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4,881 | <p>It sometimes arise that I need to use, for an article, a book chapter or any other written work, figures that I have already published (not figures published by others). These are usually schematic figures explaining what a chemical or physical system look like, how an algorithm works, etc. Thus, instead of reusing the exact same figure, I can easily create another one, conveying the same message with (more or less subtle) differences in presentation.</p>
<p>However, I have no idea how to answer the following question: <strong>how different need two figures be</strong> to avoid the second one infringing on the copyright of the first? What is a good rule of thumb to be used? Is it enough to change one of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>color scheme</li>
<li>viewpoint of a 3D visualization</li>
<li>moving around blocks in a 2D diagram (or mind map)</li>
<li>changing axis properties (labels, tick mark positions, etc.) in a graph</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4884,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, I would argue that the new plot needs to do one of two things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>present materially different content relative to the old image</li>\n<li>present the same material in a different context.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Graphs are generally visual representations of numerical data. The numerical data itself <em>cannot</em> be copyrighted (because the data are \"facts\"), only the presentations thereof. However, simply changing axis labels or colors, and other similar \"gloss\" changes, don't really make the graph any different. Rotating a 3D graph, or changing significantly the relationship of blocks in a mind map or diagram to show off different features <em>would</em> represent a change in the message and presentation, and therefore would be OK.</p>\n\n<p>However, chemical structures and mathematical equations are not normally considered subject to copyright, as they represent \"facts,\" and cannot be arbitrarily drawn or represented; there's only so many \"legal\" ways to write them. That said, cutting and pasting somebody's figure from another article <em>would</em> be a copyright violation; recreating it yourself would not. (Otherwise, we would never be able to write <em>E</em> = <em>mc</em>^2 without it being a copyright violation!)</p>\n\n<p>If there are doubts, however, you can always try to contact the journal in question. If needed, you can ask for permission to reuse a figure, especially if it's one you've already created. Most journals already permit self reuse, so long as you include an appropriate credit and citation of the original.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4890,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First up, a disclaimer. I am not a lawyer. This does not constitute legal advice.</p>\n\n<p>I assume that your earlier work has been published and that the copyright to that work vests with your publisher.</p>\n\n<p>I see two relevant possibilities here.</p>\n\n<p><strong>1. Your new work does not differ substantially from the earlier work.</strong> </p>\n\n<p>A later work which is <em>substantially similar</em> to an earlier copyrighted work may infringe that copyright. From <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a> (yes, but the reference is to case law): </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>See, for example, Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Pub. Group, 150 F.3d 132, 137 (2d Cir. 1998) (\"Since the fact of copying is acknowledged and undisputed, the critical question for decision is whether the copying was unlawful or improper in that it took a sufficient amount of protected expression from Seinfeld as evidenced by its substantial similarity to such expression.\")</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What substantial similarity means in your case will turn on the facts. I would not be comfortable saying that your proposed alterations to your previous work would result in a sufficiently different work.</p>\n\n<p><strong>2. Your new work has some element of originality over the first work</strong></p>\n\n<p>In this case, your new work might be considered a <a href=\"http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">derivative work</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. The owner is generally the author or someone who has obtained rights from the author.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've written this from a US law perspective. I am more familiar with UK copyright law but the basic points above are broadly similar.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4881",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
4,891 | <p>As we may ask and answer various questions on online forums or stack exchange regarding teaching, research, publishing etc; it may reveal our lack of knowledge on any basic topic. This might hurt us in the future as an already established academician. So, should we participate in those online forums or stack exchange sites under pseudo-names to remain anonymous?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4892,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Participation in a board such as this is strictly voluntary, and people have the choice to identify themselves by whatever means they choose: with their realnames, with pseudonyms, with login names, or with no names at all.</p>\n\n<p>People are, of course, responsible for their actions and their behavior, but it's not up to us to tell them that they <em>must</em> be anonymous, or that they <em>must</em> use their real names. All we can do is tell the to do whatever they feel is appropriate <strong>in their own situations.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4893,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is a very good point. There are certain questions I'd like to ask, but cannot because I'm not at all anonymous for the reasons you allude to or because current students might read those answers. That said, I chose not to be anonymous and I have adjusted my behaviour accordingly. Maybe my students like the idea that I can answer their questions on such a public forum (well, perhaps one of the more topic specific forums).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4894,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>That's a good question. I don't have a permanent position yet, and I'm aware that anything I post here can potentially be read by future recruiting committee, so I'm also careful of the <em>way</em> I can ask questions or post answers. I don't think it's a problem to show that you might lack some knowledge, considering that you're also showing you're aware of it and taking some measures to get that knowledge. </p>\n\n<p>That being said, nothing prevents you to log out and ask a question anonymously. Your IP is <em>not</em> public, so you're safe. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4895,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll add an answer, because I am one of the posters who chose to participate to SE pseudonymously. I see two reasons one would want to do so. The first would be to set up a really airtight firewall between real-life identity and some online circles. This allows you to ask questions of a more personal or confidential nature, but also severely restricts the information you can give up (and thus your interaction with others on the site).</p>\n\n<p>The second approach, which is the one I follow, is less stringent: I merely use a pseudonym to make the link between my SE identity and my real identity not immediately Googleable. But, the link can (and has been) established, <em>both ways</em>. I have given here on SE more than enough information (spread over questions, answers and chat) to uniquely identify my ID. I also know that some colleagues know my account name… in part because, I'll admit to it, I do wear those SE T-shirts at work sometimes :)</p>\n\n<p>I am still pretty much myself, and don't restrict what I say any more than I would do to any person I would meet in the street and discuss with. I allows for some more candor, while still knowing one can be held accountable for one’s words. I like that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4898,
"author": "ElCid",
"author_id": 1520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1520",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll add few points, let me know if these could be considered as some sort of answer:</p>\n\n<p><em>Points in favour for revealing your name:</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>your name and identity become associated with your reputation, hence telling the world that you're some sort of expert in that domain, area, set of questions</li>\n<li>you can use such reputation for outside StackOverflow: informally, one such question arose on Meta-StackOverflow <a href=\"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/25453/have-you-ever-used-your-gained-reputation-points-to-get-a-job-or-something\">here</a> and <a href=\"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/30598/using-stack-overflow-in-a-job-interview?rq=1\">here</a> and <a href=\"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/30615/has-your-stackoverflow-reputation-helped-your-career?rq=1\">here</a> and <a href=\"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/30578/is-stack-overflow-reputation-marketable\">here</a>. How recruiters will use this type of information is still premature to say</li>\n<li>you can impress your students, friends and family :-)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><em>Points in favour for NOT revealing your name:</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>as an academic, I value the anonymous feedback to my content, being project proposals, papers, or anything else. I would argue that one of the greatest features of the peer-review approach is <strong>not to know who's your reviewer</strong>, so that she can bash some extremely harsh feedback without the need of expecting some back-slash from it</p></li>\n<li><p>as a SO user, your name, gender, identity should not matter, the quality of answers and questions should be more important. If you sample SO users, you will notice that the majority of them are not identifiable in terms of their nationality, gender, age or other characteristics. It seems to me that the users of \"online communities\" have more incentives to reveal such information; whether a Q&A site (as SO) does not strictly need that piece of information</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4902,
"author": "Parag",
"author_id": 3891,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3891",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a great question. There have been several instances when I wanted to clear some doubts about basic stuff, and wondered if it would be appropriate to post it in a way that would be visible on my profile.</p>\n\n<p>After going back and forth for a while, I created a pseudo-id, but in the end, I decided to just use my regular account. The intention was to make a point, that my students should not feel embarrassed to ask a question, even if it is a very basic question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4914,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that using real names should be encouraged. And if someone feels comfortable with it - just do it. However, when it may refrain someone from asking questions, then it's better to use a nickname.</p>\n<p>Why?</p>\n<p>People are afraid of asking "too simple" questions (<a href=\"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/130361/why-did-theoretical-physics-fail\">what may affect life d some SE sites</a>). But in general, whether offline or online, there are two possibilities:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>pretend that to be all-knowing (knowing that they won't believe you anyway),</li>\n<li>ask when you don't know, even if it seems simple (and "a simple question" asked in one's field can be in fact very advanced).</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Moreover, seeing <strong>serious guys asking simple questions may be very encouraging</strong> for others to ask. So please, if there are any postdocs and professors here, give a good example by using you own name (and not being afraid to ask under it :)).</p>\n<p>Just comparing to regular interactions with TAs and professors - being able to say "I don't know" gives respect (unless someone is totally clueless, but it that case one cannot cover it anyway).</p>\n<p>Furthermore, let me quote a part of the <a href=\"https://mathoverflow.net/faq\">MathOverflow FAQ</a>, as a part of <strong>establishing one's scientific reputation</strong>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We also encourage you to use your real name as your username. In your own enlightened self-interest, realise that participating in blogs, MathOverflow, the arXiv, and mathematical publishing are all forms of advertising for your "brand", even if that’s not your principal purpose (and hopefully it’s not). Since job applications require you to write your real name, you might as well use it everywhere else, too.</p>\n<p>Using real names reminds everybody that they are corresponding with real people, and it demonstrates a certain level of personal investment in your MathOverflow identity. If you use a pseudonym and you get into some kind of trouble (e.g. fights in comment threads or spammy-looking posts), the moderators are much less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Moreover, <strong>I've never heard of anyone's reputation (or job opportunities) being harmed by asking technical questions</strong>. Allegedly it may help, but I've never heard the opposite. So, IMHO, the risk here is overvalued.</p>\n<p>But...</p>\n<p>When it comes to issues related to talking about frictions with other people, institutions, abuse, etc (and other sensitive things) - then I guess the best approach is to use anonymous post anyway. Or have a nickname only for a few posts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4989,
"author": "sbi",
"author_id": 3927,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3927",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>OK, here is one more data point to this. </p>\n\n<p>In the early 90s I hit Usenet and fell in love with it. For about a decade I have, under my real name, actively participated in discussions about programming, literature, child raising, the organization of the <code>de.*</code> hierarchy, and whatnot. During this time, several Usenet search engines emerged, assembled data, swallowed each other like a pool full of sharks, until finally the whole data ended up at google. </p>\n\n<p>And it's all still there! If you know my real name, you can find my views onto programming, books, and child raising as well as certain personal stories that I now wish I hadn't posted, and a few flame wars I participated in more than a decade ago. While it happened back then, I felt increasingly bad about this, but, being tightly embedded in communities I didn't want to give up, I failed to see how to change that. (Also, looking back at all that always made me think that the worst damage has already been done, and that I wouldn't be as stupid anymore. <em>Sigh.</em> How silly an idea.) </p>\n\n<p>When it got to the point that, when I typed my name into google, it would suggest the remainder once I had barely started on my last name, I pulled plug and decided to go into hiding. Out of the likely online handles I picked one that hides behind a big institution at google, I setup an email address that I only use for services where I use that handle, and I became very strict about revealing my identity to members of online communities. (There isn't even half a dozen people, on SE or elsewhere, who know the name behind my moniker.) </p>\n\n<p>Now, google won't suggest my name until I have typed the very last letter, neither my coworkers nor my superiors know my online name, and almost nobody out there knows who's behind <em>\"sbi\"</em>. I can ask questions, give answers, and state opinions just as I want, without having to consider the opinions of, or the impact on, any of them. I can speak openly about how I feel at work without having to fear my superiors might see it. I can ask questions about stuff I am working on that I could not ask if the company I worked for was known (because it would give clues to competitors), and I can discuss child raising without having to worry what my kids will think about me (or a prospective employer will think about the family they came from) — well, at least there's nothing <em>new</em> to worry about now. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 21723,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I post under my real name, mostly because I started out by doing so on MathOverflow (where this is encouraged, and which I see as an extension of my public mathematical career). I have a general sense that this adds to the professional atmosphere of this site.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not too worried about damaging my career by posting a question or an answer that looks stupid or \"reveals my lack of knowledge\". I have no doubt I've already done that a few times, but I have enough trust in the academic community to believe that a reader will understand that I write in good faith and my goal is to learn and/or help. I also trust that any reader will remember that they've had \"stupid\" questions or opinions of their own, and avoid judging me too harshly.</p>\n\n<p>However, I do take care to keep my posts <em>professional</em>, remembering that I'm speaking publicly. Among other things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I try to maintain a calm, courteous and measured tone in my writing. I take extra time to make sure that what I post is reasonably well written, and hopefully not subject to misinterpretation.</p></li>\n<li><p>I will share my own experiences where they relate generally to academic life. I won't share details that implicate other people who could be identified, reveal confidential or non-public information, or expose details about my institution's internal politics. I won't post rumors or hearsay, or incidents that happened to other people (unless they're already public knowledge). I won't share experiences that are overly personal.</p></li>\n<li><p>I'll share my <em>personal</em> opinions or advice on academic matters, particular where I think my views are likely to be representative of the academic community as a whole, or a significant segment thereof. If I have unusual personal opinions on a particular issue, especially if I think they're likely to be controversial, I'll probably keep them to myself; partly out of self protection, but mostly because I don't think people who ask questions here are looking for answers from the lunatic fringe.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Contrary to ElCid's answer, I have no expectation of impressing anyone or building my academic reputation with my posts here.</p>\n\n<p>If I have a question or answer of a sensitive nature, I would post it anonymously (using Tor or something similar to hide my IP address if I were particularly concerned).</p>\n\n<p>I understand that other participants may prefer, for their own reasons, to participate under pseudonyms. I fully respect their decisions.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4891",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/675/"
]
|
4,899 | <p>Suppose that I am doing a literature review on a topic, and I read paper A, which makes an interesting claim and references paper B as its source. Naturally, as paper B is then the primary source, I will look up B and possibly cite it in my own paper if it seems relevant. And suppose that it turns out that paper A says nothing else that's relevant for my topic, so I say nothing about paper A.</p>
<p>And this seems fine if I only discovered one citation from paper A. But if I find several useful citations in the same paper, it starts to feel like plagiarism if I just ruthlessly harvest it for citations without never citing itself. </p>
<p>Sometimes it's easy to work in a citation in such a case. For example, if it's a review paper I'm reading, I might be able to just write in my own paper something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Qwerty (2009) reviews a number of a results in this field, such as the finding that over 99% of the people who contract cancer wear shoes (Keyes 1999), that pink aliens from the sixteenth dimension dislike chocolate (Pinker 2001), ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But often there isn't really any reasonable way to work in a citation, especially not if you wish the citation to make it clear that this is where you found useful sources from. I could include a footnote or a thanks in the acknowledgements, but I've never seen anyone do that for such a reason. Are there any rules of thumb regarding the correct etiquette in such situations?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4900,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The quoted you wrote is actually a pretty good way to include that citation.</p>\n\n<p>It all comes down to the fundamental reason you are citing the paper. Citations are used to refer the reader to papers that contain useful information pertaining to your discussion. As such, <em>“because it includes a good citation”</em> is not a good reason for citing paper A in itself: there are plenty of other ways you could have found paper B (other citations, web or database search, bumping into its author at a meeting, etc.). <strong>Unless paper A adds relevant information</strong> to paper B, it should simply not be cited. One way it can add information is by performing a review of the literature, or by commenting on the results in paper B… In the first case, your quote is a good way to acknowledge that fact; in the second case, you could simply write that:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>Qwerty discussed in [21] the original results of Doe [22], showing how the data wasn't corrected to account for the phase of the moon at the time of measurement.</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In conclusion, I'd say: <strong>determine whether paper A brings additional information, then either cite it or do not cite it</strong>. It is not common practice (and I don't think it should be) to acknowledge a paper without citing it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4901,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think \"telling the truth\" is a good guide: if one finds a source via another source, it is reasonable to say so. It is true that there is a tradition of a more formal pose, something in the direction that \"oh, we knew this all along\", even when this is not so. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, there is an issue of wording, for which we lack good precedents, because such acknowledgements are not typical.</p>\n\n<p>Another reason to be sure to acknowledge all sources is to communicate to the community that this is a reasonable thing to do.</p>\n\n<p>Note that the distinction between \"citation\" and \"acknowledgement\" is less intellectual/scientific than it is a score-keeping thresh-hold. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4899",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/867/"
]
|
4,903 | <p>Academics need various forms of their CV, depending on what purpose it's being used for. In my case, here are reasons I've had to re-format or have a different version of my CV:</p>
<ul>
<li>promotion and tenure, </li>
<li>research proposals (each grant program requires a different format), </li>
<li>program accreditation for engineering universities, </li>
<li>my official web page at my university (with a French and English version).</li>
</ul>
<p>It's a lot of busy work to maintain these CVs, especially as they evolve.</p>
<p>In Canada, there's a program in government-funded research to have a common format for CVs, called the <a href="https://ccv-cvc.ca/indexresearcher-eng.frm">Canadian Common CV</a>. It's a great idea, but doesn't really solve the global problems. Not all funding organizations support it (or the same version of it). </p>
<p>Can anyone recommend tools that help in preparing academic CVs in various formats? Probably this means centralizing the information in one place and having it output in customizable formats. Obviously, there needs to be some understanding of the elements of an academic CV: publications, students supervised, grants awarded, community service, courses taught, distinguished awards, etc. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4905,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I maintain CV of various lengths (with more or less details) and in two languages. For a long time, I have used <strong>LaTeX</strong> for that task, along with a <code>Makefile</code> that can do conditional compilation of my argument: basically, the LaTeX code was set up so that, depending on the job name of the compilation, different bits of the CV would be included or not (this is not TeX.SE, so I won't go into the full details).</p>\n\n<p>I used it for some years, but as time passed I progressed along the career track, and now I need more and more types of CV, customized in different ways. Basically, I end up having to manually select the bits and pieces I want to include for each specific use of my CV. Thus, I now maintain:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>a very brief CV (for which I use the NSF “biographical sketch” as a template)</li>\n<li>a full CV in English</li>\n<li>a full CV in French</li>\n<li>a list of publications, because these pretty much don't need translation apart from the section titles</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I use my <strong>word processor</strong> (MS Word or Apple’s Pages) for the first three, as it allows me to customize a specific CV from each template, and it also allows then pasting the CV into a larger Word document (often a requirement for grants).</p>\n\n<p>I still use a custom-made <strong>LaTeX processing of my publication list</strong>, from which I produce either PDF (if used on its own) or a HTML file, which I then copy into my MS Word CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4906,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to using LaTeX with a makefile, I find that using the LaTeX package splitbib is very useful. It allows you to format your publications with different subtitles for different category of publications, and you can pick and choose which entries from your publications (which I maintain as a BiBTeX file) should be included. </p>\n\n<p>Since LaTeX allows you to include files, it's relatively easy to create separate files that contain the base material and then include them as needed in different formats. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4907,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's also the idea of using a <strong>version control (or management) system</strong> such as <a href=\"http://git-scm.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Git</a>, <a href=\"http://subversion.tigris.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Subversion</a>, or <a href=\"http://mercurial.selenic.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mercurial</a>. These tools will allow you to keep track of changes to your CV over time. If you use text-based files, it's a much lower overhead than keeping multiple versions of the different files floating all over the place, especially having different filenames for different dates of creation and editing, and so on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4908,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In 2003 or so, I had a senior-project student try to influence the <a href=\"http://xmlresume.sourceforge.net/\" rel=\"nofollow\">XMLRésuméLibrary</a> project to support academic CV types, but the project didn't move forward. </p>\n\n<p>There's a related project called <a href=\"http://hr-xsl.sourceforge.net/\" rel=\"nofollow\">HR-XSL</a>, designed to convert XML-formatted CVs into various formats using command-line tools. <del>But I have not used it.</del> The examples (<a href=\"http://hr-xsl.sourceforge.net/examples/cv.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">HTML</a>, <a href=\"http://hr-xsl.sourceforge.net/examples/cv.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">PDF</a>) are for a university professor, implying it might be useful to academics. It's customizable, <del>according to the</del> and has pretty decent documentation.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Edit: I gave HR-XSL a shot and it works easily in <a href=\"http://eclipse.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Eclipse</a> (you need Ant and Java). The CV data is stored in an XML file that can easily be edited using a text (or more interestingly) an XML editor (Eclipse has a built-in one that is spiffy). Customizing the output is pretty easy, even though it's DOCBOOK and I've never used it before. I didn't carry out the exercise to the end (creating multiple formats), but feel it is going to pay off. </p>\n\n<p>Some limitations of the XML schema are that there are no data types for things like \"Research interests\" or \"Grants and Contracts\". However, there's a <code>ResumeAdditionalItem</code> that supports a user-defined type, e.g., \"Grants and Contracts\" and all entries there get grouped under that heading. </p>\n\n<p>There is also an internationalization dimension, but I don't think it will work to prevent duplicate XML sources for different languages (e.g., English and French). The reason is that the internationalization works to customize headings, such as \"Table of contents\" and \"Table des matières\". I haven't yet found a way to specify a Job Title in English vs. French, for example. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4909,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have never tried it, but <a href=\"https://github.com/jgm/yst\" rel=\"nofollow\">yst</a> was created to do this. There was a nice statement of the problem <a href=\"http://www.charlietanksley.net/philtex/writing-cvs-in-latex/#comment-1275\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Using yst, I can maintain a database of my articles, talks, service, academic positions, etc. as a set of YAML text files. I can edit these in any editor. yst then produces my website and various versions of my CV from this data, using a set of customized templates.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A similar statement by someone else can be found <a href=\"https://github.com/scmbradley/octopress-blog/blob/master/source/_posts/2012-07-01-a-yst-primer-part-i.markdown\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I can have, say, my list of publications or my list of conference talks\n as yaml data. I can then use yst to build a CV page for my website. I\n can also use yst to generate a .tex file for a pdf version of my CV.\n This way, I don't need to make the same edits in two different places\n when I give another talk.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4903",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859/"
]
|
4,910 | <p>Personally, I never feel done with projects, as there are always a few open projects, in which I'm involved in. (And typically 1-2 which "I should have finished year ago or so".)</p>
<p>First, <strong>what are good strategies of balancing between finishing past project and working on current ones?</strong></p>
<p>On the one hand, concentrating only on current ones means that there will be a lot of "almost baked" project, in a form of partial results, never published drafts or papers stuck in the revision process. (Assigning second priority to something means that it is never going to be taken seriously.)</p>
<p>On the other hand, focusing only past projects would:</p>
<ul>
<li>look as if I were slacking off (also, as some past projects are from previous afflictions),</li>
<li>have me stuck in working on projects, which are going to be "90%" for the eternity.</li>
</ul>
<p>Second, being put in situation with constant (internal) pressure and no calm sense of finishing things (as even after polishing results, polishing a draft, going through a few rounds of revisions... there are still <em>n-1</em> open projects), <strong>is there a way to feel accomplishment and not blame oneself when resting?</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4911,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are a few tips that seem to work for me:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You can apply the Google 20% rule and allow yourself 20% of your time to work on projects that have no clear end point, which would include new ideas that you've just had or projects of the sort that you've just had.</p></li>\n<li><p>New projects shouldn't become current projects unless they are close to finished or you make room in the 80% for them by finishing other projects. </p></li>\n<li><p>That said, you need to evaluate the projects that you haven't completed and determine whether it is really worth completing them, apart from the fact that you've invested a lot of time in them. At some point you have to cut and move on.</p></li>\n<li><p>Maybe you can write up the projects that are incomplete and see what you have in the end, and determine whether it goes into the 80%, the 20%, the bottom drawer, or the trash can. </p></li>\n<li><p>Pick a few conference deadlines (or create a deadline for a journal paper) and work towards that to finish the work. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4912,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a very broad questions, so I’ll try to chirp in with some of the “tricks” I use to get things done.</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Find ways to keep track</strong>. It can be very easy to feel that you have so many things going that you feel overwhelmed by remembering them or else. There are a number of hardware or software tools to do that. I have a list of ongoing stuff that I keep in the last pages of my notebook, which works pretty well.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>If something needs to be done, which takes little time, <strong>just do it right now</strong>. More importantly, the critical amount of time depends on the life of the project: the more advanced the project is, the more you need to finish. This prioritizes finishing older projects.</p>\n<p>For example, if I have a current project with a task that requires half a day of work, I'll try to find a time to do it later. If I have a one day task for a project that's almost done (such as revising a manuscript after reviewer comments), I'll just treat it as high priority to do ASAP.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>When working on a project with others, be clear to assign someone to monitoring progress (and reminding everyone of their contributions). On some projects, you need to take the back seat, and just let someone more concerned about the outcome drive the project.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>If some project isn't seeing any progress, try to break it up into smaller work units. Like: I'll write a detailed outline, then circulate it to colleagues or co-authors, then use feedback to write the paper (instead of trying to write the paper in one big piece).</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Finally, some advice I have received as a young parent, and that is very applicable to academic life: <strong>academic life is a long-term game</strong>, you're in it for 40+ years. You being very productive right now, then extenuated for 6 months isn't a net positive. You are a better researcher when you are rested and (relatively) stress-free, so <strong>avoiding exhaustion and stress is actually your #1 priority!</strong></p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4910",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49/"
]
|
4,915 | <p>I am writing my proposal and I am borrowing heavily from one of my publications. The published paper has a <code>Nomenclature</code> section at the very beginning (just after the abstract). </p>
<p>What is the appropriate place for a nomenclature in a proposal/thesis? Or is it more advisable to explain the terms near the place where they are used (considering that if <code>Nomenclature</code> is published on a distant page it would be too much of an effort on the reader's part to scroll down and up again)?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4916,
"author": "Luke Mathieson",
"author_id": 1370,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1370",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I personally think the biggest consideration is how often the term or symbol is used. If it's used a lot, then a clear definition at the start is probably the best. The reader then knows where to look if they're unsure of the meaning rather than having to find the first place it's used, and it would be ridiculous to keep defining it every time you use it.</p>\n\n<p>For things that are just used once, it may be more readable to define it at the point of use. The definition is only relevant for that little portion, so splitting the definition and use makes things, as you say, too much of an effort for the reader.</p>\n\n<p>The question then is where to draw the line; at what point does a rarely used term become common enough to warrant being included in the nomenclature section? This is, I think, becomes a matter of preference. Personally, if a term were used in more than one section, I'd define it at the start. Though, if it really is only used twice, perhaps an in-place definition and a \"recall that we define...\" kind of sentence would read more smoothly.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4920,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I prefer to group definitions of notation and symbols with the typical \"List of ...\" elements. You probably already have \"List of figures\" and \"List of tables\", so simple add something like \"List of symbols\" or \"List of abbreviations\" after the other lists.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4915",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/906/"
]
|
4,918 | <p>I have brought some trouble onto myself I know, but what can be done by someone in my situation.</p>
<p>I applied and got accepted for a PhD program in Computer Science. I automatically assumed that I wanted to continue the work I did on my Master's thesis and I identified a professor who would be willing to work with me on that subject. When I got there, I reviewed the literature (there had been a few years of gap since defending my thesis) and decided I really did not like the direction the field was going in. I had been developing a new interest anyway, so I changed sub-disciplines. Now, no one will commit to be my advisor, at best maybe co-advisor with some outside expert. Part of the reason is because my school lacks experts in that area. I personally (on a friend basis) know some Computer Science professors, but none are experts in my field. What can I do? No advisor = No PhD, I know that much anyway. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4919,
"author": "Ran G.",
"author_id": 324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Changing a subject during the PHD course is legitimate, and not very rare. However, finding an advisor is a must. I think in that case you'll have no choice but trying to convince professors to be your advisors. </p>\n\n<p>A possible way is to find an expert from a different university, that will be your co-advisor. That way you'll just need to find another faculty in your university that is not-too-far from your interests. You might find someone that will tentativly be your advisor, and once you show some progress will agree to take you under..</p>\n\n<p>But maybe the big question is,\nwhy not moving to the place where the \"experts\" are?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4925,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not think changing topics on a PhD research is totally unheard off. In fact, as Ran mentioned, it's probably more common than one would think.</p>\n\n<p>Now, the advisor is indeed an issue. The problem is that it looks bad on professors if they do not understand what are you doing, and if the field is unrelated to them that might happen. Did you try looking for an advisor in other area, where what you want to do is applied?</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps a nice way to approach the issue is to do a more formal research plan and a good application in mind, that might attract some advisor or at least give a strong case to an outside expert.</p>\n\n<p>In these days distance should not be an issue for a CS research.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4918",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3903/"
]
|
4,922 | <p>In many journals of my field, upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication with minor revisions, the editor sets a deadline (4 weeks, in many journals) for submission for the revised manuscript.</p>
<p>While I usually resubmit these papers as fast as possible, I don't see the benefit <em>for the editor</em> to set a deadline. After all, once a paper is “almost accepted”, the authors are motivated enough to get it over the final line, aren't they?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4923,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Editing a journal is a non-trivial exercise, something which tends to drag on forever and requires lots of pushing of reviewers and authors to complete their tasks on time. It is time-consuming. Without deadlines, reviewers and authors will submit their work arbitrarily late, making it very difficult to get each issue out on time. </p>\n\n<p>Authors may well be motivated to get over the final line, but when there are other things to do and the possibility of delaying one piece of work yet another day, then it is easy to delay that work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4924,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, you want predictability in any manufacturing business, and printing press is that kind of manufacturing endeavour. Without deadlines for submissions, you won't have predictability in production.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4922",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
4,928 | <p>I've spoken with many friends, and they all agree that response letters to reviewers should be written in the most kind, cordial and humble possible way.</p>
<p>Even if the reviewers are in an error, one should make no major strides to show it to them.</p>
<p>I wonder, How do you write your response letters to the reviewers?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4936,
"author": "Dan C",
"author_id": 1069,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>If the reviewers are in error</strong>, yes you should show it to them, but <strong>you should often also take the opportunity to revise your paper, so that your readers don't fall into the same error</strong>. For example, suppose reviewers say that you could use such and such an approach to get a better result. If they are right, then you should either do it, or explain why you're not doing it. </p>\n\n<p>But if the reviewers are wrong, then maybe you should address this idea in your introduction. In one paper I wrote, we included in our introduction a <em>false</em> one paragraph proof of the thing we took 10 pages to prove. Afterwards we pointed out the error. </p>\n\n<p>For one paper we submitted, we got conflicting referee reports. Essentially, the referees both wanted us to revise the paper, but in different directions (to oversimplify: one reviewer said \"shorten and simplify\" and the other said \"lengthen and elaborate\"). We agreed with one report, and disagreed with the other. So in our response, we pointed out that we couldn't do both . We explained why we preferred the choice we were making, and our paper was accepted.</p>\n\n<p><strong>You don't have to do everything the reviewers suggest.</strong> But if you don't, your response letter should <em>explain</em> why you have chosen to do otherwise.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 91163,
"author": "Fergal",
"author_id": 56455,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/56455",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As DanC states, you don't have to do everything a referee suggests, especially when they are asking for the wrong thing. A response along the lines of the following usually does the trick for me.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We do not believe the referee's suggested approach is appropriate in this context [Explain reason why]. However, we accept that Section x.x.x could easily mislead a careful reader into thinking this approach was required, and have clarified the text as follows:</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This addresses the issue, explains why you disagree with the referee, but throws the referee a bone by saying how helpful they have been. I make a point of thanking the referee as often as possible in a response. After all, they are taking time to make your paper better with no reward.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 91173,
"author": "Lenz",
"author_id": 75078,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/75078",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my experience, successful letters to the reviewer have been very objective--guiding the reader to a specific line number in your original manuscript and/or reviewed manuscript.</p>\n\n<p>Often times the reviewer will say something like \"the author failed to show that x is correlated with y,\" to which I usually write: \"the authors wish to thank the reviewer for raising this issue. We have added a new sentence to clarify how x and y correlate (please refer to line 100 of the reviewed manuscript).\"</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, the reviewer simply does not understand a passage of your manuscript. For example \"the authors did not explain why the sky is blue,\" to which I commonly reply \"the authors wish to thank the reviewer for raising this issue. We wish to bring the attention to line 200 of the manuscript where we say that 'the sky is blue because of xyz, as supported by Figure 1.' \"</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes the reviewer is just mean. Once, a reviewer wrote the following to me: \"the author is encouraged to understand the basics of physics,\" to which I simply replied: \"5 new references have been added on line 300 to support our claim that heavier bodies accelerate slower when acting upon an unchanged force, a direct result from [Newton, 1687].\" </p>\n\n<p>You can't be rude, but you must be succinct and show exactly where in the manuscript you address the issue raised by the reviewer. </p>\n\n<p><strong>You can then take 3 actions: \n 1. add a sentence to clarify the issue, \n 2. point to the reviewer that you have in fact explained the issue in the manuscript, or \n 3. add references that support your claim and weaken the reviewer's concern.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Some times, if your response letter is objective and clearly addresses <strong>all</strong> the reviewer's concerns, the Editor will accept your manuscript upon reading your letter and not send back to the reviewer for another round of reviews (this has happened to me at least 2 times before).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4928",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806/"
]
|
4,930 | <p>I am currently a staff researcher at a public research university in the US. While a tenure-track position may be in my future, I would like some of the opportunities and responsibilities now. In particular, I want to be able to write grants as a PI and advise students and postdocs. I believe that I can do this as an adjunct faculty, but I have a few questions about where to start:</p>
<ul>
<li>What are common steps required to become an adjunct faculty?</li>
<li>Where can I find additional information (e.g. would a university-wide policy be given at the university website?)</li>
<li>Assuming I speak with the department chair, what should I say? Are my justifications sufficient.</li>
<li>How could I sell my case, other than my (demonstrated) ability to obtain funding and (undemonstrated) ability to be an advisor?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4932,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ul>\n<li>What are common steps required to become an adjunct faculty?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Ask your department chair.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Where can I find additional information (e.g. would a university-wide policy be given at the university website?)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Ask your department chair.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Assuming I speak with the department chair, what should I say?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>\"I'm interested in becoming adjunct faculty. What's the hiring process? Why yes, I <em>do</em> happen to have my CV with me.\"</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>How could I sell my case, other than my (demonstrated) ability to obtain funding and (undemonstrated) ability to be an advisor?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Ask your department chair.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4934,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Be aware, too, that the administrative and departmental conceptions of both the privileges and responsibilities of adjuncts vary hugely from place to place. In many places, adjunct faculty do not serve on any committees, and it would be nearly universal that, in particular, they'd not be on the hiring and tenure committees, and not vote on hiring and tenure.</p>\n\n<p>The question of being \"allowed\" to be an official advisor (as opposed to the obvious possibilities of informal mentoring) also surely has different answers different places. In some institutions, it is quite anomalous for \"non-tenure-track/tenured faculty\" to be allowed to \"advise\". You'd need to ask.</p>\n\n<p>At worst, adjunct faculty are marginalized in terms of job security, voice in departmental matters, and are given the least desirable teaching responsibilities, etc. Hopefully this is not the situation at your institution, but, for example, a move from \"research associate\" to \"adjunct faculty\" might be, and might be perceived as, a step <em>down</em>, with unanticipated negative consequences for you. Hard to know without \"being on the ground\" there in your particular situation.</p>\n\n<p>Also, beware that various administrative \"official\" statements on such things do not match <em>practice</em>, so unofficial, off-the-record information may be essential.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4930",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/344/"
]
|
4,938 | <p>I am curious to know whether PhD is the highest degree one can earn? Is there any other degree beyond that, if so what is it and what are the universities offering the same?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4939,
"author": "Dan C",
"author_id": 1069,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1069",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The degree you're looking for (at least in the sciences) is called \"Doctor of Science\" and you can read all about it on Wikipedia:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Science\">Doctor of Science</a></p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> As aeismail noted: Sometimes this degree is considered equivalent to a PhD and sometimes it's considered <em>beyond</em> a PhD. This distinction typically varies by country (all this is listed on the Wikipedia page).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4940,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends highly on your university and national system. The <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Science#United_States\">Doctor of Science</a></em> title has already been cited by Dan C, and several European countries have a higher diploma called <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habilitation\">habilitation</a></em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 8398,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many countries have higher degrees than the PhD.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.uea.ac.uk/calendar/section3/regs%28awards%29/doctor-of-laws,-of-letters-and-of-science\">In the UK</a>, there's</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Litt.D Doctor of Letters / Literature</li>\n<li>DSc Doctor of Science</li>\n<li>LL.d Doctor of Laws</li>\n<li>D.D. <a href=\"http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/31-67_General_Regulations.shtml\">Doctor of Divinity</a> (the highest)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Each of these typically requires the submission of a body of work - a research portfolio - together with a critique of the work. Or they may be awarded as honorary degrees; see the links above for the requirements for the degrees from the University of East Anglia (Litt.D, DSc, LL.d), and the University of Oxford (D.D.), accordingly.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17444,
"author": "biohazard",
"author_id": 12049,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12049",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I heard that in Russia they have an equivalent to the standard Ph.D and a sort of \"second Ph.D\" after that, that is way harder to get than the first. One of my Russian friends argued that it is harder and rarer than the European \"habilitation\", but I guess it is open to debate to see whether it is just a matter of opinion.</p>\n\n<p>Here is the corresponding article in Wikipedia:\n<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_nauk\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_nauk</a></p>\n\n<p>(On an unrelated topic, I think the name is quite cool.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17452,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>At the risk of answering a question that the OP may not actually be asking....</em></p>\n\n<p>One of the biggest myths to deprogram grad students of is the idea that the Ph.D is \"the highest degree\" or is in fact in a well-defined ordering relationship with other degrees. It is true that a Ph.D will typically require other degrees as a prerequisite, and it is also true that (as far as I know) no degree program requires a Ph.D for admission. However, there's no useful sense in which the Ph.D is \"highest\" in anything. It is a certification that you can do research, and is almost always a mandatory step before getting a research position in academia. </p>\n\n<p>But by that logic, an MBA, a J.D or an MD are also \"highest\" degrees. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 20764,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another concept of \"next step after PhD\", at least in some countries, is the notion of an 'academic', i.e., a member of the relevant national Academy of Sciences. </p>\n\n<p>That membership is in essence an awarded/elected degree for continued contributions to science and demonstrated expertise.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 96082,
"author": "Tommi",
"author_id": 13017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13017",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Finland, someone with a doctor's degree and additional body of scientific work equivalent to another thesis can apply for the title of docent (dosentti). The title gives the right to mentor PhD students. Docenture is a degree in the sense that it does not imply employment at the university which bestows the title.</p>\n\n<p>At least some professors consider it kind of a vestige and it might be phased out at some point.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4938",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2757/"
]
|
4,941 | <p>It seems funding for a PhD (at least in the UK) is a lot easier to get for a PhD in statistics rather then maths. Provided one can find a supervisor who has the background and research interestes that would allow one to keep extending ones pure mathematical toolbox are there any major risks in going for a PhD in stats ? </p>
<p>It seems to me that at any given stage there is a lot of flexibility with a degree in mathematics. (For instance people seem very open minded to let a maths MSc do a stats PhD). Is it justified to be worried about losing this flexibility if one opts for the PhD in stats rather then maths? </p>
<p>In particular I am worried about whether it is possible to transition back to the maths departement for a postdoctoral position or something equivalent. So essentially I want to know whether one will get branded to an extend that would make it difficult to go on and work in pure mathematics after the PhD.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5035,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I cannot answer about stats/maths directly, but in general the department you get your PhD in matters less than who it is with. This is especially true in places like the UK were there is no course work component. In my current department, psychology, about 50% of the faculty, including myself, did not get our PhD from Psychology departments. That said, if you are only willing to teach in a Maths department, then you should probably go to a Maths department. If you are willing to teach in either Maths or Stats, then it doesn't matter too much.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5038,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Provided one can find a supervisor who has the background and research interestes that would allow one to keep extending ones pure mathematical toolbox are there any major risks in going for a PhD in stats?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There's a small risk, but it can be managed. The first issue is that you need to make the mathematical content of your work very clear, for example by publishing in journals that could be considered both math journals and statistics journals (e.g., IMS journals). However, if you're interested in math departments I assume you'd be doing that anyway.</p>\n\n<p>The slightly more subtle issue is how mathematicians view statisticians. There's sometimes a mild prejudice that people in mathematical statistics are overly specialized and outside of the mainstream of mathematics. For example, it's possible to get a Ph.D. in mathematical statistics while having considerably less breadth of mathematical background than would be considered acceptable for a math grad student. (Of course, the flip side is that you are expected to know other things instead.) There's sometimes a fear that a statistician would be unlikely to talk much with other math department members, or might be unwilling or unable to teach anything but statistics.</p>\n\n<p>Plenty of statisticians have found jobs in math departments, so I don't want to be discouraging. However, I'd recommend focusing on mathematical breadth. For example, if you work with people in combinatorics or algebra, then it will be clear to everyone why a math department is a natural fit. If you talk only to statisticians, it will be less clear. It can still work out even then, but generally when the department either has a thriving statistics group or has decided they really need a statistician (and either way this cuts down on the flexibility of your job search).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4941",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52/"
]
|
4,946 | <p>The consensus on academic jobs seems to be that we are <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Todays-Faculty-Stressed-and/135276/">sending far too many students to graduate school to train for jobs that will not be there when they graduate.</a> Despite this, most of my undergraduate students have aspirations for graduate school. In part I believe that this is due to a saturation of exclusively academic role models during their time in college. </p>
<p>Since virtually all of my experience is in academia and I have basically succeeded in getting a tenure track position, I feel ill equipped to advise these students in making decisions about their future and showing them alternative role models. </p>
<p>Where can I get the experience and resources to show students that would potentially benefit from considering alternatives to an academic career that high quality alternatives exist?</p>
<p>(NOTE: I am in the natural sciences so answers specific to science would be great but if a cross-discipline answer exists, that would be ideal) </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4948,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In our university, we have good experiences with inviting alumni who are now in industry to give career-oriented talks. The students know that the person giving the talk was in the same study program as they are now, and I guess just this alone helps them to see possible role models in the persons giving talks. The best talks are when alumni not only report about the technical points of the project they are working on, but also give a more personal account of their development towards their current job.</p>\n\n<p>These talks are organized by the alumni organisation of the study program, which certainly helps getting the contacts to potential speakers. But I can also imaging getting these contacts in other ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4957,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My university is only engineering, but I'll try to answer. The administration is working hard to allow graduate program internships (coops), as they are successful at the undergrad level. The other angle is that there are two flavors of master's degree: professional and research. The former is not an academic career path. Most students already have an idea where they want to go when they register, and the ratio is about 4:1.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4970,
"author": "Francisco Morales",
"author_id": 2775,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2775",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Here I briefly describe two ideas regarding to what a professor can do in this situation.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Keep contact with former students</strong>: Frequently, professors establish relationship with students during classes or during an undergraduate or master's thesis. Probably, maintaining these relationships after students graduate may give you some interesting points of view regarding jobs in the industry. You can just send an email to a former student in order to ask her about her job or you can invite former students to give a talk in one of your classes.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Establish relationships with actors in the industry</strong>: If students are required to take an internship, you can contact institutions that receive students for internship and suggest those institutions candidates that you know. I suppose that if you are able to refer to them good students, you can continue the relationship with those institutions.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Another alternative would be to engage in professional activities in the industry. However, this depends on whether you are interested in working as a consultant or something similar.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4946",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/248/"
]
|
4,949 | <p>I must make a difficult decision, so am having to turn to the wider community to gain some perspective. </p>
<p>My situation is the following: I am currently outside USA and am trying to enter academia here. I have been invited as a visiting lecturer at a top US university. However, I am worried that though certainly valuable, a purely teaching position might be a huge negative against me in terms of prospects for a more research oriented position (Asst or Assoc Prof). Or is my trepidation unjustified?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4950,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The title of <em>lecturer</em> does not necessarily imply that you would teach full time. Sure, it usually implies more teaching than research, but that does not mean it's strictly teaching only. Especially for a visiting lecturer position, one could imagine there be arrangements possible.</p>\n\n<p>So: have you checked the exact term under which you would be employed?</p>\n\n<p>Also: how long would be this “brief” position? And what is your current seniority in your local research system? Those factors will play heavily into the decision.</p>\n\n<p>Overall, I expect it's a net positive for you if you manage to keep some research activity going on, especially if you can travel relatively often to visit your non-US lab. Otherwise, if it's purely teaching with no opportunity to maintain some research activity, and you are not far from getting a job where you are, accepting might be risky.</p>\n\n<p><em>“Long absent, soon forgotten”</em></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4951,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These days, I believe having experience in foreign countries is considered a plus almost everywhere. Even if you're strictly speaking in a teaching-only position, that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of that to do some research \"on the side,\" and to make contacts with researchers at the university where you're teaching, and at other schools in the vicinity. You might also have an opportunity for more networking.</p>\n\n<p>The only way this is a real negative is if you're in such a period for an extended period of time (say, on the order of several years), and then want to pivot back to a research focused career. Then you will have to overcome the challenge of proving that you'll be able to raise enough money to sustain a research group. Beyond that, however, I can't see any real downside to a short (one year?) appointment. I think if the choice is between that and being unemployed, the job is definitely the better choice.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4949",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3911/"
]
|
4,954 | <p>I'm currently writing my diploma thesis (old equivalent of master in Germany) in mathematics. It's about a fairly new combinatorical optimization problem which has military applications. In fact, the problem originates from that, even though in the formulation I'm studying it is a bit more theoretical.</p>
<p>I got this topic without the knowledge of its applications and of course I don't like optimizing the ways of killing people. (Just to clarify: luckily there are other (good) applications too)</p>
<p>It is likely that my research will end up in a paper, thus beeing widely available. Is it possible to restrict usage of such research to non-military applications only?</p>
<p>(side note: Probably no military organization will ever comply with such a restriction. I'm aware of that.)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4955,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I don't think you have any right to restrict the <em>usage</em> of your publications. You might retain the original copyright (or your publisher will), and thus prevent that anyone else (including the army) can publish your work on their behalf, but you can't prevent someone to use your idea just because it's published. </p>\n\n<p>A legal possibility could be to file a patent protecting your approach, but I'm not sure if it covers all usage or only commercial usages (in which case the army could use it as long as they are not making money out of it). You might want to check this with <a href=\"http://patents.stackexchange.com\">AskPatent</a>. </p>\n\n<p>You could also not publish it, and it could be possible to ask your university to consider your thesis as confidential (I've seen some cases where a thesis was confidential, when some companies were involved in them), but your advisor might not agree. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4956,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was offered an opportunity to work a while back in the same field as you; optimization applied to military applications. It was related to anti-ballistic missile defense. I didn't take the project though, since defense, while perfectly acceptable to me, seemed very unlikely to be ultimate usage of my research. The literature in that field trots out continuously the same bogeymen of Iran and North Korea, but that seems bogus to me. More plausible, is that that research aims to gain us more technical leverage over countries we want to push around; like Russia, India, and China. I'd much rather work on research that has more peacetime applications, the elevate the human condition, rather than empower the worst people among us to impress their personal agendas on not only their own people, but practically the entire planet.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4954",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3914/"
]
|
4,958 | <p>I am currently a grad student in Psychology. I have heard that many professors like to see a list of 'Professional Affiliations' on a potential employee's CV, because it is an easy way to see whether the two people have common interests.</p>
<p>My question is, are there any guidelines for what I can realistically put there? Should I just list conferences in which I am a current, paying dues member; or can I put any conference in which I've paid dues in the past? Or can I be even less strict that these guidelines?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4959,
"author": "ShadowWarrior",
"author_id": 675,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/675",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>By 'Professional Affiliations' it is meant that one is a member of certain professional association such as <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org\">IEEE</a>, <a href=\"http://www.acm.org\">ACM</a>, <a href=\"http://www.ice.org.uk\">ICE,</a> <a href=\"http://www.asce.org\">ASCE</a> etc.</p>\n\n<p>These professional bodies often arranges conferences which anyone can attend, so registering for the conferences does not mean that one is a member of a organizing body. Conference participation information may be put into your publication list as conference papers and/or given talks section.</p>\n\n<p>So, <strong>You should only list the organisations as professional affiliations of which you are a member.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4961,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Any professional association in which you have been a member.</p>\n\n<p>Conferences are not included in that category, unless they imply membership in some association. For example, registering for the biannual meeting of the <a href=\"http://www.mrs.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Materials Research Society</a> includes membership fees, so if you participated in a meeting, you were a member.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding past membership, I would only include it if you were a member for a significant time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4969,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/4959/73\">Rashed's answer</a> is correct. In addition, though, it is not uncommon to place other notable affiliations towards the end of the resume, if there is space, under whatever title is appropriate. For example, in my resume, I have a \"Community Service\" section, where I list my membership on various nonprofit boards of directors. If you hold officer position in any other notable groups you could list them similarly.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4958",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3916/"
]
|
4,965 | <p>Academic indicators (h-index, impact factor, modified h-indexes, etc) have a long string of criticism by academics and not (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publish_or_perish#Disadvantages">here</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor#Criticisms">here</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index#Criticism">here</a>).</p>
<p>Instead of debating (endlessly) on how "not representative" and flawed these numbers are (or howling generic rants...), I would be interested to know if Academia.SE community members have objective <strong>facts</strong> and <strong>reports</strong> on how academic workplaces are currently using these indicators. For instance in the upcoming REF2014 (UK), academics in my institution are urged to use, as their contributions, the papers accepted in highest impact factors journals.</p>
<p>In summary, can you trade your h-index for a better paying job?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4966,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Czech Republic, researchers are obliged to indicate their most important publications, together with the number of citations, the corresponding impact factors of the journals, as well as their own WoS-based h-index on major grant proposals to national grant agencies (GACR, TACR, etc.). In a consequence, universities care for h-index and other citation metrics internally as well and in result citations/impact factors are tracked and form a basis for annual evaluation, possibly even leading to end-year bonus calculation. So yes, at least in Czech research space citation metrics, such as h-index and impact factors are a big deal.\n<hr/>\nLater edit:\nSince you ask for objective evidence, I refer to the recent manual for <a href=\"http://www.gacr.cz/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Zadavaci-dok-GACR-2012-ST-final.pdf\">GACR standard projects starting in 2012</a>, paragraph 4.2.10, b-d (all in Czech).</p>\n\n<p><hr/>\nYet another edit in response to ElCid's comment:\nThere was an equation for calculating an extra-ordinary bonus taking into account the impact factor of the journal authors get their paper accepted in and then taking into account the stated (percentual) contributions of each individual co-author. In result, the formula spit out the amount of money each department-resident co-author would get for the paper. The bonus was a department-specific policy.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, there was an annual evaluation taking into account the number of papers produced by the researcher, the number of citations received in that particular year (sometimes extremely hard to track), impact factors for journals of the papers concerned (both submitted and those receiving citations) grants received, and other minor factors as well. The evaluation was a faculty wide policy, I am not sure whether it led to direct financial benefit to the researchers, but certainly these metrics were important in the internal university-wide division of funds which also partly hinged on aggregates of the above described metrics. To my understanding, these policies formed an incentive for the faculty to target high-impact journals in their respective fields.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4967,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The main reason to look at impact factor (at the schools where I've worked*) is so that a future hire can most probably obtain funding to continue research (support grad students, purchase equipment, etc.). </p>\n\n<p>Quality publications become an important aspect of any research proposals a future hire would submit. Research proposals are evaluated by other researchers within the network of the research program. Those researchers can freely use impact factor of a proposal's publications as a criterion for evaluation. I don't know of any programs that use it as a mandatory criterion, probably because it's still controversial.</p>\n\n<p>Some professors might get hired because they already have good funding, sometimes because of R&D contacts with industry, a good IP track record (patents), and a low impact factor may be a terrible reason to reject a candidate like that. </p>\n\n<p>As for converting h-index to better pay, I'd say if you're at the right institution, you can convert it to a better <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/4818/3859\">package</a> (salary is only one aspect). Impact factor is not the only indicator that you will be successful, but might be an important one for tenure-track (assistant) professor positions. It may not get you a higher salary, but it probably will get your CV higher on the list.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>*Hiring committees are formed and they are free to set the criteria for selecting candidates. Impact factor has been used on several committees at my institution, but it's not an established policy. I believe this is an issue of academic freedom.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4968,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>On the European research market, various opinions have been offered on the use of h-index by ERC grant evaluation committees, and the broader relationship between h-index and ERC funding success. People who provide such opinion can be classified in three categories:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>affiliated with the ERC</li>\n<li>consultants whose business is to offer advice to (potential) candidates</li>\n<li>individuals involved in another way, whose advice is most probably only anecdotal</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, what do the first two categories have to say? The official word from the guidelines is, well… absent. But it is politically correct to assert that h-index is not a good indicator of scientific quality and, as such, not used. This gives <a href=\"http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=quality%20in%20science%20is%20not%20proved%20by%20accumulating%20quantitative%20points.%20the%20role%20of%20commercial%20impact%20factor%20and%20h-index%20is%20limited.%20overemphasizing%20of%20publish%20or%20perish%20policy%20leads%20to%20a%20gradual%20perishing%20of%20all.&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http://www.vscht.cz/document.php?docId=6553&ei=bU-JULSCKoK4hAfrn4HgAw&usg=AFQjCNHlRtZss7A755KIXLGDhbPyzUDSIg\">quotes</a> like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Quality in science is not proved by accumulating quantitative points. The role of commercial impact factor and h-index is limited. Overemphasizing of publish or perish policy leads to a gradual perishing of all.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>On the other hand, practical advice might be a bit more <a href=\"http://www.science.ku.dk/finansiering/eu/ideas/aktuelle_opslag_ideas/erc_adg_2012/ERC_Advanced_Grant_2013_Call_note.pdf/\">nuanced</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There will also be a new h-index study the successful 2011 awardees in the PE and LS domains. <strong>The h-index is regarded as a background indicator rather than a determining factor</strong> and the study on the 2010 Advanced Grant awardees showed that each panel made awards across a considerable range and that there were significant differences across the different ERC panels. There was a big variation between different disciplines within the main domains.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and <a href=\"http://chaos.if.uj.edu.pl/~karol/pdf/europhys09.pdf\">this</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Every applicant had to choose his 10 best publications published in the recent decade and add how many times each of these papers were cited in the literature. The total number L of these citations describes well how the scientific community perceives their recent achievements. <strong>These numbers were provided by the ERC in the dossier of every applicant. However, during the evaluation process the panel did not put much emphasis on any bibliometric data. It was the opinions of the experts which did matter, not the bare numbers</strong>. Only after completing the evaluation process, I realised a correlation between these data and the final outcome.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>To give another perspective: in France, a new evaluation system for higher education and research was put in place 5 years ago (the newly created agency performing the evaluation is called AERES). AERES evaluates each research group every 4 to 5 years, in order to give it an <em>overall rating</em>, which could be A+, A, B or C. This had at least two very practical consequences that I know of:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>For yearly financial negotiations between each university and the Ministry for research, the ministry started to require a spreadsheet with the number of university teams rated A+, and the number of A team (B and C didn't seem to count). Financial support was then dependent on that number, at least as a starting point for the negotiations.</li>\n<li>It became customary to include this grade in your French grant applications, because a A+ rating was considered a serious advantage. This was written in the “rules”, however…</li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>So, all in all, are bibliometric and, speaking more broadly, academic indicators really adopted by institutions? <strong>Hell yeah!</strong> They make deciders’ job easier: quantification of research quality makes it easier to make decisions. <strong>Smart decision makers do realize, however, that a single indicator does not make for good decisions</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4994,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As in JeffE's comments to another answer, it is very unclear to me that anyone should be happy that \"bibliometrics\" assume official stature, especially in the particular situation of \"emerging\" fields, where one's livelihood thus becomes contingent on opinions or behavior of non-experts?</p>\n\n<p>In the U.S., in mathematics, it seems that this official stature is very recent, in contrast to various places in Europe where (apparently) the bureaucracy was even less shy than here about insisting on \"simple\" quantification of the \"performance\" of academics and departments. Of course, presumably, administrations have always simplified their private appraisals of departments and individuals for purposes of \"decision-making\" (a.k.a., deciding who gets the money), but more recently commercial products (from our buddies the traditional publishers) have been promoted to university administrators, and have been bought and paid for, over the public objections of faculty...</p>\n\n<p>One point is that traditional publishers are happy, I'm sure, to have the significance of their gatekeeper \"peer-reviewed\" publications more firmly ensconced by the effective endorsement of their \"rating\" software packages.\n\"Conflict of interest\" comes to mind, for one thing.\n(But I'm not eager to trade this commericalized U.S. manifestation for the systematic, nation-wide version available too often in Europe.)</p>\n\n<p>The real problem is that this commodification of \"research/scholarship\" adds a function-less layer of misdirection and noise to an already challenging enterprise, with already-precarious economics. For those who wish it to be a \"revolution\" that gets us out from under some old regime, I fear that instead it is merely a different incarnation of the same thing, sometimes owned by the same mulit-national corporate entities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30763,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In many places of South Korea, IF is definitely used for job performance evaluation. In one Research Institute I am aware of, there is yearly evaluations which are quantitative, giving each person a score out of 100. The actual impact factor of each journal publication is used in the calculation, such as the highest IF journals are given 3x more points than low or non. The final score determines job promotion or firings. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4965",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1520/"
]
|
4,971 | <p>I'd like to know your opinion on citations in abstracts.
