texts: PI published my work after I graduated without informing me (and with a different first author)

texts:
When leaving with my PhD I left a sizable amount of unpublished work, most of which was 95% or better complete.  After several attempts over the past 2 years to find out his plans for publishing I all but gave up.  Then tonight a google notification told me they were adding a pub on google scholar.  It was my work (that I had written a manuscript in 2012) with someone else as a first author.  I'm on the paper but was never informed or reviewed a manuscript.  Im concerned because I still have presumably 3 more papers pending that could turn out the same way.

I would like to see 3 things happen.

Reordering of authorship or at least an unbiased remediation/explanation of the current.
Access to the submission process (including establishing agreed upon authorship requirements) or at least advanced notice should some other work be published in the future.
I would love (but most likely won’t get) acknowledgment/censure by the institution, as this is not the first time the PI has acted dishonestly in this regard, and likely not the last.

I am looking for advice on who to contact, and how to approach the situation such that my claim is heard.

To clarify a few points: In my field it is customary for the author who contributed most both experimentally and conceptually to be listed first, followed by other contributing authors in roughly descending order of involvement.  Lastly the PI  (the Principle Investigator who oversees the work, funds the lab, the major professor involved, ect) is listed.

This order is largely taken into account when assessing a researchers body of work, as it is not common for papers in the field to have a breakdown of contributions by author in the text like in some other related fields.

Also common in the field is the ownership of the scholarship by the institution.  This work was written up and published in my thesis.  Additionally I prepared and formatted, and made available to the PI a manuscript for journal publication. Unfortunately, I cannot publish without the PI's approval, and I thought he was unable to publish without my approval.


texts:
I am visiting an American university for a year. In my invitation letter and further instructions, it is written that I can audit any course that I want (subject to the agreement of its professor).

Since it is not common in my country, I have no idea what this auditing process is. What should I do?

Is it an official process with official report, or do I simply attend the class like students?


texts: How important is it to have publications to get a math postdoc?

texts:
The applications often ask for a publication list. If the only publication on the list is a thesis in preparation/preprint, would the candidate's application be rejected because of that? Is it necessary to have more than a thesis to be competitive/considered?

I ask this because one mathematician told me that he doesn't care about the number of publications, but about the quality of the work. Then again, 5 high-quality publications is better than 4...


texts: Advisor wants me to send manuscript to a potentially shady journal

texts:
I have a paper that has never been submitted elsewhere. Now my advisor thinks that this Elsevier journal called Chaos, Solitons and Fractals (CSF) is a good fit. A cursory search shows that this journal has had a history of misconduct involving the chief editor. When I brought this up, my advisor told me that this happened over ten years ago and the journal seemed to be doing okay after the relaunch. He tells me that his peer had a good experience with them and peer review seemed to be at work.

Obviously, I don’t want to argue over things like this with my advisor. After all my paper might not even get published there. But I am also worried about ruining the credibility of my work given the reputation of this journal. Should I go with it? Is it okay to publish in a journal with such a history?


texts: What questions should one ask to the former/current students of a professor before deciding whether to do PhD under him/her?

texts:
Before deciding to do one's PhD under a certain professor, what questions should one ask of his/her former and current students?

Many students (including me) are not sure what exactly to ask. May be a community wiki here might be a general source for such students.

Please recommend phrasing of the question(s) also.

This is a related question, How to evaluate potential advisers on grounds other than their research/publications? but it is much broader. I'm looking for specific questions to be asked to the students. Also manner in which to ask :)

P.S. I have accepted an answer, but feel free to add more answers if you think they differ than the ones already given.


texts: Is it possible to submit new GRE scores after having applied to an acadmic program?

texts:
I intend on taking the GRE but I haven't had the time to study much and so now I feel I am facing the option of either

Taking the GRE anyway, most likely getting very unimpressive scores and applying to academic programs with these scores, or
Cutting my losses and applying for programs the next time they announce applications (which, in some cases, is a year from now).

Is it possible to apply with my first scores as some sort of "provisional" score and inform them that I will be re-taking the rest soon? How much does a "bad first time, better second time" affect how admissions reviewers see applicants? In the case that extra background information would be helpful, I am a non-traditional student who already has a (short) record of research experience.


texts: Is there an internet Git-like repository for collaboration on a paper?

texts:
I've just started using git for tracking changes in a LaTeX paper I'm writing, and for collaboration with co-authors.

However, I cannot find easily private git repositories with reasonable plans for scientific collaboration (I'm not asking about discounts, just about a different workflow, so no "one team of n developers", but there are "many small project, with different people").

There is ScribTeX, but unfortunately they are going down :/.

Other:

GitHub free academic plan with unlimited private repositories and number of collaborators
Bitbucket free academic plan with unlimited private repositories and collaborators
Assembla free: priv, but no bug-tracking; next ($9/month): n=3

So, is there a (La)TeX-oriented Git (or, say, Mercurial) repository service?

That is, I'm looking for a repository (free or reasonably priced - i.e. for one with a PhD student salary, not a programmer salary :))

allowing for:

many collaborators,
many private repositories,

but can have strong limits on:

users per repository,
repository size.


texts: Should I get informal with a professor if they didn't explicitly invite me to do so but the situation seems to suggest it's appropriate?

texts:
Some years ago I completed my B.Sc. in a university. I was very young and the default behaviour for all the students (especially the young ones) was to formally address the professors. PhD students were more likely to get informal with them.

After my degree I spent some years working in a research institute and during this period I had some distant collaborations with some of the former professors and I got more familiar with some of them. Also some of my fellow students during the B.Sc. in the same period enrolled in a PhD and some of them became researchers in the same university.

Eventually I decided to enrol again in the same university to pursue a M.Sc. This put me in a weird situation. I was in a very informal relationship with my former fellow students and they were in a quite informal relationship with my professors but still when talking with my professors I was supposed (by these unwritten rules) to address them formally, even when we were all in the same room. Some of my professors were also very casual with me, in some cases one even gave me his personal phone number to have casual chats about technology and similar stuff and meet at an event and have dinner together, another one hugged me and kissed me when I won a competition, and another one invited me to spend a weekend with me (and other people) for a short holiday.

I want to stress that all this behaviours were in general not uncommon in this university and by my personal standard not at all invasive or "bad". They were all done in a very friendly manner and not hidden from other students or other professor. It was all fairly normal among professors, researchers and PhD students.

Said that, I still felt that I was not authorised to get too informal with them because of the relationship professor-student and they never told me to get more informal with them.

I'm not sure if I came across as too cold, but I was not really sure what my behaviour should have been in a situation like that. Should I have been more informal with them by my own initiative?


texts: English lit journals publishing graduate-level works

texts:
As an MA student interested in pursuing the academic career, I am well aware that it's advisable to have papers published as soon as possible in order to boost one's CV and eventually gain admission to a PhD programme.

Therefore, here's my question: are there any academic journals which routinely publish graduate-level papers about English literature, or at least are willing to accept and assess such submissions? I am thinking of something like those lower-tier journals, often funded by departments, which are able to publish relevant contributions from non-previously established researchers.

Thanks for your contribution.


texts: Post-doc requested only research statement; no cover letter?

texts:
I'm planning to apply for a postdoc that asks only for a CV and a research statement describing "educational and research background, areas of interest, and what you would like to accomplish in your postdoctoral training."

Does this mean they don't want a cover letter? Should I be essentially merging the cover letter and research statement in one document? Because in a way it just sounds like they're describing what I would expect to be in a cover letter. Or is the cover letter just expected and I should do that plus a research statement?


texts: PhD in Comparative Literature: how much does the University's pedigree matter compared to opportunties for collaboration?

texts:
I received an unconditional offer from two universities: one in UK, the other in a little country of Northern Europe. As I am uncertain about where to go, I would like to ask your opinion.

On the one hand, I noticed that students of small departments, after graduation, have a hard time securing themselves a suitable post-doc position elsewhere. (Specifically, I also read on the University's database that most of its past graduates remained there for their post-doc, teaching assistantships, etc). On the other, in the UK PhD students tend to work mostly on their dissertation and teaching duties, leaving aside the publication of their researches.

Another factor is the collaboration with the supervisor. While in the UK professors do not normally co-author articles with their students, many professors in Northern European universities usually not only do publish articles with students but also share projects with them.

I do know that, either case, the path will not be easy. I am just scared of making the wrong choice. My biggest fear is, in fact, not being able to move to other Universities, say, in the US, Germany or UK for a post-doc.

Thank you for your time.


texts: Switching field from optics to atomic physics?

texts: I'm a fresh junior student doing some amo research. But my professor kept having me focus on the optics stuff. Although I learned plenty of skills, I'm also worried that this can negatively reduce my chance in applying to any real quantum optics/atomic physics labs? Since I had no real experience dealing with atoms, it might be harder to get accepted by those AMO groups? But I'm aimed to work in quantum physics.


texts: Specialising in a field during a PhD at the expense of forgetting other areas

texts:
I'm having a crisis of confidence: I'm a 3rd year PhD focusing on cancer genetics. Whilst I am undoubtedly developing a deep and broad understanding of genetics, bioinformatics, somatic evolution...all that good stuff; I'm also finding that my understanding of basics is all but disappearing.

