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18,418 | <p>I have an article with in-text citations and list of references. I have not used any of reference managers, just used word.
Is there any way to automatically link in-text citation to individual references on the reference list?</p>
| [
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"answer_id": 18443,
"author": "earthling",
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"text": "<p>Yes. It is quite easy to do, once you know how.</p>\n\n<p>First, go to the References tab, then click on Insert Citation and Add New Source.\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Afq8.png\" alt=\"Word 1\"></p>\n\n<p>Next, fill out the information as appropriate.\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/pm54s.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>When you want your References List produced, go to Bibliography.\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/iRIHC.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>This is extremely helpful when you need to change some detail (say publication date) and you have many citations to the same material. Change it in one place and Word will update all of the in-text citations as well as the references list.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 151113,
"author": "user125794",
"author_id": 125794,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/125794",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Highlight the link, right click, click "Link", Make sure you select the tab on the right that says "Existing File or Web Page" then click OK.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18418",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13347/"
]
|
18,425 | <p>I am a research student. Though me and my advisor used to meet regularly, nowadays due to workload, I usually remain outstation and not able to meet him personally. </p>
<p>I do work continuously and meet him at least once a month but am not able to take as much input from my advisor as I would like. (limitations of my physical availability).He doesn't prefer video chatting and pretty hesitant in replying to emails in depth. </p>
<p>Putting in crux, how to track research progress myself and update my advisor simultaneously. I would have preferred a wiki like page, whose URL(private) I can share with my advisor, where he could look at my progress and comment. It could also assist organizing my own research.</p>
<p>What tools would be recommended in such scenario ?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18430,
"author": "Suresh",
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"text": "<p>I am in this exact situation right now since I'm on sabbatical and (some of) my students are back in my home institution. Unlike your advisor though, I'm quite comfortable with skype/G+ and use them regularly. </p>\n\n<p>But to keep track of progress, I use a flavor of <code>github</code> that people in my department run (I also use <code>github</code> and <code>bitbucket</code> directly). As long as your advisor is comfortable using version control systems, and can set up their account for automatic emails when you commit something, it's easy for you to keep them updated and for them to see updates you've made. </p>\n\n<p>I also make sure to have an <code>agenda</code> file in reverse chronological order to keep track of what we've been working on and what progress has been made since our last meeting. </p>\n\n<p>One of the advantage of version control systems like git/svn/hg is that it's relatively easy to see what has changed since the last commit, or since 5 commits ago, which will help your advisor. Although if they don't like video chatting or replying to email, I do wonder if they're technically savvy enough to use git :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18433,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "<p>For wiki documentation, documents, RSS feeds and source code I would recommend a tool like redmine, which also has version control integration. This can be a local installation in some university server, in case you do not what project publicly available. But for progress, bugs I would recommend something like trello (<a href=\"https://trello.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://trello.com/</a>) for several reasons: a) it is a web based tool b) it is free c) you can add private projects and add additional users per project d) has automatic user notifications (e-mail) in case someone adds something to its dedicated trello blog. </p>\n\n<p>So, a combination of redmine (for wiki, src code, documents and version control) and trello (for user notifications, blog bugs etc..) I think it is pretty much what you need.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18644,
"author": "Jeff",
"author_id": 13581,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13581",
"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "<p>Please note that this was my dissertation project, and I co-founded the organization that currently maintains and develops it, but take a look at the Open Science Framework: </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://osf.io\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://osf.io</a></p>\n\n<p>It's a completely free service for documenting, sharing, collaborating, archiving, and registering materials across the scientific process. You can use the site privately or choose to make pieces of your workflow public.</p>\n\n<p>It should support the scenario you mentioned, and, if not, we'd be glad to use any feedback you'd be willing to provide to make adjustments. It can also connect and integrate services like Amazon S3, Fighshare, and Github, and we have a variety of other add-ons in the works (10 or so) including Dropbox, Trello, and Evernote. Some of those might be helpful extensions in managing the collaboration with your advisor.</p>\n\n<p>Please do follow-up if you try it--you can email me personally at my first name at cos.io if you'd like.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18425",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
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|
18,426 | <p>What are pros and cons of using public version control system such as github for writing my papers and reports ?</p>
<p>Is it good to store copies of papers/reports being submitted to conference/journals on such repos. If no, wouldn't it make sense to not use them at the first place itself.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18551,
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"text": "<p>One advantage of using those repositories (in public or private mode) is that you can show the changes and versions of some text. At the same time you can show variations of something through forks. Of course I have no idea why these features might be needed for publication of a paper, but if you are developing a paper collaboratively and you use some text based system, such as Latex, then it makes sense to use those repositories both for source sharing, backup and versioning, and alternative developments through forks. If you want to invite unidentified future authors (probably through fork) then it should be in public, otherwise private versions makes more sense for me. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18897,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are a few parts to your question, and I'm not sure which one is most important. If the question is about the value of version control, then you should see the answers to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5277/why-use-version-control-systems-for-writing-a-paper\">this question</a> (which also has a link to a question about which one to use). </p>\n\n<p>If you're asking about putting it on a shared repository, then here are some reasons: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>collaboration with others</strong>. If multiple authors are writing a paper, then it's very easy for different authors to edit different portions at the same time without too much worry about conflicts. </li>\n<li><strong>portability</strong>: I work from different machines, and it's convenient to have a single location to check in/check out from so I don't have to worry about edits on my home machine versus my office machine versus a laptop and so on.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you're asking about making it <strong>public</strong>, so anyone can read/edit the paper, then I don't see much of an advantage in that. When the paper is done, it might be handy to be able to download the source of course. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18426",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
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|
18,431 | <p>How far should we go when considering the possibility that a (non spectacular, bur relevant) result has already appeared in any other language different from English?</p>
<p>Is it safe to ignore non-English publications in some fields like computer science, chemistry or physics? That would be assuming that foreign researchers will publish in English, if they are serious about it.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18445,
"author": "Ank",
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"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it safe to ignore non-English publications in some fields like computer science, chemistry or physics? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I would try my best to not ignore. If you are citing a paper that has cited a non english journal, I would read the citation to see if its relevant to my paper. Translation tools, although not always accurate, would give you a sense what the paper is talking about. \nMaybe this article can answer your question to an extent. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ete-online.com/content/5/1/12\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.ete-online.com/content/5/1/12</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18489,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
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"text": "<p>If you <em>know</em> about a previous record in another language, mention it! Strictly speaking, publishing something (even in part) that is a translation of something already published in another language without reference, is considered plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>Now in practice, I don't think that honestly omitting a previous record written in something else than English would be held against you. It also depends on when this source has been written. Most modern scientific literature has at least its abstract in English.</p>\n\n<p>This being said, I think it's a good idea to check the literature in German, especially for chemistry, physics or engineering...</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/22 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18431",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,438 | <p>Can we send our research paper to two IEEE conference simultaneously, and then after acceptance, decide which conference proceedings to publish it in?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18439,
"author": "Layla",
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"text": "<p>Short answer is yes, but it is unethical. Even when you read the agreement before submitting your paper it appears that the work should be original, that means that it should have not been submitted to other conference or journal.\nYou must put in the shoes of the reviewers, in one hand you make them waste time by reviewing one paper that is already being checked up in another conference. Also you are getting one available spot that could be filled by another research paper by another person.</p>\n\n<p>One advice, take your work in academia more seriously than just submitting like if its a game.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18440,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
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"text": "<h2>No.</h2>\n\n<p>It is considered unethical in the academic community to submit a paper for simultaneous review at multiple venues (unless it is explicitly permitted by the publications, <em>and</em> you disclose this on submission). </p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/Section_822F.html\">IEEE guidelines</a> on multiple submission prohibit multiple simultaneous submissions: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication, nor which was under review for another refereed publication.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/Section_822F.html\">guidelines further specify</a> that failure to disclose, on submission, that the work is under review for another publication, can result in (after multiple offenses)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>suspension of publication privileges in all IEEE Publications for 1 year and rejection and return of all papers by the author(s) that are currently in review or in any IEEE publication's queue (papers may be re-submitted after suspension term has expired).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In addition, engaging in this practice can irreparably damage your reputation in the academic community. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 86376,
"author": "powersystem",
"author_id": 70624,
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"text": "<p>IEEE allows certain authors to submit and publish work that is currently under review. </p>\n\n<p>IEEE likewise allows certain authors to submit and publish work that was previously published. </p>\n\n<p>IEEE likewise allows certain authors to submit and publish work that was published by other persons.</p>\n\n<p>Numerous examples can be found by searching the web.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 150969,
"author": "Guest",
"author_id": 125667,
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"text": "<p>I understand your motivation, because IEEE only looks into how to protect reviewers even though many of them are not competent or up to the level of the submitted manuscript. Such incompetent reviewer will normally ask for pointless revision or may reject the paper if s/he doesn't understand the paper main idea and contribution even though the other reviewers of the paper could praised it and accepted it.</p>\n<p>Such incompetent reviewers usually will not understand the paper because they accept reviewing papers that are not within their subdomain or area of expertise to just adding service part to their CVs.</p>\n<p>Unfortunately IEEE has a serious problem in its current procedures of selecting reviewers which is done randomly, and that means the editor will look into the reviewers pool of the journal and sends some invitations randomly for possible reviewers. The issue will be exaggerated when that reviewer accept and judge your work regardless of whether they are qualifying for that or no. Unfortunately, they can hurt you by judging wrongly your work and escape simply because their identity are protected by the Journal.</p>\n<p>Also, IEEE has no real commitment to any time span of the reviewing process, they may announce the reviewing process takes three months for example, but actually they may let you stuck awaiting for the decision much more time. Therefore, IEEE violates what it should be a fair process for publication in many dimensions, and if your paper received three reviewers decision, for example two acceptance and one rejection, IEEE Editors normally go with the rejection and neglect the majority decision opposite to any fair judgment system . They should go with the majority of reviewers decisions but unfortunately they don't. So I can't say it is not possible solution to overcome such a pain by trying for multiple submission because you also can't put your future under such messy, uncertain and unfair circumstances. You can be a student who needs one more paper for graduation, or you can be a faculty needs one more paper for promotion, or you can be a graduate student needs one more paper to get hired or to keep your position, and if you lost that chance of publication on time because of some incompetent reviewers then the impact could be huge on your life.</p>\n<p>Those incompetent reviewers are actually very bad people who may destroy other people life and career just to add some lines in their CVs reflect their service as reviewers for journal x or y.</p>\n<p>I don't encourage you to violated any journal rules, but act in a smart way, and don't make mistakes can be taken against you. On the other hand protect your self from such possible unfair environment. try to search for journals or conferences that accept multiple submission.</p>\n<p>The process of submit paper should be similar to the process of sending applications for admission to universities. So you are able to send multiple applications to many universities but in the end of the day you will accept only one offer when offers come. IEEE should also do the same to protect authors for wasting time and efforts, but unfortunately they don't.</p>\n<p>Therefore, do what is best for you because publishers especially IEEE only care about their regulations and reviewers and their CVs update with the editorializing or reviewing service. Your career growth and future plans for sorry is not among their concerns at all.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18438",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,441 | <p>In the book <em>Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory</em> (10th edition) by Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky, I have found a <a href="https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/9317/how-many-ga-atoms-are-connected-to-one-as-atom-in-solid-state-gallium-arseni">technical mistake</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li>What can I do about this?</li>
<li>To whom should I send an email, the authors or the publisher? (Also, there is no email address mentioned in the book or on the Internet to which I can send my suggestions.)</li>
<li>I have never written an official email of this kind. If I should send an email, how should I write it?</li>
</ul>
| [
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"answer_id": 18442,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
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"text": "<p>First of all, see if the book has a newer edition, and try to look at a copy and see if it corrects the error. </p>\n\n<p>If not, then try to find:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The publisher's web page for the book</p></li>\n<li><p>The author's professional web page, which hopefully has some mention of the book.</p></li>\n<li><p>An unofficial errata list (google the book's title and \"errata\" or \"corrections\").</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Check in both places for an errata list, which may already have a correction of the error.</p>\n\n<p>If not, then it is worth trying to report it. Writing the email is the easy part: just politely point out that you believe there is an error on page NNN, and explain as completely as possible why you believe it is incorrect. If you think you know how it could be corrected, you could explain that as well, but it isn't strictly necessary.</p>\n\n<p>The hard part is figuring out where to send it; publishers and authors should make this obvious, but often they do not. </p>\n\n<p>For a major established textbook (which I assume this is), I would focus on the publisher, since the original author may well not be actively involved with the book anymore. See if there is any contact or feedback information on the book's web page.</p>\n\n<p>If you are a faculty member, the publisher probably has assigned a representative for your institution. You may get a better response by contacting your rep directly and asking them to forward your report to the appropriate person. If you are a student and this is your course text, you could ask your professor to contact the publisher's rep.</p>\n\n<p>If there is an unofficial errata list, it should include contact information for the person who's maintaining it; send a report to them.</p>\n\n<p>For a text or monograph with a smaller audience, you will probably do better to contact the author directly; look for contact info on their professional web page.</p>\n\n<p>It's a good service to the community to report errors in books so they can eventually be fixed, so thanks for doing this. However, if the publisher/author make it a huge pain to do so, that is ultimately their problem. Make a reasonable effort to report it to an appropriate person, but if you don't succeed, there's no need for heroic efforts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 147587,
"author": "japhwil",
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"text": "<p>I‘m not sure if this answer is allowed, based on advertising guidelines of Stack Exchange. Either way: A friend and I have started an app for iOS and Android with the intention of making reporting, discussing and looking up errors in publications as easy as possible. If you want you can check it out at <a href=\"https://mistakey.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://mistakey.com</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The idea is to provide a network for collecting reports on all kinds of literature (currently, anything that has an ISBN, ISSN, or DOI can be reported), while we’re also pursuing contact with publishers and authors to actually get the mistakes fixed.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/03/23 | [
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18,444 | <p>Do students with Masters Degree complete their PhDs (in US, but I am curious about other countries too) sooner than the one's who have entered the PhD program after their undergrad? </p>
<p>I know it depends upon the individual, project, major and the supervisor but is there a general trend?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18447,
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"text": "<p>From my experience in Biochemistry and Neurobiology (and I'm assuming most Biology and Chemistry fields).</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, in the US, no it does not help in completing a PhD sooner. </p>\n\n<p>Sometimes a masters is necessary for a person just to get into a PhD program, depending on the person's history and the program.</p>\n\n<p>It would help if the PhD had some requirement of a certain level of understanding or even amount of research work, but instead a PhD tends to just require an amount of time as an indentured servant to your PI - and that amount of time doesn't change if you have a masters. Although, if you're clever and a good salesman maybe you can convince your PI and committee that your masters time should count toward your sentence/years of labor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18449,
"author": "vadim123",
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"text": "<p>This varies by program. In the US, in mathematics, \"par\" for a master's is 2 years. In some PhD programs, this will cut a year off your time-to-degree. In others, no help at all. In rare cases, it will cut two years off.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18452,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not really, for example if you make your master's is like 2 years, and then your PhD in 4 years, roughly is going to be 6 years that you spent until you got your terminal degree.</p>\n\n<p>I some universities is not required to follow a Master's first. I know the case of one undergraduate student who was always interested in research (when he was in his last year of bachelor he published two good articles in an important ACM conference); he applied directly to a PhD program and he got it. Now he has finished his PhD in only 4 years, and the background that he was missing he got it by following specific courses. So at the end all depends in your background and the passion you got for research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18453,
"author": "ff524",
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"text": "<p>In my department, students who enter with a masters don't have to take much formal coursework, while those who enter without one have to take much more.</p>\n\n<p>Students with a masters therefore (in theory) have more time and focus to spend on research in the first year or two.</p>\n\n<p>But this doesn't seem to help them finish faster (maybe by a tiny imperceptible amount). Most students aren't working very much on what will become their thesis work in that first year anyways - it's hard to come in and hit the ground running. So while the students entering with a masters might have more time for research in year 1, it doesn't usually directly advance the thesis work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18473,
"author": "Zai",
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"text": "<p>It depends on the university and the program.</p>\n\n<p>In the US, most PhD granting institutions have pre-requisites for getting your PhD. This may include coursework and will also require research. </p>\n\n<p>For research, one could argue that if you did research in the course of your Master's degree then you would have a time advantage in that you may be able to hit the ground running and engage in publish-able research more quickly.</p>\n\n<p>In institutions that require coursework, the amount of coursework that overlaps with a Master's program can vary. Often, even if you've taken similar coursework in another university, you would still need to fulfill the course requirements in the department where you're going for your PhD. For programs that offer a combined Master's/PhD program, the courses for getting your PhD may be covered under the requirements for getting a Master's, so by already having a Master's degree you may only be shaving off a few of your requirements.</p>\n\n<p>Last, at least in Computer Science, a Master's degree and a PhD are fundamentally different in what they're trying to educate you for. A Master's degree is more like an advanced bachelor's degree where you're taking additional courses and gaining extra skills. A PhD is for research. Given that fundamental difference, it's difficult to say how much would transfer over and again, it would really depend on the university and the program's expectations of what you should have when you enter and what you requirements you need to fulfill once you get there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 147479,
"author": "Charles Alan Prudhomme",
"author_id": 122469,
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"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "<p>It is true that it may not shave much time off of your Ph.d, however, it prepares you for the radically different type of education that is graduate school. Forget about time, an M.A will ultimately contribute to your doctoral success in so many varying ways from acclimation to research habits. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/23 | [
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|
18,446 | <p>I have been offered a place for a masters program in 2 places. One which is fully funded and another one where there is no aid that has been offered at the time of admission. </p>
<p>I guess if the everything else was the same between the two then the answer is obvious, which is to go for the funded one. But the problem in my case is this:
In the fully funded case I have been offered a place in a research group I have no primary interest in (and no previous knowledge of) and something which I would not have definitely chosen if I was given a choice. So in sum, although it comes with a lot of money, the work is something I'm unsure if I will enjoy.</p>
<p>In the second case, there is no aid. The tuition fee + living is something which is not completely unaffordable for, I hope to manage those with loans and some family money. Aside that, I feel there is a lot of flexibility (or at least some flexibility), as I can choose my domain of work and my advisor once I have enrolled, and maybe been through a semester. Also the coursework here is a lot more closer to my preferred area of research. </p>
<p><strong>Additional info:</strong> Comparing the two universities as such, the second one (the one without aid) is higher ranked than the other one (with full funding).</p>
<p>So given all this, how do you think I should make a decision and what is your opinion on the same?</p>
<p><strong>Edit:</strong> Both programs are research-based and require a thesis.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18454,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are four outcomes to your master's program:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You don't complete the program.</li>\n<li>You complete the program and can't find a job dependent upon the degree.</li>\n<li>You complete the program and get a job dependent upon the degree.</li>\n<li>You complete the program and continue in academia.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you take the position with support, you will be better off in case (1) and (2). Case (4) is a tie -- you can shift research groups for your Ph.D., and you will be better off financially, but you have to spend 2 years doing things you don't entirely like. Case (3) is the only case that's a clear win for the no-support degree; you'll have 2 years of chasing your joy, and a fairly small debt that you'll pay off soon in a high-paying field.</p>\n\n<p>What's left is to evaluate the relative probabilities of the four cases. You need to be objective here, and use the evidence you have: the expert judgement of the graduate programs to which you've applied. Admittedly two data points is quite few; it would be helpful to know if you applied to other programs, and what those results were. However, in the opinion of the more prestigious program, you are not one of their best candidates (or else they would offer you support). </p>\n\n<p>In summary, choosing the no-support program is a large gamble. You should take it if you're confident that the program made a mistake in not offering you funding -- you have tremendous talent that for some reason has not been revealed in your record. Absent such a situation you should take the support. You might change your mind and decide you like that sort of work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 20107,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would personally choose the funded position. Most of the grad students I knew when I entered didn't graduate with the prof that initially funded them. Once you enter the program, you'll be able to find an adviser that fits your research interest more closely. Without any debt, you'll also have more choices at graduation time.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18446",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7775/"
]
|
18,448 | <p>I hope this question is appropriate for the forum here. I was hoping to locate and read a thesis outside of the United States, specifically for someone who went to a reputable University in mainland China (Shanghai Jiao Tong University). However, all of my internet searches have been largely fruitless, and the library site at the university dedicated to theses appears to be down.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how to proceed in these circumstances? I unfortunately cannot speak Chinese, and the person in question has been non-responsive for months. Are these theses typically in English at top Chinese universities? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18451,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try writing (in English) to the department chair.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18503,
"author": "mirkastath",
"author_id": 12712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12712",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can also try to locate collaborators of the person (thesis supervisor or coauthors of published work). They may be able to get in touch with him/her or they may even have a copy of the thesis. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 101411,
"author": "Scientist",
"author_id": 66782,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66782",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am currently in China, as a postdoc. From my experience with the inner workings of Chinese academia and culture, I must say your objective is not an easy one. Most of my Chinese colleagues will only move by either by personal interest or when receiving an order. This thus is how you should approach this situation.</p>\n\n<p>The proposed strategy of contacting a dean or some other local authority is a valid attempt, but you should make sure that person would be interested in helping you (by transmitting an order) for some reason. Otherwise I'd locate the respective advisor stating that you're interested in obtaining a thesis because [enter here something which will benefit that person, citations/publication/funding/collaboration/etc]. Try calling them directly while asking their name first-thing, which should put them temporarily in a responsive position.</p>\n\n<p>Finally the last resort is to show up in person, where you will be treated like an authority while visiting. </p>\n\n<p>The Chinese are quick to ignore communication on topics which they have no interest, and there is little casual chitchat meaning that the fact that you've written to some people about your request is unlikely to be mentioned to others. </p>\n\n<p>Finally concerning availability and language, my bet is that the mentioned thesis is in Chinese with an English abstract, sitting in a cabinet full of others' theses in an office of the department. If you manage to get someone to help you, the easiest would be that a student takes pictures on a phone of every page and sends by Wechat or QQ.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18448",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13363/"
]
|
18,450 | <p>This post concerns grad school options. I am an undergraduate math major and will soon complete my studies. I am considering finance/financial engineering. How math-heavy is the financial mathematics compared to pure mathematics? Is it equally as challenging and tough?</p>
<p>Basically, I am considering finance because pure mathematics is rather challenging for me. If you need more clarification, mention in comments.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18456,
"author": "alvonellos",
"author_id": 12865,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12865",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The reason I'm writing this in the form of an answer instead of a comment is because I can't write a short enough comment to meet the character restrictions. So, don't take this as an answer, as I don't intend it to be. You've just asked a pretty broad question. </p>\n\n<p>Your question is awfully familiar in content and application to the very same question that I asked myself when entering into college to study computer science. I found out that it is true that computer science is very math heavy and a good solid foundation in math greatly helps; however, it's not in the way that people normally envision mathematics being used when they hear \"math heavy.\" </p>\n\n<p>One thing I will say is that while I'm not into graduate finance work, I've seen some graduate finance work as a programmer. Sure, there's math involved -- and lots of it. It's all math, numbers, and logic; but, then again, what isn't? People have said before that construction is very math oriented, and I'd agree with that to a point. Just like I found out with computer science, yes it's math heavy, but I'm not <strong>explicitly</strong> solving mathematical equations every second of every day. The familiarity with mathematics and mathematical intuition developed from doing mathematics, something I call mathematical maturity, really benefits the perspective that problems are viewed from. I think that applies to everything else, too. So, I think <strong>a familiarity with mathematics benefits all fields of study for people from all walks of life.</strong> </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18457,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Programs vary; it would be best to look at the specific requirements and prerequisites for the programs you have in mind.</p>\n\n<p>In general, mathematical finance can involve a very considerable amount of pure mathematics. A big piece is modeling assets via stochastic processes, and to understand those properly requires a firm background in graduate-level real analysis, measure theory, probability theory, and often functional analysis and PDE. A mathematical finance course may well consist primarily of theorems and proofs, just like a pure math course would. This is typically even more true at the PhD level than masters.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, I would say that just because mathematics is challenging, that doesn't mean you should avoid it! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18460,
"author": "Phume",
"author_id": 13369,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13369",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm a math major studied in Canada. I am planning to do Financial Mathematic. I have talked to some professors from the Fin/Math department. They recommend me to take some thing like probability, real analysis, PDE, Functional Analysis. I would say it's a very tough program.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18497,
"author": "Amatya",
"author_id": 6674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6674",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Courant is one of the top places in the world to get a MS in Finance. This is what their website says:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://math.nyu.edu/financial_mathematics/content/05_prospectiveStudents/02.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://math.nyu.edu/financial_mathematics/content/05_prospectiveStudents/02.html</a></p>\n\n<p>Basically, you will need to have some grasp of Stochastic Calculus, Probability Theory, and Numerical Analysis. Some knowledge of Functional Analysis and Real Analysis/Measure Theory will help with the proofs but for the most part, from the point of view of writing Models, coding them up, simulating them, and calibrating them you will mostly be solving PDEs. You'll probably use MATLAB or C++ .</p>\n\n<p>Your program may also have a strong econometrics basis, so you will need to develop data skills and learn how to use packages like SAS, STATA, LIMDEP etc. The theory will involve some linear algebra and probability theory.</p>\n\n<p>The professors may not go very deep into Finance Theory but the type of math they use there involves Functional Analysis, Dynamic Programming, Martingales etc. </p>\n\n<p>The program will be fast paced and challenging, especially Finance Theory since you won't have a base for it but you should be fine with the math part of it if you have an undergrad degree in math. Remember, you will understand things better with each iteration so try to get some working understand in your first pass and also try to have a bird's eye view of what's going on. It is easy to get lost in the details.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/23 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18450",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13364/"
]
|
18,466 | <p>I have a PhD in physics, and my career path of choice has always been in physics. Unfortunately, I have been struck with a series of chronic health problems which have caused me to be fired and homebound much of the time. However, as physics research is mostly a mental activity, I am still able to work remotely from home, provided I am also given flexible hours. The problem is, despite my continuing ability to continue working from home despite my chronic health problems, no employer so far has been willing to hire and pay me. The resulting financial problems have forced me to leave my chosen career path for the past few years, which only makes me look worse and worse on my CV, when coupled with being fired.</p>
<p>Do you know of any organization or employer willing to hire researchers remotely? Thanks.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18467,
"author": "Ank",
"author_id": 12632,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12632",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are in US, you can apply for disability. You can also get plenty of tax rebates. I am not sure, if full time employees can work remotely all the time but contractors can, for sure work. I am sure there would be companies out there hiring contractors for short projects and letting them work remotely. You can work on one short project after the other. </p>\n\n<p>Also, if you know computer programming, you can work as a software freelancer. There are plenty of freelancer jobs available. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18470,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As you are asking this on academia.SE, I am assuming that you are looking for an academic job as opposed to working in industry. In that case, I am afraid your assumption</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>However, as physics research is mostly a mental activity, I am still able to work remotely from home</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>may not be true for higher (post-graduate) academic jobs. I would say, being a postdoc or higher in physics is to a large extend a <strong>social</strong> activity, as much of your job will consist of teaching, training the next generation of researchers, and networking. In general, all researchers after a certain stage find that they spend preciously little of their time on actual research (which you may be able to do from home, depending on your concrete subfield). Most of the time is actually spent on activities that require physical presence, at least some percentage of the time.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, many research labs are quite flexible in terms of working hours and (partial) home office. In my lab, for instance, I would not assume that anybody would take issue with an employee working about 50% of the time from home (under the assumption that one would actually <strong>work</strong> at home, of course). However, the remaining 50% would probably require physical presence, simply because the tasks would require it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18466",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13379/"
]
|
18,476 | <p>I am aware of US News which publishes the rankings for US Universities every year.
But somehow I feel that they try to emphasize more on private universities than public(state) universities.
Also they have recently stopped showing the rankings according to fields of study(CS, ECE, Mechanical, etc) without paying them.
Google also could not help me find any reliable ranking organisation.
I would like to know whether there is any respectable ranking organisation other than US News.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18479,
"author": "gman",
"author_id": 12454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12454",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Both of these organisations are International but you can search by region and study area.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.topuniversities.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Top Universities</a> is complied by the QS Quacquarelli Symonds\n<a href=\"http://www.topuniversities.com/qs-stars/qs-stars-methodology\" rel=\"nofollow\">This page</a> explains the methodology they use to rank institutions.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Times Higher Education</a> rankings are compiled by the Times Higher Education magazine in the UK with the help of Thomson Reuters. According to their site </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18484,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your goal is a general list, @gman's answer, as well as other general guides, will do. </p>\n\n<p>If your goal is to select a graduate program to apply for, I recommend <a href=\"http://graduate-school.phds.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">phds.org</a>. You can specify which criteria are most important to you: research productivity, support for graduate students, diversity, funding, etc. Based on your choices, you will get a personalized ranking of the graduate programs in your area.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18476",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13388/"
]
|
18,478 | <p>I am trying to find out what the average duration of PhD studies are in the USA. Here in Spain it used to be 4 years, but it seems that Europe is moving towards a 3-year scheme since students are expected to do their MSc before they start. What is it like in the USA? Is some kind of shortening also occurring?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18483,
"author": "C_Rod",
"author_id": 13394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Each program is going to be different. Usually, the first couple years of a PhD program involves taking graduate level classes while the later years are dedicated to academic engagement in the discipline (for example, in Chemistry, you would do research in a lab.) If you have a Masters degree relevant to the PhD, you may cut off some or all of the classroom portion of the PhD program.</p>\n\n<p>The qualifications for actually receiving the PhD also differ. You may need to get approval from an academic board (this is usually at least part of the process in any case), you may need to write a thesis, you may even be required to be published in an academic journal. (In the hard sciences, this is common.)</p>\n\n<p>Because the requirements for getting the degree differ, the time may as well. For the most part, PhDs (with no Masters) should take between 4 - 6 years. Getting a Masters degree first may cut off about a year or so of that. While this is generally true, you will find many examples of people taking longer and I've known at least two people who graduated in less than 4 years with a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>While this is an average, you'll want to get info specific to your desired University, the degree, and even the group (or academic adviser) that you choose to work for.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18486,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This varies so widely by discipline that asking for an average across all disciplines is unlikely to be very helpful. Most individual disciplines do keep careful records of this statistic, and it should be easy to search for them on (e.g.) google.</p>\n\n<p>However, I would say with some confidence that no American PhD program requires or even expects its students to complete a PhD in less than four years. In some programs the \"party line\" is that it is desirable to complete the degree in four years, but in my experience this means that you start to feel the squeeze of increased teaching and/or decreased funding after four years, not that you get ejected from the program or forced to graduate. </p>\n\n<p>I work in a discipline, mathematics, with a high entry cost but for which, once you acquire the necessary background and skills (with which a small minority of students do enter the program), there is no specific reason why you couldn't do all the work for a great thesis and write it up in a rather short amount of time, say on the order of a semester. Nevertheless I have met very few people who have completed a math PhD in fewer than four years. When we get to the upper echelons of talent, preparation and work ethic, this surely must mean that the culture of a PhD program strongly encourages students to stay for this amount of time. </p>\n\n<p>To answer your final question: yes, many programs are trying to shorten their average time to degree as funding is being cut. In my own PhD program (mathematics at UGA) I was involved in an initiative to do just this: up until recently we guaranteed six years of funding to incoming PhD students without master's degrees and five for students with an incoming master's. We now guarantee five years to all students. Note that this does not mean that we do not have funded sixth year students: we certainly do. But it means that students will, throughout their time in the program, have to keep their eye on the five-year mark, which is something that our former arrangement was not doing: even very strong students would often stick around for six years for no especially good reason. </p>\n\n<p>Finally let me also note that we changed (with my involvement) all our requirements to be independent of whether students arrive with master's degrees. We have found that the difference in the level of preparedness of such students is not significant enough to justify more stringent time-to-degree requirements. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 57759,
"author": "Sander Heinsalu",
"author_id": 6313,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6313",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The Survey of Earned Doctorates (<a href=\"http://www.norc.org/Research/Projects/Pages/survey-of-earned-doctorates-(sed).aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.norc.org/Research/Projects/Pages/survey-of-earned-doctorates-(sed).aspx</a>) has detailed statistics. A summary report is <a href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/</a> with breakdown by field, year etc. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18478",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47/"
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|
18,481 | <p>I have had a paper accepted for a conference this summer, which presents the preliminary results of my PhD research. However, I'd like to present my final results at another conference in the fall, the deadline for which is in a few weeks, and which requires a full paper submission. My question is: would it be unethical to submit the first paper (in a re-structured form) in the hope that it will get accepted for the later conference, and then subsequently update the results before the final deadline?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18482,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"May I submit a paper to another conference that is essentially the same as a paper that is already published or accepted for publication?\" </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>NO</strong> *</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"May I substantially change the content of an accepted conference paper after peer review?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>NO</strong> *</p>\n\n<p><sub>* Unless it is disclosed to, and permitted by, the PC/editor.</sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18485,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add to @ff524's absolutely correct answer, you can still submit to that second conference. All you need to do is cite your first paper, state that this paper only adds results A,B,C. It is possible that the modest additions to your first paper are enough to merit publication on their own; however you must be honest and let the editors/referees decide this.</p>\n\n<p>In short, you may submit your updated paper, provided you are completely honest about its differences with the previously published work. If indeed those differences are trivial (as suggested by the title of the question), then obviously this is pointless.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18490,
"author": "rumtscho",
"author_id": 103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>ff524's answer is true for the general case. There are two exceptional cases where you will be allowed, or actually required, to make substantial changes to the content. Note that none of them will happen because you want to add a bit more. </p>\n\n<p>First, your paper might be put into a gatekeeping process. In this case, the acceptance is conditional on making certain changes and the reviewers being happy about these changes at a later reviewing stage. </p>\n\n<p>Gatekeeping only occurs when the program committee requests it; you can't trigger it (and don't want to). It only allows you to make the changes the reviewers requested from you (normally to provide better argumentation for your conclusions, or to describe your empirical methods in your detail), not to include any results you forgot about or didn't have at the beginning. </p>\n\n<p>The second case is if you find an error in your research which renders your paper wrong. In this case, you should contact the program committee, inform them of the error, and offer to retract the paper. If you have the improved results, and they are not completely changing the main statement of the paper, the program committee may allow you to keep the paper in the running, but will require you to rewrite the parts based on the mistaken results. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18504,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is completely unethical to substantially change a conference paper after acceptance, just as it would be completely unethical for a used car salesman to substitute a different car after you'd agreed to buy. The programme committee accepted the first version, based on the advice of the reviewers; they did not even see the second version. If the same thing happened in a journal version, the second version would be sent back to the referees but there is no second round of reviewing for conferences.</p>\n\n<p>Honestly, I'm worried that you're even asking this. It suggests that, in your mind, the primary goal has become publication, rather than doing good research.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18481",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13392/"
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|
18,487 | <p>I conceived and co-developed (including the program itself and training protocols for participants)/piloted the program locally/managed three national pilots, and assessed the effectiveness of the program including formulating the written proposal to public and private funding agencies that laid out the essential elements of the program and writing reports. Years later, one of my co-developers claims sole responsibility on line (at a University web site) and at a non-profit spinoff's web site for this and another program I conceived and co-developed and has wiped me from the record. He does not credit our co-developers, upon whose ground breaking research much of this work rests. If one (say a member of a selection committee) were to take a tour of the Internet using the usual search engines, it would appear that my CV and resume are one big lie after another. I inquired of Legal at the University where I did the work, and they said they have no control over what a department head puts on line and that it is if anything a compliance issue. What does this mean? And also, do I have a moral right and what kind of recourse might there be? Basically 15 years of my life is now invisible. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18488,
"author": "vadim123",
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off, you should decide what exactly you feel is wrong, and how you want it to be. You were involved in the early stages of this program, but others took the helm later. They continued to put work into the program, and they deserve credit. Arguably visitors to the program website want to know about who's managing it now, not its history. Do you want to be cited as a co-creator or founder or first director? Do you want a section dedicated to \"early work on this project\" where you play a greater role? Is this really that important, since in academia publications are the currency of value, not websites. </p>\n\n<p>Second, once you've decided what your objection is, you should take this objection to the co-developer in question. Perhaps this is just an honest misunderstanding and he/she will rectify amicably. </p>\n\n<p>Third, if you get no resolution, then you need to decide whether you want to pursue this further. Read your co-developer's response carefully and objectively. Do you think they have a reasonable case? If so, you are unlikely to achieve anything positive by pursuing this (in fact, going to the legal department may have been a mistake). You will (further) sour your relationship with the co-developer, and have the potential for getting a bad reputation.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, if you are absolutely certain that your co-developer's position has no merit, and you really want to pursue this further, you can try to apply pressure to your co-developer. The legal department is the wrong avenue, as their job is to protect the university, not police it. Try the dean, or otherwise the supervisor, of the co-developer. If you can prove that the situation has cost you financially (farfetched) you might consider a lawsuit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 24224,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suggest a different strategy than that proposed by <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222/vadim123\">vadim123</a>. Don't engage with your co-developer or his institution at all.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, write a blog post (or posts) or a white paper telling your version of history. If it is a white paper, post it on your web site. Better still, arrange an interview with a web publication, with links to your white paper. You are done.</p>\n\n<p>In any job application and CV, you should link to your blog posts and white papers, or related articles. If any search committee spends any time on this, and also sees the web pages of your co-developers, they would probably ask you to explain the difference in stories. You will happily explain the differences, with no need to explain <em>why</em> the co-developers wrote what they wrote.</p>\n\n<p>The advantage of this approach is that you don't need to persuade your co-developers or their employers of anything. No legal process at all. You only have to invest up-front time to write your story in a compelling form (hopefully, backed with substantiating evidence), and then deal with questions as they arise in the interview process.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18487",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13398/"
]
|
18,491 | <p>I am interested in the situation where you have a very interesting result. For instance, you have solved a very important open problem. However, you are not known in the field and do not have any remarkable publications. Your supervisor thinks the work is good and you submit the work to a high profile journal, but you get rejected.</p>
<p>The thing is that the contribution is very strong. It breaks what most people believe or what they have already proven: e.g., you solve the P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem. </p>
<p>The reviewers strongly reject your work with no justification and they do not state why the result is wrong. Examples of reviewer comments include:</p>
<ul>
<li>"The proof must be wrong." </li>
<li>"You cannot achieve such a result." </li>
<li>"You do not understand well the notion of ..."</li>
</ul>