At my university, there is no rule on that matter so it's basically a
question of preference.</p>
<p>Do you think it's okay to have citations in an abstract or do you
personally prefer to have the abstract be a ``stand-alone'' piece of
work?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4972,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the situation.</p>\n\n<p>An abstract for a paper must be stand-alone, because the bibliography is hidden in the paper itself. The abstract must contain all information required for people to judge if they want to read the paper, and as there is no bibliography, the reader does not know what the citations relate to. Therefore, there should be no citations.</p>\n\n<p>It may be a bit different if the abstract is for a conference. Maybe in some situations it's possible to add one or two references at the end of the abstract. In that case, it can be okay to have citations.</p>\n\n<p>So the most important question here is: <em>can the reader use the abstract as a stand-alone unit?</em> If using citations cause the answer to this question to be <em>no</em>, don't do citations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4973,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It is not entirely unreasonable to include a citation in an abstract, if the reason you are citing it is because your paper is a major extension, rebuttal, or counterpoint to the cited article. </p>\n\n<p>In that case, however, you do have the responsibility of providing the reference <em>within the body of the abstract</em>. For example,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We extend upon the results of Smith [<em>Journal of Very Important Results</em>, <strong>1</strong>, 374 (2012)] to include the effects of a doohickey at the end of the thingamajig.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In such a case, the abstract remains self-contained, with an important citation included. (This is especially essential if an author is well-known for multiple papers, in which case the reference can be used to distinguish the varous works that could be intended.)</p>\n\n<p>Large numbers of citations, however, should be avoided, as should \"secondary\" citations. Only the most critical literature for a paper should be cited, and that should normally be limited to one or two. Any more than that, and the abstract becomes hard to read.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4974,
"author": "Francisco Morales",
"author_id": 2775,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2775",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This issue may depend on the academic field of the publication. In the case of the social sciences, abstract are generally written to be independent of the other sections of the paper or manuscript, so citations in the abstract are avoided. You may include a citation, but sometimes you have to include all the bibliographic details. Considering that abstract are usually required to be short, you may be unnecessarily wasting words.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, as the abstract is intended to be an interesting summary of the research described in the manuscript, it is not probably useful to include citations. An exception is the case when a manuscript heavily draws on a previous work. For instance, if you are replicating a previous study, then you may have to include a cite. <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0266%28199711%2918:10%3C787%3a%3aAID-SMJ913%3E3.0.CO;2-R/abstract\">In this paper</a>, the author replicates and extends a study. The title and the abstract have a citation of the previous study.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4971",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3921/"
]
|
4,975 | <p>Let's say that you are going to write a theoretical paper/thesis/book (that is, you're not conducting empirical work). More often than not, I find it troublesome to just start writing right away, especially when I don't know what the results of my investigation is going to be.</p>
<p>What are some good ways to structure and organize your material, as well as your workflow, before starting to write?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4976,
"author": "Speldosa",
"author_id": 141,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Stephen Mumford, an english philosopher, has created what he calls <a href=\"https://sites.google.com/site/stephendmumford/the-mumford-method\" rel=\"nofollow\">the Mumford Method</a>. It is basically a prescription of how to structure your notes as well as how to utilize presentation opportunities to get feedback and redraft the material.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4977,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Of course, it's disastrous to be so disorganized that things get lost, work has to be duplicated (even if it's just typing), etc.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I observe that many novice writers over-allocate their time+energy to \"planning\". I say \"over-allocate\" exactly because (as in the question) when one doesn't have too many details about the sequel, it is hard to plan. Further, especially in thesis situations, and, even for more experienced people, in book writing, the very process significantly changes one's viewpoint, so that an initial plan/outline/table-of-contents/statement-of-intent easily becomes grossly inaccurate over time+experience.</p>\n\n<p>For example, although it is interesting, and an interesting exercise, to try to write an introduction or preface at the beginning, it will most likely prove wildly irrelevant, and have to be scrapped nearly entirely. </p>\n\n<p>A second crucial mechanism is (as suggested in the questioner's self-answer) feedback, and, equally, iteration of the writing/editing cycle. </p>\n\n<p>The two concepts combine to suggest that one should not waste time doing nothing, but pretending to be trying to fathom what one will think, and what one will discover, some months in the future. Hesitation delays the very experience that will bring to life one's future viewpoint! :)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4975",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/141/"
]
|
4,978 | <p>Students diagnosed with dyslexia qualify for accommodations at most universities. As with other special needs students, they're entitled extra time for work, exams, access or licenses to spell checkers, etc. </p>
<p>If these accommodations are in place, and assuming good grammar/spelling is part of the evaluation of work outlined in the university course syllabus, is it reasonable for an instructor to penalize students with dyslexia for making spelling/grammar mistakes as with other students?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4985,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I’ll go for a legal answer, at least valid in my current place of employment (France): dyslexia, which must be medically characterized as a learning disability for an individual, is covered by the laws regarding disabilities. As such, students impacted can request that <strong>exam conditions be modified for their benefit</strong>: most commonly by giving them additional time to “compensate” for their disability, but it could also include changes in setup (such as having access to a dictionary, spellchecker, or even a secretary). On the other hand, <strong>no leniency should then be granted on judging the exam paper</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>The operating principle in all cases should be that of <strong>equal opportunity</strong>. (See here a <a href=\"http://alyoda.univ-lyon3.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1168%3aamenagement-des-conditions-dexamen-pour-un-eleve-souffrant-de-dyslexie&catid=42%3alibertes&Itemid=115\" rel=\"nofollow\">summary</a> of jurisprudence by the <em>Association lyonnaise de droit administratif</em>.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4987,
"author": "ElCid",
"author_id": 1520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1520",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>it is in my university (UK). </p>\n\n<p>Dyslexic students are given a lot of attention and information around their case, extra time, specific conditions to undertake exams/courseworks/assignments. These include more time to complete the work, using a computer to transcribe their ideas/concepts, personal assistants and so on.</p>\n\n<p>After this extra care and information, the idea is to create a plain field with non-dyslexic students, and use the same framework for marking or assessing the piece of work. So advantages in the pre-conditions of an exam, but then the marker will not use any bias in the marking. This includes also a stricter handling of extenuating circumstances: you cannot claim that \"you have dyslexia\" if you could not complete your work, or if it's incomplete, or has mistakes in it</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 149794,
"author": "Ian Sudbery",
"author_id": 82972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/82972",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Firstly, no amount of accommodations etc is going to make a dyslexic person a good speller, or not struggle with writing. </p>\n\n<p>Disability rules usually say that \"reasonable accommodations\" should be made for people with disabilities. The spirit of this is that if a person cannot perform their role, then they can't, but if there is something that can be done to allow them to perform their role, then they should be enabled to do so. </p>\n\n<p>Applying that principle to university, this should mean that a student should be assessed on the course criteria, but where something that is not in the criteria is stopping them from demonstrating that they've met the criteria, then they should be helped around this. </p>\n\n<p>The upshot of that is that dyslexic students should not be assessed on the quality of their language unless that is a specific aim of the assessment, but where it is the specific aim, they should be assessed against the same criteria as everyone else.</p>\n\n<p>So we teach molecular biology. In our exams we are testing the students knowledge and understanding of molecular biology. As long as your language is good enough to demonstrate an understanding of the material then you should get the marks, irrespective of typos, odd phrasing or places where the grammar is wrong, but the meaning is clear. If the writing is so bad that I can't tell if you understand the biology or not, then you shouldn't get the marks. One can imagine this would be different in an English Language exam. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, molecular biologists need a certain level of language abilities to succeed, and so we have course work where the quality of the communication is assessed, but in these cases students are allowed to have their work proofread the same way someone in real life might have their reports proofread. </p>\n\n<p>I am both dyslexic and dyspraxic. People who regularly read my posts will notice that I am not a good speller. But I have still been a good enough biologist to make a career of it, so I'm glad my university assessed me on my biology ability, not my writing ability. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, my dyspraxia makes me clumsy in the lab and no amount of accommodations is ever going to make my experiments go well. So it was in my, and my employers/fields interests that I decided the lab wasn't for me, and became a computational biologist - Reasonable adjustments could be make for my writing ability, but not for my lack of manual dexterity. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4978",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859/"
]
|
4,980 | <p>I am a student in various graduate taught programs, but not a research student and I am not receiving any scholarships or grants from my institutions. I have prepared a paper which I wish to publish. The subject is within my field, but far outside of the expertise of any of my instructors, mostly because it deals with a language and other technical details which they are entirely unfamiliar with. As such, I highly doubt they could assist me in writing the paper.</p>
<p>I know that graduate research students should not publish works without their professor's permission. Is this rule relevant to students in taught programs? Can I submit my paper for credit in a course, without giving up ownership of the paper?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4981,
"author": "Murphy316",
"author_id": 1517,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1517",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although a professor's opinion on your paper could prove to be very valuable and save you the trouble of resubmitting your paper again and again to the same journal. I believe, in case your paper is worth a journal's quality and standard, really, there is no need for your professor's permission. Journal editors aren't concerned with your professor's permission, however they would require you to sign a document stating that your research is your own and that you have the authority to publish your data.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4982,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I know that graduate research students should not publish works without their professor's permission. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's a little more complicated than that. Nobody needs permission to publish anything that they did entirely on their own. If you work collaboratively or as part of a team, then it's not 100% your work and you need your collaborators' permission. If you do not collaborate but work under someone else's supervision, then it's still polite to ask for advice/permission. (They might see it as more of a collaboration than you do, and in any case your submission may reflect on their supervision so it is reasonable to get their feedback first.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is this rule relevant to students in taught programs?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you have no collaborators or supervisors in the research, then you can publish it however you'd like.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Can I submit my paper for credit in a course, without giving up ownership of the paper?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't know of any case where you give up rights to a paper by submitting it in a course, so ownership is probably not the relevant issue here. In the universities I'm familiar with, you can certainly submit for publication an essay that was written for a class assignment (most such papers would not be accepted for publication, but a few could be). On the other hand, you cannot get class credit for a paper that you previously wrote for another purpose. The precise rules in your case may differ, but if you plan to use this paper for a class you should investigate your university's rules.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4996,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you've answered your own question. If you are not a student in the research group of a professor, and you've written the paper on your own, without outside assistance, then you don't need a faculty member's permission to publish the paper.</p>\n\n<p>I would argue that under the circumstances, it would be inappropriate to require the permission of an \"advisor\"—since you can't even identify who the advisor should be!</p>\n\n<p>As one of the other respondents mentioned, you might have to sign a statement declaring this is your own, independent work, but otherwise, I see no reason why someone else's permission needs to be secured here. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4980",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
4,984 | <p>I checking my google scholar page, when I noticed that one of my papers, of which I am a co-author, had been cited by an unknown academic. I read the article, which was on gene regulatory networks, and my paper is in computational neuroscience. The reference wording doesn't make any sense though. The only connection is the concept of an attractor network.</p>
<p>If I met this person at a conference, and he went about relating my paper to his work, I would call nonsense. This must happen to more well known academics all the time, so <strong>is it best just to let these things slide?</strong> I suppose if I was really famous and getting 200 citations a week it would be too hard to track every bad reference down, but I only have a few.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4986,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Well, what <em>can</em> you do? Not much. I can confirm that it does indeed happen… sometime people even cite a paper of yours to justify a conclusion that you have not reached in the paper, and even one that you strongly disagree with.</p>\n\n<p>One option is to let it slide. You are not responsible for the content of papers that refer to yours, or the accuracy of their citations for that matter. The paper author is responsible, and to some extent, the journal’s referees. (I tend to spend quite some time checking citations when I review papers, but that might just be me being overly sensitive to this particular issue.) </p>\n\n<p>Another option is to contact the paper’s corresponding author, and ask him point blank. You have read his paper, and you are unclear as to the extent of the connection between his writing and yours. See what it gives.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, in the current way academic research works, you do not really have any mean to call out their behaviour publicly. I do not believe you should, either.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4990,
"author": "Francisco Morales",
"author_id": 2775,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2775",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Additionally to what F'x suggested, I would suggest you to discuss the details of this situation in a <strong>personal website</strong> or <strong>blog</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5006,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is a huge gulf between <em>what would happen in an ideal world</em> and <em>what the norms are</em> in this case.</p>\n\n<p>\"Ideally\", you'd get in touch with the author(s), explain that you don't see what their paper has to do with yours; they'd explain why they think it is relevant or agree that it's not, and modify the paper accordingly. (Almost everything is online, so modification after publication is a possibility.)</p>\n\n<p>In the actual world, citations are of benefit to you, even if they are stupid. Journals are mostly not set up to remove citations easily. No one will check, and if they do check, the detriment will be to the citer, not the cited. So you \"shouldn't\" do anything about it, and the author would probably be quite surprised if you did (especially if you weren't discreet about it). If you really feel like re-calculating your h-index with that paper removed, go for it. But this sort of thing happens all the time (I think all of my papers with over about 50 citations have been cited stupidly at least once), so you're free to just consider it part of the measurement error inherent in looking at citations.</p>\n\n<p>Incidentally, the ideal isn't necessarily the <em>pragmatic</em> ideal. Doing anything important on the basis of small differences in numbers of citations is fraught with error even if all citations are sensible ones. There's a reasonable argument to be made that you shouldn't bother unless the paper <em>is in your field and is citing you in support of something that your paper showed the converse of</em>. Getting your work exactly backwards to advance their own idea isn't doing you or them any favors, so you should try to work that out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125790,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>is it best just to let these things slide? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Possibly. It's certainly a reasonable thing to do. Also, if you have <em>many</em> citations of that paper, I'd definitely say let this slide.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The reference wording doesn't make any sense though. The only connection is the concept of an attractor network.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So, the references makes a bit of sense, but the wording doesn't. Unless that paper makes an invalid claim regarding the contents of your paper, that's not so bad. Certainly it doesn't reflect poorly on <em>you</em>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I would call nonsense.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You're being much too harsh. Maybe the author typed in the wrong citation? Maybe they meant to reword the text near the citation and forgot to do it when submitting the final version? etc. Give people the benefit of the doubt.</p>\n\n<p>If this really bugs you, email the authors of the citing paper, tell them you noticed the citation, and ask them if they could explain briefly in what context they used your results (i.e. not giving them your impression beforehand). If they don't respond - let it go. If they do explain, and get it wrong, then you can write back saying \"Oh, but you wrote that XYZ while in fact my paper is ABC\"; note <em>you are not judging their abilities/skills/intelligence</em>, just politely pointing out a discrepancy. If they at all care, this is the point they might consider a revision and/or an erratum, and/or a change in future uses of the same text/ideas (e.g. journal version of conference paper, placement in thesis or book chapter).</p>\n\n<p>It's still quite likely that they'll tell you \"Oh, well, maybe you're right, but what's done is done\". You'll have to live with that, I'm afraid.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 125798,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 105107,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/105107",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let it go. There are probably many times you are inappropriately left out. A few times when you are improperly cited. And some times where they didn't understand what you were doing. As long as there is not some clear pattern--for example your former advisor pushing people to cite you (really him)--it's not worth dealing with it. There is just so, so, sooo much imprecision in the arena of citations. You will drive yourself crazy if you obsess on individual instances of citation. (Note, I'm not saying not to worry about general trends...they have validity...but don't obsess on individual data points.)</p>\n"
}
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| 2012/10/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4984",
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|
4,991 | <p>Recently I was researching for a paper, but the results of my research got me reflecting on my habits: </p>
<p>Is is at all appropriate for me to use Google (partly also Google Scholar) for academic research, just because I have good experiences with it in my personal, non-professional environment? I noticed I feel slightly too comfortable in sourcing material via Google. As expected, the quality of the resulting materials is "bad", in the sense that the sources I happen to find are rarely journal articles and often chronically difficult to cite. Of course for many topics this is a non-issue, but for my current topic, a lot of government, international institution and NGO content was "on-topic" and needed, so that is how the situation came about in the first place.</p>
<p>While I definitely <strong>won't use</strong> Wikipedia or (online) newspapers, but I also came across e.g. OECD content: while the content itself is strong and academically valid, <strong>by now I sadly had to discard a significant part of it</strong>, also because I initially didn't (exclusively) use their "iLibrary". Specifically: The amount of time I had to spend trying to find e.g. the author of such non-journal content (and other source-data), trying to decide if I should invest my time into reading and citing the content vs. discarding it and that I have to enter bibliographic data by hand for such content make me tired.</p>
<p>Thus my thought is: <strong>Should I intentionally, sternly refrain/refuse to <em>use</em> (and <em>of course</em> cite) any materials that doesn't carry a DOI, ISBN or ISSN?</strong> There is still a lot of grey literature, manuscripts, working papers etc. and web content out there... My current frustration is so large that I seriously consider such a strict stance going forward, but I fear that I might miss out on crucial facts and that omitting such publication will affect the credibility and well-roundedness of my paper(s)?</p>
<p>In the age of Google I am very happy that academic standards are in place, compared to the lack of cite-ability etc. in documents published by NGO's, think tanks, policy institutes and some governments. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4992,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you build your work upon other people's work, whether it be a blog post or postage stamp, then you should cite it, otherwise that's plagiarism. This is especially the case if the work is a primary source of the research (which can even be the case for blog posts). </p>\n\n<p>That said, there are some guidelines you can follow to get the best version of the work to cite.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Find the most recent or most authoritative/official version of the work.</em> If the paper is an unpublished workshop paper, is there a corresponding conference or journal paper that was later published? Or is the work perhaps written up in a masters or PhD thesis?</li>\n<li><em>Find the primary source.</em> Is the blog post (secondary source) a distillation of some other paper (primary source)? If so, go for that primary source. Is the Wikipedia article (tertiary source) based on some well-known book or article (primary source)? If the report from an NGO is original research (primary source) then you should cite it. If not, determine what it is based on an cite that.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4993,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
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"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Interesting question. I think the answer lies in looking for what purpose you cite \"anything but journal articles and books\".</p>\n\n<p>In this respect, it is important to distinguish between primary and secondary sources in research reports:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Primary sources</strong> are all items which were an object of your research, i.e., your research results directly stem from an analysis of these items. An example would be a text where you studied usage of a specific word. Or a telephone book, if you did a statistical analysis of telephone numbers. Primary references are rather rare in the natural sciences and engineering, but they would be more common in social sciences and humanities.</li>\n<li><strong>Secondary sources</strong> are items from which you cite research results in order to support your arguments. For example theories that you base your hypotheses on, reports on the validity of methods that you are using in your research, or other research results which you discuss in relation to yours.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Obviously, for primary sources, it doesn't matter whether they have been produced with academic standards or not. After all, they are the <strong>objects of research</strong>, and the validity of your research results does (in principle) not depend on the validity of the primary sources.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, the validity of secondary sources is crucial for the validity of your research results, or at least your interpretation of the results. That's why you only want to use secondary sources which are up to academic standards, i.e. peer-reviewed scientific publications and books from established authors / publishers.</p>\n\n<p>So the conclusion is that you should in fact try to refrain from using less credible references as secondary sources, while it will be perfectly fine to use anything as a primary source.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4995,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my own personal experience, I have cited non-traditional sources that go far beyond the realm of books and articles, and even repositories like <a href=\"http://arXiv.org\">arXiv.org</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In some cases, these included \"trade association\" documents that cited chemical compositions for blends that we needed to have in order to set up a numerical model. In that case, the document was \"official\" enough that it could pass muster as a viable source of the data. Similarly, if one wants to cite a source like the <a href=\"http://webbook.nist.gov\">NIST Webbook</a> or an online database like the Merck Index, those are clearly curated well enough that one doesn't necessarily have to worry about judging its validity.</p>\n\n<p>For sites that are not so well curated, then you do have to work as an arbiter of the quality of the website. You'll need to verify if there is sufficient data and evidence to back up the claims that you find in the documentation you want to cite, and if the document is suitable for citation, or if you need to dig further back to find better \"original\" sources. So long as you can \"trace back\" your work with suitable confidence, it's probably OK to cite a source from the Web. Once the provenance or accuracy becomes nebulous or tenuous, you should look for alternate (or more primary) sources. </p>\n\n<p>To go the other way is, of course, also <em>possible</em>. The challenge will be that if there are very important sources of literature published outside the journal system—for example, government reports or other standard materials that \"define\" their field, then you will probably be called out if you omit them—and their findings—from your work. Now this may not be true in <em>your</em> field, in which case this won't be a concern. If you get a referee report with such a request and refuse to make the change on the ground that it doesn't have a digital identifier, you may find yourself with a rejection notice at the end of the day. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5000,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>DOI, ISBN and ISSN are very useful tool for managing citations, but nothing more. You <strong>need</strong> to cite every material you rely on. Otherwise it is strongly against scientific ethics (i.e. plagiarism or intentional lack of acknowledgement).</p>\n\n<p>Of course, when you use materials without DOI, ISBN or ISSN you need to put special effort to properly identify the cited material and to have any reasonable chance, that it won't disappear.</p>\n\n<p>But for example arXiv ids, or even links to MathOverflow answers are good candidates. </p>\n\n<p>If you point is \"I refrain form citing anything without DOI, ISBN or ISSN just because\" then, well, someone can pledge not to cite your journal, or just - any of your works, because why not (and it happens on the same moral ground)? </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4991",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2716/"
]
|
4,997 | <p>Some research groups, especially the ones at lower tier schools in the United States, contains an excessive amount of students who have the same nationality as the professor. Some Chinese professors' groups solely consists of Chinese students.</p>
<p>Does this go against diversity, considering the fact that Ph.D admissions are not centralized and is not done by adcom members? Is there a constraint on this implied by school to faculty?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 4998,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm a PhD student based in Sweden, working in a group where everybody except the PhD students are German. Another group in the same building has several Russians, and a recent Russian PhD student had a Russian supervisor. So the tendency to mono-culturalism is not unique.</p>\n\n<p>Probably, many institutes have statements promoting diversity. In practice, these don't mean much, because recruitment depends on academic networks, skills of applicants, etc. There can be different reasons for a group to tend to mono-culturalism. Some reasons I can think of:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A professor heading a research group in a foreign country probably has an extensive academic network from his/her originating country. Academic networks are powerful sources of recruitment of new staff, either senior staff or PhD students (e.g. via a Master thesis supervisor recommending them). So applicants might simply be more likely to be from the same country as the head of the group, even if the head of the group is 100% honest in his/her selections.</p></li>\n<li><p>PhD students may appreciate if they can work with a supervisor that speaks their language, particularly if they are not so comfortable speaking English. </p></li>\n<li><p>It's culturally easier to work in a group with several people from ones own country.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All these factors can contribute to groups in country X with group members primarily from country Y != X.</p>\n\n<p>Probably there are other reasons that I didn't think of.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 4999,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the fundamental issue is not that the groups go against the principle of diversity, but that they're just too small to speak meaningfully about diversity. A population of three to six graduate students is not large enough to make claims that they are or are not diverse enough. Even if they all come from the same country, there may be other forces at work. For instance, those students might be the ones who get \"matched\" into the group—they list that group as their highest priority, and others don't. </p>\n\n<p>However, in general, there are no constraints placed by a university or a department on <em>which</em> students a faculty member can or cannot take. There may be limits and restrictions that determine <em>if</em> a faculty member can take students, or <em>how many</em>, but never have I heard a restriction about which ones.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5057,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a faculty member, one of the most challenging things to do is find high-quality people to work in your lab. Faculty generally will use every trick they can to find good people, including asking friends, colleagues, talking to people at conferences, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>If the faculty member is more comfortable in a certain language (e.g. if they find it easier to evaluate a candidate who speaks Hungarian than English), or does not have an ethnically diverse set of colleagues/friends in their field, then you quickly get a non-diverse lab.</p>\n\n<p>There <em>usually</em> isn't any bias or prejudice going on here; it's just terribly important to get your students right, so many people will not feel like they can go out of their way to promote diversity.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4997",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3931/"
]
|
5,002 | <p>Do people take time out to go home, meet with family etc. during their PhD?</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If yes then for how long and how frequently is it usually? </p></li>
<li><p>How does one deal with this with one's advisor? </p></li>
<li><p>What are the pros and cons? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Given that one basically has just about 2-3 years in practice to do all their PhD work, I don't understand how anything else fits in the schedule except work. The entire idea of a PhD looks quite scary to me that one is expected to produce cutting-edge stuff in that short a time starting from just standard graduate courses! </p>
<p>PS: the question is general, but if it is field-dependent, I am interested in particular in physics PhDs (theoretical high-energy physics specifically) </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5003,
"author": "John Rennie",
"author_id": 3935,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3935",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My PhD was thirty years ago, and in the UK, so how relevant my experience is these days I don't know. However FWIW I think the only reason for doing a PhD is that it's something you really want to do. Unless you're absolutely fascinated by it, three years of hard work and no money is likely to prove too much for you. I <strong>loved</strong> the three years of my PhD even though I've only been cited a handful of times and I ended up in a job unrelated to my PhD work.</p>\n\n<p>Unless your supervisor is related to the Grinch they'll let you see your family a couple of times in the three years :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5004,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer is <em>of course, yes</em>. In fact, you need to take a break to recharge your batteries.</p>\n\n<p>The answers to the other questions will depend on what the rules are regarding holidays (which is country dependent). I think that our guys get six weeks annually (where as other countries only offer one or two weeks). Our guys can take them in one chunk, but this is sometimes problematic if there are deadlines that need to be met, or tutorials, etc.</p>\n\n<p>The way to deal with your advisor is simply to ask him with a concrete proposal. It is better that you have <em>not</em> bought the plane tickets before you ask, because that will be perceived as an attempt at manipulation by your advisor, which will damage the trust relationship.</p>\n\n<p>When my guys ask for a vacation I simply ask whether it clashes with anything. If not, I grant it.</p>\n\n<p>The pros of taking a couple of holidays is that you will have time to recharge your batteries. The cons of not taking a holiday is that you can burn out.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5002",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6683/"
]
|
5,005 | <p>In many of the research groups I’ve worked at or visited, there is a culture that endless hours in the lab equal successful researcher. (I am in a theoretical field, so requirement of long-running experiments are outside of the picture. Let's ignore them in this discussion.) In chemistry, a widely-known example of this culture is the following letter:</p>
<p> <a href="http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/03/i-expect-you-to-correct-your-work-ethic.html" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/KmIb7.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would like to provide for you in written form what is expected from you as a member of the research group. In addition to the usual work-day schedule, I expect all of the members of the group to work evenings and weekends. You will find that this is the norm here at Caltech. On occasion, I understand that personal matters will make demands on your time which will require you to be away from your responsibilities to the laboratory. However, it is not acceptable to me when it becomes a habit.</p>
<p><strong>I have noticed that you have failed to come in to lab on several weekends, and more recently have failed to show up in the evenings.</strong> Moreover, in addition to such time off, you recently requested some vacation. I have no problem with vacation time that is well earned, but I do have a problem with continuous vacation and time off that interferes with the project. I find this very annoying and disruptive to your science.</p>
<p><strong>I expect you to correct your work-ethic immediately.</strong></p>
<p>I receive at least one post-doctoral application each day from the US and around the world. If you are unable to meet the expected work-schedule, I am sure that I can find someone else as an appropriate replacement for this important project.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>I have fallen prey to this during my PhD, doing very long hours. Now that I manage a research team, what is good advice to help fight this culture in my team? (Obviously, I don't want students and post-docs to get the message that little work is required either.)</p>
<p>Things I already do to that end:</p>
<ul>
<li>When a new group member comes in and they get the out-of-hours building pass (for Sundays and late nights), mention that they are not expected to use it on a regular basis.</li>
<li>Avoid planning meetings at unusual hours (bank holidays, week-ends, etc.)</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5007,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, can your postdocs/grad students/whoever compete with their peers if they only spend 40-60 hours working instead of 60-80? If the answer is \"no\", you're actually doing them a disservice by trying to fix the system on your own. Some fields don't require much thought or brainpower. You can plan a thousand hours of experiments in an afternoon, and then you're left to just do it. In that case, your postdocs/etc. will just be outworked by others, which will negatively impact any future careers they might want in science. It's not very nice, but that's the way things are.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you're in a field where quality of work and depth of insight are really important, you should not <em>merely</em> stress working less, but stress working <em>intelligently</em> and <em>efficiently</em>. This will help your postdocs/etc. to maintain a less absurd and exploitative lifestyle while still producing results that are as good as or better than those who work under incredible pressure.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5008,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In the different groups I worked in, their respective cultures were always the result of the behaviour of the leader. So <em>lead by example</em>. In particular, some useful hints from my experience would be:</p>\n\n<p><strong>E-Mails:</strong> don't send e-mails in non-office hours, especially not requests for help with something. No e-mails on weekends and late night are a signal which everybody \"gets\" after a short while. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Social activities:</strong> support group's social life. A group hike to nearby mountains (in office hours on a working day!), or a joint trip to a museum sends a signal that taking time off is an important part of one's life. We used to do it on occasion of having a guest researcher (for a study stay, or just a seminar talk). It's good for group's cohesion and again tells people that rest time is also very useful. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Personal relationship:</strong> care for private lives of your group members. Build relationship with their families. Speak to them about their personal activities, about their vacations, kids, etc. and do not forget to give back and speak about yours. These kinds of discussions send a powerful signal that you perceive time off in a positive way and even encourage it, since you take it as well.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Plan well ahead:</strong> clear plans and roadmaps in projects allow people to plan their time off as well. Nothing more annoying than a spurt interfering with one's private life to deliver some report, because the boss didn't care to tell the group ahead.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Time in the office:</strong> being in computer science, where I do not need to spend time in a lab and can easily work anywhere, I was always lucky to have bosses who cared for deliverables, rather than for my time in the office. After all, most of my good ideas are born in weird places, such as under shower, while on a bike, walking in woods, and by reading stuff outdoors. Making it clear with the group members that you care first and foremost for deliverables and are flexible regarding the actual time in the office (within reasonable bounds and respecting the local laws and regulations) works well. My experience is also that people tend to deliver better if they are given the power to plan their time and process, rather being forced to mantinels set by their supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, I found it always very comfortable in groups where having kids was something nice and for what the group leader and members cared. Nothing is worse than a group where work interacts negatively with one's family life and where going home before 6pm to care for kids at home is perceived as something bad.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5005",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,010 | <p>I am subscribed to many interesting blogs. Some of them are related to my research field, while others not. Sometimes I am really impressed that some of the posts are in fact real pieces of scientific work (or sociological work, depending on the field), that although they do not follow strictly the scheme of a scientific paper, could be easily converted to a research paper. Therefore I am intrigued why these people do not convert sometime their most relevant and accessed blog post to research paper, do you know why? Besides, do you know successful cases where people have converted them to papers?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5012,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First, it totally depends how you define the term “research paper”. Some people uses a blog in such a way that (some or all) blog entries are actually akin to minimal-size “research papers”, albeit with a nonconventional publication mean and possibly nonconventional format.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, it also depends where you draw the line between <em>“turning X into Y”</em> and <em>“writing X based on Y”</em>. Obviously, many journals would object to publishing material that has already been published somewhere else, including on a personal blog. Moreover, publishing identical content in two very different media probably means that it is not fully adapted to one of the two (or both): to give only one example, you don't typically have the same language level on a blog as in an academic paper.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, an example: scientific writer Philip Ball has a <a href=\"http://waterinbiology.blogspot.fr\">blog</a> on the topic of <em>Water in Biology</em>, and he also regularly publishes “News & Views” articles for <em>Nature</em> (<a href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v478/n7370/full/478467a.html\">one example there</a>). In both cases, he writes critical reviews the recent literature on the same topic: there is wide overlap, but he does not publish his papers by directly converting blog posts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5014,
"author": "Dror",
"author_id": 3926,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3926",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This not an exact answer, however <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath_Project\">PolyMath</a> is an interesting example of a result which was obtain using social tools (not exactly blog, but related...)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14560,
"author": "fileunderwater",
"author_id": 7223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7223",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here is an example from ecology. I think this is an excellent example of how an initial blog post/idea was developed with the help of comments from readers of the blog, and then turned into a paper. There was a follow-up discussion of the paper on the blog, also with an invited response from authors that disagreed with the conclusions in the paper (they also published a response paper). </p>\n\n<p><strong>Initial blog posts</strong> (with a very active comments section):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://oikosjournal.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/zombie-ideas-in-ecology/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://oikosjournal.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/zombie-ideas-in-ecology/</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/zombie-ideas-about-disturbance-a-dialogue/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/zombie-ideas-about-disturbance-a-dialogue/</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Paper:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534712002091\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fox. 2013. The intermediate disturbance hypothesis should be abandoned. TREE.</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Follow-ups:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/zombie-ideas-in-ecology-the-tree-paper-is-now-online/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/zombie-ideas-in-ecology-the-tree-paper-is-now-online/</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/a-thumbs-up-for-the-intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis-guest-post/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/a-thumbs-up-for-the-intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis-guest-post/</a> (guest post from researchers taking the opposite view)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14578,
"author": "Mangara",
"author_id": 8185,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8185",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but the <a href=\"http://www.nickyee.com/index-daedalus.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Daedalus Project</a> was a long-running survey of MMO players. It had a blog that summarized recent results, which were then included in scientific papers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14688,
"author": "user454322",
"author_id": 1353,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1353",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Why there are publishable blog posts that never become research papers?<br/></strong>\nWriting a research paper takes a considerable amount of time and effort. Also, publishing is a tedious process. \nSo, some people prefer to write research results in a more informal way, i.e., blog post, to focus on the research results rather than focusing on writing [and publishing] the results.</p>\n\n<p><br/><br/>\nIn CS and related fields it is not rare to start with a blog post that eventually will become a published research paper.</p>\n\n<p>Bertrand Meyer, famous for <em>Object-oriented software</em> and the programming language Eiffel, has an article on the CACM blog titled <a href=\"http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/160071-the-waves-of-publication/fulltext\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The Waves of Publication</a>. This article suggests starting publishing research results in a blog, then convert it to a technical report, then present it in a workshop, then in a conference and finally publish it in a journal.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/EZQBd.jpg\" alt=\"Waves of publication\"></p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5010",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/284/"
]
|
5,015 | <p>The UK PhD programs are based upon just research for three years, whereas in the US there tends to be substantial graduate course work included. </p>
<p>How does this difference affect the quality of the PhD thesis, and the quality of work produced in the long term?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5017,
"author": "Hauser",
"author_id": 213,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When someone earned successfully and honestly his PhD in a good research group, either in the US system or in UK/Germany (Master degree is often mandatory for starting PhD), there will probably be no strong differences in the overall quality, I wouldn't make here any generalizations based on this fine system nuances. The level and depth of research experience are very similar (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/5005/213\">also STEM students in Germany don't work on average 80-90 hours a week, 60 will be rare ;)</a>)</p>\n\n<p>But, when a student did choose a distinct topic and research field for his master <strong>and</strong> PhD thesis, you can be a bit more sure he is really motivated for this work and research generally, while a US PhD student with a bachelor (and without master) <strong>maybe</strong> is just trying to finish what he started over the years, in spite of vanishing interest/motivation in research generally (see link above) or that distinct topic. During the short time of a bachelor thesis you cannot find out, if you are suited for research and a distinct field in my opinion. In Germany it's hard to get invitations to PhD job interviews at all without a master thesis near to a given research project. Motivation and background is here more important than 0,5 better grade or 3 year younger age. In interviews they mostly check, how motivated, interested, knowledgable is a candidate for that distinct field. So there will probably be no big differences in quality, but you can be more sure about long term motivation and therefore originality/quality of his research.</p>\n\n<p>As we currently have a (another) case of plagiarism in Germany (our education minister obviously wasn't trained, e.g. by a bachelor nor master thesis, for writing a long PhD thesis correctly), I have to add that somebody who has written a bigger master <strong>and</strong> PhD thesis will also have more practice in publishing, citing, researching literature...</p>\n\n<p>Side note: Personally, I think the german system is more selective, while the US system can afford this system because of a abundance of PhD students and applicants (thats also the reason they have to work 80-90 instead of 60 hours, competition being stronger and teaching of undergraduate students in Germany needs very good command of german language, we are limited in hiring foreign students for those jobs). A very good master and PhD thesis is a strong hallmark for the motivation of a student and future researcher for a distinct research field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5025,
"author": "mac389",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my opinion, there is an effect but it will only become apparent in people who would be borderline cases anyway.</p>\n\n<p>In the short run, a given project- be it dissertation or what comes after- will require a very specific set of skills that, in general, need to be acquired on-the-job. However, <em>if</em> the grad school courses are relevant the PhD program with coursework will have a slight advantage. (I'd love to find these programs with useful prerequisites.)</p>\n\n<p>In the long run, the challenge shifts to choosing the right projects. That requires a broad perspective that classes in grad school <em>could</em> give. </p>\n\n<p>A motivated person who lacks the formal coursework can catch up. </p>\n\n<p>Given all these, I think that the difference in PhD programs will only hurt those graduate students who might lack the motivation for life-long learning anyway. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7823,
"author": "Basic",
"author_id": 5939,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5939",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The courses on research methodology greatly improved the value I got from my PhD. Sure, you can make it through yourself to get the research done, but a PhD implies having research skills and deep understanding of the scientific method, which can be taught formally. Tough US-style courses can only benefit. That said, I experienced a massive difference in the quality/relevance of PhD courses.</p>\n\n<p>I also have a beef with the German PhD system (in reply to another post here). At least in my own field (social sciences), many German practitioners do a PhD in 2 years (often part time) by writing a \"big book\" which is defended in front of one's own adviser plus 1 external (generally). There is thus a glut of PhDs in the workforce but few if any German PhDs publishing in my field in ranked journals. Fortunately I think this is not the case for STEM subjects where the level is excellent in Germany. Still, the pressure to be \"Herr Doktor\" in order to move ahead in a political or management career in Germany seems to have lead to many low-quality dissertations written on the weekends with no formal teaching support (hence all the intentional or unintentional plagiarism popping up recently in Germany). Where there are PhD courses, there is support and structure, a research community, and a greater likelihood of higher quality and understanding.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7825,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the UK, you can normally do a PhD only after completing a master's degree, i.e. you begin with research after you have already done a year or two of graduate level coursework. In the US, graduate studies normally begin begin with courses and end in research, at the end of which you have obtained a PhD. You can enroll directly after your bachelors studies. Overall the two are quite comparable in terms of time spent in courses and on research once you have your PhD. There are exceptions of course, but I understand that this is the default situation. </p>\n\n<p>The effect on the thesis itself probably depends on how closely related the courses are to your research topic. In my experience, research topics are usually about adding new knowledge to a field, so it's hard to find more than a few courses (if even a few) that overlap much with your research. I see courses more as a way to gain some general expertise in your field.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5015",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3939/"
]
|
5,016 | <p>Proofreading documents for orthography is a pain. I consider that I am decent at writing in my native language (on the grammar and orthography side), but proofreading for typos and whatnots is a time-consuming pain. I’d much prefer to have someone else do it for me, but it's a pain to bother other people with it. Also, when I read students’ work, in some cases it requires two iterations (because it's hard to focus on the science when the spelling is… suboptimal).</p>
<p>So, given that a professional proofreader would be much more efficient at this job than me, leaving me more time to review the scientific content or otherwise actually do research, the logical conclusion is that I should hire one. This would work either for my own writing or for </p>
<p>I know some people actually do that (and also buy more extensive services) for grant writing. However, I wonder: is it ethical to hire a proofreader for theses and academic articles?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5018,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h1>Short answer</h1>\n\n<p><strong>Yes, it is ethical</strong></p>\n\n<h1>Long answer</h1>\n\n<p>The three options are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Proof-reading it yourself</p></li>\n<li><p>Asking a co-author (for academic article) or a 3rd person (for theses) to proof-read it</p></li>\n<li><p>Pay for a commercial proofreading service.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As I see it:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Option (1) is inefficient. You've written the text, read it many times over, and your brain will simply fool you in not seeing the typo's.</p></li>\n<li><p>Option (2) is done quite often in practice. In my opinion, it's most suitable for journal articles; some articles have quite a lot of co-authors, and one could give a section to each co-author and distribute the work. That's what I usually do (my thesis will be quite small, because it's just a summary for a sandwich thesis). </p></li>\n<li><p>As for option (3), I don't see any ethical problems with paying for a proofreading service. I know a number of people (they are not native speakers) who do this systematically for theses and academic articles. They buy commercial services who check and correct the quality of their English writing. This improves the quality of the text and therefore reduces the chance to annoy the reviewers.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72185,
"author": "Jon Woodhead",
"author_id": 57454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/57454",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see no problem in hiring an external proofreader. However, I would ask them to flag all the changes they made and then re-check those changes myself. It is certainly possible that the proofreader could misunderstand what the paper was trying to say. So if the proofreader is essentially pointing out places that need my further attention, that seems valuable to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72338,
"author": "Tom Birkland",
"author_id": 56464,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/56464",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not only is it ethical, but, for really important documents like grant proposals, hiring a proofreader/editor is a really good idea. I've done it, and am glad I did. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5016",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,027 | <p>I'm having some trouble figuring out what schools to apply to for a Masters in International Relations. There are a number of lists I've seen but many of the schools are very focused on the practical side for mid-career people. I'm interested in eventually getting a PhD and being an academic. Also most lists are only of the top 5 or 10 schools so it's hard to tell how good other schools are. My application is a little mixed, some strong parts some weak parts, so I was thinking of applying to a wide range of schools but I could really use some advice in what schools to look at. My undergrad GPA isn't good, 3.14 (3.5 in the major), but my GRE scores are good, 170V 168Q 4.5. I've been living in China for the past 5 years, but only speak a tiny bit of Chinese. I'd love some advice about where to apply or any rankings to look at. Thanks. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5018,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h1>Short answer</h1>\n\n<p><strong>Yes, it is ethical</strong></p>\n\n<h1>Long answer</h1>\n\n<p>The three options are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Proof-reading it yourself</p></li>\n<li><p>Asking a co-author (for academic article) or a 3rd person (for theses) to proof-read it</p></li>\n<li><p>Pay for a commercial proofreading service.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As I see it:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Option (1) is inefficient. You've written the text, read it many times over, and your brain will simply fool you in not seeing the typo's.</p></li>\n<li><p>Option (2) is done quite often in practice. In my opinion, it's most suitable for journal articles; some articles have quite a lot of co-authors, and one could give a section to each co-author and distribute the work. That's what I usually do (my thesis will be quite small, because it's just a summary for a sandwich thesis). </p></li>\n<li><p>As for option (3), I don't see any ethical problems with paying for a proofreading service. I know a number of people (they are not native speakers) who do this systematically for theses and academic articles. They buy commercial services who check and correct the quality of their English writing. This improves the quality of the text and therefore reduces the chance to annoy the reviewers.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72185,
"author": "Jon Woodhead",
"author_id": 57454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/57454",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see no problem in hiring an external proofreader. However, I would ask them to flag all the changes they made and then re-check those changes myself. It is certainly possible that the proofreader could misunderstand what the paper was trying to say. So if the proofreader is essentially pointing out places that need my further attention, that seems valuable to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72338,
"author": "Tom Birkland",
"author_id": 56464,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/56464",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not only is it ethical, but, for really important documents like grant proposals, hiring a proofreader/editor is a really good idea. I've done it, and am glad I did. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5027",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3947/"
]
|
5,029 | <p>I travel a lot and I'm interested in getting a psychology degree but after researching online I still haven't been able to find a good university that offers the choice to complete a psych degree by distance education. I'm a Canadian citizen so programs that accept Canadians is vital. With all the current online offerings I'm shocked that I can't find a quality university offering a BA or BSc in psychology online or by distance offline. Any suggestions? I'm interested in CPA accredited degrees otherwise it's worth nothing in Canada. And, I'm open to programs with a few on-campus requirements if an accredited degree is unavailable fully online. I want to be able to pursue a MA or a PhD in Canada after completing the undergraduate program.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5033,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Are there any accredited universities in the world offering students the option of acquiring a BA/BSc in psychology completely online?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Yes</strong></p>\n\n<p>There are likely hundreds of programs. How well they meet your needs will be determined by 1) What you mean by 'accredited', and 2) residency restrictions.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Accreditation</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Are you interested in accredited institutions or accredited programs? Institutions are accredited by organizations recognized at the government level as being able to guarantee that all programs at the institution meet some minimum standards. In the US, <em>regional accreditation</em> is king, while the more prestigious sounding <em>national accreditation</em> is generally viewed as easier to get and less rigorous. In Canada, accreditation appears to be handled through membership in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. </p>\n\n<p>Again, in the US, many of the large flagship state institutions have an online campus to accompany their bricks-and-mortar traditional campuses. For example <a href=\"http://www.umuc.edu/undergrad/ugprograms/psyc.cfm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Univerity of Maryland University College</a> appears to offer an online BS in Psychology. UMUC is regionally accredited in the US by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, just like the the bricks-and-mortar campuses of the University of Maryland system. Certainly, some of the larger schools in Canada also have a similar online presence. </p>\n\n<p>The on-line for-profit schools in the US tend to be nationally accredited, with the notable exception of the much maligned <a href=\"http://www.phoenix.edu/programs/degree-programs/psychology/bachelors/bs-p.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">University of Phoenix</a>, which offers an online program in psychology. University of Phoenix is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission as part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.</p>\n\n<p>Individual programs may also be accredited or certified by various professional organizations. If you are looking for an online psychology program certified by a professional psychology association, try starting at the website of the association and look for lists of certified programs.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Residency</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Attending an online only institution should not have residency restrictions based on your country of citizenship, but it probably does. For example, I would imagine you would need to have a <a href=\"http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1270.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">US education visa</a> in order to be admitted into some US institutions, even if the program is entirely online and you never need to step foot on campus.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5069,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The CPA has a <a href=\"http://www.cpa.ca/students/resources/canadianuniversities/\" rel=\"nofollow\">list</a> of all accredit universities and departments. The list is of a size that you should be able to check what the online offerings are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5070,
"author": "Beltrame",
"author_id": 52,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The University of London has a distance learning programme. You will basically sit the same exam as an internal student at the respective constituent college would sit, and this will be conducted at some GRE / GMAT etc. facilities to guarantee proper exam conditions. In the end you will get a University of London degree just like any other internal student would.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/courses/search/?solrsort=sort_title%20asc&filters=%20tid%3A557\" rel=\"nofollow\">University of London International Programmes</a></p>\n\n<p>Accreditation should hardly be a problem in the case of the University of London I would think as it's one of the most prestigious UK institutions with members such as University College, the London School of Economics and King's College London.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5144,
"author": "Rob",
"author_id": 622,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/622",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I work in distance education and often work with canadian researchers. I have a very high respect for the quality of the distance offerings up north (I'm in the US). You have good options at home. The one that jumps out is Athabasca University. Fully online and internationally recognized as a research institution. </p>\n\n<pre><code>http://psych.athabascau.ca/\nhttp://www.athabascau.ca/programs/ba4psyc/\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>American Public University System (APUS) has both Masters and Bachelors level programs and accepts international students. They are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. </p>\n\n<pre><code>http://www.ncahlc.org/\nhttp://www.apu.apus.edu/admissions/program-requirements/psychology.htm\nhttp://www.apu.apus.edu/admissions/general-information/international-students/\n</code></pre>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5029",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/759/"
]
|
5,032 | <p>I'm applying to MS / MS-PhD programs in CS this fall. </p>
<p>I don't have a good GPA (2.86 on a scale of 4). I have experience as a research assistant under a professor and also a couple of good projects. </p>
<p>Right now I'm working as a developer, so I have around 5 months of experience. I have a GRE score of 314 on 340. I'm giving subject test to improve my chances of getting into a grad school. What score can be considered 'good'? I don't have much time to prepare and I am a little rusty on some of the topics, what is the good advice for a crash course for subject test in, say a week or so?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5037,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Looking <a href=\"http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide_table2.pdf\">here</a> it looks like the CS subject is scored out of 980, so I am not sure what test you are talking about. \"Good\" is a subjective term. These tests assume you have a strong background to start with, so even a low score could be considered \"good\". That said, if you are trying to make up for weak grades to get into a top university, anything less than 90 percentile will likely not cut it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5039,
"author": "Francisco Morales",
"author_id": 2775,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2775",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>About the GRE General Test:</p>\n\n<p>While a competitive score in the quantitative and verbal section of the GRE General Test depends on the program, <a href=\"http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/stats.php\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> you can see the details of Duke University's graduate admissions. The average scores for the last admissions are shown in the new scale of the GRE (up to 170).</p>\n\n<p>About the GRE CS Subject Test:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/32610/how-to-prepare-for-the-gre-computer-science-subject-test\">Here</a> you can find some suggestions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5041,
"author": "mythealias",
"author_id": 847,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/847",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not have a good idea about the GRE subject scores but a \"good\" general GRE score differs from one school to another. In general it helps if you decide on which schools you plan to apply for before taking the GRE tests.</p>\n\n<p>MS/PhD admission do not just rely on GRE scores. They also look at previous institutions, recommendation letters, research experience and GPA (although not in that order). For many PhD applications students often talk to the professors who they want to work with. From my personal experience students with GRE score lower than recommended can be accepted if they show promise.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5044,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As @davidshen's answer points out, my answer is now moot, because the GRE subject test in computer science is no longer offered.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>For most applications to strong departments, <strong>there is no good score on the GRE CS subject test; there are only bad scores.</strong> A score below the 50th percentile is a red flag, indicating significant gaps in your undergraduate CS background. (The raw score is completely meaningless to most people, even those of us who work on admissions committees; only the percentile score matters.) But graduate school is about research, not standardized tests, so no GRE score is good enough to get you accepted.</p>\n\n<p>There are a few exceptional circumstances where a high GRE score actually gives some useful information.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>As Daniel says, a score in the 90th percentile or better can <em>partially</em> make up for a poor GPA. (It worked for me; my GPA was worse than yours.) It's probably not enough on its own, though. (It wasn't for me.)</p></li>\n<li><p>GRE scores are useful for calibrating GPAs of students from unknown schools.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>On the gripping hand, many graduate programs (like mine) don't require GREs; their admissions committee may not even think to look at your GRE score unless you point it out in your statement of purpose.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 12730,
"author": "David S.",
"author_id": 8625,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8625",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sorry man, <a href=\"https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/faq\">no more GRE CS test will be given</a> :(</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62391,
"author": "k venkee",
"author_id": 48282,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48282",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Admissions at Grad schools take many things into consideration for giving admissions.There is no good or bad GRE score. With your GRE score of 314 ,you can get admission in to a top university if you impress about your research,have good LORs from Professors ,good SOP.So admissions depend up on many criteria,not just GRE, 314 is ok score, so work on building up good SOP and good LOR'S</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5032",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3949/"
]
|
5,047 | <p>I receive requests for recommendation many times, but I have received one from a student belonging at a previous affiliation of mine, asking for a favourable letter in view of their achievements.</p>
<p>I am aware of the fact that if I comment on the performance of the student, it could be used against me, since it is good practice to "erase" all the material, marks, personal information of the students and staff relationship at a previous job. So I am hesitant to go in that direction. On the other hand, I could comment only very generally on the skills of the student, which could backfire their application to a new job</p>
<p>Differently from <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2596/does-a-recommendation-have-to-be-from-a-professor-from-your-university">this question</a> I am not looking for a recommendation, but giving one...</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5048,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When you change job, you don’t erase your memory (well, not in <em>all</em> jobs), nor do you all your responsibilities related to this previous job vanish. It is true that leaving a position creates certain obligations in the data you can retain, and how you can use non-publicly available information pertaining to your older institution. However, in the particular case of a reference letter, I don't think it should cause trouble. Moreover, reference letters are confidential.</p>\n\n<p>Actually, I'd go further than saying it should not be a problem. In fact, I think <strong>if you <em>can</em> honestly write him a good recommendation letter, it is part of your responsibility to do it</strong>. This responsibility is not to your former institution, but to the student and the academic system as a whole.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5049,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may want to ask the student to send you any material that you need for writing your reference, for example grade sheets and a CV. Bringing in your personal experiences with the student in addition shouldn't be a problem at all. After writing the reference letter, you should erase all confidential material that the student sent you... :)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5047",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1520/"
]
|
5,050 | <p>Suppose I came across a problem, say in graph theory, that I need to solve for my application, or a problem that I just created out of the blue. I find that it is not a standard problem by any means. Also, it may not have many applications. I then solve this problem with some algorithm. The algorithm is non-trivial. My questions are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it possible to publish such algorithms?</li>
<li>Does it even make sense to publish it? Since it may not even have any applications. And if it did, it is likely that other people have solved the same problem for their respective applications without ever publishing it.</li>
</ol>
<p>I am sorry if such speculative questions should not be asked here, but I was curious. Thanks!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5051,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can't answer (1), but regarding (2), I definitely recommend <strong>publish</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I would venture that any individual academic is a moderate-to-poor judge of how useful their own research is in practice. While your situation may seem very specific, there may be more general applications that are not immediately apparent to you. Additionally, there's a non-trivial likelihood that someone else will encounter the same problem that you're currently trying to solve, in which case your work will be more useful. Just because you don't think someone will need it doesn't mean no one will :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5052,
"author": "Bravo",
"author_id": 411,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/411",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should definitely consider publishing the algorithm, but not before you could say something more than merely a pseudocode. </p>\n\n<p>You should start with a proper literature survey of relevant journals to check if the problem has <em>really</em> not been tackled elsewhere, even under a different avatar. If that is done, you could try building value to your algorithm by checking its complexity or by considering variants that could speed it up at the cost of some efficiency, maybe. You could then think about extensive simulations which could test and validate your algorithm. Finally you could conclude by thinking up some practical applications where it could be relevant. </p>\n\n<p>The applications part sometimes may not be present, but it is perfectly acceptable for a paper to extend the theory alone, leaving it for future researchers to develop it appropriately.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5053,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it possible to publish such algorithms?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's not only possible, it's <em>far</em> more common than the alternative. <strong><em>Most</em> algorithms papers do not have real applications.</strong> The vast majority are <em>motivated</em> by applications, but there are usually several layers of abstraction and/or simplification between the problem actually solved and the motivating application. But even this \"motivation\" is often post-hoc rationalization, added by the authors to help draw the reader into their paper. Most people who study algorithms do it primarily because algorithms are <em>cool</em>, not primarily because they're <em>useful</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Or maybe that's just me.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does it even make sense to publish it?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In principle, sure! Of course, to be publishable, your algorithm needs to be both novel and interesting, not just to you, but to the algorithms community as a whole. You need to be <em>sure</em> that your problem hasn't been solved before, and in particular that your algorithm wasn't already discovered and published by someone else. You also need to <strong>sell</strong> the problem, the algorithm, or both; it's not enough for your algorithm to be \"non-trivial\".</p>\n\n<p>I <strong>strongly</strong> recommend running your algorithm past a local algorithms expert, if possible. They may recognize your problem or your technique under a different guise. At a minimum, they should be able to help you start the necessary literature search. </p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5054,
"author": "gaborous",
"author_id": 3971,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3971",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would say that it depends on the <strong>computational complexity</strong> you get out of it.</p>\n\n<p>A naive implementation can always be made for any algorithm, but an algorithm with an efficient (or at least better-than-naive) complexity is always interesting, no matter if the problem it solves is very specific or not: a lot of algorithms are very specific, and generally the most efficient are very VERY specific, sometimes working for degenerate cases that nearly never happens in real life. Later on, somebody else can always enhance your algorithm, generalize it to other cases or build up on it to solve other related problems.</p>\n\n<p>So my rule of thumb based on what I have read from algorithmics litterature:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>if you can make an algorithm that solves a problem,</li>\n<li>and the complexity is better than naive implementation (and, if you're not the first to solve this problem, possibly better than any other algorithm for the same problem under the same conditions),</li>\n<li>and you can <em>prove</em> it (see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_complexity_theory#Best.2C_worst_and_average_case_complexity\" rel=\"nofollow\">Computational complexity theory</a>),</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Then go ahead and publish it, for example on <a href=\"http://arxiv.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">arxiv.org</a> or <a href=\"http://vixra.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">vixra.org</a> which are free scientific papers pre-publishing services.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5055,
"author": "Marcel Valdez Orozco",
"author_id": 3972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3972",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should publish it. History has shown that articles that have no real-life application at the time of their publication can have a real-world application identified in the indeterminate future. A good example is the prefix/postfix arithmetic operation format. When this was created, computers did not even exist (1920s), but 30 years later it was used by Djikstra and others for efficient in-memory representation of arithmetic operations in computers.</p>\n\n<p>So, I repeat, do publish. Maybe someone uses it after you and I are dead, but it will still be useful.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5050",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3959/"
]
|
5,065 | <ol>
<li><p>What would you recommend as the best way of approach principal investigators for internship/job positions? I'm undergrad, with a planned graduation this winter and I want to get some experience before grad school.</p>
<ul>
<li>Should I try 'cold' messaging? I want to go abroad and I'm not well networked there.</li>
<li>I've been on exchange and performed rather well. Can I use this experience to my benefit?</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>(Somewhat less important) Ideally I'm looking for research experience in Computational Neuroscience. I already have some research experience, I've done graduate work and I majored in cognitive science and mathematics <em>but</em> I come from a Liberal Arts & Sciences college. Will my LAS background be seen as a disadvantage?</p></li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5066,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The absolute best way to approach someone to work in his group is to <strong>be recommended by another researcher in his field</strong>, preferably someone he has heard off previously. So, either a big name or someone with close or overlapping research interests.</p>\n\n<p>So, I would advise you to approach some of the professors in the field you are interested in, at your current institution, and ask them if they know a research group or a professor meeting your criteria. Try to be flexible when you discuss possible names/places with them, to gather a relatively large list, even if you later decide against some of these names. Once you have decided on a few names, either you can get your professors to contact them for you or, barring that, you can contact the abroad PI and mention your shared acquaintance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5068,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding (1), the answer is if you're \"not well networked\", you'll have to find someone who is. I would try the following, in order of potential usefulness:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Ask professors in your department to introduce you to other researchers you want to work with. They may be familiar with other researchers in your field and may be a good source of contacts.</p></li>\n<li><p>Speak with any other faculty you think may be able to help you, outside of your department.</p></li>\n<li><p>Talk to your department's administrators and see whether they can help you find an internship.</p></li>\n<li><p>Try to contact students in the department you wish to intern and see whether they can help you get in touch with an advisor.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Regarding (2), it likely won't have much of an effect. Once you've actually performed research, the quality of your research output is primarily what's used to gauge your usefulness and potential. University and grades are a good proxy before then, but they're only a proxy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5071,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As someone who has done exactly what you're looking for (an international PI hiring an undergrad as an intern), I can tell you that the circumstances are pretty unique, and it's not an easy road, unless you follow eykanal's or F'x's recommendations, and get a referral from someone who's worked with you and who can vouch for you to the person you want to work for.</p>\n\n<p>In this personal case, the reason why I even gave this individual the time of day was that his \"cover letter\" email was compelling enough and well-researched enough to get me to take notice. I requested letters of recommendation and got good feedback on those, and had a similarly positive phone interview. More importantly, I already had a research project in mind where I could take advantage of the extra manpower, as well as the resources to commit to paying for the work.</p>\n\n<p>Had any of those fallen through, I wouldn't have done it. But everything was properly aligned, and the experience has been successful.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5065",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1618/"
]
|
5,073 | <p>I keep reading European Conference on Computer Vision, International Conference on Pattern Recognition, and others, and I find so much in common in those papers. </p>
<p>For example, half the papers seem like: X Algorithm combined with Y algorithm tested on Z database and was better than A in this category but worse than A in that category. </p>
<p>There are many top journals and top conferences with > 1000 papers, in a year, in this field. In addition to this we would have to go through all the tier 2, tier 3 conferences for lack of a similar piece of work. </p>
<p>While working on organic solar cells I found the same problem. I saw 20 different papers on extracting parameters from a single-diode/double-diode/XYZ model.</p>
<p>So how do we know if something relevant is already published?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5074,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>That title summarises a large fraction of all research ;-)</p>\n\n<p>You need to spend a significant amount of time browsing through scientific literature. <a href=\"http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=286\" rel=\"noreferrer\">This illustration from PhD comics</a> illustrates the problem:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/MwSx7.gif\" alt=\"References from PhD Comics\"></p>\n\n<p>My strategy is as follows:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>I start with an arbitrary paper with a title that seems relevant. Let's call this paper A.</p></li>\n<li><p>Using an online service such as <a href=\"http://www.scopus.com\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Scopus</a> (payment or subscription required), I look for:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>All <em>references</em>, e.g. papers cited by A.</p></li>\n<li><p>All <em>citations</em>, e.g. papers that cite A.</p></li>\n</ol></li>\n<li><p>Both the <em>references</em> and <em>citations</em> can be sorted by the <em>number of citatons</em>, so you get the most highly cited papers first. Select the papers that seem relevant (at this stage, reading the abstract is usually good enough).</p></li>\n<li><p>For all relevant papers left in step 3, repeat step 2. You should find considerable overlap already. By now, you should have already found the important papers as well as one or more review articles.</p></li>\n<li><p>Iterate steps 2–4 until your hard disk is full ;-)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of course, if you iterate this process indefinitely, you will soon have <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">downloaded all scientific research ever published</a>. But by being selective but <em>not too selective</em>, this process <em>should</em> lead you to any relevant publications. Even if nobody has cited the relevant publications, <em>the relevant publications themselves should cite other publications</em>, so via step 2.1 you will still find it.</p>\n\n<p>The only caveat here is that databases like <em>Scopus</em> are incomplete, probably in particular when it comes to conference proceedings (in my field, those are rarely relevant). Maybe other databases work better in your field. Hopefully, there is a scientific database that is reasonably complete for relevant publications in your area of research!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5075,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Gerrit has given a good summary of how to perform a bibliographic search. On this topic, I'll add two comments:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Review articles and academic theses, when well written, are invaluable. They contain a lot of information and citations, often in a more “relaxed” format than a pure research paper.</li>\n<li>Try to identify one or two journals/conferences that are central to your field, and a few authors that are big names: then, subscribe to their RSS feeds or set up web alerts for new publications by these teams.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In addition to direct search of the literature, a good way to keep on top of the papers published in a given field is to <strong>attend conferences and discuss with a lot of people</strong>. Poster sessions are particularly good for that. Do not hesitate to bring to the poster presenter questions such as <em>“so, in your opinion, what’s the biggest break among the recent literature?”</em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10303,
"author": "Magnus Persson",
"author_id": 7271,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7271",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Good tips above, I have one more:\n* Collect good search words, e.g. in a mind-map. Maybe different synonyms are used by slightly different authors? Try to think of different ones, check which actually really work.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5073",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3983/"
]
|
5,076 | <p>I am a somewhat new-ish member of <a href="http://www.kaggle.com/">Kaggle</a> competitions with 1 submission. Do academics research via Kaggle challenges/competitions? If so are there any prominent names?</p>
<p>If not why? They provide well annotated training data-sets, and typically do not put any publication restrictions as well.</p>
<p>Perhaps they consider such challenges trivial. Just a query on an academic's perspective on the challenges here.</p>
<p>The only thing I've heard about Kaggle from an academic's perspective is from Graduate School Students at Stanford, who need to participate in a challenge as a part of their coursework (which is pretty cool).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5077,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As far as I know, all competitions on <a href=\"http://kaggle.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Kaggle</a> are on basis "who is the best". So there is no limit on skills; and actually if for someone a problem is trivial, then one can safely claim the prize (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.heritagehealthprize.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Heritage Health Prize</a>).</p>\n<p>From my point of view it allows both to enter interesting data, compare how one's techniques compering with others and learn other approaches (usually winners disseminate their solutions).</p>\n<p>When it comes to <em>the only thing in the academic world which is considered to be a serious stuff</em>, yes, some works end up as publications, see <a href=\"http://www.kaggle.com/papers\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Academic Papers - Kaggle</a>.</p>\n<p>Also, some competitions are research-centric (however, with no cash prizes), e.g. <a href=\"http://www.kaggle.com/c/emvic\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Eye Movements Verification and Identification Competition</a>.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This in an official competition for BTAS 2012 (The Fifth IEEE International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems, September 23-27, Washington DC, USA) and all results will be published during that conference (and of course on this web page as well).</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>However, there are various competitions, so I guess it's hard to make a general statement about "research-worthiness". And for all what matters the most is the result, not its 'purity'.</p>\n<h3>Out of my personal stuff:</h3>\n<p><code><spam></code>\nI made <a href=\"https://www.kaggle.com/c/predict-closed-questions-on-stack-overflow/prospector#211\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">an entry (a graph map of tags)</a> for <a href=\"https://www.kaggle.com/c/predict-closed-questions-on-stack-overflow\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Kaggle StackExchange visualization competition</a>.\n<code></spam></code></p>\n<p>Perhaps I'm starting in <a href=\"http://www.kaggle.com/c/DarkWorlds\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">DarkWorlds</a>, but more for fun and to practice machine learning techniques, as my field is neither machine learning, nor astrophysics.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5078,
"author": "Glider",
"author_id": 3986,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3986",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One of the other uses I've noticed (besides publishing papers on a competition itself) is academics using a competition to demonstrate the application of a particular algorithm that they have developed and published. See Steffen Rendle's <a href=\"http://blog.kaggle.com/2012/04/20/viva-libfm-steffen-rendle-on-how-he-won-the-grockit-challenge/\" rel=\"nofollow\">libFM</a> (Factorization Machines) winning the Grockit Challenge, and the <a href=\"http://blog.kaggle.com/2012/10/31/merck-competition-results-deep-nn-and-gpus-come-out-to-play/\" rel=\"nofollow\">winning team</a> of academics in the <a href=\"https://www.kaggle.com/c/MerckActivity\" rel=\"nofollow\">Merck Molecular Activity Challenge</a> with their use of deep learning.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5084,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The main reason \"Academics\" wouldn't browse Kaggle to search for research problems is that most academics already have a field of interest, and aren't interested in doing data science research for the sake of figuring out some random problem defined by whoever decided to post the contest. Even if an algorithms researcher is looking to test out a particular technique that he just devised, he would probably first apply the technique to whatever dataset he was using originally before randomly testing it out on a dataset available on Kaggle.</p>\n\n<p>For what it's worth, there are <a href=\"https://www.google.com/#q=public+data+sets\" rel=\"nofollow\">hundreds of publicly available data sets to test on</a>; if anything, the data available in Kaggle competitions is probably poor relative to the richness in those data sets.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5076",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3983/"
]
|
5,082 | <p>I just entered a MS in Computer Science in a mid tier state school. I'm interested in taking things to the next level, but I just turned 30. By the time I do the math and everything, I'll probably be 34 before applying. Is that too old? Does that essentially eliminate me from top programs?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5083,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Age is simply not a factor in PhD admissions in computer science, at least in North America. As Zenon says, age discrimination is illegal here. </p>\n\n<p>However, <em>being out from school for a significant period of time</em> (say, more than five years) is a potential hurdle for PhD admissions, at least in my department. We typically recommend that those students pursue a MS degree first, to refresh their academic background. But since you're in an MS program now, that shouldn't be a issue for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5118,
"author": "DavideChicco.it",
"author_id": 379,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/379",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Age is not a PhD admission facor in the continental Europe, too.</p>\n\n<p>The selection is based on titles, publications, curriculum vitae and generally <em>on what you've done</em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5121,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field, which is not computer science, we get a number of clinicians who are a few years away from retirement applying for PhDs. NIH institutional training grants track students for a number of years post graduation so accepting people who will retire soon after graduation is bad. Of course these older applicants are never rejected based on age.</p>\n\n<p>The problem arises more for applicants that are nearer 50 than 30 years old.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5126,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Apart from admission (which normally should not be related to age), there is something that's related to your question. I'm going to generalize and say that the older one is, the more that person will have financial restraints tied to lifestyle. One tends to be married, to have children, to have a mortgage, to have debts, etc. You may not agree with this generalization, but many students seeking PhDs at my university fall into this category. </p>\n\n<p>In such cases, the problem is more about funding requirements related to lifestyle. Funding opportunities are always limited (regardless of one's age), but it might be harder for someone who has financial obligations to manage with the limited funding for a PhD. I know of several cases of PhD candidates who never started, or (worse) didn't finish because the funding was too limited for them as spouses, parents, homeowners, etc. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34819,
"author": "from turkey with love",
"author_id": 27039,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27039",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Turkey, age is a very important decisive factor in all types of graduate school admissions and other academic pursuits. Usually, there is an age limit of less than 27, to be eligible for applying scholarships or other types of funding under the title of a student. </p>\n\n<p>Also, Turkish professors are not willing to advise older students, because the structure of the Turkish society requires older people to get married and grow their kids, instead of being a student. As a consequence of this, woman in academia are usually positively discriminated resulting in lower teaching loads and research expectations to be satisfied. This is due to the fact that they could serve as good wives for their husbands, and grow more kids. Almost all woman academics are in this business (in academia), in order to benefit from opportunities to become better housewives and mothers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40507,
"author": "M.Dax",
"author_id": 28944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28944",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I just want to add that, being a current student in a top 10 CS PhD program, I don't feel that age is a factor even in 'day-to-day' interactions. There are several students in our department who worked in industry or had a career for 10+ years before they decided they wanted to come back to grad school. We all get along fine, those of us in our 20's, 30's even 40s. I'm sure that has a lot to do with training to be scientists. We make a conscious effort to be as objective as possible, and this is one instance where that kind of thinking benefits everybody. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/10/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5082",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3990/"
]
|
5,085 | <p>I have no choice but to take courses I've already learnt in college.
So is it a good idea to overlearn?
Would overlearning help me to get into graduate school?</p>
<p>There are many ways for me to spend time:
research, gpa, heavy courseload, or <strong>studying stuff beyond my current syllabus</strong></p>
<p>According to my course plan, I'm supposed to start learning Multivariable Calculus in about 5 months and Linear algebra in about 11 months from now. In between now and then is just some humanities courses and a bunch of Physics/Math courses I've already learnt.</p>
<p>How important is a high GPA and to get into a good graduate school?
And why is it important to get into a good graduate school?
