texts: Student continues to email me after I told him I would not regrade his paper. Do I need to reply?

texts: I have a student who wrote a final paper for a class in a masters program. He was disappointed with his grade. His paper had extensive copying, so I had a zoom call with him explaining why that was a problem, and then both my teaching assistant and I gave extensive written feedback on his paper, final grade of 69. He has written several times about it, claming that we took points off unfairly. I re-explained why points were taken off, and where, He writes back "but I thought the grading rubric meant..." or "I explained this, here is what I meant", etc. After five go arounds, I said I had nothing further to say, so I would no longer reply, and he would need to raise this with the department if he would like further review. Today, he sent me an extensive email again re-hashing points that I have clarified and explained again. I should add that he has a history of grade grubbing. Since I told him in 2 emails that the mattter was closed, and I would no longer reply, do I need to reply? Thank you.


texts: Mathematical Equations in Research Papers and Plagiarism

texts:
Good Day - I am writing a review paper of some techniques, which involve mathematical models. The authors utilize some equations to represent their model comprised of different components. Since I need to explain their methodology, its not possible to do it without referring to their equations. So I have to add their equations in the review. I will properly cite every author's work, which makes sense as I am explaining their work.
What could be the issues I might face when it comes to plagiarism in this case?


texts: Should undergraduate students be included on papers containing data they collected?

texts: Assume one or more undergraduate students are given a topic by an academic supervsior to use for their undergraduate honors thesis. The task is designed, programmed and set-up by the supervisor, who shows the students how to use the equipment and to conduct rudimentary data analysis/summaries. The students then collect the data and report them in a written, submitted thesis. Later, the academic supervisor analyses the data (from the summaries obtained), writes a manuscript in conjunction with his/her colleagues, and wishes to submit for publication. My question is: should the undergraduates who collected the data, and who did not contribute to the writing of the manuscript at all, be listed as authors? It seems that this decision is often left to personal preference. Thanks.


texts: How to respond to reviewers that ask you to "look again at your results" without providing further details?

texts:
Recently my research paper got major revision in which one of the reviewer ask me to look again at the results I have derived without pointing to any specific item of results. I have double checked my results and all results found to be correct and now I am confused that what actually reviewer is trying to say as he/she did not specifically mentioned nature of error in my results.

So how should I respond? (The second reviewer is satisfied with my results)


texts: How to know whether a journal is indexed by Thomson Reuters or Scopus?

texts: I am preparing to submit my first article to a specific journal. How can I know if a journal is indexed in Thomson Reuters or Scopus?


texts: Submitting a manuscript dependent on another one also submitted

texts:
I have a manuscript A, ready for submission, that describes a method for characterizing topographic features (computer sciences). I also have another manuscript B, ready for submission, that uses the method from the manuscript A where I extract the features I want  and do some statistical analyses to explain the topographic variations (geosciences). A and B cannot be merged, and I consider to publish them in different journals since they treat different topics.

Should I submit A and B at the same time, but mention in B that I use a method from A? If yes, what should put as in-text citation?


texts: My adviser keeps changing his mind about my papers. What should I do?

texts:
How do you overcome advisers constantly moving the football / changing their minds?

I write papers after recommendations from my advisers and every time I end up redoing the entire analysis or asking an entirely different question. I feel like Charlie Brown and Lucy keeps moving the football. Here are three examples:

I spent the entire third year of my PhD working on a paper with my committee chair using a specific type of model he specializes in to answer my research question. After completing the paper and submitting it to my department for review, my adviser comes back and says to scrap it. I pushed back a bit and asked what should be changed, but nothing could change his mind. He wanted a two-page outlining the new research question and modeling strategy. So I scrapped it and now the paper sits in a folder in my Dropbox.
I spent my summer working on another paper with my committee chair as part of my dissertation. I finalize my results and draft a paper for my proposal defense. My committee approves my proposal, but in a meeting afterwards my chair suggests I redo the research question and thus incorporate a new modeling strategy. The paper has gone through several revisions, is complete, and ready to be sent out for peer review. However, here I am again reworking the analysis with a completely different modeling strategy and question.
And finally, another paper I have been working on has had results for over a year, but is now undergoing a major revision to rework the modeling strategy, again. I am now on the 4th major revision of this paper having redone the entire analysis each time. I was literally writing up the results/discussion section of the paper when I received an email suggesting we rework the model.

On top of these three examples, I have two working papers that need minor revisions and are at a point where they could be sent out for peer review. I have published several papers as lead author and constantly review papers for other academic journals in my field, so while my experience is limited I know my research can be published.

I feel like my advisers keep moving the football and I can't get my dissertation completed. I was on track to graduate in the spring, but none of the papers for my dissertation are complete and it appears I will need another year. But my experience thus far has lead me to believe Lucy will continue to move the football, so I'm considering dropping out and finishing ABD.

How can I deal with this constant momentum shift of my papers with advisers?


texts: How to find out whether potential advisor will retire soon?

texts: I am interested in a PhD program and would like to work with a particular advisor. He is 69 years old now, and I am wondering whether he will retire soon, but I am not sure whether this is not a bit rude to ask. What can I expect, generally speaking? Shall I email him and ask him directly?


texts: Supervisor announced he's going to present my work without asking permission, how can I get credited without damaging my career?

texts:
Short:
My master thesis supervisor want to present my findings at a conference. He did not ask me for permission, just informed me he will do so, how should I react?

Long:
My supervisor early on said there might be an opening for continued work and maybe a phd if everything went smoothly. Half way through he revealed that this opportunity was no longer a option with the reason given being money, not my work. Around the same time I found a sidetrack and with his blessing followed that instead of the topic he originally proposed, which ended up with some interesting findings indeed. He has given general advice once every two weeks on this side-track but the findings of interest were made by me alone.

Now my master thesis is officially done and he e-mailed me that he want a meeting to talk about my report (that decides my grade), and (among other things) writes that he will present the findings from my work at a conference a few months away. This was written as a fact, and part of a longer paragraph.

I don't know how to react. If this is normal behavior in academia I don't want to seem unprofessional (or ruin my grade and chances to use him as a reference) by questioning this, but on other hand I want to get credited for my work.

2-year edit: Got a notification that this question got a thousand views so decided to write a few words as a follow up.

My initial worried reaction to getting information about the grading and the conference in the same email was just stress and lack of experience getting the best of me. Nothing bad, such as not getting credit for my work, followed from this and I am actually a bit embarrassed that I was worried it might at the time.


texts: What to do when a professor hasn't uploaded course content for an online class?

texts:
I'm a student in an online class at university, and we're now a few weeks into the course. So far, only two lectures have been uploaded—there should be six or seven. On the course discussion board, many students have expressed concern that we're behind and have asked when we can expect course content to be published. The professor has indicated multiple times (the first time was two weeks ago) that he's working on getting caught up and will post lectures soon. If I heard that once and things changed, I might believe it, but the professor still hasn't posted anything beyond those two previously mentioned lectures.

What's the appropriate way to handle this situation, and how can I ensure my success in this class?


texts: Having collaboration with other professors

texts: I graduated with math degree. Now I want to conduct research which is a kind of combination of two subjects X and Y. I found another professor (by googling) in different country who is working on Y. My question is that: How can I ask the professor to have a joint work? May you please give me a proper text for my request?


texts: How should I respond to being addressed as "Dr. [MyName]" when I don't have a PhD?

texts:
I am a researcher without a PhD.  Because most people in my field do have PhDs, I sometimes get emails addressed to "Dr. [MyName]."

How should I address this, if at all?  I don't want to complain because they are being polite, but also I don't want to lie by omission about my credentials.


texts: Math tutor is evading or giving wrong answers

texts:
I am a student in a german technical college. We have several tutors for our various math subjects. One of those tutors is not a student but an employee of the college. He offers an open hour where students can ask question about all the math subjects. I will refer to him/her as X.

During the preparation for my exams I asked X 2-3 questions and later after I understood most of the subjects material was present when he answered other's students questions. This is when I noticed that X sometimes evaded clear answers or just gave plain wrong answers. This became especially obvious after I had understood the subject myself. Here are some examples:

Question 1: What is meaning of the probability density function?  What does it describe? I know it's the derivative of the cumulative distribution function and I understand the cumulative function but what can I do with the density function?

X: It's just the derivative. That's all you need to know.

Student: But, I mean what can I do with it? Why am I learning it?

X: It's really just the derivative, it has no other important meaning. You don't need to know more.

Student: Well....OK.

Question 2: I still don't understand how to read a correlation out of a scatter-plot. For example this one? How do I know if the variables are correlated?

X: You can't really learn this, it's just a matter of practice. You have to do it for years.

There were other question where X simply gave a blatantly wrong answer (I can't remember specific examples). For me it is clear that X simply does not know the answers and instead of admitting it and offering to look it up X simply gives a harsh answer to intimidate the students. The tutorial is mostly visited by students who are struggling to understand the basic stuff. The other good students did not bother coming to the tutorial so they never saw X do that. I came for some advanced questions and this was when I noticed the wrong answers. I assume that X does help students with other areas of math where X knows more.

I think X's behavior is unacceptable because X is hindering the education of the students and even confusing them. Because most of the question had simple answers.

