texts: My professor told us a previous version of our textbook would be okay, but has now decided that it isn't?

texts:
I currently have a class in which at the beginning of the semester, our entire class was told it would be okay to obtain a previous version of the textbook which I did because it was significantly cheaper. However, now that we are further on in the semester, the previous version is leaving out information that the new version contains. Each week, we complete a guided inquiry for this class in which we answer questions about the chapters. The guided inquiry now frequently has questions that answers cannot be found for in the previous edition. Our professor, however, only has the new edition of the text and doesn’t know which questions cannot be found in the previous edition. She decided that a good means of dealing with this would be to give us two attempts on the guided inquiry so that after we complete it the first time, we can reach out to our peers and get the information not found in the textbook.
I personally don’t think that this is fair to either the people with the new edition or the people with the old edition. The people with the old edition will have to rely on others for them to get a good grade, and the people with the new edition will have to devote time to finding the information that their peer needs and sending it to them. Because college students tend to be very busy, I don’t think that either of these is an ideal situation to be in.
However, I am not sure if this is just me being upset over the fact that I now have to spend extra time emailing someone else and waiting and hoping I get the information, or if it is a justifiable argument and I should send her an email to discuss the matter. I also don’t want to seem disrespectful, because I am sure she is just trying to do what she thinks is best as an educator so that we have all the information we need to become successful teachers. I am just not sure how an email from me would be received.
Edit to add: This is an online class so in order to get the pages from someone else, I would have to email and ask them to send me either pictures of their text or pictures of their answer. We only have three chapters left, so I was going to ask if maybe she could just scan those chapters for those of us with the old edition and post them on our class site with the other information because she did this for us at the beginning of the school year when everyone was still waiting to receive their textbook. Also, our university library is closed due to COVID and only providing online resources right now. Another reason that I didn't mention prior to this is that the class had issues finding the current edition of the text, and that was the reason a lot of people got the older version. The newer version at the time wasn't available through Amazon or Chegg and our school bookstore sold out pretty quickly. Also, yes this is an educator preparation class.


texts:
I have submitted a paper and I received a request for major revisions.

The first time the status changed from "under review" to "with editor".
After that I submitted a revised version of the paper. Now the status has changed from "under review" to "required reviews completed".

Why first time it wasn't shown this status?
How many days does it usually take to change the status from "required reviews completed" to next status?


texts: Should I be worried that I don't have ideas of questions to ask during seminars?

texts:
I'm a PhD student in Physics and I'm very worried about something. I have participated in two conferences in the last year. The first one was in a field related to the one I'm studying and the second exactly related to the field I'm studying.
In these two conferences something got me very worried. I've watched the seminars and during the seminars I didn't have any idea of questions to ask. On the other hand I saw people raising all sorts of interesting questions that led to all sorts of interesting discussions.
This got me extremely worried because (1) I think that asking the right questions is the most important thing in order to do a good research and (2) asking questions and starting discussions seems like the way collaborations get started and certainly having people to collaborate with is very important.
After going through this in the first conference, in the second I've watched the lectures trying hard to find things to ask, but I only got ideas of some things that I felt could be so stupid that people could look at me as someone who isn't really good at the subject.
Now the main worry I have is: having ideas of questions to ask during seminars like that is something that comes with experience (and therefore all this is just reflecting the fact that I'm inexperienced) or is it some sort of ability that either we have or we don't? This is being quite alarming to me, because I fear that this might tell that perhaps I just have no ability to do research, which would be terrible to me since I really do want to follow this career.
Finally, a disclaimer. I know some people might say "talk to your advisor about this", but I really never had conversations about the process of doing research with him. In fact the way he works is more like "calculate this, then we talk about the calculation" and he really does not have much patience to talk about much else, so that I don't really feel comfortable bringing this up.


texts: How to cite marginalia in a second-hand book?

texts:
So this is an interesting thing I've come across.  I recently purchased a modern book for my research and whoever had the book before me had some pretty great things written in the margins.

As a medievalist, citing marginalia is par the course, but this strikes me as a bit different for two reasons:

Normally, we cite the library where the book came in our works cited so that others can reference it.  In this case, it's in my personal library.
I don't know who actually wrote the marginalia, but the likelihood that they could be actively publishing now makes me less inclined to want to "steal" (scare quotes because obviously I'm intending to cite it) their ideas before they get a chance to, something that's definitely not the case with books written several hundred years ago.

What approach should I use to using the marginalia both in terms of integrating its ideas into my work (as if it were another paper, though obviously not peer-reviewed) and in terms of citing it (I'm using MLA 7, but may need to switch to MLA 8 depending on when I finish this particular work)?


texts: How to write an effective but gentle reminder email to a journal editor?

texts: I have received an acceptance email of my article from editor in August-2015 and I was told that my article  will be published in their issue of XXXXX 2015/2016. Meanwhile one issue of the journal is published in january-2016 without my article and the next issue is expected in May-2016. Now I am going to write a reminder email mentioning to consider my article for publication in the forthcoming issue. Please guide me or share some gentle format, so that I may be able to communicate with editor well in time.


texts: How to cite spreadsheets or other documents for in-line citations?

texts:
I've googled around and haven't found any information. I'm using data from a table in a spreadsheet, accessed from a website (The Statistics Bureau of Japan) and I don't know how I should cite it using Harvard style. At the moment, I've come up with this mess:

  Statistics Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2015) Population by Age (5-Year Group and 3 Groups) and Sex (as of October 1 of Each Year) -Total population (from 1920 to 2000) [Microsoft Excel spreadsheet]. Tokyo: Statistics Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Available from: http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/ListE.do?bid=000000090004&cycode=0 [accessed 27 November 2015]

Or to break this down:

  Organisation name (year of publication) Title of spreadsheet [Microsoft Excel spreadsheet]. Place of publication: publisher. Available from: URL [date accessed]

But then, I'm not sure how to cite it in-line. How should I reference it? By the lengthy spreadsheet title? By the equally lengthy "Statistics Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications"?


texts: Does educational research productivity count as research productivity?

texts:
I'm PhD student and I'll be graduating in May (next year). I've been getting into discipline-based educational research (DBER), including developing tools, running projects, a paper or two, and applying to grants. I do this in addition to my standard research. My DBER work is almost exclusively applications of what I develop in my (primary) research (quantitative biology).

My goal is a TT job in the future. Before going on the job market, I would like to know how hiring and tenure committees typically weigh discipline-based educational research: is it considered general research productivity, or does it typecast a candidate as primarily an educator (rather than a researcher)?


texts: What should I focus on when asking for conference travel support?

texts:
A conference I'm submitting to will be able to offer limited financial support to a small number of participants needing assistance to attend the conference..  The date of the conference is several months after my PhD finishes and I don't know where I will be at that time, if anywhere, so I am asking for financial support.  What should I focus on to maximise my chances?

So far I am mentioning:

The previous edition of the conference (for which I had other funding) was very useful for me.  I presented paper A there (title, reference, I'm 1st author), and got major input that significantly improved paper B (title, reference, highle reuptable journal, I'm second author).  Without my participation in the previous conference, paper B would not have been as good as it became.
The work I want to present now, which is paper C (almost ready for submission; probably published by the time of the conference; title, abstract; I'm 1st author) should be very relevant for the conference (should I send a copy of the full submitted manuscript?)
After the previous conference, I talked to a co-chair (name) and he encouraged me to ask for financial support should I be "between jobs" during the next edition (NB: he also encouraged me to explicitly mention his name, and I will)
My PhD is planned at <date>, and I currently don't know where I will be by then.

Does this roughly correspond to what they likely want to hear/know?  Am I missing something?  Am I saying too much?  Should I focus on one aspect more than another?

(NB: the conference is held every 2 years and is in the field of remote sensing, and it is customary, but not mandatory, to write a non-peer reviewed paper for the conference proceedings)


texts: Affiliation on a paper written mostly in previous position

texts:
If research was done and paper was mostly written at institute A, but then it finally got accepted while the author moved to institute B, say, 3 years later. Should the affiliation of the author be

Only Institute A: because 95% of the support was from here, and work was done here
Both Institute A and B: in some sense, both institutes supported the work
Only Institute B: this is where the author is affiliated at the moment

related: Changing affiliation on publication


texts: Is it common to feel CS lectures useless as a CS major student?

texts: I'm a computer science student who doesn't find lectures useful. I think self-studying is more useful and I should quit my degree in favour of a distant-learning degree. I've tried to convince my parents that lectures are useless for me and that I'd be better served on a distant-learning degree, but they disagree. They think all students feel the same way as me. Do all computer science students really feel this way?


texts: Supervisor gets PhD student to do his entire job

texts:
My master's supervisor delegates most (if not all) of his work to his senior PhD student. Let's name this student X.

X creates all the assignments, midterms, and exams for the courses this professor is teaching (which is not in the TA job description)
He often fills in for this professor's office hours
In fact, this professor once got him to take his place and give a lecture on 10 minutes' notice
Anytime there is an administrative chore (such as ordering textbooks, arranging tests in the accessibility center, deciding whether to accept a student's excuse for missing a midterm, etc.) this professor always delegates it to X.
X has written a significant portion of this professor's most recent grant proposal, even though X will not be part of the project.
I almost never see this professor; effectively, X has become my master's supervisor (this doesn't bother me, since I like working with X, but I'm sure he would rather focus on finishing his thesis).
Incidentally, a few weeks ago this professor also got me to update his CV to cover the last 6 years of his work.

