texts: Uploading preprints of old Elsevier papers to arXiv, and updating arXiv preprints by newer versions

texts:
Let's say that my first scientific paper was published in 2010 in one of the Elsevier mathematical journals. At that time I didn't care about uploading a preprint of the paper to arXiv which I now regret. Is it ok to upload the paper to arXiv today? Do I break my license agreement with Elsevier by doing this? Is it appropriate?

Also, let's say that I uploaded a preprint of another paper to arXiv 6 months ago and at the same time I submitted the paper to one of the Elsevier journals. I was asked by the Elsevier reviewer to make a revision of the paper. I made the revision and the paper was accepted for a publication. Is it ok to replace the original preprint on arXiv by the latest version of the paper which will be published by the Elsevier journal?

Finally, assuming that the answer to the previous question is affirmative. Is it ok to replace an original preprint of yet another paper by its latest version even if the paper was published three years ago (but I never replaced the original preprint by any newer version)?


texts: Should I normalize inconsistent proceedings titles?

texts:
I work in a discipline where titles of published conference proceedings are notoriously inconsistent.  (Perhaps all disciplines are like this?)  For example, various years' proceedings of the same annual event may be officially titled a dozen different ways:

Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving
Proceedings of the 2nd Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving
Proceedings of the 1998 Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket-Weaving
SUBW '99: Proceedings of the Annual Conference
Papers from the Fifth International Conference for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 2000)
Society for Underwater Basket Weaving: Papers from the 6th Annual Conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
SUBW 2002: Past Successes and Future Directions
(etc. etc.)

Sometimes the titles aren't even consistent in the same volume of proceedings—different names may appear on the cover and the inner title page!

My question is, where one's publisher expresses no preference on how one's bibliography is formatted, is it better to keep such titles as-is, or to normalize them?  For example, one possible way of normalizing the above entries would be as follows:

Proceedings of the 1st Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 1996)
Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 1997)
Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 1998)
Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 1999)
Proceedings of the 5th Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 2000)
Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 2001)
Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the Society for Underwater Basket Weaving (SUBW 2002)

The disadvantage of doing this is that your bibliography is no longer an accurate reflection of what's printed in the proceedings themselves.  If any libraries hold copies of the proceedings, they may catalogue them under the original titles, so a reader wouldn't be able to find them there by searching for one of your normalized titles.

However, I think normalization has some significant advantages.  For one, it's always clear which conference of which scholarly society you are referencing—something which isn't always the case when using the original titles.  Since many proceedings nowadays are published online only, normalizing the titles could make it easier for readers to find the society's web page, and through it the proceedings.  Nowadays many proceedings can be uniquely identified by ISBN or DOI; including these identifiers in the bibliography makes it less important to faithfully transcribe the title.  Using consistent titles also makes it easier for readers to search your bibliography for references to papers in proceedings volumes of interest, without having to know or remember their original titles.

A third option would be to list both the original title and the normalized version, though I think this is rather cumbersome, particularly when the two versions differ only slightly.

Am I missing any more advantages or disadvantages?  Do any popular style guides speak to this issue?


texts: Arxiv updated references not tracked by Google scholar

texts: I uploaded a preprint to arxiv and then uploaded a second version after 2 weeks with additional references. It seems that it has been more than a month but Google Scholar is unable to track the updated references and change the citation count. Has anybody experienced something similar and has solutions to address the problem ?


texts: Do you need to read a whole article before citing it?

texts:
During writing my academic paper, I need to cite a definition in a scientific paper. The other part of the paper, is irrelevant to my work.

I have been advised that if you will cite a paper, you need to read that paper entirely. But in this case, it seems useless to do so.

It also happened a few times when I wanted to cite from some books.


texts: How to deal with a student who talks too much in my class?

texts:
I am teaching English for an Employment course; the entire course usually takes 2 months.

This semester I have a student who is talking too much in the class and for anything that I teach he has something to say—sometimes related to the course and sometimes not. However, he performs well enough in my class activities and homework and he doesn't seem to be deliberately rude.

He is not a chatterbox—he's not talking continuously for a long time, but for many and many times, but each time he speaks for a short time. Sometimes he is also a bit aggressive, saying things like "non-human employers" or "psychologists talking empty for money". I think he is suffering from aspergers since he also usually brings some maths stuff to read in class.

How can I deal with such an unpleasant situation?

BTW, I am a woman teacher and the student is a man; does this makes him more rude?


texts: Is it okay to submit a paper to a conference or publication from another field?

texts:
For instance, my field is Information Technology and I would like to know if it is okay to submit to management and environmental science publication. Of course, it's not purely I.T. but this is a paper on how I.T. can help preserve the environment, specifically on reducing consumption of resources.

What are your thoughts on this?


texts: Is it ever alright to add a subtitle to a title shortened by publication when citing?

texts:
Let's assume that a paper was submitted under the "Extremely long and necessary title that explains you are studying pieces of Class A, Class B and Class C of this Bigger (and much more frequently searched) Topic".

This, of course, had to be shortened for publication and now is published and cited under the title:

"Extremely long and necessary title that explains you are studying pieces of Class A, Class B and Class C"

Still correct but likely to fly under the radar of many researchers. So, is it ever OK in a citation (APA or in general) to add the [additional subtitles] when displaying the citation like below? Is it even ethical to adjust the title post publication?

"Extremely long and necessary title that explains you are studying pieces of Class A, Class B and Class C [of this Bigger (and much more frequently searched) Topic]"

I'm a new academic and I appreciate any thoughts.


texts: Do I have to do research at the college I am attending to get into a good grad school?

texts:
I am currently an incoming freshman, starting a physics/math double major at UMass Boston in the fall. Over the summer, I started an internship at the Harvard Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology that I really love and intend to continue doing throughout the school year.

I'm actively contributing to the research being done and I want to continue working there as long as I can. I understand that doing some level of research during undergrad is basically required to get into grad school, but it is necessary that it be at the same school that I am attending?

Should I be focusing more on opportunities at UMass Boston? Or does it not matter where I do the research, as long as I do some sort of research for undergrad?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!


texts: Do I need to submit an official transcript from my BSc degree while applying and / getting selected into a PhD program?

texts:
I have a BSc and an MSc degree, both in earth science from India. I have done reasonably well in both, 8/10 GPA in BSc and 8.9/10 GPA in MSc. Now after about 1.5 years of work experience I wanna apply to a PhD program and my preference would be the top institutes for my field, in NA and Europe, but the issue is that I don't have my BSc official transcript yet, I have applied for it, but since my undergraduate was from a below average government university, they will take substantial time to process the application.
As I write this, I am barely a few weeks away from the application deadlines to the major universities in the US and elsewhere, for fall session 2021. Although many universities allow the submission of unofficial transcripts in the form of all grade cards collated into a single document, for the purpose of the initial application, and I can do this for the time being, but many require the official transcript to be either posted or uploaded at the time of accepting the offer.
I do have all documents of my MSc degree and I do have all documents including grade cards and degree certificate of my BSc, except the official transcript. So there is definitely a high chance I might not have the transcript in time for application and / accepting an offer.
Kindly advise what can be done.


texts: French master student, equivalent honours in the UK?

texts:
I am completing my second year of Master in mathematics in France and applying for a PhD in the UK, I wonder how to present my grades. I had average grades of 17.1/20 and 17.4/20. Shall I just write this (I'm afraid the 0-20 scale might be confusing), add that it is equivalent to First Class Honours (I was for sure in the first 10% of the class, maybe first, but there is no record of the ranking), or do you have any other suggestions?
I appreciate your answers


texts: Should grad students also serve as lab managers?

texts:
I'm a 3rd year PhD student in a robotics lab. My advisor recently moved universities, so our new lab space doesn't have a large stockpile of supplies and equipment. As the person who does the most hardware-based stuff in the lab, I've been slowly acquiring necessary equipment and supplies for electronics work, mechanical assembly, etc, with the support of my advisor.

There most senior student in the lab is now trying to convince me to take on the role of lab manager. He indicated that in his past labs there have been graduate students who also are given the (extra, unpaid) role of lab manager. He keeps joking (?) that he will volunteer me for the position to our advisor.

It takes a lot of time to spec equipment, make purchase orders, organize tools efficiently, etc, and all the other students in the lab come to me when they need help with anything from university logistics to help using equipment. The equipment is necessary for my work, and I'm  happy to help fellow students, but it's starting to take way too much time away from my work, and I certainly don't want a formal position that necessitates this responsibility. I'm giving a conference talk next week and will miss our regular lab meeting, and I'm worried that this other student will volunteer me for this position when I'm not there.