note: I'm a Physics major...</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5087,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The thing about GPA, is that if you want to get into a good Grad School, is one of the few things that basically distinguishes you from your peers (which percentage are you in)</p>\n\n<p>If you're in a known American School, having a good GPA is extremely important then. </p>\n\n<p>Don't you have the possibility to take those courses before, I'm not sure about the American System, in countries like Japan, you can actually take the courses in whatever order you think fits you the most (given certain serialization)</p>\n\n<p>I've also can recommend you studying those topics ahead of time, so when you take those courses, you can ace them, and devote your time to other extracurricular stuff that might pump up your application to a grad school.</p>\n\n<p>Many grad schools love it when you have published work before, so having a couple of papers might help you, and you can get this papers from your extra time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5100,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having a <em>good</em> GPA is important; having a <em>great</em> GPA is not. Assuming your GPA stays above a certain threshold (about 3.5), other factors like research experience are significantly more important, at least for admission to the best departments.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, if you get a C in a distribution class because you spent \"too much\" time on that experiment you later published, nobody will even notice the C on your transcript.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5228,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Research is an awesome way to exploit your knowledge.\nJust join the undergraduate research program in your college: if you know significantly more than your peers in college, you can do much more <strong>advanced research</strong> which would boost your grad school application.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, as a Physics major, you'd need some basic knowledge. Knowing introductory Physics and single variable calculus isn't enough: try to learn some computer language (C++), Multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations and some upper division Physics courses. Having more knowledge would help broaden your choice of what research project you want to join.</p>\n\n<p>If you've overlearned so much that you're learning graduate courses while you're still a sophomore, you can join the Theoretical Physics research projects: these tend to need lots of knowledge.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5260,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(I'm not familiar with what overlearning exactly is, so I go by what Wiki says it is)</p>\n\n<p>Depending on the field of science there are things where overlearning (as in vocabulary) is beneficial or even needed. E.g. I'm chemist. Unfortunately, there are priciples behind chemistry that cannot be explained like you explain how to derive a formula. But knowing lots of these things allows you to extrapolate to new situations. During undergrad studies we all complained that if we had wanted this style of studies, we had chosen medicine and started learning the phone directory by hard.\nIt is a bit like learning a language like children do: without being told, structures will emerge. </p>\n\n<p>These structures of the knowledge that form by experience are also important for topics/techniques that can be explained in a logical way. They allow you to become fast and efficient. They allow to \"automate\" certain tasks, and that leaves conscious capacity to think about less well-known things. In physics, it will certainly be beneficial if you have your intellectual capacity free for thinking about physics <em>because</em> you mastered the relevant maths to a level where you <em>see</em> possible ways of solving instead of digging through your brain and notes for that. Ultimately, this level of mastering subjects is also what is needed to arrive at truly new connections (\"Good mathematicians see analogies. Great mathematicians see analogies between analogies.\" - true for physicists and chemists and whole lots of other researchers as well). </p>\n\n<p>This means you need to exercise the stuff you learned. Doing textbook excercises is a boring (but possibly efficient) way of doing that at intermediate levels. But of course, you can try to do this with research projects as well. The important thing also with undergrad research is that you train your research/physics skills and not only do what you are told to do, but also take the time to understand why things are done this way. What alternatives would exist, what would be the disadvantage of that etc.</p>\n\n<p>About studying ahead of schedule: in my university (Germany) it was no problem to participate e.g. in written exams ahead of the \"regular\" time. If you passed, noone asked you to go to the course. In some subjects, it even gave you the benefit that if you wanted to try again when your year was doing the exam, you could redo it and pick the better mark. Also, noone would have kept you from attending advanced lectures/seminars. Or if you went for subjects that were not strictly on the plan, like another language. I also heard some philosophy, took some computer science and some economics and an introduction to general and patent law - you get the idea. We did not do much research that way, but that was probably because we had research projects on schedule, so the research groups had rather more research students than they could handle (I don't count fetching stuff from the library as research job).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5085",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
5,086 | <p>A friend of mine who is from Japan told me that his professor in USA puts the feet up while talking to him. He was saying that he felt very bad with that. Is this acceptable culture in USA academia?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5088,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've done my PhD in Japan, and have had much contact with professors in America and Japan.</p>\n\n<p>The academic relationship and work culture in both countries are very different. In America it is generally not regarded as bad when someone puts their feet on the table while talking to you.</p>\n\n<p>I had bosses and advisors in the US who did this. However, in Japan, the advisor-student relationship is more respectful and professional. </p>\n\n<p>I would like to tell you that you should ask the professor to refrain from putting their feet on the table, but if they do it in their office, it is pretty much up to them. Since the office is the professor's space, I do not think it is your friend's business to ask them not to do it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46642,
"author": "Danny Ruijters",
"author_id": 28830,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28830",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the orient showing somebody your feet/shoes is a sign of disrespect.</p>\n\n<p>A person who puts his feet on the desk in the western world shows that he (this is mostly done by males) is at ease/relaxed in an informal atmosphere. However, also in the west this behavior is normally only shown by people who are talking to their subordinates or peers at their own hierarchical level.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46671,
"author": "Dilworth",
"author_id": 8760,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8760",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question is \"How to respond to the situation\". The answer is quite simple in my opinion: do <strong>not</strong> respond, unless you really cannot tolerate it in which case you don't really have a choice but to respond. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84084,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Perhaps your friend could tell the Professor, in a somewhat apologetic tone if he doesn't feel confident enough about their relationship, that in his cultrual background, putting your feet on the table is an offensive act, and while s/he is certain the Professor does not mean it, s/he (the PhD candidate) is very distracted by it, so s/he is asking for the Professor's consideration on this matter. </p>\n\n<p>That is, the request to not do this can be made with deference rather than as a form of rebuke.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5086",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3993/"
]
|
5,090 | <p>Is it necessary to notify to the graduate school when taking the free online courses?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5092,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As always, it's better to check directly with your advisor, who is in the best situation to answer exactly your question. That being said, as Zenon said, you should be able to do pretty much what you want during your free time, including taking online courses. However, if you take so many classes that it prevents you to work normally for your grad school, then it might be a problem. Furthermore, if you expect the online courses you take to count for your graduate program (i.e., to replace other courses you would normally have to take at your school), then only your advisor can answer that. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5094,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not think you have to tell your advisor, as long as it does not interfere with your work, you should be free to do whatever you like. Of course you cannot stop doing your mandatory work in sake of the courses, but I do not see a good reason to notify anyone.</p>\n\n<p>You can always tell your labmates, so you can take the course together and get more out of it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5090",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3993/"
]
|
5,104 | <p>I love travelling and I was thinking of getting my Master’s degree in mathematics abroad (I got my bachelors in the USA). I know that I can get funding if I go to China for my master’s.</p>
<p>Will it be viewed negatively if I try to apply for a PhD in the United States? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5123,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have some experience with Asian Universities, particularly Japanese.</p>\n\n<p>First, take into account that having a Masters might boost a bit your application to PhD a bit, as long as you publish something over there. Also, if the profesor you are going with is unknown, it might not help you at all.</p>\n\n<p>Second, many people think that studying abroad and traveling are similar things, when they are really not. You'll have to deal with the hardships of asian Academic culture, which are very different from the American ones. </p>\n\n<p>You'll also have to deal with the hardships of life, be sure to know the language at least to communicate basic thoughts and deal with the fact that you might not like food there (Protip: Chinese American Food is somewhat different of real Chinese Food)</p>\n\n<p>I would put more, but I would be edging on ranting, which I'm probably already are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37849,
"author": "Alex Quan",
"author_id": 28685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28685",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it would be good - maybe great.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Math is a universal language, so its not like you're learning American History in China. </li>\n<li>Math is generally at a very high level in China. Take for example Secondary student's math scores in Shanghai, considered tops among the world in OECD (PISA) scores. These students will get that MA in China in Math. Many are the geniuses who score an 800 on the SAT Math section in China without even trying. So much better than American kids.</li>\n<li>The university system may be not so well-developed, maybe your thesis isn't really guided, you might have like a few classes a week, you may live with 3 other slobs in a dorm bed. But the tuition is probably really cheap, the food even cheaper and so are the calculators, because they are abacuses - some of them. </li>\n<li>Your PhD program will see you did something great and unique. And if you come away unscathed and with a better command of Chinese and a wider worldview, you have done yourself a service.</li>\n<li>Final reason, you learn to use an abacus, the most important reason. </li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5104",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3999/"
]
|
5,109 | <p>There exist review journals that every now and then publish a thematic issue on a given topic. For example, <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/page/chreay/thematic-issues/index.html" rel="noreferrer"><em>Chemical Reviews</em></a> does so: one thematic issue (see e.g. <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/toc/chreay/110/7" rel="noreferrer">this one</a>) includes an editorial and a number of invited review on the main topic.</p>
<p>When writing the introduction of a research paper, one can start by summing up the recent developments in the field, and then explain the reasoning behind the paper being written (<em>“People have looked at application of molecules X and Y to reactions A, B and C, but so far noöne has evidenced any benefit of using them for reaction D. We here show that they lead to a spectacular 270% improvement over current yields”</em>). When writing the broader part of the introduction, one might be tempted to include many references to recent reviews on the topic. However, when many reviews come from the same thematic issue of a journal, it becomes a bit ridiculous. So…</p>
<p>Is it an accepted practice to include a reference to an entire issue of a journal?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Special issue of <em>Chem. Rev.</em> on “Giant molecules for catalysis”, <strong>2010</strong>, issue 8.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alternatively, is it adequate to cite the editorial of the thematic issue? Or do individual papers need to be cited, at the risk of making a long string of citations? Like so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lots of research has focused on applications of these molecules to A[1], B[2], C[3], D[4], E[5] and F[6]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>where refs. 1-6 are all to sequential papers in the same issue of the same journal.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5116,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Citations along the lines of see X for a review are meaningless in my opinion and should be avoided. I believe, you should only be citing novel and specific findings. I would even steer away from citing the individual articles in a special issue because they tend to rehash old material and you are better off citing the original source.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5120,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It seems tempting to cite only the issue of a journal when it contains several articles that you want to refer to from your introduction. Especially so if it is a special issue directly related to your paper. As to your question whether it is an accepted practice, I haven't seen so, but it could depend on the field of research of course.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I would advise against using such citations for two main reasons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You should always try to cite as specific as possible. If you support a stated fact with a citation, the reader should be directed to this fact as directly as possible. In your example of the giant molecules, a reader may be more interested in application A than in giant molecules in general, so it will be helpful if you cite more specifically.</li>\n<li>Citations are the basis for many measures of academic impact, and I doubt that citations to journal issues are counted in these measures. The authors of the articles that you intend to cite with a reference to a whole journal issue will certainly not be pleased with this, because you restrain a source of academic reputation for them.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15752,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As has been indicated from other answers, it is generally not acceptable, or a good idea. When you reference materials you need to specific so that the reader cane trace your sources. There is, however, one exception that I can think of and it concerns thematic or special issues. </p>\n\n<p>As you say, some journals issue issues devoted to papers adhering to specific topic or theme. This can be a set of invited papers around a specific question, or a selection of papers coming out from a workshop or symposia session. Often such issues are tied together by an editorial explaining the theme and the contributions of the individual papers to that theme. </p>\n\n<p>It is possible to reference such issues rather than the individual papers if the issue can be seen as contributing a collective view. This can, for example, be a state of the art view of the topic. The point is that the issue becomes similar to, for example, an edited book rather than individual papers and the referencing concerns the collective contribution of papers, not the individual. As soon as something needs to be sourced from a paper within the issue the paper needs to be referenced, the issue reference is then not sufficient. </p>\n\n<p>So it is possible to reference entire journal issues but only for very specific (or actually general) purposes, not to replace referencing a bunch of individual paper from which ideas have been gained. This makes the use quite limited and pointing at a source for information rather than the information itself.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5109",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,115 | <p>I am applying for grad school this year and I am considering sending an email to ask a professor to write me a reference. He had previously agreed to write me a letter because I took one of his advanced courses. </p>
<p>I am not sure if it'd be okay for me to offer to provide a template to him for the letter. The reason I want to do this is I will be applying for a PhD in a different, though quite related, field, and I want to make sure that he knows what the advisory committee will be specifically looking for in his letter, and make sure that his letter corresponds well with my statement of purpose.</p>
<p>Is this an acceptable practice between professors and students? Or would they consider it offending since he is supposed to provide his independent opinion? And if it is okay, how can I offer it in an appropriate way?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5117,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No and yes. I would talk to him and ask what he wants. If he wants a template, then you should provide one. If he wants a bulleted list, give him that. If he wants a draft letter, go with that. Giving him unsolicited information would be frowned upon.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5119,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Personally, I would be somewhat offended if a student gave me a template for a letter, and I wouldn't use it. (Unless I had asked for one, which personally I would not.)</p>\n\n<p>However, it is perfectly appropriate to say, \"I believe that the committee will probably be interested in my ability to dangle participles and reticulate splines; it would help if your letter could address this.\" It is also fine to include a list or resume of your other activities that he may not be aware of, but leave it up to him how to use this list.</p>\n\n<p>It's quite possible that your professor has written letters for students in this different field before and already knows what is expected. Also, for letters which are submitted online, the writer normally gets a message from the requesting institution explaining what issues should be addressed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5122,
"author": "Muhammad Hussain",
"author_id": 4008,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4008",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will prefer to give template. For higher research oriented studies the reference letter must contain the related information, and each institution has its own taste, so to create more chances of getting admission you need to give the template to the one who is referencing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14655,
"author": "Doru Constantin",
"author_id": 9221,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9221",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Was the template expressly provided by the advisory committee? In this case, you should of course forward it to your prospective references.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, if it is just something you thought up, chances are that an experienced reference writer will do a better job by himself (he is probably more aware of what the committee is looking for in an applicant.)</p>\n\n<p>This should not stop you from sending him all the relevant info: detailed CV, statement of purpose, transcripts etc.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5115",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/676/"
]
|
5,127 | <p>The idea of working toward a PhD came to me very late in my Master's program. As such, my primary professors and adviser didn't necessarily coach me into PhD preparation and may have even seen me as somewhat of a black sheep in the academic community. I don't doubt that they would believe in my ability to research, but rather that it'd be somewhat of a surprise that this was an area of interest for me. </p>
<p>Having said all of that, while I believe that they could give me a good reference, I don't believe it would be the "great" reference that would be characteristic of this internationally-recognized expert in their field. With this in mind, are there things that I can do to make myself a more appealing candidate to a PhD program?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5136,
"author": "Jeremy",
"author_id": 4015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4015",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is important if you have papers published by you as one of the authors in the field you intend to run a PhD, otherwise a good academic transcript will be enough. Sometimes some Universities take PhD students that they can groom and nurture in some fields irrespective of how qualified they are or not. I encourage you to believe in yourself and try your hands on some applications. Best of Luck.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5139,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>PhD programs are looking for <strong>strong evidence of research potential</strong>. We'll look for that evidence in your recommendation letters (preferably from people who know the field and know what potential stars look like), in your research statement, and in your academic record.</p>\n\n<p>Get the best references you can. You write \"<em>I don't doubt that they would believe in my ability to research</em>\", which is excellent. They may also write about their surprise in your late interest, which will raise some eyebrows, but it's the truth, so you're stuck with it.</p>\n\n<p>In your research statement, be sure to explain <strong>why</strong> you're interested in a PhD, and in particular, what changed in the late stages of your MS program to spark your interest. You need to actively pre-empt the perception that you just want to stay in school because you want to learn More Cool Stuff, or that you tried Real Work and you didn't like it.</p>\n\n<p>You also need to include <em>credible technical detail</em> about your research experience and your specific research interests. (Yes, that means you need to <em>have</em> research experience and specific research interests.) Otherwise, readers will wonder if you know what research actually <em>is</em>. That naïveté might be excusable for someone with only a BS, but for an applicant with an master's degree, it's a serious red flag.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5127",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1107/"
]
|
5,131 | <p>Every <a href="http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/data-fabrication-fells-muscle-physiology-paper/">now</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/30/us/falsified-data-found-in-gene-studies.html">then</a>, you hear stories of data being fabricated by a graduate student (or post-doc) who felt the pressure to publish groundbreaking results was too much. This unethical behavior makes me wonder: What can a PhD advisor (or group leader, or project principal investigator) actually do to avoid that in her own group? What are her ethical duties in ensuring that all published data is genuine?</p>
<p>Please note: I'm not singling out graduate students or post-docs because I think they are statistically responsible for more ethical misconducts than others… only because it gives a good case of when the PI would have only indirect access to the data (meaning: she didn't actually do the experiments herself, but was only presented the data by others in her group).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5133,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We've talked about this at the institute where I'm doing my PhD, and the best solution seemed the following:</p>\n\n<p>First, make a central database for all raw data, that can be accessed per request. Upload/copy data to it as soon as it's collected, including noisy data that might not enter the final analysis. This ensures that any excluded data has to be properly justified. </p>\n\n<p>Second, let everybody know that every so often a random dataset will be pulled out and some basic checks run on it.</p>\n\n<p>Third, run those basic checks. For this you need someone with knowledge of statistics who can tell you what is appropriate for your type of data. A lot of basic aspects of normal data are difficult to simulate without a lot of knowledge on statistics. To give an example, if you take data that have a normal distribution, split it into quintiles, then plot the mean against the variance in each quintile, they should roughly fall on an inverted U-shaped curve. I know of a case where this relationship was perfectly linear, which raised alarm bells. In any case, these checks should be simple and easy to run.</p>\n\n<p>Fourth, decide who will do these checks, because it takes time and effort.</p>\n\n<p>Fifth, make sure you have some idea of what types of mistakes are honest mistakes, and what constitutes actual fraud. Make sure you discuss mechanisms of dealing with these mistakes (and fraud) beforehand, i.e. don't leave this decision in the hands of the supervisor at the moment it happens.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: I guess the main question was what's the PI's responsibility. My reply reflects my opinion that the responsibility should be more institutionalized, and not left just to the PI. On the other hand, the PI could run some of these steps internally if needed / if there is no other help available. But then it might be too elaborate, so perhaps you will get some better answers from other people.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5137,
"author": "Jeremy",
"author_id": 4015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4015",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's a sad reality. That is why research group leaders should be so deeply involved in their post-graduate students' research that they can detect fabrication of data easily. It is unfortunate when research group leaders only sit in their room and expect the student to do everything for them and put their name for the paper. It is the duty of the leader to scrutinize and question the results and ask for repeats when necessary and go carry out a few experiments too to authenticate results before accepting them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5143,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The PI is responsible for the output of the scientific employees under them, while they are doing work <em>for the PI</em>. (I think it would be unfair to hold a PI responsible, for instance, for quality control on the work done by a post-doc on a paper submitted with his or her former group.)</p>\n\n<p>From an ethics standpoint, however, the PI is responsible for encouraging an atmosphere in which errors are caught and corrected, rather than tolerated. If errors are \"innocent\" in nature, then no guilt or punishment should really follow from catching and fixing those errors. However, a PI is responsible for not sanctioning deliberate lapses. If the PI sets up a culture in which such behavior is viewed as expected or necessary, such failures do lie on the PI.</p>\n\n<p>I would argue that the PI's responsibilities extend to ensuring that the work claimed has been performed, and that the data has been correctly analyzed. Some places I've worked at have instituted <em>quality control</em> procedures for doing so, to varying degrees of formality. While I don't think a full review of all of the data is often required in academic settings, I think most groups would benefit from <em>some</em> implementation of such measures. As Ana suggests, if you do \"random\" sampling of the work produced, then it makes it that much harder to falsify <em>anything</em>, since you don't know if that will be the work that will be checked. </p>\n\n<p>A PI shouldn't be expected to fall on her sword for a single incident involving an underling. The PI could perhaps be castigated for making a poor personnel decision, but it shouldn't be a career-ender unless the PI is aware of and condones the unethical behavior. Cases such as the <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100929/full/467516a.html\">Bhrigu tampering case at Michigan</a>, in which a postdoc tampered with the work of a graduate student in the same group, and which led to the PI moving to another university, are unfortunate, and only serve to make things more difficult for everyone. But the aversion should not have been cast upon the PI—which seems to have happened here.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5131",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,145 | <p>Sometimes I work from home, and for security reasons it is not possible to connect to the campus computers. I use Google Scholar for finding papers and so, but from home, most of the journals can not be accessed.</p>
<p>Is it there some way in which Google Scholar or another academic search engine searches only in open access journals?</p>
<p>PS1: There is no way in which I can access my campus, really.</p>
<p>PS2: OK, I will give more details, since it seems that PS1 is not clear enough. I am working with other collaborators that are not affiliated to any University. I could do VPN and similar but I can not pass them such information, or any other way of passwords or access to the campus, etc. We can only work with the open access papers they find. If the interesting papers are under a paywall, then they are useless for us. I hope this clarifies my questions, and thank everybody for the useful comments.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5151,
"author": "halirutan",
"author_id": 4021,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4021",
"pm_score": 5,
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"text": "<p>I'm not sure, whether you really meant <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-access_journal\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">open access journals</a>, because when I'm searching at home and I'm too lazy to use the VPN of our university, I'm usually interested in <em>publications I can access</em>.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't rely on Google Scholar alone, because I'm not sure whether they filter the results. When you study the <a href=\"http://www.google.com/advanced_search\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">advanced search</a> of google a bit, you'll see, that some of the switches are really nice. One really important switch is the <code>-filetype</code> option. If you search for instance for <em>image segmentation</em> in Google Scholar you get instantly only results with a downloadable pdf file if you use</p>\n\n<pre><code>image segmentation filetype:pdf\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Even more handy becomes this approach in a two step method. As you know, when you \"put something in quotes\" in google, you search for the exact string. This can be used to do the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>find some preview of the article you want to download. </li>\n<li>choose a very specific part of a sentence there</li>\n<li>search for this part and use the <code>filetype</code> option</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Non-scientific example:</strong> Sometimes I'm searching for piano notes of some popular songs and since everyone tries to make money with this, you often won't find a free, downloadable version. Therefore, I first search for something like \"sheet music evanescence my immortal\" and look at one of the first links, where you usually can see one sample page. Then I see, what's on the page and I use this information to adjust my search</p>\n\n<pre><code>\"My immortal\" \"I'm so tired of\" \"Slowly and freely\" filetype:pdf\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>and <a href=\"http://sheets-piano.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Evanescence-My_Immortal.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the first hit</a> is a high-quality pdf with all pages.</p>\n\n<p>The same approach sometimes works for scientific publications, because most scientists put their publication on their website. So while you have to pay on the journal website, you may get it for free somewhere else.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5152,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This exact question has been asked at Webapps Stack Exchange:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://webapps.stackexchange.com/q/28869/22890\">Is there a way to configure Google Scholar to only show results where the document is freely available?</a></p>\n\n<p>Quoting from the (unaccepted) answer there:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Unfortunately there isn't an option to restrict results like that in Google Scholar (I appreciate the idea, running into paywalls is very frustrating). I guess the argument could be made that you are limiting the articles/knowledge you could be exposed to be only looking at the free things. That and Google's recognition of what is accessible isn't 100%.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>See <a href=\"https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/28897/22890\">over there</a> for more information.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5156,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, there is no way to restrict google scholar searches to only open-access papers.</p>\n\n<p>However, you have several options, to ensure that you can access pay-for-access journals that your institution has subscriptions for, even when you're off-campus. This neatly short-circuits the question of having to search only open-access journals. And see also the section below on \"Hosting on servers other than the journal itself\", which will allow you to find open-access copies of papers that are in pay-to-access journals, by looking on author's homepages and similar.</p>\n\n<h1>Shibboleth / Athens login</h1>\n\n<p>The login name and password you use for your campus network, may also serve as your login and password for one of the access aggregators, such as <a href=\"http://shibboleth.net/\">Shibboleth</a> or <a href=\"http://www.openathens.net/\">Athens</a>. So once you're at the online journal page of the paper you're after, look for \"institutional login\" or \"login\", and then search for the login details of your aggregator, and then for your institution. For example, most UK universities are part of the Shibboleth network, and get access via the <a href=\"http://www.ukfederation.org.uk/\">UK Access Management Federation</a>. So the login route is:\n - a link called something like <code>institutional login</code> on the journal page\n - a dropdown for UK Access Management Federation\n - a select-box to pick the specific university\n - university login and password</p>\n\n<h1>Hosting on servers other than the journal itself</h1>\n\n<p>Once you've done your usual search, and got the title of a potentially-interesting paper, then you can start looking for PDFs of it. First do a plain (not scholar) google search for the title, <strong>in double-quotes</strong>, and <code>filetype:pdf</code>. So if you were looking for the paper \"Ninja Google skills\", then you'd google for</p>\n\n<p><code>\"Ninja Google skills\" filetype:pdf</code></p>\n\n<p>If that doesn't work, check whether the paper is hosted on:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>the university homepages of any of the authors</li>\n<li>the preprint server at each of their universities</li>\n<li>any subject-wide preprint archive for your subject area</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Or email the author on the paper who's nominated as first contact, asking them for a preprint copy of the paper. A couple of sentences about why you're interested, and how you'll use it, will help.</p>\n\n<h1>Remote access to the campus network</h1>\n\n<p>Some people with this problem will have one or more means to access their campus network (although you do not. This answer is to help others as well as you, and their circumstances will not be identical to yours); a quick chat with one of the librarians, and someone in the university IT support team, should help clarify:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>VPN into the campus network, then search; or</li>\n<li>SSH into the campus network, then search; or</li>\n<li>log in to the university library network web page, and search from there.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h1>Failing all that, get creative</h1>\n\n<p>For some of the following, you'll need to check your university's terms and conditions, and official guidelines, to ensure that you play within the letter and the spirit of the rules:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Set up an in-campus server process that will receive remotely-submitted requests, search for a paper, and download it, and make it available to you. You might do this via a web-page, email, or <a href=\"http://db.tt/VlPlVmL\">Dropbox</a>.</li>\n<li>Share a <a href=\"http://db.tt/VlPlVmL\">Dropbox</a> folder or similar with colleagues, and arrange that whenever one of you is on campus, and has a spare few minutes, you'll look for new requests in the shared folder, and if you find any, you'll download the paper and pop it in the Dropbox.</li>\n<li>Ask your supervisor / department head (as appropriate) to mention to a very senior administrator that the University is failing its staff and postgrads in a key area, and that some form of off-site access is just part of being a university in the 21st Century.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5157,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The type of journal an article is published does not necessarily have anything to do with whether you can access it for free.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Google Scholar very often provides you with direct links to free PDFs of articles published in journals that charge for subscriptions</strong>. You can access those PDFs for free because:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The author posted a copy on his/her webpage;</li>\n<li>The author posted a copy on an institutional server; or</li>\n<li>The paper (or a preprint) is posted on an open-access repository such as arxiv.org.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>For instance, none of my papers are published in open-access journals. But if you search for my papers on Google Scholar, <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=author%3aDI-ketcheson\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the first page</a> has direct links to free PDFs for 6 out of 9 of the hits, and 1 of the remaining 3 is a book.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5159,
"author": "user13107",
"author_id": 2643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2643",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can <em>teach</em> the Google search to avoid non-free journal sites using this chrome <a href=\"http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57495383-285/block-specific-web-site-results-from-google-searches-in-chrome/\" rel=\"nofollow\">add-on</a>. May be after using for a few days, you will come across all the main non-free sites and add them to your blocklist.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5244,
"author": "Peter Suber",
"author_id": 4059,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4059",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When you run a search in Google Scholar, the hits are organized in two columns. The left column is for all hits (links + snippets) matching your search string. The right column (links only) is for the subset of those hits which are either free for everyone (OA) or free for you (based on Google's calculation that your institution has paid for access). For many searches, the right column will be sparsely populated. If don't search from an institutional IP address, then Google won't be able to tell what your institution has bought, and the right column will be limited to OA hits.</p>\n\n<p>I believe this is one of the best-kept secrets about Google Scholar.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43714,
"author": "bxfd82",
"author_id": 33244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33244",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not aware of a resource that limits searching in this way but if you are interested only in open access journals you could try using advanced searching on the <a href=\"http://doaj.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://doaj.org</a>. Neither the search interface nor the content may be the same quality of the databases, but it would limit you to resources that were universally available. However, this seems overly restrictive of your research because your colleagues likely have some level of access to research through their own institutions, through public libraries and state-level consortia, or even through walk-in visits to local research institutions. Before limiting yourself so severely I recommend speaking with an electronic resources librarian on your campus to discuss all options and access. Sometimes library database licenses do allow for scholarly sharing of articles or portions of materials with colleagues that are collaborating in this manner. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59770,
"author": "richie",
"author_id": 45831,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45831",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not sure in which field you are looking. However, if you are working in quantitative science (physics, quantitative biology, computer science...) you might check out <a href=\"http://www.scientillion.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Scientillion</a> which is searching open access databases and has more than 90% of open access articles in its results. Since it is including the eprint archive ArXiv you often get the full text of articles which appeared in journals later after being uploaded there. Hope, that helps.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 105436,
"author": "mwojnars",
"author_id": 5999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5999",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try <a href=\"http://paperity.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Paperity</a> instead!</p>\n\n<p>It is an aggregator of exclusively open access literature. As of now, Paperity contains more than 1,500,000 full-text papers from 4,200 journals covering all academic disciplines. You can browse papers by journal, use <a href=\"http://paperity.org/search/?advanced=1\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">full-text search</a>, set up RSS feeds to follow new articles on a given subject (RSS is tailored to your search criteria) and read papers on a tablet or smartphone (<a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paperity/id1331531819?mt=8\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">iOS</a>, <a href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paperity\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Android</a>). Paperity aims at aggregating 100% of open access literature ultimately. </p>\n\n<p>Disclaimer: I am the founder.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5145",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/284/"
]
|
5,148 | <p>I have 8 years of IT experience in India, I want to do a Master of Science in the US.
Would my already long professional experience hurt my chances to find a job after the MSc? I intend to settle in the US instead of coming back to India.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5153,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would expect that it almost certainly does not hurt your chances. Many people proceed their academic education or career after professional experience. In <a href=\"http://www.spacemaster.eu\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">our Master programme</a>, this is treated as a significant plus, and I would be very surprised if companies wouldn't do the same.</p>\n\n<p>But for the non-academic portion of the question (I infer you mean a job outside academia), you might want to ask at <a href=\"https://workplace.stackexchange.com/\">The Workplace</a> and get opinions there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5155,
"author": "hoo",
"author_id": 3996,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3996",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You will be a very strong candidate in US provided you go to at least a reputable public university. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5148",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4019/"
]
|
5,160 | <p>I worked on an interesting project as a PHD student. It was rejected from a top conference with all but 1 reviewer agreeing that it was an ok paper but not good enough for that conference, because more work was required. The other reviewer said it was in top 15% papers. Do the reviewers mean "trash paper" when they say "ok paper" ?
I don't have the time to finish it because I have switched my research area. In the project, I also collected and processed a large amount of data which would be useful for the computer vision community. Should I just put the paper and associated data/code on my website? Or should I put it on arxiv? In either cases, I wanted to acknowledge and include a link to the reviews from the conference. Is that a bad idea? The review process was double blind and hence the reviews are anonymous.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5161,
"author": "Luke Mathieson",
"author_id": 1370,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1370",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have you considered submission to a journal? As reviewers are not identified, it is reasonable to trust their judgement that the paper is \"okay\", and of course \"okay\" at a top conference in CS could still be quite good, especially as it's within the top 15%. Although perhaps the top-tier journals would render a similar judgement, there may be a venue where it is appropriate (I'm not familiar with the computer vision area), and you could publish without an excess of additional work.</p>\n\n<p>Alongside this you can (usually) always put a preprint on ArXiv, few journals or conferences take issue with this now, which allows you to make it available in the meantime, regardless of what else you decide to do with it in the future.</p>\n\n<p>However I would definitely <em>not</em> include the reviews. Although there is no rule against doing so, particularly as the reviewers shouldn't be identifiable, it contributes nothing to your research - the reader should be assessing the value themselves. The inclusion of reviews would only indicate that you want to boast about your work, or that you want people to accept it because someone else said it was good.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5162,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't feel bad if your paper was rejected, if you really want to publish, you could always submit it to another conference in its current form trying to address some of the concerns of the reviewers.</p>\n\n<p>The problem with conferences (most) is that you don't get a second chance to submit it. There is nothing wrong with putting your paper out there in Arxiv, but remember that if it has not been published before, you could always suffer the danger of being plagiarized to certain extent. </p>\n\n<p>Like Luke mentions, reviewers are most of the time a toss in the air. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5165,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Do the reviewers mean \"trash paper\" when they say \"ok paper\" ? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Definitely no. As Luke points out, since the reviews are blind, reviewers tend to be honest, if not leaning to the negative side. If they were explicit that the paper is fine, though still somewhat preliminary, understand it as a positive feedback.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should I just put the paper and associated data/code on my website? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think the answer is yes, unless you want to \"hide\" the paper from the public. </p>\n\n<p>I think about these things this way: the public (through taxes, NGO's, etc. and the subsequent redistribution to higher education and research) is paying us to do research with the hope that something good and beneficial will come out. Once you do the work, regardless of whether top-notch, or only somewhat significant, as far as it is a result of a serious effort and of reasonable quality (workmanship-wise), the public deserves reporting back on our work, as well as deserves the results. It is up to others to decide whether our work is useful to the society, or not.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Or should I put it on arxiv? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Do both. Yes, going for arXiv is a good idea in such a case. If you feel so, you can prepend the paper with explanation of why you publish it as it is. </p>\n\n<p>Either way, my advice is to publish the work. Actually, your situation is quite common. What many people do in a situation you describe, is to publish and present the work in a workshop associated with the (major) relevant conference. Or re-submit it as a poster, or short paper, if the conference has such a track. Those are definitely for quality, but still somewhat preliminary results.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In either cases, I wanted to acknowledge and include a link to the reviews from the conference. Is that a bad idea? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No. I think you idea is good. Honest and open. How about including the reviews in an appendix of the arXiv submission?</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5160",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/839/"
]
|
5,163 | <p><strong>Condition</strong></p>
<p>I have been suffering from day time sleepiness (9-10 hrs of sleep and still struggle to stay awake), fatigue, memory loss and lack of concentration. The doctor found that I suffocate in my sleep: I stop breathing several times per hour. </p>
<p>In a few days, I will be undergoing surgery to modify my airway (nose, throat) that, according to the doctor, will completely resolve these problems.</p>
<p><strong>Background</strong></p>
<p>My profile is OK: undergrad valedictorian, scholarships, awards, numerous research experiences and skills. But my condition was exacerbated during the masters and I graduated "B+" instead of continuing my straight "A" performance during undergrad. Also, I felt that I could have performed better in standardized tests (GREs), do more research etc without my condition.</p>
<p><strong>Questions</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Should I make this medical condition known in my research/personal statement? I fear the reader might assume that I am not as "able" as completely healthy candidates. Or perhaps there is no benefits at all to bringing this up?</p></li>
<li><p>If so, how should I put it to avoid sounding like I am making excuses or whining?</p></li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5169,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Should I make this medical condition known in my research/personal statement? I fear the reader might assume that I am not as \"able\" as completely healthy candidates. Or perhaps there is no benefits at all to bringing this up? If so, how should I put it to avoid sounding like I am making excuses or whining?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you can frame this medical condition as a situation you have learned to work through and around, then yes you can talk about it. It makes you sound like you are able to adapt to difficult circumstances. You are under no requirement to bring it up, and, at least in the US, if you don't bring it up, then you cannot legally be judged based on it.</p>\n\n<p>However, if the condition reasonably or seriously will interfere with the work you are planning to do, then you need to disclose it eventually, although perhaps only after you are accepted and only to your research adviser. Sleepiness is one thing, but what about <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy\" rel=\"nofollow\">narcolepsy</a>? A narcoleptic might be a safety hazard in a synthetic chemistry lab for example. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5171,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your potential advisor is interested in (mostly) one thing: your potential as a graduate student. To that end, your personal statement/interviews/etc. should serve to convince him that you will be able to do excellent research. Any issues that could be a potential problem should be noted and addressed.</p>\n\n<p>With that background, do you think this condition could be perceived as affecting your output as a graduate student? From the way you posed it, I would suggest that the answer is \"yes\". As such, I would mention the condition towards the end of the letter/interview, but I would state with confidence that past performance has demonstrated that it will not affect output, and you're confident it would not be a problem in the future. Don't dwell; just mention it as you would a disclosure and move on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 58168,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Only</em> mention your medical condition in the research/personal statement if it is <strong>specifically</strong> relevant to your research interests, and you feel that your personal experience strengthens your ability to carry out research in your chosen area. (Example: you wish to do medical research about epileptics' sensory perceptions prior to a seizure, or auras; you might conceivably want to mention your personal experience with auras, if you think this will help convince a committee that they should assist you in doing such research. Although this is the best example I was able to come up with, it's still pretty lousy, in my opinion. There are plenty of people in the world who experience auras, but who aren't qualified to do graduate level research on auras! It's the person's academic qualifications, I think, that would be the most meaningful thing for a committee to look at.)</p>\n\n<p>Under Section 504 regulations, pre-admission inquiries as to whether an applicant is handicapped are specifically barred.</p>\n\n<p>If you are accepted, on your academic merits, the next step is to contact your institution's student disability office in order to document the disability and request accommodations if needed. The student disability office will work with you and your professors. No one will perceive you as whining. You will be perceived as someone who is a strong health advocate, and you will be admired for persevering in spite of adversity.</p>\n\n<p>A person with a disability has as much right to an education as a non-disabled person. You are a person first, and a person with a medical condition that makes studying more challenging second.</p>\n\n<p>Note that in Section 504, the definition of a “handicapped person” is not only a person with a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of his major life activities, but also anyone who either has a record of such an impairment in his past or is regarded as having such an impairment.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>About the B+ average in your Masters and your perhaps reduced GRE performance.</p>\n\n<p>What should have happened: as an undergrad, you work out a 504 plan with the Student Disability office at your school, with accommodations, including, for example, in the GRE, extra time, and rest breaks.</p>\n\n<p>A helpful resource: <a href=\"http://dredf.org/504-sit-in-20th-anniversary/a-laypersons-guide-to-section-504/\" rel=\"nofollow\">A Layperson's Guide to Section 504</a> </p>\n\n<p>Some related, inspiring reading: <a href=\"http://dredf.org/504-sit-in-20th-anniversary/short-history-of-the-504-sit-in/\" rel=\"nofollow\">A Short History of the 504 Sit-In</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5163",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1190/"
