texts:
I'm a mathematics student looking to invest in a good chalkboard for my room. I currently have a cheap Quartet but I find it is not very good compared to chalkboards at my school. It is not very smooth and doesn't erase cleanly. I have even purchased the porcelain Quartet and found it still is not very good.

At my school, I have seen a swivel Marsh industries board and it is really smooth, erases very cleanly. However, I do not know what brand is used on the walls of the classrooms.

Is there a specific brand of chalkboards used in colleges? What is your favorite brand?


texts: Is it wise for a BPAD (bi-polar affective disorder) recovered student to enrol for PhD?

texts:
I have a masters degree in electronics engineering. When I was pursuing my B.Tech (Electronics and Communication) I had a nervous breakdown (to be specific BPAD) which was treated. After successful treatment I was able to succeed satisfactorily in my career. I have had to follow strict medications from then and sleep of 8 hours was must and the doctor warned me not to be in tense situations. I qualified the entrance exam for M.Tech  with a 97 percentile and I have a severe love towards research now. I have started to fall in love with subjects like signal processing, linear algebra, statistics and probability, machine learning etc, but one professor from a premier institute of engineering and science warned me not to do a PhD, because competition is so heavy nowadays and people like me may have a second nervous breakdown.

I am currently working as an lecturer at a private engineering college. The management people are bothering me which is creating great tensions. I will give you an example: The vice principal was asking for an explanation letter and apology along with lot of scolding for a malpractice done by a student in an exam where I invigilated. They are also compelling us to do a lot of office works and not allowing us to focus teaching itself. What my argument is that since I can tolerate these humiliations and tensions, couldn't I join for a Phd programme and advance my career?

I have tried comparing myself with my teachers in engineering college and to my colleagues (who are certainly healthier than me). One instant I can explain: I had a teacher who when I asked a doubt on optical communication answered me that a teacher hadn't taught that....meaning they were not willing to take a look to the reference text. I am far better than my colleagues here. I regularly clear most doubts in the department.

As a human being who has the right to exist in this world and to support my poor family, and to do justice to myself, let me ask that couldn't I do a PhD in this present world?

Update: I submitted my Ph.D. thesis in January 2020. Of course, there were tough times. But I survived. I got a postdoc position too. :)


texts: Professor refusing to write recommendation letter to make student work longer

texts:
My friend is on his way to graduate with PharmD (outside US). He wants to apply for PhD program in US, and have asked his professors that he has worked with in the lab for recommendation letters. However, his professors refused to write him a recommendation letter unless he stays in the lab for 1 more year after graduation to work with the current on-going project (2 of them refused, another one has written him a recommendation letter).

The professor also belittled him when he asked for the recommendation letter, saying things along the line of

  Am I, or this university not good enough for you? You must be pompous
  for wanting to go to another university.

That particular professor has also shared the rumor in the department that he thinks he is too good to be part of this university. In the past, they have offered him PhD program with scholarship, but have later retracted the scholarship so he rejected the offer to stay with them. He needs the recommendation letter to apply for PhD program.

What can he do when professors refuse to write recommendation letter for him unless he works with them longer? He definitely do not want to stay in that toxic environment anymore.

EDIT (12/19): All professors have agreed to write the recommendation letter, as long as my friend writes the draft of the letter himself. He has decided to go with this proposal and wrote three recommendation letters for himself, and gave it to his professors.


texts:
She is sweet and helpful whenever I go to her office to ask questions about the problem sets or discuss my exam results. I have always felt like she is very picky when grading the worksheets or exams, at least in my case. For example, she would penalize a large portion of the points for a small mistake in a problem, and it really frustrated me. However, this morning, I talked to a classmate about a problem where we made similar mistakes. I lost four points out of five, and he lost half a point out of five. When I emailed to the professor about it, she told me that I am kind of “wronger” than him and that I could go and talk to her more, but that she was willing to give me one more point. I talked to her mainly because I thought it was unfair, not because I wanted that freaking point. In that problem, we had to draw a free energy diagram, and I made the energy curve between two conformations higher than both products A and B, but it should be smaller. But all the other parts of the graph are correct. For my friend, his conformation energy is higher than product B but lower than product A.

I am frustrated about it because I still think that it is unfair. I mean, if you assign a certain portion of grade to that part of the problem, only that should be taken off. For example, if you assign half a point for that portion of the graph, then only half a point should be taken off no matter how wrong that part is. However, in my case, 4 out of 5 possible points were taken off.


texts: Standard way to specify roles in authorship

texts:
This question is not really about who can be considered a coauthor of a given journal paper —or maybe it is, after all— but rather about how to specify the different roles, levels of implication or contributions of each of the coauthors, in case this would mean to be done.

My question is: Is there any standard about how to specify the different roles or contributions of the coauthors of a given journal paper? I do not mean the importance of coauthors that can maybe deduced from their order in the author list (see What does first authorship really mean?, Authorship allocation - is it common to grant equal credit to two last authors?, for instance), but a way to explicitly specify the implication of each of the coauthors, in a sort of standard way.

I remember someone saying this could be added at the end of each article, as a way to make the contribution of each coauthor clearer.

Actually, my question is highly related to this previous one: Revamping Paper Authorship, *or* Should Papers Roll Credits, which has only received one answer and is still open at the moment of writing.

I have found some interesting webpages and articles dealing with this subject:

Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
The ICMJE's definition of authorship is illogical and unethical (David Shaw)
Is it time for a new approach to authorship? (Leash E.)
A New Standard for Authorship (Paul J. Friedman)

So, maybe my question is actually about the state of the art of this subject: how to credit authorship in a standard way or standard authorship crediting.

Other related questions in this site:

What are the minimum contributions required for co-authorship
Is it ethical for advisors to automatically coauthor papers?
If you make a substantial contribution should you be given the opportunity to satisfy the other requirements for authorship?
Should undergraduate students be included on papers containing data they collected?
Indicating co-PI status on a paper
Can I claim authorship on work I wasn't personally involved in, that uses a framework I developed for my research?


texts: What can we do to increase student engagement?

texts:
My University has recently started recording lectures and posting them online. We have also, in the past few years, noticed a considerable drop in lecture attendance across the whole Physics and Astronomy department (even in courses that are not recorded).

I expect that the advent of recorded lectures is a significant contributor to this. However in the tutorial classes as well as lectures, it wasn't uncommon for attendance in the course I was TA for this semester to be below 50%. Myself and the lecturers are at a loss.

I am not necessarily against offering pittance marks for attendance, however I think that it is rather poor practice as it does little to encourage students to become genuinely interested in the material. Encouraging students to discuss science among themselves and become emotionally invested in the topic is the best way to get them out of bed and attending classes.

Does anyone have any "success stories" to share where they have significantly increased the level of student engagement in their course(s)?


texts: How to leave a PhD without angering my academic references?

texts:
I opted for a PhD at the same university where I did a two years master’s (I'm an international student). The master’s level was remarkable, but the PhD isn't that good. It feels like an extended version of the same master's. Since I’m not receiving the training I expected or being exposed to the challenging problems that could put me at the forefront of my field, I have certainty I must leave this PhD for the well-being of my career. I have talked to the students' counselor, voiced my concern about the prospect of my training to my direct supervisor, asked authorization to reshape my project (no professor has experience in the theoretical direction I want to take it) or to go abroad as visiting student in another institution (my funding is very strict in terms of leaving for extended periods) and reached the conclusion that the possibilities of improvement are slim. Nonetheless, I have tried to keep the tension low and not sound menacing ("either you let me do this or I'm out").

I’ve identified other PhDs (or even jobs) in which I could achieve goals more in line with my expectations. But there is a problem. All my relevant academic network was built during the masters and is therefore in the same department I’m planning to abandon. Although they've addressed my concerns in an attentive manner and encouraged me to continue, I'm sure they won’t be happy to let me go and some may even take my decision as an insult to the department and a PhD program the university is very proud of. But I heavily depend on them too. I’ll need their letters of recommendation to apply to graduate school elsewhere or get a job. Has anyone secured a letter of recommendation from a supervisor you parted midway your PhD? How to voice this type of decisions in a non-confrontational way? How to deflect the conflict and leave the PhD without shooting myself on the foot?

Full-disclaimer: I’m not angry, lonely, depressed, burned-out, in debt, amid a fight with faculty, etc. I’m just dissatisfied with the quality of my PhD, which, true be told, could be very good for other students; it’s just that I already got this training during my master’s!


texts: Preparing for the GRE Mathematics Subject Exam?

texts:
I'm a prospective graduate student in mathematics, I intend on applying this upcoming Fall so I only have two shots at this exam. My goal is to get into a top institution, so from what I have heard it is imperative that I do well on this exam. I'm aiming for a score of >75%.

I have done a ton of reading on how to prepare for this exam, and have found great information both on this website and others, however I'm still a bit in the dark as to how to go about preparing for it. So far I have so far gone over the bulk of the courses that appear on the exam. I feel strong in most subjects, but vector/multivariable calculus seems to be my weak point. With the test being only two months away, what would you guys recommend be the best study method? Taking numerous practice exams? Consulting textbooks? The textbooks I have been using so far are Stewart's Calculus - Early Transcendentals, Schaum's Outline in Linear Algebra, and Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis, and the Princeton Review Guide for the exam.

