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9,884 | <p>I have contacted a professor (in Europe) informally and asked for a PhD position. She answered in positive manner and asked for a CV.</p>
<p>What should I include?
Do people in academia care about the usual 2-page restriction?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9885,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Generally I would say No, people do not put restrictions on CVs unless specifically asking for it. </p>\n\n<p>In a case such as the one you decribe you should send a complete CV that lists everything that can be meriting for the position you will apply for. The following would be of interest:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A brief description of your drive and interest to pursue a PhD </li>\n<li>Course work includig grades</li>\n<li>Scientific/equivalent experience is a given of course. </li>\n<li>Any publications and scientific/equivalent reports you have written. If you have some significant report/thesis that you have written during your education, you can list that as well. I would say that any report longer than, say, 10 pages of text might be useful to list. In such cases you should perhaps add inwhat context (Course) the text was written. In the end what a person looking for a PhD position will be looking for is someone who can successfully complete work and write it up in written form.</li>\n<li>Scientific/equivalent presentations in a public context, open department seminar, scientific meeting etc.</li>\n<li>Any academic work experience such as working inlabs etc.</li>\n<li>General work experience. This can be listed to highlght work experience of any kind. This shows how active you are.</li>\n<li>Anything else that you think will be meriting.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you have written a paper (thesis) of some sort, provide a copy. Only one, the most important though. If you do not have one that is fine, no one would expect you to have written much.</p>\n\n<p>Despite the length of the list try to make it brief and clear so that it can be assessed with ease. ry to find a good layout that make sthe structure easy to see.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9886,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "<p>Someone else had mentioned this on a related question here: the words \"curriculum vitae\" <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum_vitae\" rel=\"nofollow\">are taken from the Latin</a> for \"course of my life\". So there's not much point in a page restriction :), unlike a corporate resume, which is often required to be one page or one sheet. </p>\n\n<p>As for what you should put in it, Peter's answer is very comprehensive. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/09 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9884",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6222/"
]
|
9,887 | <p>If someone is a reviewer and recommends major revisions to a medical journal paper, the review can be quite lengthy. (e.g., list of 10-15 points to work on)</p>
<p>On the other hand, how detailed should be the rejection review. Are you expected to provide more than 2 paragraphs justification for the rejection?</p>
<p>Is there any study on length of reviews that reject the paper. I would guess it would be most likely under 2 paragraphs of text. Is that correct?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9888,
"author": "Community",
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"text": "<p>It should be long enough that the shortcomings of the paper are immediately obvious to the editor and the authors, but not too long that it becomes your own little personal project, sucking away your valuable time.</p>\n\n<p>You can't really give a generic quantitative value for the length of the rejection review — I've rejected papers with 1 paragraph when I find that the premise/assumption for the work done in the paper is fundamentally flawed and the authors have have insufficient background and/or proceeded without knowing/addressing it at all. In other words, there's no point in me saying anything more when it is clear from the second section that everything that follows in the paper is junk (and I'm not going to spend my time on junk). On the other hand, I've also written 3 page rejection reviews when I felt that the topic was good, the authors have a basic grasp of the subject, but for other reasons such as inferences from insufficient data, sloppy writing, insufficient background/literature, incorrect methodology, etc., the paper had to be rejected as is (some journals allow for a resubmission with major overhaul). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9889,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not in a medical field and my experience is limited to being a reviewer for a good journal in my field (computing and information science) for the past 2 years. I am also not aware of any studies on journal reject recommendation lengths so my answer is <strong>anecdotal</strong> and <strong>personal</strong>. With this disclaimer, I would like to say that the true answer is probably, <strong>it depends.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Personally, I have always given a list of points where I have found a paper lacking and elaborated upon them in great detail. Even if the paper is really bad, i.e from the introduction itself you can make out that you are going to recommend a reject for it, I think it my duty provide as much honest and constructive feedback that I possibly can. This is because peer reviewing comes under the third pillar of the academic tripod - <strong>service</strong> (with the other two being <strong>teaching</strong> and <strong>research</strong>). Maybe its because I am not a very experienced reviewer or I only review 1-2 papers at a time or I have more time than most to devote to this. This has been my personal, <em>limited</em> experience. I do not think that one can generalize here. </p>\n\n<p>I am sure others will weigh in on this in meaningful ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9891,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A rejection <em>recommendation</em> should contain a strong and clear motivaton for what is failing in the reviewed manuscript (MS). Since it is not up to the reviewer to make decisions, any review will be a recommendation to an editor. Therefore, a review of the MS should be made to point out the perceived shortcomings of the MS. A review which essentially contains only a recommendation to reject is most likely not considered by the editor since it will be unclear why such a decision should be made.</p>\n\n<p>So as a reviewer you should make a normal review and point out the weaknesses of the MS. </p>\n\n<p>An editor should normally make sure a MS is ready for review before sending it out for review, but mistakes may happen. I think it is fair to leave detailed comments and focus on the larger issues that you think makes the MS unpublishable. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9897,
"author": "AJed",
"author_id": 4472,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4472",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Short answer:</em> I think it is very disrespectful (or not good) to reject a paper by writing one single paragraph. If a reviewer thinks that there are obvious flaws that cannot be described clearly, then the reviewer shall simply not review the paper. </p>\n\n<p><strong>The reviewer may have not understood the paper well:</strong> Personally, many times I get a first negative impression of a paper. I try then to write a summary of the paper. Then I realize that \"Oh the author meant this !\" or \"Oh, this actually works !\" -- this usually lead me to realize at the end that the paper is good. </p>\n\n<p><strong>The authors spent a lot of time writing the paper (they are looking for constructive comments most of the time):</strong> From another point of view, put yourself in the authors shoes. They have spent a lot of time (obviously) writing the paper. They are smart people (otherwise, they would have not reached this level to write a paper). Then obviously, there is something to get from them. If the reviewer thinks that this is not enough, then strong comments should be written. In any case, a reviewer should spend a relatively long period of time in each page of the paper. </p>\n\n<p><strong>The reviewer may not have treated the problem from all perspectives</strong>:\nNote also that - in some cases - the reviewer may have experienced the problem from one single perspective, whereas the paper attacks the problem from a different perspective. Treating a problem with a different perspective is the best way to solve the problem IMHO. It only enriches the literature. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 160909,
"author": "user2352714",
"author_id": 133618,
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"pm_score": 0,
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"text": "<p>I would say that it is highly field dependent and also dependent on how long the manuscript itself is. A 3 page short note is going to have a longer revision/rejection comment than a 50 page monograph almost by definition.</p>\n<p>What I've noticed is that in practice there is almost no difference between a "major revisions" and "rejection" comment except for the final recommendation by the author. The purpose of a review is supposed to be to show the author where . If a manuscript is rejected (say, because it was submitted to a journal that is not high-impact enough or contains major flaws that could theoretically be rectified), it is still very helpful to the authors to know <em>why</em> it is rejected so they can revise their manuscript accordingly if they plan to resubmit.</p>\n<p>A short rejection note could also be interpreted as the reviewer could not be bothered enough to read the entire manuscript. Whereas a long rejection note shows that you read the paper and the problems are extensive enough that the manuscript cannot be salvaged through revision. The way you get around the potential downside of your most salient points potentially being lost is to put your main criticisms up front and in the first paragraph if possible.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/09 | [
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|
9,892 | <p>I am currently working on a paper that challenges some long-standing practices within my field, but am questioning how to title the paper. Basically, the old view in the research field is "we do Y instead of better method X, because X takes too long." We show that X is usually just as fast as Y, and often is actually faster. </p>
<p>Given the fact that we're taking what could be a "controversial" stance, does it make sense to put the controversial idea directly in the title, or should it be saved for the abstract.</p>
<p>Basically, the question is if a "traditional" title, such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Using New Method X to Improve Solving Problem Y</p>
</blockquote>
<p>is preferable to directly mentioning the issue in the title:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Using New Method X Makes Assumption Z Obsolete.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or is finding a title that suggests superiority without questioning relevance a satisfactory compromise?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9893,
"author": "paul garrett",
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"text": "<p>It might be viewed as incivil to refer to someone else's work as \"obsolete\", whether or not one could defend such a claim. An editor or referee might object to the title, too, and, perhaps even be subliminally biased against your result because of a too-aggressive title.</p>\n\n<p>That is, \"provocative\" in the sense of more-vividly-descriptive, without too-direct negativism about prior work, might be a very good thing. But I think if \"provocative\" too much means \"antagonistic\", the net would be counterproductive and regrettable.</p>\n\n<p>Asserting that you've made progress is already a bit aggressive, suggesting, as is inevitable, that previous work is being superceded (even if still relevant as some sort of historical/dialectic record). My own taste is that winners can afford to be generous.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: in light of edits to the question... I'd still encourage a sort of \"innocent\" -seeming, or almost-apologetic seeming, self-description. My point would be that people who understand the situation will see the implications of even a very-modest statement. Descriptiveness is good, yes, but perhaps not \"judgemental\" phrases.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9895,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Or is finding a title that suggests superiority without questioning relevance a satisfactory compromise?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Supplementing Paul's fine answer, I agree that if by \"provocative\" you are directly attacking someone else, then you should not do it. Be provocative in stating the benefits of your method. Ignore the inferior method in your title.</p>\n\n<p>You should also include a descriptive subtitle so that we know what your paper is about.</p>\n\n<p>For example, <a href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ma400123r\" rel=\"nofollow\">this paper</a> has the title \"Sequence Matters: Modulating Electronic and Optical Properties of Conjugated Oligomers via Tailored Sequence\". The first two words are provocative, but not antagonistic. They suggest that those who might believe that sequence does not matter are incorrect, but it does not say so explicitly, nor does it specifically accuse any previous research/method of being deficient. It is followed by a descriptive title that then tells you what the paper is about.</p>\n\n<p>So, in your case, you might go for something more like </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Simplifying the Solution to Problem Y: A New Metric-Based Analytical Methodology for Enumerating the Variance in Substandard Models.\" </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The first part of the title gets at what you want (that previous solutions to Problem Y are not as good as yours) without specifically targeting any previous method. Save that for the body of your paper. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9896,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A significant fraction of papers in theoretical computer science describe results of the form \"we describe an algorithm for problem Y that is faster than every other algorithm known.\" But it is <em>very</em> rare, and would be considered quite rude, for the <em>title</em> of such a paper to specifically call out a previous method as \"obsolete\", especially if that previous methods was strongly associated to a single person or group. In fact, I know of ony one example: Volker Strassen's seminal paper \"<a href=\"http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2FBF02165411.pdf\">Gaussian elimination is not optimal</a>\", which was published centuries after Gauss was safely dead.</p>\n\n<p>Provocative/evocative titles are fine. Challenging conventional wisdom is great. Insulting your colleagues, not so much.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9898,
"author": "hunter2",
"author_id": 7055,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7055",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers that \"obsolete\" is too confrontational. You could still directly address the issue in the title, though. How about something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Using New Method X challenges Assumption Z</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>or</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Using New version of Method X challenges assumptions about problem Y</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/09 | [
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|
9,899 | <p>I am a student doing my Masters (in Computer Science). I am much interested in Ph.D and I know to do Ph.D I really need to read and understand a lot of papers. (I also know that its not all about reading papers, but doing something new and useful) but I find difficult to understand papers, especially mathematical. There are lots of things (like bloom filters, k-means algorithms, and a lot lot much more terminologies) which we, normally, don't encounter (except if you are a Ph.D or doing one) but are really crucial to understand papers. </p>
<p>I am not very good at understanding such stuff (atleast quickly, if given time I can but it takes time). Are there people like me who have done/are doing a Ph.D and had the same problem? If yes, how do you overcome it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9900,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think very many people come into academia with the ability to parse tons of math-heavy articles quickly. It's a skill that develops over time from reading lots of papers, asking someone in the know to help you understand confusing parts, and getting through relevant coursework that will build up your skills and intuition. If it's a matter of speed of getting through things, that will undoubtedly improve in time. If it's a matter of you simply not understanding them at all, then you may want to reconsider your options before diving into a PhD.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9901,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The good news is that you have a good 4-6 years of time to learn how to process that sort of material, and you aren't expected to be able to do it immediately. A professor once told me (about physics papers, but it translates into mathematical and CS papers fairly well) that eventually you start to read the math-heavy parts a bit like music -- you see familiar patterns, and you get the general idea without having to dig deep into the details.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, you'll find that the more classes you take, and the more reading you do really does prepare you for that next paper and that next step. You'll find that as you start specializing on a particular topic, most of the papers in your topic will become easier to read, simply because you have the experience and have gained the knowledge about the particulars over time. Furthermore, you'll start coming up with your own ideas in the subject, and this just happens to be the goal of graduate school!</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There are lots of things (like bloom filters, k-means algorithms, and a lot lot much more terminologies) which we, normally, don't encounter...but are really crucial to understand papers.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The beauty is that you will start encountering them more, and you'll start understanding them more and more as you continue your education.</p>\n\n<p>To answer your particular question,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are there people like me who have done/are doing a Ph.D and had the same problem? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I still have difficulty getting through math-heavy papers (in CS), but I either re-read sections closely until I figure it out, or I ask someone to help, or I simply move on and hope that the rest of the paper fills in the details. I don't expect to understand everything technical that I read, but it becomes easier over time to get what you need out of a particular paper even if you don't get each and every detail.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9909,
"author": "enderland",
"author_id": 5845,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5845",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Start by not reading papers straight through. Most research papers are difficult to follow if you read through start to finish without a loooot of context.</p>\n\n<p>Normally, I read them in approximately this order to begin with:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Abstract/introduction</li>\n<li>Conclusion/summary</li>\n<li>Future Work</li>\n<li>Results</li>\n<li>Methods</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You want to understand what the paper is about first. Generally speaking, unless I know a topic well, the beginning section doesn't do a good job answering the, \"what is the point of the next X pages\" but a conclusion and summary do. Future work helps me understand, \"why is this research even relevant\" and then going backwards results helps me understand what they did, and then, once I have context, I read through methods.</p>\n\n<p>Honestly, too, I don't care about understanding detailed methods unless I see a value in understanding them. Reading for the sake of reading is hard, so I \"incentivize\" myself by showing \"oh, there is value in understanding the details of what they did!\" and basically trick myself by how I read through things.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on how well I must understand a paper sometimes I stop early in that process or reread sections, etc.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In addition to this, make sure you don't read every paper word for word. You don't have to.</p>\n\n<p>Also determine if you are able to read on your computer or if you need to print them off. Some people cannot effectively read on a computer. Some can. Find out your personal abilities here.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9989,
"author": "jobucks",
"author_id": 4313,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4313",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it helps, I was two years' into a full time research degree in psychology (no courses) in which I read all day long and one day I suddenly realised that I was reading an economics book with very little effort. I could read! I still feel the excitement. You do just get better and better but it is like going to the gym - constant application is needed.</p>\n\n<p>Writing took much longer to get easier and I strongly recommend that you make a habit of writing daily. Make sure you always have a writing project on the go and add something every day, no matter how bad. Get a calendar; cross off the days; and don't break the chain. You needn't spend long - under an hour will do. But constant application is the key.</p>\n\n<p>If you are lucky, you will have mentors who demand papers from you. It is a lot easier to write if you have deadlines. But if not, start a blog and start building up a portfolio. The feeling of pressing the publishing button and seeing your blog grow makes up for disinterested supervisors.</p>\n\n<p>Stick with it - in few years you will marvel at the ease with which you find your way around 'heavy' material.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10095,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have found that reading papers of a specific topic within my research, then looking at Google Scholar to track down similar articles helps. I always have a relevant dictionary handy and write down questions related to the topic that I am not to sure about for follow up.</p>\n\n<p>Taking regular breaks to reflect on the information is also useful.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9899",
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|
9,907 | <p>I want to submit a paper for an ACM conference and I see that there are two dates like this:</p>
<p>Full Papers</p>
<p>Abstracts due: May 10, 2013
Papers due: May 17, 2013</p>
<p>The issue is that I am still working in tabulating the results from my experiments and I do not think that I will reach the deadline of May the 10th. Can I skip the presentation of the Abstract and submit the full paper on the other date? or should I prepare the abstract and only submit that in the first date?</p>
<p>Any advice will be great, thanks.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9908,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The point of having of an abstract submission first is for the organisers to have a rough idea of the number of submissions and organise a bidding for the reviewers (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/7843/102\">Why do some conference have an "abstract submission" before the "paper submission"?</a>). </p>\n\n<p>Of course, it depends on the organisers of the conference, but if you don't submit an abstract, you might not be able to submit the full article later on. You can always submit an abstract first, and then withdraw your submission if you cannot make it by the full paper deadline. So you haven't much to lose in submitting an abstract first. </p>\n\n<p>If you don't submit the abstract, you can always try to submit the full paper by the final deadline by contacting the conference organisers and explain why you weren't able to submit the abstract first, however, note that pretty much all authors are in the same situation, in that the paper might not be finalised by the abstract deadline. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9911,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>No.</h2>\n\n<p>It's a deadline. Follow it.</p>\n\n<p>Program committees ask for abstracts early to streamline the reviewing process. Asking them to make a special exception for you because you're not ready yet is unfair to the program committee, who would have to do extra work (however small) to accommodate your late submission, and to the hundreds of authors who got their abstracts in on time.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The issue is that I am still working in tabulating the results from my experiments</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The tabulated results of your experiments are not going to appear in your abstract anyway; only the <em>conclusions</em> from your experiments will. If you don't know yet what those conclusions will be, you're not ready to submit. So don't. There's always another conference.</p>\n\n<p><strong>But!</strong> Remember that you are allowed to revise your abstract in the week before the paper submission deadline. It is perfectly acceptable to submit a tentative abstract, which describes your results <strong>in enough detail to assign reviewers</strong>, and then include a more detailed/updated abstract in your paper submission. If your conference is using EasyChair or HotCRP, you can change your abstract in the electronic submission form, and the committee will no longer see the old abstract.</p>\n\n<p>If you make <strong>significant</strong> changes to your abstract in the paper submission, you risk angering the program committee members who were assigned your paper, who could (legitimately) reject your paper without review. So don't do that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 85120,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
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"pm_score": 0,
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"text": "<h3>It's very simple: just ask the contact person. Don't assume.</h3>\n\n<p>Email the contact person listed on the conference website (e.g. the PC chair), and proceed according to their reply:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If they <em>answer \"yes\"</em>, you <em>can skip</em> the abstract.</li>\n<li>If they <em>answer \"no\"</em>, you <em>can't skip</em> the abstract.</li>\n<li>If they <em>don't answer</em> and there are only a couple of days or so left until the abstract deadline, you <em>can't skip</em> the abstract.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Note: The <em>reason</em> for abstract submission deadlines is usually to allow the PC to effectively distribute the refereeing workload amongst themselves. For this reason, changes to the abstract after the abstract deadline are typically allowed (that is, unless you switch it to a completely different kind of paper). Again, though, that's also something you need to confirm in advance.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9907",
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|
9,910 | <h3>The question</h3>
<p>When a journal (such as one of the Nature family) asks for information about authors' contributions, what is the most effective way to answer this, to ensure that the co-authorship is assigned as intended, and to ensure that reality is represented: that <strong>the work is a product of the intellectual environment of the whole team; and that all members have contributed in various degrees to the analytical methods used, to the research concept, and to the experiment design</strong>. Is what I've just written there sufficient, or is there a more judicious phrasing that is accepted by heavyweight journal publishers such as the Nature Group?</p>
<h3>The context</h3>
<p>The primary context is publications from a team that works on the principle that all members of the team are to be named authors on all papers coming out of the team.</p>
<p><strong>I'm very specifically looking for answers from editors who handle such papers; or from members of teams with similar rules.</strong> Answers from others are of course possible, but I'd value direct personal experience.</p>
<p>Here's the <a href="http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html" rel="noreferrer">Vancouver Group's (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) statement on the subject</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.</p>
<p>When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship/contributorship defined above, and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms. When submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Journals generally list other members of the group in the Acknowledgments. The NLM indexes the group name and the names of individuals the group has identified as being directly responsible for the manuscript; it also lists the names of collaborators if they are listed in Acknowledgments.</p>
<p>Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.</p>
<p>All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed.</p>
<p>Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><sub><strong>The caveats</strong>:</sub></p>
<p><sub> 1. My field is not medicine: I've used the Vancouver Group's guidelines, as I haven't yet found any in my field.</sub></p>
<p><sub> 2. note that this is emphatically not about the ethics, pros and cons of such a rule. If you want to discuss that, please do so in <a href="http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/2496/academia">chat</a>. I may join you there as time allows</sub></p>
<h3>Related literature:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blogs.nature.com/nautilus/2007/11/post_12.html" rel="noreferrer">Author contributions audit</a>, by Maxine Clarke on the Nature Nautilus authors' blog, lists example contributors' satements</li>
<li><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736%2805%2964090-1" rel="noreferrer">Drummond Rennie discusses "Authorship Credits"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3407" rel="noreferrer">Academia and Clinic, by Yank & Rennie</a>: Disclosure of Researcher Contributions: A Study of Original Research Articles in The Lancet</li>
<li>and lots more at the <a href="http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3407" rel="noreferrer">US Council of Science Editors</a></li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9916,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If there is a requirement to list the contribution of each author, it seems the ethical way to handle it is, well, to list the contribution of each author. If some authors did not contribute directly to the paper, you should state that.</p>\n\n<p>It is unethical to try to conceal that some authors did not make a direct contribution. Please note: Your team policy is what it is, and I'm not trying to judge the ethics of your team's policy. I'm just saying that, whatever your team's policy is, you must disclose it forthrightly, without evasion. That's exactly the point of disclosure requirements!</p>\n\n<p>(If you're not comfortable stating your team's policy explicitly, that might be a hint that it's time to consider changing the policy -- but until then, you must disclose it frankly and honestly.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9921,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your phrasing is fine, but you could be more explicit. Let's say there are four authors: ABC, DEF, GHI, and JKL. You might say something like</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>ABC, DEF, GHI, and JKL designed the study, developed the methodology, collected the data, performed the analysis, and wrote the manuscript. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It seems nitpicky, silly, and egregious to go through a paper that may contain dozens of experiments/simulations and list which person did which. That would be akin to noting who wrote each sentence. However, if there is a key component that only a subset of your team participated on, then, as D.W. suggests, it would be unethical not to list it that way:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>ABC, DEF, GHI, and JKL designed the study, developed the methodology, performed the analysis, and wrote the manuscript. ABC and GHI collected the data.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 139680,
"author": "Lumimoto",
"author_id": 72129,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/72129",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can use the <a href=\"https://casrai.org/?s=credit\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Contributor Roles Taxonomy (or CRediT)</a> approach as a reference to state what was the role of each co-author in your paper. Journals like Plos ONE are adopting this approach or using a modified version. You can read more about this <a href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/leap.1210\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9910",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96/"
]
|
9,913 | <p>I am a 2nd year undergraduate student in Aerospace Engineering, in India. I am really willing to go into Academia as a researcher. I am specifically interested in Aerospace Controls. Some points to consider :</p>
<p>1) I love the fast internet access in university, so that I can research and learn all I want.</p>
<p>2) I have read up a few research papers regarding error reduction in GPS measurements, when I was doing a Supervised Project under a professor. Reading research papers are gruelling, but after 2-3 days of bending your mind over them and finally understanding what the author intended to say, I feel elated.
In this specific case, I read up a few algorithms and got excited on the prospect of developing my own algorithms for error reductions.</p>
<p>3) I have a fair academic standing with a cumulative grade point of greater than 9 out of 10</p>
<p>So I would like a few pointers on what I can do now, as an undergraduate student to prepare for my PhD.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9914,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an undergraduate student, the best thing you can do to help your admissions case is to <em>get involved in research</em>. This will allow you to demonstrate that you have the capability to do good research, which is one of the biggest things admissions committees and individual professors are looking for when choosing among applicants. Maintaining a solid academic record is also useful, and having an understanding of the literature in the field you're interested in is also good. However, direct experience will let you see if academia really is what you want to do or not.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9931,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are a couple of pointers that are distinct from <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9913/i-am-a-2nd-year-undergraduate-student-what-should-i-do-now-to-prepare-for-my-ph/9914#9914\">aeismail's answer</a> that <strong>research is the most important thing you can be doing to prepare for and to be competitive for graduate school</strong>:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Read as many papers as you can from high profile conferences and journals in your field. Even if you don't understand everything right now, you'll start to get a feel for where the cutting edge is, and and also about how to write good papers. You'll probably also start to see which schools publish the most papers, and if you're looking for top programs, these are probably the ones.</p></li>\n<li><p>Take hard classes, and get good grades. Eventually, if you have the right prerequisites, try to take a graduate-level course or two and excel in it/them.</p></li>\n<li><p>Start talking to your professors about graduate school, and try to form relationships where you will be comfortable asking for letters of recommendation. They all went to graduate school, and some will have good advice on your path. If you are doing research for a professor, especially make sure you discuss your future plans with him/her.</p></li>\n<li><p>Learn <a href=\"http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~dwilkins/LaTeXPrimer/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">LaTeX</a>. Although this seems like a little thing, you'll certainly find it helpful to be competent in LaTeX during graduate school.</p></li>\n<li><p>Try to track down former students from your school who went on to graduate school in a similar field, and ask them about their experiences, and for suggestions about applying.</p></li>\n<li><p>If your research leads to good results, attempt to publish those results. Even if you get rejected, you've at least gone through the sometimes-obtuse submission process, and it is a worthwhile exercise.</p></li>\n<li><p>Start looking into scholarship and fellowship opportunities now. Even if you don't apply for a couple of years, you'll know what you may qualify for, and can start tailoring your application materials now.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9935,
"author": "Peter Bloem",
"author_id": 6936,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6936",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on where you're getting your PhD, but in countries (like the Netherlands) where a PhD position is treated like a job that you interview for, I would say <em>get published</em>. This is encompasses aeismail's answer, but I would focus on the specific goal of getting a paper published. Every student project you do, ask yourself what kind of results would make your professor say \"we should publish this\". This has the following advantages:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Publishing a paper takes some psychological development. You need to be able to deal with the drudgery of finishing a project without procrastinating, and getting it to a certain level of quality. If you can show that you've already mastered this skill, you will be a much more valuable PhD student.</li>\n<li>It forces you to work to a higher standard, so you'll learn more, and you'll focus on the details that are important for research work.</li>\n<li>It gives the person evaluating you for a position something to look at that is much more informative than a grade list or a CV.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Of course, if the threshold to PhD-ship is an exam rather than an interview, you should study with the exam in mind, but the goal of publishing while you're still an undergrad will help you be a better PhD student once you get in.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9913",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7059/"
]
|
9,917 | <p>As for reference letters, I have come across distinct policies.</p>
<p>Some recommend to only give a reference letter for a particular application - it might be tailored to the particular position which the applicant soughts for.</p>
<p>Other do not seem to have a problem with providing generic reference letters. I personally prefer this one, because it is clearly less work for all parties involved.</p>
<p>So, which kind of reference is appropiate to ask for from your supervisor? Which one is socially accepted? (I am a former student that needs a letter of reference from his former professor).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9919,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It can be reasonable to ask for letters tailored to specific <em>kinds of jobs</em> but unreasonable to ask for letters tailored to <em>specific jobs</em> assuming that you're applying to many jobs. Many people are already writing dozens of letters a year, so writing say 10 different letters for one of those people is clearly unreasonable, but two could be fine. For example, if you are applying to both tenure-track liberal arts jobs and research jobs then you may want to ask certain recommenders for two different letters (e.g. for your teaching letter, or if your thesis advisor co-supervised an undergraduate research project with you).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9920,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me answer the question in the title.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should I keep generic reference letters from my supervisors?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>No.</strong> You should not keep copies of reference letters, generic or otherwise. Your supervisors should send whatever letters they write directly to the jobs to which you apply. Those letters should never pass through your hands at all.</p>\n\n<p>It's entirely up to your references what kind of letter to write. You should always ask for strong letters individually tailored to each position you apply for, but there's no way to <em>make</em> anyone do that, or even to check whether they have. Ultimately, you just have to trust the people you ask to do a good job, which implies that you should only ask people you trust to do a good job.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9917",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6222/"
]
|
9,922 | <p>Scenario:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lecturer tells students six sections of material to study for the exam, but the exam only covers two of those sections.</li>
<li>Practice exams are completely different to actual exam.</li>
<li>Answers to the exam are in the lecture notes, but not the notes pointed to by the lecturer.</li>
</ul>
<p>Questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Is it ethical for a lecturer to mis-indicate exam study material by instructing students to study material which is not on the exam?</strong></li>
<li><strong>What are reasonable expectations regarding the relationship between what a lecturer says is assessable and exam content?</strong></li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9923,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I will address the final question you ask—if it's fair for instructors to write an exam but point to other material to study.</p>\n\n<p>The primary ethical issue here is the question of intent: <strong>why</strong> did the instructor tell you to review the particular material. If this was an <em>intentional</em> effort to mislead students, and to feed them \"false\" information in order to catch them unprepared, I would say that it is somewhat unethical. (In other words, if you were told you wouldn't be responsible for something on the exam when the instructor <em>knew</em> it would be, that's wrong.)</p>\n\n<p>However, if the instructor gave \"recommendations\"—along the lines of \"it might be good to know X, Y, and Z\"—then there's really nothing wrong with that. Telling you <em>exactly</em> what to do defeats the purpose of a university education, which is to learn <strong>how to learn</strong>! Ultimately, the instructor should not be spoonfeeding you information which you then regurgitate on the final exam. And I would further argue that if all you're doing is memorizing information, as you suggest, then you're also not really accomplishing much, since such information is very likely to be \"dumped\" from memory once the semester is over.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9937,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's in the gray area between unethical and simply poor teaching pedagogy, if it happened as you described. (My typical experience is that neither the instructor nor the students* quite have an accurate account of what happened. I have sat in on enough classes as a disinterested party to notice this....)</p>\n\n<p>The reason it is poor teaching pedagogy is that you reward students who ignore you, and penalize those who do what you ask. \"Review X\" might indeed be good advice for mastering the material, but if you do this before an exam it's implicit that this is going to not just help you with the material but also help you with the exam. Not <em>everything</em> the lecturer mentions might be on the exam--after all, the exam has length limits--but if it's almost a complete mismatch, the lecturer has just badly undermined their credibility. Maybe they only mentioned the parts that they thought students might overlook (knowing the rest is so obvious it \"doesn't bear mentioning\", perhaps!), but it still speaks poorly of their judgment and the value of paying attention to them. Even if they honestly wanted to improve the students' knowledge, this isn't the way to do it.</p>\n\n<p>It is unethical if it gets to the point where it's downright duplicitous; where the lecturer knows full well that the advice is bad advice for the exam (rather than e.g. just advising that the students cover everything, or not really knowing what they'll pick out to cover on the exam), and is using students' drive to do well on an exam to get them to study material that the lecturer for some reason feels is very important to know and yet not important enough to test. This is about the same as holding a big gold coin casually in one's hand while asking someone, \"Hey, if you give me $20, I'll give you a gold coin!\", then collecting their money and pulling out a pinhead-sized gold coin and giving it to them. It's duplicitous even if the duplicity occurs entirely within the realm of inference/implicature. I wouldn't necessarily assume any particular lecturer was doing this instead of just being a bad teacher, but if they were it would be unethical.</p>\n\n<p>However, randomly sampling from all topics covered is a fair and even expected way to deal with having more material to cover than can reasonably be assessed during a test. It's not <em>completely</em> fair in that it is an error-prone measurement of student ability (people who particularly struggled with those areas but excelled at the others will do anomalously badly, and vice versa for those who had problems elsewhere but got what was tested), but alas, in a group instruction setting it's extremely difficult to be completely fair. Mostly fair is about as much as you can hope for (on a reasonable budget). From what you've described, I cannot distinguish the lecturer's behavior from this, so I would tend to give them the benefit of the doubt (and tend to give you the benefit of the doubt that you haven't yet encountered this sort of style and thought about why it may be necessary). And if there's another exam to come, well, there's a good chance that some other portion of the material will be covered then (this is also extremely common practice).</p>\n\n<p>*<sup>(Aside: when teaching, I have had students honestly come up to me and complain that an exam is \"nothing like\" a sample exam when the sample contained a question analogous to \"If Jim has five oranges and Sally has two oranges, and they share equally between themselves and Jane, how many oranges does each get\" and the actual exam contained, \"If a puppy has a bowl with two cups of water, a kitten has one with one cup of water, and they and two lambs all drink the water, sharing it equally, how much water will each drink?\". In this case, the problem is that the student is too fixated on the particulars--\"there's no Sally! No oranges!\"--to actually know the material at all. So of course, when the irrelevant details change, the student is completely flummoxed, and yet the test is a good test of their skill, and the practice test should have been good practice. Part of learning how to learn is understanding how not to become one of these students--understanding when you're capturing the material at the right level of generality and with the right number of details. A really good teacher will help bring this out, but it's really difficult to teach, so it's mostly up to you.)</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9971,
"author": "Charles D Pantoga",
"author_id": 6151,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6151",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the instructor telling his/her students <em>\"You better know this material, because it is going to be on the test\"</em> when, in fact, the material is not going to be on the test then I would say that it is unethical.</p>\n\n<p>In situations like this, examination of consciousness and of motives is a way to come to conclusions about whether or not something is <strong>ethical</strong>, or <strong>moral</strong> for that matter. Lecturer's are in a position of power in that students will listen to them and expect to be able to take what they say at face value. If a lecturer is abusing his student's trust for personal satisfaction it would be unethical.</p>\n\n<p>If, however, a lecturer misleads his students in such a way that they believe all the given material for that period is to be covered on the test - <strong>in an effort to ensure that the students learn everything, with the motive being for the students educational gain</strong> - than I would say that it is not just moral, but a good practice. All too often students try to skate by studying only what will be covered on the test. Making sure your students learn as much as you can, even if it means lying to them about what is on the test, is surely a noble deed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 131064,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First and foremost - As a general rule you should expect to need to study all course material for an exam, and be able to apply everything you've learned throughout the course term. This is regardless of anything else.</p>\n\n<p>Now,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Lecturer tells students six sections of material to study for the exam, but the exam only covers two of those sections.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Why did you use the word \"but\"? You meant to say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Lecturer indicates six sections of material to study for the exam, and the exam covers two of those sections.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and this is perfectly fine.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Practice exams are completely different to actual exam.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In itself this is not an issue, but if the teacher indicated that the exam will have a similar structure or character as the practice exams, that is unethical. But... did s/he indicate this? Just by pointing you to practice exams you don't have a basis for assuming the next exam will be similar to them.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Answers to the exam are in the lecture notes, but not the notes pointed to by the lecturer.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If they're in the lecture notes, then they're in the notes; what does it matter where the teacher pointed? However, if the lecture notes include a solved practice-problem, and that exact problem appears on the exam, that is at least an undesirable feature of the exam. I'm not sure I'd call it unfair, but it could skew the score distribution by a somewhat arbitrary factor of having looked at another version of the lecture notes.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it ethical for a lecturer to mis-indicate exam study material by instructing students to study material which is not on the exam?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Mis-indication of the relevant material for the exam <em>is</em> usually unethical, but the second part of your question is not a case mis-indication. It would also be unethical if the material is not part of the course' syllabus.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What are reasonable expectations regarding the relationship between what a lecturer says is assessable and exam content?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not sure exactly what you mean by \"assessable\", but clearly - the exam author can choose to assess just a part of the relevant material or skills, as long as it's a core part, and the narrowing-of-focus is not excessive.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if there are six \"equal-sized\" subjects of equal importance , and the exam has 20 independent questions, it is reasonable to expect that at least four or five of the six subjects will be touched upon and that no two subjects will take up almost all of the questions. On the other hand, if the exam has two or three longer questions with subsections, it's quite reasonable for each of these to focus on one of the six subjects.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/10 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9922",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7065/"
]
|
9,924 | <p>I was reading through a journal article by an author. Let's call him <code>Author X</code>. The author while referring to some of his own journal articles cite them as <code>Author X et al.</code>, even though <code>Author X</code> is not the first author in the cited article. Is this allowed or should it be treated as academic dishonesty?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9926,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on how literally you are using the word \"cite\". If you mean the articles are listed in the bibliography with the authors in a different order from how they were published, or the author order is changed in a formal citation such as \"(Author X et al. 1994)\" even if the bibliography is correct, then yes, it would be considered dishonesty, because it misrepresents the author listing.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it's possible to give correct formal citations to some papers and then go on to talk about \"Author X et al.\" without actually implying that this represents author order at all; instead, you are just highlighting X among the researchers who have worked on these problems. Overemphasizing a particular author's role could be offensive, but it's not necessarily dishonest in the same sense as misrepresenting the author order on a specific paper. (And it might even be appropriate in some unusual cases. For example, imagine that X has been working in this subfield for many years and has published a dozen papers, each with a different student as first author. If you need a brief way to refer to this group of researchers as a whole, then \"X et al.\" might not be crazy.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9930,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only reason I would use a formulation such as this is if the work being \"cited\" were multiple works performed by a changing group of members with a \"constant\" member who was probably the group leader. And, even in that case, I would use the formulation \"X and coworkers,\" rather than \"X et al.,\" to indicate that the it's not a \"direct\" citation, but a matter of convenience. The reason for this is that it's quite distracting to have to write: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>as discussed in A et al. [cite], B et al. [cite], C et al. [cite], A et al. #2 [cite], . . .</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>when there's a bunch of different references that are all part of the same research effort.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9932,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a hard time seing any other answer than NO, it is not ethical. If the paper referenced is published it is very clear. If one neds to reference an individual other than the first author, it is always possible to quote the name followed by the refeence for (a very hypothetical) example </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>... X made the Y analysis (Z et al., yyyy) ...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If the work is unpublished, it typicaly should not be referenced using typical references so then the \"personal communication\" or whatever for would be pertinent could be given in any way relavant to the particular case.</p>\n\n<p>The main point is of course to give credit where credit is due. so,if it is clear that someone has performed a very specific task (indicated in the paper referenced) then it might be ok to point that out but never to change the original citation which has to match the reference in the reference list, which in turn has to match the published article. So for me exceptions to the general rule are vanishingly few and I have never encountered a case where this has happened either as a reader of journals or as an editor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 27297,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is definitely misrepresenting the situation, but I am not sure it is intentional. I met several (where several means a large number) researchers who were not aware that the \"et al.\" phrase can only be used with first authors, and they used it in the meaning of \"and his/her coworkers\". If the given person's mother tongue is not English, I would say it is more of a mistake than intentional dischonesty. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9924",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
9,925 | <p>I just passed my dissertation defense. This means there is nothing left but paperwork to get my doctorate. Among the various congratulations I've received a couple have termed me: Dr. My assumption was that I'm not really a doctor until I go through the graduation ceremony, but now I'm wondering. Is there a convention as to when exactly I can call myself Doctor?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9927,
"author": "Samuel Russell",
"author_id": 4429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4429",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Writing as an Administrator: </p>\n\n<p>It is appropriate to use the title when you are a graduate, ie, <em>when the degree is conferred</em> either in notice by letter or by ceremony (which ever comes first). Prior to that your status is that of a graduand. If you've been using the work-title PhD Candidate you might consider changing to PhD Graduand to indicate this status: that you're awaiting conferral but you've met the substantive criteria for fulfillment of your degree. Additional source: <a href=\"http://www.swinburne.edu.au/studentoperations/graduation/postnominals.html\">Swinburn on Postnominals</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Congratulations by the way!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9928,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, Congratulations! Second, in about two weeks you'll forget about the whole issue with when to call yourself a doctor, simply because it will have been overcome by the events of your actual graduation. That is to say: at this point, it doesn't really matter, and no one is going to care one way or another; the gray area between when you pass your defense, and when you are officially conferred the degree is a short, finite time.</p>\n\n<p>The bigger question may be, When <strong>should</strong> you call yourself a doctor (even after graduation)? Or, <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8291/proper-way-to-address-yourself\">What is the proper way to address yourself</a>. I recommend being tactful when considering introducing yourself as \"Doctor X,\" because that can come across as pretentious, and you don't want that as a first impression.</p>\n\n<p>On a lighter note, a professor I know stopped selecting the \"Dr.\" salutation for airline flights after a flight attendant asked her to help with a medical emergency. Her reply to the request was, \"unless the medical emergency can benefit from intricate knowledge of computer architecture, I'm not the doctor you're looking for!\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14406,
"author": "Jeffrey Woo",
"author_id": 9706,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9706",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I defended my final dissertation defense two weeks ago, and my chair congratulated me and called me Dr. Woo! I always thought it was until when the title is conferred in a doctoral commencement, they can call you Dr. But on the contrary, you are called Dr. the moment you pass your dissertation defense.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14720,
"author": "user9974",
"author_id": 9974,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9974",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Quoting Yogi Berra, \"it ain't over till it's over\". Just because someone feels the degree has been earned, does not mean it will be conferred. After a successful dissertation defense, the graduand likely has some additional obligations to the institution. </p>\n\n<p>Should you state that you are 'married' just because your wedding is near? Same thing for degrees. You do not have it until you have it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15940,
"author": "Dr Urselius",
"author_id": 11013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11013",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In British universities, the relevant point is when the result of the viva (thesis defence) is published. This usually takes the form of the result being pinned on a board in a corridor somewhere in the adiministration building - I like to think of the corridor being subterranean with the sound of constant dripping water, the only visitor ever to enter being the person who pins the results up. This is normally about a week or so after the viva, if you pass without corrections, or a similar period after the examiners have said that you have corrected the thesis to their satisfaction. Then you can call yourself doctor and have all your bank cards changed! The graduation could be 6 months after you pass, and when you get your certificate the date of the award will be the publication date rather than the date of the graduation ceremony.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46565,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This depends on the country. Luckily there is a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title)\" rel=\"nofollow\">long Wikipedia page dedicated to the use of the Doctor title</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Excerpt:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In the United States, the title Doctor is commonly used professionally by those who have earned a doctorate-level degree.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So in theory you're not a doctor till you get some paper attesting you earned your doctorate-level degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46568,
"author": "henning",
"author_id": 31917,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31917",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In most German universities, you're not a doctor before you've published the dissertation, typically a book. Another year to make it exciting. But at least you can call yourself Dr. des. (doctor designatus) in the meantime.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46571,
"author": "Michael Hardy",
"author_id": 7229,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7229",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This varies by institution. I haven't heard that attending the actual graduation ceremony is obligatory anywhere, but I haven't checked around. Where I got my degree, the University of Minnesota, the rule was that the degree takes effect on the last day of the month in which all the paperwork gets completed by the candidate and the institution, and there was no obligation to attend the ceremony. But a few years earlier, it was done quarterly rather than monthly.</p>\n\n<p>As to when you can call yourself \"Doctor\", I would think it depends on the context and purpose. At a party you can tell someone you just finished your Ph.D. In more formal contexts, you can say you finished your Ph.D., to be effective April 31st.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9925",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5922/"
]
|
9,939 | <p>I'm thinking of hiring a contact/freelance editor to help me improve my paper, before I submit it. I'm looking for someone to perform proofreading and copy editing as well as broader, substantive editing services, to save me some time.</p>
<p>How should I find and select a suitable editor? Should I look specifically for a technical editor with knowledge in my general area, or will any editor be able to help? Does anyone have any recommendations for how to make this most effective?</p>
<hr>
<p>Clarification: the term "editor" is potentially confusing, because it has multiple meanings. The meaning that's likely to jump to your mind is that of an Editor at a journal, but that's not what I'm referring to. Instead, I'm referring to professionals who help with editing manuscripts. Many folks are familiar with copy editing and copy editors; that is actually just one type of editing service, and other editors may offer other editing services (e.g., developmental/comprehensive editing). I'm trying to be a bit more general and not limit this question to just copy editing -- but if you're not familiar with the editing profession, you can think of my usage of the word "editor" as referring to a "copy editor" and you won't be too far off.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9943,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is probably not going to be an answer you might like specifically but here's what we do.</p>\n\n<p>I am a doctoral student and in our department, it is pretty common for students to iterate pre-submission and post review drafts with each other (especially before the deadlines of major conferences). It works pretty well. I have also seen tenured and un-tenured faculty doing this in our department.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, my bigger recommendation is, circulate drafts among your own departmental colleagues. Surely someone will give you sanity checks on your submission material? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9944,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, to avoid any confusion, an <em>editor</em> is typically a person associated with a journal or a publisher. The purpose of an editor is not to primarily to work on improving a paper but rather to judge if a paper is up to the standards of wherever it is supposed to be published. It seems in your question, you are looking for someone to help you with the writing process. This means you might go very wrong if you contact an editor for the tasks you describe. A <em>copy editor</em> and a <em>proof reader</em> is usually also part of a publishers chain and the purpose of such persons is to make sure everything adheres to the publishers standards before going into print; they are part of the end of the publishing chain, not the beginning. So, persons professionally working under titles like these are not likely of interest to you at a manuscript stage.</p>\n\n<p>So typically, what you describe you need help with is part of what we all have to do to get published. We all should learn this process through our (primarily graduate) education but, in the end, there will always be room for further improvements for as long as we live. The first source for help should be your peers, or simply friends, in your research environment. They should have enough insight to check the science and general writing aspects. What may be more problematic if not an native English speaker, is language. </p>\n\n<p>In the case of language there are numerous specialists that can be hired to check and correct your paper if that is also what you need. Many publishers have associated such specialists and it is probably necessary to find some service that specializes in scientific writing; remember that threre is much need for other types of translations, legal, fictional literature etc., so that many specialize and may not be suitable for science writing.</p>\n\n<p>So, try your peers, you will probably have a hard time finding a person to hire to proide the services you require, with the exception of language corrections.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9945,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h3>How to find an editor</h3>\n<p>In the UK, <a href=\"http://www.sfep.org.uk/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">there's the Society for Editing Professionals (SfEP)</a> - get one of their members who meets the criteria for selecting an editor (below). <a href=\"http://www.sfep.org.uk/directory/directory.asp?zoom_query=academic%20consultancy&zoom_cat%5B%5D=0&zoom_per_page=50&zoom_and=1&zoom_sort=0\" rel=\"noreferrer\">This search for Advanced SfEP members in academic consultancy</a> should give you a lead (disclosure: the editor I work with is on that list). If you're not in the UK, your country may have a similar organisation.</p>\n<p>You could also try asking the journal publisher of your choice, as some now keep a list of recommended editors for pre-submission work.</p>\n<p>Ask your peers for recommendations too.</p>\n<p>If your employer has a department of Research Services or similar, they may be able to recommend someone.</p>\n<hr />\n<h3>How to select an editor</h3>\n<p>Here are some criteria for selecting an editor for pre-submission services, based on my own experiences of hiring technical editors over the last 7 years, and working with one as a publishing strategist too over the last year or two. These criteria are in no particular order - I recommend finding someone who meets all of them.</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p>Someone with a good track record in technical editing / publishing. Everyone's got to learn some time, and so every new editor needs their first client. But you don't want to be that guinea pig, unless saving money or helping their career along is more important to you than getting the best result. Someone with a track record will already have thir editing-macros / tools and ready, and have streamlined their workflow.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>A gamekeeper turned poacher. That is, someone who's been an editor on the post-submission side, working within journals. They'll know the rules and the etiquette from both sides. They may even have a helpful network at your target publisher.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Someone you can communicate clearly with: you'll only find this by actually doing it, at least via phone / skype / emails / tweets / whatever. Clear quick communication will save you money and give you a better result.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Someone who understands your speciality at least enough to get the gist of what's required. As a minimum, that means if you're in the humanities, you want someone from the humanities; if you're in sciences / tech / engineering / maths (STEM), you want someone with a STEM background.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>Someone fluent in your writing medium. So if you write in LaTeX, you want someone fluent in that. Ditto for MS-Word, LibreOffice, whatever.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n<p>If you find might be using a good editor a lot, it's probably worth finding someone who you could develop a longer-term professional relationship with; in that case, pick someone who'd be able to help you develop your publishing strategy over time, too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9949,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may be able to use \"any\" editor to help with simple matters of grammatical constructions and general structure and clarity. However, if you require a lot of technical jargon in your paper, you may find it more advantageous to seek out someone who works in your specialty. Otherwise, they may want to change words that have specific meanings in your field. </p>\n\n<p>If your university has a \"writing office\" or some other service that it offers to students and staff, I would begin by inquiring there. They may either have some professionals on staff who can help out, or provide you with recommendations for professionals in your area. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/11 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9939",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705/"
]
|
9,946 | <p>In trying to plan for the future and decide on preferred programs and career paths, I'm trying to figure out the seemingly Byzantine nature of how academic funding sources interact. I am particularly confused about how departmental/institutional funding effect fellowships or grant money.</p>
<p>To give a specific example to illustrate the general point that I'm asking about, consider this <a href="http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/student_info/prospective.html">FAQ for Prospective Students</a> at Carnegie Mellon, where it is stated anyone accepted into the PhD program can expect their tuition to be paid by the program/waived, and a stipend of ~$24k per year. The page also suggests applying for a fellowship like the <a href="http://www.cmu.edu/pier/program.applic/program.app.html">PIER Program</a>, which states it provides about a $30k stipend + $10k towards tuition. Another possibility would be something like the SMART Scholarship, which provides tuition assistance, stipend, and allows non-interfering fellowships.</p>
<p>This is all well and good individually, but what happens if you get department funding and a fellowship like this PIER program? Does the department keep its funding entirely and you only get the greater of the two? If your tuition is paid because of your position, does the contribution of a fellowship towards tuition just give your school some extra funding but does not effect your financial situation individually? And how does a SMART scholarship factor in?</p>
<p>Please note I'm not solely interested in this limited example (as it would be of interest to so few people), but more generally how this works in academia across programs and institutions. I'm in the US, though surely how this sort of thing works in other countries would be valuable to know anyway.</p>
<p>As a second example, consider something like a SMART scholarship and then getting a TA/RA position (which they allow) which earns tuition remittance. Does the scholarship funding source get the tuition remitted back to them, or does any part of the tuition remittance get returned to the student? </p>
<p>The bottom line is deciding the real affordability of various institutions and living areas if you expect to need significantly more than a single stipend amount (raising a family, helping kids pay for their college, etc), and of course to help to decide if seeking certain scholarships and fellowships has a sufficient potential ROI for the time required to seek them.</p>