Is a PhD student also serving as an (unpaid, but official) lab manager a typical arrangement? I've never seen it in any of the labs I've worked with or observed. Research is my absolute top priority and I don't think it's useful for a PhD student to do the work of a lab manager because we're there to do research. If I do get volunteered for the "position" without my consent, will my advisor think I am an unmotivated student if I politely decline?


texts: Am I aiming too high if I am applying to physics graduate schools in Canada?

texts:
So I'm in the start of the process of applying to graduate school in Canada for a Masters in experimental physics, and am kind of overwhelmed and wondering about some things:

I'm not from Canada and didn't study there, but have Canadian
citizenship. How much help, if any, will this be?
I have somewhat bad overall grades in my undergrad degree (GPA just over 3/4 in a B.Sc(Hons) of 3 years normal undergrad + 1 year higher level courses & research, a high B+ in my uni's system, or 2nd class (1st division)), but am reasonably confident I can get a decent physics GRE score, having done okay on a practice test with no prep. How much would a good GRE score make up for poorish grades, and should I be limiting the schools I'm looking at to less respected ones based on this?
Between 3rd and 4th years of my undergrad, I did a 10 week summer research project, as well as the whole year project in 4th year. Would this amount of research experience be typical for students from north American universities, or not?

I was looking primarily at the University of Toronto, U of Ottawa, and Simon Fraser University, and then just sort of started feeling like maybe I'm wasting my time & money even applying for them. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.


texts: Assessing quality of research groups within math departments as a prospective PhD student?

texts:
First, let me quickly say that I've read as many related questions on this site as I can find, and I believe my questions haven't been directly addressed yet.

I am currently selecting between a few PhD programs in mathematics and have read many different accounts of how to best approach the process. There are several top answers here that suggest that one should try hard to attend the program with highest prestige, as long as this doesn't directly compromise your ability to pursue research in your field of interest (or land you in an area in which you are unhappy). Most posts then qualify that statement carefully, reminding the OPs that measuring prestige is not the same as comparing ranks on USNews (in multiple threads it is suggested that there is little difference between schools that differ by 10 points).

My questions are:

1) Are the AMS groupings generally a better indicator of a program's quality than differences in USNews ranks? Is it an unwise move to attend a Group II school if you are admitted into Group I schools, given that your ultimate goal is to work as a research mathematician?

2) How does one start to compare programs' strengths, specifically in their subfield of interest, without resorting to some kind of online ranking? Which metrics are reliable indicators for the strength of the specific research group in a particular department?

Honestly, I wish I wasn't thinking so much about my future in these terms. I come from a humble undergraduate institution, and many of my options represent a positive leap forward, for which I am very grateful. However, I can't help but feel the pressure of the competitiveness of the academic job market (all hearsay to me). When I read that hiring committees pay close attention to these numbers, I feel like I ought to do the same.

Thanks for any insight


texts: What type of content (depth/breadth) or structure of slides (PPT) is expected for a short presentation for Asst Professor interview in the UK?

texts:
I have been recently offered an interview for Asst. Professor at a mid-tier UK university.
I have completed my PhD from a top-tier (Oxbridge) university in the UK and had applied for this position without really expecting an interview call. At the start of the interview, I am asked to deliver a 10 minute presentation titled "How would you contribute to the research agenda in the Department?"
In my opinion, the question is rather asking "How would your research fit the department"? Please correct me if I am wrong.
The current situation is I have researched the department and find that the department has a research center but my research specialisms do not necessarily fit the research center. For example, my specialisms are financial investments and the school research center focus on cooperate finance. In this case, how should I address "my research fits well with the department". In addition, I am struggling to figure out the exact meaning how should I answer "contribution to their research agenda".
My current problem is that this interview is scheduled immediately (within 5 days), and this doesn't give me sufficient time to contact my former PhD supervisor(s) for their valuable advice.
My specific questions are:
How deeply technical should I go in the presentation slides for such an opportunity? (i.e. are details at the equation-level required and journal citations expected?)
What sort of answers do that expect？ or Which aspects should I discuss in order to address this question? Currently, I can only think of some answers such as potential collaboration with potential staff or contribution to the next REF or etc?
Should I discuss my publications, conference participation, research pipeline or achievements so far?
Should I identify the grants that I shall be applying to (in particular, the specific EPSRC schemes that exist for early career researchers)?
Are there any other aspects that I may have completely missed here?
I am really sorry to be naive in asking a lot of questions here. This is a valuable opportunity for me and I'd like to give it my best.


texts: Submit an academic paper to arXiv built over a patented idea

texts: We have our idea patented with the company we are working currently for. But, we have also been writing a paper draft on the theory and the mathematics behind the idea with practical results, plots, comments, and future directions. Can we submit the paper to arXiv linking it to the original patent? I am confused because arXiv is for open publishing but having the core idea patented doesn't, probably, allow open usage of the algorithm. Does it then contain the same academic value and worth putting on arXiv? Does arXiv allow such a thing at all? Thanks


texts: What is the basic structure of American higher education?

texts: When I go to university for four years and study, e.g., law or medicine, do I earn an undergraduate degree? And do I have to go to university for another two years or so to get a graduate degree? Also, is it the same university then, or do I have to go somewhere else? And do you have to get a graduate degree? I’m really confused by the American academic system.


texts: How to react to an angry email / argument as a third party

texts:
I'm finding myself in an uncomfortable position these past couple of days. Our IT/lab manager has been working on a new website to store data that is to be shared with about 11 other institutions, all part of the same project. Our lab is heading the data management and modeling. My adviser is not happy with his progress and has sent him a very "tone-y" email, but has included me and other colleagues in the email as well. At first I thought the conversation was limited to our lab. Now I see the project director and a couple other people are included as well. I came close to replying with something along the lines "Please do not include me in these types of emails" (It's a work in progress!!). The emails have gotten to down right bickering, even childish, and have gone back and forth several times. I'm very surprised at the tone and childish nature of the emails.

What is a lowly PhD student such as myself to do in this sort of situation? Should I just ignore the messages? Or should I request to be excluded from the conversation?

P.S. These emails are of some significance to me because of the data. But I don't believe I should be in this conversation.


texts: What is the purpose of international editions of books sometimes omitting some problems, footnotes, or other content?

texts:
I've noticed that - at least in the US - a book is published and sold at a non-trivial price to US residents. However, the author/publisher may also make an international version.

This version is subpar in my opinion. For example, they are cheaper, but also typically paperback, and I've seen in a science textbook things such as "this problem has intentionally been omitted for this edition" and "this [foot]note has been intentionally omitted for this edition."

Why are international editions stripped-down versions of their original counterparts? Why the need to omit certain problems and footnotes?

(I had asked this question first in Law Stack Exchange, but they deleted it and suggested I ask it here. So, any help on the legality of these reasonings would be appreciated).


texts: How should I credit the advisor's help in my thesis?

texts:
I am graduating soon and in the last minute my advisor found an issue in one major theorem in my thesis. In an hour, my advisor sent me a write up with a fix. The result is a little bit different than what I have, but it does the job.
I was not expecting him to fix this issue. We were supposed to meet and discuss this issue. Instead, my advisor just sent an email with this fix. Since this is the major result in my thesis and my advisor's contribution is more significant than mine, what is the appropriate way to acknowledge this in my thesis?


texts: Are Harvard-style open access policies lawful under civil law?

texts:
Open access policies such as that of Harvard or MIT are implemented by granting the university some non-exclusive rights on the works written by faculty. This is very useful as it circumvents subsequent copyright transfers (to some extent).

There are a few articles explaining why this is compatible with copyright law, so in common law (see below). I wonder whether similar policies could be designed under authors' rights, in civil law (for instance the french "droit d'auteur"), where rights transfers seem to obey to slightly different rules.

Useful links:

Simon Frankel and Shannon Nestor, Opening the Door: How Faculty Authors Can Implement an Open Access Policy at Their Institutions
Eric Priest, Copyright and the Harvard Open Access Mandate, Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, preprint August 1, 2012


texts: Not motivated for the second part of thesis

texts: I am asking for a hint about the following issue. I have this particular (let's call it weakness) that I have to be motivated to do research. I have done a large portion of my thesis in PhD, but not for all cases. To put it in an example, assume that you are trying to prove a theorem in mathematics, which has two cases. You and your advisor are both convinced that in principle should not be any difference for the proofs i.e. if you proved the first case, you expect that the second case also holds. However, my advisor really wants to see the result directly for the second case as well. The issue lies exactly here: I am not convinced (motivated, etc.) to study the second case which is just more messy but she insists on this. In this case, I am asking for your suggestions: how would you motivate yourself to repeat the same process for the second case? I should emphasize that the problem itself is very interesting for me, and the issue is not this. The problem is that I am convinced that the second case is just a boring repetition of my first approach. I'd be so much thankful for your suggestions!


texts: Getting letters of recommendation for a master's degree if I don't get along with my current advisor

texts:
I'm currently in my final undergraduate year and I really want to go to graduate school, but there are some problems: I'm not sure if I can get recommendation letters.

< rant>
My current advisor is insane and unfair. She didn't let me take part in a conference paper that she and another student worked on. That was a very good chance for me to improve my chances of getting to graduate school, but now it's lost. She slightly modified the Caesar cipher and the other student just wrote a program that demonstrates her "algorithm", and it took him several days, while I could've done that in 4-8 hours.