]
|
5,167 | <p>I'm currently a third year student studying mathematics in Australia, and things have taken a very bad turn in third year. I developed tremors in my writing hand and it meant I wasn't able to use a pen properly and couldn't take good notes during lectures. I was then put on a beta-blocker which had some side-effects and I have seen my grades for maths slide again. I might even fail a course this semester. It looks like I will not be a able to gain entry to honours year. Does that mean the end of my goal of pursuing a career in academia? Would any institution take a student for a masters degree in maths if he's failed a course in undergraduate study?</p>
<p>I also feel I didn't learn Galois theory well in my undergraduate study. Is there any way to redo the material in a serious way? It seems difficult to juggle a job and reviewing this material at the same time.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5168,
"author": "Legendre",
"author_id": 1190,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1190",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Unfortunately, good schools often require 1st class honors minimum for scholarship and PhD applications.</p></li>\n<li><p>Have you considered taking an extra year? A similar thing happened to me and I was able to save my academic profile with the extra year. For more details about my medical condition, look at my recent question.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>My suggestion would be: Talk to your course director or whoever is in-charged regarding your medical condition and ask if they will let you take an extra year and if possible, repeat the courses that you failed.</p>\n\n<p>Please do not worry about taking a year longer to finish. It bothered me terribly at first, but after a while I realized that it is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5190,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is from someone outside of Australia. Do you have plans on going out to do the PhD?</p>\n\n<p>I do not know how the honors system works in Australia very well, and fortunately for you neither the Japanese nor the Americans do, for them there is only the undergrad. The Honors is a nice thing to do, but hardly a requirement if you are looking for a Grad Program.</p>\n\n<p>In US, they care more that you have some sort of work published, and in Japan they care that you can pass the entrance examination, which for Math I think is the GRE.</p>\n\n<p>If you have close doors in Australia, perhaps you could try in some other place.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47996,
"author": "Piper",
"author_id": 36505,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36505",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think you'll be forever barred from academia. You have proof of excellent academic work as an undergrad (you're a TA), and only in this past year have your grades been declining. I know this is anecdotal, but I also could barely write during my undergrad, also was too ashamed to seek a disability until late, and as such I barely graduated.Now I'm about to enter a Master's program less than two years after graduation. Take an extra year if you can. Don't lose hope. If I can get to grad school, so can you. </p>\n\n<p>My way to grad school was through a back door. I am a field technician on a research project, and my supervisor mentioned something about having funding for a master's student during a conversation about some interesting anomalies. I asked a week later if I could take advantage of that funding, and she agreed. So now I'm gonna be a grad student. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5167",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2784/"
]
|
5,170 | <p>I work in the Computing and Mathematics School at my university (UK). This year the School has adopted a fairly aggressive policy regarding student attendance. If a student has a poor – or zero – attendance rate, the student is contacted and a dialogue opened. This has many benefits including identifying those students who have possible undiscovered or undeclared learning difficulties. </p>
<p>If a student’s attendance rate remains poor following a first intervention, a process of issuing formal warnings commences, culminating with the withdrawal of the student if the student does not start to engage with their course.</p>
<p>Attendance is presently monitored at all laboratory and tutorial sessions. Attendance is not presently monitored for lectures. </p>
<p>Our current system comprises a series of shared Google spreadsheets which contains the details of all students for all classes. Staff members enter attendance manually into the spreadsheet for their class.</p>
<p>The difficulty with this system is that there is presently no automatic link between the existing official university student record database and the attendance register spreadsheets. This means if students change groups, enrol late, withdraw, change course or units, all this information must be dealt with in a robust manner. Currently, such changes are implemented manually. This means errors are likely to be introduced into the attendance register.</p>
<p>I notice that there are a number of commercial attendance monitoring solutions available which are based on hardware, e.g. <a href="http://www.telepen.co.uk/onyx_collector.htm">Telepen</a>. I would be interested in anyone’s experience with such systems, however I don’t forsee these to be ultimately workable in my case owing to the large cost. </p>
<p>I am interested in software solutions. If your institution monitors student attendance, do you use any specialist software? If so, what do you use?</p>
<p>Another option – a preferable one – is to work within the existing university data systems.
All the necessary information regarding student details and activities is available. The problem arises when we try to ensure our ad hoc attendance register contains up to date student information. Ideally we’d use our Virtual Learning Environment to enter attendance data. Our VLE is Moodle. Are there any Moodle users out there who use Moodle to record attendance?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5173,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Following eykanal's comment to the question, I have researched the possibilities via Moodle. For the record I have found that Moodle has an attendance module. I haven't learnt yet whether this module has the complete functionality that we require, but it's a start.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://docs.moodle.org/23/en/Attendance_module\">Moodle attendance module</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5221,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My institution does not monitor student attendance. That is my job. However, we have adopted Blackboard as our Course-Management System of choice across campus, and the student roster in Blackboard is updated every day by the Registrar's Office. We additionally have access to up-to-date course rosters through our implementation of the PeopleSoft productivity software. Presumably, the Registrar's office at your institution keeps up-to-date rosters and should be willing to share them with instructors. Otherwise, what's the point of having them?</p>\n\n<p>There are two methods I use to enforce / verify attendance in a large lecture course, and both require comparison of my data with the roster in Blackboard or PeopleSoft. I could write a short program to sort through both files for matches, but I would rather do it manually to help me remember students' names.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Quizzes - I give short (and simple) quizzes randomly, but at least once a week. <strong>Fully half</strong> of the points on the quizzes are for showing up and putting your name on the quiz. For this reason, quizzes cannot be made up for <strong>any</strong> reason, but I will drop three or four of the lowest quiz grades. Since the quizzes aren't hard and the quiz average counts for at least 10% of their final grade, students want to be there for the quiz. I like this method because it allows me to do random point assessments of different topics and to start associating student names with performance. The grading is not unbearable, since i write quizzes that are <strong>simple</strong> enough to be graded at a rate of 10 seconds per student.</li>\n<li>Clickers - If you use clickers, make each student buy their own clicker (About $40 US these days). At the beginning of class, they have to register their clicker with your software, which records the clicker's ID number. If you have a list matching clicker IDs to student names, then you take attendance every day automatically. It is easy to cheat this system, since a student can also bring their friend's clicker and sign-in for their friend also.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you want to <strong>ensure</strong> attendance, I would use JeffE's approach: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Isn't the most effective way to ensure attendance is to make the lectures compelling and useful? </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5251,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I work at a university which is very low tech (no software, or anything else, for teachers - teachers want it, they bring it). Student lists are passed around on paper. So, I wrote my own (simplistic) app which I use at the start of class calling out names (did I mention it's a bit low-tech?). I can easily print out a report that looks like what the admins need to do their paper-oriented job (and I can get a soft copy from them to import so I don't have to type everything). No clickers, no website, just my laptop.</p>\n\n<p>We, by the way, have a policy that any student missing more than 20% of the lectures automatically fails the course but they do get a chance to enter a 'redo' class...which has the same attendance rules.</p>\n\n<p>One benefit is that I can see (while taking attendance, every session) who is 'at risk' and I can deal with that as I see fit.</p>\n\n<p>Integration is handled manually - far from ideal - but if the school ever wants to change things, it's easy to change what I wrote.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5252,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the goal is to identify individuals with poor attendance, paper and pencil is the way to go. Just have students sign in on the way in. After a few sessions hold the stack up to the light and find the empty boxes. Those are your potential low attenders. Email them and ask if any have switched sections. Those who haven't are your actual low attenders. It seems much easier than dealing with an on line system especially if the class size is small.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5258,
"author": "Herman Toothrot",
"author_id": 4050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a simple solution. Depending on class size, set up one/two laptops on the teacher desk, have every student sign-into a simple web interface with their school login and password, this will automatically feed either a spreadsheet or blackboard. With this system it is unlikely that a student will sign-in an absent student. If a student forgets to sign in its his/her fault. You can completely lock the computer so the only thing it can be done is run this login screen. This will also force freshman to use their college id login name. You can also add a beep when a login is done, preventing someone from doing more than once. Late students have to sign in after class, this will put them on the spot and their login time recorded.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7319,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sounds like something pretty simple. Have you considered just using something like Excel to keep track of this information?</p>\n\n<p>I wrote my own attendance system but it is for tracking everyone, not just the late/absent students.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5170",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424/"
]
|
5,174 | <p>I'm in computer sciences, in applied Machine Learning. I often have to switch applications and I find it cumbersome trying to discern the really good and bad works by doing a large survey.</p>
<p>Whenever you are new in a field, how would you direct your survey to find the people doing seminal work in the area, for example in the specific case of Latent Dirichlet Allocation in Computer Science, you can always go to a 2003 paper by Blei, Jordan and Ng. While if you are a seasoned researcher of the area, you already know this paper is relevant, how a newcomer would find such paper?</p>
<p>Do you ask experts in the area? Do you go by number of citations (I often find this deceptive, particularly in Bioinformatics)</p>
<p>I'm interested in this because I'm switching applications now, and I would like to know which group's work I should be following or which person's papers I should be reading.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5175,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, one slightly unorthodox method for finding these might be to find the \"society\" representing the field, and find who their recent award winners are—particularly if they have \"young investigator\" awards that will recognize work considered to be of significant impact. </p>\n\n<p>The relative advantage of this approach is that it it represents the consensus of people working in a given field; the disadvantage is that the consensus may be of only a handful of members on a committee. But these are people who in principle should know the ins and outs of their field better than most.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5225,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Problem is that you hamstrung yourself by eliminating the only correct strategy: doing a long literature survey yourself. You wish to rely on proxies, and sometimes surveys can do that for you, but other people's opinions of \"good\" and \"bad\" are just that: opinions.</p>\n\n<p>The only way to really get a sense of good and bad is to read a LOT, think a lot about what you read, discuss with people who might know more about the area, think a lot more, read more, and repeat. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5226,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My personal technique is to read the introduction to a number of research papers and find the most commonly cited papers/authors/author groupings. This will tell you who is the most \"influential\", i.e. whose work is driving the field and causing others to perform research branching of their original findings. This is similar to examining publication count, but more useful in that you can see how broadly the citations are applied, and judge from context whether the citation has merit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5245,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IMHO, the research work should be around good publications not good \"people\" even if they are highly cited. In almost any field you will find introductory papers and surveys discussing the problems and the current state of the art. Those are the beginning. If you find the text referring to something interesting to you; visit the references mentioned in that section/subsection/paragraph. Also, well-known journals usually have special issue for new/hot research areas. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 78193,
"author": "Lamine Traore",
"author_id": 63192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/63192",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Practical advise is to use platforms such as \"ScienceDirect\" or \"Web of Knowledge\". If you have institutional access, you can read every journal of a selected field. By the time you will read the same names repeatedly. Also helpful is to look through conference-papers and other documents prepared for conferences. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5174",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806/"
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|
5,176 | <p>Some parts of our research fall out of our expertise. We thought about creating a Kaggle challenge just for this part. But we lack fund resources for the reward, so we could not offer any money. We are thinking now about offering co-authorship in a paper, do you think this would work? Otherwise, which other things would you offer as reward in Kaggle apart from money?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5178,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This sounds to me like the textbook definition of a potential collaboration opportunity. I would speak with researchers in the computer science, machine learning, mathematics, and/or statistics departments and try to establish a long-term collaborative relationship. I would also speak with other faculty in your department to see how they handle this problem, which they likely have as well. It may be as simple as paying a grad or reasonably bright undergrad a few bucks an hour to crunch numbers. (Actually, you shouldn't take for granted that the grad student is reasonably bright... but I digress.)</p>\n\n<p>This will be beneficial in both the short- and long-term, in a number of ways. In the short term, you'll hopefully get to analyze your data and generate a publication. In the long term, it's very likely that you'll need such expertise again, and you'll have the resources available for the analysis. Additionally, you'll find that having someone with analytics expertise on hand when <em>devising</em> whatever study you plan on doing can be immeasurably useful, as they will help you determine what measurements need to be taken and what data needs to be collected to ensure that you can get the most out of your dataset.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5181,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some competitions have \"Kudos\" (or \"Jobs\", or \"Knowledge\") as a prize, see <a href=\"http://www.kaggle.com/competitions/search?RewardColumnSort=Ascending\" rel=\"nofollow\">Kaggle competitions sorted from the smallest prizes</a>. I don't how it does work with proposing a competition (maybe it is not free). </p>\n\n<p>I guess if the problem itself fits in the Kaggle framework (which is a pretty strong constraint), and you can try it for free (I don't know if it is the case), then why not. Especially as even two \"Kudos\" competitions attract 50 and 153 teams, respectively. Just it is on you to make it as attractive as possible.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, intellectual contribution requires a co-authorship. But if I had the right expertise, I would run for it :). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5274,
"author": "DavidC",
"author_id": 4089,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4089",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's true that fitting the Kaggle competition framework is a bit of a constraint, but if you understand that framework and see how your problem fits into it, I'd suggest you e-mail [email protected] with a description of the data & problem (and ideally sample data), even if you don't have funding. We can see what comes of it!</p>\n\n<p>(Disclaimer: I work for Kaggle.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5176",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/284/"
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|
5,179 | <p>For the second time recently, someone mentioned to me the Hardy-Littlewood rules for collaboration (and on <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5177/who-pays-in-joint-collaborations">that very site</a>). From what <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120216075947/https://math.ufl.edu/misc/hlrules.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">I read about it</a>, they include the following rule:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And, finally, the fourth, and perhaps most important axiom, stated that it was quite indifferent if one of them had not contributed the least bit to the contents of a paper under their common name</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>How is it ethical to be a co-author of a paper you have “not contributed the least bit to”?</strong></p>
<p>I was flummoxed when I read that, it would be considered a serious breach of ethics in the communities I know. Is that a practice (those “rules”) specific to mathematics? Or are they just not used any more?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5182,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've always interpreted such remarks as meaning that the individual papers were just progress reports on their larger enterprise, to which both made irreplaceable contributions, and that they had no interest in keeping track of moment-by-moment relative contributions.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, \"on average\", there was no misattribution or false credit.</p>\n\n<p>(Further, the \"not contributed the least\" may easily be hyperbole, just to make the point.)</p>\n\n<p>For that matter, if one is in regular correspondence with another, how to attribute ideas that develop gradually? I think their solution was entirely reasonable.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5212,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Generally speaking, this practice would not be acceptable under today's ethical standards.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think these rules represented standard practice even in Hardy and Littlewood's day. They wrote them only to govern their own collaboration; I'm not aware that they ever even suggested that anybody else follow them. The rules are notable because they are unusual (and, as mentioned by Anonymous Mathematician, humorously exaggerated).</p>\n\n<p>If your reputation matches that of Hardy and Littlewood, you may find the academic community (and your institution) willing to tolerate idiosyncracies like this. Otherwise, I wouldn't suggest trying it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5215,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the context of the rule is important here. The rules taken together set up a system of trust: that the authors trust each other to contribute fully to the project, and so (as others have pointed out) they didn't have to waste time with the nitty-gritty of specific contributions. </p>\n\n<p>It is not useful therefore to view this rule in isolation as a license to willy-nilly add authors without contributions. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15304,
"author": "user10438",
"author_id": 10438,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10438",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As I understand it, the rule is really about uncertainty. If at the time a collaboration is established, it is expected everybody will contribute, then the credit is shared evenly regardless of how the project turned out. This is like when a group of treasure hunters agreeing to share the loot evenly before embarking on a journey. Under this interpretation, adding a new author who's done no work is not accepted, as the author must expect to contribute when he is added. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15318,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If one takes a superficial look at the authorship issue, it would seem unethical, i.e. one author does not physically contribute to the paper. However, viewing a paper from the perspective of contributorship, which I perceive as wider than the concept of authorship (which focusses on the writing, (see for example examples from <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ICMJE</a> and <a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/article-submission/authorship-contributorship\" rel=\"noreferrer\">BMJ</a>) a more tangible part of the research process), the original described Hardy-Littlewood case is less clear. Since both authors work intimately together, it is clearly conceivable that their joint long-term discussions form a significant background to and lead up to the final publication(s). Hence they have both contributed to the paper even if it has not been explicit. The rules for contributorship set up by the Vancouver Protocol:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND</li>\n<li>Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND</li>\n<li>Final approval of the version to be published; AND</li>\n<li>Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>may thus not be broken. It sounds as if point two of this list is not clearly enforced but if the last point is fulfilled then it is possible to view the second and third points as implicitly covered.</p>\n\n<p>Clearly the issue of ethics in what I would call a positive case such as this is not easy to deal with. The ethical rules should of course be followed in all cases but it is primarily the negative aspects that need to be scrutinized. If both authors can stand by each paper they are on, I would say all is ok. I should perhaps also mention the consortia papers that emerge from large projects such as the <a href=\"https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/Main/ATLASAuthorshipPolicy\" rel=\"noreferrer\">CERN</a> where authorships are bound by contract rather than actual physical contribution. Again, I would see this as a positive form of division of authorship which serves its purpose and although break the Protocol rules is accepted.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 150458,
"author": "Wlod AA",
"author_id": 81220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These H-L rules were but a part of the abuse of Littlewood by Hardy. Littlewood's severe depression was to a significant degree due to this sick Hardy-Littlewood so-called cooperation.</p>\n<p>Here are but some examples: <a href=\"https://books.google.com/books?id=WwFMjsym9JwC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=hardy-littlewood#v=onepage&q=hardy-littlewood&f=false\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://books.google.com/books?id=WwFMjsym9JwC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=hardy-littlewood#v=onepage&q=hardy-littlewood&f=false</a> (this web page doesn't let us "copy & paste"):</p>\n<p>In 1931, Littlewood was first to lecture for Hardy-Littlewood class. Hardy came late, had to drink tea, and was pestering Littlewood about unnecessary details, against the Littlewood idea of his talk. Cartwright quoted Littlewood as saying that he was not prepared to be heckled. And Hardy and Littlewood were never seen together at these lectures after the said incident.</p>\n"
}
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| 2012/11/07 | [
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"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
5,188 | <p>I worked as a contract researcher with a university-affiliated institute. I ended up doing qualitative analysis and extensive writing for an academic paper. My former supervisor has basically edited and published my work under his name. The papers are different but only in the way that an interim and final draft are different - the structure is the same and some sentences were either paraphrased or identical.</p>
<p>The analysis and final recommendations are also identical, he did not supplement my analysis with his own. Although, the analysis process was a collaborative process, I was the one who did the VAST majority of the writing with him chiming in occasionally about what he did/did not like. The basic distribution of labour was: he conceived of the project, did the interviews, made comments on drafts, performed the final edit and responded to peer review questions. I performed the analysis, performed the literature review and wrote the bulk of the paper. </p>
<p>To boot, I feel like this was a punitive action because at various points after the end of my contract he tried to get me to do various forms of free labour for him which I did not do because it was a substantial amount of work and I was busy working another job. Also, I feel that I should be reimbursed for my time because, quite frankly, I need to pay my rent. I feel that by not including my name on this paper, I am being punished for not being at his beck and call. </p>
<p>I feel that this is extremely unethical, verging on just plain wrong. I am wondering what I can do as this is a research institute setting (not a formal university setting but affiliated) and I was on contract. </p>
<p>What options do I have?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5189,
"author": "Leon palafox",
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"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>So there are a number of things to analyze in this whole thing.</p>\n\n<p>If the Institution you are is an American University, the paper, and all the research coming from it usually belong to the University unless the Institution releases the rights of said research via some kind of waiver. This applies for all research funded from Public funds, if the research was done using funds from a company, it gets tricky and is up to the joint program agreement.</p>\n\n<p>Now, also, depending on the terms of your contract, the professor might or might not have an obligation to include your name in the paper, ethically speaking, you are right, and your name should be there in the paper, but again, it all comes to the legal side of the agreement.</p>\n\n<p>Why does it came to the legal side? Because you have 3 instances you can go: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The University itself: Depending on the place, I wish you good luck going against a tenured professor of the same institution.</li>\n<li>The Journal/Conference it was published, and expose your case to them. </li>\n<li>Downright demand the professor and the institution.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Probably for the 3 cases you need a lawyer and some kind of letter where it was stated that your work had to be recognized in the publication of a paper. Also, some kind of proof that you wrote most of the paper.</p>\n\n<p>I hope it helped at least to give some notion on what you are facing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5196,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, a <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/975/2700\">generic question</a> on this topic has been posted already, and you’ll find lots of good information (and maybe some advice) there.</p>\n\n<p>Second, there are two facets: legal and ethical. For the legal facet, the solution is clear: <strong>read your contract</strong>. What does it state of the intellectual work produced during your employment? If you want to pursue any kind of action on the legal side of things, then <strong>lawyer up</strong>. Don't shudder at this thought any more than you'd be afraid of seeing a doctor if you thought you were sick. Plus, it doesn't have to be expensive: there are free legal consults in many places (local borough, professional associations or unions, local Bar, etc.).</p>\n\n<p>For the ethical facet, Leon’s answer cover it. I’d add that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You should document every action you take.</li>\n<li>I would strongly recommend to <strong>contact the department head or the dean</strong> if your accusations have standing: it is there job to handle such matters.</li>\n<li>If the paper is already published, the only remedial to this issue is <strong>retraction</strong>: you have to be aware that it is a very grave recourse, and picking up this fight might not earn you a lot of friends. (Sorry, but it is better to know in advance where you're going.)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5198,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This seems to be a real case of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_misconduct\">Scientific misconduct</a> by your former supervisor. By common scientific ethics, everybody who made significant scientific contributions to a publication must be named as an author.</p>\n\n<p>In practice, violations of this rule occur, and there are several options for you to react to it. In fact, several institutions have a responsibility to follow up on indications of scientific misconduct, any of which you could try to approach on this matter.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The research institution itself is responsible for investigating any possible scientific misconduct of their members. The question is of course which organizational level to approach first. The level just above your former supervisor may have conflicts of interest, but any higher levels may suggest that it should be dealt with on lower levels first. This is probably best judged from the local situation.</li>\n<li>Journals and conferences must make sure that scientific results they publish were obtained in adherence to standard scientific rules. Editors of the journal have the responsibility to investigate problematic cases, and may take measures such as correcting the author list or retracting the paper. If you want to take this approach, it would be best to contact the editor in chief of the journal (if it is a journal publication).</li>\n<li>National science foundations usually have their own rules concerning scientific misconduct, and investigate cases where violations may have occured. This applies especially if the research was (co-)funded by such an organisation (check the acknowledgments of the paper in question, or it may have directly been your former source of funding), but some foundations also take this role more generally and may feel responsible if the scientist in question gets any money from them. An easy approach will be if the foundation in your country has a contact point for scientific misconduct. Otherwise you could ask the central administration there how best to proceed.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In any case, secure your documents. Drafts or analysis results that you sent to your former supervisor will probably be a very important proof of your claims.</p>\n\n<p>Also, before you take any of these quite serious steps, it could be helpful to confront your former supervisor with the issue. You can clearly state that you see it as a case of scientific misconduct, and that you are willing to pursue the case with any accountable institutions such as the ones I listed above.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5188",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4036/"
]
|
5,193 | <p><strong>What happens to manuscripts needing revision while the corresponding author is between academic jobs?</strong></p>
<p>Not every academic will always find a new position seamlessly after the previous one. For example, PhD students may still have papers <em>in the pipeline</em> after finishing their PhD, before finding a post-doc. What do academics do when a manuscript needs revision under such conditions? Note that I'm exclusively thinking of people who do aim to remain in academia; if people leave academia, the situation is different in any case.</p>
<p>Some alternatives I can think of:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Wait until one has a new position. This implies a considerable delay, possibly meaning resubmitting a manuscript needed only minor revisions.</p></li>
<li><p>Make another co-author corresponding author.</p></li>
<li><p>Finish it in their own time. This might have practical issues; for example, they will have no affiliation and might not even have an academic e-mail address (depending on how quickly the previous institution removes accounts).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There may be other alternatives that I'm not thinking of.</p>
<p>What are peoples' experiences about this?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5199,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Finish it in their own time</strong> (that is, if they want to) The only downsides you mention are of a practical nature. I'll explain below why they are not actually relevant.</p>\n\n<p>You <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/3171/2700\">don't need</a> an academic affiliation in order to publish in journals. But, I believe you might have a misconception of the affiliations listed on paper: <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1078/2700\">affiliations listed are institutions that provided resources for the job</a>. In particular, while your current employer should in most cases be listed as an affiliation, it doesn't mean that stops when you leave. If part of the work was performed with their resources, they should be listed as an affiliation. In particular, if your performed at least part of the work under their employment, you should list them.</p>\n\n<p>As a special case: if an author (not just the corresponding author, but any author) has a new employer, but the work was entirely done without their resources, it is not an affiliation but they can usually be mentioned as a footnote with the text “Current address”.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5200,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have been in the situation where my past work has been published while I have been between academic research jobs. Here is my view on your list of alternative actions.</p>\n\n<p>Waiting for a new position.</p>\n\n<p>No. Publish as soon as possible. What happens if another researcher, a competitor, scoops the findings? While the work may be relevant still, one has lost the intellectual primacy. Another publication to the author's name can only help in his/her job search. </p>\n\n<p>Make another co-author corresponding author. </p>\n\n<p>This seems to tied up with your third point, where you consider not having an academic email address to be an impediment to publishing. </p>\n\n<p>When between academic research posts, I use as my affiliation the institution where I carried out the majority of the work - the \"invention\" if you like. I have been in the situation where work that I started was completed and published following my departure - both with me contributing to the completion of the work and also where I did not add anything. In both cases I listed the former institution as my affiliation. I also gave my gmail address for contact purposes.</p>\n\n<p>I have also been a co-author on papers as a member of a large research collaboration, again during a period where I am not in an academic research post. In this case, I affiliate myself with the institution through which I derive my affiliation with the research collaboration. I also have my gmail address as part of my contact details.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal won't accept a non-academic (e)mail address one could make the argument that the research is still to be accepted for review and eventual publication regardless of the present contact details of the author. The majority of the work presumably was carried out in a recognised research institution and therefore should be treated with the appropriate respect. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5193",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
]
|
5,195 | <p>I am currently finishing my PhD thesis and, as a great deal of the job was to create tools and protocoles, I am considering putting the different scripts I wrote on open source directories (such as <a href="http://sourceforge.net">SourceForge</a> or <a href="https://github.com/">GitHub</a>). </p>
<p>The advantage I see for opening them is:</p>
<ol>
<li>They will be available for everyone and can be reused by the scientific
community</li>
<li>They could be improved (and corrected) by others </li>
<li>It ensure my authorship for the different scripts (I can prove I put them there)</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>However, I was wondering if there is any drawback of doing so (for
future publication, version maintenance, and so on).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have to precise that not all the work was published yet. My field is biological science.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5204,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some disadvantages could be:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>People may expect you to maintain the code. If you don't maintain it, the code may be rendered useless at some point.</li>\n<li>You might feel forced to document the code. This is actually an advantage, but many people would not realise that ;)</li>\n<li>You might have to work on cleaning up the code. Exactly the same point as above applies, if you ever want to re-use your code this is actually an advantage.</li>\n<li>If people start using your code (this is not impossible), they could e-mail you and start asking questions. This takes your time. On the other hand, it also provides you the opportunity to be co-author (so hey! don't document, so people are forced to ask your help ;-)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>More points are raised in the very similar question that was asked at Programmers.SE less than a month ago:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/171332/47323\">Why don't research papers that mention custom software release the source code?</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5213,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are some objections I've heard. It's up to you to decide how relevant it is to you. This post isn't to say that I endorse all or any of them: it's just to list some of the potential disadvantages.</p>\n\n<h1>You might be giving away your most promising source of future funding: the exploiting and extending of those tools and protocols.</h1>\n\n<p>The tools and protocols are potentially your future career. You've put an awful lot of work into them. Only now, can you start getting value out of them. Giving them away, means giving away all your hard work, for others to leap ahead of you, and free-load off your development work. </p>\n\n<p>You will get the aggro of users demanding more documentation, and the constant nagging of questions. And because they got the tools and protocols for free, their expectations may be even higher, and they'll feel even more entitled to more of your time, than if they'd paid for it.</p>\n\n<p>Weird, I know, but from experience, many users have lower expectations of paid tools than of free tools, because with paid tools, there are well-defined boundaries of what the user gets for their money. As learnt from experience, and from behavioural economics experiments, people tend to value something more, if they've paid for it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 13480,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Too long for a comment:</p>\n<p>@EnergyNumbers wrote:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>You might be giving away your most promising source of future funding: the exploiting and extending of those tools and protocols.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Assuming that opening the source is accompanied by a corresponding license, making the code publicly available under a FOSS license may actually do the exact opposite:</p>\n<h2>It might ensure that you can exploit and extend those tools even after you leave your current institution, thus securing a promising advantage for future funding/employment negotiations.</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>As a PhD student <em>employed</em> for doing the corresponding research by some university or research institute, you usually do not own the code you wrote. Instead, your employer has the copyright (depending on your legislation, you still may have the authorship rights, but the economic rights are your employer's).</li>\n<li>Other people may have been involved in the development, so they have intellectual rights to the code as well.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>In this situation, a FOSS license can give legal certainty that you can go on using and developing the code after you leave your current university (which is not unlikely to happen after a PhD is finished).</p>\n<p>Of course, the license must be granted by the holders of the copyright (university, co-authors' universities, etc.). This will not happen unless you</p>\n<p>a) bring the matter to the attention of your university (supervisor, IP office, etc.)\nb) you convince them that the FOSS license is good for them as well*</p>\n<p>However going for such a FOSS license is IMHO advantageous for both you <em>and</em> your university:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>for you, because you can throw this piece of software into negotiations for your next job and go on using it.</li>\n<li>for your current university, as they have a much better chance that the code is maintained so they can go on using it. It is a huge difference between e.g. people in your current group using your code and your group finding someone else to take over the maintenance of the code.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>I wrote might: because you'd have this advantage without FOSS license if you are the actual copyright holder of the code.\nThat would be the case, if you were not paid for doing the research (but e.g. only for being teaching assistant), or you were paid by a scholarship and didn't sign a contract that transfers the copyright of the work you do during you PhD to your university, you actually own your code. So you already have all rights to deal with your code in future as you like, and granting a FOSS license to the public doesn't change this.</p>\n<p>* In my experience, IP offices tend to see $$ as soon as you start telling them that you developed a software, but have no idea about the costs of selling the software (infrastucture and ensuring maintenance) that you can in practice avoid with FOSS licenses.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 13511,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The issues I have personally encountered working on this - my source code is a mixture of open source and closed source projects, depending on many factors:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>You have to maintain your code</strong>. This might not be something some people care about, but for me, I dislike the idea of putting out code that doesn't run at least relatively smoothly. Which means while the custom workflow where data bounces between a Python script, a C++ program and then an R script for analysis might work for me, produce good and reproducible results and generally carry science forward, it sure as hell isn't going to see the light of day. Things need to be put into functions in case people end up using your code like a library, general messiness cleaned up, etc. That's...well...it's work.</li>\n<li><strong>Documentation</strong>. As with the above, I really dislike the idea of releasing something without documentation.</li>\n<li><strong>Lack of feedback mechanism/opportunity cost</strong>. This one is a big one for me because they are what make 1 & 2 so difficult - it's really hard to tell if someone is using my code. It feels a bit like shouting into an empty room, it has little to no impact on my career, and certainly people aren't using it to the extent that it would appear as a line-item on my CV. So I put in a lot of work that could have gone to another paper etc. purely for ideological reasons.</li>\n<li><strong>Sanitizing code</strong>. Releasing code into the open and <em>not</em> putting in things that might get you scooped means going over your code to not put in a glowing neon sign that says \"Future Directions Here\". You can't really have a code base that is the combination of three projects, one being written, one being tinkered with and one really only in the musing stage and open source that code without taking a risk.<br><br>\nBeyond that, for me, is the potential presence of private health data. So my \"released\" code needs to be scrubbed of any reference to anything that might be confidential, and along those same lines, now needs dummy data that will work and is validated to go along with the code because the data the code was actually written for <em>cannot</em> just get dumped on GitHub or whatever.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>All of this is because you asked for cons. Despite this, I try to put up as much of my stuff as is possible.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5195",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/481/"
]
|
5,206 | <p>As a graduate student, sometimes I really could use access to journals or databases of tables that for some reason my university doesn't subscribe to. I have friends at other Universities that <em>do</em> subscribe to these journals and it would be very helpful to have the data. Is it acceptable to ask them to retrieve the data? I don't really want to start this if it's going to run me afoul of the rules.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5207,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Is it against the law? Probably.</p>\n\n<p>It it scientific misconduct? A breach of ethics? Hardly.</p>\n\n<p>It is acceptable? It's your decision to make based on risk analysis. If you don't do it on a large scale (i.e. someone supplying many people with papers), it's probably okay. It is common practice.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Also, be aware that many journal articles can now be found either in pre-print or post-print form online (though this depends widely on your field), either on institutional repositories or on the authors' webpages. If you're merely missing access every once in a while, you can also nicely ask the corresponding author.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5216,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it predominately depends on how you are accessing the other university's resources.</p>\n\n<p>If the resource is online and your collaborator grants you access either by sharing his username and password or through a network proxy, this is almost definitely in violation of computing guidelines of his university. To me asking him to knowingly violate a university policy, which is more or less reasonable, is ethically questionable.</p>\n\n<p>If the resource is online and your collaborator downloads the resource directly, that isn't ethically questionable. If he then shares that material with you it may violate copyright law and it may be ethically questionable. If for example you chose as a collaborator/employee a student who has access to this resource then it is ethically questionable since collaborating with researchers outside the university is beyond the normal scope of a students \"job\" description and therefore they are likely misusing the resource. If you chose a member of academic research staff (or possibly a grad student) as a collaborator, then they are really doing there job by collaborating. I see no ethical issues with this. It might even make sense to include them in the acknowledgments of any resulting publication. Something along the lines of </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I thank John Doe at the University of Good Library for help collecting\n reference materials.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5219,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would <strong>not</strong> explicitly acknowledge people who have helped you access papers that you don't have access to. As F'x pointed out, it's <em>probably</em> against the law, but it's <em>unlikely</em> to get you into trouble. The acknowledgement, however, creates more trouble than it needs to, because you're more or less explicitly stating that you got the journal in a clandestine way. So, I would just thank the person and leave it at that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5222,
"author": "woliveirajr",
"author_id": 815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/815",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that it would be against the law almost everywhere (because, <em>in general</em>, Institutions subscribe the journal / publisher so that its students / researchers / etc will have access to the material. The subscription is based in many factors such as how many persons will have access, how \"important\" the Institution is and will cite the provided articles etc.</p>\n\n<p>And the Institution would grant the students etc. the access based on the same contract. I don't think that any can give an <em>unlimited right to make copies and distribute</em> and so on.</p>\n\n<p>So, who would be breaking the law / the contract ? The friend who provides such access, in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>A point that \"softens\" this is the <em>fair use</em>, but it has a very tenue line where you (or your friend) is doing a fair use or not of that access.</p>\n\n<p>A solution: have you asked the Library of your University if they have some agreement with the University of your friend? Sometimes one Library can ask for books / journals / articles / etc from other Universities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38710,
"author": "user13232",
"author_id": 29023,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29023",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wouldnt your profs be aware of the data and speculate where u got it from given they couldn't access it and you didn't pay a lot to have access to it?\nPerhaps you could ask whoever may share their opinions or any official info concerning the said journals; your professors, whoever allows the permission for the journals you can access (your library), the journals themselves, and certainly permission from the other universities whose service you'd access. Not your friends- otherwise if you believe it can be interpreted as theft- then maybe it is , as they are not getting any business from you. You'll never know the reason why your university was excluded in particular until you do your homework and choose the all clear approach. Perhaps it was in fact intentionally excluded and then in that case then obviously it could be unethical and illegal!</p>\n\n<pre><code>Surely your only helping your self out but journals are in the business of making money and i believe the ethical choice would be to know beyond a doubt.\n</code></pre>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5206",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1147/"
]
|
5,208 | <p>I am at the cusp of finishing my PhD, and my advisor and I have decided that it is time to publish since there seems to be no hole in the theories that I propose. I have always maintained that I'd like to get a publication in the good letters section such as <em>Physical Review Letters</em> and then submit a longer manuscript to a more specific journal (in my field that would be the <em>Physics of Fluids</em>). My advisor isn't a fan of arXiv as he see it only for preprints with little advantage as it would be easier to just circulate my manuscript among 10-15 established people in the field.</p>
<p>So my question is/questions are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it useful to send in a manuscript to a letters section of a prestigious journal such as the PRL for quick dissemination of my work as well as brownie points for having published in the PRL despite a really high rejection rate.</li>
<li>Are letters section of journals really quick (with a short submission to publication time)?</li>
<li>As a contingency plan, a rejection would mean what exactly to my career/immediate future? </li>
<li>I have always had a soft spot for arXiv since several important works were first disseminated on it but I find that in the engineering community there is still some resistance to arXiv, any comments?</li>
</ol>