<p>My question is what to do in this situation? Where to go? If your advisor accepts the work, but the reviewers from the top journal reject the work without even explaining the mistakes, what should you do?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18492,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your interpretation of events is: \"I have a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and the only obstacle to acceptance is that I am not well known and the elites are blocking my work\", then you're unlikely to get good advice on what to do here or elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>The problem, as Raphael indicates, is that while it's <em>possible</em> that this interpretation is correct, it's far more likely that in fact your result does NOT solve the major open problem that you think it does. </p>\n\n<p>Once you admit that this possibility exists, then many steps present themselves, all listed in the very good links provided. Reaching out to people who might comment on your work, looking at the literature to see if approaches like yours have been tried before and have failed, seeing if your solution also solves related (simpler) problems, and so on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18493,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regardless of whether the work is correct or not, the following statement applies:</p>\n\n<p><strong>The burden of proof is on the author to convince the reader of the result.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The community (e.g., editors, reviewers) has no responsibility to evaluate your work to your satisfaction. If the reviewers made a good faith effort to read your paper and were not convinced, then you must make your argument more convincing.</p>\n\n<p>(This does not mean, make a few trivial edits and resubmit. This means, prove your results so thoroughly and in such excruciating detail, and with such demonstrably excellent understanding of the problem context, that they become inarguable. Then figure out a way to express the results in a convincing way.)</p>\n\n<p>If in the process of doing so you find an error, well, you'd be in good company.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18494,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What does your advisor say about all this?</p>\n\n<p>If she really believes you have solved this major problem, she should be moving mountains to help you publish and disseminate it. (It sounds like her name is on it too, so she has an even greater incentive.) But you've used the rather lukewarm phrasing that she \"accepts\" it. Better get her completely on board first, or get her to explain in more detail her reservations (which may indeed turn out to reveal fatal flaws).</p>\n\n<p>The advantage you have over the average crank is that, as a student, you already have ties to the scientific community, through your advisor. <strong>Take advantage of this.</strong> Once you and your advisor are satisfied that your manuscript is of the best possible quality (see ff254's answer), post it on arXiv, and circulate. Your advisor surely knows experts in the field, and should have enough reputation that she can get them interested in it. </p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure about your field, but in mathematics, this currently tends to be the way that the community handles solutions to major open problems. You don't just submit it to <em>Annals</em>, have the referees approve it, and then wait a few months until everyone gets their issue of <em>Annals</em> in the mail and is astonished. Instead, you get the community to study it <em>first</em>. You convince a few experts that it is plausible enough to be worth their attention, and they look at it. Either they find a critical flaw right away (the most common case), or they find a lesser flaw that you or someone else fixes, and maybe, gradually, a consensus develops that it is probably right. <em>That's</em> when you send it to <em>Annals</em>.</p>\n\n<p>One thing that worries me in what you wrote is:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It breaks what most people believe or what they have already proven...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Which is it?</strong> The distinction is crucial. If it contradicts people's intuition, that raises the bar a little, but scientists are used to being surprised. If it contradicts something previously proved, that raises the bar a lot. It puts on you the burden of not only showing that your work is right, but showing specifically why the previously accepted work was actually wrong. (You can't just say \"Mine is right, therefore theirs must be wrong.\") You didn't say anything about having done that. (And if you <em>can't</em> find a flaw in the previous work, then your claim is in fact along the lines of \"Mathematics is inconsistent\". The bar on <em>that</em> one is more or less on the moon.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18495,
"author": "usul",
"author_id": 5899,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5899",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some advice is to very carefully check that the proofs are correct, ask one's supervisor for advice, and seek third opinions. Perhaps the supervisor has colleagues in the research area who would be willing to read the draft and offer concrete feedback.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal submitted to is good, yet the reviewers did not give any useful feedback at all, then there is almost certainly a problem with the abstract and introduction.</p>\n\n<p>The abstract and introduction should make clear the new idea that allows this \"breakthrough\". Presumably many have approached this problem in the past and failed; there may be widespread beliefs about why it is difficult to prove or perhaps even known \"barriers\" to attempted proofs. The abstract and introduction should clearly and briefly mention why such beliefs, objections, or barriers do not apply or how they were overcome.</p>\n\n<p>In short, the abstract and introduction must give the skeptical reader reason to believe the paper could be correct, given the reader's background knowledge. If this is done, I would hope that reviewers would at least mention why they do not believe the result.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18496,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 10,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your question has some issues. Given some of the (now-deleted) questions you have asked on other SE sites in the last few days, I have some reservations about whether your question is being asked in good faith, but taken on its own merits it is a reasonable question so I will try to answer it.</p>\n<p>The main issue is that, even in asking this relatively simple question, your writing is far from clear. If you cannot write clearly in this situation, your chances of writing up a difficult piece of mathematics or theoretical computer science are less than good. For instance:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>His/Her supervisor(s) accept the work and they published it in a highly known journal and they get rejected.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Laying aside issues of subject/verb agreement and consistency of tense, the entire sentence doesn't make sense: you can't publish a paper and get rejected.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It breaks what most people believe</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I don't know what it means to "break what most people believe".</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>or what they have already proven,</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>What? Are you saying that your proof contradicts other proven results? Taken literally, that would mean that you have shown mathematics to be inconsistent. In practice this could only mean that if your result is correct then some previously published work is incorrect. If that's the case then you need to be very clear about that and explain the flaws in the earlier work. It distresses me that you don't really seem to believe this but are just throwing it off as loose language.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>i.e., He/She solves the P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Solving an open problem would not "break what people have already proven"....that's what it means for the problem to be open. Also saying "P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem" is a strange bit of coyness: there is no other problem in theoretical computer science (and very few to none in mathematics as a whole) which is "like" P vs. NP. So it doesn't make sense to give that as an example. It's like saying "i.e., he found the Holy Grail or some other famous cup".</p>\n<p>In other questions you have spoken specifically about having a proof of P vs. NP and then upon questioning have retreated from this. This sort of vacillation about what you have done is a red flag of "crankiness" that will make professionals wary.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The reviewers strongly reject his/her work with no justification and they said that the result must be wrong.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Saying that the result must be wrong is not just a justification for rejection, it's the <em>best</em> justification. No professional reviewer will say something is wrong lightly. Almost any reviewer who says this will point to at least one specific error. If they do not, then in practice it almost certainly means that the entire document did not make enough sense to them to be more specific.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If your advisor accepts the work, the reviewers reject the work without even explain the mistakes (it is the "best" journal in his/her domain) then what he/she must do?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>If you submit a paper to the top journal in your field claiming a solution to the top problem in your field, and your paper does not make sense or does not evince even a correct understanding of the problem, then the editors are likely not to want to spend much time in response. On the other hand, if you are sincerely interested in getting their expertise, it seems reasonable to write back very politely and ask for more specifics about the error. If your response is in any way argumentative then you risk the editorial staff thinking that you will keep hounding them <em>ad infinitum</em>, and at some point they <em>have to</em> stop replying. So you should write back saying that you are not considering resubmitting the paper to that journal but for your own progress it would be extremely helpful to know what is wrong with it. You could also mention that your supervisor found the paper to be correct.</p>\n<p>In fact you could be getting more help on this from your supervisor. If you have really "solved P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem" and your supervisor believes your solution to be correct, why isn't your supervisor moving heaven and earth to be sure your work is getting the attention it deserves? That doesn't add up. The two possible explanations seem to be (i) your supervisor is being too polite with you: s/he does not actually believe that you have solved P vs. NP; and (ii) your advisor's imprimatur does not carry any weight in the community whatsoever. The latter unfortunately means his/her opinion on the correctness of your work is not worth very much.</p>\n<p>A good way to find out whether it's (i), (ii) or -- I do admit that anything is possible! perhaps the top journal in your field is unfairly ignoring your revolutionary work -- is to seek your advisor's help in getting another faculty member to evaluate the work, preferably someone in the department that you can speak to recently.</p>\n<p>Finally, you seem to have some real worries that if an unknown person solves a famous problem then it somehow doesn't count. This is really not the way academia works, provided the unknown person is capable of presenting the work in a way which makes sense to the experts (and if not, what a shame, but what else could one possibly expect?). Have you heard of the recent example of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Yitang Zhang</a>? Zhang was a non-tenure-track lecturer at the University of New Hampshire when he stunned the mathematical world by proving the existence of bounded prime gaps. He submitted his work to the top mathematical journal...and by all accounts they accepted it <em>with unusual speed</em>. In other words, they received a paper from someone they had probably never heard of, looked at it quickly and saw that it was a plausible attack on a huge open problem, and as a result they sprung into action much more rapidly and thoroughly than for most submissions they get. This is an amazing story, but a true one, and it shows how the community responds to a <em>real</em> situation like this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18502,
"author": "mirkastath",
"author_id": 12712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12712",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>May I add to Nate Eldredge's comprehensive answer that, if your work shakes or shatters the commonly held views in your community, then it is very important that you reconcile those views with yours, by which I mean: show exactly where the community is \"wrong\" or \"not exactly right\" and why. Offer counterexamples, predictions, all you can. </p>\n\n<p>Relativity would be nowhere if it didn't reduce to good old Newtonean mechanics where the latter performed perfectly! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18506,
"author": "Philip Gibbs",
"author_id": 7466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7466",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Despite what people will say it is true that journals will reject papers using author profiling without a proper review. It is hard to say how many papers are rejected this way but Elsevier <a href=\"http://www.elsevier.com/connect/8-reasons-i-rejected-your-article\" rel=\"noreferrer\">say that they reject</a> 30 to 50 percent of papers without a review for other \"technical reasons\". See also <a href=\"http://econ.la.psu.edu/~kkrishna/Papers/The_inside_scoop.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this paper</a> about how editors can save time by looking at author attributes such as affiliation to reject papers without looking at them.</p>\n\n<p>I have personal experience of this because I recently <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.8217\" rel=\"noreferrer\">made significant progress</a> on a well known 100 year old open problem after experts in the field had said that future progress was likely to be very slow. The journal I submitted the paper to rejected it as soon as I confirmed that I had no affiliation. There was no reviewer report and they did not give any specific reason. I had complied with all their technical requirements for submission.</p>\n\n<p>However, I pointed out to them that according to the <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_1.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">code of conduct</a> of the <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">committee on publication ethics</a> to which the journal claims to adhere \"Editorial decisions should not be affected by the origins of the manuscript\" and \"Journals should have a declared mechanism for authors to appeal against editorial decisions.\" To my surprise they responded after a delay to tell me that they would look at it again.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that there are many claimed resolutions of problems such as P vs NP that can be dismissed at a moments glance. This can be done because there are well understood reasons why these problem are hard and a solution would need to address that. Many claimed proofs of open problems by non-academics descend quickly into non-standard language that makes it hard to even address why they are wrong so they are just ignored by the community. It is up to the authors to make sure they communicate their ideas correctly.</p>\n\n<p>If you do have a solution to an open problem my advice is to submit to an open repository such as arXiv. If you can't get an endorser use viXra or figshare (full disclosure: I am viXra admin) Do not pay attention to negative things said about viXra. It's purpose is just to give you an independent time-stamp and an archived copy you can point to. It does not attempt to review or give your work credibility in any way. The last thing you should do is submit to journals or send to experts without having a verified public copy because if it really is a breakthrough there is a real risk of plagiarism that can only be averted by having a prior copy archived. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18570,
"author": "Kaveh",
"author_id": 163,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/163",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, make sure you are not really a crank before trying to convince others. \nRead <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_%28person%29#Common_characteristics_of_cranks\">these common characteristics of cranks</a>. \nIf they apply to you then get professional help.</p>\n\n<p>For the rest of the answer \nI will assume that you have really solved a famous open problem.\nIn the following \n\"he\" refers to a typical non-expert claiming to have a solution for a famous open problem and\n\"she\" refers to an expert in the topic.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>There is no easy shortcut for you!</strong><br>\nIf you are looking for a simple easy shortcut to get your solution verified by an expert\nthen this answer is not for you \nand I can assure you what you want is not going to happen.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand the magnitude of your claim!</strong><br>\nE.g. If you are claiming to have a proof of P is not equal to NP \nthen you are the guy who is claiming to have a design for a rocket \nthat can be built with the currently technology and resources \nto take a human to Andromeda and back safely \nwhile experts are having hard time sending a human to mars. \nIf you are claiming to have a proof of P is equal to NP \nthen you are the guy who is claiming to have a time travel machine.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand why experts are reluctant to directly engage non-experts.</strong><br>\nMany experts would be interested to know about any major progress in their field. \nE.g. there are complexity theorists who \ndo read <em>every</em> P vs. NP related paper posted on <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/find/all/1/ti:+AND+P+NP/0/1/0/all/0/1\">arXiv</a> \n(arXiv has a very lenient acceptance policy regarding P vs. NP claims).\nThey will definitely let other experts know \nif they notice something interesting. \nBut </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>You are not the only one with such claims.</strong><br>\nThere are thousands of people who regularly make such claims.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>All previous ones suffered from trivial issues no expert would have made.</strong><br>\nIt is your job to show you are not one of them.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Her time is valuable.</strong><br>\nFor most it is not really monetary. \nBut I think giving some numbers would be helpful. \nIn my university a graduate student is paid over $40/hour \nto mark simple undergraduate assignments.\nThis is nothing compared to what an expert might charge for consulting in the industry.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Non-experts often lack basic skills and knowledge to understand her replies.</strong><br>\nE.g. he lacks mathematical maturity, \nhe does not know basic definitions and terminology, etc.\nIt is not uncommon that an expert tells a non-expert \nwhat he has is not a proof. \nShe does not mean the proof is incorrect, \nshe means it is not even a proof in the sense that \nan apple is not a proof.\nHe does not understand when he is told it is \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong\">not even wrong!</a>\". To make him understand her reply \nshe would have to teach him those required skills and knowledge,\ntoo much work just to convince him he does not have a solution.\nOften he is not patient nor interested in learning (e.g. reading a textbook),\nhe is only interested in a confirmation of what he believes to be a solution.\nWay too much work in that case.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>It is often impossible to satisfy him.</strong><br>\nBecause of the points mentioned above, \nhe often insists on the validity of his claim \neven after she tells him it is not. \nAt other times where he understands the reply\nhe considers it a simple easy-to-fix error,\nnot a fundamental one.\nHe tries to fix it and get her verify it.\nThis leads to back and forth.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>He underestimates the required time and effort on her part to answer his claim.</strong><br>\nHe thinks it is a simple easy job for her to answer his claim. \nE.g. he expects her to give him a counterexample where his algorithm fails.\nFinding a counterexample for an algorithm is a very difficult task \n(as anyone who has marked undergraduate algorithms or complexity theory assignments would know). \nFinding an explanation why an idea is fundamentally flawed and cannot work \nis even more difficult.</p></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>He does not understand it is not a puzzle.</strong><br>\nShe is not interested in the question just for its own sake.\nShe expects the solution to the question will be accompanied with\nmajor advances in her field.\nE.g. complexity theorists do not care about P vs. NP just for its own sake.\nThey expect the solution for P vs. NP will come with \nmajor progress in our understanding about the nature of efficient computation and\nits limitations.\nOften he does not understand this.\nHe thinks of the question as a game or puzzle that he thinks he has won and that is it.\nThis attitude is frustrating for experts.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Now here are some tips:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Be humble.</strong><br>\nIt is much easier to get her to have a look at your solution\nif you are genuinely humble and eager to learn and accepting \nif you are told that you are wrong.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure you understand what is required to solve the question.</strong><br>\nE.g. understand that a program that seems to efficiently solve an NP-complete problem is not a proof, \nunderstand that an idea does not make a proof, \nmake sure you understand the definitions and terminology, \netc.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Know the basics.</strong><br>\nI keep repeating this: <em><strong>read a good textbook</strong></em> on the topic and solve its exercises. \nIt is beneficial for you as you will know more and will be more convincing. \nIt is beneficial for her because you will not waste her time \nwith simple mistakes that you would have noticed yourself if you had read a good textbook. \nIt is annoying to deal with people who claim to have solved P vs. NP \nbut repeatedly make basic mistakes that \na good student who has taken an undergraduate course on the topic will not make.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Use your real name.</strong><br>\nNot using your real name indicates that you are trying to avoid suffering any potential negative consequence of your claim being incorrect. \nUsing your real name indicates that you are sure enough to be ready to suffer potential negative professional consequences if you are mistaken, \nso you can be taken more seriously. \nIf you are not completely sure about your claim do not waste her time. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Don't shirk work. Do your share before expecting help from others.</strong><br>\nIf you want her to look at your solution you should spend 10 times more time and effort than she will spend helping you. \nFor claims about P vs. NP you have to do way more.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>You will not get more than one chance.</strong><br>\nMake it count. \nIf on the first page of your paper she finds a silly mistake or a basic error \n(e.g. you do not even know the definitions of P and NP) \nthen she will be done with your claims forever.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand the known obstacles for solving the question and why they do not apply to your solution.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you are claiming P is not equal to NP then you should have a good idea \nwhy relaltivization and natural proofs barriers do not apply to your solution. \nSimilarly if you are claiming P is equal to NP.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Try to prove simpler more acceptable claims.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you have a proof of P is equal to NP then \nyou should also have a proof of simpler weaker major results like Factoring is in P. \nIf you can extract a clean proof for such claims then \nyou can first try publishing them.\nSuch results can be much easier to get verified as they are considered more likely.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure your solution is not too strong.</strong><br>\nIn other words, make sure it does not contradict other known results. \nE.g. if your argument for P is equal to NP would also show that P is equal to ExpTime \n(which we know is false) \nthen you are in trouble \n(Scott Aaronson mentions a few more cases of too strong results in his blog post\n<a href=\"http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=458\">Eight Signs A Claimed P≠NP Proof Is Wrong</a>).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Check your solution.</strong><br>\nMake sure there are no mistakes. \nAll steps should easily seen to follow from the previous ones. \nMake sure you do not make extra assumptions at any point.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Recheck your solution.</strong><br>\nPut your proof aside completely for two weeks or more. \nDo not think about it. \nThen go back and recheck it with a fresh mind \nas if you were checking someone else's solution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Build evidence for your claims.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you have a <em>really efficient</em> algorithm \n(i.e. its running time is a polynomial with small constants)\nwhich you have proven to solve an NP-complete problem then \nit should not be a difficult task to beat the state-of-art <a href=\"http://www.satcompetition.org/\">SAT-solvers</a> or \nto break various cryptographic protocols based on hardness conjectures \n(those conjectures will be false if P is equal to NP).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Write easy-to-read concise clean abstract and introduction.</strong><br>\nDo not put any unnecessary background/history/philosophical consequences/discussion of importance/general commentary. \nIt is a famous open problem;\nevery expert knows its significance.\nSave them for your final version.\nRight now you should focus on convincing her that your claim is correct.\nShe first wants an easy-to-read short error-free convincing high-level explanation of your solution. \nIt should also explain why any known obstacles do not apply to your solution.\nIt should also contain any other evidence that can support the correctness of your claim. If you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure the rest of your paper matches your abstract and introduction.</strong><br>\nIf you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure every detail in your paper is correct.</strong><br>\nFollow the standard structure of papers in the topic.\nCheck a few famous well-written papers in the area that have solved major open problems.\nAll definitions should be clear, easy to understand, and rigorous. \nEvery theorem (lemma, etc.) should be clearly and rigorously stated, and\nthe proof of each of them should follow their statement. \nShe should be able to see why each claim in the proof is correct based on the previous steps, definitions, and lemmas without too much trouble. \nIf you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Have a general expert who <em>personally</em> knows you check your solution.</strong><br>\nI am assuming that you do not know personally any expert in the area of the question.\nThe closer the general expert is to the area of the question the better it will be. \nE.g. for P vs. NP, you can ask a mathematician, preferably a theoretical computer scientist.\nOpinion of people who are not experts in the topic may not have much weight \nbut it will make sure you are not making some simple mistake.<br>\nUnderstand that at this point someone \nwho does not know you personally has no reason to check your solution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Have <em>another</em> general expert who knows you <em>personally</em> check your solution.</strong><br>\nRome was not built in a day. \nYou have to build confidence in your solution little by little.\nThose you convince can become your bridges to reach the experts.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>If they are convinced ask them to show your solution to an expert they know.</strong><br>\nE.g. for P vs. NP, ask them to show it to a complexity theorist they know.\nAt this point you are less likely to be making a basic mistake and \nyou have good evidence to support your claim. \nYour solution now requires the expertise of an expert in the topic.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>If she is convinced she will definitely show it to other experts.</strong><br>\nNews about any major progress in an area will spread very fast among the experts in that area. Other experts (complexity theorists in the case P vs. NP) will recheck your solution independently. \nIf they are convinced you will probably get an invitation to submit your paper to a famous journal (something like <a href=\"http://jacm.acm.org/\">JACM</a> in the case of P vs. NP).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Do not claim to solve a famous open problem more than once.</strong><br>\nAs I wrote above, \nyou will not get more than one chance! \nYou do not have a right to ask her to see what is wrong with your fixed solution \nif you made a mistake.\n(The exception is when she <em>explicitly</em> asks you to try to fix your solution and \nsend the fixed version back to her.)</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Do not expect an explanation for why your idea cannot work.</strong><br>\nIt is unlikely that someone would be able to show formally that an informal idea cannot work. \nIf the idea is formal enough then the reason that it cannot work can be a new interesting result in itself; \nhowever, proving such results can be even more difficult than solving the original question. \nIn the case of P vs. NP,\nif you are claiming to have an efficient algorithm for an NP-hard problem \nyou should not expect her to find an input where your algorithm fails.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In summary,</p>\n\n<p><strong>Understand that she is not required to help you.\nIf she is helping you she is doing so out of generosity.\nShe has a right to stop it whenever she pleases without any explanation.\nBe mindful of her time, \ndo not waste it for what you could/should have done yourself,\ntry to make her job in helping you as easy as possible,\nand do not do anything that will make her regret trying to help you.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18615,
"author": "Thorsten S.",
"author_id": 13452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13452",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While most of the answers seems to have much confidence in the academic system, I would like to offer another viewpoint.</p>\n\n<p>I think it is in fact much harder for an unknown (to a specific field) to\npresent a solution to the scientic community than normally expected. </p>\n\n<p>Scientists <em>do</em> screw up and sometimes royally.<br>\nFirst example: The infamous Monty Hall problem.<br>\nMore than 65% of all professional answers to Marilyn (with all sorts of academic\ngrades including statisticians) strongly rejected their answers, sometimes with\noutright jeers and taunts.\nThis included Paul Erdos and Straight Dope Cecil Adams.\nSo even the majority of experts can fail.</p>\n\n<p>Second example: The also infamous neutrino anomaly.\nThe interesting thing here is not the error itself, but the reaction on\nArxiv. Anyone who would have dared to offer superluminal theories before\nthe announcement would have been immediately declared as relativity crank.\nAfter the announcement papers came flooding in offering all sorts of\nsuperluminal theories explaining what we know now to be simply a\nbad cable.</p>\n\n<p>What are the problems an unknown may face ?</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/registerhelp\">Arxiv.</a> You need an affiliation from an university or research institute\nand/or an endorsement from a know author. Arxiv can revoke or limit your\naccess without explanation. This requirement also applies to fully qualified\nscientists which are working in companies.</p></li>\n<li><p>Journals. Too many people are trying to get their results published in too few\nrespectable journals. Journals also pretty scale bad, you have to wait a long\ntime to get published. Lesser known journals may have lower barriers, but you\nhave the real danger that the contribution is missed. And even the lower\njournals may reject the paper.</p></li>\n<li><p>Scientists. The situation is different in various countries, but normally\nscientists are overworked and underpaid. They have not the time nor the\nresources to review contributions with the very slim chance to get a\nscientific jackpot.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If someone thinks the viewpoint is not valid, try just for fun to supply\na normal paper under a pseudonym and the home address.</p>\n\n<p>The only viable option I see is to get contact to the scientists in the field\nand try to work with them over the contribution which may be harder than it\nsounds. The list provided by Kaveh is a good resource to start with.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18623,
"author": "rumtscho",
"author_id": 103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/103",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>By attacking your own proof even stronger than the others do. </p>\n\n<p>Seriously, there is a reason why people in your discipline haven't been able to find the answer for centuries. The a priori probability that you are wrong is so high that even when you have created a good looking proof, the a posteriori probability that you are right is way too low. This means that, if you know enough of your own discipline, you should not be convinced that you solved it. Given a problem which has resisted solution for a long time, being convinced that you solved it just because you have a proof you believe in is a sure sign of a crackpot. </p>\n\n<p>So non-crackpot behavior in such a case will be to try to take the proof apart, shoot it down, tear it to pieces from all possible angles. This is what your peers will be doing, and this is what they will expect you to be doing. To forget your pride, your subjective biases, and to be merciless to your own result. </p>\n\n<p>They you only believe you after you have found more ways to disprove your result than they themselves can think of, tried them all, and failed in all of them. And your paper has to clearly show that this is what you did. Anything else will earn you the crackpot title. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38297,
"author": "Michael Wehar",
"author_id": 28225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my experience as a graduate student, it seems that researchers who are passionate about their work do approximately the same thing regardless of its <strong>supposed importance</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Here's what to do:</strong></p>\n\n<p>(1) Write up your work as best you can while also discussing the ideas and concepts with your friends, collaborators, co-workers, etc.</p>\n\n<p>(2) Promote your work to other researches, friends, collaborators, etc. But, often people are busy so keep your expectations low and courtesy high.</p>\n\n<p>(3) Pinpoint your audience and seek out the appropriate journals, workshops, and conferences to submit to.</p>\n\n<p>(4) If you have any questions or concerns before submitting, contact someone affiliated with the conference. I've had a positive experience doing this, but sometimes you get ignored.</p>\n\n<p>(5) Be ready for rejection because you are more likely than not to get rejected (even if your results are important, actually especially if they are important).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Remarks:</strong></p>\n\n<p>(a) I like to think that the quality of reviews is associated with the clarity of the paper, but I've received some questionable reviews in the past that seem like scattered words that may or may not be related to my work. Just don't hold a grudge and happily try again.</p>\n\n<p>(b) If something's important to you and you're financially capable, then getting rejected once or twice is alright as long as you keep trying to improve your presentation and keep communicating with others.</p>\n\n<p>(c) You don't want to go off the face of the earth and live like a hermit. That's not going to help anyone and especially not you.</p>\n\n<p>(d) Finally, be open minded. People do make mistakes and sometimes the thing that caused the mistake is meaningful.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 76677,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, \"solving famous open problems\" does not happen in a vacuum. There must be a good reason why the solution occurred to <em>you</em> after having eluded many others.</p>\n\n<p>A possible reason is that you are an expert in some new technique or method of analysis. Then the trick is to establish yourself as an expert in this \"new\" field. Once you've done that, it is easier to claim that your mastery of this one area enabled you to solve the \"unsolved\" problem (providing you can demonstrate the relevance of your field). For instance, if you were a pioneer in subatomic physics who discovered that Newtonian physics didn't work in the subatomic area, acceptance of your \"proof\" would hinge on people's acceptance of you as a subatomic expert.</p>\n\n<p>The other thing is if you have really discovered a new solution to a problem, the implication is that a lot of what is currently written in the field in relation to this problem is wrong, or at least needs to be re-thought. The way to prove yourself is to start identifying at a low level, and rising to progressively higher levels, applications that are now \"voided\" by your discovery. If you can prove that a whole \"stream\" of ideas needs to be re-thought, and then present your discovery as a \"common\" solution, people will take you much more seriously. An example was when people figured out that you could create a new system of \"non-Euclidean\" geometry just by changing a few assumptions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 77293,
"author": "Laurent Duval",
"author_id": 38057,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38057",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some very important papers have been rejected first, some were not even published.</p>\n\n<p>If you are sufficiently sure about your result, and want to set a date for your discovery, and are not afraid that it sometimes takes time to demonstrate and convince people of the correctness, put your paper online on some <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">open archive</a>, while you work at an hopefully published version. </p>\n\n<p>Some readers may discover a flaw, and perhaps help you publish.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 126941,
"author": "Ooker",
"author_id": 14341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Prepare for your fearlessness. You will need to use it frequently.</em></p>\n<hr />\n<p>Let's say our goal is to accomplish <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18570/14341\">Kaveh's list</a>. Assuming he has some experience in academic research, then each of these statements are equivalent:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>His priority is not really to have his work accepted, but actually about not being misunderstood (the actual premise of the question is about having productive feedback)</li>\n<li>For him she is just stating the obvious (the upper part of the list), and telling him to do things he is already doing (the lower part)</li>\n<li>She needs him to accomplish the list, but he cannot do that if she accuses him for doing the thing he didn't do</li>\n<li>The problem of convincing her that he is not a crank is reduced to the emotional and misunderstanding problems</li>\n</ul>\n<p>I think that in all discussions about cranks the overwhelming assumption is that he is hubris. This is, unfortunately, one-sided, because the actual emotions should be <strong>guilt</strong> and <strong>frustration</strong> . He is guilty for worrying he is hubris, and frustrated for her misjudge that he is hubris. With all my respect, think most experts lack the necessary experience to give an efficient advice.</p>\n<p><sup> Because this answer doesn't attempt to answer the problems that most established experts want to address, it is basically a <a href=\"https://interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2511/86\">frame challenge</a> answer.</sup></p>\n<p>The rest of the answer is just an elaboration on how to deal with emotional reactions and misunderstandings in each specific case. Here is the table of content for this answer:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dealing with your emotions</li>\n<li>Dealing with their reactions</li>\n<li>Other problems</li>\n<li>For those who want to help</li>\n<li>Links</li>\n</ul>\n<p>You can also read an answer for a generalized question (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/revisions/126941/1\">what challenges one may face during the project</a>, not just how to convince the experts). I will assume that your platform to get feedback on your work is Reddit, but it's not a big deal.</p>\n<h1>Dealing with your emotions</h1>\n<p>First, there are two things to begin with:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Epistemologically, it seems that in order to solve a hard problem, you need to be aware to the solution <em>a priori</em><br />\n<sup>Epistemology is a field in philosophy studying about the nature of knowledge and how we acquire it. I haven't read much about this though.</sup></li>\n<li>Psychologically, when you are aware of yourself, these <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-conscious_emotions\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">self-conscious emotions</a> will evoke: pride, shame, guilt, and embarrassment</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Because doing research is to prove that you are wrong before proving you are right, a natural thing when you think you know something is have skepticism about yourself. So alongside with the specific problem you are working with you will ask these self-conscious questions:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Am I claiming a thing that I haven't proved it yet?</li>\n<li>Am I claiming that I know better than the experts, when I lack formal education?</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Since the answers to those questions should be yes, they will evoke self-conscious emotions, drifting you from the one and only thing you should focus on: the problem you are working at. You will enter a feedback loop of questioning yourself: the answer for those questions is the reason you questioning yourself at the first place. The real answer lies in the work you are researching, not about whether you are sane or not.</p>\n<p>To deal with <strong>fantasy</strong> (a kind of pride), try to imagine how a life of a famous person would actually be. For every kind of success you are dreaming of, there are people who have already got it. So say you dream about the Nobel prize, ask yourself this question: how did Einstein live with his fame and money? When you realize that in fact all famous persons are annoyed for being famous, then your fantasy is cut. By being able to put yourself into their shoes, you can detach to your emotions, and get back to reality. At that time, if you still wonder what you will do when you become famous, then the only thing you want is a dark and quiet place to have a dreamless sleep through it.</p>\n<p>Please be aware that you may have <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_complex\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">messiah complex</a>. You may not have grandiose delusion, but the thinking that (1) only you can provide a solution that no one seems to see, and (2) in other to deliver that solution, you have to overcome the skepticism regardless how harsh it is, can develop this complex. People may also accuse you for performing <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">gaslighting</a> as well. All of these will make the guilt about yourself even stronger.</p>\n<p><sup>To distinguish them with true psychological problems, whose root is insecurity, I will call them as "intellectual messiah complex" and "intellectual gaslighting".</sup></p>\n<p>Because the fear that you are delusional only continue when in fact you see that you still have fantasy, so when you have successfully cut it, then the fear itself will disappear. You will not feel shame, guilt or embarrass about your work anymore.</p>\n<p>In general, the emotions are only intense when your research is still at the vague phase. The more knowledge you acquire, the less frequent they show up.</p>\n<h1>Dealing with their reactions</h1>\n<p>In my experience, there are these types of unproductive response: labeling and sarcasm.</p>\n<h2>Labeling</h2>\n<p>When they tell that you are crank, just give them this <a href=\"http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">crackpot index</a>, list all the points that may apply to you, and explain how they are wrong. If they accuse you for being arrogant, tell them that confidently walking into a storm with a smile is different to seeking for attention. If they think that you are insane (walking into a storm with a smile is insane obviously), it would be much easier if you can have the conversation face-to-face. Only by seeing how your eyes are determinate but your mind is not closed at all, that they can assume that you are not. Don't be embarrass for telling them how you have prepared for the project.</p>\n<p>Let's discuss more about insanity. I think it is best to "help" them reach the conclusion that you are insane, because it is no longer a label on your behavior, but a label on your rationality. When you reach that stage, they will have a strong motivation to continue the conversation, and your evidences will be listened carefully. If you can create a cognitive dissonance in their mind, then their pattern-matching will be silent, and they will not be locked in their perspective anymore.</p>\n<p>Respond to their labelling (crank, arrogant, insane, stupid, high, bias, spam, word salad, not even wrong, woowoo, pseudoscience, time- wasting, etc.) by giving the definition of the word and show why it doesn't apply to you. Have a note listing all your prepared answers for each label, so that you don't need to rely on your poor memory. To deal with skepticism, you need to <strong>immediately</strong> form <strong>perfect combination of words,</strong> and your brain will put you down. (More details later.)</p>\n<h2>Sarcasm</h2>\n<p>If they simply making some jokes, it may be true that it is actually funny. In that case, perhaps it is best to <strong>continue the joke</strong>. Seeing how you actually enjoy their jokes will make them see that it doesn't affect you at all. Like if you are a fat person, then joking on your fatness will make them see that you are aware of your shortcoming, and it's just that you don't have time to solve it yet. If you are a blind, then having a joke involving your disability will make the non-blinds astonishingly surprised. They will perceived you as invincible now.</p>\n<p>If it's really hurt and you can't think of a clever thing to say, then perhaps it's best to remind them that they are in a place that mocking is not acceptable. Like a smack down show, they literally see you as the arrogant prideful guy who need to be taught. Note down links to comedic shows, where making fun of others is the goal, like WWE shows, higaniga conspiracy theory videos, or mocking subreddits, and show them how hilarious their actions are. For example, you can say:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Wow, r/Buddhism becomes r/WWE now?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Or you can invite an authority to deal with this:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I don't think this behavior is appropriate. I'll report the mods/I believe others don't find this appropriate as well.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>In short, be clever when dealing with ad hominem. The problem is that you can't be clever when your mind is clouded with anger. So you need to prepare for clever moments. When you can do that, then their next response will likely be productive again.</p>\n<p>But in all, don't interact with them because you feel misunderstood, but because of the knowledge they have. Try to convert questions about your identity/self (e.g. "am I crank?") to question about definition (e.g. "what is crank?"). Show how you possess a rigid body of knowledge of what they are trying to convey, with phrases like "psychologically speaking", "what you are talking about is called ______ in philosophy", "in the field of informal logic", etc. <strong>They are relevant interesting academic fields that they don't know of.</strong> If you think that they have knowledge on what you need, only focus on that, and ignore any unreasonable critique at you.</p>\n<p>When you have solved all of the emotional problems, then 90% of the conversations now are productive. But there will still other problems.</p>\n<h1>Other problems</h1>\n<h2>Memorial problem</h2>\n<p>You may have wasted so much time to read about crackpotism, conspiracy theories, delusion, etc. You may have wasted so much time on conversations that at first people strongly disagree with you, but after some talks it turns out that they don't really disagree with what you actual mean, and all of this is just misunderstanding. Take note on every evidence that that make you feel you are on the right track. Don't let your research about your sanity gone.</p>\n<p>The problem of being unable to explain yourself is because of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">tacit knowledge</a> and the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tonguehttps:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tongue\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">tip of the tongue</a> phenomenon. When you have a very strong evidence that you are not a crank, then after a week or so what is left is just a feeling that you are not. Lacking the evidence, you will be dragged into the loop again. You need to immediately make a perfect combination of words to get out of this.</p>\n<h2>Misunderstanding</h2>\n<p>Even when miracle happens (they spend their time and energy to analyze what you say), there will be a very strange phenomenon that you just can't understand: you always feel that they implicitly agree with what you say, but you two can't settle to a consensus, and thus just going circular.</p>\n<p>I think, all conflicts in the world come down to the problem of priority. Usually the situation is like this: person 1 can see that problem A is more important than problem B, and person 2 see that B is more important than A. The problem is that, most of the time both A and B have to be solved together, or else none of them can be achieved. But because both insist that their point is more important, both will miss and pass each other point. Both will feel the conversation is unproductive, and sooner or later one will drop it.</p>\n<p>When this happens, it is just a blind leading a blind, or worse, a blind fight. Investigating the nature of this phenomenon and how to deal with it is my research interest. <strong>My advice to deal with misunderstanding is to use negation, not explanation.</strong></p>\n<h2>Egocentricism</h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egocentrism\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Egocentrism</a> is not about being selfish or have a huge ego, but about being unable to differentiate your mind with others' minds. When you find something interesting, then you will automatically assign that others will find it interesting as well, and will be confused when in fact they don't really care. However you remind yourself about this, this tendency will still activate.</p>\n<p>Don't assume that they will assume that their feedback is wrong. You may be open minded, and they are too, but in practice both of you can't. If you assume that they are curious to know why they are wrong (a kind of trust), then you will tend to give explanation. But in fact they just see that you are defensive. They accuse you for things you have never done, and then either passively drop the conversation or actively block you from further explanation. I term this as "intellectual <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_treatment\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">silent treatment</a>".</p>\n<h2>Seeking feedback</h2>\n<p>When an idea pop up and you feel wonderful, your gut will still tell you that there are much more fields you need to read carefully. Although you don't mind spending more effort on researching, you just want to ask for feedback because it would be much more efficient. Your egocentricism assumes that people will get what you get too. If you want to finish the project as soon as possible to move on to other important things, then your urge to share it will be higher. But STOP! Posting it now will only receive harsh, unreasonable critiques. Listen to your gut, and read all the fields you need first. Good questions only come when your mind is in the ignorance stage, which is the result of understanding the field as it is.</p>\n<p>Having said that, at some point you will see that there is no point to ask questions, and you just want them to read your work as it is. If you have the necessary requirements (literary review, inline citation, methodology, etc.), then you can now submit to an academic journal, and you don't have to be afraid for being misunderstood as a crank anymore.</p>\n<h2>Receiving feedback</h2>\n<p>In case your first and foremost audience of your work is the popular audience, making your writing style necessarily un-academic, then the situation will be complicated, because your most important audience is the academic one. (Yes, sometimes the important thing is not the one you should prioritize – see the Eisenhower method.) Because your work has to serve two different kinds of audience, who have different background, knowledge and expectation, you will have mixed feelings when receiving their feedback:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Popular audience cannot provide useful feedback, but their excitements indicate that you have touched a big problem that they are looking for</li>\n<li>More knowledgeable readers or even academics from distant fields can give useful knowledge, and can play the role of initial gatekeepers. But once they say good luck to you, you know that they cannot help you anymore</li>\n<li>Academics from relevant fields will feel it's vague or wishy washy, because they expect your work to truly be presented in academic form. But if you explicitly say that this is just the phase to capture what you have in your mind, then their attitude will flip 180 degrees</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Let's talk more about the last point. In your mind, having no literary review, methodology or dataset is not important, because you already accept that you don't have one. Therefore, you must say explicitly that the article is just a cursory research to sketch a roadmap for your study, and list all of your shortcomings as best as you can remember. Without this part their expectation will lock their minds, and any of your explanation from now on will be perceived as defensive.</p>\n<h1>For those who want to help</h1>\n<p>Here is my advice for those who want to help. Hopefully it can reduce wasted effort, and bring you maximum happiness:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Always assume that the person you are talking at has something interesting that you can learn</li>\n<li>Be conscious that although they may not know what they are talking about, you may not know what they really want to convey either</li>\n<li>Confirm their correct observations before address your concerns</li>\n<li>Use <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Socratic questioning</a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>Don't feel threaten when they show signs of crankiness. The fact that they accept to be labeled as crank indicates that they have something more important to do. Like you, they are rational creatures, and they have already run cost-benefit analysis before starting the project. When you want to give them advices, you may want to frame it like this:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don't think there is another option to do X / The best way to do this is Y. But since it seems that you know this too, can you explain why you don't think it suits you?</li>\n<li>I don't think you understand concept Z as it is. In my opinion, Z is about a, b, or c, and perhaps c is closer to what you mean. Is that correct?</li>\n</ul>\n<p>You may want to learn about conceptual metaphors if you want to know why sometimes serious ideas are hilariously crazy. I recommend the book <em>Metaphors we live by</em> by Lakoff and Johnson.</p>\n<h1>Links</h1>\n<p>Kletische has some good articles about this:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://influenceadvice.com/handle-false-accusations-everyday-life/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to Handle False Accusations in Everyday Life </a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://influenceadvice.com/win-when-you-forgive/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Why You Win When You Forgive </a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://kletische.com/handle-grow-hateful-criticism%2F\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to Handle, and Grow From, Hateful Criticism </a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>You can also read my research: <a href=\"http://lyminhnhat.com/2018/12/21/a-theory-of-perspective/?utm_source=Stack%20Exchange&utm_medium=Academia&utm_campaign=Perspective&utm_medium=crank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">A theory of perspective</a>. It discusses about various things, two of which are intellectual betrayal, and cold gaze, which are relevant to this answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 177324,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Obviously, it will depend on the context of your discovery but one way to go around is to make an application based on the implications of your ideas. E.g. if you proved p = np, then go make a webpage and dare people to test your application to solve any np problem of any size in seconds. This way it will take them seconds or minutes to figure out if you're a crank or a genius. This approach won't work in all cases, e.g. if you actually proved that p != np.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/24 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18491",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13406/"
]
|
18,498 | <p>I received the following comment from a journal reviewer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a need to conduct a research-based intervention program which
compare between other solutions and your solution. Such research can
provide evidence and support to the importance of this solution over