Second time around, I decided(took her advice) to take the research category in a course where we have to make a project my the end of the semester. She didn't guide me or provide me with any references or resources that could help me. She just tells me "write it and I'll read it" or "look it up and understand it". I spent most the semester trying to get my head around the research topic and implement the algorithms, until I finally had to change to the development category because I was going to fail the course otherwise. Now she tells me that "she lost trust in me" and that she won't waste her time with me again.
< /rant>

So obviously my relationship with her is not very good, but what can I do now? Is doing research(or "research" in this case) at the undergraduate level mandatory for applying to graduate programs? My previous advisor liked me and my relationship with him was very good, but he left. If I could find him, can I get a recommendation letter from him? There is also another professor that is no longer at my school, can I get a recommendation letter from him as well? I've never worked on something with them or been their assistant, though.


texts: How will a "local" master's in CSE look when I apply for a Graduate funding in the USA?

texts:
Please refer to this previous question of mine:

As someone with low grades how can I prepare myself to study MSc in CS in USA?
Would it be a good idea to quit my job to prepare for the GRE and TOEFL?

I live in Bangladesh. With a background in IT, I am doing a job in a bank. I am 32. Honestly speaking I am done with my job. With an ambition to do a PhD from a USA/Canadian/German university, I have understood that my current job is actually going to get me nowhere.
Some answerers of the previous questions pointed out the importance of having a job in the related discipline, proving research capability, involving in research activity, being a part of a research group and so on.
After considering all these points, I am actually strongly planning to quit my job and get enrolled in a "Masters with thesis" program in CSE in a local university. My previous degree was in Information Technology which is, I guess, considered a professional discipline. So, I am going for a CSE degree. As far as I know, Information Technology degree is not considered a fundamental discipline.
My plan is this: (1) I shall complete a masters degree in CSE with a thesis, (2) write and publish one/two research articles and finally (3) complete GRE+TOEFL, if required.
And one more thing, I want to secure a funding either in the form of Assistant, Teaching Assistant(TA), Research Assistant, Research Fellow or anything else.
Please tell me about my prospect as a Masters-by-thesis candidate along with a funding after completing this series of actions.
Is the risk of quitting the job worth taken?


texts: How should I refer to a professor as a undergrad TA?

texts:
I just got hired for a TA role as an undergrad. Normally, I would refer to a professor as Professor LastName if I'm talking to them in a "professor" capacity, or as Dr. LastName if talking to them in any other capacity. However, given the closer role I will have this semester, and that many grad students (all the other TAs) generally call professors by their first name, I'm unsure of what proper etiquette should be.
I know generally asking is the best solution, but there are very few times where the professor stands on their ego enough to say "you must call me by my title", even if they prefer the title to their first name. The prof in question is particularly prone to this sort of behavior (based on hearsay), hence the reluctance to email.
To clarify some comments, I normally stick to calling any professor by their title. However, every other TA is calling the professor by first name (although they are all part of his group). The entire situation of an undergrad being a TA is unusual enough. I don't have the familiarity with the prof that the other TAs have, but it also feels awkward to be the only person calling the professor by their title.


texts: Terminology for lecturing modes (for CV)

texts:
In the country I did my PhD in, at a lot of courses there are lectures by a professor covering theory, and then lectures by a PhD student which cover exercises, examples, clarifications, etc. Those are lectures which require preparation, standing in front of a full class, just like the "main" lectures. My question is, how should I refer to it in my CV. Maybe if I write "Teaching Assistant", in the US it might be understood as something with less weight than what I described?

Thanks


texts: What should I do with a bad dissertation from a good school?

texts:
I am a Ph.D. student who is at most two semesters away from graduation at one of the top institutions in the field. My field is not well-funded and can be highly competitive, and I am especially concerned because my dissertation is not very relevant to the field I am interested in(I wrote/presented/am on the way to publish some other research papers that are more relevant to the field of my interest, but these are unrelated to my dissertation), and because I find it very uninspiring and uninteresting; it is based solely on a meta-analysis and not on any actual innovative research.

I am not intending to publish the dissertation, since I feel that the additional work needed to submit will be simply a waste of time, and I do not want bad research papers to be associated with my name.

What should I do in order to still look for a postdoc with a bad dissertation? Should I simply give up on academia and attempt to find a different career path?


texts: Is it fine to contact a conference organizer for references to prepare for the conference?

texts:
I'm a PhD student in theoretical Physics. There will be an online conference in one subject I'm very interested in and in which I want to start doing research. I have studied a few papers on the subject but I'm still a beginner. In particular I don't know what can be done in the field and I'm in hopes that attending the conference will help with that.
In that case I think it could be a good idea to prepare myself for this conference studying some relevant papers. Is it OK to send an email to the organizer asking for some references which would be a good idea to study before attending?


texts: To teach English at the college level, is there an advantage to having a masters in English vs Education?

texts: I'm currently in my second year of teaching English at the secondary level, and I'm wondering if it's better to pursue a Master's  in English (I have a Bachelor's in English Lit.) or Education. Is there a strong advantage to one or the other in terms of professional development for teachers? I also see myself teaching at the college level someday.


texts: What careers not requiring an academic degree might be open to a self-learner who wants to do research on pure mathematics?

texts:
I hesitated to ask this question since it may not relevant to this website, but I saw a question of same category here but still couldn't find an answer ...

Since childhood, I've had a sharp enthusiasm for Maths, studying books from an elementary level to ones suited for the level of a Masters of Science student at Melbourne University. I am currently 15, but the formal classroom setting feels like a waste of my time. Because of my passion for Maths, going through the formal procedure of education is making me severely depressed...

Here is my question:

What careers which do not require an academic degree (all research positions require a PhD) might be open (in Australia) to a self-learner who wants to do research on Pure Mathematics?

Salaries for a postdoc position are ~80k in Australia, but I am looking for a research career even of a ~15k salary because that would be enough money to survive while doing research. I have yet to published any paper to impress some institution to believe in me, if it helps at all.

EDIT - Thank you all very much for your very informative answers. To be more precise, I would like to write my main reasons of the 'horror' of university:

Solving exercises or studying the texts in self-study themselves can (although difficult) be stopped for the duration of university affairs (classes, ...) but I believe that research can't be frequently stopped by other irrelevant things even with university affairs [university classes will be Math, but not be the research that I want to engross in, at least for first few years], since being creative requires to be much more engrossed (to put it simpler: 1 2-day is more efficient than 2 1-day for research).
Even with prestigious universities it involves a lot of bureaucracy, which they may find necessary to obtain a degree but are irrelevant to Mathematics.
Being very deep concentrated and having manic passion causes a lot sensitivity, that's why we have some recluse people (in Arts and Science) and most of them are suffering from Bipolar Disorder caused by their manic-enthusiasm. While there are many people with great achievements living in society with high-degrees UNFORTUNATELY I don't think it's impossible for me.

3a. An example of negativity in university education is the focus on institutional ranking. Combined with job-seaerching being the main purpose of study for some, it could impact someone who just seeks the beauty of Mathematics faith in seeking a degree.
University costs a lot for a Bachelors of Science, much more than it would to be a mathematician in solitude.

EDIT 2 - In my question, I have asked that from where I can get financial support for basic life expenditure, however many answers include enrollment in universities which costs A LOT for just BSc (supposing that I can survive with my mentioned conditions in first EDIT).

Thank you, everyone. I highly appreciate the brilliant advise in many of your answers, however my main question remains how would I pursue research in Mathematics without a degree? I know the path that is recommended for pursuing a research career, but the cost of university and not having peace of mind are too great of an expense for me.


texts: Tools to assist with upper-division grading?

texts:
Are there any commercial or free products that assist professors with grading students? I've seen many K-12 solutions, but these are generally without robust curve options. I've seen a lot of professors that have created their own Excel spreadsheets, but I'd like to offer something a little more standardized.

Easy Grade Pro and Gradekeeper are time-tested K-12 tools, but lack extensive curve-based grading options, like weighting, adjustments for curve compliance (ability to bump grades up but only if you're still within the curve), midterm grades only counting if they help the student, and the ability to switch to P/NP if the student is in a program that isn't included on a curve.

Some of these may be very specific to my institution, but I'm looking for a starting point at least.


texts: What tense to use in thesis when describing complex simulation models?

texts:
I've researched the "rules" regarding use of tenses in scientific writing. However, I'm still not sure how to describe the simulations I've done during my thesis.

Just a simple example:

  1: An example model was developed to simulate the behavior during
  compression.

Here I'm describing something I did in the past, similar to an experiment, hence I'm using the past tense.

Then I'll describe what happens during the simulation, or how specific properties of the simulation model were set.

  2: The piston geometry is imported as a .stl-mesh. By moving the mesh in direction of the negative z-axis, the particles in the
  cylinder are compressed until...

I'm not sure about the tenses used in example 2. I could have also written:

  3: The piston geometry was imported as a .stl-mesh. By moving the mesh in direction of the negative z-axis, the particles in the
  cylinder were compressed until...

I can't decide whether example 2 or 3 is the better choice.


texts: What does the word `scholar' convey when it is a part of a degree name?

texts: What does the word 'scholar' convey when it is a part of a degree name? Suppose that the graduate admission committee looks at an applicant who has completed a bachelor of engineering (scholar), how do they view the word `scholar' in this context?


texts: Weight of undergraduate grades when applying for a Ph.D

texts:
I am an undergraduate student in Computer Engineering and I would like to do a Ph.D. at a well reputed university. I am facing a problem because I took some borderline pass grades in a few courses (3 of them) and I might want to retake them. This courses though are not that much relevant to the area that I currently work in (for example they might be some user interface design classes whereas my focus is on parallel computing).

