss something so important that will ruin this semester, especially at a time when I beginning to see the light at the end of a long dark tunnel that has been both physically, emotionally and mentally draining.

Why not go home? Because home is an hour drive away and I am stuck working on multiple projects that lasts from 8 in the morning to 3 in the morning. Have to get up to school again at 9 am. Not much time left in my time zone. Should I go to sleep? Might just wake up in a lab full of people and look embarrassed. Should I stay awake? I will just wind up falling asleep in the lecture which is ten times worse!

But that's not the point I am asking this question. I am asking this question because I am the only one left in the lab. Eyes wide open from dusk till dawn, headed for a big crash. Can't form a full sentence, my mind is going blank. I am starting to wonder if it is just me. What is it about me that forces me to wonder the halls at 4 in the morning to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth? What forces me to drink energy drink at 11 pm at night and wonder how long before I will have my first heart attack? Can you call an ambulance over the internet, my phone is dead.

How do academicians view the subject of sleep when things left undone, problem left unsolved swirls around your mind? How to be productive, meet deadlines, and get adequate sleep?


texts: Is there any automated way I can detect if a co-author plagiarized before our paper is submitted?

texts:
My professor, a co-author and I have been working on a paper for more than a year. I was doing the math and simulations, my co-author was responsible for the writing, and my professor was editing the paper. Now editing of the paper is done. Unfortunately, the co-author is no longer available. My professor called me today and told me he has observed that my co-author copied some sentences from the reference papers. So he asked me to check all of the sentences and highlight and rewrite them again if I found that they were copied. He believes that, these days the reviewers are more concerned about the use of similar sentences in the paper.

So, What should I do? Check all sentences with other papers? This is not possible without using a machine. the paper contains more than 8000 words. Do you know what software I can use to do this?


texts: Settling for Australian PhD — terrible decision?

texts:
I recently accepted a PhD offer from a top Australian university. There are many things I like about it: my supervisors are excited to work with me and the topic is almost exactly what I want to work on.

My educational background is quite strong however and I am aware that I am making the decision to stay in Australia partly for convenience (partner works here) and that I may have had a chance at universities more well known in my field. I am worried that I am jeopardising my career from the start by staying here.

I would be keen for some advice. Given that I like my topic and supervisors and that the university is ranked top 50 world wide, should I even be concerned? Or could I be making a big mistake?


texts: Accepted conference paper but changing job before the conference

texts:
I am a researcher at a company C and I'm going to submit a paper as main author in the next few days for a conference next spring. The thing is, I applied to a University U for a PHD and still waiting for an answer. So in spring, I might not be in the company anymore and they will have no reason to pay me the trip and the conference. So if the paper is accepted, I can guess 5 scenarios:

C still pays me the conference (very unlikely I guess)
U pays me the conference (However this team never published to this conference so it is unlikely)
I pay for it (I don't think I would, it is really too expensive (other side of the planet))
C pays for the second author to go and present the paper at my place
My submission is cancelled

What do you think is the more probable scenario. How does Universities and Companies usually handle this? C doesn't know yet that I am looking for another position. Should I renounce publishing this paper? I have been working on that for more than a year and this is a good journal.


texts: How common is it to inadvertently "reinvent the wheel" in academia?

texts:
When engaging in research, I know its a good idea to read lots of papers and talk to others about what has been done before and what is currently being researched to avoid "reinventing the wheel".  That is, to avoid researching/publishing a result that has already been discovered.

In fields where physical experiments are common, replication studies are necessary.  But in theoretical/computational research, originality is key and duplication seems to be generally frowned upon.  How common is it to inadvertently publish a finding that was already discovered?  What do you when you happen to find yourself in this situation?  Should you just scrap your work if your methods are too similar to someone else's?


texts: How is an experimental particle physicist evaluated?

texts:
As an undergraduate student majoring in physics, I intend to apply for a Ph.D. in experimental particle physics. I have known that working as physicists in this field is kind of different, as they are always affiliated to a collaboration (like CMS in LHC) and may appear as authors in loads of related papers, resulting in high citations. Therefore it seems traditional evaluations of a researcher (focusing on the citations or h-index) do not work when assessing an excellent and famous experimental particle physicist.

Thus I am asking:

How are particle researchers assessed in reality, in the case when a Ph.D. applier is searching for and comparing professors in the similar field, or when a researcher is going to find a position as an assistant professor? Does the specific role of a scientist in the collaboration (say, the group leader) matter in this evaluation procedure?
How does university ranking play into this? What are the probable differences between professors in particle physics who work at a higher-ranked institution (ranked by physics major) and those who work at a lower-ranked one – given that they are both affiliated to some big collaboration. This question comes to me since it seems one cannot distinguish a famous particle physicist by the conventional method which is performed by university ranking.


texts: Is it possible to save a (science) PhD in 10 months?

texts:
In short: I am starting my fourth year of PhD, and my funding is running out in roughly ten months. I could use some advice about how to make the most of the time I have left, in particular to make sure I deliver something coherent and I am employable afterwards.

More context:

During the past three years, I have struggled with personal issues (breakup of a long-term relationship due to moving away for the PhD), poor lifestyle choices, and discipline problems, all impacting my PhD research.
The result: after three years, I still haven't finished writing the manuscript of my main project, a project I don't like at all because it was half-baked since the beginning. What makes it harder to swallow is that I am 100% responsible for this situation.
My supervisor was understanding at first, and started becoming stricter and stricter over time because of the lack of output. This in turn caused some other problems (stress, loss of sleep). Recently we had a discussion where he told me he would not let me finish my PhD, because otherwise I'd need 10 years to complete it and he can't afford to pay me for such time...
I reached the point where I am completely disgusted with what I am doing and I am seeking a way out. My only problem is that I'd like to make sure I am employable. So I figured my best bet would be to try completing the PhD, no matter if it is imperfect / incomplete.
Since I have only ~10 months left (roughly 10 because I could probably survive a few more months with my savings) to make up for the last three years, I'd like some pointers about how to make the most out of it, without going completely insane. To be more specific, I guess I am looking for advice about efficiency (both in professional and personal life), how to be more stable, how to make strategic choices and set priorities when there is a lack of time.


texts: I have helped a scientific(math) author to find a reference and I have corrected several errors in his paper. Should he acknowledges me when he publishes his paper? Will that affect my academic career positively or negatively? And if he doesn't acknowledge me what can I do?


texts:
I'm a PhD student in literature who is nearly half way through my third year.

