texts: Should researchers disclose their political interests in publications?

texts:
Scenario: A researcher, who is also a member of the political party A, investigated the impact (e.g. on public health) of specific actions or policies (e.g. strikes or health expenditure cuts) belonging to the rival party B.

Assuming that the research motivation is scientifically justified, the methodology is sound, the results are "unbiased" and reproducible, and support was only received from an independent body (e.g. a research council), should the researcher disclose his/her political motivation in the publication?


texts: IEEE rejects my paper saying that it is plagiarised

texts:
I submitted a paper to one of the journals in IEEE and editor responded with a rejection letter saying that it is plagiarized. But am very sure I have not copied any content or idea from other authors and have cited all references correctly.

I had submitted the paper in another journal of IEEE ( Transactions in Vehicular Technology) and the editor wrote back advising me to submit in a different journal as this was a survey paper.

What might be the reason? Can I write back to the editor?
Please help.


texts:
Why is it correct to use comma after paper title and before end quote?

For example:
[X] A. Author, "Paper title ," Journal, vol. X, no. XX, pp. XXX-XXX, Year XXXX.

It seems natural to use it after end quote.


texts: Has the rate of papers uploaded to arXiv changed due to Covid-19?

texts:
I'm wondering how much Covid-19 affected scientific productivity, if it affected productivity negatively at all (c.f. Newton actually did a lot of his most important work while the University of Cambridge was closed due to plague).

I'm using the rate at which papers are published on arXiv as a proxy for "scientific productivity", fully aware that it is not a perfect proxy and probably lags actual productivity by quite a bit. If country-specific statistics are available, e.g. "The number of publications by authors from Italy changed by __% on 9 March 2020, the date the lockdown started", that's even better.


texts: What's this mean: "The search for Assistant Professor, Mathematics has been suspended. Please visit the X University website for future openings."

texts:
What's this mean: “The search for Assistant Professor, Mathematics has been suspended. Please visit the X University website for future openings.”

I got an email from HR saying the search has been suspended.  I am not sure what they mean by that.  Did I fail the initial screening, or did they just lost funding for the position?, or else??


texts: Should licensed code be acknowledged in Thesis

texts:
When some function library licensed under BSD is used in simulations, should it be acknowledged in Bachelors/Masters Thesis, which have no length restrictions?

In this particular case the functions are implementations of commonly known algorithms like k-nearest neighbors, A* and such. Similarly how MATLAB/Python standard libraries are seldom acknowledged, should the third party code that does not contribute theoretically be not acknowledged?

EDIT: In OR, code and the implementation is often left off. But I do not know whether it would be unethical to not cite it in a case where the algorithms used are bread and butter, without any contribution. For the journals these would not be mentioned, but the Thesis has no length restrictions, so there is no similar reason not to.


texts:
Steen, R. Grant. "Retractions in the scientific literature: is the incidence of research fraud increasing?." Journal of medical ethics (2010): jme-2010. claims:

  Many retractions are cryptic as to the actual reason(s) for
  retraction; 8% of retractions were for unstated reasons and
  up to 18% of retractions were for ambiguous reasons.

How comes over 25% of retractions fail to explain the reason of the retraction?


texts: How do I ask instructors for more challenging and/or interesting homework?

texts:
This question is prompted mostly due to a Numerical Methods and Computer Programming In MATLAB course I took this summer (textbook). To summarize the course it's basically methods for solving linear, nonlinear, and differential equations and systems of those equations, and learning how to program the respective algorithms in MATLAB.

I'm a fast learner for most topics. I already have programming experience, so that half of the class was no challenge. The mathematical concepts I grasped quickly, and as a result most of the lectures were too slow for me.  This isn't anything new for me, I often have this issue.

The bulk of the homework problems given were standard book problems and had no real significance or relation to the application of these methods. There were one or two problems that were applied and those were great, but to be honest I have a problem doing homework and have had it for around 20 years now (since grade school). I understand the importance of it, it's rarely (if ever) difficult for me, but it bores me and I have no motivation to do it. It doesn't help that now I work full time with a wife and 1.5 children, so there is a small window in which I even have to fit this homework.

A couple of weeks into the course I thought perhaps if the homework was more interesting somehow (puzzle-like, application problems (aka story problems), etc) then that would be better for me, but I didn't know how to approach the professor about this. Long story short the bulk of the grading is homework and I'm not doing as well as I could be. It's likely too late for this class, but how would I approach this in the future? It'd be torture to have to continue down this road.


texts: Master's studies in France and Greece (one year per country) plausibility

texts: This might sound a bit ridiculous, but I would love to spend a year in Greece and France and I think my master's studies might be a great time for that. However, I am not sure how plausible such an idea would be. Assuming I were to go to Greece first and apply to a French university for my second year, will I just need to ensure that the syllabus taken at the Greek university is compatible with the French one? I haven't thought through many of the details so this is the only issue that jumps out to me, are there any other problems I should be concerned with?


texts: Bulk download of arXiv (or other publication data set) with metadata AND citations

texts:
This is to extend the question:
Getting a dump of arXiv metadata

I would like to download arXiv in bulk, and found a useful answer above for using this syntax:

http://export.arxiv.org/oai2?verb=ListRecords&set=math&from=2015-01-01&until=2015-01-31&metadataPrefix=arXiv

However, in data there is not a field for citations.
I wonder if there is another dataset.

In
https://arxiv.org/help/bulk_data
there is no description about citations, apart of an old dataset (KDD) of 2003.

Is there any parameter to extend the above query and also fetch citations?
Is there any reference to see how arXiv metadata are classified?

Any other dataset of articles possible to freely download?
I would like to use a dump for testing visualizations for knowledge discovery. If there is already a sample DB standardized / polished, it will be really helpful not to have to polish / curate data.


texts: Go for undergrad or graduate degree in CS?

texts:
I am a cybersecurity professional well employed. I am almost 50 year old so since my employer would pay a graduate or undergrad degree I thought about going back to school to enhance computer science skills and apply more software development in my career.

My background:
18 years experience in various roles in network engineering & cyber security.
BSEE, MBA
Multiple computer certifications
Intermediate level in programming (Python, C)

Question is, I am not sure I can be admitted into a masters in computer science if I am not working mostly in programming.

Would an undergrad degree be suitable or just take certification training/bootcamps in programming?


texts: I want to quit my PhD and it's only been 6 weeks

texts:
Long story short, I realise that I do not like the field of study I have chosen and I Cannot see myself having the ability to successfully complete a PhD in it. I studied physics and went onto enrol on an applied mathematics PhD- whilst it doesn't sound that far removed from physics, I am a physicist at heart and I do not have any enthusiasm for the field I thought I'd love.
I guess the number 1 rule was to listen to my true feelings- I feel genuinely depressed at the thought of having to carry out the work.
Moreover, I feel that my supervision team have taken far too much on as my principle supervisor takes over a week to reply to things I send them, even after they request I do so. I feel that the best option for me is to resign and take some time to evaluate what I really want to study--I'm a physicist at heart and still want to pursue a PhD, just not in applied maths. My question is two-fold:

How do I approach this with my supervisor?
Is it okay to quit a PhD?


texts: Conversational tone of Statement of Purpose Essay

texts:
I am writing Statement of Purpose Essay for University, which happens to be my alma matar.

It asks how has academic and work experience prepared me for graduate education.

For one, I already had graduate education, but so many other things, especially the intangibles in life have prepared me, or made me more mature, and receptive to higher education.

My question is, can I make the essay conversational, or does it have to be dead-on-serious.

For example, I wish to write (because my alma matter used to be called A, now is called B, see previous post)

  After earning Masters degree from A (oops, slip of tongue, I've always
  called my alma matter A) I moved 200 miles away from home to live and
  work in XYZ.

or should I write

  After earning Masters degree from B I moved 200 miles away from home to live
  and work in XYZ.

Honestly if it was me going over applications, and as long as the person answered the questions thoroughly and clearly and had all the qualifications, I would be amused and appreciate such a down-to-earth Statement of Purpose.

It certainly breaks the mold of reading stiff Statement of Purpose from kids who just come out of Undergraduate, really haven't seen the world, and really learned to lighten up.

Please weigh in. If you were going over applications, which statement would you prefer.


texts: Does in an Academic Environment freedom to create and search exist?

texts:
Currently, I am working as a software engineering over 3 years. I also completed a master's degree programme and I aim for a PhD In Japan via Mext Scholarship.

Whilst working as software engineering I feel constrained on my creativity due to these limitations:

Face-to-face code reviews actually feels like an interogation having to answer continuously why you did this, why you did that. Whilst a review comment from the internet feels more friendly to me.
Having to show them the basics in a manner of seconds for an x-y technology that took me months to master it.
Sometimes lack of learning best practices usually in early years.

As a result I feel constrained in a team. Therefore, I look for a place that I can take my time and can be as creative as I want. What I am looking for is "Hey I had this x-y idea lets put them in the test to see whether it works" without having to think will it take me a whole life of 5 seconds to prove it.

Whilst in my Master's degree I felt unleashed, and I was awarded for working hard (getting good grades) so I could push more and more. So I am seriously thinking an academic career as my path of choice. Also, I felt like I achieved something once I managed to do a hard task alone eg. presenting a difficult paper I studied alone instead of forming a team and presenting all together.