others.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What does he mean by "research-based intervention program"?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18492,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your interpretation of events is: \"I have a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and the only obstacle to acceptance is that I am not well known and the elites are blocking my work\", then you're unlikely to get good advice on what to do here or elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>The problem, as Raphael indicates, is that while it's <em>possible</em> that this interpretation is correct, it's far more likely that in fact your result does NOT solve the major open problem that you think it does. </p>\n\n<p>Once you admit that this possibility exists, then many steps present themselves, all listed in the very good links provided. Reaching out to people who might comment on your work, looking at the literature to see if approaches like yours have been tried before and have failed, seeing if your solution also solves related (simpler) problems, and so on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18493,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regardless of whether the work is correct or not, the following statement applies:</p>\n\n<p><strong>The burden of proof is on the author to convince the reader of the result.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The community (e.g., editors, reviewers) has no responsibility to evaluate your work to your satisfaction. If the reviewers made a good faith effort to read your paper and were not convinced, then you must make your argument more convincing.</p>\n\n<p>(This does not mean, make a few trivial edits and resubmit. This means, prove your results so thoroughly and in such excruciating detail, and with such demonstrably excellent understanding of the problem context, that they become inarguable. Then figure out a way to express the results in a convincing way.)</p>\n\n<p>If in the process of doing so you find an error, well, you'd be in good company.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18494,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What does your advisor say about all this?</p>\n\n<p>If she really believes you have solved this major problem, she should be moving mountains to help you publish and disseminate it. (It sounds like her name is on it too, so she has an even greater incentive.) But you've used the rather lukewarm phrasing that she \"accepts\" it. Better get her completely on board first, or get her to explain in more detail her reservations (which may indeed turn out to reveal fatal flaws).</p>\n\n<p>The advantage you have over the average crank is that, as a student, you already have ties to the scientific community, through your advisor. <strong>Take advantage of this.</strong> Once you and your advisor are satisfied that your manuscript is of the best possible quality (see ff254's answer), post it on arXiv, and circulate. Your advisor surely knows experts in the field, and should have enough reputation that she can get them interested in it. </p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure about your field, but in mathematics, this currently tends to be the way that the community handles solutions to major open problems. You don't just submit it to <em>Annals</em>, have the referees approve it, and then wait a few months until everyone gets their issue of <em>Annals</em> in the mail and is astonished. Instead, you get the community to study it <em>first</em>. You convince a few experts that it is plausible enough to be worth their attention, and they look at it. Either they find a critical flaw right away (the most common case), or they find a lesser flaw that you or someone else fixes, and maybe, gradually, a consensus develops that it is probably right. <em>That's</em> when you send it to <em>Annals</em>.</p>\n\n<p>One thing that worries me in what you wrote is:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It breaks what most people believe or what they have already proven...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Which is it?</strong> The distinction is crucial. If it contradicts people's intuition, that raises the bar a little, but scientists are used to being surprised. If it contradicts something previously proved, that raises the bar a lot. It puts on you the burden of not only showing that your work is right, but showing specifically why the previously accepted work was actually wrong. (You can't just say \"Mine is right, therefore theirs must be wrong.\") You didn't say anything about having done that. (And if you <em>can't</em> find a flaw in the previous work, then your claim is in fact along the lines of \"Mathematics is inconsistent\". The bar on <em>that</em> one is more or less on the moon.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18495,
"author": "usul",
"author_id": 5899,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5899",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some advice is to very carefully check that the proofs are correct, ask one's supervisor for advice, and seek third opinions. Perhaps the supervisor has colleagues in the research area who would be willing to read the draft and offer concrete feedback.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal submitted to is good, yet the reviewers did not give any useful feedback at all, then there is almost certainly a problem with the abstract and introduction.</p>\n\n<p>The abstract and introduction should make clear the new idea that allows this \"breakthrough\". Presumably many have approached this problem in the past and failed; there may be widespread beliefs about why it is difficult to prove or perhaps even known \"barriers\" to attempted proofs. The abstract and introduction should clearly and briefly mention why such beliefs, objections, or barriers do not apply or how they were overcome.</p>\n\n<p>In short, the abstract and introduction must give the skeptical reader reason to believe the paper could be correct, given the reader's background knowledge. If this is done, I would hope that reviewers would at least mention why they do not believe the result.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18496,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 10,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your question has some issues. Given some of the (now-deleted) questions you have asked on other SE sites in the last few days, I have some reservations about whether your question is being asked in good faith, but taken on its own merits it is a reasonable question so I will try to answer it.</p>\n<p>The main issue is that, even in asking this relatively simple question, your writing is far from clear. If you cannot write clearly in this situation, your chances of writing up a difficult piece of mathematics or theoretical computer science are less than good. For instance:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>His/Her supervisor(s) accept the work and they published it in a highly known journal and they get rejected.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Laying aside issues of subject/verb agreement and consistency of tense, the entire sentence doesn't make sense: you can't publish a paper and get rejected.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It breaks what most people believe</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I don't know what it means to "break what most people believe".</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>or what they have already proven,</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>What? Are you saying that your proof contradicts other proven results? Taken literally, that would mean that you have shown mathematics to be inconsistent. In practice this could only mean that if your result is correct then some previously published work is incorrect. If that's the case then you need to be very clear about that and explain the flaws in the earlier work. It distresses me that you don't really seem to believe this but are just throwing it off as loose language.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>i.e., He/She solves the P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Solving an open problem would not "break what people have already proven"....that's what it means for the problem to be open. Also saying "P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem" is a strange bit of coyness: there is no other problem in theoretical computer science (and very few to none in mathematics as a whole) which is "like" P vs. NP. So it doesn't make sense to give that as an example. It's like saying "i.e., he found the Holy Grail or some other famous cup".</p>\n<p>In other questions you have spoken specifically about having a proof of P vs. NP and then upon questioning have retreated from this. This sort of vacillation about what you have done is a red flag of "crankiness" that will make professionals wary.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The reviewers strongly reject his/her work with no justification and they said that the result must be wrong.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Saying that the result must be wrong is not just a justification for rejection, it's the <em>best</em> justification. No professional reviewer will say something is wrong lightly. Almost any reviewer who says this will point to at least one specific error. If they do not, then in practice it almost certainly means that the entire document did not make enough sense to them to be more specific.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If your advisor accepts the work, the reviewers reject the work without even explain the mistakes (it is the "best" journal in his/her domain) then what he/she must do?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>If you submit a paper to the top journal in your field claiming a solution to the top problem in your field, and your paper does not make sense or does not evince even a correct understanding of the problem, then the editors are likely not to want to spend much time in response. On the other hand, if you are sincerely interested in getting their expertise, it seems reasonable to write back very politely and ask for more specifics about the error. If your response is in any way argumentative then you risk the editorial staff thinking that you will keep hounding them <em>ad infinitum</em>, and at some point they <em>have to</em> stop replying. So you should write back saying that you are not considering resubmitting the paper to that journal but for your own progress it would be extremely helpful to know what is wrong with it. You could also mention that your supervisor found the paper to be correct.</p>\n<p>In fact you could be getting more help on this from your supervisor. If you have really "solved P vs. NP problem or any other well known open problem" and your supervisor believes your solution to be correct, why isn't your supervisor moving heaven and earth to be sure your work is getting the attention it deserves? That doesn't add up. The two possible explanations seem to be (i) your supervisor is being too polite with you: s/he does not actually believe that you have solved P vs. NP; and (ii) your advisor's imprimatur does not carry any weight in the community whatsoever. The latter unfortunately means his/her opinion on the correctness of your work is not worth very much.</p>\n<p>A good way to find out whether it's (i), (ii) or -- I do admit that anything is possible! perhaps the top journal in your field is unfairly ignoring your revolutionary work -- is to seek your advisor's help in getting another faculty member to evaluate the work, preferably someone in the department that you can speak to recently.</p>\n<p>Finally, you seem to have some real worries that if an unknown person solves a famous problem then it somehow doesn't count. This is really not the way academia works, provided the unknown person is capable of presenting the work in a way which makes sense to the experts (and if not, what a shame, but what else could one possibly expect?). Have you heard of the recent example of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Yitang Zhang</a>? Zhang was a non-tenure-track lecturer at the University of New Hampshire when he stunned the mathematical world by proving the existence of bounded prime gaps. He submitted his work to the top mathematical journal...and by all accounts they accepted it <em>with unusual speed</em>. In other words, they received a paper from someone they had probably never heard of, looked at it quickly and saw that it was a plausible attack on a huge open problem, and as a result they sprung into action much more rapidly and thoroughly than for most submissions they get. This is an amazing story, but a true one, and it shows how the community responds to a <em>real</em> situation like this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18502,
"author": "mirkastath",
"author_id": 12712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12712",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>May I add to Nate Eldredge's comprehensive answer that, if your work shakes or shatters the commonly held views in your community, then it is very important that you reconcile those views with yours, by which I mean: show exactly where the community is \"wrong\" or \"not exactly right\" and why. Offer counterexamples, predictions, all you can. </p>\n\n<p>Relativity would be nowhere if it didn't reduce to good old Newtonean mechanics where the latter performed perfectly! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18506,
"author": "Philip Gibbs",
"author_id": 7466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7466",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Despite what people will say it is true that journals will reject papers using author profiling without a proper review. It is hard to say how many papers are rejected this way but Elsevier <a href=\"http://www.elsevier.com/connect/8-reasons-i-rejected-your-article\" rel=\"noreferrer\">say that they reject</a> 30 to 50 percent of papers without a review for other \"technical reasons\". See also <a href=\"http://econ.la.psu.edu/~kkrishna/Papers/The_inside_scoop.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this paper</a> about how editors can save time by looking at author attributes such as affiliation to reject papers without looking at them.</p>\n\n<p>I have personal experience of this because I recently <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.8217\" rel=\"noreferrer\">made significant progress</a> on a well known 100 year old open problem after experts in the field had said that future progress was likely to be very slow. The journal I submitted the paper to rejected it as soon as I confirmed that I had no affiliation. There was no reviewer report and they did not give any specific reason. I had complied with all their technical requirements for submission.</p>\n\n<p>However, I pointed out to them that according to the <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_1.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">code of conduct</a> of the <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">committee on publication ethics</a> to which the journal claims to adhere \"Editorial decisions should not be affected by the origins of the manuscript\" and \"Journals should have a declared mechanism for authors to appeal against editorial decisions.\" To my surprise they responded after a delay to tell me that they would look at it again.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that there are many claimed resolutions of problems such as P vs NP that can be dismissed at a moments glance. This can be done because there are well understood reasons why these problem are hard and a solution would need to address that. Many claimed proofs of open problems by non-academics descend quickly into non-standard language that makes it hard to even address why they are wrong so they are just ignored by the community. It is up to the authors to make sure they communicate their ideas correctly.</p>\n\n<p>If you do have a solution to an open problem my advice is to submit to an open repository such as arXiv. If you can't get an endorser use viXra or figshare (full disclosure: I am viXra admin) Do not pay attention to negative things said about viXra. It's purpose is just to give you an independent time-stamp and an archived copy you can point to. It does not attempt to review or give your work credibility in any way. The last thing you should do is submit to journals or send to experts without having a verified public copy because if it really is a breakthrough there is a real risk of plagiarism that can only be averted by having a prior copy archived. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18570,
"author": "Kaveh",
"author_id": 163,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/163",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, make sure you are not really a crank before trying to convince others. \nRead <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_%28person%29#Common_characteristics_of_cranks\">these common characteristics of cranks</a>. \nIf they apply to you then get professional help.</p>\n\n<p>For the rest of the answer \nI will assume that you have really solved a famous open problem.\nIn the following \n\"he\" refers to a typical non-expert claiming to have a solution for a famous open problem and\n\"she\" refers to an expert in the topic.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>There is no easy shortcut for you!</strong><br>\nIf you are looking for a simple easy shortcut to get your solution verified by an expert\nthen this answer is not for you \nand I can assure you what you want is not going to happen.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand the magnitude of your claim!</strong><br>\nE.g. If you are claiming to have a proof of P is not equal to NP \nthen you are the guy who is claiming to have a design for a rocket \nthat can be built with the currently technology and resources \nto take a human to Andromeda and back safely \nwhile experts are having hard time sending a human to mars. \nIf you are claiming to have a proof of P is equal to NP \nthen you are the guy who is claiming to have a time travel machine.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand why experts are reluctant to directly engage non-experts.</strong><br>\nMany experts would be interested to know about any major progress in their field. \nE.g. there are complexity theorists who \ndo read <em>every</em> P vs. NP related paper posted on <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/find/all/1/ti:+AND+P+NP/0/1/0/all/0/1\">arXiv</a> \n(arXiv has a very lenient acceptance policy regarding P vs. NP claims).\nThey will definitely let other experts know \nif they notice something interesting. \nBut </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>You are not the only one with such claims.</strong><br>\nThere are thousands of people who regularly make such claims.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>All previous ones suffered from trivial issues no expert would have made.</strong><br>\nIt is your job to show you are not one of them.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Her time is valuable.</strong><br>\nFor most it is not really monetary. \nBut I think giving some numbers would be helpful. \nIn my university a graduate student is paid over $40/hour \nto mark simple undergraduate assignments.\nThis is nothing compared to what an expert might charge for consulting in the industry.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Non-experts often lack basic skills and knowledge to understand her replies.</strong><br>\nE.g. he lacks mathematical maturity, \nhe does not know basic definitions and terminology, etc.\nIt is not uncommon that an expert tells a non-expert \nwhat he has is not a proof. \nShe does not mean the proof is incorrect, \nshe means it is not even a proof in the sense that \nan apple is not a proof.\nHe does not understand when he is told it is \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong\">not even wrong!</a>\". To make him understand her reply \nshe would have to teach him those required skills and knowledge,\ntoo much work just to convince him he does not have a solution.\nOften he is not patient nor interested in learning (e.g. reading a textbook),\nhe is only interested in a confirmation of what he believes to be a solution.\nWay too much work in that case.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>It is often impossible to satisfy him.</strong><br>\nBecause of the points mentioned above, \nhe often insists on the validity of his claim \neven after she tells him it is not. \nAt other times where he understands the reply\nhe considers it a simple easy-to-fix error,\nnot a fundamental one.\nHe tries to fix it and get her verify it.\nThis leads to back and forth.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>He underestimates the required time and effort on her part to answer his claim.</strong><br>\nHe thinks it is a simple easy job for her to answer his claim. \nE.g. he expects her to give him a counterexample where his algorithm fails.\nFinding a counterexample for an algorithm is a very difficult task \n(as anyone who has marked undergraduate algorithms or complexity theory assignments would know). \nFinding an explanation why an idea is fundamentally flawed and cannot work \nis even more difficult.</p></li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>He does not understand it is not a puzzle.</strong><br>\nShe is not interested in the question just for its own sake.\nShe expects the solution to the question will be accompanied with\nmajor advances in her field.\nE.g. complexity theorists do not care about P vs. NP just for its own sake.\nThey expect the solution for P vs. NP will come with \nmajor progress in our understanding about the nature of efficient computation and\nits limitations.\nOften he does not understand this.\nHe thinks of the question as a game or puzzle that he thinks he has won and that is it.\nThis attitude is frustrating for experts.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Now here are some tips:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Be humble.</strong><br>\nIt is much easier to get her to have a look at your solution\nif you are genuinely humble and eager to learn and accepting \nif you are told that you are wrong.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure you understand what is required to solve the question.</strong><br>\nE.g. understand that a program that seems to efficiently solve an NP-complete problem is not a proof, \nunderstand that an idea does not make a proof, \nmake sure you understand the definitions and terminology, \netc.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Know the basics.</strong><br>\nI keep repeating this: <em><strong>read a good textbook</strong></em> on the topic and solve its exercises. \nIt is beneficial for you as you will know more and will be more convincing. \nIt is beneficial for her because you will not waste her time \nwith simple mistakes that you would have noticed yourself if you had read a good textbook. \nIt is annoying to deal with people who claim to have solved P vs. NP \nbut repeatedly make basic mistakes that \na good student who has taken an undergraduate course on the topic will not make.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Use your real name.</strong><br>\nNot using your real name indicates that you are trying to avoid suffering any potential negative consequence of your claim being incorrect. \nUsing your real name indicates that you are sure enough to be ready to suffer potential negative professional consequences if you are mistaken, \nso you can be taken more seriously. \nIf you are not completely sure about your claim do not waste her time. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Don't shirk work. Do your share before expecting help from others.</strong><br>\nIf you want her to look at your solution you should spend 10 times more time and effort than she will spend helping you. \nFor claims about P vs. NP you have to do way more.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>You will not get more than one chance.</strong><br>\nMake it count. \nIf on the first page of your paper she finds a silly mistake or a basic error \n(e.g. you do not even know the definitions of P and NP) \nthen she will be done with your claims forever.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Understand the known obstacles for solving the question and why they do not apply to your solution.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you are claiming P is not equal to NP then you should have a good idea \nwhy relaltivization and natural proofs barriers do not apply to your solution. \nSimilarly if you are claiming P is equal to NP.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Try to prove simpler more acceptable claims.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you have a proof of P is equal to NP then \nyou should also have a proof of simpler weaker major results like Factoring is in P. \nIf you can extract a clean proof for such claims then \nyou can first try publishing them.\nSuch results can be much easier to get verified as they are considered more likely.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure your solution is not too strong.</strong><br>\nIn other words, make sure it does not contradict other known results. \nE.g. if your argument for P is equal to NP would also show that P is equal to ExpTime \n(which we know is false) \nthen you are in trouble \n(Scott Aaronson mentions a few more cases of too strong results in his blog post\n<a href=\"http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=458\">Eight Signs A Claimed P≠NP Proof Is Wrong</a>).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Check your solution.</strong><br>\nMake sure there are no mistakes. \nAll steps should easily seen to follow from the previous ones. \nMake sure you do not make extra assumptions at any point.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Recheck your solution.</strong><br>\nPut your proof aside completely for two weeks or more. \nDo not think about it. \nThen go back and recheck it with a fresh mind \nas if you were checking someone else's solution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Build evidence for your claims.</strong><br>\nE.g. if you have a <em>really efficient</em> algorithm \n(i.e. its running time is a polynomial with small constants)\nwhich you have proven to solve an NP-complete problem then \nit should not be a difficult task to beat the state-of-art <a href=\"http://www.satcompetition.org/\">SAT-solvers</a> or \nto break various cryptographic protocols based on hardness conjectures \n(those conjectures will be false if P is equal to NP).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Write easy-to-read concise clean abstract and introduction.</strong><br>\nDo not put any unnecessary background/history/philosophical consequences/discussion of importance/general commentary. \nIt is a famous open problem;\nevery expert knows its significance.\nSave them for your final version.\nRight now you should focus on convincing her that your claim is correct.\nShe first wants an easy-to-read short error-free convincing high-level explanation of your solution. \nIt should also explain why any known obstacles do not apply to your solution.\nIt should also contain any other evidence that can support the correctness of your claim. If you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure the rest of your paper matches your abstract and introduction.</strong><br>\nIf you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Make sure every detail in your paper is correct.</strong><br>\nFollow the standard structure of papers in the topic.\nCheck a few famous well-written papers in the area that have solved major open problems.\nAll definitions should be clear, easy to understand, and rigorous. \nEvery theorem (lemma, etc.) should be clearly and rigorously stated, and\nthe proof of each of them should follow their statement. \nShe should be able to see why each claim in the proof is correct based on the previous steps, definitions, and lemmas without too much trouble. \nIf you fail the reader is not likely to continue reading.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Have a general expert who <em>personally</em> knows you check your solution.</strong><br>\nI am assuming that you do not know personally any expert in the area of the question.\nThe closer the general expert is to the area of the question the better it will be. \nE.g. for P vs. NP, you can ask a mathematician, preferably a theoretical computer scientist.\nOpinion of people who are not experts in the topic may not have much weight \nbut it will make sure you are not making some simple mistake.<br>\nUnderstand that at this point someone \nwho does not know you personally has no reason to check your solution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Have <em>another</em> general expert who knows you <em>personally</em> check your solution.</strong><br>\nRome was not built in a day. \nYou have to build confidence in your solution little by little.\nThose you convince can become your bridges to reach the experts.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>If they are convinced ask them to show your solution to an expert they know.</strong><br>\nE.g. for P vs. NP, ask them to show it to a complexity theorist they know.\nAt this point you are less likely to be making a basic mistake and \nyou have good evidence to support your claim. \nYour solution now requires the expertise of an expert in the topic.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>If she is convinced she will definitely show it to other experts.</strong><br>\nNews about any major progress in an area will spread very fast among the experts in that area. Other experts (complexity theorists in the case P vs. NP) will recheck your solution independently. \nIf they are convinced you will probably get an invitation to submit your paper to a famous journal (something like <a href=\"http://jacm.acm.org/\">JACM</a> in the case of P vs. NP).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Do not claim to solve a famous open problem more than once.</strong><br>\nAs I wrote above, \nyou will not get more than one chance! \nYou do not have a right to ask her to see what is wrong with your fixed solution \nif you made a mistake.\n(The exception is when she <em>explicitly</em> asks you to try to fix your solution and \nsend the fixed version back to her.)</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Do not expect an explanation for why your idea cannot work.</strong><br>\nIt is unlikely that someone would be able to show formally that an informal idea cannot work. \nIf the idea is formal enough then the reason that it cannot work can be a new interesting result in itself; \nhowever, proving such results can be even more difficult than solving the original question. \nIn the case of P vs. NP,\nif you are claiming to have an efficient algorithm for an NP-hard problem \nyou should not expect her to find an input where your algorithm fails.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In summary,</p>\n\n<p><strong>Understand that she is not required to help you.\nIf she is helping you she is doing so out of generosity.\nShe has a right to stop it whenever she pleases without any explanation.\nBe mindful of her time, \ndo not waste it for what you could/should have done yourself,\ntry to make her job in helping you as easy as possible,\nand do not do anything that will make her regret trying to help you.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18615,
"author": "Thorsten S.",
"author_id": 13452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13452",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While most of the answers seems to have much confidence in the academic system, I would like to offer another viewpoint.</p>\n\n<p>I think it is in fact much harder for an unknown (to a specific field) to\npresent a solution to the scientic community than normally expected. </p>\n\n<p>Scientists <em>do</em> screw up and sometimes royally.<br>\nFirst example: The infamous Monty Hall problem.<br>\nMore than 65% of all professional answers to Marilyn (with all sorts of academic\ngrades including statisticians) strongly rejected their answers, sometimes with\noutright jeers and taunts.\nThis included Paul Erdos and Straight Dope Cecil Adams.\nSo even the majority of experts can fail.</p>\n\n<p>Second example: The also infamous neutrino anomaly.\nThe interesting thing here is not the error itself, but the reaction on\nArxiv. Anyone who would have dared to offer superluminal theories before\nthe announcement would have been immediately declared as relativity crank.\nAfter the announcement papers came flooding in offering all sorts of\nsuperluminal theories explaining what we know now to be simply a\nbad cable.</p>\n\n<p>What are the problems an unknown may face ?</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/registerhelp\">Arxiv.</a> You need an affiliation from an university or research institute\nand/or an endorsement from a know author. Arxiv can revoke or limit your\naccess without explanation. This requirement also applies to fully qualified\nscientists which are working in companies.</p></li>\n<li><p>Journals. Too many people are trying to get their results published in too few\nrespectable journals. Journals also pretty scale bad, you have to wait a long\ntime to get published. Lesser known journals may have lower barriers, but you\nhave the real danger that the contribution is missed. And even the lower\njournals may reject the paper.</p></li>\n<li><p>Scientists. The situation is different in various countries, but normally\nscientists are overworked and underpaid. They have not the time nor the\nresources to review contributions with the very slim chance to get a\nscientific jackpot.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If someone thinks the viewpoint is not valid, try just for fun to supply\na normal paper under a pseudonym and the home address.</p>\n\n<p>The only viable option I see is to get contact to the scientists in the field\nand try to work with them over the contribution which may be harder than it\nsounds. The list provided by Kaveh is a good resource to start with.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18623,
"author": "rumtscho",
"author_id": 103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/103",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>By attacking your own proof even stronger than the others do. </p>\n\n<p>Seriously, there is a reason why people in your discipline haven't been able to find the answer for centuries. The a priori probability that you are wrong is so high that even when you have created a good looking proof, the a posteriori probability that you are right is way too low. This means that, if you know enough of your own discipline, you should not be convinced that you solved it. Given a problem which has resisted solution for a long time, being convinced that you solved it just because you have a proof you believe in is a sure sign of a crackpot. </p>\n\n<p>So non-crackpot behavior in such a case will be to try to take the proof apart, shoot it down, tear it to pieces from all possible angles. This is what your peers will be doing, and this is what they will expect you to be doing. To forget your pride, your subjective biases, and to be merciless to your own result. </p>\n\n<p>They you only believe you after you have found more ways to disprove your result than they themselves can think of, tried them all, and failed in all of them. And your paper has to clearly show that this is what you did. Anything else will earn you the crackpot title. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38297,
"author": "Michael Wehar",
"author_id": 28225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my experience as a graduate student, it seems that researchers who are passionate about their work do approximately the same thing regardless of its <strong>supposed importance</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Here's what to do:</strong></p>\n\n<p>(1) Write up your work as best you can while also discussing the ideas and concepts with your friends, collaborators, co-workers, etc.</p>\n\n<p>(2) Promote your work to other researches, friends, collaborators, etc. But, often people are busy so keep your expectations low and courtesy high.</p>\n\n<p>(3) Pinpoint your audience and seek out the appropriate journals, workshops, and conferences to submit to.</p>\n\n<p>(4) If you have any questions or concerns before submitting, contact someone affiliated with the conference. I've had a positive experience doing this, but sometimes you get ignored.</p>\n\n<p>(5) Be ready for rejection because you are more likely than not to get rejected (even if your results are important, actually especially if they are important).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Remarks:</strong></p>\n\n<p>(a) I like to think that the quality of reviews is associated with the clarity of the paper, but I've received some questionable reviews in the past that seem like scattered words that may or may not be related to my work. Just don't hold a grudge and happily try again.</p>\n\n<p>(b) If something's important to you and you're financially capable, then getting rejected once or twice is alright as long as you keep trying to improve your presentation and keep communicating with others.</p>\n\n<p>(c) You don't want to go off the face of the earth and live like a hermit. That's not going to help anyone and especially not you.</p>\n\n<p>(d) Finally, be open minded. People do make mistakes and sometimes the thing that caused the mistake is meaningful.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 76677,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, \"solving famous open problems\" does not happen in a vacuum. There must be a good reason why the solution occurred to <em>you</em> after having eluded many others.</p>\n\n<p>A possible reason is that you are an expert in some new technique or method of analysis. Then the trick is to establish yourself as an expert in this \"new\" field. Once you've done that, it is easier to claim that your mastery of this one area enabled you to solve the \"unsolved\" problem (providing you can demonstrate the relevance of your field). For instance, if you were a pioneer in subatomic physics who discovered that Newtonian physics didn't work in the subatomic area, acceptance of your \"proof\" would hinge on people's acceptance of you as a subatomic expert.</p>\n\n<p>The other thing is if you have really discovered a new solution to a problem, the implication is that a lot of what is currently written in the field in relation to this problem is wrong, or at least needs to be re-thought. The way to prove yourself is to start identifying at a low level, and rising to progressively higher levels, applications that are now \"voided\" by your discovery. If you can prove that a whole \"stream\" of ideas needs to be re-thought, and then present your discovery as a \"common\" solution, people will take you much more seriously. An example was when people figured out that you could create a new system of \"non-Euclidean\" geometry just by changing a few assumptions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 77293,
"author": "Laurent Duval",
"author_id": 38057,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38057",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some very important papers have been rejected first, some were not even published.</p>\n\n<p>If you are sufficiently sure about your result, and want to set a date for your discovery, and are not afraid that it sometimes takes time to demonstrate and convince people of the correctness, put your paper online on some <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">open archive</a>, while you work at an hopefully published version. </p>\n\n<p>Some readers may discover a flaw, and perhaps help you publish.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 126941,
"author": "Ooker",
"author_id": 14341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Prepare for your fearlessness. You will need to use it frequently.</em></p>\n<hr />\n<p>Let's say our goal is to accomplish <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18570/14341\">Kaveh's list</a>. Assuming he has some experience in academic research, then each of these statements are equivalent:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>His priority is not really to have his work accepted, but actually about not being misunderstood (the actual premise of the question is about having productive feedback)</li>\n<li>For him she is just stating the obvious (the upper part of the list), and telling him to do things he is already doing (the lower part)</li>\n<li>She needs him to accomplish the list, but he cannot do that if she accuses him for doing the thing he didn't do</li>\n<li>The problem of convincing her that he is not a crank is reduced to the emotional and misunderstanding problems</li>\n</ul>\n<p>I think that in all discussions about cranks the overwhelming assumption is that he is hubris. This is, unfortunately, one-sided, because the actual emotions should be <strong>guilt</strong> and <strong>frustration</strong> . He is guilty for worrying he is hubris, and frustrated for her misjudge that he is hubris. With all my respect, think most experts lack the necessary experience to give an efficient advice.</p>\n<p><sup> Because this answer doesn't attempt to answer the problems that most established experts want to address, it is basically a <a href=\"https://interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/q/2511/86\">frame challenge</a> answer.</sup></p>\n<p>The rest of the answer is just an elaboration on how to deal with emotional reactions and misunderstandings in each specific case. Here is the table of content for this answer:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dealing with your emotions</li>\n<li>Dealing with their reactions</li>\n<li>Other problems</li>\n<li>For those who want to help</li>\n<li>Links</li>\n</ul>\n<p>You can also read an answer for a generalized question (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/revisions/126941/1\">what challenges one may face during the project</a>, not just how to convince the experts). I will assume that your platform to get feedback on your work is Reddit, but it's not a big deal.</p>\n<h1>Dealing with your emotions</h1>\n<p>First, there are two things to begin with:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Epistemologically, it seems that in order to solve a hard problem, you need to be aware to the solution <em>a priori</em><br />\n<sup>Epistemology is a field in philosophy studying about the nature of knowledge and how we acquire it. I haven't read much about this though.</sup></li>\n<li>Psychologically, when you are aware of yourself, these <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-conscious_emotions\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">self-conscious emotions</a> will evoke: pride, shame, guilt, and embarrassment</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Because doing research is to prove that you are wrong before proving you are right, a natural thing when you think you know something is have skepticism about yourself. So alongside with the specific problem you are working with you will ask these self-conscious questions:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Am I claiming a thing that I haven't proved it yet?</li>\n<li>Am I claiming that I know better than the experts, when I lack formal education?</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Since the answers to those questions should be yes, they will evoke self-conscious emotions, drifting you from the one and only thing you should focus on: the problem you are working at. You will enter a feedback loop of questioning yourself: the answer for those questions is the reason you questioning yourself at the first place. The real answer lies in the work you are researching, not about whether you are sane or not.</p>\n<p>To deal with <strong>fantasy</strong> (a kind of pride), try to imagine how a life of a famous person would actually be. For every kind of success you are dreaming of, there are people who have already got it. So say you dream about the Nobel prize, ask yourself this question: how did Einstein live with his fame and money? When you realize that in fact all famous persons are annoyed for being famous, then your fantasy is cut. By being able to put yourself into their shoes, you can detach to your emotions, and get back to reality. At that time, if you still wonder what you will do when you become famous, then the only thing you want is a dark and quiet place to have a dreamless sleep through it.</p>\n<p>Please be aware that you may have <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_complex\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">messiah complex</a>. You may not have grandiose delusion, but the thinking that (1) only you can provide a solution that no one seems to see, and (2) in other to deliver that solution, you have to overcome the skepticism regardless how harsh it is, can develop this complex. People may also accuse you for performing <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">gaslighting</a> as well. All of these will make the guilt about yourself even stronger.</p>\n<p><sup>To distinguish them with true psychological problems, whose root is insecurity, I will call them as "intellectual messiah complex" and "intellectual gaslighting".</sup></p>\n<p>Because the fear that you are delusional only continue when in fact you see that you still have fantasy, so when you have successfully cut it, then the fear itself will disappear. You will not feel shame, guilt or embarrass about your work anymore.</p>\n<p>In general, the emotions are only intense when your research is still at the vague phase. The more knowledge you acquire, the less frequent they show up.</p>\n<h1>Dealing with their reactions</h1>\n<p>In my experience, there are these types of unproductive response: labeling and sarcasm.</p>\n<h2>Labeling</h2>\n<p>When they tell that you are crank, just give them this <a href=\"http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">crackpot index</a>, list all the points that may apply to you, and explain how they are wrong. If they accuse you for being arrogant, tell them that confidently walking into a storm with a smile is different to seeking for attention. If they think that you are insane (walking into a storm with a smile is insane obviously), it would be much easier if you can have the conversation face-to-face. Only by seeing how your eyes are determinate but your mind is not closed at all, that they can assume that you are not. Don't be embarrass for telling them how you have prepared for the project.</p>\n<p>Let's discuss more about insanity. I think it is best to "help" them reach the conclusion that you are insane, because it is no longer a label on your behavior, but a label on your rationality. When you reach that stage, they will have a strong motivation to continue the conversation, and your evidences will be listened carefully. If you can create a cognitive dissonance in their mind, then their pattern-matching will be silent, and they will not be locked in their perspective anymore.</p>\n<p>Respond to their labelling (crank, arrogant, insane, stupid, high, bias, spam, word salad, not even wrong, woowoo, pseudoscience, time- wasting, etc.) by giving the definition of the word and show why it doesn't apply to you. Have a note listing all your prepared answers for each label, so that you don't need to rely on your poor memory. To deal with skepticism, you need to <strong>immediately</strong> form <strong>perfect combination of words,</strong> and your brain will put you down. (More details later.)</p>\n<h2>Sarcasm</h2>\n<p>If they simply making some jokes, it may be true that it is actually funny. In that case, perhaps it is best to <strong>continue the joke</strong>. Seeing how you actually enjoy their jokes will make them see that it doesn't affect you at all. Like if you are a fat person, then joking on your fatness will make them see that you are aware of your shortcoming, and it's just that you don't have time to solve it yet. If you are a blind, then having a joke involving your disability will make the non-blinds astonishingly surprised. They will perceived you as invincible now.</p>\n<p>If it's really hurt and you can't think of a clever thing to say, then perhaps it's best to remind them that they are in a place that mocking is not acceptable. Like a smack down show, they literally see you as the arrogant prideful guy who need to be taught. Note down links to comedic shows, where making fun of others is the goal, like WWE shows, higaniga conspiracy theory videos, or mocking subreddits, and show them how hilarious their actions are. For example, you can say:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Wow, r/Buddhism becomes r/WWE now?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Or you can invite an authority to deal with this:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I don't think this behavior is appropriate. I'll report the mods/I believe others don't find this appropriate as well.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>In short, be clever when dealing with ad hominem. The problem is that you can't be clever when your mind is clouded with anger. So you need to prepare for clever moments. When you can do that, then their next response will likely be productive again.</p>\n<p>But in all, don't interact with them because you feel misunderstood, but because of the knowledge they have. Try to convert questions about your identity/self (e.g. "am I crank?") to question about definition (e.g. "what is crank?"). Show how you possess a rigid body of knowledge of what they are trying to convey, with phrases like "psychologically speaking", "what you are talking about is called ______ in philosophy", "in the field of informal logic", etc. <strong>They are relevant interesting academic fields that they don't know of.</strong> If you think that they have knowledge on what you need, only focus on that, and ignore any unreasonable critique at you.</p>\n<p>When you have solved all of the emotional problems, then 90% of the conversations now are productive. But there will still other problems.</p>\n<h1>Other problems</h1>\n<h2>Memorial problem</h2>\n<p>You may have wasted so much time to read about crackpotism, conspiracy theories, delusion, etc. You may have wasted so much time on conversations that at first people strongly disagree with you, but after some talks it turns out that they don't really disagree with what you actual mean, and all of this is just misunderstanding. Take note on every evidence that that make you feel you are on the right track. Don't let your research about your sanity gone.</p>\n<p>The problem of being unable to explain yourself is because of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">tacit knowledge</a> and the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tonguehttps:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_of_the_tongue\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">tip of the tongue</a> phenomenon. When you have a very strong evidence that you are not a crank, then after a week or so what is left is just a feeling that you are not. Lacking the evidence, you will be dragged into the loop again. You need to immediately make a perfect combination of words to get out of this.</p>\n<h2>Misunderstanding</h2>\n<p>Even when miracle happens (they spend their time and energy to analyze what you say), there will be a very strange phenomenon that you just can't understand: you always feel that they implicitly agree with what you say, but you two can't settle to a consensus, and thus just going circular.</p>\n<p>I think, all conflicts in the world come down to the problem of priority. Usually the situation is like this: person 1 can see that problem A is more important than problem B, and person 2 see that B is more important than A. The problem is that, most of the time both A and B have to be solved together, or else none of them can be achieved. But because both insist that their point is more important, both will miss and pass each other point. Both will feel the conversation is unproductive, and sooner or later one will drop it.</p>\n<p>When this happens, it is just a blind leading a blind, or worse, a blind fight. Investigating the nature of this phenomenon and how to deal with it is my research interest. <strong>My advice to deal with misunderstanding is to use negation, not explanation.</strong></p>\n<h2>Egocentricism</h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egocentrism\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Egocentrism</a> is not about being selfish or have a huge ego, but about being unable to differentiate your mind with others' minds. When you find something interesting, then you will automatically assign that others will find it interesting as well, and will be confused when in fact they don't really care. However you remind yourself about this, this tendency will still activate.</p>\n<p>Don't assume that they will assume that their feedback is wrong. You may be open minded, and they are too, but in practice both of you can't. If you assume that they are curious to know why they are wrong (a kind of trust), then you will tend to give explanation. But in fact they just see that you are defensive. They accuse you for things you have never done, and then either passively drop the conversation or actively block you from further explanation. I term this as "intellectual <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_treatment\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">silent treatment</a>".</p>\n<h2>Seeking feedback</h2>\n<p>When an idea pop up and you feel wonderful, your gut will still tell you that there are much more fields you need to read carefully. Although you don't mind spending more effort on researching, you just want to ask for feedback because it would be much more efficient. Your egocentricism assumes that people will get what you get too. If you want to finish the project as soon as possible to move on to other important things, then your urge to share it will be higher. But STOP! Posting it now will only receive harsh, unreasonable critiques. Listen to your gut, and read all the fields you need first. Good questions only come when your mind is in the ignorance stage, which is the result of understanding the field as it is.</p>\n<p>Having said that, at some point you will see that there is no point to ask questions, and you just want them to read your work as it is. If you have the necessary requirements (literary review, inline citation, methodology, etc.), then you can now submit to an academic journal, and you don't have to be afraid for being misunderstood as a crank anymore.</p>\n<h2>Receiving feedback</h2>\n<p>In case your first and foremost audience of your work is the popular audience, making your writing style necessarily un-academic, then the situation will be complicated, because your most important audience is the academic one. (Yes, sometimes the important thing is not the one you should prioritize – see the Eisenhower method.) Because your work has to serve two different kinds of audience, who have different background, knowledge and expectation, you will have mixed feelings when receiving their feedback:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Popular audience cannot provide useful feedback, but their excitements indicate that you have touched a big problem that they are looking for</li>\n<li>More knowledgeable readers or even academics from distant fields can give useful knowledge, and can play the role of initial gatekeepers. But once they say good luck to you, you know that they cannot help you anymore</li>\n<li>Academics from relevant fields will feel it's vague or wishy washy, because they expect your work to truly be presented in academic form. But if you explicitly say that this is just the phase to capture what you have in your mind, then their attitude will flip 180 degrees</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Let's talk more about the last point. In your mind, having no literary review, methodology or dataset is not important, because you already accept that you don't have one. Therefore, you must say explicitly that the article is just a cursory research to sketch a roadmap for your study, and list all of your shortcomings as best as you can remember. Without this part their expectation will lock their minds, and any of your explanation from now on will be perceived as defensive.</p>\n<h1>For those who want to help</h1>\n<p>Here is my advice for those who want to help. Hopefully it can reduce wasted effort, and bring you maximum happiness:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Always assume that the person you are talking at has something interesting that you can learn</li>\n<li>Be conscious that although they may not know what they are talking about, you may not know what they really want to convey either</li>\n<li>Confirm their correct observations before address your concerns</li>\n<li>Use <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Socratic questioning</a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>Don't feel threaten when they show signs of crankiness. The fact that they accept to be labeled as crank indicates that they have something more important to do. Like you, they are rational creatures, and they have already run cost-benefit analysis before starting the project. When you want to give them advices, you may want to frame it like this:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don't think there is another option to do X / The best way to do this is Y. But since it seems that you know this too, can you explain why you don't think it suits you?</li>\n<li>I don't think you understand concept Z as it is. In my opinion, Z is about a, b, or c, and perhaps c is closer to what you mean. Is that correct?</li>\n</ul>\n<p>You may want to learn about conceptual metaphors if you want to know why sometimes serious ideas are hilariously crazy. I recommend the book <em>Metaphors we live by</em> by Lakoff and Johnson.</p>\n<h1>Links</h1>\n<p>Kletische has some good articles about this:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://influenceadvice.com/handle-false-accusations-everyday-life/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to Handle False Accusations in Everyday Life </a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://influenceadvice.com/win-when-you-forgive/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Why You Win When You Forgive </a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://kletische.com/handle-grow-hateful-criticism%2F\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">How to Handle, and Grow From, Hateful Criticism </a></li>\n</ul>\n<p>You can also read my research: <a href=\"http://lyminhnhat.com/2018/12/21/a-theory-of-perspective/?utm_source=Stack%20Exchange&utm_medium=Academia&utm_campaign=Perspective&utm_medium=crank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">A theory of perspective</a>. It discusses about various things, two of which are intellectual betrayal, and cold gaze, which are relevant to this answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 177324,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
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"text": "<p>Obviously, it will depend on the context of your discovery but one way to go around is to make an application based on the implications of your ideas. E.g. if you proved p = np, then go make a webpage and dare people to test your application to solve any np problem of any size in seconds. This way it will take them seconds or minutes to figure out if you're a crank or a genius. This approach won't work in all cases, e.g. if you actually proved that p != np.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18498",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1070/"
]
|
18,499 | <p>I was reading this Harvard Business Review article, <a href="http://hbr.org/2007/07/the-making-of-an-expert/ar/1" rel="nofollow">The Making of an Expert</a> and they were offering a PDF purchase.</p>
