texts: How to deal with your research results becoming obsolete?

texts:
My coworkers are pursuing a generalization of one of my (recent) results. Is it wrong of me to frown a little on this? I would prefer it if they had an original idea of their own, or that if that they had to generalize a result, it would either be one of their own or one of someone they do not know.

The way I see it, a paper has a certain lifespan in terms of being read and cited. Once it has been generalized, that lifespan is in most cases over. If someone wanted to understand a theorem, they would probably look for the most general version. Of course, this does not always apply, for example if the work represents a milestone of some kind. One consequence of obsolescence is the stream of citations to my paper is short circuited. This will, in a sense, benefit them at my expense. Of course, I realize that my paper will eventually (hopefully) be generalized and become obsolete (i.e. no longer state-of-the-art). I just rather prefer that it wasn't my coworkers who are working towards that goal (they even started while I was still drafting my paper).

Please note: I do not mean for this to be read as a rant or a complaint. I do understand how science works by expanding on previous knowledge. I just want to know how others feel about the prospect of their research becoming obsolete, and how to approach that from the perspective of someone in the beginning (and at the same time, possibly the end) of their academic career. I imagine that for a professor such a thing would not be a big deal, for a number of different reasons.


texts: My paper was accepted in one of Elsevier's journal and it was recently published, but there is no pagination instead they have this "article number" for example "Volume 123, Article No. 212021" similar to those in some Springer and Royal Society journals. The paper is already included in an issue. I am wondering, does my paper officially published or not? Could anyone tell me how this policy is called? or where I can locate this policy in the Elsevier website?


texts: I attended a poorly ranked school for my undergraduate education. Will this affect my chances for a PhD in economics?

texts:
I studied math and economics at a poorly ranked university, and I will graduate in the near future. I have a position lined up at a prestigious, data-heavy research institution, where I'll work with numerous economists for a few years before applying to top PhD programs (Berkeley, Chicago, MIT, Harvard, etc.) I took two courses in analysis and did well, although per the quality of my institution, the courses were not challenging.

I also worked as a research assistant and conducted self-guided researched (not published outside my university), so I have several professors willing to write detailed recommendations for me. Apart from a few hiccups in non math/econ courses, my grades are perfect.

Will the fact that my undergraduate degree comes from an unranked institution affect my chances of attending a top PhD program? Will it affect my chances even though my experience after undergrad should speak in my favor?


texts: How to introduce myself briefly in a get together for new faculty members?

texts:
For the new faculty orientation, there is a get together where they will ask every new faculty member of all departments to say a few words about him/her self.

What are the best practices regarding that? any advice/examples/templates of how to do that briefly, eloquently and professionally?


texts: Applying for Academic position after Phd completion

texts: I completed my Phd 5 months ago and I left university to return to my home country. I was an associate lecturer and now I am converting my PhD into articles with my supervisor. The problem is that my working experience stopped 5 months ago and this does not look good for employers/universities. Is there a way to include in my working experience the fact that I am still working with my supervisor in order to produce papers for the university? Can I write that I am a Research Fellow or something else?


texts: Thesis writing style: when to italicize?

texts:
In a thesis or journal you write all sentences yourself, but on some occasions you prefer to take a piece of text from another source. If you do, should you use quotation marks only, or italicize it, or use both, to identify that you have not written it?

Example for quoting directly from a source:

  This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as "an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
  source", and therefore it's emphasized.
  This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as "an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
  source", and therefore it's emphasized.
  This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
  source, and therefore it's emphasized.

Example for a definition with a source:

  Wikipedia defines italic as "a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
  Renaissance in Italy" [2].
  Wikipedia defines italic as "a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
  Renaissance in Italy" [2].
  Wikipedia defines italic as a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
  Renaissance in Italy [2].

Are there are any style guides or recommendations that refer to italicized text, for either quotes or definitions? And related to the two examples, what is the recommended way to distinguish between a quote and a definition?

Edit: note that if a style guide is provided, the guide should be followed. This question relates to situations where no style guide is required.


texts: Is it plagiarism (or bad practice) to cite reviews instead of source material directly?

texts:
My first source of information when preparing a manuscript are reviews. If up-to-date and comprehensive, I feel I can create most of my introduction by rephrasing and citing them. Nevertheless, reviews are based on citing other papers and, with the deluge of literature published these days, finding the source material for a single claim sometimes becomes a never-ending and time consuming play with a Matryoshka doll.

For example, in this review by Misteli (2007), the following claim is made and supported citing three papers.

  The recent development of methods to probe the physical association of
  genome regions in a unbiased and genome-wide scale should lead to
  rapid progress in our still-rudimentary understanding of the
  functional significance of chromatin loops (Simonis et al., 2006;
  Wurtele and Chartrand, 2006;Zhao et al., 2006).

I consider relevant to a point in my article that there are new roads being opened to study “the functional significance of chromatin loops”, To do so, I have three options:

Rephrase the sentence and cite Misteli, 2007, acknowledging that I extracted the citation from the review and depriving the authors of the source material of a citation;
Rephrase the sentence and cite Simonis et al., 2006; Wurtele and Chartrand, 2006;Zhao et al., 2006  without reading the three source papers, which is kind of deceiving but at least acknowledges the authors of the research and not the author of the review; or
Read the original articles, rephrase and cite Simonis et al., 2006; Wurtele and Chartrand, 2006;Zhao et al., 2006, which is the most “honest” option but incredibly time consuming.

Sometimes, if I decide to do 3, I may find myself spending a lot of time reading, only to write something that was already said in the review.

Which option you would abide for? Am I somehow plagiarising the reviewers or primary authors if using any of my strategies? In terms of ethics and good scientific conduct, which is the best option? How deep and when should I look for source material?

I am not asking about which version of an article to cite, like here. I assume that versions cited in reviews are the most up to date. I am asking when it is correct to cite the review or the primary source found in such review.

Note: My strategy up to this days is a mix of 1 and 3: search and cite the source material only if the paper is relevant for the core of my article and cite the review when filling the generals.


texts: Does the length of an IPCC Scientific report imply anything about credibility or thoroughness?

texts:
Background

In a question about the Green New Deal, I posted a comment to an answer that asserted the Green New Deal was not based in any science:

  It's not a surprise that such a report [sic: read resolution] is lacking in science.

In context, his statement is referring to the Green New Deal itself, not the IPCC Special Report. In my comment, I mention that the resolution cites the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC. The fact that that the Green New Deal does cite the IPCC report means that it is not utterly lacking in science (i.e. as opposed to citing nothing).  While United States legislation does not have requirements for rigor, my question is about traits pertaining specifically to the special report.

With regard to the IPCC Special Report, I mention its page length:

  It does include science. The whole resolution is premised on the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C which is over 600 pages in full length. I was just curious about an omission of a detail.

My implicit assumption was that the longer the length of a peer reviewed IPCC report the higher its credibility. I am not referring to the Green New Deal; I know united states resolutions do not have any research standard.

That said, given the following comment, I am now questioning the assumption of length in relation to credibility:

  Why is the length of that report relevant?

This comment is what lead me to ask...

Question

Does the length of a peer reviewed scientific report, in this case the IPCC Special Report, imply in any way that it is more credible or thorough in its results?


texts:
This question expands a bit on my previous one Acknowledging funding.

I am unsure how to write proper acknowledgments at the end of a research paper. The wording that I read most often is Author XY is [partially] supported by..., which does not correctly describe my situation unless one stretches the meaning of these words.

More in detail, here are the two sources with which I have trouble:

a foundation that used to give me a postdoc grant. I did part of the work of this paper while living off this grant, which expired six months ago, and part of it under my new employer. How should I write this? If I write is supported by, I give the impression that I am currently being paid in full by the foundation; if I write partially supported I give the impression that I just got a smaller grant.
a research institute that paid my travel expenses for a conference. While this funding is not directly related to the paper, I met my co-author there and had a chance to discuss its state. And, besides that, it is basically my only occasion to acknowledge this grant. How should I write this? Is partially supported the correct wording, or is there a better expression?


texts: Should I learn the research methods first?

texts: I'm going to start my PhD in 10 month time. My general area will be HCI (Human Computer Interaction). Should I read papers and look at the method used in that paper then read about that method? or should I read about most research methods in the area before I start reading any paper?


texts: Is it self-plagiarism to copy & paste from my own published paper to my grant application?

texts: If I copy & paste sentences from my own published paper to my grant application, will it be considered self-plagiarism? Is it forbidden? The grant application is not published anywhere; this is an internal submission for the  grant agency.


texts: How should I prepare e-prints (pre-prints and post-prints) of already published papers?

texts:
I am about to embark on the publication of pre-prints or post-prints of about a dozen papers that have already been published in peer-reviewed journals. I plan to use the SHERPA/RoMEO database to decide whether to publish a pre-print or post-print, and when it is appropriate. I have backed up the published papers at both the pre-peer review and post-peer review stages.

These documents will be lodged primarily with my institutions repository, but also on a personal website and perhaps academia.edu. Due to my field of research, arvix is not appropriate.