<p>Thank you all for any help in unraveling this Gordian knot of academic finance!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9948,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, the rule of funding in graduate programs is that external money is used to replace internal money. That is, if your department gives a stipend of, say, $20,000 per year, and you win a fellowship that pays $15,000 per year, the $15,000 will be used to offset part of the $20,000. </p>\n\n<p>However, most departments that I'm aware of will also guarantee that fellowship and grant holders don't suffer relative to their peers by bringing in outside money. That is, they guarantee to make up any shortfall between the value of an external award and the department's standard. (In the sciences and engineering, I would steer clear of any department that <em>doesn't</em> have such a policy!) Many departments will even incentivize bringing in outside award fellowships by giving a premium or bonus that supplements the outside award. This might be done either by multiplying the standard award by a percentage (so, for instance your total would be 125% of the department's standard), or by giving a lump sum on top of an outside award (if it exceeds the standard, for instance). </p>\n\n<p>One thing to watch out for, however, are <strong>restrictions</strong> placed on the outside fellowship: your department may have to certify, for instance, that you will <em>not</em> be assigned teaching duties or other non-research duties during the fellowship period. If you are unable to attain such a certification, the award may not be given out. </p>\n\n<p>For the PhD phase of a program, the tuition should be covered by the department and the outside fellowship; however, in general the student does <em>not</em> receive part of the tuition payment back. In general, the tuition charge is a negotiation between the university and the fellowship program, as this is at the graduate level usually a financial transaction. Also, if the student were to receive the tuition payment which was then forwarded to the school, this could be called taxable income, which would make things very messy for everyone.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9956,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer is: <strong>it depends</strong>. It depends upon the rules of both fellowships. This will be allowable only if both fellowships allow it.</p>\n\n<p>Often external fellowships will have a \"no double-dipping rule\". For instance, NSF Fellows are not allowed to receive full funding from an alternate source: if you accept the NSF Fellowship, you can't also accept any other fellowship, including an internal fellowship. However, it may be allowable for NSF Fellows to receive a limited supplement/bonus on top of the NSF Fellowship, as a bonus and thank-you for receiving an external fellowship. Other fellowships will have other rules.</p>\n\n<p>For internal fellowships, typically the intent is that you don't receive both an internal and an external fellowship: external funding replaces internal funding.</p>\n\n<p>None of this is cut-and-dry, and there are exceptions to everything. If you have been offered two fellowships, you should contact both fellowship programs to find out about the rules they impose on fellows; that will tell you what you can and can't do.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/12 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9946",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787/"
]
|
9,957 | <p>I've been asked by a peer-reviewed journal whether I'd be willing to act as an associate editor for them. The question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/935/how-to-act-as-an-editor">How to act as an editor?</a> has some useful hints as to the tasks associated with that. But I am still wondering how much time these tasks would typically take.</p>
<p>The form where I accept to be an editor allows me to indicate <strong>how many papers per month</strong> I'd be willing to handle, and I am not sure what number to give there. My questions is how much time I should expect to take for each paper in the first or second year as editor?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9959,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would start by asking the journal rep how many manuscripts (MS) other have agreed to, or what is typical. I would think that is what the journal reps would consider \"normal\". You probably have a sense of whether they need you for something very specific, in which case a lower number might be quite acceptable. Once you know what they tyically load on their editors, you should think hard about whether you find the workload acceptable. There is usually no guarantee that the workload is evenly distributed unless all editors are able to handle pretty much all submitted MS.</p>\n\n<p>As editor you will likely need to at least browse the MS when you receive it, chase after persons willing to review, read the reviews and the MS carefully to provide feedback to the author, review the authors revisions, poissibly run the MS around again and then make a suggestion or decision on accept/reject. All this is within some time frame and chasing late reviews and authors who do not return revisions will take some time. I can also add that it will be the problematic papers that will take up most of your time, the good ones usually are not difficult to handle. You thus do not know how much time you will spend on any particular MS. A really good one could take half a day in total; a poor may take at least a day or more. So having slightly scared you with this, I will add that the work also has potentially tremendous rewards (reading brand new research and getting in contact with new persons).</p>\n\n<p>So, in short, how many MS per month is really impossible to answer, it will strongly depend on how you feel about the work and how you think you can accommodate the workload in your own time. I will leave you with this slightly unsatisfactory answer, but urge you to try to get a sense of what the journal expects and what they consider normal. You could also ask to how much time they think the workload corresponds.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 79540,
"author": "Significance",
"author_id": 48584,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48584",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This varies wildly. It depends on the journal, how many submissions it receives, whether it has a full-time Chief Editor, whether it has one or more senior Editors below the Chief, whether Associate Editors receive any payment, and whether your subdiscipline is a popular one.</p>\n\n<p>I'm an (unpaid) Associate Editor for two journals. For one, I handle about 6 manuscripts per year, for the second, I have been an Assoc Editor for 6 months so far and have yet to receive any submissions (it's a new journal so it isn't receiving many yet, especially not in my subfield). A colleague is an Assoc. Editor for another journal, for which she receives a substantial honorarium, and she handles 15-20 manuscripts each year.</p>\n\n<p>The only way to find out is to ask the Editor who has invited you to join.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9957",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890/"
]
|
9,958 | <p>Lots of professors provide their full papers published by scholarly journals on their personal website (in the university official domain). PDF files of their final papers published by different publishers are available online. However, this is against the copyright transfer agreement, and the authors have no right to distribute their papers publicly. In other words, the authors have the same right as well as others to distribute their own papers publicly, as this is the marketing right of the publisher.</p>
<p>This is clear violation of the US copyright law, like distributing cracked software programs or movies without copyright. Why the university officials do not take action over this copyright violation?</p>
<p>One may say that this is their personal website and they are legally responsible, but if someone distribute an illegal item on his/her personal website, the university will not allow this because it is part of the university domain.</p>
<p>I think universities ignore this because it seems to be <code>less criminal</code>, but why? as it is still illegal. So much the worse, it is even common in top universities where considering legal issues in different aspects is quite serious.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9960,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Are you sure those "lots of professors" you're talking about are infringing copyright holder's right? Because of the way you put it, your "question" sounded to me as if you were claiming that posting your own paper on your personal website was always copyright infringement no matter what, which is not true.</p>\n<p>For example, here's an excerpt from <a href=\"http://prl.aps.org/authors/transfer-of-copyright-agreement\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Terms and conditions associated with the American Physical Society Transfer of Copyright Agreement</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The author(s)... ...shall have the following rights (the “Author Rights”):</p>\n<p>...</p>\n<p>*3. The right to use all or part of the Article, including the APS-prepared version without revision or modification, on the author(s)’ web home page or employer’s website and to make copies of all or part of the Article, including the APS-prepared version without revision or modification, for the author(s)’ and/or the employer’s use for educational or research purposes.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>So, you can upload the final, published version of your paper published in, say, Physical Review Letters on your personal website. It's perfectly legal from any perspective.</p>\n<p>Of course, not all journals have the exact same policy, so what kind of right you have as the author can vary greatly from publisher to publisher and maybe from journal to journal as well. For instance, unlike APS, IEEE allows authors to upload the final, published versions <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/authors/open_access.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">only if they chose the open access option by paying a fee</a>. (Note that this doesn't mean IEEE forbids any online distribution of your results on your own. For example, you can still post your final accepted manuscript on your personal website <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/ieeecopyrightform.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">without paying the fee</a>. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory even encourages authors to upload your manuscript to arXiv when submitting to the journal.)</p>\n<p>I'm not familiar with other publishers' policies, but as far as I know, many mathematics journals allow authors to upload final accepted manuscripts on their personal websites.</p>\n<p>Could you substantiate your claim by providing links to the many examples you're sure are the kind of copyright infringement you're talking about? Maybe this is peculiar to my field, but I don't remember many instances of such copyright infringement and am having very hard time believing this is prevalent.</p>\n<p>Also, assuming there are actually many such ilegal cases, what makes you think that universities ignore this problem for the reason that it looks less criminal? I don't see why this explanation is the most plausible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9961,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is legal for a copyright holder to do whatever the holder wants to do with the work. The issue at hand is just who owns the copyright. Copyright can be owned by multiple parties, and some of those parties can sign away all or part of their rights. Doing so does not limit the rights of the remaining parties. The authors of an article may sign away their rights, but they generally do not have the authority to sign away any copyright that belongs to their employer. In the US, and perhaps elsewhere, work you perform for your employer is also copyright to your employer. In fact, depending on the terms of your contract, you may have already completely transferred copyright of any work you perform as part of your employment (and academic research likely applies) to your employer. Thus, publishers may be asking you to sign away something <strong>that is not yours</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>I am assuming that by top universities, you mean institutions like MIT. MIT encourages employees to fight total transfer of copyright by <a href=\"http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/scholarly/files/2010/10/mitamendment2008rev1.pdf\">amending the copyright transfer agreement</a>. The gist of the amendment is that MIT contends that the authors' copyright to the material is nonexclusive - it also belongs to MIT. Thus it cannot be completely signed away by the authors to publishing companies. MIT will extend its privileges back to the authors regardless of what the publisher intends. Thus:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The Author shall, without limitation, have the non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works including update, perform, and display publicly, the Article in electronic, digital or print form in connection with the Author’s teaching, conference presentations, lectures, other scholarly works, and for all of Author’s\n academic and professional activities.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Once the Article has been published by Publisher, the Author shall also have all the non-\n exclusive rights necessary to make, or to authorize others to make, the final published version of the Article available in digital form over the Internet, including but not limited to a website under the control of the Author or the Author’s employer or through\n any digital repository, such as MIT’s DSpace.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The Author further retains all non-exclusive rights necessary to grant to the Author’s employing institution the non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, distribute, display, publicly perform, and make copies of the work in electronic, digital or in print form in connection with teaching, digital repositories, conference presentations, lectures, other\n scholarly works, and all academic and professional activities conducted at the Author’s employing institution.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Since these rights are <em>non-exclusive</em>, they don't prevent the publisher from providing high quality print and online versions of the article to their subscribers. They also do not prevent the authors and MIT from making the article publicly available in a noncommercial way.</p>\n\n<p>While MIT has taken steps to explicitly assert its rights to do so, many institutions likely have such rights implicitly (for example, they may be stated in employee contracts) and see no need to limit or infringe upon their own rights. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9968,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Why the university officials do not take action over this copyright violation?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Because they can't.</strong> There is no way to tell whether a given electronic preprint violates the publisher's copyright-transfer agreement or not. Different publishers place different restrictions on authors' rights to redistribute their papers. Some allow posting pre-edited versions; some allow posting the official camera-ready version; some allow neither; some only require an exclusive publication license and leave copyright in the author's hands. These restrictions change over time, and may depend on whether the author paid an open access fee to the publisher. The only way to determine whether an electronic (p)reprint is posted illegally is to read the actual copyright-transfer/publication contract. But this contract is directly between the authors and the publishers; <strong>universities have <em>no</em> record of these agreements.</strong></p>\n\n<p><strong>Because they don't have to.</strong> At least within the US, university web sites generally fall under the \"safe harbor\" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which requires copyright holder to request removal of the specific items to which they claim copyright.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Because the publishers don't care.</strong> Scary legal language notwithstanding, academic publishers <strong>in many fields</strong> have <strong>zero</strong> interest in pursuing legal action against individual researchers for posting copies of their own papers in violation of copyright transfer agreements. (I have heard this said specifically about ACM, IEEE, SIAM, and Springer, by people with connections inside each of those organizations.)</p>\n\n<p><strong>Because it's not in their best interest.</strong> Both universities and the public benefit materially from the public availability of research by their faculty, students, postdocs, and other researchers. Universities have no incentive—aside from a potential legal threat that they know will never materialize—to proactively censor that research. Many universities, and more recently many <em>governments</em>, have adopted open-access policies that either encourage or require their members to amend publication agreements and make their work publicly available.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Because researchers would revolt.</strong> Even <strong>if</strong> academic publishers started sending DMCA notices to universities, and even <strong>if</strong> universities required their members to take down copies of their papers, <strong>in violation of research community expectations</strong>, the people whose research is being censored would simply take their business elsewhere. Those publishers would receive fewer papers, and those universities would receive fewer graduate school and faculty applicants.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 110382,
"author": "Ar_lav",
"author_id": 71330,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/71330",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are describing the US arrangment. In the UK though to be able to participate in the research excellence framework, thus in future funding for the university, all research must be made open access. Most if not all UK universities have their own open repositories where one will publish pre-prints if the journal or academic repository a piece of work was published in was not open access.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9958",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/406/"
]
|
9,964 | <p>When writting an article with outputs (by outputs I mean a big dataset created), how do you share them? </p>
<p>Do you ask the readers to contact the main author? Should I pput them in a university website?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9965,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Take a look at <a href=\"http://thedata.org/\">http://thedata.org/</a>, which provides free, permanent hosting of data allowing you to cite a specific iteration of a dataset in your printed work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9967,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depends. Some journals have online depositories for supplemental material such as data tables and multimedia files that are not appropriate or impossible to be included in main articles. For example, here's an excerpt from <a href=\"http://prl.aps.org/info/polprocl.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the official website of Physical Review Letters</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Supplementary material associated with an article (e.g., data tables, color-image files, multimedia files) may be submitted electronically for joint review. If the article is published this material will be deposited as Supplemental Material. Information about Supplemental Material is available via the Supplemental Material links on the Information for Authors subpage at <a href=\"http://prl.aps.org/author-information/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://prl.aps.org/author-information/</a>, in the Authors, General Information section.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've also seen many mathematics papers that cite authors' websites for computational results, and actually I've written one where I gave a link to my co-author's website for mathematical objects found by a computer search. Different journals may have different policies about how you should present and maintain such material. So you should check that on your own before submitting your work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9970,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to the answers outlined previously, I would like to add that some authors/researchers just share the datasets freely on their own websites or on their university's data repository. For example, see <a href=\"http://snap.stanford.edu/data/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a> (an example of multiple datasets shared on the author's website and referred to in subsequent papers) and <a href=\"http://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/30908?mode=full\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a> (example of dataset shared on the university e-commons repository).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9975,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field (chemistry/spectroscopy), it is so far rather uncommon to make the data directly available, so the strategy is <strong>email the author</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Here are my 2ct about the reasons for storing the data in private repositories:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I'm working in a research institute, not in a university. Public release of data here has to be decided the same way as licensing for produced software is decided. However, here this is rather easy from a legal point of view, as basically the institute owns the data. At universities this is often far more difficult as the ownership can be shared between several persons and institutions, e.g. if not all people involved in producing the data set had a working contract that includes this data collection (e.g. PhD students, guests).<br>\nThe data set is often the primary product of a researcher. Collecting samples and conducting experiments can take lots of effort (I'm talking of years). </p></li>\n<li><p>Sometimes there is sensitive (e.g. patient) data. In that case, better be on the safe side. What if later on a flaw in data anonymization is found in a publicly accessible data set?</p></li>\n<li><p>It is often difficult to share the data anyways (that is: in the way that would be most valuable for us spectroscopists) because it can be extremely hard to combine data sets acquired with different instruments.</p></li>\n<li><p>These points together usually mean that if someone is using someone else's data for new original research it is usually done in the form of a collaboration. </p></li>\n<li><p>People who do offer data for sharing often like to keep at least approximately track of how many people get their data because this number is useful for all kinds of end of the year / end of the project reports and number of people who asked about the data is a much more convincing number than download counts.</p></li>\n<li><p>All in all, we have a central server here, where raw data and source and possibly intermediate results are stored together with the final version of the publications.<br>\nThe size of such a package can easily be of a size that would mean that a few downloads would equal the monthly internet traffic of the whole institute. This is outside the supplementary material policies of the journals in which I have published so far. Some friends in another institute in the neighbourhood share their data with collaboration partners by mailing hard disks... </p></li>\n<li><p>Last but not least: there's also a question of reliability - will, say, github still be there in 20 years? Will your university web page still be there in 5 years? (OK, the corresponding author's email may vanish just as fast..., but it is usually not that difficult to track down the new email or the email of another of the co-authors).</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9977,
"author": "Brian Ballsun-Stanton",
"author_id": 6,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>It depends on your field. If you're not aware of major repositories, ask a librarian who specializes in your field.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Most fields in most countries are getting field specific repositories. For example, I'm currently working on a project building a repository for Australian Archaeological Data (<a href=\"http://www.fedarch.org/wordpress/mission/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">as well as collecting it</a>). </p>\n\n<p>We're forking our repository from <a href=\"http://www.tdar.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">tDAR</a> in the United States, and are cooperating with the <a href=\"http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Archaeology Data Service</a> in the UK. The list just goes on (<a href=\"http://opencontext.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Open Context</a>, <a href=\"http://ochre.uchicago.edu/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">OCHRE</a>, etc...).</p>\n\n<p>When trying to investigate data publishing, always try to check for other countries as well. There are <em>many</em> data publishing projects getting off the ground. It may be worthwhile engaging a research librarian for this task. </p>\n\n<p>Never try to reinvent the wheel, here. You are not experiencing a common problem, and local university library archival storage is... sometimes very much a mixed bag. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84194,
"author": "Martin Thoma",
"author_id": 4092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4092",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I like <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://zenodo.org/</a> for the following reasons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>It is free (as in beer)</li>\n<li>You can publish datasets up to 50GB</li>\n<li>Your Dataset gets a DOI</li>\n<li>The interface is clean</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I've recently published a dataset there (<a href=\"https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.08380\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">paper</a>, <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/record/259444\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">dataset</a>)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/13 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9964",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/636/"
]
|
9,978 | <p>I'm used to a system in which all important exams or pieces of coursework are marked anonymously. (That is, papers are identified by candidate number, not by name, and the examiner does not know which number corresponds to which student, at least until the marks have been submitted.) This has obvious advantages in terms of reducing bias by making sure marks are awarded based only on the quality of the work and not influenced by the name of the student. </p>
<p>I was surprised when I joined my current department to find that no attempt is made to keep work anonymous -- students hand in their final exams with their names at the top and their lecturer marks them.</p>
<p>Are there any advantages to knowing which student's paper you are marking? </p>
<p>In a system where students' names are on their papers, what do people do to prevent bias while marking?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9980,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've worked both ways and I'm unsure which way is best. There are clearly benefits to each way.</p>\n\n<p>You already understand the benefits of 'blind' marking - you are more likely to be unbiased. However, by knowing the student behind the writing there are some benefits (along with the danger of bias).</p>\n\n<p>One benefit is that you can authenticate more easily. That is, if you keep reading papers from one student and you see a sudden jump in quality (up or down) it can alert you to the possibility the work is not theirs (hired writers, etc.). Another benefit is that you can watch the development of each student over time. This is a little more difficult if you do not know while you are marking. Of course, you can go back over the papers after you submit the grades but that requires double reading (and not many want to do that for each student). There is the added benefit of seeing something which jumps out, like a special quote or comment you made in class. You can see who is getting it and who is not while you are marking. This last point is less of an issue because for stand-out cases you are more likely to read twice and it would be less work since it's a one-off event.</p>\n\n<p>For exams, there is less of a benefit to the authenticity point above (since they were in the exam room) but it does still allow you to keep an eye on students. There is the obvious administrative benefit of not having to anonymize the exams.</p>\n\n<p>As for preventing bias when papers are not anonymous, I consider each mark quite carefully and ask myself if I am being biased. When I look over all the marks and I see that I passed students I cannot stand and that I failed students I really like, then I feel fairly confident that I am keeping my bias in check.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9987,
"author": "hlovdal",
"author_id": 738,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/738",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Maybe a bit different than the types of exams that you are thinking about, but notice that for some classes like for instance art classes where the exam is based on something they have worked on for a longer time in class, or acting, it is actually impossible to have an anonymous exam (unless of course if only external persons are used to give marks).</p>\n\n<p>From my experience, I have always had anonymous markings on the paper bases exams I have taken, but for my practical acting exams the marks were set by both the teacher and one external person, so I guess that gave the best of both worlds.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10630,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When marking exams, I mark question by question, focusing on the requirements of the question. By doing this, while marking, don't take heed of whose exam I am marking - just the question.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9978",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1291/"
]
|
9,982 | <p>I have submitted a research article and later realized that it has a slight error. The paper is now under review. I have proposed a few theorems; one theorem contains a slight error that can easily be removed. The methodology is correct. Would this cause the rejection of my paper?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9983,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In order to answer this question, we need to define some magnitudes of errors.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>small</em> error does not affect the conclusions and if the manuscript was accepted as is could be fixed in the proof stage before the manuscript goes to press.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>minor</em> error does not affect the conclusions but requires too many changes to be made that it could not be fixed in the proof stage.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>substantial</em> error affects the conclusions and would require the manuscript to be re-reviewed.</p>\n\n<p>If you have found a substantial error, you need to contact the editor and request the manuscript be pulled from the review process. You do not want to waste the time of the editor and reviewers. A small error can either be ignored or reported to the editor if you think that the correction will help save the reviewers time. Minor errors are the real problem. There is no easy way to tell the editor/reviewer what is wrong, but an unclear manuscript is likely to get negative reviews. I would suggest contacting the editor and explaining and apologizing for the problem.</p>\n\n<p>The real question should be how did you find the error? What are you doing looking at a manuscript after it has been submitted?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 88264,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>What if you have submitted a[n]... article ... that has a slight error? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You're answering your own question. If it's slight, then it's slight, and should not matter much.</p>\n\n<p>Still, to be more practical: If</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The error, despite its slightness, means a significant claim is invalid, and</li>\n<li>The \"distance\" from the submitted version to the corrected version is small (e.g. replace a sentence, change a couple of numbers etc.), and</li>\n<li>You've just now submitted the paper (i.e. not weeks ago)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>then I might describe a correction, in at most one paragraph of text (hopefully much less), and would write the PC chair to ask whether that can be passed on to the reviewers.</p>\n\n<p>In all other cases I'd just wait it out and see. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Would it cause the rejection of my paper?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If the error is indeed slight, then this is very unlikely. But if your theorem says <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_versus_NP_problem\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">\"P = NP\"</a> and you typed \"=\" instead of \"!=\", then maybe it will be rejected :-)</p>\n\n<p>Seriously, though, the only cases I think this could have any weight is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Clueless reviewer who loses track of the flow of the paper because of the slight mistake, and thinks you've derailed yourself with it</li>\n<li>The slight mistake being accompanied by several other mistakes, slight or otherwise, so the submission is perceived as having numerous mistakes (regardless of their severity).</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9982",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/897/"
]
|
9,985 | <p>I have an offer from one university and still awaiting results from others.</p>
<p>How to approach other universities and ask them about my application status so that I receive my selection / rejection before the deadline of accepting the offer? Is it rude to inform the universities that I have an offer from another university and will be accepting if the results are not announced before the deadline?</p>
<p>All the universities are in the same region.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9983,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In order to answer this question, we need to define some magnitudes of errors.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>small</em> error does not affect the conclusions and if the manuscript was accepted as is could be fixed in the proof stage before the manuscript goes to press.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>minor</em> error does not affect the conclusions but requires too many changes to be made that it could not be fixed in the proof stage.</p>\n\n<p>A <em>substantial</em> error affects the conclusions and would require the manuscript to be re-reviewed.</p>\n\n<p>If you have found a substantial error, you need to contact the editor and request the manuscript be pulled from the review process. You do not want to waste the time of the editor and reviewers. A small error can either be ignored or reported to the editor if you think that the correction will help save the reviewers time. Minor errors are the real problem. There is no easy way to tell the editor/reviewer what is wrong, but an unclear manuscript is likely to get negative reviews. I would suggest contacting the editor and explaining and apologizing for the problem.</p>\n\n<p>The real question should be how did you find the error? What are you doing looking at a manuscript after it has been submitted?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 88264,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>What if you have submitted a[n]... article ... that has a slight error? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You're answering your own question. If it's slight, then it's slight, and should not matter much.</p>\n\n<p>Still, to be more practical: If</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The error, despite its slightness, means a significant claim is invalid, and</li>\n<li>The \"distance\" from the submitted version to the corrected version is small (e.g. replace a sentence, change a couple of numbers etc.), and</li>\n<li>You've just now submitted the paper (i.e. not weeks ago)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>then I might describe a correction, in at most one paragraph of text (hopefully much less), and would write the PC chair to ask whether that can be passed on to the reviewers.</p>\n\n<p>In all other cases I'd just wait it out and see. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Would it cause the rejection of my paper?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If the error is indeed slight, then this is very unlikely. But if your theorem says <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_versus_NP_problem\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">\"P = NP\"</a> and you typed \"=\" instead of \"!=\", then maybe it will be rejected :-)</p>\n\n<p>Seriously, though, the only cases I think this could have any weight is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Clueless reviewer who loses track of the flow of the paper because of the slight mistake, and thinks you've derailed yourself with it</li>\n<li>The slight mistake being accompanied by several other mistakes, slight or otherwise, so the submission is perceived as having numerous mistakes (regardless of their severity).</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/14 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9985",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7036/"
]
|
9,990 | <p>I was wondering, in the field of Computer Science, if there is a convention for acknowledging that author ordering for an academic paper is by alphabetical order, not contribution.</p>
<p>I know that in CS, alphabetical ordering, isn't all that common, however due to a lack of internal consensus, alphabetical ordering would be preferred in my situation.</p>
<p>Even in fields outside of CS, is there a convention for perhaps indicating in a footnote that the author list is alphabetical and NOT by contribution?</p>
<p>EDIT: To elaborate a bit more, after examining the question posted <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2467/what-does-first-authorship-really-mean">here</a>, our field would likely be considered 'computer systems' (rather than theoretical computer science) where it is stated that the first author is usually the team lead. However in our situation, as I said, we are having internal disagreement over which person would be considered 'leader', and I was wondering what the best way to indicate equal contribution, or perhaps use alphabetical ordering to avoid the issue all together. We weren't really expecting to submit our work for publication (we're undergraduates), so this all has been rather unexpected.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9991,
"author": "TCSGrad",
"author_id": 79,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/79",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In theoretical CS, alphabetical order <strong>is</strong> the norm - see the relevant wikipedia <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_authorship#Authorship_in_mathematics_and_theoretical_computer_science\">entry</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9998,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the subfield. <a href=\"http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~appel/papers/science.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Andrew Appel has a nice paper working this out</a> for different conferences. (<a href=\"https://mathoverflow.net/questions/19987/math-paper-authors-order\">Hat tip Dylan Thurston on MO</a>.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10022,
"author": "lafuzz",
"author_id": 7090,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7090",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We ended up making a note with the author's list that names were in alphabetical order an not indicative of contribution.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9990",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7090/"
]
|
9,993 | <p>I'm currently a post doc (in theoretical computer science) and the only teaching experience I had so far was to teach some tutorial classes for undergraduate courses and giving some "guest lectures" in some graduate classes. It seems that most positions for assistant professor require you to show some teaching experience, i.e. at least co-teaching some courses. The problem is, my current department is quite inflexible giving such assignments to postdocs. </p>
<p>On the positive side, I got some pretty good student evaluations for the tutorials I've been teaching, whether that is considered helpful without teaching a "real" course, is of course a different matter.</p>
<p>Overall, my research record (several tier-1 publications) beats my teaching record (by far). </p>
<p>Will my lack of teaching experience be a showstopper when applying for follow up positions? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9995,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>It seems that most positions for assistant professor require you to\n show some teaching experience, i.e. at least co-teaching some courses.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Really ? We all ask for teaching statements, but it's rare to see committees in <strong>research-oriented</strong> departments pay more than lip service to this at application review time. For sure, if a candidate can't deliver a good lecture, it's unlikely that their job talk will be excellent. But that's only an indirect signal. </p>\n\n<p>Now if you're talking about departments with a heaving teaching focus, then I'm sure they expect more in the way of provable teaching skills, and may even ask you to give a class lecture as part of the interview process. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9996,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'm surprised to hear you say that \"most positions for assistant professor require you to show some teaching experience, <em>i.e., at least co-teaching some courses.</em>\" If you are applying to positions in the U.S. where research will be your primary duty, your prior tutorial and guest lecture experience should be sufficient to get you past whatever minimum you need, especially if you have evaluations to back this up. Of the five colleagues of mine who received tenure-track offers at Reasearch I universities, only one of them had co-taught a class, and the others had one semester of TA experience which was, primarily, grading.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are other ideas for getting teaching experience:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Creating your own course or seminar to teach in the summer or during a January term. If you pitch it as a non-credit course, it might be easier to convince your department to let you teach it.</p></li>\n<li><p>Look for adjunct work at a local community college. You'll probably be limited to introductory courses, but this gets you experience. You may need the buy-in from your faculty boss at your current school.</p></li>\n<li><p>Talking to individual professors about helping with their course -- I find it hard to believe that everyone has all the help they might like already, and you may have more luck getting your foot into a classroom without trying to be officially assigned to it.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10000,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Chris and Suresh answer for research-intensive institutions. At a primarily undergraduate institution, teaching experience is more important, <strong>but</strong> search committees (being composed of people who went through the process before) know that most PhDs and post-docs have very little teaching experience, and most of it is the type that you have listed. What most committees are probably looking for is any evidence of teaching potential. Teaching experience does not always mean good teaching. If you do not have a lot of experience, then you should ask your references to address <em>teaching potential</em> in your letters (and you should have difference letters for primarily undergrad institutions than for research institutions).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does more teaching experience help you get a phone interview?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Probably.</strong> It's one of the few things that can make you stand out on paper.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does more teaching experience help you get an onsite interview?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>No.</strong> Once you make it to the phone interview, it's all about you, your personality, and how you might fit with the department. In addition to teaching experience/potential, you need to show that you are interested and capable of starting a research program with undergraduates, and that you have a project reasonable to the resources of the institution. If your research requires use of one of only a half-dozen specialized instruments in the world, you will likely not get called back.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does more teaching experience increase your chances of getting the job once you do the onsite interview?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>No.</strong> The onsite interview likely will include a sample lecture. If you are interviewing at a primarily undergraduate institution, and you mess up the sample lecture, you're done. The sample lecture is how your <em>teaching potential</em> is measured. I've seen people with very little experience do a fantastic job (i.e. engage the class, work examples, answer questions, etc.), and I've seen people with 5+ years of experience stare at their PowerPoint slides, read them word for word, and never look at the class.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10007,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure if it would exactly be a major hindrance, but at every school I interviewed at this past season, all of them asked me about what I've taught before and what kind of courses I would teach and develop at the school if they hired me. I believe that answers to these questions are things that you can work on even if you don't have teaching experience. It's not exactly difficult to say, \"I want to teach <em>topic 1</em> and <em>topic 2</em>\" for courses if that's what your research was in.</p>\n\n<p>That said, actually teaching a course is quite different from doing guest lectures and teaching assistantships. One professor advised me, \"You might want to teach at least one course to make sure that you can, at least, tolerate teaching before you commit to academia.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40274,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You don't have \"a lot\" of teaching experience, but what little you have is of \"good quality,\" as evidenced by your good reviews.</p>\n\n<p>Teaching is a \"secondary\" function at most universities, and will be judged on a \"pass-fail\" basis. Here, you have clearly \"passed.\" You don't need to worry about \"acing\" teaching. </p>\n\n<p>The thing that will get you considered for most positions is your research. If you had \"no\" teaching experience, that might be a handicap, but \"limited\" teaching experience probably is not. For your purposes, \"tutorials\" are as good as \"real courses.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40276,
"author": "GEdgar",
"author_id": 4484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4484",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have no experience in theoretical computer science. But in mathematics: it seems to me a postdoc position that has no real teaching responsibilities is a disservice to the candidate. For reasons such as those mentioned. They prepare that guy only for a research position with no teaching.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9993",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7092/"
]
|
9,994 | <p>I have to write a research proposal for some (post doctoral) fellowship (for Mathematics/Mathematical Physics). The authority wants me to submit a short research proposal (preferably in two pages which includes bibliography). Can someone suggest what one should consider while writing such a proposal with a length restriction? I believe, I just have to highlight the main points of the the research and give a bibliography with it, but I may be wrong. The idea in my mind contains several steps. Should I give a time frame as well to finish each one? Please help.</p>
<p>Reconsidering once again, can someone tell me how to write good research proposals in areas like pure mathematics (I mean, like Non-commutative geometry, K-Homology etc. where, unlike some other subjects, number of papers, an average researcher can produce at the time of graduation, is less). </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 9997,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm sure this depends wildly from area to area, and while I work in the theoretical side of CS, I claim no expertise on math research proposals. Having said that, there are some general guidelines. </p>\n\n<p>Since you're applying for a fellowship, it's competitive. So you have to make a few points in your proposal: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>[<strong>WHY</strong>] that the problem you're studying is interesting and worthwhile</li>\n<li>[<strong>HOW</strong>] that your line of attack (briefly sketched) is plausible</li>\n<li>[<strong>WHO</strong>] and that you have the right skills to execute this plan</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>and all of this in 2 pages ! </p>\n\n<p>Unless specifically asked for, I'd be surprised to see a timeline, especially with open-ended research. However, if the postdoc is for a fixed time, then the work being proposed should expect to produce some tangible results in that time frame if the plan works. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 9999,
"author": "antmw1361",
"author_id": 5644,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5644",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this might be useful as complementary to the questions mentioned by Suresh. I heard for the first time about <strong>Heilmeier Catechism</strong> in one of the grant writing workshops. Since then I always think to Heilmeier questions while writing a proposal or paper.</p>\n\n<p>I copy Heilmeier questions from <a href=\"https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/heilmeier-catechism\" rel=\"noreferrer\">DARPA website</a>, however another version is available from <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Heilmeier\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Wikipedia</a>.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. What is the problem? Why is it hard?</li>\n<li>How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?</li>\n<li>What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?</li>\n<li>Who cares?</li>\n<li>If you're successful, what difference will it make? What impact will success have? How will it be measured?</li>\n<li>What are the risks and the payoffs?</li>\n<li>How much will it cost?</li>\n<li>How long will it take?</li>\n<li>What are the midterm and final \"exams\" to check for success? How will progress be measured?</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9994",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4462/"
]
|
10,001 | <p>I have the following situation.</p>
<p>I have published a paper and in order to get and analyse the results for my research I created some software. I want to make my software open-source, so that anyone can do research with it and change/improve it for their purposes.</p>
<p>But I would like people to cite my paper if they are going to publish anything using my software. So if someone is just using it for fun, I do not care, but if someone modified it and used his modified version to collect/analyse the results, which he publishes in any paper, I want him to cite the paper I have wrote.</p>
<p>Is there an appropriate software license or other means for this purpose?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10002,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You could try adapting one of the existing open source licences, with help from your university's Legal IP team. <strong>But</strong> a software licence is the wrong tool for the job.</p>\n\n<p>One way to do it, is to write a <strong>methodology</strong> paper. That's the paper that then gets cited by anyone using your code, or an adapted version of your code, to produce material for subsequent papers.</p>\n\n<p>As the paper you published was just about the results you got from the software, I've got some bad news and some good news for you.</p>\n\n<p>The bad news is that you've got to write another paper.</p>\n\n<p>The good news is that this new paper will use work that you've already done. It will be a methodology paper where you describe the software in detail, providing the source as supplementary information. And that's what will get cited, by those who use your software.</p>\n\n<p>You can also include something such as a bibtex file in with the distribution of your software, to make citation easier: <strong>the more you can do to reduce hurdles to citation, the more chance you've got of getting those citations</strong>. Once you've got the above paper written, the bibtex file should describe that paper. And before then, you can do <a href=\"http://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html#Citing-R\">what the R-project does</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>To cite R in publications, use</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<pre><code> @Manual{,\n title = {R: A Language and Environment for Statistical\n Computing},\n author = {{R Core Team}},\n organization = {R Foundation for Statistical Computing},\n address = {Vienna, Austria},\n year = 2013,\n url = {http://www.R-project.org}\n }\n</code></pre>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Citation strings (or BibTeX entries) for R and R packages can also be obtained by citation(). </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10017,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You cannot guarantee that people will cite the paper. All you can do is make it easier for them.</p>\n\n<p>A rather obvious idea: why not write on the software's web page something like</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you use or adapt this software in your research could you please cite it as follows: <strong>[details of citation, such as bibtex]</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Include this message also in the README file, the user manual and so forth.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10001",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7096/"
]
|
10,003 | <p>I have a manuscript that is under review in a major journal which is a main result out of a few recent years of my research. When applying for faculty positions, I would like to send the draft as a part of my writing sample. But since the material is not yet published, I am not sure if it is a good idea.</p>
<p>What are the foreseeable disadvantages of sending an article in review to the faculty search committee?</p>
<p>My area is neuroscience / biomedical engineering.</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong>: The paper got into a high-profile journal, and I got a job at a different place which did not require a writing sample.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10004,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First, From a legal point of view I do not think you will have any problems sending out a pre-review version of your manuscript since your have the intellectual rights to your own work. Usually most publishers' copyrights start when they have processed the material in some way but even then, if you are not using the material for any commercial purpose or for being reproduced publically, I cannot see any problem. </p>\n\n<p>Then, I cannot really see any problems sending a pre-reveiw manuscript to a search committee unless it is of poor quality. Sending your work allows people to see what you are doing and a manuscript (in very good shape) will allow people to see your latest work in detail. Naturally a manuscript will not carry as much merit as a published paper since it has not been through peer review. But, if it is interesting, well written and in impeccable order you will be showing your skills in some way. </p>\n\n<p>So it could provide a slight positive in a search situation if good but be very negative if bad and your judgement is what will be at stake.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10006,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although your question is specifically for faculty job applications, I would like to generalize and add to Peter's answer. </p>\n\n<p>For doctoral program admissions, I often sent out an article under review whenever asked for a writing sample. Not all programs ask for this ; for some its optional and for some its not but I sent them anyway. Usually, when I was interviewed for the position after having made it through some of the initial cut-offs, my writing sample was alluded to and often, questions were centered around it.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, I would like to say that sending it in anyway will not detract from your application but might even add to it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10196,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add to the existing answers, I'd note that in some fields, the review process can be very long. If you stick only to papers that have been published, you'll be giving the committee a picture of your research that may be years out of date. Committees will understand this; sometimes they <em>explicitly</em> ask for preprints.</p>\n\n<p>If you're confident in the quality of the article, and have a reasonable expectation of eventually getting it published, send it along. Conversely, if you don't feel the article represents your best work, don't send it, even if it has been published already!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10003",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/386/"
]
|
10,008 | <p>Right now I'm using Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect, etc. to find papers to read and get some metadata. My university has a subscription, so this is nice. As far as I know these databases simply have a selection of journals, download all of the articles from those journals, and display them for me, updating every time the journal publishes. My question is: what percentage of journals are actually represented here? Some people say there are between 10,000,000 and 100,000,000 published academic documents in the sciences. Web of Science has about 50,000,000, and it's not clear how many ScienceDirect has.</p>
<p>A good comparison would be: if you take everything that Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and Nature have, combined, and subtract everything that Web of Knowledge has, how many things are left?</p>
<p>Another way to phrase it: Of the major publishers (like the ones I listed above), how many are represented in these databases?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10038,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not very. For example, Elsevier is a large publisher, but only still publishes a fraction of the total number of journals and articles in the world. By my count, they publish at least <a href=\"http://www.elsevier.com/journals/title/a\" rel=\"nofollow\">2,797</a> journals. They also market <a href=\"http://www.elsevier.com/electronic-products/scopus\" rel=\"nofollow\">Scopus</a> as</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed\n literature and quality web sources</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>By my count again, and you may need a subscription to access this information, there are <a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=BrowseListURL&_type=title&_title=A&md5=fcab2d7552e90ca57f4fa29a391c7e48&applyBrowseFilters=Apply\" rel=\"nofollow\">3230</a> journals indexed by Scopus. So unless Elsevier publishes 87% of all the journals in the world, Scopus is missing some. In fact we know they are since <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/num_titles.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pubmed</a> indexes 5,064 journals.</p>\n\n<p>That said, most \"reputable\" publishers spend the money and/or produce quality products that they get included in the major indices.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10041,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The precise extent of scholarly publishing is unknown, difficult to estimate, and the subject of some debate. That said, there is lots of evidence that <a href=\"http://wokinfo.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Web of Knowledge</a> and <a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">ScienceDirect</a> are likely only the tip of the iceberg.</p>\n\n<p>That is sort of the takeaway from an article I found in from <a href=\"http://lj.libraryjournal.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Library Journal</a> on <a href=\"http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2004/02/technology/online-databases-online-scholarly-journals-how-many/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Online Databases-Online Scholarly Journals: How Many?</a> (Google WebCache because the LJ copy seems gone) by Carol Tenopir and published in February 2004.</p>\n\n<p>Apparently, one of the best sources online is <a href=\"https://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ulrichsweb</a> which is a serials tracking website that is part of <a href=\"http://proquest.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">ProQuest</a>. I just did a search for \"Academic / Scholarly\" and \"Journal\" and came up with more than 107,000 different results.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14476,
"author": "ajm475du",
"author_id": 8343,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8343",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An answer for you depends on <em>your</em> purposes and standards.</p>\n\n<p>If you're hoping to rule out the possibility that any published prior art is relevant to a patent claim, no database will be anywhere near the degree of completeness that you would prefer.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, every database is complete for some purpose. For example, my understanding is that Web of Knowledge has at least a mere mention (a journal title, volume number, and page number) for every item that has been cited in the core literature since the end of the nineteenth century.</p>\n\n<p>That presumes a definition of core literature that is decided by Thomson Reuters editors in the form of the product's \"master journal list\" on the basis of Bradford's law. Those seeking an introduction to Bradford's law could start with Sturgeon's law, which apologized for the low quality of much science fiction by observing that \"90% of everything is crap.\" Bradford's law is the more specific, better studied converse in regard to scientific journals, that if we can examine a small but highly valuable fraction of them all, then for many purposes we can ignore the rest.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 14477,
"author": "non-numeric_argument",
"author_id": 8067,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8067",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Previous research has shown strong evidence that there is a <strong>language bias</strong> in academic databases in the social sciences and humanities[1]. However, evidence for the sciences is mixed: Some cannot find an US bias using the Science Citation Index (SCI)[2], others actually identify also a strong language bias in the SCI[3]. </p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, you have to consider differences in <strong>publication cultures</strong> between disciplines: The humanities and social sciences still approve <em>monographs</em> and <em>edited books</em> as publications which are seldom listed in theses databases.[4]</p>\n\n<p><sub> <strong>References:</strong><br>\n[1] Bookstein, A./Yitzhaki, M. (1999): Own-language preference: A new measure of “relative language self-citation”, in: Scientometrics, 46 (2), 337-348.<br>\nHicks, D. (1999): The difficulty of achieving full coverage of international social science literature and the bibliometric consequences, in: Scientometrics (1999), 44 (2), 193-215.<br>\nHicks, D./Wang, J. (2011): Coverage and overlap of the new social sciences and humanities journal lists, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62 (2), 284–294<br>\nYitzhaki, M. (1998): The ‘language preference’ in sociology: Measures of ‘language self-citation’, ‘relative own-language preference indicator’, and ‘mutual use of languages’, in: Scientometrics, 41 (1-2), 243-254.<br>\n[2] Van Leeuwen, T. N. et al. (2001): Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequencesfor international comparisons of national research performance, in: Scientometrics, 51 (1), 335-346.<br>\n[3] Luwel, M. (1999): Is the science citation index US-biased? in: Scientometrics, 46 (3), 549-562.<br>\nKing, D. A. (2004): The scientific impact of nations, in: Nature, 430, 311-316.<br>\n[4] Nederhof, A. J. (2006): Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the Social Sciences and the Humanities: A Review, in: Scientometrics, 66 (1), 81-100.<br>\n </sub></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/15 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10008",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7099/"
]
|
10,014 | <p><a href="http://www.genealogy.ams.org/">Mathematics Genealogy project</a> has existed for many years. It currently has 170,235 records as of 15 May, 2013. I understand there are many computer scientists in that database since computer science is generally considered a branch of mathematics.</p>
<p>I have found several other similar efforts. For example, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_genealogy_of_theoretical_physicists">Academic genealogy of theoretical physicists</a> Wiki page consists of about 100 theoretical physicists. I cannot find Physics Genealogy project in general. A <a href="http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/Web_Genealogy/">Chemical Genealogy Database</a> does not appear to have built a very large database.</p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Are there genealogy project for other disciplines?</li>
<li>Is there a general academic genealogy project somewhere? If yes, where? If not, are there efforts to construct it?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10039,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe <a href=\"http://academictree.org/\">Academic Tree</a> qualifies as a general academic genealogy project. It includes the fields of:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Neuroscience, Experimental Psychology, Linguisitcs, Primatology, History,\n Philosophy, Music, Law, Theology, Economics, Advertising, Ingestive Behavior,\n Physics, Chemistry, Oceanography, Drosophila Genetics,\n Fission, Yeast Genetics, Mycology and Fungal Genetics, Evolutionary\n Biology, Marine Ecology, Terrestrial Ecology, Developmental Biology, Cell\n Biology, Telomere and Telomerase, Infectious Disease, Neuropathology,\n Computational Biology, Science and Techology Studies, Biomechanics</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think the <a href=\"http://neurotree.org/neurotree/\">neurotree</a> subtree is the largest of the areas covered with 40,000 people. It allows me to trace my academic linage back to Jesus Christ (thanks to the philosophy tree) in a mere 88 steps.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 13724,
"author": "Joanna Bryson",
"author_id": 384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There used to be a computer science offshoot of the mathematics project, but it's disappeared! I was on both, but only put my PhD students on the CS one. It was a pain. There may have been issues e.g. about multiple supervisor, disputed supervision, policing? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55025,
"author": "Jakob",
"author_id": 21066,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21066",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wikidata collects <a href=\"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P184\" rel=\"nofollow\">doctoral advisor relationships</a> between reseachers (among many other kinds of relationships). By now there are 900 such relationships<sup>1</sup> but I would not be suprised if people start to import data from other academic genealogy projects.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>1</sup><a href=\"https://query.wikidata.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Try SPARQL query</a> <code>SELECT (COUNT(*) AS ?c) { ?s p:P184 ?o }</code> to get current numbers. Anyone more familiar with SPARQL can surely query a distribution among academic disciplines. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10014",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546/"
]
|
10,018 | <p>I'm currently writing my master thesis and would like an opinion on whether or not to use a cover illustration on the thesis.</p>
<p>I've noticed many students around me do not take the time to make the cover page attractive (e.g. a simple title is all). </p>
<p>What is the "standard" convention regarding the cover page of a master thesis?</p>
<p>Note that I have no restrictions from my university.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10019,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's your thesis, and if your committee approves it with beautiful cover art, then you're all set.</p>\n\n<p>For professional theses, the standard is a plain cover with pertinent details about the thesis. Departments or universities generally have a template document or provide specific guidance, but if that isn't true for your school, then I wouldn't worry about it.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: I would discuss it with your advisor, and other committee members. If you want it to be a surprise to them (not advisable), then by all means give it a shot.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10020,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The primary reason for not having a \"pretty cover\" is simple: practicality.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that many schools will have \"official\" copies of the thesis bound; for archival purposes, and to keep production costs down, the covers don't typically have illustrations, but are usually monochromatic standard bindings. The cover art would therefore not be obvious to anybody looking at the thesis—and the low traffic for theses means it's usually not worth the effort to produce it.</p>\n\n<p>However, as Chris points out, if your school <em>doesn't</em> have a policy, you can do what you'd like. On the other hand, I'd focus on the quality of the material presented in the thesis before worrying about the cover art!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10035,
"author": "Peter Bloem",
"author_id": 6936,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6936",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd like to provide a counter to the \"content is what matters\" advice. Of course the content is what it's all about, but I think that a great many people in academia underestimate the importance of presentation. </p>\n\n<p>Look at the way people decide whether or not to read a paper. They look at the title. If that suggests that it's interesting to them, they read the abstract. If that's interesting enough they read the introduction and maybe the conclusion, and so on. That means that of the 4000 or so words in the paper, the five that make up the title are the most important. You're fully justified in spending as much time on the title as on 1000 words of the description of your method. The presentation of your paper is not just gloss, it determines the size of your audience. If your presentation is bad, your results have to be really exceptional to find even a small readership.</p>\n\n<p>This translates directly to your Master's thesis. A nice cover shows that you care. What's more, the largest group of people that will come into contact with it, will only pick it up, look at it and put it back down again, without even really reading the title. Your cover illustration is the only opportunity you have of communicating with them and enticing them to read the title properly. From that, the summary, and from that the first paragraph of your introduction and so on.</p>\n\n<p>Don't mistake presentation for gloss. Academia is all about communication, and communication is worrying about the details.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10043,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For many students, there are strict guidelines that describe how a thesis can be formatted. If you're not restricted by guidelines, and if you have the time and inclination to have your thesis be a beautiful object, there's no reason not to.</p>\n\n<p>Although the content matters much more than any amount of fancy layout, great presentation can make a difference. As in food, the first bite is always with the eye.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10018",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6332/"
]
|
10,023 | <p>I'll be starting my PhD in the next fall. I already looked over the internet for advice for a beginner, even read two books on the subjects. Still, there is one point I haven't seen discussed as I wanted, it's the time and the way the student should be investing in catching up on his field and his specific topic, I'm speaking about the bibliographic part. For sure a student needs a lot of (continuous) input, but at the end he'll be solely judged on his output. From my previous research project, I'm not really confident in my way of balancing between going through articles/textbook material and trying to solve my own problematics. To be honest, it sometimes feels like a sneaky way of procrastinating: I'd tell myself that I'm still not ready to tackle my problem and that I need to make a little "detour" by existing works; and when it's done I don't feel more at ease to answer my questions. Or is it a normal aspect of research?</p>
<p>In my specific case, I'll be working on a quite new subject (string theory) when I only had advanced lecture of quantum field theory and general relativity; so I'm thinking about going through the canonical textbook on the subject during the summer, do most of the exercises and derivations in there (which already represents hundreds of hours invested), maybe revising some mathematical tools I need to be really familiar with. Once I'll have a general idea of the topic I'll jump to the main articles in relation to my thesis. I also know that I will be using numerical tools (Monte Carlo methods) and will need to get conformable with that. So far I only have a superficial knowledge and use of the tool.