<p>As a side note, I have read the several questions about arXiv on academia.SE and somehow I am not entirely convinced that a young academecian would gain much from publishing in arXiv than in a regular journal.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5209,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Okay, let's try to attack your questions in order. I assume from your journal examples that you're working in physics, so I'll focus mainly on that in the answer…</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p>Useful compared to what? Note that not all “letters” journals have a very high visibility, so it really depends. If we're talking <em>Phys. Rev. Lett.</em> in particular, then I’d say <strong>yes</strong>, having a paper published in PRL will look good on your CV. Especially on the short term, it can help publicize your results. (In the longer term, you can hope that your results may get the attention they merit, wherever you publish them.)</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>It depends which journal, and compared to what. In high-level journals, you will know very quickly (within a week) if your manuscript is sent to reviewers or just rejected by the editor. After that, review time can take 2–3 months, and be longer if your paper is controversial (i.e. if referees aren't unanimous).</p>\n<p>On the other hand, some letter journals strongly emphasize short review times. The recently-launched <em>J. Phys. Chem. Lett.</em> has submission-to-publication times of 4 to 6 weeks, which is unmatched as far as I know (and the quality looks good).</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Rejection is not part of your academic record, so it means the same as absence of publication. If you intend to publish in a journal that does not frown upon it, you can put the manuscript on arxiv as well as submit to the journal, that way there is nothing for you to lose.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>No comment on that point.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n<hr />\n<p>On the matter of publishing in <em>Phys. Rev. Lett.</em>, the best advice you can get will be <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20140814080944/http://www.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gcoe/seminar/PRL_editor_talk.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">“Successful Letters\nin Physical Review Letters: An editor's perspective”</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5210,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I cannot answer the first question, because it depends mostly of the result itself (if it is strong enough, interesting for reasonably wide audience and can make sense when condensed to 4 pages).</p>\n\n<p>Take a look at <a href=\"https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/27606/length-of-publication-cycle-for-peer-reviewed-journals\">Length of publication cycle for peer-reviewed journals</a> from <a href=\"http://physics.stackexchange.com\">Physics.SE</a>; in on of the answers there are mentioned the following slides:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Thomas Pattard, <a href=\"http://www.phys.nthu.edu.tw/~colloquium/2009F/T2.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to publish your work in the Physical Review</a> or Editors are from Mars, Referees are from Venus, and Authors are from Earth</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In short, it takes longer for PRL than most of other PR journals (except for PRE). The difference for Rapid Communications is the highest.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Iz1Wn.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/CbIZn.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>When it comes to risk of rejection - AFAIK the only bad thing for you is that you loose some time. There is no \"rejected from PRL stigma\" - again, AFAIK.</p>\n\n<p>When it comes to <a href=\"http://arxiv.org\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">arXiv</a> - it may mean a lot for you (remember, you do it not instead of publishing in a journal, but along with):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>it becomes visible a few days after uploading,</li>\n<li>some people actively follow arXiv RSS feed on their topic (or even start each morning with it),</li>\n<li>some people don't have access to all paid journals,</li>\n<li>some people even claim that \"normal\" publication didn't influenced their cite counts once their paper went on arXiv.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, even before it gets published (which will take at least a few months, and in case of rejections or slow journals - even years) it is visible.</p>\n\n<p>And personally, I had a lot of scientific discussions based on my papers that by that time were 'only' on arXiv. If you are going to hunt for a postdoc position there may be a big difference whether they can see your paper (on arXiv) or \"you said them that you had sent it\".</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/08 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5208",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21/"
]
|
5,214 | <p>I recently submitted a paper to a conference whose notification of acceptance/rejection is due to 3 months from now. However I realize that I can extend my results in such a way that it gets much more general and such that the results of the previous paper follows as a special case. The generalization however is non-trivial, in the sense that I will need much more advanced and esoteric techniques, and somewhat more 20 pages to write it properly. It also fits in the scope of a conference whose deadline is in 2 months. Here are my options. </p>
<p>1) Put the first paper at arxiv. Write the second paper citing it and showing where things get different. Submit the second paper. But then the second paper doesn't get self contained enough. </p>
<p>2) Put the first paper at arxiv. Make the second paper self contained by rewriting all results that I need from the first one, but specifying that it is a generalization of the first one. Submit the second paper. </p>
<p>3) Write the second paper and wait for the result of the first conference. If accepted, write the second paper as an independent extension of the first one. If rejected, merge everything into a new piece of work and resubmit to a new conference whose deadline is in 5 months. </p>
<p>Problems: </p>
<p>a) There are two groups working in a very related subject, and I'm afraid putting the first paper in arxiv would lead them to a similar generalization before me. So I wonder If I should wait to put the first paper on arxiv until having finished the second one.</p>
<p>b) If I write the second paper and put it at arxiv before the notification from the conference, could this make the first paper be rejected because the program committee would argue that there is a possible generalization of it? Even though highly non-trivial? </p>
<p>c) If I submit the second paper to a new conference but don't put it on arxiv, would I fall in the case of double submission?</p>
<p>What is the best way to proceed in this case? I believe several researchers might have faced similar situations.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5217,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Firstly, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4837/can-i-present-the-results-of-a-paper-that-is-currently-under-review\">this question</a> is relevant to your considerations.</p>\n\n<p>In my community it is quite common to publish a (possibly extended/revised) submitted work as a technical report or a pre-print right after, or before the conference submission. The idea is to get a useful reference for future work falling exactly in the period between submission, notification and hopefully publication. ArXiv, or a TR with ISSN is fine for that. </p>\n\n<p>Having said that, the option 2 is something I myself often resort to. Also to consider with this option, if the publication date of the \"generalization\" is after the submission deadline, such a rejection would be baseless.</p>\n\n<p>As you yourself note, option 1 leads to a non-self-encapsulated paper and option 3, even though fine and correct, prolongs the period between invention and publication.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5227,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had the same situation where we proposed a method and then generalized it later. \nWhat I did (not the best option though) is wrote two papers (yes they overlap in almost 30% of the content) then submitted them for two different conferences. \nstill waiting for the feedback. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5295,
"author": "user4105",
"author_id": 4105,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4105",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Researcher does not just stop because you submitted a conference paper. In many fields arxiv is not an option. Waiting when you do not need to is not an option either. But you have another option. Incorporate enough of your first paper in a second one for it to be understandable, and cite the unpublished work for the details. By the time the second paper is published, the first one should be out and the full reference can be included.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/09 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5214",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4043/"
]
|
5,229 | <p>I have just finished an honours degree in Psychological science in Australia - this is a 3 year bachelors with an additional selective entry 4th year involving 50% coursework and research. In addition to this I have about a year of research experience across a few different labs and areas. I'd like to move to somewhere in central / western Europe (e.g. Berlin). The aim is to eventually do a Phd there (although nobody there ever seems entirely certain whether my degree is eligible or if I need a masters), but ideally I'd like to get some involvement in a lab / institution first. </p>
<p>Does such an aim seem reasonable and achievable, or would I be generally expected to just pursue a Masters / Phd path? What is the best way to go about finding such a position? </p>
<p>I am pursuing the networking angle, but don't have many contacts in that direction. I have a sporadic collection of mailing lists and web sites I check, and will turn to 'cold emailing' academics of interest at some point.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5232,
"author": "Herman Toothrot",
"author_id": 4050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my experience, EU citizen and familiar with Australian degree system, you will have a hard time getting into a PhD program. The honors bachelor cannot be considered at the same level of the Masters degree. Regarding employment in a lab in Europe your first hurdle would be getting a working permit. This might be hard unless you already have someone who can sponsor you. I think you are better off trying to find some field technician or volunteer position to collaborate with some of the labs and then perhaps start networking from there.\nOtherwise you could try and move to Germany with the tourist visa for 3/6 months and start network that way. However German professors seem quite reachable by e-mail, I would start contacting some of them for which you have an interest in their research and see what they suggest.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5234,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As somebody working in Germany, I can assure you that starting a doctoral program is <strong>not</strong> possible unless you have either a Master's degree or a degree considered \"equivalent\" to the Master's degree. In most cases, this means that you have to have a Master's degree. To enter a Master's degree program in Germany can also be tricky, because most \"traditional\" programs require proof of German skills as well as a bachelor's degree that is \"equivalent\" to the bachelor's degree as offered by three German university in which you wish to enroll. The qualification process for a foreign degree can be very tedious to complete. </p>\n\n<p>However, there are a number of \"non-consecutive\" Master's programs in various disciplines at most universities. Admission to such programs is not contingent on having a bachelor's degree in the same field, and many of these programs are conducted in English. The <a href=\"http://www.daad.de\" rel=\"nofollow\">DAAD</a> can help you to find a suitable program.</p>\n\n<p>If you are a Master's student, you will typically have to do a thesis project to complete your degree. Until then, however, you won't be able to do full-time research. However, you will be able to act as a part-time worker in a research group. What duties this entails varies greatly from research group to research group.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 25752,
"author": "Charlie",
"author_id": 4049,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4049",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I came across this memorandum of understanding between Germany and Australia on academic degrees a while ago - among other things it says that Australian honours degrees <em>are</em> eligible to begin phd studies in Germany, and I did so last year after some time in an assistant like role.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/pdf/ZAB/Bilaterale_Erklaerungen_KMK_HRK/austr.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/pdf/ZAB/Bilaterale_Erklaerungen_KMK_HRK/austr.pdf</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5229",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4049/"
]
|
5,231 | <p>I have applied to PhD programs in ecology in Europe (Germany, Denmark, UK) and Oceania (Australia/New Zealand). Now the deadlines for US programs are coming up and I am debating whether I should apply there as well. Aside from the exorbitant costs when applying to US programs I am interested in comparing the pros and cons as far as career opportunities go.</p>
<p>I have already a MS from a major US university and I will turn 31 soon. My career goals are to pursue a teaching/research position. I am assuming that the potential advisors satisfy my requirements (good publishing track, personable, successful students, international connections) and that there will be funding. I will consider "rest of the world" and USA.</p>
<p><strong>Rest of the World</strong> (at least for the programs I am considering):</p>
<ul>
<li>can be completed in three years, in this case I will have gained two years for a possible Post Doc, and also make use of my Masters.</li>
<li>I will be able to just focus on research without being a teaching assistant, from what I understand publications would count more than teaching assistant experience even for a 50%/50% research/teaching position</li>
<li>it might be harder in case I want to find a job in the US, especially since I will not be located within the country</li>
<li>there are no obligations to complete courses</li>
<li>pay rate is generally decent compared to cost of living</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>USA</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li>I am under the impression that a PhD from a top US institution is well-regarded internationally and it would be easier to find a job in Europe or Australia.</li>
<li>the teaching experience could be useful to me as I would like to also be involved in education alongside with research.</li>
<li>there is more time to explore and think about research questions and goals, as opposed to Europe where you join to develop a certain project.</li>
<li>the stipend in the US is very low compared to the living costs, especially on the West Coast. It would mean five years of financial sacrifice.</li>
<li>more chances to perhaps be involved in other projects, it seems there is more of an open research community within departments.</li>
<li>it might be productive to take some classes that are taught by top profile professors.</li>
</ul>
<p>Is the extra time spent and the financial sacrifice for a US PhD worthwhile for my career goals and my preparation as a successful educator/researcher? Will my international mobility be limited based on where I graduate?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5233,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think the key question is: What do you want to do after the PhD?</p>\n\n<p>There are some points that you may consider to choose a programme if you want to stay in the academia. The advantages or disadvantages of the length of these programmes depend on your training/background.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Your background</strong>. If you are familiar with the topic you are planning to work on, then you can probably start checking the relevant literature immediatly, in this case a 3 years program may be what you need. But if the topic is unfamiliar to you, then you would probably have to attend lectures and to read textbooks, in this case a 5 years program may be better.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Your CV.</strong> A work in the academia usually involves teaching and research. If you have teaching experience, then you can focus on developing your CV in terms of research. In this case I would go for a 3 years programme and get involved full-time on research. If you do not have teaching experience, then you might want to consider a 5 years PhD where you have the opportunity to teach and develop your CV in both lines.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>The topic.</strong> Some research projects by their nature itself require different amounts of time to develop. For instance if you are going to work on modelling a specific data set <em>vs.</em> having to obtain the samples directly in the Amazon.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Regarding the mobility, I think after the PhD what really matters is your CV. Either if you graduate from Oxford or the University of Tuvalu.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5239,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can talk from experience there, because 3 years ago I had the same conundrum. </p>\n\n<p>I also did my PhD outside the US, in Japan, where it also lasts for 3 years (usually). </p>\n\n<p>AS long as you do your PhD on some University \"with a name\" outside its country is ok for your future if you wish to move away from said country.</p>\n\n<p>Example, here in Japan everybody knows what Keio and Waseda Universities are, and for sure you'll get a nice paid job in the japanese industry if you finish on either one of them, but if you wish to go out of Japan, outside of Tokyo Univ, Kyoto, and maybe Osaka, nobody knows of other universities. </p>\n\n<p>If you wish to pursue a career in US, it helps more to do your PhD over there than overseas, but if you do good work overseas, you have a very good chance to pursue an Academic career as well. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5242,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think PhD programs differ in three main aspects: duration, teaching, and coursework. I would prefer not to try and generalize how these aspects vary amongst different countries. That said I think a PhD program with limited coursework and teaching are beneficial, especially if you already have an MS. Some teaching might be useful if your personality is such that at job interviews there would be questions about your ability to engage students. Picking up teaching experience is relatively easy and I would not consider the ability to gain teaching experience as positive in deciding on a PhD program. Similarly for coursework; the ability to take courses is not a positive.</p>\n\n<p>Duration on the other hand is a big factor. The longer the duration the better. As hard as it is to be a PhD student, it only gets harder. Putting off becoming a postdoc, and then again the tenure track, for as long as possible is a good thing for your research output and will help you eventually get tenure.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 48919,
"author": "Jack",
"author_id": 37304,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37304",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on your subject, interests, and future career goals, IMO. The US presents the best educational services all around the world, especially in graduate levels (almost all agreed on this); on the other hand, the student life in the US is relatively hard, mainly due to low rates of stipend and scholarships and high rates of life cost. Unlikely, PhD students in the Europe are usually enrolled as if they are employed by the university. A high value of salary and no additional works, such as teaching and etc. </p>\n\n<p>However, keep in mind that future job opportunities in the US are definitely higher than that in the Europe and Oceania. Studying in the US is similar to mountain climbing; when you conquered the crest, the remaining of the way is downhill, hopefully :). </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5231",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
]
|
5,236 | <p>I am a new lecturer in the field of Computer Science. I got my MSc and I would like to go for a PhD. However, I would like to improve my teaching methods and way of thinking before I pursue this goal. Any recommended books or articles? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5237,
"author": "John B",
"author_id": 3857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3857",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The way I learned how to lecture was just drawing on things other professors did that were beneficial to me. If you are going to get a PhD however, teaching will be secondary. The focus on the program you go in will be teaching you how to conduct research and write papers for publications. </p>\n\n<p>That being said the best way to improve, in my opinion, is to record yourself giving a lecture. Just audio is fine, make sure you are covering the context... Every lecture I give I make sure I have the following components in it:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>I get to class early to talk to students as they come in and make sure I have all of the equipment ready to go.</li>\n<li>I bring some anecdotal humor into the lecture. I don't sit there and tell knock knock jokes, but I make it relevant to them.</li>\n<li>Use previous material to frame the new material.</li>\n<li>Let them go early if I finish early.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In addition to that I use an Audience Response System, or clicker, and that helps keep the students actively engaged (class of 350 freshmen).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5238,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my University they had a feedback system for every professor at the end of the semester, where you could evaluate their performance through the semester.</p>\n\n<p>I always find that copying is also a good thing, think which teacher do you think were really good or with which teacher did you really learn, and try to figure out what did they have in common.</p>\n\n<p>This is a bit out of the box, but I found that teaching to little kids (5-6) is one of the best ways to learn how to engage an audience, since if they are bored they will tell you on spot and if they don't like you they will tell you as well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5243,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a beginner lecturer, the University (or other institution) that employs you may offer training courses. In fact, depending on the law of your country, they may even be <em>required</em> to do so. In all cases, it is in their best interest to help you become a better teacher, so they should be able to accommodate requests for such training. Ask your teaching supervisor or head of department. (One might argue that, even if they can't help you, they will appreciate the fact that you voluntarily working on improving your teaching performance.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5249,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It may work very differently depending on the group size, their skills and engagement. My only experience (when it comes to lecturing, not - giving a talk) is with teaching gifted high-school students, for other cases (less skilled or less motivated students, or stricter plan) it may not hold.</p>\n<p><strong>Never assume that students follow you</strong>, just because they are silent, nodding agreeably, saying that they follow you or even (especially?) repeating your phrases. By interaction see if they get the idea, sort of get the idea, or don't get it at all.</p>\n<p>(And "make it slower" is not an universal remedy, because either they may be totally lost at this point, or they may not follow because it is already to slow to keep them awake.)</p>\n<p>After giving a course ask a few students is person to <strong>name 3 strongest and 3 weakest points</strong> of it. (It's important to do it, i.e. to force to give 3 weak points, because otherwise they may be not that willing to do so. All courses have >=3 flaws. The questions is if they are minor or serious. And beware that a mean grade of a course (e.g. student gave you on average 7.6/10) is almost meaningless, even if split into categories; only text based comments make sense.)</p>\n<p><strong>Be inviting so they ask questions</strong> (compare: <em>"exams are a sick thing, when the more knowledgeable person asks question the less knowledgeable one"</em>. ) Don't kill the natural curiosity. And remember, if they knew everything, then it would be not point fort them to attend your course.</p>\n<p>(BTW: One of my friend was giving a candy for every student asking a valid question, regardless if simple or hard.)</p>\n<p>If the material goes slower that you want, never (once again: <strong>never</strong>):</p>\n<ul>\n<li>cut breaks (without a break many could leave the other part, learning not less),</li>\n<li>just run faster (it makes it even more incomprehensible).</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Just plan better the next one, given you have some feedback. Writing a lot of stuff on a whiteboard may trick <em>you</em> into believing that you explained them, but in fact you did a chaotic, unpleasant lesson. Compare (excuse me for an entropy joke):</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Efficiency of teaching is measured by mutual information between you and your audience.</p>\n<p>Not by entropy of your blackboard nor entropy your created in their minds.</p>\n<p>Both are poor upper bounds.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Other things:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>watch others giving a lecture,</li>\n<li>record yourself giving a lecture.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5250,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the field of engineering, Richard Felder is very highly regarded. He has a lot of papers on how to be a good teacher/professor. You can check out of some of his articles on google scholar.</p>\n\n<p>Also, the book <em><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0205337112\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Effective, Efficient Professor</a></em> by Phil C. Wankat has a variety of good advice for future faculty.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5261,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are three books that I found quite useful.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0495809292\">McKeachie's Teaching Tips</a> - this is small but dense, packed with good ideas (good to re-read from time to time)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0807856037\">The Joy of Teaching by Peter Filene</a> - good for new teachers</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1579222307\">Teaching Unprepared Students</a>, by Kathleen F. Gabriel - good if you have students who are not really strong academically and you want to help them</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Aside from books, you could consider getting a PGCHE (post graduate certificate in higher education) which is normally a 600 hour / one year course specifically on teaching to adults. You can get one via distance learning, if you're not in the UK.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5268,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may want to take some direction from how education schools teach the art of teaching to future teachers. Generally, the curriculum involves:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Coursework covering education theory</li>\n<li>Practice designing semester-long (and sometimes years-long) curricula, as well as individual lesson plans</li>\n<li>Student teaching, where the teacher teaches in the presence of an experienced educator and receives regular feedback</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>While you'll probably want all three to some extent, note that (2) and (3) involve other, more experienced educators giving you regular feedback, rather than books and articles. I don't think you'll be able to set this up yourself; this is a very involved process which requires a significant time commitment from the mentor. I would speak with your department and see if you can get backing to run a program like this, even if just for yourself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5311,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2765/joshragem\">JoshRagem</a> said in the comments of the question, <strong>don't lecture</strong>. <a href=\"http://www.comp.dit.ie/dgordon/Courses/ILT/ILT0004/TheTwoSigmaProblem.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Bloom published it scientifically as \"The 2 Sigma problem\"</a>. </p>\n\n<p>Some ways I found to make a class less of a lecture (items marked with a * are covered in <a href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/teaching-college-level-science/id385156658\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Lecture 6 of Teaching College-Level Science and Engineering</a>):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>wait 5 seconds after a question (this is an eternity in front of 30+ students)*</li>\n<li>use a feedback sheet every class meeting, to learn about your students*</li>\n<li>use conceptual multiple-choice questions (individual or small groups)*</li>\n<li>use conceptual multiple-choice with lots of discussion (entire group)*</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.keele.org.uk/docs/PreparingToTeach.pdf#page=49\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">buzz groups</a> (although not easy to do when you're starting out)</li>\n<li>keep traditional \"lecturing\" to maximum 10-minute bursts, followed up with questions, exercises, etc.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/models/IntEng.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Interactivity Engagement</a> takes time during the course, which takes away from presenting \"content.\" The solution is to <em>not</em> teach all the content during class time. You'll have to expect students to do the reading for the most material, and use lecture time to validate, reinforce, personalize, etc. </p>\n\n<p>Although I'm definitely not the best instructor, I know I have improved a lot thanks to some other points:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Get an evaluation from the \"pedagogical resource\" person at your institution (hopefully this person exists!). The evaluation was full of small, useful details about teaching. You might want to <em>check your ego at the door</em>, however, when you get the feedback.</li>\n<li>Tell your students that standard lecturing is not efficient, and that you want to raise the bar. But to do that you expect them to be prepared (to have done the reading) when they come to course for the interactive part. If I find they've not done the reading, I start to give small quizzes on the reading at the start of every course (I have 3-hour courses, so it's once every 3 courses if you have a 50-minute course period). These quizzes are multiple-choice and the questions can be used as the conceptual questions as above. The value of the quizzes is minimal in their final grade, but it engages the students.</li>\n<li>Tell your students that making mistakes is essential when learning. Encourage them to vote on multiple-choice questions. Sanjoy Mahajan states that \"clickers\" allow anonymous voting, which socially doesn't engage the students. It's important to get them to vote, but also to make them feel that being wrong is \"more than OK\" (because it's how we learn).</li>\n<li>Keep training yourself about pedagogy; try to stay motivated to teach well. <a href=\"http://www.pedagogicalpatterns.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" title=\"Pedagogical patterns project\">Pedagogical patterns</a> may be of interest. My students have often said they can see I'm motivated and find it refreshing. They are generally more forgiving when they know I'm trying. </li>\n<li>Relate material being taught to what students have learned before and will learn/use later. Anecdotes based on your real-world experience (if you have it) are useful. My students always ask me for more of that in my evaluations.</li>\n<li>Apply the \"repeat without repeating\" pedagogical pattern (Google fails me on finding a reference). Basically, it means that different learner styles (are more likely in large groups) respond to different examples, so it's helpful to repeat the same concept in multiple examples. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT</strong> I recently bought this book and found it very useful because it covers many dimensions of teaching that might not seem obvious to first-time teachers. It's in a kind of check-list style, with references to external sources if you want gory details on certain techniques: <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0787965677\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Davis, Barbara Gross. Tools for Teaching. 2nd ed. Jossey-Bass, 2009.</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7920,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I taught high school physics for seven years before heading to PhD school, and the most important method for improving my own teaching was to <strong>observe as many other teachers as possible.</strong> In both my teacher education masters program and at the high school where I taught, it was mandatory for new teachers to observe other teachers multiple times per week. In fact, new teachers were given class observation duties that replaced other duties (e.g., cafeteria or study-hall duty) because it was deemed so important.</p>\n\n<p>I found great value in observing all teachers, from the terrible (I once watched as a teacher ignored all raised hands and simply lectured in monotone for the entire class--the students looked like they wanted to jump out the window because they were so bored) to the outstanding, and everything in between. Obviously, you'll incorporate certain teaching methods into your own teaching based on your own style, but the more you observe, the more you'll see different variations and methods.</p>\n\n<p>By the way, if you do want to figure out who the best teachers are at your school, you just simply have to ask the students. It isn't a secret, and the students see so many teachers every year that they will gladly tell you who is the best (and worst).</p>\n\n<p>Finally, if you do want to visit other teachers' classes, it is probably best to ask ahead of time. While I wouldn't say it is rude to show up and ask to observe, it is courteous to do so ahead of time in person.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5236",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4055/"
]
|
5,246 | <p><strong>I’m looking for a way to manage the text of the quotations that most certainly I will use (i.e. quote) in the future</strong>. I’m a philosopher, so this is specially handy —and even required— for the classical texts.</p>
<p>I'm currently using <a href="http://www.mendeley.com/">Mendeley</a> to manage my references, which is fine for citations on daily working, but does not allow to add quotations to the library items.</p>
<p>I have checked <a href="http://wikindx.sourceforge.net/">Wikindx</a> (a PHP-based manager which allow this), but it doesn't seem very consolidated… Currently, I keep my quotations in a mediawiki installation, but it is complicated and unoptimized (but at least gives me readability and long term security of accesibility).</p>
<p>Does anyone of you have the same trouble? Which manager can you recommend? Anyone knows if Mendeley has plans to add something like it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5247,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://textcite.sourceforge.net/\">TextCite: Publication Quotation Manager</a> looks like a thing you are looking for (haven't tried, only googled it):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>TextCite is a program for organizing and commenting textual citations from texts (books, articles, or other published works) for use in producing scientific or academic publications. You can organize by publication, author, category, or outline. It works with bibliographic management programs like Citation, EndNote, RefWorks, and BibTeX, providing important text/citation management capabilities that these programs lack, while still allowing for rapid footnote and bibliography generation by means of your favorite bibliography manager. It also exports to PDF and Word (RTF).</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5248,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When it comes to using <a href=\"http://www.mendeley.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Mendeley</a> for that purpose, there are two ways to do that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>using notes for books (i.e. in each book you can copy and paste fragments to notes attached to that book) - a warning, though: there seems to be a maximum character limit to this field; text that gets too long is silently trimmed</li>\n<li>using single entries (<code>File -> Add Entry Manually</code>) e.g. as \"book sections\" with the quote in the \"abstract\" field (yeah, I know, it's on the verge on hacking the system).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When it comes to less specific solutions, you can use e.g. <a href=\"http://evernote.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Evernote</a> (or any other note-taking software), each note for each textual citation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7947,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try <a href=\"http://www.citavi.com/en/features.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Citavi</a>. It is a bibliographic (reference) manager and a knowledge manager. Citavi organizes references and respective PDFs (or other files) like Mendeley. Additionally, it stores quotations that you can directly copy from your PDFs (which links them automatically to the right reference), pictures and your own ideas. Furthermore, it has a Word Add-In and a so-called \"Publication Assistent\" which can also paste your quotations and references into OpenOffice or your favored TeX-editor.\nThe Citavi Free version can only edit Citavi project files with up to 100 references, but you can have as many projects as you want.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63945,
"author": "pahi",
"author_id": 49704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49704",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you use the latest version <a href=\"http://www.citavi.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Citavi 5</a>, the quotes taken from PDF documents stay linked to the exact position in the PDF. You can also add comments or summaries to paragraphs or chapters, all of which stay linked to the PDF, so you can jump from the quotation back to the PDF. </p>\n\n<p>Additionally, you can also add you own ideas, and organize and sort everything into categories. Those categories are going to be the chapters of your book or paper.</p>\n\n<p>(BTW, I work for Citavi)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75757,
"author": "ikashnitsky",
"author_id": 38524,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38524",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/75549/38524\">seems</a> like <a href=\"https://www.jabref.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">JabRef</a> does the search in annotations. And, <a href=\"https://secure.citavi.com/635/purl-academic5\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">unlike Citavi</a>, it's completely free.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5246",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4063/"
]
|
5,253 | <p>I've just started using git for tracking changes in a LaTeX paper I'm writing, and for collaboration with co-authors. </p>
<p>However, I cannot find easily private git repositories with reasonable plans for scientific collaboration (I'm not asking about discounts, just about a different workflow, so no "one team of n developers", but there are "many small project, with different people").</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.scribtex.com/" rel="noreferrer">ScribTeX</a>, but unfortunately they are going down :/.</p>
<p>Other:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/plans" rel="noreferrer">GitHub</a> free <a href="https://education.github.com/discount_requests/new" rel="noreferrer">academic plan</a> with unlimited private repositories and number of collaborators<br></li>
<li><a href="https://bitbucket.org/plans" rel="noreferrer">Bitbucket</a> free <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/views/bitbucket-academic-license.jsp" rel="noreferrer">academic plan</a> with unlimited private repositories and collaborators</li>
<li><a href="https://www.assembla.com/plans" rel="noreferrer">Assembla</a> free: priv, but no bug-tracking; next ($9/month): n=3 </li>
</ul>
<p>So, is there a (La)TeX-oriented <a href="http://git-scm.com/" rel="noreferrer">Git</a> (or, say, <a href="http://mercurial.selenic.com/" rel="noreferrer">Mercurial</a>) repository service?</p>
<p>That is, I'm looking for a repository (free or reasonably priced - i.e. for one with a PhD student salary, not a programmer salary :))</p>
<ul>
<li>allowing for:
<ul>
<li>many collaborators,</li>
<li>many private repositories,</li>
</ul></li>
<li>but can have strong limits on:
<ul>
<li>users <em>per</em> repository,</li>
<li>repository size.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5259,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider asking your research institute/university IT services. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>In terms of fees, I'd consider such a tool as necessary for scientific work as your office chair, or backup disks/servers. My personal experience with asking for a git repository on a file server was that our director immediately answered \"if that's what is needed for work, it needs to be installed.\" - that was it.</p></li>\n<li><p>The far more important concern is, where research in progress and possibly data will end up. Storing such sensitive data outside the collaborating institutes is by default a big <strong>NO</strong>, even though lots of people send their research data by skype or dropbox.<br>\nYou'd be totally screwed up if you run into ownership/privacy problems.<br>\nEven Bitbucket (who have \"academic license\") have write in their terms such statements (there are other statements about you retaining ownership of your data, privacy etc.): </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>End User hereby grants Atlassian a non-exclusive license to copy, distribute, \n perform, display, store, modify, and otherwise use End User Data in \n connection with operating the Hosted Services. </p>\n</blockquote></li>\n<li><p>For some areas of research it is even more <strong>NO</strong>, e.g. I work with patient data...</p></li>\n<li><p><code>git</code> works very well with distributed systems, even if they are only seldom connected. Worst case, people can email patches. </p></li>\n<li><p>But installing git on a server is easy and people may get an ssh login, and that is all you need to have for your private git repository inside your institution IT structure, which avoids all that privacy trouble. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5271,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Aditya's comment should be the accepted answer:</p>\n\n<p>Bitbucket offers <a href=\"http://atlassian.com/software/views/bitbucket-academic-license.jsp\">unlimited private repos for academic users</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 60548,
"author": "Joanna Bryson",
"author_id": 384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/384",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://www.overleaf.com/\">Overleaf</a> (used to be writelatex) now <a href=\"https://www.overleaf.com/blog/195-new-collaborate-online-and-offline-with-overleaf-and-git-beta#.Vk-c8jH4g28\">works with git</a>. Latex is fantastic for typesetting academic papers properly, and Overleaf is great for writing latex collaboratively.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 60608,
"author": "just_varholick",
"author_id": 39404,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39404",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I always found it difficult to teach people how to properly use repositories when collaborating on a manuscript. I have found <a href=\"http://www.authorea.com\">www.authorea.com</a> to work much better. Unfortunately, authorea suffers from the same problems you discussed in your question. Lack of private repositories. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 67433,
"author": "elviejo79",
"author_id": 52864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52864",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your collaborators aren't software developers themselves I wouldn't subject them to learning Latex. </p>\n\n<p>It is not an easy task, believeme I've tried.</p>\n\n<p>What you need is something like Google Docs that saves history of the document and allows you to collaborate.</p>\n\n<p>Thankfully there is: <a href=\"https://www.sharelatex.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.sharelatex.com/</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>LaTeX, Evolved\n The easy to use, online, collaborative LaTeX edito</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not affiliated with them... just a happy user.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 67434,
"author": "elviejo79",
"author_id": 52864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52864",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you really want to use Git. Then I recommend you install your own git server. There are two worthy clones of github: <a href=\"https://about.gitlab.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjw9OG4BRDJzY3jrMng4iQSJABddor1K-ruYrDn3oNdRYQdM5fnPJ5_tbu4xvjFpBTwH8j7khoClhXw_wcB\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">GitLab</a> and <a href=\"https://gogs.io/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Gogs</a>.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dabac.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Dabac.png\" alt=\"Gogs Logo\"></a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Gogs - Go Git Service\n A painless self-hosted Git service</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I prefer Gogs since it is just one file install based on GoLang and looks very pretty and has all the functionality you would expect: Code History, Issue Management, Wiki pages</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5253",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49/"
]
|
5,255 | <p>I have been contemplating studying some subjects by watching video lectures, more specifically Topology and Quantum Mechanics. I was wondering, if anyone has tried studying a subject on his own by watching just lectures. Alternatively, I could work systematically through a book. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning by watching lecture videos, compared to reading a book? I am more concerned more about courses in Maths and Physics. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5256,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For postgraduate research, neither watching video lectures nor just reading a book are going to help you enough.</p>\n\n<p>You're going to have to actively engage with the subject matter, by solving problems, and keeping up with current research literature in journals.</p>\n\n<p>Following on from the OP's comment: I do understand that your question is \"which is better - books or videos\". And the answer to your question is <strong>neither</strong>. It's a false opposition.</p>\n\n<p>Neither are necessary, and neither are sufficient. <strong>You have to learn the core content of maths and physics by solving problems</strong>. And to do postgraduate research, you have to keep up with the current research literature in journals (including preprint archives where appropriate).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5257,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most important advantage/disadvange IMHO is personal preference. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Advantages of video lectures: \n<ul>\n<li>a good video can teach the important ideas in a very fast way. It is not that a book couldn't do that, but it may be easier to start with a introductory video and then dig more in-depth into a book.</li>\n<li>some things (experiments in natural sciences) can much better be shown by video (and even better in reality)</li>\n<li>lectures by design come in \"digestible\" pieces</li>\n<li>It may be easier to schedule time for video, as it is known how long it will take.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>Advantages of books: \n<ul>\n<li>you can better set the pace </li>\n<li>you can better decide where to stop in between</li>\n<li>easier flip back/forward to recall things.</li>\n<li>things that take much thinking/working time of you fit better with the concept of books. E.g. calculation of examples/excercises. In depth study that derives the formulae. Few lecturers take the time to develop the exact formulae. </li>\n<li>I find it easier to have a number of books open for quick reference (and papers).</li>\n<li>The screen is not only needed for video, but possibly also for editor (sorting notes, computing examples, etc.), web pages etc.</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Looks rather complementary than exclusive to me. Additional self-study (by book) is usually recommended also for (live) lectures. I think it even more important for video lectures, because you cannot ask questions. It will depend on what level of understanding you want to achieve, though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5263,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have studied through difficult math topics using basically three approaches:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Videolectures</li>\n<li>Books</li>\n<li>Tutorial Papers</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>To get the basics of the topic you are studying and \"leveling up\" with the other people in the field, I think this three resources are very good. I do not see why would you single one out in favor of the other. I've basically seen like 4 Machine Learning Summer Schools, 3 Online Courses, 3 books, and that was only to be aware of what was happening around me.</p>\n\n<p>After that I had to engage a lot on Online communities, conferences, papers, etc.</p>\n\n<p>I find that a good practice is to set alerts for authors that you wish to follow and are prolific in the specific area you are doing your research on.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5255",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
5,264 | <p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Do you have any answer for this or any comments?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5266,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to answer this question based on my understanding of copyright law in the United Kingdom. The general principles are likely to be the same in German law, however, for a definitive answer, you should consult an expert in German copyright law. I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice in any jurisdiction.</p>\n\n<p>The author of a literary work - in this case your presentation - is usually the first owner of the copyright in that work. </p>\n\n<p>However, if that work was created <strong>in the course of employment</strong>, then the copyright in the work belongs to the employer. </p>\n\n<p>The phrase <strong>in the course of employment</strong> requires careful consideration in such cases. I assume that you are an employee of your university, and that you were employed to conduct research. I suspect that you were also expected, as part of your employment, to create presentations of your research. I assume that these expectations were put in a contract <strong>of</strong> service - the usual case for a university researcher. This is distinct from obligations under a contract <strong>for</strong> service - which would be more common if you were commissioned to produce a specific piece of work.</p>\n\n<p>If you were employed to conduct and report research as part of a contract of employment - the most likely case given what I know of your situation - it would appear that any copyright in your presentation rests with your employer, the University. </p>\n\n<p>You mention co-authors. I assume that these are co-authors of the publication(s) regarding the research which you are describing in your presentation. If this is the case, and your co-authors did not contribute to the creation of the presentation itself, then the copyright <strong>in the presentation</strong> rests with solely you as first author or, by virtue of employment, solely with your employer (the most likely situation, as I read it). </p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, your co-authors contributed to the creation of the presentation itself, then they - or their relevant employers - may be entitled to be considered joint owners of copyright in the presentation.</p>\n\n<p>I have been discussing the copyright of the presentation - not the copyright arising in any research publication. I assume that you have included in your presentation items such as pictures, plots or graphs which appeared in your research publication. It is most likely that copyright for these works vests with the publisher of the research article. </p>\n\n<p>If this is the case - that your research has been published (including, for example a graph) and that the copyright in that publication has been assigned to the publisher (again, the usual situation), then the use of that work in another work - e.g. using a graph from that publication in your presentation - may be considered an infringement of the copyright in the publication. </p>\n\n<p>There is an exception to copyright infringement in several copyright laws which permits the use of copyrighted works for educational or research purposes. In this case, your University may well lay claim to copyright in your presentation as a literary work by virtue of their employment of you, however, they may also have to consider that they are able to use the copyrighted works included in that presentation (the plots, graphs etc, the copyright of which is held by the publisher of those works, e.g. the research journal) <strong>if the use is for research or teaching purposes.</strong> If, for example, the University decides to include your presentation - including a plot published in your original research paper - in a book, and then sold that book, the University is likely to require a licence from the journal which holds the copyright in the plot. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5267,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Post-scriptum: in addition to the answer below, there are a few things that are crystal-clear:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The copyright of figures already published has probably been transferred to the publisher; copyright transfer agreements <em>usually</em> allow you to reüse them for academic talks and the like, but you don't own copyright for those.</li>\n<li>If you use text or figures produced by others (and not already published), then you don't own copyright for those.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>Such questions are <em>very</em> specific and are best answered by a professional, also known as <em>lawyer</em>.</strong> In fact, it certainly depends on the country your work in, but also the type of contract you signed with them. But, anyway…</p>\n\n<p><strong>Under US law</strong>, the copyrightable by-products of research (articles, talks, book chapters, etc.) are generally not considered as work-for-hire, and thus <strong>you retain authorship</strong>. Citing <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire\">Wikipedia</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>However, articles published in academic journals, or work produced by freelancers for magazines, are not generally works created as a work for hire, which is why it is common for the publisher to require the copyright owner, the author, to sign a copyright transfer, a short legal document transferring specific author copyrights to the publisher. In this case the authors retain those copyrights in their work not granted to the publisher.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(I don't regard Wikipedia as a particularly authoritative source, but it happens to match the existing practice of requesting <em>authors</em> to transfer copyright to journal publishers, not their universities.) It's somewhat of a gray area, in that some institutions actually claim such ownership, and the merits of such claims have not (to my knowledge) been much tested in court.</p>\n\n<p>Note that situations can be more complex than that. For example, it seems that in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_Germany\">German copyright law</a> employment grants the employer an exclusive license to your work:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>While exclusive licences are almost as powerful as copyright transfer, the author always retains some rights to the work, including the right to prevent defacing and to be identified as the author. Employment agreements are frequently construed as granting the employer an exclusive licence to any works created by the employee within the scope of his obligations.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In practice, an exclusive license is pretty much equivalent to a copyright transfers, because the only rights you retain are minor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5269,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>German copyright is very different from UK or US copyright. In German law, copyright always belongs to the author(s), and cannot be given away. What you can give away are the various rights of use.</p>\n\n<p>The question here thus should be whether your university has a right to use your presentations, potentially even an exclusive right to use them. In the case of computer programs, §69b of the German copyright law explicitly states that the employer has the exclusive right to use the work.</p>\n\n<p>I am not sure whether a lawyer could argue that your presentation is a computer program - maybe he could if it is a tex file :). Otherwise, as F'x writes, it depends on your work contract. If there is not an explicit statement in your work contract that the university has the right to use any copyrighted works that you authored during your employment, they will generally not have such rights. In the typical employment contracts at German universities, such statements are not included.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5264",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4078/"
]
|
5,277 | <p>I am following the advice of @Piotr Migdal in <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/5253/14341">Is there an internet Git-like repository for collaboration on a paper?</a>, and I want to ask about version controls: how beneficial are they (specially under LaTeX settings) for writing papers compared to Dropbox and <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com" rel="noreferrer">SugarSync</a>? </p>
<p>I have been using SugarSync for almost a year with no pain.