I am aware that I may need to make some modifications to the manuscripts before lodging them as a pre-post print. For example, it seems appropriate to link to the canonical, published version of the paper on the cover sheet. But I am unaware of what other changes I may need to make to the manuscript. A checklist of modifications to make would ease this process and help me to avoid missing things.

What steps should I go through to prepare a manuscript for publication as a pre-print or post-print?

UPDATE: I've made an example post-print here. Are there any concrete improvements I could make on this, or important things I'm missing?


texts: Acknowledging funding originally intended for another purpose

texts:
I am paid as a postdoc from two different grants that have been awarded to work on specific subjects. While these subjects are my main workload (both in terms of time spent and results achieved), I also work on the side on other (unrelated) problems.

When I publish these side studies, should I acknowledge my funding sources, given that that money was not awarded for the purpose of conducting that particular research? I have no problem acknowledging them, but I'm worried that by doing so I might give the impression that I'm using the money for what it was not intended.


texts: TA struggling with how much time grading takes

texts:
This semester I was assigned as a TA to a Class that I am not very familiar with.
As a result, grading takes me too much time.
For example, for a class of 74 people, it took me 24 hours to grade their assignments (7 exercises per person). One of the reasons it takes me that much time is that I have to study in order to refresh the content in my head before grading.

What should I do in order to make the procedure more time-efficient?
Should I tell my concerns to the professor I am TA for and as well as my PhD supervisor ? I fear I might seem lazy or unproductive.

To cope with workload whenever I have grading to do I make sure I finish it within one day so that I can focus on the other stuff I have to do in the next days of the week.

-----------------------Edit with answers to questions-----------------------

Since people asked more questions about my situation here are answers:
I keep office hours for 2 hours per week.
I have to grade 3 packages of these assignments for the whole semester.
The first package was for 91 people the second was for 74.
The was provided with indicative solutions but the answers are open-ended


texts: Grant funding for independent researcher with no past track record

texts:
I am an independent researcher working outside of academia with no past track record so far. Is it still possible to apply for research grants anyway, and how should I go about doing so?

I do have a very good research plan, but the catch is, I need some funding before I can carry them out. How can I convince grant agencies to give me a chance?


texts: How to ask for a recommendation letter from a professor after long time?

texts: I had worked under a supervisor in 2015 and that year I asked a recommendation letter from him for a Ph.D. He wrote it very well. On 2016, I again asked him for one and he sent me again. Both of the times my application was unsuccessful. This year I had applied for a very prestigious scholarship again and I have been shortlisted. While applying they asked for the name of the referee and they said they will send a request to submit a reference letter to the referee if the applicant is shortlisted. So the scholarship committee already sent the professor a request mail. I did not expect that I will be shortlisted so I did not inform my referees earlier. Now I am confused how to write him an email and ask him if he can write one for me again? The professor is really good and helpful. We did not have any contact these years which made me feel awkward to write him.


texts: What does the publisher mean by “Manuscripts […] are not returned to the authors”?

texts:
I submitted a paper to the journal Mathematica on January this year, but I haven’t heard anything from them so far. I tried to write to the editorial office a few days ago, but did not receive any answer.
Then I noticed the following sentence on the web page of the journal, in Information for authors:

Manuscripts not accepted for publication are not returned to the authors.

Could someone explain me its meaning? I thought that, even in case of rejection, at some point they would let me know. Does this sentence mean that this is not the case?


texts: How can an Error in Google Scholar be corrected?

texts: The bibliographic data of an article of mine is confused with that of a book with the same title. Not so long ago the book was confused with another article of the same year, thereby cancelling the citations. How to correct and restore?


texts: Using a figure from a U.S. government publication

texts:
I would like to use a figure from a U.S. government publication in a research paper that I will submit for publication in a journal.

In particular, I would like to use Figure IV-1 from JP 4-03.

From this post it seems like you have to get permission when reprinting figures, but my reading of Section 3.1.2 on this government website dealing with copyright seems to say that there is no copyright on the publication.

If this is the case, will a caption like the following:

Fig. 1  Notional overland fuel distribution, reprinted from Joint Publication 4-03,
        Joint Bulk Petroleum and Water Doctrine (U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2016)

where I cite the publication and make it clear it is not my own image be sufficient?


texts:
I think this is more of an interpersonal/workplace question rather than an academic but still related I think.

I'm in the first year of a three year post doc in the UK. I enjoy the work I do with my advisor for the most part and I enjoy working with my advisor. Its unfortunately, everything else about the position I dont like.

The building doesnt feel 'academic', rather more of a generic office building. While this is likely minor for most, one of the reasons I chose academia over industry was the dislike of 'office culture' ie semi-forced social events, rumours, cliques, almost timed coffee breaks, offices with many people leading to volume issues or temperature disagreements etc. While some of this may be UK culture (American), I still find it hard to want to come into work. Some interpersonal issues as well in regards to politics (centrist with regards to American politics, which is apparently far far right in the UK).

This has led to me working from home or working odd hours (~6am to 2-4 pm) so that I attempt to remain productive while not having to deal with these issues. This led to rumours about me being depressed and 'raised eyebrows' about how I leave much earlier than others. Outside of work, I enjoy my hobbies and the area and I am mostly content, but having to come into work 5 days a week just drains me and stresses me out and is wreaking havoc on my emotional state and to an extent my productivity.

I have brought this up to my advisor, and we may try and change my location in the building, but there's likely not a free 1 person office so all the previous issues are still there.. just different desk location? Im not as productive at home and Im unsure how 'okay' the department is with regards to me working from home even if my boss is okay with it.

I'm unsure I can manage 2 more years at this rate. Advice?

TL;DR I like the work I do and my boss, I just dont like going to work or being at work. What should I do.


texts: How to cite a dataset, when my calculations relied on the data?

texts:
Occasionally I need to present some figures that I calculated with custom scripts against a dataset, such as a dictionary, text corpus, or some form of lexical database. The calculations are my own, but the dataset was created by other researchers. When presenting my figures, how can I write an APA-style in-text citation in a manner which makes it clear that I relied on the dataset, but that I did not take the figures from somewhere explicitly stated in the dataset? I do not wish readers to blame that source I cited if my figures are wrong.

Here is a simple example:

  'E' is the most frequently occurring vowel in the Spanish language and appears most often after the letter 's' (Brown, E. K., 2014).


texts: Has anything changed about the "default" arXiv perpetual license?

texts:
I am new to arXiv and when I asked several of my colleagues which license I should select for my submission, they tell me to use the one marked as default, referring to the "arXiv.org perpetual" license. However, the statement that implies that "perpetual" is default has been removed apparently. I am simply asking to find out why that is, and if anything important has changed recently.

Here is what the first page of an arXiv submission looked like in 2012, according to this blog:

Notice the underlined statement: Select arXiv perpetual unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Today it looks like this:

The default qualifier statement is gone! Why is that? Has anything changed?


texts: Low Undergrad GPA but 2 years Lab experience since graduating, How do I know where to apply?

texts:
I've been working as a research assistant at a fairly reputable lab for about 1.5 years now (it will be two full years come November.) My field of study is Cognitive Neuroscience.

I plan on taking the GRE in November, and I'm confident I will score highly on it.

(Aiming for at least the 95th percentile.)

My undergrad GPA was quite low.

I completely bombed my first year and a half of undergrad, and ended up with a 1.33 GPA the second semester of my Sophomore year.

(I'll add that I also chose my courses terribly, instead of getting my general education requirements out of the way I took Psychology courses that were not even relevant to what I want to do, and usually skipped them).

I almost got kicked out, but I appealed and committed to getting my life together. By graduation I managed to raise my GPA to a 2.85.

I excelled in the advanced courses within my major, and developed great relationships with the faculty. My GPA within my major is probably closer to a 3.2, I haven't calculated it yet from my transcript. I really can't understate how badly my first two years went.

My issue is I'm having difficulty narrowing down a list of PhD programs to apply to. I'm uncertain how much my work experience offsets my low undergrad GPA. Obviously I want to apply to the best possible programs, but I also don't want to waste potentially hundreds of dollars applying to schools I have no shot of being accepted to.

One of my top-choice schools, as of now, is the University of Washington.

Am I deluding myself hoping that I could be accepted there? I plan on meeting with some of my former professors/undergraduate advisor soon, as they know my history and can most likely offer the best advice, but I figured asking on here was also worth a shot.


texts: VG Wort – why would I agree to share with the publisher?

texts:
Background

When I reported my publications from 2017 to the VG Wort today, I could decide whether I wanted the publisher to get a share of my returns from the VG Wort (‘Verlagsbeteiligung”).
The pertaining information provided by them only elaborates technical details.
Unless I missed something, I plainly decide whether a portion of my returns shall be given to the publisher or myself.
Moreover, given that the decisions for analogous retroactive redistributions were anonymous, I assume that this applies here as well, i.e., the publisher will not know how I decided but just see how much they got in total.

Question

I feel like I am missing something: Is there any reason why I would choose to let them have a part of my share? To forego the inevitable discussion, assume that I do not consider the publishers of my papers worth or in need of additional financial support.