So I wonder on a PhD and later on a postdoc position, does encourage and mentally/non-monetary awards hard work and freedom over creation?


texts: Would it be illegal/ against most university policies to ask a professor if you could teach their classes in exchange for food, shelter, and some access to their brain? A lot of professors don't like teaching or want to get their research done for tenure, so I feel it would be a win-win. It would be a good way to advance myself if i found a professor I wanted to work with.


texts: I study mathematics as my major subject and theoretical physics and statistics as my minor subjects. I found that, sometimes in physics or statistics lectures, the lecturer makes mistakes, like forgetting to prove that a series converges, or computing multi-dimensional integrals by using only one path. Once I spent three weeks to find a correct reasoning why one particular series converges. Should I say anything about these mistakes to the lecturer?


texts: Is it still considered research if my goal is not to publish?

texts:
I began working on a fairly complex project with a few friends a few months back. It began as a hobby project, but became more serious as we realized how effective it may be. We collaborated with a professor a fair amount, and he registered us as 'undergraduate researchers' with the university. He is listed as our official mentor, but just gives advice when we have questions rather than steering the research.

We have no intention of publishing, and we are not even sure if our research is novel. We do incorporate very rigorous topics in our project, and I am wondering how I should describe this to Grad schools. "Undergraduate Research Project" seems misleading, but it seems like the most apt way to describe it. Thoughts?


texts: How much should I refer to an anonymous reviewer's extremely helpful revisions?

texts:
I am in the enviable position of receiving an anonymous review from an extremely knowledgable member of my academic community and am incorporating all of their excellent suggestions into my article.  Quite rightly, I want to flag the examples and suggestions they have provided me with, but at what point does this get embarrassing and look like sucking up?  I don't want too many footnotes with, "with thanks to an anonymous reviewer for this..." but at the same time I don't want to pass of their extensive knowledge as my own.
It's minor revisions and the editors have said they will not be sending the article back to the reviewers.  So I'm not including their suggestions because I have to appease a reviewer, but because they're actually great bits of wisdom.


texts: When does self-citation become citation padding?

texts:
While reviewing an article recently, I noticed that a substantial fraction of the papers cited by the authors came from their own research work. While some amount of self-citation is appropriate (and usually necessary) to provide an indication of what one has done in a field, in this paper, it felt that the authors went further than that: equations were given four citations from the authors' works, rather than simply indicating the one or two that derived the original result, and so on. (Notably, all the self-citations were in methodology and results, rather than the introduction.)

My question is to ask if there are any publishers or journals that have established standards for what is considered unacceptable levels of self-citation? [Note that this is different from this question, which asks if self-citation is acceptable at all.


texts: Am I helping my graduate students too much?

texts:
As a new university professor, I have been informally tasked with making sure the MSc students in my program are prepared for their dissertations, by prepping them in my research methods course. My students are generally very motivated but they are from academically diverse backgrounds and, frankly, many are ill-prepared to undertake a dissertation and have been struggling with the material and assignments.

I have been trying to help them as much as possible, but it feels like the more helpful I am, the more they ask for help!

I have students who express extreme distress and confusion, which I try to allay with more explanation. Then they send me their work in progress, asking me if they are on the right track.

I want the students to do well, and to feel like they are progressing, but the constant emails and meetings are completely taking over my life. On the other hand, I can see that many of them are just not getting it, and that make me feel like they really do need help.

Is there, in any of your experience, a good point at which to tell students that I cannot help them further and do you have suggestions for wording this without seeming like a bad educator? I appreciate their motivation and I sympathize with their frustration, but at what point do I stop helping and how do I communicate this?


texts: Do editors choose reviewers based on the quality of manuscripts?

texts:
When the editor receives a manuscript, he/she has to find a couple of suitable reviewers. I was wondering if the they were choosing the reviewers in order to match the expected manuscript quality?

What I mean is the following: if the editor receives a manuscript that seems to describe a major breakthrough, will he/she choose preferentially well known scientists to review it? On the other hand, if the manuscript does not seems good, will he/she prefer younger, less experienced researchers?


texts: When is it proper to add someone to your research paper?

texts:
I am an undergraduate working on a research project that is going to be published. My research adviser wasn't completely able to help with a certain portion of the research, so I contacted another professor (in a completely different department) at my university who was more than willing to help.

It seems that this other professor is going to be providing a huge amount of help. Should I offer inclusion in the paper? Should I bring this up with my main adviser and/or should I be upfront with the secondary adviser?


texts:
What are the benefits of having a PhD degree? Why are PhD programs so competitive? I mean, why do many people apply for PhD programs?

In STEM fields, it is usually possible to get a better-paid job in industry with a bachelor's or master's degree. On the other hand, PhD programs are usually long, hard and low-paying — if there is any paying at all — and job prospects for PhD graduates are not that impressive too. So, what am I missing? Why do so many talented people try to get into PhD programs if they can get better jobs outside academia? Is it merely because of personal interest in research, teaching or learning?

Although opinions are important, I sincerely appreciate it if facts and experiences are shared. I agree that this question can be opinion-based but one of the reasons why I am asking this is that choosing to do a PhD degree and possibly pursuing an academic career is a very important decision. Based on personal experience, I have seen many fresh graduates who face the same question (and also a few people that, first, made a decision then faced the question, only to realize that it is late) and I hope that, apart from satiating my personal curiosity, it will provide factual and helpful information for those who have not made their minds yet.


texts: How to give a credit to the sources on the Internet in an acceptable way?

texts:
I am a PhD student in mathematics. It happens to me that many times I see some very good mathematical ideas on the Internet and my research is influenced by these ideas. In general, the Internet sources are not considered as reliable and therefore not widely accepted in the academic circles. However, mathematics is self-verifiable and one can verify the feasibility of the ideas and the veracity of the claims.

I could try to find other references to the published articles and documents to reference them instead in my research. But why should I do that? Is that not a form of lying and a suppression of the credit where it should be due? My ideas were really influenced by the sources on the Internet not by the related references and I would like to give the credit there. How should I do this in an acceptable way?


texts: Where to find official publication ethics guidelines and best practices?

texts:
I am quite confused by publication ethics issues in academics, related to:

redundancy of data using the same data set in different publications
redundancy of description using the same figures or part of text to describe instruments, data set or samples
redundancy of results using results in more than one publications for highlighting different aspect of the results

I have tried to find some guidelines, I found Int J Clin Pract Suppl. 2007 Jan; 61 (Suppl 152): 1–26., but I was wondering if there was a white paper or something more official.

I would, however, appreciate any guidelines or advice to solve these doubts.


texts: Writing a recommendation letter for PhD advisor

texts: I said yes to writing a letter for my advisor who is getting nominated for a mentorship award. Now I am stuck and not sure what to put into the letter or how to organize it. Might anyone have advice for me on what such a letter might contain? A search for samples to get me started has not yielded much since this letter goes in a direction opposite of the usual.


texts: I'm a fresh graduate from a B.S. in mathematics program and am looking to go to graduate school. I have a strong cumulative GPA of 3.7 and have secured 3 letters of recommendation for the future.  Despite this however, a mandatory 1 year military service program prevents me taking any GRE exams before most application deadlines. I was planning to apply during my service and start the following fall (2019). But I'm afraid that not having GRE scores will significantly hurt my chances. Should I just take all my GRE exams during my service and apply for the fall 2020 term?


texts: Will taking a temporary staff position between post-docs end my academic (tenure track aspirations) career

texts:
I recently was given a job offer for a ([edit] research support/IT support) staff position at a university in a city I have been trying to relocate to for family reasons but I am concerned that if I take the position any chance I have of getting a tenure track position will be over. My background is in computational physics and I have a successful post-doctoral appointment currently (multiple first author manuscripts in some high impact journals within the short time, 1 year, I have worked), but the location is not-ideal for personal reasons.

My question is: if I take this job will it look poorly on tenure track applications? If it helps the position is fixed-term and much better pay than my current post-doc. I have always been told in graduate school that if you get off the tenure path, you can't get back on.

EDIT: I should note that the IT position is listed as a Research position, where I will be providing research support for the supercomputing center by leading/developing workshops, presenting work at HPC conferences, and still writing manuscripts (just in more of a CS/IT domain instead of physics) and the position is only for about 4.5 Months. Didn't know if that would change anyone's responses, but thought I should clarify that it is not help-desk/sys. admin work.


texts: Where to publish a critical comment on an academic paper?

texts:
Background

Last year, in October, an exceptionally weak paper was published in Nature. The publication of such a piece in a top journal was a clear violation of peer-review standards. Despite the title and publication in a reputable journal, this paper did not provide any evidence.

My attempts

I guess, I was the first to submit a Brief Communication Arising to Nature just a week after the initial publication. My comment was rejected two weeks later, and I published it in Publons system. I see that up until now there has been no clear statement in the peer-reviewed academic literature of the flawed nature of Dong et al paper.

The question

What is the best way to publish a critical comment on a paper published in top journal, if that journal rejected the comment?