Does it seem like a good use of my time? I already know that time and willpower are limited resources in grad school and I really don't want my desire to do well to burn me out from the beginning.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10025,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>That you are thinking about these matters is a very good start. You need to remember that exactly what you need to know and to read up on will only be known in a genral sense. your PhD project theme will provide this general direction. What details you need to pick up in terms of numerical methods etc. will to a lrger extent develop as your research develops. So you do not need to worry about what you could possibly have use for. You probably know key areas relavant to the topic.</p>\n\n<p>So, you need to lay a broad foundation and read up on the topic and supporting areas (fields). If there are key methods or equivalent you can start looking at that as well. However,I ould expect your advisor will also provide guidance in setting up direction through course work and suggesting reading. I would personally not expect a student to have a complete background by the time he or she starts. </p>\n\n<p>So, as I state earlier, that you are thinking about this is very good but you should not worry too much because you will not know the details until you have the PhD project clearly defined and started woring with your future advisor. So any knowledge you can gain will be a bonus but you are not expected to finish your PhD until you have completed your PhD studies.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10026,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>To be honest, it sometimes feels like a sneaky way of procrastinating:\n I'd tell myself that I'm still not ready to tackle my problem and that\n I need to make a little \"detour\" by existing works; and when it's done\n I don't feel more at ease to answer my questions. Or is it a normal\n aspect of research?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is probably the most common way that new grad students attempt (consciously or otherwise) to avoid doing research :)</p>\n\n<p>You have to remember that prior knowledge is an ocean you're swimming in, not a cup that you have to finish drinking. There's literally no way to \"read all the prior literature\": there's always something more. </p>\n\n<p>General reading is perfectly fine, but when you have a problem to work on, it's best to break down bibliographic research into:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>what does prior work say about your problem and what's the key open question (and this is something your advisor can help you with)</li>\n<li>Once you start thinking about a specific problem and are trying to apply some specific tools, is there material to help you understand those tools better ? </li>\n<li>When you're writing up, what <strong>related</strong> (not <strong>prior</strong>) work should you be aware of ? </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>At each stage, read only as much as you absolutely need to, in order to avoid going down rabbit holes. And remember, as a new Ph.D student, it's not a terrible thing if you reinvent something that someone discovered before, and only learn of this after the fact. You just don't that happening at your dissertation defense :)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/16 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10023",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7108/"
]
|
10,029 | <p>What options are there, and how do they compare against each other, for digitally publishing (for example, a series of short stories)?</p>
<p>In addition to the issue of format management (producing whatever electronic file formats are appropriate) any information about distribution would also be welcomed.</p>
<p>I am a teacher in a graduate-level literature program and am looking for solutions I can pass on to my students, so this is not just for my own use.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10032,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The good news is that once you've got a text in one eBook format, it is relatively painless to publish it in additional formats (PDF being the notable exception, though it is generally easy to get a document into PDF format--you can do a decent job with a converter such as Calibre--see below--but translating the format properly is sometimes tricky).</p>\n\n<p>At the very least, you should publish in PDF format. While not a particularly good format for reading on portable devices, it is a universal format that <em>can</em> be read on any any modern eReader, and, of course, on a PC screen.</p>\n\n<p>I would also suggest formatting the book in the open <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB\" rel=\"nofollow\">EPUB</a> format, and in a Kindle format (either <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle_Format_8#File_formats\" rel=\"nofollow\">.MOBI, AZW, or .KF8</a>). I would then link to all of the formats on your web page, possibly with instructions on how to get the volume onto a particular device. You could also consider <a href=\"https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin/187-5862717-6823129\" rel=\"nofollow\">self-publishing the volume to the Kindle store</a>, but bear in mind that there may be restrictions, and I believe you will be forced to charge for the volume. The iTunes Store is another possibility, but comes with its own restrictions and formatting / conversion guidelines.</p>\n\n<p>You should definiltely download the fine E-Book manager, <a href=\"http://calibre-ebook.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Calibre</a>, which can convert between formats and is free.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, there isn't one true standard for eBook formats yet, but it is not difficult having a few different formats on your web page.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10180,
"author": "techmsi",
"author_id": 7198,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7198",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would suggest using iBook Author (free).</p>\n<h2>Drawbacks</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The drawback is that e-books created with this software are only\nviewable as PDF or on an iPad.</li>\n<li>As someone who has used InDesign for\npage layout projects, I find the layout capabilities are limited.</li>\n<li>As @Chris Gregg points out, this application is only available for <strong>Mac running Lion</strong> or higher.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Advantage</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The advantage is that this format allows teachers to add chapter/unit review quizzes, embedding of 3D objects, image galleries,presentations, & even html.</li>\n</ul>\n<p><em>Feel free to contact me if you need more information about this.</em></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/17 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10029",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4475/"
]
|
10,045 | <p>When writing a paper, I usually face the problem of deciding whether a sentence is cite-able or not. Let's say I am writing about optimization of an algorithm. And I used Java to implement it. So, in the introduction, I would say something like "Java is a class based object oriented language..." This information is available in many java books and online tutorials. Does the ubiquity of the sentence make it un-citeable? Or do I cite that fact. I have read many prominent papers that simply use that sentence without quoting a source. </p>
<p>Or do we only cite numerical facts that go like "Java is x times slower/faster than c++". I once read an article that says "when writing a paper, you should cite every sentence that you happen to read some where." But this is unrealistic; and we might have almost as many citations as the number of sentences in the paper. </p>
<p>Is there any rule that dictates on what is quotable or not?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10046,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, there are rules on what requires citation.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, publicly-known information (widely known, common knowledge, etc.) does not need to be cited. Your sentence about Java being class-based would fall under this category.</p>\n\n<p>Information which is based on someone else's work (analysis, research, pictures, etc.), whether quoted or paraphrased, should always be cited. Your sentence about Java being x time slower/faster than C++ would fall under this category.</p>\n\n<p>If you are unsure, cite it to be safe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10047,
"author": "J..y B..y",
"author_id": 1318,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1318",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends of the audience at which is aimed the article.</p>\n\n<p>In theory, in a scientific document you must explicitly list the basis for all your assumptions, and defend them. If the correctness of the thesis described in your article depends on fact $A$, then you either prove $A$ or give a reference to someone who proved $A$. In practice scientific reports skip some references assumed to be common (e.g. definition and properties of the logarithm): it used to be important to save printing space (not so true now with electronic proceedings), it stays important to keep the article uncluttered. Given the reasons for skipping some references, there cannot be any absolute rule about which ones to skip: the decision depends of the audience you are aiming at, and in particular of your evaluation of the knowledge in common between you and them: put references when they are necessary <em>to your audience</em> (and do not clutter your article when they are not).</p>\n\n<p>For instance, your sentence about Java being class-based would be unwelcome (in addition of unnecessary) in an article aimed at researchers in computer science, because this fact is supposed to be well known (and agreed upon). But it might be welcome in an article aimed at students (in computer science or not), or researchers in other fields than computer science (e.g. biologists). On the other hand, the fact that Java is slower than C++ might evolve in time (e.g. java compilers getting better), or be argued against (different type of applications): you should always give a reference for this kind of statement if you did not argue or prove it yourself.</p>\n\n<p>Hope it helps!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10053,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These are not rules but the way I think about it:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>if the information is basic introductory text book material, you may not need to cite it.</p></li>\n<li><p>If the information can be found in advanced text books (not intro-level), cite a book that you are familiar with and that supports that statement.</p></li>\n<li><p>If the informaiton is only found in research papers obviously those are what you reference.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If yu are uncertain, you simply quote a higher level: uncertain if it goes into (1.) then do (2.) etc. It is worse to miss referencing than providing a citation/reference \"too much\". In the worst case someone might suggest removing the refence/citation.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10045",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6333/"
]
|
10,049 | <p>An Editor in Chief of a journal ought to be proud of their journal and consider it a good place to publish their own work, so not publishing in the journal that they edit suggests a lack of confidence in the journal. On the other hand, is publishing regularly in your own journal ethical? Can we reasonably expect the Editor in Chief's papers to be handled with the same rigour as for anybody else? Wouldn't there be implicit pressure on the handling editor to accept a paper that might be rejected had it come from an external author? It seems to me that it would be better to be seen to be fair by publishing elsewhere (or at least only publishing occasionally in one's own journal), but I was wondering what the balance of opinion was on this.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10050,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are of course no laws against it but as Editor-in-Chief (EiC) myself I would never do it, or would at least think twice about doing it, particularly as first author. My reasoning behind this is that it could reflect badly on me, but particularly on the journal, and send signals that all is not necessarily well. I have to point out that in my case we are two and we have an agreement that we do not touch manuscripts from our own spheres of influence (basically departments). Nevertheless, what actually happens within a journal and how people perceive it are two different things and it is my opinion that as EiC one must safeguard the journal's reputation as objective. So if the community expresses some form of trust in the editor for publishing in their own journal, this could be perfectly fine.</p>\n<p>So when an EiC publishes in "their" journal it is not wrong but potentially "dangerous" and can be perceived as poor judgement. They would jeopardize the journals reputation. So even if there are no legal problems, there are ethical problems. I doubt anyone would have second thoughts about the quality of a journal if the editor does not publish there: after all, if the editor has a solid reputation, associating with a bad journal would jeopardize that.</p>\n<p>Can I see any exceptions? Well, co-authorship may be less serious but in the end even that should be avoided. I also think that if an editor publishes a single paper in a thematic issue of the journal (where someone else has suggested a theme) and this is the only paper by that editor in the journal for years, I would not think much about it. Obviously frequency of publications is also a factor.</p>\n<p>So, in conclusion, I consider it unwise under most circumstances.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10054,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There have been only a few times in my career when I've run across an EIC who regularly published in his/her own journal, and in each case it looked like something was seriously wrong.</p>\n\n<p>As a first constraint, it's absolutely unethical for editors to play any role whatsoever in evaluating their own papers. I.e., they should not suggest referees, solicit or have access to referee reports, participate in the decision making, or even discuss the decision with other editors. Furthermore, this lack of involvement should be made clear to the referees when the reports are solicited and to the public (for example, by including a paragraph in the journal's web site about how editorial submissions are handled).</p>\n\n<p>Ideally, there should be strong safeguards. For example, one journal I'm associated with takes the following approach. If the editor in chief submits a paper, the journal's sponsoring organization appoints a few associate editors to evaluate the submission anonymously and make individual decisions. If any one of them recommends rejection, then the paper is rejected and the rest of the editorial board never finds out who rejected it. This avoids the danger of feeling pressure from the EIC, but it leaves open the possibility of favoritism or bias, perhaps even subconsciously.</p>\n\n<p>Because it's difficult to avoid bias and impossible to avoid the appearance of bias, editors should rarely submit papers to their own journals, and EICs almost never. Aside from special cases such as issues in honor of someone, the only time I think it really looks good for an EIC to submit a paper is if the paper is amazing, far above the usual level of the journal, and it's clear that the EIC is trying to raise the journal's profile by sending a paper there that could easily have been published somewhere more prestigious. This is risky: it can come across as condescending or self-aggrandizing, it looks strange if done more than very rarely, and others may disagree on how amazing the paper is. However, if the paper is indeed great then it at least avoids controversy over whether acceptance was appropriate. The really dangerous scenario is borderline-appropriate papers, where reasonable people could disagree about acceptance and it's natural to wonder whether favoritism might have tipped the balance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10075,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to chime in with a slightly dissenting answer - I think it's perfectly acceptable for an EiC to publish in their own journal, given some caveats.</p>\n\n<p>I think they should be very careful in doing so, and the journal should have a mechanism for handling their submissions that doesn't involve their input in any way - one of the other answers mentions a panel of reviewers to evaluate whether or not the paper gets over the \"editorial interest\" hurdle, or possibly purely anonymous review. The reasons I think that being the EiC alone is not cause to not submit to your own journals are as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"Publish elsewhere\" doesn't necessarily work - first, you've cut the number of journals by one, and for some specialty fields, that's a rather big deal. Additionally, the EiC of a journal is likely working in a field that is particular suited to that journal - \"publish elsewhere\" forces scholarship into potentially awkward fitting publications for the sake of avoiding the appearance of impropriety. I'd much rather any such risk be addressed head on.</li>\n<li>What about collaborators? For fields where papers often have one or two authors, perhaps this is more clear, but my field routinely has papers with a great many more authors than that. Is any study that recruits one of the finest minds in their field (presumably) then inevitably doomed not to be able to publish in the journal that might fit their work best? What about their graduate students?</li>\n<li>Many journals are society journals - you are effectively denying a scholarly society the easiest access to the work of one of their most prominent members (again, presumably). Yes, it could get published elsewhere. But there's no promise I <em>read</em> elsewhere.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In essence, drawing a hard line and saying \"No\" is counterproductive - I'd rather have a journal come out with a clear and open policy that says \"This is how we handle submissions from our editors\" - all of them, than to issue blanket bans.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10092,
"author": "JRN",
"author_id": 64,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>According to page 5 of <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/files/short%20guide%20to%20ethical%20editing%20for%20new%20editors.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">A Short Guide to Ethical Editing by New Editors</a> by the Committee on Publication Ethics,</p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Can editors publish in their own journal?</h2>\n<p>Editors should not be denied the ability to publish in their own journal, but they must not exploit their position. The journal must have a procedure for handling submissions from the editor or members of the editorial board that ensures that peer review is handled independently of the author/editor. This process should be detailed once the paper is published (see: <a href=\"http://www.wame.org/wame-listserve-discussions/should-editors-publish-in-their-own-journal\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.wame.org/wame-listserve-discussions/should-editors-publish-in-their-own-journal</a>)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>That said, in my experience, people tend to look down on editors who publish in their own journals. The implication is that they published their papers in their journals because other journals wouldn't publish them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23687,
"author": "user17669",
"author_id": 17669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17669",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The conflict of interest between editor in chief and intelectual ( author ) in publish papers in self journals is evident. But, it is aggravated with share of the members of editorial board and editor in chief participate as authors in the same journals because it may be to establish an enormous bias in the choice of the papers with impairment of the others authors. Surely, the peer review of the papers of these authors might have be difficulties in withhold the paper.Though, this behaviour isn`t considered illegal, it is ethically abominable, and detrimental for the concept of the journal.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10049",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2827/"
]
|
10,055 | <p>I made a little statistics about my review decisions. I found out that I reject way more papers than I accept. I honestly try to accept the reviewed papers, I read them carefully and my review are always long. But most papers I review are low quality (in my opinion). Some colleagues told me that I should be more gentle in my review, as this will affect my profile somehow (negatively of course). Is that true ? </p>
<p>Also: should I adapt the toughness of my review to the quality of the journal/conference I am reviewing for? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10056,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many more papers are submitted than accepted at top venues/journals, so statistically speaking, you should reject more than you accept.</p>\n\n<p>Harsh reviews are ultimately good for science, so long as they filter the crap and help improve papers with potential but are not there yet. If your review is able to help the PC/editors decide whether or not to accept the paper and help the authors improve their paper, then you are doing your job correctly. If you are harsh but unhelpful, then you need to change your approach.</p>\n\n<p>I think your reviews can change a bit depending on the venue. If you are reviewing for a workshop, your goal would be to help choose papers that are likely to generate interesting discussion. This is especially the case if there is no associated official publication. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10057,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is of course impossible to say if you are overly critical. But, some statistics might help. With prestigious journals the rejection rate might be 90% (very high in any case). I am Editor in Chief of a smaller journal and we have a steady 50% rejection rate. The extremely high rejection rates in some journals come from limited space, in my case we simply impose strict guidelines and the rejections come from reviewers assigned by associate editors. So the rate in our case is fairly certainly upheld by what the community sees as acceptable or not.</p>\n\n<p>So if you end up finding you reject large numbers (at least around 50%) I would not say that it is out of the ordinary. I do not of course know what typical rejection rates are in the journals for which you do reviews, so the number may of course vary.</p>\n\n<p>So getting to the question of how this affects you. I very much doubt that you get a negative effect by being a fair reviewer. If you do many reviewes over time and you are not considered fair, I am sure you would notice the numbers of appointments dropping. If you get re-invited by the same journals/editors, I think they appreciate your work and I would take that as a sign that you do fine.</p>\n\n<p>Should you try to adapt to the journal? In general, no. You should apply your knowledge and understanding to provide a critical review of the submitted work. An editor should take your comments along with comments from one or more additional reviewers and provide a recommendation to the authors. You are not solely responsible in this process! If the journal is such that it publishes material with which you are familiar but where its audience is in a different field, you may consider handling the paper differently, but obviously not ignoring errors and misconceptions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10058,
"author": "Dikran Marsupial",
"author_id": 2827,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2827",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some journals allow you to see the reviews provided by the other reviewers of the paper, which is often a good way of monitoring your own performance as a reviewer. If you are harsh to an unreasonable degree, I suspect that editors will stop sending you papers to review, so if they are still sending them, that is an indication of sorts that there is not a fundamental problem.</p>\n\n<p>As long as you are happy that you are applying a standard that you feel is reasonable, I'd stick with it. You probably review too few papers to know whether you are being unduly harsh or that you have just been sent a series of bad papers by random chance.</p>\n\n<p>When I get a rejection, I am generally fine provided that the reviewer does a good job of explaining what they (incorrectly ;o) feel the problem is and what needs to be done to the paper for them to be happy with it, in sufficient detail for me to be able to do so if it is actually possible. The problem I have with negative reviews is when they make vague criticisms that can't be addressed as there is not enough information to actually act on, or where reviewers raise additional issues on the second review to reject your paper that could have been raised on the first review. So if your reviews are detailed and constructive, they are probably good reviews.</p>\n\n<p>At the end of the day, it is ultimately in the author's best interests not to publish poor work, and if it can be usefully improved, then the reviewer is doing them a favour in not accepting it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10068,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An important thing to be aware of, is that (as far as I can judge) editors tend not to send papers on which they have a bad first impression to experienced people. It follows that junior researchers tend to receive a relatively large proportion of demands to review papers that are below average. That might explain your feeling.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10071,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to points made in other answers, and strengthening Dave Clarke's first sentence: not only the best, but even \"medium-good\" journals receive far more <em>good</em> submissions than they could possibly publish ... at least within the traditional \"page limit\" constraints, and possibly within some tacit constraint about appearing sufficiently selective. (That is, even if all the papers were quite good, a journal that publishes 10,000 pages a year will be suspect...)</p>\n\n<p>Thus, the job of \"editor\" tends to degenerate into trying to find reasons to reject.</p>\n\n<p>There simply are not enough \"prestigious\" journals to publish all the (good!) work done by all the good young people... who now can typeset things much faster and get them submitted. (In contrast, pre-TeX, pre-internet, getting something sufficiently presentable to send to a journal was much more of a hassle... Also, the number of researchers has grown much faster than the number of good journals, at least in my field, mathematics.)</p>\n\n<p>Returning to the literal question: as others have said, indeed, try to be constructive and helpful, rather than merely a gatekeeper. At the same time, you cannot count on corrective feedback from editors if you are \"too harsh\", because they may not realize this, and in fact have incentive not to worry about that exigency, because you are making their job easier.</p>\n\n<p>Also, one should note that in recent times many respectable journals explicitly declare to referees that they, the referees, are <em>not</em> responsible for <em>correctness</em> of an article. It is supposedly the author's responsibility. This is obviously strange, but can be understood when we realize that the gatekeeper function of journals, editors, and referees is at least as important as the scientific function... as disillusioning as that might be. But it does explain situations that are otherwise baffling and counter-intuitive.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10055",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4472/"
]
|
10,059 | <p>I was on an internship with professor A at University B in China. We were working on a computer science project. During the internship I implemented professor A's idea and got some results. Three weeks ago I finished a paper draft and left University B for a new internship. Me and professor A were planning to submit the paper draft to a conference (deadline: May 20). </p>
<p>Until yesterday (May 17), the order of authors was: me, professor A, other students & collaborators in the lab... And professor A had no objection with that. However, last night I received an email from him. He said he wants to be the first author... His reason was for intellectual properties and patent issues. My understanding is that because I was merely an intern at University B, if the first author was me, it would cause IP troubles for him?</p>
<p><strong>I feel deceived. But, should I feel like this?</strong> I was counting on a first-author paper because I'm planning to apply for a PhD program in the US. One paper may not mean a lot to someone who's published a lot. But for someone who hasn't published yet, it means something.</p>
<p>Looking on the Internet, I found something that might explain professor A's motivations:
In China specifically, corresponding authors are often underappreciated by universities and research institues. This might be the case for University B. Given professor A is relatively young, he may want first authorship for promotion.</p>
<p><strong>Summary of my questions:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Should I go discuss with professor A and try to persuade him to let me be the first author?</li>
<li>If I want to apply for a PhD program in the US, would being the first author be more helpful or being the second author is as well helpful?</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Edit:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>My affiliation for the paper has always been University B. I didn't mention my current university or internship in any sense.</li>
<li>I emailed back to professor A yesterday, saying I think I should be the first author, because I did most of the work; because the idea was originated from him he should be the corresponding author. He replied this morning, saying he agree with what I said. He explained that because I was doing an internship in his lab and not a student of University B, putting me as the first author could cause IP and patent troubles for University B... So this problem is fixed now.</li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10060,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My answer to whether you should feel deceived is yes and no. Strictly speaking, if you have an agreement, it should stand. That is the easy part of the answer. Then comes different traditions and personalities, which makes the territory almost impossible to negotiate. </p>\n\n<p>You could simply send a reply stating you disagree with the reordering. The point of having intellectual property involved is certainly true and merits co-authorship. The problem is of course the weight between your work and the original idea. If you have worked on this on your own without any help or assistance, first authorship seems clear. If you have had help through discussions etc. through the process it becomes less clear.</p>\n\n<p>In the end the matter will be up to you, if you think you will gain much from taking the fight. You can ask to add something in the acknowledgement to make clear who contributed what. Another possibility, if the paper is mostly about your work, is to add yourself as corresponding author (which can be different from first).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10061,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is possible the professor is trying to take advantage of you, but it would help to clarify things if you would expand on your answer to include the following.</p>\n\n<p>It is implied that the paper is based on Professor A's idea. What this a full-blown idea, or just the kernel of something. Or, putting it differently, did he just point you in the general direction of something, or was this a relatively finished idea that just needed to be worked out in detail? Was this an idea you expanded on, or significantly improved? Did he provide significant intellectual input while the project was ongoing, or did he leave you to your own devices?</p>\n\n<p>Also, you talked about implementation. Does this mean code, or something else? Did Professor A participate in the implementation in any way? If not, did he look at the implementation?</p>\n\n<p>What about the paper itself? Did he participate in a substantial way in the writing of it?</p>\n\n<p>If the answer is that you did most or all of the work, and did much of the working out of the idea, then it sounds like you should be first author. If he contributed substantially, it is less clear.</p>\n\n<p>However, the paradigm in general is that the junior person gets the first authorship, because they need it for career reasons. Most people are willing to abide by this. I know someone whose PhD adviser put himself as first author on his (the students) papers, and the person in question regrets it now. If you go along with this, you may also regret it.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't work for this person, the question is whether you have to do what he says for some reason. If you are hoping for a good reference, a first authorship on a paper might be worth more than a reference. Does he have any other hold on you? Do you need his further input on the project, or are you hoping to publish further papers with him? Also (perhaps not very important but serves to indicate tone) was the email polite or not? Personally, I think a conversation would have been more appropriate than an email in the circumstances.</p>\n\n<p>For the record, I find the argument about intellectual properties and patent issues less than compelling, but it would also help if you could say more about how these things work in your university.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10064,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't really understand what the motivation here for the professor is. Since you did all of the work for this paper at University B, you should <em>not</em> list your new affiliation (whether it's an internship or another school) as an \"active\" affiliation for this paper. It <em>can</em> be listed as a \"current address,\" but not as an active address for this paper. In that way, the professor still gets credit for your work, with your affiliation showing as being part of his group. (I suspect that the professor's concern is that, if you are at another institution and list <em>that</em> as your address, he won't get credit for his work.)</p>\n\n<p>Another issue is that if you are not going to present the paper at the conference, he may have felt it was in his interests to list himself as a first author. How appropriate this is I have to leave to the CS community to judge. </p>\n\n<p>In general, however, the first author <em>should</em> be the person who has made the largest contributions to both the research and the writing of the paper. Deviations from this need to have a very good foundation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10069,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Should I go discuss with professor A and try to persuade him to let me be the first author?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think so. </p>\n\n<p>At least you would like him to explain to you why he changed his mind. He had no objection with you being the first author in the first place. Then he sent you e-mail saying he wants to be the first author a few days before the submission deadline. There must be some important reason for that.</p>\n\n<p>The intellectual properties and patent issues make some sense to me since you are no longer with University B. They might cause some trouble for Prof. A.</p>\n\n<p>I am not convinced the corresponding authorship in your case makes a difference. First authorship does matter in China if you are also a professor at the same level, say both of you are assistant professors. He could be looked down because you made more contribution than he did. But, you are an intern. He can explain to others that you did all these under his supervision. I think he would actually earn extra credits by helping interns/students to publish papers.</p>\n\n<p>I have the same suspicion as aeismall does. Your active affiliation may be an issue for Prof. A. Which institute will you represent when the paper is presented at the conference? Who will present the paper? I think these questions are his concerns.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit</strong></p>\n\n<p>After talking to some researchers knowledgeable about the corresponding authorship in China, I learned more about the issue. Some authors don't want to be the corresponding author because they are busy with other research interests. Some are just shy away because English writing is hard for them. Some are interested in the role because they would be more widely known in his area. In most cases, the first author or the one who makes the most contribution to the paper is the corresponding author. So far, no one is able to explain to me why corresponding authors are underappreciated. It seems to have little to do with your issue.</p>\n\n<p><strong>End of edit</strong></p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10059",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/773/"
]
|
10,062 | <p>After reading the question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10059/mentor-trying-to-be-first-author">Mentor trying to be first author?</a>, I got the impression that (at least in the writers' field) the "corresponding author" flag could carry an implied meaning, such as "did more work than the other authors", or "is a more senior author". Is it the case?</p>
<p>I am in mathematics, a field where we typically sort the authors alphabetically, and I've never given any importance to that role (apart from "this author is willing to answer a couple of extra e-mails, if needed").</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10063,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am sure it can be used for many meanings. I will provide the ones with which I am familiar:</p>\n<p>First, corresponding author means it is the person to contact if you have questions about the research. The reasons for this is what varies.</p>\n<ul>\n<li>The first author(s) are not employed at a university or are students</li>\n<li>The first author has done much of the legwork but someone else (a senior scientist) has provided the original idea, funding etc.</li>\n<li>Someone is specifically responsible for a project in which the work for the publication has been made. There may be legal requirements that a specific person should handle correspondence, for example in a company</li>\n<li>In some fields the most important author is not first, in which case the flag can be used.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Sometimes you will see first authors stating they are corresponding author. This is mostly implied by default in fields where the first authorship means also doing most of the intellectual work.</p>\n<p>I am sure there are additional examples which hopefully are added by additional posts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10065,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Corresponding authorship is often used to signal the person who is the primary contributor to the work. I've seen this in fields like economics where there is a relatively strong norm of listing authors alphabetically. In these cases, the primary contributor is signaled with the <em>corresponding author</em> designation. I've seen people go so far as to list corresponding authorship on their CVs when they list their papers although I think this is far from the norm.</p>\n\n<p>In fields where authorship is not simply alphabetic, I've seen the <em>corresponding author</em> designation used to flag the second author as a major contributor because, even in cases of so called \"dual-first authorship,\" <em>somebody's</em> name has to come first.</p>\n\n<p>In lots of other fields, it caries little signal value and really is just used to mark the person who is in the best position to answer questions about the work. Of course, the person marked as best able to answer question will, mostly likely, be someone who was involved in a wide variety of the research reported in the paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10067,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In theoretical computer science, \"corresponding author\" does not carry any implied meaning related to who is the primary contributor.</p>\n\n<p>The coauthors are listed in alphabetical order. The corresponding author might be, for example, the coauthor who took care of the interaction with the publisher, or a coauthor with a fairly permanent mailing address.</p>\n\n<p>In pre-prints, conference abstracts, etc. we do not usually mention any corresponding author. This is just a piece of information that is required by journal publishers.</p>\n\n<p>There is no prestige related to it. Certainly you will not list this kind of information in your CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10094,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field of Physics, there seems to be no implied meaning - the 3 papers that I have got published recently, I have been the first and corresponding author, primarily due to, as Jukka and Peter have mentioned, to doing most of the legwork and having the responsibility for the research.</p>\n\n<p>Also, it can be seen as a logisitcs thing, where the corresponding author is the port-of-call during the proofing/editing stages by the journal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19643,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The corresponding author is the author designated to be the first point of contact by readers of the paper. In theory, authors could use any rule they like to decide which author is the corresponding author. </p>\n\n<p>However, in my experience, the corresponding author is often the author who has made the largest contribution or an author who has made one of the larger contributions to the paper. The corresponding author is also often chosen as someone who is likely to have a stable contact address and is likely to remain in academia for some time to come. In that case, supervisors are sometimes corresponding authors rather than students (even where the student has done most of the work). A similar pattern can hold in the case of industry collaborations where the academic may be the corresponding author.</p>\n\n<p>Importantly, in most models of ethical publishing, all authors are meant to take responsibility for the claims in the published work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47509,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In biology, the designation \"corresponding author\" is sometimes used to indicate the senior author(s) of a paper. A senior author is typically the professor, which may have a central role in the project but will usually not do any of the actual experimental work. Usually the senior author is listed last, but in cases of collaborations where there are multiple senior authors that contributed equally, this would sometimes be indicated by giving these authors a \"corresponding author\" designation.</p>\n\n<p>However even within biology there is a lot of variation and this could mean different things.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52239,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, a German research funder, uses corresponding authorship as a criterion for paying publication costs with open-access publishers (<a href=\"https://www.mpdl.mpg.de/en/?id=50:open-access-publishing&catid=17:open-access\" rel=\"noreferrer\">source</a>).</p>\n\n<p>In this context, the corresponding author is the one whose funder paid for the publication.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/18 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10062",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958/"
]
|
10,076 | <p>I'm an undergraduate working on a small project with an esteemed scientist, whom I met through a connection. I'm communicating via email due to distance. The problem is that I'm having a lot of troubles with this project, and the last time I asked him a question he just told me to re-read the information he sent me.</p>
<p>I want to tell him that <em>it doesn't make sense</em> (I think he made an error), but to do so without appearing arrogant or ignorant. He's intimidating and it always seems like he's two seconds away from declaring me incompetent. Yet, I am very interested in his field and this project could yield a publication.</p>
<p>I don't know what to do; should I just keep asking questions (if so, how do I word them in a way that shows that I'm not just being lazy), or find a way to drop the project? I don't want to close doors on future collaborations when I'm more knowledgeable.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10077,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I want to tell him that it doesn't make sense (I think he made an error), </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I would suggest you to write an e-mail to him to explain the error you found.</p>\n\n<p>Do re-read the information he sent you earlier before you write the e-mail. Verify the error is indeed an error. Then write the e-mail in concise manner. Explain the error in details, step by step. Don't just say there is an error. Use evidence, theory to support your claim.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, etiquette is important. However, this has nothing to do with arrogance or ignorance. It has everything to do with finding the truth. Every scientist I have met would like to know any error found before the research project is finished, the earlier the better.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10078,
"author": "wsc",
"author_id": 6820,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6820",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you think your advisor made an error, then I would suggest you figure out how to <em>prove</em> he made an error. This is the first step to showing someone they've made an error without being ignorant or arrogant (the rest follows from general customs about politeness, but you absolutely must do this first bit. He supposes, presumably in good faith, that he proved something to you; the \"burden of proof\" that he's wrong now lies in your hands). Besides, this is a good exercise. Lots of things don't seem like they make sense until you yourself figure out how to make them make sense to you. This can be a lot of work. This act of \"hacking\" someone else's grand idea until it makes sense to me is how I spend most of my time. Thankfully this often leads to totally new ideas and directions that the first guy didn't see (or thought too trivial or obviously wrong to mention, yes that happens too...)</p>\n\n<p>The problem is that, in very many fields, undergraduates <em>are</em> actually extremely frustrating to work with. They don't yet speak the language, or have the baseline knowledge that all of your colleagues share. But nonetheless, this person is not the ideal advisor if he lacks the patience to put up with a lot of questions -- this is <em>absolutely</em> normal behavior for an undergraduate advisee, totally to be expected and many advisors find the interactions quite rewarding!</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand though, you have some hard questions to ask yourself. Basically, you say that you want to ask questions without sounding lazy, but you must be honest with yourself about whether or not you are in fact asking lazy questions. The research process (again, at least in fields I'm familiar with) is most emphatically <em>not</em> \"do exactly what some famous guy told you to do.\" It generally involves painfully slogging through material that <em>no one</em> really understands and proving everything you think you know to yourself repeatedly, and then to others, and then occasionally having it pointed out that you made a really silly assumption, or that some obscure paper already solved everything you had set out for. Again, the point is to create new knowledge, and so you have to know your tools inside and out. In fact, if your advisor is explaining <em>anything at all</em> clearly and to your satisfaction, what he is explaining is, by definition, old knowledge.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10076",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6071/"
]
|
10,079 | <p>I've heard that the trendiness of your area of work is one of the important factor that has am impact your chances of getting job in academia. How far is this true?</p>
<p>Also, how do I decide what areas are trendy and what areas are not in the field I'm interested that is mathematics?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10082,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Trendiness can be factor, but a much more important factor is what needs the hiring department has. If they're chock full of topologists, it doesn't matter how \"trendy\" your work in topology is: there's a good chance they might be looking to expand in other areas. </p>\n\n<p>OTOH, if they're looking in your area, then being at the cutting edge can't hurt. The danger of course is timing: trends rise and fall quickly, and what might be trendy right now might not be so in a year or two (maybe in mathematics, trends move more slowly). </p>\n\n<p>So I'd argue that trendiness, while one potential factor, is not a universal key factor at all. Every department has their own needs. </p>\n\n<p>As regards your second question, usual measures of \"trendiness\" include the relative frequency of publication in that subarea. In CS, it's relatively easy to determine this via conference acceptances, but in math I'm not sure how you'd go about measuring this frequency. It also helps to attend big meetings and listen to where the buzz is. An advisor can also be helpful in this regard (especially if they're pre-tenure and need to keep track of trends themselves :))</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10085,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 6110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6110",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would recommend that you work in an area of mathematics where big theorems are currently being proven. That usually means that lots of moderate theorems are also being proven.</p>\n\n<p>Some ways to see what these areas are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Go to national conferences; for example attend the (US) Joint Math Meetings and go to the hour-long invited talks.</li>\n<li>Go to your department colloquium every week, if you have one.</li>\n<li>Browse through the tables of contents for recent issues of the <em>Annals of Mathematics</em>, and see what areas are getting lots of papers published. (This is a sign not only that these areas are \"trendy\", but also that they're seeing significant ongoing progress.)</li>\n<li>Look at colloquium schedules for top-10 institutions, and/or institutions similar to where you hope to get hired. See what kinds of topics the speakers are lecturing about, i.e., what kinds of topics the professors there want to learn about.</li>\n<li>Browse the Math Jobs Wiki, click through to the web pages of successful job candidates, and skim their papers.</li>\n<li>(The most important) If you are in grad school, and have not yet chosen an advisor, find out whose students have gotten jobs similar to what you hope to get, and/or are doing interesting work now.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10090,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding the third point of Anonymous's suggestion, here's an article <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/201011/rtx101101421p.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Topical Bias in Generalist Mathematics Journals</em></a> by Joseph F. Grcar in the december 2010 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.</p>\n\n<p>In many branches of mathematics, the so-called \"generalist\" journals are perceived more prestigious and publish many of the best results. Typically they claim that they publish papers of the highest quality in all branches of mathematics. However, they don't necessarily accept papers from each field equally likely. In fact, as the linked article's figures clearly suggest, there are clear biases for/against certain branches if you count the papers of a certain topic published in generalist journals and compare the number with the total number of papers of the same kind.</p>\n\n<p>Since good generalist journals are among the most prestigious publication venues in many branches of mathematics, by looking at statistics like this, you may be able to detect prejudices about branches among mathematicians, which is mentioned in the linked article. So, if your definition of \"trendy\" is highly correlated with this type of prejudice (which I think it is because, all else being equal, the number of publications in prestigious journals in your CV increases your chance of getting a job in academia), it can be a fairly reliable measure of trendiness.</p>\n\n<p>The Annals of Mathematics Anonymous mentioned is definitely among the very top generalist journals. So checking the latest issues may tell you something about what's hot in mathematics now.</p>\n\n<p>The big caveat, however, is that it only publishes 50 or so articles in each year. So, if you only look up in recent issues, your statistics can't be extremely reliable. Using a record of several years defies the purpose of knowing what's trendy right now, so you're in a bit of a conundrum. Making things more complicated, each generalist journal has their own bias as well; different journals tend to publish papers of different topics more frequently.</p>\n\n<p>So, it might be better to take samples from multiple generalist journals which are considered among the top journals by many. Those journals typically publish an extremely small number of papers though. For example, the Journal of the American Mathematical Society published only 32 papers in 2011 (and 35 in 2010) according to ISI Web of Knowledge. Some prestigious generalist journals publish even fewer papers. (I'm not going to talk about which journals you should use for this purpose because it's inevitably controversial and subjective.)</p>\n\n<p>In any case, if you want to check what kind of topic is discussed in a given journal, you can do that quite easily by <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">MathSciNet</a>. The American Mathematical Society classified branches of mathematics and gave a code number to each branch. And they've been keeping track of publications in mathematics. Just search for the MSC code of your field with a specific journal in MathSciNet and see how many hits it returns. This way, you can see how trendy your field is as well as which prestigious generalist journal likes your kind of mathematics more.</p>\n\n<p>This method doesn't always work equally well though, e.g., if you're interested in applied mathematics or mathematical sides of computer science, what the Annals of Mathematics loves nowadays may not be the most reliable measure that reflects what's trendy right now. Another example is when your field became fashionable relatively recently so there isn't a good catch-all MSC code yet. For instance, arithmetic combinatorics has seen a miraculous revival in recent years in mathematics. Ann. of Math. and other prestigious journals are publishing papers in this field, but there isn't a good MSC code to capture this.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10079",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/86/"
]
|
10,086 | <p>I am a second-year undergraduate majoring in mathematics. In my first year of studies, I didn't do really well on my exams and therefore my results were not good, with a GPA at around 2. I didn't really put time into it, but when I started learning advanced probability, I found that I am interested in it and want to study more and am even thinking of doing research. Also I think I have found my way to study math as I didn't quite do before. In that semester, I got 2 A+. In my school, I heard that people who apply for a master's degree normally have a first-class honors degree. Is there another way to get into more advanced study of math, even with a low GPA?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10098,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Admissions committees (at least in the US) are generally forgiving of low grades in your first year, especially if you (and your recommendation letters) tell a compelling story about hitting your groove/finding your passion for the material in your second year. Keep your grades up, <strong>get some undergraduate research experience</strong>, and you'll be fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 26352,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Basically, you have to compete with people that have a \"first class honors degree.\"</p>\n\n<p>Don't worry about the fact that you started with low grades and they (mostly) didn't. What you need to show is the fact that you are just as capable as them of making high math grades going forward.</p>\n\n<p>Your two A-pluses are a good start. This may be a case of \"he just found himself in his sophomore yea.r\" That will at least get people to \"sit up and take notice\" (me, for one). The question people will ask, is something like, \"is this a fluke, or can he keep it up over a whole program of study in math?</p>\n\n<p>What you need is \"several\" more courses with As over the rest of your undergraduate program. You might take an extra course or two so that you get more As to replace your bad freshman grades. If you get to the point where people are thinking, he made \"mostly As in his last ten math courses,\" it will do a lot to dispel concerns about your early grades.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10086",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7129/"
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|
10,087 | <p>I sometimes read student assignments where the grammar and writing style is poor. Paragraphs don't really flow. Sentences go on for ever. The ordering of words is awkward. Instead of concisely introducing the subject of the sentence, it goes on forever. </p>
<p>I'd like to be able to recommend resources to such students. Ideally, such a resources would be available online so I could just give them a link or two to some writing style and grammar materials with exercises.</p>
<p><strong>What is a good resource (preferably online) for teaching English speaking university students how to improve their writing style?</strong> </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10091,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know that this can be the source of great frustration for teachers, especially when they do not teach writing. However, writing is one of those things, like other communication skills, that I think we all need to teach (at least a little bit) if for no other reason that our students will fail if they cannot compose a well-reasoned essay, even if they understand the material from our subject quite well.</p>\n\n<p>There are plenty of universities which provide very good source material for this. <a href=\"http://writingcenter.unc.edu/faculty-resources/tips-on-teaching-writing/\">Here is one from the US</a>. <a href=\"http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/index.htm\">Here is one from the UK</a>. I have used materials from both (and many others) but I do not find that I can simply point the students to these sites and expect everything to work out.</p>\n\n<p>As educators, sometimes we need to teach things which are more fundamental in nature. Unless your school has a 'writing center' so you can direct students there for help (my school does not). I find I need to spend 1-2 hours per semester to cover core writing issues.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10162,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a teacher, I teach 'science literacy' to all year levels as part of my overall curriculum. Alongside this, I have the students continually practising these skills, as well as peer reviewing their work.</p>\n\n<p>It takes time, but the overall benefits make the effort worthwhile.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10167,
"author": "Jonathan E. Landrum",
"author_id": 7134,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7134",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've progressed in my writing ability as I've progressed in my reading commitment. Have you tried assigning papers to read, followed by a short essay describing what they read?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10176,
"author": "antmw1361",
"author_id": 5644,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5644",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A selection of the best online writing sources from different universities is available <a href=\"http://www144.griffith.edu.au/en/improve-your-english/improve-your-writing\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>. In addition to writing, resources are available for <a href=\"http://www144.griffith.edu.au/en/improve-your-english/assignment-resources\" rel=\"nofollow\">assignments</a> and <a href=\"http://www144.griffith.edu.au/en/improve-your-english/improve-your-grammar\" rel=\"nofollow\">grammar</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, library of some universities have books (hard copy or ebooks) for these purposes which are very useful. Personally, I liked <em>Writing academic English by Alice Oshima, Ann Hogue</em> as a start point.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10087",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
10,089 | <p>One subject I teach is also taught by another teacher at my university. Usually we do not both teach this subject during the same semester but sometimes we do. Students do not get to choose their teacher, the are assigned into one class or the other.</p>
<p>This has introduced a strange dynamic in that some of the other teacher's students have come to me asking for information about the subject, since they know I also teach it. So far, I've been quite hesitant to answer any such questions because I am worried about getting in between the other teacher and his students. I can imagine that I might have an answer that is different than the other teacher (perhaps my answer is wrong, perhaps my answer is right, and perhaps both of us are right but we have different ways of looking at a problem). The issue is compounded by the fact that I am from the West but the other teacher is Asian so there are cultural issues at play here (and I'm in Asia so it's not my culture).</p>
<p>I imagine this would be less of an issue in subjects like math where there is a specific formula but in management subjects the perspective of the teacher can change things significantly, especially if one teacher might be less strong in the subject than the other.</p>
<p>So, what should a teacher in this situation do? Refer the student to their teacher? If they feel they cannot get an acceptable answer then refer them to a search engine? Should I jump in if they feel they are lost and their teacher is not helping them understand (this seems like it could cause serious problems, even if handled well)?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10093,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My first question is, why are you (the faculty) both teaching the same class at the same university without talking to each other? I can understand the cultural differences, but this is even more of a reason to talk to your colleague about the class!</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest (as posdef does in his comment) to talk to the other instructor about the class, offer to have him sit in on your class, and ask about collaboration. You could also ask to sit in on his class if you'd like, but you need to be careful to phrase your request so it is clear that you're there to gain insight into his class and not to provide criticism. I can't tell from your comment, \"...if one teacher might be less strong in the subject than the other\" if you believe he is the weak one or if you are, but regardless, you can both learn from each other.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, it is in the best interest of both classes of students that you collaborate with the other instructor -- if both courses are listed as the same in the course catalog, the students should be able to expect that the class will cover roughly the same material.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10097,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>[Edit]</strong> I'm assuming the questions asked are not ones where there is a consensus about the answers. </p>\n\n<p>Here's the advice I give to students who come to me from the another instructors of the courses I also teach (sometimes the other instructors are teaching assistants): The person grading your exams is the other instructor, therefore it's in your best interest to get the answers from the other instructor. </p>\n\n<p>The answer sounds perhaps like we're brushing off the student, but if we contradict the other instructor, it won't help the student. </p>\n\n<p>Put yourself in the shoes of the other instructor. What if a student answered an exam question according to advice from the other instructor, but out of context, or according to another perspective. How would you grade it if you disagreed with the answer or point of view?</p>\n\n<p>I teach software analysis and design at an undergrad level. Some students rarely come to class and answer questions based on analysis or design methods they used before. Some get upset when I qualify all questions \"according to the process learned in class\" because they can't write any old answer from their past experience. One instructor's style or method could be different (not necessarily wrong). But much of the evaluation in a course is based on what the student learned in that course.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10151,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You mentioned you’re from the West teaching in Asia. The school invited you from the West to teach while they already have instructors who can teach the same subject. I would think they all want to learn from you. Here, <em>they</em> are not only the students but also the faculty.</p>\n\n<p>As posdef suggested in his comment, I would talk to the other instructor in some kind of informal meetings if I were you. You can talk to him about the class, the students and the department. You two are teaching the same course. There must be a lot of things you can share. In particular, you can ask him exactly this question and see what kind of solutions he would recommend. I think he would have a more insightful answer than most users on this site because he is in the same environment as you are.</p>\n\n<p>Whether or not the other instructor is willing to talk to you is another issue. From what I know, most Asians are nice to the guests. If you are there for a tenure track position, he might see you as a competition. Then I think you should handle this matter in a formal manner. If you are not there on a permanent basis, I think informal meetings would be enough.</p>\n\n<p>The most important thing is, what is the best interests for the students? Many Asian students believe there is always only one standard correct answer for every question. We know this is not always the case. Even for math related subjects, you can have multiple approaches to solve a problem. I suspect the students from the other class came to you to confirm the answer given by their instructor is the standard one. If that’s the case, you and the other instructor need to coordinate. Both need to explain to the students that there may not be only one standard answer per every question.</p>\n\n<p>If the students came to you because they doubt their instructor or they don't get acceptable answers, you need to handle this with care. Respecting the teachers is an integral part of Asian culture. However, the best interests for the students is even more important. Talking to the other instructor in person is the first step to resolve this issue. You two together need to figure out how to tell the students the correct answers. Again, learning together is everybody’s goal.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10089",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
10,096 | <p>Lately, I've been getting the impression that before I can conduct cutting edge research, I have to first master state of the art methods/techniques. Often, this requires spending (i.e. wasting) lots of time trying to replicate the results that others have already established (i.e. make sure that I can do what others have done first before moving on to other territory). When I try to master a new technique, I often find that it is extremely difficult because</p>
<ol>
<li>Research papers don't seem to disclose enough details to replicate their results easily.</li>
<li>There are no advisors/colleagues that are familiar with these methods</li>
<li>Emailing the corresponding authors with questions about specific details about their research tend to go unanswered.</li>
</ol>