Note that this is about newly reported publications, not about the redistribution of returns between 2012 and 2016 after their distribution was ruled to be unlawful.
Here I can understand that one might argue that publishers could not account for this in their calculations.
However, this does not apply to publications from 2017 as publishers had the chance to adapt.

For the search engines: Warum sollte ich einer Verlagsbeteiligung bei der VG Wort zustimmen?


texts: What do I put for my affiliation on a paper when I have none

texts: I have been asked by a journal to provide my affiliated university. The assumption is that I am a professor or researcher. I work in industry and spend my non-working hours doing research. What is a common way to handle this problem?


texts: Should I list a submitted but not yet accepted conference paper in my resume for grad school applications?

texts:
I'm an undergrad and will be submitting a paper to a conference soon, but it will not be reviewed until after grad school admissions are due. Should I and how would I note this on my resume?

There are similar questions to this but none are in context of grad school admissions as well as not yet accepted papers.


texts:
I have submitted a preprint to arXiv. Since the paper has been accepted in a conference, I will like to mention this in the "Comments" section (where the author makes some comments about the paper) that appears in arXiv. How to do this?
Note that the paper remains the same. Only comments need to be updated.


texts: Coadvisor assigning seemingly superfluous tasks

texts:
Context: I am a fourth-year graduate student in mathematics at a university in the US.

One of my colleagues in applied mathematics has two advisors, one in mathematics and one in chemistry.  He's trying to graduate this semester, and he (understandably) wants to devote the majority of his time to writing his thesis, applying to jobs, etc.

Unfortunately, his chemistry advisor seems to be taking advantage of him.  She is continuously asking that he perform all sorts of calculations for her that have nothing to do with his research.  These calculations are not particularly difficult, they just happen to be beyond the mathematical capability of his advisor.  He suspects that she does not consider them important enough that she would do them herself in the case that she could.

As he still needs her to serve as a reference, he is somewhat limited in how he can handle this situation.  His past attempts to refuse or delay working on these "projects" have usually been met with significant resistance.  Any suggestions for how he might proceed are much appreciated.


texts: Is it common for doctoral dissertations from for-profit schools to be unavailable?

texts:
I've been trying to find the dissertation of someone who advertises that they hold a "doctorate of management" from the "University of Phoenix". The degree requires a dissertation, but the school does not require the dissertation to be published, apparently, because neither is the work listed on ProQuest, nor does the University's own library hold it. My liaison indicated that the author may have deliberately chosen not to distribute the work. I have not yet been able to obtain a copy.

Is this obscurantist practice rare at good universities & common at for-profit universities?

Any other factors at play in the unavailability of a graduate dissertation in the United States?


texts: What is the Corresponding author about in the list of authors of a Journal or Conference paper? As fas as I read, it is the person who confirms results or whom actually is the intellectual mind of the idea behind the published work. Can it be more than 1 author in some cases then?


texts: How much detail about mental health issues should one include in "Special Circumstances" section of graduate school applications?

texts:
This question is inspired by answers and comments to the question "Should a postdoc talk about his depression with his mentor?" on this website.

Suppose that an applicant to a graduate program suffered from some mental health issues during the completion of his previous degrees, and that this situation had a noticeable impact on his academic performance (for example, significantly lower grades or part-time status for one or several semesters).

Most graduate school applications have sections dedicated to providing explanations for such special circumstances, and it is of course strongly recommended that any applicant with unusual drops in academic performance should mention something about this in the special circumstances section. Otherwise, the admission committee will be left to guess what might have happened, which is likely to decrease the odds of being admitted (indeed, it seems a consensus that the more tangible information an admission committee has about an applicant, the more confident they can be about the fact that admitting him will be a sound investment).

Many answers/comments to the question "Should a postdoc talk about his depression with his mentor?" seem to recommend being very careful about revealing details on one's mental health conditions, given that there is still a lot of stigma attached to mental health conditions. However, in the case of PhD applications, not mentioning anything is not an option.

This then leads to the following question: If not making any mention of health issues is not an option (such as in PhD applications), how much details should one go into? To avoid stereotyping associated to any particular disease (such as depression=unreliable, learning disability=not smart) one could limit the description to "health problem", but could this lack of details be seen as suspicious and/or still a situation where the admissions committee will have to do guesswork?


texts: Which is more beneficial prior to PhD: research experience or a second Masters degree?

texts:
I will be applying to do a PhD in Applied Mathematics, and have been advised by some professors to consider doing a second masters degree if I do not get in. I have also approached researchers about collaborating on projects with them to improve my profile, and is currently working on one.

I was wondering: if I fail to get into a PhD program, would it be more beneficial for my next application if I enroll in a second masters degree, or would it be better to continue doing research projects?

Edit: Both Suresh and JeffE gave good advice, but I have some points to add.

I am already actively doing research with the possibility of publication (will submit but peer review process is iffy).
Of course, if I am already doing research with well-known faculty collaborators who will write strong letters of recommendation, there is no need to go for a second masters. But would it be realistic to count on a second masters for the opportunity to work with well-known faculty? (IMHO finding supervisors is quite a crapshoot)

I suppose there are quite a few PhD applicants like me: did a masters, but did not excel. Should they try to get research experience with academic collaborators or go for second masters? (there might not be a right or clear cut answer)


texts: When resubmitting a paper, should I write individual letters for each reviewer or one common letter?

texts:
My question is simple. When resubmitting a paper after review was done, should I include different response letters to each reviewer, or should I include my comments addressing each reviewer remark in a single letter?

Edit: I usually send one single letter. However, recently, I was in a situation where the reviewers made only minor comments while the editor had a major issue. I'd think the editor would not necessarily want to share his major comments with the reviewers, so I sent separate letters so the editor might choose which ones to send to the reviewers. This made me think that always sending separate letters is possibly the best practice.

Edit 2: Please note that I'm not asking how to write good response letters in general. I'm sure there are plenty of good advice about that on Academia.SE. I'm particularly interested in pros and cons of using single vs multiple letters.


texts: How to protect against the theft of a paper?

texts: A professor requested that I exchange my paper with another student, to get their suggestions. Every student in the course must exchange their papers in this way, before the teacher will look at it. I have never encountered another professor with such a policy and am concerned of the possibility that a student might claim my paper to be their own. What steps can I take to guard against such a possibility?


texts: Whom to ask for letter of recommendation while I have worked only with my advisor in PhD

texts: I am a 4th year PhD student in Computer Science. For my PhD thesis I have worked on problems in Stochastic systems. Currently, I have a publication (accepted) in a Tier 1 Applied Math. journal and another  under review in another Tier 1 Applied Math. journal. Also, one work is in progress. Now, I have started thinking about applying for Postdocs. I heard that 3 letter of recommendation is needed. For my PhD thesis I have worked only with my advisor (I am the lead author in all my papers). Hence I am confused about whom to ask for letter of recommendation other than my advisor. One option is my course instructors (I got good grades in all my courses). Could anybody give me any suggestion?


texts:
This probably depends on field, but in Computer Science  it is common for people to publish similar material in workshops, then conferences, then journals.  Each time it is acceptable to reuse some material from one level to the next as long as there is some new material (journals sometimes will publish verbatim but that's anohter matter).

So, is it acceptable to borrow significant text from one conference paper to use in a second conference paper?   In my experience the answer is no, but I'm curious if there are any guidelines, and if so, whether they vary across disciplines.

BTW, after posting I came across this: Attitudes towards self-plagiarism ... certainly related to this.  I commented there, and should have mentioned here, that a complicating factor with regard to reuse of text arises from the use of blind submission: if you can't say who you are, you can't admit to copying your own text.


texts: Should I put a theorem statement with a lot of hypotheses and notation in the introduction?

texts:
I have a theorem which requires a lot of notation and explanation and hypotheses in order to state. I usually tend to put all theorem statements in the introduction of the paper so that someone can skim through the introduction to know what the paper is about. I am not sure how to put this very long theorem in the introduction without making the introduction unreadable.

Is there a standard procedure to follow in such cases?


texts: Can I get a PhD if I did research without being enrolled in a PhD program?

texts:
I have been working under the supervision of a Professor at a german University for a couple of years on a research project that could be published soon with me as a first author.

However I am not enrolled in any PhD program. Is it possible to get a PhD if I were to write a PhD thesis based on the work I have done so far without having to enroll on a program.

It seems now like a waste of time to enroll into a PhD program and have to do an additional 3 or so years.


texts: On Pedagogical Tools: Is swearing or chewing someone out a viable method?

texts:
I am well aware of the decorum and tact expected of professors, teachers and TA's. But in the rare instances where an instructor swore to emphasize a point, the class and I remembered the outburst clearly and with vivid detail.

Without going into detail the gist of the situation was that a group failed to prepare for a big presentation that was scheduled well in advance and decided to 'wing' the presentation with a last-minute powerpoint slide of uncited material.