I'm very curious to what you all have to say, especially those who have already took the exam and have done well. Sorry if I rambled on a bit, thank you for your time!


texts: Should I contact potential recommendation letter writers if I only have vague plans about applying for a PhD?

texts:
I might, or might not, need letters of recommendation for a PhD application in the future. My plans are vague, I am just finishing my master's and planning to work for a while before deciding.

There are just a few people who could write a letter about me that doesn't just say "they did well in class". I would like to keep the option of asking them for one, even after being out of academia for a year or two (still doing research as part of my job).

I would also like to know how strongly they would be willing to recommend me. I worked with them on only one project. Even though they gave me very good feedback, I imagine they might not remember me well enough to write a good letter if I ask them after a long time. We work in somewhat related, but very different, sub-fields of computer science.

Should I contact them now, without having a clear plan in mind, and ask if they would be willing to recommend me in the future? Is it just a waste of their time if I don't yet have anything concrete to ask for, or any precise plans or institutions to mention?


texts: Acknowleding referee suggestions after rejection

texts:
I submitted a paper to a conference, it got rejected but I received valuable feedback. After implementing the suggested changes, I am submitting the manuscript to a different conference but I would like to thank the referees from the previous conference.

If I just write "We thank the reviewers for their invaluable suggestions" then it might be confusing for the referees of the current (second) conference.

What are you doing in such a situation?


texts: "Awaiting Editors Decision" what could it mean?

texts: I submitted my paper to a engineering journal. It underwent a major revision and then a minor revision. The minor revision was some grammatical stuff. Now it is in the "Awaiting Editors Decision" mode for the past one week. I am sort of tensed about it. What does this mode mean for a journal review process in general?


texts: Is it possible to use one thesis for two degrees?

texts:
I am currently a masters physics student and doing my master thesis abroad during an exchange. At the moment my master thesis will be graded by my home university, but I have the option to enroll on the exchange university, thus being a master student there (and my master thesis will be graded there, too). Furthermore I will get a master degree from this university, and not from my home one.

Now my question is: Is it theoretically possible to use this master thesis for graduating at my home university, too (getting me two master degrees)? If not, should I still enroll on the exchange university and only get my masters degree there (it would not result in a loss of time; I would finish as I would have finished my masters degree at my home university)? Why?


texts: My grade is 2.1 in my country but first class in the country I want to study in, how will I be treated?

texts:
I've got another year of undergrad studies left and am looking for good masters degrees, but am having trouble estimating where I stand in terms of candidacy, I'll work with the British system as an example of a foreign system, as it's more likely to be familiar to everyone:

I project I'll get my diploma with a 7.1 to 7.5 out of 10, depending on the last year's test results, which in my country is upper second class (according to the conversion tables I've found), but in most countries I've found interesting degrees in, it's first class honors (or something like that, I find the exact names hard to remember and beyond the point of these systems). There are a few more differences, some in favor (we have lower average grades which puts the same grade in a higher percentile) and some against me (we have a higher passing grade, 5 instead of 4, so they're grades would be theoretically dragged down if we assumed an even distribution in both countries), and my big advantage is a very strong CV in terms of experience and a very good internship, also it's a 5 year diploma that I'm finishing, with 300 ECTS, but not exactly an integrated masters.

TL;DR / The Question: So how do universities view foreign students' degrees? Do they look at the grade alone or do they take the conversion based on titles for granted? Also, does the percentile in which you finish count? If so I'm in luck since we have uncharacteristically poor grades here.

P.S, seeing the message on the "graduate-admissions" tag, field of study is Computer Engineering, location, as "diploma" may have suggested, southern Europe. Also, though I state my situation to illustrate my concerns, do notice that my question is indeed fairly (in my humble opinion) clear and generally applicable rather than personal and generic, just in case.


texts: As a Ph.D. advisor, how do you feel about taking on students with diagnosed depression or bipolar disorder?

texts: Assume a student with diagnosed depression or bipolar disorder has already been admitted to the university, and thus has a resume comparable to their peers.  How do you feel about taking them on?


texts: How to use feedback on written publications efficiently?

texts:
Whenever I submit an article, conference paper or other written document, I get tons of useful feedback from my supervisors and other PhD students. So far, I've made sure to adjust my submissions according to their good comments, and then just throw the feedback away. But I feel like I could use that feedback much more efficiently.

I would like to categorise/condense the feedback in some way that makes it easy to identify my weaknesses and common themes, and also to see whether I'm actually improving in all areas or there are some recurring comments.

Does there exist a good framework for this task? If not, how should I approach it?


texts: How to know whether my PhD advisor knows the area of research?

texts:
Ok here is the situation: My advisor gave me a paper about new model X. After reading and researching in X, I became very familiar with X and had many interesting ideas to extend its capabilities.

One thing I noticed with my advisor is the lack of deep analysis over my ideas. By this, I mean a roadmap on how to get these ideas published, what are the things I need to polish/sharp/add to get it (most likely) accepted in top conference/journal.

I handed him one draft of a paper, he didn't even doubt its findings; all his concern is to get it published somewhere in ranked C conferences; all he did was praising my writing (which is poor IMHO). What makes it even worse is the fact that I have seen some papers published in top conferences/journals with the same ideas I have (actually three ideas).

  This makes me wonder: Does he really know X?

if yes, then why he did not provide constructive ways to sharp the ideas to get it published in a top conference? or maybe I am asking for something that he can't offer!


texts: Advisor professor asking me for the source code of my dissertation in order to be used by another student

texts:
I finished my master's degree (Computer Science) a short time ago, and I don't currently plan to continue my academic studies.

My adviser asked me for the source code of the application I developed for my final paper (and for which I received a perfect score) in order for one of students they currently advise to continue my work as part of their bachelor's final project.

This question is similar to this one Advisor professor asks for my dissertation research source code. The difference is that my work will be used (continued?) by another student as part of their final paper.

Should I do this or is there any reason for me to be concerned about this?

Update

To provide some clarification. I was not paid for the work that I did for my paper. (however I also did not pay for my master studies in case this matters). I put a significant amount of time into this (by my standards at least) around 5 months. Also, my paper was not submitted in an article, journal etc. It was only submitted to the university (without the code), and then I defended my work in front of a committee. This paper/project is the work based on which the diploma is given. The mark received for this is noted on the diploma.

In the end decided to make the repository public (with a license).
Thanks for all the answers, they made me realize that learning is based on sharing.


texts: About sending email for postdocs after finding a potential mentor

texts:
Two weeks ago one of my emails was replied by a professor who expressed his interests in my work and consider me as a potential postdoc. He told me that he is going to apply for funding then will inform me.
At this moment, I do not know whether I keep sending emails to other professors for postdoc position or wait for email from potential mentor?


texts: Paper status with Associate editor after Under review

texts: I have a submitted manuscript to IEEE transactions. The paper was under review for 4 months. Then, it has been with associate editor" for 2 week now. How this status can be explained?


texts: Do published university admission acceptance rates include applicants for all courses or just undergraduate?

texts:
Does the acceptance rate of a university is only determined by how many students are applying for undergraduate? Or is it also determined by postgraduate or PhD students?
For example, Harvard has an acceptance rate of 5.2℅, does it also count the grad/phd students?


texts: Where can I find correlation between US News ranking and IPEDS database?

texts:
I have been building a search tool for colleges and universities in US. I could find most of the data from the IPEDS database. Now I am trying to relate the colleges with US News ranking. I'm trying to find any source of data which could give me ranking of colleges with their UNITID/college name .
Any clues on how to get the rankings data along with UNITID ?


texts:
Hypophora is the question similar to question tag:

I want to shift the discipline from physics to biology. Why? Because, ...

Should I ask this kind of question in my SOP?

Function of Hypophora
The major purpose of using hypophora is to create curiosity among the
readers, while a well-timed silence produces heightened effects and
creates interest. It helps to capture the attention of the audience.
However, hypophora can also be employed to introduce new discussions
or topics of importance about which the readers might not have
information. Also, it can be used as a directional device to change
the topic. It can raise that type of questions which readers might
already have on their minds and would like to get answers to. In
addition, it is frequently used in political speeches as well as
literary works.

I don't think it will make any harm, but I'm not sure. Why? Because this comment makes me have to rethink of any, erm, nonstandard things.


texts: Why do reviews of articles often start with a summary of the article?

texts:
In my field, peer reviewers often start their review with:

  This article reports on a study that did X, using Y, in the area of Z. It found ...

This seems like a waste of time and effort to me (and I never do it). Why is it done? To prove the reviewer has read the paper?


texts: Would most PhD supervisors stop working with a student who was unproductive due to clinical depression?

texts:
Suppose a PhD student got clinically depressed and stopped producing research for a year or two.

What would most PhD supervisors do in this situation? Would it be considered usual or acceptable to stop working with him?


texts: What to include in Abstract and Conclusion (and what not to include) of article

texts:
What I have understood till date is that abstract summarizes the work done in the research article (Journal + Conference), and so does the conclusion section.

However, the conclusion section not only summarizes the work (like abstract) but also give a hint of what results were produced?