I believe, it is very important to publish the critical comment in a peer-reviewed journal. However, usually journals are only willing to consider critical comments on the papers published in their pages.


texts: Can University revoke my degree if I change some results, and how can I correct it?

texts:
In my research I was asked to edit some conclusions making them more significant at the behest of my adviser. I did what I was asked because I was immature at that time in my thesis work. At that time I didn't know its was wrong.

These changes can't effect the anyone because I only changed the "p value" of the result. I changed a little in an  "ANOVA table" for some result significance. If I put all results without change the "p value", the thesis can also be approved at that time. This all happened because of less knowledge of my adviser on how to tell me to change some results, which now I understand after my work and experience in teaching, but I inserted  all the experimental data accurately in my thesis.

If someone checks my experiment data in "ANOVA" they can find the change in the "ANOVA table" (my mistake). Now I am worring about my thesis and Master degree. If someone complains in future about my thesis, will the University revoke my degree and how I can defend my degree? I worked on machining of some material in my thesis. Can I do something now to correct my thesis?


texts: Changing advisors within the same department

texts:
TL;DR: I have better “chemistry” with a different professor doing extremely similar research to my current advisor. Is there a way to switch professors without leaving ill feelings?

I have a question similar to this, but I didn’t feel that the answers listed adequately cleared things up for me.

Background

I must declare whether I will work with my university-assigned professor or another professor by the end of the year.

Current Advisor

I am currently working with my university-assigned advisor. This professor was my first choice for an advisor due to their research interests, which align very closely with my own. However, upon spending more time working with this professor, I've discovered that our working methodologies are very much misaligned. My research interests have been moving away from my initial advisor's, though I believe that this could at some level be motivated by my struggle in staying motivated with this professor. I have absolutely no ill feelings towards this professor – in fact, I would say that we are on friendly terms...but this does not help the problems we have in communication. However, this professor was instrumental in getting funding for me for my first year, and also played a large role in my acceptance at my (extremely competitive) university and department.

Potential Advisor

In my first semester, I took a class from another professor in my same department. This professor’s research interests have significant overlap with my initial advisor, but branch out in the same direction that I believe I may be interested in. I achieved the highest marks in the class with this professor, and they inquired about my current research status (i.e. they let me know they had hoped I wasn’t already working with someone so they could invite me to work with them). When they first discussed this with me, my current concerns hadn't arisen yet, so I informed them that I was happy with my situation. However, I took the opportunity to do something akin to independent study with this professor the following semester, and found that our personalities mesh extremely well – I feel much more able to communicate with this professor, and am more motivated in completing work for this professor than my own.

My current professor has much more funding, and has had much more success in publications at our university (including multiple which I have helped author), though they are about equal in seniority.

Concerns

The only things stopping me from switching professors are the following:

Due to how similar their research interests are, it will be obvious to everyone involved that I would be switching mainly for personal, not research/academic, reasons.
I fear potentially losing funding, as the second professor appears to be struggling to attain funding.

Questions

What steps should I take prior to deciding to change professors? The second professor involved does not currently have any graduate students, so I am unable to “confirm” my suspicions with them about this professor’s communication style.
Should I ultimately decide to change advisors, is there a way to approach my professor such that all parties involved are aware that the switch is done for communication/motivation reasons, and not any sort of personal dispute? Or, perhaps, is this something I should even worry about?

I have shared my concerns over our poor communication with my current professor, but despite efforts from both of us, things have not improved. Furthermore, I certainly do not expect my professor to adopt a new advising style; I recognize that we may just not be a good fit.


texts: How to educate bachelor and master exchange students from Asia?

texts:
I am working at a university in Europe.  We have a great number of exchange students (one semester, year, of multiple years).  I am having difficulties reaching some of these exchange students, especially, it seems, but not limited to those from non-Western cultures (e.g. China and India).  Treating them in the same way that I would treat native Western students is proving ineffective.  I am looking for ways to improve my teaching strategies to better serve these exchange students, and especially those from Asian cultures.

Here are some of the things that I would like help with:

I am having trouble getting them to attend class.  Sometimes it seems that presence at classes and labs causes them some tremendous pain.
They have complaints about the too high difficulty of the courses.
They often prefer to communicate via email. It is very difficult to elicit interaction from them during class or lab.
Communication is sometimes difficult, and when I ask them how I might best help them, some invisible barrier prevents me from discovering a solution.

Note: Although some of these problems are endemic to exchange students (such as a focus on things besides class), the alignment of this, cultural barriers and language barriers are causing me an especially difficult time reaching out to students from Asian cultures.

Thus, I am especially interested in strategies for improving the following metrics for my Asian exchange students:

class attendance
class engagement
engagement with me outside of class
engagement in person, rather than via email.
class performance (grades)

My sample size ~100 of those students in two years. It is not a big sample at all (including my cognitive biases as well). However, it seems that my poor results at improving the outcomes for my exchange students are not unique to me, as my colleagues report a similar experience.

My questions:

What are some strategies to improve my teaching impact for Indian and Chinese exchange students?  This includes improving class attendance, engagement with class and with me, and class performance.
In what ways are their educational systems and culture at home significantly different from those in Europe?

Note: I know that "Asia" is an extremely large place with a lot of strongly different countries, so feel free to limit your answer on India and/or China.

Update

As I state before, there are common problems in the population of exchange students in general. It seems that they are coming for different reasons than study (finding new friends, experimenting with new drugs, investigate different culture ...).  However, I am capable of recognizing and dealing with the popular strategies of Western exchange students: finding ways to abuse rules for their profit, etc.

Unfortunately, my strategies for improving outcomes with Western exchange students are proving ineffective for my Indian and Chinese students.  I do not really understand their behavior.  My questions are mainly about how to gain a greater understanding of their behavior so that I can make all-around improvements to our teacher-student relationship.

Day after edit

According to the excessive number of comments (all of them interesting I have to say), I need to make this clear. I am not saying they are not good students at their universities or in general. I am just unable to work with them in the same effective way as with the local students. So I would like to know the origins of this ineffectively and I would like to utilize different approaches of education to reach their potential (for their benefits).

Stating that they are "awesome students" (at their home) and I am "an ignorant teacher" does not help. I already know this.


texts: My new advisor didn't reply to my email, is it a sign that she doesn't care?

texts:
I am a 2nd year graduate student in physics, at one of the top 20 universities in the US. This semester, I am supposed to start a research project with a professor who agreed already to be my thesis advisor.

So, I emailed her at the beginning of the semester -10 days ago- but I didn't get a response yet. Nothing. I emailed her again yesterday and I hope for a response. I tried to go to her office, but I couldn't find her. She comes to the university only to teach and then she disappears.

I am really worried. Is this normal or is this a sign that the advisor doesn't care at all? Should I try and change advisor? She is a top scientist but I am very disappointed...


texts: PhD supervisor wants me to quit after break

texts:
I have been studying for a PhD and unfortunately had been suffering from depression during the first year and on medication, so I didn't make much progress at all. My supervisor seemed understanding, telling me I was 'one of the strongest students' he'd taught, and not to worry as sometimes life gets in the way, and I should take a study break if necessary.

I therefore took an official study break for one year, and came off the medication. Just before I was considering returning, I sent an email to the supervisor just asking about what we should do next. His reply was to say how terrible my performance had been so far and that he strongly advises I should quit. I felt devastated to say the least. Is he right after all and should I really quit? I thought he was so supportive to begin with and actually suggested the break. Or is the blunt truth correct? Doing a PhD was my dream and now it is shattered.

Edit: I have been advised to add that I did not tell the supervisor in advance that I was going to be on break for a year, just that I was taking a break as he advised. I did not know in advance how long a break would last. Neither was I in communication during this time. When I was depressed, nothing else mattered.

Edit 2: Clarification that the break was officially sanctioned by the university. Please note technically I am still "on break" as the supervisor has not allowed me to return.

Update: The supervisor has ignored my last email so I guess I will be quitting or moving on. Thanks to everyone who answered and commented.


texts: I have submitted my paper in one of the Elsevier journals. It was under review, and now it is decision pending for more than 15 days. Does it mean that the paper will be rejected?


texts: How to change the idea that supervsiors got about you?

texts: In the beginning of a research program students (like me) may be lazy or find things hard and do things that make their supervisors get angry such as not completing specific job in the right time. They may be strongly criticized by their supervisors and their supervisors may get an idea that these students are not good enough. How can students change this idea that is in the head of their supervisors? What should they do?


texts: PhD supervision in the Netherlands: what ranks can supervise?

texts: I've heard word that in the Netherlands only a professor/hoogleraar can supervise PhD students but I've found little to solidly confirm this. I've also heard that in practice, other arrangements are often made. Can anyone comment or confirm that a universitair hoofddocent (equivalent to a reader or an associate professor) cannot supervise PhD students? How do full professors handle the workload of supervising all the PhDs?


texts: Is it ethical to offer a student a job during the final weeks of his thesis if you are partly grading it?

texts:
Our institute has an open position for a student research assistant where it is hard to find qualified applicants. Currently, I'm supervising a very good student who is in the final weeks of writing down his bachelor's thesis. He has experience with the requirements of the position and I would love to have him as an assistant.