The professor, having lost his cool, chewed out the group in front of the class with a string of f-bombs stipulating how stupid and idiotic it was that the group not only failed to plan but planned to fail. The professor subsequently failed the group for the project. This was a point of discussion and remembrance whenever the class was talked about after the semester was over.

Nevertheless, the learning moment was accomplished and no one after the incident ever failed to produce viable work afterwards.

With this said, what are the ethical, moral, legal, and interpersonal considerations here that I am unaware of?


texts: Interviewing for another department within the same university

texts:
I recently enrolled in a university program, lets call it X. X is a relatively new department trying to grow and currently includes about 30 people. The title is Professional doctorate in engineering (PDEng) and it resembles being a PhD candidate (i have a salary but i do not teach or perform research, instead i work with industrial partners on various projects). As far as i know this kind of position only exists in the Netherlands.

After some months I started doubting whether I am a good fit for the program since the projects are not really interesting for me. At the same time I know about another PDEng program, lets say Y, offered by the same university with equal salary which might better fit my career prospects.

I am now thinking of applying for an interview, however this could be tricky. I do not want to talk with my current program director in advance, in case I get rejected by Y. For the same reason I would like the director of program Y not to contact my current employer.

I have the following 2 specific questions:

1) Should I ask Y's director for discretion by mentioning my reasons?

2) Is it possible/probable that i will automatically get rejected since im proven to be unreliable/unmotivated?

This question: Switching between different graduate departments within the same graduate school? refers to graduate programs, whereas I am a salaried employee, therefore i think my director will be quite unhappy since he has "invested" in me somewhat.


texts: What are the downsides (if any) of having a PhD to work in the software industry? Any about having technology certifications?

texts:
So you can take me seriously, let me first introduce myself: I am a PhD student about to finish my thesis and, thinking about future employment, I am considering to obtain an Oracle Java Certification, ammong other things.

The question I ask may sound odd, but I found this comic: http://stevehanov.ca/blog/index.php?id=56

Apparently, having a PhD is considered as a downside when applying for a job in the software industry. I don't see how that may be funny, and the reason behind it.

Moreover, and actually what made me make this question here: having taken a course in a technology is considered much worse, for instance, than having grammar errors in the resume or mentioning your skills using MS Word. One guy even say "The point about certifications is dead-on". Other person comments "For most of the good Cisco certifications you HAVE to take the course, otherwise you will epic fail".

This make me wonder if the problem is to had taken the course to get the certification, not the certification itself. Maybe they mean that showing in your CV that you completed a 10 hours online course on "Starting with C language" is perhaps not a good idea. Otherwise I don't understand.

I hope someone can shed some light on this.


texts: Choosing appropriate words for lay summary of a health research project

texts:
The lay summary of a research proposal is often needed to secure grants and get wide public support and engagement, especially in health research.

I understand that the more a scientist understands her research, the more her ability to explain it to the public and to write an excellent lay summary. It should be easily readable, and should use everyday words instead of complex terms and scientific jargon.

Problem

Apart from structuring the whole summary, the word choice could be challenging, especially for non-native speakers who don't directly work or have sufficient contact with the public.

One could:

ask for help from relevant patient and public engagement (PPI) groups or native colleagues: they can even help revising the whole document, but I think scientists should improve their own public writing skills in the first place
look for synonyms in dictionaries: this could help, but general dictionaries don't tell which synonyms are understandable by the average people
read related articles in websites that provide health information to the public: this is potentially very useful for familiarisation with non-jargon language, but may be time-consuming.

Questions:

Other than asking for help from others, what are (other) effective ways of finding out whether the words and phrases I use in a lay summary are appropriate to the public audience, and if not (which is more important), finding better alternatives?
Is there something like a "dictionary" to translate common or domain-specific jargon words/phrase to simple English (similar to 'academic word lists')?


texts: Academic dishonesty after acceptance of graduate school

texts:
I am being accused of academic dishonesty on a problem for a class this year. I have already accepted an offer to a Ph.D program and if I am convicted, there will be no mark on the final transcript I send them, and the effects are probably going to be nonexistent on my actual grade. Should I be concerned that this will turn up, and is it likely I will have to disclose this later?
Edit (some more information that may be relevant):
This has no way of connecting to the professors who wrote my recommendation. My concern in case of conviction is mainly the extent to which I may have to graduate schools, and whether or not my existing statement that I have not been convicted (submitted prior to all this) will be checked (in the case of a conviction, it may appear that I lied).
The alleged offense is itself minor (as far as these things go) and based on resemblance with something online. Not that I expect this to have an impact on how it is externally viewed.


texts: How and if to advise editor about suitable referees for my paper

texts:
I am writing a paper where the proofs involve more than one field of mathematics. Call them fields X and Y for simplification. This is not very unusual, but I think it may confuse the editor in the following sense:

There are several motivations for the paper coming from both fields X and Y. However, all technically hard parts in the proofs belong to field X.

So, in my opinion, it would be best to get at least 2 referees, at least one of them from field X (but another one from field Y would be great, at least to give comments regarding the motivation).

While I am not the first one to write about the problem my paper attacks, it is still a rather new problem, and an editor possibly will not have the right "feeling" about what kind of expertise is required for working on this problem.

Even more confusing: Previous work on this problem has been done through field Z, which is certainly not my approach (people from field Z will have to struggle quite a bit with the technical parts of my paper, as I had to struggle with reading their work).

My contribution in this paper is "generalization, theory building, solving some open problems stated by others, stating new open problems". But there is another contribution - I give new motivation which applies also to previous work (not done by me), but went unnoticed.

I would like to communicate to the editor the information regarding what kind of mathematicians I think should review my paper (when I submit it). However, I am afraid it may come out as very rude: Not only I am telling him how to do his work, I am telling him how to judge my own work! Yet, if I were the editor (I am young and not an editor anywhere), I think I would appreciate the information that "this is how the author thinks I should do my work".

Should I communicate any of this information to the editor? What part of it? If coming out as rude was not be an issue at all, I would send a list of possible reviewers explaining why they are good for the job in my opinion.


texts: How does one proceed when publishing a research paper to refute the conclusions of another (someone else's) research paper?

texts:
I am a computer science undergraduate going into grad school and trying to learn more about research.
How does one proceed when publishing a research paper to refute the conclusions (or some of the conclusions) of another (someone else's) research paper? For instance, let's say that you study a machine learning research paper that makes some dubious claims, and then offers hand-wavy reasoning and a computational simulation experiment to support said claims. If you then study the subject matter further and use more formal and/or rigorous reasoning (perhaps a formal proof) to show that the conclusions (or some of the conclusions) are wrong, then how does one go about publishing a paper that refutes the other research paper? Is there anything different about this type of research paper (or, rather, should anything be done differently) compared to the more conventional, non-refutational type of research paper?


texts: Transferring math graduate school to another country

texts:
I joined my current university (in a South Asian country) as a PhD student in mathematics last year (August 2016). My first year was spent doing coursework mostly, apart from doing reading projects in my areas of interest. My relationship with my advisor is excellent. However i want to transfer to a PhD program in Europe (more specifically Germany or Switzerland) as there are more people working in that area ,it's much easier to attend conferences (usually limited support offered by organizers is usually not enough to travel from my country) and I feel it will better for my career to do a phd from a more prestigious university.

How feasible are my chances or is it frowned upon in academia?


texts: Why does research on the busy beaver function get funded?

texts:
I saw this video about the busy beaver function and looked at the applications section of the Wikipedia article about the busy beaver function.

I concluded that there is zero practical or even theoretical value in searching these numbers S(n) : n > 5. Now in the video the person says, that people are using supercomputers to calculate S(5). Now I assume using supercomputers is expensive and so somebody is obviously funding this research.

Am I too narrow minded to see the value of funding such research and there is actual value to it or what other reasons are there to fund such endeavors? I assume most academic research is funded by taxes and so it should bring some value to society. While there might be some intellectual value in having such knowledge, does the cost justify it?

PS: Probably this question is too broad/opinion based, but I didn't know on what SE site it would fit best or how to improve it to make it less opinion based, feel free to edit.

EDIT: The economic question is partially solved, by supercomputers being much cheaper than I thought so that argument falls flat. Still could somebody give me a hint on what the value of such research is?


texts: Going for PhD or MS in research right after under graduation?

texts: I have a bachelors degree in computer science and am going for PhD or research MS, but I do not have research experience.  Can I expect to successfully obtain a PhD?  What are the major problems faced by a student who has no prior research experience but has good technical knowledge in computer science (but perhaps less so in mathematics)?


texts: Risks of shifting to post-publication review

texts:
I've heard some compelling arguments from open science advocates for a system of reviewing scientific research outputs that focuses almost exclusively on post-publication peer review. The idea is that research would initially be published in free and open venues, with little to no lag time resulting from pre-publication review (pre-pub review, if any, is focused on weeding out large and obvious flaws and not on assessing perceived significance or impact). Once published, social tools similar to those in place at Amazon and StackOverflow (reviewing, commenting, reputation systems, etc.) would be used by the community for more in-depth assessment and critique of research outputs. Scientists could get credit for post-publication reviews, which (if openly accessible along with the article) are  valuable scientific contributions themselves. On the other hand, junior scientists afraid of unjust retribution for being critical of a senior scientist's research could post reviews anonymously/pseudonymously, protecting their professional reputation but still making an important contribution to the scientific discourse.