<p>Are there major differences between the content of the PDF and the free article?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18500,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many publisher offer a teaser - an excerpt of an article - as an advert for the full article. The teaser may contain the abstract, some graphics, maybe a lay summary or press release about the article, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>In the case of your Harvard Business Review article, they let you read the first eight paragraphs, which gives you an idea of the article's content and style. The full article is about five times longer than that excerpt.</p>\n\n<p>If you buy the pdf, you get the full article, together with its references, and any supplementary information. (though in this particular case, there are neither references nor supplementary information).</p>\n\n<p>Note that five pages of text can get turned into nine pages within a journal, thanks to graphics and other materials that appear in the PDF, but don't appear in a text-only version: for example, in the PDF of the article in question, the first page consists of a single image. The text-only version may or may not contain the side-bars that appear in the PDF (\"Things to Look Out for When Judging Expertise\").</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18501,
"author": "mirkastath",
"author_id": 12712,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12712",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>EnergyNumbers' answer is quite complete. In this particular case of the HBR article, the link you provide leads to the first paragraphs of the article and not to the complete article. Notice that, after the first eight paragraphs (as well as at the beginning), the image of a key appears. This signifies that the rest (and likely most) of the article is \"locked\". Should you be interested to read the whole article, you are instructed to buy it - or, in the event that you are a HBR subscriber, to simply login. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18499",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13411/"
]
|
18,512 | <p>I am currently trying to read an article on a particular topic. I really want to read and reference the proper original article, and attribute the work to the ones who deserve it; however, I'm finding it hard to determine just who that is.</p>
<p>I have found articles, all of which seem to be ripped off from the same source. It could be that one of them is the original, or none of them are. (Some of them are obviously fake.)</p>
<p>I'm inclined to believe a particular one is legitimate. It's the one with the earliest date, which admittedly can be faked, but it's also in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, which I trust.</p>
<p>However, I'm not even sure how much I can trust any digital source now, because one of the other articles turns up in search results from my own institute's digital library! It seems they're indexing a particular journal that is not trustworthy.</p>
<p>So how do I determine the original authors of the work, or who can I trust to tell me?</p>
<hr />
<p>As an example of what I'm talking about, here's what I'm witnessing:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ijltet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/6.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IBC Secured Key Partition for A Peer-To-Peer
Network in Delivery of Message</a></li>
<li><a href="https://airccse.org/journal/jwmn/0212wmn11.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Implementing a Secure Key Issuing Scheme for Communication in P2P Networks</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ajer.org/papers/v2(9)/V029154162.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IBC Secured Key Partition for A Peer-To-Peer Network</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4976775" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SKIP: A Secure Key Issuing Scheme for Peer-to-Peer Networks</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The third article is the one that is returned by my library's journal index. The last one is the one I believe to be original.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18517,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately, there's no completely reliable way to determine whether a paper is plagiarized, but I think you're right in this case.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https://airccse.org/journal/jwmn/0212wmn11.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2012 IJWMN paper</a> and <a href=\"https://ijltet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/6.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2014 IJLTET paper</a> are pretty clearly plagiarized. Of course I can't prove anything, and one of them could in principle be the original, but it would take quite a story to explain how the same text was stolen and published by someone else three to five years earlier. A one-year delay might be due to refereeing or a conference rejection, but three to five years is a very long delay for CS.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https://www.ajer.org/papers/v2%289%29/V029154162.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2013 AJER paper</a> is a strange case. It does copy some text without attribution, both from the 2009 paper and from the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Wikipedia article on software design</a>, but it has worse problems than that: the paper seems to have virtually no content beyond mock ups of what the user interface might look like, with messages such as "Your Secret Key is: 1004". Even aside from the plagiarism, it's safe to ignore this article as having essentially no research content.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4976775\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2009 ICNS paper</a> looks to me like the original. There are several tests one can do to try to gauge this:</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p>You can do web searches for sentence fragments, such as "vulnerable to a large spectrum of attacks" or "introducing IBC into P2P". If you do a reasonable job of guessing distinctive phrases, you'll find a short list of potential word-for-word plagiarized papers. (Annoyingly, search engines will sometimes miss matches due to not parsing PDF files well, so there's a random element to this.) In this case, searches show that the 2009 paper took some wording from a <a href=\"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4627256/;jsessionid=-l96IPDiuLaq62sM5XKyv9gKetzLW6jMgHpu463i08YPLo27EKmo!-224115674\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2008 paper</a> by other authors, such as the bit about vulnerability, but seems not to have copied the whole paper. The borrowed wording is objectionable, but it doesn't invalidate any originality in content.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>You can investigate the prestige of the journal/conference. Plagiarists are less likely to get away with publishing in high-prestige venues, because their theft is more likely to be noticed. I don't think ICNS is particularly prestigious, though, so this criterion doesn't help. The papers from 2009 are archived by the IEEE, but the <a href=\"https://retractionwatch.com/2014/02/24/springer-ieee-withdrawing-more-than-120-nonsense-papers/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">IEEE archives a lot of junk on behalf of other conference organizers</a>, so the IEEE archiving shouldn't be viewed as indicating high quality. It's very different from journals or conferences run by the IEEE.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>You can see whether there are a lot of citations. That wouldn't prove anything, but it would suggest that people citing the paper weren't aware of plagiarism allegations. In this case, Google Scholar finds only four citations, so we don't learn much.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n<p>So in summary, it looks likely that the 2009 paper is the original (although I've only looked briefly, so it would be worth doing a few more searches). That's a remarkable collection of plagiarism you've uncovered, and I can see how it would be unsettling, but I think this is an unusual case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18518,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One approach is to filter by journal.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The so-called 'American Journal of Engineering Research' (article 1)</li>\n<li>The 'Academy & Industry Research Collaboration Center' (AIRCC,\npublisher of the 'International journal of wireless & mobile\nnetworks', article 2) </li>\n<li>The 'Association of Computer Electronics and\nElectrical Engineers' (ACEEE, publisher of the 'International Journal\nof Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology', article 3)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>are all fake journals and 'predatory publishers' as listed by <a href=\"http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/\">Jeffrey Beall's list</a>.</p>\n\n<p>This means that no scrutiny was applied in the publishing process, in fact there was no editorial process whatsoever, and thus instances of plagiarism are to be expected. I would recommend not to cite anything found in these pseudo-journals.</p>\n\n<p>The other clue is the publication date obviously. The IEEE mark does not constitute an insurance of quality in itself, as pointed out by Anonymous Math. but I would say that it is your best shot in this case.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18512",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13420/"
]
|
18,513 | <p>When I wrote my syllabus for this term, I added the line "Late work will not be accepted." In the past, I just took off a large percentage of the grade per day, but I became tired of the added work of managing papers that students handed to me at random times and places.</p>
<p>The students, naturally, complain this policy too harsh, especially when some larger projects are worth 25% of their grade. I searched the Internet to try to establish what the norm is. I found many syllabi from famous universities, but found very few even list any policies at all.</p>
<p>Is "no late work" a typical rule?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18515,
"author": "Neo",
"author_id": 6898,
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"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "<p>I have never seen a no late work policy; on the contrary, most of the classes I have taken/TAed accepted late work and took off no credit when the amount of time late was reasonable (1 or 2 days if you were asking questions / professor knew you were working on it.) This is probably due to the fact that most of my classes have had 5-10 students in them; the classes that I have taken with 20+ students have all accepted late work with a similar penalty as the one you described. </p>\n\n<p>The question follows: Do you want every students best work, or do you want every students best work within a very strict time frame? If an assignment is difficult, and not just time heavy, it might be worth relaxing a no late work policy in my opinion.</p>\n\n<p>It is entirely possible to have a hybrid, in which weekly assignments are not accepted late but larger assignments can be late with penalty. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18519,
"author": "mort",
"author_id": 13427,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13427",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Disclaimer: I am a student in Central Europe (Computer Science), but an enthusiastic one ;)</p>\n\n<p>\"No late work\" rules are common for both courses with many (>100) and with few participants. Usually, there will still be a couple of students trying to get a deadline-extension, but in my experience this number is far smaller if you make the \"no late work\" rule clear to everyone. </p>\n\n<p>Just keep in mind that students have other work besides your course and make sure that there's enough time to do the assignment. I don't really see the point to give less than two weeks - if a student falls ill for a couple of days or is otherwise occupied, a second week will give him or her the chance to nevertheless produce a good solution.</p>\n\n<p>Even for regular homework assignments, I think that giving the students two weeks time will result in far better hand-ins: they can ask questions/request clarifications one week after the assignment was published in the lecture. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18520,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am sure this varies between lecturers/courses; some universities may have more or less stringent policies but none that I have seen. In my own surroundings, a deadline used to be a deadline. This has softened over time due to many circumstances. Lecturers/teachers are more stressed and enforcing deadlines inevitably involves more work; students seem to find more and more excuses for not being on time. It is hard to point the finger in one or the other direction. </p>\n\n<p>It is, however, interesting to think about the fact that deadlines are still deadlines in society. If you do not send in your tax report in time you are fined; if yo do not pay your bills you are \"fined\" etc. More critically, if you cannot finish a work task on time you may lose out on salary increases promotion or even lose a job, the latter particularly if you run your own business. So learning to cope with deadlines is important yet it seems to not be prioritized.</p>\n\n<p>So what can be done? Key is to be very clear on what will happen from the start. If you make assessment criteria you can state that a late task means fail/zero points or whatever the perspective is. At the same time you can say that for a larger task, points will be deducted or grade lowered a step at a time after each time period the work is late. My former advisor gave all of us the option of being late but told us that points will be deducted. It was up to us to judge if we would benefit from being late (Better answer gave more points than was deducted for being late). This fostered some form of responsibility where you as a student had the power to decide.</p>\n\n<p>So I do not think that it is difficult to impose rules for lateness that allows students to assess the effects of being late. Learning is of course about learning a subject but it is also about learning to function in society (in the work place) and that involves developing work standards that are good. So when imposing rules that involve lateness, it is also important to make the rules very clear and also to provide suggestions for what you perceive as a good work ethic/schedule to pass the tasks well, i.e. provide the students with enough information to also see what will not work. If you fail to do so the lateness effects may only seem as punishment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18523,
"author": "user13430",
"author_id": 13430,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13430",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I specify a due date, but have a 48 hr, no questions asked, grace period. If a student gets an assignment in by the due date, I give a small amount of extra credit (typically 0.25 pts added to his or her final percentage*). I do not accept assignments after the grace period. I never get complaints about this policy.</p>\n\n<p>* I don't round final percentages. Students are in charge of their own rounding by getting the extra credit for turning in assignments by the due date</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18526,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One issue not covered by the many good answers is <em>proportionality</em>.</p>\n\n<p>There's nothing wrong with having firm deadlines and sticking to them, or allowing a grace period with corresponding deductions, and so on. But it's your job as lecturer to make sure the 'punishment fits the crime'. If you have a zero-tolerance late policy and a short time window for a hard assignment that counts for a lot of points, then the policy is disproportionately harsh even if it's fair and clearly stated. I bring this up because you mentioned assignments/projects that carry upto 25% of the grade. </p>\n\n<p>This is partly why I use a sliding scale late policy, where students can turn in things late, but lose a percentage of their score for each day they're late, upto a week for a 2-week assignment at which point they earn nothing. If you wish to have firm deadlines for a project that accounts for a large portion of the grade, then you might consider creating intermediate deadlines to break up the penalty. This way, students can learn the consequences of missing deadlines without facing huge penalties. It is also more robust to unforeseen events that no one can control. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18531,
"author": "Patrick Collins",
"author_id": 12063,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12063",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an undergrad computer science/philosophy major at a top 10 school in the United States, I would say that 90% of the classes I have taken have had a no late work policy. Particularly after the end of freshman year, it's understood that you need to get your work in on time.</p>\n\n<p>However, it's usually understood in these classes that there is still the option to ask the professor for an extension, which will almost certainly be granted in cases of illness, etc, unless the class is just too large/has an automated grading system (checkouts of code on a particular date from SVN, for example) that prevents this. The late policy covers the case where a student just doesn't hand in his or her work when it's due and says nothing to his or her professor, and there is really no excuse for that. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18533,
"author": "Christophe",
"author_id": 13442,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13442",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would say that in general it depends. If assignments are going to be happening regularly or are kind of a hard mathematics course (think calculus, differential equations...) then I think the no late work policy is valuable. This is particularly true if you plan to post a solution to the assigned problems shortly afterwards.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand in a class that I teach most of the assignments are more project oriented. As a result they will take longer than a normal assignment, and they are also far more open-ended (a solution from student A may look nothing like solution from student B, but they may both be completely valid). As a result the approach that some students use may lead them to take longer on an assignment than others. I use a sliding scale as discussed above; Typically I allow 1 week grace where each day costs a few percentage points, and after that the assignment is not accepted.</p>\n\n<p>as for pros and cons,</p>\n\n<p>pros:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>students seem to like the flexibility, sometimes many of their assignments are due in one or two days and this allows some buffering (at a cost)</li>\n<li>with a digital submission like blackboard the late grading is very easy to do</li>\n<li>assignments appear to have more work put into them, instead of students doing the bare minimum they tend to explore their solutions more</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>cons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>since introducing the policy some students tend to turn in homework later (typically 1-3 days)</li>\n<li>some students treat the final deadline (1 week late) as the deadline, so a limited number of students will turn in their homework late consistently</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Overall I am happy with the solution though, and I would suggest offering a slight grace period where it doesn't make your life too difficult. The main approaches that I've seen being either % off per day, or x number of free late days for the class.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18536,
"author": "Dronz",
"author_id": 13444,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13444",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends a lot on the culture and the institution. In America, er, a decade or two ago, I remember there was usually some penalty for late work at the Universities I and my friends attended, but \"no credit for late work\" was rare. However when I was at university in England, there were no penalties for late work in any of my classes. Even very late work was not considered a problem. Personally, I found that having all the time I needed to do the work, resulted in me being far more productive (if not as timely, but no one cared about that), and doing much more interesting and better writing, as well as not abusing my sleep by staying up all night.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18539,
"author": "The Late Great",
"author_id": 13448,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13448",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've always been a student that turned in HW late, and it varies widely depending on the professor. In general, I have found the humanities departments the most harsh about deadlines. The natural science classes are more lenient, with some professors clearly stating that they will accept late HW with a deduced grade. Others will accept late HW unofficially before they return graded HWs to students, and yet others will work with you more flexibly. There hasn't been a single professor of mine that hasn't accepted at least some late HW from me.</p>\n\n<p>As a TA, I fully accept late HW, with no deadlines, and likewise return the HWs to students late (you can call it a \"suggested deadline\"). My teaching principles are fairly libertarian, and my students tend to learn a lot during the semester. That's what I care about. The only time I care about HWs and examinations is to see whether I'm doing an effective job at what the students' pay me to do, which is teach them. It's only fair to examine the students to see if I'm failing them. </p>\n\n<p>It's appalling to see professors demand of their students, who, just in case anyone forgot, <strong>pay</strong> the professors' salaries, demand of their students to learn a certain way within a definite deadline. Nothing in my experience has been more detrimental to my learning. I've gained the most out of classes that allowed me to turn in HW late. </p>\n\n<p>Just in case anyone thinks that students who fail to \"respect\" deadlines are intrinsically procrastinators, I declare that it was quite the contrary in my case. The reason I submitted HWs late was to ensure I read the whole relevant text before attempting the HW. I wanted to know exactly what I was doing when I solved a problem, rather than use \"ad hoc\" methods to get something that resembles the correct answer. Moreover, I would often find a passage in a text that interested me, so I would pursue the topic and do some research. Sometimes this \"research\" would take a week out of my time, but I learned more from the self-driven pursuits than all the professor-imposed, who was paid by me to teach me, HW combined.</p>\n\n<p>It's time we do away with harsh grading policies and strict deadlines, because I don't know a single person who has ever learned that way.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I do know a lot of wage-slaves, also known as employees at major companies, who rent their bodies to their masters; and the masters certainly will demand of their subjects to have work done on time and subject themselves to meaningless evaluations by authoritarian figures. That isn't the environment in which people can learn and discover; that sounds more like mines, sweat-shops, and assembly line to me. Unless one wants to impose an assembly-line education, which is what's common in USA universities these days, I'd advise against serious deadlines.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18542,
"author": "user2258552",
"author_id": 12655,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12655",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an undergraduate, I have had a few classes like this, but if it's a class with lots of HW assignments, usually the professor will grant extensions if you ask; sometimes there are also a set number of \"late days\" that students can use, so maybe you can do that so that the volume of late submissions is reduced, or just take 50% off for one day and 100% off for more than one (that way I doubt many people would ever submit late).</p>\n\n<p>I just want to make it clear that any professor should, of course, always grant extensions in the event of an emergency (family emergency / illness); to do otherwise is, well, barbaric.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: I don't think you're obliged to give full credit if there was no extenuating emergency circumstance (e.g. illness) and the student didn't ask you beforehand. If they thought they might not finish in time, it's definitely their responsibility to tell you that. That said, giving 0% for such a case is also pretty harsh.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18545,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the appropriateness of such a policy depends on the class and the students within it, and even when it exists, I'd consider flexing it for extraordinary circumstances.</p>\n\n<p>For example, I once had a student who turned in late work because they were called up to respond to a national emergency. Is that really something I should have savaged their grade for, even if generally the class had a pretty strict deadline policy (because I was trying to turn grades around fast)?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18572,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your students have the reasonable right to expect you to operate the policies decided by your department. Whilst I have every sympathy with the notion of 'a minute late = no marks' providing exceptional circumstances are accounted for, it's really not your decision but rather a decision that should be made by your department and uniformly applied across different courses.</p>\n\n<p>It is unfair on students for your course to operate a different policy to the other courses they are taking because it (a) unfairly requires them to prioritise the work for your course over other courses and (b) it requires them to <em>notice</em> that you've set different regulations. So, whether or not your method has merit, you should adopt the same system as other courses they are taking.</p>\n\n<p>I'm kind of surprised that your university/department does not already have a formally stated and agreed policy on this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18594,
"author": "Mau",
"author_id": 13021,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13021",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I remember an answer I once got for a piece of work handed in a few minutes late (and rejected):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>How can you have nothing ready for 30 days and then suddenly have something in the last few hours?</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In fact, I had been working on it the whole time, trying to constantly improve it, despite the fact that I had a working solution early on. Waiting was a mistake and helped me learn to prioritise.</p>\n\n<p>So welcome be hard deadlines, they teach <em>planning</em> <strong>and</strong> <em>prioritisation</em>, and save examiner time. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18610,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know about \"typical,\" but I have definitely seen it used. I've taught mostly in design schools where understanding the importance of hitting deadlines is a core part of the training. </p>\n\n<p>Having said that, most instructors are a little more moderate. Some will say students are allowed one late assignment per semester, some will accept any assignment late for half-credit.</p>\n\n<p>My own personal policy was this: As long as you made a reasonable effort to turn an assignment in on time you could always improve your grade on that assignment by resubmitting any time before the end of the semester. If you missed that first deadline, no deal. But if you turned in a project at, say, 25% completion on the day of the deadline and then before the end of the semester managed to get in the remaining 75% you could have full points. But that's just me.</p>\n\n<p>One other thing I go out of my way to say on day 1 is that communication is important. I had a student who didn't show up for class all semester only to tell me two weeks before the end that he'd been caring for an ailing relative. I could have made an accommodation in week one, but what am I supposed to do in week 13?!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18616,
"author": "trueshot",
"author_id": 13542,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13542",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an undergrad engineering/computer science alum, I will say that I am biased towards having a late policy. Scale the assignment difficulty appropriately to account for \"extra\" time at a penalty and codify the policy to be clear and non-negotiable, ie 10% off per day. The other option is to tell students late assignments are not accepted, but extend deadlines appropriately based on student feedback. The goal remains the same: maximize participation.</p>\n\n<p>The reason I support this is pedagogical. It is not to account for students being irresponsible. It is to attract more students to complete an assignment, allowing them to be methodical and calculating with their learning experience while ultimately maximizing the value they receive from a course.</p>\n\n<p>The goal with college classes, from a <em>pedagogical</em> view, is to maximize turnout and participation. These are solid measures indicating that students are learning and that the college experience is economically valuable. If there is a no late assignment policy and 25% of students received a zero or extremely low mark for being unable to \"complete\" on time, we have an issue that could potentially be fixed with a course policy change. So I argue that it is better to have a late penalty while scaling content difficulty appropriately.</p>\n\n<p>I was exceptionally busy during my senior year, taking the max amount of credits where all classes were advanced level/difficult. I recall one class where the policy was no late assignments. This was a very difficult programming class. I was on the wire for time, and pulled repeated all-nighters to complete an assignment for this course- right past the due date. I was very stubborn and I refused to just give up, although in the back of my mind I considered the high likelihood I would receive a zero. It ended up being accepted with no penalty and I received a high grade where the average grade was significantly lower.</p>\n\n<p>Many would say this is not fair. But from my perspective, I learned more actually doing the assignment rather than being defeated - the alternative fate would have been to cease all work and receive a zero had the policy been uncompromising. As someone who is a perfectionist- I prefer not to stop until I know I have produced something that is robust and meets all requirements- this hits home even more for me. I believe that from a learning standpoint, accepting late assignments is far more likely to result in higher quality education. If a late penalty makes a course \"easier\", scale the content appropriately. Or surprise the students on a case by case basis at the instructor's discretion.</p>\n\n<p>The goal is to get as many students as possible in a course to give a best effort attempt on an assignment given a variety of schedules, circumstances and uncertainty in the assignment itself. If after some date they receive a zero you will always chop off a number of students who <strong>can do the assignment</strong> with more time, and would with the opportunity, even with dramatic penalty.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18617,
"author": "Michael Lorton",
"author_id": 13231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13231",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An important role for a college professor is to prepare the students for the real world. And in the real world, deadlines are firm. You think a customer or an employer cares that you have a \"good excuse\" for being late? That you \"tried\"?</p>\n\n<p>Trust me, you'll be doing all your students a favor by accustoming them now to the reality that schedules are unforgiving.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18618,
"author": "MikeS",
"author_id": 7169,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7169",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My problem with a \"no late work\" policy is that it disincentivizes learning. If a student forgets an assignment or can't quite finish it in time, they no longer have any reason to learn the material; they get no credit for learning it because they cannot turn it in late. Because of this, I favor a 10% or even 20% per day penalty as oppose to a no late work policy.</p>\n\n<p>I also think the \"prepare students for the real world\" argument is invalid. In the real world, if you miss a deadline for something (work deadline, tax filing, etc.) you will get punished somehow, but you likely still have to complete the work; it doesn't just disappear. Also, preparing the students for the real world is a secondary goal at best. Helping students learn the material should always come before preparing them for the real world. Internships and first jobs are much more suited for preparing for the real world.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18667,
"author": "jalf",
"author_id": 13602,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13602",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I was a student, one of the first things we were told was \"No late work is accepted. Not even if it is only a matter of seconds. Not even if the printer catches fire or you're snowed in\".</p>\n\n<p>My university had previously just subtracted from the grade, and had been warned by the authorities that this was against the rules. So they stopped doing that, and instead enforced a zero-tolerance rule of \"respect the deadlines\".</p>\n\n<p>And honestly, it worked well. The only requirement is that you make absolutely totally sure that all of your students are aware of these rules! Like I said, it was drilled into our heads on day 1 (and repeated regularly ever since). And it was enforced for the entire Computer Science department, not just for individual courses.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, students can always ask (preferably in advance) to have an agreed-upon extension in special cases (perhaps in case of extended sickness, or whatever else it might be), but if it's just a matter of \"I didn't finish in time\", then tough luck. You either hand in what you have, even if it is incomplete, or you don't hand it in at all.</p>\n\n<p>Honestly, I kind of think it is the only fair policy. Lowering a student's grade for handing his work in late strikes me as much weirder. Their work should be graded on its quality, and nothing else. \"your ability to manage time\" should not be part of the curriculum. If two students hand in equally good work, they deserve the same grade.</p>\n\n<p>I think the important point is that being late doesn't mean that you can't hand in your work. It just means that instead of handing it in late, but complete, you hand it in on time, but incomplete. And you get graded on what you handed in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18671,
"author": "Adam",
"author_id": 13607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13607",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The university I attended had a no late work policy, however, some of the modules <em>did</em> allow a 24-hour late work window, but work submitted in this 24 hours was capped at 40% (Minimum pass grade).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18680,
"author": "ctokelly",
"author_id": 12045,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12045",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I work at a middle-ranking UK university and we have a rule of 5% per day for 5 days then zero. I think it becomes counted as a cost by some students. \"No late work without a doctor's cert\", providing everyone knows well in advance, seems as fair as any other, what with the deadline being part of the test. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18706,
"author": "Kaveh",
"author_id": 163,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/163",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the focus of teaching should be students' learning,\nand all policies including late assignment policies should be designed with\nthe goal of improving student learning and experience.\nA good fair policy would encourage learning and good behavior,\na bad unfair one would do the opposite.</p>\n\n<p>I think students generally care too much about grades,\nit is important to refocus them as much as possible on learning.\nAssignments, tests, and grades are tools for teachings not goals of teaching.</p>\n\n<p>The hard deadline policy is common but \nI think it is also a common experience of instructors that \nit doesn't work well. \nIt is important to think about why it is so, \nif we understand why hard deadlines do not work well \nthen we can design better policies.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, \nthe followings are the main reasons for missing deadlines in most cases \n(roughly based on the justifications my students gave me \nwhen asking for extensions in my previous courses):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Technical difficulties: \nsmall unexpected submission difficulties, \ni.e. they have finished assignments but \nthey were unable to submit it before deadline, \ne.g. they lost power just before deadline.</p></li>\n<li><p>Procrastination: \nConsiderable number of students leave working on assignments to the last minute. \nThey are also not good with estimating the time they need to finish assignments. \nSo they go over deadline.</p></li>\n<li><p>Special cases: \nevents beyond students' reasonable control prevented them from finishing assignments, e.g. serious illness.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of course we would not want to penalized students for the 3rd reason.\nBut we should also try to help those in the first two groups.</p>\n\n<p>One common alternative to hard deadlines is having grace days, \nbut it has a too high administrative overhead in my opinion,\nand it doesn't really work much better.\nThey will use up their grace days and \nthen go over deadline.\nIf we give them a grace day for all assignments \nthen we are essentially shifting deadlines in their minds.</p>\n\n<p>After discussions with a few more experienced instructors \nI switched to something similar to Suresh's policy for my last course and \nit worked quite well. \nThere was almost no serious complaint. \nHere is the policy I used:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>1% penalty for every 30min after the deadline.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>First, it is easy to implement. \nI use an online submission system so it is quite easy to compute and apply these penalties \nusing time-stamps for latest submissions, it is a simple script.</p>\n\n<p>Second, it is effective way of helping the first two groups.\nThis policy gives them two extra days after the deadline if they really need.\nMost late submissions miss the deadline by a small amount of time. \nBeing essentially a continuous linear penalty function it makes sure \nthe penalty is proportional: \na student who goes over the deadline a few minutes doesn't loose too much points. \nI give students typically 2 weeks for submitting assignments. \nI don't think it makes sense to give more that 2 extra days. \nToo many days and too soft penalty \nwill essentially shift assignment deadlines in their minds and \ncause further procrastination.\nThe hourly lateness penalty creates a sense of urgency that daily penalty would not. \nI had around 100 students and they seldom went over a few hours. \nI also put deadlines on Friday evenings. \nStudents who don't like doing assignments \nhate to spend their weekend on them.\nStudent who submit their assignments on time \ndo not have to worry and spend their weekend working on assignments, \nthis adds an extra incentive for them to finish it by deadline, or\nif not possible with as little lateness as possible.\nIn addition, \nit also makes sure that the following week \nwe can focus on our topic\nwithout them worrying about assignments.</p>\n\n<p>To deal with the 3rd group\nI don't use my late assignment policy,\nI use an special consideration policy.\nIf a student misses an assignment deadline with a good reason, \ne.g. serious illness supported by medial documents, \nI apply my special consideration policy to accommodate them \ne.g. I may move the points for the assignment to other assignments.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18513",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
18,522 | <p>I apologize for the length of this post but I feel it is necessary to accurately convey the severity of the situation. I greatly appreciate those who take the time to offer advice.</p>
<p>I am a prospective PhD student in a major research institution and am writing on behalf of numerous students frustrated with our department's qualifying exam (QE). Things have been getting progressively worse over the past few years such that my fellow students have decided to petitioned our department(dept.) head for a procedural change. Unfortunately, several students refused to sign the petition for fear of malicious treatment by the faculty. The response to our petition from the dept. head and other faculty was unfavorable to the point that we are considering filing a formal complaint with the University. I would like to gauge the objective opinions of unbiased parties as to whether our reasons for complaint are justifiable.</p>
<p>I will describe the QE procedure and summarize our complaints below:</p>
<p>The formal reasoning given by our dept. for having a qualifying exam is "To determine whether the student has the knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct independent thinking and creative research." The QE is composed of 4 consecutive one hour written examinations, a research assessment paper on a pre-selected journal article specific to our research field, and an oral examination where we present the contents of our research assessment paper and then answer questions from 3 faculty members until they are satisfied. Students may retake any sections which they fail the following year. If after the second attempt, all parts have not been passed, the student must petition for a third attempt. If the petition is not accepted, the student must defect to the master's program. If that student already has a M.S. from the department (as is my case) then the student is forced to leave the program and 3 years of tuition is wasted. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Students are not allowed to see their graded exams or know their exam score. This privilege was removed without warning two years ago despite being present in our universities' student bill of rights. We are notified via letter of pass/fail status only. Also, no statistics are provided regarding the range of scores, number of students who passed, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>The dept. never reveals what score constitutes passing or failing. We have heard via word of mouth from certain faculty who sympathize with out situation, that passing can range from 30% to 80% depending on the exam category and changes from year to year. This, however, is not administrable evidence and would most likely be denied by the faculty who told us if ever questioned. </p></li>
<li><p>Exam content consistently strays outside the provided list of topics. The provided topic list appears to be lazily assembled by copy/pasting from course syllabi. The 4 exams are technically supposed to be covered by the 3 courses which the department requires all graduate students to take (they do not offer a graduate class covering the fourth topic). However, questioned are routinely posed from material covered in non-required classes, some of which are only offered every few years. </p></li>
<li><p>Exams are written by professors who's field of research is entirely unrelated to the exam topic and/or professors who have never taught the class which the exam covers. This leads to major inconsistencies in the materials covered and puts students who took the class from a different professor at a disadvantage Again, the dept. refuses to reveal who writes the exams. However, we generally figure it out in hindsight from off-the-record discussions.</p></li>
<li><p>The passing rate of these exams is very low. Less than 20% of students pass all exams their first attempt. Again, we cannot prove it, but it is suspected that the decision to pass a student is biased based on whether it is the students second attempt. Also, many students who get A's in the covered classes are failing these exams. </p></li>
<li><p>After our meeting with the dept. head regarding our petition, it was announced that the subjective third attempt to pass all sections was no longer going to be allowed. This is unfair as many students have required this third attempt in the past. Also, students taking these exams for the second time (which were in February), did so under the impression that, based on past history, they would get a third attempt if needed. This new policy will effectively force them to leave without a degree. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>This list of complaints could go on for pages but I will leave it at that. I understand that a PhD QE should not be easy; however, are our frustrations warranted? I welcome both advice and constructive criticism. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18527,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The basic reality of qualifying exams is that they can act as an \"outlet valve\" or \"quality check\" for various departments, allowing them to pick out the best students (if they admit more incoming students than they can accommodate in RA and TA positions) or to double-check their decisions (to make sure everyone is qualified). Of course, this only works if they are free to make the decisions however they so choose. This means that it doesn't make sense for them to post publicly exact scores, nor to publicize what a \"passing grade\" is. So you're probably not going to meet with a lot of support for public announcement of scores and distributions</p>\n\n<p>However, most of your other points <strong>are</strong> valid concerns. You can't change the rules <em>ex post facto</em>—if you tell somebody before their second attempt that they have up to three attempts to pass, then you can't later change your mind and say \"sorry, you only have two attempts.\" This is completely unfair. Similarly, asking questions on subjects that lie well outside the domain of what the exam should cover is also completely unreasonable. Passing should not be contingent on taking a class you haven't been able to take because it wasn't offered!</p>\n\n<p>Most importantly, though, is that it sounds that like the bigger problem is that the faculty in your department aren't taking their duties with respect to the qualifying exam very seriously. If this is in fact the case, then they should change the exam into something they can live with. Otherwise, they're wasting their time and yours, and possibly needlessly ruining people's graduate careers and professional aspirations. This is simply <strong>inexcusable</strong>. Unfortunately, short of raising a ruckus with the university administration (or being willing to file a lawsuit), I don't see much hope of things changing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18528,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, your concerns sound reasonable and valid, if the facts are as you've stated. </p>\n\n<p>It sounds as if your department has decided to use a quota-based filter to limit admission to a Ph.D (only some X fraction of students will be allowed to go on). That would explain the general mystery surrounding the process and their unwillingness to post standards for passing/failing. While they're within their rights to do things this way, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. Because if they were required to state this explicitly, no one would want to come to the department to play this version of Hunger Games. </p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, it's not clear what you can do. Some things are possible:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>can you document the instances of questions deviating from prescribed material ? While this wouldn't be a smoking gun (\"You should know this already\" - say the professors), it would at least force them to be more specific about what's contained on the exams. </p></li>\n<li><p>can you document the inconsistencies between material taught and material asked on the exams ? for the same reason as above.</p></li>\n<li><p>changing rules midstream is a big NO NO. This is your strongest complaint if you have to take the matter up further. At the very least, students have to be grandfathered in. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Beyond that, you should remember one source of power you do have. Professors need grad students, if for nothing else than to do the work professors have promised their grant agencies they will do. Deans need professors to spend research money on students so they can say that they're using grant money effectively. None of this works without students. Obviously you can't take collective action without numbers, but a protest where you submit blank exams could make an interesting statement. </p>\n\n<p>But that should be a last resort. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18534,
"author": "Christos Hayward",
"author_id": 11992,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11992",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You have implied two basic options: staying without fussing or trying to lobby for changes, or staying with some attempted hostile influence. But both cases are graduate students with low status dealing with tenured and like-minded-to-tenured professors. Someone who understood law could tell you legal strengths and someone who understood university policies could advise you on means of redress within the university. I can't do either, but I want to give another option.</p>\n\n<p>There is also the option of entering another program. There would be losses, but what is written between the lines in your detailed \"Here are the details as objectively as I can give them; how do things stack up?\" original post is a question of \"Can I from my present position obtain an appropriate position within my university, or not?\" that does not consider seeking a more appropriate department and university. I know there are things you would lose by transferring out, and you might have to take some things again. But in terms of a hostile departmental administration, there are much better options than what you can work out within a university that does these things, even if you can improve some of them by academic grievance procedure (a point on which I do not offer informed opinion).</p>\n\n<p>I did a second master's and was dropped on suspicious grounds (passing was 60 points, minimum for entering Ph.D. placement was 63 points, I had 61 points... after I decided that the one area I really wanted to impress the department was my thesis, and the department made me change my thesis topic, which I declared at the beginning of the year, so completely that I retained none of my earlier study--two thirds of the way through the year; the 61 was a 61 for half the time I spent during the academic year and no credit or recognition earlier). I'm looking for a more appropriate place, even though it pains me I was not able to complete my studies there.</p>\n\n<p>I wish you the best, and a boss in or outside of academia who will be more humane in dealing with humans.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18522",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13431/"
]
|
18,524 | <p>I am a fourth year graduate student of information science. Broadly, I work in a rather interdisciplinary area at the intersection of location based social networks, usable privacy and surveillance studies. </p>
<p>I am post <a href="http://gradschool.cornell.edu/requirements/exams/exams-phds">A exam</a> - which in my university refers to a combination of qualifiers, orals and dissertation proposal/prospectus confirmation. I am regarded as ABD/doctoral candidate in my university. I go on the job market in another 6-12 months (depending on certain criteria such as in progress journal articles being published on time etc.)</p>
<p>In my specific field, folks publish in a combination of journals and conferences tending more towards the latter although my committee prefers the former.</p>
<p>My adviser and I have been discussing the possibility of my presenting a general overview of my doctoral dissertation work in doctoral consortiums in various conferences to get feedback and exposure to the community as a whole. Some of the sample conferences where my work is a good fit are <a href="http://ils.indiana.edu/faculty/hrosenba/www/web-sci-14/doc-consortium14.html">here</a>, <a href="http://chi2014.acm.org/authors/doctoral-consortium">here</a> and <a href="http://mobilehci.acm.org/2014/doctoral-consortium/">here</a>. I am looking to go into academia primarily (looking for both calls for tenure track positions as well as post doctoral positions)</p>
<p>My questions to the academia.stackexchange community are as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>How useful are doctoral consortiums for feedback and presentation of your dissertation in-progress to the broader academic community?</strong></li>
<li><strong>When is a good time to start attending doctoral consortiums?</strong></li>
<li><strong>How many doctoral consortiums are "enough"?</strong> (assuming funding to attend multiple ones)</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you for reading this question.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18568,
"author": "walkmanyi",
"author_id": 1265,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1265",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here are some answers based on subjective experience in computer science.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How useful are doctoral consortiums for feedback and presentation of your dissertation in-progress to the broader academic community?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As you frame it, they are of little use. Most such events are collocated with better (top-tier) conferences in an area and those and their collocated workshops are actually much more useful forum for presentation of your on-going research. </p>\n\n<p>Doctoral consortia are primarily a vehicle for networking in the community. The benefits of attending an event like that include 1) getting to know better your peers in your \"academic generation\" (if you remain in academia, this might become useful later in your career: think of them as future collaborators); and 2) getting an opportunity to have one to one interactions with senior members of the community (think of them as future supervisors/employers). </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When is a good time to start attending doctoral consortiums?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In the last third of your doctoral studies. Given the purpose of doctoral consortia I mention above, often the participants will be specifically selected to only include those in the later stages of their studies when your thesis is outlined, your main thesis-relevant contributions to the state of the art are already set and when you are supposed to start to look for a post-doc gig. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How many doctoral consortiums are \"enough\"? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't know, but for most people I know <em>one</em> was the right amount.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18579,
"author": "Zai",
"author_id": 4318,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4318",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Having attended one of the doctoral consortiums you linked to as well as one you haven't, here's my perspective (as a student) on what doctoral consortiums provide a venue for:</p>\n\n<p>A) Networking with peers and senior researchers in your field in a very targeted way. A prolonged period of time ranging from 1-2 days is usually provided where you'll be closeted with other consortium students and senior researchers. This gives you a set amount of time where not only will you have a bunch of students with you who are also interested in networking, but where senior people in the field who may not generally be approachable during a conference will be available and open to talking to you. In addition, it also gives you a subset of people that you know will be at the conference that you can continue to network with during breaks and meals.</p>\n\n<p>B) Getting an outside opinion on your research. Doctoral consortiums will usually give you time to present your research so that the senior people in your field can give you feedback. As a PhD student, sometimes it's difficult to get a perspective outside of what your advisor's agenda is. Feedback during consortiums can help to provide new insights into how your work will be received in the larger research community, what people in the community perceive to be the strengths and weaknesses in your topic area, and how they think about what you're doing.</p>\n\n<p>C) It gives you a place to practice presenting your research to a wider audience than just your advisor or your lab. Even in a specific research area like human-computer interaction, which you linked to, there is a wide spread of topics that people will be doing research in. Presenting at a doctoral consortium gives you a chance to really try to explain your research to a receptive audience that may have no background in what you're doing. It's sort of like having a low stakes first shot at what you'll have to do when you eventually give job talks.</p>\n\n<p>D) Depending on the conference, doctoral consortiums are arguably really nice for your CV because some of them are very selective and difficult to get into.</p>\n\n<p>Not all doctoral consortiums are the same, but generally they are targeted for the point in your graduate career when you've picked your topic, done preliminary work or published a paper or two in that area, but before you're really entrenched in your planned research and can still change direction.</p>\n\n<p>The idea is that by getting that outside feedback from senior researchers in the field, they'll be able to give you a nudge in the right direction if they foresee real problems with your topic/work in time for you to make corrections.</p>\n\n<p>The general opinion that I've heard/witnessed has been that going to more than 2 is overkill and that at that point you won't be getting much out of them. However, it's really good to get into at least one as a student.</p>\n\n<p>A last point, since you mention funding, many doctoral consortiums provide some level of funding for students that have been accepted to ensure that they can attend. In addition, they will often cover the registration fee for the conference that they're attached to.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18524",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429/"
]
|
18,532 | <p>Main Issue: What credit should be given (and how should it be given) to the alma mater in publicizing old work?</p>
<p>Background: I entered and left a Ph.D. program in another millenium. During this time
I produced some results, one group of which was to become my dissertation. (At one point, my advisor said the equivalent of "you have enough to graduate; write it up".) However, all that I did distribute during my time as a graduate student was a couple of preprints, one of which later got cited in work of others. I did not finish the dissertation and did not get the degree (although I did get to attend commencement and walk across the stage). If it matters, during the time I produced results I got one TA (teaching) grant, and no other funding.</p>
<p>I am considering self-publishing material related to the work I did in grad school.