Can someone best explain what to (and what not to) include in Abstract section? Similarly in the conclusion section


texts: If a reference/book authored by your professor contains typos, how should you react?

texts: My professor gave me a module on history that contains several spelling and grammatical errors. Should I tell him about this or just ignore these mistakes?


texts: How common is college graduation at an early age?

texts:
I am interested in the statistics of early college graduation, or more generally, the statistics of extreme ages in academic settings (highschool, college, grad school, etc.). For instance, how many students who earn a college degree graduate one, two, three, or more years earlier than the typical age of 22 or so? I am willing for any statistics to qualified in any way (percentages in country W, at university X, in state Y, or from year Z). A quick Google search does not easily reveal this information.

I estimate that less than 5% of the population graduates college two years earlier than normal based on my acquaintances, but this is likely biased as I am a graduate student and it may be smaller.

EDIT: It occurs to me that my question does not ask for any opinions on whether early graduation is good, neutral, or bad. Perhaps it would be interesting to expand the question and have those who experienced graduating early give their stories or opinions.


texts: How many math PhD spots are offered each year by the top 50 US programs?

texts:
I'm trying to estimate how many math PhD offers are awarded each year in the United States, say at the top 50 schools, if that constraint helps. (I'm interested in departments called "math," not "applied math.") For the top 50 schools, is it on the order of 500? More than that? I know programs vary greatly in size, so I'm looking only for a rough estimate of the total.

I know that the AMS releases data on the number of PhD's awarded each year, as well as the average completion rate for PhD students. But is there data showing how many PhD offers are extended each year, or at least how many students matriculate?

One reason I'm interested in this question is that I know that between 4000 and 5000 people take the GRE math subject test each year. I'm curious to what extent the top 500 scorers on this exam fill the spots at the top 50 schools, but that is a harder question to answer, because so few schools release data on their admitted students.


texts: Do academics look down on well-designed academic websites?

texts:
Rationally, I should not be concerned about building a well-designed academic website for myself. But academic websites are consistently so visually spare and poorly designed that I would feel like a peacock designing the site in any way. I don't mean anything crazy, maybe a web font or a non-#0000ff link.

I realize this is broad, but I'd be curious if others feel this stigma of trying too hard in this area—same probably applies to clothing—and how they approach it.


texts: What does "ad indicem" mean in a citation?

texts:
I've seen this latin term in footnotes several times and still don't know the meaning of it. It is usually used like this:

[34] About this, see John Smith 2003, ad indicem.

or like this:

[65] Jane Smith 2006, 98-101, and ad indicem.

What does it mean? Does it mean "there are too many pages in this book related to this topic. I don't want to list them all. Just go check the index yourself"?


texts: Why are footnotes expensive for publishers to reproduce?

texts:
According to the Purdue OWL APA guide:

  APA does not recommend the use of footnotes and endnotes because they are often expensive for publishers to reproduce.

Perhaps this question belongs on a printing SE, but what could make footnotes expensive? Is it because it will take longer to arrange the small letters on a letterpress?


texts: Regret of leaving the opportunity to work on highly funded topics for something not so rewarding. How to stop remorse?

texts:
My materials science PhD group works on two different fields. Most of them work in battery technology while I am few others work in mechanical behavior of materials in aerospace materials.
I was always interested in mechanics of deformation and physics of material behavior (fracture, ballistic impacts and so on). So, when I had to choose a topic for PhD 5 years ago, I went for aerospace topic.
After spending so much time on the topic, though I still love the subject and appreciate how much is still unknown, I have come to a realization that funding is scarce on this field.
In my country of residence, the majority of the funding is provided for battery research, artificial intelligence and cancer research. In my group, the battery research receives huge fundings, while my topic receives constant grant rejections. Alumni from battery topics have gone to MIT and Berkley for their postdoc. While alumni from my field have joined some low ranked university as a postdoc or went to industry.
As I am towards the end of my PhD, I realize this is going to be my future too. I will struggle to get postdoc, tenure track position and subsequent fundings.
Somewhere deep inside, I feel regret for not choosing the battery technology fields. How to stop remorse? Can I get any advice from researcher who have experienced similar struggle in their research careers.


texts: Long-distance collaboration as Master student

texts:
I am about to start a Master's degree in Computational Biology. My future goal is to do a Ph.D. in Europe in the field of Computational Biomedicine. I have already completed the first year of another Master's degree an I have some research experience since I was allowed to work as a Student Assistant in a research group at that University and I carried out some small research projects during the last semester (final projects for some courses). Since I would like to continue doing research also at the new University and since I would really love to find a nice supervisor for my future studies, I am trying to find a project I can work on.

The big problem is that I found a nice group in Germany (I will study in Italy) and I am pretty sure it would be a nice place for my Ph.D. The question is: do you think it would be possible for me to work on one of their project while I am studying in another country? I was thinking about something like the following: contacting them in order to see if this is feasible, start studying what I would need, and then start the project that I will continue also for my Master's thesis. Are you aware of any long-distance student project experience? Is it better not to contact them at all and wait until I start the internship for my thesis? Any feed-back is appreciated.


texts: What is the effect of a PhD student dyeing their hair blue?

texts:
I'm a male 19 year old Phd student (in a field in the exact sciences), I dyed my hair bright blue. Personally, I think it transmits a great message and is generally cool. Although, I'm not sure how well received will it be in my university, in teaching, while visiting other universities, meeting new researchers I never met before and while presenting in conferences.

Picture of the hair can be viewed here:

http://i.imgur.com/03viCuL.jpg

Questions:

What effect might dyeing your hair blue have as a PhD student?


texts: Falsified student signatures in class attendance list

texts:
I am required to keep a tag at the students' attendance of classes by the rules of the university where I teach. The students' attendance cannot be lower than 75% of the classes, or else they automatically fail the course. To do so, I am required to handle them a signature sheet in each class. I am also expected to keep this sheet as proof I really taught the said class. (Not that I agree with this system, but the director can inquire a teacher and they must be ready to present this "proof", so I must abide by this rule.)

I have already come to terms with the fact that this is not really evidence of the students' attendance: they come late, leave before the class is finished, sign the sheet, and that's fine. However, even so, there are many absences and there is also the case of those students who falsify their classmates' signatures. I have already warned them on the first day of class that that won't be accepted, but in some cases the warning went unheeded.

The question is, I've had experience that the directors will also doubt the veracity of the attendance sheet, possibly accusing me of being too unyielding and uncompromising, even hinting that I must have falsified the whole thing with evil intentions. Because, according to the directors, a significant majority of the students must pass, regardless of their efforts. I have tried to be more "accepting" of absences (mainly if the student has good grades), but I cannot swallow having to condone falsified signatures. Should I follow the "culture" of the faculty that don't care the least about this fact (attendance and falsified signatures), despite their own rules? Or should I follow the rules and face the (possibly unpleasant) consequences?


texts:
I have recently been receiving number of visits from "academic book buyers" that are looking to buy books that I no longer want.  It is never stated outright but they seem to be looking mainly for evaluation copies of textbooks.  At least 2 of the cards that I have been given indicate that they are "recycling" the books, although what this means is not clear.

Are these book buyers benefitting or exploiting academia?


texts: What are some tips to keep in mind when solving back of the book exercises?

texts:
I am pretty convinced at this point that the most difficult task when learning in a new topic in physics/mathematics is to actually sit down and do the back of the book problems till you figure out how to do the calculations at least once without mistakes. In my opinion, the experience of actually solving questions can be dreadful at times, so what would be ways to 'ease' /smoothen out the experience?
Tl;dr : Looking for tips on how to approach solving exercises faster


texts: Why can't friends or family members write recommendation letters for graduate admissions?

texts:
When browsing their web sites, I noticed that apart from those listed academic requirements by different universities, they all require at least two reference letters from applicants, but they did not officially state that who should write those recommendation letters.Although I have collected several recommendation letters from my former teachers, I found it was quite hard to reach my former teachers whom I had not contacted for many years.It almost took me two months from the day I sent out my first email to the day I got enough recommendation letters from my former teachers.
It has been puzzling me why the recommendation letters should be written by school lecturers or professors.The people who know you best are business partners, your close friends, family members like your parents, siblings, why they are not qualified to write the recommendation letters for me?


texts: My h-index is very low and I want to increase it

texts:
Nowadays universities judge faculty based on their h-index, to be promoted from assistant to associate or to be hired as associate in some universities you need at least a h-index of 10. I am struggling to increase mine, I have tried all the tips I found online, shared my papers on social media such as Research Gate and Linked In.

How can I increase my h-index otherwise?


texts: I am preparing the presentation of a co-authored research, who owns the copyright?

texts:
I have a question about copyright. When I make a presentation based on my research (together with co-authors from other countries), who owns the copyright of the presentation? I think, only I have the copyright since I give credit to my co-authors.

The problem is now that the university (I'm living in Germany, if that is important) tells me that they have to copyright on my talks since they pay me.

Do you have any answer for this or any comments?


texts: Using a graphics tablet to support recorded lectures?

texts:
My lectures (mathematics) are delivered in a theatre with full projection facilities, and my lectures are given as PDF slides.  But I often need to explain something not covered in enough detail on a slide, in response to a particular student difficulty (my lectures are very interactive!).  For that I can use the whiteboard in the same room.