I've seen two primary arguments against this kind of system: 1) that pre-publication review is an important quality control mechanism, and 2) that it ensures that the published scientific literature actually gets read. Regarding this second point, many raise the point that many research articles go uncited (and potentially unread by anyone other than the authors and reviewers). It could be tragic if a major scientific breakthrough existed in the literature, but was never widely acknowledged because the paper never got any attention and post-publication review.

Do these risks give real cause for concern? Is there some level of quality control that can only be done pre-publication? Do we risk missing out on important research by not requiring rigorous review of all published material? And are there other risks not mentioned here that would make a shift from primarily pre-pub review to primarily post-pub review problematic?


texts: How long after submission of revisions should you wait before it is reasonable to enquire about manuscript status?

texts:
The following question asks about how long after making a submission you should wait before contacting the editor to enquire about the status of the submission. (i.e.,  When / how should I ask about a manuscript's status in review? ). Many people suggested that after around 6 months, it was reasonable to contact the editor to enquire about the status of the manuscript.

I have a manuscript where we received a positive set of first round reviews. We submitted revisions. It has now been five months. So my question is:

When is it appropriate to enquire about the status of submission of revisions?
Would you use the same rule of thumb that you use for initial submissions (e.g., 6 months or so)? Or is it reasonable to enquire about the status of the manuscript sooner? Alternatively, would you be less inclined to enquire about the status because there is more to lose by irritating the editor?


texts: Writing a paper from Master thesis, but not sure how to organize the paper or what to include in it

texts:
I finished my master thesis and my advisor asked me if I would like to publish a paper on it. Being my first paper, I was very excited when he first told me, so I immediately started reading the journal rules about how to write it properly.

Now I am at the point in which I should start writing, but I actually do not know how to organize things. I asked my advisor and he said it should be a sort of summarisation of the thesis, but I fear some contents of the thesis, that were new to me at the beginning, might be taken for granted from research people and so I will actually write obvious things.

Also, I have some contents which, I think, are quite interesting in the sense that I saw only one other paper using some of these concept, but without providing any information about the set-up of the code, which is something I would like to add since I feel it might be useful to have an example on how to do it, especially if you are at the beginning as I was when I started the thesis. Still, the idea is not new. So, how to deal with this? My feeling at the moment is that the paper does not worth the effort.


texts: Would it be an advantage in terms of admission, to study pedagogics before applying to a PhD?

texts:
Currently I am in my third year in engineering - applied mathemathics. I have been thinking about what I would want to do after I get my master. I have concluded that I have 3 options.

Work as an engineer.
Study one year pedagogics, then work as a high school teacher.
Apply for a PhD.

In my country you can, if you have a master in engineering - applied mathematics, study one year where most of the studies are pedagogics, and then be considered as any other high school teacher (in math). You will have a master in Teaching.

Since I am not sure of what I really want to do, all three options are "exciting". I want to have as many doors opened as possible.

So, for example, I could get my engineering degree, then a teaching degree and after that either work as engineering/teacher or apply for PhD.

Therefore I would like to know if it is an advantage in terms of admission, when applying for a PhD, if I have studied pedagogics for one year (right after I have finished engineering school and right before applying). Or would it be preferable to go direct from engineering to PhD, if that is what I want to do.

My location is Sweden. I have not given any thought to which university I would want to do my PhD, but the country would be in Sweden or Germany.


texts: I submitted my final assignment on SafeAssign with 67% plagiarized and I plagiarized the work from me because two parts from my prievious assignment were needed to fulfill the requirements for my final assignment. Should I let my professor know or what should I do now?


texts: The French school of mathematics "has entered a demographical dip"

texts:
In an interview made for the 25th anniversary of the Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche, its head Professor Loïc Merel says at 1:25:

Les doctorants que nous formons aurons une lourde tâche: celle de reprendre le flambeau de l'école mathématique française, qui est rentrée dans un creux démographique.
[Personnal translation: The graduate students that we educate will have a daunting task: that of taking up the mantle of the French school of mathematics, which has entered a demographical dip.]

What are references backing this claim, and how pronounced is the effect ? For instance, will there be an actual shortage of talent and even some areas taking a toll, or just slightlty less competition for a while ?


texts:
In many, if not most, advertisements for academic positions, specifically for postdoctoral and junior faculty positions, I see a requirement of including a writing sample as part of application documents package. My problem is that, at the present time, I don't have a separate research paper (neither working, nor accepted or published). I certainly plan to convert my dissertation into several papers and/or, perhaps, a book chapter, but it will take quite some time to do that. Being in this situation, I'm thinking about extracting a chapter from my dissertation (most likely, introduction or review of literature) and including it in application documents package as a required writing sample.

Questions: 1) is it appropriate; 2) are there any reasons to prefer literature review to introduction or vice versa; 3) is there a benefit of doing so, even when a writing sample is not required?

Note: My field is Information Systems, a discipline, which can be considered as a sub-domain of Management Science, which, in turn, is a social sciences discipline (my focus is socio-technical).


texts: Should I send an addendum/erratum due to single error in sign?

texts: I was reading my own paper published in 2018 and I noticed that in one of the sections I wrote "<" instead ">" to indicate greater than or greater value, although the preceding sentences is clearly stating/suggesting that it should be ">" greater. I was wondering if I should write or send an erratum to the journal editor?


texts: How can I encourage/incentivize students to do lab work early?

texts:
Normally, my computer architecture class has 10-15 students. This year, there are 35 students, not all of whom could fit in our small lab, much less be helped by our few lab assistants. I am thinking I will need to skew deadlines, with half of the students turning in an assignment at the ends of weeks 1, 3, and 5, while half will have deadlines at the ends of weeks 2, 4, and 6.

While I could randomly assign students to the earlier or later group, I'd rather incentivize students so the ones in the earlier group don't feel disadvantaged. One idea I had was letting anyone in the early group turn in one assignment of their choice at the time of the later group. I would like to solicit additional ideas on what has worked well for other classes.


texts: What makes academic failure different from failure in another career?

texts:
It is my understanding that academia as a nebulous whole has its own culture and speaks its own language that makes it a very different environment to work in compared to other so-called "industry" jobs.

Indeed, my own supervisor once referred to a former student of his as "having a job", meaning that she now works outside of academia. It's clear that for him, like many other academics, academia (or maybe their own particular field of research) is a vocation or calling, rather than a job.

My question, therefore, is this: why, within the culture of academia, is failure seen or felt to be different from failure in another career? What is special about academia that makes missing out on a postdoc or permanent job so different from missing out on any other industry job?

The question that inspired this one: How to deal with unavoidable failure? which asks how to deal with not being selected for a tenure-track job.


texts: What are possible outcomes when a PhD cannot be completed during the funding period?

texts:
Suppose a university provides a five-year PhD studentship (i.e., tuition waiver and monthly stipend). What are possible outcomes if the student doesn't complete their PhD in five years?

Will the university continue waiving tuition and paying a stipend?
Can the student complete their PhD?


texts:
I work with professor from my college and it seems like we are close to invention, so he said me to collaborate with his old friend and patent it. All amount of work was divided between us unequally. Idea belongs to my professor and he did some minor measurement, I've done about 90% of work, including writing text of patent itself, while his friend has no idea about the thing or process and simply gives obvious advices, such as "search for other similar patents and use them as reference" and "you should be comfortable with these topics" (Oh, thank you very much, I never would have guessed without your advice).

Just out of interest, I've searched for all professor's patents and found out one weird thing: each patent has four names (his, his friend's, his student's, who did all the work, and his daughter's). I can't say something bad about her because I don't even know her. The reason is: she has never even been at this college, studying many miles away and having nothing in common with all these researches. I know some of his students, and they definitely have never worked with her.

I feel disappointed and kind of cheated: it's pretty hard for me to know that his friend will share with me this invention, and even harder to know that I will have another "co-author" which I don't even know. His friend, at least, read the text of patent; I doubt that she knows about this research, by the way. I can't refuse now, because all work is done and, besides, I can't change supervisor during this year, at least. I feel like if I would try to protect myself in this situation, he would simply tell that she did some amount of work (and definitely he would be mad at me). What can I do now?


texts: Unsatisfactory research subject enforced by the advisor

texts:
For quite some time I'm doing research in a topic chosen by my advisor. The problem we are studying is difficult and important, with no good solutions available so far. I am currently unhappy about doing that. There are several issues here:

I feel that we are not making any real progress. Still, our advisor wants to continue with the project and write papers.
I think that the approach we are pursuing (invented by my advisor) is not useful at all. So far it has produced numerous difficulties, but no solutions in any nontrivial cases.
At the moment I'm writing a thesis about the subject. I am to describe my contributions to develop further the earlier work by my advisor. Due to lack of real progress, it will only contain complicated solutions to trivial problems. I think it's worthless. To be honest I'm embarassed by it and don't want to show it to anyone.
I feel bad about the fact that I never had any say in choosing the research and thesis topic.