The position would start after he finishes his degree.

However, I'm worried that if I were to offer him the position now, it would put him under undue pressure to accept, since his thesis will also partly be graded by me. Is this a problem?

Edit: Thanks for all your thoughtful input and answers! The thesis will be submitted in about a month, my part of grading it will finish a week after. While the professor could veto a application, I am effectively solely responsible for deciding who to hire as research assistant.


texts: What's the difference in responsibilities between a committee member, a co-advisor and an advisor in an PhD committee?

texts: What are the differences in responsibilities among them? Can anybody give me an example to elucidate that. Also why are non-tenured faculty more interested in a co-adviser role than a committee member role?


texts: Is it common that the last author gets all the credits when the work becomes hugely successful?

texts:
Whenever I read news about some scientific breakthrough, names that come up are mostly of the group leaders, a.k.a. last authors. I believe in most cases, it is rightfully for the last author to get the credit. The first authors are usually inexperienced Ph.D. students who work under the guidance of their supervisor. Ideas from their first author papers mostly come from the last author, and they often only implement the ideas.

However, there are certainly cases where the first author is also the idea provider. Who will then get the credit when the work later becomes a huge success? How can the public then determine the contribution? What if the paper one day is considered for a Nobel prize? I am thinking about the CRISPR-Cas9 papers. It is speculated that the two last authors will be awarded the Nobel prizes. How about the first authors of that papers?

Note:  A Nobel prize here is just an extreme example that popped out of my mind during writing. I want to talk about more common situations where the group leaders go around the world and give talks about an innovative work, whose idea might actually came from a student. He might give the student full credit but in the eyes of the community he is still “the one” simply because the student is just a nobody.


texts: Are bibliographies/reference lists generally included in page/word counts?

texts: I regularly assign my undergraduate students papers with a range of expected page/word length (e.g. 10-12 pages or 2500-3000 words). Is there any sort of rule as to whether or not to count a works cited page(s0 (and its equivalent in the other citation styles) in determining if a paper meets this limit? I've discussed this with colleagues and heard varying answers.


texts: One of my labmates used to be the "star student". Super smart and productive, really engaging to talk to etc. However, it seems like overnight, he's become a totally different person. He's stopped coming into lab for multiple days in a row, has stopped making any progress, and is starting to complain a lot. He seems very frustrated with our advisor and the lack of support, and bad-mouthes him every chance he gets now. I'm pretty sure our advisor has noticed, but is just ignoring this or even avoiding him. I'm afraid this student might be dropping out soon. This isn't really affecting me so much, but I'm just wondering why someone would change so suddenly. As a new grad student, I hear a lot about the stress of grad school, and I'm concerned about whether this is a common occurrence? It wouldn't stand out so much, but he was actually one of those "oh, he's going to open his own lab one day" type person. What can I do to avoid a similar burn-out, and is there anything I can do as a colleague? Out of curiosity, is there anything the PI should do?


texts: Using first person or third person in papers?

texts:
Are there written or unwritten rules for avoiding the use of first-person while writing research papers? I was advised at the beginning of my grad school to avoid use of first person - but I still don't know why I should do this.

I have seen that, at many places, authors refer to themselves are "the authors" and not "we". At the same time, I have also seen use of first-person to a good extent.

Do these things differ in different Journals and Conferences (and in different disciplines as well - mine happens to be CS)?


texts: Position of infixes of names (e.g. “van”) in bibliographies

texts:
When I create a bibliography, do infixes of names always go with the surname as follows?

Van de Sompel, Herbert
van Leeuwen, Theo

The examples come from bibliographies I have within my collection where this style is used. My question is more about whether this claim is generalizable. More precisely, are there differences between different style guides or depending on the background of the name?


texts: Attending Conferences as an unaffiliated listener

texts:
I will be graduating soon with my PhD in mathematics, but do not intend to pursue an academic career.  I do, however want to continue to dabble and toy with the ideas I have invested so much to immerse myself in.  I love the idea that I may come up with a result or two in my lifetime.  But I just don't jive well with research pressures.

It is a faux pas to attend a conference independently, and just pay the registration fee myself?

It would seem that registration is open to anyone technically, but I have never enjoyed making a fool out of myself.  I appreciate the clarification.


texts: Kicked out of PhD program, I have been delayed two years until find a new one

texts: It maybe sounds emotional, but I am struggling because I have been delayed two years until I found a new program that could accept me. I was kicked out because of a racist supervisor. It hurts me as in the new year everyone asks did you finish your Ph.D., I panic as I did not let anyone know. What hurts me I was a top student and get master with excellence. there are certain events in my life that derailed me, now I am approaching 29 and I didn't even make a progress in my personal life and this delay in my professional caused me self-confidence. I escape from any gathering with people know me when you finish as they did not what happens and I don't want anyone, but the result I am struggling with these thoughts and I am living alone. I don't know if anyone could face that, what you should do when you used to be successful and all of a sudden you get derailed when you approach 30.


texts: How is the grade F viewed in US academic system, is it abhorred or people see that grade as any other grade. If a student gets an A retaking that particular course, the previous F grade he got would be overwritten, even though there will be a mark on the transcript.Is there any sort of negative stigma because of that?


texts: Accepted by a different proposed supervsior: writing a thank you letter

texts:
This is a usual how to write a thank you letter but the twist is during the application process I put down professor X as a possible supervisor. I then interviewed with professor X and professor Y (both at the same institution). I was later accepted and the letter stated the supervisor would be professor Y. (Speculation: maybe professor X could not/did not want to take me on for whatever reason but professor Y did.) I spent a few days looking into professor Y's research and would probably accept.

How do I go about replying to the offer and emailing both professors? I'm not sure how to navigate this situation with the expected tact. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Context: this is for a PhD at a UK/European university.


texts: Pursuing a master's in mathematics with eyes on a PhD: Will a D or C in graduate Analysis 2 ruin my chances?

texts:
I'm a master's student currently, with a focus in pure mathematics. I would like to  apply to PhD programs this fall at other universities (as well as the program at my current university).

Last semester I got an A in graduate Topology and graduate Analysis, but a C in graduate Algebra. I am going to retake the Algebra class this fall (required to get a B for my concentration.)

This semester has been rough. The second half of the graduate Topology sequence is going well, but I'm struggling in Analysis. Right now I'm feeling like I'll be lucky to get a D, but I'm holding out hope that if I throw myself into it I can squeeze out a C.

My undergraduate transcripts are good, but not stellar. They got me admittance and funding here. I might look into some research next year, but probably not before my applications go in.

Will I still be able to get into a PhD program? I'm not looking to go to a top school, but I was looking at some that are bit nicer - UVA, UMD, etc.


texts: Can instructors fail honest students when tests are too hard because most students are cheating?

texts:
I am in Nursing school.  I can prove that 80-90% of students have cheated every semester.  They pass test banks around in email, text or Instant Messenger.  Every semester I've come forward (5 instructors) but nothing major has happened.  In 3 semesters of nursing school the faculty has never condemned nor said a word about using test banks.  This semester I tried to warn instructors before the first exam, but they didn't listen.  Now a few of us simply can't pass the exam because we're not cheating.  The exams are that hard.

Test banks from previous semesters were being passed down from the semester ahead of us.  I looked back at these test banks after the exam and found 21 questions just in one chapter.  That's when I emailed them the test banks that were being passed around.  It's a fine example of how academic dishonesty cheats everyone including the ones being honest.

Every semester Instructor makes the exams harder and harder because "statistically" the instructor data shows statistically "These are good/not too hard questions".  But I have the documentation to show WHY people are able to pass.  Had I used these test banks I would be passing.  Honesty is earning a few of us a 60.00% on each exam.

What can I do?  I warned them; they didn't listen. I plan on filing a complaint and a grade grievance.  My question is: can an instructor fail students who are being honest?  When there is clear proof of compromised exams and academic dishonesty throughout the class. Is it our fault they can't catch it?  Is it our fault they have no idea what a hard question really is? Can instructors really fail people for being honest and choosing not participate?


texts: Effect of Low credit hours/ long undergrad on grad school

texts:
I am studying Computer Science as an undergrad and I have been doing a low number of credit hours per semester (less than 15, but still full time). Am I at a disadvantage when applying for grad school?

By the time I graduate, I would have completed 5 years, when normally this is a 4 year degree. My GPA is relatively good, a 3.85 on a 4.00 scale, but I am afraid it will be attributed to the low workload.


texts: My university blocks leaking/whistleblowing emails related to an internal investigation

texts:
A number of top academics in my public university have been suspended by its registrar pending an internal investigation. This was related to alleged involvement of those academics in a large scale commercial project.

Shortly after this was announced, the staff members began to receive a series of anonymous emails.

The purpose of these emails, as claimed by the anonymous sender, is to expose the truth. The sender criticized the suspension, and has so far sent leaked a number of correspondences and documents that "expose"/"implicate" the registrar and other parties.

I, as many of my colleagues, were not aware of these "secret" details before, but personally I've found them very interesting and enlightening so I welcome them and don't see them as "spam".

However, the sender claims that the University's management is actively trying to block these emails from reaching the staff members. As a result, he/she keeps changing his/her nickname and email address.