I would like to ask how much do these grades matter for my applications for a Ph.D. in a reputed university (like Carnegie Mellon Univeristy (CMU) in Computer Science, but not restricted to that). And how much does these grades matter if I get into an M.Sc. course in a highly reputable university.

To be more concrete, will these grades matter if I want to continue my studies towards a Ph.D. at CMU. And how much more or less do they matter if I will be on an M.Sc. at ETH Zurich (or a similar university, where I can do really good research) when I will apply to CMU. (This is just a random example)


texts: How do I get into a Computer Science Masters with a humanities undergraduate degree?

texts:
I realize my question is similar to this thread. However, I have a slightly different story which I'd like to ask people's opinion about.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies (specialist) and History (minor). I graduated in the middle of the latest economic slump and wasn't able to find jobs in my field. Since I have been an avid computer geek from a very young age, I decided to leverage those skills and ended up becoming a tech support consultant, sys-admin, and am currently a full-stack web developer.

In a way, I don't really require getting a Computer Science masters degree as I've been in the field now for about 5 years. On the other hand, not having that extra piece of paper has impeded me from being strongly credible as well as from obtaining better paying jobs.

Question:  Given my experience in the field already, how likely is it for me to get accepted for a Computer Science masters degree with my B.A. undergraduate degree?


texts: Developing casual relationship with advisor

texts:
I'm currently working for a professor in a research institution. The typical interaction with my advisor is as follows:

  Me: Hi! How was your weekend/conference/trips?

  Prof: Good. Do you have any results to report to me?

  Me: (Frantically take out my report) I've done this, that, and that like what you've told me.

  Prof: Good. Keep working on it.

  Me: (Immediately leave the scene and get back to work)

While I understand that I cannot force him to have any casual conversation with me, it's bugging me that we talk about nothing but research everyday. I have almost no clue about who he is or what he does outside research.

Based on other questions that I've read in this site, I have a feeling this is a norm in academia, though my relationship with my undergrad research advisor was much more friendlier and casual than my current advisor.

My question is: How can I develop a more casual relationship with my advisor? Is this even desirable in academia?

Perhaps this is just my personal preference, but I'd like to have a more casual relationship with someone that I see everyday and talk to everyday. His office is located 5m away from my workspace, and I report to him 1-2 times a day. We also bump into each other numerous times in the corridor, and exchange awkward hi. I don't like to work with someone if I view him as an authoritative figure that only demands results from me, and I often get fearful to see him or talk to him, which I don't think is healthy.

He is not a super-introvert that doesn't like talking to people, because I often see him laughing, talking, and joking around with other professors. That has never happened between two of us.

Somewhat related, but not really: How to deal with an advisor who wants a “friendlier” relationship with me than I do?

How to maintain a good relationship with advisor when there is no need for it but I want it?

EDIT: This is in US, and he does not have any students right now, though he has had students in the past.


texts: how to reply a professor is not available for research guidance

texts:
Thanks for your interest. But I am not available for guidance or mentorship.

This is my professor's reply.

I don't know how to reply back formally. I want to know if this professor can suggest my name to his colleagues. I don't how to formally ask him to do this.

Can anyone please help.


texts: Major revision and re-submit as a Technical Note

texts:
I submitted a manuscript as a Research Paper last May 12 to Journal A. Now, 6 months later, I have received a decision letter recommending "... undertake a major revision, and re-submit a revised version of your paper as a Technical Note". Talking with co-authors we disagree and would like to submit the paper to a different journal (Journal B). What should I do? Should we submit the paper to Journal B if it is still "under revision" in Journal A? I have sent a letter to the Editor of Journal A, explaining that we'll not re-submit the paper as a technical note, but I have not yet received any reply.
Thanks for the advice!


texts: Logic behind masters programs admissions

texts:
I'm 2 years out of undergrad and thinking about applying to some math graduate schools, specifically operations research and maybe financial engineering. I was a math major, with middling grades, and now I work in IT.

My question is this: it seems that even for not top-tier schools, a high GPA is crucial, as are great letters of recommendation, wonderful GRE scores etc. Why? If I'm willing to shell out 50k for grad school, and I've met the prerequisites, and I show an interest in the subject, why wouldn't a school want to have me? Is it purely so that they can claim they have a low acceptance rate?

In other words, if a grad school (again, not top 10 let's say) has a surplus of people who want to take that program, in a field like math, why not just hire as many professors as it would take to teach them?

I guess I don't get all this pressure to be perfect.

Thanks!

EDIT: I am referring to masters programs in particular, where stipends are not as common.

EDIT: Ok, Pete and Paul's answers make sense, given the current set up of grad school. I can imagine a different set up, however, that would make it less competitive for students, more profitable for professors and more about learning than prestige.


texts: Name spelling problem in recommendation letter

texts:
I have applied to several US universities for admission to the PhD program this fall, so I requested my professors to write recommendations for me.

One of the professor wrote my name incorrectly. My full name is: Md Rohan Hossain, but the professor wrote Md. Rahan Hussein. He already submitted the letter with that incorrect spelling. He completed the recommendation process online.

In this circumstances what can I do? Will it cause a big problem?


texts: Would I get into trouble if I give out "too many" A grades?

texts:
In the next semester, I will be teaching for the first time
a seminar course which is composed of about 25 students.
I am not sure how to respond to prospective students
who have asked me about the grade distribution of the course.

For courses with large enrollments,
I have the impression from my colleagues
that I have to follow the "typical grade distribution" at my university,
which is something like 25% As, 50% Bs, 20% Cs,
and some Ds and Fs if the students really did poorly.

However, for the new course that I am teaching,
I am wondering if I will be given more leeway in the grade distribution
because the course has a small enrollment.
I would like to give grades based on the students' performance.

So if many of the students perform well,
I would like to give 90% or even 100% of the students
A grades (A-, A and A+).
Conversely, if most of the students perform poorly,
I would like to be able to give a low proportion of A grades.

Every semester,
a committee made up of members of my department
which will meet to discuss the grade distributions
of each and every course offered by our department.
I am hesitant to recommend grades that deviate too far from
the "typical grade distribution" at my university
because I am afraid of receiving pushback from the committee members.

Questions:

Should I fight for the freedom
to assign grades according to my academic judgment,
without necessarily following
the "typical grade distribution" at my university?
Is this a fight that I could win, and if so,
how do I go about winning it?

Update

I had forgotten to include an important and relevant piece of information.
The goal of the course is to teach students
how to analyze and present business case studies.
Consequently, by its nature,
the evaluation of the students' performance in the course
will tend to be more subjective,
rather than objective (as it would be for a course on say, calculus).

The grading of the course is based purely on continuous assessment;
we do not have a final exam for the course.
(Given that the purpose of the course is
to develop students' presentation skills,
a written examination does not seem to be
the right way to assess students' learning.)


texts: Who gets corresponding authorship in the biological sciences and what does it mean?

texts:
Let's imagine several levels.

(1) Graduate student.
(2) Post-doctoral student.
(3) Assistant professor.

[Cultural context]
(I don't know if this has any impact on the question, providing the information just in case)
In Japan, assistant professor(s) don't usually have their own independent lab. They work in the same lab "under" an associate or full professor. Their level of independency highly depends on the professor above them. Some of them may have a small team within the big team. Lab management and teaching grad students how to do experiments usually rely heavily on the assistant professor(s). In big labs, there may be several assistant professors.

In which cases can (1) and (2) expect to take corresponding authorship?
Should (2) or (3) be granted corresponding authorship if they made the research with grant money they managed to get in their name?
What is/are the benefit(s) of having corresponding authorship? Is it a requirement to be considered for some higher level grants?
Should the corresponding author always be the last author? Or is it OK for any other author to be corresponding author?


texts: Taking break/vacation during graduate studies/PhD

texts:
Do people take time out to go home, meet with family etc. during their PhD?

If yes then for how long and how frequently is it usually?
How does one deal with this with one's advisor?
What are the pros and cons?

Given that one basically has just about 2-3 years in practice to do all their PhD work, I don't understand how anything else fits in the schedule except work. The entire idea of a PhD looks quite scary to me that one is expected to produce cutting-edge stuff in that short a time starting from just standard graduate courses!

PS: the question is general, but if it is field-dependent, I am interested in particular in physics PhDs (theoretical high-energy physics specifically)


texts: Staying in same lab for a while after finishing PhD?

texts:
I will soon defend my dissertation and been thinking on what do next after successful completion.

My situation is probably a little different than for most PhD students, since I have been working on my PhD while working full time in industry as engineer (for last 3 years). So, I have no urgent need to look for a new job after completing my PhD, unless I want a promotion (in industry) or to commit fully to research (which I been wanting to do).

If I put off doing postdoc or switching from industry to research, how would it look for me to continue working in the same lab, with same professor(s), to finish some unfinished projects or possibly get involved in recently awarded projects of my professor(s) (advisor and co-advisor)?


texts: Is it bad to ask the editor about the status of a submission on seeing that referees' reports were submitted a week ago?

texts:
This question is about inquiring regarding paper status.