I have two questions now:

How do I tell this to the responsible professor? I guess it won't be easy for him because he would have to investigate this matter and in the worst case it could lead to firing X and he probably does not want to go though all the trouble.
When do I tell the professor? I am interested in this subject myself and volunteered to be a tutor next semester. I probably won't work with X because X gives a general tutorial for different areas of math. Coming up with this matter during my "interview" would probably be a bad idea. I think it's probably better to first become tutor and "gather more intelligence" until telling the professor. I will probably be also more credible then.

Would love to hear your ideas about this matter.


texts: Should you correct grammar mistakes during peer review?

texts:
In almost any paper there is an abundance of classical errors, such as omitting the "s" at the end of a third person singular verb. I am growing tired of painstakingly listing the page and line for each error. Is it acceptable to just write: "Please, have a native speaker fix your grammar?"

Usually the reviewer guidelines ignore the subject of grammar.


texts: What background is necessary to do research in computational linguistics?

texts:
I'm getting ready to enter graduate school, and I would like to do PhD-level research in computational linguistics and natural language processing. I know that these two fields are very interdisciplinary and draw on various subfields of linguistics, computer science, math, and statistics. I also know that research in comp ling and NLP is done in different departments at different schools, with some schools having it in the CS department, and some in the linguistics department.

Ideally, what background knowledge should someone have in order to do research in computational linguistics or natural language processing? Which areas of linguistics, computer science, math, and statistics are necessary or helpful in studying comp ling and NLP, and is there one field among those four which is overall more necessary than the others?

(Note: per this question from Linguistics.SE, the distinction between comp ling and NLP is pretty blurry, which is why I mention both in my question.)


texts: My research supervisors want to patent an idea I made and I get a minority part of the invention

texts:
I entirely came up with a novel idea. I did all of the research indepently. Both my supervisors want to patent the idea now. It seems that I'm getting a smaller stake in the patent according to the filing papers (they didn't talk to me about this). I own 25%, they own 37.5% each.

I can't help to feel like I'm being swindled. The university is paying for patent costs. But, I came up with the idea entirely on my own. Also, this isn't related to my main research project. I just worked on it on the side - so they didn't have much contributions towards the overall idea [actually one of them had literally ZERO contribution to the original idea and just happened to be my supervisor at the time].

Should I say something or is this common?


texts:
I'm currently a Master's student in physics and I will begin my PhD apps in the next few months. I should graduate from my Masters in Spring 2022. I'm looking to do theoretical work. I'm applying to places in Europe - specifically UK, Germany and France, and the US. I'm leaning towards a European PhD because of the length of the PhD in the US and because I don't particularly see myself living in the US in the long term. Within Europe I'd prefer a PhD/job after that in the UK because I think my girlfriend may also be getting a relatively stable job there.
My question is the following.

I understand that there is a disadvantage to apply to the US for postdocs and such, with a UK/European PhD. How bad is this?

How likely is it that I can get some non-Academia job in the UK after my PhD (if I pursue it there, or elsewhere in Europe)?

I guess what I'm worried about is getting a European PhD and neither being able to get jobs in academia nor in industry (either of which, preferably in the UK). My first preference (at this point) would be to do a post doc somewhere in Europe but I'm reading a lot about the job market in academia and I'm realizing that a stable, permanent job in academia might be a lot harder than I used to think, so I'm just weighing my options here. By industry jobs I also mean jobs outside of physics- such as those in finance and data science and what not.


texts: Should I share my external grant with my supervisor? He reasons that he supported me earlier

texts:
I secured a grant from my university for traveling to a conference. But it was not enough and so my supervisor supported me. There are 5 other students who got the university grant and he supported them as well. I had also applied for ACM grant and I secured it but I receive it only after I visit the conference.

Now my supervisor has ordered me to give the complete ACM grant to him because he supported me. I am not sure if it is ethical. I wish to use this money for another conference which I plan to attend. I am OK with giving the money to him or school, but since I got the grant it should be spent on my endeavors and not be used by anybody else. Am I wrong to think like this?

Edit : My application to ACM grant was independent. I wrote the application myself without support from anyone. In fact, the paper which I wrote was also written by me, with some changes from another supervisor. The idea was completely mine, as well - with no inputs from anybody else.

Edit : In the light of this event and other instances of being bulleyed into doing things which are unacceptable to me I have decided to quit working with my supervisor. Does this make any difference? If at all I have to return, I wish to return the money to university and not to this supervisor.


texts: Can I tell the authors I was a referee for the same paper for another journal?

texts:
I have reviewed a paper for a journal, which I rejected. I wrote a 3 page report with major and minor comments. A week later, I received an invitation to review the same paper in another journal. The authors have nicely decided to ignore all of my comments, including correcting typos!
Is it OK to state in my new report that I was a referee for another journal, without revealing my identity of course. My report is going to be very similar to the previous one, but I was thinking of making a point about taking my comments more seriously (at least the obvious ones!). I am not planning to reject the paper straightaway, as I think the journal is now more appropriate and the paper has a good, if modest, contribution.


texts: Question about arXiv replacement restriction and contacting moderators

texts:
Background: I submitted an article (denoted by A) on arXiv half a year ago and have replaced it several times later. Due to frequent replacements, one of my further replacements is removed, and I'm restricted to replace the article at most once per calendar month.
Question 1: Several days ago I submitted another one (denoted by B) onto arXiv and succeeded. Now I have some new ideas added to B and want to replace it. I wonder if the restriction is only on article A, or both article A and B? In other words, can I update B within this calendar month?
Question 2: I sent several e-mails to arXiv moderation (help@arxiv.org), but all of them are rejected, saying "Your message was missing suitable identifying information" etc. Nevertheless, I've included all relevant informations following the instruction, also "Dear arXiv," is added in preface. Can someone show me how can I modify my message to deliver my email? Are arXiv moderators really that hard to contact with?
Any suggestions is appreciated.

I retried sending emails to arXiv moderation but all my attemptions failed. Therefore I update the article B directly, as a result, the replacement succeeded. Thus, question 1 is solved.
Still I have no idea about the second question, since all of my 2 mailboxes (academic/private) failed to deliver the email.


texts: Why is there so much need for hybrid journals which have the option to publish it for free or publish it with a fee

texts:
This is in reference to my previous question Do the papers go through the same process when submitted through open access

The answer suggested that the papers go through the same process in both cases,whether it is open access or not.

But I still have a simple logical question:

Why would I/University/professor pay for the paper to get published when it can be done without providing the fee?
Why will the University pay such a sum however small it may sound to them to get my paper published when it could be done without paying for it?
Why would I care to write to the Editor to give me a waiver to publish my article when I know that there is an option to publish it for free?
Maybe I will use the money for some other purpose.
Last but not the least even if I have done a great research or path breaking work(which happens in rare cases) why would I take so much pain so that others can read my work for free?
Are there really so many people in this world who care about my papers?
If someone is really interested to read some paper or access something he can get a University affiliation.
Our University has some subscription of best journals and our University pays for it yearly.

In other words why is there so much need for hybrid journals which have the option to publish it for free or publish it with a fee?

Any wise student would opt for publishing for free?

Really I am confused.Any help.


texts: Advice/guidance when interviewing for a faculty or postdoc job via Skype or phone?

texts:
Plenty of advice is available for standard interviews, should phone/Skype interviews be approached any differently?

(This was asked on twitter by @emilyandthelime, I have my own, partial answer that I'll post)


texts: Do Tier-1 grad schools have a GPA filter

texts:
Is it true that Tier-1 schools in the US use an automated GPA filter before an application is even reviewed. Especially for international students?
If so, how does one go about getting past it and having their application reviewed?


texts: How common is it for people who work in industry to be a reviewer for a journal? I know that most reviewers are academics, but it seems like some people may enjoy reviewing as a hobby if they are interested in a particular line of research and if it crosses with some of their work in industry.


texts: Are online bachelor's degrees offered on Coursera the exact same as offline degrees?

texts: The University of London is offering a bachelor's degree in computer science. It costs over 10k GBP and only opens application twice a year to high school graduates and beyond. Does it have the exact same value as attending the university physically? Can I find good jobs in the US, Canada, UK, etc. with it? This could be my only opportunity to get a bachelor's degree abroad without spending tons of money. (I'm Chinese.)


texts: Scientific Topic on Wikipedia originated from a Scientific Article with Low Citations

texts:
As fas as I see it, one way to known if certain scientific article is important or relevant, is to see how much cited it is .. For example, let's take Karl Schwarzschild

He's known better known for an article called:

  Uber das Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der Einstein'schen
  Theorie

He published this article in 1916 and from this paper, concepts like Schwarzschild Black Hole, Schwarzschild Metric, Schwarzschild Radius, Schwarzschild Coordinates were originated

So, all of these topics are in wikipedia and one should expect this article to be highly cited, and it is, according to google scholar it has 1331 citations, so it is an important or relevant paper

Schwarzschild publised other topics, like this article:

  On the deviations from the law of reciprocity for bromide of silver gelatine

In this article originated the concept of Schwarzschild's Law, one might think that that scientific concept is not as important as a Schwarzschild Black Hole, so, if you see how much cited it is, according to google scholar, it only has 62 citations

From here, we can do a conjecture, the more cited a research paper it is, the more relevant or important the scientific work it is, and if a Scientific Work is important, it is going to be possible to find that topic on places like wikipedia.