<p>The only advice i've been given thus far is simply to read and re-read the research paper and dissect every little detail until I figure it out. But are there any other general strategies I can use to replicate others' results more quickly? In particular, I'm looking for strategies for replicating numerical results that require very careful implementations of mathematical algorithms. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10113,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The fact that you can't quickly and effortlessly do this is <em>exactly why this is not wasting lots of time</em>, assuming that you do in fact mean to build upon this very same research. You're learning how to solve problems in this arena, given an outline that you know works, but insufficient detail to actually implement it fully.</p>\n\n<p>Other than that, for numerical results you simply need to do lots of testing to make sure at each stage the calculation comes out to be what you expect (and tests any important corner cases). For example, if something's piecewise polynomial, and you drop three points at random into every piece, and it's accurate to within machine precision, you've almost surely got it right, and if it's not you've almost surely got it wrong.</p>\n\n<p>Now, once you're already well-versed in a field, you may write a paper which referees want you to compare to some other new result in the field. Replicating someone else's poorly-described new methods really <em>can</em> be a waste of time; you don't learn anything except that they left out a lot of fiddly details. (Editors may be sympathetic and let you skip it or e.g. use a common dataset instead.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10123,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As JeffE points out, trying to reproduce existing results before embarking on new endeavors is <strong>not</strong> a waste of time. It can be particularly useful, especially in tracking down issues that you have within your own code—or, perhaps, in the existing literature. My most-cited paper, and much of the research work currently ongoing within my group, came about precisely because I could <em>not</em> replicate an existing paper. As it turned out, there were some significant methodological problems in the existing literature, and this led to a fair bit of digging around, plus a lot of careful analysis to demonstrate what had happened and why. As I've also said, the issues we uncovered there indirectly led to a different line of inquiry that has already led to half a dozen additional manuscripts.</p>\n\n<p>If you are determined to speed up the process, however, you might try to consider simplified versions of the research cases presented that can validate what you're working on. For instance, can you find a \"prototype\" problem whose solution would be known with your method as well as the existing methods? Can you find one or two test cases which can test most of what you're looking for? Can you devise a new problem that compares the two better than the existing cases, and is also simpler to execute?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10133,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I must agree with the answers posted above - it most certainly not a waste of time at all - my current supervisor explained to me that in a way, it is analogous to the saying \"Learning to walk, before you can run\" - if you can master what has been researched before, particularly learning the methodologies used - then you would have a greater chance of improving these methods and potentially further refining the results.</p>\n\n<p>Also, consider that when the papers don't give much away, that this is a prime opportunity to develop your problem solving skills within the field that you are researching. I am doing the same, with a unique Android app as part of my research, I am entirely self taught from learning how other apps work.</p>\n\n<p>Don't give up - keep on persevering, it is worth it!</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/20 | [
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"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
10,100 | <p>When writing a paper which, as an aside, talks about the design of a user interface on a particular piece of software, can one insert a (correctly labeled and referenced) screenshot of the software to help readers understand - or does that cause copyright issues? </p>
<p>For example, I wouldn't use a photo unless I held the copyright, or a diagram - but I'm unsure of the legal position of a screenshot...</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10102,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Definitely, but one major issue will be resolution. A screen shot will typically yield a very low resoluton image which for most journals will be too low (recommendations are ypically 300 dpi in the final published figure size, which is usually impossible to achieve with screenshots. I would therefore recommend to make use of any possibility to zoom the window and then make a screen shot of the window as large as possible on the screen. If you are designing your user interface as you state in the question you could consider making a mock-up of the interface that is identical in every respect but which is based on higher resolution graphics, vectorized or bitmap based. Since you have access to all the original graphics elemnts this should not be difficult.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10105,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you're displaying the screenshot as part of a paper on user interface, the use of the screenshot will almost certainly fall under \"fair use.\" Make sure you cite the software properly, and you should be all set.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10114,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally yes, you're allowed to use screenshots that you create yourself.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on the publisher, they might ask for copyright approvals on the screenshots.</p>\n\n<p>I believe that, as long as you yourself created the screenshot, you're the owner of it (just as if you take a photograph of something, you hold the copyright, not the creator of whatever you're photographing), but this is still, I believe, a legal grey area.</p>\n\n<p>As mentioned, be sure that you provide a proper citation to the software.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10122,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer, like many copyright questions, is complicated.</p>\n\n<p>First, the images of the software interface is almost certainly copyrighted. As a result, the exclusive rights to reproduce images of the applicatoin lie with the copyright holder (i.e., the creator of the software.</p>\n\n<p><em>However</em>, as another answer has suggested, the use of a single screenshot of an application should almost certainly qualify as <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Use\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fair Use</a> under US copyright law or something similar and analogous under other systems. In other words, it's a small and relative inconsequential reproduction that you can do without having to ask for permission.</p>\n\n<p><em>However</em>, fair use is notoriously tricky and subjective. there is a multi-prong balancing test at the heart of fair use that is complicated and that makes it hard to know for sure whether a use if fair or not. As a result, many journals are risk averse and will systematically block many types of \"probably fair\" uses. I've had difficult conversations with production staff members and editors about the use of software screenshots before.</p>\n\n<p>I would say go ahead and try to have the conversation with your journal editor or production staff. The worst thing they can do is ask you to take it out. This, of course, is what you would do preemptively now if you choose not to include it in the first place.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10100",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3969/"
]
|
10,107 | <p>I just finished my masters and am currently working as a research assistant before starting a PhD in applied mathematics. I was doing some preliminary work for a possible project and derived some minor results which I find interesting, but in the end, we decided not to go ahead with the project.</p>
<p>I still find the minor results interesting and thought of digging a little bit deeper by myself. However, since the group is no longer interested in this, I would have to do this by myself, unsupervised. Is this a very bad thing? Or a good learning experience?</p>
<p>I had a bad experience doing unsupervised research (wasted a lot of time for no results). However, I know that as a PhD student, I must eventually publish first-authored papers. How do I know when to make the switch?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10108,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It is a common thread - see <a href=\"http://matt.might.net/articles/ways-to-fail-a-phd/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">"Go rogue too soon/too late" in 10 easy ways to fail a Ph.D.</a> and <a href=\"http://chronicle.com/article/Going-Rogue/134896\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Going Rogue at The Chronicle of Higher Education</a>. An excerpt from the first:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The advisor-advisee dynamic needs to shift over the course of a degree.</p>\n<p>Early on, the advisor should be hands on, doling out specific topics and helping to craft early papers.</p>\n<p>Toward the end, the student should know more than the advisor about her topic. Once the inversion happens, she needs to "go rogue" and start choosing the topics to investigate and initiating the paper write-ups. She needs to do so even if her advisor is insisting she do something else.</p>\n<p>The trick is getting the timing right.</p>\n<p>Going rogue before the student knows how to choose good topics and write well will end in wasted paper submissions and a grumpy advisor.</p>\n<p>On the other hand, continuing to act only when ordered to act past a certain point will strain an advisor that expects to start seeing a "return" on an investment of time and hard-won grant money.</p>\n<p>Advisors expect near-terminal Ph.D. students to be proto-professors with intimate knowledge of the challenges in their field. They should be capable of selecting and attacking research problems of appropriate size and scope.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Personally, I have a lot of experience with unsupervised research (yes, usually <em>wasted a lot of time for no results</em>), starting from high school.</p>\n<p>Sure, doing advisor's project is much safer (as, in some sense, (s)he is responsible for the big picture, references, judging which result is <em>good enough</em>) and allows to forget about doubts (for good or bad) and concentrate on work.</p>\n<p>However, what I've discovered after 1.5 of my PhD (mostly "going rogue") is that there are two important things:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>asking experts (or peers), and</li>\n<li>day-to-day collaboration.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Sure, you can have an expert <em>and</em> a collaborator in the same person of your advisor, but as long as you are not afraid of talking to other people and have some knowledge in the topic, it shouldn't be hard to ask experts appropriate questions.\nWhen it comes to collaboration - it may be trickier (but not if you locally have people with an interest overlap).</p>\n<p>On contrary, working alone for months on a theoretical problem, with little feedback, may be very hard (both technically and psychologically). <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/5790/49\">I've learnt it the hard way</a>. It is not a problem for one research line, but it is when all research is done alone (may be inefficient and depressive, <em>perhaps</em> unless you are in a <em>deep love</em> with it).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10109,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Basically, the only restrictions are issues related to funding. If your funding is intended for you to work on a specific topic, then your primary efforts should be given to the designated topic. However, you can, if so motivated, pursue the research topic independently. In mathematics, this might not be such a huge issue, as the infrastructural demands are not so large (except for some applied math projects). However, in other disciplines, where this \"unsupervised research\" may require experimental supplies and other resources, this is a <em>much</em> bigger issue. In the latter case, you <strong>must</strong> obtain approval from the PI whose equipment, material, and other resources you will be using!</p>\n\n<p>If your time is \"unrestricted,\" in the sense that it is not tied to any particular project or program, then you should talk with your supervisor to see if you can use some of your \"normal\" time to devote to the \"side\" project. If you can, great; if you can't, then again, this needs to be \"on the side\"—beyond your main project. </p>\n\n<p>As for the question of doing \"first-authored\" research, well, that transition process, in many respects, <em>is</em> the goal of the PhD! If you are to be a successful researcher, then during your doctoral studies you will learn how to do research independently, and eventually unsupervised. (Moreover, you will hopefully also have the chance to learn how to supervise others!)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10110,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is not necessarily a bad thing to forge ahead on your own and it will certainly be a learning experience. It is definitely a good thing to try this, because it will demonstrate and help reinforce that you are an independent researcher, something which you need to be at the end of your PhD studies.</p>\n\n<p>But this is not without some <strong>risk</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>Part of the role of the supervision that would otherwise be provided is to improve your skills as a researcher and writer of scientific texts. Without this guidance, your skills at the end of your PhD may not be as good as they could be. You may have gaps in your knowledge that would need to be filled. The presentation of scientific material in your writing may end up being suboptimal, because you won't have someone to proposed better ways of writing. And worse still, your ideas may not end up being the best they could be, because you won't have someone questioning them and your assumptions, ultimately forcing you to produce better versions of your ideas.</p>\n\n<p>I've seen it before. Some highly independent students I've seen in action fail to follow recognised mathematical conventions, produce new notations for existing concepts, miss key references and lack understanding of key concepts that would help improve their work, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>Independence is a good trait, but try to take advantage of opportunities to receive guidance from your supervisor(s) while you can.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10111,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My former Ph.D. advisor's philosophy is that a student should become a teacher of their supervisor. He seems to give the green light when the student</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>explains their own research problem clearly,</li>\n<li>shows a clear sign of familiarity with all relevant work,</li>\n<li>puts their work in context,</li>\n<li>gives a convincing argument about why it's important and interesting,</li>\n<li>looks they can make it, and, somewhat more importantly,</li>\n<li>chose a topic that isn't too unfashionable to the extent that devoting their time during their Ph.D. student phase to that kind of topic is a career suicide.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I wrote my first paper when I was a second year grad student, and my first joint paper with my former Ph.D. supervisor is after I got my degree. My friend who got his Ph.D. from the same advisor at the same time as me was also like this, and he's doing pretty well in academia. So probably all that matters when it comes to starting your own math research is if you're ready for it. And if you're ready, I don't think your advisor can talk you out of it anyway. At least, randome guys on the internet like us surely can't.</p>\n\n<p>So, I'd say if you're being honest to yourself and still confident that you know about your research topic better than your advisor, and if you can get him interested in your research, it should be fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10119,
"author": "John Robertson",
"author_id": 6319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6319",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Think of research as a learning paradigm, whenever you learn something new spend time asking yourself how you would develop it if what you just learned was the state of the art, and what interesting directions would be. As you learn more about the topic you can see whether you were right. This makes learning to do research a constant part of your life rather than something you are learning to do when you start your thesis or dissertation. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10132,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Performing unsupervised research is also a great way to develop the self-discipline needed for a PhD and developing your own research strategies. This time could be considered a valuable time for personal and academic growth.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10107",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1190/"
]
|
10,124 | <p>I am a computer science doctoral student working on machine learning (ML) research. Meanwhile, a startup approached me to consult/advise them in areas related to algorithms in ML. Needless to say a lot of work that I do as part of my research encompasses ML deeply. They want me to sign a mutual non disclosure agreement (NDA)/ non compete clause before i engage as an independent consultant with them, while pursuing my program full-time. In this context, they know well that I will be pursuing my program for at least the next 3 years.</p>
<p>I have a few problems here.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The confidentiality information covers:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>...techniques, know-how, processes, algorithms... related to current and future proposed products and services... and includes, without limitation, their respective information concerning research, experimental work, development, design details and specifications, engineering..."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am worried about this part mostly. Most ML research uses some form of classification or clustering in various domains. Every other startup is mining some patterns that they may use to their advantage. The methods used are generally known in the ML community and published in existing literature. Can a startup claim that an "algorithm" (which already exists in the literature) was used by me in some form at a later point of time for work unrelated to that domain? Additionally, I intend to use or publish research methods developed as part of my doctoral research during its course or in future. Does "without limitation ...respective information concerning research, experimental work, development" restrict me from doing this i.e can the organization restrict me from publishing work done in my doctoral program by claiming that I was also working with them during this period, so they have a right to what i publish during this time?</p></li>
<li><p>Regarding confidential information:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"...if orally disclosed, designated as confidential at the time of disclosure and marked in writing as “confidential”."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Does this mean that anything said orally related to ML is considered confidential?</p></li>
<li><p>Non-Compete clause:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"...with a direct competitor of Company while engaged with Company and for thirty-six months following the termination or completion of this engagement..."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As an ML researcher, I will be working on ML in the future years to come. Asking me to stop working in ML for 36 months is equivalent to asking "don't work for 3 years". Additionally, the startup does work which is similar to the kind of work a lot of analytics/data science related firms do. Most of ML research broadly falls into pattern mining in some form which almost all organizations engage in. In this context, does 36 months not seem a bit unreasonable?</p></li>
<li><p>What exactly can i get them to write in the NDA which informs that they are aware of my research position and do not expect IP for my academic research?</p></li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10129,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are dealing with a legal document, and you are asking questions about legal language. <strong>The only way to get answers to your questions is to consult a legal expert.</strong> Any advice you receive here will necessarily be inferior to that dispensed by the legal expert.</p>\n\n<p>Having said that, you're asking good questions, and during the negotiation part of the discussion you can and should discuss your concerns with a legal expert and with the company representatives. Negotiations are a normal part of any contract discussion. The document you have was written by their lawyers to provide his client—the company—with maximum legal protection, in their best interests. The job of your lawyer is to provide yourself with the same protection, in <em>your</em> best interests. </p>\n\n<p>If you are concerned about the cost of hiring a lawyer, do the math; the total amount you expect to receive from the consulting should be significantly more than the cost of the lawyer, and the potential cost to you of not hiring a lawyer may be pretty large.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding finding one, speak with the faculty in your department; chances are at least one of them has consulted in the past and can provide you with both advice and hopefully the name of a qualified lawyer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10130,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Non-disclosure documents are almost always trying to squeeze the employee. Here are a few specifics that I can glean from the snippets that you've posted.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not a lawyer, but honestly I don't think you need a lawyer to interpret much of the language in an NDA.</p>\n\n<h2>ONE: The NDA</h2>\n\n<p>First, the NDA claiming that it covers processes and know-how relating ML methods refer to anything that you are working on <em>related to current and future proposed products and services</em>.</p>\n\n<p>So let's say Company X is working on, let's say, movie recommendations and uses, for example, SVM (support vector machines) and collaborative filtering for the bulk of their recommendations. This does not mean that you can no longer talk about SVM and collaborative filtering with anyone - it DOES mean that you cannot talk about their particular implementation of SVM, you cannot tell people how they're doing collaborative filtering (ex: their features, their weights), you cannot mention what's in their databases and so forth. In fact, you probably can't tell people that the company uses SVM and collaborative filtering unless they tell you that you're allowed. If you develop some new technique of doing a movie recommender, you cannot tell people outside the company about it or publish it unless you get permission from the company. The key part of non-disclosure is that you basically need permission before you can talk about certain things, but common knowledge is common knowledge - it's not like the company can restrict you from talking about SVM and collaborative filtering. But if that's on their \"super secrets\" list of stuff, you better not go to a conference, give out your business card, and then say, \"Well I know a lot about collaborative filtering and SVM\".</p>\n\n<p>Usually, \"without limitation\" <em>DOES</em> cover stuff that you work on outside of your work hours if it's directly relevant to the company. If there's a remote chance that your dissertation work and your publications might be inspired by, let's say, solving a company's problem or working with the company's data, then they actually do have the right to restrict you from disclosing your work without their permission, and may in fact claim copyright as well.</p>\n\n<p>On the bright side, there are possible recourses for you. You can talk to them and ask them explicitly that you want to <em>retain</em> your copyright and that you want to <em>reserve the right to publish</em> about algorithms and so forth that you develop while you're there. You can promise to not disclose the company name and line of work. You can ensure that any papers you write go through their legal department so they can rubber-stamp it before delivery. These are things though that you want to ask about before you sign the NDA. Often, you CAN negotiate on terms like this, but it depends on their legal team. </p>\n\n<h2>TWO: Confidential</h2>\n\n<p>It seems to me that this is pretty clear. We've all taken formal logic, yes? That would mean that if something is orally disclosed to you, told to you that it's confidential, AND marked in writing as confidential, then you cannot talk about it. Unless they tell you, \"Our implementation of SVM is confidential\" and then point to the document that says, \"The company's SVM implementation is confidential\" then presumably you can talk about it.</p>\n\n<p>That said, it seems like their lawyers made a mistake here, because you'd think it should be an 'OR' relationship here - \"mentioned as confidential at time of disclosure OR mentioned in writing as confidential\".</p>\n\n<p>In any case, since SVM is basically public knowledge, most of what I mentioned under 1 would apply here. SVM and collaborative filtering and other stuff like that is public knowledge. However, don't say \"Company X does SVM and collaborative filtering\" in public.</p>\n\n<h2>THREE: Non-compete clauses</h2>\n\n<p>I can't really comment as well on this as I have no experience with non-compete clauses, but in some states they're not even legal (ex: California) and if they're phrased incorrectly to be unenforceable you might be off the hook.</p>\n\n<p>I'd be more concerned about \"who their main competitors are\" rather than how long the agreement is. Such an agreement wouldn't prevent you from working in ML research, but it might prevent you from working at Netflix if your current company is in movie recommendations. Much of the time the non-complete clauses are made to prevent an employee from stealing corporate secrets and other implicit knowledge.</p>\n\n<h2>FOUR: Exceptions</h2>\n\n<p>Don't worry about where you'd put that stuff, you're not going to be writing the NDA.</p>\n\n<p>You should bring all of your concerns with them though. The main thing is that you've brought it up with them and possibly written it down, maybe in an email, so that they can get their legal department to put it in the right location.</p>\n\n<p>All of that said, I think your main concern is that \"I can't talk about machine learning while working at this company.\" I'm 99% sure that isn't going to be the case. They don't care that you talk about general ML techniques or continue to do ML research, but will care if you're exposing corporate secrets, developing algorithms that might help their business with their data but not keeping it secret, or going to work for their competitors right after you finish with them.</p>\n\n<p>Before hiring your own lawyer, I'd simply advise asking theirs about every clause in the NDA. That would save you some legal fees. If they are unable to answer, or if the answers aren't satisfactory, then you can consider getting your own lawyer to go through it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10124",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7142/"
]
|
10,126 | <p>I don't know if here is the best place to ask that but I'm finishing my master degree in pure mathematics and I would like to travel and know another countries before enter into a doctorate school. In my country with a master degree you can teach in a private university or even in a public university with tenure in small villages or in public universities with 2-years contract in bigger cities. </p>
<p>I would like to know if in your own home country is easy to work in a temporary job as a "professor" or be a permanent professor with tenure in smaller areas with a master degree.</p>
<p><strong>Remark</strong></p>
<p>I know that is impossible to teach pure mathematics with only a master degree, but there are a lot of faculties of civil and food engineer, actuarial sciences, computer sciences, etc... which have logic, calculus, linear algebra, etc... courses, i.e., simpler courses with doesn't necessarily need a PHD professor to teach it.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10127,
"author": "Stirling",
"author_id": 7143,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7143",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the United States, a master's degree typically qualifies you to teach at the junior college or community college level, and also to teach as a lecturer at the university level. However, you should know that in mathematics there is substantially less supply of these jobs than there is demand for them. That is, they are hard to find and don't pay very well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10135,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I've understood your question correctly, you are asking if you can work with your master's degree as an instructor in mathematics while you are touring the world before beginning a doctoral program.</p>\n\n<p>If that is indeed the case, the answer is <strong>maybe</strong>, although it would be very difficult to accomplish.</p>\n\n<p>The reason for this is that you would likely have to surmount visa issues, which can make it difficult for foreign nationals to gain employment in another country. You'd probably have to line up the position <em>before</em> you traveled, which would complicate things even further.</p>\n\n<p>However, another thing to keep in mind is that in most universities, the math courses are taught out of the math department—including \"service\" courses taught for other departments, such as CS, engineering, and physical science. Even in these cases, first priority likely goes to faculty, existing teaching staff, and graduate students within the department. Only if there remains a need for additional teaching staff will they be likely to offer you a contract. And, as Stirling points out, they're unlikely to pay very well. (But then again, I suppose this is just a means of supporting yourself during your travels, in which case this might not be such a bad deal.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/20 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10126",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7151/"
]
|
10,136 | <p>Based on <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10117/is-it-possible-to-get-admitted-to-a-m-sc-degree-in-the-u-s-if-you-already-hold">this other question</a> where the OP asks whether or not a second Masters degree is possible, I realized that I am not sure what the difference is between <em>Master of Science</em> and <em>Master of Technology</em>. </p>
<p>I have graduated from a Swedish university and after 5 years of studies (Bologna process) I got my undergrad (<em>kandidat</em>) and masters (<em>examen</em>) together as it is very common here. I double checked my diploma now and even though I have graduated from the technical faculty and an engineering program, I am given a <em>Master of Science</em>. I believe there is no <em>Master of Technology</em> degree in Sweden, so I am not sure what it means. To make the matters worse, I stumbled upon another similar degree, <em>Master of Engineering</em>.</p>
<p>I would really appreciate some insight into the differences of these degrees, and whether or not they would be considered interchangeable abroad (read: outside Europe).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10141,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At some schools, there may be differences in the formal degree requirements, such as the requirement of coursework or completion of a thesis; at others, including the graduate school I attended, the distinction is purely a departmental issue—engineering departments give out M.S. or M.Eng. degrees, while science departments give out only M.S. degrees. I think, from an admissions perspective, in most cases, these would be viewed as largely interchangeable. Some schools may have very particular entrance requirements, but these would be noted as part of the admissions instructions.</p>\n\n<p>Where I now work, we don't specify the nature of the master's degree required for enrollment as a PhD student; any relevant master's degree will suffice, and the exact title of the degree is more or less immaterial. (We do have to petition if it's a foreign degree, but this is mostly a <em>pro forma</em> process.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10168,
"author": "superuser0",
"author_id": 6690,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6690",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are some differences, especially in the concept of the programs M.Eng./M.Tech. and M.Sc (and M.A. obviously too).</p>\n\n<p>From my experience, and <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Engineering\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a> states this also, the M.Eng./M.Tech. degrees are rather given by Universities of Applied Sciences (at least in Germany, Canada, Finland etc,) and seldomly by Universities focusing on research. Any program that is research oriented will thus very likely give M.Sc. degrees.\nThe M.Eng. is even given as an undergraduate Master in the UK (see the Wikipedia Link) that gets granted immediately (without a bachelors in between).</p>\n\n<p>For the career of a graduate, the title itself is not too important as aeismail mentioned, since any employer will have a look at what's inside (= the student track record).</p>\n\n<p>Because there are so many slightly different programs, especially in computer/information engineering/technology/sciences I am not sure where universities draw the line regarding the \"not granting a 2nd masters degree in the same field/area/discipline\" policy.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10136",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674/"
]
|
10,145 | <p>I am entering my senior year of undergraduate study in Computer Science at a small, primarily undergraduate institution. I plan to attend graduate school and pursue a PhD in Computer Science and Mathematics, my main goal to teach. The school I attend is quite small, and is all but unknown outside our geographic region. As such, I've attempted to add as many positive bullets to my CV as possible, mainly because I feel I will have to fight harder than my colleagues at larger universities to get into a great program.</p>
<p>One of the things I have attempted to add to my vita is teaching experience. I have had the opportunity to tutor in our Mathematics Tutoring Center for a couple years now, and have fallen in love. I have also had the pleasure of assisting a professor in her Freshmen CS labs. Last fall I spoke with her about increasing my duties to more than just fielding questions as the students type their programs. I wanted to start grading lab submissions, and perhaps even hold office hours. She was delighted that I wanted the increased responsibility, but sharply objected to calling it a "TA" position.</p>
<p>Is there a stigma of assigning the title TA to an undergraduate?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10146,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which implies that you are being paid a specific wage for teaching duties while a graduate student. Consequently, you would be misrepresenting your work on the CV if you called yourself a teaching assistant, because you are not formally a graduate student.</p>\n\n<p>At the university level, another issue may be that while many undergraduates do participate in teaching responsibilities at many schools, this is often in the form of tutoring programs and informal arrangements. Part of the reason for this is that many universities want to be able to claim a higher percentage of teaching duties are done by faculty than is really the case. Calling undergraduates graders and tutors helps to shift off the balance, since they are not officially \"teaching staff,\" and therefore wouldn't be included in such time accounting. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10198,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, the answer is: teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which entails a specific combination of job duties. Those job duties go beyond what you are doing. Therefore, you would be misrepresenting your work on your CV if you called yourself a TA, because you have not been formally appointed as a TA (and because a TA would be expected to take on additional duties beyond what you have been doing).</p>\n\n<p>Note that this is a little different from aeismail's answer. In many institutions, undergrads can be appointed as a TA, under certain circumstances. That doesn't mean that you can just call yourself a TA if you feel like it. For instance, assisting informally or helping with grading papers doesn't necessarily make you a TA; it's not unusual to hire undergraduates to help with those tasks, under some other job title -- but not as a TA. A TA is a very specific job title, and unless you've been appointed under that job title, you should not call yourself a TA.</p>\n\n<p>And I think you're misinterpreting the situation, when you presume there is a stigma against hiring undergrads as a TA. I suspect it's more likely that there is a different explanation: that your instructor reacted negatively because you were proposing to describe yourself as a TA when you have not actually been formally appointed as a TA.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/21 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10145",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7134/"
]
|
10,152 | <p>In my field (biology), the end of the introduction in a research article generally ends with a list of hypotheses that the researchers tested. A common structure of this part of a research paper is:</p>
<pre><code> 'We tested (1) hypothesis X (2) hypothesis Y and (3) hypothesis Z'.
</code></pre>
<p>The research papers I read often test between two and four hypotheses. I'm interested in how the researchers generally arrive at this list of two and four hypotheses. Do they start with a list of 10+ hypotheses, and tick off the ones that they fail to say anything useful about? Or do they stick with the same two to four hypotheses throughout a research project? Or do researchers not begin with any hypotheses, and fit some suitable hypotheses after checking their results?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10146,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which implies that you are being paid a specific wage for teaching duties while a graduate student. Consequently, you would be misrepresenting your work on the CV if you called yourself a teaching assistant, because you are not formally a graduate student.</p>\n\n<p>At the university level, another issue may be that while many undergraduates do participate in teaching responsibilities at many schools, this is often in the form of tutoring programs and informal arrangements. Part of the reason for this is that many universities want to be able to claim a higher percentage of teaching duties are done by faculty than is really the case. Calling undergraduates graders and tutors helps to shift off the balance, since they are not officially \"teaching staff,\" and therefore wouldn't be included in such time accounting. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10198,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, the answer is: teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which entails a specific combination of job duties. Those job duties go beyond what you are doing. Therefore, you would be misrepresenting your work on your CV if you called yourself a TA, because you have not been formally appointed as a TA (and because a TA would be expected to take on additional duties beyond what you have been doing).</p>\n\n<p>Note that this is a little different from aeismail's answer. In many institutions, undergrads can be appointed as a TA, under certain circumstances. That doesn't mean that you can just call yourself a TA if you feel like it. For instance, assisting informally or helping with grading papers doesn't necessarily make you a TA; it's not unusual to hire undergraduates to help with those tasks, under some other job title -- but not as a TA. A TA is a very specific job title, and unless you've been appointed under that job title, you should not call yourself a TA.</p>\n\n<p>And I think you're misinterpreting the situation, when you presume there is a stigma against hiring undergrads as a TA. I suspect it's more likely that there is a different explanation: that your instructor reacted negatively because you were proposing to describe yourself as a TA when you have not actually been formally appointed as a TA.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10152",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7159/"
]
|
10,155 | <p>When evaluating and grading students' work in technical fields (like computer science or mathematics), I often face ones that are really messy, sometimes even unreadable (I mean structure, not - handwriting). It's not clear at all what part belongs to what or what is the final result. Instead of spending a lot of time trying to figure out if there is a good result buried somewhere in the mess, I'm tempted to just fail such a work as unreadable.</p>
<p>While these (I'd say) formal aspect don't reflect the ability of the student to solve the problem, it strongly reflects his/her ability to present the solution. And in their future professions, it won't be much good that they can solve problems, if they're not able to present the solution to someone else. Or for example grant agencies simply reject proposals that fail even slightly given formal criteria.</p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Should the evaluation include evaluation of readability, proper structure etc. for example in a textual form (without impacting the final grade perhaps), something like <em>"The solution is completely unreadable."</em> or for a larger work <em>"The solution lacks a proper structure - there is no introduction or conclusion of what have been accomplished."</em> etc.?</li>
<li>Should such deficiencies be also reflected in the grade? If so, how much? Would it be acceptable to even fail a work just because it's completely unreadable?</li>
</ol>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10156,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ideally, no. The main problem when evaluating is expressed by a saying in my native language \"muddy writing, muddy thinking\". Essentially, if you cannot decipher what is written, either because it is sloppy writing or poorly expressed, then one faces problems when grading. Students often complain about grading where they sense they are misinterpreted etc. This is when we cannot understand what they are writing. Often, I believe, we also give people the benefit of the doubt and grade more leniently than what the verbatim answer would state. This is, of course, never picked up by a student. Hence a catch 22.</p>\n\n<p>What can we do? The problem lies in the examination. </p>\n\n<p>First, we can provide clear guidelines about clarity of language and writing. This should be pointed out long before the exam, in fact early in their education. A study of Swedish students showed that they learn two ways of writing in pre-university levels. In languages, focus is on grammar, spelling and language but not content; whereas in other subjects focus is on content and not language. When they arrive at the university they do not realize that both are important; we need to tell them.</p>\n\n<p>Second, we can chose other means of examination where those with poor hand-writing can do better. Examples can be many: from essays through take homes to verbal and of course highly depending on the course, contents, level etc. Examples of the means of grading is to have external graders (more resources!) or to do as one of my teachers did; ask students to request everyone writes the exam with the pencil, and then after the exam use a pen to add corrections to their own exame as the teacher went through the exam. The exam was then collected and graded by the teacher. I mention this as an example, fully realizing it would not work in every situation.</p>\n\n<p>So the answer for me is no, but our assessment is always tainted by many factors whether we want it or not. To reduce the element of subjectivity is what we would be looking for.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10158,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think the most important part of your post is in your comment</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Or for example grant agencies simply reject proposals that fail even slightly given formal criteria.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If a student isn't corrected for sloppy work while in school, when will he or she improve? The question really boils down to</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>How best can we as instructors give guidance to students so that they will succeed in the future?</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Evaluations in an educational setting can serve many purposes, but fundamentally they should be used as a tool to help students succeed. Obviously, you have to be careful because a poor grade on a transcript can have long-term ramifications, but ignoring sloppy or unreadable work by trying to see through it is doing a disservice to the student on a particularly key issue: <em>communication of an idea is as important as the idea itself.</em></p>\n\n<p>To answer your questions:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>1. Should the evaluation include evaluation of readability, proper structure etc...?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Absolutely. To ignore this would be bad pedagogy. Determining <em>how</em> to relate this to the student without causing a misunderstanding about the idea itself is the difficult part. Encouragement or direction to seek out writing help is a good idea, as is having students re-write or re-submit work that is sloppy. Hopefully the work improves throughout the course; being picky at the beginning of a course can set a good standard for the rest of the course.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>2. Should such deficiencies be also reflected in the grade? If so, how much? Would it be acceptable to even fail a work just because it's completely unreadable?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The answer to this ties directly back into the first question. I would suggest letting students re-write or submit material without penalty (or with minimal penalty) early on in a course, with the understanding that they must improve by the end. If your only assessment is a final project, consider allowing a re-write with an incomplete grade. But, if that is your policy, I'd strongly suggest providing a time for draft review well before the final project is due in order to minimize the need for this route. As always, I would also spell out in a syllabus your policy and the fact that presentation is a part of the course, and I would also discuss this on the first day of class (with examples of past work that is sloppy!).</p>\n\n<p>You've posed a hard question, but an extremely important one. I probably suggest rejecting 30% of the papers I review for conferences simply because they are unreadable. Most of the time I don't even get to the idea behind the work before I realize that it doesn't matter what the idea is because it is too poorly written (and this ends up in the review). I want more papers that are well presented, because I'm certain some of the papers I give poor reviews to because of this problem have great ideas behind them! Teachers that encourage students to improve their writing and presentation are necessary for this to occur.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10159,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I do agree with Peter Jansson's answer that we should make it completely clear to students what they need to do to have their work understood, I feel differently about the impacting on assessment.</p>\n\n<p>In industry, the ability to write readable (which means maintainable) code is critical. The ability to write a really cool, super efficient block of logic which nobody can understand is simply producing a ticking time bomb which will explode as soon as someone else goes to edit it. Students need to know that you are not just being a 'stuffly old prof' but rather that there are certain expectations from the profession and they must live up to them. Coding is not just about making a solution - it's about making a solution which will not explode 12-18 months later.</p>\n\n<p>On the academic side, I also have students who have similar problems where they do not care much about being careful in their writing. I generally handle them like this:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If I can understand it, but it is difficult, then I will mark them based on the overall quality of their work. If it is difficult to understand then the quality of their work is not great. Even if they are far smarter than me, they should be able to write in such a way that they can be understood.</p></li>\n<li><p>If I cannot understand it, then I simply fail them. They are responsible for showing me that they understand and if they do not do that, then I must fail them - this is my responsibility.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So, yes, educate them. However, I would not let poor quality slide.</p>\n\n<p>I try to remind my students of the story of the family. Every happy family is happy in the same way. Every unhappy family is unhappy in a different way. The students are usually lost at first, then I explain to them that for the family to be happy they must get 100 things right. But, get anyone of them wrong and the family is unhappy. If they want to be happy then they must get it all right.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10160,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Proper presentation of results is a vitally important part of modern research. It's also a necessary skill for <em>any</em> field of work into which an academically trained individual will enter after graduation. </p>\n\n<p>If one does not learn how to exchange information with other people and organizations, the results can be catastrophic. Edward Tufte's <em>Visual Information</em> uses the <em>Challenger</em> explosion as a case study in exactly what can go wrong when communication skills are ignored at a fundamental level. The launch was not aborted because the engineers just provided a bunch of disorganized data to management, who couldn't parse it out to understand that it was too cold to launch. </p>\n\n<p>So, as much as possible, presentation and organization of material <em>should</em> be considered when assigning grades. Now there are situations when it would be unfair to penalize: for example, in the context of a timed exam, where students may feel rushed and may not be writing neatly. (However, I also feel that this is a largely contrived circumstance, which doesn't reflect true understanding in many important ways.) In any situation where they have had time to independently prepare their work and submit it, then presentation and writing style should definitely be taken into account.</p>\n\n<p>However, at the same time, unless the class is a writing class, then it's unfair to fail or strongly penalize a student who has turned in work that would otherwise be satisfactory, but was not put together well. Personally, when I am grading project reports, I \"control\" for this by making a decision on what the grade for the technical content of the project. I then give a bonus \"partial\" grade level for a well-organized and well-written report, and similarly deduct a \"partial\" grade if it's substandard. So, for instance a report that would have gotten a B+ could become either an A- or a B.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10164,
"author": "Peter K.",
"author_id": 3965,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3965",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I set marking rubrics for my students' work, I usually include two main areas: Clarity and Contribution.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Clarity</strong> specifically addresses whether the student has communicated their ideas (or answered the questions) in a clear and unambiguous manner. As such, poor presentation or (really) bad grammar impacts this portion of the mark. </p>\n\n<p>I generally don't detract from the student mark for <code>speeling errurs</code> [sic]; even though I am a native English speaker, I am an Australian working in the US and am frequently in a quandary over whether to use Australian or American spelling.</p>\n\n<p>My present students are generally from non-English speaking backgrounds, and I find their clarity generally very good, even though their turns of phrase sometimes seem awkward to me. I give feedback on this awkwardness but, unless it impacts the clarity of their presentation, I don't dock marks for it.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Contribution</strong> is used to address the correctness or fitness for purpose of the work.</p>\n\n<p>I also add a further C, <strong>Collaboration</strong>, if the work is a group project.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>To directly answer your questions: Yes, and Yes.</strong></p>\n\n<p>As a side-issue: Because many of my students are non-native English speakers, I also tend to allow double-submission of assignments. The students may submit their assignments twice before the due date. </p>\n\n<p>I give an undertaking that I will do my best to give early feedback on an early submission (because I am an adjunct, I make it clear that \"early\" means the submission has to happen before a weekend before the due date). The students can then take my feedback and implement it on their new submission. I find this improves the quality of the presentation (clarity), but not so much on the contribution (unless they were really, really out of line on the first submission).</p>\n\n<p>Unless the students do a complete re-write, the second marking is usually just a \"delta\" / \"diff\" on the first.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10169,
"author": "FistOfFury",
"author_id": 7186,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7186",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What is your evaluation measuring? Are you grading a 2nd grade math test, or are you evaluating a doctoral thesis on neuroscience? </p>\n\n<p>If it's the former, then no; sloppiness and structure take a backseat to getting the subject matter correct. The reason is your focus should be on evaluating the crucial element of the subject being evaluated. At early levels of development, there must be some leniency given to presentation in order to focus on the fundamentals. </p>\n\n<p>Of course, there is a reasonable limit to how sloppy or unreadable something can be before the evaluation ceases to be useful. Intentionally sloppy responses relying on confusion in the hopes of gaining partial credit don't deserve any credit at all. </p>\n\n<p>If you're evaluating a student in a near-professional setting, e.g. university and higher, then it makes sense to consider presentation as part of the grade. Well structured, carefully written responses should get more credit than sloppy and careless ones. Presentation becomes important because in the \"real world\" people evaluate you based on the whole package. Nobody is going to buy a bottle of Tylenol with a hand-scribbled, barely legible label. Likewise, even superficial details should be considered important in high level evaluations.</p>\n\n<p>I was a sloppy student through primary school and even most of high school. Many teachers simply refused to grade some papers that were unacceptably sloppy, and others graded what they could within reason. None of those teachers who refused to grade a paper stick out in my mind, nor did their insistence on neatness change my behavior. I excelled in the subjects where my understanding of the core materials mattered most, and did not focus my attention on subjects where presentation was considered more important than the concepts being taught.</p>\n\n<p>Overall, I graduated in the top 5% of my high school and went on to a good college. By the time I got my masters degree, my value of structure and presentation has improved sufficiently that I can survive in a professional environment. Becoming a professional, I believe, is the goal of \"teaching\" organizational skills. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10170,
"author": "Shortstraw8",
"author_id": 7184,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7184",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not a teacher, but I am in my second year of my associates working toward my bachelors. My opinion is that yes you should, it will only hurt them later in life. In high school I passed my classes with C or a C+, now in college I am getting As and Bs. The reason is not that I am magically smarter, it is that I apply myself at least twice as hard.<br>\n There is so much information out there to learn anything, APA or MLA, and sites like <em>Grammar Girl</em> and reference generators. I think spelling should and grammar should be graded hard, maybe not at the first of the semester.<br>\n If they are bad at first, correct them and give them places to go for examples of the correct way(s) to do it. If by mid-term they have not figured it out then grade them hard. All work should flow; if it does not, let them know now because in their career they will not get a nice correction and time to fix it. I work my butt off in school and feel as if I get graded hard, but it is when the teacher gives good feedback that I learn and make the change. So giving them a grade lower than an A needs an explanation of what they need to fix.<br>\n This is why we are seeing on job descriptions -Bachelors from a reputable University- teachers need to be hard so that the student walks away with a real education not just a piece of paper that cost them thousands of dollars.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10172,
"author": "JustinC",
"author_id": 7195,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7195",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. </p>\n\n<p>You as an instructor may see hundreds upon hundreds of papers a term. The students do not have that same luxury for comparison. If penmanship and other elements of style are important to you as an instructor, then as a student, I suggest you express your standards and expectations up front, even if it seems that is something I should know and do coming into your class. </p>\n\n<p>I expect no less from an employer as an employee. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Note the degree of impact for presentation on the syllabus, even if there is no plus points for exemplary, and only negative points awarded for substandard. </li>\n<li>Provide a sanitized modicum of 'bad', 'passable', and 'exemplary' presentation for comparison. </li>\n<li>Encourage them to seek clarification or special consideration up front, as opposed to seeking remedy to penalties after the fact. They may have certain existing conditions which precludes them from generally meeting those standards. Or more commonly, they may not have been exposed or acclimated to the technical writing style you are accustomed to in that particular field..</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10191,
"author": "Fuhrmanator",
"author_id": 3859,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3859",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I particularly like the answer that suggested having rubrics to identify criteria such as clarity.</p>\n\n<p>When it comes to a situation where work is completely unreadable, I apply the pedagogical pattern known as <a href=\"https://extras.springer.com/1999/978-3-642-63632-5/OFFLINE/PPP/PP55.HTM\" rel=\"nofollow\">Grade it again, Sam</a>. Very often, the student who submits unreadable work is simply not making an effort. When I refuse the work using this pattern and give the student a second chance to improve readability, the second work is always better and subsequent works are usually also better.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10195,
"author": "abathur",
"author_id": 5668,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5668",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When you discuss formatting constraints of the grant application process, you're getting close to a solution, I think. There are really two components here; one of these is structural/formatting criteria, and the other is clarity. When you're in a situation where structural requirements and great care are part of the lesson you're teaching, I find it best to refuse to grade work until it has been presented in the proper format, and apply whatever late-work structure you normally use. </p>\n\n<p>This teaches the lesson that formatting is not optional fluff, but is instead a precondition to being taken seriously. That said, if you're going to follow this method, your instructions on format should themselves be crystal clear and unambiguous. Ask a competent peer to follow your formatting instructions and see if they can arrive at the right format.</p>\n\n<p>The second question about messiness is more troublesome, and to some extent your response should depend on where you're situated within the broader track your students will follow, and what constitutes messy/sloppy. I think your response should be two-pronged:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>I wouldn't advocate failing students outright for unreadable work, but let them know you can't grade the assignment until you can understand it, and ask them to discuss their work with you one-on-one. Like above, allow your late-work policy to degrade the value of their work if they don't come address it swiftly. I ran into a few students who had a sense of what academic writing should sound like, with the result that they were completely incomprehensible when trying to parrot a voice they had no real command of. But they were able to explain it in person. This method allows you to show how imperative clear communication is--it's a precondition to being graded--and avoid invalidating what may have otherwise been good work. The ultimate penalty is based on how quickly the students resolve the problems with their work.</p></li>\n<li><p>Include some metric of style/quality/organization on your rubric. While I understand the inclination to see writing as something students should already know how to do--and that you probably don't see yourself as an instructor of writing--I think rubrics should always always always reflect the qualities you actually expect of good work in your field. Your rubric telegraphs your own priorities, and if you don't communicate clarity and style as a concern, it shouldn't come as a surprise when students think it doesn't matter.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10200,
"author": "Mythio",
"author_id": 6332,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6332",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a current student of computer science (master level) I can say that commenting on the readability of work from students, providing pointers and even taking it into account when grading is of great importance. It will benefit the student a lot in the long run.\nAt my university, many professors point out bad readability and incoherent structure, although mostly on project/paper type assignments and less on weekly homework assignments.\nHowever, it is considered important in all cases. I'm now writing my thesis and have written two research papers as part of research projects (for publication) and the comments I got on structure and readability greatly improved my writing.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I see from fellow students that they write solutions without providing reasoning and without introducing the topic and the problem they are solving. I believe this is very bad style (for group work this has unfortunately led to me rewriting the group documents many times simply to improve the structure). However, students don't often see a problem because it gets accepted by the teacher.</p>\n\n<p>An important note though is that I think grammar and spelling should be of significantly less importance. For instance, the Chinese students in our class often forget the word \"the\" in writing (all documents are written in English for my master). Although this affects readability and is often pointed out by teachers, it is generally not considered an error significant enough to deduct points. </p>\n\n<p>The line between decreased readability due to grammar/spelling and actual incomprehensibility is hard to determine, and should be determined on a case by case basis. Still it is important that students also learn this.</p>\n\n<p>In short, definitely help students in improving their structure and on communicating their ideas and force students to do so by making it affect the grade! It will only help them like it helped me! </p>\n\n<p>EDIT: As a side note, handwritten solutions are generally not accepted where I study, but if YOU are requesting handwritten solutions, it would be unfair to deduct points for bad handwriting. Some people just don't have a nice handwriting, an unfortunate result of the modern computer era. If students CAN but don't have to hand in handwritten solutions, then it should affect the grade as it is the students choice to write instead of type (if it significantly affects the readability of course).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10155",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1531/"
]
|
10,173 | <p>I understand <strong>honour societies</strong> have been around for years and it is a tradition more prevalent in the western world to recognise outstanding academic talent. </p>
<p>The largest honour society is perhaps the <a href="http://www.goldenkey.org/">Golden Key</a> which operates worldwide and has over 2 million members. It provides a range of services to members, including leadership training, networking and the opportunity to do good. Membership is by invitation only and only those who are in the top 15% of their class or high performing graduate students are eligible. The eligibility is based solely on academic performance.</p>
<p>I presume being invited to join a honour society is an 'honour' in itself, as the mere mention of this affiliation on the CV would indicate that you are a top achiever. </p>
<p><strong>Question 1:</strong> Does membership of honour society carry any professional weight?</p>
<p>(i.e. does it give any additional advantages?)</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Honour society is not the same as professional society. The latter, as I understand it, is open to all persons in a particular field (irrespective of their academic achievement but as long as certain criteria are met, e.g. successful registration as a teacher to join a teacher's union). </p>
<p><strong>Question 2:</strong> Are there other honour societies in addition to the Golden Key (which seems to be the most dominant one)? </p>
<p><strong>PS:</strong> I am unsure of the tag, so putting CV. Please update!</p>
<p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I am not associated with Golden Key.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10174,
"author": "Aaron",
"author_id": 1228,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, I think honor societies (including Golden Key) carry very little weight. One exception is Phi Beta Kappa, which (unlike Golden Key) does not require paying a fee to be inducted. I would be suspicious of any honor society that requires payment for membership. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10197,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Does membership of honour society carry any professional weight?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, not in general. At a very early stage in your career, for example when applying to graduate school, it may be useful as a quick indication that you have received high grades. However, the grades themselves are more meaningful than the honor society membership, and in any case grades only matter so much. It's worth mentioning the honor society on your CV, but it won't make a big difference.</p>\n\n<p>Once you are more than a few years past undergraduate studies, neither grades nor honor societies matter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10670,
"author": "user168715",
"author_id": 5596,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5596",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Listing \"prestigious\" societies like Phi Beta Kappa or Tau Beta Pi is perfectly acceptable. While it probably won't do a whole lot of good, it also won't do any harm. Do avoid listing any societies where you have to pay dues or pay to be inducted: they are a double-whammy since they give the perception that 1) you are padding your CV with inconsequential honors, and 2) are exhibiting poor judgment by paying to do so.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10173",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4475/"
]
|
10,183 | <p>I was asked to compose a recommendation/reference letter for a Computer Engineer that works as a Researcher in the Research Center I am supervisor. I don't know if Academia is the right site to post , but since the nature of the job is Research and people involved "Research Engineers", I believe is the right place.</p>