My question to you is, in principle, is the university right in trying to block such anonymous emails? Does that, in some way, violate academic freedom?


texts: Are the ISBNs of two copies of a book the same?

texts: I want to know whether the ISBN of two copies of the exact same book is the same or different. By exact copies, I mean to say same edition, title, publisher, country, price, author etc.


texts: What does the typesetting process for a math/science journal using LaTeX look like?

texts:
Hopefully this question isn't too broad. Following up on https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/99123/what-software-do-publishers-use and Elsevier production team messed up my paper. What should I do?, what is the overall process that a typical academic journal uses for typesetting a LaTeX document? I would appreciate a brief step-by-step overview of the process.

Some random questions that I've often wondered about (no need to answer them all): does each journal just have a LaTeX template with a really elaborate preamble, into which they mostly copy and paste the TeX submission and then make minor tweaks from there by hand? Can it possibly really be true that Elsevier usually retypes the entire article by hand, as an answer to the linked question above claims? That seems completely ridiculous. Do the typesetters have any math training at all, or when they typeset equations, are they just manipulating symbols in what is to them effectively a foreign language? Is there at least someone around who understands the paper to whom they can ask questions if they're not sure how an equation should be formatted? Is it true that they're almost always in India?

I would especially hope that during the proof revision stage, there's someone around who understands the paper content, because understanding an error in an equation can be nontrivial. If one were to write a comment on an unrevised proof like, "These parentheses are misplaced; they should group the Jacobian determinant together with the integration measure", would anyone on the other end be able to understand that comment?


texts: In experiments involving study participants, why are some studies allowed to only have a small number of test subjects?

texts:
I noticed that in my field, studies involving testing with human subjects often only show a small number (N>=10) of them. While I understand that researchers are often limited on funding and time, I always thought studies like that would require a certain minimum of subjects far greater than that.

Different sources I found (e.g. this one p.3, this sample size calculator, or Wikipedia) seem to support that impression.

My field is audio signal processing, and the studies that caught my attention were about speech intelligibility, hearing comfort and other measures related to human hearing.

My question is:

Why do some studies only involve a small count of subjects when statistical theory suggests a high number of participants is required to make meaningful assertions?

(I assume that there is something I missed or something that got mixed up in my head, and I'd really like to find my error)


texts: Do German universities internally track the scientific output of single work groups/professors and with which internal/external goals?

texts:
We are asked in our group to send new publications for journals and conferences  to our secretary, who told me she has to input this information also into a database of the university. Over the years of PhD/Postdoc my Professor also seems to favor publishing many small papers rather than leaving it to the first author to make a decision on splitting up research results. This sometimes leads to conflicts, as the goals of my professor, my university and researchers without permanent positions can be different as the strategies to realize them.

So, I'm wondering if this kind of quality management/evaluation of the publication output is used by the administration to reward very productive groups and if so, by which kind of number games and really in financial rewards (increasing budget etc.)? (Number of Articles) x (impact factor)...


texts: external grant on application for SLAC/PUI

texts:
I am looking for tenure track faculty position in a hard science field at 4 year colleges.

Recently a grant application, which I worked on as a postdoc, was successfully accepted. I am not a PI but by supervisor is willing subaward part of it to me when I get a new position.

My question is how do I refer to this in my cover letters?  Will this set me above other candidates or is it not that important? Would making a big deal out of this look like I'm not as interested in teaching as in research?

What are external grants typically used for as these type of institutions where you don't have grad students or post-docs? Besides travel/conferences would it be to funding undergrad research and summer salary?


texts: What is the "chalk talk" at job interviews?

texts:
It was only recently that I heard about the academic "chalk talk" at job interviews (from biologist friends). As I understand, this is a closed-doors talk the applicant must give to the existing faculty. I was shocked that even through I am preparing to apply for faculty positions, I never heard of this practice before.

So my questions are:

What is this "chalk talk", and how common is it at job interviews?
Is it specific to biology, or at to least experimental fields? Almost all the information I can find about it online is focused on biomedical sciences (and the few articles that don't, still assume an experimental field). Perhaps the concept exists in other fields too but people use a different term than "chalk talk" to describe it?
My work is in one of the hard sciences and is purely theoretical. What are the main differences between experimental and theoretical (mathematically oriented) fields in how this chalk talk is given? Since most of the online advice I found concerned biology, I need to decide how much of it is relevant to me.

Update:

Many of the comments (and one answer) show that several people have completely misunderstood my question.  I would like to emphasize once again that the question is about the specific part of faculty position job interviews referred to as "chalk talks".  In the meantime, I found a hint that this concept might be specific to life sciences.  My question is not about lecturing techniques with white- or blackboards, nor about why this part of the interview is called a "chalk talk" (i.e. etymology).

It's about what this part of the interview is about, which fields have this as part of the job interview protocol, and what differences are there between biology and theoretical (math/physics) fields (i.e. what part of advice given by/for biologists should I take or ignore).

Here is an example of a blog post discussing interview chalk talks.


texts: How do I determine if my contribution to an area of research merits publication?

texts:
I am a new worker in real functions with little experience and few published papers but not in top journals.

I together with my two colleagues found a new characterization of a well-known class of functions (first Baire class). I am pretty sure this is new. However, we cannot decide the extent of its significance because we are unable to find a good application. But suffice it to say there are some old results in the area that admit a very straightforward proof using our characterization. For instance, functions with countable discontinuities can be shown to be of first Baire class using our characterization with a very easy proof.

My question, is this enough for publication? I am afraid to submit it and got a snobbish review. By the way, I am from a third-world country.


texts: Code hosting platform that allows sharing through link

texts:
I am finishing my thesis (Physics) and need to add a link to all the codes I created to do the analysis presented in the manuscript.

The codes are not polished and they are intended to be public eventually but not just yet. So I need a platform that will allow me to have a private project that can be seen through a link for the review committee and for other students to see only. Github and GitLab do not offer this and can't find a webpage that does.

There are a lot of codes and they are separated by folders to distinguish the different areas in which they were used. So whatever webpage needs to be able to have a similar structure than GitHub.

Does anyone know where I could find this sort of feature? Thanks!

PD: If you know of the appropriate tags to use in this question I would appreciate you letting me know which ones those are.


texts: Our instructor threw together freely available YouTube videos and Wikipedia articles instead of lectures. What should I do?

texts:
I'm currently attending university online (at a notable public institution, not a crappy school—I feel compelled to mention this because one typically expects quality from good institutions). Unfortunately, my instructor didn't put much effort into designing the course.

Essentially, though there are a few YouTube videos made by him and his colleagues, the rest of the course basically consists of:

1) The e-book that we read weekly

2) Other YouTube videos that he's linked

3) Wikipedia articles

I've already brought this to his attention in a professional manner (he didn't get upset), but things obviously won't change during this academic semester, as he's also busy teaching other courses. His reasoning is that in the digital age, since information is so freely available, his job is essentially to help guide us in finding the right information.

I disagree. What's frustrating is the fact that students are paying tuition to have an instructor tell them "Hey, here are some free videos literally anyone can find online, and some Wikipedia articles any competent student can read on their own. Go nuts." Because when you're paying tuition, the implication is that you're gaining special privilege and access to resources and knowledge that are otherwise unavailable to ordinary people/students. A student makes a choice when deciding what school he wishes to attend. In doing so, he gives up the opportunity to attend another school. If all schools just offered the same quality and degree of education, there wouldn't be any competition or a means of qualifying how good one school is compared to another.

I find it unprofessional of an instructor to do something like this. I don't want to strain my relationship with this instructor, but I also don't feel like I can let this go because the course is quite fundamental to the major I'm pursuing, and it's really upsetting that it's in this condition.

What should I do? Should I just let it pass and move on, or should I bring this to the attention of someone else? He also happens to be high up in the corresponding department, so there aren't many people above his status. I don't want to go over his head, but I feel like if I email him again about this, it'll seem like I'm just pestering him.


texts: Is there a term|phrase for a grading assessment that counts the best m of n?

texts:
I'm assigning weights to different course assessments.

Assessment                    Weight
============================  ======
Assignments (best 5 of 8)       50%
Mid-term exam                   20%
Final exam                      30%

Is there a word or phrase for a grading scheme that counts the best m of n marks? Example: There are weekly assignments worth 10% each, the best 5 of 8 will be counted.


texts: What are the inputs and weights for US News grad program ranking?

texts:
The US News website states that their process for ranking graduate programs "involves factors ranging from the personal to the objective. [...] U.S. News is able to present the most current figures on enrollment, job placement, faculty and other critical quality indicators." And they survey "experts who teach and direct programs in these fields to evaluate their peer programs."
Source: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/rankings-faq#1a
From this we know their scoring function includes weighted inputs of: enrollment, job placement, faculty metrics (citations, publications, impact?), and "expert" assessments.
Does anyone know more about the score formula? What are the specific inputs? How are they weighted?


texts: How to tell my supervisor that I have severe phobia of flying?

texts:
The phobia of flying is discouraging me to travel for conferences, although quite a number of them are very good opportunities for me to "market" the researches of our lab and of mine. Apparently, I can't overcome this phobia even with the help of therapists. I almost passed out due to panic attacks on the airplanes, and after the flights, I always felt too exhausted to do anything for an entire week.