My problem comes with certain topics that sometimes I find, for example this one: Fubini–Study Metric. Since it has its own article on Wikipedia, one should expect that the paper where Eduard Study introduce this concept to be highly cited, but when you see where it was originated:

  Kürzeste Wege im komplexen Gebiet

published in 1905, you only find that according to google scholar, it only has 14 citations ...
For a topic with a wikipedia article almost as big as the one of Schwarzschild Radius, this doesn't make any sense to me ... What's going on? Google Scholar is not giving me the corerct number of citations? Does it really has only those citations?, Does the concept was not originated on that article (Wikipedia says it was)?


texts: How to negotiate salary at a school with a two-stage negotiation process?

texts:
I have a tenure track job offer from school S. This school appears to have a two-stage strategy to negotiate a low salary with candidates. Early in the process, HR discusses the salary range, [MIN, MAX].  At a later stage, when the first candidate is chosen, in the first step HR will negotiate with candidate, to a mutually-agreed compensation; that's proposal A. After A is reached, HR will say, this is now my proposal; department still has to approve my proposal! Then comes the department head, which reduces the compensation further, to proposal B, likely to be the MIN value! The department head states that this is the final offer and cannot be negotiated.

I am in an excellent position to get several offers from other institutions. But results will appear in March or afterwards (some applications are now just being reviewed). On the other hand, if I accept the offer from S, it's not ethical to withdraw and join other schools later on.

The strategy of S sent me a negative signal about the school administration. However, I much like the faculty there and the school and the program are great fits. I am giving it a second thought whether I wish to join S. I now have to decide:

D1. Insist on proposal A (despite the fact that the department claimed that offer B is not negotiable)

D2. Reject the offer, do not live with a low salary, and pursue other applications for good (including an rearlier delayed offer)

D3. Accept the offer B, and don't argue over a few k USD a year.

Using this experience as an illustrative example, I would like to ask some general questions. The questions might be of interest to all applicants seeking faculty positions, when they negotiate salary:

Q1. Is two-stage negotiation a well-known business strategy to lower compensation package?

Q2. Is it ethical for HR to agree to a proposal, and later claim that it was countered by higher authority?

Q3. To what extent HRs have autonomy in negotiations?

Q4. Statistically, how often "final offers" are bluff/final? Your answer could depend on who says "this is our final offer and non-negotiable," HR or upper-level authority.

You may consider several cases for HR:

HR1. HR declares his autonomy level "before hand." For instance, he or she may say "Before starting, I would like to brief you on our procedure ... ", or "I am in full charge."

HR2. HR does not make any statement regarding his/her decision making independence. It may do so after a first agreement.

HR3. Employer sets bounds (MINs and MAXs). By definition, HR should be able to make independent decisions withing those bounds. Otherwise, the HR, the candidate, and the negotiation process, are being dismissed and disrespected by institution (and what's the point of negotiation with HR).


texts: How is employment experience considered in PhD funding decisions in the United Kingdom?

texts:
My question is about the extent to which one's employment experience can enhance or detract from a PhD application.

I received a BSc in Biochem in 2010, worked for 3 years in software sales and just now received an MSc in Synthetic Biology.

My BSc score was not great, but my MSc grade was the highest possible (distinction).

A professor has agreed to supervise me for a PhD in the area of synthetic biology - we are going to apply for funding together. I may not win funding when applying with that professor, so I am also applying for other funded PhDs. If I succeed in winning a funded PhD, it will start roughly one year from now.

In the meantime, I have been offered two jobs: junior software developer, and software salesperson. The developer job will provide useful knowledge and experience but has a very low salary. On the other hand, the sales job will offer almost no useful knowledge or experience (over what I already have) but pays a salary three times higher.

The sales role is attractive because I am in a fair amount of debt, having been studying full-time for the past 12 months. The developer job requires skills which are used in a PhD, so might support my application. However, I don't think that it will furnish me with any extra computing knowledge over that which I could learn myself during the PhD.

To what extent do funding bodies and academic departments look at one's employment experience when considering a PhD application?

This is all set in the UK.


texts: Should I contact an editor at the journal that rejected my paper, to ask for feedback?

texts:
Recently I got a rejection of my paper from a reputed journal. There were two reviewers who reviewed my paper.However reviewer1 accepted it while reviewer 2 rejected with some suggestions that can be well implemented. The strong reason for the rejection mentioned by the reviewer 2 was the some similarity with my earlier paper.

My Query
One of the associate editor of this journal is the well known author working in my field and he has also received the mail notification regarding rejection of my paper. Perhaps he has reviewed this work as well. Shall I contact him to discuss about this rejection and ask for help to further improve our work as per his suggestions. I am fully confused and depressed with this rejection. As I was expecting this paper to be published in that journal.

I need help and suggestions. It would be of great help if someone could help me
in such case how to write mail. As English is not my first language I find it hard to write a convincing mail.


texts:
I had a research stay abroad in an Institute 2 years ago. A short while after leaving institute (about 1 month later) I submitted an article related to my work there to a journal. Recently my article has been accepted to publish.
As I had an email address belongs to hosting server of the institute where I was working there, I want to write that as my email address. Is it right to write email address and the name of institute as the contact address for my article whiles I have left there? In addition,


texts: Order of authors when publishing bachelor's thesis (CompSci)

texts:
Forgive me if this is a duplicate; i found a few somewhat similar questions, but none which matches my situation exactly.
I wrote a bachelor's thesis in computer science. After I was done, we (myself, my supervisor, my professor) tried to get it published. We have succeeded now after some unsuccessful attempts and a few days ago, my supervisor asked me whether I would be okay with him being the first author on the paper, which would help him towards completing his PhD.

Would I be correct in refusing this? I just don't see how I can NOT be the first author when it is my own thesis. Note that naturally, we did not publish the exact thesis; we significantly shortened it. It is a review paper and the bulk of the review work is still my work; he added main parts of the conclusion and some things throughout the paper
If I am correct in refusing this, how can I communicate this? Is there any document which might help me in formulating an answer? So far, I have only found a document by the APA which says "A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored article that is based primarily on the student’s dissertation or thesis." [1] Does anyone know of a similar document for computer science / the natural sciences? AFAIK, my university doesn't have an explicit rule; it only says that the authorship of a thesis is solely with the student since anything else (e.g. having the advisor as co-author) would be against the notion of a thesis being a demonstration of the student's capabilities.

TLDR:

publish modified bachelor's thesis
get accepted
Supervisor: Can I be first author?
Want to say no but not sure if I'm right / how to communicate

[1] https://www.apa.org/science/leadership/students/authorship-paper.pdf
Edit
The subfield is rather applied.


texts: Research Director not responding to email - should I call him?

texts:
I'm posting this question because normally he is a very punctual person, often responding within a matter of hours if our time zones match up. However, I sent an email last week and a follow-up one on Sunday, and he has yet to read it (according to my email-tracking software).

I don't think his university has started break yet, so should I wait a little bit and leave a message?

Edit: Question should not be considered a duplicate because I am inquiring as to whether I should call him now that email seems to be "exhausted" so to speak, but I'm not sure if calling is appropriate.


texts: Justifying the small size of a dataset due to collection difficulties

texts:
I'm working in an empirical field and have recently had a paper about a data collection effort and subsequent analysis thereof which was provisionally accepted, conditional on revisions. The negative remark most difficult to address is that the dataset I acquired was considered relatively small; How can I justify the small size of the dataset in a sound manner due to practical difficulties in acquiring data?

It is not possible for me to collect any more data in terms of money, manpower or even time... which all add up to more or less to "research capital". I have seen other datasets used which are not much bigger, but there are also corpora which are bigger by a significant margin. Likewise, some datasets are quite similar while others are completely unrelated to mine. Finally, while some corpora are freely available, for the majority of the papers in my field, it is quite rare for publications to explicitly state how one can acquire the data for their own purposes, and so the actual ability to even aquire data second-hand seems to be spotty.

Basically, I would need to reformulate the paragraph above into some form which I can put into the paper which needs revision; What can I do?


texts: How can I avoid overuse of words like "however" and "therefore" in academic writing?

texts:
I am in the field of computer science (more specifically robotics), and as I am writing, I must actively avoid using the words "however", "therefore", etc... every few sentences. This is especially an issue in proofs, as I feel like every other sentence follows from the previous.
For example, I am tempted to write something like the following:

This constraint is satisfied because... However, if blah blah..., then blah blah. Therefore, something something. However,.... (and I can go on forever).