Recently (last month or two) I feel like I've lost all motivation to work on my thesis. Instead of treating it like a normal 9-5 workday I now go in late most days and procrastinate for a few hours before starting any actual work.

I'm not up to where I wanted to be in terms of chapter drafts at this stage of my program, but instead of this motivating me to work harder I just feel disheartened and like I will never catch up so why try. These defeatist thoughts make me feel even less like working so i end up in a vicious spiral of not working, guilt about not working, no motivation to work, more not working.

I feel overwhelmed by the amount of material I feel I still need to read to be 'across' my field and don't have a good sense of how im going to tie my various chapters into an coherent piece of work connected by an overarching argument and theoretical framework.

I have been managing an anxiety disorder throughout my PhD, and have in the past suffered from depression. I struggle to know if these feelings mean my overall mental health is deteriorating and that's what's causing the negative feelings about the PhD, or if it is the fact that I spend most of my time doing/thinking about PhD and so if I feel good about it then I feel good most of the time, and if I feel the research is going bad I feel bad most of the time. I've been sleeping to avoid going to the office and feel down about the thesis but this doesn't carry over to other aspects of my life - which leads me to think it's more phd-caused than mental health but who knows.

My supervisor is unaware of the underlying mental health issues. I struggled early on in first year which lead to me telling her I felt overwhelmed and she instructed me to take a week off, but I didn't outright disclose the anxiety. I've tried to flag recently with my supervisor that I feel a bit lost and behind, but she didn't seem overly concerned and I think I downplayed the extent to which this is impacting on my day to day work on the thesis. I wonder if I need to be more overt about how much I'm struggling, or disclose the underlying mental health issues. We have a very good r/ship which often feels more like a friendship than a supervision - which has it's upsides as well as downsides when it comes to something like this as I don't want to let her down or for her to be disappointed in me by disclosing how much work I'm not doing, but also don't want to ruin the friendly vibe by getting all serious with how I'm feeling re: thesis. I'm worried that even though she seems happy with where I'm at draft wise, she thinks I've read much more than I have because she doesn't know how much time I'm spending avoiding the thesis.

Part of me feels I should just 'get on with it' and if it is mental health as the underlying cause this is not something my supervisor should have to manage anyway so why bring it up. Another part of me feels I should be more honest with her about how much I feel I'm struggling with the thesis and not worry about seeming needy or incapable.

I feel like the time toward completion draws ever closer and yet the amount of work I need to do to finish doesn't progress at the same rate. I feel like I don't work hard enough at the moment to finish on time, and this feels both terrifying and paralyzing. I've read lots of blogs about procrastination tips and such but struggle to put them into action. I've also read lost about mid phd slump/doldrums so logically know this isn't uncommon, but at the same time I've lost some of self-confidence to think I'll be able get through this phase like others have.


texts: Why is that when your first upload a paper onto ArXiv, Google Search shows that it has been uploaded to "https://128.84.21.199"

texts:
Has anyone else noticed this?

When I uploaded a paper onto ArXiv, and after two days when it finally shows up on Google (in Google Search, of course), Google says the paper can be found via the link https://128.84.21.199/pdf/arxiv_ID_of_your_paper

This wouldn't have been a problem if wasn't for my browser issuing a warning before clicking on it

Can anyone explain what is going on here?


texts: Taking up a part-time job along with Hiwi

texts:
I'm a Non EU national and  I have been doing a Hiwi (Student Assistant) for more than a year at a German University. I work 19hrs/week. My contract is about to end on December 31st. However, as I had not taken any vacation during the whole year, I can take the vacation during whole December and I still get paid.
Can I take up a part-time job(may be at a restaurant) during December? Would 120 full days rule affect it? Because as per the hiwi contract I would be finishing 120 full days in December. But I have heard that Hiwi hours are not counted under 120 full days rule.


texts: Math PhD after graduating with average grades

texts:
I am currently an MSc student in math in Europe (I'm doing mainly analysis and applied math). During my Bachelor's I've had mainly average grades (I'm not sure what the exact GPA equivalent is, but it would be around 2.5, I guess). Now, in Master's, I've been getting only good grades and I am looking forward to finishing with distinction/honors.

My first PhD option would be at the university I have been studying in the last few years, which is good and well-known, but below the ones in the US or the top unis in the UK. Some of the programs are funded, depending on the advisor. How important are my Bachelor's grades? Am I overestimating myself if I go and talk to a possible PhD advisor and, moreover, ask him if I can enroll on a paid PhD program?


texts: What is the difference between the various documents that are part of an application?

texts:
I am applying to serveral undergraduate research programs this summer. Each of them ask for certain documents including:

CV
personal statement
statement of interest
cover form
cover letter
research statement
statement of purpose

I understand what a CV is now, but is a cover form the same thing as a cover letter? Can these documents be generic? Is there a difference between statement of interest and statement of purpose? Is there somewhere I can find examples of these so I know what the difference is?


texts: Is it acceptable to put programming code as proof in paper?

texts: I used statistical language R to fit probability distribution to acquired data. Instead of doing it by hand I relied on code. I wrote something like "probability density function was computed using programming language R (for more details see appendix A)". And appendix A has exact code to compute this. I also put reference to R package documentation. Is it bad to rely external tools for proof?


texts: Should I quit or leave my current PhD and find another one?

texts: I am currently a year-one history PhD student at a UK University. I didn't get any fund from the school or outside. I just supported my study by myself relying on my personal savings and some helps from my parents.But the tuitions fees for international students in the UK are very high. The school cannot provide enough financial support for my outside research in China, the US and some other places. I feel difficult to continue my PhD now and I want to find a new institution which can provide me with a fund. But I have no ideas about how to talk with my current supervisor who is so kind as to help me to improve my research proposal for year one. Also, I am not sure the supervisor's attitude to the student like me in the new school. Can you give some advice for this? Thanks.


texts: Is it necessary to wear a white shirt inside the graduation gown for Masters degree graduation ceremony?

texts: I have my graduation ceremony coming soon. The graduation dress usually consists of the gown, the hood and the mortar board. however the hand sleeves of the gown are a bit short and hence a full shirt is to be worn inside the gown (gown is black in color). In most pictures I see a white shirt within. Is it necessary to have white shirt or I can go for a blue or black one too?


texts: I have been wanting to know the answer to this for a very long time but have come up against none. Looking at my undergrad results from a few years ago, one of the assignment marks is down as B?+. What exactly does this mean? Is it somewhere between a B and a B+? I remember hearing it pronounced as "query plus".


texts: How to select a publishing venue for interdisciplinary research?

texts:
I am curious to hear some words of advice on how to select a publishing community for multi-disciplinary topics.