I have already given presentations on some of the work; I now plan to submit to ArXiv some of my work done while I was in graduate school; later I may follow up with results based
on this work. </p>
<p>Question 1. What kind of issues might I encounter in doing so? Would the University have some recourse to discourage me?</p>
<p>Question 2. If there are no intellectual property issues involved, what is an acceptable format? (I was thinking: write a wrapper giving a brief history and introduction, insert my preprint verbatim, and close with acknowledgments and some follow up. The preprint I distributed does not contain my dissertation, but is a key piece of it. What would the
acknowledgment section look like?)</p>
<p>Question 3. If I decide I also want to go back and finish
my degree at that program, (ideally by finishing the remaining requirement of submitting
the finished and approved dissertation, however unlikely that may be), would doing this
self-publishing be contraindicated? If so, why?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18535,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The real question in my mind would be the timeliness of the result. \"In another millenium\" covers a lot of ground. PhD research is supposed to make a new contribution to the field, but if your results have been overtaken by other work, then they may no longer be the kind of thing that your old school would be willing to give a PhD for. In any case, you should be discussing this with people at that school, such as your adviser (if that person still works there) or someone else such as the faculty member who currently handles advising for graduate students.</p>\n\n<p>If your work <em>is</em> timely enough to be worth a PhD today, then I don't understand why you wouldn't submit it to a journal rather than just putting it on arxiv, which makes it extremely unlikely that anyone will read it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18538,
"author": "vadim123",
"author_id": 7222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7222",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is in response to Question 1:</p>\n\n<p>The university only cares if some portion of your work is monetizable, i.e. leads to a product that people pay money for. If not, they would prefer you to publish rather than not; it can only help them.</p>\n\n<p>The real issue is your advisor and collaborators, if any. They may have a claim on that work. Before publication you should contact them and discuss possible coauthorship. Resolve this issue before investing any more of your time; see other posts here for what happens when authorship is not clearly agreed among all participants.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18532",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,540 | <p>If I am not wrong, turbo codes was submitted to the ICC conference and rejected but accepted later on.</p>
<p>I want to know if there are other similar works (strong works) that were rejected at first but then accepted and considered revolutionary. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18541,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Higgs</strong>'s 1964 paper on the Higgs mechanism was rejected by <em>Physics Letters</em> (where his preliminary paper on the subject was published).</p>\n\n<p>He was told that it was not suitable for rapid publication and that he should send it to another journal. However, he <a href=\"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-heart-of-the-matter-54071.html\">reportedly</a> heard that the paper had been rejected because the editors felt that \"it was of no obvious relevance to physics.\"</p>\n\n<p>Apparently, Higgs acknowledged that the paper \"had been short on sales talk,\" and after adding a couple of paragraphs it was accepted by <em>Physical Review Letters</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Here is an <a href=\"http://sss.sagepub.com/content/23/2/342.abstract\">early example</a> of manuscript rejection, from 1842: <strong>Mayer</strong> came up with the theory of conservation of energy, and wrote an article explaining his idea that \"energy is neither created nor destroyed.\" It was rejected by the leading physics journal of the time, ended up in an obscure chemistry journal, and was mostly ignored by physicists. When the physicists of the time rallied around Joule, who described conservation of energy later in the 1840s, Mayer suffered a mental breakdown. Towards the end of his life, he was finally given credit as a father of thermodynamics.</p>\n\n<p><em>Nature</em> declined to accept <strong>Krebs</strong>'s paper on the \"Krebs cycle\" in 1937. The work later won a Nobel Prize. The <a href=\"http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/28819/title/Nature-rejects-Krebs-s-paper--1937/\">letter from the editor</a> regretfully informs Mr. Krebs that the editor already has \"sufficient letters\" for the next 7-8 weeks.</p>\n\n<p>The seminal paper on quantum cryptography, <strong>Wiesner</strong>'s “Conjugate Coding,” was <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/0604072.pdf\">rejected</a> by the <em>IEEE Transactions on Information Theory</em>. (A surviving copy of the original typewritten manuscript says \"Submitted to IEEE, Information Theory\" on it.) It was published about a decade later. </p>\n\n<p>In the same subfield, the original manuscript by <strong>Bennet, Brassard and Breidbart</strong> that introduced quantum key-recycle scheme (QKRS) was <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/0604072.pdf\">rejected</a> several times by major CS conferences including STOC, and was never successfully published. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Ernst</strong>'s work on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which won the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was <a href=\"http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1991/ernst-bio.html\">rejected</a> not once, but twice, by the <em>Journal of Chemical Physics</em>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Binning</strong> and <strong>Rohrer</strong>'s report on their first experiments in scanning tunneling microscopy, which earned them a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986, was initially <a href=\"http://scx.sagepub.com/content/16/3/304.short\">rejected</a> on the grounds that it was \"not interesting enough.\"</p>\n\n<p>These are just a few examples. Many more have been compiled in various publications:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Here are some more <a href=\"http://www.gwern.net/docs/dnb/2008-gonzalezalvarez.pdf\">Nobel-prize-winning</a> papers that were rejected at first.</li>\n<li>Here is a <a href=\"http://cahnrs-cms.wsu.edu/ses/people/chouinard/Documents/GansAndShepard.pdf\">compilation of classic economics papers</a> rejected the first time around.</li>\n<li>And here are some <a href=\"http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=380984\">famous papers in the field of medicine</a> that were rejected the first time around.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://scx.sagepub.com/content/16/3/304.short\">This paper lists influential rejected papers</a>, of which several earned their authors Nobel prizes and several became the most cited papers in their respective journals.</li>\n<li>And here are some more <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-008-2141-5\">reports of Nobel laureates</a> who encountered resistance from reviewers and editors to their award-winning work.</li>\n<li>And, <a href=\"http://sss.sagepub.com/content/23/2/342.abstract\">yet another list</a>.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 26047,
"author": "Noktasizi",
"author_id": 19606,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19606",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Originally posted on <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17873/article-that-shows-the-complete-publication-history-of-acceptances-and-rejection/25953#25953\">this question</a>, but it may be more useful in helping to answer this one. <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.20556/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This article</a> by Juan Miguel Campanario and Erika Acedo investigates the question of paper rejection:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Rejecting highly cited papers: The views of scientists who encounter resistance to their discoveries from other scientists </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Abstract:</strong></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We studied the views of scientists who experience resistance to their\n new ideas by surveying a sample of 815 scientists who are authors of\n highly cited articles. The 132 responses (16.2%) received indicated\n that only 47 scientists (35.6%) had no problems with referees,\n editors, or other scientists. The most common causes of difficulty\n were rejection of the manuscript, and scepticism, ignorance, and\n incomprehension. The most common arguments given by referees against\n papers were that the findings were an insufficient advance to warrant\n publication, lacked practical impact, were based on a wrong\n hypothesis, or were based on a wrong concept. The strategies authors\n used to overcome resistance included obtaining help from someone to\n publish problematic papers, making changes in the text, and simple\n persistence. Despite difficulties, however, some respondents\n acknowledged the positive effect of peer review.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is published in the <em>Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Andrew Hayes writes about the subject, linking the above article, as well as this <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-4571%28199604%2947:4%3C302::AID-ASI6%3E3.0.CO;2-0/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">second article</a> also by Juan Miguel Campanario, at <a href=\"http://www.statisticalhorizons.com/rejected-keep-at-it\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">his blog</a>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Full citations, for posterity's sake:</strong></p>\n\n<p>Campanario, J. M. and Acedo, E. (2007), Rejecting highly cited papers: The views of scientists who encounter resistance to their discoveries from other scientists. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 58: 734–743. doi: 10.1002/asi.20556</p>\n\n<p>Campanario, J. M. (1996), Have referees rejected some of the most-cited articles of all times?. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 47: 302–310. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199604)47:4<302::AID-ASI6>3.0.CO;2-0</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47955,
"author": "Nikolai Slavov",
"author_id": 36454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36454",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many of the seminal papers that have proven of exceptional importance to science were rejected. Some of them over 13 times:\n<a href=\"https://majesticforest.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/papers-that-triumphed-over-their-rejections/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://majesticforest.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/papers-that-triumphed-over-their-rejections/</a> </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47956,
"author": "Nick S",
"author_id": 7624,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7624",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Dan Shechtman's paper in which he announced the discovery of quasicrystals was rejected for being \"not interesting\". It was accepted after few years in a different journal.</p>\n\n<p>He won the Nobel Prize in 2011 for this discovery.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/25 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18540",
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|
18,543 | <p>I submitted a paper to an internationally reputed journal. Two months after submission I was asked to suggest possible reviewers, which I did after a couple of days reflection. Since then it has been 4 months and the paper is still "awaiting reviewer invitation." I sent an email to the editor-in-chief as this was the only contact information given for queries. It has been almost two weeks without any reply. The day before yesterday I emailed the managing editor to know if the paper is under review or still awaiting reviewer invitation, but still I have received no reply from either editor. </p>
<p><em>How should I get in contact with the journal regarding my paper's review status?</em></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 21762,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
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"text": "<p>If you feel your paper is strong, then I would send one last e-mail in a week or so stating that if there is no response, you will be compelled to withdraw from that journal and resubmit at their leading competitor. </p>\n\n<p>Note that sometimes the e-mail queues at journals are broken. If you can find an alternate way to contact the editor, you may want to try it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 21764,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>. Since then it has been 4 months and the paper is still 'awaiting reviewer invitation'. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I find \"awaiting reviewer invitation\" to be a slightly strange phrase, but taken at face value it seems to mean that they still have not even asked anyone to referee the paper, let alone found a referee, let alone gotten the report back from a referee! <strong>If true</strong> that is indeed problematic: six months is waaaaaay too long to wait for this. </p>\n\n<p>I have two plausible guesses as to what has happened to you.</p>\n\n<p>1) They are having a lot of trouble finding a suitable referee. They tried on their own, failed, then asked you for help after two months (kind of a long time, but not <em>a priori</em> unreasonable). The people that you suggested somehow didn't pan out, and they reacted badly to that, putting your work on some sort of long-term queue. </p>\n\n<p>2) Whatever electronic system is conveying to you the message \"awaiting reviewer invitation\" is simply malfunctioning. Possibly (as @RoboKaren suggests) the journal's email system is on the fritz as well. If that's the case, who knows what's actually happening: maybe your paper has gotten lost entirely. (Almost anything can happen. Once, almost ten years ago, when I inquired after a few months on the status of my paper, the answer was \"We're having trouble finding any record of your submission. Are you sure you submitted to our journal?\" This may be hard to believe, but...eventually we sorted it out -- in particular, they found the record of my submission! -- and the paper was published by that journal.) Or maybe the referee report is actually in and it is just the part of the system where they tell you this that is malfunctioning. (That also happened to me, much more recently, and again the paper was eventually published, although this time I am less thrilled with the journal and will probably not submit there again.) </p>\n\n<p>Either way, you need to actually get in contact with an editor of the journal and find out what happened. Not responding to your emails at all within two weeks is certainly unacceptable behavior: every professional deserves to be treated better than this. In my opinion this total lack of response empowers you to take more vigorous steps to contact the editors of the journal. Such things include, in roughly increasing order of vigorousness:</p>\n\n<p><strong>A</strong>. Emailing the editors at their university accounts rather than the journal account.<br>\n(This is definitely the least intrusive: try this first.)<br>\n<strong>B</strong>. Sending multiple emails at the rate of one a day.<br>\n<strong>C</strong>. Calling the editors at any phone number they list on a professional webpage.<br>\n<strong>D</strong>. Enlisting a more famous / senior / powerful ally to try to contact the editor on your behalf.<br>\n<strong>E</strong>. Contacting other professionals to tell them that you must get in touch with Editor X and can't, e.g. the secretary of Editor X's home department, or the head of Editor X's home department. </p>\n\n<p>I would <em>not</em>: contact an editor on a social media site like facebook, try to look up their home phone number or address, or anything like that. I think that's too much.</p>\n\n<p>Once you do hear from an editor, find out how far off the rails your train actually is. After losing contact with you completely and advertising your paper as \"awaiting reviewer invitation\" after six months, in my view the editors should be apologizing and telling you what they're going to do to fix the situation. If you get the sense that they don't see it that way, it's definitely time to try again with a different journal. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84436,
"author": "Nichole",
"author_id": 68783,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/68783",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Awaiting review invitation means \"Awaiting Reviewer Invitation: Manuscripts where you have listed potential reviewers, but have not sent an invitation email.\" (as the associate editor)</p>\n"
}
]
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|
18,554 | <p>I'm writing a scientific manuscript in German and since I want to give the German readers the opportunity to understand everything of it, I will include translations of all foreign quotes.</p>
<p>How would I do this? Let's assume the following hypothetical English text, where I want to include the original German quote (Es geht nicht um ein Stück vom Kuchen; es geht um die ganze Bäckerei.):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most politicians will happily confirm what was already pointed by Dota Kehr and million others "it's not about the cake, it's about the whole bakery." [<a href="http://youtu.be/PMAg4xywy4s" rel="noreferrer">DK 2009</a>]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The question is: Where do I put the original quote in German and do I have to point out that <em>I</em> translated it?</p>
<p>My current solution is as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most politicians will happily confirm what was already pointed by Dota Kehr and million others "it's not about the cake, it's about the whole bakery.¹" [<a href="http://youtu.be/PMAg4xywy4s" rel="noreferrer">DK 2009</a>]</p>
<p>¹Original: Es geht nicht um ein Stück vom Kuchen; es geht um die ganze Bäckerei.</p>
</blockquote>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18566,
"author": "James T",
"author_id": 13203,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13203",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some style guides (Chicago, MLA, etc.) have rules for how to do this; if you know that you are required to follow some specific one of these, then the advice there will be authoritative. That said, there are still several different options for how the original quotation and the translation are presented: the choice is yours, and then the various manuals may give you \"implementation details\" about such vital matters as the placement of punctuation. (For example, the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style has extensive guidance in 13.71-13.79, but stops short of presenting the One True Method of including dual-language material.) I'm afraid I do not know which style manuals might be preferred for German-language texts.</p>\n\n<p>Your basic choices are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Whether the original, or the translation, is the primary version.</li>\n<li>Whether the secondary version appears in the body text, in a footnote, or in an endnote.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In your case, you have decided that the translated version is primary, which makes sense if most readers don't care about the specific wording of the original, but may still want it to be available. You've also chosen to place the original text in a footnote, which makes sense for a \"mid-length\" quotation. If you only wanted to gloss a few words, it would be more natural to do this inline. If you had a more extensive quotation, then putting it in an endnote - or even an appendix - would avoid the problem of the gigantic multi-page footnote which can be so hostile to readers. So I think your choices are perfectly defensible.</p>\n\n<p>In the case where <em>both</em> the original <em>and</em> the translation are from an external source, it is clear that both should be cited. Otherwise, you would not be giving due credit to the author and translator.</p>\n\n<p>Here, the translation is your own, and in principle you should note it as \"my translation\" in whatever way is compatible with your citation style. For example, perhaps your footnote would say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><sup>1</sup> My translation; original: <em>Es geht nicht ...</em> </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>or perhaps you would write in text:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>... the whole bakery.\" [DK 2009, my translation]</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The specifics depend on which style guide you are following, if any.</p>\n\n<p>Some of these \"my translation\" notes could be omitted, though that really depends on the quantity and variety of sources you are translating. If you have many translated quotations, some by you and some by others, then it would be clearer to retain the notes. If there is only one source which you quote repeatedly, then you could note \"my translation\" the first time and then not mention it again.</p>\n\n<p>Another option is an explicit note early in the document, saying that all translations are your own unless indicated otherwise.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18660,
"author": "BSteinhurst",
"author_id": 7561,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7561",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In books where I have seen a very large number of quotations with authors supplied translations a statement was made in the introduction or preface that \"except as otherwise indicated all translations are mine.\" These were books where there were commonly three or four translated passages per page. They were mostly books written in English about medieval literature written in Old French or Latin. Even in these cases the original or translated text would be provided in a footnote since you would expect readers to want to refer to the other. </p>\n\n<p>The point being that the exact choice of style might depend on the number of translated passages you will be working with. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18554",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4021/"
]
|
18,556 | <p>I am a Computational Biologist as part of an academic lab group working on the Immunogenomics of disease vectors (which may be relevant to the following).</p>
<p>I am designing part of a web-page that showcases the members of the group by: </p>
<ul>
<li>Two portrait photographs</li>
<li>A personal statement (50 words)</li>
<li>Summary of their work (50 words)</li>
<li>Fun group photographs</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Questions</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>What are the "Do"s and "Don't"s in designing a members page of a group such as ours?</li>
<li>Do you know of any exemplar members pages or group websites?</li>
</ul>
<p>A template in wordpress so far: <a href="http://www.vigilab.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.vigilab.org/</a> </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18557,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>All I know is what I want to see when I visit an academic's member page:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Their name and a picture (to confirm it's them)</li>\n<li>Contact details</li>\n<li>Their rank and position</li>\n<li>How long they have been working in the group</li>\n<li>A full list of publications with links to full-texts and a good .bib entry</li>\n<li>A short bio / summary of work, including service and awards</li>\n<li>Some teaching information (if applicable)</li>\n<li>Supervision details (if applicable: whom they're supervising or they've supervised)</li>\n<li>Project information (which projects are they funded from/P.I. of, etc.) </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Keep it professional, clean and brief.</p>\n\n<p>You may want to list details like publications on a separate linked page if they are too long/cumbersome.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18693,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Designing a group web page is easy (and fun). <strong>Maintaining</strong> a group web page is hard and boring. As a consequence, most web pages (and parts of mine right now sadly) are old and out of date. </p>\n\n<p>The only real solution is to keep as little information on this group page as possible, and decentralize most updates to the person whose information it actually is (and presumably who cares the most)</p>\n\n<p>This is why @JeffE's statement is relevant. That information is mostly fixed, and points to where the real information is. </p>\n\n<p>So unless you plan to maintain this page as a full time job (in addition to your other work), put as little information on it as is necessary. Having no web page is much better than having a web page with incomplete information and stale links. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18842,
"author": "StacyKonkiel",
"author_id": 13715,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13715",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In terms of exemplar websites, I like the style of the Ketterson Lab group, who have very basic info on their site that includes a link out to the lab members' websites--where more up-to-date info is the responsibility of the lab members.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.indiana.edu/~kettlab/people.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.indiana.edu/~kettlab/people.html</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18556",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9764/"
]
|
18,567 | <p>I always want to read a high profile publication papers. It is true that they are in general hard to understand but they have very important results (in general).</p>
<p>It happens to me sometimes. Sometimes when I read a high profile paper, I found that the contribution is not very interesting, not worth to publish the work in this kind of high profile journal. Maybe I am the one who do not understand the paper but it is only me? </p>
<p>Do high profile publication contain "uninteresting" (i.e., not very important or novel) publications? If it is the case, why they accept it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18571,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
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"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If a paper is published in a very good journal (one that is sufficiently good that it doesn't need to accept boring papers to fill issues), that means <em>somebody</em> (reviewer, editor) thought its contributions would be interesting, novel, and/or useful to a nontrivial subset of the journal's audience.</p>\n\n<p>But, this doesn't mean that the paper is interesting to everyone. (Very few papers are!) </p>\n\n<p>For example, I usually find papers that say \"We applied a known technique to optimize problem X for some metric Y\" very boring, but others in my field appreciate these contributions.</p>\n\n<p>In some cases, you may find the paper uninteresting because you either understood <em>less</em> than the reviewer or <em>more</em> than the reviewer. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>It often takes some knowledge of the field to really appreciate the contribution a paper is making. In most journals, the authors are allowed to assume that the reader already has some field-specific knowledge. If you read the paper without understanding this context, it will probably seem boring or not useful to you.</li>\n<li>It works the other way as well. Sometimes, a reviewer reads a paper and thinks, \"This is an important contribution,\" but those with more knowledge understand that it isn't. For really good journals, the editor can usually find a reviewer who understands the field well, so this (ideally) doesn't happen as often.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><sub>I am sure somebody can think of a paper that was accepted only for e.g., political reasons, and is genuinely, objectively unimportant. These are rare enough that I don't think these are the papers you are asking about.</sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18589,
"author": "OBu",
"author_id": 10941,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10941",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can take an other measure than subjective importance and this is the citation rate. </p>\n\n<p>There are statistics which indicate that even in high-ranked journals there is only a relatively small number of articles which are heavily cited - and those create the high impact factor. All others are cited once or twice (and therefore \"unimportant\" if you accept citation rate as an indicator for \"importance\"). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18598,
"author": "okw",
"author_id": 13528,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13528",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Each journal has his own policy as for what kind of articles it is going to select, that is it will have a set of criteria weighted by different degrees of importance.</p>\n\n<p>Among those criteria you will find: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>relevance to the journal</li>\n<li>significance of the studied problem</li>\n<li>originality and novelty of the work</li>\n<li>achievement of the objectives</li>\n<li>writing quality</li>\n<li>technical quality</li>\n<li>replicability if the paper describes an experiment</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Those will be drastically different for example between a subscription type of journal and an open-access one, mostly for financial reasons. The peer-reviewing is also executed in different ways, with different methods and emphases. One has to pay attention to that.</p>\n\n<p>At the end of the day, you will also find certain papers more \"interesting\" than others. The only way to find what you are looking for is to know what you are looking for exactly. Is it a journal focusing on novel content? Or just accepting the most methodologically correct ones? Ideally, to know how much you can trust different aspects of a paper, you need to know the details of its origin, that is who reviewed and selected it for you. Journals are a great tools for science, but they sure are not absolute.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/26 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18567",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13450/"
]
|
18,576 | <p>In my syllabus there is series of writing assignments that are worth 10% of the final grade. Over the course of the semester there were supposed to be 4 assignments, however as a result of snow days and other extrinsic issues, the students have only turned in one of these assignments and I am not likely to be able to get any more in by the end of the semester. </p>
<p>Additionally, when I designed the assignment, I did not fully appreciate how difficult it would be for the students and how difficult it was going to be to grade. At this point it is only going to be reasonable for me to assign grades based on whether the student put some effort into the assignment (i.e., check+, check, check-, 0).</p>
<p>So I am left with the situation where 10% of a student's final grade could be the result of one assignment that was graded only on completion. </p>
<p>As I see it, this poses 2 problems:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The final grade of the students that did the assignment will be artificially inflated, and </p></li>
<li><p>the final grade of a student that missed the assignment for whatever reason will be reduced to a degree disproportional to the offence.</p></li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Is there a way to deal with this situation fairly?</strong></p>
<p>(I have considered moving the assignment to another assignment group (e.g., counting it as a classwork assignment) but then I am not sure how to redistribute the orphaned points in a fair way.) </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18577,
"author": "Akavall",
"author_id": 13088,
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since the assignments did not go as intended, and it is obviously not the students' fault. I would just turn this part of the grade into extra credit. For example, students who did the assignment get +2.5 points added to their final grade, and those who didn't, don't get anything. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18578,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could just distribute the orphaned points equally among all other components of the course grade. Just take whatever percentage they would have gotten over all the other components of the grade, and divide it by 90 (which will be the maximum without this assignment included). Then their final grade will still be the percentage of the points they earned out of the total available.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18586,
"author": "TheOneWhoPrograms",
"author_id": 13210,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13210",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Same thing happened to my prof last year. Many assignments were planned, however due to things out of our control we were not going to be able to do every assignment. The prof held an open forum during class to collect ideas from us (only about 20 in the class, so it was easily manageable). The final concencus was to have smaller assignments replace the larger ones and any spare % went to the exam. Students who had already started the assignment (started early) had the opportunity to present it to the prof and it was up to the prof to reward extra credit . All the students found this fair and so myself and one other student got extra credit because we started an assignment that was replaced/cancelled.</p>\n\n<p><strong>TLDR</strong>: Have an open forum with the students, present a few options and let them decide what is fair. Let them \"argue\" between each other in a mediated way to present the pros/cons of every option. Just remember it's not their fault, so every student needs to come out satisfied with the outcome.</p>\n\n<p>In my school (University in Canada) you are not permitted to deviate from the syllabus unless every single student agrees. If even one student says no, you are not permitted to deviate. Often times profs will talk to these individuals and give them \"incentive\" to agree.</p>\n\n<p>--EDIT--</p>\n\n<p>Another thing you should do is talk to professors in your department to see what they do in situations like yours. By no means is your situation unique, and seeing what your fellow professors do and maybe even the school policy may be a good idea.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18604,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is there a way to deal with this situation fairly?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There have been several proposed solutions for redistributing points: use the single assignment as extra credit, offer an alternative assignment that <em>is</em> feasible, just redistribute orphaned points equally, etc. Any combination of these <em>could</em> be \"fair.\"</p>\n\n<p>But I think it is unfair to <strong>unilaterally</strong> change the syllabus (even if change is unavoidable) once students can no longer drop the class without penalty.</p>\n\n<p>For example, some students may be thrilled at the option to equally redistribute the orphaned points and use the written assignment as extra credit. But a student who is great at written assignments, and was really counting on the ten points of assignment credit described in the syllabus to boost his/her grade, may think the only fair solution is to offer an optional alternative written assignment (one that is feasible to do and grade). </p>\n\n<p>This doesn't mean that you have to poll every student individually, just include them in the conversation.</p>\n\n<p>Even with a large class, you can present your preferred solution (or two proposed solutions) in class and solicit feedback. If there is no public disagreement, say \"Anyone who has a real problem with this change should send me the details of their objection and proposed alternative by email, and I will seriously consider the objections.\" </p>\n\n<p>(If the students are split between two proposed solutions, you can offer something like, \"Your grade will be the higher of Option A and Option B.\")</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52157,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've seen plenty of courses where >= 10% of the final grade is attributed to participation, with an aim to increase student engagement. So, given that both you and the students agree that the syllabus must change part-way through, there is nothing wrong per se about awarding points for participation instead.</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest replacing the three subsequent assignments with more realistic, pass-fail assignments. Preferably, they maintain the pedagogical objectives meant for the four writings assignments. You could perhaps allow people to re-submit the first assignment under the shortened format, if you believe the design of it was unfair.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if the writing assignments were long research essays that were meant to demonstrate the ability to find and understand relevant literature, the students could submit 500 word summaries of self-chosen articles, in which they argue why the article was chosen, and what the main methodology and findings are. </p>\n\n<p>This approach is fair, because:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li> For all students, the 10% is achievable (if allowing resubmission). </li>\n<li> The students who already obtained 2.5% of the grade are still rewarded for their earlier performance and need only submit 3 shortened assignments. </li>\n<li> The students who had not obtained the earlier 2.5% of the grade, will be penalized lightly, having only to submit a fourth shortened assignment. </li>\n<li> For you, the original pedagogical aims of the assignments are still met </li>\n</ul>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18576",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/248/"
]
|
18,581 | <p>I am on the faculty of a large American university, and I have bought a lot of equipment (laptops, tablets, batteries, etc.) for research purposes using a startup package. I will be leaving for a new university in September, and I am wondering what, <em>in practice</em>, will happen to this equipment. Obviously, it is the property of the university and I'm going to leave it all there, but is someone going to come through with a clipboard and make sure it's all there? Do these kinds of things usually just get sent off to surplus sales? How about the students of mine who will still be at the old university?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18583,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What happens to your stuff depends on how your university classifies it. <em>Inventoried</em> material—more expensive items that a university keeps track of—will almost certainly need to be accounted for. So that probably includes laptops and tablets, unless they're so old they've been removed from inventory (as not having any significant value anymore). Major laboratory equipment and furniture also fall into this category. Such materials will probably be held as \"surplus,\" and made available to other groups or departments.</p>\n\n<p>In contrast, small-ticket items—such as stationery and miscellaneous office supplies—are not normally tracked. You won't be asked to reimburse the university for a missing stapler.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18585,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my old group, what we did was that every lab member could, when (s)he is leaving the group, \"buy\" their own hardware for a symbolic price if it was older than 3 years (3 years, because after this time span the hardware was considered without significant worth by the university). So basically, everybody usually kept all their equipment after e.g., graduation. Our lab head considered this as sort of his \"graduation gift\" to the student / ex-lab member - I am not convinced that the entire process was entirely legal, but apparently (as the equipment is formally without worth to the university) nobody ever actually complained (so far). In the rare cases where this was not possible (e.g., a laptop younger than 3 years), we simply kept the equipment back for emergencies (such as when the laptop of one of the lab members breaks and he needs a replacement while it is being repaired).</p>\n\n<p>In my new group, hardware is simply returned, put onto a big pile, and in most cases, forgotten. Every now and then the big pile of old hardware gets thrown away. I am sort of assuming that this is how most universities handle old hardware, as silly / wasteful as it is.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18609,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my alma mater, a public university in Spain, all expensive material is inventoried, and as it belongs to a public entity, cannot be sold when used up. Also, to get rid of an old computer (to get an idea: some are using floppy disks) requires a lot of bureaucracy. You need to prove that it is not useful anymore, and blah blah blah.</p>\n\n<p>So, what they do is just drop the material in a given corridor, and wait for it to be stolen. If anyone -ever- comes asking for it, they will just check the corridor \"ah, it got stolen\". Lots of trees saved.</p>\n\n<p>For other equipment not suitable for this scheme, well, we have a wide terrace with lots of space.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18581",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13509/"
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|
18,588 | <p>I am currently teaching at a local college an Introduction to programming using C#. Most of these students have never had any programming experience. The only prerequisite is an ICT course that teaches basics of computing. </p>
<p>I am finding that the students are facing issues with comprehending the concept of program structure and execution. I tried explaining with flow charts however they still face issues linking the flow of the code to the flow of the solution of to the problem being solved. </p>
<p>Those who are more experienced probably know of techniques or ways to structure the lesson or even curriculum to teach programming in a much better way (I am even guessing there might have even been studies about teaching programming).</p>
<p>What known techniques are there for teaching students at a college level programming? Especially those who have had no prior experience before?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18591,
"author": "Dylan Meeus",
"author_id": 9570,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9570",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am inexperienced in teaching people with no prior knowledge to coding, though the subjects I have taught were relatively new to most of them. (Reactive Programming/Asynchronous). I usually start off by telling them the importance of the lesson, in your case you could say.\n\"The concept we are handling today is the basis of Object-Oriented programming, this is widely used and so important, the windows kernel even got a complete rewrite to accommodate this.\")</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, it's important to note that not every student comprehends this as quickly as others, programming is a different way of thinking about a problem than they are used to. Just like they probably had trouble understanding mathematics when they first got that in primary school. You have to keep in mind that because a part of the class understands it, that's no assurance everyone will.</p>\n\n<p>Programming in general should be thought in a \"New way to think\" manner, you don't teach them literal code, but rather you should teach them \"How can I explain to this stupid machine, what it has to do?\" </p>\n\n<p>I'd start off with teaching them about the primitives, then the arrays. Maybe as an assignment, let them figure out how to code 10 numbers of the fibonacci sequence? Just make sure they get enough coding done, books and lectures help, but eventually they'll need the experience in writing the code.</p>\n\n<p>Only once they understand how they can explain to a computer what they want it to do, you can start teaching them about object-oriented programming and patterns, but they first have to understand algorithms. </p>\n\n<p>I do look forward to answers of people whom have experience teaching the inexperienced, as I might end up doing so one day myself :)</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I hope this helped a bit :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18593,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We've had pretty good success through the <a href=\"http://software-carpentry.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Software Carpentry</a> initiative.</p>\n\n<p>There are software carpentry <a href=\"http://software-carpentry.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">bootcamps</a> happening around the world: I'd advise going on one yourself, before hosting them.</p>\n\n<p>They offer a well-rehearsed pattern of training, with lots of hands-on exercises, using open-source training materials.</p>\n\n<p>You can mix and match bits of the <a href=\"http://software-carpentry.org/v4/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">syllabus</a> to suit: databases, particular languages, using the shell command line, source-code version control, OOP, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>Once you've put one cohort through a Software Carpentry bootcamp, get them to be the helpers on the next software carpentry bootcamp, for the next cohort of students. That way, they get to copy the successful \"see one, do one, teach one\" method used in medical training: they learn at least as much again when they're teaching the material, as they did when being taught it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18612,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with much of what's already been said. What I would add is that you have to make it matter to the student. Teaching programming as an abstraction -- which is the way many of us learned -- makes it harder to learn. I will often give a good sized project to first semester students where I'll say, \"Solve a problem that interests you!\" Even if I don't always get the best results that will always be the project the students enjoy the most and put the most work into.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18588",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13521/"
]
|
18,590 | <p>I am applying to the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, and they require a transcript. Now, I have a problem with my grades, in that I had good grades until my final year, where a combination of depression and a death in the family tanked my non-major GPA. During my final year, I went from a cumulative 3.55 to a 3.07, and also failed two courses. More specifically, my first semester of my senior year was awful, with a 1.22 GPA, and in my second semester, I managed to get a respectable 3.0, where I had to take 21 credit hours so I could graduate on time. So it's not as if I am a bad student, it's just one semester of badness which has to be explained. </p>
<p>How do I make this not look bad? I would like to explain myself in the personal statement that I am capable of rebounding from hardship, that I can rise to the challenge when confronted with adversity, that my performance in that one semester is not indicative of my abilities.</p>
<p>I am upset at the moment because after looking at my transcript, it's worse than I initially thought. As for my other materials, I believe I have good letters of recommendation, good industry experience, and I can write some kick-ass essays, despite the fact that English is not my first language.</p>
<p>Also, the bad grades are not in my major (CS), where I managed to keep a GPA above 3.5 during my studies.</p>
<p>Any tips on how to deal with this? Any other tips I could use? I really appreciate it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18592,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>They require a transcript, but do they allow any kind of supplemental statements as part of the package? If so, I would try to include some kind of simply explanation – something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>During the fall semester of my senior year, my grades slipped due to some personal family issues. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You might even try put a positive spin on it:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>During the fall semester of my senior year, my grades slipped due to some personal family issues. Even though my grades suffered, I learned a lot about priorities and biting off more than I can chew. Though my GPA might not reflect this, I emerged a better person because of that trying experience. </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18649,
"author": "Homer",
"author_id": 13252,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13252",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If there are extenuating circumstances that precipitated this dramatic drop in grades, use the opportunity provided by your personal statement to address this, as suggested by J.R. </p>\n\n<p>A second point you can emphasize that - in my experience is quite important - is that you rebounded from this very sub-par semester by doing respectably in your final semester. This provides more evidence that it was a fluke and that you are on the upswing. From speaking with admissions committee members (which is admittedly a bit different), I've been told that bad grades earlier in a record, followed by good grades are almost a non-issue (if you get passed the initial GPA screen, of course). Between this dynamic and a well-written personal statement, you should be able to mitigate the damage of a single bad semester. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18590",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13524/"
]
|
18,595 | <p>How much of the teaching content at universities in the US is delivered in imperial units instead of SI?</p>
<p>I imagine that industry (e.g. Engineering) is still stuck using imperial units, but research and physics are much better suited to SI units, so I am interested to know how this is dealt with.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18606,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When I was an (engineering, US) undergrad, the textbook in one engineering mechanics class included problems using SI units <em>and</em> problems using imperial units. The problem sets for homework and exams came from the book, and could be in either SI or imperial units.</p>\n\n<p>(You can see these examples in a <a href=\"http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073529400/information_center_view0/sample_chapters.html\">sample chapter</a>).</p>\n\n<p>Every other class I've taken as a physics and engineering student used SI units exclusively.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18611,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At the US community college where I teach physics, SI is used exclusively in all science courses. (Chem courses do still use calories, which are not SI.) Nearly all physics textbooks use SI exclusively, although a few may mix in examples using feet and pounds here and there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37481,
"author": "Steven",
"author_id": 28363,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28363",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In civil engineering, imperial units are used exclusively. Sometimes instructors will mention SI units, but you will never use them on homework or exams.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55224,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, a remark which I think important (apologies, I'm donning my metrologist's hat). Nowadays, the units of the Imperial system or those of the CGS are <em>all</em> defined in terms of the SI units. For instance, 1 inch equals 2.54 centimetre <em>by definition</em>, and the centimetre in that definition is really the SI centimetre. This means that even in fields where non-SI units are traditionally employed, a basic knowledge of the SI is at least needed if one has to discuss units-related stuff. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I imagine that industry (e.g. Engineering) is still stuck using imperial units</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, you can still find pressures measured in <em>pound-force per square inch</em> (psi) or <em>inch of mercury</em> (inHg), areas measured in <em>circular mil</em>, heat measured in <em>British thermal unit</em> (BTU), wrench sizes measured in fractions of inch, etc. Product data sheets sometimes list parameters both in Imperial and SI units, sometimes no. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>but research and physics are much better suited to SI units</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, Imperial units are definitely ill-suited for science. As for the dichotomy SI/CGS that has been brought up in the comments... uh, well, opinions might differ across disciplines, and if you skim through publications (journals, books) of different disciplines you will find different level of adherence to the SI (e.g. there are recent physics books which use the SI when discussing mechanics and the CGS when discussing electromagnetism).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How much of the teaching content at universities in the US is delivered in imperial units instead of SI?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I cannot answer this question directly because my contacts with the US are within my discipline and mainly outside of academia. However, I can try to answer it in an indirect way from the (limited) perspective of a compulsive book-buyer (that's me), assuming that the teaching content of lectures is roughly the same of books. </p>\n\n<p>If I look at the books in my library, all the engineering books on electronics and electromagnetics written by US authors, even those from the 1960s, employ the SI. I could find only one exception, a book on lens design from the 1970s which employs Imperial units. None of the physics books employ Imperial units. Instead, the few mechanical engineering books that I have employ Imperial units, but they are very old.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore, my impression, as reader of technical and scientific books from the other side of the ocean, is that nowadays most of the teaching content in the US is delivered in SI units, and that Imperial units are really limited to a few fields.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18595",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9680/"
]
|
18,596 | <p>So I'm in my third year of university and I'm at the point where I have to choose my modules for next year. This is a simple question, but I really wish I asked it a long time ago because I have no idea of the answer. </p>
<p>Should I pick modules I know I can easily pass that will get me a better final grade but probably won't teach me anything <strong>OR</strong> should I pick modules that will be more challenging for me, will give me a lower final grade than if I picked the easy ones but with the benefit of teaching me a great deal?</p>
<p>I suppose at the root of it the question is am I at university solely to strengthen my future career prospects or am I here for the purpose of learning. Regardless of my answer to that, I'd like to know what people advise regarding module picking.</p>
<p>Bare in mind that I don't say "easy" modules because they're easy but because I practice a lot of the required skills in my free time so I have experience. They will still have the same value as the hard modules if an employer were looking at them.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18597,
"author": "Dirk",
"author_id": 529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/529",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer: Go neither for easy nor for challenging courses but for courses that <strong>interest you the most</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18607,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What do you want to do afterwards? Academia or industry? What is your field? From what you say, \"easy\" modules would be the ones that interest you, so taking them will mean having formal training and proven experience. On the other hand, certain skills can be proven in many ways (you can show you know how to program by making contributions in open software projects). The formal training will allow you to get a much deeper understanding of the topic, provided the teaching and the course are good, of course.</p>\n\n<p>The question is what is more valuable? Wide range of skills or deep knowledge of a few?</p>\n\n<p>And yet another point to consider is how are your grades so far. Consider if you can afford loosing a few points, and what difference it will make. Perhaps the difference between a class 1 and 2.1 is bigger than a 2.1 and a 2.2.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18614,
"author": "Ank",
"author_id": 12632,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12632",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You mentioned that the \"easy\" courses are the ones in which you already have experience. If you take those classes, the course work will be redundant and will not boost your knowledge. On the other hand, it seems that you are also concerned about your overall GPA. </p>\n\n<p>Ask yourself what you want to do. Then look for classes that come under the umbrella of 'what I want to do'. Eliminate the courses from that umbrella that fall into the \"easy\" bucket and the \"very tough\" bucket (which might dampen your GPA) and pick from among the rest. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 123186,
"author": "VISQL",
"author_id": 99206,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/99206",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you work in a country that only cares about GPA (for things that aren't internships) then no fault to you if you try to maximize GPA. However, your goal should be to be exposed to as much theory as possible, with the highest difficulty possible; while aiming to understand and be able to <strong>use</strong> just a small fraction of that. The more you can <strong>use</strong>, (i.e. practically) the better. GPA can be quite useless.</p>\n\n<p>Take the hardest courses you can without failing out of your program. Study such that (while you may not do well on tests), you'll remember this stuff <em>after</em> you graduate.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18596",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13527/"
]
|
18,619 | <p>I went on a trip to Oxford with my school, and I asked a lady whether or not you have to go and discover something in a PhD? She said no, and it's more research. But I read up somewhere that you do have to discover something to get a PhD.</p>
<p>I just want to know precisely how a PhD works.</p>
<p>Will some subjects- like Maths or Computer Science- require you to go out and prove something, and are others- like English- just require the student to do extensive research?</p>
<p>Note: by getting a PhD, I don'y just mean anyone getting it, I do mean someone who's actually studying for one.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18621,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Getting a PhD almost always requires one to have some original contribution to your field. That result doesn't always have to be an earth shattering proof of something completely original. Your work can build upon existing work, or draw connections between a variety of different topics that no one has noticed yet, or even just suggest that there is a problem that nobody has considered yet. The point is that there has to be something unique, and original that counts as your contribution to the body of knowledge. That isn't easy to do certainly, but it isn't impossible for normal people to accomplish through lots of time and hard work either.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18815,
"author": "Mark Peletier",
"author_id": 13689,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13689",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I fully agree with @shane's point: you need to have shown some original contribution. But I think something else is also important, and sometimes plays a major role: you have to show that you have mastered the <em>trade</em> - which means, in practice, that you are able to perform whichever experimental/theoretical things a scientist in your field is supposed to be able to do, and write about the results in an understandable manner. In this way you show that you are worthy of being taken up in the community of scientists, which despite our feeling that science is about facts, is still rather important. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18619",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13543/"
]
|
18,622 | <p>In the University in which I will start teaching the course sequence for Programming goes in this way:</p>
<ul>
<li>Algorithms and Data Structures</li>
<li>Structured Programming Languages</li>
<li>Object-Oriented Programming Languages</li>
</ul>
<p>So as you see, the first contact of the students with Programming is the "Algorithms and Data Structures" course in which several programming fundamentals topics are covered (variables, data types, if/else, loops) and also some data structures and basic algorithms. The weird part -at least for me- is that in this first course there no actual programming: all the topics are covered with Pseudocode and Flowcharts written in the Blackboard.</p>
<p>This seems kind of strange for me, and as a new teacher I have little power to change this (Senior teachers said that coding is for latter courses). So, I want to know if any of you is familiar with that teaching approach and if you can suggest me some textbooks that are using that teaching methodology.</p>
<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18624,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is exactly the approach taken by the <a href=\"http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-006-introduction-to-algorithms-fall-2011/\">Introduction to Algorithms course</a> at MIT—or at least it was the case back in the early 2000's. The book by Cormen et al. takes a decidedly agnostic approach to programming, and presents everything in terms of pseudocode, rather than adopting any particular programming language.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18634,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is a bad idea. The paper supports everything, and if you make a mistake, it takes skill and time to realise. On the other hand, if you write and run a program, bugs appear because the output is incorrect and you know it. Just think how difficult is to debug a broken program, imagine how much it would be if you don't even know if there is a bug.</p>\n\n<p>It is reasonable for a book to be language agnostic, so the reader can adapt it to their favourite one. But it doesn't mean one can just draw it.</p>\n\n<p>Another lesson to be learned is that there are algorithms out there that look beautiful on paper, but they can become a hell to implement in actual code.</p>\n\n<p>And finally, designing on paper is a good practice, but it is only valid if you consider all possible inputs. And again, this takes skill and experience, that firstly introduced cannot have. On the contrary, if you have the code, you can throw in anything you can imagine and see what happens.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18622",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7674/"
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|
18,625 | <p>My PhD advisor and lab colleagues think that Springer, IEEE and Elsevier journals non-open-access charge authors for publishing a paper. (They usually only publish in local journals.) All the info I've found points to the contrary (except for "gold" open access journals, which do charge authors), but all I've found are people commenting on particular journals saying that they do not charge. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I've found very few journals that explicitly say "submission and publication is free of charge". For example, <a href="http://www.jair.org/submission_info.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">JAIR</a> mentions that there aren't any <em>submission</em> fees, but does not mention <em>publication</em> fees. <a href="http://www.springer.com/computer/journal/11704" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Frontiers of Computer Science</a> does not mention charges at all in their instructions for authors.</p>
<p>I'm sorry if it's a stupid question, but I can't for the life of me find any definitive yes/no information online. (I don't have a concrete journal in mind since this all started because we are looking for one, but it'd have to be a machine learning/artificial intelligence journal.)