Often, I can just delete some of the "however" or replace "therefore" with words like "consequently". I can also sometimes change the wording to use "then", "so", or "but". However (see I can't even help myself), I feel compelled to use words like "however" to help with flow.
How can I avoid using words like "however" so many times? Is this bad writing? Is this normal?


texts: A disagreement with coauthor/boss about funding

texts:
Some time ago, I wrote a paper with a coathor, who is the head of the lab I am currently working at and, essentially, my boss. We sent the paper to one of the best journals in our field, got overall positive reviews, revised the paper, and recently the paper was accepted for publication.
My lab got a substantial funding this year and my coauthor wants to include the funding information into our paper. However, there is a complication. The acceptance date of the paper is earlier than the date when we recieved the funding. As a result, the paper will not be accepted by the funder (we asked the funder about that). My coauthor decided that we should do something to change the acceptance date. We asked the journal about it, and the journal replied that the acceptance date, basically, cannot be altered. The only way to alter the acceptance date is to withdraw the paper on the basis that we have found some crucial mistake in our findings, then resubmit a revised version of the paper and undergo a new round of peer-review, which, I am afraid, might take a long time (it usually takes at least a year for this journal to make a decision). My coauthor insists that we should try to do that and he even asked me to try to find some flaws in our paper or something that can be improved in such a way that the need for improvement can be justified.
Frankly, I feel dishonest, weird and even somewhat dirty for being involved in this situation. I want to publish the paper as it is, without including the new funding information and altering the acceptance date. Moreover, I find the whole matter somewhat unethical.
I told my coauthor about my concerns and my opinion that it is reasonable to not include the new funding source. But he wouldn't listen. What's worse, is that I am the corresponding author and I have to negotiate all the matters with the journal.
I'm not really asking for advice. I just want to know your opinion about the situation.
Edit: I would like to thank everybody for the comments. Your feedback was very helpful to me. I managed to persuade my coauthor to change his mind and do the right thing.


texts: Should I be 100% truthful while writing my Personal Statement for Graduate application?

texts:
Let us think about this question in my online application.

Personal Statement:
Please describe your specific area of academic interest, and explain what motivated you to choose this area.

In my case 100% true answer would be the following,

I am interested in Image Processing.
When I was searching for a supervisor, I met one of the most prominent research professors of the XYZ University Prof. xyz who works in the area of Image Processing, Computer Vision, Graphics and so on. I was interested in Computer Graphics and proposed his a topic. He told me that topic was not fit for MSc thesis to be completed in 4 months. That would actually take more time may be up to a year. Since, I didn't have any other topic in my mind, I requested him to propose a topic for me. He then proposed a topic related to Image Processing. I found that topic very interesting and saw a huge opportunity to learn about the area of Image Processing from the inside.

Is that a good answer?


texts: University website says "when such conduct [unauthorized collaboration] is common, it becomes acceptable" - does this mean plagiarism is allowed?

texts:
I have been accused of plagiarism from my prof, since I have an answer from a Facebook page based on our course, and a lot of students got their answers from there. The Facebook page has previous labs and assignments from graduate students or senior students who have already done the course, thus there were around 14 students with the same mistake including me. But I went through my university web site and it states for the TEACHING ASSISTANT (TA) that:

  Academic Dishonesty in Laboratory Environments

  Academic dishonesty is a serious problem in undergraduate labs. This
  is partly because the culture of lab courses sometimes fosters
  plagiarism. Lab exercises may remain unchanged for years, making it
  relatively easy to obtain lab reports from previous students. Since
  students generally work in pairs, the distinction between acceptable
  and unacceptable collaboration can become blurred. And sometimes lab
  work is simply not taken as seriously as other scholarly work. The
  main forms of academic dishonesty in laboratory classes are:

  Plagiarism in laboratory assignments and reports

  Among some students there is an academic culture that accepts a
  certain degree of academic dishonesty in labs. Students buy and sell
  lab reports from the previous year and some try to "help" junior students
  by "handing down" lab material. When such conduct is common, it
  becomes acceptable, and many students may not realize the element of
  dishonesty involved. In addition, in most cases the entire class is
  writing up the same report, so there is bound to be an enormous
  exchange of information.

I think the paragraph above says that at this point this academic dishonesty becomes acceptable. Does that sort my issue at any point?


texts:
I suspect that I have found a mistake in a scientific article (within the field of mathematics). Before bothering my colleagues with questions regarding the legitimacy of the content, I would like to know if anyone has corrected the (potential) error before me.

So the question is: Is there anywhere online, where I can find an erratum or similar for articles? Do I have to use specific keywords when searching for such content in databases? Or is it simply not possible to find easily?


texts: Should I mention undergraduate research history when writing a resarch statement for a faculty position?

texts:
I am a PhD student applying to academic faculty positions in mid-sized institutions in the United States. I am writing research statements for ecological/environmental positions with a major focus on my current (graduate) research and my plans for extending my research in the future. However, I had almost 5 years of research experience prior to coming to grad school (4 of the 5 were while I was an undergraduate).

My question is, should I mention or incorporate in any way the research I was involved with as prior to graduate school? I am especially curious about work done as an undergraduate.

Also, does the quality of work matter? for example, I researched and published an undergraduate thesis but also worked as research assistant on a number of projects.


texts: Does the academic community perceive letters and short articles differently from longer articles?

texts:
There are some journals that accept short articles of 2 to 4 pages.

I have submitted (and had accepted) such a letter (Cannot specifically name the letter) which is 2 pages in length but it is a SCI-E journal.

How would such an article be viewed by the academic community? Is there a big difference between the two?

Similarly, how does academics view journals that only publish such short articles?

Thanks.


texts: Global crises and what on earth are we doing about it?

texts:
We are in a very crucial point of time in the history of humanity- climate emergency. We are in a crisis situation. I am currently doing PhD in (not in any way applicable to solve any material problem in the next 100 years type of )mathematics. So this question will hopefully resonate those academicians out there who works on similar subjects. I love mathematics. But lately I am ashamed that we put so much effort on a very career oriented path for ourselves, while the rest of the world suffers. We have the skills to learn technical things, and if given some effort collectively, we could do something about the impending climate disasters. And this is not just about the climate crises, many applicable mathematics projects are used by the military-police-state, it all goes to making some surveillance techniques, maybe even the bombs that the US military industrial complex throws at innocent civilians in the name of preventing terrorism and maintaining the US global hegemony.
Many of the well performing research institutes are located in the US-Europe-Global North sphere. The most dangerous affects of climate changes will be on the global south.
I don't want to start an argument, I am not pointing fingers at mathematicians or academicians. I just want to know what you all think about this situation? Does it cross your mind everyday like it does mine? How can I do research peacefully knowing fully well that I am being paid more money (and have additional medical, housing benefits) than most people who actually contribute to society?
I am sorry if this is too much off-topic. If it decides to get closed, please do tell where else to ask this question.


texts: When should conferences precirculate papers?

texts: I have been to a few conferences that worked based on precirculated papers. That is, everyone submits their papers in advance and the assumption is that conference goers who come to a given talk have read the paper in advance. In principle this seems ideal, we can use that face-to-face time to discuss work instead of just listening to people read their papers (this people reading their paper at a conference thing happens all the time in the humanities). In what circumstances should conferences precirculate papers? Is it something that is best for small conferences, or are there good examples of large conferences that work this way too?


texts: What do you wish you knew as a student before you became a researcher?

texts:
There are a number of lessons I learnt as an undergraduate which I wish somebody had told me much earlier.

Although each of you learnt different lessons with different notions of which way is the right, please share your findings and wisdom so that an eager reader would contemplate over your advice and would not regret avoiding later in life.


texts: Should recommendation letters be from the home university of a student?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Does a recommendation have to be from a professor from your university?

I am applying to an applied math graduate program in the US. I frequently interact with professors from other institutions. Some are from math departments and others are from other departments. Could they write letters of recommendation for me?


texts: How to differentiate which conference to publish to?

texts:
There are many conferences, let's take example cryptography.
I assume it makes a difference if you publish at a good conference
as compared to a bad conference. The question is then: how do I find
good conferences? How do I guess from web site if it is a good conference.
For example in cryptography Asiacrypt is one of the best. Let's say level A.
Let's say I want to publish in a lower rank conference say level B, but not level C.

How do I find conferences from level B?


texts: Is a corrigendum necessary if a published result is discovered to duplicate an earlier one?

texts:
(cross-posted from math.stackexchange.com)

I found after publication of an article that a chunk of it was duplicated in a previous article written by someone else, and I'd like to know if I should take some action, like write a corrigendum just to add the other paper as another citation.  Perhaps some journals have a formal process to deal with this?

In my field, pure mathematics, it sometimes happens that people publish the exact same theorem, but the methods are distinct enough that the reviewer of the later paper views it as publishable because of its methods.  In my case, only one of four theorems in my paper duplicates earlier work, but the methods I use, while looking slightly different, would certainly be considered essentially the same as the earlier paper.

I suppose the best answer might simply be, "contact your journal and ask".  On the other hand, I have seen many times a result claimed as "independently" discovered in multiple papers, and I don't recall seeing a corrigendum or something in those cases.  Perhaps a notation on the research page of my website is sufficient?

As a follow-up, in mathematical publishing/culture, where is the line drawn between saying a result was "independently" discovered by multiple people and crediting all of them, as opposed to give priority to the one who was first?  Crediting all authors who gave substantially different proofs makes sense to me.  But what if two proofs use essentially the same idea?