I don't use or "need" (practically speaking) a working knowledge of biochemistry or molecular biology to answer my research questions. Whilst during my undergrad I could describe cellular processes like translation, splicing, various cell signalling cascades in detail, I can barely summon the basics anymore. Since genetics, biochemistry, and molecular biology are so intimately related, I feel like drilling deep into one at the expense of the others is bad.

Is this something that other people experience? How do you find time to refresh the knowledge of areas that you 'should' know, even if you have no use for them anymore in your research?


texts: How do professors get to apply and work on industry projects?

texts: Not necessary to have a research project but any project where professor can get to apply his theory and skills and work along with working professional in the industry - and also get to leverage academia's infrastrcuture in the form of labs, software, students etc. How do professors find such projects and opportunities to interface with industry?


texts: How to search for upcoming conferences for Hardware Architecture?

texts:
How to find upcoming conferences in a specific field? I can get some references from answers to this question.

I had already tried WikiCFP but it deosn't have the option to filter CFP's according to the subject. The other options such as (How to find upcoming conferences in a specific field? I can get some references from answers to this question.

The other options such as ACM Calender of Events but this also has no classification.

Any pointers on where to search will be very helpul.


texts: How to cite a section of a wikipedia article?

texts:
I'm kinda new to academia and was wondering how citations are done. In particular, say I wanted to cite the "Inspiration, pure and applied mathematics, and aesthetics" of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics

Would I cite the whole article, or is there a way of citing just the part I want?

Also, who do I mention as the author of a Wikipedia article?

Lastly, what format would is commonly used for writing such a reference?


texts: Does stating terminal degree as Master's (and not PhD) hamper my chances of getting selected in a grad school?

texts: I'm applying to a grad school in the US for fall 2016. While filling the application, I stated my initial and terminal degree preferences as Master's only (and not PhD) as I want to work in the industry post MS. Will it hurt my chances of getting selected?


texts: How to ask a former advisor to resume 'contact'?

texts:
A few years ago, I completed by bachelor's by creating a 'bachelor's thesis'. My advisor for this thesis. The thesis went very well, I've got a high grade and my advisor was very much impressed by my work (for an undergrad, at least) during and after the project.

However, he left almost immediately after that. I do think he left amicably, he even showed up briefly during his former course and I believe that some other university simply gave him more opportunity to do what he wants.

That was the last time I spoke with him. A lot has happened since and I'm thinking of perhaps contacting him to do a PhD in his expertise, although I'm not certain.

I do wonder how I should re-initiate contact. I have much to tell and ask, but long mails may be unread for long. I think meeting 'in the flesh' is unlikely to be possible (he isn't exactly far away, but still in a different country)

If this is useful, I am Dutch, the university is in the Netherlands, the advisor has a Germanic mother-tongue and is now in Germany. (I think)


texts: How is it perceived to withdraw an application to graduate school?

texts:
I applied to a program that I had been striving for in my undergrad, at a top school, but I've since felt overwhelmed with the thought of going this year. I think I should have waited until I was absolutely sure I could handle grad school emotionally and financially. I am so anxious now, thinking I've ruined my opportunity with this school if I don't go.

I am seriously considering withdrawing my application, but I'm very worried about how it might hurt me in the future when I reapply.
Otherwise I may have to decline if I am accepted and reapply.


texts: How to organize a graduate student seminar on pure math?

texts:
I am a first-year graduate student of pure mathematics. Now the department gives us the chance to organize graduate student seminars.

I want to run a seminar based on the book called Sheaves on Manifold. But I totally know nothing about how to organize a seminar well.

Could you give me some advice?


texts: How to remove the "Text Overlap" comment from arxiv

texts: Recently I have submitted an article in arxiv. But unfortunately, an indication of text overlap has been added in the comment section. It is to be noted that, the overlapped paper is also my other paper. Now I would like to remove that comment ("Text overlap"). Can I remove this comment by replacing this paper with a revised and corrected copy?


texts: Does a low page limit (3 pages) indicate anything about the quality of a conference?

texts:
I'm concerned about a scientific & tech. conference which has set the page limit to 3!

I'm wondering if that means the quality of submitted paper in this conference is considered low.

What do they expect from authors to put into 3 pages?


texts: Does requesting to speed up on application process affect its outcome

texts:
I got an offer for a PhD position which, due to my financial status, I can only accept if I am awarded a scholarship, which is currently in consideration. Recently, I receive a job offer which have to be answered before the scholarship announcement date. I cannot delay on that because there are few other potential candidates for that position. Although I find it interesting but it's OK if I turn an offer down as I currently have one already. Moreover, the PhD is much more important to me. So my question is whether asking the university to speed up in their consideration affects the chance to get the scholarship. If it's possible, can someone let me know how university deals with this situation?

Update: I cannot quit a new job early as it has a fixed-term, more like minimum term, contract because I will receive 3 months oversea training at the beginning so they don't want me to leave too soon.


texts: Are graduate school applications processed before the submission deadline?

texts: I will be applying for PhD positions starting in fall 2016. Most of the application deadlines are in January. If I send my application now, will it be processed immediately? Or are the recruiters waiting until the deadline has passed? This probably varies somewhat per geographic region (and university, and department) but I would be mostly interested in UK institutions in the STEM fields.


texts: Is it appropriate if my former advisor is editor of a journal I submit to?

texts:
I am a young postdoc. I am considering submitting a single-authored paper in a journal. My former advisor is member of the editorial board. Would this be appropriate? Obviously she cannot be the handling editor, someone else would have to manage my submission and take the decision. But would it be appropriate at all for me to submit in this journal, or should I just find another?

I am afraid that this situation does not pass the "appearance of impartiality" test; even if my former advisor is never involved in the decision, if the paper is accepted in the end my situation will be "I have published a paper in a journal where my advisor is member of the editorial board", and no one will be able to verify that I did not receive unequal treatment.


texts: Is the distinction between qualitative and quantitative methodology still significant today?

texts:
Some scholarly articles explain in detail the epistemological and ontological differences of the two methods, while some argue that the distinction between them is now blurred. I try to reconcile this inconsistency by thinking that quantitative and qualitative traditions form a methodological spectrum, where pure quantitative and qualitative approaches are situated at the opposing extremes, while mixed-methods are at the middle.

Is the distinction between the research traditions still significant? And if yes, do social scientists promote a "methodological spectrum" or do they still deny the compatibility of the two?


texts: Proper way to include student evaluations for job application?

texts:
I've seen a handful of academic teaching jobs request that the applicant send "copies of student evaluations" as part of the application.

How exactly is this supposed to be done?

Pick and choose your favorites / all the positive evaluations?
Send an entire class's evaluations for completeness?
Emphasize well written (possibly long) ...OR...pick  short and sweet but very positive?

Ex: "Best instructor I ever had!!!"

Include somewhat negative ones to demonstrate "realism"?

What's the proper format?

PDF or doc file with paragraphs of comments?
An addition to the cover letter?

Etc..

In general, what's the proper way to go about (or perhaps best practices for) including student evaluations in an application??

Note: "student evaluation" = "course evaluation" (i.e., comments students make about the course/instructor).


texts: Finding undergraduate research mentor? Etiquette for responding to email from potential mentor

texts:
Me and another student at my university are interested in applying for an undergraduate research grant that is offered by the university. It is 'collaborative' and requires the assistance of an academic member of staff i.e a 'mentor'. My friend and I wrote an email to the head of our department, who is an expert in the field we are interested in researching, asking whether he could advise on potential mentors for the project, and he responded saying that there are a number of people in the department who could help to mentor the research. He said that he is interested in the issues we want to research himself, definitely implying that he would mentor us. I just don't know how to respond to this, given that he did not directly say 'i would be interested in mentoring you?

Note: we are at a UK university, if that makes any difference etiquette-wise.


texts: Including images in a research proposal presentation?

texts: Is this frowned upon? Expected? I have never made a presentation for a research proposal before and I'm not sure about what is expected. I was considering using a timeline to illustrate roughly how long the research will take and what the milestones in the research process will be.


texts: Is it a good academic practice to tell the reader in the introduction what the essay is about directly?

texts:
Is it academic to tell the reader in the introduction what the essay is about directly?

For example, after some introductory ideas, you tell the the reader this essay or section discusses so and so.

Or should the writer end the introduction with the thesis statement that indirectly tells the reader what the essay is about?


texts: Is it advisable to email director of graduate studies inquiring about the application status?

texts: I am applying for a PhD in mathematics, and xxx is my top choice. They have sent out their first round of offers. I want to know whether they have more offers to make or not. Is it advisable to email their director of graduate studies with this question?


texts: How to improve the narrative in a piece of academic writing?

texts:
I have recently finished a year of Doctoral School, and am about to start my PhD. During the last taught year I have written two research papers which were reviewed by several people both internal and external to my faculty. The feedback was mostly complimentary, however the common criticism made about my work went along the lines of "You write excellent sections, but there is little link or narrative between sections."