The list goes on, and also note that this professor also delegates the "usual things" to X, such as reviewing papers under the professor's name or making an appearance at certain events.

Is this type of thing acceptable (or at least borderline acceptable)? If not, how could I prevent it from happening to somebody else without making a scene? For bonus points, how could I improve X's situation?

Why does this matter to me? Because X will be graduating before me, and this professor is telling me that I will be taking over his duties (just as X took over the duties from the student before him). Although I obviously have the right to refuse anything unreasonable, this particular professor becomes very unhappy when anyone refuses something.


texts: How important are recommendation letters for doctoral program admission?

texts: I am now looking for a new Ph.D. position and as usually I need to provide the contact of the people to recommend me. Most of the time I need to write the letter myself and send it to the person so they can email it back to the university I am applying. As I asked my peers, this is quite a common practice. Now the question is: If everybody knows how the recommendation letters are written, how important are these letters for the admission decision?


texts:
I'm writing a paper on a technique which I have implemented in open source software. I'd like to reference the location of the open source software and the code I implemented for the technique so as to increase reproducibility of my findings.

I was thinking of adding a sentence somewhere along the lines of "Note that the source code can be found at github.com/..." or "Note that the implementation is open source.\ref{myrepository}"
Which format is best?

I don't know where to put this line. In the introduction, the method description or the algorithm section? Other options would be the conclusion or the acknowledgements.


texts: If there is academic dishonesty, can I temporarily withdraw from a paper until the dishonesty is removed?

texts:
I am a PhD student collaborating with a professor (not my advisor). I did the work while the professor came up with the idea and funded the project. The research project centered on an experiment.

Initial experimental results were consistent with Theory A, but they could (with some stretch of the imagination) be consistent with Theory B. Theory B, if proven, would result in a much higher scientific impact.

The professor then decided to conduct a followup experiment. His intention was to provide more support for Theory B. The professor was very excited about the followup experiment, but all the results of the followup turned out to be inconsistent with Theory B. When I updated the manuscript with the the new results, the professor's reply was very brief: "I won't be including results from the followup experiment because I don't have time to look at them". However, he took the time to make further edits to the previous version of the manuscript (with only the original experiment inside) to present the results in a manner such that the original experiment appeared to support Theory B.

The professor then sent the manuscript to me and asked me if I had any comments before he submitted it to a journal. I protested, but the professor told me that he is the owner of the project as he came up with the idea and funded the experiment. I was told that I can either have the name on the paper, or withdraw completely and irrevocably.

I do not think this is fair. Is it reasonable of me to say that I do not want my name on the paper now, but I might want my name on the paper in future if the results are (in my opinion) honestly presented?


texts:
I think the question of whether to put, explicitly, one's age and nationality on an academic cv is non trivial and would like the view of the community...

Up to now I have believed that (an estimation of) age can be inferred from the dates given in a candidate's Past Education (date of masters, phd, number of posdocs etc). Moreover, I have colleagues who got stuck doing multiple postdocs who were then discriminated against for their so called advanced years when applying for faculty posts ("(S)he's approaching 40 and hasn't had a faculty position yet; if they were good they would already have found a post, right?"). On the other hand, for someone who has advanced quickly, it might be an advantage to highlight that they have reached a faculty post early (or it might inadvertently highlight the young age and lesser experience of the candidate).

As for nationality, when applying abroad it can be a definite disadvantage to show the search committee that you would need migratory support to get a visa, green card etc. Or perhaps it can be advantageous to show a different background that could be brought to the post to enrich the diversity of the faculty....

As you can see, I am stuck seeing positive and negatives for both pieces of information. Is there a definitive answer or convention that one should follow?


texts: How much time to wait for answer after postdoc negotiations

texts:
I was wondering about a case I lived before two weeks. I have applied to a postdoc position even 10 months before getting my PhD degree. After couple of days, a professor from the institution emailed me and showed a lot of interest in my CV. He offered me to go there and write my thesis there. I refused that because of many issues regarding family, supervisor, etc.
I offered him that I can come just after finishing my dissertation writing, and would stay there till the defense day, taking couple of days off for the PhD degree and going back to them.

Anyway, he said they will study my case but they showed potential of acceptance.
They gave me a scientific paper as a task and I did it on time. He finally told me we will keep you updated. So I waited 10 days and never heard back from him. I sent him an email, and did not reply. I resend a new email after another 5 days.

What do you think? Have you been in such case? I am already have the feel they don't want me anymore, but come on where is all their interest in me gone? And why he does not reply to my emails? Never know the answer.

PS. The university is prestigious and worth to think and dream of it.

Thanks for your comments.


texts: What are the best question to ask a committee panel after a PhD interview?

texts: I've a Skype interview for PhD application (it will make me miss one of my classes today.) I've been asked, in advance, to prepare a short presentation and then there would be some discussion with the panel (I guess.) I expect that they will ask if I have some questions so, I'm wondering what are the best (type of) questions one might consider?


texts: How do you enforce handwriting standards for homework assignments as a TA?

texts:
I am a TA who is helping to grade student homework assignments for an undergrad engineering course which involves a lot of mathematics. The homeworks all together count for miserly 5% and is only graded based on completeness. One of my biggest petpeeves is poor hand writing for written work. I don't exactly have good hand writing, but for things that are turned in or show other people (i.e. for communication purposes), I always ensure that the quality of work is top notch quality.

However, most students in my class have terrible handwriting to the point I cannot even decipher what they are trying to communicate. Wherever there is supposed to be a straight line, I see a curve, not even a well drawn curve. If students run out of space on their piece of paper, many resorts to cramming massive amount of calculation in the margins rather than starting a new page or even flipping the sheet over to the other side. Even worse is that most students write in pen, and when there seems to be an error, they have no qualm of scratching it out using a scribble. I am not a pen person so this is something I have difficulty in understanding. Homeworks are rarely stapled. Let's not even talk about the diagrams, I have no idea why they even bother drawing one. Most people just don't seem to care.

(a picture I found online just to give you an idea what it looks like, sometimes the entire page is crossed out because of some mistakes in the calculation)

I have been telling them to write neatly since homework 1. Yet this problem persists. The main problem is that the homework grades counts for so little, and there is nothing to enforce quality of homework. If a homework is completely done, even if the hand writing is so poor that I could not decipher exactly who handed in the assignment, I am still required to give full grade. I have talked to the professor who is running the course, and he basically gave me a "I don't want students whining over grades" sort of reply. I am powerless to change the policies of the course, and at maximum all I can do now is giving out recommendations to the students on expected, but not enforced, handwriting standards.

Is there anything I can do in my situation? I had hoped I could see a reflection of myself in this pool of students but I have yet to see that person which makes me a bit disappointed to be honest. Whether if these people go directly into the workforce, or remain in academia, clarity in communicating is very important and I fear if they do not change their habits quickly it could lead to some very negative consequences in their professional life.

Am I overreacting?

Should I tell them a white lie that I am going to give zeroes for unclear, poorly written homework but in actuality I will still give full grade for completeness?


texts: Comp Sci PhD Admissions: How often are Skype interviews requested?

texts: I am applying to several computer science PhD programs, and several professors who I mentioned in my statement of purpose have reached out requesting Skype interviews. My question is: how often are these requests made? Should I be very encouraged or is this standard procedure for almost all qualified applicants?


texts: What is the meaning of “Review process will be blind to review”?

texts:
I am new to publishing and want to publish a paper as an independent researcher. The conference I want to submit this paper to states the following on their website regarding the review process:

  Review process will be blind to review.

Does it imply that the review process is double blind? If not, would stating my affiliation as an independent researcher have any negative impact?

I am currently working for a startup company and worked on this paper in my spare time. Since the company is not associated with my research, I decided not to put in the company as an affiliation.


texts: Is it common that marker TA make the marking scheme instead of the professor?

texts: I had a course in which the instructor let the markers make the midterm marking scheme and had students ask the TAs to resolve any marking issues instead of talking to him, though the instructor provided sample answers. As far as I know, many TAs are inexperienced and I think leaving the job of making marking scheme to TAs may be too much for them. IMO, making marking scheme should be the instructor's duty. I don't know if it is common in university.


texts: Are distance degrees from US universities worth anything?

texts:
I'm hoping some kind people could help me from making (more) big mistakes.  I've spent several years at a Canadian university, and I've gotten a good number of science and math courses under my belt.  Unfortunately, I hit a rut and made a mess of my third year, and haven't been back to finish my degree.

That was ten years ago, and just now I'm quite taken with the idea of returning to finish my computer science degree.  The problem I'm facing (and am hoping for help with) is that my life isn't compatible with the university experience.  I have a house, two toddlers, a full time job and I don't live near a university (I live in rural Canada, for reference).

Still, I'm doing my best to correct past mistakes and get back to the career path I wanted.  It turns out, undergrad degrees are not exactly flexible.  I'm not sure how long it would take me to complete the degree with full time schooling, but I've been exploring distance courses and part time, first.  Canadian universities do not like to teach computer science over the internet, it seems.