(This question differs from

How to cite earlier work, discovered only at the end, that claims similar results to a recently completed project?

in that the both results, original and duplicate, have already published.)


texts: How can I conduct research when my college has no such facility?

texts: In developing countries like Nepal, people don't usually carry research activities during undergrad studies, but I want to get into it from undergrad itself. I am currently studying research articles, consulting professors and will be contacting governement research organisation to ask for support for devices required.


texts: Citing original publication date vs publication of the specific copy I'm reading

texts: I'm writing a paper for a political theory class, and need to cite a couple of classic works. Namely, Marx's "Capital." In Chicago style, should my footnoted citation say "Marx 1867" or have the year the translation I'm quoting was published, 1981. I've cited the exact edition in my bibliography, with the year 1981.


texts: Tasteful way to indicate large funding in job application

texts:
I am a PhD student in one of the social sciences going on the market. A large organization funded part of my dissertation research, as part of a research partnership. I wrote a report for them with some of the data in return. The total funding was a couple hundred thousand dollars, which is a lot in my field.

I was hoping to list the funder and the amount in my CV and cover letter to demonstrate my record of linking my research with funding.

The organization however insists that specific funding figures are confidential and I cannot use the precise number of the total funding.

Without the ability to put the specific number, what is a tasteful way to indicate in my job application that I received this large amount of research support?


texts: Suitable avenues (repositories) for self-publishing own figures (illustrations) under CC-BY-NC-ND prior to journal's final acceptance

texts:
My colleague and I are planning to submit a manuscript to an academic journal.

As per the journal's policy, the publisher retains the copyright for all content. However, the journal is happy to accept an author's prior self-published content if it was published non-commercially under one of the CC licenses.

Prior to acceptance/final publication by the journal, with the goal of retain the author's individual copyright over them (i.e. not squander copyright to the journal's publisher), my colleague would like to self-publish some figures (used in the manuscript) as standalone images under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

What are the suitable avenues/repositories for self-publishing of these figures?


texts: How applicable are software engineering internships to computer science research and graduate school?

texts:
This fall I will begin my undergraduate degree in computer science at a top-5 program (to whom it offends, I'm sorry to use rankings). My goal after I graduate is to get a PhD so I can research and teach computer science.

I understand it may seem fairly early to start thinking about the summer of 2016, but career fairs and application deadlines will arrive soon, and I'd like to prepare for internships and research opportunities as best as possible. Since my primary goal is to stay in academia (or non-industry research, if that's a thing), would an industry internship help me reach my goals? Is it worth the time to acquire a little bit of industry experience? To be a bit more clear, I have a massive list of opportunities I'd like to apply for next summer. Of the approximately 25 items on the list, 15 of them are software engineering internships. For example:

Google
Amazon
Facebook
Microsoft
NASA
Intel

Then, there are certain programs that I think I like slightly more, because it seems they are very research-oriented despite still being "industry":

Wolfram
Nvidia

The programs I am most interested in are purely research-oriented, and most are undergraduate positions at various laboratories across the country. Most of these are funded by the United States Department of Energy.

In Summary

I understand that research experience is very important to PhD admissions in the field of computer science. I'd love to gain as much research experience as I can, as long as I'm interested in it. Is it frowned upon to have little to no experience in industry, when applying to PhD programs? Also, before I get ahead of myself, I understand that it is quite difficult to get an internship position at any of these companies or laboratories.

Don't get me wrong, I love actually writing code and working on applied software projects. I just don't love writing code for a salary.


texts: What does one call a group of similar courses where only one can be taken for credit?

texts:
Is there a word to describe the case when a student can only receive credit for one of a group of courses because they are versions of a single course?

For example, "Accelerated Elementary Statistics" and "Elementary Statistics" - these have different course numbers but I would only want a student to be able to take one of these courses for credit.

Context: I'm designing course scheduling software and want to be able to describe/refer to this situation concisely to inform students and communicate with administrators who are designing course catalogues and requirements.


texts: What does it mean when a faculty member invites the candidate to apply for a tenure-track position?

texts:
I'm a postdoc in mathematics in the US.

My question is exactly in the title. Sometimes you get an email from someone that you know, usually with a link to their job ad, asking you to apply and saying that you'd be a good fit, or something along those lines.

Faculty members, how often do you do this, and how does this change the likelihood of someone getting a job (or even, getting an interview)?


texts: Can a bad last semester prevent me from getting into grad school?

texts:
I submitted my graduate application form  for a university in January, even saying I would graduate 'with honours'. I'm not sure how I was suppose to know what I would graduate with, but what I wrote down before almost feels like a complete lie at this point.
Now I am in my final semester of my undergraduate degree and it is burning me hard. My program pretty much cornered me into the 2nd most sadistic set of courses I have taken. I have an average of 3-4 (3-5 page) assignments due every week, and the content itself is the type of stuff you need to allow yourself to digest (if I had the time). My grades are all over the place, anywhere from 30%-80%. The TAs marking them are cruel, with an all or nothing marking scheme.
I realize this may be a post to vent some frustration I feel, but I am genuinely worried about my future at this point. These are the very courses of subjects I wish to go into, and an outside observer might look at my marks and feel my work ethic and intelligence was simply inadequate. My other semesters have been ~80% and I don't exactly have any research experience to back my case.


texts: Feeling regret for sending my code to my classmate

texts:
As an international student, I found hard to integrate well with other classmates. I only have two relatively close friends in my class. When my classmate asked me to send my code to him, I did not reject him as I was afraid of losing this friend. Now, I feel extremely regret as I am facing an accusation of plagiarism. I will never allow others to access my work. I actually have evidence that all works are done by me.

However, I worked extremely hard on my assignment and amended it four times before submission. I do not think that I deserve mark reduction. Are there any things that I can do to change the professor's mind instead of mark reduction? I hope I can do any other things to compensate for my fault instead of mark reduction.


texts: Is it a bad thing if my Personal History Statement reveals my intention to immigrate?

texts:
I am an international student applying for Computer Science PhD in US. Some universities I plan to apply to require Personal History Statement in addition to Statement of Purpose. I believe that I described my research interests, talents and motivation in my SOP quite well. I happen to be pretty "diverse" person as well, so I wrote about it in my PHS. The only drawback is that my PHS reveals some details of my background that may serve as a "red flag" of my lack of intention to come back to my home country after I graduate. I know this is not a good thing for visa approval, but I wonder what kind of attitude the university departments have to such students.

I received a lot of criticism for this approach. People say that I must not appear to be desperate and should avoid saying anything that is not directly relevant to my interest in Computer Science, but I believe that my history is an important part of my identity (and a chance for alternative funding sources), and I'm out of ideas of what else I can write about Computer Science that is not already mentioned by my SOP, Resume and recommenders.

So what would you suggest? Should I omit any details of my history that may raise suspision of my immigration intention?


texts: Are old (>35) faculty candidates discriminated against all over the world?

texts:
I think that in India research institutes will never take a faculty candidate who is over 35. Is it so all over the world?

I am asking this question from the point of view of if someone starts their PhD. at the age of 27 then its unlikely they will be faculty candidates till they are 40.


texts: To break mental health condition to potential new advisor?

texts:
I will be meeting with a professor tomorrow who I previously asked to supervise me. I believe he has the right knowledge to assess the standing of my work in the interdisciplinary field I work in and help me moving forward.
He said yes and gave me some suggestions which I partly followed, but the last time we spoke was in May.
I am currently struggling with issues related to mental health (see this question here) and have been in the past months, although it took a while to realize the depth and take action. They are not diagnosed but they probably include a mixture of: low self-esteem, impostor syndrome, anxiety, and acts of self-sabotage. These are linked and the names I feel are not strictly important. I am currently seeing a psychoanalyst (to address the root causes) and the well being/mentoring program of the university (to get practical suggestions and coping strategies). Fighting on.
I seek two things from the professor:

Relevant advice and (within reason) some mentoring whenever my
cross-field preparation is weak.

An external commitment device that provides motivation for work and
help me overcome some of my issues.

I think I have 1. covered, but I am looking for suggestions on how to discuss 2, especially whether I should break the information about my mental health issues with him.
I see two possible ways to go:

I can simply set the pace by saying "I would like to meet every week to discuss my progress" and not mention my (alleged) conditions. This will be enough to set a weekly deadline for myself and would surely be helpful.

I could mention my issues to some extent. One of the reasons I didn't
ask him to meet before is an ongoing self-sabotage/perfectionism
which makes me unwilling to show my work until it has reached a
satisfactory level. I now realize that, essentially, this
satisfactory level is short of publication-grade material and
clearly impossible without expert feedback. I am afraid of course
that this could: sound like an excuse for my absence and lack of
advancement; mark me as a "bad apple"; monopolize the conversation
away from content; be plain awkward; as I write this answer I am also concerned about him having to disclose this information later on.