There are a few guides on technical writing fundamentals, so this could serve as a platform for other posts on more nuanced writing practices. I would like to create a better narrative in my writing going forward, so the themes I would like to create a discussion on are as follows:

Practices for identifying the narrative present in your own work.
How do you build a narrative when writing an academic paper or other piece of technical writing?
Guidelines for linking the internal sections within a piece of writing.
Guidelines for linking your work to related research by other authors.


texts: When should an editor use reviewers recommended by authors of a submitted manuscript?

texts:
I am a newly appointed editor to a top journal. I have received my first manuscript assignment. I see in the journal system that the authors have provided preferences for reviewers for their paper.

I was wondering what is the norm like with respect to this. Do editors normally go by author's preference or do they ignore it? What factors should I take into account before considering author preference of reviewers?

On one hand this makes my task of searching appropriate reviewers easy but I suspect this might also give an unfair edge to the authors if the reviewers have some/any kind of bias.


texts: Filing a patent before collaborating with industries?

texts:
During my recent research, I produced a little prototype which seems interesting enough for commercialization. I don't have the necessary resources to do it, so I naturally think about collaborating with industries. But in this case, I still would like to file a patent before the collaboration starts. Would this be a barrier for collaboration with potential industrial partners?

On the other hand, would it be useless to file the patent considering the possibility that the industrial collaborators can find ways to circumvent my patent by making non-essential modification? (in which case I don't have the resources to sue them)


texts:
I am going to apply to some US universities. So SoP is one of the important things in the application procedure. My question is related to this topic.

So, after completing the Ms degree (from University X), I will be a first year PhD student at some other University (say University Y). However, I am still looking for an US University for Ph.D. Now, as a student of University Y, I have read some topics which are considered advanced in my area of preference, that's to say these topics are bridges between the Ms degree and the Ph.D. degree.

  Should I include, any sentences like this in SoP, "I have done some
  credit courses like a,b,.... at University Y as a first year Ph.D. student".

Thanks in advance.


texts: Should self-citations be excluded when calculating the h-index?

texts:
The Hirsch index, or h-index is a widely used citation statistic that, arguably, accurately reflects the impact of a scientist. It takes into account the number of publications as well as how often those papers are cited. For example, an author with 4 publications each with at least 4 citations, has a h-index of 4. Another author with 200 publications, each cited only once, has a Hirsch index of just 1, simply because the papers are not cited more than once. A possible confounding factor in this index are self-citations. If the latter fictional author would have cited all his previous work in his latter 100 papers, their h-index would sky rocket to 100.

Google Scholar nicely provides the h-index and at my institution they use Google Scholar to calculate the h-index for every researcher. However, Google Scholar includes self-citations, while I have heard colleagues from other institutions say that a h-index should not include self-citations, for reasons illustrated above.

Interestingly, the widely used journal impact factor (JIF) from Thomson Reuters does include self-citations (Shema, 2012).

My question is: should the h-index include or exclude self-citations? Is there a consensus reached on this topic? If there is no consensus, should the h-index then not be accompanied by an identifier to clarify which of the two methods was adopted to calculate it?

Reference
- Shema, Sci Am blogs, 2012


texts:
There are essentially two ways for plotting three-dimensional data:

Colour maps (or heat maps)¹:

Surface plots:

While surface plots are quite nice to visualise data if you can interactively move the perspective, they often obfuscate aspects of the data if you only have one perspective at hand – as it is mostly the case in papers or presentations. And even if the data is benign for surface plots, I have not yet met an example where it adds anything to the colour map, at least in my opinion. This holds for the case where the two are combined, i.e., the surface is coloured (as in the above example).

As surface plots are still used, even by people who are otherwise making very good plots, I wonder whether I am missing something here. Thus my question is: Given that I have evenly sampled, three-dimensional data and that I can only show one image to visualise it², is there any argument or situation due to which I should use a surface plot instead of a colour map? In both cases, assume optimally chosen plotting parameters, such as the colour scheme or the viewing angle. Also, you can assume that the plot is being used in an academic context, e.g., a paper, presentation or poster. In particular, the audience can be expected to be able to read such a plot and things like fanciness should not be an argument.

¹ This example is just to illustrate the types of plot. I am not asking about how they specifically should be presented.
² And thus, showing a video or multiple perspectives is not an option.


texts: How long should I describe when asked to talk about my past research experiences by a potential PhD advisor during Skype interview?

texts: I have done two projects in the area of molecular biology. I have a Master's degree. So, I find that it requires more than 20 minutes to talk about them. My first-language is not English. I think this is too long, right? I would be tired, and the interviewer may also be tired. We may need additional time to discuss the research projects I did. So, should it be short? How many minutes are appropriate?


texts: Sharing my unpublished thesis with other students?

texts:
The other day a former classmate asked to read my thesis and I don't know why but I got a little concerned about it and just told him honestly that, "I may do future work based on my thesis submission so I don't feel comfortable sharing it with you at the moment."

Am I right to feel this way?  Is it common to keep your thesis between you and your advisor - and potential researchers who may want to work with you? Or should I really "put my thesis out there" and share it with others who want to read it and that the more people who read my thesis the better?

I somehow viewed him as a competitor, when he asked me that, but he's a close friend.  He doesn't have any thesis / supervised research experience and said he wanted to see what I did.  And now he wants to do research also and try and join a research group, etc.


texts: I'd like to write down a list of the top authors in my field in order to keep up to date with literature. Can anybody suggest any systematic approach to build such a list?


texts: Are there math graduate schools without stressful tests?

texts:
I am one year from graduating and am starting to look for Graduate programs. I would like to know if there exist graduate programs where the focus is on research from the start (apparently this is the case in the UK).

I ask this because I have noticed I learn better when motivated by research than in regular courses. Additionally, because stressful long written exams frighten me and I would prefer to avoid them if it were a possibility. It would be nice at least to go somewhere where they are more flexible about exams, and place less value on them.

I ask this question, not seeking for a list of schools I might consider applying to, but to get a better idea of what graduate programs loook like. I would like to know if it’s worth it for me to focus on this, or if I should just look at the academics because focusing on this would be too restrictive. ( I cannot live by avoiding stress at all costs as mentioned in the comments).


texts: Do TAs in the US usually grade student responses?

texts:
In my country, many institutes have the custom of TAs evaluating and distributing the marks of students of that particular course the TA is handling.
I am wondering whether it is a part of academic culture in the US or not.


texts: When do registrar's offices usually request course schedules?

texts:
At approximately what time in the fall semester, do most universities (in the US, say) request that departments submit their spring schedules?

At my university, the date keeps moving earlier and earlier; this year, it is on the second day of classes. This causes difficulties for us, as we don't have adequate time to meet with each other or our students to discuss the department's needs. Is such an early date typical?


texts: Mentor says I cannot be first author of my paper because I am an undergraduate

texts:
I performed some research and submitted it to a congress of biomedical sciences. Many professors told me that my research is very advanced compared to student work and that it could easily be my specialization one day.

I am an undergraduate student (sixth year veterinary science).
My mentor tells me that no journal will accept me as a first author although the entire research is mine. I did everything except the statistics, because by the rules, the mentor must do it. I spent four months on the field, alone, taking samples, and an idea of gifting my own blood, sweat and tears is very painful.

Do you think I should wait for a year or a bit more to publish it as a graduate or should I let them take credits for my work. The research is about horse welfare in my country and it has never been done before. This means a world to me. I want to devote my life to this area and publishing my paper as mine would be only right thing to do, right?
Should I accept publishing the paper with someone else’s name as a first author?

Update

My mentor yesterday late night sent me a message informing me that they (she and her head of the department) discussed my work and agreed that probably I will be named as a first author, since I did all the work.
Thank you all for answers, I wouldn't be so confident on this matter without your advices.


texts: Are there any accredited universities in the world offering students the option of acquiring a BA/BSc in psychology completely online?

texts: I travel a lot and I'm interested in getting a psychology degree but after researching online I still haven't been able to find a good university that offers the choice to complete a psych degree by distance education.  I'm a Canadian citizen so programs that accept Canadians is vital.  With all the current online offerings I'm shocked that I can't find a quality university offering a BA or BSc in psychology online or by distance offline.  Any suggestions? I'm interested in CPA accredited degrees otherwise it's worth nothing in Canada.  And, I'm open to programs with a few on-campus requirements if an accredited degree is unavailable fully online.  I want to be able to pursue a MA or a PhD in Canada after completing the undergraduate program.


texts: Is it desirable to compliment a seminar speaker before asking a question?

texts: Some people, when asking a question at the end of a seminar, make comments on the talk first along the lines of "great talk," "really enjoyed this talk," or similar phrases. Is this a desirable thing to do? I've noticed that most people don't do this, but some of my favorite scientists do.


texts: Publishing policies - copyright transfer

texts:
I submitted a paper to a journal and now it is under review. Since I would like to publish it on the Research Gate I was reading the journal rules to be sure this is possible. I also had a look on the SHERPA/RoMEO website and this is what I found:

Author's Pre-print: author can archive pre-print (ie pre-refereeing)
Author's Post-print: author can archive post-print (ie final draft post-refereeing)
Publisher's Version/PDF:  author cannot archive publisher's version/PDF
General Conditions:
Author's pre-print on pre-print servers such as arXiv.org
Author's post-print on author's personal website immediately
Author's post-print on any open access repository after 12 months after publication
Publisher's version/PDF cannot be used
Published source must be acknowledged
Must link to publisher version
Set phrase to accompany link to published version (see policy)
Articles in some journals can be made Open Access on payment of additional charge

So, from the SHERPA/RoMEO it seems I can put a pre-print version on-line on other websites.
Then I had a look at the "Instructions for authors" section in the journal website and there it says that, after acceptance, I have to sign a Copyright transfer statement.
What does this mean?
Also, if my paper get refused from the journal, can I still publish it on the Research Gate?


texts: Is it ok to get independent feedback before handing in thesis?

texts:
I have a thesis to hand in at my university.