I think these points make strong case for changing the research team after having finished the thesis. However

In general I do want to stay in the field in which my advisor is working in.
I feel changing would have a negative impact on my career.
I already changed once (after finishing bachelor's). I feel that doing it again after finishing master's would look unprofessional. I fear the impact on my status in the department would be negative.
Moving to different city seems like the best choice profesionally, but it is impossible due to family reasons.

Do you have any advice what should I do in this situation?


texts: Finding and requesting research funds from private sponsors for basic research with low short term marketability value

texts:
I am currently hired as a research track scientist not funded directly by the university. As part of my contract agreement, I am required to secure my own funding in order to remain hired. However, government funding has dried up drastically over the last few years, and my best and just about only shot is to seek private sponsorships. A brief conversation with the department chair has confirmed that the department doesn't really care too much about the source of funding as much as whether I can get sufficient funding or not.

Given all of this, does anyone have any suggestions for a list of private individuals or organizations willing to fund basic research in theoretical physics without any immediate practical applications? How should I go about contacting such private sponsors, and what is the proper protocol for asking them for money? It appears most funders in the private sector care mostly about getting short term commercial monetary returns from what they prefer to call an "investment" instead of funding. How can I encourage them to think about longer term benefits which might take as many as a few generations to reap?

In my experience, sarcastic remarks along the lines of Benjamin Franklin's "What's the use of a newborn baby?" or Michael Faraday's "One day you may tax it." go on very badly to people in the private sector.


texts: Why do grad programs ask for date of birth?

texts:
In the spirit of this question about photos on CVs, I'm wondering why applications to grad programs seem to universally ask for the applicant's date of birth, usually right next to the applicant's name.

This is in sharp contrast to the standard practice in "industry" (at least in the US), where no age-identifying information is requested until after you've been hired, and even then the information is restricted to HR.

A few discriminatory practices such as requiring date of birth on the CV or dissertation seem to be finally going the way of the dinosaur, but this obvious point of potential discrimination persists. Why?


texts: Is it possible for someone with a BA in mathematics who is not currently a student to get an applied research job?

texts: My graduate school applications fell through and I was wondering if there was a job I could do that would keep me improving as a mathematician, or if the best I could hope for is the least invasive mode of sustaining myself while I study/prove in my own time. I don't need much money to live off of, but I do need to support myself. Is it possible to get applied research jobs with a BA? I know there are research opportunities for graduate students and undergraduates. Do these apply to "unattached" peoples? What about part-time or consulting work?


texts: Interested in research, not in coursework

texts:
I am in the last semester of my undergraduate degree in computer science. I plan to apply for masters and PhD positions thereafter. I did not have a good classroom experience in my bachelor's programme – I did not find my professors to be great (in terms of knowledge, research or teaching). As a result, I soon lost interest in my courses [1]. To be fair, many of my peers enjoyed the very same courses and excelled in them due to their interest.

Due to these experiences, I am not interested in doing courses further – I also realised that I learn much better on my own and while doing research. On my own, I don't have to stick to a curriculum decided by someone else and can move in and out of material, as required by my research, which would otherwise span a wide variety of courses. Thus, I am partial to programmes offering full-time research opportunities with little to no coursework.

A large part of my research has involved reading papers on new techniques and figuring out how these techniques worked, how they were implemented, reimplementing them myself, etc. This required a fair bit of figuring things out by myself, which I found to be very different from coursework – where you had a professor, TAs, tutors, office hours, etc which provided an extensive support system.

My question is, how closely are research and coursework linked in academia? Would it raise eyebrows if I were to say to someone in academia "I like doing research, but dislike doing coursework"?

Now as I understand, through my SOP I have an opportunity to convince the admissions committee about why I am a good fit for this programme and vice versa. In such a scenario, I am very tempted to include the following points in my argument, because they are absolutely true and form the crux of why I am interested in such programmes (primarily applying in the US):

I dislike doing coursework.
I have quite a bit of research experience where I have performed well without doing coursework.
I learn better on my own and while doing research, as my research experience shows.
This programme will allow me to pursue research uninhibited by distracting courses, which is exactly what I want.

But this is where I am confused. Will this unabashed honesty work in my favour? This is primarily because the vast majority of researchers I have interacted with happen to be professors – and as such have been very involved in teaching courses. Moreover, since they do spend a fair amount of their time teaching, they also invite students who do well in their courses to join their research. Now I understand there are also independent research organisations who are not directly involved in teaching, but the ones which I have had the experience of working with have invariably been associated with a partner university and involved in sharing of researchers, professors and students.

[1] Due to the vast number of questions on this site regarding grades, I wish to categorically state that this question is not about addressing bad grades. Indeed, I don't wish to address this issue at all because although I was not very excited with my coursework, I made average grades and directly dived into various research endeavours. This allowed me to accumulate substantial research experience and include impressive research positions on my resume, including a prestigious scholarship. This, I believe, already compensates my not-so-good grades (as I have received offers from reputed research institutes based on this profile). My question is only about the aspect of 'not liking coursework'.


texts: How to refer to relationship with a "research mentor" in PhD application?

texts: This professor is not my official thesis supervisor. I have taken his class. I often discuss research with him and has sent him my work which he read and discussed with me in depth. So he is going to recommend me for PhD. The schools ask me to specify my relationship with him. I don't think "course instructor" or "research advisor" would be appropriate because the former may be interpreted as I only take courses with him and he does not know my research whilst the latter is not strictly speaking true because he is not actually my thesis supervisor and I don't have an official relationship with him as advisee and advisor. That said, I feel I have talked to him almost as often as I speak to my thesis advisor. I feel he is more like a "research mentor" but what is the right way to say it on an application?


texts: How to improve the quality and visibility of research?

texts:
This might sound like quite a basic question, but the answer has eluded me for the past couple of years. I'm from a computer science background, but the question is probably relevant outside this discipline.

Please forgive if my register for the rest of this question is quite frank. I'm coming to academia stack exchange instead of colleagues in order to talk about this matter candidly. I'm also sorry if the question is a bit long-winded, but I think it might be necessary to get past the stock answers.

The edict of "publish or perish" is a standard rejoinder, and beyond that the onus is for works published to be highly visibility, and of good quality. What this actually means is debatable though.

Most research cannot be reproduced, provides no code, and in practical terms is only useful for the purposes of citing (e.g. X et al. tried method B and got results F, but we don't have access to that data set, they don't say if they tried other, simpler methods, and what results they got, if they did indeed try these methods). Very often complexity seems to be pursued for the sake of complexity, whereby approaches are obfuscated with roughly annotated formulae written in Greek, standard methodologies that everyone knows are superfluously provided (and explained badly), and really convoluted approaches are adopted and are to taken as so, by the reader (an example would be a Bi-directional 5 layer CNN-LSTM-CNN-LSTM-LSTM for an NLP task with an explanation of "this obtained the best results"). Actually useful research material... blog posts, how-to guides, stack overflow answers, discussion group records, are all of zero academic merit.

I find myself trying to ape the aforementioned papers, but I am struggling to make them complex enough (certainly from a visual point of view). So the content itself is a challenge, because content has to be original, and the main way people appear to be guaranteeing their originality is by heaping one complex method upon another. Maybe if you are part of a big team this is feasible, but I'm just one person essentially working by myself.

Which brings me to the second aspect: visibility. There is such a baffling array of conferences and journals. Some of them are bogus, and one can filter those out. There are a couple of "top" conferences that everyone flocks to, which consequently makes acceptance a crap-shoot (if they accept 200, and 3,000 apply, you are likely going to have a lot of "good" material not make the cut simply due to the numbers game). All the rest (hundreds, if not thousands of peer reviewed conferences etc.) are really difficult to measure. Look up the ranking of a conference on one site and it's B1, and on another site, it's C. There is not only an opportunity cost here, but a temporal one - having anything submitted and accepted takes several months, and making the wrong decision can be costly on both fronts.

So the standard advise of "publish good work through peer-reviewed avenues" is only half the answer, but I'm unsure how to make my papers more liable to be the ones that are cited.

Sorry if this post comes off as cynical, it's simply trying to be both realistic and practical. I feel as if there's an approach that should be obvious to me to pursue, but at the moment it seems that I am missing out on the vital ingredient to turn from meh to Michelin.


texts:
I am currently a Computer Science undergraduate in my final year. I think this question applies to more than just Computer Science students, so I'll make it as general as possible.

Throughout my student years, I have always found it very difficult to establish when to admit I am blocked in the implementation of a given task/assignment.

My question is: when is the correct moment to admit I'm on the wrong track and ask for help? I do not want to bother my colleagues (or even worse, teachers) with very general questions such as "How do I do that", nor do I want to take a path and find myself in the situation where I cannot even express the question because of how tangled the road to that point was.

I wonder if the time after which I have to ask for help is quantifiable, something like "If it lasts longer than 3 hours, ask for help". If there is no general rule for establishing this time, what are the factors that must be taken into consideration?


texts: What can I do if I don’t completely understand a paper?