<p>So, I need to write a great recommendation/reference letter, but the problem is I have never written a letter of this kind before. I've seen many of them, and even more on the web but the problem is that they all look "copy-pasted" and not written in a way that would make me believe that the author of this letter really spent time on it, believing in the skills of his employee and really wanted to recommend them.</p>
<p>I've already written the letter, the best I could and I will like to ask about some parts of it, how they sound and if they could be any better.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>As a first paragraph, I wrote who I am, the position I have in the Research Center and what is the purpose of this letter:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My name is... I am a ...<br>
The purpose of this letter, is to serve as a reference to my cooperation with Mr ...</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p>In the second paragraph I wrote about the position of the person (Research Engineer) and for how long he worked with us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mr. X joined our team in the X Research Center as a full-time Research Engineer under an ongoing X month contract...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At this point I don't know how I could point out better the fact the the person was under a normal full-paid contract and not just given a "European Grant" to work with us. I wrote they were <code>full-time</code>, but still there are many people that join programs after studies that work for a few months as Engineers in Research Centers. In this case, I want to stress that they were working as a normal Research Engineer, especially chosen for skills and paid a normal salary for the position as Engineer. Maybe add something like <code>"full paid contract"</code></p></li>
<li><p>In the 3rd paragraph I wrote under what framework the person worked (European project) and a few words where and how they were involved. I didn't want to go into great details here as I believe this stuff could be easily read from their great CV. Is it wise to describe exactly what he did (Names of real-life applications that was part of developing etc). I pointed out that they deeply involved in what they did, how well they integrated with the rest of the people and how motivated they were and that they actively contributed in the project. Anything else I could add here?</p></li>
<li><p>As a last line I would like to show that I can't recommend them enough, but without getting "too excited". I want it to be serious, I want it to leave no doubts. Also since the person is young and is interested in continuing with post graduate studies, or working as a Researcher or even getting a computer engineer position in a private company. Is it okay if I mention all of them? Usually we recommend someone for one type of position. But this position, working as computer engineer doing research (aka Research Engineer), leaves no doubt that he would be great as a PhD student, as a researcher or as a software engineer. So I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For all the aforementioned reasons I would like to highly recommend X, as a strong candidate for future postgraduate studies, research and employment offers.</p>
</blockquote></li>
</ol>
<p>What do you think about it? How could I make it better and is there something I should change? If you don't like some part and you give me an alternative please point out why you don't like the part, as some times its a bit of personal taste and not that something is wrong. Would be great, if you could post some examples of letters you composed or parts of them, or an example from the web that you consider great.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10184,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is what I would recommend and it is not far off from what you have outlined:</p>\n<p>I am assuming your will start the letter cordially to whomever will receive the letter ("Dear so-and-so" or "To whom it may concern"). I also assume you're writing on letter head where your name and contact information and date for the letter is written.</p>\n<h2>1st part (paragraph)</h2>\n<p>First state that you write the letter on request by the applicant. Follow up by stating who you are in terms of your professional status (expertise) and your relation to the applicant. The purpose is to make the recipient aware of your standing relative to the applicant, it makes it easier to value your comments. This paragraph should obviously not be very long since it is not you who are to be evaluated, but still long enough to provide a fair picture of your qualifications.</p>\n<h2>2nd part (one or more paragraphs)</h2>\n<p>Outline the most important aspect of the applicants merits that are sought for the position, if it is a teaching job then etaching experience, if it is research then research related. It may end up more than one paragraph because you may need to discuss the research done (type of research past and present) in one paragraph and then follow up on the person's ability to attarct funding and colaboration in a second (depending on length). You also need to value the publications briefly in terms of journal impact factors and citations, in other words the quality of the published work.</p>\n<h2>3rd part (one or more paragraphs)##</h2>\n<p>You need to write about the personal side of the applicant, starting out with for example ability to collaborate and contribute to the research and work environment. This can be followed up bu more personal aspects and "soft values" that descfibes the persons pesronality at work and elsewhere. You obviously need to focius on aspects that may be relevant for evaluating the applicant as a colleague.</p>\n<h2>Final Statement</h2>\n<p>Finish of by summing up the major points above and express your personal support for the person in terms of how the person would fit the announced position. You can for example tie back to your own expoerience and position and value in terms of how you see the applicant relative to others you have worked with and so on.</p>\n<h2>Final Points to Consider</h2>\n<p>The length of a letter can vary greatly. Honesty is what everyone expects. I think it is valuable to also mention weaknesses as long s they are done fairly and with insight. The employer will want to know the person, not just the glossy exterior. This part is always trickiest to write and also very personal so additional advice is hard to provide.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10194,
"author": "TCSGrad",
"author_id": 79,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/79",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There was a good link that I'd found on this topic, while applying to graduate school:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Memos/Grad-School-Recos/\">Advice to Graduate School Recommendation Letter Writers</a></p>\n\n<p>The above link is a pithy list of points to be kept in mind by new letter writers. As a summary, I'd like to highlight some sections of it that I've found repeated in other such articles as well:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Be Concrete</strong></p>\n \n <p>If you take away just one piece of concrete advice, let it be this.</p>\n \n <p>The single biggest problem with most letters is that they are filled\n with abstract generalities and infinitives. If we don't know you or\n your institution, we can't judge what any of these statements mean\n relative to our standards. Always consider the illustrative anecdote:</p>\n\n<pre><code>Due to deadline pressure, I asked him to grow a pumpkin in just one month. As you know it takes over 100 days to grow a pumpkin, but over the weekend he devised a new method to accelerate their growth. On Monday morning I arrived to find not just a pumpkin but a steaming, flavorful pie. \n</code></pre>\n \n <p>Anecdote about acts of raw coding are only so helpful in understanding\n research potential, but they're better than nothing (see the section\n on Corporate Letters, below). An extra book or paper they read, and\n demonstrated understanding of (again, be concrete about why you\n believe this), goes a long way.</p>\n \n <p><strong>Corporate Letters</strong></p>\n \n <p>An important special case is the corporate letter: when you, the\n letter-writer, work in industry and have no academic affiliation. Many\n corporate letters (like many academic letters, but more so) tend to be\n vapid, clearly written in a different culture and for a different\n audience. Unless they actually did academic research with you, here\n are some suggestions for improving them.</p>\n \n <p>A common mistake is to focus on teamwork. This is important even in\n academia, but often this is the primary focus of the letter, which\n makes it less valuable. Of course we care about it, but it's secondary\n to their technical skills.</p>\n \n <ol>\n <li>Tell us if they learned something particularly quickly, mastered a\n complex technology, or solved a problem others were stuck on. Give\n us a paragraph of details.</li>\n <li>If you have a concrete reason to evaluate research potential, do so concretely. Otherwise, don't bother.</li>\n <li>Give us a brief bio-sketch, including educational qualifications.\n 4.Put the applicant in context, and tell us the context. It's fine to relate it to your own student days, or to your experience hiring students.\n E.g.\n <ul>\n <li>Compared to the students I studied with at Cucumber and Melon University, and the ones I now recruit from there, I would put him in\n the top 10%.</li>\n </ul></li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10183",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7204/"
]
|
10,201 | <p>I have started publishing papers this year - 3 so far, of which 2 are in an international journal, the 3rd in a local journal.</p>
<p>My question is, is there any particular disadvantage with publishing the majority of papers in one or a very limited array of journals? Or is it a case that it makes no difference either way?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10203,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I am sure opinions and traditions vary concerning this question. For me the quality of the journal (say, impact factor) is the most important, you try to get published in good journals. In some cases, the field may be so narrow that only one or a very few journals may be good. In such cases the selection may result in a single journal. </p>\n\n<p>To publish in a variety of journals seems to be a means by itself for many but I think the reasons still vary. There may be advantages in getting published in many journals to show that the research has wider applications and is accepted more generally. It may be a way to avoid the suspicion that you have a back way into a single journal (not that that would be true). In some cases, you may select different journals because you know your ideas are not favoured by someone in a specific journal's editorial board (strategic reason).</p>\n\n<p>So reasons for spreading the publications may vary quite substantially. The main point for me is, however, still that primarily the quality of the journal will decide. I would not chose a different journal just to get a new journal mentioned in my list of publications.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10220,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field (mathematics), the quality of journals is a quite fuzzy notion; we do not rely very much on metrics like the impact factor, but have a subjective and qualitative sense of prestige of journals. Inevitably, the way a given journal is regarded changes from one person to another. As a consequence, publishing in a variety of journals increases the odds that someone looking at your publication list will think \"whao, she published in X!\".</p>\n\n<p>Another point is that if one publishes a large fraction of its research in one journal, people can wonder whether she has a friend in the editorial board that help her getting accepted there.</p>\n\n<p>All in all, it seems preferable (and possible, given the large amount of journal in the field) to publish in a variety of journal for hiring, promotion and more generally evaluation matters. Of course, the picture is certainly different in other fields.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10330,
"author": "ThomasH",
"author_id": 4125,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4125",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with @PeterJansson that impact factor is certainly an important factor in selecting a journal. But I would also think about who you want to reach with your paper. Although Google Scholar and similar search engines now ensure a much higher probability of finding your paper based on its title, abstract and keywords, it will only be found by people actively searching for terms associated with your work. </p>\n\n<p>Most researchers still subscribe to specific journals in their field, even if only through e-mail alerts, so I target a journal also for its audience (while trying to select the highest impact factor from this subset). This is especially important if your work bridges several fields. </p>\n\n<p>For example, my research is about human-robot interaction, so I have to decide whether to publish an article in a journal that is read primarily by roboticists or social scientists/psychologists. </p>\n\n<p>In this case, it is also vitally important to adjust the paper to its target demographic. Psychologists don't know (and likely don't care) about my implementation details while roboticists are more likely to be interested in nitty gritty details about the code and less about the nuances of the social psychology theory behind it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10201",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
10,202 | <p>What are the benefits for the universities and particular professors in recording online courses (MOOC)? Do they get paid by Coursera and similar sites? Do they pursue publicity?</p>
<p>I know that they are providing a useful service by spreading education to everybody in the world, but what do they get in exchange? Do they hope to get more students enrolled, or more public exposure for the university? Or do they do it out of the kindness of their hearts, or for some other reasons?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10204,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I record my lectures (when possible) for the following reasons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Easier access for students who can't attend class. While I generally want students to come to class, there are valid reasons for being absent (e.g., I'm currently teaching classes to military members who often have duty that preempts class attendance). I can also point students to a video to review if they ask me questions explicitly covered in class (and also for general review).</p></li>\n<li><p>Open access. I think it's pretty cool to live in a world where it is possible to get free access to videos that enhance knowledge. I feel like I'm playing my little part by putting my lectures online.</p></li>\n<li><p>Introspective review. It can be extremely beneficial to review your own teaching methods, although I don't have time to do this for all of my classes. I have gone back to particular sections to review, and I almost always find something I could improve upon.</p></li>\n<li><p>(minor) The America's Funniest Videos factor. I've had clips that have been unintentionally hilarious, either because of something I've said, or because of something students have said. :)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Universities have their own reasons for putting classes online, and you've already listed a number of them. I'd like to believe that most of the reasons are altruistic, with sites such as <a href=\"http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm\">MIT's OpenCourseWare</a> and <a href=\"http://online.stanford.edu/about\">Stanford's Online Courses</a> providing no-strings-attached courses for free. I would also hope that someone is doing research on these types of course offerings, to see if they are really having benefits to the people that watch them. I don't believe the bottom line at extremely selective schools will ever be hurt by offering free course material, but if they do start feeling the pinch I imagine they will change their models.</p>\n\n<p>Sites like <a href=\"https://www.coursera.org/\">Courseara</a> are for profit and <a href=\"http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/08/coursera-begins-make-money\">starting to make money</a> by offering to verify certificates of completion for a cost.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Why, then, some [Universities] charge enormous fees for attending courses?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The question of college expense is a can of worms that has as <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=why+is+college+so+expensive%3F&aq=f&oq=why+is+college+so+expensive%3F&aqs=chrome.0.57j60l3j59j62.4484j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8\">many differing answers as there are people asking about it</a>. Selective colleges charge what they do because (1) it is expensive to run a brick-and-mortar college, and (2) the applications keep rising and kids can still get loans, grants, and other aid. Obviously it is much more subtle than that, and it would take <a href=\"http://freevideolectures.com/University/UC-Berkeley/Economics/Subject/Page1\">more than a few free economics courses</a> to get to the bottom of it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 11196,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to the good non-financial reasons mentioned, there is also a more financial reason - promoting your own book. I am sure this is not the main reason to give online courses, and having the book is not an explicit requirement, but it does provide a way to benefit financially.</p>\n\n<p>For example, Prof. Daphne Koller from Stanford and Prof. Yaser Abu Mostafa from CalTech both offer free online Machine Learning courses, and both have relatively recent books that are top best-sellers on Amazon.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 21528,
"author": "user3079666",
"author_id": 11719,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11719",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe that the university and professor are promoted by showing their work, people can watch their courses and see how good they are, and spread the word, this will increase the prestige of the university. Another thought is that this shows the university cares about the lessons and gets into this trouble, thus the faculty seem more invovled. A more benevolent thought is that it might help students from other universities. <br> I, personally, have gained a better opinion about MIT for example, or a different one anyway, having used it's online courses repeatedly to cover the gaps left by my professors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28476,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was under the impression that part of the reason courses are currently offered free is to gather data about how people use the material/how they study etc, and that's (partly) why they tend to have questionnaires about you at the start.</p>\n\n<p>There's also a more cynical way of looking at it. Shortly after I first finished a course, I got an email saying lots of people had been asking about a course on a particular topic; there wasn't a free course available, but there was one you could do for $400.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10202",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7216/"
]
|
10,206 | <p>I need to attend a competition\seminar with my teenage son. He needs to create a project for this competition on a 36"*48" trifold poster board. Now the dimensions of this trifold poster board do not make it eligible for taking it as a carry on luggage and its not safe to send it in Checked in luggage for risk of damaging the project that he has done. What are the options for carrying this poster board as a carry on luggage ? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10207,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One common option is to print or create the poster on a large sheet of paper and carry it in a <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2448/flying-with-a-poster-tube-as-a-hand-luggage\">poster tube</a>. After you arrive at your destination, buy a blank poster board, and paste your paper onto it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10225,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another option that goes beyond Nate's idea and that would work in an American city: take the poster as a PDF, find a local Kinko's and then print it out. Then apply Nate's solution. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10263,
"author": "Stylize",
"author_id": 3966,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3966",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have shipped posters to my hotel before. UPS/FedEx/...will drop your poster at the lobby. It will be waiting for you when you get there...</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10206",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7218/"
]
|
10,208 | <p>A postdoc, postdoctoral research assistant in a university on a contract has a supervisor or a boss. They may not be the PI on the grant which pays the salary as it may contain other universities as well. </p>
<p>In conversation and in email, what is the best term to use for your postdoc boss? Something doesn't seem correct with the term boss or manager, or even supervisor.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10209,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is really up to you (both you and to some extent the \"boss\"). The term \"boss\" to me is too managerial. I don't like the sound of \"my PI\", even if the boss is a PI, they are not really your PI. I prefer advisor over supervisor, I think it sounds more supporting.</p>\n\n<p>That said, since you think it is an issue, just refer to the boss as Dr. Smith and then say you are a post doc for Dr. Smith.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10211,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've heard \"supervisor\", \"advisor\" and \"mentor\". They can be clarified as \"postdoc advisor\", etc, to avoid confusion with a Ph.D. advisor.</p>\n\n<p>There's also the simpler \"I work with Professor Smith.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10216,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would lean toward \"advisor,\" as that encapsulates the role best in normal circumstances. You should be an independent researcher as a postdoc, so you shouldn't need much more than advice from your PI. </p>\n\n<p>I personally reserve the term mentor for someone who advises you about (and throughout) your career, not just for a particular project. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10222,
"author": "Ran G.",
"author_id": 324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/324",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One \"clean\" way is to use <code>host</code>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I'm a Postdoc at U of U., hosted by Prof. P.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>sometimes it might indicate that that's the guy who pays your money, but not necessarily serving as your mentor. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10208",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/67/"
]
|
10,210 | <p>Many journals now are open access only and every article published (authors) must pay a fee.</p>
<p>Sometimes, this info can be hard to find. The journals does not put it visibly on the front page (next to impact factor).</p>
<p>If I want to compare 80 journals in the medical field and their charges - it is not easy.</p>
<p>Is there a site that would 'monitor' this and have data on many journals. (any list with 50+ journals and prices listed will be a good answer) (even if domain specific) (medicine domain is preferred)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10269,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try <a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/\" rel=\"nofollow\">the Sherpa/RoMEO list</a>, which is the most definitive list of open access journals that I know of. It covers many different fields.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know why you are set on 1000 journals. You can only publish your paper in one journal. What's important is not the number of journals, but finding one good journal that is a great fit for your paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10306,
"author": "userJT",
"author_id": 1537,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1537",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no comprehensive list.</p>\n\n<p>Some partial lists are listed below: (please update when new are found)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/scholarlycommunication/oa_fees.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/scholarlycommunication/oa_fees.html</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10210",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1537/"
]
|
10,212 | <p><strong>Background:</strong>
I'm just wondering - I'm writing my bachelor's "thesis" in information-systems management, which should in theory be a paper about a hypothesis I make, an experiment and an evaluation.</p>
<p>I have an "experiment" which is comparing reality of information-systems management to various theories of information-systems management.
I have my evaluation.</p>
<p>But my "thesis"... is basically my assumption based on experience that says: "theory is based on assumptions that practice do not always exist". And my "experiment" neither proves nor disproves this triviality, but is supposed to show how you can tailor the management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong>
What should I call this thing, since it isn't a thesis?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10218,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It <strong>is</strong> a thesis. From what you've written, your hypothesis is that </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>you can tailor the [information-systems] management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You might also be doing <strong>exploratory research</strong>, or <strong>blue-skies research</strong>, where you don't start with a research question, you start with a direction, subject or area, and go wandering off looking for interesting problems.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10219,
"author": "Paul",
"author_id": 931,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It almost sounds like a <em>literature review</em> or <em>critique</em>, where you have a particular lens or perspective from which to observe and interpret other ideas.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16086,
"author": "h22",
"author_id": 10920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10920",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Before creating a hypothesis, it may be necessary to make experiments and discover the <em>laws</em> (Ohms law, Newtons laws and the like). Laws are not hypothesis. They do not suppose anything, just describe discovered regularities (correlation, regression, sometimes more complex curve fitting) in a way more compact than raw experimental data. If you have good experimental data without hypothesis, you may simply be in this stage of exploration. </p>\n\n<p>Discovering the laws may be required before any hypothesis can be formulated. Try to propose and test your hypothesis now, maybe it is time.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10212",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7220/"
]
|
10,214 | <p>While reading <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10202/what-are-the-benefits-for-universities-professors-to-record-online-courses">this question</a>, and specifically <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/10204/15723">Chris Gregg's answer</a>, I started to think about recording my lectures in order to help students review, help students who missed class, and generally provide a way for people to learn about the subjects I teach.</p>
<p>So, how do teachers (with the same goal as I wrote) record their lectures? Do they simply ask someone to record them with a video camera? Do they go in and do more serious editing like you see in Coursera videos where the video transitions between the lecturer's face and slides being drawn on by the lecturer (as described <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2853/device-for-writing-a-lecture-with-a-stylus-for-video-lecture-recording">here</a>)? </p>
<p>I'm curious what my options are, considering my university provides zero support for this idea of recording lectures.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10215,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If my lecture is done via a presentation (not my preferred method, but necessary for some classes), I record the audio of my lectures along with a \"video\" of the slides I use. I use Camtasia to record everything, so the only other thing I need is a microphone. </p>\n\n<p>When I give lectures at the blackboard I don't record them. However, for those lectures I provide a fairly detailed set of course notes. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10217,
"author": "rexg",
"author_id": 7221,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7221",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My preference for teaching undergraduate courses (in physics) is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Audio-record the lecture using a small MP3 player hung around my neck, and provide the file to students as a MP3 file</li>\n<li>Write coherent notes on the blackboard that students can use as the basis for their own notes</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I specifically do <em>not</em> do the following, which I believe is harmful to students' learning in such courses:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Provide detailed printed notes</li>\n<li>Use slides (except for occasional complex Figures and animations)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10221,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The system my department uses for large lecture classes captures two video feeds: One showing the lecturer and the screen, taken from a camera mounted on the ceiling, the other showing whatever is currently being projected onto the screen, captured on route to the projector. (I normally lecture with a document camera, printer paper, <a href=\"http://www.sharpie.com/Pages/GlobalLanding.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sharpies</a>, and the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisenaire_rods\" rel=\"nofollow\">occasional</a> <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice#Non-cubic\" rel=\"nofollow\">small</a> <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi\" rel=\"nofollow\">prop</a>.) Audio is captured separately from a microphone on the instructor's lapel.</p>\n\n<p>My department's playback system allows the students to show either or both videos, at adjustable sizes, with synchronized playback, and to slow down or speed up playback. The capturing system automatically locates transitions between slides (or, in my case, new pieces of paper) and provides navigation landmarks for the students. </p>\n\n<p>The system is almost entirely automated. In particular, the lecture videos are not edited at all.</p>\n\n<p>I also provide detailed <a href=\"http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/~jeffe/teaching/algorithms/\" rel=\"nofollow\">course notes</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 186462,
"author": "Peter K.",
"author_id": 3965,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3965",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An old question, but a new answer.</p>\n<p>Since COVID-19, I've become more familiar with tools such as:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://zoom.us/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Zoom</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://streamlabs.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Streamlabs</a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>and, depending on the audience, I use one or the other.</p>\n<p>Streamlabs allows me to compose a video view that includes my laptop screen, the webcam in the corner, and some text to title the video. I can then share the output of Streamlabs on Zoom, if that is the system the school uses, or stream the output straight to YouTube for playback later.</p>\n<p>Even if the students are in-person, many of them (once or twice a semester) miss class and are thankful for the video version of each class so they don't fall to far behind.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10214",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692/"
]
|
10,223 | <p>I have a list of references in my CV. One of them happens to be the Dean of the graduate school and the other a Vice Chancellor. Both of these roles are administrative and their primary position is that of a Professor. Would listing these referees as</p>
<pre><code>John H. Doeberg
Professor and Dean of the Graduate School
University of Foo
Jane Q. Publicowski
Professor and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
University of Bar
</code></pre>
<p>be better (give more credence/weight) than simply listing them as a Professor. I know that ultimately what they write in those letters is what matters, but for the purposes of this question, it can be safely assumed that both letters are going to be stellar recommendations.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10224,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You haven't said what the letters are for. If it's for a position based on academic credentials (whether in academia or industry), I doubt it makes much of a difference. If the position involves administrative responsibilities, then mentioning this would help, so the people requesting the letter would make sure to ask them. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10226,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The thing to remember here is that your reference letter writers will be providing official letters, and therefore will be including their full titles (presumably the letterhead will list this). In such a case, it doesn't really seem to make much sense to \"hide\" the status of the person writing the letter. Moreover, if the position is one which will include some administrative duties, a letter of reference from someone doing university administration might even be a plus.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10223",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
10,229 | <p>It seems like most PhD applications require at least two reference letter. One of my Master's thesis supervisors (a PhD) has written me a reference letter. Can I ask my other supervisor (a PhD student) to write me the second one, or would that be redundant?</p>
<p>The other alternative letter writers are all professors who have only seen me in class and can't really comment on my research potential.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10232,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The main point of the letters of recommendation are to comment on your abilities, and to place them in the context of other people the recommender has known and worked with. The better they can comment, and the larger the number of people the recommender has worked with and therefore can compare you to, the better the recommendation will likely be.</p>\n\n<p>For this reason, it is not nearly as helpful to get a letter from a PhD student as from someone who is more experienced and has likely worked with more master's students. On the other hand, if the option is to get a letter who can <em>only</em> comment on your class work, I would opt for including the PhD student's recommendation letter.</p>\n\n<p>However, if you have had a non-academic person (perhaps an internship supervisor or similar) in a related discipline who could comment on your work, this might be a suitable alternative. (See wsc's answer below.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10233,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As it was mentioned before, you can obtain reference letters from your supervisors, in case that you have done some internship job for obtaining your master´s.\nAlso you can talk directly with one of your past professors, and explain them about your research interests (try to check first which professors have the same research interests). Then you can ask, in a nice way, if they can give you a hand with a recommendation letter. Most of the time they will agree to help you with that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10234,
"author": "wsc",
"author_id": 6820,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6820",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've sat on my department's graduate studies committee during application season, and so I can provide at least one point of anecdata for how PhD application recommendation letters are used, at least in my tiny corner of the academy. YMMV.</p>\n\n<p>First, These letters are among the last things that are looked at. We don't have rigorous thresholds for grades, GRE scores, subject GRE scores, publications, etc. But all of those things are used to \"objectively\" sort the pool. First the obvious admits are skimmed off the top, and fellowship offers are made to some of them. This is the first place where letters are important, since quotes are mined from those letters to try and win funding for these students from the University (i.e., we entice the student with a prestigious award, and the department doesn't even have to pay for her!) The money quote is usually a ranking and/or direct comparison -- <em>\"In my twenty years at Giant State University, I've seen no more than 5 students of X's caliber. I would say her talents remind me of Y's at that age, who is now a professor at Prestigious U\"</em> -- and this is why even a mediocre teaching letter is more useful for this purpose than a nice letter from a PhD student (who can not be counted on to have a reasonable intuition for another's future potential).</p>\n\n<p>Second, we work our way down to the marginal cases; this is much more difficult since the marginal cases require a more holistic take on the application package. No one gets immediately thrown out just for bad grades or a bad subject GRE score, but we expect some explanation of a mitigating circumstance (not an excuse!) in the personal statement, and hopefully reflected in the letters as well. For example, if you were dinged in the first pass for a low GPA, we would like to see that it was a bad first year (and not a bad fifth...); that you are on an upswing. If you think you might be a marginal case for whatever reason, the letter from the PhD student might be helpful -- perhaps you don't have any publications, but the PhD student can vouch for your work and verify that you have something in preparation, or explain why your project failed (projects often fail!) but that nonetheless you mastered some state-of-the-art technique on the way.</p>\n\n<p><em>On the other hand</em> it is a big waving red flag if those things are then <em>not</em> pointed out by your actual boss (the PhD holding supervisor). If you think the student will write a <em>better</em> letter, then you're probably best off having that student lobby on your behalf with the professor, to make sure the <em>professor's</em> letter is strong, and then get a second letter from someone else.</p>\n\n<p>I would strongly recommend you do not ask for a letter from a non-academic unless it was an actual research position (and even then, these can be iffy if the supervisor has no letter-writing experience). On occasion we see glowing letters from a student's supervisor at their summer construction job, or a call center for a political campaign. Well-rounded students are great, but such letters are almost useless.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10229",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
10,235 | <p>I don't necessarily consider it a hardship to teach calculus or the like to students whose preparation in prerequisites is weak, but but I am offended by the practice of making it a personal policy to treat learning the material ONLY as a price paid to get a grade to put on one's resume, rather than as the thing they're there for.</p>
<ul>
<li>I'm wondering how to identify instances of such behavior quickly when they occur.</li>
<li>How can one identify institutions that tolerate or encourage my position as outlined in my first paragraph above, and those that are hostile toward it? I think the latter---where that hostility may exist---often include respectable institutions in which lots of students want to get degrees in law or business or the like.</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10236,
"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 easy eay to identify this behavior without students directly approaching you and making it clear through questions like the ever-popular: \"Will this be on the exam?\" and grade-grubbing for every possible point. Without obvious signals, it's not really clear who's in it for a grade and who's there to learn—and it would be imprudent to try to prognosticate. The results may surprise you!</p>\n\n<p>As far as an institutional perspective, I again don't know if there's a way to really lay things at the feet of the institution for \"encouraging\" such behavior. It can vary a lot from department to department, and even faculty member to faculty member. However, one issue can be to see how seriously the department you're interested in takes teaching duties. Is it something people are doing their best to get out of, or are they trying to do the best job they can with it? Does the department encourage \"out-of-the-box\" thinking in how to teach classes, or is it just something to get over and done with each semester?</p>\n\n<p>But a lot of it also relies on your attitude. If you make it clear to the students that you're serious about them <em>learning</em>, rather than just <em>regurgitating</em> for the purpose of an exam, the students who stick with you will probably be more motivated than if they don't think you are invested in their learning. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10238,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I understand that you are offended by students who do not take your subject as seriously as you do but that is just the way some students are.</p>\n\n<p>There are students who are really interested and there are those who are not. In the case of calculus, if a student is required to take it for their non-math major then you will certainly have students who just want the grade. One way around this is to only teach elective classes but that will not work for everyone (I'm not sure it would work for any teacher).</p>\n\n<p>Still, your questions are clear. How do you find the students who don't really care? I find that they usually bubble to the surface quite quickly. I tend to be quite interactive with my students, asking lots of questions. I also give them additional 'required' reading. Even the required reading doesn't get read by the students who just want to pass and be done with it. So, those students who actually read the material and can answer it meaningfully in class are the students you are looking for.</p>\n\n<p>Now, as for identifying institutions I will say that I have read a lot and talked to a lot of teachers and one thing EVERY serious teacher wants is to teach a class of highly motivated students who care deeply for their studies. This is simply unrealistic and I have never heard of a teacher who actually achieves that.</p>\n\n<p>I think the better question to ask is: <strong>How can I motivate a deep love of my subject in my students?</strong> By stimulating their desires, you will naturally end up with what you want. However, this is not easy and it takes a lot of time and effort. However, you seem like a serious teacher, so perhaps you can make the investment. Certainly the results, if you succeed, would likely be very rewarding for you.</p>\n\n<p>My perspective is that a great teacher has no bad students. By this, I mean that a great teacher is able to motivate their students to <em>want</em> to learn the material. By this measure I am not a great teacher, but I keep trying.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10235",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7229/"
]
|
10,242 | <p>I have just done my Bachelor in computer science and got an offer to a software engineering position. Some people told me that a master degree is very beneficial for my long-term career development. Unfortunately I do not think I can get into any good master program because of my terrible undergrad gpa + no academic references. A postgraduate certificate program requires nothing. </p>
<p>My question is, what is your point of view on postgraduate certificate in software engineering? Is it just a joke comparing to master degrees? What about starting salary?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10243,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short term wise, the postgraduate certificate will help you to find a better job with a higher salary because the certificate shows that you have some skill printed on the certificate. However, whatever the technology you learn while getting the certificate could become obsolete in a few years.</p>\n\n<p>Long term wise, the master degree proves that you know more fundamentals than just a bachelor. It may not help you that much when looking for a job with better salary. Some employers would think you don't have the skills they want immediately. However, you'll learn those needed skills faster and better because you know more fundamentals.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to find a job as of now, you want to have certificates. If you want to be an excellent software engineer in the future, you should get a master degree</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10255,
"author": "techmsi",
"author_id": 7198,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7198",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with @scaaahu that having a Masters shows that you have a strong understanding of important concepts. As you probably know there are commonalities between programming languages such as input/output, conditionals, loops, etc. the difference lies in how they are each implemented. However, by knowing one language(i.e. Java) you could learn another(i.e. C#) efficiently and in a shorter time. </p>\n\n<p>It is also true that some employers might think you're overqualified since you have a Masters but others will recognize the added value your advanced knowledge could bring their company and the compensation may even reflect that.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10242",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7232/"
]
|
10,244 | <p>I am preparing a CS conference presentation and wondering how can I handle the references. I am thinking about three different possibilities:</p>
<ol>
<li>Ignore them!</li>
<li>Just list them at the end of the presentation</li>
<li>List them <em>and</em> cite them within the presentation. </li>
</ol>
<p>I chose the first option since anyone interested can go and check the whole set of references in the actual paper. </p>
<p>Does this mean not crediting the others for their work? How this is usually handled in CS conferences?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10245,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know if there is a specific way within the CS community but the way most established seniors seem to do in my field is to note down the reference at the bottom of the slide where they refer to someone's results/figures. </p>\n\n<p>I think this is a better approach than to list them all in the end, because the audience gets the reference together with the content, that way you don't have to puzzle the references and the content 6 months after you attended the presentation.</p>\n\n<p>If the people you are referring to are people you have had collaborations or communication with, it would not hurt to have them listed in a \"thanks to\" or more formally \"acknowledgements\" slide. </p>\n\n<p>Hope it helps</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10246,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If the slides you're using are going to have \"independent life,\"—in other words, if you're going to make them available separately from the conference paper (on your website, for instance), then the citations should be included as part of the presentation. I would follow <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/10245/18238\">posdef</a>'s example and place the citations on the same slide as where it's needed; this will save the reader from having to flip back and forth between different parts of the presentation or between the presentation and the paper. </p>\n\n<p>Not including the citations is a bad idea, because it means you are potentially failing to give people the credit they deserve for ideas that were originally theirs. Even though it's \"just\" a conference presentation doesn't mean that the rules of crediting people for their work should be ignored. (Citing the work of others is also the right thing to do from the perspective of \"playing nice with others.\" Taking credit for other people's work can make them leerier of working with you.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10248,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not including citations would be a very bad idea, asides from the reasons given above, there is a risk that someone would claim that you are plagiarising their work - even though you aren't. I have seen this happen before.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps place an in-slide (akin to in-text) reference on each slide and a slide at the end with the references, or if possible, make a clear citation to the main reference used on the slides where necessary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10257,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Applied mathematician here; my solution is putting them on the same slide as the material. I use formats such as [Someone '99], [Lin WW, '00] (initials are almost mandatory for some common surnames), [Doe <em>et al</em>, book '04], [P and SomeoneElse, preprint '12] (my name is always abbreviated to an initial, which is a common convention). I find it a good compromise between clarity and shortness: I don't need to include a full sentence, but only the names in brackets.</p>\n\n<p>You can use a different color or font to differentiate them visually from the text --- preferably something light but readable, a color that does not attract much attention.</p>\n\n<p>I use them sparingly nevertheless --- overall I have typically less than 10 such citations in a 15-20 slide talk.</p>\n\n<p>This makes immediately clear whether I think that a theorem is new/mine or not. Its original authors could be in the audience, so I think it's important to acknowledge them properly.</p>\n\n<p>If your slides are already so cramped that these citations won't fit, then you have a much bigger problem. :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10258,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a policy, it is a far better idea to always add a relevant citation, in small font, below every figure, formula, quotation, etc, that is not yours and which you are building upon. I do this even in lectures, which students always get after.\nThe cost of adding a citation in small font is really small, but by not doing it you <em>risk</em> exposing yourself to unnecessary troubles because you <em>might</em>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>give the impression of being careless or oblivious about the work of others</li>\n<li>enrage the occasional professor attending your lecture, when s/he sees her/his work is not acknowledge</li>\n<li>create unnecessary tensions with colleagues</li>\n<li>be accused of plagiarism</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Do yourself a favor: cite even in presentations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 25851,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll first discuss the advantages and disadvantages for each of your options on how to handle citations:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Ignore them!</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pro\n\n<ul>\n<li>This technique saves time and space.</li>\n<li>Most often, the citations go unnoticed during talks (and I have been criticized once or twice for showing any citations on the slides in the first place).</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>contra\n\n<ul>\n<li>You make way for the criticism that you neglect to give credit to other authors.</li>\n<li>If your slides are ever accessible outside of your talk, having the citations somewhere comes in handy.</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>Just list them at the end of the presentation</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pro\n\n<ul>\n<li>The slide needs not be shown during your normal talk, but can be considered a part of your \"backup slides\" that you show only upon request. Thus, both people who do not like to see citations during a talk, as well as people who expect a certain citation information, will be happy.</li>\n<li>Citations that are referred to several times during the talk have to be listed just once (hence the reader does not get confused and wonder whether they have already seen that citation).</li>\n<li>The citations can be written using a readable (in a projection!) font size rather cramped into another slide with a tiny unreadable font.</li>\n<li>It does not matter how many extra slides you fill with citations, so you can even include rather elaborate info (a full list of authors rather than just the first one and <em>et al.</em>, the DOI, direct links, ...).</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>contra\n\n<ul>\n<li>Readers have to switch back and forth between pages/slides while reading slides with citations (though the same is valid for a paper and it doesn't seem to bother anyone there).</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>List them and cite them within the presentation. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>pro\n\n<ul>\n<li>Citations are immediately available while reading the slide that refers to them.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>contra\n\n<ul>\n<li>Space is scarce on slides, which means that the citations have to be written with a tiny font, probably too tiny to be legible during the talk.</li>\n<li>As you need to save space, you will tend to using the shortest possible citation format, such as <em>1st author et al.</em> rather than <em>1st author, 2nd author, 3rd author, 4th author</em>, thereby arguably <em>reducing</em> the credit you give.</li>\n<li>The citation clutters the slide (which should in general only contain the most important keywords/key statements rather than all details the presenter talks about) and thereby draws attention away from the contents of your slide (e.g. how a concept presented in related work works, understanding of which is required for the next slides).</li>\n<li>The citations either disrupt the reading flow on the slide (when in between slide contents), or they gather at the very bottom as footnotes (where, depending on the room the talk is given in, they can only be seen by the first few rows of the audience, anyway).</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><strong>To conclude, I vastly prefer technique 2, <em>Just list them at the end of the presentation</em> over all others.</strong></p>\n\n<p>That leaves the question whether or not to include citation references (<em>[1]</em>, <em>[2]</em>, ...) within your slides. This depends mainly on the purpose of your references:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If whatever information you are presenting is <strong>self-contained</strong>, such as a concept fully explained with a single concise graphic, the reference needs to be there mainly for the sake of giving credit. In that case, you can go the way of some books by not including a citation reference on the slide (thereby reducing unnecessary clutter) and instead only relying on a backreference on the citation slide (<em>bottom-left image on slide 16</em>).</li>\n<li>If the information you are presenting is a <strong>summary</strong> of someone else's work (for example when presenting only a conclusion or statement without presenting the proof it is based upon), or even an explicit <strong>pointer to more information</strong>, <em>do</em> include a citation reference right next to the information, both to signify <em>that</em> there is more to be found about your statement and making finding the additional information convenient.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10244",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
]
|
10,247 | <p>While researching a topic area I have come across a number of papers that claim to improve on the state of the art and have been published at respected outlets (e.g. CVPR, ICIP). These papers are often written in a way that obscures some of the details and their methods can be lacking in detail. Upon contacting these authors for more information and asking if they would kindly make their source code available they stop replying or decline the offer.</p>
<p><strong>Why are computer science researchers reluctant to share their code?</strong></p>
<p>I would have expected that disseminating your source code would have positive effects for the author, e.g., greater recognition and visibility within the community and more citations. What am I missing?</p>
<p><strong>For the future, what are some better ways to approach fellow researchers that will result in greater success at getting a copy of their source code?</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10249,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not a CS researcher per se, but I am writing Android code for my research in Atmospheric Physics, so my view is somewhat limited. However, I can say from my own experience that much of the code that I am developing and testing is part of a greater project that the team I am part of is developing. It is a mix of the rules I am bound by and the need to keep a portion of code under wraps for the time being.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10250,
"author": "Espanta",
"author_id": 6393,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In sharing code there are several issues:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The first issue is the copyright matters, since some of CS researches/projects are funded by certain industrialists/funding organizations that discourage sharing sensitive information such as algorithms, code, or software while publishing in public periodicals.</p></li>\n<li><p>Indeed, there are papers based on certain data (collected from code execution) that unfortunately are manually modified by the authors. If they share the code, catching their mistake/error/modifications becomes very easy leading to failure in either their MS/PhD or research project which is undesirable.</p></li>\n<li><p>In CS research and especially publication, developing code, particularly a lengthy, complex code is a non-trivial task and in most of the cases is considered money-making and paper-generating asset. By sharing the code to the public, they are unveiling facts in very much detail which may degrade their contribution in future researches. Also they may not be the only one who can regenerate article and make credit of that particular research and code. In most of the cases, master students pick an algorithm or method, slightly change it and submit a thesis and paper based on it, that may contradict with the findings and claims of the first author. Remember <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Herndon\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Thoma Herdon</a> a graduate students who criticized findings of two eminent economist of Harvard university(<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_in_a_Time_of_Debt\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> is the link ). If the codes in CS are revealed the consequences are likely catastrophic (it might not be too many cases, but if happens it will be catastrophic).</p></li>\n<li><p>Codes are vital property to most of the researchers to conduct experiment and research. If you have a code, you can simply play with it and modify it to generate new set of findings that might be more valuable than the initial findings. Without having authorship of the initial author, there is no credit to them.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>However, Elsevier recently introduced a new feature using COLLAGE called <a href=\"https://www.journals.elsevier.com/computer-networks/news/introducing-executable-papers\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Executable Papers</a> that is currently available for <a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00978493\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Computers & Graphics</a> journal by which codes and data are available and researchers can modify the code and input values to play with.</p>\n\n<p>Hope it helps.</p>\n\n<hr>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10252,
"author": "Erel Segal-Halevi",
"author_id": 787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Stephen, I have just the same experience as you do, and my explanation is that the benefit/cost ratio is too low.</p>\n\n<p>Packing a piece of software, so that it can be usable by another person, is difficult - often even more difficult than writing it in the first place. It requires, among others:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>writing documentation and installation instructions,</li>\n<li>making sure the code is runnable on a variety of computers and operating systems (I code on Ubuntu, but you may code on Windows, so I have to get a Windows virtual machine to make sure it works there too), </li>\n<li>answering maintenance questions of the form \"why do I get this and that compilation error when I compile your program on the new version of Ubuntu\" (go figure. Maybe the new version of Ubuntu dropped some library required by the code? who knows).</li>\n<li>taking care of 3rd-party dependencies (my code may work fine, but it depends on some 3rd-party jar file whose author decided to remove from the web).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Additionally, I should be available to answer questions and fix bugs, several years after I graduate, when I already work full-time in another place, and have small kids.</p>\n\n<p>And all this, without getting any special payment or academic credit for all that effort.</p>\n\n<p>One possible solution I recently thought of is, to create a new journal, <strong>Journal of Reproducible Computer Science</strong>, that will accept only publications whose experiments can be repeated easily. Here are some of my thoughts about such a journal:</p>\n\n<p>Submitted papers must have a detailed <strong>reproduction</strong> section, with (at least) the following sub-sections:\n - <em>pre-requisites</em> - what systems, 3rd-party software, etc., are required to repeat the experiment;\n - <em>instructions</em> - detailed instructions on how to repeat the experiment. \n - <em>licenses</em> - either open-source or closed-source license, but must allow free usage for research purposes.</p>\n\n<p>The review process requires each of 3 different reviewers, from different backgrounds, to go through this section, using different computers and operating systems.</p>\n\n<p>After the review process, if the paper is accepted for publication, there will be another <strong>pre-publication step</strong>, which will last for a year. During this step, the paper will be available to all the readers, and they will have the option to repeat the experiment and also contact the author in case there are any problems. Only after this year, the paper will be finally published.</p>\n\n<p>This journal will enable researchers to get credit for the difficult and important work of making their code usable to others.</p>\n\n<p>EDIT: I now see that someone already thought about this! <a href=\"https://www.scienceexchange.com/reproducibility\">https://www.scienceexchange.com/reproducibility</a> </p>\n\n<p>\"Science Exchange, PLOS ONE, figshare, and Mendeley have launched the Reproducibility Initiative to address this problem. It’s time to start rewarding the people who take the extra time to do the most careful and reproducible work. Current academic incentives place an emphasis on novelty, which comes at the expense of rigor. Studies submitted to the Initiative join a pool of research, which will be selectively replicated as funding becomes available. The Initiative operates on an opt-in basis because we believe that the scientific consensus on the most robust, as opposed to simply the most cited, work is a valuable signal to help identify high quality reproducible findings that can be reliably built upon to advance scientific understanding.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10267,
"author": "Jan Gorzny",
"author_id": 1174,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1174",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/top-ten-reasons-to-not-share-your-code-and-why-you-should-anyway\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This article</a> in SIAM News sheds some light on the first question, so it might be worth a look. It argues, for a mathematical audience, why researchers <em>ought</em> to publish their source code, and lists many of the reasons you might hear why researchers do not share their source code. It does so by a clever analogy, one that compares the sharing of mathematical proofs to the sharing of source code. Take a look; it has quite an extensive list of reasons why researchers might prefer not to share their source code (as well as some responses arguing that those reasons are not good ones).</p>\n\n<p>Here's a citation:</p>\n\n<p>Top Ten Reasons To Not Share Your Code (and why you should anyway). Randall J. LeVeque. SIAM News, April 1, 2013.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10270,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Why researchers might be reluctant to share their code:</strong> In my experience, there are two common reasons why some/many researchers do not share their code.</p>\n\n<p>First, the code may give the researchers an important advantage for follow-on work. It may help them get a step ahead of other researchers and publish follow-on research faster. If the researchers have plans to do follow-on research, keeping their code secret gives them a competitive advantage and helps them avoid getting scooped by someone else. (This may be good, or it may be bad; I'm not taking a position on that.)</p>\n\n<p>Second, a lot of research code is, well, research-quality. The researchers probably thought it was good enough to test the paper's hypotheses, but that's all. It may have many known problems; it may not have any documentation; it might be tricky to use; it might compile on only one platform; and so forth. All of these may make it hard for someone else to use. Or, it may take a bunch of work to explain how to someone else how to use the code. Also, the code might be a prototype, but not production-quality. It's not unusual to take shortcuts while coding: shortcuts that don't affect the research results and are fine in the context of a research paper, but that would be unacceptable for deployed production-quality code. Some people are perfectionists, and don't like the idea of sharing code with known weaknesses or where they took shortcuts; they don't want to be embarrassed when others see the code.</p>\n\n<p>The second reason is probably the more important one; it is very common.</p>\n\n<p><strong>How to approach researchers:</strong> My suggestion is to re-focus your interactions with those researchers. What are your real goals? Your real goals are to understand their algorithms better. So, start from that perspective, and act accordingly. If there are some parts in the paper that are hard to follow or ambiguous, start by reading and re-reading their paper, to see if there are some details you might have missed. Think hard about how to fill in any missing gaps. Make a serious effort on your own, first.</p>\n\n<p>If you are at a research level, and you've put in a serious effort to understand, and you still don't understand ... email the authors and ask them for clarification on the specific point(s) that you think are unclear. Don't bother authors unnecessarily -- but if you show interest in their work and have a good question, many authors are happy to respond. They're just grateful that someone is reading their papers and interested enough in their work to study their work carefully and ask insightful questions.</p>\n\n<p>But do make sure you are asking good questions. Don't be lazy and ask the authors to clear up something that you could have figured out on your own with more thought. Authors can sense that, and will write you off as a pest, not a valued colleague.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Very important:</strong> Please understand that my answer explaining why researchers might not share their code is intended as a <em>descriptive</em> answer, not a <em>prescriptive</em> answer. I am emphatically not making any judgements about whether their reasons are good ones, or whether researchers are right (or wrong) to think this way. I'm not taking a position on whether researchers <em>should</em> share their code or not; I'm just describing how some researchers <em>do</em> behave. What they <em>ought</em> to do is an entirely different ball of wax.</p>\n\n<p>The original poster asked for help understanding why many researchers do not share their code, and that's what I'm responding to. Arguments about whether these reasons are good ones are subjective and off-topic for this question; if you want to have that debate, post a separate question.</p>\n\n<p>And please, I urge you to use some empathy here. Regardless of whether you think researchers are in right or wrong not to share their code in these circumstances, please understand that many researchers <em>do</em> have reasons that feel valid and appropriate to them. Try to understand their mindset before reflexively criticizing them. I'm not trying to say that their reasons are necessarily right and good for the field. I'm just saying that, if you want to persuade people to change their practices, it's important to first understand the motivations and structural forces that have influenced their current actions, before you launch into trying to browbeat them into acting differently.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Appendix: I definitely second Jan Gorzny's recommendation to read the article in SIAM News that he cites. It is informative.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10247",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4360/"