Quite a few universities from the USA are quite willing, however (see, for example Oregon State's online degree program).  I am quite uninformed about the validity of a distance degree, particularly in the computer science field.  I'm hoping someone with some experience in this area could share their thoughts on if this (distance educated computer science from a US university) is a worthwhile endeavour or if I'd best look elsewhere if I want a degree that can be taken seriously.

Any thoughts at all would be awesome, even if it's just pointing out a resource I could use to figure some of this stuff out on my own.  I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed and lost, I don't want to do this wrong a second time.


texts: Why do I have the "required reviews completed" status on my submission in Elsevier?

texts:
I had submitted my paper in an Elsevier journal one year back. Now, status update on the submission tracking says "Required reviews completed." However, for the last two weeks still there is no change in the status.

Should I ask the editor what is going on with my submission?


texts:
I am a 2nd yr Master's student set to graduate this may. My plan is to pursue a PhD afterwards at another institution. In my program, you either have to do a Master's thesis or a 45 min oral summary presentation of what you learned.

I always had the intention of doing a thesis and had a really cool one my first yr. We were collecting data over the summer and everything was going well. All of a sudden, my thesis chair told me she was leaving for another teaching position in a different state. B/c it was not possible to do this without her and no faculty wanted to take over, I dropped the thesis. This occurred the summer before my 2nd yr.

I still wanted to do a thesis, and so I asked a man (who was on my first thesis committee) if I could be his thesis student. He agreed and he had me print articles so I can get started reading over the summer before I started writing my proposal. Summer went by and everything was fine. School started in Aug. (2nd yr) and things were still okay. I had started writing a portion of my draft and had sent it to him for edits. He edited and sent it back. I edited it again and sent it to him before our meeting. He then emailed me, saying he needed to talk to me regarding his plans.

Just as background info, I felt completely dropped and abandoned by my first thesis chair. When I asked my 2nd (and current thesis chair) to take me on, he assured me he wasn't leaving.

Anyways, we meet and he told me he was leaving late Feb. on medical leave and wouldn't be coming back. We decided to continue on with the thesis, but tweak and shorten it in order to be ready to propose this Fall and defend early Jan.

I started to work harder and he would send me edits. We always seemed to get along, and we had a nice flow. However, something in him changed, like snapped. It was like he went from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jeckel. October came and it was complete radio silence which was SO unlike him! He never responded to any of my emails although I emailed him every week in Oct., he didn't edit any of my stuff, he forgot our meetings. He was just so radically different. After not hearing from him over email, I started to wonder if I had said something. I had texted him (he said I could text him any time) b/c I hadn't heard from him and he sent me this snippy, rude text, telling me not to text him this early.

Because he failed to respond to my emails and give me edits, it was about 4-5 weeks until we met again. Because of this gap in time, it is impossible for me to do a thesis with him.

What gets me is that he went from being kind to me to almost borderline rude. He isn't as nice, he's cold, snippy and distant. The 2 of us talked to the department head and it's decided that I will do the summary presentation instead of a thesis (my chair decided that for me not my decision).

The summary presentation is like a reflection. It doesn't involve drafts of edits or anything like a thesis requires. It's really easy. Since he doesn't know any of the rules, I've had to explain this to him.

Basically, my question is, how do I deal with him? I'm thinking of switching advisors although I dont know anyone who could take me on. My thesis chair is still demanding that I do lit reviews although it is pointless. He basically is telling me that if I don't do what he says (the lit reviews and other things that is ONLY necessary for a thesis and NOT the summary presentation), he won't sign off on it. I NEED this to graduate.

My question is, what do I do?! I'm usually very calm but lately I've been stressed and anxious, I'm breaking out and haven't taken care of myself in a while. I am perpetually stressed and fear hearing from him. I just want OUT. He's toxic and mean. It's like I'm being held hostage. Please help me.

Also, if people are wondering, I have done NOTHING to him but be nice, obliging, etc. I always tell him if I can't make a meeting and am polite to him. People are telling me it's stuff in his personal life, but I just want him to stop treating me like trash.


texts: Will they send my paper to the opposed referee?

texts:
All journals asked me to name opposed referees.
Will they really not send my papers to those whom I opposed?

Some journals seems intentionally send to those whom I opposed.


texts: Importance of QUANT score on GRE for math grad school

texts:
I am not the best at standardized test taking and scored a very poor score of quant 153 on the GRE. I go to a good undergrad institution with no grade inflation (Purdue university). My grades, especially in upper level math classes, are good (A's in Real Analysis, ODE, Vector Calc, Statistical Analysis, A- in PDE). Though I did get a B- in Linear algebra and a B in Probability. I have a cumulative GPA of 3.72 with a major GPA of 3.6. Would I still be able to get into a Group 2 program with my current marks?

I am registering for the Math Subject, and oddly I feel much more confident with the types of questions asked compared to the regular GRE. Would a strong math subject GRE cover up the blemish of my GRE score?


texts: Getting a letter of recommendation from a socially controversial PhD advisor

texts:
I am about to finish my PhD at a US university and am starting to apply for jobs and postdocs in physics and computer science. Throughout my PhD, I maintained a good relationship with my PhD supervisor. However, in the last year and a half, he has made social (not academic) comments that were very inappropriate. These comments more directly influenced other students, and the proper actions have been taken with the university and an investigation is on-going. To be clear, the comments are inexcusable and I have lost all respect for my supervisor.
I am wondering what the most appropriate way for me to proceed is, as many positions explicitly ask for a letter of recommendation from ones supervisor.
Some additional data:

I, luckily, had a rather successful PhD and have many collaborators who I could ask in his place. However, I imagine I would need to address why my advisor is not writing a letter.

I do think my advisor would write me a positive letter, but (a) I feel uncomfortable asking him for a favor and (b) I worry that (and I hope) if public action is taken, his letter will not be viewed in a positive light. Quite simply: I'd rather not have a word of support from him.

Is this something I can/should address in a cover letter or otherwise?


texts: What should I do if, after choosing a Master Thesis topic, I find an existing thesis on it in another language?

texts:
I picked a very unique topic for my Masters Thesis, only to find out that there is a Dissertation on the same topic, from 2008, in French. No other books have been published on this topic.

Ugh... I really really wanted to do this. What should I do? Can I do the same topic in English? I can't even translate what the other person wrote.


texts: What are the most important get-aways from a PhD

texts:
I have almost finished a master degree and want to continue to do my PhD in discrete Mathematics (Optimization/Operation Research) in Germany, but i don't want to stay in academica after that.

I would like to know, what are the main things you take with yourself, after doing a PhD except the title?

What does someone who spend 3 years after his master degree doing a PhD differentiate to someone who already started working in industry 3 years earlier in the same field ?

The reason i am asking is, because i want to know, what are the skills/qualities i should be focusing on developing, while i am doing my PhD.


texts:
In 2006, when I was still in grad school, I wrote a paper that went through the usual motions: I discussed it with my advisor, I presented it at a peer-reviewed conference, and then published it as a refereed chapter in an edited volume. Right before the volume came out, I was explaining the paper to a friend from another university and he went: "oh, I think Professor Bigshot said something similar in his semi-obscure 1970 dissertation!". I checked the dissertation in question and, indeed, what I wrote is essentially what Professor Bigshot wrote in 1970, give or take some minor variations in the formalism.

Something to keep in mind here is that this is not plagiarism. I came up with the idea totally on my own, and I didn't reference Professor Bigshot's dissertation because nobody (not my supervisor, not the conference audience, not the chapter referees) told me about it in time. What worries me is that other people might think I took the relevant dissertation passage and plagiarized it. So far, nobody has happened, but I'm want to preempt plagiarism claims in the future. Obviously, nothing can be done about the published chapter, so I have modified the downloadable preprints in both my website and the go-to repository of my field, adding a note that explains the situation and giving proper credit to Professor Bigshot.

Is this enough, or is there anything else I can do?


texts: Double affiliation: is it understood as simultaneous part-time in each of them?

texts:
If I write a double affiliation, would it be understood as

I'm in both institutes
I was in one institute and I am working for the other.


texts: Use of secondary findings to motivate novelty

texts:
I have a paper on machine learning with a clear research objective and goals. Further, our experiments show that our proposed methodology actually meets those goals and perform better than the state-of-the-art methods in the field.

After two rounds of review, so in the third feedback, one reviewer for the fist time mentioned that the paper lacks novelty. Without pointing to the overlapping literature. We are sure this is not the case since our section Related Work covers most, if not all, of the methods in our research field.

In order to improve the novelty in our work, I have been playing around with our proposed model, and found some interesting results. These results are of course the consequence of our proposed methodology.

So my question is can I use those findings to motivate novelty in our research? As I mentioned before, our experiments show that our proposed models solves the research objectives. So I dont want to miss that focus. I just would like to point to future research based on the new fidings, and ideally use those findings to improve the novelty of the manuscript. So the one reviewer that mentioned the novelty part suggests to accept the paper. The other two reviewers have already suggested acceptance.


texts: Is it plagiarism to paraphrase multiple sections?

texts:
I sit on my department's academic misconduct committee. Today we had one of those cases where it wasn't clear what the right answer was. The assignment was for the students to design an experiment based on a previous experiment of their choosing and to write it up like a research proposal. The student took large blocks of text from the article describing the original experiment and tweaked each sentence to fit with the new experiment. After every sentence the student fastidiously added a reference to the original article. Has the student committed an academic offence?