I had submitted a paper, and recently I just discovered that the manuscript tracking system shows that the editorial committee has received the referee's report. But, this status has remained for over a week and I still have not heard from the editor handling my paper.

Should I then email the editor as a reminder? Would this act instead be taken as urging?


texts: Using a viral CV/ cover letter LaTeX template for undergraduate research internships

texts:
I am planning to apply for a few undergraduate research internships and I recently learned LaTeX, so I am thinking of transferring my resume from Word to LaTeX. I came across LaTeX templates for a "Deedy CV" and a "Deedy Cover Letter" which apparently went viral in 2014. Admittedly, the "Deedy" templates look very attractive; in fact, they were the most attractive-looking CV/cover letter templates in the entire Overleaf gallery. Is it recommended that an undergraduate applying for undergraduate research internships uses the Deedy templates? What about a template for a somewhat infographic colored CV? Do these formats of CVs convey unprofessionalism in academia?
P.S. If this is relevant, I am in the US and am also planning to cold email some professors on the US to ask if they would be willing to take me on for a research position.


texts: Is it possible to publish a deceased relative's unpublished work with them as the author?

texts:
A somewhat distant relative has passed away and he had 2 papers he wanted to publish. He was a complete recluse in his later life, but not crackpot or anything (that I'm aware of). His field of study was physics. It's completely out of my expertise but it seems legitimate (if not necessarily relevant to current literature). I believe a good course of action would be making them public on the arXiv: the papers both seem essentially ready to publish and it seems such a waste to not make it public somewhere.

Is it possible to publish with him as an author on the arXiv? (I'd prefer not to have my name on it)

Any alternative publishing suggestions are also welcome.


texts: Expectations when contacted by an acquisitions editor about a course I teach

texts:
This morning I received the email I've posted below, which says it comes from an "acquisitions editor."
1. What should I expect from a meeting if I agree to meet with the rep?
2. Is Kendall/Hunt a trustworthy company?

"Dear Professor Cruiser,

My name is [redacted] and I am an Acquisitions Editor with Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

As an Editor, I am particularly interested in speaking with you about the business math course that you teach.  I am curious to learn how the particular course is taught and the materials being used.

I am not a textbook rep. I am going to be at the [redacted] University campus during the week of [redacted] and I would like to meet with you during my visit.

Please let me know what day(s) and time(s) works best for us to speak during the week of [redacted].

I look forward to meeting you!

Kindest regards,

[redacted]

Acquisitions Representative"


texts: Are some typos permissible if submitting a manuscript for potential publication?

texts:
As the title states are some typos expected if submitting a manuscript for potential publication? I recently submitted an article to a journal and after re-reading it just now (2 weeks later) realized there are 5-6 minor typos. A few typos are misplaced commas, but some are grammatical errors.

For example: "Based results..." which should read "Based on results..."

The article is currently under peer review. Will these small typos be detrimental to my chances of publication?


texts: I did master (M.Sc) in Germany with Mathematical Modelling of Complex System, can I call myself Diplom-Mathematiker?

texts: Is Diplom-Mathematiker equivalent to M.Sc?


texts:
In a two months I will have a bachelors degree from a German University with an degree average (Notendurchschnitt) of 1.8 or 1.9 . My programme uses ECTS Credit Points.
I am in the process of applying to British MSc programmes. They mostly require a Honours degree of "2:1" which, according to one university, is equivalent to "GPA 3.0".

Do I pass these requirements? And is it legit for me to say in my application that I have a GPA of 1.9?

I tried to get my head around these degree specifications but was unable to.


texts: Reviews are in but incomplete. Is it preferable to send manuscript for revision, or wait till complete?

texts:
Let's say I'm handling a paper which has been reviewed, but the reviews are incomplete. For example:

The journal needs N reviews as a policy and I only have N-1 reviews.
The journal needs at least one reviewer who isn't a suggested reviewer, and all the reviews so far have been by suggested reviewers.
The reviewer said they weren't confident about [section] in the paper, and I need to invite another reviewer with expertise in [section].

However, I've yet to start looking for these missing reviews. If I do so, the timeline will be like handling a manuscript from scratch: I have to invite reviewers, wait for them to accept, invite others if they decline, and so on. Alternatively, I can make a revise decision now and get the missing reviews when the manuscript is resubmitted.

From the author's perspective, which is preferable?


texts: Is it alright to reapply to a PhD program you got rejected from if you work on your application?

texts: The main weakness in my application was my weak research experience in the field I applied to. Say I got two new writing samples and greatly improved my research experience. Would it be acceptable for me to reapply to a school I got rejected from? I really want to go to that program.


texts:
I am writing a research proposal and I can not choose the right very first sentence to start the introduction. My research is purely theoretical.
Let's assume I want to study a mathematical model of dynamics of wolfpacks distribution in last 100 years in country C.
There is a separate section for objectives so I would not start from aims.

What would you write to start?

I have several ideas but neither of them looks totally convincing for me.

Wolves are very important
Wolfpacks distribution is very important
Wolfpacks distribution dynamics is very important
Analysis of ecological data is important
In recent years study of wolves/wolfspack distribution/wolfpacks distribution dynamics has received much attention
Many problems of something are related to wolfpacks distribution dynamics
Mathematical modelling of ecological processes has been proved to be useful in analysis of many things over years.

If I were writing a paper I would not care much about it but here people say, that the first words are of particular important and I don't want loose points.

EDIT: As question got popular and everybody wants to correct my orthographic error in "wolfs", I correct it myself.


texts: Postdoc Funding for an American looking to do a postdoc in europe (in Theoretical Computer Science)

texts:
Hi I am doing a phd in theoretical computer science, and will be finishing this year and applying to postdocs for Fall 2016. I am an American, but for various reasons would like to study in Europe. Ideally the professors I am interested in would have postdoc funding available, but since that is often not the case, are there any grants/fellowships that cover postdoc salaries available for americans studying in europe? Are there other funding options I'm missing? Am I correct to assume that in europe like in America one gets postdoc funding from the professor (or from a grant), not from the department as a whole? As you can see, I know little about how funding works in Europe!

In case the answer to my question is country specific, the countries that I am most strongly considering so far are Germany and Switzerland.

Thanks for your help!


texts: Interviewing at nth choice school after being accepted to first choice school

texts: When I was applying for PhD programs, I got into my first choice school.  Some time later, a school that was lower-ranked but still a good school offered me a Skype interview.  Should I have declined the interview so they could give the spot to someone else?  Or would that have been considered rude?


texts:
(Note: For international students)
If someone has a gap of more than 5 years after obtaining a masters degree, are they eligible for a PhD in the USA?


texts: Can two PhD students publish without involving their supervisors?

texts:
I am a theoretical computer science PhD student. My childhood friend (my present roommate) is in the 3rd year of his pure mathematics PhD program. Very recently we both worked on a problem on combinatorial geometry and got some interesting results to publish. However both of our dissertation topics are way different from this work, so we don't want to involve our advisors in this matter. This was kind of our joint fun project.
We don't know whether it's academically unethical to publish paper(s) as PhD students without including our advisor(s).

(Note: We have nothing to lose even if they reject our paper right away, but we don't want the editor of the journal to mail the chair about this matter. Maybe I'm thinking too much because I've never done this kind of thing before.)


texts: PhD application: Responses from a few professors, but no conversion

texts:
I am looking for a PhD in Computer Vision, Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).

The core of this question is to understand how do the following factors affect an application:

Acceptable study gap. Do personal reasons for study gap have any credibility?
Percentage that is considered 'excellent'. Does it differ across countries?
Good industry experience but not aligned to the area of interest for research
Old research paper (theses included), say 5 years
No academic reference, but references from highly positioned people in the industry, say a CTO or VP

Though getting replies from professors on personalized emails does not guarantee an admit, what factors must be hindering the acceptance?

Additionally, could Research Assistant position be the right way forward? Or should it be via another masters?

Let know if more information is needed.

Edit:
I am based in India and targeting European universities primarily. Recently started exploring Asian universities as well.


texts: What is the non-European perception of Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellowships?

texts:
I recently posted the above question along with another in the same post and was asked to post this one separately.

I have received a Marie-Curie individual fellowship from the European Commission. As a non-European, this allows me to take up research in a Member State. I know this fellowship is prestigious in Europe, but I'm not sure how it's perceived in other parts of the world like the USA, Canada, Australia...etc. Any idea on this?


texts: I am thinking a bit ahead of time and I would like to do some networking with some groups in my research field, for probably a future postdoc opportunity with them after my PhD. However I am afraid my supervisor prevents me to do that, she doesn't seem very happy with the idea of me doing some research stays somewhere else, or even going to conferences, and most likely she would connect me with anyone during and after my PhD, so how could I do some networking ??


texts: Letter of recommendation for relative who has done relevant work for me

texts:
My nephew, a recent graduate, is applying for a fellowship at CERN, and he is providing the usual letters of reference. He has in the past done some work for me (I work in the same field he is studying), and I know him quite well, professionally speaking.