]
|
10,251 | <p>Elsevier has recently lunched a tool called <a href="http://journalfinder.elsevier.com/" rel="noreferrer">Journal Finder</a> by which researchers can use paper's title and abstract, and field of study to find a suitable journal for their manuscript. Here is the sample
<img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WrOoZ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"> in which the editorial time is 12 weeks. They surely maintain database for their own, but is there any other source we can do this for other non-Elsevier journals, like IEEE or ACM? I know WoS provides some information about it, but WoS's database accuracy is not yet clear to me since I have seen lots of inaccurate information in WoS reports (for instance, number of "review article" published is often inaccurate).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10988,
"author": "mathphysicist",
"author_id": 7653,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7653",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Once a year the Notices of AMS publish the backlog of mathematics research journals containing <em>inter alia</em> the data you are interested in. </p>\n\n<p>The 2012 one is here:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/201210/rtx121001473p.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ams.org/notices/201210/rtx121001473p.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>and the 2013 is here :</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/201310/rnoti-p1390.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ams.org/notices/201310/rnoti-p1390.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>and both do list some journals in informatics including the non-Elsevier ones (e.g. the Springer's Acta Informatica). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 15008,
"author": "remo",
"author_id": 4216,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4216",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Please see the following link <a href=\"http://libguides.framingham.edu/content.php?pid=481207&sid=3943382\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here</a>. However, it is more about psychology and non-engineering journals. I with there was such an repository for CS.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17158,
"author": "Espanta",
"author_id": 6393,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Elsevier has recently launched a new toolbox including lots of useful information about journals. If you visit any Elsevier journal's homepage (I assume it works for all Elsevier journals], you will see the following box there,\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/atJQI.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Click on it and select 'Speed' link and it takes you to another page like <a href=\"http://journalinsights.elsevier.com/journals/1084-8045/speed\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> (example for JNCA journal). The following information let you know the latest turn around time of this particular journal.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/IeJsf.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"> </p>\n\n<p>Hope other journals start similar approach.\nThanks and hope you find this post useful.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10251",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393/"
]
|
10,253 | <p>Often I learn about conferences, even in my own country, when it is too late to submit papers. Is there a mailing list, or another way to get information about conferences in a specific location and domain?</p>
<p>EDIT: I am mainly interested in computer science and game theory.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10254,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is a wiki devoted to call for papers (<a href=\"http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/\">http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/</a>).</p>\n\n<p>Googling can help you find earlier editions of conferences and so forth. Make a list of the ones relevant for you and when they occur – each edition of a conference will occur at the same time of year. Keep this list on your wall, perhaps sorted by month of conference (or better, month of deadline). Google will help find the current edition.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10256,
"author": "techmsi",
"author_id": 7198,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7198",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You can use <a href=\"http://www.conferencealerts.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.conferencealerts.com/</a> to locate academic conferences in your desired country. These listings are sorted by a <strong>topic or country</strong> which you can select on the first page. Once chosen you will get a list of the various conferences <strong>organized by month</strong>. Moreover, you have the option of subscribing and thus receiving <strong>email announcements</strong> about those events.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23615,
"author": "Saurabh Sharma",
"author_id": 17599,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17599",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can also try <a href=\"http://www.tjdb.org/CFP\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.tjdb.org/CFP</a> </p>\n\n<p>it will provide all upcoming events(journals, conference, seminars, workshop, sessions). subscribe to its rss feed with particular keyword. and you can also post new academic events.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23620,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I find it helpful to keep a spreadsheet of all the relevant conferences, with columns for the next submission deadline, conference URL, organisation, and organisation URL.</p>\n\n<p>When I find out about a conference too late to submit, I still add it to my spreadsheet. I try to find out if the conference is annual, every two years, or what. I put down a rough guess for the next submission deadline based on the current deadline. That way I'm prepared for the following year.</p>\n\n<p>Also, when I read a paper in my field, I always note where it was published (because the journal or conference might be suitable for my own work). If it's a conference, I add it to my spreadsheet with as much info as I can find.</p>\n\n<p>This is in addition to looking for appropriate mailing lists, as the other answers have covered.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10253",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787/"
]
|
10,266 | <p>I've recently come to accept that I'm transgender (MtF, male-to-female). I won't go into the exact details of this as it's personal, but I have a "girl mode" where I identify as a female. I'm also a researcher/lecturer at a respectable university. I'm yet to reveal this side of myself at work, but it's not impossible that my colleagues or students will run into me in girl mode e.g. at the mall.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: What are typical experiences of openly transgender academics?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'd be particularly interesting in examples of successful academics who are openly transgender.</p>
<p>I know there are both legal protections and university policies which prohibit discrimination based on being transgender, but no policy can make people like you.</p>
<p>(<em>Update</em>: As things developed, I gave an answer to my question <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/41850/8469">below</a>.)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10268,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two transgender academics in biology at Stanford University (both of whom transitioned during their tenure there I believe). <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Barres\">Ben Barres</a> has written extensively about his experiences (female to male). <a href=\"http://www.stanford.edu/~rough/\">Joan Roughgarden</a> is another example (MtF). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10365,
"author": "Alan R. Weiss",
"author_id": 7301,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7301",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Jennifer Finney Boylan, Professor of English and Department Chair, Colby College, Maine. Jenny wrote \"She's Not There\" and other great books. My heroine (happily married to a woman)</p>\n\n<p>Dr. Lynn Conway. Lynn invented both VLSI and superscalar architectures. Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan. My heroine (happily married to a man)</p>\n\n<p>Dr. Deirdre McCluskey, University of Chicago, Professor of Economics. Very famous economist from Milton Friedman's old school.</p>\n\n<p>Want more?? You are in the SAFEST profession to DO the transition!! Read Jenny books and Lynn's website and you'll learn how to do it, step by step.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17648,
"author": "offprint_fan",
"author_id": 12473,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12473",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my undergraduate institution there was a transgender logician graduate student. He taught me category theory. As far as I remember none of us had ever any problems with his regular mini-skirt outfit. In my graduate institution there was a graduate student who changed gender and made it known to everybody (faculty and students). Again, there were no issues that I've heard of, the relationship of that person with their supervisor remained very good (as far as I can tell) and the person went on to a very good job later on. Keep in mind that I did my undergraduate and graduate degree in fairly \"liberal\" places. Overall my experience was that if you let people know, but then move on with you regular life then it doesn't become an issue. Also it is not unlikely that some of your colleagues already \"know\". I guess there is always an amount of risk involved with full disclosure. Keep in mind that people shouldn't judge you on what you do in your private time. Another factor is if you already have tenure, and if you don't and things go bad if you will try to explain them by your transition?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30915,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add a few more examples, you can have a look at the Wikipedia list of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Transgender_and_transsexual_scientists\">Transgender and transsexual scientists</a>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Barres\">Ben Barres</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Clayton\">Angela Clayton</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Conway\">Lynn Conway</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Craig-Wood\">Kate Craig-Wood</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_L._Hart\">Alan L. Hart</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan\">Caitlín R. Kiernan</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lawrence\">Anne Lawrence</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexia_Massalin\">Alexia Massalin</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deirdre_McCloskey\">Deirdre McCloskey</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Muth\">Christa Muth</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachael_Padman\">Rachael Padman</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Roughgarden\">Joan Roughgarden</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Serano\">Julia Serano</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Wilson\">Sophie Wilson</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There is also a list of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_scientists_by_nationality\">LGBT scientists</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41850,
"author": "Rebecca J. Stones",
"author_id": 8469,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8469",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(Original answer March 2015)</p>\n\n<p>I guess it's time to answer my own question. Not long after posting the original question I began living exclusively as a woman (barring some short family-related interruptions).</p>\n\n<p>I'll list some themes that applied to me that I think would apply generally:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Work interruption</em>: As much as I tried to avoid it, transitioning interrupted my work. I spent a lot of time learning how to behave, e.g. to minimize the likelihood of being attacked, to know how to react when people ask intrusive questions, and so on. Medically, you're sent to doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc., who make you jump through all sorts of hoops over a long period of time. The various surgeries trans people get can take you out of action for weeks to months.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Comments at university</em>: There were some \"hiccups\" transitioning at university (smart people can make some really dumb comments). However, they were a drop in the ocean compared to the hate I received from elsewhere.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>University accounts</em>: IT were totally unprepared for my transition. E.g. my request for a Rebecca Stones email was refused and a subsequent email about the matter was ignored. So my students referred to me by name X but email me under name Y which I found humiliating.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Bathrooms</em>: There were a few surprised looks initially when sharing the ladies room with my female students and other female academics. I never heard any complaints about it, and it didn't seem to be a big deal.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Applying for jobs</em>: I have noticed no significant difference when applying for academic jobs in my area.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Academic record</em>: It takes time to get your academic history records updated, which makes applying for jobs beforehand awkward. During this time, I took up an adjunct position where administration requested a record of my PhD; I refused to supply this but indicated that several professors at the university witnessed me obtaining my PhD. They refused to accept this, which resulted in a prolonged exchange of emails. Eventually, I cited the university's privacy policy, after which they backed off.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Prior publications</em>: I had to come to terms with having publications under my dead name. I absolutely hate hearing or seeing that word refer to me. I had to decide whether or not to include those publications on my CV and cite them in my publications (which could out me as transgender). For my CV, I include these publications, but I list only the author surnames (I still feel uncomfortable with the thought that whoever reads my CV will Google these publications). I cite them in my publications, as citing them doesn't directly imply that that name belongs to me. I'm hoping I can bury these publications in new publications over time.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Travel</em>: As an academic, I travel a lot. Consequently, I have to keep in mind (a) attitudes towards transgender people when going through immigration (you're not at your most \"passable\" after a long flight), and (b) local attitudes towards and laws regarding transgender people. E.g. I want to go to a conference in Chile later in the year, so I Googled \"transgender Chile\" and upon reading things like \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Chile\" rel=\"noreferrer\">had her face disfigured with a blowtorch</a>\" was a bit unsettled.</p>\n\n<p>(Update August 2015)</p>\n\n<p>I attended the conference in Chile (<a href=\"http://www.sigir2015.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">SIGIR 2015</a>) and I'm pleased that my face was not disfigured by a blowtorch. Here's a photo of the women's support group (I'm in there somewhere):</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/GRdaum.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/GRdaum.jpg\" alt=\"women's support group pic\"></a></p>\n\n<p>I'd also like to add:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Travelling can also interfere with (a) access to medicine, (b) access to [non-prejudiced] medical help, (c) other procedures, e.g. hair removal, and (d) the ability to buy clothes that fit.</p></li>\n<li><p>Sometimes conference accommodation will be organized by gender (with or without the participants' prior knowledge). This opens the possibility of being humiliated in front of colleagues (e.g. if the accommodation staff have their own opinion on your gender), and the possibility of sharing accommodation with someone who is uncomfortable with you.</p></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><em>Reacquainting with colleagues</em>: I have a lot of international contacts, many of whom are still unaware of my transition. From my experience, it's much better to meet in person than email someone an explanation (when all sorts of weird ideas about who I am can arise). This is hard to do when your contacts are spread globally.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Transgender students</em>: Transgender students seem to significantly appreciate that <em>someone</em> employed by the university is transgender. Having a transgender member of staff goes against the stereotype that it's just undergraduate activists out to cause trouble who are transgender.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Online university resources</em>: From my experience, university LGBT webpages cater almost exclusively to LGB students, with no usable information for transgender people.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>(Update August 2015)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Male-dominated area</em>: I'm currently in computer science which is kind of a \"boy's club\". Outside of academia, being in a male-dominated career is sometimes used to discredit transgender women (among other things). This results in a tug towards more female-friendly career paths, both outside of academia (e.g. nursing) and inside of academia (e.g. biology).</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Female role models</em>: It has become important to me to see and interact with successful female academics, especially those in my area. (I was very encouraged by the healthy female presence at the SIGIR conference.) Interestingly, it seems that <em>I'm</em> meant to be a female role model nowadays.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Female co-authors</em>: I'm not sure if this is just a co-incidence, but I've recently found myself with a rapidly growing number of female co-authors.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>International lifestyle</em>: I'm currently a postdoc in China. While I speak enough Chinese to \"get by\", and while my colleagues here are friendly, I feel isolated and lonely, and this is exacerbated by the lack of access to a transgender community. (See also this question: <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/35352/8469\">Is feeling lonely and uncomfortable in my (foreign) country of study a valid reason to drop out of a PhD?</a>)</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Unwelcome attention towards my gender</em>: Generally, I don't mind if people know that I'm transgender, as long as (a) this is not the only thing about me they consider and (b) they are not mean to me or my friends and colleagues as a result. Thus far, to my knowledge, unwelcome attention has been negligible at university. However, it's unclear if this trend will continue (after all, we only need a one-in-a-thousand to cause trouble). Things I'm concerned about:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Maybe some transgender person somewhere does something evil, making headlines. How would a university react to the resultant anti-transgender backlash?</p></li>\n<li><p>What if a student makes a complaint because of my gender? What if the student is well-prepared, having extensively read online anti-transgender literature? What if the student makes a religious objection?</p></li>\n<li><p>If I become successful and notable, hate material will probably be written directly about me. Here are some examples (and it doesn't take much Googling to provide more examples):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Boylan, a member of the all-male, all-white, all-heterosexual, all-middle-aged transgender leadership... (<a href=\"https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/tag/mens-sexual-rights/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ref.</a>)</p>\n \n <p>\"Lynn\" Conway, computer geek and head honcho of the raging autogynephiliacs who tried to destroy Michael Bailey. (<a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/GenderCritical/comments/3d5udv/great_advice_from_umichigan_for_mtts_youre_even/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ref.</a>)</p>\n \n <p>Deirdre McCloskey isn’t a woman: wishing can’t make it so, not even wishing and flashing scalpels. Neither is Joan Roughgarden. (<a href=\"https://westhunt.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/transsexuals/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ref.</a>)</p>\n</blockquote></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><em>Unwelcome attention from men</em>: After meals, I like to go for a walk to get some exercise. Consequently, I have now had <strike>three</strike> four unwelcome sexual encounters within walking distance from my office, during the day, and with other people around at the time. I also had a male staff member in another faculty ask for \"random sex\". I'm afraid to tell others about these incidents, fearing they might think I encouraged them (esp. if they attribute it to being transgender). I also simply don't have time to waste sobbing about each one; they're much too frequent.</p>\n\n<p>(In today's encounter, an elderly gentleman approached me and asked for the time. I found my phone and gave him the time. I also discovered his penis was hanging out of his pants. He indicated towards some nearby bushes and said \"gēn wǒ péngyou wáer\", which translates to \"play with my friend\". I walked straight back to the office, nearly in tears. It's thirty minutes after the incident now, and I need to discuss a paper with a student.)</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Paper cited during talk</em>: Recently, one of my co-authors referenced our joint paper at a conference talk while I was in the audience. I was not impressed that my dead name initials were on display, forcing me to sit there with that on the screen for all to see, and I was quite fearful that someone might ask if there was a connection between the two names. If I had known that was going to happen, I would not have attended the talk.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>(Update February 2017)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Surgery</em>: I'm not sure if I should say this, but I ended up having \"bottom surgery\" back at the end of 2015. It was the most physically painful experience of my life, by a long way, and the pain didn't go away until about two and a half months later. <em>So much pain.</em> During this time, my <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory\" rel=\"noreferrer\">spoons</a> were limited. E.g. I'd go to the office to prove I still work there (I mostly just stared at the walls), and I'd need to spend the next day recovering. I would bleed a lot, and this resulted in some additional accommodation expenses. I would not be able to stand for longer than around 5 minutes without it being too painful (requiring a wheelchair at the airport).</p>\n\n<p>I managed to go to the <a href=\"https://cms.math.ca/Events/winter15/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">2015 CMS meeting</a> shortly after surgery, where <a href=\"https://math.stackexchange.com/users/1277/yuval-filmus\">Yuval Filmus</a> (who I knew through math.SE) sat next to me just after surgery, although I don't know if he realized any of this. (And I remember being a bit snippy with <a href=\"http://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">David Pike</a>.)</p>\n\n<p>The painkillers caused hallucinations, e.g. I'd be walking and suddenly \"There's no floor! I'm falling!! Oh wait, there is a floor.\" I became afraid of stairs. This was happening while I was at work, although I tried to conceal it. I also sent out a few \"interesting\" emails.</p>\n\n<p>More than a year later, I have no regrets about having surgery. It has resulted in me having a lot more confidence. If someone denies my gender, they are simply being unreasonable (although, nobody ever does). I'm now far less afraid that someone is going to find out about my past.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Bodily maintenance</em> (dilation) is both time-consuming and painful, particularly at the start. It's embarrassing but it nevertheless must be done, including while sharing accommodation with other women. I got used to making \"chit chat\" while doing this. Airport security sometimes inspect your dilators (which need to be in carry-on baggage) which can be embarrassing and worrisome (esp. when travelling through non-transgender-friendly countries).</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Conversion to Islam</em>: Perhaps contrary to popular expectations, Islam is a relatively transgender-friendly religion. Often the attitude is that someone's gender is innate and decided by God, and being transgender is considered along the lines of a birth defect. Of course, being Muslim results in its own complications (e.g. hijab). I haven't had any problems praying in the female prayer areas (including on-campus ones).</p></li>\n<li><p><em>A publication about transgenderism</em>: Perhaps this is not a typical experience, but I published a paper about transgender bathrooms usage (<a href=\"https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12147-016-9181-6\" rel=\"noreferrer\">here</a>), which was mentioned in the <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/21/the-people-mostly-likely-to-care-about-who-uses-womens-restrooms-arent-women/?utm_term=.8710be8cc743\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Washington Post</a>.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10266",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8469/"
]
|
10,273 | <p>I am an undergrad from India from a good university( not IIT,NIT).
Our GPA is calculated on a different percentage scale and mine is 73-75%
which is a very good score according to our system.
My GRE score=1600.
I have an internship at a major company.
I am thinking of writing a research paper but have no research experience.
Do I have a chance at the top colleges like UC Berkeley,or Michigan or even Carnegie Mellon?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10274,
"author": "Yury",
"author_id": 332,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/332",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Top PhD programs in Computer Science are very selective. Just having good or even excellent grades is not enough. At least, you need to have very strong recommendation letters and preferably some undergraduate research experience. I would suggest applying not only to top schools but also to second tier schools.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10283,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Maybe.</strong> There's really no way to tell without looking at your complete application.</p>\n\n<p>If you applied to my department's research MS program, your good grades and GRE scores would <em>probably</em> attract enough attention that someone would actually review your application. Most of our MS applications are rejected without review. But that's as far as grades and test scores will get you.</p>\n\n<p>Since you claim not to come from an IIT or NIT, there might be some question about how good your university is. If we've never admitted someone from your school before, we don't know how to calibrate your grades or recommendation letters. Every year we seem to get applications from two or three new schools in India that even our Indian faculty and graduate students don't recognize. We do sometimes admit one or two <em>truly outstanding</em> students from unknown schools as a way of gathering data.</p>\n\n<p>Having an internship is definitely good, especially if you did something creative and independent, and not just \"My boss told me to implement this thing, so I did.\"</p>\n\n<p>But the admission decision would really depend on your research statement (or \"statement of purpose\") and your recommendation letters. As I <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/2722/65\">have</a> <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/7601/65\">written</a> <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/974/65\">many</a> <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/9877/65\">times</a> <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/5349/65\">before</a>, graduate admissions committees at top departments are looking for <b>potential for research excellence</b>. My committee would judge that potential from the content of your statements and letters, and from the credibility of your letter-writers. Research <em>experience</em> is certainly helpful, but it's not necessary, especially for an MS.</p>\n\n<p><strong>This is really an question for your letter writers.</strong> Ask them directly if they can write strong and substantial letters <em>that focus on your research potential</em>. If they look uncomfortable (or they don't know what \"research potential\" means), you should probably aim a bit lower.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10273",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7251/"
]
|
10,275 | <p>In this application cycle, I got a PhD offer from Nanyang Technology University at Singapore and will study in the field of programming language. However, I recently received a mail from my supervisor which is said that he will soon leave NTU for some reasons. After searching the faculty list of NTU I found there is no other professor who works in programming language. </p>
<p>I don't want to compromise on the topic I will do during my PhD. Maybe it is a good choice for me to find a matching supervisor in some other universities.
But I have to go to NTU to do my PhD because I have no alternative choice now since this application cycle is ended.</p>
<p>What I want to know is that is it possible to transfer my PhD from singapore to US if I re-apply for some American universities after my current supervisor's leave?</p>
<p>Any advise will be so much appreciate for that I somehow don't know what to do.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10276,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It certainly is possible, even across countries. Some of my students are following me on my move from Belgium to Sweden. To ensure that this was possible, I needed to enquire with the administration on both the source and target of the move. There were some restrictions on both sides – for instance, if a student is too close to finishing, both sides are reluctant to let the move happen.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10281,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, it is difficult to <em>transfer</em> between universities in different countries <em>unless</em> one is moving with the thesis advisor. This is in part because of funding rules: usually, money in one country cannot be used to fund graduate students working or studying in another country. (In the US, for instance, graduate fellowships are normally valid only at US universities.)</p>\n\n<p>If you were to attempt to transfer on your own, the most likely scenario is that you would be expected to start the PhD over; depending on the department, they may not recognize coursework completed at your old school, or at best may choose to give you placement out of the equivalent courses, but still expect you to complete additional electives. It would be even more challenging to move your project over, if funding isn't available to work on the same project.</p>\n\n<p>Since you are just starting, perhaps it would be possible to complete a master's degree in Singapore, and then try to transfer to another university for the doctoral studies. (I'm not sure how doctoral programs in CS handle an international master's. In my department, though, students with master's from abroad were still expected to complete the \"core\" coursework requirements.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10275",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7249/"
]
|
10,277 | <p>This is a followup to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/10247/285">Why are CS researchers reluctant to share code and what techniques can I use to encourage sharing?</a>. That question specifically asked how one can succeed in obtaining researcher's source code. </p>
<p>As discussed in the answers to that question, the reasons largely boil down to competitive advantage and people thinking their code is not good enough. The former issue is difficult to address. However, one could try to address the latter issue, making the reasonable assumption that this behavior stems from the surrounding academic culture. There may be additional aspects of the academic culture that discourage code sharing, and which do not relate to competitive advantage.</p>
<p>So, one could instead ask the general questions what concrete actions one can take to change this culture? Or, to put it a little differently, how can I help change the academic world so that more researchers are willing to share their source code?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10278,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the long term, this will only happen if you change the culture (just as you say). How do you change the culture of a field? Very slowly, and only with enormous effort. You talk to other researchers. You articulate your values, and seek allies who share your values. You patiently make the case to your fellow colleagues, perhaps by writing opinion pieces. You don't harangue or attack them; instead, you gently lay out the reasons why it is good for science and good for them to share their code. Remember, in all likelihood you all share the same common values: the love and dedication of science and the pursuit of truth.</p>\n\n<p>You lead, by acting as a model for how you would like others to behave. You do what <em>you</em> think is right, and set a good example.</p>\n\n<p>You try to persuade referees and program committees to value and reward researchers who do share their source code. Recognize the amount of extra effort this takes, and (if you believe it is valuable) reward it accordingly: bump up your rating of their paper correspondingly, and make the case why others to do so. When you write letters of reference or evaluation for another researcher, if they share their source code, give them kudos and explain why the hiring or promotion committee should view this positively.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, this is not something that a single individual can change. Only the entire community, acting as a whole, can make this kind of change. Individuals can catalyze and facilitate that change, but like any other kind of reform, it takes extraordinary patience and effort, as well as buy-in from your colleagues. It's not unusual for this kind of change to take a generation or two. But keep your chin up: remember, you're doing this because you believe it is good for science and good for your field!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10279,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IMO talk about \"cultural\" impediments are overstated. Academics are as rational agents as any, and currently the academic system (mainly publish/get grants or perish) provides little <strong>incentive</strong> to publishing the code or making analysis entirely reproducible. Some fields have started intiatives to encourage this by making either analysis and publicly releasing data mandatory or strongly recommended for publication (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.ucema.edu.ar/journal-applied-economics\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Journal of Applied Economics</a>) or for funding (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.nij.gov/\" rel=\"nofollow\">NIJ</a> grants frequently have stipulations to post the data to <a href=\"http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/landing.jsp\" rel=\"nofollow\">ICPSR</a>). </p>\n\n<p>Greater awareness of technical computing skills necessary for reproducible analysis will help (see <a href=\"http://www.econ.uiuc.edu/~roger/research/repro/JAE-RER.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Koeneker & Zeileis, 2009</a>), but on its own won't spurn greater compliance, even if the already discussed negatives are largely mitigated. It still will be more work to publish the code than to not publish the code. When it helps your tenure case, then it will become more commonplace.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10280,
"author": "bill s",
"author_id": 6308,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6308",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Researchers are unwilling to share their code because it's a lot of extra work -- for which there is little or no recompense. When I write some to simulate an experiment or an algorithm to verify numerically the result of a calculation, it is not production-ready code that can be easily run in another environment: at the very least another researcher needs Matlab or Mathematica, they need whatever special toolboxes or auxiliary code I am using, they need the data files in the right place on the hard drive, they need to understand how to program themselves so that when some small glitch arises, they can deal with it. When I try to run my own code from a year ago, it almost needs some massaging: perhaps a needed file has been moved from one directory to another, perhaps a toolbox has had its code base \"updated\" and no longer works exactly the same way. </p>\n\n<p>So -- here's what usually happens. Someone contacts me and wants to try out my code. I warn them of all the above issues, but they insist that they know what they are doing and will get back to me with any problems. I spend 2 or 3 hours preparing things, checking stuff out so that they will have an easier time, explaining to them how to put things together so that it will all work. I mail it to them. And I never hear back. It happened again last month. So -- how likely am I to \"share\" code in the future? Just a little bit less likely than last month. </p>\n\n<p>Now to the question: how can you get researchers to share their code? First, when you ask, follow through - don't \"take the code and disappear.\" Second, try to get the researcher interested in <em>why</em> you want the code, what you might do with it. Third, the burden is on you to take research-style code (poorly commented, bad error checking, disorganized structure) and to make it do something. Fourth, return something: when you do make some progress, let the researcher know. Fifth, don't ask for impossible things: can I compile the code for your machine (that's different from mine)? (Hint: no). </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10277",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285/"
]
|
10,282 | <p>This thought came into mind when I was reading <a href="http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v10/n5/full/nmeth.2444.html">Points of view: Elements of visual style</a>.</p>
<p>While there are a lot of questions on software and strategies to make and edit figures, I am more curious about what are the things to consider (design rules) while laying out figures. Factors that come to mind include typography, color template, and proportion.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10285,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many aspects of designing figures/illustrations that are covered extremely well by the books written by <a href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/\">Edward Tufte</a>. I would strongly recommend his <em>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information</em> as a starting point. </p>\n\n<p>Some basic notions are to strive for simplicity and clarity. This may seem very obvious but there are many pitfalls and Tufte provides good examples and ways to think about even simple graphics. Design issues such as fonts, line weight, color etc. and thinking about what it is that should be conveyed in a graphic helps to understand how to design efficient graphics. There is a defintion of graphical excellence by Tufte that says that an illustration that provides the reader with as many thoughts as possible in as short a time as possible by using as little ink as possible consitutes such excellence. </p>\n\n<p>Obviously it is impossible to provide a full answer here particularly since it would repeat what is already in print. My personal view is that the book mentioned above is a good foundation to start critically view and discuss illustrations you encounter. Discussing with peers can be very useful. At the same time there is also much tradition in graphics so new ideas may not necessarily fall into fertile soil rigt away.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10286,
"author": "Pedro",
"author_id": 495,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/495",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are many books on this subject, as <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/10285/495\">Peter Jansson</a> points out, as it is something of an Art/Science in its own right. </p>\n\n<p>However, if you don't feel like buying and reading one or more books on the subject, here are a few basic things that I consider both important, and easy to follow:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Consistency</strong>: While people can generally argue for hours over the merits of one colour scheme over the other, what is more important is that you use a consistent one for all your figures. Same goes for fonts and line styles. Also, if you're going to use blue squares to represent some <em>thing</em> in a figure, be sure to use blue squares for nothing else throughout your entire paper.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Conciseness</strong>: Try to reduce each figure to making a single point, i.e. try to think in terms of \"what is this figure trying to say\". It's tempting to pack more and more data into a single figure, but in the end this will usually dilute the message. One figure, one statement.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Clarity</strong>: Once you've decided what it is that your figure will say, remove anything from it that does not contribute to this single statement. E.g. do you really need every data point/curve you've drawn? If your statement refers to part of a flow chart or class diagram, do you really need all the other, less relevant boxes/labels/methods there too? Also, if the salient feature of your figure is not immediately clear, don't shy away from adding an arrow or something to highlight it.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Completeness</strong>: Holding the balance to clarity's minimalism, make sure there is also nothing <em>missing</em> from the figure which is needed for the statement you want to make. Figure axes labels are a favourite. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Funny how they all start with \"C\". This is <em>not</em> intentional.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10288,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I rather like the framework presented by Dan Roam in <a href=\"http://www.danroam.com/the-back-of-the-napkin/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">\"The Back of a Napkin\"</a> as a guide for S (simple/elaborate) Q (quality/quantity) V (vision/execution) I (individual/comparison) Δ (change/as-is) and the who/what (portrait), how much(chart), where (map), when (timeline), how (flowchart), why (plot).</p>\n\n<p>In general, these two dimensions (technically 3 dimensions but some aren't used) are presented in a matrix to demonstrate the basic forms of diagrams you can use for communicating concepts. The book is a little more high-level than many books on this topic for scientific presentation but I think it's important to be able to select the right picture for your message.</p>\n\n<p>Once you get down to nitty-gritty details, then Justin Zobel's <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1852338024\" rel=\"noreferrer\">\"Writing for Computer Science\"</a> has a number of really good specific pieces of advice for how to lay out diagrams and tables, including how to typeset them so that people remember how to find them and how to make it so that tables don't look all crowded. The book's title says \"computer science\" but much of the advice is reasonably general to most quantitative research fields.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42710,
"author": "mbork",
"author_id": 25137,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25137",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://mirrors.ctan.org/graphics/pgf/base/doc/pgfmanual.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">The manual for the TikZ LaTeX package</a> contains a very good, 6.5-page section with very reasonable (tool-independent) guidelines (and examples). Just to whet your appetite (and give an idea about the kind of advice contained there, and also to make this answer usable by itself – though please do read the linked document, there's much more to it than what I quote below!) let me quote the list of subsections and short quotations.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Planning the Time Needed for the Creation of Graphics (<em>As a general rule, assume that a graphic will need as much time to create as would a text of the same length.</em>)</li>\n<li>Workflow for Creating a Graphic (<em>In a good journal paper there is typically not a single sentence that has survived unmodified from the first draft. Creating a graphics follows the same pattern.</em>)</li>\n<li>Linking Graphics With the Main Text (<em>Stand-alone figures should have a caption that should make them “understandable by themselves.”</em>)</li>\n<li>Consistency Between Graphics and Text (<em>Do not scale graphics. [...] Use the same font(s) both in graphics and the body text.</em>)</li>\n<li>Labels in Graphics (<em>In addition to using the same fonts in text and graphics, you should also use the same notation.</em>)</li>\n<li>Plots and Charts (<em>The first question you should ask yourself when creating a plot is: Are there enough data points to merit a plot? If the answer is “not really,” use a table.</em>)</li>\n<li>Attention and Distraction (<em>When you design a graphic, you should eliminate everything that will “distract the eye.”</em>)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42746,
"author": "Peter Bloem",
"author_id": 6936,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6936",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Tufte has been mentioned already, but since you're asking for principles, this one deserves to be emphasized:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Maximize the ratio of data-ink to total ink\n That is, remove anything that doesn't express data, or look for clever ways to make things express data.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Here's an example:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Nadpf.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>The standard bar chart from any plotting program has a thick border around it and usually some kind of grid. Here, the border has been removed, since it doesn't express any data, and the grid has not only been removed: Tufte has actually managed to <em>express</em> a grid, by removing ink.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10282",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319/"
]
|
10,284 | <p>As it can be appreciated from this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_journals_by_preprint_policy">list of journals with varying preprint policies</a>, certain journals consider a preprint to be "prior publication". In other fields like Chemistry, there is a strong policy against preprints.</p>
<p>I'm curious about those reasons, if there are other reasons, and if they hold weight.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10351,
"author": "userJT",
"author_id": 1537,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1537",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are commercial reasons for journals to be the only place where the article can be obtained. (advertising on the site or in the print journal). So simply violating their policy (if stated clearly) is one valid rejection reason.</p>\n\n<p>(I personally disagree with this reason but such is life)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10404,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A a chemist, I'm very well aware of this. </p>\n\n<p>Here's the <a href=\"http://pubs.acs.org/meetingpreprints/preprints.html\">ACS Journal Editors' Policy on Preprints</a>' point of view about the disadvantages of preprint servers:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The disadvantages of preprint servers include: the potential for flooding the literature with trivial and repetitious publications, thus making extraction of reliable and valuable information more difficult; absence of peer review; possible premature disclosure with inadequate experimental details or supporting data; premature claims of priority; potential lack of proper references and credit to prior work; abuse of multiple revisions or updates; possible lack of duration and long term archiving.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Personally, I find the two concerns about </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"premature claims of priority\" and </li>\n<li>\"abuse of multiple revisions or updates\" </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>the most relevant points. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"flooding literature with trivial publications\" is IMHO an issue with and without preprint servers, </li>\n<li>\"repetitious publications\" for me fall into the same category, as do</li>\n<li>\"inadequate experimental details or supporting data\".</li>\n<li>\"absence of peer review\" is clearly visible with papers from preprint servers - which is IMHO an advantage over journals where the peer review is uncritical.</li>\n<li>\"long term archiving\" depends IMHO more on the responsible organization behind the server (I'm not any more concerned that arXiv could shut down than e.g. Langmuir, Analyst or Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There have been \"experiments\" with preprint servers for chemistry some 10 years ago <a href=\"http://www.iupac.org/publications/ci/2002/2404/preprint.html\">[1]</a> but AFAIK they did not develop the momentum e.g. arXiv has, and they seem to have died meanwhile.<br>\nSee also: <a href=\"http://www.asist.org/Publications/JASIS/Best_Jasist/2004Brown.pdf\">Cecelia Brown: The Role of Electronic Preprints in Chemical\nCommunication: Analysis of Citation, Usage, and Acceptance in the Journal Literature, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 54.5 (2003): 362-371.</a><br>\n(the discussed server seems to be down - or at least I can't get a response).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<h2>Personal point of view on the problem</h2>\n\n<p>The possibility to be able to publish a manuscript on a preprint server <em>before</em> submitting it to a journal is not as imortant for me personally as the possibility to make the final contents of the paper publicly accessible. </p>\n\n<p>Thus I can live quite well with not being allowed to submit manuscripts that are already available on preprint servers as long as I'm allowed to also publish the manuscript (preferrably the final version after peer-review) after I submitted it to the journal.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>either at a preprint server <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.0264\">(arXiv)</a>, or</li>\n<li>on institutional, <a href=\"http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org/2011/2011-07-01-ABC-Glioma-paper.html\">personal or project web pages</a></li>\n<li>(preferrably <a href=\"http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org/2013/2013-01-03-ChemomIntellLabSystTheorypaper.html\">both</a>, of course)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10407,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One key issue to keep in mind when comparing different fields is the scale of money involved. For example, according to their <a href=\"http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/about/aboutacs/financial/CNBP_032302\">financial statement</a>, in 2012 the American Chemical Society received $421 million in revenue for electronic services, including both journals and the Chemical Abstracts Service. That's a staggering amount of money for a scholarly society. (For comparison, the American Mathematical Society's <a href=\"http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/about/aboutacs/financial/CNBP_032302\">2011 revenue</a> from Math Reviews and journals was $15.5 million.) The ACS is the gatekeeper for publications and data that are worth a fortune to industry, so they have a powerful incentive to maintain that control. It's no coincidence that they are much less friendly towards open access, the arXiv, etc. than corresponding groups in mathematics or physics are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29832,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As said in comment, one reason not to allow preprint publication alongside journal publication is to preserve the incentives to subscribe. To add a note to this point, let me remark that most of the preprint-friendly publishers (this adjective includes Elsevier and Springer: they don't do <em>everything</em> wrong) do not allow the final journal-template version of the paper to be deposited in an open repository. In other words, most publishers do forbid open distribution of published papers in some way, they draw the line at different points. Of course, drawing the line after or before the preprint version of the article makes the most important difference.</p>\n\n<p>Another reason in some field, alluded to in the question, is a way to understand the pretty general policy that journals' goal is to publish novel publications. In all fields, this notably means that you are not allowed to submit to a journal a paper that has already been published. In some fields, notably humanities fields (at least in France) this extends to journal refusing to publish articles already available as preprint. As far as understand, preprints are then really seen as publications, in the sense that they are no more novel. Of course, they are not considered as publications in the same way than journal articles in CVs...</p>\n\n<p>Concerning the weight of these reason, it feels to me like tradition has a lot to do with it. Some tradition are easier to sustain in some fields than others; e.g. Chemistry can ask both reader-side for subscription charges and author-side for pages or color figure charges, as the field has some money notably due to its experimental nature; such tradition would be more difficult to sustain in humanities where money is much scarcer. As another example, it might be that the strong weight of book publishing in humanities is related to this \"preprint is prior publication\" point of view: it is more common for publisher not to allow books to be made available, and a field where books bear at least as much importance as article for idea dissemination seems more likely to adopt the same policy for articles.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10284",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319/"
]
|
10,297 | <p>While trying to select the journals I can submit my present work and future work, I realize the time between the date the authors send the article to the journal and when the revised article is submitted. Usually this is something between 6 months and more than 12 months.</p>
<p>Althought I am focusing on the Impact Factor (IF) to select journals, I think that 12 months to have a feedback that might include "add more variables analysis","this article will be more valuable if you test also model x,y and z", can have a huge impact on you work. It will make you stop what you are currently doing and possible spend up to 2 months making the changes. This might make a big mess on your work if you have deadlines to respect, however this happens to everyone in academia.</p>
<p>My question is, besides the IF journal based selection, how can we select a journal with enought quality with lower IF? What alternative criteria should one use to select the journal? Should we choose newly created Journals?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10298,
"author": "Dikran Marsupial",
"author_id": 2827,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2827",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sadly, the published times between when a paper is submitted, revised and published should be taken with a pinch of salt. Some journals these days have changed the review process so that there is no longer a \"revise and resubmit\" option, and instead the paper is rejected but with an encouragement to resubmit a revised manuscript as a new paper. This means the \"submitted\" date on the published paper is the date of the submission of the <em>accepted</em> version, not the initial submission of the paper. I personally think this is unethical and no longer review for journals that have this policy as I think it is unfair on the authors, firstly because it deceives them into thinking the journal has a more rapid review process than it actually does, but more importantly because it deprives the authors on priority on their discovery.</p>\n\n<p>So as well as IF, I would say that the review process is a factor to consider.</p>\n\n<p>A good way to choose a journal is to see where the leading figures in your field publish their papers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10318,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I largely prefer to talk with people about what they think of the various journals, see who is in the editorial board, and look at what they publish to determine which journals I consider as good. IF can be very biased even at the scale of a journal (Chaos, Soliton and Fractals had a pretty decent IF...)</p>\n\n<p>Other criteria include price and politics of the publisher (e.g. see the cost of knowledge pledge and the blog posts around it), quality of the publishers work (do you have to check proofs in three days with no indication of what has been changed in your paper?), dissemination (is the journal subscribed by a lot of libraries? is it open access? Is it read by many people?), editorial standards (ranges from \"any editor do what she wants and takes decisions alone\" to \"all the editorial board must approve a paper for it to be published, and the name of the handling editor appears on the paper\"). All of them may be difficult to determine, that is why talking with other people in your field about journals is important.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 11525,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many good suggestions have been given in the answers by Benoît Kloeckner and Dikran Marsupial. I would like to add to these answers by including the following.</p>\n\n<p>Most journals are fairly specialized. The impact factor (IF) tells us how much a given paper published in a specific is referenced on average. So although it may be important to publish in high IF journals it is also (I would say more) important to make sure the paper is seen and read. A high IF journal ensures that this happens to some extent. But, sometimes ones subdiscipline is poorly represented in such a journal and it may turn out that a lower ranked journal may be the major outlet for papers in the discipline. Knowing where people publish their papers is therefore a good guide to the palette or possiblities. </p>\n\n<p>Therefore, take a careful look at where papers you refer to are published and try to assess where your \"audience\" is likely to look. Such journals are also likely to provide very good insightful reviews. So when you look at journals try to look at your possibilities from all directions and assess the best journal based on all of the suggestions made in the answers here.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10297",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/636/"
]
|
10,300 | <p>If I want to go to graduate school to study physics and am a math major, how bad is it to have recommendation letters from math professors, mostly? The problem is that I just have four physics courses and after being picky about professors, I might not end up with all physics professors. Further, math professors know me better.</p>
<p>So, will it hurt if my recommenders are more mathematicians than physicists? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10304,
"author": "kmdouglass",
"author_id": 7270,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7270",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer to your question is no, it won't hurt.</p>\n\n<p>How you prepare your application, however, will likely depend on the type of research you want to do while working on your PhD. For your case, if you want to pursue theoretical research, then I think recommendation letters from mathematicians will be a good asset.</p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, you want to work in experimental physics, then I still don't think it would hurt, but I would work extra hard at highlighting relevant skills and experiences, such as experience working in a machine shop or with electronics, in other parts of your application.</p>\n\n<p>You still want your references to be good judges of academic performance, however. By academic, I mean that they should work in academia or be experts in research, critical thinking, and other important academic traits in your field. A life-long high school teacher, for example, may not be a good choice.</p>\n\n<p>To summarize, having letters of recommendation from academics outside of your major field should not hurt your chances of getting into graduate school. The letters should speak to your character, work ethic, and natural abilities, not to the skills you possess. Those can be highlighted in your application.</p>\n\n<p>Qualifications: I'm a senior (sixth-year) graduate student in a physics-related field and frequently assist my advisor in taking on new graduate students. We've taken on people with engineering, physics, materials science, and <strong>mathematics</strong> backgrounds.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10311,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To point out one pitfall in kmdouglass's answer, there is one situation in which getting letters from out-of-discipline people <em>can</em> affect an applicant's chances: if the letter writers do not directly support the candidate's application to the specific discipline. In other words, if you're a mathematician applying to physics programs, your math professors should be explaining why you will be a great <em>physics</em> graduate student, not a great <em>math</em> graduate student. (Or why you will be a great graduate student in <em>any</em> department.) \"Dissonance\" between the letters of recommendation and where you're applying could make some reviewers question if you're seriously interested in applying to physics departments, which could hurt your chances (albeit perhaps only slightly).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10312,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would like to speak to this issue in terms of applying to <strong><em>interdisciplinary</em></strong> programs like information science, HCI, communication etc. It matters little what the specific home department the professor belongs to as long as they can point out 2 things - 1. How are you as a potential researcher in <em>that</em> particular discipline that you are applying to and 2. How can they (the recommenders) recommend you in context to <strong>(1)</strong></p>\n\n<p>For instance, in my case, my recommenders came from civil engineering, statistics and computer science and I was applying to an information science department. I don't know what their recommendations contained but they could very well certify that I was doing <strong><em>interdisciplinary</em></strong> work corresponding to most areas in information science during my masters degree.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10300",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7265/"
]
|
10,301 | <p>Faculty tend to fall into these groups:</p>
<ol>
<li>early adopters</li>
<li>hesitant but willing</li>
<li>refusing to adopt b/c no time</li>
<li>refusing to adopt b/c not technically inclined</li>
</ol>
<p>I would like to know what strategies I can use to bring the <strong>3rd & 4th group</strong> on-board.</p>
<h2>Context</h2>
<p>A new learning management system has been adopted where instructors are encouraged to post their slides/lecture materials online.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10302,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First of all, you need to make it exceedingly easy for the Luddites to put their material online. If it is hard to do, or if it takes a particular skill other than \"go to this website and click a few links\" than you're going to have a hard time ever convincing them to get onboard. If they absolutely need to be trained, you may have to have a mandatory training session where they get their first set of lectures or whatever online (but don't expect any other forthcoming material to be posted without more prodding--then again, they may see the light if it is easy enough and they can see the results online).</p>\n\n<p>I'd suggest one or more of the following four suggestions, in order of preference:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Ask for student volunteers to help these faculty put their material online. Whether these are TAs for the class, or paid/hired students not already assigned, or strictly volunteers is up to you and budgeting concerns. You may have to continue this process for subsequent classes if the faculty aren't willing to learn how to do it themselves.</p></li>\n<li><p>Automate the system (which goes back to my original comment). If paper is involved, have someone set up a scanner to handle loose-leaf material, or via a photocopier/scanner. If it is just soft-copy document uploading, this can be automated with a drop box on a shared drive -- just drag materials into the box and it ends up online. This won't make for a particularly organized system, but at least the material will be online.</p></li>\n<li><p>Wait them out and let attrition work its magic. You may always have reluctant faculty, but as older Luddites retire you should find this less of a problem. If there are only a few faculty that don't want to come onboard, this is definitely the easiest method, and you're really not losing too much by waiting.</p></li>\n<li><p>Make posting the material mandatory. I can almost guarantee this won't be possible for tenured faculty, but maybe you can provide some incentive rather than simply encouraging them to put the material online.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I don't think you'll get very far with a simple plea for coming into the 21st Century -- if they are refusing to adopt, they probably feel they are too busy, or don't like the whole idea of it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10307,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The question has a hidden assumption: that the technology has no problems and it's merely the faculty that need to be convinced. Having used a few different learning management systems (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, homegrown stuff), I can tell you that this is rarely true. </p>\n\n<p>The people resistant to change are probably resisting because they've seen different incarnations of this technology come and go, and find it annoying to have to keep learning a new system <em>that doesn't present any significant advantages over what they're doing</em>. The <em>significant</em> part is important. There's a cost to making a change, so the new system can't just be as good. </p>\n\n<p>So I'll add to Chris's excellent suggestions as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>make it seamless not just to import, but to <strong>export</strong> easily. In the world of online software, it's important not to have things be gated. I want assurances that if your new system goes away tomorrow, to be replaced by the next new system, that I can easily transfer material from the old system to the new with a few clicks. </p></li>\n<li><p>demonstrate why this new system isn't going away in a year to be replaced by something else. How you do that is up to you and depends on the system you're pushing. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Bottom line: the perceived attitude in the question is that the faculty are at fault for not adopting new technology, but the truth is that most new tech is crappy and short-lived, and it's natural to want to wait things out. So you have convince people that the new approach is not crappy and will last. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10308,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 6110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6110",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can think of three strategies, which complement each other:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Win Group 2 over first.</p></li>\n<li><p>If there are external reasons for using the technology, make them clear. For example, you might not persuade faculty that using this software is intrinsically a good idea, but you <em>might</em> be able to persuade them that making the dean happy is reason enough.</p></li>\n<li><p>Take the time to listen to their objections. They will be more willing to listen to you if they feel that you have listened to them, understood them, and respected them.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7198/"