Your contribution is that methods in area A, which is your main area, can solve problems in B more efficiently than traditionally used methods from area C.

Where do you publish, A, B, or C? You are contributing a new application domain to your main area A, along with theory that supports the bridge between A and B, but your reviewers are not familiar with domain B and do not find it relevant. You are contributing new tools to the problem domain B. Finally, all of the related work is in C.

This is CS research, if that helps.


texts: Is publishing a journal article covering failed attempts a good idea?

texts:
I am currently doing some research on an algorithm that may (or may not) end up being slower than other similar algorithms. The idea behind it seems solid although it will probably not be as fast as other, already known and used solutions. Finishing and testing is of course part of the science, so the research will get carried out nevertheless.

So here is my question: is writing an article about conducted, but failed work a good thing?

My thoughts are that publishing such an article would help people conducting similar research, who would otherwise waste their own time, trying to do the same thing. Saving their time is crucial for the scientific community in my personal opinion, but I am unsure how others perceive the same problem and I do not want others to have negative opinion about my work.

There are many similar questions on this site, but none seem to duplicate this exact one. This question, for instance, covers confirming or denying others research carried out and described elsewhere, while I am talking strictly about inventing and disproving the idea myself. Many other talk about the rationale behind not posting negative results, but that's also a slightly different subject (although undoubtedly related).


texts: Is it possible to count the citations that a paper has received in a particular country using Web of Science?

texts:
I'm new in the use of bibliometrics. I was wondering if you can help me out? Consider this situation, an author "x" of the country "c" , publishes a paper "p" with a(n) international collaborator(s). If I want to know how many citations does the paper "p" has received from the country "c", is that possible? Is that so, three situations can happen.

One is that "only" author(s) of "c" cited "p", in which I will count 1. The second case is that there is a mix between author(s) of the country "c" and international authors, in which I will count a fraction of the authors belonging to "c" divided by the total authors of the paper that is citing "p". The third case is that only papers with international authors are citing "p", that I will count 0.


texts: Where to publish very long experiments with updates?

texts:
In most cases, an article is not supposed to be updated after publication, especially with the addition of new data.
However, for very long-lasting experiments (say, more than three years) it may be interesting to publish an article presenting the experimental setup with the data available at the moment, with the ability to add new data later on with an update of the figures (e.g. with addition of new data points), without changing the methodology of acquisition or data analysis.
To give a few examples, the pitch drop experiment was started in 1927 and is still running. In Sociology, observations can span over decades while being analyzed with the same methodology. In Biology, a setup monitoring the behavior during development from birth up to adulthood would have each single run spanning months or years. In all these cases the setup/methodology may be worth publishing well before the planned end of the experiments for some good reasons, like telling the community that this particular experiment is actually running (and provide an expected date for the availability of the results) or simply to have a recognition of the work (developing the setup/methodology) for students or young researchers with a paper for their track record.
So, is there a journal that have a format to publish this kind of work in this way? Or are the authors doomed to make several, distinct publications? In the latter case, could the long-lasting nature of the experiment be a reasonable argument for editors and reviewers to accept the first article as a methodological article including only the preliminary data that are available at the moment?


texts: What to do when there are no courses available to help with my research? How will it affect me?

texts:
I am a first-year mechanical engineering PhD at a Canadian university. I had by undergrad and a master's degree in materials engineering. My previous master's research was mostly experimental with some implementation of a mathematical model in Matlab and Fortran. All graduate courses were on programming or simple mathematical modeling or experimental analysis.
Now for the PhD degree, my research topic involves continuum mechanics, variational mechanics, and finite element analysis. There are no courses available in my university for the next two semesters. I had taken an "advanced" course last semester which had some continuum mechanics in it, but I found it fairly introductory.
My advisor says that in graduate school one must learn topics by oneself. And no one will look for these courses in the CV if one can publish papers using the methods.
I am starting to learn these from online courses and books. But I feel inadequate because of my poor undergraduate background in mathematics and these topics.
My PhD funding is for three years (can be extended to one more year). I need to start my research by the second year. I don't know what to do.
My advisor just points me towards relevant literature. I wonder if she has my best interests in mind.


texts: When being asked, what's the most harmless way to address my past record of leaving Ph.D. program in a different field?

texts:
Background

As the title suggest, a year before I'm in the current program I'm in, I left another Ph.D. program in a different field and got a master.

Issues

As for now, I prefer not to talk about it if I don't need to. Most people don't ask and don't care. However sometime a conversation goes certain way where inevitably I have to mention something in the past. For example (X indicates the other person in the conversation),

  X: So do you have a master?

  fmlin: Um, yes, but in a different field.

  X: What was it? Why didn't you continue Ph.D. in that?

or

  X: Where did you go for undergraduate? Did you go to graduate school immediately after you finished undergraduate?

  fmlin: [A short answer indicates I was once in another Ph.D. program but didn't finished]

  X: [Many questions out of curiosity]

The reasons I don't like to discuss my past are

(a). It's a record of dropping out. It sounds bad despite I think I'm not morally wrong.

(b). I believe I was abused by my former advisor and was not treated properly (see my other answers on this site if you want to know some detail). I had confrontations with him, and some other faculties in the same department.

(c). It takes long time to explain (b). and incomplete information on (b). sometime causes people evaluate me negatively.

(d). Discussing these things in the past can never help what I'm doing now.

Questions

So far I only had similar conversations with some fellow students and it's not a big deal. However, sooner or later I'll start meeting potential advisors in my current department. I worry that, if they ask similar questions, these things in the past will make me look bad.