However, my lectures are recorded, and the recording system only picks up, as its video, what's projected through the computer onto the projection screen.  My whiteboard ramblings (which often amount to a significant part of each lecture) aren't recorded, although my voice is.

A simple solution would be a graphics tablet which I could switch to and write on; as it would be projected through the computer system it would be recorded.

So - does anybody have any advice for a relatively inexpensive graphics tablet which would work for this purpose?

(A few years ago I used a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet, running Android, which came with a nice digitizer pen.  But my newer Lenovo Yoga tablet doesn't support such pens.  And I don't want to buy a new whizz-bang tablet+pen.  A cheap-and-cheerful solution is my hope here!)


texts: How do you cite some commonly circulated image on the Internet with no source

texts: Pretend that there is some image on the Internet that is commonly circulated, like a meme template involving a picture of someone's face. If the original thing had no source, but one (for whatever reason) needed the image and its citation, how would one try to cite the image?


texts: Reference letter request for options the letter writer is unsupportive of

texts:
(Note: this is purely hypothetical at the moment, but I thought of it and it struck me as an interesting dilemma.)

I am an early-career faculty member in linguistics at a big public college in the U.S.; I do quantitative research on language change and dialectology. Most of the reference letters I write, unsurprisingly, are for graduate programs in linguistics (or psychology). However, I occasionally get a request from a student for a letter of recommendation to medical school or nursing. I'm totally happy to provide these.

While tracking down the password for my American Medical College Application Services account just now, it occurred to me that I might someday get a request for e.g. programs in naturopathy or chiropractice. Right now, I wouldn't know how to handle such a thing.

To be clear, I have no medical credentials at all (seriously - I stopped taking biology after my tenth grade pre-AP class). And I can see the argument that it's absolutely none of my business what my students decide to do, and that introducing my personal views into the decision of whether to write a letter is potentially a slippery slope. (For instance, would I refuse to write a letter for a student applying to a graduate program in some country whose military actions I might disapprove of? I hope I wouldn't. Is that much different from this?)

But I'm a big fan of, well, science in general; I'm also keenly interested in the place of science in American society. I regularly read blogs such as Science Based Medicine, which leave me feeling pretty suspicious of most "alternative medicine" and wanting to do what I can to avoid supporting it. If I received a request for a letter to a program in naturopathy or chiropractice or something, I'd probably cringe. I'd rather work out how to deal with this kind of situation in advance in case it ever suddenly presents itself. Any thoughts?


texts: Is a paper more likely to be accepted if one of the authors is an associate editor for the journal?

texts: I'm about to submit my first scholarly manuscript to the top journal in my field, which has an acceptance rate of 20-25%. One of the co-authors on my paper, besides being generally well-known in this field, happens to be on the editorial board of this journal as an associate editor. Obviously I imagine that he'll automatically be excluded from the review process due to conflict of interest, but does their affiliation with the journal increase the chance of the paper getting accepted?  I should note that the paper has already been through several rounds of internal revision and I've received excellent feedback so far from both this particular coauthor and others.


texts: Can I write "equal author contribution" in acknowledgment?

texts:
One of my papers is now in the proofreading stage. In the revision stage, I didn't add the "equal author contribution" as a foot-note. Is it possible to add that now? Can I put it in the acknowledgment section?
Note: I am not allowed to add any sign beside the authors' names.
Edit:
I was finally able to do that. During the proofreading, I mentioned this issue and they added a footnote. They were very helpful.


texts: Zotero: referencing multi-word organisations like "World Bank" so that it's not, "Bank, World"

texts:
I'm using Zotero to manage references, and I've manually inputed a reference to:

World Bank. 2019. "World Development Indicators." URL: http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators

So under author, I typed:

Author: World Bank

[all in the last name field].

When I compile my bibliography, this means that I'm getting the reference as:

Bank. 2019. “World Development Indicators.” http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.

Is there a way that I can enter a multi-word organisation as an author, and still get my desired output of:

World Bank. 2019. "World Development Indicators." URL: http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators


texts: Would a LaTeX glossary contain program function/method purposes/definitions?

texts:
I'm writing my dissertation/thesis and it revolves around a program I have made. The program is a Rubik's cube solver that uses pre-existing solving methods, so nothing that exciting. I'm writing out my methodology section which I am assuming needs to contain explanations of the methods I used to produce the solving methods.
When referencing functions I have used in my program, would it be more conventional to write out a description of what that function does or would I make an internal hyperlink to the glossary with a description of what that function does.
Cheers!


texts: Endowed Assistant Professor vs Assistant Professor

texts:
In US education system, the university academic positions start with Assistant Professor. But there are some occasions that positions for Endowed Assistant Professor are advertised. I could not find what exactly is "endowed Associated Prof". Is there any difference with assistant professor? Is it a type of position different from tenure track or the title endowed comes from the particular funding source? There is a similar discussion about endowed chair in US system here, but I think that is slightly different.

Please let me know, whas recruitment committee members are concerned about when hiring endowed assistant professor.


texts: I am an undergraduate student. My friends and I  found interesting results while applying game theory to biology. However, we have used only one datset and being undergrads can't get access to do experiments to get our own data. should we preprint anyway .Will retracting a paper from biorxiv hurt our future publication chances?


texts: My mental health has been damaged. I don't want to quit my PhD but I don't know how to continue?

texts:
I have been in the lab for more than a year and my mental health has been damaged seriously due to the harassment of my PI, and I believe my PI has breached my confidentiality by sharing information I told in confidence with other group members and the administration.

I have thought about going elsewhere to continue my PhD. However, I realized my academic progress has been delayed due to the mental health problem and I would need time to recover. I am afraid of jumping into another lab. Also, I do not find any other professors in my department whose research interests me, perhaps because  my mind is currently occupied with all the negative experience with my PI and that clouds my thinking?

I want to change university and start totally fresh but obviously I would not get a good LOR from my PI.

I want a career in academia but I really need sometimes to recover. How should I proceed?

(Edit: adding update posted as answer) Thank you very much for all the suggestions. I avoid talking all the problems with my family since they are not in academia and I do not want them to worry about me. Writing all my thoughts here helps me to release everything I've tried to keep inside myself. I think my mental health seems to not as serious as I thought because after reading all the comment, I feel more positively now.


texts: Is it acceptable, as a Reviewer, to ask the Editor about another reviewer?

texts:
I recently reviewed a manuscript submitted to a Journal. Today, I received the editor's response to the authors, which included all the reviews made by the (anonymous) reviewers.
I was particularly (and positively) impressed with the review of another reviewer for several reasons. I'd gladly appreciate the possibility of contacting this reviewer, both to express my thoughts and also to discuss about similar topics.
Hence the question: would it be acceptable if I asked the editor to disclose information about this reviewer?
My only concern is that the editor may not appreciate a similar request, which could lead to not being invited to review manuscripts of this journal anymore (which is something I really like doing).
To provide more specific context:

The field is Computer Science;
The reviewing process assumes that the reviewers do not know the identity of other reviewers, but they do know the identity of the manuscript's authors;
The reviewers carried out their reviewing duties independently: they were able to read the other reviewers' opinion only after the editor sent their decision to the authors.
The (associate) editor knows the identity of both the reviewers and the authors;
It is safe to assume that no conflict of interest exists between reviewers and authors.

Finally, I remark that I am asking this question as a reviewer (and not as an author).


texts: Conference Proceedings Article vs Conference Announcement

texts:
What is the difference between a "Conference Proceedings Article" and a "Conference Announcement"? My institution asks me to categorize my publications but I am not sure how I should do this.

Please let me explain: I understand that a "Conference Proceedings Article" is any full article that has been submitted, peer-reviewed, and accepted in a conference for oral or poster presentation and distributed by any means (i.e. printed edited proceedings' book, proceedings' e-book, CD, USB, online etc.) indexed in Scopus or not.

I understand that a "Conference Announcement" is any announcement that you make in a conference after a simple abstract's acceptance and without the requirement to submit a full paper (e.g. a powerpoint presentation, a poster without a full paper, etc.).

Am I correct or the difference lies in the medium of the proceedings? Could, for example, a full paper be considered a "Conference Announcement" just because the proceedings are not e.g. Scopus indexed or edited but distributed via CD or USB although the publication is a full peer-reviewed accepted paper considering also that nowadays anyone can get a doi for any publication?

There are scientific fields such as mine that all conferences require a full peer-reviewed paper to participate while other fields in which most conferences are about announcements, exchange of ideas etc. (e.g. in humanities etc.) and this is the reason I am confused, because in my scientific fields the distinction is not applicable... Am I correct?


texts: Can ibid. be used under the Harvard referencing style?

texts: In other words, not the other styles (e.g. APA, Chicago, Oxford) that uses the author-date format but the plain (Australian?) Harvard style.


texts:
I'm ranked as one of top 4% users of Data Science Stackexchange.
I'm applying for a PhD program in related field.

Shall I mention my Stackexchange rank in my resume?
If yes under what title?


texts: Second try for PhD after failing comprehensive exam

texts:
Two years ago I failed my comprehensive exam at the US PhD program, although my advisor was happy with my results. Then, I started to work at one of the top companies, but, I have never ever given up my desire to finish a PhD.
I want to apply to PhD programs again. How should I address the issue of failing my comprehensive exams? Basically how to convince them that you are able to finish their program.


texts:
Now, say authors A and B are writing their second paper. Which is more appropriate, or which sounds better. Referring to their previous work as "we researched/we surveyed" or "the authors researched/surveyed". This warrants a question because, in the first case, it may sound like they are "broadcasting" their presence, while in the second case, it seems like they are "hiding" their identity.