I think it's time to let my supervisor know that I can't to go to any conferences that I have to fly there. How can I do it in the most professional way?

Thanks


texts: Are faculty applicants hired at a level based on their current position?

texts:
When a university appoints a faculty applicant, the rank is based on his/her current position or the university will judge about the academic rank independently?

I understand that each university has its own regulations for academic rank/promotion, but how much they consider the current position of an applicant?

This should be a serious issue when an applicant comes from another country with a different academic system.

Is it (even rarely) possible to appoint a currently full professor as assistant professor or vice versa?


texts: Why do Australian universities have higher employability than that of British in QS Graduate Employability Ranking 2019?

texts:
QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019

Why do Australian universities have higher employability (rank) than that of British ones in QS Graduate Employability Ranking?


texts: What should I do if there's a mistake in my textbook regarding anatomy?

texts:
Some information in my college level Anatomy and Physiology textbook is about a decade (if not more) out of date? The information does not only cause a lack of understanding, but also encourages a misunderstanding.

What should I do? If I contact the publisher, how should I do it?

I'd prefer not to give specifics, as this is a fairly popular publisher.

P.S: I included "book-recommendation" as a tag as it was the most appropriate tag available.


texts: Is it ethical to date a graduate student of the same university where you are a faculty member?

texts: I am a 32 year old Assistant Professor. I met a girl at a conference. I liked her, but I realized she is a graduate student at the same university where I am faculty member. She is from the same school, but from a different department. Is it ethical for me to date her?


texts: Early Career Research Fellow Application

texts:
What does a research panel look for in the research proposal of an early career research fellow applicant?

An early career research fellow is defined as a person who has completed PhD within five years of the application deadline. A small university in my area is calling for applications for early career research fellow application. The research proposal is part of the application process.


texts: Peer shared with me "too much information" for a homework problem

texts:
In the summer, I took a math course where one of the homeworks involved a question where answers were expected to include several diagrams alongside an explanation. At the time, I thought it was a difficult question and I had been complaining about how confusing it was to a friend who was also taking the course. Eventually, I did complete the question independently with some suggestions the instructor of the course gave me during a meeting.
Before the submission deadline, my friend offered to explain to me some of his ideas about the problem over social media, I believe I had asked for this a few days before because I was struggling. At this point, even though I had already finished the question, I agreed to the proposal. I thought there would be no harm because the course permitted collaboration to the extent where students can discuss their ideas about the problems in the homework. My friend proceeded to send me some diagrams alongside a very brief explanation outlining his steps, at first I went along with this because I did not sense anything wrong. But after it seemed like they were sharing too much, my friend stopped after I requested that they not continue their explanation (I was afraid that if I did not stop them, I would have essentially seen their solution to the question).
When I submitted my problem set, I did not modify the answer I gave to that specific question prior to the conversation, and so what my friend showed me had no effect on what I actually submitted. Thus, I did not copy anything or 'cheat' in any obvious way. Still, I felt very guilty and anxious because I thought I had seen "too much" of my friend's work. I tried to forget about all of this and assured myself that the correspondence was harmless because it did not influence the work I submitted. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, after something reminded me about what had happened and I decided to e-mail the professor with a description of what happened on two separate occasions. This was after I discussed how guilty I felt with the friend I mentioned earlier, who respected my decision to send the e-mail.
I think my instructor missed both of these e-mails. After this, I had once again decided that I should just try to move on, because once again, I convinced myself that what happened was harmless (as I said before, I did not change my answer to the question even after seeing what my friend showed me). All of this happened a few months ago. Once again, I had resolved to just forget that all of this happened.
A few hours ago, something had reminded me about that conversation. I decided, for some stupid reason, to review the conversation again, and I once again felt a wave of anxiety after reading it. I regret that I did not send a 3rd e-mail earlier so that my instructor could provide their input on this situation and give me some peace of mind. Furthermore, the final marks for the course have already been released and finalized, and I feel like sending an e-mail to my instructor about this issue at this point would either seriously annoy them, or put them in a very bizarre position. I do not know what I should do in this situation, or if I am just overthinking things.


texts: Would you recommend internship, or more courses, for preparing for a PhD in Applied Math?

texts: For a math student, does an industrial internship, where you use the applications of the mathematics you learned in courses, give a better preparation for a PhD in Applied Math, or taking more advanced courses? How about taking courses on other topics (not math), which are skill-based or otherwise practical with a lot of applications in applied math, such as high-performance computing, statistical learning, numerical modeling, etc.?


texts: Is it possible to get application fee refunded from PhD programs that miss admission decision deadlines?

texts:
I'm sure I already know the answer to this question, but I feel compelled to ask.

With the passing of midnight a couple hours ago, the April 15 deadline used by many US graduate schools, by which applicants should accept/decline offers of admission (as decided by the Council of Graduate Schools) has passed. While I have made my choice, there is still at least one (pretty well-respected) school from which I never received a decision. Thus, in order to have waited out a decision from this program, I would have had to risk losing other offers (one of the conundrums that the April 15 resolution aims to avoid).

They were totally fine with taking my application fee back in November, but never seemed to get around to making a decision on my application (it's still pending online and there has been no response to emailed inquiries). I understand rolling admissions, but this is absurd. Is there any chance I will be able to get my application fee refunded, seeing as they did not keep their end of the deal? I guess I'm asking if anyone has ever successfully made this argument to a school.


texts: How can a person switch from Arts to STEM?

texts:
A person (30-35 y/o) has an MA in History and works in a Starbucks shop in Canada or drives Uber. Now, he wants to study MSc in CS/CSE in Canada for better employment.
What/how would be the pathway to accomplish that in the shortest time period in North America?


texts: What does it mean when a department has 'retired professors' as part of their faculty? Can I still work with them?

texts: What exactly does this mean? Could I do work with them? If not, why are they listed there? I am confused!


texts: What is the meaning of “Samuel C. Collins Professor”?

texts: I would like to know the specific meaning of Samuel C. Collins Professor in the above screenshot. It is a title for MIT faculties or the award with the same name (Samuel C. Collins)? Or something else?


texts: Is there a reason to report standardized test scores on crazy ranges?

texts:
The SAT comprises two sections, each scored on the range 200-800 (in 10-point increments, so it's really 20-80), so the final score is on the range 400-1600. It used to have three such sections, for a total range of 600-2400.

The GRE, on the other hand, comprises three sections, two of which are scored on the range 130-170, in 1-point increments, and the third is scored 2-8, in 1-point increments.

This makes scores hard to interpret from a lay perspective, even though you can easily look up percentile conversion tables (SAT, GRE[pdf]).

Is there any legitimate reason to make scores more difficult to interpret than necessary? Why not report percentiles? Or even just score on 0-100?


texts: How to write good and effective lecture notes?

texts:
I am an undergraduate student. During the lectures the professors simply keep talking and at times write some stuff on the board. I am not sure when and what to write in my book. I am asking because I am facing two troubles: 1. unhelpful peers 2. dull teachers.
So how do you take lecture notes?


texts: Is IRB approval required (by publishers or otherwise) for volunteer human subjects research?

texts:
Update: Thanks for the answers. I reworded and numbered the questions for clarification.
As a volunteer endeavor, I want to do online survey and education research. I am not being paid for the work, and the research participants are also not being paid. I am in the United States.

Legally, do I need to obtain IRB approval to conduct the research?
Legally, can I self-publish (e.g. blog)?
Would any reputable journal accept results obtained without any IRB approval?
What might the legal consequences be for not obtaining approval?
If I'm not associated with any IRB, how would I get approval?
Does it matter what my job is if I do the research in my personal time?
What about a collaborator at a university who is helping as a volunteer researcher in their personal time?


texts: What are the pros and cons of submitting to a Preprint server?

texts: I am currently writing a review paper in biology (conservation and ecology) and I am planning to publish this on a preprint platform. Two of the most common preprint server today are BioArVix and PeerJ. But, I'm wondering are there any bad side in submitting a paper on preprint?


texts: Why did the editor give my peer review to another peer reviewer before their review was written?

texts:
When the editor of a paper I recently reviewed circulated the final decision letter to myself and the other reviewer, I was surprised to see that the other reviewer had apparently had access to my peer review before submitting hers. This was clear because her review explicitly referred to comments made "by the other reviewer". Note that this was definitely another peer reviewer, not the editor.

I've never been given access to another reviewer's comments before submitting my own, and I'm curious as to why an editor might choose to do this. Don't editors typically want the reviewers to be independent of one another?


texts: When does coming up with an idea constitute sufficient contribution for authorship?

texts:
To what extent does coming up with a research idea, without contributing anything else to the actual work, constitute a sufficient contribution to be an author?

As a hypothetical, suppose a five year-old child tells me one day that he wonders if banana peels can be used to cure leukemia. I am intrigued by the idea and go and write a research proposal. The proposal gets funded (!) and I get positive results (!!). In this case, does the child deserve authorship for coming up with the idea, which I might never have considered?