Usually, I create the paper folder and invite other authors to join, so we can see and edit the last version of the paper.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5280,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>how beneficial they are (specially under Latex settings) for writing papers compared to dropbox and SugarSync?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I am a long time user of version control systems, in fact everything I have (my $HOME folder) is backed up in a VC. </p>\n\n<p>I tried hard to use various version control systems for writing many (10+) research papers all of them written in LaTeX. <em>My experience with using VCs for writing research papers is however mixed, if not outright negative.</em> Besides the easiness of synchronization with a VC, the main problem is merging the updates. Unlike source code of programs, merging LaTeX is not that straightforward mainly due to line breaking issues. Secondly, even though I have no problem with various VCs, my co-authors (very heterogeneous mix of people) not necessarily have experience with the one I use, or use different one outright, or have no clue about this stuff. Add the quirkiness of setting up passwords, ssh tunnels, installation of client-side software etc. and you see that all in all, using a VC is not a smooth experience (at best).</p>\n\n<p>Recently (3 papers so far), I gave a try to Dropbox and I am pretty pleased with the result. While it does not solve all the issues, it seems to me to solve at least some:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>almost zero set-up, also layman have no problem installing the client</li>\n<li>no explicit sync, everything just works instantly (no svn/git/bzr/... add/remove/move/... command line stuff involved)</li>\n<li>merging issues are about the same as with a version control system - even with a vc in place I always tended to send explicit write lock notifications to co-authors by e-mail, or IM</li>\n<li>dropbox has some rudimentary version control, for my purposes it's pretty sufficient. Writing papers is not about branching, right?</li>\n<li>moreover, no repository setup is necessary. You just share a folder with a selected group of co-authors and that's it. Nobody else can see it. Few clicks, almost zero hassle.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As you see, <strong>my advice would be to stay with Dropbox-like solution</strong>. For my purposes, at least, it turned out to be the best solution so far.</p>\n\n<p><hr/>\nAs a follow-up to comments received: consider also the requirements you have for writing a research paper. Why to use a heavy-lifting solutions, such as a distributed version control, when we are speaking here about 1-10 text files, a handful of images and possibly a repository of data (binary, or text blobs). Do you really need to go through all the hassle with a DVCS for that? Maybe, if your research is rather a special case, most of the time, I guess, not. To me, easiness and accessibility to laymen of solutions such as Dropbox by far outweighs the advanced technological features, such as branching, tagging, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5281,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not entirely sure how dropbox and sugar sync work, but their main aim is not to monitor change, but to keep files in sync over a multitude of platforms and to provide backup. In addition, a good version control system allows you to <strong>keep older versions</strong>, but also to <strong>comment on the changes</strong> explain why they where made. The version control is also guaranteed to keep the chain of change of a tex file even over very long periods of time (say submitting to journal a, getting rejected, submitting to journal b, getting reviews, new version, acceptance: such a cycle could easily be 1.5 years). </p>\n\n<p>Also, in a Version Control System (VCS) <strong>you decided when you want to save a version</strong>, in dropbox I can imagine that the system makes that decision. Being in control yourself is important, for example to be able to generate a difference file when resubmitting a paper (see also my answer to <a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/1325/using-latexdiff-with-git\">this question on TeX SE</a>).</p>\n\n<p>Using a VCS you can also <strong>collaborate easily with people</strong>. Just create a private repository at bitbucket (supports mercurial and git), arrange for the other authors to have read and/or write access to your tex files in the repository, and they can change the paper or add to it. The VCS will take care of the merging.</p>\n\n<p>I use Mercurial myself for version controlling papers. However, for version controlling a tex file, a VCS might be overkill. I would still recommend Mercurial though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5283,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Given the praise received by version control systems in the existing answers, I’ll play the devil’s advocate here for a second and underline what I think is a very important point: <strong>it strongly depends on what your co-authors are comfortable with</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I use version control for most of the projects I do on my own, from code to papers. However, you have to realize that not everyone is familiar with this paradigm, and those who are familiar with it may not be familiar with a given piece of software (I myself am a heavy Subversion user, but have never used Git…). This is particularly true of people who don't develop software, as those tools come from the field of software development. So, check out what your co-authors use and what they are willing to learn. <strong>The great thing about a simple synchronization solution (such as DropBox) with no version control is that its learning curve is flat</strong>: just agree on a few rules (date-stamp all files, add initials, always send an email when you have created a new version). Anyone can understand that in a minute.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, I'll add another remark: the need for tracking revision history in the short term needs not necessarily require that you record the revision history for the posterity. For example, my incremental backup system (Apple’s Time Machine) creates snapshots of my files history every hour for a day, every day for the past month, and so on. This covers some of the need for tracking older versions in the short term.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5285,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many good points in the other answers, but I'd like to add another one, concerning the time/project management. Although you can do version control with Dropbox, the main strength of Dropbox is that everybody works on the same file(s) at the same time, which makes it fast and always synced, and it's quite good for a \"rush\", where n people have to work together over a given period of time on a given objective. </p>\n\n<p>However, I'm currently working on 5+ papers at the same time, with different time constraints, different deadlines, and different involvement, and I appreciate to easily have the history of the paper, who committed what/when, and I like to have to commit contributions to a paper. Hence, I know that the version on the main repo is consistent, and I can leave some parts hanging on a local repo without breaking everything, and when I commit, I need to make the effort to understand what has actually changed and what's the interest. In this regard, the fact that you can easily associate a issue tracker to a repo (for instance with <a href=\"https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/BITBUCKET/Using+your+Bitbucket+Issue+Tracker\">BitBucket</a>) can be also quite helpful (for instance, you can add an issue \"cite this other paper\", attach the paper, and solve the issue when you commit the paragraph actually citing the paper. </p>\n\n<p>This project management approach might be a bias coming from my programming background, and might be overkill in some cases, but in the end, there is no killer feature from one approach or the other, it's also how comfortable it makes your life. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5286,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>tl;dr: <strong>Version control is harder to set up, but makes it safe to work on the same file, and makes it easy to track history (i.e. previous versions).</strong> </p>\n\n<h2>Pros and cons of syncing files</h2>\n\n<p>Yes, the biggest advantage of things like Dropbox (I use it as well for backuping and synchronizing my files) and SugarSync is their easiness. </p>\n\n<p>They may work for collaboration on files, but:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>they are not meant for two people editing the same file at once (no merge functionalities - so one guy changing a file can overwrite changes made by other guy, even without knowing that),</li>\n<li>you get no history, i.e.:\n\n<ul>\n<li>did anyone worked on that file I want to work know?</li>\n<li>did anyone added or modified any other files?</li>\n<li>which changes were made?</li>\n<li>can I go to a previous version, the one I sent to my supervisor?</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Depending what you do, it may not be an issue. For example, if only one is editing <code>tex</code> file, while others are only reading or uploading figures - it's perfectly fine.</p>\n\n<p>And also, look at my answer on <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1261/simplest-way-to-jointly-write-a-manuscript/1263#1263\">Simplest way to jointly write a manuscript?</a> with a not technically-inclined collaborators.</p>\n\n<h2>Version control</h2>\n\n<p>Version control systems require some technical skills.</p>\n\n<p>Two the most common version control systems are <a href=\"http://git-scm.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Git</a> and <a href=\"http://mercurial.selenic.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Mercurial</a> (with the second one being more Windows-friendly and, arguably, easier to start).</p>\n\n<p>Both by standard comes only with command line access, but there are some graphical interfaces as well (I really recommend starting with <a href=\"https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">SourceTree</a>).</p>\n\n<p>So, if the collaborators are techie, just teach them how to use it. If not - there is a way around.</p>\n\n<p>You can keep track of version control by yourself, without engaging others (I'm doing it just now with 2 collaborators).</p>\n\n<p>Just you start a repository inside folder you share (the examples are with Git):</p>\n\n<pre><code>cd ~/path/to/the/folder\ngit init // start git repository inside this folder\ngit add . // say git to track all files inside it\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Now, every time you or your collaborator make some changes (e.g. add some files, correct typos, revise a chapter, ...) you do:</p>\n\n<pre><code>git commit -a -m \"Fixed typos in Seciton 3\"\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Later, you will be able to go back to this version; and also compare, e.g. the current version of your file with the previous one (by default - by line, here - by words):</p>\n\n<pre><code>git diff HEAD~1 --color-words my_file.tex\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>See also:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://try.github.io/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Got 15 minutes and want to learn Git?</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6188780/git-latex-workflow\">git + LaTeX workflow</a> at StackOverflow</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://copiancestral.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/writing-the-phd-thesis-the-tools-part-i/#more-372\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Writing the PhD thesis: the tools Part I</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.sharelatex.com/blog/2012/10/16/collaborating-with-latex-and-git.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Collaborating with LaTeX and git at ShareLaTeX blog</a> - a great and comprehensive tutorial</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/1118/what-are-the-advantages-of-using-version-control-git-cvs-etc-in-latex-documen\">What are the advantages of using version control (git, CVS etc) in LaTeX documents - TeX.SE</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://tex.stackexchange.com/search?q=version+control\">https://tex.stackexchange.com/search?q=version+control</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And real world example from using diff (it makes my life so much easier :)); commit messages in Polish, but I guess you get the idea: </p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/1sPXj.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/liLNz.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Otherwise (<a href=\"http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1531\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a strip from PhD Comics</a>):</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/9HQoO.gif\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5320,
"author": "Dror",
"author_id": 3926,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3926",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not have experience with what I'm about to suggest, but it might be helpful. <strong>Use both</strong>; use both <code>Dropbox</code> and some <code>VCS</code>. <em>How?</em> Well, in the <code>Dropbox</code> folder that you want to share, start a <code>git</code> repository (see @PiotrMigdal answer). As far as I recall you can exclude a directory from being synced in the <code>Dropbox</code>, and you should exclude the <code>.git</code> (hidden-)directory since it is of no interest to your collaborators.</p>\n\n<p>This way, you and you collaborators can easily share the data over <code>Dropbox</code> and you personally can enjoy benefits of real full scale VCS.</p>\n\n<p>However, as always with shared-digital work, one of the most important issues is to set the guidelines - they should be clear to all participants.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5519,
"author": "user244795",
"author_id": 1352,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1352",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I strongly recommend using version control for writing a paper because my advisers have never been very good at using computers. They often edit the wrong versions of documents and then send them to me. Then I have to figure out what they changed and manually reenter it into my latest version. I work around this problem by keeping track of what version I emailed to them and then comparing what they sent back to me using release tags.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Don't assume the boss will ever use your version control system. He doesn't need to.</strong> But it's still extremely useful to use version control! Our papers are prepared in MS Word because that's all that the boss knows how to use, and that's the file format the journal wants. He often forgets to use the \"Track Changes\" feature, but you can use the \"Compare and Merge Documents\" under the Tools menu to determine what he edited. (Just \"merge\" it with the version you emailed, and the resulting document will display the differences using the \"Track Changes\" highlighting.) I never have to compare timestamps or worry about which file is the latest version, and even when MS Word destroys one of my figures I know that I can easily recover it.</p>\n\n<p><strong>You can keep all of your raw experimental data, post-processing code, figure files, and lab notes under version control, too.</strong> Then you can backup the whole repository and be really sure that you'll never lose anything. I apply repository-wide tags to indicate when I do new experiments, which helps to keep the code in synch with the data; this answers the old question about which method was used to generate the figures. (\"Was it method A? We last used that six months ago, but it could've been similar method B that we started developing around that time. Maybe we used A.1? Great, we'll have to do it all over again...\")</p>\n\n<p><strong>You can use the repository-pushing feature as a type of distributed backup system.</strong> I use <a href=\"http://tortoisehg.bitbucket.org/download/index.html\">TortoiseHg</a> (a Mercurial GUI for Windows) to push/pull the repository to a USB flashdrive to carry between my home and work computers and also to a network share as a backup, and I never overwrite the wrong files or make extra copies of the files. By the way, forget about using the branching and merging features -- they don't really make sense for binary files, but it's valuable to know whether they got accidentally changed. Mercurial works quite well, even with huge binary files in vendor-proprietary formats.</p>\n\n<p>Summary: <strong>Real world science experiments produce too many files to version manually, and the boss might not be very tech-savvy.</strong> Version control fixes these problems, and you'll never again have to sort through filenames with random dates hardcoded in them.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5277",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
]
|
5,290 | <p>I have a very brief question: Can a professional mathematician publish philosophy papers, essays, etc.? For example, would a leading philosophy journal, nowadays, consider publishing a paper or an essay about philosophy of mathematics written by a mathematician. If so, does any one have proof of such instances? I am of course aware of the fact that numerous mathematicians were philosophers and vice versa, but the standards have changed, so I seek recent publications (as proof).</p>
<p>Edit: Suppose I wanted to write an article about geometric fallacies and why geometric arguments fail, in general, when we use infinitesimals, limits, etc. or something of this nature. Would this be considered for a publication in a philosophy journal?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5291,
"author": "Xodarap",
"author_id": 9068,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9068",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just randomly browsed Philosophia Mathematica and found <a href=\"http://philmat.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/1/25.abstract\">To Diagram, to Demonstrate: To Do, To See, and To Judge in Greek Geometry</a> written by Montelle, who lists his employment as in the department of mathematics. It's from Feb 2012, so recent.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5294,
"author": "user4105",
"author_id": 4105,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4105",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why do you consider that fields of research have to be separated by clear boundaries well-defined? It's not the case, and there are plenty of examples to prove it. Read about <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bertrand Russell</a> for example, is he a mathematician or a philosopher?</p>\n\n<p>If Russell is too old, what about Godel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Gödel), Hofstadter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter)?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5296,
"author": "JRN",
"author_id": 64,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Shallit\" rel=\"nofollow\">Jeffrey Shallit</a> is \"a computer scientist, number theorist, a noted advocate for civil liberties on the Internet, and a noted critic of intelligent design.\" He has a B.S. and a Ph.D. in Mathematics and is currently a Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. He co-wrote a paper with Wesley Elsberry <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-009-9542-8\" rel=\"nofollow\">(Information theory, evolutionary computation, and Dembski’s “complex specified information”)</a> which was published in <em><a href=\"http://www.springer.com/philosophy/epistemology+and+philosophy+of+science/journal/11229\" rel=\"nofollow\">Synthese</a></em>, \"An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science\" on January 2011.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5290",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4097/"
]
|
5,297 | <p>I am an Early Stage Researcher in a bigger project. I am non-native speaker of English and I find my level of English in my articles not satisfactory, especially when I consider that it is not just my reputation but also the reputation of the project.</p>
<p>I am thinking about hiring a proofreader for my future articles or other texts for publication. </p>
<p>My long term goal is to improve myself enough so I would not need a proofreader in the future. <strong>Does the possibility to see your corrected text help you improve your writing skill in the long term, or are English classes necessary?</strong> </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5298,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would recommend both, for exactly the reasons you stated. Hire a proofreader to maintain a high quality <em>current</em> professional image, and take English language lessons to ensure that you can maintain a high quality <em>future</em> professional image (and to ensure you're not paying a proofreader for the rest of your career).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5299,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>What improves most your English level (or help you maintain it if you have reached a certain level which you deem satisfactory) is <strong>usage of the language</strong> in all its forms: listening, speaking, reading, writing. This is especially easy in this age of globalization and technology: just keep reading texts of all kinds, listening to the radio, watching TV programs in original language (BBC news, series, …), professional podcasts or videocasts, etc.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, comparing the proofread text of articles with your original version can help you better understand some of the mistakes you make, the invalid constructions you may use and \nthe <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibboleth\">shibboleths</a> that give you away as a non-native speaker. However, unless you write (and get proofread) a large number of papers, this might not be enough to improve significantly.</p>\n\n<p>Another possibility is to <strong>pay a teacher to actually review with you, on a regular basis, texts that you have written</strong>. Although it takes quite a bit of time, I believe it is one of the best ways to improve your written English, along with reading a lot.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5375,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you do decide to get a proofreader, make sure he understands the field you work in. Different fields have very different jargons, and a proofreader who is not proficient in your field will make things worse, not better. I have seen what a native English speaker (but non-psychologist) can do to an English psychology manuscript written by non-native speakers, and the results were not pretty...</p>\n\n<p>It may actually be better to identify someone with strong English skills who may not be a native speaker but knows your field's specific jargon.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5297",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4079/"
]
|
5,300 | <p>What types of methods are available to students today who want to find a University for a Master, PhD, or postdoc program that supports the student's obscure/specific area of research?</p>
<p>For example, I am looking for PhD programs that specialize in software engineering metrics analysis and process improvement. I have looked at the websites of about 15-20 universities that offer PhD's in Computer Science. Sometimes, I'll find "software engineering" listed vaguely as a research area, but as I research the publications and activities of the faculty, there will be just a single faculty member who does work in an obscure aspect of software engineering, like applying CASE tools to data modeling, validation of aeronautic systems, etc.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5302,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Look at affiliations in papers</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>When I was looking for a PhD position, I systematically did <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/5074/1033\">an extensive literature survey</a>. I didn't really read the articles, looked mostly at the abstracts, but I particularly looked at <em>affiliations</em>. At the time, I simply wrote down all academic institutes I found that were in Europe. In a more extended version, one could somehow assign a score based on the number of papers coming from a certain institution and the impact of each paper.</p>\n\n<p>The big advantage of this is that one will find mostly groups doing active research in the field. Whether we want it or not, published peer-reviewed papers are (at least in my field, atmospheric sciences) <em>the</em> method for determining impact. I won't find groups that fail to publish using this method, but I probably don't want to do my PhD there anyway, so nothing is lost from my perspective.</p>\n\n<p>For my PhD I ended up staying exactly where I already was, but now I'm about to do the same for finding institutes with a post-doc. It's one degree more complicated now because of the <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2633/1033\">two-body problem</a>, but even there: my significant other and I both make such a list, then we'll plot them on a map and look at pairs that are close to each other. But it all starts with:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Look at affiliations in papers.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5304,
"author": "Herman Toothrot",
"author_id": 4050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have just been going through what you are describing. There is no specific way to go about it. I will be painful and daunting when you don't start from any specific point. I can tell you what I did:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Location: if you have certain preferences that might help you make some preliminary decisions. For example initially I decided on certain countries/cities and looked at all major universities there. Then I extended the range to locations that were not a preference. I did find some nice programs , for example in Alaska, but I could not force myself to apply there, I just can't imagine living 5 years in Anchorage.</p></li>\n<li><p>Publications and google scholar: I am in ecology so what I did was going into google scholar and type certain species with which I would like to work and a few other keywords \"conservation\", \"GIS\", \"spatial modeling\", etc. I read the abstract and the authors affiliations. I also limited the search to the last 5 years because people change affiliation and also I want to look at latest research. Then I only investigated the ones that were in places/universities where I want to go or interested in.</p></li>\n<li><p>Specialist groups: not sure how this translates into computer science (even if I am a computer scientist myself), but there are special groups that work with certain species, that was another great source of people.</p></li>\n<li><p>Job posting websites: this came in later but I did manage to find a few positions that were related to what I wanted to do. For example the ecological society of America as a bulletin with PhD position advertised by university directly, nature.com, findaPhd.com.</p></li>\n<li><p>Ask people in the field about good research labs, they should know a few.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I know these are mostly related to ecology but should give you some ideas. I also wasted time going through school's websites one by one and unfortunately there was no way around that. It was time consuming and not the most productive way but I didn't want to have any regrets or places I missed. Also, I know have a personal database of labs I like for my future career and I will have to do minimal research for my post-doc, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5305,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The relevant professional societies may maintain databases of graduate research.</p>\n\n<p>For graduate programs in chemistry in North America, the American Chemical Society maintains a <a href=\"http://dgr.rints.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">database of graduate research</a>. </p>\n\n<p>The database is searchable by faculty name and institution. However, there are fields for specific topics in the faculty search. If you leave the name fields blank, you can search by topic. For example, a search of \"repeating sequence copolymer\" gives one hit - my PhD adviser. </p>\n\n<p>If you are looking for a <em>very</em> specific project in chemistry in North America, you can find it. It's not perfect. A search for <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olefin_metathesis\" rel=\"nofollow\">olefin metathesis</a> doesn't find <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Grubbs\" rel=\"nofollow\">Robert Grubbs</a>, who received a Nobel Prize for his work in it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5307,
"author": "Marcin Kotowski",
"author_id": 4108,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4108",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A surprisingly effective method (I've tried it) is mailing the people working in your field of interest, something like: \"I'll be applying to grad school, I'm interested in areas X, Y and Z. What places for PhD studies can you recommend?\" At worst, your email will get ignored [1]. Often, however, you can get quite detailed answers even if you don't know the person you're writing to. Esp. if you are specific in what area you'd like to work in - some people are eager to help prospective grad students. </p>\n\n<p>[1] To avoid being tagged as \"spam\", send the mails one-by-one even if you're mailing a larger group of people at once ;) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5309,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the CS field, Microsoft academic search, google scholar and DBLP are good resources to give a general overview of different <em>pioneers</em> in the field.<br>\n Also, look for the research interest of the faculty members and the research groups in the department. </p>\n\n<p>One last thing is: <strong>follow with the top conferences in your area</strong> (i.e. ICSE) and see who's doing something interesting to you. Then search for them; see how their past students are doing. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5300",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3871/"
]
|
5,301 | <p>My earliest PhD graduation date is 10 months away. Funding permits me to stay 1–3 months longer, so the final date is still uncertain.</p>
<p>It is never too early to make contacts for possible post-docs. But how long in advance is too early to formally apply to post-doc job openings or funding opportunities? Depending on the bureaucracy, the path from applying to starting can probably be anything from a week up to a year — someone I know is applying with <a href="http://www.esa.int/">ESA</a> which had the opening advertised in August, application deadline in October, will have interviews in December/January, and the commencement of work only in September, 13 months after the initial job advertisement. My personal guess is that the long time between interviews and starting is to create a level playing field between those who do and those who don't need to go through a visa application procedure.</p>
<p>If I'm too early in applying for a post-doc, a hosting institution might prefer someone who can start earlier and where the graduation date is more certain. For example, in my case the graduation date is still uncertain, so there is a risk in accepting even if they are willing to wait. Project funding might also require the money to be spent rather soon.</p>
<p>If I wait too long, there might be a considerable period where I'm between jobs. Having a long (>6 months) period between jobs is a disadvantage for me. Maybe it's also a disadvantage for a hosting institution (I'm not sure).</p>
<p>How do I find the balance? For example, considering the duration of funding and visa applications, does it make sense to apply e.g. <a href="http://www.vsp.ucar.edu/cgc/2013/2013_Program.html">8 months in advance</a>? Or is it in any case virtually inevitable to have at least several months before my PhD graduation and the start of a post-doc?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5303,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It depends on the type of funding associated with the postdoc position: </p>\n\n<p>1) If the funding is already there and has a limited duration (for instance a one-year funding within a one-year research project), then indeed, the recruiter might not want to wait 10 months for you, since it would mean that an important part of the funding might be \"wasted\". </p>\n\n<p>2) If the funding is already there, but can be used later on (for instance a one-year funding within a five-year research project), then it could be possible to start only in 10 months. </p>\n\n<p>3) If there is no funding yet, and you need to get it yourself, then you have to start as early as possible, since it can take a long time for the whole process to finish. </p>\n\n<p>Note that case 3 is usually a process you started with a potential advisor, rather than answer to a particular announcement. In any case, it's always a good thing to informally contact potential advisors directly to see about the specificity of a particular position. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9451,
"author": "Theresa Liao",
"author_id": 5988,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5988",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It doesn't hurt to apply. Sure, in some cases the hosting institutions might want to consider someone with a definite graduation date, but that's their decisions. It could also be that the hosting institution loves you and is willing to wait until whenever you are done, given that the funding will be available later still (I have seen one case like this). Just be honest/realistic about when you expect to graduate. Post-doc positions are pretty competitive these days and it is better to look for more options than less.</p>\n\n<p>If you are not comfortable applying formally early on, then at least make sure to use your informal contacts so that they know you are actively looking.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40095,
"author": "benroth",
"author_id": 6043,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6043",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Positions are often advertised on an extremely short notice, at least in my field (computer science). So applying much ahead of the graduation is not strictly necessary in my opinion.</p>\n\n<p>Other positions are not (yet) advertised (e.g. the PI has some money and considers whether to pay for 2 PhDs or one postdoc etc). For those it is more important to be in some exchange with people in the field: typically through conferences/workshops; but also 'boring' project meetings organized by funding agencies are good opportunities to network. Other ideas include: contributing useful software to the community, internships, giving talks at other universities when you are traveling, etc...</p>\n\n<p>If you do some of this, you will not have difficulty finding a postdoc position. Your application will only be a formality, after everything else is already decided.</p>\n\n<p>Also, why not have a break after the PhD? Traveling the world? Decide for yourself for some while what to do with your time?</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, employers both in academia and industry want good candidates to start rather earlier than later, and are often not planning far ahead with their personnel decisions.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
]
|
5,314 | <p>I presented my psychology thesis at an undergraduate conference, an international conference in France, and am now interested in submitting it to be presented at the 2013 APA conference in Hawaii. Since it's been presented to different audiences at each presentation is this unethical? Also, the first two presentations were simply poster sessions. If I elect to present the paper as a 10 minute talk rather than a basic poster session, would that be unethical?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5315,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It might depend on the field.</p>\n\n<p>If there are no conference proceedings, there is no publication whatsoever. Therefore, it should be no problem to present the same work at multiple conferences. In fact, this is commonly done to reach a bigger audience.</p>\n\n<p>If there <em>are</em> conference proceedings, the situation may be a bit more complicated. It depends on how proceedings papers are considered in your field. In my field, they're not really counted as anything at all, therefore it is still fine to present the same work at different conferences. But if they are counted and considered as relevant in your field, the situation may be different. In this case, I would recommend contacting the host of the session to ask for clarification.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5321,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Ask the conference organizers.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The ethics of multiple presentation, parallel submission, and multiple publication vary from field to field, and even from venue to venue within any field. Only the conference organizers (aka program committee or steering committee) can answer definitively whether they would encourage, allow, accept, discourage, or forbid speakers to present results that have been presented before.</p>\n\n<p>If the conference has an explicit call for submissions, read it carefully; it may include specific language addressing this issue.</p>\n\n<p>One thing you should absolutely <strong>not</strong> do is attempt to hide the fact that you've presented this result before. Do not seek forgiveness instead of permission. Even if the submission policy clearly allows you to submit a previously presented result, you should make its presentation history clear when you submit. If the organizers accept your submission even with this data in hand, you're clear!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5314",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,323 | <p>I have a good GPA (over 3.5) from a top 5 CS school. I also have lots of research experience and a few publications. I also expect to have very good recommendations. The only problem is that I did badly on the GRE general exam (just under below average). The exam seems like a big scam, so studying for it felt like a waste of time.</p>
<p>One of JeffE's <a href="http://3dpancakes.typepad.com/ernie/2005/03/re_phd_with_low.html" rel="nofollow">blog posts</a> mentions that schools filter applicants into three piles based on GPA and GRE: MAYBE, PROBABLY NOT, and NO. Will my GRE scores land me in the PROBABLY NOT pile, even though I have an otherwise excellent record?</p>
<p>Will my GRE hurt my chances of getting into CMU and Stanford? Should I try to retake them, even though it's getting late? Application deadlines are around December 13.</p>
<p><strong>Edit:</strong> should I say something about my bad GRE scores in the statement of purpose, or do something else if I don't end up retaking them?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5324,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Despite being nearly the exact opposite question, I will give the same answer that I gave about the importance of <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/3506/929\">GPA</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The importance of any single metric is binary and its value (important\n or not) depends on the size of the department. If the department is\n big, admissions committees use metrics to weed out candidates.\n Basically anyone with GPA/GRE below X is triaged (doesn't matter what\n school you went to, how good your references are, etc). Smaller\n departments generally look at all applications. Once your applications\n is looked at, it is considered as a whole. There is no formula by\n which good GRE scores can offset a bad GPA. Obviously a better GPA\n doesn't hurt, but you really want to worry about the things you can\n control. For example, good research experience tends to trump\n everything else.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5333,
"author": "Herman Toothrot",
"author_id": 4050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personally I think if a department throws out a person just based on GRE scores, you should neither apply to such department nor feel bad that you were not accepted. You will be better evaluated somewhere else. I am not sure how the GRE is supposed to rank good researchers. And for admission purposes it is used only in the US.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5341,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you can re-take the GREs without undue burden -- yes, re-take them. You'll feel better, knowing that you did everything you could have. (Why spend the rest of your life wondering about \"what could have been\"?) And, it might help you a little bit, by eliminating a potential red flag.</p>\n\n<p>That said, even if you don't re-take the GREs, if you have great qualifications, you'll probably be fine. If you have great research experience, great letters, and the rest of your application package is strong, it's unlikely that the GREs will hurt you much. Great research experience and publications will almost always trump poor GREs. </p>\n\n<p>What your bad GRE scores <em>will</em> do is raise the eyebrows of the reviewers. The reviewers may then read the rest of your application package (contact your references, etc.) that much more carefully, to try to understand why you bombed the GREs. For instance, if you bombed the verbal GREs, then reviewer might start wondering: can this person write? are they completely inarticulate? am I going to have to spend the next 5 years teaching them how to write and remedial English? And they'll peruse all available information to try to figure out what's going on. So, if you have any explanation (even if it's just \"I screwed up and didn't take the GREs seriously; in retrospect, I know it was a dumb move\"), it might not hurt to share this story with your letter-writers so one of them can slip that into their letter, to minimize that sort of speculation. The other approach is to mention it in your statement of purpose -- though for some people it may feel a bit less awkward if one of your letter-writers does it.</p>\n\n<p>P.S. A 3.5 GPA is not a great GPA. My sense is that it is a bit on the low side, for PhD studies in a top-5 CS PhD program. That said, grades are not the most important aspect of your application, and will be outweighed by research experience and great letters describing research potential. Research experience that has led to publications is great and a huge plus for your application file.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5343,
"author": "mert",
"author_id": 399,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/399",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As far as I experienced last year, a high GRE score by itself <strong>may not</strong> directly bring you an acceptance from a grad school. However, low or moderate scores <strong>may</strong> result in an early elimination in the process. I think this is often the case for other standardized tests such as TOEFL (for an international applicant). Plus, you can consider GPA in this respect as well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5350,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many PhD programs in computer science (like my own) don't require GREs; read the application instructions carefully. If it's not a requirement, just don't submit your GRE scores.</p>\n\n<p>Even when you are required to submit your scores, do not mention your GRE scores in your statement. You want the admissions committee to focus on your <strong>potential for research</strong>, where you seem to have a very strong case, not your ability to take standardized tests.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5323",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4120/"
]
|
5,327 | <p>I use a version control system (formerly subversion, now git) to write papers, which for me works very well and is convenient. A few times, I even worked with branches for different logical versions of a paper, such as versions submitted to different journals. However, I found branching of little use for paper writing. When I used different branches for different journal submissions, I found myself working only on the "latest" branch anyway, since I can anyway only submit one version per time, and, if it is rejected, will not continue to work on that particular version at a later time. I didn't find any other good use of branching in paper writing, and later skipped it completely.</p>
<p>Is there any advantage of working with several branches when writing a paper with a version control system? How should one organize the writing process in order to profit from such an advantage?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5328,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personally, I've never used branches (for papers), and would certainly <em>not</em> use branches for different chapters (WTF? like keeping different branches for different files in a programming project; except for the case when different collaborators edit different parts of documents, then - maybe), but maybe it may work for:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>arXiv/non-arXiv version (or e.g.: working version with notes vs release candidate) of a paper (the exact use-case of projects with some differences, from minor to e.g. also additional sections, see also <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1864/arxiv-preprint-and-final-paper-differing-by-sections-and-appendices\">arXiv preprint and final paper differing by sections and appendices</a>),</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamer_(LaTeX)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Beamer slideshows</a> for different talks based an similar slides.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Related: <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/a/6190412/907575\">git + LaTeX workflow at SO</a> (so, use \"advisor\" branch):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Branches are also extremely helpful if you are a graduate student. As any grad student will attest, the advisor is bound to have numerous corrections, most of which you don't agree with. Yet, you might be expected to atleast change them for the time being, even if they are reverted later after discussions. So in such cases, you could create a new branch advisor and make changes to their liking, at the same time maintaining your own development branch. You can then merge the two and cherry pick what you need.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>;)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5329,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I use HG, but it is essentially the same as GIT, in that branching is easy. I branch all the time when working with coauthors. The branches tend to be short lived and merged pretty quickly. Basically, I distribute a copy to my coauthors and each set of comments I get back form different branches. This lets me see each authors comments individually. I then work on merging the comments back into the main trunk. Sometimes the merge is easy and the branch is one commit long. Other times it might take longer if I need to work out something (e.g., math, model, or analysis) which might require a couple of revisions before it is ready to go into the main trunk.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5334,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In principle, branches seem like a good idea. A potential use case would be:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>working on a draft of a paper</li>\n<li>as we get close to the conference deadline, putting the paper in the conference format and reducing to the prescribed size</li>\n<li>finding typos in this version and fixing them</li>\n<li>merging the typos back into the \"main version\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In practice, I've never done this, because I'm not organized enough. Also, svn is not as friendly to this workflow as git is, for other reasons. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7442,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An alternative to branching in some cases, especially for short lived branches like for journal submission, is using patch queues. Mercurial has <code>mq</code>. I believe Git has similar things, but I'm not a git user.</p>\n\n<p>As the question says:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When I used different branches for different journal submissions, \n I found myself working only on the \"latest\" branch anyway, since I can\n anyway only submit one version per time, and, if it is rejected, will\n not continue to work on that particular version at a later time.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I have had similar experiences when using different (named) branches for submission to different journals. The problem is that one ends up having dead branches which correspond to journals the paper was rejected from, or perhaps journals you never ended up applying to. These live forever in history, which is annoying and sub-optimal.</p>\n\n<p>The advantage of using patches, at least with <code>mq</code>, is that one can maintain multiple patch queues, each of these can be managed as a distinct mercurial repository, and they do not become part of the main repository's history unless you want them to, though of course you can push them to remote since they are regular repositories. Also, one can use them with general non-vcs tools like <code>patch</code> and <code>quilt</code>, which is occasionally useful.</p>\n\n<p>However, when applied, these patch queues are a bona-fide part of a mercurial repository, and can be treated as (anonymous) branches. So, suppose one has two patch queues <code>Q1</code> and <code>Q2</code>. Then if wants to work with both versions simultaneously, one can make a clone of the main repository, thus resulting in two identical copies of the repository. Then one can apply Q1 and Q2 to the copies, and then work with them as one would with regular branches, using mercurial's merge machinery and so forth.</p>\n\n<p>Another use of patch queues which is very useful, and not specific to paper writing, is to queue up small changes in the queue till one is ready to commit them. I usually just stick everything in one patch, though one could divide the changes into multiple patches. Then, when one is ready to apply some or all of the changes, one can do</p>\n\n<pre><code>hg qref -X . # apply the patch as local changes, making the patch empty\nhg qpop --keep-changes # pop the patch\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>This results in </p>\n\n<p>a) the patch being applied as local changes to the working directory</p>\n\n<p>and</p>\n\n<p>b) the mercurial queue patch becoming empty and being removed (popped) from the repository.</p>\n\n<p>Since the patch is now local changes to the working directory, we can easily commit what parts of it we please. When done one can resync the patch with</p>\n\n<pre><code>hg qpush --keep-changes # push the patch back onto the repository\nhg qref # put the local changes back into the patch\nhg ci --mq # commit the changed patch (to the mq repository)\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Then the patch is recreated with the portions of the local changes that were not committed.</p>\n\n<p>See the loosely related questions <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/q/5016862/350713\">What's the Git approach to publish a patch queue?</a> and <a href=\"https://stackoverflow.com/q/952651/350713\">git equivalent to hg mq?</a>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5327",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890/"
]
|
5,330 | <p>Say a prospective PhD has a high reply rate (90-95%) to first contact emails with potential superviors. He/She has a well thought out e-mail, but a particular professor (here: USA) that is in the top preferences does not reply after two to three e-mails that were sent within a time frame of three months. I also followed the instructions on the professor personal website in the section "prospective PhD students". The student has already contacted some of the advisor students and has received positive feedback about the professor.</p>
<p>Should the student just give up and move on? Should the student keep trying?</p>
<p>Aside from the obvious "I have too many incoming e-mails to answer" or "I am out in the field", what could create a no response behavior from the professor?</p>
<p>I have seen the simplistic answer "move on, bad advisor, doesn't have time, etc". But this seems a contradiction in this case. The PhD students like the professor and say he/she is personable and no e-mail response after a few well written emails.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5331,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ul>\n<li><p>Consider the possibitity of ending up in the spam filter. (I know a professor whos emails were regularly considered spam by his own university)</p></li>\n<li><p>(As students of the supervisor are known: could any of those ask the prof whether any of the emails arrived?)</p></li>\n<li><p>Students of the supervisor are known: this points to the group not being far away. Drop by in person?</p></li>\n<li><p>One may use other communication channels (\"just wanted to make sure, my emails didn't get caught in the spam\")</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5335,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would say MOVE ON .. Some professors are <em>full</em> of students. They are not looking for new prospective students in the next year or so.<br>\nTherefore, the simple action to do is ignoring prospective students emails. </p>\n\n<p>The best to do is to phone him/her if s/he didn't answer in 3 months after 2 or 3 emails. Try to meet him in conference and try to contact his/her current PhD students.. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5339,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To try to make a clear point: there is a range of opinions about how to respond to \"cold calls\" from people I don't know, etc. I myself find it easy to make a one-or-two-sentence response politely thanking an inquirer for their interest, but (if so...) that I \"have no open positions in my group at this time\" or whatever is suitable. For me, although I get a good number of these of various sorts, it takes less than 5 minutes a day, and I take the viewpoint that it is a good professional-social gesture to make that quick response (perhaps more worthwhile than yelling over the phone at phone-solicitors on old no-caller-id phones).</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, at the other end, I know many people who take the viewpoint that sending them email no more obligates them to a response than do credit-card offers and other advertisements. And, indeed, given the ease with which we can mass-email, even with customizations, this is a fair, not unethical, not harsh reaction. Perhaps if my in-mails of this sort reached 10+ per day, I'd give up \"trying to be polite\", but my own current scale of \"spam on behalf of earnest beginner in the business\" is pretty low, so I can easily afford to be (superficially) \"gracious\" enough to respond.</p>\n\n<p>In case people don't reply, I'm afraid you can't hold it against them, even while we admit that it would be great if they <em>did</em> respond, ... because there just isn't a general social principle that demands a response to all possible inquiries one may receive. Yes, it'd be nice, but it is simply not required.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5340,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I am going to assume we're talking about a student who plans to <em>apply</em> to the PhD program that the faculty is affiliated with, but has not yet been admitted. (You didn't say explicitly, but reading between the lines, that is my assumption.)</p>\n\n<p>If that's the case then the student should not expect a response and should not read anything into the lack of a response from the faculty member. Many faculty do not have time to respond personally to all enquiries from prospective applicants.</p>\n\n<p>Please understand that some faculty receive dozens or hundreds of enquiries from prospective students. For example, my understanding is that many Indian or Chinese students are under the mistaken impression that they should contact faculty, or think it will help their case for admission somehow (not true; but they don't know, or have been given bad advice, so they write). Anyway, as a result, many faculty cannot possibly reply to all such contacts. I've even seen a few faculty post a FAQ on their web page which explains why they cannot respond to such inquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in applying. In many cases, it is likely that few or none of those who contact the professor will be admitted, so professors may understandable decide that they cannot afford to to spend time responding to such contacts until after admission, in most cases.</p>\n\n<p>To learn more about this, I can recommend some additional reading:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/advice/prospective.html\">Advice for Prospective Research Students</a> - a FAQ one professor posts, about how to contact professors</p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2011/10/writing-to-me-reprise.html\">Writing to me</a> - Advice from Female Science Professor (a pseudonymous professor/blogger) about how prospective grad students should write to her.</p></li>\n<li><p>In general, anything from FSP is worth reading. Here are some additional posts of her that are relevant, and that may help to understand the professor's mindset:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2011/11/mad-libs-gone-mad.html\">Mad Libs Gone Mad</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2011/10/you-can-lead-horse-to-water.html\">You Can Lead a Horse to Water</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-they-dont-tell-you-in-non-existent.html\">What They Don't Tell You in the Non-Existent Training for this Job</a></li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>If I have misunderstood the status of this student:</p>\n\n<p>If the student has already been admitted into the PhD program where the faculty is affiliated with, but has not yet accepted the offer of admission, the lack of response probably indicates lack of interest or lack of time on the part of the faculty member. In this case, my advice would be to move on. As far as I can tell, though, this response would be a bit unusual: if the student has been admitted, it typically means that at least some quorum of faculty think highly of the student.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, if the student is current enrolled in the faculty's PhD program, the student should go visit the faculty member in person. Faculty have office hours; go use them.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5330",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
]
|
5,336 | <p>I need a book for my teaching and/or research, but my university's library doesn't have this book. I don't think I'll use it enough to justify spending money out of my own pocket to own it. What other ways should I try? I searched Internet, there is no "free" (in whatever sense) PDF of it either.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5337,
"author": "Zenon",
"author_id": 257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/257",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually I try to</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p>Aks to profs. at the university. Most are happy to lend them for a short time.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Public libraries can be nice, but for some scientific literature I must admit they are not optimal</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>A somewhat grey area is buying them used books online. A online interface to physical 'used books' shops is use often is <a href=\"http://abebooks.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">abebooks.com</a>. Buying them a tenth of the price with shipping from Asia most of the time in comparison to the price at the university bookstore does feel like cheating but meh.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n<p>The last option could become illegal in the US depending of <a href=\"http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/a-supreme-court-clash-could-change-what-ownership-means/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this court case</a>, but for now it seems legit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5338,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Ask your university librarian.</strong><br>\nUsually universities libraries collaborate with each other. They can look whether the other universities have the book (I know this happens within Canadian universities).. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/19 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5336",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4171/"
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|
5,345 | <p>Let's consider two papers, one by authors A1, A2, A3 and one by authors B1, B2, B3. In the case of two publications by the same research group, some of the authors may be the same, some may be new… Typically, the senior author/team leader is the same, which means that A3 = B3 (in fields where the senior author is typically listed last).</p>