Am I allowed to ask a grad student who is an expert in my field to have a look at my thesis and give me feedback (more than merely grammatical / stylistic feedback that is) before handing it in at my university?

Some personal background to this:

I was asking my lecturer once if he knows anyone who is good at subject X. He referred me to Daniel. Daniel wanted me to pay him for his service, and I was ready to do that.
However, he then asked me whether I intended to hand in the paper, because if so, he could not give me proper advice / would have to withhold certain criticisms from me. I told him the truth and did not end up doing it.

But is this so? Was I unknowingly trying to 'cheat'? Would it not have been good conduct, because I would have paid him? Does this make it somehow different from "just asking a friend"?


texts: Visiting professor opportunities for PhD candidates

texts: In my field, economics, I occasionally see opportunities for ABD PhD Candidates to apply for one- or two-semester visiting professor positions (presumably as sabbatical cover). I have only ever heard of two such opportunities, and each was through an email forwarded by our graduate adviser. Are these positions advertised centrally anywhere?


texts: What are some guidelines and best practices for releasing PR statements and project summary to the general public?

texts:
What are some guidelines and best practices for PR statements and releasing a project summary to the general public? My first tendency is to always shorten the project summary, reduce the length of sentences and use more "crisp" words. But what else?

Does anyone have any pragmatic/practical/ advice and is there any sort of tool out there aside from the likes of MS Word readability stats that gives you suggestions to what to change?

EDIT:
Came across this tool today which is inspired by XKCD (what is not?):

CAN YOU EXPLAIN A HARD IDEA USING ONLY THE TEN HUNDRED MOST USED WORDS? IT'S NOT VERY EASY. TYPE IN THE BOX TO TRY IT OUT:

http://splasho.com/upgoer5/

There should be something on these lines available to help with simplifying the language for instance (perhaps with 5000 words rather than THE TEN HUNDRED which is very limiting).


texts: How prestigious is a Fulbright scholarship

texts:
I am an international Fulbright scholar, the scholarship covers my university tuition expenses to complete my Masters degree in the US.

I heard a lot about how the Fulbright scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships there are and I was wondering if the prestige is due to only the financial reasons or are there any other benefits?

Also is the scholarship only prestigious in the US or is it famous on a world wide scale or only in academic realms?


texts: Attending a conference where my ex-supervisor and his collaborator are present, should I attend?

texts:
I have been asked to attend a conference and present from my current employer since this conference is highly focused on my research point. In this conference, my ex-supervisor and his collaborator are going to be present and one will give a lecture. My current employer doesn't know about my story since they did not ask. I am afraid and confused on whether to avoid the places they are going to be in as they have tried to destroy me before and it was very harsh or face my fears and face them without speaking. I am also afraid that they would do badmouthing to my current employer.

What could be the best thing I can do, I am highly interested in to be in, but I am afraid of them and I don't know in case I refused attendance, what kind of accuses I can explain to my current employer ( the project I am working in is cooperation between different university, and each university is going to submit their students for this conference which focused only on my research field).


texts: Returning to academia after long break with new research topics

texts:
I am currently out of academia but I would like to return to university and start as a
postdoc.

It is more than 5 years ago when I finished my PhD in mathematics (algebraic geometry)
at a very weak British university. Despite my efforts, I was not able to find a postdoc
position. From the beginning of my PhD, I did not like my research. Furthermore, the area
my PhD thesis belongs to is quite isolated. I made one publication in a journal which
is rather at a medium level.

Now I have a very interesting research topic I can work on together with another
professor, but in a completely different field. It lies in the area of mathematical
physics. I must add that there is no financial support for this project, so
I have to invest a lot of my personal time into it. My questions are:
Does it make sense to start working on my research topic and later at some point
(for example, when I have enough results with one publication) start to apply for a
postdoc position?
Is it reallistic to get a postdoc position a few years after the PhD but with a research
topic different from the PhD thesis?

I am concerned because of the folllowing things: my main concern is my age. I am nearly
40 years old. There are universities which take this issue into consideration although
officially they would never admit it. In particular, German universities do so. Secondly,
my PhD degree from a weak university does not favor an application for postdoc positions
not to mention a permanent position. Thirdly, I expect that universities will reject
postdocs who have such a big gap in their CV.

Here is some background: I did my undergraduate degree in Germany with an excellent grade.
Unfortunately, I could not find a PhD position in Germany, so I applied to some British
universities. At that time, I did not know that the British university system is
completely different from the German one. So it happened, that I arrived at a weak
university. I was not able to leave it because I could not get any recommendation letters
to start new applications. Although my PhD advisor knew that I do not fit into this
university he did not warn me. Moreover, he was telling me a lot of lies to make me stay
there. It was unbearable. I would have left this university if I could.

After my PhD, he did not help me to find a postdoc position. The only thing that he
did was telling me that there are no postdoc positions and that students who graduated
from strong universities like Cambridge have better chances on the academic market.
This was very frustrating.

I applied to many universities, even outside Europe but not a single application was
successful. Even my applications for different kinds of fellowships failed. It was very
difficult (and still is) for me to figure out what are the important things for a
succesfull application for someone who is in my situation.

Any advice is welcome.


texts:
I found few professors having supervised more than 200 masters theses 'each' in the past 14-15 years. When looked at these theses, I found that out of 200 theses supervised by a professor, more than 100 works were based on the same idea:

theory is same
method of analysis is same
results and discussion are alike (similar)
proposed future works are same

Only the data sets are different, that is in thesis 'x', he used data in the range 1-2, in thesis 'y', he used data in the range 2-3 and so on. In some cases, I found that even the data set in a particular range, say, 1-2, collected by different filters/methods were distributed to 5-6 students and asked to do the same same work. Even after 14-15 years, the future works to be done have not changed. The proposed future works are appearing same from one thesis to another. I noticed the same behavior in the remaining theses also. The whole bunch of theses were just based on 2-3 ideas.
So, the question is: if such type of works repeatedly supervised is good or bad. My personal feeling is that it is a bad practice. Even in masters thesis there should be newness.


texts: How to continually email references without annoying them?

texts:
I am beginning to realize that I may need to suddenly bombard my referees with several emails. They have both confirmed that they would be references.

Firstly, I would like to know whether the school I’m applying to has sent them the form yet that they need to fill out. They should have, but I’m not sure if they did. The application is due January 31st.

Secondly, I sent one of my referees a document of the tasks I worked on during my undergraduate research project to help with the reference. I had a meeting with him last week and he asked me to send this to him. I did yesterday morning and still haven’t heard back. He usually replies very quickly. Should I confirm he received it?

Thirdly, The internal scholarship just opened up and I just found out I need a couple of references for this (it’s only one application). This reference form is nearly identical to one of the other ones I asked them to fill out. I would like to ask them for this reference as well (it’s due at the very beginning of March).

Lastly, assuming they don’t send in their references until right up until the deadline, I will also need to eventually send them a follow up email to make sure they send them in.

I feel like a huge burden emailing them as they are extremely busy (they work with the government in addition to being a professor). How should I go about sending these emails?


texts: Chances of Acceptance after Institutional Action

texts:
During my undergraduate career I was found guilty of academic dishonesty and suspended for 1 semester. Because of this, I was obviously distressed and reevaluated my position as a student. After much thinking, I enrolled abroad in a non-US medical university (using my high school and pre-medicine credentials) and graduated with the US equivalent of a 3.4 GPA and a medical degree. I then returned to my undergraduate university and finished my Bachelor's (BSc) degree with a 3.6 GPA.

I have extensive research experience throughout both my undergraduate career and medical school career abroad without publications. This research experience during my undergrad includes being accepted into a competitive summer research fellowship (before the institutional action took place). I also have worked in 2 different countries (including 1 developing country) as a physician for around a year before finishing off my Bachelor's in the US as mentioned above. The short practice time is only due to my aspirations of pursuing a PhD.

I have always wanted to pursue an MD/PhD before the institutional action took place. I enjoy research and aspire to combine my research interests with my practice on a global scale through an organization I helped found during my undergrad career. It was only due to the ridiculous choice I made that ended in my suspension that caused me to deviate from this dream and pursue only PhD.

Assuming I score above average on the GRE with excellent LoRs, what are my chances of being accepted into any sort of PhD or graduate program? At this point, I am not being selective of any university I wish to attend. I also understand this may be an extraordinary case and would require much thought with respect to my chances of being admitted. This is an especially tough and stressful time for me and I am thankful for your advice.

EDIT: I am interested in biological science or biomedical science as possible routes for my PhD (specifically, cancer biology).


texts: Stream change: engineering undergrad to physics grad

texts:
I am presently a third-year undergraduate of mechanical engineering and I am interested in applying for physics graduate programs for admission in the fall of 2020. Since I hail from a different stream I am a bit worried about my likelihood of obtaining admission.