<strong>Do Springer, IEEE and Elsevier journals generally charge an author fee for their non-open-access journals?</strong> It may include submission fees or post-acceptance fees as well as page or figure charges.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18626,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To be certain, you'd have to check the specific journal's author instructions.</p>\n\n<p>However, I've published in two Elsevier and one Springer journal (in mathematics) and never paid an author fee. The Springer journal had an open access option, which would have had a fee, but we didn't choose that option.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18627,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have never paid for the publication of any journal paper, including papers in Springer, Elsevier, IEEE, ACM, SIAM, and AMS journals.</p>\n\n<p>Some of those journals do advertise \"page charges\", but in my experience these are strictly voluntary. I've never paid them, and my papers were published anyway.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18628,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers, but they are anecdotal, and you asked for some "definitive" answers to help you convince your colleagues and advisor. Here's what I found:</p>\n<h2>IEEE</h2>\n<p>None of the IEEE journals has a required charge for non-open access publications.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/authors/publications_faq.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">publication FAQ</a> says:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For a detailed listing of paper charges by publication, download the List of Voluntary and Overlength Paper Charges (PDF, 287 KB).</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/advertisement/2012vpcopc.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Here</a> is the current version of that list. You will note that some journals have voluntary "sustaining" charges for "normal-length" manuscripts. In fact, <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/documents/author_reprint_info.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">IEEE policy</a> specifically states that those charges are not obligatory:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>IEEE Policy 6.9 permits some types of periodicals to levy page charges. If your publication is one of these, it is your company or institution, not you, which is being asked for support. Payment is not obligatory nor is it a prerequisite for publication.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>In the statement above "page charges" refers only to charges for not-open, not-overlength, not-color-print articles. Many IEEE publications do have <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/advertisement/2012vpcopc.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">"overlength" page charges</a>, which <em>are</em> mandatory - if your paper exceeds the "normal" length then you <em>must</em> either reduce the length of your paper or pay the overlength charges. The length of a "normal" paper depends on the journal and publication type (normal-length "letters" may be as short as 1 or 2 pages, for example.) Some also have charges for color figures appearing in print, although there is no charge for online-only color.</p>\n<p>More definitive info is available for each journal in the IEEE Xplore site, at the "About Journal" page, section "Author Resources", link "Additional Information", which opens a PDF with detailed "Information for Authors" (see <a href=\"https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/societyimages/tgrs/tgrs-info-for-authors.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">an example</a>).</p>\n<p>(The document also does not include the recently added IEEE open access options, which do have required charges, which are listed <a href=\"http://open.ieee.org/pubchanges.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">here</a>.)</p>\n<h2>Springer</h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.springer.com/authors/journal+authors/faq+for+journal+authors\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Springer author FAQ</a> asks</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PUBLISH IN A SPRINGER JOURNAL?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>The answer there is:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For the majority of Springer journals, publishing an article is free of charge.</p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a journal requires page charges, you will find them on the journal's springer.com homepage or in its Instructions for Authors.</li>\n<li>Charges might apply e.g. for color figures or over-length articles. The information on these extra costs will also be available from the journal's homepage or its Instructions for Authors.</li>\n<li>Charges for open access articles: If you choose to publish an open access article ("Springer Open Choice" article or in a "SpringerOpen" journal), there will be an Article Processing Charge (APC) to be paid by the author. As a consequence, the article can be freely read, downloaded or distributed from SpringerOpen.com and SpringerLink.com by any internet user.</li>\n</ul>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Furthermore, even for open-access journals, <a href=\"http://www.springeropen.com/about/faq/charges\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Springer advises</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>SpringerOpen journals routinely waive charges for authors from low-income countries; and individual waiver requests are considered on the grounds of hardship on a case-by-case basis.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Another Springer FAQ titled <a href=\"http://www.springer.com/authors?SGWID=0-111-6-792657-0\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Why publish with Springer?</a> claims:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Page charges do not exist.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>which I think is as close to "definitive" as you can get.</p>\n<h2>Elsevier</h2>\n<p>Some Elsevier journals do have author charges, and by searching the Elsevier site I did find a (very) few non-open journals with required page charges. I did not find any in CS with author charges, though.</p>\n<p>The official <a href=\"http://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/773/c/6261/kw/charge/p/8045\" rel=\"noreferrer\">policy</a> I found is:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I am submitting my paper to one of your journals. How do I find out if there are page charges associated with this journal?</p>\n<p>Page charges are journal specific. Many journals do not have page charges for submitted papers.</p>\n<p>To determine whether the journal to which you are submitting has page charges, you will need to find the homepage for the journal and check it's specific submission instructions.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>So if you're looking for a definitive "No page charges," Elsevier is not the answer. In practice, however, there are literally only a handful of non-open Elsevier journals that charge author fees.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42212,
"author": "Felipe G. Nievinski",
"author_id": 28125,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not uncommon for charges to come in disguise, e.g., this is from the <a href=\"https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/societyimages/tgrs/tgrs-info-for-authors.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">IEEE</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A mandatory Excessive Paper Length charge of $200.00 per page (beginning with page 7 and beyond) is required for papers in excess of six (6) printed pages. The author will be notified of the estimated paper length upon receipt of the original manuscript. The author will be requested, conditional upon favorable technical review, to pay an optional sustaining page charge of $110 per printed page to cover the cost of publication of the first six pages and will receive 100 black/white (no color) reprints of the paper if this charge is honored. There will also be mandatory charges for color figures. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Now comes the catch:</strong> the average paper in this periodical is more than six pages long and has at least one color figure. <em>So in effect the majority of authors did end up being charged.</em></p>\n\n<p>Here is some evidence that IEEE charges authors in excess of a thousand dollars per article in some of its journals. I picked <a href=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4609443\" rel=\"nofollow\">IEEE JSTARS</a> because I have experience with it, both as an author and a reviewer. I looked at the four issues published so far in the current year. I scraped the page range of each numbered contribution; there were 151-7=144 articles, after removing 7 editorials, forewords, or tables of contents. The typical article length, 12.1 pages +/- 3.2 pages (mean and standard deviation, respectively), is more than twice the nominal normal length (6 pages). Multiplying $200 times the excess number of pages gives the sought-after figure. IEEE charged authors US$ 1,213 on average as mandatory over-length fees in this journal. That's effectively an article processing charge in disguise. (I've shared the <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-I95wETyqQiZWtQUUJBYi1OSVE/view?usp=sharing\" rel=\"nofollow\">spreadsheet</a> online.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42299,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Beside the above mentioned some journals (not necessarily of the above publishers) require a fee before reviewing your submission (sometimes only if you are not part of a society). </p>\n\n<p>For instance the <a href=\"http://www.uk.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?prodId=Journal201969&ct_p=manuscriptSubmission&crossRegion=eur\" rel=\"nofollow\">American Sociological Review</a> charges a \"$25.00 Non-refundable Manuscript Processing Fee.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42350,
"author": "Andrew",
"author_id": 27825,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27825",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Around half the titles from the major commercial publishers (Springer, Elsevier, etc) have (potential, & effectively optional) colour charges (<a href=\"http://www.researchinfonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Wellcome-survey-of-colour-and-page-charges-v-02.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Kiley</a>). [Wiley is listed as \"no data available\" here, but I can confirm from experience that some Wiley titles do have colour charges, and have a very tedious paper-based process for paying them].</p>\n\n<p>Very few of the commercial journals have page charges - usually for historic reasons - but they are still reasonably common among journals published by US scholarly societies (<a href=\"http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/01.17.CP.1.4\" rel=\"nofollow\">Curb & Abramson</a>). Other fees (eg submission fees, revision fees, supplementary material fees, \"picture on the cover\" fees...) are generally rare but not unknown.</p>\n\n<p>As a result, they're a significant issue in <em>some</em> fields, where page-charge journals are still common, but in others, you can go your entire career without ever encountering them. Hence the wide variation in answers...</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>Edit</strong>: I finally wrote up and published my notes on this - \"Considering Non-Open Access Publication Charges in the Total Cost of Publication'\", <em>Publications</em>, 2015, 3(4), 248-262; doi:<a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/publications3040248\" rel=\"nofollow\">10.3390/publications3040248</a></p>\n\n<p>My estimate is that overall these charges (page, colour, submission, etc) are equivalent to around 2% of subscription costs, which is relatively small but (given the cost of subscriptions) substantial in cash terms. The costs appear to be very variable among disciplines (and institutions), and aren't very well recorded by our existing ways of tracking spending on scholarly publishing. Which is concerning...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44351,
"author": "Amanda",
"author_id": 33730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33730",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.editorialmanager.com/homepage/DOCS/Author_Tutorial.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.editorialmanager.com/homepage/DOCS/Author_Tutorial.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>Starting on page 35 of this pdf, this Springer journal details how there is a fee for paper submission ($75 charge for members; $100 charge for non-members) and the paper will not be forwarded to the editorial office until the payment has cleared. Additionally, there are other charges when they go to production (e.g., $50 per page for the first 5 pages, $35 per page for pages 6-10, $20 per page for 11+ pages). </p>\n\n<p>I find this very odd as I've never had a journal request payment to submit or publish a paper. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/27 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18625",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13556/"
]
|
18,636 | <p>Recently, some students skipped some lessons without note (within the drop policy limits). I post basic instructions to a course Web site where any student can check, but since these students missed classes, the instructions are insufficient, so they send me E-mails or call asking me "explain what to do". As the homework involves on-going projects, such requests is occupying much of my time. I can demonstrate aspects in the class that require extensive writing to explain in an E-mail.</p>
<ul>
<li>Is it acceptable practice to turn students away?</li>
<li>Is it my responsibility to assist students who fall behind in this manner to catch up with the other students?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18638,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'll look at these two points:</p>\n\n<p>1) Your course is structured in a way that there is no any alternative way to acquire the materials you cover in class; attending the lecture is the only way. <strong>AND</strong></p>\n\n<p>2) You have never expressed, either written in syllabus or spoken to the full class, that it's the student's sole responsibility to coordinate with other students/TAs to catch up with the materials they missed when they were absent.</p>\n\n<p>If either of this is yes, I'd at least help the student once, and then make sure the whole class will know of point 2 as soon as possible.</p>\n\n<p>If there are a lot of them waiting for you, try:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Name the chapters/sections in the assigned texts that will cover a majority of what you talked about in class.</li>\n<li>Have them work in group to come up with a strategy on those \"what to do,\" and meet with them as a group to go over their questions.</li>\n<li>Group them and give a blanket tutorial. You can also make this a challenging task by asking each of the absentees responsible for sorting and summarizing the texts, or have them work on a problem set together.</li>\n<li>Invest in either a cheap recorder or screen/voice capturing software to archive your lecture, so that you can prevent other situations like this from happening again.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>It's hard to give a \"should\" or \"shouldn't.\" Analyzing the situation case by case and contrasting with our teaching philosophy along the way should be sufficient to hint what to do.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18647,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These students want to have it both ways. They want to skip class, but they also don't want to deal with the consequences of skipping class. The way you've been handling this so far has indicated to your students that this is OK with you. If it's not OK with you, then you may want to send a broadcast email to the class laying out a policy on this, and incorporate such a policy into your syllabus in the future. You have broad authority to set such a policy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18663,
"author": "andreasdr",
"author_id": 11656,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11656",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>During my student years, I quite seldom attended lectures. It clashes with my preferred method of learning: I always want to stop and think things through before moving on. Hence, I always fall hopelessly behind during lectures and am much better off spending that time reading the course material. I don't know how responsible the students who skipped your class are: whether they do their best to keep up with the course, but please be aware that some people just aren't suited for learning via lectures.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know what kinds of courses you teach, which country/university you're in or whether your university requires students to show up for lectures to get a passing grade, so let me just state my policy when teaching courses: All information on what is required of a student to pass the course should be made available online. So should hand-outs and instructions for assignments etc. I claim no responsibility to remind absent students of deadlines etc., but in my view, a student who skips lectures but who is responsible and willing to actively keep him/herself updated on what is going on in the course, should have access to everything required to take part in it.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18636",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
18,637 | <p>I work with some students who will attend graduate school in the US. The schools they are applying for list minimum required TOEFL scores. Some have just reached the minimum scores required for admission to their schools of choice. Do admissions departments ever care about how close this number is to the minimum? In other words, will the students be at any greater advantage if they retake the test and get a higher score, or is the "score level met" simply a "met" or "not met" variable that goes into deciding whether or not the students are accepted?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18643,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer is \"sometimes.\"</p>\n\n<p>Some schools will not care what the score is, as long as you have the minimum requirement that they advertise publicly.</p>\n\n<p>Some schools won't care, even if you <em>don't</em> have the minimum requirement (they may \"waive\" this requirement routinely).</p>\n\n<p>Some schools will care: they may have one public requirement, and a higher (unpublicized) threshold that they <em>really</em> use in most cases. (Or: the school has one minimum and the department has a higher, unpublicized one.)</p>\n\n<p>Some schools will care: the minimum is required to get your application looked at, but even if it is met they still consider the score in admissions decisions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18650,
"author": "user3079666",
"author_id": 11719,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11719",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What ff524 said, but I will add that if you are interviewed they will judge you by that. It's reasonable since if you have the TOEFL with good marks but have already forgotten half your English, you are deemed unreliable, if you failed it on the other hand, but are at ease with English, it is easy to understand that you probably failed the essay or had a bad day. What they see with their own eyes is more important than an exam taken some time ago under who knows what circumstances.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18653,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would agree with \"sometimes.\" Usually departments will set these criteria, not schools, based on the success of students who have a given score. But once that bottom is set you meet it or you don't. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18661,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to other useful remarks made: in my university, a minimum TOEFL score is considered a problem, to the extent that it drags down everything of the file. Partly this is based on our past experiences with such scores (statistically, over 30+ years) and the subsequent improvements-or-not. Specifically, minimal TOEFL score people seem not to usually improve much at all, even after a few years. Oof. Of course this says nothing about any individual, but we predict based on the statistical aggregate... </p>\n\n<p>The minimum set by the umbrella \"graduate school\" body that imagines it oversees graduate education and degrees across the university has lower expectations than our math dept. I cannot speak for other depts.</p>\n\n<p>And, indeed, both higher and lower TOEFL-score kids who associate almost entirely with their home-language population outside of teaching and classes simply do not improve, do not learn finer points of colloquial English, etc. On one hand, I'm somewhat sympathetic to cultural dislocation... but if the issue is job performance, then we can see the obvious issue: cultural extraterrestrials are rarely effective in teaching.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31231,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Almost 20 years ago, I was in charge of graduate admissions for my department, and TOEFL scores were among my biggest headaches. They just didn't provide the information I really needed: Can the applicant succeed not only as a student but also as a TA in first-year calculus or pre-calculus? (TA positions were essentially the only financial support we could offer foreign graduate students.) I remember two students in particular. One had the highest TOEFL score I had ever seen, but I had great difficulty understanding her, and I'm confident that I can understand \"foreign English\" significantly better than our calculus students. The other student had a TOEFL score barely above the university's minimum, and she was admitted only because one of our faculty vouched for the reliability of a professor who had worked with this student and vouched for her ability to speak English well. This student was, despite her TOEFL score, indeed able to speak English well, and she even served as an intermediary between some of the department staff and some of her fellow students whose English was not so good (though their TOEFL scores were better than hers). </p>\n\n<p>My department also requires applicants to provide a letter from a native speaker of English, attesting to the applicant's ability to teach. (We sometimes stretch the meaning of \"native\" a bit, for example to include me.) These letters are often more useful than TOEFL scores, though sometimes the language of the letter sounds so foreign that I get suspicious. </p>\n\n<p>Returning to the actual question, unfortunately what departments do with TOEFL scores depends not only on the particular university and the particular department, but even on the particular person or committee that happens to be handling graduate applications. I can easily imagine that my successor as associate chair for graduate studies treated TOEFL scores differently than I did and thereby avoided some headaches).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18637",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
18,640 | <p>A newbie here :)</p>
<p>I am currently a PhD student in a computer science program. My research interest is about quantum information science. Back then, I also got accepted into a Physics PhD program, but I decided to join my current department because the project is much more interesting.</p>
<p>Here is my problem: when people ask me, <em>"Hey, so what are you doing in grad school?"</em> , I feel quite uncomfortable to mention that I am doing a degree in "Computer Science". Don't get me wrong. I love computer science. But I prefer to be regarded as a Physics person rather than a CS person (actually, I am doing a lot of theoretical quantum physics for my thesis). My feeling is that, the name of the department/degree ALONE doesn't do me justice in telling other about my research interests and experiences.</p>
<p>Funny enough, my boyfriend is also suffering from the same problem. He is in the same CS department with me, but focusing on computational biology. His plan is to attend medical school after his PhD, so he usually shows a tremendous amount of angst when being asked the same question. People often joke about his decision, like <em>"So why an IT guy like you suddenly wants to go to med school?"</em>. The poor guy has spent quite a lot of time to do wet labs, and is drafting a thesis with 50% bio and 50% CS components, so I can tell that he really hates when people calling him an "IT guy". While I understand that doing a bio-related doctoral research is a very logical transition for him to med schools, the name of the department alone is causing the confusion that he has abruptly changed his interests into medicine, rather than planned for it ahead.</p>
<p>My question is, what is the best way in our cases to "market" our research focus and experiences to other people? Should it be:</p>
<ol>
<li>Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Computer Science </li>
<li>Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Quantum Information, or</li>
<li>Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Computer Science with special focus on Quantum Information?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for the answers!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18642,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>My question is, what is the best way in our cases to \"market\" our research focus and experiences to other people? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Marketing is all about knowing your audience. And thus you may market your PhD to different audiences in different ways.</p>\n\n<p>If you're talking to a person on the street, you could say \"PhD in Computer Science\". </p>\n\n<p>If you're talking to a Computer Scientist, you could say \"PhD in Quantum Information\". </p>\n\n<p>If you're talking to a specialist in Quantum Information, you could say \"PhD in X, Y & Z\" where X, Y and Z are detailed topics.</p>\n\n<p>The truth of the matter is that a PhD is a PhD. Officially speaking, there's no such thing as a \"PhD in ...\". So for the given person in front of you, try to communicate the area of your PhD as best as you can.</p>\n\n<p>And as for the \"IT guy\" stuff, if that's how they chose to stereotype what you are doing, then that's their problem, not yours/your boyfriends.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18673,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am sort of in the same spot as you, even if maybe to a lesser degree. I hold a master and PhD degree in Information Systems, even though all my research is really in distributed systems and software engineering. Some people kept asking me during my PhD time whether I am not worried that my IS degree will keep me out of CS postdocs or faculty positions.</p>\n\n<p>Now, after going through a few rounds of job search, I can report that <strong>the topic has come up a grand total of 0 times during job hunting</strong>. Realistically, people simply do not care about the name of your degree / department. If you publish in X, you are a research in X, no matter what your degree says. If at all, the entire thing is an interesting tidbit for small talk, not something that anybody should be stressing out over.</p>\n\n<p>About the case of your boyfriend - maybe the reason that people keep calling him \"the IT guy\" is <em>because</em> he is so annoyed by it? For some people, if somebody reacts so strongly to something that seems rather trivial to others, it would be prone to make him the butt of some inappropriate jokes ... </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18640",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13576/"
]
|
18,652 | <p>Suppose that a top-N department at a big research university (for very small N) has the choice between two candidates for a tenure-track position:</p>
<ol>
<li>Candidate A: a bright young researcher just done writing her dissertation, and</li>
<li>Candidate B: a more seasoned veteran with a several years of successful teaching, advising, and grant writing her belt (though <strong>not</strong> already tenured).</li>
</ol>
<p>In other words, suppose Candidate B has already demonstrated that, in addition to doing great research, she can successfully navigate other important aspects of the job. Candidate A seems like a bigger gamble: perhaps she will succeed in these other roles... and perhaps not! Assume that the department in question can essentially hire whomever it wants, with very little competition from other institutions.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> What incentive would such a department have for hiring A instead of B?</p>
<p>I ask this question, of course, because I am a young candidate about to interview for a job at a top department, and I know that I am competing with more seasoned candidates. How do I make a compelling case, despite my relative lack of experience? What are some potential pitfalls to look out for during an interview? (E.g., questions that might expose my relative naiveté?!) Do top departments really hire freshly-minted PhDs for tenure-track positions? Or are they just panning for gold?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18654,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ul>\n<li>Candidate A might have a research agenda (either based on her dissertation, or on her formulated research plan) that fits better with the research agendas of other people in the hiring department, or with strategic priorities of the department or even other departments at the university.</li>\n<li>Candidate A might already have collaborated with members of the hiring department, maybe in writing grant proposals.</li>\n<li>Candidate A might be cheaper, in terms of salary, lab space, funding or anything else the hiring department may need to cough up.</li>\n<li>The hiring department may be afraid that the \"superstar\" candidate B has so many more attractive offers that she would not accept an offer at this department at all, so they would rather not expend the time to go through the entire process with her.</li>\n<li>Candidate A might just have better contacts, because her Ph.D. advisor is big friends with the dean of the hiring department, or (less sinister) the dean has met candidate A at a conference and been very impressed with her presentation.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>My advice: do a little research on the people and the priorities at your target department, and emphasize unobtrusively in your cover letter and <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14180/will-anybody-actually-read-your-research-and-teaching-statements\">research plan</a> how you could collaborate and find synergies. And tap your network. Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18666,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If anything, people are probably a bit prejudiced against Candidate B; people tend to be much more strongly influenced by any negative information than a lack of information. They can imagine whatever they want about the future career of Candidate A, but Candidate B probably isn't getting much better than what they've already seen.</p>\n\n<p>This is the key point where you are going wrong is this:</p>\n\n<p><em>Assume that the department in question can essentially hire whomever it wants, with very little competition from other institutions.</em></p>\n\n<p>Every institution faces at least potentially serious competition for the candidates they want to hire (this is almost tautological; if you don't think there's a good chance a competitive institution will make a serious offer, then probably you don't think the candidate is good enough to hire). In particular, no department can afford to say \"Well, we can just pass on Candidate A now. We can just hire her later if she turns out to be a star.\" because, well, maybe they can't. Maybe Candidate A takes a job somewhere else, and makes friends or starts a family and in 3 or 4 years doesn't want to move. (Also, there's a little voice in the back of their head saying \"Maybe Candidate B doesn't really want to move now.\" Making a offer that's turned down is expensive in terms of time and losing other candidates.) If nothing else, you're probably going in have to make a much more attractive offer, in terms of salary, etc. in order to get them. Getting a younger person is \"cheaper.\"</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18652",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538/"
]
|
18,657 | <p>A colleague of mine would like to compare 25+ different Java implementations of the same homework. Is it OK (ethically/legally in the US) to share my students' class homework solutions with him for his research purposes?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18659,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You need to run this by your Institutional Review Board (IRB), as you would any time you use data from human subjects for research.</p>\n\n<p>From what you describe, it has a good chance of qualifying for an <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html\">IRB exemption</a> under one of these categories (if identifying information is removed before giving the data to the researcher):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>It is using existing data</li>\n<li>the data comes from normal educational practices</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>but even then, <strong>the IRB needs to be the one to make that determination</strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18662,
"author": "GEdgar",
"author_id": 4484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4484",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Franck doesn't say where he is. What ff524 says is true in the US. Any research with human subjects must be approved by an appropriate review process beforehand. </p>\n\n<p>One horror story (allegedly true) goes like this. A graduate student in music history spent her summer touring through Appalachia, convincing people to let her record them singing traditional songs. But that research had to be thrown out, because of the advance approval process she hadn't known was required.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/28 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18657",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
]
|
18,664 | <p>Is it a good idea to submit a paper when you are about to leave academia, say in the next year? </p>
<p>In my field (Mathematics), the review progress is typically very long (At the moment I'm waiting for the first review for almost a year). I do not want to receive a review while I'm in the middle of a new job (probably without access to other academic people, articles, books, etc.). On the other hand, I've done something which is worth to published somewhere.</p>
<p>Should I submit it? How can I improve the length of the review (e.g., by chosing the journal?)?</p>
<p>Edit: Some details: I'm about to finish my PhD and I have no co-authors for the latest paper who could handle big parts of revisions.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18672,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would say, <strong>yes</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>If the results are worth publishing, then the world should know about them.</p>\n\n<p>That said, even if the paper is accepted, it is likely that you'll need to make minor or major revisions. If you do not expect that you will have the time to do this, then ultimately the paper will be rejected (or simply just vanish). So you need to consider whether you will, in 1, 2 or 3 years (or whatever the journal turn around time is) be in a position, mentally and otherwise, to address the review comments. </p>\n\n<p>The other option is to archive the paper on arxiv.org and hope that interested people find the work – for the good of science.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18685,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you think it's worth publishing, you should at least put it on ArXiv.</p>\n\n<p>I'd also recommend submitting it to a journal. If the paper is well-written and correct, it shouldn't need a great deal of revision, so it should be possible to do that in your spare time. You could also mention when you submit the paper that you'll be leaving academia so you might need more time than usual to make revisions.</p>\n\n<p>Another possibility is to bring your advisor on board as a co-author to deal with these things.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18664",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4078/"
]
|
18,665 | <p>All the three types of research revolve around an argument, a thesis. They of course differ in terms of student level, that is complexity.</p>
<p>But, what makes a bachelor's thesis different from master's and PhD theses in terms of procedures of researching given that all of them may follow the same process of research, questions or hypotheses, review of the literature, methodology, results and discussion?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18668,
"author": "xyz",
"author_id": 9680,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9680",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The PhD thesis should be on a much higher level than the Honours/Masters thesis, offering a contribution to human knowledge that is of a sufficient level of \"significance\" to warrant publication in a respected journal.</p>\n\n<p>Significance is highly subjective, and you also do not necessarily have to publish to be awarded the PhD (sometimes the peer-review delay means that they come out afterwards, or there may be some intellectual property issues that make it beneficial to refrain from publication). It is awarded based on your supervisors consent and a review of academics in your field. So the \"significance\" would probably be judged by them in terms of how much original work they see as a reasonable expectation at that stage of your development (first 3 years of serious/committed research). Unfortunately it also means that some people who probably do not deserve PhD's are awarded them anyway for fulfilling grunt work for their easy-going supervisors.</p>\n\n<p>It is possible that some Honours/Masters thesis might even be more significant/higher quality than a PhD thesis. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the submission of the thesis will award the degree that they deserve. The university may have a policy to upgrade the student's enrolment if the supervisor senses that such progress is being made. However, it is impossible to upgrade to a PhD without completing Honours and I believe nearly every single university has a policy of a minimum period of enrolment before submission is allowed. A subsequent question that you may have is how to gain a PhD without enrolling in one, which is another level of achievement completely.</p>\n\n<p>As for the difference between Honours/Bachelor and Masters it would depend on your university, but both have no requirement for publication quality research and are usually small tasks/ideas that are not worth the supervisors time to think about alone, or involve a lot of labor. In fact, in my school, many Honours thesis are of a higher level than the Masters, because the smart Honours students will either graduate into the work force or go straight into a PhD. The Masters students are usually those who cannot find a job and are not suited to research. However, I believe some other universities may require a mandatory Masters degree to start the PhD.</p>\n\n<p>You may get a better idea by looking at some titles/abstracts of completed theses. The PhD level will be something like a new method/observation/application whereas the Masters/Honours will be an application specific set of measurements/simulations or even simply a literature review to gauge the needs of future work. The word limits are also typically different (although note that quality is NOT proportional to the number of words), with PhD at 100K, Masters at 50K and Honours at 30K at my university.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18674,
"author": "Raphael",
"author_id": 1419,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1419",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Roughly speaking, there are three levels of tasks:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Recitation</li>\n<li>Application</li>\n<li>Transfer</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>For a Bachelor's thesis, you would only expect 1 and 2, that is the student should <em>do</em> something (e.g. solve a well-defined problem) with the knowledge they have aquired during their studies.</p>\n\n<p>For Master's thesis, you would want to have a non-trivial amount of 3, that is the student should transfer the competences aquired during studies to new problems. This usually includes (more) extensive literature research.</p>\n\n<p>A formal difference that (imho) derives from the above is volume; Bachelor's theses typically award less credits than Master's theses and should thus take up less time and fewer pages.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18684,
"author": "Prof Peter Woolliams",
"author_id": 13615,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13615",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Go back to basic definitions... In history of university degrees (500 years ago)</p>\n\n<p>A bachelors degree is about learning existing knowledge. Historically from the book(s) written by the univ staff.</p>\n\n<p>A masters degree, after you have learnt what is already known and in books in your topic area, is about learning evolving knowledge - that is near recent and current literature in academic journals and conference presentations.</p>\n\n<p>A doctorate degree is about creating new knowledge by research.</p>\n\n<p>So it is now easy to understand a thesis/dissertation for each degree.</p>\n\n<p>A bachelors degree should be a critique of existing knowledge, often looking for inconsistencies in view points from different sources and synthesising arguments or positions in a DISSERTATION )that is you disserting !</p>\n\n<p>A masters thesis (thesis is Greek for 'I believe') can be either an assembly of new knowledge from new published research or simply a critique and integration. It might have propositions (not hypotheses) that the masters student offers as a conclusion from bringing together new knowledge from different sources.</p>\n\n<p>A doctoral thesis is where the author undertakes research, usually collecting primary new data which is presented as both factual findings and conceptual findings and thus new knowledge in the form of a new model or theory. Also possible, is to challenge existing knowledge and show earlier published knowledge is invalid.</p>\n\n<p>Well that's what they all should be. In practice there is some overlap and different universities and faculties have their own custom and practice. It all starts to break down about 40 years ago when a masters degree become post graduate in time rather than post graduate in level. Thus engineers with a bachelor degree might take an MBA to make them more employable and did more a less a bachelor degree in business in 18 months rather than 3 years as they were already a graduate.</p>\n\n<p>But still thinking in the above categories can help students today focus on the overall agenda.</p>\n\n<p>I have examined over 55 PhD theses. And several hundred masters theses and I base my approach to assessment on the above.</p>\n\n<p>Prof Peter Woolliams, B.Sc(hons), B.A., PhD,\nEmeritus professor,\nAnglian Ruskin College Cambridge, U K</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18665",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13102/"
]
|
18,675 | <p>I am preparing the questionnaire for my Doctor of Business Administration research; for the purposes of this question (on Academia SE), I am investigating techniques used in customising cars. It is conceivable that a respondent has used several techniques, so I envisage repeating the same questions, each time for a a different car or technique. </p>
<p>I imagine that the same repeating structure would be needed in a medical exam, where the respondent can give data about several complaints.</p>
<p>Is there a name for this technique? Does it have a canonical source?</p>
<p>I appreciate that this question might not be within the scope of this site.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18746,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is usually referred to as a \"<strong>checklist</strong>\". This term also implies that multiple answers are allowed, while \"<strong>multiple choice</strong>\" may mean either single or multiple answers.</p>\n\n<p>Depends you how you structure it, the name can change as well. For instance if you line up all the customizing techniques in columns and all the cars in rows, the questionnaire then can be called a \"<strong>checklist matrix</strong>\".</p>\n\n<p>Regardless what you end up calling it, people are usually not very good at identifying the names of all these questionnaire formats. So, I will suggest attaching a non-technical description (like your question's wording) and/or an actual sample question in your document to avoid misunderstanding.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 21703,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a form of branching (I guess \"conditional branching\" based on a screening question).</p>\n\n<p>A good model for this is the Bureau of Justic Statistics' <a href=\"http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245\" rel=\"nofollow\">National Crime Victimization Survey</a>. In that survey, respondents are asked screening questions that identify incidents of crime victimization (e.g., respondent was attacked). Respondents are then asked to complete an \"incident report\", which asks an extensive number of questions about the episode of victimization. <a href=\"http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ncvs2_2012.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here's an example of such an incident report for the 2012 survey</a>. Respondents may complete zero of these incident reports or they complete up to ten.</p>\n\n<p>Another, simpler, model is the U.S. Census (or most household surveys) that ask for basic details about household members. For example, <a href=\"http://www.census.gov/schools/pdf/2010form_info.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">the 2010 Census Form</a> asked for details of up to 12 household members. In a telephone or online context, of course, respondents would not see the questions relating to household members beyond the number they initially list.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/29 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18675",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10187/"
]
|
18,696 | <p>I'm not sure if this question is okay to post here (I am only an undergrad), so please feel free to close/migrate if necessary. I won't be offended.</p>
<p>I am an undergraduate taking an undergraduate CS class right now. I feel the class is being taught like a graduate-level course, but we are being tested like undergraduates. I say this because I have taken graduate-level STEM classes in the past, and I think my professor is teaching the material as if we were graduate students.</p>
<p>The homework in this class emphasizes theoretical understanding and proof writing. When the midterm was upon us, we were given no practice problems to prepare for the test. There were no practice midterms either. Going into the midterm, I figured, well, the professor will probably test us on our understanding of the material. However, the midterm tested for speed and accuracy. There were several short answer questions that had little to do with the kind of understanding of the material we developed from the homework. In fact, there were questions for which we haven't yet had homework. I think he tried to make the test "easy," which totally threw me off.</p>
<p>I did very poorly on my midterm, and now I am trying to figure out whether I can judge what to expect in a graduate-level class vs. an undergraduate-level class so I may avoid such poor exam performance in the future. I have come up with the following qualities to expect from a graduate-level STEM class vs. an undergraduate-level STEM class.</p>
<p><strong>Graduate-level STEM Class</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Emphasis on depth of understanding.</p></li>
<li><p>Abstract material can sometimes be presented ad hoc: Less emphasis on linear presentation of material.</p></li>
<li><p>Theoretical presentation of material. Typically, we look at axioms/rules whenever we are presented new notation. We then derive everything from these axioms/rules.</p></li>
<li><p>Often the material covered has so much depth that we are expected to have minimal breadth of understanding; We are expected to take what we've learned and focus on a particular are in great depth.</p></li>
<li><p>Exams, projects, and papers test understanding of the material, not the speed in which we can solve arbitrary problems.</p></li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Undergraduate-level STEM Class</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Emphasis on breadth of knowledge.</p></li>
<li><p>Material is presented in a linear fashion, often starting with some concrete examples and building from there.</p></li>
<li><p>There is often so much ground to cover that we are taught through rote memorization. We solve problems excessively.</p></li>
<li><p>Exams test for speed and accuracy of exact solutions to several problems. One often succeeds in such a class by performing many practice problems.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My questions are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is this accurate? If not, why, and what kinds of differences can I expect between graduate vs. undergraduate-level courses?</p></li>
<li><p>Are there other/better ways to find correlations between teaching and testing styles? How can I know I am prepared for an exam given a professor's teaching style (rote memorization vs. emphasis on derivations, etc.)?</p></li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18858,
"author": "James T",
"author_id": 13203,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13203",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There is some truth in the differences you observe, but the distinctions are not very sharp. It's more of a continuum - as witnessed, for example, by the many textbooks that describe themselves as suitable for advanced undergraduate and early graduate levels.</p>\n\n<p>From the point of view of the instructor, the differences in teaching style are explained by two things:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Graduate students are more experienced.</strong> It's not only a question of them knowing more about the subject, but also of their (presumed) greater ability to be responsible for their own learning. Related to that, people who've opted for graduate study are assumed to be motivated to work independently. So the instructor can be a bit more free to skip over material that's routine, or doesn't present much of a conceptual challenge. In computer science, say, beginning courses will teach you a programming language; advanced ones will assume that if you haven't used the language before, you can pick it up without much explicit guidance.</li>\n<li><strong>The topic is less well understood.</strong> At a more advanced level, we have less to rely on in how to teach the subject. For early undergraduate courses, there's probably a choice of textbooks and related resources, and a body of expertise about how to present the material. A course that's closer to current research may not have been taught many times before; the instructor won't have much of a pool of local experts to consult; and there may not be any existing textbooks at all. So the teaching might have some rough edges, in the choice and order of topics to present, how much time is spent on them, and so on.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I think this is what lies behind your observations, at least regarding the teaching. For assessment, I'd say there are other factors which dominate. Assessment is very sensitive to the precise nature of the course, the instructor, and the institution. I'm sure you can imagine being examined on your understanding of some algorithm by any of: answering multiple choice questions about it, proving something about it, writing an explanatory essay about it, implementing it on a computer, or doing any of these for some <em>variant</em> of the algorithm that you hadn't seen before. And any of these could happen in a course at any level.</p>\n\n<p>It sounds like you're somewhat aggrieved that the questions on your midterm were in a different style from your homework, and were less conceptual than the material presented in lectures. Now, it may be that your professor was (as you suggest) skewing the teaching towards the graduate end of the scale, and assuming that you would independently put the work in to make sure you could apply the theory correctly. In that case, the issue isn't that the exam was in \"undergraduate\" style, but that \"graduate\" teaching puts more of a burden on the students.</p>\n\n<p>However, there are other factors in play that govern the style of examination. For example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I want to know if you understand the theory, and I decide that asking you to apply it is a good way to find out.</li>\n<li>I would be ashamed if somebody got an A in my course, but couldn't actually solve these applied problems.</li>\n<li>I decide that routine problems will be quicker or easier to grade.</li>\n<li>The homework already tested the students' broad understanding, and I decide the midterm should test something different.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I'm not saying that any of these are what happened, or that they are necessarily \"good\" ideas. But there <em>are</em> reasons why the midterm could focus on less conceptual material, that don't relate to an undergraduate-vs-graduate distinction.</p>\n\n<p>Your final question is about how to know what to expect from a particular examination before you've taken it. Having thought about it at some length, I can't come up with any better suggestion than <strong>ask your professor</strong>. There are so many possibilities, even for the same course taught by the same person, for what the exam might be like. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19430,
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"author_id": 12655,
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"pm_score": 0,
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"text": "<p>I have had courses like this (undergrad courses taught like grad classes but with undergrad-style exams). The best advice I can really give you is - talk to the professor! If no practice exams are posted, you can still ask the professor \"What will be the focus of the exam?\" / \"What will be the style of the exam?\" / \"How best to prepare for the exam?\" Sometimes they will have a skewed view of their own exam, but generally this will still be helpful.</p>\n\n<p>If you know people who have taken the course, you can also ask them the type of exam the professor tends to write.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, in this situation, it's a good idea to just study more, since you have no clue what will be on the exam. Study the \"easy\" stuff as well as the \"hard\" stuff - since clearly it was not really \"easy.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19446,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Addressing this question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are there other/better ways to find correlations between teaching and\n testing styles? How can I know I am prepared for an exam given a\n professor's teaching style (rote memorization vs. emphasis on\n derivations, etc.)?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you have additional exams to come in this course, then I would recommend you meet with the professor and ask <em>specific</em> questions, not \"how should I study?\" or \"what will the test be like?\" </p>\n\n<p>Bring in your notes, homework sets and your first midterm, and demonstrate that you are thinking about how to organize your learning by asking questions like these:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>\"This question (point to specific question) surprised me because it asks me to quickly solve X, but my homework here (pointing to specific question) asked me about the theory of X. Should I track down some sample problems for the topic covered in this <em>new</em> homework (point to new example) so I can both discuss theory AND quickly answer simple questions on the next test?\" </p></li>\n<li><p>\"This question (point to specific question) surprised me because I didn't recognize the material. Can you show me how to better apply what we've learned to new situations so I can answer these questions better?\"</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I've often thought students got a question wrong because they didn't understand a concept, but when someone comes and talks to me I realize that they did understand it well but my question confused them, or I didn't make it clear enough that this kind of question would be asked. Instructors can improve their exams if they get helpful feedback. Brave instructors ask for feedback. Wise students try to offer it in the guise of going over the old exam.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18696",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13625/"
]
|
18,702 | <p>I want to go to graduate school to study computational molecular biology and biochemistry. </p>
<p>During my first three semesters as an undergraduate I finished my distribution requirements and started doing research with one professor. During my fourth semester I started doing research with two more professors (working in computational biophysics and computational linear algebra). My work with two of these three professors has already led to work that will be published soon. I am considering starting research with yet another professor (in statistical genomics).</p>
<p><strong>Is it wise to begin research with yet another professor?</strong> I fear that having engaged with too many professors makes my resume read like that of a dilettante rather than a promising computational biologist.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18703,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There comes a point where a person will be spread too thin – that's inevitable. Only you can really say how much you can take on before your workload starts to interfere with your academic goals and achievements. </p>\n\n<p>If you're already doing the work of two students, I'd be cautious about expanding that to three. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I'm spending around 9 hours a day on research right now with ~3 hours in class, 1 hour eating, and 4 hours free time, on week days, and even more free time on weekends</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You make it sound like those four hours of free time are being wasted, when they might not be. Perhaps your brain is appreciating that rest more than you know. And I don't see any time allotted for physical fitness; besides being good for your health, fitness can be <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=fitness+helps+you+think+clearer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t\">good for your mind</a>. </p>\n\n<p>If you decide you want to try a third project, you should be honest with yourself, and up front with the sponsoring faculty member from the outset. \"I'm already working on two other projects, so, to be honest, this might turn out to be too much for me. But I'd still like to give it a try.\" Such a disclosure might make it a little harder for you to find someone willing to take you on, but it might help save your reputation if you find yourself in a position where you've bitten off more than you can chew. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18705,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all: congratulations and good luck. It seems you are quite enthusiastic about research. That said: be careful not to take too much on your plate, especially initially. Your time schedule seems very stringent which may lead to a burn-out.</p>\n\n<p>I have the feeling that you are too erratic in your current research: there is no overall story to connect the different pieces you are (or plan to be) working on with different professors (computational biophysics, linear algebra, statistical genomics, mathematics, ...). It's true that there is likely some overlap but to do effective research you need to have a single point of focus, which you can tackle from different angles. <strong>What is your main focus?</strong></p>\n\n<p>I would say less is more. Having so many different professors in such diverse fields will inevitably hinder you from digging deep in each one. An important part in research is choosing your battles: deciding what to focus on and planning your work/collaborations in a meaningful way. It seems to me that you just want to do everything, which (while commendable!) rarely works out in the long run. You can't do everything, even if you want to. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40974,
"author": "mac389",
"author_id": 28,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Just because you can doesn't mean you should.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Your schedule reminds me of my marathon days of thesis writing and of my 24-hour calls on surgery. In both cases I accomplished a lot in the moment, but retained little. College is your first formal exposure to academia. Racing through it could shortchange your longterm foundation. Just as with muscles, you need to alternate periods of stress and relaxation otherwise the adaptation to that stress never occurs. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Publishing one paper doesn't indicate mastery of a field.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Few outstanding scientific issues are definitively solved in one paper. A string of publications on the same topic is more common and, for a CV, more impressive. Someone who can attack the same problem from different angles with different approaches is a promising candidate. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Form an informal committee; don't add to your collection</strong></p>\n\n<p>Instead of being a human ping-pong between PIs, why not ask a few of the professors to guide you in writing papers at the intersection of their interests. Those sound like interesting discussions even if no paper comes from them. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18702",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13640/"
]
|
18,707 | <p>I am currently working on my thesis and facing the problem of choosing between "I", "We" or "the author" when I want to talk about things I defined, decided etc. I am the only author of my thesis, but using "I" is not very common, is it? I saw quite a lot of work of single-authors that used "We" when referencing to themselves.</p>
<p>"The author" seems nicer to me, but it is not common?</p>
<p>Any recommendations or remarks?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18708,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Short answer</strong> It varies. Ask your advisor!</p>\n\n<p>According to my advisor (Social Sciences, using APA style manual), 'the author' is always correct, and the use of 'I' hurts the eyes and the sensibilities! </p>\n\n<p>Although many style guides now permit the use of 'I', especially for a single-author paper, you will find that many academics have been taught to avoid 'I'. They may express strong dislike for the use of 'I', and your work may subtly and unconsciously be considered 'less good' because of your pronoun use. 'The author' is always considered correct. The bigger problem is probably learning how to write fluidly and concisely with this construction. Vary your sentence structure, and absolutely do NOT begin every other sentence with 'the author found/did/decided'!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18709,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"<code>We</code>\" is correct, even if you are the only author, by \"<code>we</code>\" you express \"<code>me and you, my dear reader</code>\". Therefore it's completely fine to use it in your thesis.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/30 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18707",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13642/"