Although, the following questions 1 (which applies for a single author case) and 2 (which refers to when there may be many authors but some of them may not share co-authorship in a new publication) are similar, they are quite different from what is intended here. Also question 3 is quite close, but I guess the question applies for use in a thesis.


texts: Is there evidence that open source research software produces more uptake of methods?

texts:
In recent years there has been a drive to make science more open. This includes making the software used to perform research open source. The main argument in favour of this idea is that research should be reproducible, which has been addressed in other questions on this site.

I am more interested in the 'impact' that this produces. In particular, is there evidence that by publishing software alongside research papers means that more people use the methods described in the paper?

I am especially concerned with papers in applied mathematics but also more generally.


texts: How to write a paper with a parallel but non-trivial approach?

texts:
I am writing a paper that centers on Quantum Information Theory, approached using  Graph Theory. This approach has parallels to Matrix Theory, but it is very different from all existing Graph Theoretical approaches to this topic. We have submitted two papers to journals: 1) Physics Reviews and 2) Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, but both of them are rejected. We suspect that reviewers did not understand that our approach is not trivial.

My questions:

How should we present our method so that the reviewers can see its worth and see that it is not trivial?
How can we establish the parallel to Matrix Theory, but at the same time differentiate our approach and convey it's contribution to research?


texts: How much information should I include in my lecture slides?

texts:
I will soon be teaching my first class as an assistant professor.
The class is made up of 130 undergraduate students,
most of whom are in their first year.
The class in a introductory course,
so I will be giving an overview of the field;
for each lecture I will going through one different topic,
with most of the material being qualitative rather than quantitative.

Last year the class was taught by Colleague A,
so I am adapting his material to prepare to teach the class.
Colleague A's lecture slides tend to be too sparse,
i.e. there are few words on each slide,
and it is not easy to follow the train of thought by reading the slides.
Another colleague, Colleague B told me that
students had mentioned to Colleague B that
students were unhappy with the lack of details on Colleague A's slides.

I feel a little stuck because
when I prepare slides for an academic presentation,
I try to keep my slides more sparse
so as to not overload my audience
who may be trying to read my slides and listen to me simultaneously.
As I prepare the slides now,
I feel that I may be erring on the side
of putting too many words in my slides,
e.g. the entire slide is covered with words.

How do I find the right balance of how much information
to put in my lecture slides to keep students happy?


texts: Ethical obligation to correct other people's mistakes?

texts:
In the course of some research, my adviser and I noticed that a formula that is widely used in the field has an inaccuracy. It corrects for an effect that doesn't exist, so the correction makes things worse than they would be without it.

This formula was first published in the 1970s, and other people seem to have assumed it was correct. It has since found its way into about 30 papers and a handful of commercial software products.

However, my adviser does not want to publish a correction. He feels it would be bad for him politically and financially. He has a business that would be negatively affected if he makes too many "waves".

What ethical considerations are at play here? If we do end up publishing the results 5 years later, would people be upset that we sat on the data for so long? Is there some sort of compromise.


texts:
Taking relevant courses builds up confidence, exposure and depth. I managed to get my master's degree and PhD degree in computational chemistry without taking any graduate level mathematics and modeling courses.
On top of this, the only maths I had was till my 3rd year undergrad and I struggled with it. I scored a C grade in every exams and I was/and still am not comfortable with it.
I am decent with linear algebra and multivariable calculus and work with tensor analysis in my research. Each of these I had taken only in my undergrad.
I should have taken relevant courses during my master's and PhD. Though I can perform well in my research (currently a postdoc), I feel unconfident and uncomfortable with my level of knowledge as I have never explored the depth of the subjects as is done in graduate courses. I only self-studied what was needed in my research.
How to feel confident with knowledge if I have not taken relevant classes during my postgraduate degree?


texts: Why can't you get an E on a test in the United States?

texts:
So, in testing in the USA, an A is the best score you can get. Then comes B, which most students desire, and then comes a C, where you're on the verge of shattering your gradebook by getting a bad grade. Then there's D (even worse), and an F, where you will surely be very ashamed of yourself. Then, there's this alphabetical pattern, A, B, C, D, and then F. But where's E? Why isn't there an E in it?
In an answer given, I want a historical explanation of this question that tells how these letter grades popped up, and why E dropped out (or was never included) in the USA.
Thanks in advance!


texts:
8 Scientific Papers That Were Rejected Before Going on to Win a Nobel Prize

Funding Analysis: Researchers Say NIH Grant Funding Allocation Seems No Better Than Lottery

The same paper resubmitted to the same journal after several years often ends up rejected due to 'serious methodological errors'

For people whose profession revolves around making order out of seemingly-random observations, scientists sure are inconsistent at judging the work of other scientists. Why? It certainly doesn't seem to be like this at all levels. For example according to the GRE's website,

  For the Analytical Writing section, each essay receives a score from two trained raters, using a six-point holistic scale. In holistic scoring, raters are trained to assign scores on the basis of the overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. If the two assigned scores differ by more than one point on the scale, the discrepancy is adjudicated by a third GRE reader. Otherwise, the two scores on each essay are averaged.

This implies that it's uncommon for two assigned scores to differ by more than one point on the scale, i.e. GRE essay raters usually agree. Similarly, as far as I know, undergraduate thesis readers, MS thesis readers and even PhD thesis readers don't usually come to diametrically opposed judgments on the piece of work. Yet once it gets to research-level material, peer reviewers no longer seem to agree. Why?


texts: Channels for applying for faculty positions

texts:
I am a postdoc in engineering at a large US university and am planning on applying for tenure-track faculty positions this fall.

I understand that the nature of applying for TT faculty positions varies greatly depending on the field. I am inquiring mainly about engineering schools and business schools (specifically operations research departments).

My general question is: is there an organized procedure for how TT faculty openings are disseminated through the community?

In my limited search so far, I have not seen much online in terms of job postings. The postings are either outdated or very sparse. Furthermore, there is no indication on university websites if the department is hiring or not.

Related thoughts/concerns: Is it acceptable to send an application to a department when there is no job posting? Are there more effective channels for applying: i.e., give a talk in the department and inform the head that I am interested in applying? Leverage connections to contact someone high up in the department?

Perhaps the lack of structure in the job hiring process is inherent or by design. Any guidance on the procedure (for engineering and/or operations research departments) would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Why don't papers cite results within their references more specifically?

texts:
For example,

An explicit formula for ___ has been derived in [1].
[1]: Alice and Bob, Journal of Academia StackExchange, Vol 1 Iss 1, 2016

Problem is, the paper cited could very well include lots and lots of formulas. The desired formula might just be one of many results presented, and it might not be the central one.
Why don't authors write the reference as Alice and Bob, ... 2016, Equation 12? Even just giving the section name helps identify the relevant part of the reference, and it'd be a great time saver. However, I don't think I've ever seen anyone try this in formal publications. Why?


texts: What are some strategies to deal with perfectionism?

texts: In my writing, teaching and research, I always do much more than I should. I produce excellent work, but it's always late because I seem to be incapable of scaling back my (unrealistically high) expectations due to time constraints. I am exhausted and demoralized. I know this isn't group therapy, but has anyone had success with concrete strategies to delimit themselves when a "good enough" job really is good enough? (ADHD + perfectionism is a bad combination.)


texts: How to narrow down a field of study when you enjoy and perform well in every subject?

texts: Might it be odd for a student to love and have excellent academic performance in all subjects—I am that student. I am really confused what to study in the university. My grades are similar (high) in all subjects, and I prefer both scientific and non-scientific subjects. It's like I want to get a degree in all fields. How can I decide what I should choose? What can I study? I have tried a lot of tests, even paid ones, but I get similar percentages for all choices.


texts: Should I apply for a position which I previously applied and had an initial interview?

texts:
I am on the job market again, in Mathematics.  I see a few job postings for positions which I applied for last year, and I had an initial interview for, but no second or campus interview.  These were either temporary or postdoc positions.

Should I apply for these again, since I am still interested?  Or is it a waste of my time, and I should take the lack of a second interview as my cue that they are not interested in me.


texts: What should I do if a professor agrees to write me a letter but cannot guarantee it being the strongest one?

texts:
Recently while applying for a dissertation grant, I ask a professor I believed I worked closely with for a recommendation letter. He responds quickly and agrees to submit a letter for me (as he did once in the past). However, he is also being very honest that he has received requests from FOUR other grad students (presumably including his own students) applying for that grant, and he says he cannot guarantee mine being the strongest among the five letters. He offers me two paths: one is to find someone else to write a letter and he totally understands; the other is that if I insist, he will also write one for me.

Any suggestions what I should do? I ask for his letter because 1) His field of research is close to mine and I believe he is most familiar with my research (next to my principal adviser) 2) I get good grades in his seminars 3) he helps me a lot in making connections with some oversea faculties and some other aspects with my PhD work.