Although my major is different I have made sure to do the physics undergraduate courses online via platforms such as Edx and Coursera.

I have taught two certified summer schools in General Relativity and certified-credited courses in Classical Mechanics and General Really at my university.
I have written two books, one on Differential Geometry and another on General Relativity (Essential Differential Geometry:The Language of General Relativity and Relativistically Speaking: An Introduction to General Relativity respectively), both published on Amazon and are selling successfully worldwide.
I have published a paper in GR on the decay time of binaries and another paper in Fuzzy Graph Theory is due for publication in the Journal of Analysis and Mathematical Physics.
I have secured the position of a visiting student researcher (5 months and running) at the Center for High Energy Physics at IISC where I have been involved research on holography.

After extensive research regarding whether I can consider applying to universities with strong programs in the field of my liking I found out that the internet is divided into two groups- one which says that only top, well-rounded and “elite” students get into such programs and the other says that people who apply are just highly motivated undergrads.

Do colleges (especially ones in the UK) consider a stream-changing student like me and would I be considered at an international top school?


texts: Help choosing my recommender: weaker letter from faculty with PhD, or strong letter from non-PhD industry boss?

texts:
I know none of the choices below are ideal, but I've exhausted my options.  I'm applying for PhD in mechanical engineering to US schools, some of which specifically stated letters must come from someone who is familiar with my academic work.  I would like advice on which person below might be the best choice, I need to pick one.
PERSON A

PhD/ mech engg professorial position (different subdiscipline than my interest), might be difficult to contact due to pandemic
I took a class.  Grade is pretty good and above average, but not stellar.  I think the letter will just be "took a class" letter.
Was adviser for an engineering undergraduate competition (in unrelated mech engg subdiscipline) that didn't reach fruition (we had to back out at the final stage of the competition, lasted several months).  It didn't go that well, so I don't think I want to remind him about it.

PERSON B

BS mechanical engineering, BS applied physics, masters in mechanical engineering in decent school in US
Taught in my university/department for a brief period, a long time ago
supervises me in my work (1 year).  I have 3 main roles:  two of which are normal engineering roles involving design/analysis, one of which is industry heavy R&D (that's largely confidential and won't have publications).  But I think he will be able to write well of my ability to work independently in R&D, and will be able to speak well of my analytical/critical thinking skills since my other roles involve problem solving
right from the job interview, I already said clearly I don't plan to stay here and my dream is to work in research and get a PhD.  So he will be able to speak of how much I want to get into PhD

PERSON C

Non PhD/ ex-faculty.  No longer affiliated with university, can't use university letterhead.
Stellar grades in class, in semi related field (he taught mechanisms, I'm interested in dynamics)
I've had conversations with him in the past, asking for advice about graduate study, so he knows me a little more than someone who just attended class.

The deadlines are on Dec. 1, and I still don't have recommendations.  I've been emailing other more "ideal" profs since last month, but I won't be able to get letters from them.  One of them, I did a workshop under him in my chosen field, got the highest possible grade in his class, and also worked with him in engineering competitions that went okay, but he rejected my request.  The other one, is the professor I did laboratory assistantship under, who also won't be able to write my letter and I can't contact anymore.  So the choices I stated above, are my only choices.


texts:
Does anyone know of a resource or study that compiles statistics about paper acceptance rates in various journals?

I am more interested in biomedical journals, but this would be a good place to list such resources in any scientific field.


texts: Anyone dealt with "KEI Journals"? What about the journal "Quarterly Physics Review"?

texts:
I received an email from Dr. Naonori Ko wondering if I'd be interested in writing up a review article for a journal called "Quarterly Physics Review". I'm skeptical of new journals, but I also want to support a competitive journal publication market.

Has anyone had any dealing with "KEI Journals" or "Knowledge Enterprises Incorporated" or published in any of their journals (http://www.journals.ke-i.org/)?


texts: What level of French education is generally considered to be equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor's degree: 3rd year of Licence or 1st year of Master?

texts:
In France there are three levels (these are the same for most countries in Europe I think):

Licence (3 years)
Master (2 years)
Doctorat (about 3 years)

In the U.S. I believe there are three levels:

Undergraduate (4 years) after which we earn a "Bachelor's degree"
Graduate (about 2-3 years I think) after which we earn a "Master's degree" maybe (I'm not sure at all)
Doctorate (or maybe this is included in the "Graduate" part? I don't know)

I'm a French student and I'm planning to arrive in the U.S. for the beginning of the Graduate part (I'm going to study astronomy).

I know I should begin the application process at least 7-8 months before leaving France, but should I be leaving right after I finish the 3rd year of Licence or right after I finish the 1st year of Master?

In other words... Which one is generally considered to be equivalent to a U.S. Bachelor's degree: the 3rd year of Licence or the 1st year of Master?

Does it depends on the quality of the universities?
Maybe second-rate universities accept students who have the 3rd year of Licence to their Graduate programs ; while first-rate universities only accept students who have the 1st year of Master to their Graduate programs?


texts: Is it a risk working for a graduate advisor who has over 20 students in their lab?

texts: I recently contacted a professor whose field of study is something that I really want to work on. He replied, that frankly his lab was pretty full at the moment, but he'd love to hear about my plans for graduate school. Since I have already secured funding, I guess this does not automatically disqualify me from working in his lab. My only concern is that in such a large group of people, and not as a student working off of funds the professor secured, I would not get the kind of mentorship I would get in a smaller lab. Just looking for any insight that could help me in making some choices in the future.


texts: Is it ethical (or legal, if applicable) to say you have a degree in X if your degree was in "X and Y" (single major)?

texts:
There are departments in many schools that offer "hybrid" majors, such as:

Computer Science and Engineering
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Materials Science and Engineering
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Nutritional Science and Toxicology

etc.

Let us say you earn a degree in the respective area of one of these majors.
For example, let's say you earned an M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering.
Continuing with this example, let's say that down the road, you are asked to certify that you have the degree in one of the majors (say, an M.S. in Computer Engineering).

Are you ethically/legally/etc. (as the case may be) allowed to claim that you have such a degree? Or are you only entitled to claim that you have exactly the degree written on your diploma/transcript and nothing else, even if it seems like a subset of what is written?

Notes:

If the answer differs between the Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctorate degrees, please explain each one.
If the answer is different for different majors, please explain how/why. And if the answer is different in different situations -- e.g. if it is different in different countries -- please explain how and give typical examples for each case, keeping in mind #3 below.
Obviously, in some cases, you may even be technically allowed to falsely claim you have a degree. I am ignoring such cases here; for the purposes of this question, assume I am only talking about cases where it is indeed not okay (either legally or ethically) to falsely claim you have a degree.


texts:
Question is in the title.

More specifically, do emeritus professors (generally) check the emails which are listed on their university websites? I have emailed a few professors lately, asking about points in papers that they wrote, and none of the emeritus have responded.

I am assuming that they do not check their emails often, if at all - in this case, would it be appropriate to contact the university, requesting contact information for the professor? Or should I leave them be in their retirement? :)


texts: Published paper without advisor's name while receiving stipend from her grant

texts: I know people have asked similar questions before but I feel my situation is somewhat different. I met a graduate student at a conference and we realized that we had a very similar research idea and decided to turn that idea into a paper. We successfully published the paper. I initially wanted to add my advisor's name but decided it would not be in my place to ask as she was not involved at all and she did not ask to be added, so I submitted the paper without her name. It was not quite apparent to me at that time as she did not express any concerns, but looking back, I think what I did was wrong because my stipend came from one of her grants which was not related to the topic I published on (I paid the publishing costs though). Am I right in thinking that I did something wrong? What is going to be the aftermath of this? I have the feeling I have marred my relationship with her.


texts: How to arrange a multi-topic academic homepage

texts:
I would like to build my academic homepage and I am not sure how to organize it. I did research in several very different and unrelated topics, and in every topic I have different types of materials (e.g. introductory texts for students, published papers, presentations, working papers and open questions).

One option is to arrange the website by topic. This will help students and fellow researchers quickly find the material that they interests them and maybe lead to useful collaborations.

On the other hand, potential employers (academic personnel) looking at my website may wish to see the material arranged by type, e.g. see all the publications by years, all the teaching materials, etc, regardless of topic.

What is a good way to arrange such a website? Examples of good multi-topic academic homepages are welcome.

CONCLUSION: Thanks to all the repliers. I learned from all the answers and examples, and finally created my academic homepage here: http://erelsgl.github.io . The main technical decision I took was to use Jekyll - a tool for automatically building a static website from templates. It allows me to put all publications in a single data-file, and then automatically creates pages for each topic and a general "publications" page. It is very flexible and lets me easily manage a bi-lingual website.