]
|
18,725 | <p>Most colleges and universities in the US base their admissions on high school grades plus a standardized test (SAT or ACT). To decide whether a particular piece of data X is a good admissions criterion, people seem to focus on how well X correlates with college grades. (This may be freshman grades or total college GPA. Some people think success in getting a degree would be more appropriate. For the purposes of this question, I don't think these distinctions are relevant.)</p>
<p>Isn't this correlation a completely incorrect way of evaluating X as a tool for admissions?</p>
<p>It seems like an apples-to-oranges comparison. A student who has low X is admitted to a nonselective school, where standards are low and they compete with other low-X students. Grades at this school measure how well they did based on the low standards prevailing there. Students who have high X are admitted to a selective school. A "B" grade at Berkeley is not the same as a "B" grade at Cal State Dominguez Hills. A high-X student goes to Berkeley and gets a "B" in calculus. A low-X student goes to CSDH and gets a "B" in calculus. This shows up in the statistics as a lack of correlation between X and grades, since the students differed in X but got the same grade. But isn't that misleading, since the grades mean different things at the two schools?</p>
<p>Is there some more logically justifiable statistic to use in evaluating whether X is a good admissions criterion?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 25728,
"author": "John salerno",
"author_id": 19458,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19458",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A more meaningful study might ignore college grades, which as you point out depend on the type of institution, and focus on downstream accomplishments. It isn't just local and community colleges that distort the picture; several highly ranked Universities have A-no credit policies, so that everyone graduate with a 4.0. Many education schools are effectively A-no credit, with overall GPA's of ~3.9. \nI'd like to know how many university professors had low grades or SAT scores, how many NAS members had low grades or SAT scores, and what the profile of CEOs, successful writers, lawyers, engineers etc. was. The purpose of college is not the production of am impressive transcript. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52377,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Define \"effectiveness of criteria for admission\". Collect data on the potentially relevant independent variables. Do statistical analysis on the resulting data set.</p>\n\n<p>Be careful, you'll probably be considering just the people who were admitted, so the results will be skewed.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18725",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
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|
18,729 | <p>I believe that the majority of Elsevier journals use a standard dual column document class.</p>
<p>However, some journals that are owned by Elsevier use an alternative single column format (e.g. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00219991">J. Comput. Phys.</a>; <a href="http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-sound-and-vibration/">J. Sound and Vib.</a>).</p>
<p>What is the reason for using a different format for these journals? My first guess would be that since historically those journals were single column format they may keep this format, but why then did Elsivier move them to their own single column format (narrow margins and smaller font) instead of moving to dual column (easier to read) or just keeping the same words-per-line that the journals had beforehand?</p>
<p>Personally I find it more difficult to read the current single column format (post 2002)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18738,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One column is just as standard as two column. Tradition, in conjunction with type-setting standards, likely determine the state of affairs. Many journals have traditionally been printed in a smaller size than letter/A4. For the large format, two column is more efficient. That is, you can squeeze more words into a page than for a single column. With smaller formats this is no longer true because the two-column format requires smaller font size to maintain readable lines; lines with to few letters are detrimental to the readability since it fragments the text. Hence it becomes more a matter of choice which way to go, one or two column. In addition, one column is easier to type set and one column figures in a small format also becomes small.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18739,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Mathematics journals (including many published by Elsevier) are usually single column. I assume this is because of the frequent need for long equations. The longer lines are somewhat more difficult for the eye, but one gets used to it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18753,
"author": "Dr Pangloss",
"author_id": 6556,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6556",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Of the Economics' journals that Elsevier publishes (and there are lots of them!) I think all (if not almost all) are single column. Which journals use double column? Why would they use double column? I referee a lot for Elsevier's economics journals, it would be a nightmare to read double column economics papers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18757,
"author": "Ri49",
"author_id": 12609,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12609",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One reason for one-column format has already been mentioned: especially for math papers, it's useful to display long computations and formulae (even with one column, it can be a nightmare to make them fit the page!). </p>\n\n<p>I don't know if anyone shares this, but I see another reason to prefer this format: when reading an article on my computer (which cannot display the entire page on the screen), I find it very annoying to get back to the top of the page when I finished the first column instead of just keeping scrolling down. </p>\n\n<p>I suspect however that habit plays a large role in the appreciation of such and such presentation and that helps explain why the practices seem to be so homogeneous in a given field. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18763,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One possible explanation for the variety of formats is the fact that Elsevier acquired a lot of other publishers; they tend not to change the format of an newly acquired journal, probably for brand issues (the cover and style are well-known to the audience, changing them could be disturbing).</p>\n\n<p>This does not explain why the journals where single columned by their original publishers in the first place, but other answers have tackled this issue.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18770,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><em>(Copy Editor speaking <code>;-)</code> )</em></p>\n\n<p>When designing a journal's typesetting style, there are several things to consider:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>What are the <strong>paper size restrictions</strong>? Can you choose any paper size or choose from a short list, or is it fixed? For instance, Springer uses it's own paper size for many publications, The journal I typeset is stuck to A4 because it's the cheapest to print here, etc.</p></li>\n<li><p>What <strong>font size and family</strong> is going to be used? The smaller the size, the more characters per line you get, as well, sans-serif fonts make it harder to follow a line of text in a long paragraph.</p></li>\n<li><p>What are the <strong>typical contents of the papers</strong>? For papers with many <em>long paragraphs</em>, it's almost necessary to have narrow columns (I'll explain that later). For papers with lots of <em>colour photos and graphics</em>, you want to allow graphical appendices since colour printing is then cheaper and printer handling easier. For lots of <em>math formulas</em>, you prefer wide columns so that they fit better. For lots of <em>very small graphics and tables</em>, you might prefer two columns so that you can put more easily two of them next to each other.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Who</strong> is going to use the final template and how? Do you have a professional typesetter to carefully typeset all the papers? Do your audience use Word or LaTeX more? If they use Word, you think twice to make the journal two-column since you can be close to sure that people will mess the template up.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>What is \"narrow\" and \"wide\":</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Narrow</em> is basically anything with less than 66 characters per line on average. It's been proved over centuries that this is the limit width on which the eyes are able to follow the line correctly and switch to the next line correctly. With sans-serif fonts, the width should be a bit less since the serifs significantly help to follow the line.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Wide</em> is anything that allows you to conveniently typeset long formulas. The rule-of-thumb I know is: At least 50 characters per line on average. Remember that being too wide makes it difficult to follow the lines correctly. However, this is not much an issue if the only long text in the typical articles is the introduction and most of the other paragraphs are less than 4-5 lines.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The decision of Elsevier to make some journals one-column and another ones two-column on the same paper size might be, seeing the arguments above, quite justified.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18729",
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"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9680/"
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|
18,730 | <p>I completed my master's dissertation with an adviser and was interested in the PhD program. Unfortunately I was told that my master's adviser didn't have funding and the other professor in department was doing an interesting research about an emerging field and he agreed to fund my PhD for next 4 years. He is aware that my previous lab let me go because of funding issues. Research in my previous lab and present lab are completely different, they are in no way related. </p>
<p>Now I still have strong interest in my adviser's work partly because some of the projects were my ideas and I don't want others to end up implementing them and also research is significant enough to have a journal published on it (an important addition to my resume). They have time till August to finish them off and I estimate they require at least 2-3 hours of work a day. I was considering volunteering for my Master's adviser and finishing off those projects. Will it be OK if I volunteer in my personal time to try and finish them? Do students ever do this?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18733,
"author": "adhalanay",
"author_id": 981,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your personal time is yours by definition. A good idea though might be to talk to your\nPh.D. advisor. If your former and current research projects do not overlap to much and you do not use results obtained in one lab and not yet published in the other lab I don't see any problem. Of course there may also be some personal animosity or rivalry between the former and current advisor so its a very good idea that your Ph.D. advisor is aware of this other activity and does not find out about it from a third party.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18737,
"author": "SoB",
"author_id": 11923,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11923",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since your PhD is funded there will naturally be expectations from your supervisor and funding body to deliver results in the future. While you are free to work on other projects I would advise you not to divert too much time from your PhD project. Provided you can balance your time then yes why not enjoy yourself and finish your masters projects?</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18730",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,731 | <p>It is not unusual for institutes to advertise positions (faculty or not) for which there is an internal candidate. In such situations, for external candidates, it may be difficult if not impossible to get in. When a position is advertised, is it appropriate and useful to inquire if a position has an internal candidate already? It might save a lot of time for the external candidate and possibly others (such as recommendation-letter-writers).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18732,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I assume that there are often-if-not-always internal candidates for open positions, in academia and outside. There are always students looking for Ph.D. slots, Ph.D. students looking for postdoc positions, assistant and associate professors looking to move up to the next level. (Same for non-faculty positions, but that seems OT.) Sometimes the people responsible for the position may not even know yet about such internal candidates, because they may not yet have sent in their application.</p>\n\n<p>So the question probably rather is whether these internal candidates are already frontrunners. The professor may want his extremely productive Ph.D. student to continue in the postdoc slot but may need to advertise externally for some procedural reason. The department may want to continue a certain research specialization and plan on promoting the retiring professor's assistant prof. In such a situation, external candidates will need to be very convincing to win.</p>\n\n<p>But: how often will the external candidate be told this? If the external advertisement is legally required, the hiring people may even open themselves up to litigation if they openly tell an applicant that they are only soliciting outside applications as a fig leaf.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, the department may explicitly be searching for \"new blood\", so internal candidates may actually have worse chances than external ones. Which, again, nobody will tell you (or the internal candidate).</p>\n\n<p>Of course, it makes sense to tap your network and see whether the grapevine can tell you more than official channels. However, this kind of information can be unreliable. So if you hear from multiple sources that a given position will be filled internally, it <em>may</em> make sense to not make the effort.</p>\n\n<p>Thus: there will likely be internal candidates, but you will probably not know how good their chances are. If you are a good match for the position, go and apply. Don't worry about internal candidates. This is one part of the hiring situation you can't control, just like the mood of your interviewers. Giving up on an application because there is an internal candidate will be counterproductive in the long run.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18735,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is only really useful if you know somebody at your target institution personally and are able to inquire \"off the records\". Formally asking a stranger whether an application procedure is just for show seems pointless - as Stephen says, the only realistic answer will be <strong>No, of course not</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>However, note that your connection does not necessarily need to be somebody on the hiring committee. Oftentimes, it is enough to know another PhD student, who can then open his ears a bit for you. If there already is an internal \"favorite\" for a given position, this is often not really a secret internally. For instance, I have seen a case where, when the contract of a highly distinguished postdoc ended, a call for a assistant professor appeared out of thin air with a scope that looked as if it was copied and pasted (which it might actually have been) from the postdocs research website. From the outside, this might not have been insanely obvious, but internally, everybody knew who will be hired for this position.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18736,
"author": "SoB",
"author_id": 11923,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11923",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's usually a good idea to make some informal contact with the person offering the job before you submit an application. Send an email to briefly introduce yourself and maybe ask some questions (are there teaching opportunities for example). I've heard of cases where there will be a delayed or curt reply which may indicate that they're not interested in you. On the other hand if someone is genuinely looking for someone they are more likely to reply promptly and positively.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18731",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
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|
18,741 | <p>I realise this is a bit of a silly question, but I'm writing up a conference paper on a model that's named after a Hollywood movie. What is the appropriate way to cite the movie in the paper? Should it have its own entry in the references (and if so, in what format?), or should I simply say something like "...after the 1986 movie of the same name"?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18742,
"author": "gman",
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"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'm coming from a humanities background so there may be some differences in actual citation styles but I think the following would be used by most styles.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Name of movie</li>\n<li>Director</li>\n<li>Distributor</li>\n<li>Year of release</li>\n<li>Medium consulted (DVD, VHS etc)</li>\n<li>Sometimes the main performers(depending on citation format)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In text styles of course depend on whatever citation style you are using.\nI know for example MLA is (Director, <em>Movie Name</em>) and APA is (Director, Year).</p>\n\n<p>For your example of Highlander in the APA style it would be (Mulcahy, 1986) for a inline citation and your reference entry (assumed DVD) would be - Mulcahy, R. (Director). (1986). Highlander [Motion picture on DVD]. Thorn EMI. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.american.edu/library/documents/upload/Film-Video-Citation-Guide.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This Link</a> has a pdf showing examples in MLA, APA and Chicago style.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18748,
"author": "Mike A.",
"author_id": 12208,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12208",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my research area (databases/distributed systems) projects often have a name taken from something out of pop (or not-so-pop) culture. It seems that if any reference for the allusion is given, it comes in a simple footnote. Your suggestion of \"after the 1986 movie of the same name\" would likely be perfectly adequate.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if some aspect of the movie actually influenced your work and you discuss it a bit, a full-on citation might be more appropriate.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18758,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it is just the name, I would not cite it. (Unless you really want to or the title may be otherwise strange, ambiguous or misleading (never assume that everyone gets any cultural reference, no matter how popular among your friends).)</p>\n\n<p>I always though that it is up to reader's wit to catch the reference. The same as for project, grant or technique names being <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronymization#Contrived_acronyms\">contrived acronyms</a>. For example, for <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency-resolved_optical_gating\">FROG</a> (i.e. Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating) I would be surprised by someone citing an article on amphibians.</p>\n\n<p>And from my personal experience: I published an article with title <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/14/5/053028\"><strong>Qubism</strong>: self-similar visualization of many-body wavefunctions</a>, but there is no citation of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism\"><strong>Cubism</strong></a>.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18741",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,743 | <p>I'm about to write up my PhD thesis at the moment and for the theoretical part I have drawn some graphics that are of rather generic type -- crystal structures, crystal lattices and the like, similar to the image below (taken from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubic_crystal_system" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>, just as an example):</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yj7Hg.png" alt="Example image"></p>
<p>This type of image is very well-known in my field and can be found in every type of book about crystallography looking more or less the same. Also I am 100% sure that I have seen any of the features, that I have included in my own graphics, already in other publications, albeit maybe not all in one single graphic. Most of the graphics' properties, such as the atom positions and all the properties derived thereof, are commonly known facts, so only the style of the graphics may be something unique to a special graphic.</p>
<p>As I have seen them so often and worked with them for some years now, I can draw them out of memory without looking them up. Also I draw them with the features that I need to show my point. Therefore it might happen that I am reproducing someone else's graphics without being aware of it. As the question arose in the comments, in conclusion I draw graphics whose base structure is given by commonly known data using widely employed ways to draw such graphics, which contains the danger that someone could have drawn the same or a very similar graphic before.</p>
<p>Would this be OK or should I dig into literature to find if there are sources that could have been the inspiration for my own graphics?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18744,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
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"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, it's not ok to use someone else's graphics without checking whether you have the rights to those graphics. That could easily be a breach of copyright. Nor can you reproduce someone else's representation without crediting them: that's plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>You can either create a novel graphic yourself, or you can find someone else's graphic where you can establish that you, and your publisher, will have the appropriate rights to reproduce it.</p>\n\n<p>If you've reproduced someone else's graphic (that is, both their style and their content), you will need to attribute it. Just having absorbed it and then unknowingly recreated it doesn't stop it being plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>If it really is a common enough type of image, you shouldn't have any difficulty in finding a citable version of it. You then add a caption, following the publisher's style guide, along the lines of \"image source: author's own, after Metebelis (1973, p10)\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18750,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you create an image yourself that is not modeled after/derived from someone else's, you don't have to go out of your way to learn if someone has created a similar image.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if I create a flow diagram of a common process for my paper, it's likely that many other papers have a similar diagram (because the technique of using flow diagrams to illustrate a process is pretty standard). That's perfectly OK as long as I didn't intentionally copy them.</p>\n\n<p>(As always: if the <em>technique</em> of visualization or the <em>data content</em> of the image is not general knowledge, cite it.)</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/03/31 | [
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|
18,747 | <p>I have three years of experience teaching as part of a team (many teachers, some with more experience, agreeing on a syllabus and preparing the tests together), but this year is the first time I am fully in charge of some courses.</p>
<p>After grading the mid-term exam for one of my class, I noticed I had a weird grade distribution:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ePCux.png" alt="Abnormal grade distribution"></p>
<p>(If this is useful, there are 24 grades, the set of grades is { 1.2, 1.4, 1.4, 1.9, 2.0, 2.3, 2.6, 2.6, 3.4, 4.2, 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 4.6, 4.8, 4.8, 4.9, 5.3, 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 7.8, 7.8 }, the average is 4.25 and the standard deviation is 2.01.)</p>
<p>I have looked carefully at all my previous tests, and I can confirm I have never seen a curve like this before.</p>
<p>In my short experience, I have heard, read of reflected that a distribution with two curves would probably either mean that <em>a</em>) a large subgroup of students cheated or <em>b</em>) as a teacher I am mostly addressing the best students and letting the others down.</p>
<p>But this looks like there are actually three curves, and I am wondering which characteristic of my teaching or my students could explain that.</p>
<p>Besides, if someone is aware of any scholarly work on this subject, that would be lovely. I couldn't find anything myself.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18749,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
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"text": "<p>There are several possible factors here: given the relatively small number of points available, lumping can skew how grades are distributed, particularly if they're also awarded in whole number increments. (That is, there's not enough refinement in the model to separate things out.)</p>\n\n<p>Another issue is that the sample size is relatively small; twenty-four students is not a particularly large sample size—your standard deviation here is two points out of 10! Also, you should try plotting the data according to half-integer bins (0.5 to 1.5, 1.5 to 2.5, etc.); you'll end up with a <em>very</em> different distribution.</p>\n\n<p>So, basically, I wouldn't try to draw any definitive conclusions from such a plot or distribution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18752,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I did a Kernel density estimate plot of your data, shown below. You have a central lump of candidates with 4-5ish and a second lower lump of students who've done pretty badly.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLiqf.png\" alt=\"KDE plot\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18754,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Remember that the central limit theorem assumes independent samples. This is often a bad assumption for students. Cheating is of course a possibility, but it could also just be that they study in groups (most people find this very helpful). The spikes in your data could just correspond to groups who study together and have similar strengths and weaknesses.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18756,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers that this may be an artifact of the histogram. May I humbly offer a few alternative ways to plot these grades?</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cir35.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>All of these essentially show that your effects are likely due to small <em>n</em> and possibly an essentially discrete underlying data generating process.</p>\n\n<p>R code:</p>\n\n<pre><code>require(hdrcde)\nrequire(Hmisc)\nrequire(denstrip)\nrequire(beanplot)\nrequire(beeswarm)\n\ngrades <- c(1.2, 1.4, 1.4, 1.9, 2.0, 2.3, 2.6, 2.6, 3.4, 4.2, 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 4.6, 4.8, 4.8, 4.9, 5.3, 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 7.8, 7.8)\n\nopar <- par(mfrow=c(1,6), mar=c(3,2,4,1))\n boxplot(grades, col=\"gray90\", main=\"Standard\\nboxplot\",yaxt=\"n\")\n hdr.boxplot(grades, main=\"HDR\\nboxplot\",yaxt=\"n\")\n bpplot(grades,xlab=\"\",name=FALSE,main=\"Box-Percentile\\nPlot\")\n beanplot(grades,col=\"grey\",yaxt=\"n\",main=\"Bean plot/\\nViolin plot\",border=\"black\")\n plot(c(0,2),range(grades),type=\"n\",xaxt=\"n\",yaxt=\"n\",xlab=\"\",ylab=\"\",\n main=\"Density\\nplot\")\n denstrip(grades, horiz=FALSE, at=1, width=1)\n beeswarm(grades,pch=19,main=\"Beeswarm\\nplot\")\npar(opar)\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>EDIT: (sorry, I'm a statistician, I can't help it...) I went and took <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18752/4140\">Jack's kernel density</a> estimate and resampled 24 \"students\" from it a couple of times. In each case, I plotted a histogram. The result is below. We see that <em>even an innocuous unimodal curve can lead to pretty bumpy histograms</em>, because of the discretization and the small sample size.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tj1lO.png\" alt=\"resampled histograms\"></p>\n\n<p>R code:</p>\n\n<pre><code>dens <- density(grades)\n\nopar <- par(mfrow=c(2,4))\nfor ( ii in 1:8 ) {\n samp <- rnorm(length(grades), sample(grades, size = length(grades), replace = TRUE), dens$bw)\n hist(pmin(10,pmax(0,samp)),breaks=0:10,xlab=\"\",ylab=\"\",main=\"\",col=\"gray\")\n}\npar(opar)\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18765,
"author": "Legat",
"author_id": 13365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13365",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Difficult class scenario with pretty standard student groups:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Champions - <strong>ambitious</strong> and hardworking / clever / interested</li>\n<li>Mere students - <em>every hour on this subject hurts but I</em> <strong>must</strong> <em>pass it</em></li>\n<li>Underachievers - no time, no effort or no idea how to handle the topic</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If the test wasn't important enough or was too difficult, breakdown above explains it all.</p>\n\n<p>Champions didn't manage to max it out but they collected pretty nice scores of around 6-7 points. Mere students managed to learn enough to halve the test. Underachievers found out that without grasping the topic they aren't going to shine here.</p>\n\n<p>Groups 2 and 3 blend together, which is visible in plot from Jack Aidley, hope I can borrow it :)</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLiqf.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Is the level high? Was the test well-constructed and offering questions of different difficulty?</p>\n\n<p>If so, then I think that's the case and you just managed to see who your students are. You might want to find out whether the problem is lack of motivation or being unable to jump into the subject.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18773,
"author": "Nick Stauner",
"author_id": 10518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10518",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just adding to the other statistical analyses here...you can't really be sure that this sample doesn't come from a normally distributed population of grades from similar students in similar classes. Here's some more R code for analyses and their output: <code>x=c(1.2,1.4,1.4,1.9,2.0,2.3,2.6,2.6,3.4,4.2, 4.2,4.3,4.6,4.6,4.8,4.8,4.9,5.3,6.0,6.2,6.4,7.1,7.8,7.8);qqnorm(x);qqline(x)</code></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/P3SXL.png\" alt=\"\"> Compare your grades to: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Normal_normal_qq.svg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Normal_normal_qq.svg/200px-Normal_normal_qq.svg.png\" alt=\"\"></a> by <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Skbkekas\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Skbkekas</a></p>\n\n<p>Your grades on the left don't fit the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q%E2%80%93Q_plot\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">QQ line</a> wonderfully, but they're not deviating very systematically. The numbers on the right are from a normal distribution; other than being more numerous, they seem similar. </p>\n\n<p>Your grades are basically not <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skewness\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">skewed</a> (<code>skew(x)</code> = .12). They are <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtosis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">platykurtic</a>, but you don't have enough of them to disregard the possibility that this difference from a normal distribution is due to <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_error\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">sampling error</a> with much confidence. Here are results of an <a href=\"http://biomet.oxfordjournals.org/content/70/1/227.short\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Anscombe–Glynn kurtosis test</a> (<code>require(moments);anscombe.test(x)</code>): kurtosis = 2.03, <em>z</em> = -1.23, <em>p</em> = .22. FWIW, you can also test the null hypothesis that your data came from a normally distributed population using a <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapiro_Wilk_test\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Shapiro–Wilk test</a> (<code>shapiro.test(x)</code>: <em>W</em> = .95, <em>p</em> = .27), but <a href=\"https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/2492/32036\">normality testing may be 'essentially useless'</a> (this may apply to dedicated significance tests of kurtosis or skewness too).</p>\n\n<p>You seem to refer to the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_%28statistics%29\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">modes</a> or <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_maximum\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">local maxima</a> as curves. @StephanKolassa, @aeismail, and @JackAidley have already demonstrated how misleading histograms can be in this regard. @RedSirius' comment is on-point as well, and you've acknowledged the effect of bin size in your comment, but haven't edited your question to clarify what this doesn't answer for you <sup>(hint hint ;) ;)</sup>. It's unclear what more needs to be said here. You haven't got much evidence of anything unusual, much less have you given a serious external basis for your proposed interpretations regarding cheating or uneven service to students of different aptitudes, so it seems further speculation could only grasp at proverbial straws.</p>\n\n<p>However, it may still be worthwhile to recite some (maybe insufficiently examined) academic truisms:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It's very hard to make one size fit all when students greatly outnumber instructors.</li>\n<li>In the case of students who exert near-zero effort, you really can't help enough.</li>\n<li>Cheating probably won't matter enough either if that's the main form of effort exerted.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18820,
"author": "Wug",
"author_id": 13718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13718",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a theory that can explain situational anomalies such as this in classroom that's as situationally accurate as I have time to puzzle out.</p>\n\n<p>To simplify the mathematics of the problem, I'm omitting some scale factors from my math which serve as little more than visual clutter.</p>\n\n<p>Let an ideal bell curve be defined by <code>C(x)</code>.</p>\n\n<p>Your set of students is <code>S</code>, and you have a magical function <code>Q(s)</code> for <code>s ∈ S</code> which yields the \"quality\" of a student's work.</p>\n\n<p>Now consider a test. The test consists of a set of problems (call this set <code>T</code>). Each problem <code>p ∈ T</code> has a difficulty, given by <code>D(p)</code>. The probability of a student <code>s</code> correctly answering a problem is defined:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>P<sub>correct</sub>(s, p) = </i><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lgmP1.gif\" alt=\"borrowed from Wolfram Alpha, 'integral of C(x - D(p)) from -infinity to Q(s)'\"></p>\n\n<p>It then follows that a student of higher <code>Q</code> than the <code>D</code> of the problem will be more than likely to solve it, and one with a lower <code>Q</code> will be less than likely.</p>\n\n<p>Let's define the ideal score of a student taking a test to be <code>S<sub>i</sub>(s, T) = Σ P<sub>correct</sub>(s, p), p ∈ T</code></p>\n\n<p>If you were to take the ideal score on a particular test for each student in your classroom, you would get an ideal distribution, and chances are that if your students actually took the test, you'd get a distribution that at least roughly approximated the ideal one.</p>\n\n<p>The important thing to take away from what we have so far is that, for an population of students taking a test, the difficulty of the problems on the test mathematically affects the grade distribution you're likely to have.</p>\n\n<p>For example, assuming your student population is roughly bell-curved, you might see a grade distribution like your observations if your test questions have roughly these difficulty levels:</p>\n\n<pre><code>[2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10+, 10+]\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>A large number of students would get the 2 easy questions right, but since there are few questions of low-intermediate difficulty, some of the students on the lower end of the curve wouldn't be able to get any harder ones right. On the very high end, there are some questions that might be extraordinarily difficult for the skill level of the students (this can happen for a number of reasons) that most of the class got wrong (assuming the grade is out of 10 points total).</p>\n\n<p>Assuming your class distribution is something like this,</p>\n\n<pre><code>0-2| \n3 | 1\n4 | =2\n5 | ===4\n6 | ====5\n7 | ====5\n8 | ===4\n9 | =2\n10 | 1\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Their ideal distribution (as defined previously, rounded a bit to reduce clumping) would look something like this:</p>\n\n<pre><code>0 | \n1 |\n2 | ===4\n3 | ===4\n4 | ===4\n5 | ===4\n6 | ==3\n7 | =2\n8 | 1\n9 |\n10 |\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Which resembles, in a muted way, the observed curve you experimentally observed.</p>\n\n<p>Also, realistic situations won't have such elegant mathematical solutions (like a student's probability of getting a question correct), so this model should only be viewed as a reasonable, educated approximation.</p>\n\n<p>TL;DR It's possible the questions on this one test were more difficult and less comprehensive than you thought when you handed it out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18830,
"author": "gnasher729",
"author_id": 11873,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11873",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If every student were able to solve every question with an independent probability p, then you would expect a normal distribution. But that is actually not a very good model. </p>\n\n<p>Let's say you have a good number of problems in your test that any decent student would be expected to solve. Solving all of them gives you grade 5. Therefore you get lots of students on grade 5; everyone who is doing reasonably well in this course; some are a bit lower because of stupid mistakes which just happen, plus a few who are just badly prepared and have no chance to pass. </p>\n\n<p>Then you have a few really hard problems. The average student solves none of them. Excellent students solve one or two or three, until they run out of time. </p>\n\n<p>That kind of test could produce your distribution even with a very large number of students. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18841,
"author": "jwg",
"author_id": 5824,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5824",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you have over-tailored the difficulty of the questions to the range of abilities in the class. This is a similar theory to @gnasher729's.</p>\n\n<p>Obviously this is all guesswork based on the data, and you will have to decide yourself if it makes sense or not. But it would be consistent with the data if you had two extremely easy questions (which absolutely everyone could solve), three slightly harder, three harder still and two impossible ones which no-one could solve. Everyone fell into one of three levels, with some of the students also making one or two errors on questions which they knew how to solve.</p>\n\n<p>If one point doesn't correspond to one question, than the same thing could still be the case, but with a different amount of questions.</p>\n\n<p>So you tried to spread out the difficulty of the questions (as is normal) but a) you clumped to many questions of the same difficulty together and b) you spread the clumps out too much, with 4 of 10 questions not giving any indication at all as to the relative ability of the students (because everyone got 2 of them, and no-one got the other 2). My guess is that the time-limit of the exam was not a big factor, since people work at different speeds and time limits probably therefore smooth out grades.</p>\n\n<p>There is any easy way to test this theory. Did the students who got 2, 5 and 8 all get the same or very similar sets of questions right? My theory predicts that they did.</p>\n\n<h2>Edit</h2>\n\n<p>Looking closer at the numbers (this is still guesswork), I would now say that the 3 different ability groups correspond to something like 7.8 questions (with quite a few making one or two points worth of mistakes), 4.8 questions (with most not making many mistakes) and 2.6 (with most making 0.5-1.5 points worth of mistakes).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18843,
"author": "Waterseas",
"author_id": 12950,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12950",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe that part of your issue is how you're doing the rounding for the graph. Instead of rounding up, let's just round to the nearest integer. \n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/N0qE1.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>This looks far more like a normal distribution, if perhaps a little heavy in the back end. Honestly, rounding like this makes a lot more sense when dealing with a distribution of a class, because without this kind of rounding, something similar to what your graph looks like can crop up. This also explains why many of the non-integer graphs look rather normal as well.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18747",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7788/"
]
|
18,751 | <p>If I have a paper accepted in a <em>known</em> conference of my field but am not able to present it at the the conference due to certain factors, should this be mentioned on my Master's application? </p>
<p>Also, where/how should this be mentioned?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18749,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are several possible factors here: given the relatively small number of points available, lumping can skew how grades are distributed, particularly if they're also awarded in whole number increments. (That is, there's not enough refinement in the model to separate things out.)</p>\n\n<p>Another issue is that the sample size is relatively small; twenty-four students is not a particularly large sample size—your standard deviation here is two points out of 10! Also, you should try plotting the data according to half-integer bins (0.5 to 1.5, 1.5 to 2.5, etc.); you'll end up with a <em>very</em> different distribution.</p>\n\n<p>So, basically, I wouldn't try to draw any definitive conclusions from such a plot or distribution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18752,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I did a Kernel density estimate plot of your data, shown below. You have a central lump of candidates with 4-5ish and a second lower lump of students who've done pretty badly.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLiqf.png\" alt=\"KDE plot\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18754,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Remember that the central limit theorem assumes independent samples. This is often a bad assumption for students. Cheating is of course a possibility, but it could also just be that they study in groups (most people find this very helpful). The spikes in your data could just correspond to groups who study together and have similar strengths and weaknesses.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18756,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers that this may be an artifact of the histogram. May I humbly offer a few alternative ways to plot these grades?</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Cir35.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>All of these essentially show that your effects are likely due to small <em>n</em> and possibly an essentially discrete underlying data generating process.</p>\n\n<p>R code:</p>\n\n<pre><code>require(hdrcde)\nrequire(Hmisc)\nrequire(denstrip)\nrequire(beanplot)\nrequire(beeswarm)\n\ngrades <- c(1.2, 1.4, 1.4, 1.9, 2.0, 2.3, 2.6, 2.6, 3.4, 4.2, 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 4.6, 4.8, 4.8, 4.9, 5.3, 6.0, 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 7.8, 7.8)\n\nopar <- par(mfrow=c(1,6), mar=c(3,2,4,1))\n boxplot(grades, col=\"gray90\", main=\"Standard\\nboxplot\",yaxt=\"n\")\n hdr.boxplot(grades, main=\"HDR\\nboxplot\",yaxt=\"n\")\n bpplot(grades,xlab=\"\",name=FALSE,main=\"Box-Percentile\\nPlot\")\n beanplot(grades,col=\"grey\",yaxt=\"n\",main=\"Bean plot/\\nViolin plot\",border=\"black\")\n plot(c(0,2),range(grades),type=\"n\",xaxt=\"n\",yaxt=\"n\",xlab=\"\",ylab=\"\",\n main=\"Density\\nplot\")\n denstrip(grades, horiz=FALSE, at=1, width=1)\n beeswarm(grades,pch=19,main=\"Beeswarm\\nplot\")\npar(opar)\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>EDIT: (sorry, I'm a statistician, I can't help it...) I went and took <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18752/4140\">Jack's kernel density</a> estimate and resampled 24 \"students\" from it a couple of times. In each case, I plotted a histogram. The result is below. We see that <em>even an innocuous unimodal curve can lead to pretty bumpy histograms</em>, because of the discretization and the small sample size.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tj1lO.png\" alt=\"resampled histograms\"></p>\n\n<p>R code:</p>\n\n<pre><code>dens <- density(grades)\n\nopar <- par(mfrow=c(2,4))\nfor ( ii in 1:8 ) {\n samp <- rnorm(length(grades), sample(grades, size = length(grades), replace = TRUE), dens$bw)\n hist(pmin(10,pmax(0,samp)),breaks=0:10,xlab=\"\",ylab=\"\",main=\"\",col=\"gray\")\n}\npar(opar)\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18765,
"author": "Legat",
"author_id": 13365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13365",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Difficult class scenario with pretty standard student groups:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Champions - <strong>ambitious</strong> and hardworking / clever / interested</li>\n<li>Mere students - <em>every hour on this subject hurts but I</em> <strong>must</strong> <em>pass it</em></li>\n<li>Underachievers - no time, no effort or no idea how to handle the topic</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If the test wasn't important enough or was too difficult, breakdown above explains it all.</p>\n\n<p>Champions didn't manage to max it out but they collected pretty nice scores of around 6-7 points. Mere students managed to learn enough to halve the test. Underachievers found out that without grasping the topic they aren't going to shine here.</p>\n\n<p>Groups 2 and 3 blend together, which is visible in plot from Jack Aidley, hope I can borrow it :)</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fLiqf.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Is the level high? Was the test well-constructed and offering questions of different difficulty?</p>\n\n<p>If so, then I think that's the case and you just managed to see who your students are. You might want to find out whether the problem is lack of motivation or being unable to jump into the subject.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18773,
"author": "Nick Stauner",
"author_id": 10518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10518",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just adding to the other statistical analyses here...you can't really be sure that this sample doesn't come from a normally distributed population of grades from similar students in similar classes. Here's some more R code for analyses and their output: <code>x=c(1.2,1.4,1.4,1.9,2.0,2.3,2.6,2.6,3.4,4.2, 4.2,4.3,4.6,4.6,4.8,4.8,4.9,5.3,6.0,6.2,6.4,7.1,7.8,7.8);qqnorm(x);qqline(x)</code></p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/P3SXL.png\" alt=\"\"> Compare your grades to: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Normal_normal_qq.svg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Normal_normal_qq.svg/200px-Normal_normal_qq.svg.png\" alt=\"\"></a> by <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Skbkekas\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Skbkekas</a></p>\n\n<p>Your grades on the left don't fit the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q%E2%80%93Q_plot\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">QQ line</a> wonderfully, but they're not deviating very systematically. The numbers on the right are from a normal distribution; other than being more numerous, they seem similar. </p>\n\n<p>Your grades are basically not <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skewness\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">skewed</a> (<code>skew(x)</code> = .12). They are <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtosis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">platykurtic</a>, but you don't have enough of them to disregard the possibility that this difference from a normal distribution is due to <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_error\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">sampling error</a> with much confidence. Here are results of an <a href=\"http://biomet.oxfordjournals.org/content/70/1/227.short\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Anscombe–Glynn kurtosis test</a> (<code>require(moments);anscombe.test(x)</code>): kurtosis = 2.03, <em>z</em> = -1.23, <em>p</em> = .22. FWIW, you can also test the null hypothesis that your data came from a normally distributed population using a <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapiro_Wilk_test\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Shapiro–Wilk test</a> (<code>shapiro.test(x)</code>: <em>W</em> = .95, <em>p</em> = .27), but <a href=\"https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/2492/32036\">normality testing may be 'essentially useless'</a> (this may apply to dedicated significance tests of kurtosis or skewness too).</p>\n\n<p>You seem to refer to the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_%28statistics%29\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">modes</a> or <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_maximum\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">local maxima</a> as curves. @StephanKolassa, @aeismail, and @JackAidley have already demonstrated how misleading histograms can be in this regard. @RedSirius' comment is on-point as well, and you've acknowledged the effect of bin size in your comment, but haven't edited your question to clarify what this doesn't answer for you <sup>(hint hint ;) ;)</sup>. It's unclear what more needs to be said here. You haven't got much evidence of anything unusual, much less have you given a serious external basis for your proposed interpretations regarding cheating or uneven service to students of different aptitudes, so it seems further speculation could only grasp at proverbial straws.</p>\n\n<p>However, it may still be worthwhile to recite some (maybe insufficiently examined) academic truisms:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It's very hard to make one size fit all when students greatly outnumber instructors.</li>\n<li>In the case of students who exert near-zero effort, you really can't help enough.</li>\n<li>Cheating probably won't matter enough either if that's the main form of effort exerted.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18820,
"author": "Wug",
"author_id": 13718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13718",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have a theory that can explain situational anomalies such as this in classroom that's as situationally accurate as I have time to puzzle out.</p>\n\n<p>To simplify the mathematics of the problem, I'm omitting some scale factors from my math which serve as little more than visual clutter.</p>\n\n<p>Let an ideal bell curve be defined by <code>C(x)</code>.</p>\n\n<p>Your set of students is <code>S</code>, and you have a magical function <code>Q(s)</code> for <code>s ∈ S</code> which yields the \"quality\" of a student's work.</p>\n\n<p>Now consider a test. The test consists of a set of problems (call this set <code>T</code>). Each problem <code>p ∈ T</code> has a difficulty, given by <code>D(p)</code>. The probability of a student <code>s</code> correctly answering a problem is defined:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><i>P<sub>correct</sub>(s, p) = </i><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lgmP1.gif\" alt=\"borrowed from Wolfram Alpha, 'integral of C(x - D(p)) from -infinity to Q(s)'\"></p>\n\n<p>It then follows that a student of higher <code>Q</code> than the <code>D</code> of the problem will be more than likely to solve it, and one with a lower <code>Q</code> will be less than likely.</p>\n\n<p>Let's define the ideal score of a student taking a test to be <code>S<sub>i</sub>(s, T) = Σ P<sub>correct</sub>(s, p), p ∈ T</code></p>\n\n<p>If you were to take the ideal score on a particular test for each student in your classroom, you would get an ideal distribution, and chances are that if your students actually took the test, you'd get a distribution that at least roughly approximated the ideal one.</p>\n\n<p>The important thing to take away from what we have so far is that, for an population of students taking a test, the difficulty of the problems on the test mathematically affects the grade distribution you're likely to have.</p>\n\n<p>For example, assuming your student population is roughly bell-curved, you might see a grade distribution like your observations if your test questions have roughly these difficulty levels:</p>\n\n<pre><code>[2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10+, 10+]\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>A large number of students would get the 2 easy questions right, but since there are few questions of low-intermediate difficulty, some of the students on the lower end of the curve wouldn't be able to get any harder ones right. On the very high end, there are some questions that might be extraordinarily difficult for the skill level of the students (this can happen for a number of reasons) that most of the class got wrong (assuming the grade is out of 10 points total).</p>\n\n<p>Assuming your class distribution is something like this,</p>\n\n<pre><code>0-2| \n3 | 1\n4 | =2\n5 | ===4\n6 | ====5\n7 | ====5\n8 | ===4\n9 | =2\n10 | 1\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Their ideal distribution (as defined previously, rounded a bit to reduce clumping) would look something like this:</p>\n\n<pre><code>0 | \n1 |\n2 | ===4\n3 | ===4\n4 | ===4\n5 | ===4\n6 | ==3\n7 | =2\n8 | 1\n9 |\n10 |\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Which resembles, in a muted way, the observed curve you experimentally observed.</p>\n\n<p>Also, realistic situations won't have such elegant mathematical solutions (like a student's probability of getting a question correct), so this model should only be viewed as a reasonable, educated approximation.</p>\n\n<p>TL;DR It's possible the questions on this one test were more difficult and less comprehensive than you thought when you handed it out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18830,
"author": "gnasher729",
"author_id": 11873,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11873",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If every student were able to solve every question with an independent probability p, then you would expect a normal distribution. But that is actually not a very good model. </p>\n\n<p>Let's say you have a good number of problems in your test that any decent student would be expected to solve. Solving all of them gives you grade 5. Therefore you get lots of students on grade 5; everyone who is doing reasonably well in this course; some are a bit lower because of stupid mistakes which just happen, plus a few who are just badly prepared and have no chance to pass. </p>\n\n<p>Then you have a few really hard problems. The average student solves none of them. Excellent students solve one or two or three, until they run out of time. </p>\n\n<p>That kind of test could produce your distribution even with a very large number of students. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18841,
"author": "jwg",
"author_id": 5824,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5824",
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"text": "<p>I think you have over-tailored the difficulty of the questions to the range of abilities in the class. This is a similar theory to @gnasher729's.</p>\n\n<p>Obviously this is all guesswork based on the data, and you will have to decide yourself if it makes sense or not. But it would be consistent with the data if you had two extremely easy questions (which absolutely everyone could solve), three slightly harder, three harder still and two impossible ones which no-one could solve. Everyone fell into one of three levels, with some of the students also making one or two errors on questions which they knew how to solve.</p>\n\n<p>If one point doesn't correspond to one question, than the same thing could still be the case, but with a different amount of questions.</p>\n\n<p>So you tried to spread out the difficulty of the questions (as is normal) but a) you clumped to many questions of the same difficulty together and b) you spread the clumps out too much, with 4 of 10 questions not giving any indication at all as to the relative ability of the students (because everyone got 2 of them, and no-one got the other 2). My guess is that the time-limit of the exam was not a big factor, since people work at different speeds and time limits probably therefore smooth out grades.</p>\n\n<p>There is any easy way to test this theory. Did the students who got 2, 5 and 8 all get the same or very similar sets of questions right? My theory predicts that they did.</p>\n\n<h2>Edit</h2>\n\n<p>Looking closer at the numbers (this is still guesswork), I would now say that the 3 different ability groups correspond to something like 7.8 questions (with quite a few making one or two points worth of mistakes), 4.8 questions (with most not making many mistakes) and 2.6 (with most making 0.5-1.5 points worth of mistakes).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18843,
"author": "Waterseas",
"author_id": 12950,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12950",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe that part of your issue is how you're doing the rounding for the graph. Instead of rounding up, let's just round to the nearest integer. \n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/N0qE1.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>This looks far more like a normal distribution, if perhaps a little heavy in the back end. Honestly, rounding like this makes a lot more sense when dealing with a distribution of a class, because without this kind of rounding, something similar to what your graph looks like can crop up. This also explains why many of the non-integer graphs look rather normal as well.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18751",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4227/"
]
|
18,755 | <p>I was accepted into Ohio State University CS PhD without funding.</p>
<p>I have heard that people who can show their capability may get funding after getting into the program. Is this understanding correct? </p>
<p>Is being accepted without funding a dangerous sign? Does this means that the faculty doesn't care about you?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18759,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
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"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It means you may want to look around for jobs on campus, like TA positions to pay for living expenses and tuition. Not having funding upon acceptance is not a mark against you, it just means exactly that. In biology funding is more common because the scientist will need to pay for materials and reagents. I'm assuming there aren't many inherent costs in CS research aside from a computer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18760,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My answer applies exclusively to CS in the United States, or other scenarios in which the <strong>standard PhD offer comes with guaranteed funding</strong>.</p>\n<h3>Implication #1: How the department feels about you</h3>\n<p>First, I will quote from an <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/7711/role-of-funding-in-grad-admissionsus-in-theoretical-computer-science/7727#7727\">answer</a> by JeffE (who is a member of the admissions committee at a top CS department in the US) to another question (also about CS PhD offers in the US):</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A typical PhD offer from a strong department includes guaranteed funding in some form.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>That may come in the form of guaranteed RA/TA work, or something else, but whatever it is will be promised at acceptance. Therefore, the main implication of a PhD offer without funding is that (as you have intuited), the department does not consider you a top candidate for their program. As JeffE remarks in the same <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/7711/role-of-funding-in-grad-admissionsus-in-theoretical-computer-science/7727#7727\">answer</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Do not accept a PhD admission offer without funding. If they really want you, they'll pay for you.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>You asked: "I have heard that people who can show their capability may get funding after getting into the program. Is this understanding correct?"</p>\n<p>It's not impossible to get funding after beginning the program (e.g., if you really hit it off with a potential PhD advisor who has grant money to spare).\nBut this depends very much on <strong>luck</strong> and <strong>circumstance</strong>, not just on <strong>merit</strong>; so unless you like living dangerously, it's not an advisable strategy.</p>\n<h3>Implication #2: How it will affect your future prospects</h3>\n<p>Having said that, if you somehow manage to support yourself while doing a PhD, it probably won't matter to anyone that you were self-funded. Per Suresh's <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8034/will-self-funding-a-phd-hurt-employment-chances/8036#8036\">answer</a> to another question:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There's nothing on your CV that needs to indicate exactly how you were supported during your Ph.D.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19132,