As the title suggest, my question is, if I have to, what's the most harmless way to address my past record of leaving Ph.D. program in a different field? The goal is to not make people suspect I'm a problematic student (and I'm indeed not!) that confronts supervisors for no reason.


texts: Is there generally a high amount of variability in the number of hours grad students put to work each week?

texts: As in, it's certainly not a standard 8-5 job of 40-50 hours per week. Is it common (and expected) for them to sometimes put in 80 hours a week, and to occasionally put in 10 hours? (say, during times of personal crisis or of particularly intense coursework?)


texts: Are there any experiment reproducibility databases?

texts:
Quite often when I read a medical research article I wonder whether other researchers tried to reproduce the experiment. I could go through the list of papers that cite the article but I find this solution a bit tedious and inefficient for this task.

Is there any database that lists reproduction attempts (with ideally the number of fail and successful reproductions)?


texts: I am a PhD student in theoretical computer science. It is my understanding that if I work on a paper without my PhD advisor (which is common in my research area) and without any lab resources then that work is my own, and I can submit the paper where I choose. In particular, my advisor cannot force me to add them as a co-author if they have not contributed to the paper either intellectually or in the form of resources. Is this the most widely held view among scientists? What if the PhD student is an RA for 20 hours a week?


texts: How to cite a complex web-based resource?

texts:
I want to cite the IUPAC Compendium of of Chemical Terminology - Gold Book in ACS reference style (American Chemical Society). This resource is not just a web page and the ACS reference guide doesn't provide a style for this kind of web resource. On the other hand, the IUPAC Gold book provides a citation style under "Cite as" on individual pages.
What should I do? Cite as is given under "Cite as" or cite it as a single web page?


texts: How my admission would benefit the university?

texts:
One of the main questions in an admission interview for a master’s would be

  Why do you want to attend this university?

Reading between the lines, this means:

  What makes you and the university perfect for each other?

The benefit of university for the student is clear.

But what benefits does the university gain from the student?


texts: Can a first author of a pre-print be demoted in the version sent to a journal?

texts:
Can a PI decide to submit to a journal a previously agreed manuscript, uploaded to a pre-print server, and swap the first author with someone else after introducing some changes in the writing? Would the first author (student) have some way of defending himself against this?

EDIT: It is a field where author order matters.


texts:
Are there some academic fields in which there is such a thing as official recognition of scholarly journals, so that speaking of a journal as being "recognized" or "unrecognized" would be generally understood by those in the field without any accompanying explanation?

I encountered someone on the internet saying that the unrecognized status of a certain journal in health sciences was of some consequence. But he got bored and went away when I posed this question.

Note: "Anonymous mathematician" wrote in a comment "I see this usage as being like the term 'recognized expert' (which is talking about reputation rather than certification)." But although the term "recognized" is used in that way, "unrecognized" in general usage often refers to something official or precisely defined. "Ian_Fin" wrote in a comment below: "Recognised by who?".  But that of course was a substantial part of the question.


texts: Discriminated by senior researcher because of my ethnicity

texts:
I am working on a collaborative project between different parties, and there is a senior researcher who underestimates constantly what I ever propose or speak, and  he tries to illustrate that I am doing nothing new.

Although I have proven for the second time that there is a limitation in the study, he doesn't listen. I have witnessed that he respects and appreciates Asian students more than me.

Of course this just my side of the story, but I know many people from his country do not like women wearing traditional clothes as I do.

I don't know how to solve this problem, but I am not the only case. Many others are being judged by him based on their complexion, appearance, and garments.

I am kind of frustrated, trying to be amicable. Of course, there are other members in the project who appreciate me, but this senior researcher has clout over them.

What I should do in that case?

EDIT

I know I cannot change some people opinion about people from specific religion or ethnicity, what I can do psychologically to override that, I am trying to do my best as much as I can, but still, I had the same behavior.


texts: How can I manage my time so that I can perform well in my research lab?

texts:
Although this question might be self-explanatory, I wanted to ask your guys' advice on this regardless.
I recently started a new internship, I am also enrolled full time at the university, and I have continued to work in my research lab. These past two weeks have been a bit stressful and tiring because I've been trying to manage my time and make sure I succeed at everything. On top of it all, my research assistant just quit, and my PI does not know about my internship. However, I have been in touch with him and have asked for extra time to complete my work because I've been bogged down by the semester.
Should I be honest with my PI and tell him about my internship so that he knows where my time is going? I am afraid he might think I have suddenly become not so serious about my work in his lab. I want to do well, so my second question is how do I manage my time so that I can succeed in all? Thank you!


texts: What to do if I have found a major issue with my model before a conference presentation?

texts:
I submitted an abstract to a major conference in my field. I am presenting tomorrow at the virtual conference and the video is already uploaded, no conference proceedings were submitted. However, today, I came across a major issue with the modeling technique used in my research. This might be seriously challenged tomorrow. Also, this might influence the conclusion of the results as well.
How do I answer if the issues with my modeling strategy are questioned during my presentation? I can't remove my talk at the last moment. I am worried that I will be ridiculed tomorrow.
What can I do?


texts: Is it ethical to give a final exam after the professor has quit before teaching the remaining chapters of the course?

texts:
I am enrolled in a lpn nursing program, and the professor teaching the pharmacology course announced to the class last week that he wont be here the following week, due to a "conference in California", and that another teacher would come and teach us the remaining chapters for the final exam.

Today no one showed up to teach the class, and the director is now claiming she had no idea he wasn't going to be here to finish the course. The director told us to read the rest of the chapters on our own before Wednesday (basically teach ourselves 6 chapters worth of pharmacology)... oh and there is also a HESI examination that they are saying we still have to take on Wednesday even though we haven't covered all of the material. I feel like the school is setting everyone up to fail at this point so we have to pay 3,000 to take the course again. I really need to know if this is ethical??


texts: What to do when a referee wants to criticize someone else through me

texts:
A couple of months ago I submitted a paper for which a referee review came back recently, recommending minor corrections. There are two methods to calculate some quantities in the literature which do not agree between each other. My paper agrees with one of them and not with the other, which I know is incorrect. However, in my paper I did not point this out (that it is incorrect, I do mention the other method), but simply focused instead on the method I use.

Now, the referee seems to be eager for me to profusely comment on the incorrect method and specifically refer to several papers written by people from the same group using this particular method. I get the impression that this referee is trying to use me to criticize them. I would prefer to be as diplomatic as possible, and remain in good terms with the others who use the incorrect method, who I have met in person several times. However, openly stating their method to be wrong, even if choosing the wording to be as nice as possible, would make that difficult.