On the one hand, I can say that some ideas are often very creative and novel to the point where just coming up with the idea is a significant intellectual endeavor (recognizing an unsolved problem, knowing enough theory to hypothesize what might work, knowing what has been tried in the past, using raw intelligence to put things together, etc.), while on the other hand, I could trivially write a script to brute-force-dictionary an arbitrarily long list of "ideas" and then scoop authorship on large numbers of future papers - "Umm, your paper's title was one of 43343895234 that I generated earlier this year with a script, I am entitled to have my name on your paper as an author even though I am not actually doing anything to help, since I had the idea first."

Ideas:

Coming up with an idea always deserves authorship as long as the idea was novel.
Coming up with an idea deserves authorship only when the idea-maker establishes a sufficient foundation for the idea. For example, randomly proposing a cure for cancer by picking random chemical names out of a dictionary and hoping for a jackpot cannot result in authorship, while providing a theoretical basis for why a specific chemical might work does, even if the idea-generator leaves it at that and does none of the actual experimental design, lab work, etc., or quite possibly is not even qualified to do so.
An idea is never sufficient for authorship. Proposing an idea, without doing any of the actual work, merits at most an acknowledgement or a citation ("Thanks to John McWhatever for coming up with the idea of solving the Closeability Problem by applying hyperparallelized matrices across the transverse manifold.", or "On an online Question and Answer site, Columbia (2019) proposed the use of banana peels in curing leukemia, but did not provide a theoretical basis or a practical methodology. In this paper, I demonstrate a clinically significant benefit of 10g banana peel topical tincture daily versus placebo in the treatment of leukemia....").


texts: When I compare my results to others in the literature should this go in results or discussion?

texts:
In a Geopyhsics paper going into a more general interest journal (say PNAS as a good example), with the headings,

Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion

I plan to have 3-4 paragraphs in which I compare my results with other results in the literature.

Should this section go in the results or discussion section of my paper? The comparisons are what will be of most interest to the majority of readers of the paper and my results are most relevant when viewed in the context of earlier results.


texts: How to take the endorsement request for arXiv?

texts:
Very recently, I received an email from a student (probably, undergrad) from some country asking me for an endorsement for his/her paper to be submitted to arXiv. I do not know the student. I have never cited his/her work in my publications and possibly not vice-versa. Basically, there is no link at all.

The mail to me was also cc-ed to some big persons in top-ranked universities. The email was similar to the following along with the forwarded mail from arXiv.

  Hello,

  I would kindly like to ask your help to endorse me to submit an
  article. My research is already published on [some unknown journal].

  I appreciate your  kindness,

  Thanks in advance

  ---forwarded message from arXiv.

However, I didn’t understand how it works? Somewhere in arXiv page, it was mentioned that we are not supposed to review the article. – Then, how am I going to take this endorsement request?

Is it somewhat based on the hypothesis that if you know a person A and you have already published in arXiv before, then the work of A is also publishable in arXiv?


texts: If I publish under a pseudonym, can I still take credit for my work?

texts:
Is it possible to publish under a nom de plume (pen name, pseudonym)?
... and still take credit for the work?

I may have a chance to publish with the professor I am working with soon and if I am on the list of authors I would like to use a nom de plume, but I would also like to use the publication to apply to graduate schools next time. Is it possible to have my cake and eat it in the case?

EDIT: Sorry for missing this out; The reason for wanting to publish under a nom de plume is that I would merely want my career to be tracked under a different name. Not to hide identity; I am perfectly fine with what EnergyNumbers was suggesting.


texts: Did a masters in order to make up for my BA marks. But I did worse. What now? A second MA?

texts:
The title says it all. One thing to mention though, is that I am not too bad - I have B+ marks. Another thing to mention is that a lot of my doing bad had to do with mental health and family in war.

I am not sure what to do now, I wanted to apply to top universities, but fear I am not competitive anymore, and explaining the circumstances also won't make my marks better, so I am still a less attractive candidate than others who have better grades and no such history.

What do you think about doing a second master in this situation? (I know this is not possible in the US, but would be possible for me in the UK)?


texts: In US universities, are the sport coaches typically considered tenured professors?

texts:
The title says it all. In many universities you see coaches for a team in some popular sport hanging around for many decades. I was wondering if in general those people had  a status of tenured professor or equivalent, or if on the contrary they can be "fired at will", if for example the performance of the teams they are in charge of are considered disappointing?

If the answer is really "it depends, there is no rule", then let me say I would like to know what status the Basketball Coach of Brandeis University who has just been fired had (see this Boston Globe article).


texts: Does taking a long time to graduate impact my Ms/PhD admission?

texts:
I need some advice on my career. I study in Brazil and I'm one year away from obtaining my bachelor in Mathematics. Here the duration is 4 years.

In 2016 I had to start working two jobs (unrelated to Math) to help my family and that made my 4-year journey into a 5 and a half years journey in which during the process I've failed a couple of classes due to attendance. I was able to quit the job this month and from now on I'll be able to focus only on my studies.

My question: is there still a chance for me to work on my Master's, Doctorate and so on? And also how much does the fact that it took me 5 and a half years counts? Despite not being able to attend the classes, I consider myself a good student and I know for sure I'm dedicated.


texts: Graduate school that does not require a statement of purpose

texts: I came across 3~4 graduate programs in the United States that do not require a statement of purpose, just transcript, resume, test scores & reference. What does this mean? Just want to make sure before I email the program coordinator about this. Thank you!


texts: Tool that suggests references based on a given bibliography

texts:
I'd like to have a tool (software or website) that helps me in doing literature surveys. Here's how I pictured that tool in my mind.
Let's suppose that I've found myself a few relevant papers. As soon as I feed such references to the tool, it starts suggesting me other papers I might be interested to. Suggested references could be paper that are cited by several papers that are already in my bibliography, or papers which cite several entries I provided. If I find something interesting, I could "swipe right" (if you get my Tinder analogy) and that paper is added to my bibliography. The more paper I have in the bibliography, the more fitting the suggestions of the tool become. Of course such a tool should rely on an existing database (Scopus, google scholar, etc.)
Do you know anything like that?


texts: Physics PhD personal statement: including a figure

texts: My advisor suggested including a simple plot in my physics PhD personal statements for US universities in order to make the essay more interesting and give a bit more detail about a research problem I am working on right now. On one hand I agree that this would probably make the essay more interesting, but I am concerned that the admissions committees would be annoyed since it will take them a bit longer to look at and understand the plot. Is this a good idea?


texts: In mathematics in the USA, is it appropriate for your teaching letter of recommendation to be from a previous university?

texts:
I am finishing a 3-year postdoc, and will be applying to many universities for positions, including teaching colleges and research universities. I have 4 good research letters, but none discuss my teaching. I had excellent teaching letters from my previous university where I received my PhD, but I am not as close to the professors in this university.

Would it be better to obtain a teaching letter of recommendation from my previous university that I know is very positive, or to obtain a potentially less positive letter from my current university?


texts: When to add a coauthor to a paper I am working on?

texts:
I am doing a phd in computer science.

Months ago, I was having an informal discussion about my research topic with my advisor, and he came out with a very high level conjecture about my research topic, something like "I have the feeling that A implies B".

Now, I am working with other people on a different project, and during the work for this paper, I realized that what we were doing demonstrated that the conjecture of my advisor was correct (so A do implies B), and this makes a lot stronger our paper.

Now, which is the right etiquette to follow in terms of authorship of the paper?

Should I ask my advisor to join the project as a coauthor because the paper proves what he informally conjectured?
Should I simply speak to him notifying this fact and add him in the acknowledgement?

I have a great relation with him, but I am not sure on how to behave with respect to this topic.


texts: Can I use open-source code for a simulation for my research?

texts: I am working on a paper and I found open-source code that I could use for running a simulation. Should I write my own code for that simulation? Will it be enough if I refer to the code in my citations/references section?


texts: Do PhD students at "prestigous" universities publish less as students?

texts:
I'm a 4th year PhD student in Education, and I'm noticing a trend that no one seems to be able to explain to me. I'm at a large state school (ranked ~30 in education, better in my discipline for whatever rankings are worth). I've started to stalk assistant professors at schools I'd be interested in applying to, and I've noticed there seems to be a stratification between "good" (i.e. state, UC schools not called Berkley or UCLA) and "elite" PhDs. Most elite students appear to publish almost exclusively in conference proceedings. In contrast, I see a lot of new graduates from "good" school who have 5+ journal publications, several of which are first-author publications. And not in crap journals or anything.
Is there something different about how students at Harvard, Stanford etc. are told to conduct their research. How does this play into hiring? If you went to a good school and have six publications, are you always going to loose out to a Harvard grad no questions asked? I know this is subjective, but I'd love opinions from those who have an idea of what might cause this, or perhaps what is wrong with my observation.
Edit: The field I'm looking in specifically is education.
Edit2: People wanted some examples. As a simple example, look at the assistant professors Utah State University Instructional Technology and Learning Science (a good program in it's field) vs. the assistant professors at Harvard school of Ed.
At Utah state, if you skim through their CVs they had between 1 - 10 (!) publications when they graduated from their PhDs. Harvard? 1-3. Maybe that isn't a full blown study, but let's call it a case study.
Additionally, you could look at the University of Utah Educational Psychology assistant professors, many of whom had no publications at graduation but tend to be from more prestigious school despite Utah State and University of Utah being a little more comparable. This may be a more applicable comparison to the Utah State group.


texts: Is it bad to apply for the same Master's degree program in consecutive years?

texts:
I am an undergraduate majoring in computer science. I want to apply for a top Master program in the US. I have done the GRE test and most of the other things required.
I am currently doing research with my professor so there might be more publication to come but it will be later than the application deadline.