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Our team finished a paper 3 months ago. However, we use a result from another paper in a very top journal (one of the best). There are quite a lot misprints and somewhat mistakes. We can fix most of them but one inequality which they didn't have explanation why this inequality is true. We have spent 3 months to ask people (some extremely top mathematicians, they published many papers in the top 5 journals) and no one understand...We also asked the authors, but it seems that they don't want to explain that to us...We are really lost and don't know what to do...Shall we submit our paper? We really can not make sure that the inequality is true...

PS. This result is crucial in our proof...

Now, we have clarified the 'gap', there are some problems in the proof, the assertions are not accurate/correct. However, luckily, the final result is correct. After discussing with one of the authors, we confirmed that it is a gap and it took us quite some time to fix it.

Well, some people told me that the 'big guys' do not care about the details. I am not sure whether these incorrect details would lead to wrong theorem. As a young scholar,   I have to say that I am a little bit disappointed at math research (well, maybe my field).


texts: The average decision time of math PhD application (Brandeis, Tennessee, York, SFU)

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I've applied for the math PhD program for the upcoming Fall 2018. The schools I applied include Brandeis University, University of Tennessee, York University and Simon Fraser University. Since it has already been about 10 weeks from the deadline and I have not heard any news from them, I would like to ask anybody with experiences of applying the math graduate program of the above schools: What is the average decision time of the schools I mentioned?

I am struggling with this since one high school in my country is inviting me to be their math teachers, and I need to sign a one year contract if I accept. It's impossible to let them wait for months for my response. Or anybody can give me some advise on this issue?


texts: Is it a good idea to upload rejected papers in arXiv?

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I have a few earlier works which have been rejected from conferences and journals in the past (last 6 months). Now, I and my co-authors are not interested in submitting elsewhere and have no idea on how to improve these papers.

I was thinking, will it be a good idea to upload these papers in arXiv? Will it create any wrong impression in the community? Will it have bad impact on my profile?


texts: Difference between a research gap and a challenge

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While reading about an article on computer science field I stumbled upon a question regarding the difference between a research gap and a challenge.

To my current knowledge, research gap is an unsolved or untouched area within a field of study. For research challenge, it seems to be a difficult to solve or answer question.

What are your opinions / answers from experience so that I have a better understanding?


texts: How should I cite a paper that I've obtained by asking the author to send it to me?

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I'm basing my dissertation on a study in a paper that isn't available anywhere I've found online. I emailed the author and they sent me a pdf copy. Normally when I write citations for an electronic journal, I would do so like this - using the MHRA Author-Date style prescribed by my English department:

  Ke, C., (May 1998). Effects of Strategies on the Learning of Chinese Characters Among Foreign Language Students. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 33 (2): 99-112 {http://fakelibrary.com/thisisnotwhereigotthispaperfrom} [accessed 2017-12-04]

Because there is no link, I will just have to cite it this way:

  Ke, C., (May 1998). Effects of Strategies on the Learning of Chinese Characters Among Foreign Language Students. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 33 (2): 99-112

Is this acceptable, or should I include somewhere on the citation that it was accessed via personal communication? I've checked my department's guide for MHRA Author-Date, but it's incredibly sparse. If you know how more popular style guides approach this, please let me know.


texts: Research topic already covered, change direction or what?

texts: The previous days i begun with a research project on economic impact of physical disasters, and in the mean time , I found a paper with the same topic published 10 years ago (Sample period 1980-2003). My question is whether i should continue my research ( Which has similar methology) or change direction. Are there copyright issues even if I mention the previous work in the abstract? My sample period, on the other hand will be a 2005-2017.


texts: When is it useful to include the code in a thesis?

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I am writing my master of science thesis and I am not sure whether I should add some of the code I have written: they are not proper programs, but more like input files to be fed to a commercial program (Nastran) very popular in my field.

My concerns are related to the fact that I am not making any discovery, just applying the things I have learned reading the manual. Still, I feel the code will make the effort I put into the thesis to also learn this language clearer.


texts: Can I reduce/change the margins given in the template of a journal?

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Recently, my paper has been accepted in a journal(ENDM). They asked to reduce the number of pages. When I used their template, it exceeded the number of pages allowed. I tried my best to reduce the number of pages, but no use.
Can I reduce/change the margins given in the template of a journal to reduce the number of pages. Is it ethical to do so? Will they reject my manuscript?
(manuscript has been accepted after minor changes).


texts: Will EasyChair preprints be automatically indexed by Google Scholar?

texts: Is anyone aware if a preprint uploaded to EasyChairs preprint server will automatically be indexed by Google Scholar, or do I need to manually add the citation to my profile?


texts: How can you argue that your leading publication venue is important?

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I am applying for academic promotion and as part of my case I would like to argue that having published x FOCS, y STOC and z SODA papers is impressive.  However, I have been told by our head of department that those on the promotions panel will never have heard of FOCS, STOC and SODA and so this will just be compared with the number papers people publish in any other venue.  I have further been told that I should provide checkable evidence that these really are important conferences.

  How can I do that?

I could quote acceptance rates except I don't believe they are particularly low in these conferences due to self selection.

One might also have thought that recommendation letters would be the best way to judge the quality of someone's work. Sadly we first have to pass a first filtering round in the promotions process before they are requested.


texts: Should I email my professor's colleague?

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I'd really love to have your valuable advice!

I have a professor who I respect very much and he adores me as his student, often says I'm his best student. And we kept in touch even after I graduated recently. I email him a lot about grad school and he usually responds really fast, like within 3 hours after I sent the email.

About two weeks ago, I wrote him an email about grad school, but he didn't reply. It was unusual but I waited for a week, and wrote two more emails to him and sent to both his email addresses, he still didn't reply. Now it's been two weeks. It's really unusual that he doesn't respond at all, and I normally CC myself in those emails, and I received my own emails, so I know it's not the problem of email delivery.

My concern right now is that he's old and I'm worried about his health; because him not responding is not like him. I'm in a different country now, so I can't physically check up on him, but I have his colleague's email. Would it be rude if I sent his colleague an email to ask if everything is okay with my professor? Do they have any news about him? What if my professor was just busy and didn'r reply? Would I be overboard on this issue by asking his collegue?

Also since he was gonna write me recommendation letters, would it seem like I'm only asking about him to make sure that I have my LOR? (WHICH ISN'T WHY I'M CONCERNED.) I don't know if it's appropriate to email his colleague and ask about how's he doing and if anything happened.

What should I do?  Thank you so much!


texts: Does "scut work" contribution to a paper as a math undergrad carry weight in grad school application?

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I got an opportunity to collaborate writing a mathematics paper with some professor at my university, but I'm suspecting my role won't be much more significant except doing menial work in the form of writing dozens of lines of code using Mathematica and helping my professor computing things. I can probably get in my name as a possible collaborator, but I am wondering is it really worth putting in the effort into it to do so?
While I'm aware that research experience is taken into account while considering grad school applications, I am also aware that putting into papers in which I had menial contribution into my CV might even carry negative weight, in the sense they might suspect I'm trying to game the system without really doing anything substantial.
Is it worth pursuing this project instead of, say, learning some new math by myself (not under the supervision of someone)? Even if I do, what are some ``red-flags" to notice for, which can indicate this might not be a great idea?
[PS: I don't want to go into details regarding the subject matter of the paper, but it's a relatively advanced topic that requires a fairly good mastery of the core undergrad curriculum to understand. I believe I have such an understanding, but I'm not sure if my role in writing the paper would reflect that/I would have the opportunity to use my understanding, especially if I'm not considering the professor as my main recommenders for grad schools].


texts: How important is a online reputation for academics?

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I catch myself too often thinking about how to become more visible and present online instead of doing Great Research™.

But how important is it to be very visible online for academics and researcher anyway?

Here are my assumptions, numbered only for easy referencing.

The bad:

Tenure committees and such don't care for twitter follower
Public bodies that provide funding don't care how many people have you in your circle
Colleagues might look down on you, because your blog posts are not scientific enough

The good:

Writing a blog can be a good exercise in writing about your topic
If you are looking for a job or position, it can be helpful iff your potential boss is also an 'onliner'
It makes it easier to network and getting in contact with other people who work on the same problems
It might help you to get work, invited to talks and book contracts in the normal world.
(For CS) Uploading and advertising your code will make your research results more used

Are my assumptions correct? What did I miss? How do handle your online reputation?


texts: Can I use the slides published in the course websites to teach in my own courses?

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Stanford University (and others) usually publish slides/lecture notes on the corresponding websites.
For instance, this one: http://cs229.stanford.edu/
If I teach a course in the same topic, can I just use the slides/lecture notes? Do I need to acquire permission?
I will keep the name of Stanford on the slides and clearly stated that the slides are made by Stanford professors.
Thanks


texts: Meaning of undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate in US

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Trying to figure out the difference between these. I've lost completely as different source/answers interpret it differently. Does anyone have clear understanding about what does undergraduate/graduate/post-graduate student mean in USA?