]
|
10,314 | <p>I have read and been told that research is the single most important factor for applying for PhD programs in STEM fields. But, I also hear that GPA and GRE scores are the first cutting point for adcoms. </p>
<p>What is actually more important, grades or research? Will committees look at applicants with low GPAs?</p>
<p>In my scenario, I have a ~3.4 GPA overall, ~3.7 in Major (CS). This is not stellar. But what I do have is 1 first-author conference publication (Best Paper Award at conference) and 1 first-author journal publication as a Junior, with more other work/papers in progress. And my GREs are 158V/170Q/4.5W.</p>
<p>I'm very interested in top schools, but I'm worried my GPA will hold me back.</p>
<p>Will admissions throw away my application at sight of my GPA? Or will they take the time to review my whole application?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10315,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Graduate admissions committees should, in principle, be able to review all of the applications they receive in full; this is not like undergraduate admissions, where a small team may be responsible for 10,000 or 20,000 applications. That said, some of the larger graduate departments may receive several hundred applications per year, and it may be necessary to do a preliminary screening before deciding which applications will be examined in further detail. However, what gets through such a screen can vary strongly from school to school and department to department. For instance, if you're at a school whose alumni regularly go on to graduate schools and have a track record of success, that can also be a \"plus\" factor. If you're near the top of your class, that can also mitigate \"weak\" grades somewhat (because it indicates that your school resists grade inflation). </p>\n\n<p>I would hope that graduate admissions flag applications with publications listed, but it depends on whether or not the database reports that summarize applications actually can do a screen for the presence of publications. </p>\n\n<p>Your specific case, however, is unfortunately in the \"no man's land\"—not a clear \"read no matter what,\" but also not an automatic \"throw away,\" either. It is probable that you will have a tough time if you look only at \"top 5\" or \"top 10\" departments, but you should be able to get considered by many good programs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 23383,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your grades aren't stellar, but are good enough, alongside your strong GRE scores, to make the \"first cut.\" (One of my own graduate advisers told me that it gets worrisome below 3.3, but you've cleared that hurdle.)</p>\n\n<p>Your publication record is outstanding and ought to get you in during the later screening.</p>\n\n<p>This is a case of one area being very strong and the other, \"not too bad.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 151273,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n<p>What is actually more important, grades or research?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>As JeffE said, research experience is most important. This is because it directly relates to the responsibilities of a PhD student.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10314",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5658/"
]
|
10,320 | <p>I'm doing an astrophysics thesis with a lot of programming in Python. I'm currently using gnuplot for my plots, but I wonder if this is actually looking quite professional. Are there other options which look better and are still easy to use?</p>
<p>Here an example of a figure in my thesis:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/pappK.png" alt="Example Figure"></p>
<p>The vertical line I got with the following command: </p>
<pre><code>set arrow from 4861.3,-1200 to 4861.3,2000 nohead lc 2
</code></pre>
<p>I know it reaches out of the figure, but I use this command for all of my script and I know only at the end what the upper and lower boundary of the y-axis will be. Every peak is different.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10322,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you do the programming in Python, you could also do the plotting in Python with <a href=\"http://matplotlib.org\">matplotlib</a>. With a little adjustment of the plotting parameters, it is possible to produce publication-quality plots with this software.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, if you need fancy annotations etc., I can recommend the <a href=\"http://pgfplots.sourceforge.net\">pgfplots</a> package for tikz/LaTeX. You could export data from your Python program to a csv file, and then use that as data source for plotting with pgfplots. If you are also using TeX for the main text, it allows to to produce graphics which nicely fit the formating of the text.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10323,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The choice of plotting choice will depend on several factors. First, it is important to state that there are many options, from GNUPlot, through commercial plotting packages such as Grapher and Origin, plotting capabilities of Matlab and R to plotting using specific packages such as pgfplots (LaTeX) or graphics packages accompanying programming languages (e.g. <a href=\"http://www.nova.edu/ocean/psplot/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PSPlot</a>). What you chose will depend on other factors such as what your peers use, what you may have become familiar with and perhaps what you can afford (thinking of open source vs. commercial).</p>\n\n<p>My personal experience has been that there is no single software that can do everything and so for me the key has been to identify what I need done and to minimize the number of software I need to accomplish it. This has led me to choices that are not common to my peers and has also left me to find my own solutions, not dreawing so much from other pesons experience (thank heavens for sites such as stackexchange)</p>\n\n<p>So stick to what you know as long as it can do what you want but always keep an eye out for new solutions and try to figure out what others are doing that may impress you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10326,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is difficult to produce professional-looking output from Gnuplot (even harder than it is from Matlab, which I also wouldn't recommend).</p>\n\n<p>Since you're already using Python, <a href=\"http://matplotlib.org/\">matplotlib</a> is the obvious choice. You you can even make a decent attempt at producing <a href=\"http://neuroscience.telenczuk.pl/?p=331\">full figures</a>, not just one panel.</p>\n\n<p>Typically astrophysics doesn't have much reference to astronomy these days. However, if your thesis does, you might also want to check out <a href=\"http://aplpy.github.io/\">APLpy</a> which adds on to matplotlib.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10345,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For the plot you've shown, I have a couple of suggestions to make it look more \"professional\". (Maybe you're already doing some of these in the actual document.)</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Use a vector-based file format; your lines will look smoother, up to the resolution of your printer. I suggest <code>set terminal pdf</code>.</p></li>\n<li><p>Set a meaningful title for the curve: <code>plot \"tkrs.txt\" using ... title \"Dilithium flux density\"</code>. Or omit it completely: <code>plot \"tkrs.txt\" using ... notitle</code>.</p></li>\n<li><p>If plotting a mathematical function (rather than a dataset), <code>set samples 5000</code> or something similarly high for your final output.</p></li>\n<li><p>Try to choose a font for the labels that matches the paper's text as closely as possible. See <code>help term pdf</code> for more info, and other interesting tweaks. You can also use non-ASCII characters (e.g. <code>Å</code> instead of <code>angstrom</code>).</p></li>\n<li><p>Set the plot to a size and aspect ratio that fits nicely on the page, preferably so that your word processor (or LaTeX) doesn't have to rescale it.</p></li>\n<li><p>For your vertical line, you could cheat and use a parametric function, so that it will be clipped to the boundaries of the plot. It's a little tricky because if you make the line extra long, by default the plot will be rescaled to fit all of it. But there is a way to avoid this:<pre>\nset xrange [ ] writeback\nset yrange [ ] writeback\nplot \"tkrs.txt\" ...\nset parametric\nset trange [-1200:10000]\nset xrange restore\nset yrange restore\nreplot t, 4861.3 notitle\n</pre> </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10320",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7281/"
]
|
10,334 | <p>I'm a high school senior about to graduate in 1 month. I have a strong passion in math, and I want to be a mathematician. What is the best path to getting into a top grad school? How many REU's should I try to do? Any publications? How about graduate level courses? Do you need a 4.0 in undergrad? I'm also self studying as much math as I can, from Artin's Algebra, Munkre's topology, and baby Rudin. How much math should I know by the time I apply for grad school? I would greatly appreciate your feedback!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10335,
"author": "Zach L.",
"author_id": 7291,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7291",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Here are my suggestions, having just finished a year of graduate school in math. It's therefore mostly anecdotal and should be taken lightly!</p>\n\n<p><strong>REUs:</strong> Try to do as many as you can! You get to meet other people who like math, learn new stuff, practice struggling with research, travel a bit, and get some cash to boot. They also, of course, look good on applications. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Publications:</strong> I don't personally have any publications. I wrote a few papers during my REUs and projects, but they were only published on the REU websites. So they're not necessary to get in. However, I did have a great deal of trouble getting acceptances. Maybe a publication would have helped, but I think it's very rare for an undergraduate to actually publish a paper.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Graduate Courses:</strong> I took several of these as an undergraduate. I enjoyed them, but realize now that I should have taken them a little more seriously! I've forgotten a great deal of what I saw in them. However, I have noticed that I'm quite strong in the area I took graduate courses in compared to my peers. So they definitely give you an edge! However, don't become too obsessed with loading up with graduate courses. Three of them is quite a lot of work, if you give them justice. Since most graduate courses are graded very lightly, you can make high marks in them without putting forth as much effort as you would in an undergraduate course! (At least, this was how it worked at my undergraduate institution.)</p>\n\n<p>That said, keep in mind that some of your time in college should be spent having fun, too. Don't become a math robot just yet! You have time for that in grad school. :)</p>\n\n<p><strong>Reading Textbooks:</strong> The fact you're already reading the \"core\" undergraduate books before even entering the university puts you far, far ahead of the curve. Many people won't learn those things until sophomore or junior year. I certainly didn't. Make sure you're doing the bulk of the exercises in those books, especially Rudin. Try to prove statements you come across without looking at their proofs. I feel that this is where most of the learning happens. You can easily read things and not understand them, so just watch out! Other than that, finish those books and then you should be set to take the advanced undergraduate/first year graduate courses at your institution.</p>\n\n<p><strong>The Math Subject GRE:</strong> I hate this thing and did very poorly on it. You'll blow the math portion of the general GRE out of the water. It's easy stuff for any math major. However, if you don't spend a little time reviewing, you can really mess up the subject test, since it's timed and covers things you might not have thought about for several years. The topics are almost completely disjoint from what a student taking graduate courses has been doing. Look at a few practice tests, identify what sorts of questions are asked, and train yourself to quickly answer such questions. Speed is key. You don't want the subject GRE to be a weak point on your application, especially since it's an easily prevented weak point.</p>\n\n<p>So, do REUs, take graduate courses, don't sweat not having publications (but if you can get some do), and study for the subject GRE!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10348,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me add one point to Zach's answer.</p>\n\n<p>Your primary goal should be to <strong>collect strong references</strong>. Admission committees in top departments are looking for evidence of research potential. Aside from actual published research, the most compelling evidence is a strong letter from a well-known active researcher, who writes about your research potential in specific and credible detail, based on direct personal interaction. To get those letters, you need to engage with professors as a <em>potential colleague</em>, not just as a <em>student</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, take advanced and graduate-level math classes, but don't <em>just</em> sit in the back and quietly get As. Ask (and answer) intelligent questions in class and in office hours. Don't limit your questions (in office hours) to course material. Ask about undergraduate research opportunities (<em>not</em> just REUs) with the explicit goal of peer-reviewed publishable research (<em>not</em> just reports on some REU website).</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that becoming a published mathematician can take several years of effort, and there's no guarantee that you'll get there before you graduate. But the sooner you start, the closer you'll get, and the more chances you'll have to impress the faculty you work with. <strong>So start <em>now</em>.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The first three profs you ask may tell you that publishing mathematics research as an undergraduate is impossible, because you need to take a five more years of classes before you can even understand the problem. They're wrong; ask a fourth.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10997,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Some advice first:</strong> Ultimately you may change your mind about what you want to do in your academic life (and you probably will, which is to be expected) so what I would do is make sure I have a back-up plan. By \"back-up plan\" I mean whatever field you may choose, make sure it coincides with another existing field (in some obvious, explicit way). That way, if you do end up hating say analytic number theory and you want to specialize in algebraic geometry instead, the path would be continuous, and you wouldn't face too many rough patches. Since you're passionate about math, I'm assuming you have a very, very rough idea of what you may want to specialize in grad school (applied math seems out the window). If not, that's okay. You've got years to think about that. If the answer is yes, then in addition to the core classes (abstract algebra, points-set topology, real analysis are the norm), you should self-study additional books that pertain to your field of interest. If you like number theory, start with Alan Baker's book. If you like geometry, start with Pedoe's book. And so on and so forth. In the meanwhile I'll give you an outline of what I think is the \"Ideal\" student's path towards a top grad school (for these purposes, I'm going to say all of the schools in the top 10 programs). This will be completely subjective of course, so disclaimer: don't get on my case. I'm also going to completely ignore the general education requirements and just focus on the math part. Since I'm not a believer in REUs I won't mention anything about that. I don't think they're a good reflection of research ability because not too many of them are exceptional. (i.e no first authorship. No grad school is going to believe you made progress on the Hodge conjecture if you say that on your personal statement. You'd only be BS'ing yourself). Moving on :-)</p>\n\n<p><strong>Freshman year</strong>: Get your core classes over with. You'll probably be able to finish half of them in this time assuming you declare your major this early and you petition your academic adviser to take more than what the norm is (and if you can prove your competency in the subjects you've listed). They may be able to waive the prerequisites and make an exception for you. In the meanwhile, don't be a stool in class and just get A's. Ask and answer questions regarding your coursework. Go beyond that and take advantage of your professors' office hours. Don't worry if you think you're intruding: it's part of the job description, and they'll probably like the enthusiasm. Talk to them about doing research (it's definitely <strong><em>not</em></strong> too early) in an area of interest. Provide your relevant mathematical background so that they may guide you. Ask them what other professors you should talk to if you want to do undergrad research in X, Y, or Z. Collect as much information and ask as many questions as possible. In the meanwhile, maintain a consistent average (3.8+ would probably be favorable). If all goes well, you should be able to get started (or at least have a topic and someone to work with) by the beginning of your sophomore year. If you wanna have fun, you should take the Putnam exam (I don't know how relevant scores are to grad admissions) and see how well you do. If you somehow become a Putnam Fellow, that's going to significantly increase your chances (for bureaucracy reasons probably since the Putnam exam and research mathematics require different tool sets). Still, you can only take this exam a maximum of 4 times in your undergrad years (once for every year). So I'd take advantage of that. If your university has an honors program that results in a senior thesis, I'd take advantage of that as well. Sometimes very exceptional theses get published in journals and that'd be a good credential to have.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Sophomore year</strong>: By the end of this year you should be well done by your core requirements (assuming you're persistent and keep petitioning to take more and more credit hours). More importantly, at the end of this year you should have a very rough idea of what you may want to study in grad school. But it should be more concise than whatever you're thinking about now. At this point you should also think about starting at least 2 more research projects (the reason is, you need at most 3 letters of recommendation for places like Princeton). If you can get 3 letters of rec. from professors who know you well (i.e the ones you worked with in your 3 research projects) that'll look very favorably on your application. Once again, take the Putnam. Maintain your GPA as close to a 4.0 as possible. You know, the usual.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Junior year</strong>: Now would be a good time to start taking grad-level classes. Try to coincide these classes with your area of interest. If you like algebraic geometry, take a class on that and see how you like it. You should know the drill by now. If you're still working on these projects (and you probably will be) don't lose focus. If a publication seems like a pipe dream, that's okay. <strong><em>Publications are not expected of undergrads</em></strong>. But it would look great of course. If you have not already, you should think about which grad schools you may want to apply to. Again, maintain that high GPA and take the Putnam to ease your sure to be troubled mind. By the end of Junior year, you should start studying for the GRE and the GRE Subject test. If you happen to have done extremely well on the Putnam (i.e became a Putnam Fellow or scored in the top 100) you'll probably find the studying part trivial as you've had much practice with problem solving and adeptness. Of course don't get cocky: you should still review anyway.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Senior year</strong>: Take the GRE and the GRE Subject test. Kick ass at them. Try to finish up your 3 research projects if you have not already and prepare to submit them to a peer-reviewed journal. The process may take time so don't be discouraged if you're still not finished by the time you apply. Be sure to do well on your senior thesis as well assuming your university offers them. Get those amazing letters of rec. from the 3 - 4 year relationship you've established with your professors. Go overload on those grad classes (or self-study) and work at optimum. Get acquainted with your potential field. After all is said and done, write up your CV, do your applications, and send them in. After that, take a sigh of relief, put up your feet, and relax. Take the Putnam for the final time. Enjoy your remaining months in college before you're off doing your PhD.</p>\n\n<p>If all goes well, you'll get published, you'll get praised, and you'll get into your schools of choice. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 95153,
"author": "Oleg Lobachev",
"author_id": 46265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/46265",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Warning: I am not coming from an US system.</p>\n\n<p>What I would miss is <em>specialization</em>. You do want to focus on a topic in mathematical research? Shape your reading and background on it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10334",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7310/"
]
|
10,340 | <p>Back in my university days, I got into the habit of saving papers I had to read to my hard disk. At first I did this simply to organize them more conveniently, and have quicker access to them. </p>
<p>However, my reasons for saving those papers to disk gradually changed as graduation approached. In the end, I saved <strong><em>a lot</em></strong> of papers, because at one point I realized that I had unrestricted, unlimited, free access to an absolutely fantastic source of richness, and that soon after graduation, I'd lose all of that. </p>
<p>Years later, I now frequently end up in discussions, or get asked questions, or otherwise end up at a point where a common access to one of those papers really helps to progress the discussion. I often just send that paper around without thinking twice about it, more because I believe that's how science should work than anything else. </p>
<p>I believe most of those papers are however <em>not</em> in the public domain, meaning, people not associated with a university or other institution that has access, can <em>not</em> access the paper without some payment to its official publisher.</p>
<p>So is any of this legal? If not, what are the possible repercussions for me personally, and for the people I sent it to? </p>
<p>I realize this is a touchy issue, and there are many initiatives to open scientific publications up for the general public. A related question would be: do these initiatives (like <a href="http://science.okfn.org/tools-for-open-science/">all of these</a>) exist partly because of this reason? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10341,
"author": "Chris Gregg",
"author_id": 4461,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4461",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>So is any of this legal?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Unless your sharing falls under <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use\">fair use</a> in your particular country (and with the Internet, sharing online is a tricky business anyway), you should not share the papers.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to share the papers, linking to the original source is the best option, and <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/\">Google Scholar</a> or other online repositories can get you pretty far with a lot of material. If you can't find an online source, you are limited to providing a cite and hope that whoever wants to find the article can use their library to source it.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If not, what are the possible repercussions for me personally, and for the people I sent it to?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Practically? Unless you are sharing the files openly to a broad audience (i.e., so they are available online), no one is going to track you down to sue you. I would avoid linking directly to articles that aren't behind a paywall, but emailing them to people you are collaborating with is unlikely to cause you any trouble. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10405,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As your user page indicates that you are in Germany, you may be interested in <a href=\"http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/urhg/__53.html\">§53 UrhG</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(2) Zulässig ist, einzelne Vervielfältigungsstücke eines Werkes herzustellen oder herstellen zu lassen</p>\n \n <ol>\n <li>zum eigenen wissenschaftlichen Gebrauch, wenn und soweit die Vervielfältigung zu diesem Zweck geboten ist und sie keinen gewerblichen Zwecken dient,</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(Rough translation:<br>\n<em>(2) it is permitted to make or let be made single copies of a work<br>\n 1. for personal scientific use, if and as far as copying is needed for this reason and is not for commercial reasons,</em><br>\n)</p>\n\n<p>which is a kind of continental european fair use policy.</p>\n\n<p>Working in science I think that putting papers I read in a personal private archive is needed - if only to be able to answer specific claims or questions about papers I cite in my papers, presentations, .... </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10340",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1243/"
]
|
10,343 | <p>I think I must be stranger than usual sometimes, I always seem to take on topics that are somewhat more difficult than the mainstream, in very trying conditions - but the outcomes are very much worth it (not for me per se, but the benefits for everyone, potentially).</p>
<p>I try to instill this in my students, by 'gently' mentoring them and encouraging them to push their own limits a little further each time. Also, I teach them that 'failure' is just another step to success. For the most part, my students take on the challenges and the work, ideas and enthusiasm from them, frankly humbles me.</p>
<p>However, I am always wishing to learn new techniques to encourage my students to push, and even exceed their limits. </p>
<p>What strategies are most effective for encouraging students (and colleagues for that matter) to take on the difficult topics?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10346,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As a reflection on my own experience as a teacher, I am convinced that motivation is not a static, unchangeable property of particular students, but it is a multifaceted concept, a variable state of mind, created through the interaction of the student with the subject matter in a particular environment (teacher, group, topic, etc). A good teacher arouses the motivation indirectly, by creating the right environment for learning. The students' effort ensues almost magically.</p>\n\n<p>See this interesting article:</p>\n\n<p>Linnenbrink, Elizabeth A., and Paul R. Pintrich. \"Motivation as an enabler for academic success.\" School Psychology Review 31.3 (2002): 313-327.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 13659,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most important aspect is the teacher's attitude. It sounds as though your students are already benefiting from yours.</p>\n\n<p>As @Cinco says above,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>motivation is not a static, unchangeable property of particular students... A good teacher arouses the motivation indirectly, by creating the right environment for learning. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Based on my experiences with some awesome professors, I will say DO</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>hold your students to high academic standards.</p></li>\n<li><p>assume that the students are capable of doing more than they are currently doing.</p></li>\n<li><p>show them how the subject you are teaching is relevant to them.</p></li>\n<li><p>be enthusiastic.</p></li>\n<li><p>recognize their great work, and always expect more and better in the future.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Perhaps most importantly, <em>have fun!</em> Enjoyment is contagious, and a good professor can make it fun to learn about anything. A <em>great</em> professor can make it fun to struggle and push against the limits of our abilities.</p>\n\n<p>(Sorry, this is rather subjective...it is hard to quantify what makes a great teacher!)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10343",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
]
|
10,347 | <p>Paper-based exams are not fully representative of knowledge, and it is good to consider oral presentations of students as a factor for the final grade to some extent. This is somehow the case in graduate courses, where the number of students is lesser, but how to follow this strategy for crowded classroom of inexperienced undergraduate students. I mean a classroom of 50+ size with students who do not have experience in scientific discussion!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10349,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've had classes of this size where I have each student do an individual presentation. It is <strong>very</strong> time consuming but I also feel it can be <strong>very</strong> worthwhile.</p>\n\n<p>If you give each student 10 minutes to present some information and you have 50 students then you will have 12-13 hours for presentations (allowing 15 minutes total per student including Q&A, changing students, etc.) If you teach in 2-hour sessions then it will consume 6-7 sessions. If you have 30-32 sessions per semester it is doable but it also removes a significant chunk of time from lecturing.</p>\n\n<p>In my case, I lectured for several weeks (giving the students time to do their research and giving them the foundations they needed for their presentations) and then had the students give their presentations. Then I continued lecturing with other assessments later on. The module was not about presentation skills but I do feel that in each subject, we need to teach the students some general skills (structuring an argument, how to format text, how to research, giving a presentation, etc.) in addition to the module content.</p>\n\n<p>The students ended up understanding the material quite well when judged by their presentations and I found many of them quite eager to learn how they could improve their presentation skills. </p>\n\n<p>In the end, I was happy with the overall results and plan to do it again.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10360,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would like to add to earthling's answer. If you have <strong>teaching assistants</strong>, please do make good use of them in this aspect. </p>\n\n<p>As a TA, I have had excellent experiences in mentoring undergraduates to prepare research presentations, final papers, projects and proposals for these papers and project. Of course, we were generally in a class of 120-160 students so that speaks to a classroom scale higher than what you are suggesting. There were 3 graduate TA's, usually and we each had about 50 students to mentor. We found that we could devote significant amounts of time to each student when we met them on a one-on-one basis. Of course, the professor also met them one-on-one and there were a couple of rounds of iteration of their final presentations - which was very, very useful for the professors, the TA's and the students. As mentioned previously, it was a time sink, but very well worth it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10347",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/406/"
]
|
10,352 | <p>Consider a case of a new researcher that does not know well all possible journals and has no access to human advice (from colleagues). (please do not comment that this is the best - out of scope of the question!)</p>
<p>Or one journal rejected the paper and the author is looking for outside the box candidates.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Possible examples:</strong></p>
<p>1.
E.g., in medicine, one can use this tool (ETBLAST) by submitting full text of the article
<a href="http://etest.vbi.vt.edu/etblast3/" rel="nofollow">http://etest.vbi.vt.edu/etblast3/</a></p>
<p>Some journals even require top 3 similar papers (found by ETBLAST) to be pasted into a form during submission (making sure authors well addressed related literature). </p>
<p>2.
Or Elsevier JournalFinder service.<a href="http://journalfinder.elsevier.com/" rel="nofollow">http://journalfinder.elsevier.com/</a></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10395,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to know your field. Part of knowing your field is reading lots of papers. This should give you an idea of what kinds of papers each of the major journals publishes, and what journal may be best suited to you. If you're a good researchers, you ought to already know what are the main journals that publish research in your area. If you don't already know that, then maybe you need to spend more time reading published work first.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, the best way to figure out if a particular journal is a good fit for your paper is to read a bunch of papers published at that journal. That will give you a pretty good sense. You can use the \"call for papers\" as a further sanity check, but nothing substitutes for reading what else they have published.</p>\n\n<p>There is no shortcut. If you are a knowledgeable about your field, a random webpage is not going to know your field better than you do. If you are not knowledgeable about your field, then the first thing you need to do is to fix that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17882,
"author": "mirkastath",
"author_id": 12712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12712",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Presumably you have included references in your article! Just check which journals you tend to cite most (or at least twice each in your article). Those must be good and relevant enough (since you cite the work published there in the context of your own work). Then check their guidelines to be sure (possible length constraints, level of detail, etc.) </p>\n\n<p>If you do not want to go to the most prestigious journals because you fear your work is not groundbreaking enough, or because you want an easy ride, or, as you said, because they rejected your article already, here is a relevant rule-of-thumb: do not publish in a journal which you would never cite for whatever reason. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10352",
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|
10,354 | <p>At most scientific conferences and talks I have attended, the speakers generally present black text on white backgrounds, which I personally find rather dull. Is there any reason / explicit convention which should stop one from presenting light coloured text on a dark background?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10356,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Conferences tend to take place indoors in dimly-lit rooms. Dimly-lit rooms are a good place to fall asleep. Using a white background helps avoid this. Also, dark text/lines on a white background are easier to read (I've seen more than one study showing this).</p>\n\n<p>If you are going to be showing a lot of astronomy or fluorescence biology images, where the image is mostly black with some interesting colorful things in it, you probably want a black or dark background for at least those slides; at some point you should just switch over. Also, if it is essential to understanding for the viewer to discriminate many shades of color, it's easier with a black background because you can use a wide variety of discriminable pastel colors that would be washed out to invisibility on a white background. You can't even use saturated yellow or cyan on a white background and expect it to be seen.</p>\n\n<p>But for most scientific presentations there are good reasons for a light colored background.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10358,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In HCI/information science many conference presentations, especially in the best conferences like CHI or CSCW, tend to have nice colored backgrounds. I would even argue that in certain sub-fields of HCI or information science, just having a vanilla black or white colored background tends to be the exception rather than the norm.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://jeffhuang.com/best_paper_awards.html#chi\" rel=\"nofollow\">This</a> is a brilliant compilation of best paper awards in many sub-disciplines of computer science. A simple google search will often yield the conference presentations and slides of them. Under CHI, you will find that very often, the slides are rather innovative when it comes to the color scheme.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10364,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most private companies have their specific color schemes and logos that must be shown on every slide. That's just the way it goes in industry. So it's just a matter of hitting the right conference :). I am pretty sure that at communication science conventions, you won't see any single white background presentation (or black background, for that matter).</p>\n\n<p>Ideally, the color scheme should be a nice touch to your presentation, not a decisive point. The content should play the more important role, and the font size is arguably more important than the color it shows in: if nobody can read your font 6, what's the point of the slide? On some ways to make your presentations more effective without using multiple nested hierarchies of bullet points, see <a href=\"http://abcnews.go.com/images/us/how_to_win_in_anbar_v4.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">this multiple award winning one</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10403,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Whether light foreground on dark background or vice versa is easier to see depends on the light conditions of the presentation room.</p>\n\n<p>Projectors are still not very powerful: the white of a projector will usually not stand out even against a comparably dim room illumination.</p>\n\n<p>If it is really dark, bright foreground on dark background allows to show more shades of colour and brightness. Because the projectors are not too powerful, the risk of uncomfortably bright foreground is not very high. </p>\n\n<p>If the room is not really dark, bright foreground on dark background may be very hard to see, as the eyes adapt to the overall light conditions and few projectors are powerful enough to make white text on a black (= grey because of surrounding illumination) stand out enough to be easily readable. </p>\n\n<p>Note how the projectors becoming more powerful allowed a transition from white-on-black in really dark rooms (which were needed because the white was not that bright) to black-on-white in rooms with a dimmed overall illumination. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10354",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7296/"
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|
10,355 | <p>I am a year away from completing an undergrad degree in Computer Science and I find myself increasingly interested in more advanced subjects from pure mathematics that sometimes lie outside the scope of my major, and I think I would enjoy doing graduate work in pure math. But I feel like the amount of formal education I've had the opportunity to have in my undergrad isn't quite sufficient for graduate work in math.</p>
<p>If I were to go and buy a book or two on some subject I'd like to learn more about that I can't take a course on (say, Abstract Algebra or Number Theory), and spend this summer getting comfortable with it, is it likely that a graduate admission committee take my efforts into account?</p>
<p>My situation is worded specific to a CS --> Pure Math trajectory, but it's part of a more general question. Do graduate school admissions take into account personal study, or do they only care about formal university education?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10359,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I have limited knowledge about this and I speak from experience as a graduate student who has gone through a similar situation <em>(from the outside)</em> as well as being the student representative on our graduate admissions committee <em>(on the inside)</em>. Obviously, a professor or academic with much more experience than I have can attest to this in better ways.</p>\n\n<p>In <strong>general,</strong> formal education is given preference. Grades in relevant courses are given more importance than others. Note that there is a lot of competition for slots in a PhD program. Self study is a very fuzzy area and there is little scope for the graduate admissions committee to evaluate it. There exists of course, two mutually non-exclusive ways exceptions to this general norm:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>A respected recommender in the area attests to the fact that you did engage in significant amounts of self study and that has contributed to your overall knowledge.</p></li>\n<li><p>You do self study. Then you do research based on it. Then you publish in a non trivial journal or conference. That automatically attests to your knowledge in certain ways.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Otherwise, ask yourself this, why would graduate admissions committees believe you, especially when there is usually bound to be a few more well qualified applicants with good scores in relevant courses?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10375,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 6110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6110",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If possible, I would recommend first seeking out a math professor at your university, preferably someone you know and who holds you in high regard. If you are home for the summer, e-mail would suffice, but an in person meeting would work much better.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, explain your plans, and:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Ask the professor's advice about your self-study plan (maybe the prof has different suggestions)</p></li>\n<li><p>Ask if he or she would be willing to evaluate your progress at the end of the summer (e.g., you show up to his/her office and take an informal oral exam), and to write you a rec letter if you've done a good job.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 16999,
"author": "Wakem",
"author_id": 10739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10739",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another option for the special case you describe is to take the math subject GRE after your self studies. This would validate your knowledge of the undergraduate curriculum in pure maths. They might take into account that you did not take any of the courses (you probably won't get the same score you would have gotten as a math major, because you don't know real analysis, topology, etc.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 17000,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answers are of course reasonable, but my own viewpoint, perhaps an outlier, is that energetic/extensive self-study is a much more positive indicator about motivation and self-discipline and genuine interest than course attendance with good grades.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, there is the obvious point mentioned in other answers: how to measure or certify self-study? The GRE subject test is very iffy, in a variety of aspects. Thus, the ideal circumstance is coursework <em>and</em> self-study, to have certifiable conventional (\"passive\") education as well as demonstrating initiative and interest. Further, very often the available undergrad curriculum really doesn't prepare people for grad school, so I'd strongly recommend substantial self-study in any case. Perhaps best under the aegis of math faculty who can provide some certification in letters of recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>The thing that <em>might</em> be missing from self-study, if that's all one has as mathematics background, is the \"regular drill\" on basic reflexes that, in any case, routine coursework does cultivate. If one has to stop and think too much, the slowdown/cognitive-load can make routine things effectively impossible.</p>\n\n<p>Also, beware, the usual first year-or-two of math grad school include \"routine\" coursework and exams that do presume a \"standard\" undergrad background, including routine drill on a fairly standard body of material. With an extremely thin or idiosyncratic background, one must play a lot of catch-up. This can have several bad effects: may give the impression of incapability, may make you tired and discouraged, may stifle natural interest. So \"brace yourself\" if that's the path you find yourself on.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10355",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
10,357 | <p>I have some literature written by Chinese authors who I would like to attribute in my bibliography with their names in Chinese characters (汉字). The problem is that, as the literature itself is not in Chinese, their names appear only in their romanized form (Pīnyīn or Wade–Giles).</p>
<p>What resources can I use to find out the correct characters for their names, e. g. library catalogues with both forms given, author lists, etc.?</p>
<p>I am not only looking for Chinese names but Japanese ones as well.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong></p>
<p>Examples include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Pao, Erh-li / Ying Cheng (1982): <em>Wörterbuch der chinesischen Redensarten. Chinesisch–deutsch; Tetragramme des modernen Chinesisch</em> [= 漢語成語]. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.</li>
<li>Huang, Yankai (1964): A dictionary of Chinese idiomatic phrases. Hong Kong: Eton Press.</li>
<li>Hisa, Michitaro (1896): Some Japanized Chinese Proverbs. In: <em>The Journal of American Folklore</em> 9, 33, pp. 132–138.</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10366,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know much about other languages. I'll answer the question in Chinese case since I am a native Chinese speaker.</p>\n\n<p>The literature you have is not in Chinese. The best way is to contact the authors. They will give you the correct answer.</p>\n\n<p>As far as I know, there is no such reliable resources at the moment. There is no unique and consistent way of translation between English name and Chinese name. As you already know, Pīnyīn and Wade–Giles are two of them. I don't think there is one-to-one correspondence relation. There are other issues, such as traditional Chinese character and simplified character. You won't know the correct answer unless the author tells you.</p>\n\n<p>If you have no way to contact them, try their collegues or others who might know. Don't use the Chniese name unless you are sure. Use whatever the name appears in the literature if you are not sure.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10368,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Transliteration between major East Asian languages and Latin alphabet orthography is not a bijection, which means that the exact same spelling of an Asian name in Latin alphabet can correspond to many different spellings in their native language and vice versa. It's somewhat similar to how you can't tell if it's \"principal\" or \"principle\" by just hearing the sound /prɪnsəpəl/. In this example, pronunciations and spellings are not a bijection.</p>\n\n<p>This problem is particularly severe for certain names such as typical Chinese names, so some journals allow Asian authors to write their names in their native languages to mitigate the difficulty in identifying a researcher. For instance, see this editorial by American Physical Society: <a href=\"http://pra.aps.org/PhysRevLett.99.230001\" rel=\"nofollow\">Which Wei Wang?</a></p>\n\n<p>I was born, raised, and educated all the way up to my Ph.D. in Japan. But I can't tell how my namesakes in Latin alphabet would spell their names in Japanese because they may not be namesakes in our native language. The exact spelling in Latin alphabet may not always mean the same pronunciation in Japanese either.</p>\n\n<p>So, there is no easy resource to resolve names in Latin alphabet back to their original spellings. Sometimes you might be able to make a fairly reliable educated guess if you're as proficient in the Asian languages as native speakers. But you'd run into the Asian version of Steven vs. Stephan and Erica vs. Erika. So, I'd recommend you ask the person(s) directly unless you have definite evidence such as a copy of a recent paper written by them in their native language.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10377,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I am aware of this</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you're already aware of the transliteration problem but still asking the question, then I assume you have other information about the authors to help identify them, e.g., affiliations. If that's the case, I'm curious why you don't use the most useful searchable database, namely <a href=\"https://www.google.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.google.com/</a> Depending on how much information you have (and possibly how proficient in the target languages), you'll eventually be able to identify them in their native languages unless you're talking about very obscure or older-than-the-internet authors. Since the authors you want to identify wrote something in foreign languages, I think chances are they have personal or official websites that have their names both in Latin alphabet and in their native languages. If they don't, you may find some pages that help you identify them in their native languages.</p>\n\n<p>I don't get why you think a database on literature is particularly useful for that purpose either. You can use any available resource. For instance, if the authors you want to identify are active Japanese researchers, you can search them in one of the researcher databases found here: <a href=\"http://read.jst.go.jp/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://read.jst.go.jp/</a> (in Japanese) <a href=\"http://read.jst.go.jp/index_e.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://read.jst.go.jp/index_e.html</a> (in English). (The English version is the first hit on google for \"japanese researcher database\" by the way. You'd run into these sites very frequently if you google Japanese researchers, too.)</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, as an example, assume you want to know, say, the Japanese spelling of my former Ph.D. supervisor Masakazu Jimbo at Nagoya University. And you want to avoid navigating the internet in Japanese as much as possible while searching. Then, you go to <a href=\"http://researchmap.jp/?lang=english\" rel=\"nofollow\">the English version of Read & Researchmap</a>, click \"Researcher Search\" to get to <a href=\"http://researchmap.jp/search/\" rel=\"nofollow\">the researcher search page</a>, and do the usual search with the information you have (i.e., the name is spelled Masakazu Jimbo and he's at Nagoya University). You'll be directed to <a href=\"http://researchmap.jp/read0164386\" rel=\"nofollow\">his information in English</a>. Then you switch to <a href=\"http://researchmap.jp/read0164386/?lang=japanese\" rel=\"nofollow\">the original Japanese page</a> by clicking 日本語 to check how to spell his name in Japanese.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you don't need to use the Read & Researchmap to know his name in Japanese. You can simply google him. If you know publication titles and his name in Latin alphabet, you can surely locate his personal website, where you can see how to spell his name in Japanese.</p>\n\n<p>Exactly what kind of situation are you in? You talk about literature, so I assumed you wanted to cite/quote works by Chinese and/or Japanese authors. And you say those works are not in their native languages, which, I assume, means that you know more about the authors than just their transliterated names (unless you're trying to cite/quote them without reading them). Was the additional information you have not enough to identify them through google? Are libraries' databases and such on books etc. really the only kind you can identify them with what you already know about them? Maybe, they're from 19th centuries or something or way too obscure for the internet to be of use? Or is this question \"What resources can I use to find out the correct characters for their names?\" asked as a very very broad inquiry for Internet Search 101? If that's the case, it's too broad to answer because you don't tell us what you already know about the authors and why you can't identify them through usual means like google.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/05/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10357",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7297/"
]
|
10,369 | <p>Do you have to have a PhD in order to become a PI on a grant for your own funding?</p>
<p>What if you only have a Bachelor's or a Master's degree, and are not even working towards a PhD?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10376,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As Nate Eldredge points out, who qualifies as an eligible PI varies widely between different programs. However, in general, one important distinction can usually be cited: you must be a <em>professional</em> researcher (as opposed to a student or trainee) to be eligible to submit a direct grant. Students would normally need to have their advisors submit the grant proposals on their behalf. </p>\n\n<p>You need to consult the specific rules of the grant you're interested in applying for. Moreover, if you are at an institution that often applies for grants, you should check with the local grants administration office for more guidance. They may have internal policies regarding for whom they will submit grants.</p>\n\n<p>It is also important to note that different countries and different agencies have varying standards. Here in Germany, for instance, you <em>must</em> have the equivalent of a doctoral degree to be eligible to be the coordinating Principal Investigator of a proposal. You can participate as a team member without a doctoral degree, but not be a principal investigator.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10390,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It very much depends on the grant in question. For example, while most grants in the United States need a PhD (and often university rules dictate more than a PhD, like not giving grant-writing privileges to adjuncts), there are often smaller grant programs that expressly allow non-PhD PIs.</p>\n\n<p>For example, my university has a translational research program that has pilot project grants, to help researchers generate the preliminary data that is so important for major grant submissions. Whole the $5,000 and $50,000 tiers are restricted to non-adjunct faculty, there is also a $2,000 tier that merely requires a faculty mentor on the project, and is specifically targeted toward graduate student PIs.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/06/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10369",
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|
10,379 | <p>I recently finished my masters degree and co-authored a lengthy paper (It was my idea and I took the lead on the research and writing). The paper is not for publication but provides valuable information and research for the the department faculty and dean.The paper is a program development proposal that our academic department would like to implement. Our group discussed sending the paper to the Dean in conversation with her, and one of the co-authors brought it up with her again at the end of the semester and offered to send it to her individually without consulting our group.</p>
<p>I'm okay with her sending it, however, I felt that she acted independently and did not consider the time-lines of the other co-authors for doing final edits, or offer to CC us when she sent it.</p>
<p>My name comes last on the paper (alphabetically) even though I wrote and researched more than the other two authors combined. I have the sense that my co-author is taking more credit than she is due on this project since her name comes first and because she acted independently.</p>
<p>I requested that I be provided an opportunity to review the paper and to be CC'd on any future sharing of our work with others.I think my co-author was offended. </p>
<p>I am interested in asking my two co-authors if it is okay to have my name as the first author on this paper (then she can send it).</p>
<p>Please advise if I am being petty or if this is a reasonable concern on my part. I would like for the Dean and faculty to remember my contributions. The co-author who offered to send it has already made her mark on the program in other ways and I am not sure I have stood out as much. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10393,
"author": "D.W.",
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I understand why you are a little peeved that she offered to send it to the Dean without checking with you first, but I think you need to swallow your frustration on that point.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, you need to figure out what your goals are. Right now you are reacting: you are letting your emotions control your reactions. Instead, you should figure out what end goal you want to achieve.</p>\n\n<p>Do you want to make sure that the paper is in good enough shape, before it is sent to the Dean? Then negotiate a timeline with your co-authors. This might mean you both have to give a little: you might have to work extra hard to get your revisions in; and they might have to be willing to delay sending the paper a little bit until you've all had a chance to revise to your satisfaction. That's a perfectly reasonable request.</p>\n\n<p>Do you want to be listed as first author? If so, why? You said the paper is not going to be published. So why do you care? If you think your contribution means it is appropriate for you to be first author, and you care about it, then raise the point with your co-author. But approach it with humility and gentleness. Remember that we're human; we have a tendency to overestimate our own contribution and underestimate others, so you need to correct for that. Also, definitely do <em>not</em> ask to be first author as a way of getting revenge; that is petty and beneath you. Take the high road.</p>\n\n<p>And, take this as a lesson. Generally, it is best to discuss authorship early in the project, not wait until the very end. In my collaborations, there is often an understanding from the start about who is the lead on the project; the expectation is that the lead has the overall responsibility and will most likely put in the most work, and in return will likely end up as first author. These discussions about authorship are often easier to happen earlier than later.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, bottom line: Figure out what you want to achieve (what you want the end state to look like). Then, figure out how to ask for that. Set aside your emotions and your negative reactions to your co-author's initiative in moving things forward without checking with you first, and focus on what end state you want to achieve. I suspect you might find that you share pretty much the same goals as your co-author, and there's no need to get upset or strain your relations with her.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 12689,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>D.W.'s answer is great advice. I just want to add something for the (your) future.</p>\n\n<p>What counts in the end if you intend to continue in academia are hard publications. Since this seems to be a soft \"publication\", I think you should ask yourself; can the material be re-written and actually published? If the answer is yes, then you have to ask yourself, should you take on the job as first author (you have already done a lot). Most often the one who takes the initiative will be spearheading the work.</p>\n"
}
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| 2013/06/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10379",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
10,381 | <p>I'm sorry, I'm not a mathematician--I'm the wife of a very frustrated and depressed mathematician. </p>
<p>My husband got a math PhD in 2009, and could not get a research post-doc in his chosen field. We had young children at that point, and he spent two years as a lecturer, applied for hundreds of jobs, and finally took a tenure-track job at a teaching university. Now, he honestly believes that a research position is impossible for him. He loves to teach, but hates the endless grind of "administrivia", the low pay, and the mental laziness of the students he's required to teach. (I wish I could give more details, but his research area was a fairly small community, and I don't want to give any aspect of his identity away.) </p>
<p>I hate watching this brilliant man say things like, "Well, since I didn't get a post-doc, I'm stuck on this path, and there's nothing I can do to get out of it." I hate watching him spiral into depression. I am insisting on him getting counseling, but he refuses to take anyone's encouragement that other jobs are possible, saying things like, "You just don't know the academic world. If I go to the NSA, no one will hire me in an academic position. If I become an actuary (because we do need more money) then all of my time will be sucked into studying for exams, and I still won't be able to do research." In his mind, no one in our circle of loved ones has the authority or experience to give him accurate encouragement. So I'm looking to anonymous strangers at this point. :( Is a research position possible after spending time at a teaching university? Would he be able to get back into academia if he had to leave to do actuarial work/industry/something that helps pay the bills? </p>
<hr>
<p>I wanted to give a brief update. </p>
<p>To begin with, THANK YOU to everyone who replied. My husband's eyes lit up after seeing that 1) This was a fairly common problem, and not somehow indicative of his skill level; 2) There were solutions, other than being miserable; and 3) The solutions did not a) condemn him to a life of administrivia, or b) require him to leave academia all together.</p>
<p>After getting the <em>hope</em> he needed from you guys, he spoke with a mentor of his from undergrad, and was given incredibly specific guidance on where to go from here. His teaching load is so heavy, (4/4 or 4/3) and the mentor gave him a few places to apply to in his field where the teaching load is more conducive to <em>some</em> research, but is not at a research-specific university. (3/3 or even 3/2!!!) He plans on speaking to his advisor, getting some <em>glowing</em> letters of recommendation, and starting a job search soon. </p>
<p>Thanks so much. It was nice to see his face light up again. <3 </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10382,
"author": "Community",
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"text": "<p>I am in a very similar situation as your husband, as a high school teacher very much wishing to be in research. So, I can empathise with your husband's and your dilemma (as it definitely affects family and friends as well).</p>\n\n<p>Everyone's situation is different, but I can tell you how I cope in general. Knowing that postdocs are few and far between, I cope by continuing my own research as much as I can in the spare time I have - getting papers published and continuing to build my research profile.</p>\n\n<p>Research positions are indeed possible after teaching, but as an insurance I would advise still publishing work and developing his research profile.</p>\n\n<p>I hope this helps (and I hope good luck finds you and your husband).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10385,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 6110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6110",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The situation you describe is unfortunately common. It is an unfortunate reality that the number of people well qualified for research jobs is greater than the number of jobs.</p>\n\n<p>A few notes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Hiring committees will be looking for good publications, and for recommendation letters coming from leaders in the field attesting to your husband's impact and further potential. If he continues to do good research, publish it in well-known venues, and speak about it at conferences, then he has a good chance. If not, then unfortunately he is competing with people who are.</p></li>\n<li><p>Most of the complaints you mention are common at research jobs as well. I teach at a large state university, where we have our share of poorly prepared students, and/or students who are just going through the motions. Indeed a Harvard professor once quipped to me that \"we have remedial classes here, too\". </p></li>\n<li><p>I do know people who have successfully moved from one teaching position to a different teaching position, and been much happier afterwards. Some departments have more motivated students, pay better, and/or do a better job of keeping the paperwork down, and your husband could look for one of these.</p></li>\n<li><p>I know people who have taken a variety of non-academic mathematical jobs, and for the most part they are quite happy with them!</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The bottom line is that your husband can probably get a research job <em>if</em> he can sustain a very strong research program during the interim. Otherwise, there are likely to be appealing alternatives as well.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10386,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. It is possible. Because I know this guy who had been in exactly the same situation except that he got his math Ph.D. a few years earlier than your husband, and got a job at a reputable research university. If he's somehow believing that a prestigious postdoc position is necessary, I know a person who ended up in a gratuitous position for a short while and then landed on a very prestigious postdoc job in math. In both cases, they had strong publication records and also convinced other researchers in the same fields that they are something.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, there must be way more math Ph.D.'s who wanted jobs at research universities but got stuck somewhere else than those who succeeded. So, it's true that, statistically speaking, chances are very slim, especially if he himself doesn't think he can make it. But there are things he's in control of, and he can make the probability fatter. Do good research, publish it, and show others what you're made of.</p>\n\n<p>Ah, I almost forgot. If he's looking for a job this year in combinatorics, information theory, coding theory or quantum information science, well, sorry, but he should wait another year. There is a talking duckling in California looking for that sort of job this year, and that duckling should get it. I know your kids are super cute, and they want their dad to be happy, too. But this duckling is even cuter. If your husband's field is different, then no problem. Kick his butt and tell him to apply to as many jobs as possible with his awesome publication list he's going to develop and strong recommendation letters he's going to get (unless his depression needs a professional help. In that case, that should be fixed first, I think). Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10391,
"author": "Arun Seshan",