This is ill-timed, as the meeting is tomorrow (but I wanted to break the cycle of postponing this and I could always go with 1. right above and postpone breaking the mental health "coming out" to a more appropriate time), but any suggestions from you would be a great help.
EDIT
I ended up doing something midway between telling and not. I have hinted at the fact that I was somewhat stressed out and partially disclosed a concrete example (checking a computation for over three days out of a fear it might be wrong). He said he understands this kind of difficulties as well as my need to have someone to talk the fine details over. I believe he caught the implications and was overall very kind and sympathetic. Unfortunately, he will be entering a half-year sabbatical soon and might not guarantee his presence until the start of the next academic years, but said he would like to read what I am working on and pointed me to others who might be of help.


texts: What is the difference between part-time and full-time study in postgraduate courses?

texts:
I am interested in several courses and I need to do a job also to support myself financially. I would like to ask;

What is the difference between Part-Time and Full-Time study in Postgraduate courses?

and which suits me well with a private job in Scotland or Netherlands?


texts: What is the US style to list the advisor's name of a master's thesis?

texts: In listing my master's thesis in CV I came across this problem: Should I put the name of my advisor in front of my name or should I put only my name (I have my advisor's name printed in my thesis) according to the US style?


texts: Is it ethically defensible to attain consent on an opt-out basis in a newspaper?

texts:
I frequently find notices in my local newspaper from researchers who are in the process of doing follow-up research on some study that they conducted a few years back. There, they provide an overview on the research topic at hand and give the participants a chance to opt-out of the follow-up piece. Otherwise, they are included by fetching data from their medical records.

To me, this practise seems questionable. If I were to guess, only a minority of the people involved in the previous study are likely to come across the notice.

Is this ethically sound? If not; what are the alternatives?


texts: I'm thinking of delaying my graduate school application, but how to tell my recommenders

texts:
So I've spent the past two months working on my graduate school application essays, and I've recently started to study for the GRE, which I'll be taking on November 6th. In recent weeks I've been feeling as though my application is not a very strong one, especially when it comes to my resume. Because of this I've been thinking of delaying my application for a year so that I can boost my resume through another job or a study abroad type experience. Doing this would also give me ample time to study for the GRE. So instead of applying for the 2018-2019 cycle, I'm looking at 2019 to submit my application. Those are the bare details of it, but my problem is how I should let my recommenders know. I feel that it's wrong to ask them to wait a year, but then again they might appreciate having more time to write (I'm applying to two programs with deadlines in December and January). This isn't something that I've decided to do for sure; it's just something that I'm considering. I'd just rather let my recommenders know in the best way possible and without losing them somehow should I decide to do it.

I appreciate any advice.


texts: Does the second round of reviewing process typically take a longer time than first round?

texts:
I would like to firstly state that I do understand the essence of the reviewing process in scientific publications.

I have submitted my article to a material-science relating journal. The first round of revision was very fast; it took less than 10 days. One of two referees suggested a minor revision while the other asked for a moderate amount of questions.

Currently, it takes 3 weeks after two reviewers agreed to make the second round of reviewing.

Thus, is it common that the second (and later) reviewing process require more time as long as the first one?

P.S. Editor privately informed that they are same referees.


texts: How and where to get you research work assessed for PhD?

texts: I completed a masters in Chemical Engineering long ago. I have since done some research which I think suffices to achieve a PhD. Can it be done (and how)?


texts: Should I review a Paper of NonSci journal

texts:
I am researcher in computer science in India. Very recently I got an email stating that my work is great and they want me to review research papers.
I check about the journal. It is not SCI indexed journal (and it is a paid journal). Now I am not sure should I review a paper from such kind of journal. Will it be bad for my reputation?


texts: Can I trust web of science citation reports?

texts: In viewing authors profile to try to assess their impact I notice that H-index is quite different in Google Scholar and Web of Science (citation report). In Web of Science there is also a search for Author which is marked as "Beta". Which of this reports should I pay more attention to?


texts:
Let's start with background: I'm European, don't know much about undergrad educational systems, and especially grading, outside my own area. So, I receive a CV from an Indian undergrad with the following section:

Now, I have no idea whether the scores displayed here are dismal, average, good or excellent. Wikipedia doesn't know what CGPA is, except in Nepal (and the student in case was not educated in Nepal), so I turn to you, Academia Stack Exchange, to help me solve this riddle!


texts: what are my options if the degree i want is not available on my country?

texts:
Hello this is the first time i post something here:

I live in Argentina and I'm 18. Currently, I'm giving my evaluation exams to enter UTN university (It's one of the best universities in Argentina, it's public).

I wanted to study software engineering but that is a rare degree in Argentina, however i found a private university (Not as good as the public ones) but i don't have any reference of it. So i don't know if it is going to be worthy studying 5 or more years there at all.

The actual problem is that in UTN i'm studying systems engineering, is the closest degree i know it's going to be worthy but i don't want a systems engineering job in the future. (Although i know people who has a Systems E degree and works as a software E instead).

So i don't know what to do. I wouldn't mind move to another country, the problem is i really have no idea of what to do then, i can't move to another country but not knowing for sure if i was accepted by the university or not!
Also i don't know another's country's universities.

I only speak Spanish and English, but does anybody have an idea of a country exchange or something that asures me i that i have been accepted in university, so then i can move to that country to study?.


texts: Incompatibility between job and field of study

texts:
Finding jobs for Ph.D graduate in mathematics is the main concern. Available options are namely in general industry and academia. I see, for instance, some Ph.D in math (algebraic geometry)  working in Bank sector! This incompatibility
between field of study and job might back to the rank of math department of graduated person.
There maybe exists some other reasons. But I want to know about the upper bound of ranks of departments might be considered as top ranks? Additionally, which university ranking is most reliable in industry sector and in academia?


texts: Is it ethical to withdraw a paper if it’s still with editor beyond the journal time policy?

texts:
I submitted a paper to a reputable and high IF journal, which is declaring an expedited review and publication process.
Papers are usually published in about 30 days (45 at most, but it is pretty unfrequent).
My paper has been ‘with editor’ for two weeks, meaning that it has not been sent to the reviewers yet. With this timeframe I’m doubting that the process is going to be expedited as declared on the journal website.
If the paper is still with editor in the next one/two weeks, would it be ethical to withdraw it?
It’s not really important that other journals can be slower, the matter is that my paper is being late compared to the journal standards.
I do not believe the editor is considering a bench-rejection as the paper of this project have always been published smoothly and often appraised by the referees. And the paper is clearly not out of scope.


texts: I got a provisional acceptance and submitted my clerical revisions almost two months ago. Email the editor?

texts:
I got a revise and resubmit after a 4-month review in a decent Psychology journal, submitted a revision and, after another 4-month review, got a provisional acceptance with minor and clerical comments to be addressed, and was asked to submit my response within two weeks. I did response within two weeks, which is almost two months ago at this point.

Questions:

Should I email the editor through the submission website?
If so, what would be an appropriate way to frame the email? I had in mind something like:

  Dear ____,

  I am emailing to check on the status of my provisionally accepted manuscript (ID=xxx). Please let me know if there is any further information you need and thank you for your continued attention.

  Best, ____


texts: Advisor wants copy of code to give to other student

texts:
My advisor has multiple electrical engineering masters research students under him. One of them came to me asking for help, saying the advisor asked her (let's call her Jen) to write some code to test out one of his ideas and generate graphs for a paper. Jen is horrible at writing code (her words), so thinking this was a rush job and not related to Jen's research (her words again), I ended up writing all the code. I spent way more time on it than I originally expected to, but it's done, the advisor is happy, and the paper is submitted with everyone's names on it. FYI, this research is completely unrelated to mine.

Turns out, according to the advisor, this is Jen's research topic. The advisor has now asked that I send the code to both of them so they can make some modifications and continue the research. I estimate the modifications to be 10% of the work that I've already contributed. While this isn't Jen's entire thesis, I feel I have completed a massive part of it for her and don't want to just give it all away, just to have to go and then do my entire thesis as well.

Is it normal for code to just be shared (likely without citation) internal to a university? Should I just send the code? Should I question the request? Should I flat out refuse to share it and make Jen develop the code on her own (given there isn't an immediate paper deadline pending)? I don't want to offend my advisor, but I don't know the standard procedure for academia and want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of here.


texts: Does labor law apply to graduate students?

texts:
As a former student employee, I was fairly ignorant of labor laws in general. But now as I am applying to graduate programs, given the increased demands and duties of graduate students: teaching, research, etc. I wonder if US labor laws still apply to student labor in general.

Given anecdotal stories of overstressed graduate students working well beyond a ‘planned’ 40 work week on a stipend that when calculated on a per hour basis may equate to less than minimum wage; and the types of work that students do: laboratory research, fieldwork, custodial, food service, etc. Surely there are protections in place to prevent abuse and overworking students of all types.


texts: Will mentioning that I'm considering a PhD to start a company hurt my chances?

texts: I would like to do a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences. I love doing research but I'm not sure that I want to become a professor and stay in academia. I would, however, like to commercialize the research I would do and start a company. I think that a PhD would provide crucial research experience, networking opportunities with smart and talented people and a platform to develop a good product. Although many universities encourage entrepreneurship these days, I'm unsure whether they expect this from graduate students as well. I was wondering whether writing this in my Statement of Purpose would hurt my chances to get into a good PhD program.


texts: Personal web page vs Academia.edu vs ResearchGate

texts:
I will soon finish my PhD and start searching for a post-doc position and I was wondering which web-based solution is the best suited to present myself and my work (I work in plant biology).

I see two main options: social network type, such as Academia.edu or ResearchGate or a personal page (using  for instance Wordpress).