If, in addition to the other letters of reference, were I to write one for him as well (explicitly noting our relationship, being relatives), would that most likely hurt or help?


texts:
I have just corrected my first paper and I might have done something very wrong.

Using the website provided by Elsevier, I corrected everything regarding words and sentences, in addition to small changes in the equations. But, some changes were not possible for me to do, maybe the website had some built-in prevention. For example I couldn't delete and add equations, and I couldn't properly change the layout of the equations (Some equations were cut in half, and some were longer than the text width), also one of the tables needed some changes but I couldn't do them in the website!

So, I wrote multiple comments for the copy-editor regarding these changes. But does this mean that he will do them properly?

Since I will not have the chance to see the changes before publication. I fear that the copy-editor will not make the proper changes! And I might end up with a Frankenstein paper.

Sorry if the question is silly, but I have no experience in this.


texts: What is the meaning of this poem on a professor's personal webpage?

texts: I've found a few extremely high performing computer science professors listing The Satrapy, a relatively obscure poem, on their personal webpage. Does it have any special meaning with relation to CS/academia or is it just a coincidence?


texts: How can one's career as a reviewer be ended?

texts:
In this forum, I am reading this great question (What is required of a mathematics referee?) by a user with the name mathprofessor. There is an answer by a user with the name Buffy which starts with:

  Sorry, but if that's all you do, then your reviewing career is likely to be short, ending the first time you approve a paper that is revealed to have an error.

I am wondering now: How exactly can somebody's career as a reviewer end after some paper they reviewed is revealed to have an error?

Sure, the editor who assigned the reviewer may not assign them ever again, but how exactly are other editors (maybe from different journals) notified not to take them as a reviewer ever again? Is there some way the editor who knows is allowed to reveal the reviewer's identity? Or some higher authority they can talk to? Or how does that work out in practice?

Let us assume the following:
If the answer is field-specific, let us assume we are talking about math.
Moreover, as in the other question, let us assume there is no fraud going on -- the author made a honest (but big) error in the paper, and the referee was too sloppy in their report and did not note the error.

Additional question: Are there known cases where reviewers had to end their reviewing career because they did not notice an error? Again, I am assuming no fraud is going on.

Edit: I want to say that the user with name Buffy edited the answer in question and made a much weaker claim. This solves my confusion. Thank you very much, Buffy!


texts: How to present work that includes replicating results of another study?

texts:
I started working on a research project for a class that was at first meant to be a collaboration between a lab at our university and another university. The only information that I was given to start with was a basic problem statement and a vague description of results with no idea of how they were generated.

This work was unpublished and currently they have a paper under review. I tried to get in contact with the authors to get more information, but was unable to. I have been unsuccessful in getting any information at all about the paper that is under review. I was intending to look at extensions of their work or work related to theirs, but with almost no information about methodology and especially context and limitations I was skeptical of their results.

It should be noted if their work is published it will most likely create small subfield. Lacking important information I decided to see if I could, using my own method, replicate these results. I found my own dataset and managed to get preliminary results using the method I developed and from this came up with directions for future work.

My advisor wants me to present my work at a poster session at an upcoming local event. Is it acceptable to present this work with preliminary results and possible directions for new research?  If so how do I acknowledge the slight contribution from this lab?


texts: Creating a permanent URL to put in a publication

texts:
In an upcoming publication, I need to link to the data I used for the publication so that others can see/use the data as well — both for reviewing the given work and also for intended use in the future. However, my institution has not offered any hosting solutions and I have not (yet) found any acceptable external solutions which absolve me of financial and legal responsibility for maintaining the data and the hosting infrastructure. I will not be at the given institution for very much longer, so e.g. putting it on my personal site at the institution is not a solution. The primary data in question is about 12GB in size, so it needs to be a proper "repository" for the data rather than just e.g. an attachment distributed with the publication itself.

Nevertheless, I need to at least have a stable link to some place where the data can be located; The stability of the actual location is not as important as the stability of the link itself. How/where can I procure a permanent URL to link to research data in a publication which does not cost me anything as an individual?


texts:
I was awarded a rather prestigious postdoctoral fellowship that guarantees a generous salary, research expenses etc. for 2 years. It is in the same institution where I am working as a postdoc now, but would increase my salary by quite a bit and of course give me complete freedom over my research. I have not yet accepted the offer because I am struggling with a particular problem.

It is likely that in a year's time I will need to relocate to another country (for personal reasons). How bad is it to take the fellowship, knowing that there is a chance I will have to quit early? How frowned upon is quitting in the middle of a fellowship that explicitly specifies a 2-year tenure? Of course quitting a regular contracted postdoc job is straightforward, but I am not sure how it works with a personal fellowship—are there any additional consequences I haven't considered?

Edit: Just to provide some additional context, this is an individual fellowship (i.e. awarded directly to me) and the funding is internal (i.e. comes from the university itself).


texts: What are the few different things which differ from a Masters panel and a PhD panel when applying directly after an undergraduate (CS USA)

texts:
Apart from it being obvious, I've read at several places that PhD panels have "higher bars" for admission.
This "higher bar", does it simply translate to higher quality research, internships, scores or is there something else accompanying this as well?


texts: How to see peer review comments when rejection letter does not list them?

texts: I recently had a paper rejected by a peer-reviewed journal, but the rejection notice gave no indication of where to find the reviewers' comments.  I gather (from questions like this one) that it is customary for authors to get to see this information.  So how do I go about finding it?  Should I contact the editor and ask to see the comments?


texts: Best template for Poster presentation :First time(Conference)

texts:
My paper has been accepted in a conference related to computer science.
I need to prepare a Poster for presentation. This is my first time, I tried to find some good templates but ended up nothing. I am confused. Could you please advise some good templates where I can prepare a poster? and please give some suggestions to prepare a good poster. Thanks


texts: Misconduct from my head and how to reply to disrespectful emails

texts:
I am a dr. in statistics. I got a job in one university and found that it is extremely bad. After only one semester I resigned. Then, for the second semester I got a job at another university.  My head come to evaluate me at one of my classes. She and another doctor were laughing and discussing personal issues while I was giving my class. Even my students told me that the noise was coming from the evaluation panel! Then, I was surprised that my evaluation was very very low. I told them that they were laughing and busy while I was teaching and that they did not listen to me and hence missed many parts (they evaluated me on the missing parts)! They told me that they would not change their opinion.

I sent an email to my manager about that, she sent my email back to them. They become so angry with me. Then they met me and started shouting at me on why I sent the email to the dean about them. One of them, my head, shouted at me, putting her finger in my face telling me “you did not raising well” that means you are a very bad person. And then she said to me that you are zero very loudly. Then she said to me, your last employer accepted you to leave during the year (after the first semester) because you are under expectations!

I am really sad and feel bad. How can I respond to her especially for saying that I am bad and that why my old employer did not mind to let me leave. I swear I left them as they were very bad.


texts:
I'm interested in the academic history of creating a bibliographic reference list. The time period is early 1990s. I want to understand how former researchers have done their writing.

Introduction

25 years ago in the year 1993 scientific publishing was not done with Internet but somehow else. From the history lesson it is known, that the first electronic OPAC systems were invented and they were used in many university libraries. The OPAC catalog didn't contain the fulltext article but only the bibliographic references, for example author, title and year. The technology behind the early OPAC system was perhaps a desktop IBM PC, but I'm not sure. It is also possible that no electronic OPAC was available but only the good old card based catalog. In any case, the cards were not handwritten but with a typewriter, so the user of the library were able to find the correct book in a short amount of time.

Question

After the short introduction for explaining the general environment in the early 1990s there are some open question which I wasn't able to answer alone with literature research. So perhaps somebody has a personal experience and knows the details. The problem is, how the researcher can write his manuscript with a mix of a card based catalog and an early digital OPAC. The problem with the OPAC in that time was, that no copy & paste was possible. Suppose, I've found an interesting title on the screen, whats next? Should I write down the bibliographic reference direct in the manuscript or can I send the information to somebody else? A similar problem is given with the card catalog. Suppose, the researcher found an interesting looking entry. Probably it was not allowed to take the card out of the catalog and insert it in the own bibliographic references, so how has the researcher in that area solved the problem?

The next question is the sorting of the bibliographic references. Suppose, somebody has written down all the entries and want to insert a new entry alphabetically. What is the best practice method for doing so?


texts:
Can I upload an article that appeared in a LIPIcs style conference proceedings to arXiv as is?

What changes are required other than removing the DOI data?


texts: Nonacademic Letter of Recommendation for Masters

texts:
I've been working as a TA for an on campus program for the last year and a half. The director really likes me; she has a Masters in Mathematics and runs the learning services program for the STEM programs but she doesn't teach or do research.

I'm planning on applying to Master's in Computer Science programs and want to eventually do work in mass education programs (like Khan Academy or Coursera). Would it be acceptable to ask for a letter of recommendation from her?