EDIT: one thing I am very happy to have put in my website is the wishlist page. In it, I put some open problems and research projects I am interested in. So far, 4 different researchers have contacted me regarding these questions. In two cases, this have already lead to a joint paper. I warmly recommend this idea.


texts: Changing colleges for international graduate student

texts: I joined a university in US for master's program two months ago as a GRA and it turns out my adviser had a lot of expectations from me, which are beyond my reach. He wants me out, though he hasn't explicitly made such a comment and I am also finding myself a liability for a program I don't deserve. I will run out of funding for next semester (or sooner) and it won't be possible for me to continue studies here because tuition fee are awfully high. I am planning to join another less competitive university without transferring credits from here? Do universities accept students who have already started in another university and want to change?


texts: Advantages and disadvantages of doing PhD research at a non-academic lab

texts:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing your PhD research (in science, math, or engineering) at a non-academic lab (like a government or industrial lab) vs. the traditional academic setting? (Of course, the degree is granted by a university.)

When is one option better than the other if you have the choice between doing your research in an academic or non-academic setting?

A few potential advantages I can think of:

You're likely to be hired by the lab after graduation. If you don't want to enter academia and are happy with the lab, this could be your career. If you do want to enter academia, often you're in good company because leaving research labs for academia isn't uncommon.
You can work with more people (your school's students and professors and the lab's researchers). This'll expand your professional network and expose you to different perspectives.
Your affiliation with the lab could add some credibility to you and your research.

A few potential disadvantages:

Travel could be problematic if your school and your lab aren't close. This could be mitigated by taking care of the coursework first.
The research topic is often dictated by someone in the lab if you are funded by them. If you decide this topic is not worth researching or not interesting then you might have a problem. Politics in the lab could change the research topic in the future and that might also be a problem.


texts: Requesting raw data from previously published research

texts:
I am working on a mathematical model to help explain some experimental results and generate new hypotheses. Unfortunately, I have neither the resources nor interest to gather experimental data, but in this particular sub-field publishing a model without showing its usefulness on some experimental data is not common.

There are several existing experimental findings that can be explained by my model. However, they are presented in other modeling papers and the raw data is not available with the paper or on the authors' websites. In the papers they only present partially-analyzed data (for instance, they show results averages over participants, but not individual participant's results; or sometimes they only give the results of statistical tests).

I want to contact the authors for their raw data and have 3 related questions:

What is the protocol for contacting by email to ask for authors' raw data? Is this common?
Will the researchers expect to be invited on-board as co-authors? Or is a citation to their papers, and an acknowledgement of the form "AK would like to thank X, Y, Z for providing their raw data" sufficient?
If my model (without fits to specific data) is in a pre-print state then should I send a pre-print to the authors I contact? What if the pre-print points out weaknesses in their approach to modeling similar problems?


texts: How to search for institutions/universities that have good contributions on a certain physics research topic?

texts:
For example, I am interested in the research related with "Quantum Hall Effects", and want to have a list of institutions/universities that have good contributions in this topic, with number of publications during the recent years. Any idea how? Is there any website provide such searching service? Google scholar, arXiv?

I tried APS search by searching "Quantum Hall Effects" in Abstract/Title. It shows all related papers. But now I just want to know the statistics of the institutional contributions.

Any idea how?


texts: Contribution of gifts and hospital services to university revenue

texts:
This question is based on the pie-charts shown in this link, such as this one for the University of Michigan.

In most of these charts, around 5% of the revenue comes from gifts. What are these exactly?
How do hospitals and clinical services play such a critical role for the revenue?


texts:
I'm a PhD student at my fifth semester in the US. From the beginning of my PhD program, I didn't have sponsored graduate research assistantship from NSF or NIH. I was just on my PhD adviser's startup grant for two semesters and after that I got a job in another department of our university. Right now, I don't take money from my PhD adviser for almost a year and half (so basically I'm a free PhD student for my adviser!). By the way I'm not the US citizen or permanent resident in order to apply for NSF or NIH funds directly by myself so my options regarding funding are really limited or even I would say I don't have any option to get a fund by myself.

As a result, I built my PhD research based on open source available softwares as well as data sets, which I found it initially just by my research without my PhD adviser help. Besides that we don't have any fund, also we don't collaborate with anyone which again limited our options. This relying on open source softwares and data sets is really limited my research, cause the amount of data that I could use for my research is limited to those open source datasets and I don't have access to any other datasets, which might be available in other research groups, because of the problems that I mentioned earlier. The type of data that I need for my PhD research is related to medical images, which is not available easily everywhere and as a result it's really hard to find it as a open source dataset (I was lucky that I found at least one open source dataset!).

Let's say, I processed all the currently open source available data out there and analyze them and answered my research questions. But the problem is: there are several people out there, which are famous people that they are emerged in the field that I'm working on for years and have a big project from NIH or NSF that give them an access to some private datasets that are 10 times bigger than mine. Of course this bigger datasets increase the accuracy of the model that we are trying to work on as my PhD project.

Recently, my PhD adviser compared my accomplishments to these research groups that are engaged in big projects from NIH and NSF for years and said: by using your current open source datasets, it's really hard to say something in this field. I think it's not a fair comparison. Even our recent results with smaller dataset size shows comparable and to some extent better performance than other available models out there. Also, we studied several aspects of our research questions, which did not even touched by other people. So my question is: Am I responsible for that my PhD adviser does not have any fund or grant and as a result it really limited my research? How can I deal with this situation?


texts: File a patent disclosure after paper acceptance

texts:
We were trying to file a patent, but unfortunately delayed the submission of the disclosure. Now the paper is accepted by the conference, not yet published. However, we uploaded the paper in advanced to arxiv.org.

Is there any problems to file our disclosure now? We are in an urgent situation and need to file the patent on behalf of our company.

I'm in the US.


texts: Combinatorics or Linear Algebra for Computer Science/Applied Mathematics Degree?

texts:
I'm looking to graduate in the upcoming Spring with a BS in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, and was curious on which of the two courses would be most applicable moving forward. I'm only able to take one of either "Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory" or "Combinatorics and Graph Theory" next semester, given that I'll be entering the field of Software Engineering following graduation.

Certainly, one class won't make or break one's education in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted to know which would serve best moving forward in engineering, or at the least to round out an applied mathematics degree.

Either way, thanks for your consideration with this dilemma of mine.


texts: What should I focus on before starting a research internship?

texts:
I am a MS student. Recently I changed my topic and started working in quantum computation. I am  working on consequences of closed timelike curves. I was given a problem by my guide on the same topic. I right away jumped onto the problem without strengthening my basics of quantum information/computation. Yet after reading few research papers related to the topic I got the broad idea, though I could not get concrete results (I have few broad ideas on how to approach the problem, but I am stuck now). This summer I will pursue a research internship under a professor who is interested in related problems. Before going to the internship should I spend time strengthening my basics (as I had a lot of trivial questions while reading the papers) or should I focus on figuring out the solution to the problem?

This is my first time as a research intern and I don't know what the professor might expect of me: an almost complete solution to the problem or strong basics plus some ideas on how to approach the problem?


texts: Is mistakenly attributing something to an author that they did not say misconduct or simply bad scholarship?

texts:
Related: Miscited in a bachelor thesis

In the above question, the OP mentions that,

  ...my bachelor thesis had been cited....I have been attributed a conclusion that I haven't drawn, and is indeed counter-indicated by the data I've collected.

Most people are familiar with ordinary plagiarism, where a writer will fail to cite a source for something that actually came from that source. What kind of a violation occurs if a researcher cites a source that says something other than what they claim it does, especially if done inadvertently? For example, suppose Smith (2003) found that "By applying Woot's Theorem to the equation above, we see that the area under the curve is bounded by n to the x where p>3". I, in a rush to get my paper out, mistakenly say, "Smith (2003) found that the area under the curve is always bounded.", not realizing that it had been qualified with the "p>3" condition and that the area might not be bounded in cases where p<=3.

Is this research misconduct or simply sloppy scholarship? That is, if a researcher is "caught" doing this, is the maximum penalty generally article rejection and/or a lowered course grade, or is this a grave mark against the researcher's future career in the same way a founded accusation of plagiarism or falsifying data would be?

My instinct tells me that intent must play a big part in this, and that inadvertent mistakes are simply poor scholarship while an intentional mis-cite ("I'm too lazy to find a real source for this, so I'll just claim that Stephen Hawking said it.") constitutes some type of plagiarism, but most definitions of plagiarism that I have encountered emphasize that intent is not an element, i.e. "Oops, I forgot to cite that" is as much plagiarism as intentionally printing out a copy of a Wikipedia article and submitting it as your thesis.

If this is misconduct, but not plagiarism, what specific kind of misconduct is it? Falsification of data would also seem to not apply, since a citation is not data, and a reader can more easily verify the correctness of a citation than they can verify that the data you claim to have collected in the field was actually collected by you under the conditions that you claim.


texts: Can I put online an accepted paper before the conference?

texts:
My paper has been accepted for a conference, I have chosen the ACM "License to Publish" and the publishers are happy with the camera-ready copy. According to the ACM license I may

  "Post the Accepted Version of the Work on (1) the Author’s home page,
  (2) the Owner’s institutional repository, or (3) any repository
  legally mandated by an agency funding the research on which the Work
  is based."