My concern is that social networking solution does not offer a lot of flexibility (attaching documents, presenting my current research more in depth), but I do not want to seem too pretentious by having my own webpage while I am just a PhD student.

My question is then:

  Isn't it too soon to have a personal web page at this stage of my career (I am still a PhD student) to present my work or is the pre-made solution more adequate?


texts: extraneous background for grant applications

texts:
In many grant applications (the NSF GRFP is the one I have in mind), it seems I need to write about my background and broader impacts of the proposed research.

I am an undergraduate studying math, and I plan to study math in graduate school, but I also have degrees in other areas that I don't plan to pursue further.

I am worried about having such a diverse background with no plans to use it. For example, I don't want to give the appearance that I am unfocused or that I am not serious about studying math. On the other hand, I feel dishonest writing proposals in a way that suggests I do plan to use this background when I do not.

Is this something I should worry about and if so, how can I structure my writing to avoid/allay these concerns?


texts: Postdoc application asks for both cover letter and research statement, can they overlap?

texts:
Most postdocs I have applied for wanted a cover letter (including research interests) and a CV.

I have now come across one that wants both a cover letter and a one page research statement.

The cover letter should be a very short document just stating my interest in the position and what is included, while the research statement should go over what research I have done an my interest in the project, right?


texts: Where to take your research ideas when you don't have a PhD/Master's

texts:
This is a matter of concern that a friend of mine has been dealing with for quite many many years. They have done much research on the topic using a lot of different online resources and have emailed numerous different universities all around the globe but still have not found an answer. Therefore, I wish to discuss this here to know if anyone has any ideas or experience related to this.

A friend of mine has been an autodidact in many different topics and has been researching on many topics on his own. Due to financial problems, has never been able to afford studying in a good university and a major of interest,  is now finishing the last year of Bachelor's of Economics. They have few research ideas that are not related to their studies, and  have been working on this idea for at least 8 years, and know quite A LOT about the topic, however,  have not got an academic degree or any paper to show that they have the knowledge. A few years ago they discussed one of their ideas with a big company working in their field of interest and gave them a lot of information about the idea and how to realize it, and the company said they had no interest, but unfortunately after a year the company had stole the idea and had already realized it under their own name.

They have been emailing many different universities for many years and contacting anybody they can think of, but no one shows any interest. Universities they have talked to just ask for a PhD or at least a Master's degree in a field related to the project. Is there anyway for someone who has research ideas to carry them out without having that academic "paper"? After the stealing scenario they is also extremely afraid to talk about their research ideas in detail with anyone.


texts: Advice on grading assignments and exams during Covid Pandemic

texts:
I am TAing for an undergraduate course: "Data Structure and Algorithms". The course is attended by around 200 students consisting of second to fourth-year students of multiple disciplines.
Midway through the semester, our country got hit by a covid wave. Around 20% of the students are there who themselves are sick or their family members are sick. These students are requesting relaxation in course policies like decreasing the number of assignments, decreasing the passing criteria of the course, avoid surprise quizzes, etc. The students who are close to their graduation are more afraid of failing and loosing their jobs.
However, a small fraction of students are not realizing the plight of other students and they are against any such relaxations. These students are mostly those who are performing well in the course. They want to attempt all the assignments and exams and want grades for them. They are not realizing the plight of the students who are unable to perform well under these tough times.
According to me, a few relaxations might be beneficial for all the students and that can be implemented. For example: not conducting surprise quizzes in the class, etc. However, the relaxations like decreasing the number of assignments or decreasing the passing criteria of the course is not a good approach since the students will pass the exam without sufficient knowledge and learning. It would further affect badly their future job prospects. Moreover, it would be unjust for the students who worked hard and secured good grades to survive in this competitive world.
I know that this is a debatable and subjective question, and there is no perfect answer to this. However, I will like to know the inputs and advice from you guys since somebody might have faced a similar situation in recent times. What action should be taken under these conditions that will benefit the most number of students, taking into account the plight of the students who are suffering due to covid?


texts: What are the 'objective circumstances' that one young researcher should take into account when choosing a research topic?

texts:
Premise: I originally asked this on MathOverflow, but it was pointed out to me that it could be better fit for Academia Stack Exchange.

Note: I have received extremely varied advice on the following matter by various students slightly older than me, so I post the question here in the hope to get an objective 'technical take' from experienced researchers.

Assuming that there are several topics which are equally attractive to me and that the prospective advisors are all established researchers in their fields and "nice people", are there any objective circumstances that I should take into consideration when searching for a topic for an undergraduate research project
(clearly, this question naturally generalize to the choice of Ph.D. dissertation topics and general research advice, about which, if you please, you are free to elaborate) to maximize my chances of making an "optimal choice" (e.g., in terms of mathematical results achieved, possibility of getting a good recommendation afterwards, personal growth, etc.)? Clearly, referring to research papers in mathematical education that partially support your remarks will be highly appreciated (although it is not necessary).

Side note: Just to clarify a little further: I've only said that the mathematical aspects and the advisors are equal to me, and what I'm asking is what else I should take into account when choosing a research area.


texts: How detailed are you supposed to be w.r.t. your research interests in a SoP?

texts:
I'm applying to PhD programs in CS this round and was finishing up my application materials when I had a question regarding the SoP.
Many people have advised me to state why I want to pursue study at that particular institution and what I want to study. My main research interests in my own subfield tend to be rather specific (discovering latent bias variables in natural language processing tasks) but I'm also open to exploring other options as well.
I have also heard stories where a competitive applicant is not offered admission because how they explain their plans of research are "too specific" and there aren't any faculty members that would be willing to work on that particular aspect.
This led me to wonder how specific I should actually be writing my SoP, or if I should include something like "My main interests are in X but I am also open to exploring other topics in the larger field."
Any opinions are welcome, thanks.


texts: I would like to apply for a postdoc position or an academic position like  an assistant professor. Before I had three persons who could write letters of recommendation for me in case I needed to apply for a job. Unfortunately I had a conflict with one of these persons who wrote a letter for me and he/she has decided to not to write a recommendation letter for me anymore. I am left with only two people who can write letters for me. Since most of job applications require at least three reference letters, I do not know where to find the third person to write the letter for me. Any suggestion? If I submit my application with only two letters, will it be rejected as incomplete? Is it a bad sign if I send only two letters in those cases where are requested at least three or more?


texts: How to cite USGS website refereing Landsat accuracy?

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I want to cite the official Geometric accuracy of the Landsat imagery, published by USGS on their website http://landsat.usgs.gov/geometry.php. The citation is suggested for a scientific journal.

I am using Mendeley, which ask me to fill in:

Title: Geometric Accuracy of Geometry???
Authors: USGS??? or United States Geological Survey??
Publication: Landsat Missions??
Year: 2016 - I think this is obvious
Pages: ??? What??? pages on website?

Date Accessed: - should I use the american or UK type of date? my paper is written in american english.


texts: What are the downsides of publishing your statement of purpose on the Internet after you've already been admitted to a PhD program?

texts: After getting into some top schools, I linked my statement of purpose on my personal website so it could serve as a resource for others.  Are there any reasons this might be a bad idea?


texts: Difference between public and private university education

texts: Is there any noticeable difference between public and private university in US in terms of the education provided. Or, the only thing that matters is the way that universities are funded. For example private universities have huge amount of private donors where as public universities gets consistent funding from the federal government. Should the notion of public vs private is something that a student be concerned about.


texts: Can an applicant with undergrad degree from a school that is poorly regarded be seriously considered for admission to PhD at a top business school?

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Background:

I did not go to college after high school straight away.  When I was finally ready (at 26), I enrolled at the infamous University of Phoenix and got to it.  This was during the time when their accreditation was in question and it was uncovered that their recruiting practices on military bases was in contravention of stated guidelines.  Thankfully, I picked my programs well and wound up with some terrific teachers who absolutely made me understand that I am not the name of the institution who conferred my undergraduate diploma.  I got excellent grades while working full-time, participated in extra curricular activities, and made some connections that have already paid dividends.

I decided that I wanted to capitalize on the momentum and parlayed into an MBA (from an AACSB accredited school this time) program and have not regretted a moment of it.

Today (this evening), I write while packing for my first academic conference, the Southern Management Association's Annual Meeting at St. Pete Beach (look me up if you'll be there!).  I'm pretty darn sure I'll be getting a PhD in a discipline related to Management or Public Policy in the near future; however, I am overflowing with ideas about many subjects that people seem to find interesting about and am super excited to put pen to paper regardless of the specific topic.

With all that, I would be straight-up lying to you fine folks if I said that I didn't want to get a PhD from Harvard, Columbia, or London Business School (my dream school); however, I would prefer for someone below to say "yes, don't bother sending them the fee" if that is how they truly feel.

I have some very strong letters of recommendation, one from a burgeoning leader in his research field, and another who would be able to attest to my ability to wrangle large data sets with sophisticated statistical and data analysis tools, among others.