What should I do in this case?


texts: Should I use bold fonts to highlight particular words in SOP?

texts:
Is it odd to use bold fonts to highlight particular important words in your SOP, such as the name of Professors I am interested to work with, or the name of a Lab? I have seen someone do this to highlight the Professor he is keen on working with. I am curious if this is an acceptable practice.

Example:

At Rice University, the works of Dr. Gerard Fuller are well suited to my research experience and goals.


texts: Could I continue in my preferred field whilst working on a post-doc in a different field?

texts:
I am coming to the end of my present post-doc position which is in a fairly narrow area, one that I am deeply interested in pursuing further.  I am struggling to find a new role in the same area.

What are the implications for someone in this position when i) taking up an unrelated post-doc role, or ii) working in industry until a suitable role comes up?

Some good answers so far, but I would like to extend my original question to:
iii) What are the implications were I to accept a role working in field A, and continue to publish work in field B.  I assume in this instance I would naturally discuss this and only proceed if my primary investigator were happy with it, for example, but could there be other implications/considerations?


texts: My paper is posted to arXiv; how do I get it endorsed?

texts:
I own an article on Arxiv and I am not currently an endorser as it is my first paper. I want this article to be endorsed.

My supervisor is qualified to endorse it but Arxiv is asking for an alpha-numeric endorsement code. Where can we find this code?


texts: Can anybody help me in letter sample for a journal asking for permission to use figures in the paper?

texts: I'm a co-author in one paper and I would like to use some figures from this paper in my thesis, any tips how I can write to journal and what I should write on my letter?Usually, they accept or refused?


texts: I am seeing the term "Survey-cum-Tutorial" for the first time. What does it mean and how does it differ from a survey or a tutorial paper?


texts: Classroom manner: is it polite to chat during a lecture in Canada?

texts:
It's a specific question about academic norms in Canada.

I am not Canadian, but I personally find students chatting while the lecturer is talking is highly impolite, disturbing, and unrespectful to the lecturer. If I am lecturing, it would definitely make me upset if I notice audience is not paying attention to my lecture. I either would take it as my lecture is boring, or something similar.

However, since I am not Canadian, my rule might not apply in this specific cultural background. Would this be considered rude in general in Canada? How's the kids educated here in Canada?

Also, if this is indeed considered rude, how should I, as a part of audience, resolve this nicely and cleanly?

If you think the situations in the States are similar, I would also like to hear about that as well.

Update:

Though I didn't mention, I meant situation in post secondary institutions, mainly universities, and majorly undergraduate lectures.


texts: Is doing a PhD a good way to develop a deeper understanding of quantitative finance and statistics?

texts:
I work in business and mainly deal with quant finance and statistics + do a lot of programming to implement ideas from quant finance and statistics. I have a master of science in economics.

My problem is: whenever I am trying to dig deeper (by reading articles from scientific journals) to understand some theoretical foundations of a certain idea from statistics and quant finance (ranging from pricing of exotic options to kriging based methods) to modify and customize this idea for my situation, I discover that my knowledge of math is not enough to penetrate deeper in a subject.

Is it a sign that I need to get a PhD in quant finance/ statistics/ math or it would be an overkill and I better go for a less time consuming (bloody) option (if there is any)?


texts: What are the advantages/disadvantages of a PhD advisor who is experienced vs. one at the beginning of his career?

texts:
I know in most of the cases, PhD seekers do not have many options and we must stick to what is offered. However, it happened that I initiated connection with two advisors from different institutes which almost have the same reputation. However, one of them is a lecturer (equivalent to assistant professor in north America) and the other is full professor. Nothing is guaranteed yet, so I won't give up on any of them. Yet, before I delve deeper, I would like to know is it better to work with advisor who is still at the beginning of his academic career but with less experience and maybe more demanding. Or it is better to work with full professor who has long experience but might be too busy for you or not really pushing you to work.

The answer that I am looking for is from two parts, during PhD study and the future career:

PhD period: I know PhD student is independent researcher and should not rely much on his advisor in many aspects. However, I have this fear due to what I faced during my Master, whereby my supervisor was just looking for the quantity of papers not the quality. I assumed from my conversations with him that the number of publications was main criterion to become full professor in that institute. One the other hand, other colleagues complained about their advisors (full professors) that they really do not allocate enough time for them and even do not encourage them to publish saying that you are master student and this number of publications is enough.

Future career: I assume recommendation letter from full professor outweigh the one from assistant professor. Do you agree? why?


texts: File naming conventions when sending file back and forth via email?

texts:
I often edit a manuscript draft with co-authors by sending drafts of a document back and forth via email. Depending on who I am working with, cloud-based solutions to working collaboratively are not always an option.

After some back and forth a lot of interim drafts begin floating around, so a lot of my co-authors either initial, date, or number a working document when we send it back and forth for edits. Some do none of this at all. I am wondering if there is a correct way to "name" a document when collaborating via email. Is there a consensus on best practices for file-naming conventions when collaboratively editing via email?


texts: There's a researcher whose work I'm studying, and I was curious and looked him up; Google Scholar says that he has 16,000 ish citations.  But when I scroll through his publications on Google Scholar, some of his top papers have a couple hundred citations only.  That can't possibly add up to 16,000.  So, how is that total number actually derived?


texts: Is a Master 2 Research (Europe) a University or Postgraduate Degree?

texts:
I am currently applying for post-docs and for one of them, I should provide the "category" or degree/educational establishment where I have the choice between:

University degree
Postgraduate
PhD

My question is: what is the right category of a Master 2 Research (in Europe) ?
Is it a University degree or a Postgraduate degree ?


texts: Would I look good as a Ph.D. applicant if abandon one graduate program and then pass from another program?

texts:
See this question.

  Submitting a transcript which indicates an incomplete study (50/120 credits completed) and 5 dropped (not failed) courses.

See this answer.

  Honestly, unless there is some compelling reason ("My father died." "I was in the hospital with a broken back.") as to why you have so many dropped and uncompleted courses, there may not be a way you can just brush away your academic record into omission. There is not a great way to spin doctor this.

If I must complete my study, do I must complete it in the same university and country I started my study in?

The university from which I obtained 50 credits, is expensive and the country which this university is situated in, in hard to get a visa. So, I was thinking to resume my study all over again but in a country where it costs less and doesn't have visa issues.