I figured it would be "different" in a good way; also, any other letters would be "average" at best. I was a good student but not much more in my classes.


texts: My former post-doc host failed to credit my work in a paper - what to do?

texts:
I was employed as a post-doctoral fellow at some institute, and left it a couple of years ago. When I left, it was on ok terms with my host (= person who invited me and arranged for funding for my stay) - although our relationship had not always been on the positive side, and we ended up collaborating only here-and-there rather than closely. We both have a negative view of some aspects of the other's personality.
Anyway, I've noticed that members of the research group - some junior ones, but also my host - have published a certain paper a few months. This paper is mostly not about my own work, but it presents a certain concept which (*) I was studying and developing; these ideas are now in work that I've published - but mostly on ArXiV and not in peer-reviewed venues. I've also sent an email link and an invitation to read it to a bunch of people in my field - including my post-doc host and one of his junior co-authors.
The paper does not mention any of the above; makes no reference to my work or to me; and says something like "In this paper we introduce the concept of X".
Now, my work is much wider than just that concept (it fits into a larger theoretical framework); and the paper does something with this concept which I didn't explore nor write about. So it's not a case of brazenly stealing results.
A final point is that this work of mine has not yet gotten any (non-self) citations, which makes this situation sting more.
My questions:

Considering the circumstances, should I even get in contact with my former host and/or other co-authors about this, or should I just drop it? Especially seeing how this paper is already published and has made its rounds for a few months? I am worried that this will just develop into a fight involving third parties, a sort of a "crusade run remotely" on my part, and end up hurting more than it helps.
Assuming I do contact my former host about this - How diminutive/coy/reserved should I be in a first email about this?
What can I / should I ask for as a rectification of the situation?

(If you'd like more information, please ask in the comments.)


texts: Is it a good practice to end a mathematical equation with a comma or a period in a scientific article?

texts:
I have noticed from different published articles that mathematical equations may or may not be ended by a comma or a period (depending on their position in the text).
Which is the best practice?


texts: Having team-members split the grade among them by their personal contribution

texts:
In a project-based class the submission is in teams of 2 (self-assigned teams).
In most teams, the grade is the same for both members.
However,  in some teams, I suspect that most of the work was done by one member, while the other was a "free rider". The suspicions are based on GitHub commits and on interaction during the semester. However, I do not have clear-cut proofs since I do not know how they split the work among them at home. I can test them personally, but this is not sufficient since it is possible that the free-rider knows what the other person did.
I am not allowed to change the grade structure in retrospect, so I thought of an idea that is based on mutual agreement: if the grade that the team deserves is X, I will tell them that their total grade is 2 X, and ask them to agree on a fair division of the grade among them. If they do not agree, then the grade is just split equally between them as usual. Effectively, this gives the free riders a chance to behave fairly and give some points to their friends who did most of the work.
The advantage is that the team members know much more than me what work each of them did. The disadvantage is that this may cause quarrels among team members. Is this a good idea?
EDIT: Thanks for all the answers. I am now convinced that this scheme might create psychological and social problems  that are better avoided.


texts: IQ and Probability of Success in Two Difficult Fields

texts:
I've had my IQ measured on multiple tests over the past several decades. The first time was in middle school and it was measured at 120. I guarantee you that I didn't care about the result when I took that test as a kid. I probably wanted to get it over with. Much later in life, and consistent with another time later in life, my IQ was measured at 138. I am a believer that these measurements can vary with motivation, health, alertness, sleep deprivation, and other psychophysiological factors.

Based on my measured IQ range of 120-138, I'd like to see an answer to the following questions:

What is the probability that I could complete a PhD in Mathematics or Physics? What is the probability that I could contribute at least slightly significantly to either of those fields over the long term as a PhD?

One of my "best" qualities is that I'm very tenacious regarding problem-solving. I might not get there the quickest, but I don't give up until I do or the pursuit begins to interfere with other aspects of life. People might accuse me of being physically lazy, but there's no way they can accuse me of being problem-solving lazy. I'm the kind of person who will hire a home maintenance technician as a last resort only because I don't have the tools. I'm pretty frugal.

I feel pretty inferior to many of the people who have posted comments on StackExchange.


texts: How advantageous is it to have presented a poster at an international conference?

texts:
I am trying to figure out how important it is for a grad student to present their research at a conference.
Let's assume the paper with the research is definitely going to be published.

Does it look better to a potential postdoctoral advisor if the work
was also presented at a top international conference? Could it be the
thing that gives one candidate the edge over another?
Is networking at a conference much more effective if you have a
poster to refer people to?
Is there any point in going to a conference without a poster?

To give you some more background, why I am asking is because my supervisor has said that I can attend a conference but they don't want me to present a poster (my data is too preliminary). However, if it was really good for my career, I would be willing to challenge them on this point. But first I really need to weigh up if the advantages of presenting outweigh the chance of annoying my supervisor. My other option is to not attend the conference at all, and instead delay going to one until I have solid results to present, but I'm afraid of missing out on this opportunity.


texts:
After I had published my paper, some people asked me to share the software that I developed. At first, I was very happy that my paper attracted some attention, and I was happy to share not only the binary but also the source code, case studies etc. But looking at my software, I feel very embarrassed.

My software is just horrible: the source code is just a mess, containing several of my unsuccessful attempts; I have never used design patterns, so duplicate code is everywhere; for simplicity and quick implementation, I often prefer recursions to loops etc etc.

I'm always under pressure to produce new results, and cleaning those code would cost me significant effort.

My question is if sharing this horrible software will give people a very negative impression of me? Would it do harm to my career if the people I share are prospect collaborators, employers, as they work in the same field.


texts: Why is it unethical to share the contents of an exam with students who haven't taken it yet?

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Ever since I have known the term academic integrity, I have known that it is bad to breach it––I have known that it is in my best interest to maintain academic integrity and in the best interest of all others. However, recently, I have been wondering why it is so detrimental to break academic integrity though only in the context of assessments. For example, consider the following hypothetical:

Background
Roger is a student in university in History class 1. Jacky is in history class 2. Both classes are of the same curriculum. Roger has a history exam on Monday. He studied hard and took the test. There was one question that he did not know the answer to.
Situation:
During lunch, Roger told Jacky about the test, that it was easy for him but that there was one question that he did not know the answer to. He tells Jacky the question. After lunch, Jacky found the answer to the question that Roger told her about in her notes. On the exam, she got the question right.

Roger's grade was not harmed by Jacky's success. Grades were not determined through a stanine, percentile, etc. In the end, Jacky knew the material needed for the test, even though she was told what to study.
Why is it extremely unethical and considered a breach of academic integrity in almost all cases to share test material with others? What detrimental effects does it have on the person receiving the information/hints?


texts:
I will be applying for grad school soon and have drafted a few informal enquiry emails. When would be the best time to send out informal enquiry emails to potential supervisors? Would it be advisable to send them out as soon as the programme starts to accept applications or even earlier than that? I'm asking  particularly for US universities.
Thank you!
EDIT: Since a lot of people have said this is field related, I thought I'd mention which field I'm applying for - I'm applying for microbiology/immunology programmes


texts: Submitting paper to arXiv as an undergrad

texts: I wrote a rather extensive research project for one of my courses, and would like to submit it to arXiv. But, I am not entirely sure about the copyright/other issues behind it. Is it acceptable for a student to submit their term papers online, and in doing so can I, as an undergrad, claim affiliation to my university?


texts: Reviewer assignment and response for reject-and-resubmitted paper?

texts:
I recently received a 'reject but resubmission allowed' decision on my paper submitted to IEEE Wireless Communications Letters (binary decision; no revision decision exists)

I wonder how a resubmission process is like.

How will the editor consider a resubmitted paper?

Will it be considered as a new submission?
Will the editor assign the paper to the same reviewers?

Should I attach a response document for reviewers' comments?

I found no exact place for a response document in the submission system. The closest entries I found are cover letter and supporting document.


texts: Possible contents of a risk-assessment matrix for a grant proposal

texts:
I am post-doc from biological sciences writing a grant proposal. One of the sections of the application is dedicated to risk assessment of the given project. There were no further instructions.

I can think of very general risks and their solutions. For example:

  Experiment failed. → Troubleshoot; try alternative method.
  Manuscript publication delayed. → Get help from supervisor or grants office.
  Insignificant results. → Discuss with experts; try again!

Is this the kind of risk assessment funding agencies (like NIH, Welcome Trust, or EU) are looking for? Can you suggest some extra points (research or managerial) which I can consider here?


texts: In choosing a postdoc, how should I prioritize mentorship versus research opportunity?

texts: I am an experimental physicist looking for postdocs in applied physics and materials science. In choosing groups to inquire about a position, I am trying to determine how to prioritize potential mentorship versus potential research opportunity. I see large "super" groups with huge numbers of postdocs and students. These groups have a high potential for research with lots of funding. However, I am worried about entering an ultra-competitive environment where I will receive very little mentorship from an advisor. I am wondering if choosing a smaller group will have an advantage because of receiving quality mentorship, despite the fact that the research topics might not be as leading edge or popular.


texts: How to add an accepted but not published paper to my CV?

texts:
My first paper has been accepted to a CS conference, it went through a double blind peer-reviewed process. Soon it will appear in conference proceedings from Springer.
How to add it to my CV? Also, should I make an arxiv print available ?


texts: Is a research assistantship considered full-time employment?

texts:
For something I'm applying to, I need to know if I'm considered a student, a part-time employee, or a full-time employee.