I don't know if I should try to apply this year. There are certain things I am concerning (my GPA might be lower, my reference letter might not be as strong as before, there might be more applicants in the next year) .

There is one thing I don't know how will the admission office work on.

If I failed the first year, will it be a negative factor for my application the next year (say if I could been admitted originally, but because I failed the last application the year before so I am not accepted)?

will it be like I revealed too much information so they can see my change between the two years(for example they found I didn't make much progress like the years before in that year)?

will they compare the two applications(for example they found there is lots of change in my SOP, like my life goal changed largely)  or will they be processed totally independent?

Just say I have 25% possibility to get admitted, my situation might be better or worse the next year. If I failed this year I will reapply the next year. Is it worth a shot to apply this year?


texts: What affiliation to put on an academic paper for alumni authors?

texts:
I finished my B.Sc in CS about 6 month ago and now I am writing a paper for a conference. before when I was a student I put my university and department name below my name as an author. but now I am not a student. I saw somebody put their IEEE membership on the paper something like "member of IEEE Computer society" or something similar, but I am not a member in any society yet!

What I used before:

Sajjad Gerami
Department of Math and Computer Science,
Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran
Email: my.email@gmail.com

What I may use now:

Sajjad Gerami
Email: my.email@gmail.com

Can I do that? Can I publish a paper just by my name and email (which is a Gmail one) without any institutional affiliation?

Update: For information about email address check these questions:

What should a proper email signature look like for graduate students?

E-mail address to use in publications


texts: How should you address academic colleagues in the United States? Is the "Prof" title necessary?

texts: I've recently been hired as an assistant professor and will be starting this fall.  As I'm beginning to be included on departmental e-mail and in certain decisions, I'm starting to interact (at least via e-mail) with my colleagues.  How should I address them?  As a graduate student and postdoc, I've always addressed faculty as Prof. X unless I was already very familiar with them or unless they've told me to do otherwise.  Is it strange to continue to do this as a professor?  I don't want to be disrespectful, but at the same time it feels a little stuffy to continually refer to everyone as Prof. X until they suggest I do otherwise.


texts: Structure of a review paper with author's unpublished data

texts:
I am wondering how to structure a review paper that contains a small portion of the authors' unpublished empirical research results. These unpublished data only account for maybe 2% of all the data cited in the review, and together with other's published data serve as evidence to some claims to be made. So should I introduce the detailed methodology of the empirical research in the manuscript or put it in the supplementary material? or do you have other recommended paper structure?

Introduction
Detailed review on the topic
Discussion
Conclusions
Supplementary material
Methodology of the empirical research

or

Introduction
Detailed review on the topic
Discussion
Conclusions
Methodology of the empirical research (use smaller font)

or

Introduction
Methodology of the empirical research
Detailed review on the topic
Discussion
Conclusions


texts: Ways to keep up with an academic talk (especially in mathematics)

texts:
I am a maths masters student, and I am getting very frustrated with how little I get out of academic talks. I would love some advice on how to change this.
I feel like there are a few problems:

Not understanding the material at the pace that it is presented. This could include notation, definitions, something conceptual, missing an 'obvious' way of viewing the problem due that makes certain things obvious etc

Attention drifting for a brief period of time and missing a small remark- or something more important- that clarifies what we are doing in the proof and why.

Not writing down/committing to memory the right things. For instance, the form of some function or its general asymptotic behaviour.

I appreciate that for 1. and 3. the best solution is probably just gaining more experience in the research area that is being presented. That way, I will have a better feel for what parameters/quantities are important to keep track of as well. However I still feel like I generally do a worse job than most at following talks...
I am currently participating in a reading group in my area of interest; the audience is a mixture of masters students like me, with very similar backgrounds, and PhD students. In every talk/presentation so far, I have gotten quite lost by about mid-way through, so find myself unable to come up with sensible questions to ask. And yet, most of the other masters students usually have insightful questions that demonstrate they understood the lecture; they are able to discuss the material, linking it to things presented in earlier talks as well. I just sit there feeling like a lemon.
I was wondering if I have a short-term memory impairment... My brain seems to be like a sieve unless I have a good conceptual understanding of something. But there is too much to write down to keep track of the things that are new!
Hopefully people could share their approaches to getting something out of academic talks in mathematics. For example:

How much do you write down? What do you write? (definitions, theorems, key elements of a proof?) In how much detail?

Any specific tips for maintaining attention during the talk, or trying to get back on track after missing something and feeling a little lost.

Do you make summary or revision tool after a talk? This would probably be especially good for the reading group; though it is difficult to do when I feel like I didn't understand the talk- what would I write down?

Note: I have heard of a method of writing 3 important things to remember, but I still find it confusing as to what those three things should be. IF someone could give a concrete example from a talk they themselves attended, that would be great.


texts: Taking my research idea outside my paid job

texts:
I'm doing a (paid, contractual) remote research internship with a research institute in Germany. My job is to come up with novel ideas, write papers for technical conferences and try to publish them. My supervisor here is A.

There is another individual B from a different institute in the USA, who has expressed interest in a research collaboration with me. However, this arrangement is informal, wherein he would provide his comments on my ideas and help me publish them. He would also be one of the authors of the resulting paper.

Now during my regular work with A, I had proposed a couple of ideas to him: he liked one but said the other was not promising. It so happens that I do think that the second idea is promising, perhaps even more so than the first idea that he liked.

So my question is, is it legal and ethical for me to take my second idea to B and ask him for help in getting it published? Before I start this endeavour, should I perhaps ask A in unequivocal terms whether I can take my idea elsewhere? If A has no use for the idea he shouldn't have a problem in allowing me to do so (I hope, but I'm not sure). Is this a reasonable question to ask a supervisor?

I feel like this is a grey area but I also think that the idea I have is a good one, and I don't want to waste it (by getting it published before someone else comes up with a similar idea).


texts: Can I use the mm.dd.yy date format in academic writing?

texts: The date format is usually written as mm/dd/yy and sometimes the month written out followed by the day followed by a comma and the year. My question is: is it academically acceptable to write the date in mm.dd.yy format? I like the . . . format better than the / / / format, which is why I ask the question.


texts: I need an efficient way to catch up with all the work done in my field of interest

texts:
I have an academic problem that I'm very interested in and want to explore the related research fields. Of course no researcher knows everything going on in a field but I feel I know far too less to go for a PhD right now. I'm in the last year of my undergraduate program right now.

What I did so far is...

Read a lot of papers. They build on a large corpus of knowledge so before understanding the theoretical details I have to read all those somewhat related publications.
Read advances papers for better understanding. This works quite well.
Organize links to all interesting publications and other material in a document. Not sure if it's really useful though. I haven't had time to read things from there I didn't remember anyway yet.
Start implementing the ideas and algorithms as computer programs. Doing so is good to validate my understanding but also takes a lot of time and it would be good to get some help when I'm stuck.
Join mailing lists and groups and talk to researchers. It's more networking than information.
Take somewhat related classes at other universities since there is not much at mine. However, there are no whole courses on the problem I'm interested in since it's too specific.

This all is a lot of fun. It also obviously takes a considerable amount of time. Do you have any advice to more efficiently organize and catch up with the current state of my academic field of interest?


texts:
We know that professors are busy, and more often than not we (students) do not receive quick replies from them. However, the tables have turned (sadly, and just once).
This summer, I'm working on some advanced reading and possibly research under the guidance of a professor not at my institution (given the pandemic, all interaction is online, i.e. via email and scheduled Zoom meetings). After one of my meetings, I wrote to the professor summarizing whatever was discussed in the meeting, and heard back from the professor within a few hours (probably two). The reply also contained some information unrelated to the meeting, to which I may have been expected to respond to. At that point, I was in the process of completing certain work that was assigned to me, and I decided to reply back only after I had made some substantial progress to be able to give an update. So, I replied after approximately 60 hours with updates on substantial progress (as I had expected), and also replied to the extra bit in their email which was essentially some information besides what was discussed in the meeting.
In retrospect, I feel a little awful for sending in a late reply to the professor's email, though 60 hours hopefully isn't too big a deal. Could this possibly be interpreted badly/negatively by the professor? I intend to respond swiftly henceforth - but I am wondering if anything went wrong this time around. I haven't heard back from the professor in about two days now (that's probably okay, but still enough to trigger anxiety).
Please let me know in the context of the above situation if everything seems alright and if replying ASAP to professors is the way to go. Since many people here are at advanced stages in their careers (PhDs, postdocs, professors, etc.) - I hope to gain some valuable insights. Thank you for your patience and for reading this far!
Lastly (though somewhat less important), as the title suggests: Is it considered bad if a student replies late to a professor? (just in general, without context)