The committee decided that it was not an academic offence and that the work should not be penalized for plagiarism, but that it would likely receive a very low grade due to a complete lack of originality and a failure to show any understanding of the key concepts.


texts: My PhD advisor writes funding proposals based on my ideas without involving me

texts: My PhD advisor writes funding proposals based on my research ideas without involving me in them. The first time he wanted to use my idea he asked me if it is okay for him to write a proposal on the idea. He also mentioned that he will involve me in it. At that time I very happily agreed to his proposition. However, he did not involve me at all in the proposal and later just mentioned that it just happened that he couldn't involve me. Recently, I again came up with another good idea and shared a written document with the details. He asked me to share the source file of the document and mentioned that he will use it for a funding proposal without mentioning about my involvement. Is it a common practice for advisors to steal their students' ideas and write proposals without involving them at all in it? Is there anything I can do to get myself involved in the proposal? Would it be wise to request my professor to involve me in the proposal?


texts: Is a request to book a business flight ticket for a graduate student an unreasonable one?

texts:
As a Ph.D. student from a (pretty rich!) European research group, I'm about to attend a conference in New Zealand. The second leg of a potential flight takes 16 hours to reach the destination, and it seems to be the hell of discomfort to spend all that time on an economy seat (I once had a 10-hour-flight experience, and I was in trouble because of my relatively long legs despite time-to-time walks in the plane's aisle). The cost of a business seat is around 4 times the cost of an economy one, something around 3500 Euros. Thus, I'm just wondering how reasonable the request to have such a seat is.

PS. I do know that a first-hand approach is actually asking my supervisor what he thinks about it. But I'd rather not ask such a question if it would sound silly and unreasonable.

Any experiences and thoughts (particularly from those who had already been involved in any side of such a situation) are welcome!


texts:
While writing my thesis, I was putting down some definitions of terms as they are used in the scope of the work.

Does it make sense to move them to the glossary and write their definition as well?
Looks like the Glossary is used mostly for acronyms in the thesis/diss I have seen.


texts: Math journal question - long publishing delay

texts: My paper was accepted for publication in May 2019. Almost two years later, it still has not been published. Other papers which were submitted and accepted after mine have already been published. What's going on here? Should I email the journal to get an estimate for when my paper will be published? I feel a bit pathetic to have to send them an email to ask "golly gee, when are you going to get around to actually publishing my paper." Any advice would be appreciated.


texts: Can you publish studies based on confidential customer data that comes from private companies?

texts:
I am working on a project in biostatistics involving some private companies.
Specifically, these companies share data about their customers with us and we try to apply our algorithm to this data. The good part is that both the algorithm and the application are very new, and seem to work quite well. Unfortunately we can not publish this data in paper or conferences, as it is privately owned.

What is the typical way to proceed in this case?
Does the fact that it is not possible to publish the data implies in general that also results based on this data are also unpublishable?


texts: Balancing Between Theory and Application in Early Career

texts:
This is something I have been thinking about for some time. What I study is pretty much on the edge between applied and pure math. Specifically, I am interested in stochastic dynamics including SPDEs. Thus I have been investing a lot of time into stochastic analysis, really enjoy the subject, and am looking into some new ideas in my "spare time". I say my spare time because right now I am really productive on the more applied side where I am looking at stochastic dynamics in developmental biology and numerical methods for stochastic systems (I have a few publications I will be able to push out before advancement).

There is some trade-off here. My adviser strongly thinks I should drop all other activities because I am already building a solid foundation in the applied math / systems biology direction, and going 100% in it would make me have a higher chance of being a top candidate in the field come graduation. However, I kind of think that incorporating more "theoretical" stochastic analysis into my studies/research will lead to stronger results further down the line, but in the short term will inevitably be a hindrance. If I am thrown in the same pool as other applied mathematicians (who tend to publish more than pure math) and judged in the same manner for productivity, it seems that the extra time it takes for pure math results would most likely be detrimental to my chances of getting a post-doc.

I assume I am not the only person in academia who has faced this kind of decision. Is this something to come back to as a post-doc, or tackle now? How did you handle it? How did your colleagues handle it? How did it turn out? Do you think you made the right decision?

I do want to emphasize that right now I am doing quite well, and I think that matters a lot in this decision. However, since I will have a good amount of publications pre-advancement (based off of my own ideas), have fellowships, and will have a masters in both math and bio: does it make sense to take the time to diversify my personal portfolio? [Currently I am thinking of doing like 75% applied 25% pure, trying to spend less time optimizing code and using the down time as theory time.]


texts: Can the communicating author remove some of the authors (4 out of 6) when submitting the second revision of a paper describing a database?

texts:
Our paper was due submission for second revision at a BMC journal. The communicating author, as I understand is responsible for handling all the communications between all authors and the journal, while also making suitable arrangement to cover any open access charges.

However, the communicating author in our case, without informing any author, removed 4 out of the total 6 authors while submitting the second revision. How should we deal with this? isn't it a academic fraud by the communicating author? Can't we, as students do anything to stop this?


texts: Is it acceptable to submit manuscript to new journal if the first journal provides no response, is unreachable, and might be fake?

texts: I have submitted a paper to a journal. Having got no reply (after waiting for more than the period of acceptance) I tried to connect the editor via telephone numbers given on website. It said that the telephone number did not exist. So, I tried to open the website link, it did not open initially and later it connected me to a different site with the same name where it sold hardware parts. Hence I thought it was a fake website and applied to another journal and was accepted. Now it asks me to pay fee to publish paper. Is there any problem if I publish the paper in the second journal?


texts: Why only medicine lectures are closed to the public?

texts:
In a coment, David Richerby pointed out that in his university in the UK everybody was entitled to attend to any lectures, except for Medicine. I have also found that Dusseldorf has the same policy, but no reasons are quoted.

I can think of two possibilities:

Potential missuse of the information in the class "oh, I saw a rash like that the other day, it is nothing". (But no one has died because "the condition number of that matrix is not SO bad...").
Sensitive information, like some details about patients, necessary for the education.

But they don't seem too strong. They would both apply to med students, or just people that signed up for a few courses, but are not going to be doctors (think some biologist that may be interested in taking Pathology).

Does anyone know of an official reason for this policy?


texts: Open access journal for long-form publication

texts:
I am currently working on a paper in the field of image reconstruction, or computational biology if you will. Now matter how I slice or dice it, it is one of these stories that cannot be told in 3500 words or so. Not only are there several equally important methodological points that need to be discussed to get a complete story, there is also quite a bit of background required to point out the subtle flaws in the currently popular ways of approaching this particular problem; and it takes some words to clearly point out what may appear to be a subtle problem from a distance, especially while making sure to be fair to everyone.

I don't intend to butcher what I feel is a solid and profound story for the sake of cramming it into some word budget. I am no fan of needless verbosity, but I really am going to need about 20 pages to do this right. I strongly prefer to publish in an open access journal. And I would imagine that an open access online journal does not have as much of an incentive to be stingy with word counts, no? PLOS computational biology would be a logical choice, yet they do have a restrictive word count. I can't find any open access journals that appear to be sympathetic to my plight.

Am I missing something? Or should I just write the whole article first, make that into the supplement, and then write a 3000 word teaser with nonstop references to the supplement to substantiate my claims? I am somewhat afraid that people will actually miss the point without an explicit disclaimer at the start of the 'article', along the lines of 'hey, if you want to read the actual story with a good flow to it, you need to start reading the supplement. this is basically just a drawn out abstract.'. If you are referring to the supplement, the convention is to refer to a figure of secondary importance; not to three pages of text you kind of have to read first to understand the rest of the article.

Does anyone have a helpful perspective on such a situation?


texts:
I did a bunch of code projects like implement a algorithm or use the code from a paper on a different dataset. These may not be unique (they may be, but I am not sure). I wouldn't say that these projects have the best efficiency/accuracy for a particular problem. But these are stuff that I was just messing around with and got some interesting outputs. I maintain a blog about all these activities that I do. These projects are related to machine learning, a subject in which I am interested in pursuing a MS degree.

Should I mention these blog posts in my SOP?

My SOP is a research statement, and these are not entirely research projects, but they do reflect my interest in machine learning. Would mentioning these projects benefit me in any way?