Questions:
How should I reply politely to him if I end up finding someone else to write me letter?
Should I ask him for letters in the future (like for job application)?


texts: It has been an year since I submitted my research paper to a journal in Concurrency (Computer Science). The status says it is still under review. Is this typical of journals in this discipline?


texts: How to cite an article from a magazine (no date, published quarterly) in MLA7?

texts:
I’m writing a comparative research analysis for my freshman writing requirement class on the school-to-prison pipeline, and I’m trying to cite this article by John DiIulio. The site doesn’t give a date of publication, and I can’t find any dates online for the print publication date; all I know is that it was the spring edition of 1996.

How do I cite this in the MLA7 style?


texts: How many publications/citations/h-factor for EE tenure track in top ~100 research university?

texts:
Does anyone know of statistics how many publications/citations/h-factor an assistant professor in Electrical Engineering has at the beginning of tenure track in a top 100-200 research university?
If there are no statistics: What could be typical numbers? While I know that scoring a tenure track depends on a lot of things, I would be curious what the average and variance is and what would be a good number to set as a goal.
Reason for my question: I have a PhD from a top 3 university from a well known PI in the field. I did not really consider an academic career before and hence my publication record is (very) sub-optimal compared with other people I know. I have two journal papers, one conference and some patents (for some reason nobody seemed too interested in my work so I have only a few citations). I am planning for a postoc but since this is a big decision I want to be very clear what my goals should be.


texts: Is the German "individual doctorate" program available in Switzerland?

texts:
In the question below is asked whether an 'individual doctorate' program is available in Germany (further specification in the link):

What is the traditional way of earning a doctorate in Germany?

My question now is whether such type of doctorate is available in Switzerland or other European countries too?


texts: Supervised a PhD to 90% of completion; take credit for 100%; what could go wrong?

texts: Let's say you had a doctoral student who you were main supervisor for {~advisor) throughout their data collection and most of their write-up, but just before they finished they changed to another main supervisor and you became deputy supervisor (you moved to a new institution in another country and they wanted someone close at hand). Let's say you then counted this student on your CV as supervised to completion as main supervisor because this is 90% true and because these CV points are important for things like promotion. The plan if anyone ever called you out on this would be to just explain the situation as it is and say that 90% of the work felt like it justified the claim. The student is in Sweden (where the regulations say students have the right to supervisor change without even having to make a case) and the supervisor is a Lecturer (~associate prof) at a UK university who wants to make Reader (~full prof) some day. Is this a bad idea? What is likely to go wrong?


texts: Can PhD Thesis be converted into Three IEEE Journal Papers (same as they are in Thesis)?

texts:
The students of the laboratory in which I worked for follows the below rule:

1) In four to five years, they publish three-four IEEE papers.
2) Merge all those papers into a single document and publish it as the PhD thesis.

For me, the scenario became a bit different. In first three years of my PhD candidature, I wrote three IEEE papers, publish them, and got all the credit scores required by the university to fulfill my PhD.

Now, for past two years, I am working on a project. I wrote three manuscripts: one is basically on an Electronic Device, and another two are on the Software Modules based on that Electronic Device. Our initial plan is to publish them before my thesis submission. But, later my prof. decided to sell it to a company. So, we didn't submit those manuscripts. Since, we are not getting a good amount of money, my prof. asked me to write my thesis based on those three manuscripts.

So, my thesis basically looks like:

Abstract
PART I: Manuscript One (without Abstract & Conclusion)
PART II: Manuscript Two (without Abstract & Conclusion)
PART III: Manuscript Three (without Abstract & Conclusion)
Conclusions

I submitted my thesis and got my PhD degree. Now, I work in my professor's company (my student life is basically over). But, I don't want to throw away those three manuscripts into garbage can. I want to publish them into some IEEE journals. So, I took a "We Don't Care" certificate from the Dean of my University which basically says: "It is his work. We gave him a degree based on it. But, we don't have any copyright on it. We don't care what he will do with that work."

So, from my university point of view, there is no problem if I publish papers based on my PhD work. Now, when I asked my professors/colleagues about this, they told me: YES, YOU CAN PUBLISH PAPERS OUT OF YOUR PHD THESIS. Then, I asked what does OUT OF means. Different people has different opinions about it. Since they are confused, they made me more confused.

Some of them told me change the figures, some of them told me change some of the texts, some of them told me keep the proposed method same, but change the wordings......... the list goes on and on. Now, as I work as a full-time engineer in a company, I don't have that much time to do all those works. I want to publish those three manuscripts as they are in the thesis (like below).

Manuscript One (PART I of the thesis - only change in Abstract & Conclusion)
Manuscript Two (PART II of the thesis - only change in Abstract & Conclusion)
Manuscript Three (PART III of the thesis - only change in Abstract & Conclusion)

My specific question is that:

This is my OWN WORK. Nobody has any copyright on it. It is published as PhD thesis, but, never distributed online OPENLY. Only the students of my university can access it through their student accounts. I made it private on purpose. However, the university can make it public after two years.

The only problem is if I search in google the exact texts from my manuscripts, it takes me to the university library website (where you have to give user-name and password to view the thesis). That simply means, if I submit those manuscripts to three IEEE journals, all of them will say I HAVE PLAGIARIZED THE WORK (am I correct?). Because, the plagiarism checker of IEEE cannot differentiate between the works which have/don't have any COPYRIGHTS.

Can the learned researchers confirm me:

1) If I submit those three manuscripts into three IEEE journals, is there any chance that they will pass PLAGIARISM CHECKS? Please note that at the time of PhD thesis submission, I have uploaded my manuscripts to turnitin plagiarism checker website to get an "Originality Check" certificate. Is that could be an issue?

2) Should I just submit and tell the editors the above problem (to be legally/ethically correct)?

3) Is there any other solution?

Thank you for your time.


texts:
I'm a graduate student in math and I usually have lots of questions about papers I read. Sometimes my questions are about technical things but a lot of questions I have are about "well-known" facts that I didn't learn from courses or from my background reading. I do think about my question to make sure I can't quickly figure out the answer. What is a litmus test or rule of thumb for asking experts naive questions? Over the years the responses I have gotten were: "It's obvious," "Exercise" (when I never figure out the answer due to lack of knowledge), an ethusiastic response, or uncertainty from experts as to the answer.

I don't want experts to think, "How do you not know this?" I want to develop a reputation as a knowledgeable grad student who has potential as a researcher. A postdoc friend confided in me that he doesn't post questions because he's worried he'll look stupid. And I also don't want to annoy people with lots of trivial questions. But I also know that I have to learn from them, and that it's usually way faster to ask someone in person about their paper than to hit a roadblock in their paper and keep thinking about it.

My algorithm so far goes as follows:

Ask my adviser or some grad students.
Do as thorough an Internet search as possible. Look for the answer in papers that may provide a clue.
Ask my questions on MathStackExchange. If I don't get an answer there ask on MathOverflow.
If MathOverflow answers are unclear or I don't get responses, either discuss the answers with my adviser or email an expert out of the blue.

What would be a more efficient algorithm for asking possibly naive questions, if there is one? The main drawback I have encountered is that an expert can sometimes answer my question right away, whereas independent search would take too much time.


texts: How to balance lecture participation and not being considered a show-off?

texts:
I am a student in a rather small (20-40 students) lecture. This lecture is mandatory for the students of this subject in this semester. In the course of the lecture the professor regularly asks students questions or encourages them to theorize about possible solutions to a problem before revealing the proper solution. Usually only about five of the students raise their hands and give answers. I am one of them and maybe the one who participates the most. I partly studied this subject before so I have a little more knowledge than the others but I am also genuinely interested in the subject while most of the others seem to find it boring and are only there to be able to pass the exam.

I often hesitate raising my hand or don't do it at all because I feel like I answer most of the questions and almost get into a dialog with the professor while all the others sit around me, bored and maybe a little annoyed (I didn't notice any negative reactions). I also usually wait a bit after a question was asked and only raise my hand if nobody else did in order to give the others a chance to participate.

I feel like I am constantly restraining myself from showing to much enthusiasm in fear of appearing as a geek or a show-off. What can I do?

Possible duplicate: How not to come off as boasting or arrogant, if you are one of the few active students in a class?
(only found this after posting)


texts: Specifying a preprint is "submitted", *to a specific journal*

texts:
There are some mathematicians who are active online and who blog about their work at various stages, including when they upload a paper to the arXiv. I like this aspect as it gives a chance for the author to give a more informal explanation as to how the results were arrived at or how to interpret them. However, I've seen a few times they they say, on their blog or in the arXiv comments, that the paper is submitted for publication (which is perfectly fine), but additionally specify exactly which journal it has gone to.

As these mathematicians are in fact well-respected and solid in their career I do not wish to impugn their decision, but it smacks of me of being rather confident that the journal will accept the paper, after some small revisions. Since the refereeing process in mathematics takes months, at a minimum, and up to a couple of years in more involved cases, the statement that the submission is to a particular journal will stand for a long time before we know either way as to the result.