I am a graduate research assistant with a yearly stipend.  No other employment is allowed.  20 hours a week of research is expected according to the contract.


texts: Is really PhD necessary for someone who wants to work in industry

texts:
I am wondering if my goal is to work in an industry as an electrical engineer, is it better to get PhD? I know PhD might open some options for me such as working in industry and teaching in academia at the same time or research job. However PhD is a long term commitment and during this time you can gain a lot more experience by working at a company and this will be considered as a professional experience, which may be more useful.

I would like to know what do you guys suggest? is it worth it to spend 5 years and obtain PhD?


texts: Submitting course work report as research paper?

texts: In one of the coursework at my university, I submitted a very detailed project report done for the course. It later turned out that the work contributed some value to the field as well. Is it right to submit the report reformatted as a research paper ? Do we need to provide any special mentions to the coursework or any other related disclosure ?


texts: Include a mistake that cost extra when asking for reimbursement after faculty interview?

texts:
I was interviewing for a faculty position in a large city. When I was done I took a taxi to the airport... the wrong airport! I ended up taking another taxi to the correct airport and catching my flight. However, the second taxi ride was around $100.

Should I include this when asking the school for reimbursement, or just pay out of my own pocket since this was my mistake and makes me look like an idiot?


texts: How to cite the supplemental material from the main text?

texts:
In order to meet the page limits of a journal, I am placing the appendices in a "supplemental material" document for the purposes of the initial submission.

I'm wondering how I cite the supplemental material from the main text (I need to do so because I am referring the reader to some equations and pseudocode).

For example, the main paper's title is:

  A Really Lengthly Paper

The supplemental material's title is:

  Supplemental Material: A Really Lengthly Paper

What should the reference look like? Furthermore, how should I refer to the material ("As seen in Eq. (S1) in the supplemental material [X]...")?


texts: Professor Job Prospects for PhD in Computer Science vs Computational Neuroscience?

texts:
If one wants to do research in computational neuroscience, which PhD program would increase the chances of getting a professor job at a research university immediately upon graduation from that PhD program the most? Assuming, all else being equal.

A) PhD in Computer Science

B) PhD in Computational Neuroscience

In other words, for which of the two PhD degrees is there more demand and less supply in academic job markets, if research interests are in neuroscience?


texts: My paper was rejected, and some colleagues say this is due to the "reviewer's mindset." What does this mean?

texts:
I'm pursuing my PhD (fourth year). My institute has the following rule:

At least Two SCI papers is mandatory for awarding
doctorate degree.

I tried for publishing an SCI paper recently and got rejection. Two reviewers provided comments, given below in concise manner, for rejection

Language is not good;

Proposed method is just a composition of couple of existing methods;

I am undergoing panic since I am in pre-final year of my doctorate degree.
But, I keep on asking colleagues  and other friends in my academic network how to handle the situation and I categorized their suggestions in to two categories:

Majority of the people are saying that it is totally or mostly up to the mindset of the reviewer(s). The selection of journal is wrong according to them. They are saying that I need to search for the new journal, accepting such papers, by improving the language alone. If I keep on trying like that, one day I will get acceptance.

One person is saying that since the core of the proposed method cannot be improved and the language alone can be improved. It is better to drop the idea of sending to multiple journals and need to try for totally new technique or method and developing a new paper and then sending it for review.

None of the the people giving advice has published in an SCI journal.  They are just giving me a guidance.
Is it true that reviewer's mindset play a role? Is the guidance to resubmit the same paper (with improved language) to a different journal a good idea?


texts: How to make a 40-minutes presentation about a research paper I've read?

texts:
I have to give a 40-minute presentation about a research paper that I have to read in mathematics.

What I’ve done so far:

read the paper :-) and taken notes on unclear/non-obvious parts.
started crafting a presentation. However I’ve caught myself on putting too many definitions in the presentation.

How should I proceed?


texts: How can I withdraw a manuscript that is placed under-review?

texts:
I have a manuscript that is placed under review for a month now and during this month I have discovered that there are a few things I want to change/add in the manuscript and I don't want to publish this manuscript in this particular journal anymore.

How can I ask for this manuscript back?

Should I just send an email to the editorial office and what do I say?

This is the first time I done such a thing.

Thanks,


texts: What can be done about a terrible galley proof of my accepted paper, which would be a lot of effort to correct?

texts:
Recently my paper was accepted in one of the best computer science journals in Elsevier. In less than 12 hours, I received the galley proof of the paper. Initially, I was surprised at the speed of conversion of the paper into the final format, but when I saw the paper, it turned out to be in a terrible condition.
I wrote my paper with LaTeX; it appears to have been converted to Word, and the typesetting of all of my equations is ruined. The arrangement of figures, algorithms, and tables was OK in pre-print, in a one-column format; now, it has become a terrible mess.

What can I do now?

Email to the publishing editor to reconsider the final preparation of
the article?
Prepare the paper in a two-column format myself and resend it to the journal's office?
Ask the publisher to publish the paper typeset in LaTeX?


texts: What to do about fee from publisher for withdrawing unpublished accepted manuscript?

texts: I had sent my manuscript mistakenly to two different journals and both journals are ready to publish (not yet published) my work which is not possible. So, after knowing their impact factor I requested one of the journals to withdraw my paper. They had just sent me the review of my paper and for withdrawal they are demanding $500 as a penalty. It is difficult for me to decide what to do.


texts: Does it make sense to get a PhD if I have a Candidate of Sciences degree from a post-soviet country

texts:
Candidate of Sciences degree is awarded in some post-soviet countries for completing a 3-5 year research program, which has similar scientific requirements as a PhD. Here is a wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidate_of_Sciences

Does it make sense to go after a PhD in a European or American university after obtaining a Candidate of Sciences degree? Would a university consider enrolling a Candidate of Sciences in a PhD program? Would it be possible to apply for scholarship for it? Would an age make any difference?

Also, if I am switching fields and do not intend to work in the field, in which I did my Candidate of Sciences thesis, would it make sense to get a PhD in the field I plan to work in?

I spent some time trying to find an opportunity to get a PhD on top of my Candidate of Sciences degree, but had no success and gave up. I have plenty of job opportunities as a Candidate of Sciences, but I wonder if I will have more and better jobs available to me if I get a PhD from a western university as well.

I am leaning towards a conclusion that having good publications is much more important than getting a shinier degree. If this is the case, then doing a PhD would only make sense if it resulted in some good research results. But then isn't it better to look for post-doc positions that are solely focused on producing good research results and publications?

Edit: Some specific information about my situation.

My Candidate of Sciences thesis and publications are in agricultural economics. The field in which I would like to apply for either PhD or post-doc is behavioral economics. Behavioral economics has a fair share of psychology and decision sciences in it and its research methods differ so I still have quite a bit of books to read.

I do not have publications in highly ranked journals. I have two publications in agricultural economics: one in AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics and the other one in Studies in Agricultural Economics. I also have a forthcoming publication in behavioral economics in The International Journal of Economic Behavior. These journals are not high ranked at all, but they do appear in some rankings.

I am the only author in all of my publications in ranked journals.

My English is good.

I'm about to hit 30.


texts: Submit a comment or reply to own research paper?

texts:
I would like to know if it is possible to write and submit a comment/reply to an article that has been published earlier (by oneself). This is because there are new results that underline the findings and conclusions of the previous article that havent been published yet and are not enough material for a seperate publication.
Would this be appropriate or are comments from the same authors not wished for by the editors of the journal?


texts: How can I get access to the computer science journals from top publishers through a single subscription in Europe?

texts:
Is there any possibility to get access to journals from all the top publishers from a domain through a single subscription in Europe?

For example, let's say I'm interested in Computer Science and I want to have access to the following: ACM, IEEE, Springer, Elsevier via their Digital Libraries.

It would be ok even if the tax would be 1000 euros per year for a single person, or up to 3000 euros per year for a single institution.


texts: Am I rushing to get into a PhD program, and should do a Masters first?

texts:
I am a Physics senior, and will be graduating with a BS in May 2018. Couple weeks back when I really got into the application process, I realized that I don't stand any chance of getting into a good physics PhD program.

I have a good GPA in my major and average GRE scores but my application falls short when it comes to research experience. I tried to get involved in research at my undergrad institution, but none of the faculty members were doing research. I only have one summer research experience (at a renowned institute in Germany) but the work was mainly computational and doesn't directly relate to the research programs that I am applying for. For my senior project, I did a little bit of research in physics, but the results were not exciting at all (basically just imaging some quantum dots and finding the size distribution).

It was when I was writing my personal statement that I realized that my application will not be competitive at all. Should I still apply to PhD programs at less-selective schools? I am personally inclined to do a Masters first, not only to get some research experience, but to also figure out which field of physics excites me the most. The only thing that worries me is that most Masters are not funded (although I have found a few in Europe that have scholarships). I really want to do my PhD from a good program and I feel that I am just not ready for it.

I am losing hope and any career advice at this point will be highly appreciated.