If you do recommend that I mention them, how should go about that?


texts: Should I quit a PhD with little supervision at a prestigious university and start a new PhD?

texts:
I am a second year PhD student studying at a prestigious university in the UK. My main supervisor recruited me 2 years ago just because he is interested in my field and hopes to develop a new direction for his research center. I have 3 supervisors but none of them has expertise in my current field. In fact, their fields are quite different from mine (in totally different disciplines) and consequently they cannot give effective supervision on my PhD research. For example, when I present my research they usually just say my research is good without any useful technical suggestions. In addition, my main supervisor and third supervisor meet me for supervision meeting every 3-6 months, and my second supervisor meets with me every 2 weeks.
I don't think I get enough supervision during my PhD studies (my fellow students seem to meet with their advisors once a week), and so I am thinking about starting a new PhD at another university which is strong in my field but not as reputable as my current university.
However, my parents (who are funding me) do not agree on this. They mainly care about the reputation of my current university and the diploma I get rather than the little supervision. I am quite confused about this. Considering my future plan is to work in academia, should I quit my current PhD and start a new PhD in this case?


texts: Promising things in the rebuttal phase of a review

texts:
In computer science, many conferences have a rebuttal phase, where reviewers ask questions to the authors and then, basing on the answers, decide wether to accept or reject the paper. However this seems to be ambiguous on what I can say to the reviewers.

For example, in a paper I submitted to a conference, reviewers lament the absence of certain experiments, that, in my opinion I could easily add to the paper.

Is it ok to state that I can actually add those experiments, if the paper goes to the next phase, or is not this what a rebuttal phase is designed for?


texts: Doing two Bachelors before Masters degree?

texts:
I currently study for my B.Sc. in Media IT. I easily could finish a second Bachelor if I do one more semester. I want to do master's degree in Media IT afterwards.

I'm already 23 and in the third semester, since I finished an apprenticeship as a software developer before. Is it useful to start my master's with 26 and probably finish it when I'm ~28?


texts: How can I manage the time of my research project under uncertainty?

texts:
I don't know if this is the right place (or the right tags) to ask this question or not so please tell me.

I am doing a research project related to computer science in my university. This is my first research project and it's really hard.
How can I manage my big research project? I have a lot of ideas and in each one there are a lot of issues.
The problem that I am facing is the uncertainty, I don't know the specific required time to finish something (because I don't really know it)

for example : I can't say "I will finish A thing in 3/12/2018 and then I will finish B thing in 17/12/2018" because I don't know those things(I have to learn them)
How can I put a time plan for such things for my research? and How can I manage it?


texts: What is the difference between "introduction" and "motivation" sections

texts:
I am working on a paper about a web data extractor (an application, I developed based on a unique approach). In the introduction I had a short review on the history of such applications (from hard-code to graphical user interface) and said my application belong to this latest group. However, I didn't say much about the approach I adopted in the application. I left it to be discussed in the motivation section.

In motivation section I counted the features of existing approaches and described the features of the approach I followed.

Now I think maybe I should merge these two sections into one section, as I read the introduction I can't get what is the difference of my application with existing. Should such information be put in the introduction?

In general, what is the scope of 'Introduction' and 'Motivation' sections?


texts:
After publishing an article, assuming that the publisher doesn't prevent you from sharing an article online in a public place, the authors might want to receive additional feedback.

Are there good online methods for attracting and receiving comments on one's article, in addition to collaborators, reviewers, and emails? If possible the comments should be public so that other people could reply to comments.


texts: How can I answer the question: "What do you hope to achieve during your studies at University X?"

texts:
Currently I am writing (Statement of Purpose) for Phd applying. and they asked me this question:
 What you hope to achieve during your studies at the XX university?
How I can answer this question, I need some ideas.


texts: Is it rude to ask the lecturer whether there is any “effective prerequisite”?

texts:
Situation: My university has an online course registration system. Students (including me) choose courses in the system and submit their requests at certain time.

Sometimes, the course information is not detailed enough. A lot of course information in the catalog contains no or unreasonable prerequisite. For example, no prerequisite is listed in the information of a MATH 4000-level (fourth-year) course about real analysis. Another example is that a CSCI 4000-level course about cloud computing has a very minimal prerequisite course (something like an introductory OS course).

I am not sure whether it would be rude to email the lecturer in advance, asking whether there is any prerequisite not stated in the online system. While I am feeling OK to ask the lecturer if none of the “effective prerequisite” is stated for a 4000-level course (as I believe there must be some), I feel a bit sorry in the second case because it appears that I don’t trust the department’s course director and I chose to, in some sense, challenge the lecturer.

I did send an email asking the prerequisite of the cloud computing course. Initially I expected the lecturer to require me to have some basic knowledge about, e.g. graph theory, database system etc. He replied to me that there is no other prerequisite, though. For some other reasons I decided not to take that course, but I think similar situations may appear in future.

Any help is appreciated.


texts: What are the most important points to emphasize while pitching for a dissertation to be published as a book?

texts:
An editor for a major publishing house is visiting our institute, and some PhD students will get the chance to have a 15 min talk with them and discuss the publication of their dissertation as a book.

I would like to pitch my dissertation (a few months from completion) as a potential book for their publishing house. I am in the social sciences in Europe and there is no tradition of the authors getting any financial benefits out of their books, indeed sometimes we have to pay the publishers. But I would like to convince this one to
a) Publish my diss
b) do it for free

What is the sort of information that this editor would be the most interested to have regarding my dissertation? What important criteria do such editors consider in coming to a decision regarding the publishability of Ph.D. dissertations?

Just to clarify, this is not a formal book proposal but only a short informal conversation, but one which I hope can be useful to both the editor and me.


texts: Should I put my not-yet-submitted work on my web page?

texts: I am planning on submitting a paper to a journal.  Is it acceptable and advisable to upload it to my web page for public consumption, in the mean time?


texts: Asking about how to apply to 2 open positions in same department in same group

texts:
I am applying to some phd positions in Australian university in Mathematics in Pure maths Dept in same working group ( Number Theory) and 2 professors work in the Field I want to work in and the method of applying is that they have  link of " Apply Now" in the website.
So, There are 2 columns after apply now 1 in which CV is to be uploaded and 1 in which Motivation Letter is to be uploaded.  CV is to be uploaded will be same(obviously).

But Should motivation/ Cover Letter be same or not?

Let's call professors as Mr. X and Mr. Y. My interest area completely align with Mr.X and there are some regions in which  my Interest doesn't aligns with Prof. Y. But the regions in which Interest aligns with Prof. Y are same as regions in which interest aligns with X.
Kindly Guide me what should I do in this case!
Thank You!


texts: Is it rude to sign off mails with a shorthand

texts:
This may seem a bit mundane or silly to many but I figured it might be useful for others besides me, hence the question.

My boss (postdoc mentor) is a very kind person, who pretty much exclusively writes in grammatically correct, well articulated sentences and ALWAYS have a nice but relatively formal greeting at the end of the mail. No matter how many times we mail each other in a given day. Even though we are not formal at all when we talk to each other.

As per usual in Scandinavia, we have a very flat hierarchy here, so everyone (from project students to professors and indeed the dean) is on a first name basis with each other, and there are little formalities that may be commonplace elsewhere.

We have been working very closely on this project, with almost daily meetings and near 10-15 mails exchanged throughout the day. My previous experience has always been so that once the formalities have been observed, the communication defaults to shorter, more direct mails.

Given the high-paced exchange between us, I was wondering if it would be rude to write shorter mails that are straight to the point. Specifically I often find myself signing off a mail with a shorthand greeting, e.g. "mvh" instead of "(med) vänliga hälsningar" (which is significantly more formal) or just by writing my name. [The Swedish expressions roughly correspond to "BR" - "Best Regards", respectively].

I thought of asking him if he prefers a more formal tone in our written communication but I don't wanna come across as a pedantic person. Suggestions?


texts: How do I explain my poor grade to a grad school committee?

texts:
I'm an Indian student in my 2nd year and I have a subpar(6/10) grade, but that's just because of the school I'm in currently.

I've been a straight A student before university all my life. I'm pretty sure that it's  this school which is super competitive and likes giving extra-hard tests and strict grading which leads me to have a poorer grade, despite knowing/understanding the material. And I'm not the only student who's been disadvantaged here in this manner.

I've interacted with several other schools/students here, or outside India, for example  and I'm pretty sure I'd have a higher grade if I were at one of those schools.

I understand that being challenged is beneficial and the post might just come across as one from a poor student who likes to whine, but my thoughts are genuine. Other factors that contributed to a poor grade are my ADHD and the utter lack of course flexibility.

For clarification, I'm a CS student and I'm talking admissions committees outside of my country(admission to an engineering masters program here takes place differently through tests) - perhaps in the USA/Canada. Are these valid reasons I could get through to them? How?


texts: Carry your PhD project with you to post-doc and beyond

texts: Say you develop your own research project during your PhD years and want to carry on the research project with you to post-doctoral and beyond, are there any restriction that you can or cannot carry on the project?


texts:
I am a undergraduate student interested in doing my higher studies in USA. I am tempted to apply for PhD program offered by the colleges but I am skeptical of my selection due to high competition. So, I was planning to first do MS from a reputed college and then later do a PhD. This will improve my chances of admit as well.
However, while going through the FAQs of some colleges I came to know that there is a possibility of applying for PhD in a college, and in case the application gets rejected they consider the application for MS as well.
So, I just wanted to know which is a wiser decision? To apply only for MS or to apply for PhD and hope that they select you at least for MS. Also, does the chances of being selected for MS reduce if the applicant follows the latter procedure?


texts: How to write formal letter for PhD after completion of MS

texts:
I have recently defended my MS thesis and want to continue as a Ph.D. student in the same department. Department secretary told me that I have to write a formal letter. When I asked her what things do I have to write in the formal letter she said she doesn't know. So there are two parts of my question

How to write a formal letter?
What do I write in the formal letter when upgrading to a Ph.D. program after completion of MS?


texts: On the use of hypocorisms on publications and university personnel list

texts:
Suppose my legal name is Stephen and that everyone (family, friends, and also colleagues and professors) calls me Steve (being aware that my legal name is actually Stephen).