"author_id": 7312,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7312",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've not read other opinions however here is mine, </p>\n\n<p>Since your husband wants to do research in Math, he is lucky, because he does not require high end instruments to do his stuff. So he basically can do research wherever and whenever he wants, meaning, he need not be in a specific place to do his research. In the mean time he can get employed in a place where he can earn money using his skills. </p>\n\n<p>So while his research is done at home, he can work elsewhere till he feels that his research has matured enough to require a lot of attention. Once his work is publicized I'm sure there will be a lot of people to come forward and assist. Some of us developers use and believe in open technology as the future, hence we publish whatever we do for the benefit of the world. He can create a blog to update the world about his research.</p>\n\n<p>He can use social media to find and meet people with similar interests or even conduct teaching sessions to people whom <em>he</em> wants to teach for a fee or for free. Example Google hangouts. Using the internet will give him better exposure than the closed walls of any university. </p>\n\n<p>I help my father with his automobile business and then follow my passion at home, I don't know if any of my work is worthy of being called research but bits of it I publicize is certainly helping people who wants to learn :) . </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10392,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to disagree a little bit with the other answers. This is a frustrating situation. Unfortunately, as Anonymous stated, the number of qualified mathematicians exceeds the number of academic research positions. This makes a difficult position.</p>\n\n<p>I fear your husband might have accurately assessed the situation. While I appreciate the suggestion others made of continuing to do research on his own time, this is very difficult. If you have a full-time non-research position and a family, that doesn't leave a lot of time for research -- so it's very hard to sustain a level of research output that will be competitive with the competition. Also, others who do have a research faculty position may have students and collaborators, which further boosts their research output; your husband won't have that advantage. So, while in principle your husband could continue research on his own time to try to build a research portfolio in hopes that this leads to a tenure-track academic research position, in practice your husband is at a disadvantage. He would be climbing up a steep hill.</p>\n\n<p>My suggestion would be for him to get advice from someone more senior who he respects. Is it worth his time for him to continue his research on his own time, and continue applying to hundreds of research positions each year for the next few years? Maybe, or maybe it's a waste of time.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, perhaps he might consider other career alternatives. Rather than being entirely set on an academic research position, maybe he should consider other career paths. Even if he has his mind set on an academic research position right now, I suspect there are a number of other directions where he could be happy. Maybe he should consider the actuarial path, or consider a NSA job? Or consider Wall Street (a job in the financial sector)? Maybe he could teach himself computer programming on his own time and pursue a job in the computing industry? Perhaps there are other opportunities. This kind of change is scary and requires some courage, which is undoubtedly especially difficult when you are depressed: your support will undoubtedly be helpful to him.</p>\n\n<p>A third option is to find things to love in his current teaching position. I certainly sympathize with the trials; they are real, and a drag, to be sure. On the other hand, there's a lot to love about teaching, too. You get to help young students discover the beauty of mathematics: even if it's just one out of a class of 30 students who finds a real passion, that can be very satisfying and rewarding. Unfortunately, the administrivia and the laziness of students is a constant in academia and would probably be present even if he found a research position; the trick with dealing with them is to find other things in his life that are rewarding and satisfying, and focus on them. For instance, perhaps he might enjoy doing math research in his own time, not with the goal or any illusions that it will lead to any research position, but entirely for its own sake: for the love and pleasure and beauty of it. Or maybe he might offer to set up a special enrichment seminar or program for students who do love math to learn more: maybe run a program to prepare for the Putnam exam or Math Olympiad. If he offers to do this on his own time, as an overload, I imagine his department chair would jump at the opportunity, and it might provide a chance to do something rewarding and fulfilling for him and be a great inspiration to a few students. Or maybe he might find something else in his job that is rewarding and worth doing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10394,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is a research position possible after spending time at a teaching university? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, it's possible. There's a mild stigma to applying from a teaching university, since it advertises lack of success getting a research job in the past. Because of the high ratio of candidates to positions, academic hiring is often risk averse and the perception that nobody else wants a candidate will worry search committees. However, this can be overcome.</p>\n\n<p>One thing to keep in mind is that the past difficulties could simply have been bad luck. Even very strong candidates typically do not get many job offers, and bad luck can easily change \"a few\" into \"zero\".</p>\n\n<p>It's possible to strengthen one's application by writing additional papers, but this generally requires <em>better</em> papers or more papers <em>per year</em>, since search committees will normalize for time: if you've spent longer they will expect more. However, the focus is more on the future than the past. If you have a productive few years and show signs of maintaining that productivity in the future, it can make up for fallow periods in the past. If you quit publishing, then the chances of a research job will rapidly drop to zero until you resume publishing. (There are a lot of people who would like to do research but aren't prepared to actually do it, since they aren't up on the current research literature. You can't get a research job unless you demonstrate that you aren't one of these people.)</p>\n\n<p>In an ideal world, search committees would also normalize for the applicants' circumstances. For example, research productivity at a teaching university would be viewed as evidence that the candidate would be even more productive at a research university. Unfortunately, in practice these effects are often underestimated or not taken into account at all.</p>\n\n<p>One possibility is that there's something wrong with your husband's application. For example, maybe his research statement is not compelling, or one of his letter writers is insufficiently supportive, or maybe one of them does not know how to write an effective letter of recommendation. (You'd think that should never happen, but some well-established mathematicians simply do not know how to write effective recommendation letters. If his thesis advisor is one of them, and the other letter writers are less energetic since they assume the advisor will make a strong case, then it could be really bad for his job search.) I'd guess that 5-10% of job applicants have something seriously wrong with their application that they seem totally unaware of. This is a low fraction, so your husband probably isn't one of them, but if possible he should discuss all aspects of his application with a trusted mentor who has guided numerous students to the sort of job your husband would like. Sadly, he may not have such a mentor, but it's good to keep an eye out for one. For example, if he strikes up a conversation at a conference with a senior mathematician who seems approachable, it's worth asking for job search advice.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He thought a hiring committee would scoff at the lower output of papers done by someone in a teaching job vs. someone churning out problems in a research post-doc. He even wondered if not having \"XYZ Awesome Post-Doc\" on his CV would trump any research he did.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Lower productivity because of other duties is a serious factor here. The CV prestige issue is real but considerably less important: prestige might serve as a tie breaker but won't get anyone a job if their actual accomplishments aren't commensurate.</p>\n\n<p>Letters of recommendation will be by far the most important factor. What your husband needs is really strong letters that address his circumstances, talk about how impressive his research is and why, and explicitly make the case that he belongs at a research university. Letter writers generally recycle letters from year to year with some updates to incorporate recent papers. If his letters are not updated to address the teaching/research university issue, then they will not help him. In particular, if they don't say in strong terms that he ought to be at a research university, then they'll be viewed as damning him with faint praise.</p>\n\n<p>This is something he can discuss with each letter writer, along these lines: \"As you know, I've been working at University X for the last couple of years. It's great to be in a tenure-track job, but I'd really like to work at a research university. To move to one, I'll need letters of recommendation that address this issue and make a strong case that I should be at a research university. Would you be comfortable writing such a letter for me? Of course I'll understand if you can't write one, since I know I'm asking a lot, but I'd rather ask someone else than waste everyone's time with an application that doesn't have the support it needs.\"</p>\n\n<p>This is an awkward conversation, but it's much better to ask than to leave it to chance.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Would he be able to get back into academia if he had to leave to do actuarial work/industry/something that helps pay the bills?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's possible he could get another teaching-oriented job, although it's by no means a sure thing. It would help a lot if he could spin the other work as informing his teaching. For example, he could teach actuarial mathematics or incorporate realistic industrial applications. In that case the non-academic experience could be an advantage; otherwise applying from outside academia would put him at a moderate disadvantage.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the chances of getting a research-oriented academic job from industry are low (assuming the industrial job is not at a prestigious research lab like Bell Labs). There are people who have done it, but it's not likely or easy. Few people can maintain a high-quality research program on the side with no support while holding a full-time job, and this is necessary for returning to a research university. In particular, there's virtually no chance of returning based solely on having done research in the past, without having actively continued in the meantime.</p>\n\n<p>The way it typically plays out is that you reluctantly go to industry intending to maintain your research and keep applying for academic jobs. For the first year or two, you complete and write up work you began in academia, and it feels like everything is going well, but your job applications don't do any better than they had before: you've got a more substantial research track record, but your industrial position emphasizes your inability to get a job in the past. Still, you figure that accumulating more papers will eventually tip the balance in your favor. Unfortunately, the next few years don't go as well. It's hard to find the time for research, you have few people to talk to or derive inspiration from, and progress is slow. However, you're gradually getting somewhere, so you figure it will just take a little longer. A few years after that, you start to lose your resolve to do research at all. Even if your applications were successful, would you really want to take a 50% pay cut, give up your job security, and move to another city to restart your career? And it's hard to keep your focus on an incredibly time-consuming hobby that seems like it may never lead anywhere professionally. You quit applying to anything but dream jobs you're pretty sure you won't get, and eventually you give up on them as well.</p>\n\n<p>The good news is that this path doesn't generally end in depression, but rather the discovery that there are plenty of fulfilling life paths outside of research universities. It's by no means a bad outcome. However, leaving academia for industry can be really stressful if you want to return to a research university, since you have to either give up or work like hell to maintain your research program.</p>\n"
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]
|
10,384 | <p>In my lab, a few of us submitted our papers independently to a conference last week. We all had referenced each other's work in our papers. I have a concern if this is a bad practice in academia. It also looks like a bad habit that has festered in our lab: the last two PhDs who passed out from our lab have a total of 15 citations for their papers, of which 13 are from within our community itself.</p>
<p>Is this practice of repeatedly citing from one's own micro-community acceptable? It seems unavoidable, as we are all working together, familiarizing with each other's work and trying to build on them.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10387,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I am <strong><em>not</em></strong> insinuating in any way that your lab does this in a malicious and self serving way, this reminds me of the notion of <a href=\"http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/04/10/emergence-of-a-citation-cartel/\">citation cartels</a></p>\n\n<p>Its quite possible that this is an artifact of the research itself and its quite alright to self-cite (or group-cite) a few papers especially when one work builds upon the other. However, there must be more papers in the research community outside your own lab that must be citable? Surely, not 86.6% citations must be from within?</p>\n\n<p>Speaking from my <strong><em>limited</em></strong> experience, if I were a reviewer and I saw papers with this kind of a pattern, I would certainly suggest the authors to include specific, relevant papers (which I have knowledge about) from outside their own lab in the literature review. I might of course be completely wrong and someone else with more experience in academia might have a different opinion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10388,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is only bad practice if the work is not particularly relevant, or if you cite your own group's papers instead of other relevant work. The point of citations is to lead the reader to other related work necessary for some aspect of the paper (result, context, etc.).</p>\n\n<p>That said, it is worth examining why those papers aren't getting cited. Maybe nobody else is working in a sufficiently related area but it's critical background for the rest of what the lab is doing--then I wouldn't worry about it. But if other people <em>are</em> working in the area (e.g. to the point that you might worry that if you take too long that someone else will publish the same results you're trying to get), it can be a sign that the results either aren't contributing to the field much, that the style of presentation isn't good enough for others to really understand what you're saying, or that the lab members aren't going to enough conferences to present.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10389,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I saw a pattern of only or mostly citing work from your own team, it would make me suspect that the authors have poor awareness of related work. How likely is it that there is no other relevant work being done by anyone else in the literature? Nothing else that has any relevance whatsoever (techniques, methods, related results, inspiration)? That's awfully hard to believe. It would make me suspect that the authors are either ignorant about the field, or are doing a poor job of citing related work.</p>\n\n<p>It's not clear to me what you meant by the 13 of 15 statistic. If you mean that they wrote a paper or dissertation where 13 of the 15 papers cited in the related work section is to people within their same group, yes, I would tend to look down on that. It isn't <em>necessarily</em> wrong, but it would certainly make me ask some pointed questions and make me suspect that there is something wrong. It is important to be a good scholar and to understand other work in your field.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe you've heard the saying: \"a week in the lab can save a day in the library\". (This is not a recommendation!)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10450,
"author": "lcrmorin",
"author_id": 6588,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6588",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your lab is the leader in a certain field, you would be aware of it.\nIf your colleagues are pure geniuses, you also would be aware of it.</p>\n\n<p>In both cases you won't be here to ask about it.</p>\n\n<p>In others cases, extreme repetition is not a good sign. </p>\n\n<p>(Keep in mind that little repetition is good as it shows interest in a field, but 13 in 15 is a red flag, a big bad red flag with a big bad skull on it)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 118784,
"author": "dusa",
"author_id": 99546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/99546",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it really depends, is it justified or are you just citing each other to rise your charts? I think if they are justified, it is fine. Some labs really do have famous works and they just add on it. I think it would become the advisor's problem after a certain point, which would mean he has to renew his work. That said, it doesn't look great when people who have their citations come -only- from their previous work.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10384",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7309/"
]
|
10,396 | <p>Currently, I am applying for PhD positions at United States and Canadian Universities. I will be 35 when I start my PhD in Computer Science/Machine Learning, and probably I will finish it around the age of 40.</p>
<p>Will I be banished from academic positions considering a possible PostDoc time and what about industry positions ? Should I plan my study towards industry or academia from the research perspective ?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10397,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I doubt you'll get banished, then again, I am in the same boat - though I'll be finishing my PhD by the time I am 37. Though, I think it will be a bit harder for us, but not terribly so.</p>\n\n<p>Look at it this way, I presume you have alot more practical workplace experience, that will be to your benefit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10399,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>No.</h2>\n\n<p>Age discrimination is illegal in the US and (I assume) Canada. If you're worried, just don't put your date of birth on your CV. Most people don't.</p>\n\n<p>Hiring committees just don't care how old you are. All that matters is the quality and impact of your research.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10396",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7313/"
]
|
10,411 | <p>When learning a new subject, I would frequently use lecture notes found somewhere in the Internet. When writing a paper (or a master thesis, as in my case, but the rules should be similar, I believe) one should give some reference for used results which are not common knowledge, if I understand correctly. This make me wonder: what do I do if I want to reference a result I found in some notes?</p>
<p>The natural thing to do would be to just add these notes to bibliography. What format would be preferable for this? Note that there will generally not be much publishing information, perhaps not even a definite year and place. (A BibTeX template would be .)</p>
<p>Secondly, is it OK to cite such materials as a reference?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10412,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To my taste, citations are fulfilling several purposes, some of which may not be fulfillable simultaneously. So, one should be honest about where one found a result, even if the source is not widely available. Thus, cite (in the best, most usable form possible) the lecture notes. Still, yes, <em>accessible</em> sources meet another criterion, namely, helping readers reproduce/understand your results.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: in light of various comments and other answers... another purpose served by spending <em>some</em> (not unlimited) time finding original sources (even while being honest about the source one actually <em>used</em> or _learned_from_) is to give at least a lower bound for the age (and locale of origin) of the idea. Nevertheless, at the same time, it certainly <em>can</em> happen that a much later exposition does a much better job of explaining... after all, benefiting from hindsight.</p>\n\n<p>Yet another reason to exert some effort to credit original sources is to dampen a bit a tendency that otherwise can dominate, namely, some form of \"Great Man/Woman\" syndrome, in which a very few people are portrayed as being responsible for nearly all good, big ideas.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10413,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You should make a good-faith effort to find and cite original source of the results (to give proper credit). You should only cite the lecture notes if (1) they <em>are</em> the original source, or (2) the original source is inaccessible, either literally (out of print or unpublished) or figuratively (written in a foreign language, with excessive generality or formality, or just badly).</p>\n\n<p>Finding the original source may require significantly more scholarly diligence on your part than the author of the lecture notes, since most lecture-note authors (including myself) are fairly sloppy with references. Such is life.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10426,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From a general point of view, lecture notes are <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_literature\" rel=\"nofollow\">gray literature</a>, meaning they might <strong>lack standard bibliographic metadata</strong> (you mentioned the year and place), may be harder to track down for readers, or not long-term available. Thus, one should generally <strong>prefer to cite conventional literature</strong> (such as books or articles in journals) over gray literature.</p>\n\n<p>For a masters thesis, it should be fine to cite gray literature, but do check with your advisor. When you do so, you might as well discuss the format he'd recommend for citation. If you found the lecture notes online, one idea would be to <strong>cite it as online source</strong>, where key metadata would be the URL and the date of access.</p>\n\n<p>In contrast to a masters thesis, many publishers <strong>discourage or forbid the citation of gray literature</strong> for journal papers. So if you want to make a paper from the thesis and the citation is essential, you would have to find the original source.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10411",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7328/"
]
|
10,415 | <p>I am a hobbyist mathematician in China. I study maths by myself and make some course videos to teach commutative algebra, functional analysis and other topics on the internet, like the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" rel="nofollow">Khan Academy</a> and <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu" rel="nofollow">MIT open courses</a>. </p>
<p>Now I need a .edu email to get into some sites such as <a href="http://www.researchgate.net" rel="nofollow">ResearchGate</a> and <a href="http://arxiv.org" rel="nofollow">arxiv</a>. Is there any organisation that will help me like this: I show them some material, such as videos and papers, and if they think I am no weaker than some college teachers at least, they would give me a .edu email? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10416,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Of course, becoming a student or staff member is one way to get a university email.\nSome institutions provide alumni email.</p>\n\n<p>Many universities have various unpaid affiliates. Such affiliates are sometimes eligible for a university email. However, such affiliates are often expected to contribute to the school, faculty, or university. For example, you might publish with the university as your affiliation or you might give occasional lectures or you might supervise a research student. These sorts of affiliations are typically obtained by building up a relationship with some academics in a given department and making enquiries.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10417,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a researcher whose is that of a very small university in Europe, whose domain name and institutional email addresses do not end in <code>.edu</code> (nor in <code>.ac.uk</code> or any other recognizable pattern): <strong>any website that uses email domains as filters has a fallback mechanism</strong> (or exception handler) that you can reach if your own email address doesn't fit into the patterns they recognize. It may take some explaining, though…</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10415",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7305/"
]
|
10,419 | <p>Some universities have independent <code>departments</code>, but some put departments under supervision of a faculty. For instance, a university has fifty independent departments, but another has 5 faculties containing departments. In the former, the Dean of Faculty is intermediate between the department chairs and the university administration.</p>
<p>I understand that most of these structures come from the university history, but how these structures affect the department performance, and why universities prefer different structures, instead of a standard one (which should be most efficient).</p>
<p>For example, what is the different of <code>Department of Computer Science</code> in one university, and <code>Department of Computer Science</code> in another university which is part of <code>Faculty of Engineering</code>? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10422,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The faculty is a collection of departments. In my system we have the Faculty of Sciences, Law, Humanities, and Social Sciences. In addirions there can be Faculty of Theology, Arts, Languages, Educational Science, Medicine, Pharmacy and probably many others. </p>\n\n<p>The term Faculty is known from the University in Paris already in medieval times. It was a way in which major fields distinguished themeselves from a genral body of learning. The faculties of Philosophy, Law, Theology and Medicine can be found back to the 13th century. As the universities grew and knowledge became more specialized departments started to form within these faculties and we now have the system of faculties as an administrative level in many university systems. Departments are, however, relatively modern creations from the late 19th century.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10424,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The distinction between \"faculty,\" \"department,\" and \"school\" depends a lot on where you are. As Peter suggests in his answer, a faculty can be a collection of \"departments.\" However, a faculty in Germany (for instance) consists of a number of \"chairs,\" each of which is closer to a professorship in a department than an actual \"department.\" Thus, the faculty is effectively halfway between the American \"department\" and \"faculty\" in its function, as it combines some of the hierarchy and responsibilities of each.</p>\n\n<p>The reason for having multiple subdivisions is that there are often many university functions—including personnel and budget decisions, facilities management, teaching, and so on—that can vary widely across the entire university, but significantly less among certain departments that have a similar focus. For these departments, it makes sense to combine these duties in a central administration, rather than duplicate the effort across multiple departments. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10431,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sometimes using one word or another is seen as more prestigious or as more independent than another. In one place I was at, they made a big deal of changing their name from \"Department of Computer Science\" to \"School of Computer Science\".</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, some people perceive one Faculty as more prestigious for the purposes of undergraduate recruiting. In many Universities in North America, computer science moved from \"science\" to \"engineering\" and my father perceived that computer science departments in \"engineering\" were more promising than those in \"science\" (as at the time engineers made more money and had more job opportunities than scientists). Of course, the real reason that this happens is often a question of autonomy, funding, and mutual interests behind the scenes.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, the question of \"For example, what is the difference of Department of Computer Science in one university, and Department of Computer Science in another university which is part of Faculty of Engineering?\" is very, very difficult to answer and I would argue that the differences are much more dependent on the actual \"department\" than on what faculty/college/administrative area it's under. In North America, most departments (especially computer science departments) are relatively autonomous and do not rely heavily on their college for assistance - it's simply a bureaucratic layer through which funds go through.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55183,
"author": "Prof Sunny Chinenye",
"author_id": 41779,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/41779",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the Nigerian University system, a college has several faculties under it. A college is headed by an elected provost while an elected dean heads a faculty. Departments are under the faculties with an acting or substantive head (HOD).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55194,
"author": "Dan Fox",
"author_id": 4189,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4189",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Spain, \"Faculties\", \"Schools\" and \"Departments\" (literally facultades, escuelas and departamentos) are legally defined in <a href=\"http://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2001-24515\" rel=\"nofollow\">articles 8 and 9</a> of the \"Organic Law\" (ley orgánica) that governs universities. One might summarize (paraphrasing the law) the technical distinction as that faculties/schools (these are essentially equivalent) are charged with organizing teaching and academic processes, while departments are charged with realizing teaching and academic processes. What a department teaches is determined by the faculty/school in which it teaches, but how it teaches the material is determined by the department. The power to create or destroy faculties/schools resides with the regional government, while the power to create or destroy departments resides with the university. A faculty has a Dean (decano), a school has a School Director (functionally equivalent to a dean), and a department has a Departmental Director. A department can belong to several schools/faculties in the same university (for instance a mathematics department can be responsible for the teaching of math in several different engineering schools in the same university, although there are also universities in which each school has its own mathematics department). While the overall organization is similar in concept to what one finds in US universities, it is more rigid in the sense that the powers, competencies and responsibilities associated with each administrative structure are fixed by law. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55205,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Around here (Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile), we had \"facultades\" under a dean, some 10. For example, chemistry had chemistry (the science), chemical engineering and later (as an offshot from chemical engineering and mechanical engineering, mostly by historical reasons) materials science. Others, like electricity had just electrical engineering, and science had mathematics and physics. Around 1975 it was reorganized into three \"facultades\", engineering, science and business administration (the last was essentially an external institution under the umbrella of UTFSM for legal reasons relating to the right to grant professional degrees). Note that science had three departments (mathematics, physics and chemistry) while engineering had some eleven. Around 1990 the \"facultades\" were dissolved, and we have just departments. The Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (essentially the business administration \"facultad\") had regained its independence before. Our current departments are more or less the \"facultades\" up to the seventies.</p>\n\n<p>As you see, this is mostly an internal organization issue, which very well can change, and names vary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63922,
"author": "Prayad",
"author_id": 49693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49693",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Faculty is equivalent to College. For example, Faculty of Science contains several departments e.g. Department of Biology, Dept. of Chemistry, etc. This is the same as College of Arts and Science which have several departments e.g. Biology, Physics, etc.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10419",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/406/"
]
|
10,427 | <p>I will start my PhD in computer science at a UK university soon. Even though the university has given me a partial funding, I still need to cover part of my tuition fee and living expenses. My university offers teaching assistant position but its payment is very limited.</p>
<p>I've been looking and seen that most, if not all, of funding sources are only available for UK and EU students. So, I want to ask if there are any sources for international to apply.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10432,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your best bet is probably to check if there are fellowships available for study abroad from your home country. However, depending on where you're from, there may be special programs available. For instance, there are <a href=\"http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Commonwealth Scholarships</a> available for people living in members of the British Commonwealth.</p>\n\n<p>There are some databases of UK awards for general students: <a href=\"http://www.educationuk.org/nc?pagename=GLOBAL%2FSearchLayoutTemplate&c=Page&SearchResultType=scholarship&cid=1262432674923&activeFinderCombo=2&checkVal=1&finderSearchType=finder&finderIndex=2&SearchTerm=&Subject=Please+Select&Country+of+residence=International+%28outside+European+Union%29&Level+of+study=Postgraduate\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>, for instance, is a list of postgraduate scholarships available to citizens of any country.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 11343,
"author": "mehfoos",
"author_id": 7857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7857",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may also use website that are specifically targeted at helping at finding PhDs. The following website allows you to filter using funding and nationality as parameters:\n<a href=\"http://www.findaphd.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.findaphd.com/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 11389,
"author": "Jim",
"author_id": 7902,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7902",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One possibility would be to look for full PhD scholarships rather than your current limited partial funding. This is typically handled directly by departments of each university. You can get a good idea of those by a web search for <code>site:ac.uk International PhD Scholarship</code>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 77728,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The UK PhD student funding situation is quite dire, due to the concentration of funding into Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), a special type of institutional grant from the Research Councils. It means that there is no funding available in normal project grants to hire PhD students. If the university/department doesn't have a big CDT grant in your area, you're pretty much out of luck---as is your professor/lecturer in terms of being able to expand or in case of young lecturers even build a research group. There's only very limited funding based on REF results, which are then fixed for several years, and there is a brutal competition within the department for those studentships. (My department has more lecturers/professors than PhD studentships.) The next REF isn't due in many years. As already mentioned, your best bet is a grant from your own country. Indeed, students with their own grants from their home countries are the best bet for many UK lecturers to get any PhD student at all! </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10427",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6064/"
]
|
10,428 | <p>So I wrote a seminar paper in grad school (MSc) with examples on how companies use method x to improve their security. It includes zero <em>original</em> research, no new methods and it would never ever be published in a journal, because the substance is really not there.</p>
<p>It gives a theoretical background of the problems itself and then different current examples from 2 companies that I researched over the internet and a conclusion. Thus, not only academic sources but also other sources (companies) are used and it basically shows the <strong>application of academic concepts</strong>.</p>
<p>Other researchers could use this paper to potentially find ways on how to dig deeper and how to address some problems specifically, but I did not point something like that out myself.</p>
<p><strong>My question:</strong></p>
<p>Does this count as research and does it make sense to hand those kind of papers to PhD admission departments?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10429,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would say yes, it is good to show this if you are planning to apply for grad school as a way to show your capability for conducting research, your interest, knowledge of the topic and dedication. It might, or not, give a potential adviser a hint of your capability. Then, if the paper is or not mature or appropriate for a peer-reviewed journal would not, in principle, be an issue for the purpose you mention.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10430,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is akin to a <em>review article</em>, in the sense that you're interpreting and reporting on existing work, rather than creating something new. There's nothing wrong with a review article, and many scientists do write them during their careers (but usually not before they've started a doctoral program!). </p>\n\n<p>That said, while I believe that it is not nearly as good as a \"standard\" research paper in establishing one's capabilities to do <em>original</em> research, it may have some merit. If the schools to which you are applying allow you to submit additional documentation, then you could consider sending it in, if you believe it is of sufficient quality.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10433,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would also say yes, primarily as your research and analytical methods could be considered as original research - this aspect could possibly be refined and submitted as a paper. Definitely do submit your work as part of your PhD application, perhaps with a focus on the methodology that you used and an evaluation of the method.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10438,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the Definition section of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research\" rel=\"nofollow\">Research</a> Wiki page,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A broad definition of research is given by Martyn Shuttleworth - \"In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge\".</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think your paper counts as research. I would hand those kind of papers to PhD admission departments if I were you. At the very least, the paper shows that you have the research potential even if it contains no original idea or new methods.</p>\n\n<p>However, you need to make sure the paper is of good quality. If the quality is poor, it could have negative effects. You probably want some experts (like your advisor) review it before you send it out.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10428",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6690/"
]
|
10,440 | <p>I need an specific advice on a specific area (not the main one) in my PhD research (e.g. is it a good idea to include the factor x in the review and analysis of the topic y?).</p>
<p>As far as I know, my supervisor is not an 'expert' in this specific area.</p>
<p>I think that someone else, who has recently done a PhD in my department and has <em>good connections</em> with my supervisor, is an expert in that area and can help.</p>
<p>In academic etiquette: should I make my supervisor aware that I am asking an advice from that person?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10441,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would approach your supervisor with request for advice and depending on what the problem is, (s)he may recommend you speak to some other scholarly expert in the field. If (s)he doesn't, you could suggest yourself that it might be an idea to speak to some expert. Your supervisor and you could work out a viable solution.</p>\n\n<p>This has happened to me numerous times during my PhD - the nature of the project meant that other scholars had to be consulted. My supervisor had no problems with this, but I made sure that I always let him know, and in many cases, he had recommended I speak to other scholars and was also able to recommend various experts.</p>\n\n<p>It is always polite to keep your supervisor in the loop.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10442,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. In the same tone that you use to describe finding a helpful book in the library. Consulting experts, whether in the flesh or through their published work, is a normal and expected part of doing research.</p>\n\n<p>The tone of your question suggests that you are worried that your advisor might be insulted by not being consulted first. If this is a real concern, you need a new advisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10457,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. I am a graduate student and I have done this quite a number of times. Usually its no problem. In fact my advisers have always encouraged reaching out to various people in their specializations to ask for advice.</p>\n\n<p>What I do is bring up the topic and then say something like \"What do you feel about me reaching out to Dr. XX or Prof. YY about feedback regarding this analysis? Or this writing?\"</p>\n\n<p>Usually, they are very happy to agree or suggest alternatives. I recommend that you try this approach and see what comes of it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4018/"
]
|
10,444 | <p>Regarding
<a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/900/when-how-should-i-ask-about-a-manuscripts-status-in-review/10443#10443">this question on when to ask about a manuscript's status in review</a>
I wonder (since it is happening to me): What does it mean when a paper is "with editor" for two months after a first review?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10445,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's no way to know for sure except to ask the editor.</p>\n\n<p>If you mean that the editor received the first review from a referee two months ago, it may be that the editor has not yet decided what to do with the paper, based on the review. Another possibility is that the editor wants a second review, and has not yet found a referee for it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10446,
"author": "Yuichiro Fujiwara",
"author_id": 7075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7075",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>So, after the first round of review, you were asked to revise your manuscript extensively. And you made changes accordingly and resubmitted a revised version. Two months has passed since then, but it doesn't seem like the revised manuscript has been sent out for external review because the status of your submission you can see online hasn't been changed and is still \"with editor.\" (Edit: I know some journals use \"being handled by editor\" or something similar at any stage of the review process except when the manuscript is with the author. You're sure it wasn't \"with editor\" during the first round review, right?)</p>\n\n<p>If that's the case, most likely it means the editor is having hard time finding referees for the second round or maybe simply taking their sweet time examining your resubmission. Or possibly they forgot about your submission so you need to remind them.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know what the norm is in your field. But if I were you, I'd send a short and polite email to the journal to ask what is up with your paper, probably after waiting a bit more. If it doesn't work, I'd send another polite email to someone else working for the journal. In any case, you should understand that the editor is a volunteer (unless you're submitting to a journal with fulltime editors like Nature, Science, PRL etc.), and sometimes it takes a while to handle your submission for various legitimate reasons. So be polite when asking what's going on.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: And the best way to know if two months is too long is to ask experienced researchers in your field like your advisor if you're a student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 12243,
"author": "F'x",
"author_id": 2700,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2700",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It most likely means that your manuscript is undergoing a second round of review, after you made revisions to it. In most fields, two months is not overly long time to wait for reviews, especially if you made large modifications to the manuscript, or if the editor is not sure what to do and asked for an additional referee’s opinion (or adjudicating referee, in some cases).</p>\n\n<p>You can, however, write a nice email to the editor enquiring about the status of your manuscript.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10444",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7345/"
]
|
10,452 | <p>I am an electrical engineering (communications) undergraduate student. But my main interest is physics ( and/or CS, esp. it's common fields with physics - <em>but it doesn't affect my question here</em> ), and I want to pursue my graduate studies in physics or computer science. However for application, as an engineering student I'm at a disadvantage as </p>
<ul>
<li>I think my major is not considered <em>rigorous enough</em> by people in those fields </li>
<li>I don't have much (official) coursework in those fields, although I have studied (and am studying) even more than is expected from physics majors</li>
<li>because of the time I've put in studying ( and more importantly, exploring different areas of) physics and computer science, my GPA so far is not good in electrical engineering.</li>
</ul>
<p>So with these circumstances, I think the best or maybe the only way is to continue my studies in physics (and/or related areas) more seriously to do more rather good quality research projects and this way, show my ability and qualification for graduate studies in physics (and/or CS).</p>
<p>But, doing so I'll need more time for these additional studies and projects, and I think I have to stay one year more at undergraduate school (5 years). Is this considered a negative point in application for graduate school?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10454,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think there are a lot of students who spend an extra year as an undergraduate, and I know of a number of very good students who have done so, and will almost certainly get into very good graduate programs.</p>\n\n<p>However, that said, I think the value of the extra year as an undergraduate depends largely on what you spend that year doing:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Will you be taking classes that will help your application to a physics program?</li>\n<li>How much research will you be doing, and how will it help your application? (Is it physics-related, or EE-related?)</li>\n<li>How strong is your GPA in your physics classes? (This won't make up for a weak GPA in EE classes, but it can at least partially mitigate it.)</li>\n<li>How much will it cost you to spend an extra year before starting graduate school?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As for rigor, I don't think there's as much stigma as you might think. There's far more overlap between fields now than there used to be, and engineers do things that used to be primarily in the province of physics, chemistry, and even mathematics. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10456,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h2>No.</h2>\n\n<p><strong>Nobody cares how long you took to graduate.</strong> There is no advantage to graduating early, and there is no disadvantage to graduating late. It is <em>extremely</em> common for students to take more than four years to get an undergraduate degree, especially if they change majors, as you are effectively doing.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10452",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6618/"
]
|
10,458 | <p>I have some questions regarding my personal statement for graduate school in math. I hope this is not the wrong place to ask. My question(s) are comprehensive and long, as the title suggests, thus I have numbered and sub-numbered the questions.</p>
<p>Note that these questions are targeted at schools that do not allow me to upload a CV otherwise I think half of these questions would go away.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Courses</strong> </li>
</ol>
<p>1a) Is it silly or a waste of space to talk about your math background? Or should I assume the graduate committee already has this? </p>
<p>1b) Some schools I have checked out actually asked me to list out all my junior/senior courses along with their books, I guess for those schools I don’t need to? What about those who do not?</p>
<p>1c) Should I write or mention courses I have self-studied? Or is this completely irrelevant to them? </p>
<p>1d) Should I also bother explaining one W and one ‘bad’ mark that happened in the summer?</p>
<p>1e) Should I mention my math department is understaffed and I tried to take as many “hard” classes as possible? How understaffed? We have only at most four math classes at the senior level every year. We are so small that most junior/senior classes stop only at the introductory level. </p>
<p>For example, we only have: introductory PDE, introductory Number Theory, introductory Algebra, and Topology does not even exist at my university. </p>
<p>Very rarely do we get continuations to those courses. In comparison with all the other areas, we have quite a lot of Analysis courses, but all of them are focused in Optimization (excluding Real Analysis, we usually have one to two Analysis classes).</p>
<p>We have no Calculus of Variation, no Measure Theory, almost nothing. </p>
<p>FYI, I had to go out my way to bug a professor to request an extra Analysis course this year to the unit head and even then I am short on Math classes next year.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>TA experience</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>2a) Should I talk about this? How will they even verify me? Because I have done some things that most TA don’t do at my university – writing exam solutions. The prof I TA’d for left everything for me to do, except the teaching and actually writing the midterms/finals. I never had a class with him, so I am not so sure about asking him to write a letter for me.</p>
<p>2b) I also TA’d for another prof at another campus during one summer term(same university, but different Math department), should I mention this? </p>
<p><strong>EDIT</strong>: <strong>I can provide a link of my exam solutions through the prof's site. I think he will give me permission, should I include this?</strong></p>
<p>3) <strong>Research Experience</strong></p>
<p>I have <em>very very</em> little experience, so much that I could probably only write one or two short sentences about it. I also have no publication, but I think the prof I worked for can<br>
confirm that I did do research under him. </p>
<p>By the way, the “research experience” I had was a problem the prof had written by hand on a math paper and he asked me to answer the question he posed. It was not an analytic problem, it was coding, graphing, and writing a report. </p>
<p>4) <strong>Area of Interest.</strong></p>
<p>4a) I already know my area of interest, I am wondering if it is a good idea to write why I got interested in the first place or is this completely irrelevant to the graduate committee? </p>
<p>My reasons are rather absurd, I am going into my desired area because of a textbook writer and the textbook I read by him isn’t even the area I was interested in, although the writer did write a book in the subject and I was simply in love with his style of writing.</p>
<p>I later found out the writer’s background and plus some neat stuff I read on the Internet sealed the deal for me. If people think this reason isn’t silly or “cliché” (e.g. “I liked puzzles when I was young”), then please tell me.</p>
<p>4b) Also one major problem is that I can’t talk too deeply about my area of interest. i can mention specific subfields, but that's about it. For instance, if I liked Number Theory, I could mention "Analytic Number Theory" and the "Riemann Zeta" or if I liked Differential Geometry/PDE, I could mention "Geometric Analysis". </p>
<p>So would it be better to omit the details if I can't comment too much on the details of the subject and simply write "Number Theory"? </p>
<p>5) <strong>Thesis Advisor</strong></p>
<p>I can find people and mention their names easily on my personal statement. I am just curious if I should narrow it down to only ONE person? Does it look bad that I am just listing out the people whom I want to work with instead of writing down just one name?</p>
<p>6) <strong>Scholarships/Award</strong></p>
<p>I have never liked the word 'Award', so i am going to use 'Scholarship'. Do I need to mention about a scholarship I got from a professor? Again, how can I be verified for this? I think I could ask the prof who gave it to me (whom I did reasearch for) to mention/confirm this?</p>
<p>7) <strong>Skills</strong></p>
<p>How much will it add to my application if I tell them I can use LaTeX (honor's thesis not required for honors degree at my university. I asked one of my profs why and even he doesn't know.), high proficiency with Mathematica, Maple, Matlab, etc...? I was going to add Photoshop, but then I realize how pointless and irrelevant that is. I can also use Python, but since I am postponed my 1st year computer science requirements till my last year I do not think they will buy this. Also my school teaches Java.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for reading and taking this time to read this ridiculously long question(s)</p>
<p><strong>EDIT CLARIFICATION:</strong> I am applying to US/Canadian universities</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10463,
"author": "DonAntonio",
"author_id": 7354,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7354",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some ideas on your statements/questions:</p>\n\n<p>(1a)-(1b)-(1c): It seems to be your undergraduate university is not a very well known one and/or even not considered strong in mathematics. Graduate schools may be wanting to be sure you covered what they consider necessary as undergraduate mathematics. Upon being asked I'd consider sending along a short syllabus of the courses you took. I'm almost sure your university must have these things.</p>\n\n<p>(1d)-(1e) Don't even mess with this unless specifically asked, which I think it's unlikely to happen.</p>\n\n<p>The lack of any topology/measure theory (and perhaps more) courses in your university (or college...?) is a rather serious one, imo, and it may point, again, at some lack of elementary basis most mathematics depts. are supposed to have.\nin fact, I think it is likely some universities could require from you to complete several courses before they considere you as an actual candidate for graduate school in mathematics...are you sure that what you studied in that school of yours was \"mathematics\"? Perhaps it was something like \"applied mathematics\"?</p>\n\n<p>I don't think serious graduate schools require TA from undergraduates. In fact, mentioning you TA'd some course before being a graduate could be considered as (another) sign of a low mathematics level in your school.</p>\n\n<p>To require research? From an undergraduate? I don't think there's such a university. What could be required, imo, is good skills to \"hunt\" for books, papers, etc. in a mathematics library and, in our days, perhaps also in the web.</p>\n\n<p>No need to dwell a lot with your area of interest. Perhaps mentioning some of the wide areas (analysis, topology, algebra) could be enough, though imo most decent graduate schools require from graduate students to take two or more rather hefty, year-long course in some of these areas, and only <em>later</em> you begin to drift towards your love...\nThe same applies, imo, for thesis advisor.</p>\n\n<p>Please do mention any scholarship-award you got that's connected to your studies. This may be rather important.</p>\n\n<p>About skills: I don't think anybody will really care about it. Most probably schools will be more interested in finding out about your seriousness, love for the subject, responsibility, etc.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10465,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Responding to questions approximately in order:</p>\n\n<p>It is not a waste of space to talk about your mathematics background. Mere course titles tell almost nothing, so it's good to explain more. Telling the <em>authors</em> of the texts used explain a lot to experienced mathematicians.</p>\n\n<p>Especially if your school has a relatively weak program, and even if not, telling what self-study you've done is very important. It is all the more important as an indicator that you take initiative, are driven by curiosity about mathematics, independent of grades and structured programs.</p>\n\n<p>Explaining briefly that you've had TA experience is a small plus, because almost all grad students in math are supported by TA work, so knowing in advance that you can communicate will ease the minds of admissions committee members.</p>\n\n<p>Despite the contemporary pretense that undergrads \"do research\" between their junior and senior years, it is very rare that any sort of genuine research occurs. Sometimes, but rarely. After all, if research only takes 8-10 weeks in the summer, with almost no prior background, why does a PhD takes years? :) (There <em>is</em> a good purpose served by the summer programs, though, of giving undergrads the idea that mathematics is not confined to a classroom and textbooks, as well as creating social connections with other undergrads seriously interested in math. But these situations don't really produce cutting-edge research.)</p>\n\n<p>About \"specific interests\": of course it is vastly better to have tentative, ill-formed, and inevitably ill-informed, \"interests\", rather than <em>not</em>. :) I'd encourage you to tell how these interests arose, giving the admissions committee some insight into your approach to mathematics.</p>\n\n<p>It's good to mention scholarships. People will not be so skeptical that you need to document it.</p>\n\n<p>Computing skills are a positive, and deserve a brief mention. Again, there is little need to offer \"proof\".</p>\n\n<p>In summary, it is a mistake to think that one's transcript explains what the admissions committee wants to hear or needs to know to make a reasonable decision. An informative personal statement makes a huge difference, especially in communicating your motivations and learning outside classrooms. Also, letters of recommendation from mathematicians well-acquainted with you, from contexts of relatively advanced mathematics (rather than elementary) are very important to give an idea of how well you'd fare with more advanced/sophisticated work. (After all, many people do well-enough in undergrad material, but find that graduate-level mathematics has a slightly different nature... of less interest...)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10458",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7349/"
]
|
10,459 | <p>For example, I download all the content of Academia@SE, later analysis it in a data mining paper, and submit the paper in the end. Is it OK to do so? Do I have to ask the permission from the administrator of the website? And does he or she have rights to forbid my academic use? Thank you.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10460,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe you can do it with StackOverflow data, as long as you cite/attribute it properly. <a href=\"http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/06/stack-overflow-creative-commons-data-dump/\">This</a> article affirms it. However, I do not know whether this can be extended to the rest of StackExchange. A question to the mods or to the support team might help you clarify.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10461,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. If you are seriously concerned about this issue, you should consult one; your institution probably has intellectual property lawyers on staff.</p>\n\n<p>There is a general principle that \"you can't copyright facts\". Wherever you get your data set, you probably can legally publish any analysis of that data, without requiring anyone's permission. However, you may not be able to legally reproduce the data itself.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, by standard academic ethics, you must properly cite and attribute the source of the data. And if you can't guarantee that the data will remain accessible, it could affect the reproducibility of your results and hence the quality of your paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10466,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your University may have an Institutional Review Board (IRB) that reviews how you conduct experiments. This board may be known by various names (Ethics Committee, Experiment Review Board, Human Subjects Research, etc.) but they are generally the ones that you would go to to consult about whether what you are doing is within the scope of ethical behavior and good treatment of human subjects data.</p>\n\n<p>As StackOverflow and associated StackExchange repository data is available under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (as @piotr_migdal linked above) and is publicly available, your IRB will probably tell you, \"It's fine\" and not require review. However, it depends on the IRB and the institution and the nature of the data.</p>\n\n<p>There are entire research disciplines built on scraping web sites, software repositories, and social media, so don't feel bad for doing it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10459",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2789/"
]
|
10,467 | <p>I have been working on a review paper. After publication, how will it add on my academic research profile? When I will apply for MS or PHD admission, will it count as publication?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 10468,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have <strong><em>limited experience</em></strong> regarding since I am still a graduate student but from what I understand, a review paper is also a research paper. However, unlike a piece of research, where you study the existing literature, develop research questions and hypotheses, collect data, run experiments/analysis and make inferences which accept or reject your hypotheses, a review article is a summarization and collation of existing articles in a given, specific research topic.</p>\n\n<p>There has been some semi-formal writings on this already namely, <a href=\"http://scientopia.org/blogs/genrepair/2011/02/01/do-you-really-count-a-review-article-as-a-publication/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a> and <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v489/n7415/full/489177a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a>. The consensus, so far, seems to be that review articles make fine additions to your publication record but <em>not as fine as</em> articles where you actually did your own research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10469,
"author": "Irwin",
"author_id": 5944,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5944",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A review paper is likely also known as a \"survey paper\", where you read (i.e. survey) related works in the field and then comment on them. Usually, a review paper should be able to contribute a small amount of knowledge in its own right to the field by providing a taxonomy of work.</p>\n\n<p>Another type of paper that reviews extensively related work but isn't actually a review paper is a <a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584910000467\">\"systematic review paper\"</a> in which you usually ask a meta-question about the field.</p>\n\n<p>If it appears in a refereed, peer-reviewed journal, then yes, it is a publication. In fact, if done well, these works can often have pretty high impact and can be cited very frequently. However, as already noted, since they don't usually involve substantial original research they need to be augmented with traditional research papers. If a graduate student has only survey papers or systematic review papers, I'd wonder as a search committee reviewer if this student did nothing but read related work rather than working on research.</p>\n\n<p>With respect to MS or PhD applications, I'd think that the fact that you have a publication at all is already a bonus point for you. Most students who apply to these programs don't have publications.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 10488,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One important distinction should be made between papers in the humanities and the sciences. In the sciences, it would be much more important to have \"original research\" papers where new ground is broken. In the humanities, by contrast, the act of studying the existing literature and critically evaluating it may, in and of itself, be considered an act of research. (Similarly, in medicine, \"meta-studies\" in which the reports of various experiments are synthesized to produce overall results and recommendations may also be considered very important, although they augment direct clinical research, rather than substitute for it.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32312,
"author": "Muhammad Ibrahim",
"author_id": 24798,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24798",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have little experience, because I am still an undergraduate student but from what I understand:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Research paper:</em> A paper in which results and discussion are derived from an experiment.</li>\n<li><em>Review paper:</em> A paper in which results and discussion are not described.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 56627,
"author": "J.I. MASAMBIA",
"author_id": 42976,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/42976",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would describe a review paper as different from a research paper. A research paper is one's original work that may be researched scientifically or otherwise, but a review paper is where someone goes through work already done/researched and gives suggestions as per that field of research. The suggestions would be if the objective, goal, problem were met by the researcher. Whether the research is of value now or in future, solutions to the problem, what is interesting, etc. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2013/06/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10467",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6912/"
]
|
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