<p>Now, my question is: <strong>in which cases is it okay to refer to the earlier work by the words <em>“the authors”, as in “the authors have shown in [ref] that…”</em>?</strong> Is it only okay if the two author sets are strictly equal? Or is it used when A ⊂ B or A ⊃ B? Or when the first author is the same?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5346,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would avoid \"the authors\" unless it is exactly the same set of authors (preferably in the same order).</p>\n\n<p>I don't see anything wrong with \"B1, A2 and B3 have shown that...\" even when A2 is one of the authors of the present paper. It seems a little strange at first, but is quite common. I have also seen phrases like \"B1 and the second author have shown that...\" to refer to a paper by B1 and A2 while avoiding mentioning A2 by name, but in more complicated examples it gets pretty unwieldy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5347,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What about the passive</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It has been shown that ... (refs)</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5345",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,351 | <p>As illustrated by the recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/education/colleges-turn-to-crowd-sourcing-courses.html?pagewanted=3&_r=0" rel="nofollow">NY Times article</a>, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have recently gained a lot of attention because of their new model for educating students.</p>
<p>What are the main concerns regarding academic dishonesty in Massive Online Open Courses? It appears to me that academic dishonesty may be difficult to police for an online course. Is this correct?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5359,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One of the biggest challenges is to perform assessment. To scale, the most natural approach to assessment is to use purely automated methods, i.e., automated grading. However, building good automated graders is difficult.</p>\n\n<p>The path of least resistance is to use multiple-choice quizzes for assessment. However, multiple-choice quizzes with a fixed question set are inherently vulnerable to cheating: it is easy for people to pool their answers or copy off each other, and difficult to detect such cheating.</p>\n\n<p>One can think of ways to defend against this, but in general, I expect that providing high-quality (yet not gameable) assessment may be one of the non-trivial challenges facing MOOCs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5367,
"author": "Naresh",
"author_id": 3983,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3983",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>An obvious contrast to the peer grading efforts in Dr. Chuck’s Class\n title ‘Internet History,Technology and Security’ and ‘Science Fiction:\n The Human Mind, Our Modern World’ exists.</p>\n \n <p>1) ‘Internet History, Technology and Security’ has a far more lenient\n rubric to follow in comparison to the ‘Science Fiction’ class.</p>\n \n <p>2) I’ve observed that the essays in ‘Internet History,Technology and\n Science Fiction’ are far more thoughtfully written and at-least follow\n the question for the peer response instead of a brief recap of work\n covered in the reading.</p>\n \n <p>I’ve had to evaluate responses which describe in a way such as ‘I read\n Alice in Wonderland was my favorite story when I was small…….’, for a\n question which clearly states that you need to form a thesis(or a\n perspective view) for the reading material/novel/assignment for the\n week.</p>\n \n <p>3) A major reason for this might be the obvious. ‘Science Fiction’\n class releases videos of possible interpretations <em>after</em> the peer\n response whereas the ‘Internet History,Technology and Science class’\n releases videos on the topic, therefore equipping its students to\n tackle the peer responses.</p>\n \n <p>Also a funny thing occurred on the Coursera forums where ‘I was\n accused of cheating(plagiarism) from my own blog when I merely\n submitted my Peer Response anonymously while posting my copy on my\n Personal blog. The other students did not have an idea of who I was\n ‘since the peer grading’ process is anonymous.</p>\n \n <p>However, there were students smart enough to recognize that it was\n perhaps the blog of the ‘person who submitted ‘ and the issue was\n clarified.</p>\n \n <p>Thanks to [person] for bringing this to my notice and arguing the\n case in my favor. Also a note: Coursera’s plagiarism check systems\n should probably account for these when it does come into place.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The above block-quote is from my blog. I find it to be relevant to this question.</p>\n\n<p>This accusation of plagiarism happened with me as well. I was luckily contacted by one of the other students taking the course and I could talk the other student out of down-grading me. </p>\n\n<p>This could be a problem even with OpenAccess accounts as some people may like to post work which they did in classes elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>I also took part in the programming-based classes such as Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. NLP was tough, with real life problems to be solved. However, despite being forbidden to share their programs online, a lot of students did so, because it seemed to be the only way to make something out of the course(the certificate would not count).</p>\n\n<p>The reasoning being, that if I learn some concepts from these courses, I could use my github account to appeal to an employer about my skills.</p>\n\n<p>'By sharing programs online, I mean people started public repositories from which any student could cheat and get a working program for submission.' Not even the best auto-grader could possibly prevent this from happening. I don't think this can be stopped in universities as well. Sure you have a honor code, but people can copy parts of code from all over the web. Make it a little original perhaps.</p>\n\n<p>There's also the 'theory' that 'don't re-invent the wheel'. </p>\n\n<p>For example:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>'Most students would not bother with programming a separate module for\n Fourier Transform calculations for part of a academic program. or\n doing this they may use a library from elsewhere to directly import a\n function.' Would this be considered as copying or plagiarism? Probably\n not?</p>\n \n <p>However, some universities(which include mine) think that programming\n Fourier Transforms is an important part in understanding them. So my\n university gives us programming assignments in a computer lab without\n access to the internet. All we are allowed to rely on is the already\n available libraries on the system. The systems are wiped clean every\n time. </p>\n \n <p>This becomes frustrating when we need to move from AM to FM to delta\n modulation and so on. We need to repeatedly write the same piece of\n code for fourier tranforms and this drastically reduces our\n efficiency.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So getting an optimal solution between preventing plagiarism and 'not re-inventing the wheel' is pretty important if Coursera or any online program would need to get. Right now, there is too much focus on plagiarism and not enough effort to realize the problem of redundancy in the system.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5497,
"author": "jelkimantis",
"author_id": 4196,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4196",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that the question is somewhat misleading. Ethics only factor into a very small percentage of students in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC's). Most students who participate in MOOC's are only taking the course to learn something. Academic integrity is more of an issue when the students are taking the course for some external reason. </p>\n\n<p>Some possible external reasons are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Enrolled in the course through the university, and receiving credit for the course</li>\n<li>Required to take the course by an employer</li>\n<li>Taking the course as a pre-requisite for another course or program</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In each of these situations, the role of verifying learning seems like it would be outside of the course itself. If students choose to cheat, it does not necessarily reflect poorly on the course or the program, but rather reflects poorly on the student.</p>\n\n<p>TL;DR - Ethical concerns only matter for students who are required to take the course. The people requiring them to take the course are responsible for ensuring their academic integrity.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5498,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I tend to agree with @jelkimantis, I would go a step further. I think the issue of academic integrity is a bit misguided. This is true not just in MOOC's but in more traditional institutions as well.</p>\n\n<p>Some people want to think that when they see a candidate has a degree from XYZ University that they no longer need to put in any effort into the interview (or whatever) process. Most humans are naturally lazy and if they can skip digging, they are happy to do so. The problem comes in that those people are making some very big assumptions which likely should not be made. </p>\n\n<p>I would argue that the hiring process is one of the most important processes in any company. A bad hire can haunt you for a very long time and a good hire can save you in so many ways. Still, people want to skip as much of the hiring process as they can (on both sides) so if someone has the right degree they are assumed to have the knowledge which goes with that degree. The problems is, they might not have that knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>The knowledge might not be there for several reasons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>They might have learned and then forgotten due to workload</li>\n<li>They might have had someone else take an exam for them</li>\n<li>They might have cheated during the exams and never learned in the first place</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Regardless of the reason, if the knowledge is not there, it is not there. So, why make any assumptions? The only reason I can see is for those who do not understand to manage those who do understand. However, even in that case, if you don't understand and your subordinate does, then you better give that subordinate a pretty free hand...because you can't check anyway.</p>\n\n<p>I know, it's a long answer but I think the entire question about academic integrity is not a huge issue. As a teacher, I care a great deal if students are cheating. That said, with the number of students I teach, there is no way I can effectively monitor them all. Even if I could, it doesn't solve the underlying problem. If someone is going to hire someone (or promote someone) based on their taking a course or gaining a degree, then they should be willing to do the work to ensure that what was taught was retained.</p>\n"
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| 2012/11/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5351",
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|
5,352 | <p><a href="http://www.mendeley.com/">Mendeley</a> is (mainly) a proprietary social network to share basic citation data and research papers. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeley">see also</a></p>
<p><strong>Are there any free and open source substitutes for this service?</strong> </p>
<p>A technical possibility: users could collect BibTeX data and a hash and share this information.
It would be very useful to have such a free service because every journal provides the citation data in a different format. That includes false field entries, broken files and hidden download buttons on the website. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5488,
"author": "matth",
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"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only alternative that comes to my mind is <a href=\"http://www.zotero.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Zotero</a>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>It is open-source, </li>\n<li>it comes as a standalone application or as a web-based version with Firefox, Chrome and Safari connectors, </li>\n<li>it integrates with Word or OpenOffice, </li>\n<li>it syncs with the Zotero server, </li>\n<li>it has BibTeX export,</li>\n<li>and more.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The Zotero standalone client is cross-platform and open-source (<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License\" rel=\"noreferrer\">AGPL</a> licence), and it can be run on its own or synchronized with the web version. The web service is free to use up to a fixed storage quota, with paid storage available, and there is an <a href=\"https://github.com/zotero/dataserver\" rel=\"noreferrer\">open-source implementation of the dataserver</a> available if you want to roll your own. The local client stores its data in SQLite format so in principle your data is not locked in, but the database is relatively hard to trawl externally; however, since the client is open source there are relatively few future-proofing concerns.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5525,
"author": "Aron Ahmadia",
"author_id": 404,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/404",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I really liked Mendeley's potential but got frustrated with both their pricing model (maybe I just never learned how to use the software correctly) and it consistently butchering imported BibTeX entries.</p>\n\n<p>I've been a pretty happy <a href=\"http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net/\">BibDesk</a> user for a long time, it is true open source software, but unfortunately it has not been ported outside of the OS X environment, so this is only a qualified answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 8476,
"author": "Jonas Stein",
"author_id": 4142,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4142",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Finally I found <code>I, librarian</code> on <a href=\"http://i-librarian.net/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://i-librarian.net/</a> which is a kind of mixture between Filestorage-Server, JabRef and a personal open source Mendeley server.</p>\n\n<p>Interested users may try the demo account on the website.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15856,
"author": "Martin Van der Linden",
"author_id": 10664,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10664",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h1>Docear</h1>\n\n<p>Haven't tried it yet but <a href=\"https://www.docear.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.docear.org/</a> seems to stand out as one of the leading open-source alternative to mendeley. </p>\n\n<p>Docear is basically a marriage of <a href=\"http://jabref.sourceforge.net/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">JabRef</a> and <a href=\"http://www.freeplane.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Freeplane</a>. It uses JabRef as a backend for its reference management and Freeplane to organize references, annotations you make in the pdf, and any other information (including images, links and crossreferences) in a mind-map.</p>\n\n<p>As the original author of this answer pointed out it is indeed open-source—licensed under the GNU General Public License.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://www.docear.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/img_521c9b6f881df.png\" alt=\"\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31221,
"author": "William Gunn",
"author_id": 582,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/582",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, there isn't anything that is an exact copy of Mendeley, the server, the clients, the API, and the content, but all composed of 100% open source software. </p>\n\n<p>For the record, Mendeley does contain some open source and the API is freely available, so if you wanted to build an application of service to the scholarly community, you'd probably be better off building your own open source client but leveraging the messy and difficult bits that we've already solved and make available via API, such as the metadata extraction and impact tracking bits.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31255,
"author": "maxheld",
"author_id": 23944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23944",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have tried any number of reference management programs (from EndNote to Mendeley and back), and have come to the conclusion that the most important criterion is that the reference manager <em>directly</em>, <em>natively</em> writes in <code>.bib</code>, or some other text-based, open-source format.</p>\n\n<p>This has several advantages:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>no proprietary or otherwise lock-in</li>\n<li>future-proof</li>\n<li>fast and robust</li>\n<li>if all else fails, you can always fix it \"by hand\" in a text editor</li>\n<li>works well with LaTeX, no \"lost in BibTeX-Export\" problems</li>\n<li>works nicely with versioning software (such as git), which requires text files for meaningful diffs.</li>\n<li>especially with git, you have maximum peace of mind about just what exactly is happening with your library.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This leaves a pretty small number of editors:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net\">http://bibdesk.sourceforge.net</a>: OS X only, rock solid, development seems to be done</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://jabref.sourceforge.net\">http://jabref.sourceforge.net</a> for all plattforms (haven't tried it)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38826,
"author": "Antonio De Luca",
"author_id": 29343,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29343",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We have developed an open source solution, downloadable from GitHub at <a href=\"https://github.com/scientilla/scientilla\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://github.com/scientilla/scientilla</a>, that allows users to collaboratively share and refine their scientific bibliographic metadata.</p>\n<p>The system relies on a "peer-to-peer" and "open-data" approach as well as on a "clone-and-refine" algorithm. It can import data from external web services.</p>\n<p>The more the system is used, the more the information that flows on the network become clean.</p>\n<p>Moreover, using Scientilla, any user can obtain the whole metadata shared through the network.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64313,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In creating such a system, the cost of the software and the expense of running the server(s) to host the data is microscopic compared to the expense of the army of knowledgeable people checking out references, cleaning up the barely legal (and semantically often complete nonsense) BibTeX entries offered by some journals, knit them up from scratch where not even the above is available.</p>\n\n<p>Better create <em>your</em> central database, share it with your research group. Have <em>everybody</em> chip in by adding references to interesting papers found while browsing, whatever they cite in their publications/theses, and perhaps keep another file with publications generated locally (comes handy when asked for \"publications of the group last year\" or so). Publish guidelines, enforce them, perhaps occasionally organize a refer-thon to clean up entries and fill out missing details. If you ask everybody who reads a paper/document to add a short (3-5 lines) summary/abstract (they'll have to write one anyway for \"state of the art\"), a URL or other pointer where to find the document, you create an (at least locally) very valuable resource.</p>\n\n<p>If it grows enough, or as a side product of the work, publish it on the webpage of the group. Might even ask for contributions from outside while you are at it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5352",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4142/"
]
|
5,354 | <p>I am a PhD student from central Europe and I am teaching an introductory class on programming at my university.</p>
<p>I know that in the US, humour or a joke is often used at the beginning of a presentation. My first 2-3 sentences are right to the point, but I would like to include also a small joke or humour at the beginning.</p>
<p>But what would be a good joke in this situation? A friend of mine suggested to start with "welcome to bird watching 101", just some ridiculous wrong title, or starting with a fun fact about myself.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how to start with humour?</p>
<p>Background info: Last semester my class received a nice award as among the top 5 classes of my rather big university. To some part it was due to the tips I got at stackexchange.com :-) But I would like to constantly improve my teaching.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5364,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not particularly funny, so I don't try to push jokes that I know are not going to come across as witty or well done, and instead will just make an awkward situation.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I just tell stories that try to relate a disengaged audience with the topic I have at hand.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if you are going to talk about -for- loops, you might try and start talking about the necessity of having a guy doing the same work over and over, but with the capability of counting up or down. </p>\n\n<p>If you are introducing pointers (man I hate pointers), you might try giving a real life example of how a pointer would work in a city for example. </p>\n\n<p>I've learned that if you try and be funny the results can be bad, but these short stories will allow your students to have a better idea of why the topic is relevant.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5365,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I use humor extensively in class. I do not try to get off topic though. I think it is important that the students see the teacher as 'serious.' I do believe that a teacher can use humor but still be serious.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think I ever <em>start</em> a class with a joke. I'm much more likely to start quite directly, giving an overview and stating the importance of the course.</p>\n\n<p>Remember to target your choices to your audience. For example, if your audience is 18-21 then relating something to dating is usually fun for them. For example, if you're discussing for-loops, then you might want to talk about what happens when trying to get someone to go on a date with you.</p>\n\n<pre><code>For counter = 1 to 100 (or if you are a girl, perhaps just 1 to 3)\n if prospect(counter).AcceptsDate then\n exit for\nLoop\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Keeping on topic is important but there is no reason why you can't keep it fun.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5379,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Think about what's the purpose of starting with humor: a useful rule in teaching is that you need to pick up students where they are now. You have to engage them by attaching to something that is already on their mind or that they already know about, and then you can gently lead them towards what you want to teach. Also, if you manage to create emotions in students during a lecture, they are more likely to remember also the academic content. </p>\n\n<p>So humor in a class can serve two ways: To link the content of your lecture to students' everyday lives, and to engage them emotionally. To achieve this, you should pick jokes that in fact link everyday things to the content of your lecture. For example, in a class on research methods I once taught, I started each lecture with a strip of <a href=\"http://www.phdcomics.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PhD comics</a> that fitted to the topic of the lecture. Also earthling's answer has a nice example how to relate students' everyday live to a programming topic.</p>\n\n<p>Also, if you can't come up with a suitable joke, don't worry: there are a lot of other ways to achieve the same purpose. For example, you could link to a recent story in the news, local events on campus, or in fact anything that most students are aware of and that you can somehow link to the content of your class. For example, already some years ago, Mercedes had problems with cars falling over in zigzag driving tests. That would make a nice start for a lecture about vehicle dynamics: \"Today we are going to learn how to avoid this...\"</p>\n\n<p>Concerning the emotions, humor creates fun, which is a good emotion to help remember things. Think of other emotions, and how you could create them in a class.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5382,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(to an extent, this echoing one of the advice by silvado)</p>\n\n<p>What I always liked on those better ones of my teacher and what I found myself doing as well (though not preparing for it really) was to cast examples connecting the discussed matter to real world and then twist it in a humorous way. This definitely doesn't mean opening with a joke. I do not find it necessary to capturing the audience with a joke already at the beginning. I need their focus and attention later on, when the discourse becomes rather dense. I am sure in any field it is possible to come up with examples for discussed matter which relate by a metaphor, or in a hyperbole to everyday situations in family, among friends, or in recent news.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19839,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This question seems long answered but here are two things I've done:</p>\n\n<p>1) I've given out an impossible syllabus, requiring students to be fluent in at least two languages, adding deliberately indecipherable requirements, etc., etc. When invariably someone protests \"This is not at all what we were expecting!\" I say \"Well then what were you expecting?\" When they answer I say, \"Oh! Well then I guess I'll just teach that instead!\" and then tear up the syllabus with a flourish.</p>\n\n<p>2) I started teaching at graduate level when I was 28 (can't really get away with it any more) and I would sit in the back of the class on the first day. Students would come in and do their usual first day things. I'd wait until I was maybe five or ten minutes late and let some comments drop along the line of \"Where IS this teacher?!\" rolling my eyes. Finally I would jump and say \"Screw this, I'll teach the class myself!\" before launching into the lecture.</p>\n\n<p>In both cases the goal was to let the students know that I'm on their side, one of them, approachable, and not to take things <em>too</em> seriously. Got pretty good results every time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19842,
"author": "Robert Talbert",
"author_id": 14188,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14188",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Memes are funny, and popular, and students these days tend to identify with them. You can easily create course-related memes and stick them in your lecture slides, or on a handout or the syllabus, etc. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://imgflip.com/memegenerator\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Here is a good place to go make a meme and then download it</a>. Like this: \n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/kYG2l.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19873,
"author": "VH-NZZ",
"author_id": 14410,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14410",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Two tricks</h2>\n\n<p>A couple of years ago I attended the PhD defense of a fellow student. That was in the overly stern math department of a fairly stern university. Therefore, any venture into making jokes had to be carefully pondered.</p>\n\n<p>Although his defense talk was projected as attendees were entering the room, the PDF viewer’s window <em>wasn’t maximized</em> so that one could openly see other elements from his desktop. </p>\n\n<p>I thought to myself: “Weird, why would he go through the trouble of plugging his computer and beaming his screen but not having his talk fill the screen?”</p>\n\n<p>As I and many others had arrived early to get a good spot, I started exploring his screen that he had skillfully filled with many small <strong>Easter eggs</strong>, key among which was the PDF file name that you could read in the window title bar. It read something like: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Rocky_VI_the_Return_of_the_golden_Uppercut.pdf</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>When time came for him to get started, he just maximized the window and gave his talk. I hardly remember any other talk I attended but this one struck me.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Another one, which I did myself when giving a seminar talk, was the introduction a blue slide in the middle of my talk. I just knew that my talk would be boring as hell to those uninitiated attendees (> 99 %) and I hated it when, as a speaker, you see the audience’s attention drifting away. So I carefully reproduced the blue image shown when the projector has no input signal. When I hit the slide, I could see everyone happy at the idea that the talk would be shortened. Yet the next slide said (still on a blue background):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This is the projector speaking: </p>\n \n <p>Your talk is easily the most boring one I’ve ever projected, please wrap it up soon.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Of course everyone laughed and bore with me until the end.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5354",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1570/"
]
|
5,356 | <p>Say a candidate has met with a potential PhD supervisor and it was rather evident that he would be willing to take on the candidate. You have emailed a lot and met in person a few times, but nothing has been formalised yet. </p>
<p>Suppose now the candidate decides to take it into a different direction simply because there are better options. </p>
<p>What is the most polite way to withdraw ? Is it polite to send an email and explain, or does this come across as arrogant since a PhD candidate is not really in the position to turn down a Professor ? Would it be better simply not to get in touch again ? Is there some standard etiquette in the US and/or the UK ? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5357,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Just send a polite email stating that you found another position or that you simply prefer to take a different direction. Be sure to thank the professor for the time he has put into you. The email does not have to be long, but it should give a reason. You do not need to be overly elaborate, though. And don't forget to be polite.</p>\n\n<p>The thing you do not realise is that the professor wants to find a student who will be committed to his topic for several years to come. If you are not such a student, it is best for the professor to know that before taking you on as a student. In a sense, you are doing the professor a favour by withdrawing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5477,
"author": "bobthejoe",
"author_id": 319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had to write a few such letters in the past and the best way is to simply and politely let them know that you've decided to go in a <em>different direction</em>. Professors (should) understand that you're looking at a few options during this courting process so in my case, I also mentioned which Professor I ended up working for.</p>\n\n<p>As @user4050 alludes to, I knew that the other professor would be in the same building as I. Thus, it was extremely important to not burn any bridges. I mentioned something along the lines that I hope that our paths would cross again and that we would continue to interact. To this day, if their lab needed anything from mine, I was usually the point person.</p>\n\n<p>This advice is also true when corresponding with Professors of other Universities while looking at potential graduate schools and post-doc advisors. The world is small enough and I have certainly crossed paths with former potential advisors at conferences.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5356",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52/"
]
|
5,358 | <p>What is the academic approach when your supervisor goes off-topic? In other words, what is the academic reaction for a PhD student when his supervisor starts attacking the student's religion? </p>
<p>I must say the fact that I'm an international student coming from a different culture. I looked over his publications/current students and everything seemed to be fine. He even interviewed me for admission and everything went fine.<br>
When I started my degree and first met him, I thought we would discuss <em>research</em> oriented projects but surprisingly the meeting took another direction when he started discussing with me my religion beliefs and how do I view the world!</p>
<p>Discuting this was the start. In several subsequent occasions, <em>he started to tell me what he sees good to me and why my culture is a bad one</em> .</p>
<p>Right after the interview, I was thinking about withdrawing from the program and finding another supervisor in another school (Yes I answered him in an honest and polite way what I belief).</p>
<p>I have nothing against him and he is a very kind professor but I feel I'm not comfortable in his environment. Now, I'm planning to go somewhere else. If it counts, I pay my tuition fees and he pays me nothing. </p>
<p>The question is: <strong>What to do when your supervisor goes off-topic and discuss your personal issues?</strong> Not only this but also send you several emails about it.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5363,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can tell you as a personal experience that if you do not feel comfortable, and feel you have no future doing research there, you go before is too late.</p>\n\n<p>What is too late? You may realize you've wasted 2-3 years and achieved nothing, or you may realize the research you are doing is not really of interest to you. </p>\n\n<p>Since you are just starting, I do think is intelligent to seriously assess whether staying there is worth your time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5368,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are different parts in your question: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>In general, I don't think it's a problem that your advisor wants to discuss \"religion beliefs and how do [you] view the world\". After all, academia is a place where you can meet people coming from different places, and a nice part of it is to exchange and discuss about cultural differences. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you're not comfortable discussing this topic, then you should tell directly your advisor. If he ignores it and/or attack you on it, then, as JeffE said: don't walk, run. </p></li>\n<li><p>On a completely different topic, if he's never available for you, and doesn't even answer your emails, then, don't walk, run. But that's unrelated to going off-topic at your first interview. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5396,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For some scientists religion is hard to mix with science. Science is based on hard facts and on rational thought. Religion on the other hand deals with beliefs which might be impossible to prove. In a scientific environment you can expect to have these kinds of discussions, try to not take remarks too personal and just calmly explain what you believe. If people are respectful the discussion will end with you and the other agreeing to disagree. If you have the feeling your prospective supervisor is not going to stop and will continue to make this a point of discussion, this could be a negative point and play a role in your choice. As an additional test to see what your potential supervisor will do after you are hired is to just confront him with your reservations. If he responds well, you can take that as a postive sign, if not, that confirms that you might not want to work there. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5397,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No matter what the advisor's beliefs are, it's not OK to discuss a student's differing beliefs <strong>AND</strong> criticize them. It's the criticism that takes this from honest exchange of views into a more dangerous territory: your advisor is in a power relationship with you by definition and it's impossible to have a discussion \"as equals\" while this relationship is active. </p>\n\n<p>If you think that the relationship and his continuing advising would be beneficial to your career, then you might try to have a chat with him where you indicate that these topics need to stay out of bounds. And I'd erect a high bar for \"beneficial\". </p>\n\n<p>But if your assessment of value does not cross that high bar, then I'd follow JeffE's advice and run. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5406,
"author": "dalloliogm",
"author_id": 2807,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2807",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try a general approach to Conflict Management called DAN.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Describe</strong> the situation to your supervisor, trying to be as objective as possible. Tell him that you came to his lab to do research, and that you didn't expect him to make comments on your religion.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Assert</strong> your feelings, explaining that you feel uncomfortable when he talks about your religion, and that it makes it more difficult for you to work.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Name</strong> what you want him to do, telling him that you would like him to stop talking about your religion, and concentrate only on the research aspects of your work.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>It is possible that your boss is testing you, to see if you are able to react in a negative situation.\nIn any case, see this conflict as an opportunity. If you are able to solve the problem, you will become stronger, and your supervisor will learn to respect you.</p>\n\n<p>So, go to your supervisor and remember the three points: Describe, Assert, and Name. Don't let him speak before you finished all of them. Good luck, and be strong :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5418,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general I agree with the \"run away\" advice (the more so, as I don't really understand how the student can perceive a professor at the same time as being nice and attacking cultural/religious roots that are are deeply integrated in the personality, i.e. perceiving a personal attack), however, there are IMHO some points to consider (also to maybe avoid ending up with similar problems again)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>There is a possiblity that a particular religion conflicts with certain notions of science or creates a conflict of interest. See e.g. Fuhrmanator's comment at the question.</p></li>\n<li><p>Or religious notions of one person that are not even necessarily integral parts of the religion. E.g. how will someone cope with doing statistical anayses that try to judge whether an observation occured accidentatlly when (s)he personally and firmly believes everything is predestined?</p></li>\n<li><p>There can also be cultural difficulties. A famous one: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Chinese students in particular often struggle to adjust to Western notions of plagiarism as deference to expert opinion is a deeply routed cultural norm in Chinese society. Indeed, referencing sources has been seen [in Chinese society/culture] as disrespectful to both reader and 'expert' as it presupposes that the source is not widely known and that the audience is unable to recognize source material. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/education/lts/lunch/lunch8.html\">source</a>\nSee also e.g. <a href=\"http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.98.7086&rep=rep1&type=pdf\">here</a> (lots more papers on these topics).</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I think nowadays international student's offices or international student groups know which points can be critical and can name them. This means that the student can ask himself whether these are an issue and how to deal with them. That would in turn allow the student to have a very informed position and tell the (or: a future/prospective) prof that he/she is aware of these points, considered them carefully and they are no problem because...<br>\nOr also that (s)he will e.g. not conduct animal studies for ethical reasons (I think there are usually either a) enough alternatives of doing research and b) if there aren't I think the question is why the student did apply for a position that is not compatible with his/her personal ethics in the first place).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15770,
"author": "Jeffiekins",
"author_id": 10805,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10805",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Welcome to academia in the U.S.</p>\n\n<p>What most posters here are avoiding mentioning is that what you are describing is pretty common in some departments (Philosophy, Religious Studies, Biology, Cosmology, and most others ending with -ology or \"Studies\"), and pretty uncommon in others (Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, Linguistics).</p>\n\n<p>Also, on some campuses it is more common than on others.</p>\n\n<p>You should discuss it with other PhD candidates in your department on your campus, <strong>just</strong> to find out how common it is there. Only then can you know whether it's a good idea to \"make it an issue.\" If it is common, making it an issue will almost never improve your situation, and you should either learn to tolerate and minimize it, or else find another place. If it is not common, you have a chance that making an issue of it might improve the situation, but even then, I suggest trying a gentle approach first, since if it works, the results are better.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I found that <strong>never</strong> responding with a judgement of my own about <em>their</em> practice or lack of practice (which certainly seemed silly to me), and as much humor as I could muster, over (a fairly short) time greatly reduced the frequency of obnoxious comments. If you are consistently \"classy\", <em>most</em> people will sooner or later realize they are being low-class, and at least moderate their behavior.</p>\n\n<p>With humor, be very sure to avoid being even slightly nasty. Keep it in good taste. Never joke about the other person's religion, no matter how harmless the joke is. Never.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 20166,
"author": "h22",
"author_id": 10920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do not talk, turn around and start working on computer or the like. Respond immediately if the supervisor changes the topic. This is normally enough. Never start a talk of this kind yourself.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5358",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
]
|
5,360 | <p>I still have 2-2.5 years of my PhD program, but it want to try my skills in programing, especially in the taste of data science (needless to say, I do it overnight for some hobby projects and I like it a lot). </p>
<p>Moreover, as working in companies may seem as one of the options "what to do after getting PhD", I would be nice to test how does it work for me in practice, and to learn skills, network, etc.</p>
<p>Is there such a thing as internships (e.g. in data science or programming) for PhD students?</p>
<p>If so, where to search for them?</p>
<p>(If it changes anything, I'm doing PhD in EU; but US would be a nice target.)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5361,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Yes.</strong> Almost every PhD student in my (US computer science) department has at least one summer internship between admission and graduation. In fact, most PhD students go through multiple internships.</p>\n\n<p>Off the top of my head, I know CS PhD students who have interned at Google (Mountain View, Manhattan, and Shanghai), Facebook, IBM, AT&T, Yahoo, Motorola, Microsoft Research (Redmond, New England, and Bangalore), Disney, Zynga, Los Alamos, Sandia, Argonne, and Livermore. Most of these places regularly advertise for interns on the web.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5420,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(Perspective from Germany)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I've been programming for an IT start up as undergrad student (got in contact when one of the founders gave a presentation in a series of business start-up talks) and later done data analysis a few hours a week as PhD student for another company. It is done, also in Europe. </p></li>\n<li><p>Big companies offer positions on their web pages, e.g. <a href=\"http://www.merckgroup.com/en/careers/global_job_search/global_job_search.html?jobLanguage=en&collapse=true&keyNumber=&searchString=&jobField1=&jobField2=&jobField3=&job1Location1=&job2Location1=&job3Location1=&jobOrganisation1=&jobOrganisation2=&jobOrganisation3=&jobDate=&searchType=advanced&tab=0%2C1&jobHot=&jobType2=Internship&jobType3=Cooperative&jobType4=Summer+Job\" rel=\"nofollow\">Merck</a></p></li>\n<li><p>However, if you receive funding for your PhD project (scholarship), that often forbids further work for hire. </p></li>\n<li><p>The PhD may technically be your \"private fun\", depending on the field/university/country. If that is the case (here), you often get a teaching assistant part-time job assigned to earn some money. The institues have a real problem of getting the teaching done (to the point that I heard rumours that some departments want to make \"did so many hours of teaching\" a prerequisite for getting the PhD). These job offers are often not offers the student can take or leave. Refusing to teach may create a lot of bad blood (with the prof, who anyways doesn't have enough people to cope with the teaching workload, and with the colleagues who get a slice more of this work). But it will usually go right to the limit which you need to obey in order not to loose the student status. So in fact, you cannot go for a paid industry job, neither. More importantly, the vacations are the only time when you can continuously work on your research. </p></li>\n<li><p>These rules, however, do not forbid to volounteer in e.g. in open source projects. </p></li>\n<li><p>You may consider <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code\" rel=\"nofollow\">Google Summer of Code</a> and similar programs (e.g. <a href=\"http://teom.org/blog/kde/announcing-season-of-kde-2012/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Season of KDE</a>).<br>\nIt may be easier to convince your funder/employer that participating in such a program has much more importance than just earning some money, and that your contract with them could go dormant for the months in question.<br>\n<em>Disclaimer: I've been mentoring at GSoC before and hopefully will again. :-)</em></p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5360",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49/"
]
|
5,369 | <p>I once jokingly included in a thesis:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The equations of motion [1] for a rigid body can be reformulated as…</p>
<p>[1] I. Newton, <em>Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica</em>, 1687.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While citing Newton's work for his equations of motion might be over the top, there is a valid underlying question: what criteria can one use to know when a work is “such a classic” that it doesn't warrant citation anymore.</p>
<p>I'll give example in my field:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewald_summation">Ewald summation</a> is a neat trick, and very widely used by people who perform molecular simulation of charged species. It was initially published by Paul Ewald in 1921.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_functional_theory">Density functional theory</a> in the Kohn-Sham formalism, published in 1964 (Hohenberg & Kohn) and 1965 (Kohn & Sham).</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nos%C3%A9%E2%80%93Hoover_thermostat">Nosé–Hoover thermostat</a>, 1984</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5371,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What they taught me, is that the main criterion is:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>is there a standard textbook covering the topic I want to cite?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If there is, then rather point to it than to the original paper. And only don't point to it, when you are sure, that the reader is familiar with the topic (e.g. equations of motions).</p>\n\n<p>However, when you want to point to a very specific observation on discovery, still you might like to point to the original paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5372,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The ultimate question is what would the average well-informed bachelor's or master's degree-holder in your field be expected to know.</p>\n\n<p>Something that comes up in an undergraduate textbook, or is a commonly known and easily demonstrated fact (for example, the definition of the error function), probably doesn't need to be cited, because everyone in your field would be expected to know it. On the other hand, if you're publishing in a \"general interest\" journal, then you might want to assume a lower \"base\" of knowledge, and cite a commonly available source.</p>\n\n<p>However, if it's something that's a very specific tool or fact (or a derivation, etc.), then it probably merits a citation in any case.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5369",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,376 | <p>I was reading the other day this <a href="http://matt.might.net/articles/how-to-peer-review/" rel="noreferrer">blog post</a>, about "how to peer review", and one passage struck me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Don't review like a grad student</strong></p>
<p>Reviews written by graduate students are among the most negative.</p>
<p>Grad students are often on the receiving end of negative reviews, because they are just learning how to write papers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, even though I'm no longer a grad student, I sometimes have the feeling that I tend to be a more negative reviewer than others, but it's actually hard to measure (maybe I'm just reviewing mostly bad papers?!), since I don't always have access to the other reviews of the papers I'm reviewing (due to the fact that I've been more often acting as an external reviewer than as a PC member).</p>
<p>I believe that the quality of my writing has improved with the feedback I've received from the reviewers of my paper, but because I don't have any feedback on my reviews, it's hard to know if and how I can improve them. So my question is: <strong>is there a way to measure my own reviewing bias?</strong></p>
<p>The first thing that would come to my mind would be a set of papers reviewed by many other reviewers, and a result like: "you're in the x% more negative reviewers". Of course, I'm not implying that I would be automatically less severe when reviewing, but sometimes, in case of doubt, it's good to know one's own bias.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5378,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There aren’t many ways for your to evaluate how your reviews stand against others, but there is at least one. You can keep a tab of the papers you have reviewed, and look for them a year or so after the review. See if your reviews correlate with the publication (or lack thereof) of the papers in the respective journals… <strong>if papers you have suggested to reject are frequently accepted by the editor</strong>, then you give typically more negative reviews than other reviewers of your community.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, this is a very black-and-white picture (rejection/publication). But, I don't think you can actually do much better, because “negativity” can hardly be measured quantitatively.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>PS: I wouldn't call it a <em>reviewing bias</em>. A review is the editor asking you your frankly assessment of a publication. Toning it up or down because you fell that you do not conform to the “mean” of your field would probably diminish your value as a reviewer. If the editor does not think your reviews are helpful to him, he’ll just stop sending you paper to review! </p>\n\n<p>I'll finish with an anecdote: there's a journal for which I have recently given a series of quite negative reviews (well documented, and justified in my eye), and I have actually received some positive feedback about my reviews from the editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5381,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Two possibilities, both not ideal:</p>\n\n<p>1) If the paper is revised and resubmitted, it often comes along with detailed replies to each reviewer as to how the authors addressed each review. You may get at least these replies to the other reviews, which will allow you to judge whether they were more or less severe than you. In addition, editors often send the reviews back to the author in ascending order of severity, so \"reviewer 1\" will be the most enthusiastic and \"reviewer 3\" the least. If you are significantly more often \"reviewer 3\" than \"reviewer 1\", this may say something.</p>\n\n<p>2) You can always gather anecdotal evidence by simply asking the editor to provide a little feedback on your review. Of course, the best of all editors provide this feedback (in a constructive manner) without having to be asked.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5383,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>is there a way to measure my own reviewing bias?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Why should even think about such a thing, like \"reviewing bias\"? Isn't scientific pursuit striving for the maxim of pushing the knowledge of humankind? The only thing we should care for then is whether our critique provided in the review is valid, whether its underlying argumentation is correct, to the point and appropriate with respect to the objectives of the field we are in, etc. - that is, as objective as we can do at the moment. There shouldn't be any bias involved. A review should strive for a pure argument why the presented work advances the state of the art (which should be as close as possible to \"has an impact on a scientific pursuit in a given field\"), or it doesn't.</p>\n\n<p>Now having said that, of course even for the same honest review you can sometimes come up with two different final recommendations in the case the paper is borderline. In that case, I consider whether I myself could fix the paper to a clearly acceptable state. If so, I provide the constructive advice to the authors and lean rather to the positive side. If not, the critique stands. We are not in this game to play our career games. We are here to advance the knowledge of the humankind. Point. Of course, sometimes emotions tend to overrule our reason, if that is the case, the reviewer is most probably in a conflict of interest.</p>\n\n<p>I would strongly oppose to \"measure\" ones \"reviewing bias\". We should rather measure correctness and validity of our argumentation for, or against the presented submission. If 100 reviewers of a given paper give it a thumbs up, but you can by no means agree or get in line with their argumentation, why should you try to accommodate? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of peer-review? I am not saying we shouldn't learn from such encounters of course.</p>\n\n<p>Disclaimer: I really appreciate your question. Of course I do share your concerns very much and very often. But it helps me to put the maxim stated above before this concern. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5421,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll tackle the other question: \"maybe I'm just reviewing mostly bad papers?!\"</p>\n\n<p>I think with the same \"right\" that lets you ask for your personal bias, you may also ask whether there is an \"assignment bias\":<br>\nPossibly the \"nice\" papers are reviewed by the more famous people (who refuse to review everything that does not sound extremely interesting because they are always suggested) leaving the not-so-exciting-looking stuff to younger not so famous researchers. </p>\n\n<p>However, the first thing is maybe to calculate whether you really do <em>more</em> negative reviews.</p>\n\n<p>Assuming a jounal accepts 1/3 of the manuscripts, and has the policy that if the first 2 reviews conflict, a third is done. Majority wins. \nThis situation is in accordance with 50 - 70% of the reviews being negative: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>50%: PP for the accepted, PNN for the 2 rejected thirds</li>\n<li>70%: PPN for the accepted, 2 x NN for the rejected</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Do you return less than 2 positive for every 5 negative reviews (or whatever is the acceptance rate for the jounals you review for)? </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5376",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
5,377 | <p>I'm in Germany studying a Master of Computer Science, and the program has options of Dual Degrees with other Universities from outside of Germany (US, Europe, Asia). I'm thinking of applying to the Dual Degree, but i have doubts about the purpose of getting two degrees.</p>
<p>Is there a defined purpose or career profile for such double degree programs? In what case should I apply or in what case I shouldn't?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5384,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you should apply if you find both the degrees interesting, and they are complementary. For example, Physics and Computer Science if you aim at writing very good quality physics models (e.g. climate models). Maybe it is hard for you to say what you really want, and therefore it might be hard to judge whether or what dual master (if any) would work for you. On the short term I would try and see if you are drawn towards both masters. If so, you could get a dual degree. Do mind that I suspect two degrees is more work. If you are up to it, and willing to dedicate the time, it could be worth it. On the other hand, I would not recommend just doing it because you feel it might look good on your resume.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5385,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>I believe the main questions here are:</em></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>is the knowledge you will gain from the other degree is of your interest?</li>\n<li>does it will help you to become a better researcher?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If the answer is yes for the both then definitely worth to try it and work hardly to make it.<br>\nI found this is useful <em>specially in Computer Science</em> (as there are many multi-discipline research areas these days). Some Examples are Computational Biology, Decision Science and of course mathematics. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5377",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15/"
]
|
5,386 | <p>My professor recently had a problem, and he asked me for my help to solve it, and of course I ask for yours.</p>
<p>He was made the School of Engineering Dean, an while it sounds important it takes most of is time through an administrative black hole, also, because of this his office is now in another building so he cannot come to the lab as often as he would like to.</p>
<p>He started noticing less and less people come to the lab, and some only come for a space of a couple of hours and then leave, while he perfectly understands that research can be done everywhere, he is very big on cooperation and discussion among lab members, which can't be done if there is only one guy in the lab.</p>