It doesn't say anything about the timing.  My question is: may I put it online on my own website before the conference?  And if yes, is that considered bad style?


texts: Is it ok to share a a client's dataset on github, along with my code?

texts:
EDIT: I originally tried to make the context as brief as possible, but I may have overdone it.
Context
I'm starting to put some data analysis I'm asked to do on Github, and licensing all my work (mostly R scripts and markdown files  displaying statistics, graphs and brief result descriptions). These are mostly medical and health research projects by graduate students. Faculty there usually ask for help in statistics/design and suggest their students do the same. Since I'm new, most of them are coming to me. Although I don't think it's relevant in this question, I have recently been offered a part-time position there for this exact purpose.
Reasons
The main reason for this is to provide the user student an always up to date version of the current work in progress. If something is quick to fix, say in a graph, they have an instant updated version of the current report I'm writing (usually in markdown).
I also like the transparency I offer to the researchers that ask for my help when I show the development process, what issues I have identified and the overall organization of my work.
Since most of them are not that tech-savy, I prepare the repo with plenty of README.md and other markdown files so they visualize the results and get relevant files without the need to create a github account. They usually report issues to me by email, and I open and close GH issues myself based on their feedback.
Perceived problem
It just hit me that, while my own work is my own to license the way I want, the dataset is not. I didn't participate in the collection, or curation of it. The first step I take before pushing anything to the public repository is to anonymize the dataset.
I usually show the users students the repositories of previous projects, and indicate they'll have such access to their results in a similar fashion. So far, no one has complained about their data being online. One of those projects I show is from a student of an IRB member.
Questions

Should I ask each user if they want me to remove the datasets from their repository?
EDIT: would it suffice to put a warning on the repository that the dataset is not licensed the same way the code, graphs and other contents therein available?
Should I remove all such datasets regardless? Why or Why not?
Is there something else I might be missing about this scenario?


texts: How to efficiently read mathematically and theoretically dense books in STEM fields?

texts:
When it comes to reading, there are literally thousands of methods from Speed Reading to SQ3R to Sequential(Word by Word till the end). My question is regarding reading mathematically/theoretically dense books as a graduate student. My question is primarily targeted to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields.

I have read the other question on SE and this is designed to act as a question on similar lines but for books (> 400 pages) typically found on Reading Lists for Quals. I believe how one reads a book differs significantly from how one reads a paper.
(This could be a question as well but IMO, the length, intention and structure are sufficient to cause the difference)

In order to make this an objective question rather than a vague and open ended one, I wish to concentrate on the following:

Should a book be read from start to finish word by word or through iterations (Skim, Analyse, Summarize)?
If I am interested in a particular chapter with a lot of dependencies, is it in my interest to read everything till that chapter or read that chapter > google unknown terms > read chapter again and loop?
If one gets stuck for over a certain threshold at something is it wise to continue assuming it as true or to persevere till the end and figure it out. This is true for research papers, is it true for books?
How much time per (mathematically dense) page is ideal? This will vary a lot with field but not so much with person as it would with fiction (IMO).


texts:
I completed my undergraduate degree in physics in a good university (outside the US). Because of financial commitments, I couldn't leave for grad school straight away. So I worked for a couple of years as a research assistant at the same university after I graduated. I did very well, got three papers out in around three years and picked up a master's by research for that. I loved my time working in physics but the research assistant job was a temp job at best and I eventually had to leave it.

Now I work at a well known engineering company. The job is relaxed and spare time is plenty and I'm being paid well. There are good opportunities for growth because the company is about to expand in a big way. I also love having enough time for hobbies, fitness and just life in general.

I also applied to PhD programs in the US and was accepted into several good ones. The reason I applied is primarily because I miss physics and I am interested in being really good at core physics. I have this feeling that my education is unfinished in some way. I want to be that guy who has a deep understanding of fundamental physics. That guy who can easily answer questions on the physics stacks. Maybe I'd even like to write a textbook someday. I liked research when I did it but to be honest, I'm not sure I have that same fierce passion for it as I do for learning. In addition to this, I know I'm not cut out for the academic tenure track - Even if I were smart enough (and this is not impostor syndrome or anything, I am self aware enough know that I am good but not great), I have no interest in chasing low paid postdocs and living with the general instability of post PhD life. In five years, when I complete my PhD, I will likely end up in a very similar job to what I have now.

With this in mind, should I simply stay in my regular job and do physics as a side hobby or actually do the PhD?

TL;DR Is it worth doing a PhD if learning and mastery of physics over research is the primary motivation and sacrifice a great career for it?


texts: What are best ways/resources to deal with imposter syndrome or runaway thoughts? I recently published a paper (only my 2nd first author) and was excited about it for about 2 mins before I got very bad anxiety over it. I found some novel findings in my paper and so far it has been well received but I keep thinking "I'm proposing a a new thing that hasnt been seen in the field, what if it was a fluke and can't be repeated and I end up losing my career in science." I did my due diligence in the experiments but I have lost sleep over this thought, and have started to doubt myself as a scientist. I don't have insurance at the moment so can't see a therapist but I was wondering if there were online tools to help with this.


texts: Is it possible to attend graduate school in pure math after undergrad in CSE?

texts:
I am a Bangladeshi student studying CSE in the best university of my country. At the beginning of my second year in my university, an interest towards pure math grew in my mind. But my university does not offer courses in Abstract algebra, Real Analysis, Topology, Complex Analysis, Algebraic geometry, etc. I have seen this related post, but the advice there doesn't help me because there is no computer scientist in my university whose research interests lie between CS and Pure Math.

I met a few of my professors to discuss about my situation. Some of them asked me to study math by myself and also to try to study a paper by mathematicians under whom I want to work, then to write a paper which demonstrates I understand all (at least most of) the things written in the paper, and later send it to them asking if they are interested in taking me as student. They also asked me to get prepared for Math GRE. But is it possible to switch to pure math if I do so? If not, how I can go to a pure math grad school?


texts: In a math talk, is it better to display the number of slides left?

texts:
In a math talk (at a seminar or a conference, not teaching) that uses projected slides, is it better to display the number of slides left or not? What are the pros and cons? Some people tell me they like it, others prefer when it doesn't appear. I'd like to have some objective comments about this.

For some context, talks in math are typically one hour long, so the number of slides can be large. I like to cut talks into a few short sections. Right now I'm using the following layout, displayed at the top of every slide (from the "Frankfurt" beamer theme):

The current slide in the current section is highlighted, as well as the title of the current section.


texts: What to do when you have two manuscripts under review where one cites the other, but the citing paper gets accepted before the cited paper?

texts:
I submitted an article around 11 months ago to a SCI journal and another article around 5 months ago in another SCI journal. The second article cited the first article which was under review for 6 months at the time of submission of second article. Recently, we got acceptance letter for 2nd article while 1st article is still under review.
What action should we take? remove the citation in 2nd article and cite the 2nd article in 1st article or we stay with the current situation. but what if our 1st article got rejection?


texts:
I asked this professor for a recommendation letter. She told me to send her transcript, CV, statement of purpose and the thesis.
I have some bad grades (not in her class though) and don't know how to approach this:

option 1: in my email to her I will tell her the reason why I had those bad grades.
option 2: I just send her all the materials she asked of me without saying anything about the grades. In the statement of purpose, there were already 1-2 sentences explaining my performance in those classes, so if she reads it, she can understand the situation.
option 3: I send her the statement of purpose first. For the other materials, I will send them later. Then she will see   sop before the transcript
option 4:  I just send her all the materials she asked of me without saying anything about the grades. On the SOP, I don't mention my grade as well. Then, if she asks why my grade is bad, I will explain it to her.

Which one do you think is the best option, or do you recommend other alternatives?
Thank you all!


texts: Is it convenient to ask the journal's editor for two additional days to complete a review?

texts:
I am assigned as a reviewer of an article for IEEE TNNLS (computer science), but unfortunately, I would be super busy during the week of the deadline. In fact, I need to submit a paper and also two postdoc applications during the same week.

I'm already trying to do as much as I can before that week, but it'd make things much easier (with better quality) if I can postpone the review at least for two more days. So, I like to know if it looks unprofessional to ask the editor for that extension and whether it'd damage my review performance/reputation in that journal?


texts: What benefits are there to university alumni mentoring undergraduate students?

texts:
My faculty is starting a mentorship initiative where they match undergrad students with alumni from the same program. I was contacted by one of my old professors, and asked whether or not I could be a mentor.

Now I have been in mentorship programs before; and I currently have a mentor myself, but I have always been the mentee, never the mentor. I have to say I never considered what the mentors have to gain in these programs. Is it mostly charity, in the sense that you selflessly help/guide the mentee, or are the intellectual/practical benefits to mentoring, particularly within academia?


texts:
I've just finished my undergraduate education in Physics in Europe and as I want to stay in academics I want to pursue a PhD, which means either a master and then PhD in e.g. UK, Switzerland or Germany or a PhD in the United States. I have now heard that for postdoc positions especially in the US it is generally better to have a US PhD. Is that true?

As the higher education systems are quite different and I have already attended courses like advanced quantum field theory or general relativity and the core courses like qm, classical mechanics, statistical mechanics or e&m on graduate level for my bachelors degree, is it generally the case, that I would have to take those courses again?


texts:
Github, a plataform for collaborating on code implementation has blocked Iranian's based on the fact that they are from Iran. The excuse is that the blockage is to comply with US trade laws.

Now my Iranian students cannot access their work.