As a early career researcher I wouldn't presume to proclaim the journal I think my work should be published in. But am I selling myself short? Let us say I am reasonably confident the paper I am submitting is a good fit for the chosen journal, should I also stake my claim during the preprint phase, to signal at least how "good" I think my paper is? (which judgement people can then assess based on their own experience)

Edit: I see the answers at the previous similar question, while acknowledging the practice to be field-dependent generally warn against this behaviour. However I am observing a career-stage-dependent behaviour in my field contrary to those good suggestions, weighted towards those who already have some advantage (to borrow from Dan Romik's example, imagine Bob could always carry through on his promise, never overstepping the bound on what had actually been done).


texts: I am so stuck in the second year of my PhD. Should I leave?

texts:
I started my Ph.D. in September 2019 from University-X under the supervision of Prof-A. The sole reason for me to start a Ph.D. under the supervision of this professor was that I was (still am) very excited to work in this research field.
In August 2019, when I had rejected all the other Ph.D. offers, Prof-A told me that he's planning to leave University-X in June 2020. He said he's not sure if he will leave or not, but he's just planning. He said that even if he leaves University-X, we will find a way to work together. I decided to join University-X because I really wanted to work with this professor, and also I thought maybe Prof-A will not leave this university.
In December 2019, Prof-A went to another university on sabbatical. In March (or April) 2020, he told me that there is a good chance that he will not come back to University-X. He gave me three choices,

I find any other supervisor at University-X
I work with him remotely (Skype/Zoom)
I apply for any other Ph.D. position (including to his new university)

Option (1) is a clear no-go zone for me because there is no one else working on something related to my interests. I didn't choose Option (3) because I didn't want to leave this professor given that I had Option (2). I tried to find funding for a Ph.D. position at his new university but we couldn't find any appropriate source. All in all, Prof-A and I talked with another professor (Prof-B) at University-X and told him to take me as his student in official papers, however, my research supervisor will be Prof-A. Now, I am an official student of Prof-B but I do research under the supervision of Prof-A. (Pretty messed up!)
For the one last year, I am working remotely with Prof-A. We used to have one Skype meeting every 2 weeks until December 2020. Then I went on vacation for one month (yearly leave). Since my return in January 2021, I had only two meetings with Prof-A.  The last meeting was on 19 March 2021. My work is completely stopped. I sent him some results but no reply to my emails. I am not able to find any help from any other professor at this university. I feel like I am just wasting my time here.
In my perspective, this guy, Prof-A is a really very nice person but I guess he's just too busy with his own projects and students at his new university. I don't blame him for anything
Now, finally, I am planning to leave this university and this professor, and search for another Ph.D. position. Is it a good plan? If yes, how should I tell everything to Prof-A and Prof-B? Of course, I will need recommendation letters from Prof-A and Prof-B. Also, I will have to give a justification for leaving this Ph.D. to find a new Ph.D. How should I write all this in my motivation letter/SOP for a new Ph.D.? Is it even possible to find a new Ph.D. after leaving one? Is not it a very bad point that the student could not complete what he was offered? I am so much confused.
(I am 27Y old now. My father really wanted me to get my Ph.D. before my 30, but I think now that's not possible.)


texts: How Reproducible should Data and Analysis Methodology Be?

texts:
My question might be a stretch given my lack of formal experience with writing and publishing research papers. But one thing I've noticed in my line of work and reading published papers is that the methodology seems to be second to the 'meat' of a paper, analytics and discussion. Given the relative ease of

Hosting a repository of script used to analyze the data
Hosting a database of the aforementioned data

And its prevalence within the computer science (and other subjects such as academia) to create reproducible problems of which people can replicate to either confirm or test.

Why do papers omit a relatively simple, yet far-reaching, component to publicized work?

Why isn't the work behind analysis compiled in such a way that it can be executed with a straightforward execution of the script?

When I asked this question to a PhD Coworker, the response was that "One can always ask the author for details". But given the amount of published journals, requesting and receiving verifiable and in most cases workable copies would be extremely difficult.

In my mind, this would be as simple of linking a paper's data methodology to a GitHub repository listing the types of software used, the script, and link to the database in question. The reader would (if they have the necessary software to run) download the script, download the data, run the script, and see all of the results and figures in the published paper.

I think I am missing something in my understanding of how the process works, hence my question to the Academia SE.

I found some answers that I believed to have answered my question and deleted the question:

Why are papers accepted even if they don't release code or data to allow reproducibility?
How to get the data to reproduce a published result?

But upon further reflection, I realized that not all research are created equally. Gathering, compiling, cleaning, analyzing data is a completely different methodology than for example, wet-labs or fieldwork. Given the cost and replicability of different research methods, is there a point where the cost/difficulty is so high such that it is impossible (or so incredibly costly, that very few will be able to afford) to disprove a proven (regardless of actual authenticity) concept or theory?

An analogy would be the notion of a troll-patent. No matter how wrong the patent holder is, the cost of litigation is so high and the process convoluted, the original inventor has no choice but to acquiesce and relinquish his/her rights.

Applying this to the realm of academia, the analogy would be that the cost to disprove something is high, no one is willing to put in the effort to disprove it.

If such is the case, is the notion of (to costly to prove or disprove) accepted as a reason to not belief the findings of a research project?

Or is it (as suggested by one of the answers) to accept that publications are conducted in good faith? But if we take into account publicized 'junk-science' that are touted by some as truth, where would the standard stand?

If I were a citizen reading a study by a prestigious publication, by reputable authors, that required the resources of millions of dollars to produce, is it inherently true?


texts: How bad is it to only have taken a max of 2 courses/semester in a premed post-bacc

texts:
I applied to maybe 11 doctoral programs in neuroscience and biology last year and was rejected from all of them. So, I became very self-conscious (or even more self-conscious than I had been) about my science gpa and research experience. So, I decided to apply to and enroll in a post-bacc program for those planning to ultimately apply to medical or dental school, physician-scientist programs, etc. I myself am considering an MD/PhD or PhD to pursue a career in neurology and/or related research. In the summer of 2016, I only took one course, a neurobiology course (because very few of the courses I took as an undergrad were neuro courses while the majority were bio courses).

In the following fall, I only took 2 courses. One was orgo (a retake) and another bio class. Now, this spring I'm in orgo II, a neuro class, and a mathbio class.

The challenge I'm having is that I flunked the first orgo II exam (was many SDs below the average) and the mathbio class is turning out to be super time-consuming because I'm really struggling to grasp the material. I need to decide whether to drop orgo II or this mathbio class soon but I really don't know what to do. My indecision is compounded by the fact that dropping one of these courses would just leave me with two classes total. I wanted to use this program to position myself as a more serious candidate but a consistently low number of courses per semester in combination with the less-than-hoped-for lab experience I've gained over the fall semester makes me look, I think, either afraid (afraid of taking on too much and failing so much so that I swung in the other direction and took so few classes) or lazy. Part of why I've taken so few courses is because I simply do not have the money for a full course load but part of it is because I really wanted to minimize the time spent away from studying orgo as I didn't want to retake something only to mess up in it again.

I would really appreciate some advice!


texts: What's the best way to inform a supervisor of collaboration on papers with a different professor?

texts:
A professor in the same department has asked my friend to collaborate with him in writing a paper which is close to his area of research. My friend is not sure what to tell the professor since he is afraid that his supervisor will not be happy that he is publishing papers without letting him know or without adding his name.

Should he ignore the invitation of this professor or let his supervisor know about this? What should he do in this situation?


texts:
I submitted a paper to a math journal last week.
The manuscript was sent back to me 3 times because of the following reasons:

the order of the authors do not match in the manuscript as in the submission step (one time)
there is no item stating the name of the data repository that I used to associate data (two times)

But the order of the authors was consistent and there is no associated data in the paper. I checked several times that I did not make a mistake in the submission steps. There might be a bug in the journal web page.
I explained this situation in the reply, but the editorial manager does not seem to take it seriously. I just received typical emails that seem to be automatically generated.
What should I do in this case? Should I withdraw and submit to another journal?


texts: Can I apply for a post-doc in global studies in North America?

texts: I am doing my doctorate in global studies in Germany, and would like to apply for a post-doc position in North America, especially in Canada. The topic I work on has considerable policy relevance, and I see that some North American professors are working in those areas. I am a non-EU citizen. Is there any chance that I will be accepted?


texts: Response to desk return of PLOS submission

texts:
I recently submitted to PLOS One.  The manuscript was returned before sending to review, with a general comment

  Please ensure that your search strategy is adequately described such
  that another researcher could reproduce your experiments. Please
  include sufficient detail to this end. Eg, search strategy/protocol,
  search filters used, the dates of search, inclusion/exclusion
  criteria, reasons for inclusion/exclusion

The paper uses Web of Science.  The search terms and methods are simple and detailed in full.  I am confused if there was something specific they are wondering about, or more important, if they assume there was some additional criteria or method used.  For example, downloading all data with search term "Graphene" using the Topic search box.  I am not sure what else they would think is being done.

PLOS being particularly open access, I understand the extra focus on the methods, but is this a common response?  Is it usual they did not read the manuscript and just skimmed it, and I should reply with line numbers of where it exists?

I don't believe it is really an issue of the manuscript not stating it clearly, as it is its own subsection in methods detailed in each step.


texts: How to structure a CV when applying for a Computer Science PhD?

texts:
I am applying for a PhD in computer science. I have some research experience (from my Masters degree) as well as significant industry experience. I have been in industry for close to 4 years since my masters degree. I am targeting Software Engineering, so I believe my work experience will be relevant.