Suppose also that I prefer being called Steve and would like to publish my papers (starting from the first one) under "Steve Surname".

It seems to me that the academic world (in particular, the mathematical world, as it is pointed out in other questions asked on this website) is very liberal when it comes to these matters (i.e. pseudonyms).

However, I'd like to ask preemptively if -- to the best of your knowledge and experience -- there could be any nuissances of any kind (not necessarily in the form of legal troubles) in signing legal documents (which, of course, include my thesis) using Stephen while employing Steve instead of Stephen on papers or (if in the future it will be the case) monographs (let's assume published by the main publishers -- Springer, AMS, PUP, OUP, etc.) and in the personnel list on the university website.

To make an example of possible nuissance: do Research Gate, Academia.edu, and other similar websites allow you to register under a name that is a shorter form of your legal one?

To clarify: in order to pose this question, I choose

Stephen: because, like my own name, it is a nice name, that is to say, neither too long nor cumbersome;
Steve: because, like my own "calling name", it is slightly shorter, but not very-informal-sounding per se: in fact many people in various countries use it as legal first name.

Further clarification: I've seen this question. Mine is quite different though. In fact, I realize that it is possible (and accepted) to publish under a pen-name, and I'm asking specifically if there are any "legal" (so to say) nuissances associated to this practice. To make just few examples, when being included in the personnel list on the university website, when being included in the list of participants to a conference, when signing up to a website like Research Gate, etc.


texts: Avenues to collaborate with PHD students / professors while working

texts:
What are some of the best ways\avenues to collaborate with PHD students\professors to do research and publish in conferences\journals in the field of software engineering.

Do students\professors encourage people reaching out to them on cold emails, if they are interested in their research?
Do we write a draft a research paper and reach out for collaboration\peer review?
Are there academic meetups where we can meet people informally to discuss and work with them on interest?
Are students\professors interested in the practical industry experience of the field and collaborate on publishing books, articles on tech blogs ?

Is it better to enroll into a part-time PHD, if you are interested in research but have the family financial responsibilities on you?
What are some good online, part-time PHD programs that are good and provide the flexibility to work during the course?


texts: Should one avoid erudite vocabulary in statement of purpose?

texts:
I am not a psychology major.

I came across this paper
that shows that using erudite vocabulary will not do one good.

What makes me want to ask here is a case study in the paper. Long story short, a bunch of admission officers, unaware of being tested, reviewed the application documents such as statements of purpose and were asked to rate them. It turned out that those documents using big, learned words instead got somewhat lower rating than those using simple, direct words.

Though this research seems convincing, my concern is: Is this phenomenon general enough to suggest one should avoid using erudite vocabulary if one does not use the erudite words in an affected way?

If you are experienced admission reviewers, would you please throw some light or insights on this issue?


texts: Having students scribe lectures: can the instructor choose any license?

texts: For each lecture of a course, a couple of students are assigned to scribe the lecture, as part of the course requirements. Can the instructor choose any license he wants for the scribe notes? E.g. CC BY-SA 4.0 or CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 in case the instructor is considering compiling and releasing the scribe notes publicly and is fine with people re-sharing them? Or are students entitled to decide under what license the scribe notes should be? I am mostly interested in the United States but curious about other countries as well.


texts: How can I ask a professor about funding for Master?

texts:
I am looking for a master’s position. I emailed a professor, and we arranged a meeting on Skype, where he said that he would assess my knowledge and he told me that he will tell me the result afterward (whether apply or not). Now I think he likes to have me as a student. I performed well, and he forwarded my email to his Ph.D. students told them that I would like to work in this field.
How can I ask the professor about the possibility of applying and funding? I'm not a native speaker, and I have anxiety about being rude.
I was admitted to some European universities, but I would like to go to this particular university, and I need to decide and to know about the future. I was admitted in fall 2017 (Europe), but this particular university starts in winter 2018, so I need to decide earlier. If I can't decide earlier, I will miss European universities, which is undesirable.
Could you please give me a piece of advice and/or a template for a letter? How can I ask about funding and the possibility of applying politely?
Thank you in advance!


texts: What is proper author order when you write paper based on colleague's work?

texts:
My colleague has developed a software framework. I have not contributed towards software development but I have been asked by my advisor to write a paper describing the software since my colleague is not experienced in writing.

In this situation, what is the proper order of authors ?


texts: What are graduate school admission "clearing rounds" and start dates?

texts:
I'm finishing my honours degree this November, and would like to apply to do a PhD in Hong Kong. One problem I'm having is trying to understand the start dates. For instance, they have three application deadline dates:

Main round: September 1 - December 1
1st clearing round: December 2 - April 30
2nd clearing round: May 1 - August 31

What does the "clearing rounds" mean exactly? Also, if I apply to do a PhD before the deadline, relatively how soon would it be to get an acceptance/rejection?

People who apply in December 1 deadline for the Hong Kong government funded PhD fellowship don't get an answer until March. I don't know if this applies to PhD admission though as it doesn't say when you hear back on that, and I don't really want to wait until March, find I've been rejected, and I'm now unable to enroll in a masters program in my country as the trimester has already begun.

This is all confusing to me and I'd like some advice on the general admission time line for PhD applicants.


texts: How do I incorporate/emphasize my experiences teaching at an HBCU?

texts:
I have an adjunct position teaching at an HBCU (Historically black colleges and universities).

I was wondering what is the best way to emphasize teaching at a minority institution on my CV?

Where do I stress that the school is an HBCU? - teaching experience, mentorship, other? ...

I want to emphasize that I have experience teaching at an HBCU, but I almost feel like it's too forced to mention it in the teaching experience area of my CV.

Suggestions for how to best "sell" myself with this experience?


texts: How to differentiate between good information and bad information?

texts:
Suppose, I am writing a research paper on an old controversial topic. I need to interview some old people and need to read some memoirs.
Now, the problem is: the people whom I interview, may be biased, and the part of the memoir may consists of lies.
How can I detect a credible source in this particular case?


texts: Redrawing a schematic diagram/image/schematic circuits to avoid Copyright infringement in publication

texts:
From other discussion in Academia SE and other source, I got an impression that redrawing is to avoid Copyright infringement. link1 link2 link3 not from SE link4 link5

I cannot comment there to ask doubt because lack of reputation.

My post here is about redrawing schematic diagram/schematic circuit/3D visualization, not (re-)plotting data.

My question:

Do I still need permission from the original paper/author if I redraw schematic diagram/schematic circuit/3D visualization?
Why rotating 3D graph is considered OK ? link4.  I am not sure about "OK" here, is OK=no need for permission?
The author in link1 found a better drawing than his/her own that describes same idea. in the comment section, he/she was planning to use his own drawing if the author could not get permission or did not want to pay licence. From here, I got an impression that redrawing is a work around if we do not want to deal with permission/licence. But, is it legit?
How about citation? Do I need to cite after redrawing?

assume:

"fair use" does not apply here.
asking legal permission from publisher is not free.

I am writing a technical report for a research project, a project before master thesis.


texts: Getting proper credit for a paper: author order

texts:
I am a PhD student and I submitted a paper formally co-authored with my advisor months ago. The core idea of the paper is mine. During the first (major) revision, among other much needed, yet very time-consuming, improvements I had to implement, I had to take the methodological section over in order to develop a more compact, precise, and overall stronger argumentation. A further revision request, while appreciating my effort, now requires to hugely revise the (relatively small) part he developed and wrote. In spite of my great effort, the author order is established by my advisor as alphabetical and I feel I am not getting enough credit for my work. My advisor does not seem open to other options, such as specifying contribution in the appendix of the paper while keeping the alphabetic order of the authors.

An author listing convention is not defined in my field: alphabetical ordering is not uncommon, although first authorship undoubtedly has a relevance.

Overall, I think I have contributed from 80% to 90% of the paper. I do not know what to do in order to get my effort more properly acknowledged (I strongly desire so), nor I know if anything can be done at all. I do not even know if this matter is worth the struggle, or maybe it is better (as for our student-advisor relationship) to let it go.

EDIT: thank you for your detailed answers. I appreciated both of them. I accepted @Buffy's answer for the slightly more practical approach - which I needed most - to the problem. I also felt the sympathy in @Titus' answer, and I appreciated it very much.


texts: Due to last name, I am never first author

texts:
I am a PhD student in computer science and have enjoyed my time very much so far. I just finished my 4th year and I plan to graduate in a year. During my degree, I worked on a few papers that became well cited. Throughout my PhD, I consistently worked with another student, let's call him Mike A. My name is Lilly M. and my advisor is Timothy Z. (all names are made up). On all of my papers, Mike A. and I are listed as “these authors contributed equally”. However, my advisor is adamant that he publishes in alphabetical order (this is becoming less common, as far as I can tell), so all papers are Mike, Me, our advisor. I have noticed that this has more and more of an effect, as fellow researchers tend to know Mike or my advisor but rarely know me, even though I contributed half of the work.