Would I look good as a Ph.D. applicant if abandon one university program and then pass from another program?


texts: Are MOOCs putting teaching professors out of a job?

texts:
Have many teaching positions at traditional colleges been eliminated due to MOOCs (massive open online courses)? Is it as bad as industry jobs (for college-educated people) being offshored or automated?

I’m asking specifically about U.S. universities.


texts: What are the most common ways international students secure funding for graduate school in the U.S.?

texts:
I am an Egyptian undergraduate student who is considering attending graduate school programs in statistics. My preference would be to attend a U.S. graduate school program to obtain a masters or Ph.D. in statistics. However, I am concerned about securing funding to do this and am not sure how to go about attempting to get funding.

My Question

What are the most common and successful ways international students secure funding to attend graduate schools in the US?


texts:
I'm currently writing my master thesis. I'm a bit conflicted with what I do... Reference stealing.

So let's say article A talk about something that was reported from X, something else from Y and Z.
I talk about article A and I find that X, Y and Z are actually really good too so I end up referencing them too.
Is this considered plagiarism?

Also, let's say I'm really inspired by the introduction of a paper on the subject of my thesis. Is it considered plagiarism to take the reference of an article and use them to introduce the subject in a similar fashion, e.g., this field allowed to do that? I don't copy what is said but I use (some) of the references.

Is there such thing as reference plagiarism? From a google search, it seems that references are indeed checked (% matching) but it's mostly at the discretion of publisher/not something thoroughly enforced. Tbh I feel that it'd be difficult to enforce that even if I think it's bad. Sometimes you find sources from an article that are impossible to ignore.

I'm wondering what people do with that. Part of the research is finding an article that concern you and then you continue your search from the references so you naturally "steal" references...


texts: Include conference papers with/without proceedings in CV

texts:
I have papers X and Y published. Each of those produced papers Xc and Yc for different conferences. Xc was presented in a conference with proceedings while the conference of Yc didn't have proceedings. Both Xc and Yc are published in the arXiv and have my name on it as I'm one of the authors in X and Y. However I did not give any of those talks.

My question is do/should I include these papers on my CV? If affirmative, under which section and how to specify that I didn't give the talk.


texts: How to find a list of most influential or cited papers in a given branch of math?

texts: INSPIRE has a list of the 100 most highly cited papers during 2015 in the math archive as well as the one for hep-th. The one for math is probably a bit skewed toward physics, since this "archive" probably means that of INSPIRE, which is known for physics rather than math. Either way, what I'm interested to see are similar lists for each mathematical branch (e.g. math-ag) rather than math as a whole. I've found an old list for math-ph only, but it seems that that's all from INSPIRE. I suppose this sort of data is useful for the situation of the following kind. Let's say my area of interest is far from probability, yet I'm interested in a list of the recent hot papers in probability for fun. Mathoverflow may be useful for learning about hot papers, but it's time-consuming for my purpose, since I want a rather extensive list for each of many branches of math. Elsevier's journal such as Advanes in Mathematics have most downloaded/cited lists, but this is just for each journal of Elsevier only, which is quite limited.


texts: Without accessing the code how can a reviewer confirm if the simulation results are correct?

texts:
I have been reviewing the articles for various top-rank journals and conferences for the last few years.  After all these experiences, I can tell you there is no way to confirm the correctness of simulation results. Therefore, I usually make comments on design, procedure, mathematical and analytical analysis.

In the results section, I can ask some questions about why this or that is so, but how can I judge if the simulation was really performed or these are just fabricated graphs?

This question came in my mind because I observed on few occasions, during review process, a reviewer ask for including new results, which in my opinion required a lot of coding and effort to implement, but author responded within 7-10 days with new results and improved article.


texts: Why are contributions to the education of the broader public not valued much within academia?

texts:
Scientists not only need to discover new knowledge but also have to share the knowledge to others. For the former, we have things like universities, collaborate groups and journals to take charge. For the latter, we have various forms from teaching, developing and maintaining softwares to writing or translating books, writing and editing in Wikipedia, answering (and asking) in SE, joining an academic club, working on a academic-related project, blogging, etc.

Besides the first two have significant weight in academia, the others seem to be light weight (some even say that they have zero weight) (example for Wikipedia, translating book). Although I understand the worry that I may spread myself too thin, I think the important thing is scheduling time wisely. I don't think they are deserved to be bad effective. In fact some scholarships (like this one) require me to describe "any examples of leadership and involvement in my university or home community". I have even seen some high rep users modestly proudly say that they are active users in SE in their websites. I see a conflict here. Can you explain why contribution to community is deprecated in academia?

A very interesting question from F'x: How can a researcher improve his contribution to society?


texts: Can my master thesis be a part of doctoral dissertation of the Ph.D student I worked with?

texts:
I had been working on a project for my masters thesis under a doctoral student, which is eligible for a paper publication. But after finishing more than half of the project, my supervisor suddenly ordered me to start over a new project and told me to stop working on the former work, stating that a masters thesis work cannot be used in a doctoral student's dissertation even if I am given authorship in that paper.

I would sincerely like to know if what my supervisor said is true or if I am being cheated out of my masters project and thus my masters degree. Either way, can the answer please be supported by proper evidence(s) to support it? It will help me talk to my supervisor, if necessary with solid proof and even escalate it up the hierarchy if required.

I come from a Central University in India.


texts: Submission of survey paper and graduation thesis almost in same time

texts:
Location: South Korea. I am writing a survey paper and PhD graduation thesis and will submit them in 2020 July and 2020 June respectively. I am going to use Section II of my survey paper in my graduation thesis. If I submit the survey paper to the journal after I submit the graduation thesis, of course, the Section II I used will be shown as "plagiarized" in the journal`s system. In this case, will the journal accept the survey paper because the author of both works is the same or will I have to paraphrase Section II?
PS: Graduation thesis will be checked at https://www.copykiller.com/ (plagiarism detection service in Korea) and the result will be submitted to the University.


texts: Can I get inspired from Patented Algorithm?

texts:
I read an algorithm that is patented, I was inspired in one part of it and applied something similar (not exact) to my algorithm (e.g one step they applied out of their 10 steps algorithm I used in my algorithm not exactly identical but similar notion). Will there be any issue?