Now, universities require applicants to submit a CV. My current CV lists all work experience in reverse chronological order followed by education in reverse chronological order.

How should I structure a CV when applying for a PhD in computer science?
Should I  put the education before work experience?
Any other tips?


texts: Can someone ever be accused of self-plagiarism after the course is over?

texts:
I submitted a philosophy essay to a professor for his 2nd year class that was almost the same as an essay I submitted to a TA for the same professor's 1st year class.

I thought that I had authorization from my professor but I recently discovered that I needed permission in writing. It's been almost 4 years now and I graduated last year...can I get in trouble for this/get my degree revoked? Would the university have kept a record of my assignments from both first and second year? Would this written permission only be submitted between the student and the professor or does the university keep the letter/email on record?

Any info on the types of penalties that could result from this would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any insight.


texts: How strict is the definition of "native language" in PhD admission?

texts:
I consider myself to have two native languages, including English; however, I'm not confident whether admission committees would consider this to be the case. One of the PhD programs of my interest requires all candidates whose native language is not English, including those who have obtained their Bachelor's degree in the U.S., to submit their TOEFL score. This requirement is stricter than that of other programs, and if I'm not considered to be a native English speaker, I would have to take a TOEFL for this program only.

I'm 22 years old, and I have lived in the U.S. for the last six years. Until the age of 15, I had lived in an Asian country, where English-speaking population is small. However, since my parents spoke both their native language and English, I have been bilingual since my early childhood. I went to a public elementary school in my home country, and I graduated from a middle school, a high school and a college in the U.S.,
 in some of which I skipped grades.


texts: If I am building on results of my earlier works, do I have to include them in my bibliography?

texts:
In my master's thesis I am building on two earlier works of myself.
-> One is a study project I've done together with two fellow students, -> the other one is an assignment I did on my own.

If I'm using results from these, should I include them in the Bibliography?

Arguments against including them might be:

They are not published, a reader of my thesis therefore wouldn't be able to
look these sources up. (They don't qualify as quotable)
Also the effort involved in this works was much less than the amount
of work I'm doing for my thesis. (Some doubts on them beeing worth quoting)
And finally I am the author or one of the authors of these works. (I am not using foreign thought material)

Nevertheless it feels somehow incomplete to just leave them out.


texts: How will my second PhD application be perceived, after abandoning the first?

texts:
I'm a second year industrial PhD student in Europe with a PhD contract of 3yrs.

Due to certain reasons, our strategic partners have left the project. As a consequence, we are not able to smoothly continue with the current prototype tests and validation.

I have been discussing this with my supervisor and her suggestion is to build a new prototype. That would be OK if I was offered a contract extension (just to compensate for the fact that the partners have abandoned us). To make the new prototype will take approx 1 year. Basically, I'm not able to perform any research before such prototype is in place.
For this reason I'm thinking of abandoning the program and applying to another PhD position. It is hard to give 100% if thing look gray and mentor is not flexible.

I'm not afraid to start from scratch. However, I'm wonder if new prospective groups will understand my situation and give me a new chance or will my application be rejected? What kind of perception might I expect?


texts: What are the advantages of putting your dissertation on Facebook?

texts:
I am told that one of the best ways in which to disseminate information/knowledge/findings from doctoral research is to put your dissertation on-line. By default, many universities make the dissertations of their students  available on their websites.

I am wondering what are the merits of putting your dissertation on Facebook. I am unsure whether this is possible or there is just an ability to create a link on Facebook that goes to the university's website.

The above is particularly appealing for anyone who does not want to create their own websites.


texts: How do you find the "rank" of a school or program?

texts:
I am preparing to pursue higher education and I was reading articles about schools. In one of the articles it was mentioned that the author attended a "high teens" ranked school. There was no mention of who ranked this school, how it was ranked, or why. I assume the idea was that I should be impressed by the implication that his school was ranked between 19-16 (my scale for "high" teens).

Who is ranking these schools and what does this number mean? How do I find out my schools ranking?


texts: How to cite a repeatedly used direct quote?

texts:
I am writing a seminar paper where I would like to reference one scholar's (A) view of another scholar's (B) work. This view (that scholar A holds) reoccurs throughout my paper.

Am I required to reference the quote every time I mention it, is it enough if I cite it the first time, or does it need to be cited in every section of the paper?

I am using the Harvard citation style.

Example:

  Scholar A describes Scholar B's theory as a "genealogical
  constructivism with iterative descriptive connotations" (Scholar A
  2007, p.8)

later in the text:

  Other authors subscribe to the "genealogical constructivism with
  iterative descriptive connotations" movement.

Do I need a citation in the second reference?


texts: FERPA: Can I anonymously quote a student?

texts:
Every once in a while, my students write something outrageously funny in their homework, either on purpose or by accident, and I'd love to share these short quotes with a colleague/friend for mutual enjoyment (and maybe catharsis!).

I know FERPA bars me from revealing student grades, statuses, etc., but I don't know what the rules are about 1) revealing what students have written to a third party, or 2) anonymizing students. I also don't know if it matters if I mention what class or semester this happened in.

Can I share a brief, anonymous, quote from one of my students to colleagues or friends?


texts: Choosing between two letters of recommendation

texts: I am in the process of applying to some masters programs in machine learning, and need to make a choice between two letters of recommendation. One is from an undergraduate professor who told me they were happy to help, but my only interaction with him was one class I took senior year, and I graduated seven years ago. The second is from my current manager at work, who was a former academic whom I have a good relationship with. He knows that I am applying to full time masters programs, and that if I get in I will be leaving my job, and is still willing to help. He also knows the amount of effort I put in outside of work hours to work on machine learning projects. I understand that academic letters of recommendation are preferred, but given the fact that I graduated seven years ago, and that the letter from my manager will most likely be stronger, I am looking for some advice.


texts: When do I need permission for translating scales to my native language?

texts:
I have translated a psychological scale to my native language. Do I need permission from the author?

Specifically, I am talking about scales that authors develop and use in their papers (not the scales that are developed by an organization). The author didn't say anything about copyrights for his scale.


texts: Published paper not showing up on google scholar

texts:
I have a paper that I uploaded to arXiv and google scholar listed it as a publication.

Since then the paper has been published in a nature journal several months ago.

The nature publication still hasn't showed up on my scholar profile, which still lists the arXiv version.

Is there any way to resolve this conflict?


texts: Is it possible to get an assistant professor position that does not require doing research?

texts:
I know the Lecturer position is a purely teaching role (and can even be obtained with just a Master's degree). However, is the Assistant Professor role necessarily tied with research (or can it also be exclusively teaching as well)?

The reason I ask is because I have just finished a Master's degree and want to teach at the university or community college level. I believe obtaining a PhD will open up more doors at various universities and community colleges, and was wondering if that would enable me to land higher up academic positions that are exclusively teaching roles.

Any insight is highly appreciated!


texts: Do you consider it as weird if I thank the open-source community in the acknowledgement section of a paper?

texts:
In a PhD thesis I read recently, the author mentioned open-source software in the Acknowledgement section, an idea that I liked very much (I missed that opportunity in my thesis).

Now I am considering to do a similar thing in the paper I am currently writing (working everyday on a Linux system with a lot of open-source software tools). Would you consider that as weird and inappropriate?

(My field is physics.)

Update: As mentioned by @pseyfert in the comments, the LHCb experiment seems to have an acknowledgement to open source software in their templates (looking at their paper repository, they seem to use that template), it reads "We are indebted to the communities behind the multiple open-source software packages on which we depend ".


texts: How to cite a reference in another reference?

texts:
I am reading the literature review of an article and the review article mentioned that the second article found positive relationship.

Now, should I cite both or just the second article that found the positive relationship?


texts: Is it feasible to quit a PhD program, do an MS (or two) for better qualification, then begin again?

texts:
I am in my first year of a finance PhD at a top 25 program. I could get through the program and get an okay job, but my goal isn't just to be another professor, I want to be absolutely outstanding, which I think I am capable of, but I feel like right now I don't have the math and stats background to be the best, and I can't take enough electives during my coursework years to get that foundation I'm looking for. Really, I feel like my quantitative background is very lacking in comparison to the best students I know - my undergrad was unrelated to finance, math, or stats. I have a double MS in finance and economics, but not having the quant background during undergrad really puts me behind where I feel like I need to be.

Honestly I'd also like to get my PhD at a better school. Part of it is looking for better placement opportunities, part of it is looking for a better education/mentor, and part of it simply vanity I guess - if I'm going to get a PhD I want it to be the way is prefer, and I'd prefer a degree from a school I can really feel proud of.

So... what I'd LIKE to do is get an MS in statistics, an MS in math, then reapply to top 10 finance PhD programs (not only am I looking for more background, yes, I actually WANT to do this). And no, I'm not interested in just "learning after I'm an assistant professor". I don't see myself having time to get top publications while learning a bunch of background information, and I want to hit the ground running with my first job.

I've had some people tell me getting an MS in math before beginning my PhD was pointless and a waste of time, but I've discovered that a lot of the PhD advice I've been given was bad advice and I should have simply done what I thought was a good idea.

My question is whether this is a feasible plan or not, and whether quitting my current PhD to pursue one or both MS degrees would hurt my chances of being admitted to another PhD program.