I have spoken to my advisor about this and he assures me that (a) he does not think it is a big deal and (b) he does not want to change it because he consistently publishes in alphabetical order. Most papers in his group are with him and a student, and in these cases it always means the student is first, and then him.

Is this something I should be concerned about? Do you have suggestions on how to approach this with him?

Note: The reason I ask is that in the last few weeks, Mike was asked by three separate institutions to come and give a talk about one of our papers. I was never asked. In this case, Mike told me and we worked it out. However, it suggests that there is a different perception of my work than I would like. I plan to graduate soon and apply for new positions. Are there things I should do this year that you would suggest?


texts:
I keep publications from the literature in Mendeley for later reading on my iPad. There are many publications, so I need some sort of way of prioritizing the ones I need to read first versus the ones I might read someday. Right now, I use folders with varying priority levels. The biggest problem is that I cannot move articles to different folders on the iPad, so I have to do this prioritization while I'm at my computer (where I usually have more important things to do). Also, I feel like I spend most of my time assigning priorities to articles rather than reading them, which is not ideal.

Do you have better suggestions on how to prioritize and organize the publications I want to read using Mendeley?


texts:
As a computer science professor, I have told some talented students one-on-one that they show a real aptitude for computer science and that they should seriously consider taking more classes in it.

I'm questioning the wisdom of this now that I'm reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, which cites extensive research on the benefits of having a "growth mindset" (the belief that intelligence can be grown) over a "fixed mindset" (that intelligence is unchanging).

Additionally, two of the students I recently told this to performed way below their ability in the second CS class.  Of course, this is not statistically significant.

FWIW, I teach at a women's college with a large number of students who are the first in their families to attend college and/or from ethnic groups underrepresented in CS.  Thus, all of my students are at risk of stereotype threat for at least one category to which they belong.  It was my hope that pointing out their aptitude would help counter this and encourage them to pursue an area of strength.

Is there any research on whether it is a good idea to let students know a professor believes them to have aptitude, or is promoting the idea of innate aptitude likely to backfire?


texts: Transactions journal with impact 2.5 or IEEE internet of things journal with 9

texts:
I have to choose between a transaction journal on Network science and engineering  with impact factor ( 2.5) and IEEE internet of things journal with 9 impact.
I know that people prefer transactions journals. What do you recommend me to do ? Which one is more better in my CV as a Ph.D. student.


texts: After quitting a PhD program, would time off before applying to a new program be harmful?

texts:
If one plans to quit one's current PhD program and apply to other PhD programs in other universities, is it recommended that one tries to get to the new program as fast as possible? Waiting could make it possible to apply to several places and choose which suits one best.

Would working outside of academia a period of time before applying or before the new PhD program starts hurt one's chances of getting accepted (or damage one's career later in some other way)? I imagine getting recommendation letters might be an issue if the period is long.

I remember reading that if one should try to find out what work outside academia is like the best point in time to do so is before graduate studies. Myself I have studied my whole life and for many years my only career goal was in academic research, but thinking about the job prospects and sacrifices associated to academia I have become mildly curious about life outside academia. I think some time outside could bring some perspective and a point of comparison. If it matters my own area is pure math.


texts: Does work experience in non-related field help in grad school admissions?

texts:
USA: Does work experience help for graduate admissions non-phd in STEM fields?

Someone told me yes, because if I already have a job, the grad school can be assured that I'll have a job after graduation and I won't hurt their statistics on job placement among alumni.

I disagree because I think that if the program is rigorous, all students who graduate should because of the greatness of the program be able to find jobs.

ONly if the program is insecure about their program's usefulness and quality should the program decide to admit students on whether they've already got a job. cough cough lots of MBA programs...  I believe only diploma mills would care about whether the applicant already has a job to decide whether they should get admitted.


texts: I didn't hear back after a postdoc interview. Can I set a deadline for a response?

texts:
I was invited for an interview for a postdoc position at a research institution in another country. At the end, the panel told me that the HR will reach out early next week. I didn't hear back from the HR and decided to follow up the next week, in which the HR told me that "the panel are yet to confirm their decision" and I should expect an update in the next three days maximum.
Today was the last day of that deadline. The issue is that in a few weeks from now, I might start other activities in other universities (teaching and research on another project). I didn't confirm anything until I receive a response for that postdoc position. Can I follow up again and told them that I might have another engagement next week?
I am afraid that this might backfire, because they're asking me to wait and this gives me the impression that I'm plan B or something.


texts: As a student, how much time should I spend helping other students with research?

texts:
Assume that one has a skill (assume, programming) and is one of the very few in the department to have it. The other students need a bit of this skill for their projects and you help out when you can.

Where do you set the limit for how much effort/time you spend on helping others this way?

Pros:

You get insight into other students' work.
It's a welcome break from our own research
Maybe earns you a second/third author for setting up the experiment
Networking !

Cons:

Effort/Time spent
You don't necessarily improve your skills (For instance, coding in Python for someone else doesn't augment my Python skills by much. What I do might be really routine)
You tend to have a soft commitment towards that project. For instance, if I start working on it as a favour, it doesn't really come off well if I leave 'em midway.

EDIT: I do enjoy the work so long as it is at least a little challenging. I often get really n00bish questions and that is when I start reconsidering my stance on helping people.


texts: What is the name for "section topics" printed in the margins

texts:
In older publications of many languages, there are frequently printed text in the margins that detail the topic of a section of the text (see below on the left and right):
Excerpt from Magnum Oecumenicum Constantiense Concilium:

What is the name for these? I considered marginalia, but they are not handwritten.


texts: Can a first author omit the "equal contribution" for a publication on the CV?

texts:
I am the first author of a paper where the first two authors (me and Y) have contributed equally. (Yay, thanks alphabet! Hopefully I won't have to collaborate with some Dr. Aaron Aab in the future.) Of course, Y will put an equal contribution note on their CV, and prominently so.

Do I have to?


texts:
Let me start with the following remark (which surely I am not the first person to bring up). When things work as it should, to get a job one usually needs to prove that one is competent in doing that job. For instance, for teaching at any level between primary school to high school, you need to have been trained as a teacher (for the appropriate age group and subject). This suddenly breaks down at university: courses at university, particularly the advanced courses, are mostly taught by professors, who in order to get hired need to prove that they are competent enough... no, wrong guess: not in teaching at university, but in doing research. I will never completely understand what the reasons for this are, and where the assumption that good researchers also teach well comes from (evidence to the contrary abounds). Mostly historical reasons, I guess. Nevertheless, I do not want to discuss the reasons for the status quo any further here, and I am not claiming that it is necessarily always problematic. Rather, in this question, my aim is to find out whether there are any universities, and particularly pure mathematics departments, that do things differently.
Here is the background information: I am a PhD student in pure mathematics in continental Europe and I really enjoy teaching at university level. I would even like to do this as a full-time job. But I am not sure that I want (or could) go on to do research as a post-doc in pure mathematics until eventually becoming a professor.
Some clarification: I know of the existence of some rare full-time teaching positions at some mathematics departments, but they are usually either non-permanent, or relegated to teaching courses for prospective high school teachers or basic courses that need to be taught to really many students (also from other scientific subjects). Nothing against these positions, but it is not the kind of positions that I am asking about here.
Now the question:

Is anybody aware of any university that has permanent, teaching-only (or mostly-teaching) positions in pure maths (including advanced courses)?

In other words: Is there any place where one can make a living out of teaching at a university? Or does one really need not be a full-time researcher who by contract is obliged to do some teaching as well?
Answers about universities all over the world are welcome, as I believe that different countries have very different traditions in this respect. But I am mostly interested in universities in Europe (including UK, about whose  criteria/system I don't know much about).


texts: Avoiding Working with a Potentially Arrogant Researcher

texts:
I am working on a hot topic of research in a subfield, and I am possibly going to cooperate with a senior research scientist who is interested in this topic specifically. However, during our discussion, he mentioned that all research that has been done up to this point are rubbish, which, to be honest, may be correct.  I am a bit confused about whether this could be a warning sign about collaborating with him.

The question is: Could this attitude be a warning sign to not collaborate with a potentially arrogant senior researcher?


texts: Should I disclose cheating incident if I am not asked?

texts:
I have been convicted for academic misconduct in my college some years back.

Now suppose I am applying for a program that does NOT ask about any academic misconduct. Would it be in my best interest to just tell them anyways? I know that telling the program would hurt me, but on the other hand, I feel that leaving this out would feel sort of like a "sin of omission"-type situation.

Any thoughts are appreciated.


texts: Editor indicated that if minor changes are made, paper could be published: what are the chances of publication?

texts:
I am trying to publish a paper. This was the result of a summer's work in my spare time while working 40 hour weeks in a non-math related job. I received an email response from the journal that neither said the paper was rejected or accepted: I have been asked to revise and resubmit. I was given feedback by a reviewer to make some minor changes and the editor used VERY positive language and remarked that if the changes are made then it could be published in the latest issue.

However, at first I took this as great news, since this is my first real work. But, thinking about it more I started to worry that I had gotten my hopes up too soon.