Can I simply say, this step was inspired from [ ]


texts: Administrative recognition of frequently-cited unpublished manuscripts

texts:
This is not a question about academia per se, but about the academia-administration interface.

When I was a postdoc, I wrote a paper that started to be cited quite often (by the standards of my particular subfield) as soon as I uploaded it to the usual public repository. These were largely good citations, along the lines of "this is a really neat idea" rather than "this author doesn't know what he's talking about". Eventually, I decided against submitting it to a journal, mostly because the unpublished manuscript had already become relatively popular and it wasn't really worth going through the extra work of the journal publication process for essentially no additional benefits re: the visibility of the paper or my reputation in the field. I've been listing it in my CV as a "frequently-cited unpublished manuscript" and everybody has been happy about it.

Now that decision is coming back to bite me in the ass. I am applying to a tenured job and I have to submit copies of representative publications. However, I can't submit a copy of this paper specifically because it has never been published in a journal. I have enough quality publications that this is not a problem, but it annoys me because I'm quite proud of this particular paper, which is as representative of the quality of my work as any of my papers in top journals.

So the question is, those of you who have similarly popular unpublished manuscripts, how do you convince administrators that a paper doesn't have to have a journal DOI attached to it to count as a representative piece of work?


texts: I want to do a Masters in Finance. I am from India. I am 30 years old. I have seen that most people in masters programs in finance are less than 25 year old. I also don't have much in terms of corporate work experience. I have degrees in engineering and a 2 year diploma in management with a specialization in Finance. From what I know, masters programs in finance in the American and European business schools are mostly meant for those fresh out of an undergraduate degree. I feel that if I finish an MS in Finance I will be competing with people much younger than me for entry level jobs and therefore will be at a disadvantage.


texts: What is the term for a list of interviews?

texts:
If 'bibliography' is a list of literature and 'discography' is a list of musical recordings, is there a term for a list of interviews?

Of course I could just cite everything under 'references' but my research is varied and covers many different media, and it would be good to know the term for a list of interviews [of course, I could just write "interviews" but I would prefer to know the proper term if there is one].


texts: Why does arXiv not have an impact factor? Are there any "un-offocial" estimates of arXiv's impact factor?

texts:
I am interested to know where arXiv stands against the journals. Not being peer-reviewed, and being so huge, certainly could contribute to arXiv having a very low impact factor, but since ultra-high-quality work also gets published there, it might still have a higher impact factor than some journals that only contain rather poor quality work that couldn't get published anywhere else.

Of course the "whole of arXiv" could have a different impact factor than specific arXiv channels, such as "astro-ph" or "quant-ph".


texts: Ethical factors to consider in case of a non-contributing co-author

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student. Currently, we are writing a paper. We can group the participants in the following way:

Me and my collaborators who have done the majority of the work.
My principal supervisor who helped me to access the lab.
The person, let's call him Glideroy :-) , who is the subject of this question.

Glideroy has not made any substantial contribution. To be precise, he wrote one piece of code, which eventually was not used in the paper. Later we asked him for further investigation, which he didn't do.
One of our co-authors expressed his reluctance to include the non-contributing co-author's name in the paper. According to him, the decision is in the hand of the authors who have made a substantial contribution. My principal advisor is not aware of this yet, but he has a good relationship with Gilderoy.
Now I am in a tricky position, I agree with the non-contributing part. However, I feel a bit hesitant to burn the bridge and remove the author altogether. So, my questions are the following:

What are the criteria one should fulfill to be a co-author?
Should I talk to my principal supervisor?
Is there any way we can justify the inclusion of Glideroy's name?

Any advice would be helpful.


texts: Individual presentation for a PhD application

texts:
A friend of mine applied to a PhD program and luckily they called her for a presentation. They said that the presentation should be a maximum of 10 minutes long and should consist of three slides. These slides should include past experience and research interests, they say.

We are trying to prepare an optimal presentation. We think of,

(1) Presenting a brief CV, including academic background, education etc.

(2) Past research experience, especially during the MSc thesis,

(3) Work experience.

In addition to research experience, we want to emphasize the teaching experience and the experience gained from the courses taken.

However the problem is that research experience and work experience significantly overlap with each other and we are concerned about not using slides optimally.

We would like to hear advice from you about this type of presentations. Or if you know any sources on the web that are specifically for these type of situations, we would be very happy to hear them.

Note that the presentation should be ten minutes long with three slides and should focus on interests & past experience of the individual.


texts:
I am here to discuss about a funding problem I am having and I heard a lot of post-docs had before, but I couldn't find any testimony or tips.

My problem is the following and it is very simple. I got lucky to obtain my own funding from a funding agency, the name of which I can't reveal at this time. Of course I was thrilled and few days after the beginning of my contract the funding agency told me the money has been transfer to my institute. Then, I got my first pay check and I had the unpleasant surprise to notice a difference of ~2000euros (before taxes) between what the funding agency was supposed to give me and what the institute was giving me.

Obviously I was surprised and when I asked for reasons it seems the institute has some salary scale and they put me on those scale instead of giving me the money from the funding agency. And obviously they are keeping the rest for themselves.

However, this isn't true for all post-doctoral fellowships. Another post-doc in the same institute with a Marie-Curie fellowship isn't on those salary scale. Right now my PI (which support me 100%) and I are still in the middle of the discussion and I am looking for person that have a similar problem to help me find my way out of this trap.

The institute I am fighting with is the French institute: CNRS. I have nothing against them, but I think our work is hard enough to do research, get funding without also needing to fight for the money we are owed.

Edit posted as answer:

I haven't discuss yet with the funding agency because I am still hoping that the institue will re-evaluate the situation.

What I have understood is that a agreement has been signed between the funding agency and the CNRS that allow the CNRS to pay me based on the salary scale. However I'd never been aware of such agreement. And obviously such agreement will only benefit the CNRS that will keep 48,000€ (24month x 2,000€) in the transaction.