I've seen this nice timeline in other question however answers are still controversial.

As well, trying to figure out who the hell am I - I have a Bachelor in Computer Science, Master in Computer Science and another Master in Business Information Systems. Is that graduate or post-graduate? Also, I'm not a student anymore.


texts: How can I cross-list an article on the arXiv?

texts: I know how to cross-list between sub-disciplines, for example hep-th and cond-mat under the physics discipline. I am having trouble cross-listing between higher-level disciplines, for example physics and computer science. Could the problem be that I am only endorsed for one of these?


texts: Should I go to engineering graduate school right after undergrad or after a few years of work experience?

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I've heard a few pros and cons about each.

If you go right away, you'll just get it out of the way.

If you wait to go, you'll learn way more and understand what's useful to focus on.

On the other hand, if you've been earning money, it will be harder to go back to living on a graduate student wage. One professor in particular said if I thought I was going to go back to graduate school after working for a few years, I was in for a big surprise. My dad thinks the people with the best experience are those who waited to get their masters after working for a while.

Interested in going into industry afterwards. Also considering a PhD, but have been told by the same professor that PhDs are a waste of time.


texts: During the defense, how to prove the method I used in my master thesis is correct?

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I will have my master thesis defense in one week and today my advisor wrote me he is not sure about a method I used to obtain a result (this will not ruin the entire work, but still will make some results useless).

I explained him the theory behind the method (which I found in a highly reccomended book, and I decided to apply after having written to the book's author to ask clarifications), but still he keeps raising doubts about it.

The fact is that now it is too late to change things, because the thesis has already been registered and anyway I do not understand why the method should be wrong. Therefore I stick to what is written in the book and to the explanation the author gave me.

I thought that maybe he just want to make sure I will be prepared to defend my work that day, but he is actually having words on the method itself, which is not something I have invented: I am just applying it as it was explained.

This is making me really anxious, because I do not know how to deal with this if such a question should be asked during the defense. I mean, I will give the same explanation, but what if someone insist on it?


texts: How ambitious should one be in picking a journal to submit to?

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I've finished a mathematics paper with two co-authors, and I need to decide on a journal to submit it to.

More so than my other papers, I don't have much of a sense for how "good" it is. It is a substantial generalization of one of the main results proved in a very top journal, although not the most significant of these results, and not the one that got the most attention.

To my mind, (and after discussing the results with a few colleagues), the paper does not pass the "gut test" to be published in this same top journal. But it is not out of the question that it would be accepted. I would (very roughly) guess a 15% chance of acceptance, a 50% chance of positive reviews that are not quite positive enough, and a 35% chance of vaguely negative reviews that say "This is a nice paper, but it certainly isn't good enough to be published here."

Would it be advisable to submit to this top journal? Or would a little bit more modesty be wise? (And of course I will ask my co-authors, but I wouldn't be surprised if they defer to my judgment.) Thanks.


texts: How to acknowledge funding after the acceptance of the manuscript

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We got this accepted article. A preliminary PDF version of the article is available online. The final look shape of the article is still under processing by journal publisher. However, I forgot to mention my acknowledgement while others did acknowledge their respective funding.

I am wondering what should I do now to acknowledge my funding institute? Does it make any difference that I am not the corresponding author of the manuscript?


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I just got a conditional admission from a highly prestigious master's programme in Europe but I have a question. What happens if I got conditionally accepted but I can't provide my diploma at a given time written in the letter? (because my graduation will be after the deadline). I already contacted with the university but it would be nice if you could share your experiences if you had something similar.

Thank you.


texts: Thinking about leaving a master's program

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I'm at the end of my first year in a food science master's program, with full funding at a good university and I'm seriously considering dropping out.

I completed my undergrad in biochemistry and my research project is more focused in yet another field, which I have no experience in. When I applied for grad school, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do within the field, but figured I could build interests along the way. I only received the one offer from a new professor that would be starting at the same time as me. I didn't want to let the opportunity slip by and I genuinely thought the project was something I could get interested in. So I packed up my life and left behind most of my support group. This was extremely difficult, as I have a very close relationship with my family and my mother has recently been very ill. Not long after beginning school, I began seeing a therapist as my anxiety (which has always been manageable) started worsening. The majority of my coursework has been undergraduate classes that I find completely uninteresting. We are only required to take 4 graduate credits and I wasn't thrilled with my choices (there are only 2 classes available). The department itself is small, obviously favors the undergraduate population, is extremely unorganized, and most of the lab groups are cliquish (seem nice enough, but not entirely welcoming). Since my lab is new, I'm the only student and the only other researcher is a recent PhD graduate from another lab. I was unable to start much work on my project the first semester because I didn't have what I needed. Now, I've experienced numerous setbacks with contamination and other problems. Not to mention, since the beginning of the new semester, my anxiety has become borderline debilitating and accompanied by moderate depression. In a recent conversation, my advisor expressed concern about my lack of work (which I take to mean, lack of results, because it's not like I've been lazy and unproductive), even though he is aware of the problems I've faced. As far as advisors go, he is just out of his post-doc and is relatively nice, but is extremely forgetful (never remember anything he tells me/I tell him), unfamiliar with the program requirements even after a year in (meaning, I have to get help from anyone but him when it comes to courses), and occasionally makes backhanded comments to me that I find insulting. Overall, I just find myself extremely unhappy. And the prospect of moving on and getting a job just seems freeing to me.

However, I'm not sure how I would go about doing this. There is no formal policy on a leave of absence, so if I wanted to make the leave less permanent in case I change my mind, I don't know how this would work. I'm also not sure when would be the best time to drop out. Regarding withdrawals, the grad school website says that any students receiving tuition remission (which I do) are "responsible for their entire tuition assessment." I'm not sure who, if anyone, I can talk to in the department. I have yet to begin my thesis, 2 courses left to take, and likely have 2 years left because of setbacks. Does anyone who has left grad school or considered doing so have any advice?


texts: How do you defend against TA proctor false accusation of "seeing you look at others computer screen" to cheat on final

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Proctor accuses me of cheating on final exam "By looking at others computer screens" on multiple choice exam with randomized answers. Cheating complaint states "matched 10 of 20 questions on the exam".  I had 4 incorrect answers.  Average for exam was 5 incorrect answers. I was one of the first 10 students to complete and turn in exam in an examination room of 200 students.  Professor asked me to write down name after exam stating "you are not in any trouble or anything".  One student (who I didn't know) 2 seats away from mine was moved during the exam (I was 3/4 done with exam at this time). The first I heard of cheating accusation was 5 months after exam when Academic Integrity office notified me of charge. Neither professor or proctor made any attempt to contact me prior to formal charges. Professor states in charge he "did not witness me cheating only TA proctor did" although both were present in the room. Two other students are mentioned and accused of cheating. I have no knowledge of and have never met either student -but assume one is the student mentioned above because Professor states "they moved one student suspected of cheating during the exam.  He was two seats away from me, with another student I barely know (and not named in complaint) between us.
I was the second student to arrive prior to the exam. I chose an end-of-row seat (on the aisle).  Professor asked me to move to the center of the row to make it easier for other students to access seats and I complied with his request.I ended up in the center of the row--therefore no predetermined seating could have been set up for me to cheat. I only needed a 30% on exam to maintain my grade in course.  GPA was 4.0.  I did not and would never cheat (especially off people I am unaware of their knowledge in a course). How do I defend my word against the proctor before an Integrity panel?


texts: Publish research with few details to promote company

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I've seen cases of startups publishing research with so few implementation details that it's quite difficult to recreate the results. They seem to be doing it to for the publicity and to show proof of the effectiveness of their methods without making it too easy for others to create a similar business. Now that I am considering starting a company based on my research I am curious as to how this actually works. I have the following list of questions, but feel free to answer using a single answer instead of one for each item.

Is it in general frowned upon in academia to publish this kind of research that is used for "marketing" your company?
To what degree do higher quality journals/conferences require implementation details?
How good credentials must the author have to be able to publish this kind of paper?


texts: Can someone who got GPA 3.7 apply for high ranked university with assistanship?

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I'm undergraduate civil engineering, and I'm planning for master degree.
My GPA is 3.7, and I didn't do GRE yet. However, I have strong research interest and I have some publications.
Do you believe that I can be enrolled in high ranked universities such as MIT, Berkeley, Stanford?


texts: Is it common for a journal to reject a paper after accepting it subject to minor revisions?

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Is it common for a journal to reject a paper after previously accepting it?

When a paper of mine was first reviewed, one of the reviewers was okay with the paper and the other one requested minor revisions. The journal clearly said that the paper was accepted, subject to minor amendments and even went on to mention tentative publication dates. I then quickly made the required revisions.

Both the initial reviewers accepted it, but the editors solicited a third reviewer. These reviewer’s comments were not that specific but just referred to things like some of the citations are too old and he had problems with the methodology and contribution and then in other places he goes completely off topic saying that the paper implies certain things that I certainly do not say and are very far from what I am discussing in this paper. Now the journal has rejected the paper.