So my questions are:
(Assuming that I have GPA/GRE in excess of minimum requirements for all targets - generally the case)

Does my University of Phoenix undergrad degree make my application an instant rejection at elite Tier 1 Research Universities, ceteris paribus?
If so, should I really even care?
2.a. I don't think anything will dampen my enthusiasm or creativity; however, I would like an enriching of an environment as possible, and I assume that the institutions featured in the Worldwide - UTD Top 100 Research Rankings are more substance than flash, if you get my meaning.


texts: Citing own results which were obtained under former name

texts:
I'm giving a talk about results I obtained in my MSc thesis, some time after which I changed my last name. The result will be published under my former name. How should I state it during the talk? I want it both to be clear that this is my result, and that if someone wants to look it up they should do so under the former name.
Since I've seen it's customary to state own results using only the initial:

  Theorem (Y., 2016)

I thought I should write it as:

  Theorem (Y. (under Formername), 2016)


texts: Can a professor influence the graduate admissions committee if he or she is interested in a particular student?

texts:
I've had a promising Skype interview with a great professor from a top-level university in US. Our research interests are closely related and he encouraged me to apply BUT he says that all decisions are finally made by admission committee there.

The question is "Is a professor in such a high-level university able to affect admission committee if he really wants a student?" or "Does admission committee decision-making process become easier if a professor really wants an applicant?"

The main point is the difference between my transcript (which is a real catastrophe!) and my research background which is pretty good so the professor's decision might be different from admission committee.


texts: What are the drawbacks of HTML5 presentation software?

texts: I use pdf files, generated with Beamer/LaTeX, and whatever pdf viewer is available on the computer I am presenting on. While I like the Beamer/LaTeX/PDF combination better than PowerPoint type applications I am not particularly happy with its ability to embed media (sounds and videos). Further, common PDF viewers (e.g., Acrobat, Evince, and Okular) do not provide any type of "presenter" view with a clock and notes on one screen and the slides on a projector. The presenter view in advanced viewers like impressive are pretty limited. I am thinking of switching to an HTML5 based system (possibly reveal.js), but wanted to know what the drawbacks of HTML5 based presentations are.


texts: Reviewer asked to move every mathematical proof to appendices for an engineering journal

texts:
I do research in an engineering subject and my journal reviewer has asked me to push every mathematical proof to the appendix to improve the readability. While I feel this is true, I also think that some of the proofs can be retained, as they are short and not so much mathematical. What is your opinion regarding this?

Right now, I have written this

  We thank you for your helpful comment. We have moved all the proofs
  and the lemmas, which even if removed do not directly affect the
  continuity of reading  and is long, to the appendices. Proofs which
  are not much mathematical in nature and are short are still kept.

Somehow I feel my language is a bit rude. Do you have a better way of putting it? Or should I just move every proof to the appendix? (The journal is almost accepted with only few minor revisions like this)


texts: Should I write my name with accents in my article?

texts:
My first name is pretty common, but in Spanish it is accentuated.

I've seen people keeping their names accented and people who don't. I wonder if there's a formal recommendation on this matter.


texts: How does it affect the treatment of a mathematician's results, if that mathematician was a Nazi?

texts:
I've been studying uses of quaternions to study various types of orbifolds. The important thing here though is that I came across an absolutely incredible result due to Vahlen in 1901, that apparently received no attention until Ahlfors revamped the idea in 1985 using more contemporary methods. The result is central to my current research. In case you're familiar with the concept, it is the construction now called Vahlen matrices.

The problem with Vahlen, as you may have guessed by the title, is that he was about as much of a Nazi as a person could be. He was in the SA, the SS, accused brilliant Jews of plagiarizing Aryans, helped the Third Reich expunge Jews from the scientific community, etc. He even supported the Nazi party before its infamous rise to popularity.

My questions are:

What is the likelihood that Vahlen's results were neglected due to this political misfortune?
What are some similar instances, particularly in mathematics?
What is the etiquette of discussing a great result by a person who lead a morally reprehensible life?

Regarding the third question, Ahlfors simply writes about his math, which I think is the right way to go for a journal article. But what about a lecture or more general discourse among the community? I would feel weird if I were to give a lecture where I'm praising a guy who may have contributed to the extermination of an audience member's family. I have kind of a dark sense of humor, so I'm likely to mention the Naziism and poke fun at it ... maybe use it as an example for why you have to check everyone's results regardless of their other results.
Personally I would find it funny to denote the Vahlen matrices by a swastika, but obviously this would be extremely inappropriate in a public setting where the intention (of making fun of Nazis) might be misunderstood.

A more specific issue I'm having is that there is a lot of conflict about the notation for Vahlen's discovery, as other notation was developed for 84 years without it. It is an obstacle because we literally have different definitions for identical symbols all over the place. My feeling as that the clearest notation would be to use a $\mathcal{V}$ for the Vahlen matrices (which I have not seen in any papers thus far) and move on, but I wonder if there is a tendency in the academic community to avoid even that. I don't want even an iota of a suspicion of being sympathetic to this man's priorities.

An important note here is that Vahlen's matrices are in the domain of pure math. That means their development had nothing to do with any sort of experimentation, and are quite disjoint from these other aspects of Vahlen's life.

Follow-up, Feb. 10, 2017: This question has been edited to make it more clear what is being asked and to better align it with the chosen answer, after facing some controversy about its appropriateness for this site. Some things that have since been altered are quoted in the chosen answer (and referred to extensively in comments and other answers) because they were evoking debates and conversations on the site rather than just answers to a question.

Follow-up, Sept. 24, 2017: Without naming any names, I wanted to add that some very established mathematicians I've been discussing my work with have unequivocally recommended omitting Vahlen's name from any constructions I use in my paper, specifically because of the political history. As in, don't call them "Vahlen matrices," call them "Ahlfors matrices," and things like that. Regardless of whether or not one agrees with that sentiment, to me it is concrete evidence of Vahlen's Naziism's effect on what credit he might receive for his mathematical work.


texts: Where does one draw the line to determine what is ethical to share and what isn't?

texts:
I am starting to design my personal website and I would like to devote part of the site to sharing knowledge in the fields of Mathematics and Computer Science.

My main concern is determining what is ethical to share and what isn't.

I don't plan on publishing solutions to homework exercises or questions from my previous exams, as this seems obvious to me.

What I would like to share is the content of the individual subjects such as:

Definitions
Theorems
Examples (Those of which I create myself)
References
My personal interpretation of the subject matter

My concern is in regards to sharing definitions and theorems is ensuring I am not plagiarizing works from textbooks and professor's lectures.

Since there is only but so many ways to rephrase a definition before it loses its meaning, how much should I change the representation of a definition (or Theorem) so I am not plagiarizing how it appears in particular text?

My final concern is in regard to reference other sources of knowledge. Throughout my college experience, I am constantly looking for multiple resources to supplement my learning. For example, YouTube video series X does a really good job with an introduction to Linear Algebra. Would it be ethical to reference or add links on my personal website to YouTube video series X?


texts: Is it okay to submit the revised manuscript well before the due date?

texts:
Recently I received comments from two reviewers on my submitted manuscript as major revision. Both the reviewers have given a few major comments along with some minor comments. The major comments are something like this:

It is essential to analyse.
Please add some more explanation on this.
Please discuss with xyz method and check the difference in the results.
Why didn't you do it?

The due date is 45 days.

I finished the first 3 major comments in a week. However, I have planned to work on comment number 4 as my future research. I had also mentioned it in the manuscript before submission. But still one reviewer commented as "Why didn't you do it?" So I have explained little more about it (why am I skipping it here) in the revised manuscript.

Now my question is, can I submit the revised manuscript now? Isn't it very early i.e. 38 days earlier than the due date?

If yes, will it give a bad impression that I have another 6 weeks, still I am skipping comment number 4?

Note: The reviewer has not told me work on comment number 4. I am also not interested in including it in this manuscript.


texts: What to do if I only want to study master not PHD with a professor

texts:
I decided to study math after graduating from business department. I entered a 2-year taught program in the same university in Asia and used the time to take all the necessary courses. In the first year, I have studied elementary real analysis, complex analysis, abstract algebra and topology. This is the first term of my second year, I took differential geometry, Fourier analysis, graduate real analysis and functional analysis. My grade is OK and currently I am applying for a research program. My final goal is to go to a top program in US to study my PHD. Since I know it is very competitive, this year I decided to apply a research master only and apply PHD after I gained two-year research experience.

There is a tenured professor in my university whose research interest is nonlinear PDE focusing on fluid dynamics. I am very interested on his research topic and I have made an appointment with him to explore the possibility to do research under his supervision.  However, after chatting with one of his student today, I was told the professor usually only accepting student who is willing to continue studying PHD with him. I understand the reason. Since it's a pure math subject, in the first two year, student can only take the basic course, read the basic materials. It's almost impossible for a student to produce any good results after the master. He is very famous in the area so he has a lot of students to select. He don't want to waste the money and time to train a student for others.

On the other hand, I don't think my university is good enough and it's my dream to work and study with the best students in a top program. Since I will meet the professor in a few days, I want to make some preparation so that I can convince his to support me. I will finish all the necessary graduate courses after this year, which means it may safe me some time so that I can focus on research instead of coursework in the research program. But I still think it's impossible for me to produce the same result as a PHD student in 2 years. But since I am really interested in the area, I still want to have a try and talk with him. Currently I am planning to tell him the truth about my plan. Is there anything I can do to improve the chance of being admitted?