In addition, as I said this agreement only include some fellowship but not all of them such as the Marie-Curie fellowship. But I have no idea why.


texts: How to ensure adequate dissemination and wording of an academic job offer when the teaching language will not be English?

texts:
I work in an university where the teaching language is not English, but where research can be carried out in the language of choice of the director (which is generally English since most graduate students do not speak the official language of the university).
Although the university offers linguistic support for new employee who do not know the official language, it seems that this is seen as a severe hindrance by candidates and it severely limits the pool of available candidates (especially for tenure-track positions). My question is twofold. Are candidates generally discouraged from applying to a position for which they cannot speak the language? Are there ways to word the job offer to ensure that this is not seen so much as a hurdle since linguistic support is offered?


texts: Would using 'they/them' in publication biographies stand out?

texts:
Some journals require authors to submit a photograph and a short biography to go along with the publication.
The question I have is: Would it strike you as weird if said biography had a gender neutral tone, using "they/them" pronouns? As in, could a non-binary author that is not out use those pronouns and not have a conversation (comments by advisors/co-authors) occur? Would it be something that could be passed by without a second glance?


texts: Can I still publish a paper on peer reviewed journals several years after publishing it on ArXiv?

texts:
I have done some discoveries concerning signal processing from about 6 years which I think are quiet important advances but I never have time to finish the works. As example I know that the main application are new on my field but I am not sure the theory does not exists on other fields. The links with other theories are not fully established yet, so I do not know exactly what is new and what is not. I do not want for now to be judged by peer reviewers which risk to only examine what is bad on the paper but I found it a pitty to not share those discoveries so I am thinking by submitting as preprint, and after some years and maybe some advices/correction from some readers, submitting it on a peer reviewed journal.

If I do that, and someone publish the same ideas after (particularly if they do not cite me, because they do imagine those ideas come from them or are obvious), will I still be able to publish it since reviewers can oppose me that those ideas are not new anymore ? Journals could not see the interrest of publishing works which are already known by the community on the only aim to help me to claim my anteriority.

So to sum up, if a reviewer reject a paper because the ideas already exist from other works but those works are posterior to the preprint, can I ask to editor to not take this opposition into account?

Is there examples of important papers published years after their preprints? In that case should it be adapted to explain what others have done of your works ?


texts: Effective reviewing in top tier Computer Science conferences

texts:
Most top conferences in Computer Science receive a record number of submissions every year, like AAAI received almost 9000 submissions this year, while CVPR 2020 received 6600 submissions. That would mean atleast 27000 and 20000 reviews respectively. That would mean almost 5000 and 4000 reviewers respectively, assuming 5 papers per reviewer.

I've also come across a few posts of area chairs (of these top-tier conferences) expressing their frustration of not getting reviews from the reviewers in time, and as a result there is a compromise on the quality of reviews. Is the burgeoning rise in ML/AI leading to falling standards? Is there an effective solution to this? Do such conferences have a way to check the quality of reviewers given that a lot of them are PhD students?

One criteria mentioned on their sites is that the reviewer should have 1-2 publications in such top-tier conferences, but is that enough? For instance, I have 3-4 publications (not in highly ranked conferences/journals), but I don't think I can provide effective reviews for papers submitted to those particular conferences/journals. Is there some additional criteria as well?


texts: When applying for postdoc funding, what are the consequences of backing out if I can get another position where funding is already secured?

texts:
When looking for a post-doctoral fellowship, I have, in a nutshell, two alternatives:

Apply to open positions, where money is already secured (at least for the beginning)
Apply together with a potential supervisor for funding agencies, such as NASA NPP, UCAR VSP, NRC, or one of the more generic funding agencies.

With option (2), I'd need to first convince a potential supervisor, then write a funding proposal to convince a funding agency.  From a candidate's point of view, (1) is easier.  On the other hand, there are a lot more options in (2) to try, than in (1).  My question relates to option (2).

Two relevant calls for me close on 1 November and 10 January.  Results are announced in February and March.  I could apply to both, with different projects and different supervisors.  While waiting for results, other opportunities, where funding is already secured (such as point (1)) may come along, and I'd apply to those too.

Is it unethical, unprofessional, or otherwise unwise, to apply to different programmes, with different supervisors, and still apply to immediately available positions while awaiting the result?  Suppose that I find a postdoc elsewhere before even knowing the result of either funding application; can I then simply back out of the still-open funding applications without consequences, or should I expect this to cause severe annoyment with the host scientist I'd be applying with?  After all, he or she would have invested a non-neligible amount of time in the proposal.  I find it different then simply applying for different jobs, because time invested is much less.  On the other hand, I don't want to have to wait until March, before hearing a negative result and having to start all over again.

I'd like to hear from senior scientists how they would look upon a fresh PhD who they'd spend time writing a post-doc proposal with, but who'd then back out for another position before the result is even announced.


texts: Professor dismissed error I found in her work. I need more feedback, but the field is small

texts:
Background / My problem:

I believe to have found a substantial error in my professor's original research.  After getting answers to my previous question, I emailed her about it, but she was dismissive. Of course, I could be wrong and it is very possible that I am. My professor seemed not interested at all to talk to me though, so I cannot discuss this with her further.

It is not a factual error, but an error that concerns the logic of her argument. To simplify, I think that she says that both P & -P. This is not obvious at first, and it becomes apparent only after some entangling of her whole argument.

The field is small:

Now, I do not personally know anyone who is interested this field. The field is very small and I can assume that pretty much everyone knows my professor and that my professor knows pretty much everyone too and that they talk.

What do I do now? / How do I get feedback?

Ideally I would like to get feedback from other experts. Maybe I am wrong. I am happy to be wrong, but I need to understand why. I could maybe email them, but I am not sure how responsive they would be.

Also, I am worried now that if I ask other people to have a look, my professor will hear of that. She will then know that I did not take her dismissal seriously, and am working on a paper. How would I go about this? I am worried to look like a backstabber, esp. if I email other people and say "Look, I believe I have found an error in Professor XXXX work" after my professor already told me it is not an error. If I do something like this, I would also be especially worried that should I be wrong, all of this will be very embarrassing for me.

PS: This concerns original research, not a textbook. I am in the Humanities. Please give me a chance, even if you believe that I am probably wrong,


texts: How do professors find consulting projects?

texts: How do professors find consulting projects to be a part of?


texts: If the interviewer says "We have other interviews to conduct and then back to you in few days", is it a bad sign to not get the job?

texts: I had an academic interview. During the interview, some panel members showed  positive body language. In the end, they asked me for a reference. After that, the main interviewer said that they had some more applicants to interview and would get back to me after a few days. I wonder if that means that they are not interested in me? Is that a bad sign?