Does there exist an european version of github, which is preferentially likely not to adopt the same kind of ridiculous restrictions?


texts: How to properly cite when using most of the text verbatim

texts:
I'm currently teaching a calculus course and I want to create a project in which we analyse different population growth models using the tools we've learned so far. With this in mind I found a great article where both the history and technical aspects of the subject are very well explained. I want to create a PDF where I can write down verbatim most of this text and even some figures (which are part of other papers), just adding exercises and remarks as we move forward.

The question then is, how can I do this without incurring into plagiarism? Two ideas come to mind:

1) Clarify at the beginning of the text that everything, except the exercises, is written down exactly as in the reference.

2) In addition to the above clarification, use a box or quotes whenever a part of the paper is cited. I think this probably is the best course of action, but it's certainly impractical.

Does anyone have a better idea?


texts: Any platform for building research collaboration?

texts:
My research is theoretical and have published some papers in high impact journals. However, I need further expertise to advance my works (e.g., advanced mathematics). Is there any online platform to post my research idea on which like minded researchers express their interest?

I look for a platform in which people are frequently doing this. I know it's somehow possible in websites like researchgate, but it shouldn't be very likely to happen.

No funding is involved. I do most of the research and write the paper, I just need a mathematician to do the math formulation or even check my math works.


texts: Using my ethnically misleading name in a field where it's relevant

texts:
I'm a white person researching Asian history. Let's say I'm married and have taken my husband's name, which is unambiguously Asian (I'll use "Leung" for the examples). I'm unsure whether I should use my legal name for future publications, continue using my maiden name, or find some other solution. Here are my considerations:

Using my legal name

When people see "Leung" in the list of authors or speakers, they'll expect to see a Chinese person. For me to use this name seems misleading. They might expect a different level of language proficiency and a different personal relation to the subject than I actually have.
My husband is a second generation immigrant and has little interest in Asian history, so my marriage is irrelevant to my academic field.

Using my maiden name

My maiden name is a word that means "White". If I use this name and people find out that my legal name is Leung, they might feel like I'm trying to hide something. I don't have many publications under this name, so there's little benefit to continuing to use it. I also don't particularly identify with it, which is why I changed my name in the first place.

Other options

Many people in my situation seem to use a double name. However, this name would still not be my legal name, and being known as "White Leung" feels like a weird joke.

I could use a different name from my family tree, or some complete pseudonym. But this has both the drawbacks of not being my legal name, and also not being the name I have published under so far.

Is there a consensus on what should be done in this situation? Are there resources for people in a similar situation? Since there are many fields where the ethnic background of researchers is somewhat relevant (sociology, area studies, languages...) this must be a common problem.

Edit: Some commenters have expressed the idea that a researcher's ethnicity doesn't or shouldn't matter to their audience. I disagree. For one thing, researchers educated in Chinese universities often have a very different approach to historical topics than those in the west. One commenter has pointed out that this would not affect me, because my western education is declared in my CV. But even for western people of Chinese descent or origin, they will generally have a different perspective on Chinese history than someone who has no personal connection to the place.


texts: A professor has only proofread my paper. Should I include him as author?

texts: I am currently working on a paper in Computer Science. I am the sole author of the paper. Every aspect of the paper, the idea, the implementation, figures, plots, results are all solely based on my efforts. Since I wanted it to be accepted into a good conference/journal, I wanted it proofread. I approached a professor who is doing research somewhere close the same field (not exactly the same field) as my paper's. He made corrections to the paper based on semantics and visual aesthetics. Should I include him as a secondary author? Is it ethically wrong if I just mention him in the acknowledgements section? How should I go about dealing with this situation?


texts:
Finally! I've got invited for an interview for a permanent job (in mathematics), and now I have two weeks to prepare myself. Part of the process is giving a 25 minutes talk about some exciting recent piece of research. The first half should be accessible to a 2nd year student, and the audience is the faculty members.

I was advised by one of my colleagues to take this quite seriously (not that I wouldn't). And having identified a few candidate talks, I am now torn between the obvious question:

  Chalk or beamer?

Pro-Chalk reasons:

Talks go slower, so you can be sure more people follow.
More impressive to hear a good chalk talk.

Con-Chalk reasons:

Black suit.
Cover less ground, and possibly not enough actual new research (even considering the fact this talk will have no proofs and will just serve as an overview).

Pro-Beamer reasons:

Black suit.
No need to spend times writing complicated definitions, equations, or otherwise long and mathy statements.
Helps with time management.

Con-Beamer reasons:

It's easier to gloss over some of the details that you really should focus on.
It's a lot easier for people to momentarily lose focus and lose the entire talk because of a missed slide.
It gives an illusion of help with time management.

So any advice would be helpful.


texts: Co-citations & Bibliographic coupling (differences). Link strength

texts:
I am using bibliographic coupling to map the research front and co-citation to discover the Intellectual base or shared knowledge of a bunch of papers about computing from Web Of Science. The software I am using is VosViewer.
When I interpret the results I still don't know what is the difference. To me both show the most cited. What is the difference?
In am ordering the papers by number of citations, but there is also a number of links, and the total link streght that can be higher despite the links being fewer.
Any help will be very welcomed. Thanks!


texts: (Re-)entering UK academic system after a long time abroad

texts:
This is a sort of general existential question, but I hope it's specific enough to be welcome here.

I'm a reasonably successful not-quite-exactly-young-any-more researcher in my field, but I don't yet have a permanent position. I'm aiming to move to the UK to (re)establish my career there, but I'm becoming a little despondent about my options.

I did my PhD in a UK university, and after a short postdoc in Europe I secured a fellowship in Japan. When that ended I moved to another Japanese institute. I've been in Japan for seven years in total, as an independent researcher for all of that time. My rank is approximately equal to lecturer in the UK. This all probably sounds great, but my issue having never had an academic job in the UK it seems strangely impossible to enter the system.

Part of the issue is that so far my career has been research only - I've never had teaching duties or supervised a student. As I understand it there are no permanent UK academic jobs without a substantial teaching component, so it seems that no matter what comes up I'll be massively underqualified on that front, even if I'm a good candidate as far as research goes. (Not that I have anything against teaching - I imagine it's something I could enjoy a great deal - I just don't know the first thing about it.)

My other problem is that my research field is in basic science and is quite far from any applications. It seems to be a 'hot topic' in the Japanese and US funding systems, but it seems to be quite hard to get funding for it in the UK or EU.

So my question is simply, what kind of jobs might exist in the UK for someone in my position, and what might be a sensible strategy for re-entering the UK academic system? I'd be quite happy to have a non-permanent job at first (such as a fellowship), but I'd be very unhappy to give up my research independence. My first priority would be to get my foot in the door, but presumably it's also important to get the teaching experience that would be necessary to move to a professorship position eventually.


texts: Is it necessary to reply to a solution email by a thank-you email?

texts:
If I asked via email someone, say a member of the graduate admission staff of a school I am applying to, some question, and if the staff member replied to my email with a solution to my problem, does the staff member expect to receive a thank-you email from me?

At the present stage I still am not good at evaluating if it is suitable to reply to such an email by a thank-you note.


texts: Is it common that advisor has no idea about what is going on and totally helpless?

texts:
Before going to graduate school, I had been under the impression that professors were necessarily extremely intelligent.  I had also assumed that professors would tend to be smarter than assistant professors or postdocs.

Now after more than 1 year in my research group, I know that I was very wrong.
My supervisor has no clue to assess student work. They even need help to understand basic calculations, and they cannot help me with questions about papers.

My advisor often fails to understand basic content in my own reports after repeated explanations, becoming angry with me over it.

Questions:

Is this a common situation for PhD students to find themselves in?
What can I do to improve the situation?


texts: When should I contact potential supervisors for PhD in the UK?

texts:
I am in the second year of my masters program and am sure that I want to go straight on to a PhD position when I finish in July of next year. I'm aware that some funding deadlines are as early as January to start in September of the same year, so should I start contacting potential supervisors as early as now (October)? I will be doing some cold emailing to people I have had no prior contact with so it seems good to set up a relationship sooner rather than later, but this may be too soon!

I have a fairly unremarkable CV with no publications to my name, with a possible but not guaranteed one coming in February, which I've heard may be an issue. I am looking to contact researchers who are doing work very close to my thesis topic so hope that this will sway things in my favour.


texts: Setting expectations regarding hourly pay and research work schedule when busy with coursework

texts:
I am a Masters' student and I have been working with a Professor and one of his students for about three months now, and just recently I asked him about a possibility of funding me. He said he would be able to do it, but expects me to submit a proposal for the semester with other expectations, that I would discuss when I meet with him. He also added that the expectations would be slightly different now that he's ready to fund me. That certainly makes sense.  But I can imagine on some days, particularly when I have my coursework exams I cannot contribute much to the Research work, and I'm not sure if I'd meet his expectations then. Should I explicitly talk to him about this or is it understood? Also, the pay will be on an hourly basis and is it a good idea to:

negotiate pay per hour / number of hours per week if it's less than my expectation, say 17-20 hours;  ( I used to work (unpaid) on an average for about 25 hours a week, but university restricts only up to 20 hours)
ask him what he'd essentially do during those weeks of exams etc?