Do I still stand a good chance of it being published?

Edit: Thanks for the answers.


texts: What does "area of physics or chemistry" mean in a graduate application?

texts:
On the application form (for Max Planck institute), there is a section which says "Please write a short summary of the area of physics or chemistry you find most interesting".

I am not sure what do they exactly mean by "area of physics or chemistry". Should I write a summary of the general field of my interests i.e. condensed matter physics or about the research topic on which on want to work i.e. phase transitions?


texts: How should you deal with a teacher who is difficult to understand?

texts: Related but not a dupe. One of my Japanese teachers often explains things in a difficult to understand way, or because she uses a lot of Japanese quite quickly, sometimes with constructions we haven't quite covered. I often don't understand the tasks that are set. Usually I can ask, but there's a point where I feel like I'm annoying my classmates, and there are a few lessons where I've walked out and everyone was confused. It's just this teacher, the other four communicate very well in general. I'm not going to say anything yet, but the question is: what should I do if this is a persistent issue? What is the most polite and appropriate way to approach her out of hours and tell her that I am struggling to understand her.


texts: What should I do if my advisor urges me to do a project that I have no interest or faith in?

texts:
About a year ago when I was a first-year graduate student, my advisor wanted me to follow up on a project left behind by an honors student. I agreed because, at that time, I thought the topic was important and the findings were rather interesting. However, over the past year, I was busy with other projects and my qualifying exam, so this project was put on hold for almost a year. This summer, my advisor urges me to get it done as soon as possible.

I'd be more than happy to, had I not realized the original project is not methodologically sound. My RAs who re-coded the original data share the same feeling: The experimenter made various mistakes and was overly flexible, yet all data points entered into final analyses. I don't want to spend months chasing after effects that don't exist. Moreover, due to the complex study design, I can foresee what a nightmare it can be to build computational models in the future.

I suggested radical changes that make the experiment more rigorous and subsequent modeling efforts more tractable, but my advisor refused my proposal several times, arguing that making any changes will only delay the starting time. I feel stuck: On the one hand, I don't want to pursue this project as it is since it's most definitely going to fail; on the other, I don't have the courage (or "moral capitals") to defy my advisor because I have put off this project for so long. To make matters worse, I only have one advisor, so if our relationship deteriorates, I have no one else to turn to.

Any advice on what I should do is much appreciated!


texts: How to handle plagiarism on method that does not affect outcome results when reviewing a paper?

texts:
I was reviewing a paper related to my field (computational fluid dynamics) a while ago and, while reading a part of the methodology section where the numerical scheme and the equations were explained, I had a weird sense of déjà-vu. Regretfully, I found out that the author had plagiarized about three to four paragraph from a paper published two years ago. What was even crazier is that the author had plagiarized me, since the paragraph he had copied were from a paper I actually had previously published, thus explaining the feeling of déjà-vu.

I obviously noted that in my review and in my message to the editor, but I did not reject the paper directly. I acted this way since it was in the methodology section and related to mathematical formulas and really did not affect the outcome of the result. Was I in the wrong? Should such small plagiarism warrant instant rejection or is it sufficient to point them out and let the editor deal with that?


texts: To what extent is Linux prevalent in University maths departments?

texts: To what extent is Linux prevelant in University maths departments? I understand that distributions such as Scientific Linux and Fedora are quite popular, but I don't know whether this means 5% or 50% uptake. Is Linux the most common operating system in the world of maths academia, or is it still a minority player? If you were to estimate a percentage of maths academics who use Linux, what number would you suggest?


texts: To stay or leave PhD after having completed 4 years

texts:
I apologize if this is too long a post, but I could really do with a few
pointers about my current situation.

I am 25 years old and I will complete 4 years of my PhD in a computational applied mathematics  program in the US in August 2013.

My bachelors was in pure mathematics.  I had gotten interested in numerical analysis in that time and so I had applied to my current PhD program. I have been under my adviser for 3 years now (the first year at my university is spent in coursework).  A PhD at my university is usually 5 years long.

Right now, I have almost nothing to report in the way of research, and consequently no publications , no conference submissions. I am getting increasingly nervous and frustrated about whether or not I will make it, even if I give myself an extra year by funding myself.

My adviser has consistently been making me work on uninteresting stuff, where most of the work involved is purely technical like writing brain-dead code, with almost zero chance for innovation.

BREAKDOWN OF MY PHD

After monkeying around reading research papers, in the first year under my adviser,  he got very confident about getting an industrial project and got me working on that, in anticipation that the contract would go through. At the end of the year we found out that we did not get the project.

In the second year, he said he wanted to get into GPU parallel computing
and to implement a few fluid dynamics algorithms. I slogged over many manuals, spent months and months writing and debugging code, all the time thinking that
this would be used to do some simulations he was interested in and get them published. But at the end of the second year my professor completely lost interest in these numerical techniques he was making my implement.

Seeing his capricious attitude, I almost wanted to quit then and there itself. But I decided to just stick it out, thinking it might be 'just a phase'.  Due to funding issues, he once more got me working in the third year on another project which essentially involved writing a lot of stupid code, and running endless benchmark tests.

I have basically ended up trying to do a PhD in mathematics without any mathematics in this PhD.

Finally, a couple of weeks back, I told him that I had had enough, and to give me some actual
problems/material to work with. After about an hour of discussion, and informing him that I was ready to fund my self if required, he finally gave me a couple of possible starting points for what I hope would actually turn out to be worthwhile research.

MY QUESTIONS

I do realize it was extremely foolish waiting for so long before putting my foot down, and not having the courage to speak up before. My adviser is well-regarded by colleagues in his field, and maybe I was subconsciously scared of
contradicting his handling of my PhD for pissing him off.

But even though he has now suggested problems which do seem interesting, after having had so many negative experiences  I am very skeptical about the future. How should I proceed, and what are the factors I should consider ?

Frankly, I am feeling very burned out.  In the way of future plans, I have been toying with the idea of dropping out,  getting a break for a few months and then sitting for some entrance exams for a Masters in Economics in some good universities back in my home country. I always found economics very interesting through my undergrad and more so these past few-months while studying it has a hobby.
Continuing would require me to stay on for an extra year till August 2015,
which leaves me about 17 months tops from now, before I start hunting in academic job market. This includes about 2-3 months I will have to spend doing literature review on the proposed topics and learning the requisite mathematical tools.

So if I decide to stay on, how should I re-structure my study/research time and the relationship with my adviser in these 17 months so that I can make some head-way.

Maybe 17 months is too short a time? Any suggestions would be really helpful !!


texts: Is it OK to re-submit my own work to the same class that I am retaking?

texts: I'm retaking a class because I flunked the final which was worth most of our grades. The papers I'm resubmitting will be slightly edited, but mostly the same as I got good grades on them. Would this be considered plagiarism?


texts: Quick publication in a good journal VS long fight to publish in a very prestigious journal. What's more impactful at the beginning of a career?

texts:
I'm the first author of an article which, according to my advisor, has some chance of being published in the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. This however would probably entail a long peer review process and possibly waiting for months just to get rejected. A different option would be to send the article to a weaker, but still good journal and probably publish it there quickly.
Normally I'd go first for the harder option and only then try the easier one. I am however still doing my MSc and this would only be my second article, where in the first one I'm the fourth author. Therefore having a publication in a good journal would be a big improvement to my current CV and it would boost my chances of receiving a profitable scholarship next year, i.e. it could mean high short-term benefits. On the other hand, a publication in the prestigious journal could make my CV stronger in the long run and serve as a large benefit in future stages of my career that I may not be fully aware of just now.
Now, I know that put this way my question is too subjective. Let me therefore rephrase it: what is more impactful on one's scientific career, especially at the beginning (even before starting a PhD): having more publications in decent journals, or one or two but in really reputable ones?


texts: Undergrad research supervisors want me to write conference paper I have no interest in

texts:
I have been doing undergrad research advised by a comp sci professor and a civil-engineering professor. I am a comp sci major.

To perform this research, we needed to do a tricky modification to a dataset provided by the civil-eng prof. This modification was not the point of the research, but because we needed it, I have spent the last month or so dedicated to this. To be sure- I was not interested in this modification or its application outside of our original research goal. I did this work as a means to an end, so we could finally work on the part I was interested in.

Now that this algo is written and working however, my advisors (even the comp sci one) really want me to apply this in a different way than originally planned and write a conference paper on the results of that. This application is not related to comp sci, so they essentially want me to write a civil engineering paper on my own.

When they asked me to do this, it sounded like a quick thing to do, so I said sure. Not only is it not quick, however, it's so boring. I can't focus on this work, and the thought of writing about this sounds like torture.

What should I do about this? I would like to just refocus, but I'm not sure if this is a normal thing within research ("by-the-way" papers).


texts: What should we look for in our first postdoc position?

texts:
What are the opportunities that we should aim for while searching for a postdoc position for a researcher with and without a family in theoretical particle physics? I want to know also the qualities that one should look for in a host organisation while applying for a fellowship.
For example, the host's research interest, the Institute's work policy towards short-term researchers and international activity of the research group. What are the intricacies that should not be compromised with and what can be compromised with?