<p>Do you impose any kind of restrictions on students going to the lab for a specific time? If you are not able to monitor it, how can you ensure they will come. I was looking into some companies that have IP based checking in systems, but seems like an overkill for a 10 person laboratory.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5388,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you said that the \"research can be done everywhere\", the same can be said about collaborations. As long as things that needs to get done <em>are</em> done, you can't really complain. So: make \"cooperation and discussion among lab members\" one of the things that needs to get done. Enforce a culture where during the weekly meetings you begin by asking a random member of the lab to describe what some other random member did during the past week. If the goal is \"cooperation and discussion\", it shouldn't matter whether the lab members do it in the lab, in the office, or over a cup of coffee in the break room. </p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, the goal is really to make sure that people come in to the lab and not slack off, then the best way is to tell them to their faces (during the weekly meeting, for example), that \"they should come in to the labs regularly and not slack off\". Give them an expectation of \"working hours\" and chew them out for not following it (if he can notice that fewer people are coming in, he can surely pull out 10 minutes every two or three days to do lab inspections during the expected working hours). </p>\n\n<p>If the members of your lab cannot be trusted to behave like responsible adults, then you either really need new lab workers or you should just install one of them <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=video+baby+monitors\" rel=\"nofollow\">video baby monitors</a>. <code>:-)</code></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5389,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There’s one obvious way: <strong>to send a signal that lab presence is important, the research group leader and permanent staff must be more present in the lab</strong>. Most students are looking for opportunities to increase interaction with professors and advisers, thus by being “accessible” in the lab for discussions, you will increase lab presence. In addition to inciting students to come, that will be a even greater stride toward “cooperation and discussion among lab members”.</p>\n\n<p>This also works with post-doc and the more experienced grad students: you need to avoid the idea that “lab presence” is only for the newbies, while the grown ups get out of there as often as they dare!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5394,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Two anecdotes that might be useful:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>9:15 coffee time</strong>: When I was a PhD student, our professor (or the lead assistant) would round-up everyone for \"coffee\" every day at 9:15am. It was usually only 15-20 minutes, and nobody cared if you went home at 11am. You weren't excused from missing \"coffee,\" even if you worked all night and went home at 5am. Of course, there was some flexibility for jet-lag, vacations, article submissions, etc. The prof was paying our salaries and this kind of request was simply a question of not being insubordinate. The positive side effect was that people were fairly disciplined and there was a good exchange of \"status\" during those meetings. It made the lab feel like a family. Everyone knew more or less what was going on. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Use it or lose it</strong>: My current university has card-access to all the lab spaces. A few years ago, one of our labs was \"physically downsized\" by the administration, and their argument was it wasn't being utilized enough, and other researchers needed the space. They had the hard data to prove it. So, many of our students complained they had no more cubes for their books, etc. But in the end, I said it was partially their fault for not \"occupying\" the space, partially our fault for not forcing them to. It's an argument I use to explain the necessity to be in the lab every day. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5395,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I cannot stress enough that you need to take a positive atitude towards this. The people, including the students, are there to learn something and do good work. On the whole, these people are motivated, and if they are not, strict enforcement of some rules will not get the motivated scientists you want. Therefore, reward postive behavior, not punish negative behavior. </p>\n\n<p>For example @F'x's suggestion, make the lab a stimulating environment where it is nice to work. This means having senior members (professors, postdocs) present, and stimulate interaction. This can for example be done by organizing literature groups where someone prepares a good paper and the group discusses the content. Or organize weekly sessions where people present their work to each other and discuss it.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, make the students and employees part of the solution. Explain that the attendance has dropped, and tell them why you think this might lead to less coorperation and productivity. Suggest and discuss possible solutions with them, and try to improve the situation. </p>\n\n<p>These things said, at some stage people need to get freedom, especially the PhD's and postdocs. Judge people on their output, not their attendance. Although master students might need more monitoring... </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5386",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806/"
]
|
5,390 | <p>How should one "address" the person for whom I am writing a recommendation letter <em>in</em> the letter? </p>
<p>Scenario: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>I have known John Doe for many years and am familiar with his work. We address each other on a first name basis. I've been asked to write a letter supporting John's application. When I write about him, should I write</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dr [or Mr, in case of undergraduates] Doe's works are well-written ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>or can I get away with</p>
<blockquote>
<p>John's works are well-written ...</p>
</blockquote></li>
</ul>
<p>Personally I feel a bit strange writing Dr Doe for someone I know so well, but I wonder if it is better to err on the more formal side? </p>
<hr>
<p>For what it is worth, the field is Mathematics. And for future reference, I do not want to limit the question to a particular level of application (for graduate school, fellowships, or for jobs); I suspect that shouldn't make a difference in the answer, but if it does, feel free to indicate. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5393,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I have seen both used in recommendation letters, regardless of the strength of the recommendation letter itself. I would, myself, recommend Dr. John Doe / Dr. Doe for most professional relationships, except when it is clear that you have formed a close professional relationship (PhD student, or long-term collaborator or post-doc). In case you go for the surname, I would still use the full name at the first mention:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Dr. John Doe</strong> was a student of mine at the University of X, where I teach Y, …. He later joined my research group as a Masters, then PhD student. <strong>John</strong> is an extremely bright student, …</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><sup>(Of course, that's merely an example and not a good letter wording, so do not look at the wording itself, only the use of names…)</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 6053,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you specifically asked about math, let me say that in my experience (as a mathematician, reading recommendation letters written by other mathematicians), the pattern of </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>use the applicant's full name once. </li>\n<li>use their first name (generally what you would call them in person) after that.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>is close to universal amongst mathematicians in the US. One does find exceptions, usually replacing the applicant's first name with their last name (so, writing \"Doe's work has been...\"), but they are actually quite rare.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5390",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94/"
]
|
5,398 | <p>I am a senior computer science student and I am working on my senior graduation project. My supervisor said that I should implement a job search web portal as a graduation project. But I want to make some research oriented project rather than raw coding. My supervisor insists on this because he won't have to spend time with me. </p>
<p>So I have decided to get involved in research myself without his help because he is not helping me. I had to register for his project class because other slots were full. He does not want to deal with students but due to school constraints he had to open this class.</p>
<p>I have never done research or I don't know what exactly it means. How do I start this myself ? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5399,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since <em>you have never done research and do not know what exactly it means</em>, I would suggest <strong>Attending Seminars and invited Talks in your school</strong> before anything else.<br>\nTry to understand how they are related to different subjects you have taken.\nThis is a good way to start <em>thinking about research</em> and identifying interests. You may not like it and directly pursue a career in the industry after graduation. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>One way to fulfill your supervisor requirements and start being\nresearcher is to look for the <em>researchy</em> problems associated with\n<em>portal implementation</em>. A good start in this direction is googling with \"portal implementation site:.edu\". Try to understand what are the problems in implementing portals and what are the current solutions to them. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This might seems difficult. But remember if you want to become researcher you have to read <strong>a lot</strong> others' work . Actually some master students they graduate by <em>implementing</em> some systems. At the end, doing implementation is part of many research projects in Computer Science. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Another better approach (specially if you are interested in theoretical Computer Science) is to try to find another supervisor for your\nproject that has research projects for undergraduates.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5403,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Firstly, note that, from my experience, your senior advisor isn't by any means a research advisor. What you're looking for, admirable as it may be, is a good deal more than he's signed up to provide to students. I wouldn't be too hard on him.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to simple familiarize yourself with \"what research entails\", I recommend simply talking to people. Ask any graduate student if you can meet them for coffee and just ask them what they do all day (other than surf the web and drink coffee). Search through the faculty profiles on your department's website, find someone who looks interesting, and send an email asking to meet with them for 15-30 minutes to talk about research as a career.</p>\n\n<p>If you're more interested in actually doing research, all of the above still apply, but there are two more steps. First, talk to the undergraduate coordinator for your department and try to set up a research internship over the next semester/summer. Secondly, when you're talking to faculty whose research interests you, ask whether they'd be willing to take undergraduate researchers in their lab. Doing research with them, even if just for a few hours a week, will give you the exposure you need to really understand what research entails.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5398",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4147/"
]
|
5,400 | <p>I am writing my first research paper in field of computer applications and artificial intelligence. I have following doubts, please answer them to help me out..</p>
<p>a) When explaining my research, do I need to include the whole code or just algorithms ?</p>
<p>b) Do I have to upload my code somewhere so that people can verify my research and give link of that code in my paper ?</p>
<p>c) I don't know any professor very well. Is it required to get it read by somebody because I am still an undergraduate ?</p>
<p>Any other suggestion from your experience ??</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5402,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ol>\n<li><p>Definitely not the whole code.</p></li>\n<li><p>It is a conference-specific and depends on the conference area. If the\npaper is more data related (which is the case in Data Mining field\nfor instance) you are required at least to comment on the data usage\nand from where you get it. If your paper is about a new <em>web\nsystem</em> usually referring to it in the text will be\nhelpful. </p></li>\n<li><p>It is not required but <strong><em>highly recommended</em></strong> since they will be able to\nprovide a constructive criticism for your work. You do not need to know them <em>very well</em> and usually they will be happy to help students.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Generally, students (specially undergraduates) publish papers with the help of a faculty member in the school. This said, there is nothing limit them to publish by their own. It is just more helpful to you to be attached to one of the faculty members and do research under his/her guidance. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5404,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>a) When explaining my research, do I need to include the whole code or just algorithms ?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The complete verbose code wouldn't fit into the paper anyway, or would it?</p>\n\n<p>Seriously, what you need to ensure is that</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>you <strong>clearly communicate</strong> your ideas and the contribution to the state of the art you claim to have made;</li>\n<li>the evaluation that your proposals are feasible and really as good as you claim is plausibly <strong>reproducible</strong>. In the simplest form, that means that you describe all the conditions and steps which when repeated should yield the same results as you obtained.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>b) Do I have to upload my code somewhere so that people can verify my research and give link of that code in my paper ?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You don't have to, most of the time it is not being done. However, myself, I strongly believe it is beneficial and I hope the field will turn more towards this practice. For ideas about this see also the <a href=\"http://sciencecodemanifesto.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Science code manifesto</a>, as well as <a href=\"http://matt.might.net/articles/crapl/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matt Might's CRAPL license</a>.</p>\n\n<p>BTW, think the same about your datasets you used for the evaluation in your paperr.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>c) I don't know any professor very well. Is it required to get it read by somebody because I am still an undergraduate ?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is not required, but very much advisable. If you feel ideas are worth anything, try to approach somebody in the field (e.g., an author of one of the most prominent references your work builds upon) and give them time to digest. You might get some good feedback. But even if not, try to submit to a conference/workshop where it would fit, you'll get plenty of feedback in reviews.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5400",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4148/"
]
|
5,401 | <p>I want to know how can I get some participants for an empirical research study I would be conducting. Does universities have systems in place to call/recruit participants or do I have to find them myself?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5405,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not aware of any university run participant pools. I am aware of many departmental run and research group run participant pools. Some charities and companies also run participant pools.</p>\n\n<p>It is quite possible that you will not have to recruit the participants yourself. Your supervisor and/or colleagues would be a good place to start asking about participant pools. Failing that, all universities have an institutional review board (IRB) or independent ethics committee that might be aware of participant pools in your research area.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5407,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You will almost certainly have to recruit study participants yourself. As others have suggested, speak with your advisor to out whether there are any participant pools he's used in the past. If you find others that he hasn't used before it's a good idea to make sure he's OK with the pool before you dive in, so to speak.</p>\n\n<p>Note that, in some fields, the pool of participants can be a significant limiting factor to the generalizability of the study results. Think very carefully about exclusionary criterion before settling on something. Note also that your IRB may require you to provide justification for exclusion/inclusion of certain populations (i.e., children, pregnant women, drug users). Try to make sure your population sample is as inclusive as possible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5430,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the universities I've worked in North America, human-subject studies (esp. those funded by taxpayer-funded research) must be approved by a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_ethics\" rel=\"nofollow\">research ethics</a> committee. The ways to recruit participants is something that must be stated and approved. Over the years, committee members have offered lots of advice about how to recruit subjects, as they have seen many projects and many experiments. A professor has to submit a project for approval, so you'd have to coordinate it with an adviser. You can probably consult with committee members before you submit the request.</p>\n\n<p>The studies I've managed have recruited participants in simple and effective ways: e-mail lists, university newspapers, facebook, flyers posted on campus, etc. As others have pointed out, the means of recruitment will affect the generalizability of the study results. </p>\n\n<p>I saw one project that had trouble finding enough participants via the declared means (flyers), but it was not possible (because of the ethics committee re-approval) to use another means to recruit (e.g., last-minute facebook campaign) to try to find more participants. Be careful not to lock yourself into a way that's too limited.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5401",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4055/"
]
|
5,408 | <p>From <a href="https://mathoverflow.net/questions/45185/pseudonyms-of-famous-mathematicians">this MathOverflow question</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>William Sealy Gosset published a result under the pseudonym Student. (Because his employer, the Guinness brewing company, did not allow their employees to publish for fear of divulging trade secrets.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why isn't publishing under a pseudonym a breach of academic ethics? It seems that the common idea is that publishing under a pseudonym is ethical, <em>unless they are deliberately used with intention to defraud or deceive</em>. But, given that we don't know who a pseudonymous author is, how can his peers have any trust in that (or even check it)?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5413,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The worth of scientific work is in the content, not in who wrote it. Therefore, I think publishing under a pseudonym is not necessarily unethical. In the example the OP presented the author was prevented from publishing if he used his own name. If the research was sound and reproducible, I would be fine with this. In practice I would like to know who wrote the paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5422,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think there's an absolute answer here. Ethical questions generally have lots of \"grey areas\" associated with them. </p>\n\n<p>I think the biggest question to ask—and the one you indirectly are headed toward—is \"why is someone using a pseudonym?\" If the answer is \"to get around a contractual agreement that both parties have agreed to and accepted,\" then it's likely that the use of a pseudonym is probably unethical. (Although one could argue that if this were intended to \"correct\" a more serious problem, then it might still be ethical—even if contractually messy.)</p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, the answer is \"to avoid potential review bias,\" or \"because publishing under one's own name would make one's life less convenient\" (for instance, there's a negative stigma associated with publishing outside one's \"home\" field), then it's less clear that there's an ethical violation in progress.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102721,
"author": "Raphael J.F. Berger",
"author_id": 76390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/76390",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are various views of the usage of pseudonym. I'd say a prevalent one in Europe is that its part of the special protection of authors in the sense of freedom of speech. I do not know how this is handled in the US or otherwhere, but in many European countries there is a constitutional right of protection of pseudonyms (which implies the right of publishing under a pseudonym if desired for any reason). </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5408",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700/"
]
|
5,414 | <p>What are objective advantages or disadvantages of using the markup language <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX">LaTeX</a> instead of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG">WYSIWYG</a> word processor like MS Word or LibreOffice Writer?</p>
<p>Please use objective arguments to prevent a flame war...</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5415,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h1>Word</h1>\n<p><em>Advantages:</em></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Minimal learning curve</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG\" rel=\"noreferrer\">WYSIWYG</a></li>\n<li>Ridiculously high install base; almost guaranteed that anyone can read/edit your file without modifying anything</li>\n<li>Easy-to-use reviewing tools (view changes, add comments, etc)</li>\n</ul>\n<p><em>Disadvantages:</em></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Layout can be a real bear to get correct</li>\n<li>Math is difficult, slow, and often ugly</li>\n<li>Included bibliography editor is virtually unusable for most scientific writing; you'll need to buy a third-party solution to manage your bibliography</li>\n</ul>\n<h1>LaTeX</h1>\n<p><em>Advantages</em>:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>It's just text; anyone can edit your file</li>\n<li>You don't have to worry about layout, it's all automatic. Just put the words down there and you're golden</li>\n<li>Produces aesthetically beautiful documents</li>\n<li>Easy to use math, symbols, etc</li>\n<li>Once learned, much faster and more intuitive (e.g., <code>\\label</code> and <code>\\ref</code> for referencing, as opposed to Word's fairly kludgy "Cross-referencing" window which requires way too many clicks to insert a single reference)</li>\n</ul>\n<p><em>Disadvantages:</em></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fairly steep learning curve</li>\n<li>Collaborators unfamiliar with LaTeX will have difficulty reviewing your manuscripts</li>\n<li>Many features require libraries, which you have to find/be made aware of (view changes, etc)</li>\n<li>Layout changes are difficult (i.e., will require time for you to hunt down solution and implement it)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5416,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>LaTeX is better at:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dealing with mathematical notation</strong>. Layout and entry are generally easier using LaTeX than some other sort of equation editor. </li>\n<li><strong>Consistent handling of intra-document references and bibliography</strong>. As of a couple of years ago the major WYSIWYG editors still had problems with re-numbering cross-references and bibliography items. This is never a problem with BibTeX or LaTeX. </li>\n<li><strong>Separation of content and style</strong>. In principle this means that you can write your document without caring how it is formatted, and at the end of the day wrap it in the style-file provided by the journal publisher before submission to conform to the house style. In practice some of the journal publishers demand special formatting commands that partially moots this process. Furthermore recent versions of Word and LibreOffice Writer, when properly used, should be able to keep track of various levels of section heading separate from the body text, and apply uniform styling to each level. The gap is somewhat closing. </li>\n<li><strong>Tables and illustrations</strong>. With PSTricks or TikZ, one can produce high quality illustrations <em>within</em> the document (though the learning curve is a bit steep there). And I've found LaTeX to be better at preparing complex tables. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>WYSIWYG (especially Word and Writer) is better at:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Collaborative editing</strong>. Without using an online site for collaborative LaTeX editing (such as ShareLaTeX), working collaboratively on a LaTeX file ideally requires some sort of separate revision control software. Word and Writer have very good comments/annotations and edit-tracking features. When a large number of authors are commenting on the writing of one file, this can be very useful. </li>\n<li><strong>Spell check</strong>. Admittedly most text editors one uses to edit TeX files also do spell check. But this is generally conveniently built into WYSIWYG editors. </li>\n<li><strong>Compatibility</strong>. Unless you work in mathematics, computer science, or physics (and sometimes even if you work in those fields), it is more likely that your collaborators will know what to do with a Word or Writer file than a LaTeX file. </li>\n<li><strong>Minimum barrier to entry</strong>. If you just care about getting the ideas down on paper, you can use a WYSIWYG editor just like a typewriter. Sure, it may be tedious to fix the formatting later on, compared to LaTeX where one need to first figure out how to setup a bare-minimum file before using, it may be an attractive point. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A wash:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Most journals provide templates for both Word and LaTeX, so there's no real winner there. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Suggestion: if you want to convince someone to start using LaTeX, start them out first in one of the WYSIWYG environments designed for LaTeX first (for example <a href=\"http://www.lyx.org/\">LyX</a>). This will help somewhat to ameliorate the scary entry barrier. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5417,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As primary author I usually use LaTeX, most colleagues use word, so I (have to) use that when contributing to papers.</p>\n\n<p>Advantage of LateX:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Mathematical equations were mentioned already. </li>\n<li>More important for me is that pure-text formats work better with literate programming tools like <a href=\"http://www.stat.uni-muenchen.de/~leisch/Sweave/\">Sweave</a>/<a href=\"http://yihui.name/knitr/\">knitr</a> (I do data analysis in R)<br>\nThese tools also produce graphics and automatically put them into the paper</li>\n<li>pure text formats work well with version control<br>\n<ul>\n<li>I use <code>latexdiff</code> to produce versions with highlighted changes automatically</li>\n<li><code>git diff --color-words</code> is good for seeing changes and is not confused by changes in the line.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>Lightweight in terms of computational resources for typing</li>\n<li><p>Publishers have document classes that will format the text. Allows to produce nicely readable author's versions.<br>\nBy loading few packages (or even only setting some option) you can switch back and forth to the ridiculously unreadable format the publisher demands.</p></li>\n<li><p>Bibliography styles: changing the style allows to switch back and forth between e.g. references with title and linked doi and the journal's requested format without.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Disadvantages:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>many coworkers don't use/know it</li>\n<li>believe it or not, but even pdf files can be problematic wrt. printing/display.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Side Note:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Lyx provides <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYM\">WSIWYM</a> on top of Latex.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Advantages of Word</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Almost everyone has it</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Disadvantages</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Resource demanding</li>\n<li>No/difficult literate programming (Openoffice works, though not as nicely as LaTeX)</li>\n<li>Problems between versions</li>\n<li>(Problems with merging versions which is supposed to work)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<h3>Literate programming and paper.</h3>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.1323\">Here's an example.</a> I didn't go the full length of literate programming for the whole article: the simulation in section 3 took some week on our server blade, so that was done separately and I just pulled in the result graphics. But I wrote section 4 in Sweave, so the calculated numers end up automatically in the text. A slightly modified .Rnw file of the calculations in section 4 (<code>knitr</code> version) is <code>supplementary-code.Rnw</code> in the sources. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>(I just saw that I forgot to upload the .Rnw for the whole paper to arXiv, and it wouldn't let me do it when I just tried - I'll correct this, probably when I have the final volume/pages for the journal)</em></p></li>\n<li><p>Why <code>Sweave</code> and <code>knitr</code>: I prepared the document in <code>Sweave</code> (and without any caching as two of the coauthors use R as well. So they automatically have <code>Sweave</code>. I wanted to keep the dependecies low. However it turned out that they did not wish to run it. Next paper will use only <code>knitr</code>, and cache longer calcluations. </p></li>\n<li><p>It is a trade-off: typing in the numbers is faster than the lengthy <code>Sweave</code>/<code>knitr</code> code. But then you need to re-read the paper so carefully to make sure you have no typo somewhere in there, which takes a lot of time, too.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5423,
"author": "Martin Schröder",
"author_id": 3940,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3940",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>LaTeX</h2>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Open source free software. Even the <a href=\"http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#GPLIncompatibleLicenses\">FSF thinks so</a>.</li>\n<li>Stable: The current version of LaTeX is from 1994, the underlying program (TeX) is from 1982. You can easily process a document made with LaTeX 2.09 in 1987 with a modern TeX distribution on modern hardware</li>\n<li>Runs on any modern operating system on any hardware</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h2>Word</h2>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Closed source expensive proprietary software (MS Word)</li>\n<li>Unstable: The document format of Word is constantly changing. You will be hard pressed to open a document from say Word 2003 with a recent version; getting all your formatting from a Word 5.5 document (1991) <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Word#Attempts_at_cross-version_compatibility\">will probably be impossible</a>. <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ODF\">ODF</a> created by Open/Libre Office helps here.</li>\n<li>Runs only on Windows and OSX (Word) or Linux (Open/Libre Office). Porting Open/Libre Office to a different operating system is a major undertaking.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5424,
"author": "Dr. Manuel Kuehner",
"author_id": 4158,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4158",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am currently studying for a PhD (engineering, almost done) and I supervised some student projects (diploma thesis and so on). Therefore I experienced both the typical Word and LaTeX workflow.</p>\n<p>Most of the points are already mentioned in the very good other answers. I just want to add some general comments. Since I am not a geek I think that I can give roughly an average opinion.</p>\n<h2>The Typical Word User</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Almost every student was complaining about mysterious behaviour like disappearing pictures or lost formatting.</li>\n<li>In addition, it happened quite often that large documents get somehow corrupted and it wasn't possible to edit/open it again. Then the students had to fall back on one of their backups.</li>\n<li>The larger the document the harder it is to keep the typography consistent. Because it is so easy to edit the text manually (this one bold, that one italic and so on) the students usually pay little attention to the systematic use of style sheets (don't know if that's the correct English term).</li>\n<li>Dealing with complex mathematical expressions is painful.</li>\n<li>Many of the settings are done using some menu entry and so it is very hard to document the settings or to make comments on how or why someone did something.</li>\n<li>Only one out of 100 students knows that you can work with vector graphics (in this case EPS) in Word. So most of the figures are ugly.</li>\n<li>In the last days of the thesis it is an advantage in Word that you can -- in the case of an emergency -- just draw anything everywhere in order to meet specific goals.</li>\n<li>It is hard to reuse content in Word -- I mean reuse it that way, that a change at one instance affects all instances.</li>\n<li>...</li>\n</ul>\n<p>It is not important whether all this happened because of a unprofessional use of Word -- the point is, that it happens.</p>\n<h2>The Typical LaTeX User</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>You need a friend!: It is almost suicide to start using LaTeX on your own when you start writing your last and most important thesis at university. This can only work if you have a friend or colleague (like me) who can give you a template and a crash course.</li>\n<li>Almost all students who decided to use LaTeX reported that they had fun using it! I think the main reason is that the documents look very professional without doing much.</li>\n<li>In addition, students find it "cool" that the output is directly a PDF with hyperlinks and so on. Most of the normal WORD users don't create cool PDFs.</li>\n<li>Students like the fact that they can easily input PDF files like datasheets to the appendix. This way they even appear in the table of content (TOC). I have never seen a Word document with a detailed TOC for the appendix. This is especially important in the field of engineering.</li>\n<li>Using/creating bibliographies is not fun. But after they figure it out it works fine.</li>\n<li>The concept of using a distribution like MiKTeX or TeXLive is new to most of the students and confusing at the beginning. In addition they sometimes can't distinguish between LaTeX itself and the LaTeX text editor (e. g. Texmaker). Therefore I made a video tutorial for that ;): <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL15I-6NQFQ\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL15I-6NQFQ</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 7454,
"author": "someonecool",
"author_id": 5712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5712",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a freelance writer, writing mostly articles and fiction, and I prefer LaTeX over Word for a few reasons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I work much faster in Vim, which is perfect for editing LaTeX markup </li>\n<li>I write in a modular fashion, so LaTeX's \\input{} (command/markup/whatever) is indespensible. </li>\n<li>I can convert LaTeX markup to any format I need, most of the time directly: pdfs, docs, html, epub, etc. </li>\n<li>Word's graphical nature is too much overhead when I can simply open vim, type what I need, add a preamble, some markup and a style file, run the document through aspell and be done. </li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 8096,
"author": "Marc van Dongen",
"author_id": 1194,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1194",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The following is based on <a href=\"http://csweb.ucc.ie/~dongen/LAF/LAF.html\"><em>LaTeX and Friends</em></a>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Cons</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Difficult to learn and use.</em> True, but it will save you time in the long run, even if you're writing a minor thesis.</li>\n<li>Not WYSIWYG. True, but there are many IDEs. For example, <a href=\"http://www.tug.org/texworks/\">TeXWorks</a>, <a href=\"http://www.xm1math.net/texmaker/\">TeXMaker</a>, <a href=\"http://tug.org/mactex/\">MacTeX</a>, <a href=\"http://www.lyx.org/\">LyX</a>, ....</li>\n<li><em>Little support for physical markup.</em> True, but this is a good thing. It ensures your document style is consistent. Also it saves time because fiddling with style <em>will</em> cost you time.</li>\n<li><em>Using non-standard fonts is difficult.</em> This used to be true but nowadays installing new fonts is relatively easy.</li>\n<li><em>No spell checking.</em> True, but some IDEs support it. Also you can spell-check at the command line level.</li>\n<li><em>Too many packages.</em> Yes, it may be difficult to find the right package. However, asking a question in <a href=\"http://tex.stackexchange.com\"><em>TeX Stack Exchange</em></a> or <a href=\"https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/comp.text.tex\"><code>comp.text.tex</code></a> will quickly give you an answer. Also you usually only need a few core packages, which you can package as a user-defined library.</li>\n<li><em>LaTeX is for techies only.</em> False, LaTeX is used in mathematics, computer science, physics, life sciences, humanities, ....</li>\n<li><em>Encourages structured writing.</em> Some people don't like this. Others do.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Pros</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Separation of style and content.</em> LaTeX is a procedural markup language sitting on top of a typesetting engine. You make the purpose of your writing explicit by annotating (marking up) your writing. LaTeX uses the markup to typeset your writing in the right style.</li>\n<li><em>Trust.</em> In a recent <em>TUGboat</em> (Volume 33, Number 3, 2012) Boris Veytsman writes an interesting paper that shows that using <em>Computer Modern</em> (the default LaTeX font) increases the level of trust people have in written statements: it came second, closely following <em>Baskerville,</em> which came first. At the lower end of the scale of trustworthyness is <em>Comic Sans</em>. (Results based on results from Morris.)</li>\n<li><em>Generation of plots and tables.</em> LaTeX has packages that automate the generation of plots and tables. You provide the data and the packages do the typesetting. If done properly, this ensures that all plots and tables are typeset in the same consistent style.</li>\n<li><em>Technical diagrams.</em> LaTeX has packages that can generate technical diagrams such as trees, state transition machines, petri nets, and so on. Using these packages guarantees a consistent presentation.</li>\n<li><em>High-quality typesetting and good automatic hyphenation.</em> This inludes kerning, real small caps, common and non-common ligatures, glyph variants, .... LateX's hyphenation is second to none.</li>\n<li><em>Many conferences and publishers accept LaTeX.</em> This is useful because it guarantees your paper will comply with the conference's formatting guidelines.</li>\n<li><em>Turing-complete programming language!</em> This lets you compute things that you can then typeset (similar to a spreadsheet with input and output columns).</li>\n<li><em>Write notes/book/presentation in same source file.</em> This is related to the previous item. LaTeX can make decisions and this lets you write several output documents in one input document. For example you may have a presentation version and a notes version. You can share text for both versions and use some text for just one version.</li>\n<li><em>LaTeX is highly configurable.</em> For example, you can define your own book/paper style and package the settings as a library so you can use them over and over again.</li>\n<li><em>You can translate LaTeX to <code>html</code>, <code>ps</code>, <code>pdf</code>, <code>DocBook</code>, ...</em></li>\n<li>Automatic numbering of sectional units, figures, ... This guarantees consistency of the output document. In addition LaTeX provides a consistent and easy cross-referencing mechanism.</li>\n<li><em>Excellent Bibliography support.</em> LaTeX automates the typesetting of the citations and the generation of the bibliography/references. It lets you control the style of both citations and references. The result is a perfect bibliography and consistent citations.</li>\n<li><em>Very stable, free, and available on many platforms</em>. Who doesn't want that?</li>\n<li><em>Large and active, friendly, and helpful user-base.</em> Ask a question in <a href=\"http://tex.stackexchange.com\"><em>TeX Stack Exchange</em></a> or <a href=\"https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/comp.text.tex\"><code>comp.text.tex</code></a> and you usually get a detailed answer in minutes.</li>\n<li><em>LaTeX has comments.</em> So you can remember why/how something worked.</li>\n<li><em>Can produce <a href=\"http://hanno-rein.de/archives/349\">coffee stains</a> on your papers.</em> So you have <em>consistent</em> coffee stains on your papers!</li>\n<li><em>Most importantly: LaTeX is fun!</em></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 8097,
"author": "Callum",
"author_id": 6063,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6063",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've recently switched to LaTex whilst at university and the response has been great. I have written an number of reports regarding projects and tutors were happy to see somebody using the proper software.</p>\n\n<p>I have found that with larger projects that it can be split up into sections and I'm currently writing a document that is split up into a number of chapters which is very easy to manage the document. </p>\n\n<p>With regard to technical documentation such as tables, diagrams and equations it does require some learning but it is very useful indeed. </p>\n\n<p>Another thing to note is that the document structure is kept consistent throughout, sections and chapters are correctly numbered as well as the references, footnotes and figures all being correctly numbered. </p>\n\n<p>Also, use BibDesk as it helps out tremendously when using a number of citations. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 11414,
"author": "Bill Nace",
"author_id": 5762,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5762",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An additional advantage of LaTex that I haven't seen listed among the many answers here is that:</p>\n\n<p>LaTex source files can be (fairly) easily generated by a script or other program. In some research areas, you might be generating lots of data that needs to be put into tables or figures in your text. In my case, I had a computer simulation that generated the data. I programmed the simulation output to add a little bit of LaTex instructions here and there in the data and the output file then became part of my LaTex source document. No cut-n-paste. No danger of re-typing a value incorrectly. If I found a bug in my simulation (hypothetically speaking, of course), then I can easily regenerate the data and associated markup very easily.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63628,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll post my take on this, as a Word user who has oft pondered switching to LaTeX but has decided not to (but has collaborators who do):</p>\n\n<p><strong>Word</strong>:</p>\n\n<p><em>Advantages</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Universality. While Microsoft Office isn't 100% ubiquitous, I'm willing to say that very nearly everyone has the ability to modify Word or Word-like documents in some form. A Word file can by and large be sent under the assumption that the recipient will know what to do with it. I'd be similarly willing to bet that the installed base of any sort of TeX distribution is far lower.</li>\n<li>Non-technical. There isn't much of a learning curve to Word, and there is a pretty steep one for LaTeX. I collaborate with a lot of non-technical colleagues, who will be writing or commenting on policy or clinical questions. Getting them to use Doodle to schedule a call is hard enough, I cannot imagine what LaTeX would be like. On the other hand, virtually everyone who can use LaTeX can also use word.</li>\n<li>\"Track Changes\" is a decent reviewing tool, and may be considerably more intuitive than looking at diffs in a version tracker or something like that.</li>\n<li>In some fields, Word will be the assumed-upon format for journal submissions. This is, of course, not universally true, but it's worth noting in the sometimes computation-heavy world of Stack Exchange that academia as a whole doesn't necessarily use LaTeX.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><em>Disadvantages</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Word. Is. Not. Layout. Software. Attempting to use it as such is an exercise in frustration.</li>\n<li>Word definitely emphasizes text over mathematical notation. While it has been getting significantly better, and isn't actually an impediment in my work, for very equation-heavy documents, it will become tiresome.</li>\n<li>Citation management requires a third party package of some sort - the one that is built-in is criminally poor.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><strong>LaTeX</strong></p>\n\n<p><em>Advantages</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>LaTeX is just better for math typesetting. Whether this is important or not is a question, but that LaTeX is better at it is something about which reasonable people can't so much disagree.</li>\n<li>As text-based documents, LaTeX files play really nicely with version control software.</li>\n<li>The overall layout tools available for LaTeX are vastly superior to Words, and much more amenable to templates, standard code, etc. You could write a script to automatically put in all the preambulatory info (affiliation, headings, etc.) for a LaTeX document. Doing that in Word would be...hard.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><em>Disadvantages</em></p>\n\n<p>As a disclaimer, some of these are fairly subjective.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Anything listed as one of Word's advantages. The biggest for me is the high probability that a collaborator will go \"What am I supposed to do with this?\" and we'll end up in Word anyway.</li>\n<li>In my experience, compilation errors and the like definitely crop up when trying to pass LaTeX files between multiple authors.</li>\n<li>Laying out an adequate LaTeX document is easy. Laying out a <em>nice</em> LaTeX file is hard. I often encounter a sense that \"Once it's in LaTeX it's done\", and while that's more true than it is for a Word document, it's a far cry from something that's professionally typeset. </li>\n</ol>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5414",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091/"
]
|
5,426 | <p>I am presently doing MSc (Information Technology) in India. I really like teaching and have a passion for it. Based on my Masters degree I will get a designation of Assistant professor (hope so I get it!), but to be a Professor we need a PhD degree, so I was thinking of doing a Phd (Computer Science) not right after the Masters but after some years of teaching experience. At present I don't have much knowledge about PhD (nearly zero). </p>
<p>I know we need to publish the thesis in PhD,but my question is do we have to publish books (about courses like Java, Operating System etc, since I am talking about IT/CS i gave these subjects) in PhD? This is because right now in my Masters I was thinking of publishing a book for a local course of Bachelors (BSc IT) in my region. </p>
<p>So if we need to publish certain number books in PhD, then I should wait for writing and publishing that local book till I join a PhD or should I start writing and publish it right in my Masters and this published book will be considered in my PhD?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5427,
"author": "kena",
"author_id": 1282,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1282",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regardless of when the book is published, if the book is relevant to your doctoral studies and displays a high level of scientific skill, then it is certain it will influence positively the opinion of your eventual PhD defence committee.</p>\n\n<p>But a course book is not a thesis. You will still need to write a separate thesis</p>\n\n<p>Also, the chances that your doctoral research topic will be related to the topic of your book are small.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5428,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A PhD should be based on an original contribution to knowledge. This is generally published at research conferences and in journals.</p>\n\n<p>Material, such as a book, treating topics that already are well-known generally do not contribute to the PhD dissertation. The only exception is if you were to write an excellent synthesis of a field, then that could be included as a part of your PhD dissertation, as such a thing would be an original contribution to knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>Writing a book may actually hinder your progress to obtaining a PhD, because it too will take a lot of time. That said, I do not wish to encourage you on this issue. But there are already plenty of books about Java and Operating Systems, and I questions the value of writing more.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5431,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>No. Absolutely not.</h2>\n\n<p><strong>Do not even start writing a book until you have tenure</strong>, unless publishing a book is a requirement for tenure (which would be <em>very</em> strange for computer science). Writing books well is <em>extremely</em> hard; it requires significant time away from your research (which you need to finish your PhD, get a job, and get tenure), teaching, paper-writing, professional networking, job-hunting, proposal writing, and advising. And writing books badly can only hurt you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5598,
"author": "dalloliogm",
"author_id": 2807,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2807",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The magazine \"The Scientist\" has recently published an article about writing scientific books: \n- <a href=\"http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32654/title/So-You-Want-to-Write-a-Book-/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32654/title/So-You-Want-to-Write-a-Book-/</a></p>\n\n<p>I recommend you to read it. It says that writing books requires a lot of time and involvement, and that it is better to wait until you have tenure. I think that the suggestion makes sense.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5426",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4080/"
]
|
5,433 | <blockquote>
<p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
<a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4903/what-tools-make-it-easy-to-maintain-or-avoid-the-n-versions-of-your-cv">What tools make it easy to maintain (or avoid!) the N versions of your CV?</a> </p>
</blockquote>
<p>When writing a CV (applying for an academic position, workshop or a scholarship), it's important to include one's list of publications, conference talks and posters, awards, etc. </p>
<p>Moreover, the list need to be tailored to the respective scope (and with the appropriate fine-graining).</p>
<p>The question is, <strong>is there a specific workflow (or software) to keep tracks of one's academic records, so that later it's easy to cherry-pick the relevant stuff?</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5435,
"author": "Paul Hiemstra",
"author_id": 4091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4091",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On my website I keep a list of my academic achievements. This only includes journal publications, official reports, and conference proceedings though. When I need to make a list of my most relevant publications, I take a look at that page. A nice way to tracking your papers and such is to create a Google Scholar Citations page. This automatically looks for your publications and keeps record of the number of citations you receive.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5438,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://scholar.google.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Google Scholar</a> and <a href=\"http://academic.research.microsoft.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Microsoft Academic Research</a> (also <a href=\"http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">DBLP</a> for computer science) collect a decent amount of one's publications (in particular Google Scholar).<br>\nIf you are writing your CV in Latex/LyX, I would suggest finding/creating BIBTEX entries for your papers then import the <em>.bib</em> file into your CV. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5433",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49/"
]
|
5,440 | <p>We've been having this discussion about what actually formulates 'contribution to knowledge' when doing a masters or a PhD in a particular field.</p>
<p>For an example from my field (Computer Science), say an MS student finds a particularly good algorithm that has not been used to solve a problem in disaster management. He then goes ahead and builds a solution that uses this algorithm to find position of a cell phone in a disaster situation. </p>
<p>However, while the student has solved a problem of high interest to many people, he has not contributed to the field of Computer Science, per se. Or has he? Some say that since he didn't contribute to Computer Science as a field, he should not get a Masters degree in CS.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5441,
"author": "ShadowWarrior",
"author_id": 675,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/675",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Contribution to knowledge means creating new knowledge based on the previous available knowledge by doing extensive and innovative research.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Look up this related illustrative post by <a href=\"http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/\">Matt Might</a> on what is a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>And for the said MS student, he should get his degree <strong><em>without any problem</em></strong>, because he showed a new & original application of the CS algorithm in a new field. Hence, new knowledge generated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5443,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think of a contribution to knowledge as being a body of work that could be published as a journal article.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5456,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Finding a new and good way to solve a problem in the field of interest is definitely counts as a contribution. What makes it as an <em>official</em> contribution is publishing it and making it visible to the peers. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 8626,
"author": "Nzemeka Justus",
"author_id": 6366,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6366",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When a researcher uncovers an evidence hitherto unknown to a large number of people within and outside the Academia, this could be seen as a contribution to knowledge because it is a discovery or an uncharted course made possible</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/501/"
]
|
5,445 | <p>I was wondering if someone who is reapplying to the same program after it was not accepted the previous year is seen as a negative thing.</p>
<p>If in the application form I am asked if I applied the program in the past, should I state that I did or would that look bad on my application?</p>
<p>Why is this question been asked? And does not really matter what my answer is? The university clearly states that all application material is destroyed after a few months. Thus the admission commitee look at this question?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5447,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Lying on an application form is a really bad idea, it would probably destroy any chance you could have to be accepted. So, if the question is asked, you probably should answer truthfully. </p>\n\n<p>As for why it is asked, it also depends on how a program works. If it's a very competitive program, maybe your application was good, but there were just better candidates than you. In that case, it could be worth applying again. If, on the other hand, the committee just decided that your application was not good enough, then applying again is risky. In any case, you would have to demonstrate that you have significantly improved your application during the last year. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5449,
"author": "Konrad Rudolph",
"author_id": 348,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/348",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.embl.de/training/eipp/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">EMBL</a> explicitly tells people who haven’t been accepted in the first go (but who passed the initial aptitude assessment) to apply again next year.</p>\n\n<p>They <em>do</em> keep record of your application so lying about it would be very stupid, but re-applying definitely doesn’t harm your chances a priori. In fact, at EMBL you wouldn’t even need to re-take the assessment.</p>\n\n<p>Certainly this is a quite institute specific answer but I’d think that it’s a good rule of thumb. Even if your particular University handles this differently (destroy application material), chances are, somebody will remember you.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5445",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
]
|
5,446 | <p>I understand that schools are trying to gauge the chances of an offer being accepted by a potential candidate. Similarly to what has been described for job applications and other questions that a lower ranked program might not offer admission to someone who applied to just top schools.</p>
<p>How much should a candidate divulge about the other schools he/she is applying to? If applying to a top school will it decrease your chances if you are stating you are applying to another top school?</p>
<p>I find this kind of questions a bit intrusive and that might even compromise to some degree my application. Perhaps some people that have been in admission commitees can shed some light on the dynamics related to applicants that applied to several schools.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 5451,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There is no really good reason for schools to ask what other schools a student is applying to. I personally make it a point as much as possible <em>never</em> to ask people who I'm interviewing or whose applications I'm reviewing what other programs they're considering. I <em>do</em> ask, however, if they are actively considering other options, this is something that can affect our internal decision-making process, so I ask if students are entertaining offers, but not where.</p>\n\n<p>Schools are likely to be using this answer to gauge what schools you're applying to, with a view towards planning whom to admit. But again, I do agree that this question is invasive, and isn't really necessary. In addition, schools shouldn't be checking up with other graduate schools about their admissions, so I would answer in whatever way you feel comfortable.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, you can always claim that your answer was accurate at the time, but changed following the point at which you submitted the application.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5453,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I never seen a question like <em>Are you applying to other schools</em> when applied to different universities.<br>\nI do not think you are required to expose such information. The committee should evaluate your application <strong><em>regardless</em></strong> of your status in other schools. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5457,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Repeat after me:</p>\n\n<h2>“I'd rather not tell you.”</h2>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 5460,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It looks as it is a practice out of the work environment, here in Japan usually they'll ask you which companies are you applying to, and in UK I got to see similar practices.</p>\n\n<p>I do not think you'll get down points for not putting anything, I do not really think Admissions Officials are really accepting or rejecting people on the basis of to which Universities are they applying. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 82694,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>They generally ask such questions, if your university is a member of an association of universities. For instance, \"Ontario Universities\" in Canada and so on.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, I don't think those questions are relevant and hence better not to answer.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2012/11/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5446",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
]
|
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