"author": "LearningAsIGo",
"author_id": 13901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13901",
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"text": "<p>I was part of Student Association in my university and I used to get this question many times from newly admitted students for CS PhD programs. I have told those students also that PhDs in CS without funding is not a common scenario in US universities. Usually projects come along with the funds and part of these funds get redirected to you in order to conduct the research. You may want to try out other options. I am sure you will find something better. All the best.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62406,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is being accepted without funding a dangerous sign? Does this means that the faculty doesn't care about you?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes and Yes. I've never known a PhD student to be accepted without funding of some sort. Generally, the number of PhDs a department admits is also the number of students the department can cover with RAs/TAs. I have no insider information, but my guess would be the school had a dearth of qualified applicants to the CS Masters program, and gave you one of their slots.</p>\n\n<p>Self funding a PhD puts you at a tremendous dis-advantage, as all the other students are funded to do their research, but you will have to find outside work, and do research \"on the side.\"</p>\n\n<p>Also, consider what incentive your advisor (if you are lucky enough to find one) has to work with you. The prof invested in other PhD students by funding them, he's got skin in the game (so to speak), and incentive to make them succeed. As an unfunded PhD, your priority will be near the bottom of any prof.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend following one of the two options below</p>\n\n<p><strong>1) Don't accept the unfunded PhD slot and re-apply.</strong> Since you were accepted, you may be able to ask why you weren't funded. They may provide suggestions to help you re-apply.</p>\n\n<p><strong>2) Switch to the masters program.</strong> Masters students aren't usually funded, so you will be competing with others like you. You will work with the same profs, and will still have a chance to impress them. One of them may fund you. </p>\n\n<p>I've know several Masters student who were employed by a prof after proving themselves in class. Generally, the prof fast-tracked them to the PhD program.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62414,
"author": "RLH",
"author_id": 48362,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48362",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It might be worth checking if you have been:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Admitted and told that you will not get funding,</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>or</p>\n\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Admitted with no funding decision made as of yet.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>My university has a central admissions process for graduate students that is entirely decoupled from the process by which I make funding offers to my students. The university sends out an letter of admission that has language about \"without funding,\" which has led to students expressing concerns similar to yours.</p>\n\n<p>(This year, the faculty in my area are heading this off by sending informal \"recommended for admission\" letters to the admitted students, with a note that funding decisions are made at a later date and that they should interpret the University letter as being of the second type.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18755",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12679/"
]
|
18,767 | <p>I came across yet another infogram, originating from <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/365-days-2011-in-review-1.9684" rel="noreferrer">this Nature article</a>, showing the top-40 countries in terms of scientific publications produced for 2011.</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/hTq5v.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>
<p>The data are based on publications from Thompson Reuters/Web of Science. Similar data are available <a href="http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php" rel="noreferrer">from Scimago (spanning 1996–2012)</a>.</p>
<p>Presented this way, there's some "bias" towards countries with a larger population. I was thus wondering if statistics on the number of scientific publications <strong>per capita</strong> was available for countries?</p>
<p>... just out of curiosity.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18768,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ol>\n<li>Taking the data from <a href=\"http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php\">Scimago</a> for number of publications in Scopus for each country including the years 1996–2012 (<code>Pubs</code>), and </li>\n<li>taking the 2012 populations for countries from <a href=\"http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL\">Worldbank</a> (<code>Pop</code>), and</li>\n<li>writing a small script to join on country name and curating the subsequent results,</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>... we get the following (<strong>edit</strong>: <em>note that the list scrolls down!</em>):</p>\n\n<pre><code>No...Country.......................Pubs/Pop\n1....Switzerland...................0.04948049\n2....Sweden........................0.03949838\n3....Denmark.......................0.03724673\n4....Finland.......................0.03512776\n5....Iceland.......................0.03384176\n6....Netherlands...................0.03266005\n7....Norway........................0.03235590\n8....Monaco........................0.03153357\n9....United Kingdom................0.03034517\n10...Australia.....................0.03013565\n11...New Zealand...................0.02928470\n12...Canada........................0.02848185\n13...Israel........................0.02841134\n14...Singapore.....................0.02814340\n15...Belgium.......................0.02684193\n16...Austria.......................0.02538793\n17...Slovenia......................0.02456816\n18...Liechtenstein.................0.02302488\n19...Ireland.......................0.02280205\n20...United States.................0.02250084\n21...Germany.......................0.02177218\n22...France........................0.01953477\n23...Spain.........................0.01643973\n24...Greece........................0.01601820\n25...Italy.........................0.01575377\n26...Czech Republic................0.01557232\n27...Estonia.......................0.01429077\n28...Japan.........................0.01392641\n29...Croatia.......................0.01346473\n30...Portugal......................0.01319425\n31...Luxembourg....................0.01267497\n32...Korea.........................0.01157157\n33...Hungary.......................0.01128115\n34...Greenland.....................0.01071429\n35...Cyprus........................0.00913291\n36...Poland........................0.00899290\n37...Lithuania.....................0.00829172\n38...Bermuda.......................0.00745301\n39...Faeroe Islands................0.00668606\n40...Bulgaria......................0.00620812\n41...New Caledonia.................0.00605143\n42...Malta.........................0.00601626\n43...Grenada.......................0.00528995\n44...Palau.........................0.00510745\n45...Latvia........................0.00497760\n46...Romania.......................0.00432618\n47...Kuwait........................0.00423781\n48...Barbados......................0.00421932\n49...Turkey........................0.00414781\n50...Russian Federation............0.00408719\n51...Serbia........................0.00399812\n52...Chile.........................0.00394931\n53...San Marino....................0.00374436\n54...Seychelles....................0.00373640\n55...Guam..........................0.00360543\n56...Tunisia.......................0.00355685\n57...French Polynesia..............0.00341107\n58...Malaysia......................0.00339218\n59...Brunei Darussalam.............0.00326268\n60...Armenia.......................0.00315417\n61...Jordan........................0.00314134\n62...Lebanon.......................0.00309093\n63...Puerto Rico...................0.00305665\n64...Cayman Islands................0.00297030\n65...Argentina.....................0.00288041\n66...Qatar.........................0.00282271\n67...Uruguay.......................0.00281334\n68...Trinidad and Tobago...........0.00279863\n69...Macedonia.....................0.00273227\n70...Iran..........................0.00265369\n71...Belarus.......................0.00262056\n72...Oman..........................0.00247495\n73...Bahrain.......................0.00247073\n74...South Africa..................0.00244784\n75...Ukraine.......................0.00241902\n76...Brazil........................0.00232119\n77...Cuba..........................0.00218313\n78...Dominica......................0.00216227\n79...Saudi Arabia..................0.00208004\n80...United Arab Emirates..........0.00206949\n81...American Samoa................0.00204978\n82...China.........................0.00198446\n83...Montenegro....................0.00175661\n84...Fiji..........................0.00174223\n85...Botswana......................0.00172363\n86...Georgia.......................0.00166009\n87...Virgin Islands (U.S.).........0.00164332\n88...Tuvalu........................0.00152130\n89...Mexico........................0.00137863\n90...Costa Rica....................0.00135080\n91...Andorra.......................0.00132721\n92...Jamaica.......................0.00128646\n93...Moldova.......................0.00127910\n94...Thailand......................0.00123095\n95...Marshall Islands..............0.00119874\n96...Bosnia and Herzegovina........0.00116017\n97...Egypt.........................0.00110861\n98...Mauritius.....................0.00110573\n99...Samoa.........................0.00093706\n100..Panama........................0.00093654\n101..Northern Mariana Islands......0.00091924\n102..Gabon.........................0.00091696\n103..Venezuela.....................0.00090597\n104..Turks and Caicos Islands......0.00089432\n105..Vanuatu.......................0.00086952\n106..Antigua and Barbuda...........0.00084204\n107..Gambia........................0.00084188\n108..Morocco.......................0.00083801\n109..Azerbaijan....................0.00080366\n110..Tonga.........................0.00077186\n111..Mongolia......................0.00076525\n112..Colombia......................0.00075234\n113..Belize........................0.00069432\n114..Bahamas.......................0.00069362\n115..Algeria.......................0.00066821\n116..Namibia.......................0.00064132\n117..India.........................0.00060709\n118..Swaziland.....................0.00056459\n119..Guyana........................0.00053183\n120..Albania.......................0.00048797\n121..Congo.........................0.00047290\n122..Sri Lanka.....................0.00040530\n123..Solomon Islands...............0.00040393\n124..Maldives......................0.00039889\n125..Bhutan........................0.00039767\n126..Aruba.........................0.00039069\n127..Kenya.........................0.00038740\n128..Zimbabwe......................0.00038282\n129..Senegal.......................0.00036806\n130..Suriname......................0.00035732\n131..Cameroon......................0.00034761\n132..Kazakhstan....................0.00033660\n133..Pakistan......................0.00032448\n134..Peru..........................0.00029889\n135..Ecuador.......................0.00029486\n136..Ghana.........................0.00026906\n137..Uzbekistan....................0.00025359\n138..Benin.........................0.00025232\n139..Bolivia.......................0.00024428\n140..Nigeria.......................0.00024256\n141..Papua New Guinea..............0.00023985\n142..Nepal.........................0.00022093\n143..Malawi........................0.00021098\n144..Burkina Faso..................0.00020486\n145..Uganda........................0.00020330\n146..Sao Tome and Principe.........0.00020202\n147..Guinea-Bissau.................0.00019536\n148..Vietnam.......................0.00018557\n149..Zambia........................0.00018529\n150..Iraq..........................0.00017914\n151..Syrian Arab Republic..........0.00017648\n152..Tanzania......................0.00016707\n153..Nicaragua.....................0.00016106\n154..Lesotho.......................0.00015549\n155..Djibouti......................0.00015471\n156..Togo..........................0.00015159\n157..Equatorial Guinea.............0.00014804\n158..Paraguay......................0.00014026\n159..Philippines...................0.00013611\n160..El Salvador...................0.00012751\n161..Bangladesh....................0.00012593\n162..Mali..........................0.00011910\n163..Kiribati......................0.00011906\n164..Tajikistan....................0.00010988\n165..Sudan.........................0.00010700\n166..Cambodia......................0.00010468\n167..Guatemala.....................0.00010131\n168..Madagascar....................0.00010097\n169..Mauritania....................0.00009194\n170..Central African Republic......0.00008817\n171..Ethiopia......................0.00008738\n172..Honduras......................0.00008720\n173..Comoros.......................0.00008223\n174..Indonesia.....................0.00008169\n175..Rwanda........................0.00007864\n176..Yemen.........................0.00007203\n177..Niger.........................0.00006895\n178..Dominican Republic............0.00006860\n179..Eritrea.......................0.00006035\n180..Mozambique....................0.00005971\n181..Sierra Leone..................0.00005720\n182..Haiti.........................0.00004305\n183..Turkmenistan..................0.00004156\n184..Timor-Leste...................0.00004131\n185..Guinea........................0.00003336\n186..Burundi.......................0.00002853\n187..Liberia.......................0.00002792\n188..Chad..........................0.00002249\n189..Angola........................0.00002123\n190..Myanmar.......................0.00002040\n191..Afghanistan...................0.00001626\n192..Somalia.......................0.00000589\n\nCountries missed by the join ...\n\nPopulation not found for following countries mentioned w/publications:\n Anguilla\n Bouvet Island\n British Indian Ocean Territory\n Cape Verde\n Christmas Island\n Cocos (Keeling) Islands\n Cook Islands\n Côte d'Ivoire\n Democratic Republic Congo\n Falkland Islands (Malvinas)\n Federated States of Micronesia\n French Guiana\n French Southern Territories\n Gibraltar\n Guadeloupe\n Heard Island and McDonald Islands\n Hong Kong\n Kyrgyzstan\n Laos\n Libyan Arab Jamahiriya\n Macao\n Martinique\n Mayotte\n Montserrat\n Nauru\n Netherlands Antilles\n Niue\n Norfolk Island\n North Korea\n Palestine\n Reunion\n Saint Helena\n Saint Kitts and Nevis\n Saint Lucia\n Saint Pierre and Miquelon\n Saint Vincent and The Grenadines\n Slovakia\n South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands\n Svalbard and Jan Mayen\n Taiwan\n Tokelau\n United States Minor Outlying Islands\n Vatican City State\n Virgin Islands (British)\n Wallis and Futuna\n Western Sahara\n\nPublications not found for following countries mentioned w/populations:\n Cabo Verde\n Cote d'Ivoire\n Curacao\n Hong Kong SAR\n Isle of Man\n Kosovo\n Kyrgyz Republic\n Lao PDR\n Libya\n Macao SAR\n Micronesia\n Sint Maarten (Dutch part)\n Slovak Republic\n South Sudan\n St. Kitts and Nevis\n St. Lucia\n St. Martin (French part)\n St. Vincent and the Grenadines\n West Bank and Gaza\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18810,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Supplementing <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18768/49\">badroit's answer</a> (my point is not to use different source, but to show at the same time total and per capita data).</p>\n\n<p>Taking data <a href=\"http://data.worldbank.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">World Bank Open Data</a> for <a href=\"http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Population</a> and <a href=\"http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IP.JRN.ARTC.SC\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Scientific and technical journal articles</a>, for year 2009 (for newer there is no up-to-data publication data), and using a short Python script, we get:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/xZN0C.png\" alt=\"Bar chart of top 50 countries with most publications per capita\"></p>\n\n<p>Only top 50 countries are shown.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Height: publications per capita per year (in 2009),</li>\n<li>Width: country population,</li>\n<li>Area: total publication count per year (in 2009).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Source code: <a href=\"http://nbviewer.ipython.org/gist/stared/9922461\" rel=\"noreferrer\">on IPython Notebook Viewer</a>, <a href=\"https://gist.github.com/stared/9922461\" rel=\"noreferrer\">on GitHub Gist</a>. (Quick and dirty, be warned.)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/03/31 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18767",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746/"
]
|
18,777 | <p>I tend to learn and understand a subject to a much deeper extent if I am able to play around/experiment/mess with something that demonstrates the principles. </p>
<p>I'm starting a Neuroscience PhD program in the fall and would like to know how I could maximize the opportunities to experiment with various equipment at the university. I'm interested in working with things like fMRI, MEG, EEG, electron-microscopes, and supercomputers.</p>
<p>How easy is it to informally play with these types of equipment when they might be sitting idle?</p>
<p>Note: I'm looking to do this safely without any intent to damage the equipment. Primarily, I'm looking to replicate the findings of classic experiments and discover aspects that didn't make it into the published papers.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18796,
"author": "Pat",
"author_id": 7061,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7061",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends to a large degree on who owns them.</p>\n\n<p>If it's your lab group, and your supervisor's happy enough, you can probably use them whenever you like. </p>\n\n<p>If they're owned by the department/division/etc then there's likely to be a formal booking system. Once you've booked a slot, though, I'd imagine you can do whatever work you like on them.</p>\n\n<p>Provisos in this are cost and safety. </p>\n\n<p>Cost, because some of the stuff you're talking about is pretty pricey. An fMRI session can be charged at <a href=\"http://mrrc.yale.edu/users/charges.aspx\">over $400 dollars per hour</a>. </p>\n\n<p>Safety applies to you and the equipment. You may well intend to be safe and not damage the equipment, but that can be easier said than done. As such, you're never going to be allowed to use certain items without having gone through the necessary training - so you'll have to convince your supervisor that doing such training is a good use of your time/funding. </p>\n\n<p>So in your lab, play around time will I suspect be limited, save on equipment you use daily. But if you must get your hands on a piece of kit, fear not, for there are workshops and courses you can attend! These often occur in conjunction with a conference/meeting/etc of some kind, where a sponsoring vendor will kindly 'donate' a piece of equipment (in the hope you'll buy the same brand later down the road) and as a group you get the opportunity to spend a while using it under the company representative's watchful eye. Keep an eye out for these, and try to arrange to publish a paper in the conference, or give a talk in the meeting, and I'm sure you'll be given the funding to go.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18814,
"author": "John Neuhaus",
"author_id": 13011,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13011",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Pat's right about the more expensive and controlled equipment like fMRI and MEG machines, but I wanted to add more about the other equipment. I previously worked in an engineering lab that took on a lot of cognition research, and we had close ties with a neuroscientist and professor on campus, as well as a physics lab.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You didn't mention it explicitly, but do you know if you'll be working with a lab yet? Some grad students are funded as TAs instead of RAs (or not at all!), which doesn't put you in front of the equipment until it's research time (if even then, depending on your thesis.) Make sure your advisor knows about your desire to get hands-on; it's a good trait, and they'll know more about the opportunities.</li>\n<li>EEG equipment can be expensive, but pretty simple. Same with GSR (Galvanic Skin Response.) Clinical EEG data often requires gel or saline to make contact with the scalp, and can have 16, 32, 64, or even 128 electrodes in a \"cap.\" It's possible to have a setup that requires two people to properly configure, which limits availability. But other than that, it's only permission and careful handling keeping you from using it while idle, assuming there's a dedicated set of research EEG equipment.</li>\n<li>An electron microscope station would likely have a small library of prepared samples to peruse. Preparation is not a trivial task for many things, so you aren't likely to get more than this without actively working with one for research.</li>\n<li>Supercomputing abilities don't necessarily require a supercomputer. Computing clusters are very common, and many institutes have them. Some big schools have huge dedicated clusters, but many have small department-funded clusters. You may have to search or talk with IT (who may not manage them, but need to know about them,) but it's still possible to get an account. Department-sized clusters aren't large enough to handle college-wide access, but aren't often used at 100% capacity by their owners. There may also be an associated Computer Science class that will give you access and teach you how to use one effectively, though it may not count towards your degree.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The experimental labs are your best bet for finding equipment you can use, since medical facilities are pretty tightly controlled and clinical equipment is protected. This may mean going cross-discipline depending on your institution, but that is often encouraged. Ask around, but remember to be respectful of the equipment and the group's time and resources. Having a plan ahead of time is part of this; if you have a concrete goal (think lab exercises rather than pure research) they will be more willing to share. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18777",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13693/"
]
|
18,778 | <p>If I do a non-thesis MS program in statistics, will I be eligible for an admission in to a PhD program in Statistics later in my life? The MS program I am looking into is a non-thesis program but I still have to complete a research project requirement (which involves oral presentation as well as some form of a written report) towards the end of the program...I am still not sure if it can lead to a PhD program though.</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19959,
"author": "citsonga",
"author_id": 14668,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14668",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the university. Some Ph.D. programs have extra requirements for students who did not complete a thesis (or they will not accept these students). Others are fine with a 'capstone/directed project' which has elements of a thesis. Others may simply ask that students who did not complete a thesis take the GRE for admission into the Ph.D. program while not requiring this for students who did complete a thesis (I attend an <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_I_university\" rel=\"nofollow\">R1 university in the US</a> and this is the case here).</p>\n\n<p>So the answer is yes, but it depends on the university.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 21650,
"author": "Leon palafox",
"author_id": 2806,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2806",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends, in the US for example I do not think they acknowledge Masters from other countries, a couple of friends had master degrees themselves before doing their PhDs and both had to get an additional masters (more like it just happened somewhere in the middle)</p>\n\n<p>Now, in Japan, you cannot get into a PhD if you do not have a Masters degree and a title to show for it. That is for all the Universities, not some of them. The only case when this is not the norm is in natural sciences. But in Japan, is like in the UK, PhD programs are 3 years long (usually) you have no classes (well, few, like 4), and you are expected to do research most of the time. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 24107,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Applying for a PhD program depends on your curriculum vitae and the research work you have done during the years before your PhD. One may have completed a MSc with research and thesis but his research topic is not that much current and that is not so much alluring for the professor who is seeking for a PhD research student. On the other hand, someone (probably like you) may have attended a MSc program which did not include any thesis or research work, but, the student was that much active and interested in doing research that his resume is full of scientific publications, research assistantships and voluntary academic work that the professor prefers to supervise him.<br>\nSo, if you are aiming a PhD in future, it may be better to do as much as research work and publication as you can. Then you need to meet the minimum requirements for a PhD student who wants to apply for a PhD program. Go and search the websites of the universities you want to apply and prepare the qualifications and requirements they have mentioned.<br>\nIt may be a good idea to seek the research interests of the professors of the university you are interested in attending too. If you want to work with a professor, try to review his publications and if you want to do some researches; make some researches in the areas of their interest. For example, a professor the research interest of whom is numerical methods in engineering is not probable to accept and work with a person who's resume is full of laboratory activities.<br>\nAnother thing is that you choose some courses (as your electives) that are of value for the research in PhD. I mean, choose some courses that prove that you are capable of understanding PhD courses. By this way, you prove that you are so interested in studying PhD courses, you are capable of understanding and analyzing PhD courses and you have chosen your elective courses by an insight to your research activity.<br>\nNot to forget that some universities and education systems have specific education regulations and it may be important for them that a student have completed a MSc by research.<br>\nBy the way, I have seen some students who did not completed a thesis or research during their MSc, applied for PhD after graduation and started their PhD successfully.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18778",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9861/"
]
|
18,779 | <p>Last term, I collected some important projects from about 200 students. When I returned all of the work the next week, one student claimed that they had submitted their work, but never received it back. A misplaced project was highly unlikely, as they were individually bound in a uniform, bright cover and carried in sealed bags, so I assigned the student a 0. Still, I would like to have proof of “no submit”, especially as my supervisor occasionally wants an explanation for failing grades. But not having something is not proof of never submitting. What method can I use in the future to prove that a student did not submit their work?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18780,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I doubt this will work with 200 students, but the first thing I do when I collect assignments is check to see whose assignment is missing, and send the relevant students a message via the class messaging system. This does two things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>if there was a slipup at either end, this catches it quickly. Most often, the student says that they're turning it in late (I have an automatic submit-late-and-get-deductions policy). </li>\n<li>By using the class messaging system, I'm on record as having asked the student about the missing assignment. If they complain a week later that they did turn it in, I can point to the message and ask why they didn't respond to it. </li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18791,
"author": "Raphael",
"author_id": 1419,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1419",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's easy to given students the ability to prove that they submitted (some form of receipt only you could have authored). The other direction, however, is harder.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Hightech</strong></p>\n\n<p>Have them submit electronically with a system that you don't control and that stores timestamps with submissions. It does not show up there on time, you did not submit in time.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Lowtech</strong></p>\n\n<p>Have them sign when handing in (make sure to announce that submissions are only valid if signed off). You receive their submission, they sign some form for you (and you sign their receipt). Have witnesses.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In the end, there is no way you can make sure it's their fault; they can beat any system (\"I lost the receipt!\", \"That's not my signature, somebody must have forged it!\", \"You never told me to sign!\", ...). As far as I know, German courts typically rule in favor of students (if there is any doubt), even in ridiculous circumstances. That may be different in other countries, but you may want to check back with your university's legal department to be safe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18803,
"author": "Richard",
"author_id": 13709,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13709",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A few thoughts in addition to the above:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Is there a departmental office or library that can help with accepting submissions and giving receipts?</p></li>\n<li><p>Can the department hire a temp for a day to handle the submissions?</p></li>\n<li><p>Strongly suggest to the students that they copy and/or photograph their work, in case of disaster. Provide a means for them to upload their photo albums to the department.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18808,
"author": "mkennedy",
"author_id": 5711,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5711",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For a large class, without or with receipts, set up 4 (or more boxes) split alphabetically. Students drop off the work and possibly sign a sheet. Either give them a quiz immediately while you double-check that you have all work, or check it later that day and query for any missing work. </p>\n\n<p>If you're using a sign-in sheet, and a student wants to turn in someone else's, he or she discusses it with you directly. That way you don't get, \"But I had Lisa turn in my work for me!\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75424,
"author": "Aaron Brick",
"author_id": 14140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14140",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I require my students to run a particular program to send their homework in. Positive identification of the students is already done when they log into the server. If your students don't use UNIX, the technique easily extends to a web or phone app with some other form of authentication.</p>\n\n<p>The result is neatly timestamped student files all in one place. If you like, add some form of receipt. I take the opportunity to automatically update a web page showing who's turned in what.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75429,
"author": "Nij",
"author_id": 50067,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/50067",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you use coversheets:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>acknowledgement of all policies and adherence thereto, is checked and signed by the student,</p></li>\n<li><p>a QR or barcode, containing their student number and name, course number and assignment number, and a timestamp is generated,</p></li>\n<li><p>the QR or barcode forms part of the coversheet, and is scanned <em>in</em> when they submit, then <em>out</em> when it is returned or collected,</p></li>\n<li><p>an email gets sent to the student confirming their submission for that assignment.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>While it takes some thought to set up, the implementation is as simple as taking a picture on a smartphone, and scales extremely well (increasing returns on effort expended per assignment/course/student/year added).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18779",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
18,787 | <p>I am writing a paper, which in the application used a function from a programming language (in this case, it is OpenCV function canny edge detection). When is or is not appropriate to explain the algorithm in mathematics/words and when or how should a function be referenced. </p>
<p>In this case, OpenCV explains the algorithm <a href="http://docs.opencv.org/doc/tutorials/imgproc/imgtrans/canny_detector/canny_detector.html" rel="nofollow">http://docs.opencv.org/doc/tutorials/imgproc/imgtrans/canny_detector/canny_detector.html</a></p>
<p>Should I just provide a link to this, as I did not modify the algorithm but it is an important part of the implementation decision.</p>
<p>Is there a standard way of deciding to reference the language, function, or original algorithm?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18780,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I doubt this will work with 200 students, but the first thing I do when I collect assignments is check to see whose assignment is missing, and send the relevant students a message via the class messaging system. This does two things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>if there was a slipup at either end, this catches it quickly. Most often, the student says that they're turning it in late (I have an automatic submit-late-and-get-deductions policy). </li>\n<li>By using the class messaging system, I'm on record as having asked the student about the missing assignment. If they complain a week later that they did turn it in, I can point to the message and ask why they didn't respond to it. </li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18791,
"author": "Raphael",
"author_id": 1419,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1419",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's easy to given students the ability to prove that they submitted (some form of receipt only you could have authored). The other direction, however, is harder.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Hightech</strong></p>\n\n<p>Have them submit electronically with a system that you don't control and that stores timestamps with submissions. It does not show up there on time, you did not submit in time.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Lowtech</strong></p>\n\n<p>Have them sign when handing in (make sure to announce that submissions are only valid if signed off). You receive their submission, they sign some form for you (and you sign their receipt). Have witnesses.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In the end, there is no way you can make sure it's their fault; they can beat any system (\"I lost the receipt!\", \"That's not my signature, somebody must have forged it!\", \"You never told me to sign!\", ...). As far as I know, German courts typically rule in favor of students (if there is any doubt), even in ridiculous circumstances. That may be different in other countries, but you may want to check back with your university's legal department to be safe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18803,
"author": "Richard",
"author_id": 13709,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13709",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A few thoughts in addition to the above:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Is there a departmental office or library that can help with accepting submissions and giving receipts?</p></li>\n<li><p>Can the department hire a temp for a day to handle the submissions?</p></li>\n<li><p>Strongly suggest to the students that they copy and/or photograph their work, in case of disaster. Provide a means for them to upload their photo albums to the department.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18808,
"author": "mkennedy",
"author_id": 5711,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5711",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For a large class, without or with receipts, set up 4 (or more boxes) split alphabetically. Students drop off the work and possibly sign a sheet. Either give them a quiz immediately while you double-check that you have all work, or check it later that day and query for any missing work. </p>\n\n<p>If you're using a sign-in sheet, and a student wants to turn in someone else's, he or she discusses it with you directly. That way you don't get, \"But I had Lisa turn in my work for me!\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75424,
"author": "Aaron Brick",
"author_id": 14140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14140",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I require my students to run a particular program to send their homework in. Positive identification of the students is already done when they log into the server. If your students don't use UNIX, the technique easily extends to a web or phone app with some other form of authentication.</p>\n\n<p>The result is neatly timestamped student files all in one place. If you like, add some form of receipt. I take the opportunity to automatically update a web page showing who's turned in what.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75429,
"author": "Nij",
"author_id": 50067,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/50067",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you use coversheets:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>acknowledgement of all policies and adherence thereto, is checked and signed by the student,</p></li>\n<li><p>a QR or barcode, containing their student number and name, course number and assignment number, and a timestamp is generated,</p></li>\n<li><p>the QR or barcode forms part of the coversheet, and is scanned <em>in</em> when they submit, then <em>out</em> when it is returned or collected,</p></li>\n<li><p>an email gets sent to the student confirming their submission for that assignment.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>While it takes some thought to set up, the implementation is as simple as taking a picture on a smartphone, and scales extremely well (increasing returns on effort expended per assignment/course/student/year added).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18787",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
]
|
18,792 | <p>I am a non-native speaker and writing my cv. In my subject (mathematics), there are small exercise groups where you have to grade the students' homework and discuss it with them; some are hold by students; some by PhD students or postdocs. </p>
<p>What are the correct terms if you have done the following things:</p>
<ol>
<li>You are a (PhD) student student holding the exercise group, grading homework, but nothing more.</li>
<li>You are the one who is in charge of organization, i.e., you design questions for homework and the exam, you make announcements, moderate the meeting of those people having an exercise group (see 1), but you don't have an own exercise group.</li>
<li>Same as 2, but you have an own exercise group.</li>
<li>The course is so small that there is only one exercise group. You are holding this group and are in charge of the organization.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18799,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First to answer your titular question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What is a TA called when he/she is in charge of organization?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Such a position does (in theory) not exist, as a TA as by definition supposed to \"assist\" somebody else and not run the show on her/his own (I am aware that this is not how it sometimes works in practice).</p>\n\n<p>Generally, you need to keep in mind that title and scope of academic positions, especially regarding teaching, are quite different between US and Germany, so you will likely not be able to do an accurate 1-to-1 mapping. I would write \"Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter\" in the CV and explain what you actually did. Translating it to english is prone to confusion.</p>\n\n<p>If you write <strong>TA</strong>, people will underestimate your responsibility in the course, if you write something like <strong>lecturer</strong>, people may infer that you already had a faculty position and will be confused by the perceived mismatch with the rest of your CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18800,
"author": "Aru Ray",
"author_id": 948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my program, such a person might be called 'head TA'.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, in versions of my CV where I've wanted to highlight teaching experience, I write <strong>Teaching Assistant</strong> followed by the responsibilities in italics. I have also done this for classes that I've taught (listed my particular responsibilities while teaching), since the amount of responsibility one has while teaching can vary widely - I've also listed class sizes, since that might be pertinent information for whoever is reading it. (My more research-focused CVs just contain lists of courses I've been a TA/instructor for, with no greater detail than that.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18807,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think any of the duties you mention are consistent with being a teaching assistant.</p>\n\n<p>Regardless, your CV should list your official job title as it appears on your contract. But it's a good idea to add another line or two explaining your duties in more detail. You could also list the classes you taught.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18792",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4078/"
]
|
18,793 | <p>Some degree titles have many components, e.g.:</p>
<pre><code>Master of Arts in Psychology: Behavioral Health
|_A__|_B_____|_C___________|_D________________|
</code></pre>
<p>Another e.g.:</p>
<pre><code>Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction: Special Education
|_A__|_B__________|_C___________________________|_D________________|
</code></pre>
<p>What are these components called?</p>
| [
{
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"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To take one of your examples:</p>\n\n<pre><code>Master of Arts in Psychology: Behavioral Health\n|_A__|_B_____|_C___________|_D________________|\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>\"Master\" is the degree. Etymologically, \"degree\" comes from \"degré\": the step of a stair (or rung of a ladder). \"Degree\" can be synonymous with \"level\" or \"extent\" - it is a measure. You could say \"the level of a degree\", but that would be a tautology. It's not incorrect, but \"level\" is redundant there - \"degree\" already says everything that you'd be trying to get from \"level\". Degree is a very flexible word, and can be used to refer to just part A, parts A+B, parts A+B+C, and parts A+B+C+D.</p>\n\n<p>Then either:\n\"Psychology\" is the subject and \"Behavioral Health\" is the speciality, or \"Psychology: Behavioral Health\" is the subject. You might also hear \"field\" used instead of \"subject\".</p>\n\n<p>\"of Arts\" doesn't really have a well-recognised name. You could call it type, kind, field, sort, school or faculty, but in the end, if you want to ask what sort of Master's someone has, you'll probably end up saying something like: \"What kind of Master's? Master of Science, Arts, MBA, something else?\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18813,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would think \"Master of Arts\" is the degree, this is because in medieval universities the arts faculty was the first faculty one had to graduate from before being admitted to higher study. So the master of arts looks like it should be thought of as the name of a degree awarded by the arts faculty. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18817,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am not aware of either (a) a consistent way of referring to the parts of the degree title or, more fundamentally, (b) a consistent way of deciding even what goes into the degree titles! None of my degrees have a colon or any listed specialty or sub-field. For that matter, what I translate from Latin as a masters degree is actually a Scientiæ Magister (which should properly be abbreviated SM, not MS).</p>\n\n<p>According to academic tradition, all PhD are degrees in philosophy. As a result, a PhD in biology is a doctoral degree in philosophy (in the sense of thinking and research) with an specialty in biology. On the other hand, a DSci would be a doctoral degree in science in the field of biology. It's not clear to me that we would want to refer to the fields or specialties in that case the same way in any sort of rigorous way.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18811/5962\">EnergyNumbers' answer</a> seems like a good attempt to parse out the answer. That said, I agree with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18813/5962\">Shane's answer</a> that \"Master of Arts\" is the name of the degree. So, in:</p>\n\n<pre><code>Master of Arts in Psychology: Behavioral Health\n|_A__|_B_____|_C___________|_D________________|\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>I would say that A+B is the degree. A is not the degree because an MBA is simply not the same degree as an MS, MFA, MPH, MPhil, etc.</p>\n\n<p>C is the field, subject, area, or specialty. D is the sub-field, sub-area, or sub-specialty. I think adding a \"sub-\" makes this relationship clear.</p>\n\n<p>I would call \"A\" the type, or maybe the level, of the degree. I like level because if I were to ask someone what their highest level of degree was, I would expect to hear something like doctorate, masters, bachelors, or associates and would not expect to hear that it was a bachelors of science.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18793",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
]
|
18,816 | <p>In order to get feedback more quickly, I've seen some teachers run a quick (certainly no more than 5 minutes), entirely optional, anonymous survey for students at the end of each of each class, meeting, or session. The idea is to get feedback on what is working and what isn't on a per-week basis before mid-term or end-of-term evaluations. What are good questions or prompts to use on a survey like this?</p>
<p>For example, I am currently planning to ask something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any feedback on the <strong>BLANK</strong>? (e.g., was it rewarding, challenging, about the right about, etc.)"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Where <strong>BLANK</strong> will be the readings, lecture, and discussion for the class session. I will also ask a general question like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Any other feedback or things you think I should know?"</p>
</blockquote>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18839,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The K12 definition of this is an \"exit ticket,\" though it can be used effectively at any educational level.</p>\n\n<p>Skim this article from Brown's <a href=\"http://brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teaching-learning/effective-classroom-practices/entrance-exit-tickets/sample\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sheridan Teaching and Learning Center</a> for ideas?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18869,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've always used the following in ALL of the classes I teach:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>What did you like most about quantitative basket weaving? [free text]</li>\n<li>What would you most like to see changed for quantitative basket weaving? [free text]</li>\n<li>How valuable do you feel your time has been in quantitative basket weaving? [1-10]</li>\n<li>Do you have any other comments about the module?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>To these I will often add 3-5 other questions which I'm curious about. Sometimes it is to test the waters on new things I'm planning on trying with them or future classes.</p>\n\n<p>The key is to keep it short. ~5 minutes is way too long. If you take more than 1-2 minutes of students' time, you are very unlikely to get many responses.</p>\n\n<p>I usually ask these questions at mid-point and after the final class. However, if you want more frequent feedback, I'd suggest the \"one minute paper\" where you ask two simple questions (paper, electronically, whatever fits):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>What do you think is the most important thing you learned today (or this week)?</li>\n<li>What did you find the most difficult point to understand?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>One minute papers are useful for constant course corrections while the earlier questions are more to find out how to change the design of the module next time (or next half).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18870,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ul>\n<li>3 things you liked the most in X.</li>\n<li>3 things you liked the least in X.</li>\n<li>Other comments.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>See my answer on <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5236/how-to-improve-myself-as-a-lecturer/5249#5249\">How to improve myself as a lecturer?</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29138,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My class sessions each had a lecture and a period of time devoted to discussion. As a result, I ended up using a Google form with the the following four questions each followed by a text box:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Any feedback on the readings?</strong> (e.g., was it rewarding, challenging, about right, etc.)</li>\n<li><strong>Any feedback about the case and/or the other class discussion?</strong></li>\n<li><strong>Any feedback on the lecture?</strong> (e.g., about the right length, too dense, etc)</li>\n<li><strong>Any other comments, ideas, questions, concerns, or reflections?</strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I sent a link to the survey every week after class and kept it online so that students could fill it whenever they liked. All answers were anonymous.</p>\n\n<p>About half the class filled it out the first week and there was decreasing numbers who did so in subsequent weeks. Since I used feedback to make adjustments to the class over the quarter, this worked out just fine. I felt that the survey was successful enough that I plan to ask it again, in exactly this form, in my class this quarter.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/01 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18816",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962/"
]
|
18,819 | <p>My advisor is a brilliant new professor and my efforts don't seem to impress him. </p>
<p>When I show him something in person, we always have a very careful intensive discussion for hours. But he does make comments which seem to indicate that he doesn't think much of my abilities. Or he says that I am being very slow and that this stuff shouldn't have been taking months. </p>
<p>I think I work as hard as I can. </p>
<p>What can I do about this situation?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18824,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It sounds like you are interpreting your advisor's comments about how your work is going as an indication that your advisor doesn't think you're smart or capable.</p>\n\n<p>However, that's not necessarily what it means <em>at all</em>. It's only human for an advisor to express some occasional disappointment about how the work is going. (Every advisor thinks the work should be going faster!!! It's practically in the advisor rulebook.) </p>\n\n<p>And some people (unfortunately) express criticism more often than they express praise. This could just be your advisor's style.</p>\n\n<p>It's not necessarily an indication of what your advisor thinks about <em>you</em> as a student and researcher.</p>\n\n<p>So in answer to your question of \"How to deal with this?\":</p>\n\n<p><strong>Instead of inferring what your advisor thinks of your abilities from his comments about your work, ask him directly what he thinks of your abilities!</strong></p>\n\n<p>Ask your advisor: \"How am I doing, in general? What areas do I need to improve in? What strengths do I have that I can play up?\"</p>\n\n<p>This is your chance to find out what your advisor sees in you, get some constructive criticism about your research skills in general (not about your current project). It's also a chance for you to tell your advisor how <em>you</em> think you're doing, and correct any misperceptions he may have about how hard you are working or how long the work should take.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18826,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You said: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>brilliant <strong>new</strong> prof</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A new professor is under pressure to produce results <strong>quickly</strong>. It's entirely possible that some of what you're sensing is a consequence of this. </p>\n\n<p>But you also say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>he does make comments which seem to indicate that he doesn't think much of my abilities.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Without more specifics, it's hard to know whether (as @ff524 says) you're interpreting criticism of work as criticism of you. </p>\n\n<p>And finally, you say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>he says that I am being very slow and that this stuff shouldn't have been taking months</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Should it ? We have no idea what kind of work you're doing, and how long it should take. Maybe your advisor is right. Maybe he's completely wrong because he doesn't understand how much effort it actually takes. </p>\n\n<p>At any rate, your first step has to be to <strong>talk to your advisor</strong> to understand what he wants from you. It sounds like he's willing to spend time talking to you, so make use of it. </p>\n\n<p>Any advisor-advisee relationship has an adjustment period where both individuals get used to the other's habits, rhythms and style of operation, and a level of trust starts to build. It sounds like you're in that phase, so keep lines of communication open and try not to interpret comments as personal criticism without clarification. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18828,
"author": "Sean",
"author_id": 9662,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9662",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First I would try and push more communication. If you're not telling him what you're actually doing everyday then maybe he's just underestimating you. If you are communicating exactly what you're doing: (experiment X got messed up because of this, or I can't figure out why experiment B is showing this result, it took me 3 months to clarify this so that I could move forward...etc) then it's both really hard for you and your professor to gauge whether you're actually spending too much time on these topics. </p>\n\n<p>Some Suggestions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe he can follow you in the lab for a day and see what you're doing?\nHe could potentially offer advice on how to speed up your work day.</li>\n<li>Provide weekly updates of what you've achieved that week. This can be helpful not only for him, but also for you. It helps to keep a kind of diary.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>However, if more communication does not help to strengthen your relationship with your PI and you've been there for less than a year, I'd consider jumping boat. Try looking for another professor that you connect better with. This can be a very tricky situation.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, since you sound kind of new and like you may not have a lot of other graduate friends, I'd consider suggesting buying a book on getting your PhD and the process of getting it. There are some good <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0307589447\" rel=\"nofollow\">books</a> out there on the topic...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18837,
"author": "msouth",
"author_id": 12746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to suggest something harder than anyone else has suggested, but which will pay off bigger dividends for the rest of your life. Start working now on disconnecting your opinion of yourself from (your perception of) others' opinions of you.</p>\n\n<p>Right now, you have someone you really respect, who, you think, doesn't have a great deal of respect for you. The best reaction you could have, which is in no way easy, is to completely objectify that observation. Pretend you are someone else, observing the two of you. The prof might be a brilliant jerk. You might actually not be nearly as smart as the prof. People are different, after all. This could just be a fact. But when you are looking at it emotionally it brings up fear of inadequacy, etc, etc, etc. If you objectify it, however--pretend you are a Vulcan for a minute--you can see practical paths forward.</p>\n\n<p>What are the practical things you can do? It sounds like you are already working as hard as you know how to. There might be ways you can work smarter. If you were someone else looking in, you might suggest to yourself that you ask your prof \"I interpreted this comment you made--'when this takes you so long, why would you even think of that'--to mean that you don't think I'm making rapid enough progress. Is that interpretation correct? I think I'm working as hard as I can. Do you think there might be strategies I could use that would improve my productivity?\" Just one example. The idea is to extract yourself from the emotional tangle and just say \"well, if this is the case, how can I use the prof as a resource to improve the situation?\".</p>\n\n<p>Your life is going to be full of people who you will perceive to either respect or not respect you. Spending effort on figuring out who does or doesn't respect you, and trying to do things specifically to make people respect you, is a huge, frustrating, waste of time. I know, I know, I know, that it is very hard to stop doing. But when you find yourself in this situation, maybe you can think \"this is an opportunity to work on caring less about peoples' impression of me, and just focusing on doing the best work I can.\"</p>\n\n<p>The payoff for this is immense. Personal relationships will improve. You interactions with other people will be more genuine. Ironically, in the end, people will respect you a lot more.</p>\n\n<p>The body of work you do while working under this advisor is going to be <em>your work</em>. If you're doing good work, there will be someone at some point that recognizes that and you will get the practical results out of that which you need to further your career, even if your advisor <em>never</em> thinks you were that good. Therefore, the more you are able to focus on making <em>your work</em> the best it can be, the better it will be for your career.</p>\n\n<p>Try as hard as you can to not care about his opinion of you, and focus on making your work the best that it can be. In the end, after all, that's the best way to make his opinion improve--but that is not guaranteed. Your prof, as I suggested earlier, may be a brilliant jerk. You may possibly just not be as smart as him, period. He might never even be impressed that you worked hard even though you were not as naturally talented [btw--this is a <em>very viable</em> path to tremendous success. Hard work with a little talent will very, very often beat little work with a lot of talent.].</p>\n\n<p>There is some sense in which his opinion of you is completely out of your control. Try to get yourself in the mindset that it <em>is</em> completely out of your control, and that you need to focus on doing your work the best you possibly can.</p>\n\n<p>When you are sure you are doing that, your prof will make his decision--maybe a fair one, maybe not--about whether to respect you or not. <strong>But the important thing is that <em>you</em> will respect yourself.</strong> <strong>And if you have learned to work as hard as you can and not worry about what other people think of you, you will have learned something of inestimable value.</strong> It's a hard thing to learn, but you've got a great opportunity to do so, right in front of you. So get to work :).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18844,
"author": "Akavall",
"author_id": 13088,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13088",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>We need more context, but perhaps your adviser actually thinks highly of your abilities. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>he says that I am being very slow and that this stuff shouldn't have\n been taking months.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If I think your IQ is 150, and you are showing 130 level on a given problem, I would show disappointment in your performance: \"Are you trying hard enough? This is taking too long\". However, if I thought your IQ level was 100, I would be praising you: \"You are doing great!\".</p>\n\n<p>The above might not be the case of course, but I it is something to keep in mind. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18845,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>With so little information there is no way to know what does (s)he mean and what is the problem or solution, e.g. maybe the point is that you could use some help to work faster, maybe from an undergrad student.</p>\n\n<p>You have to divide the task that is taking months into smaller tasks to clearly see:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>where your supervisor and you don't agree on the times that it takes.</li>\n<li>where you could use some help or the task could be divided into different tasks, with more specialized people.</li>\n<li>where you could use a different approach.</li>\n<li>what is the cause of the disagreement in the time that is required for that thing.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You may be even working on something that you should not, investing too much time in something that is not important enough to invest that time. Maybe that time should be invested in a different set of activities if it is going to take so long. You want to produce results and impact, and your supervisor probably wants that as well, it should be easy to agree.</p>\n\n<p>Without more details about the kind of work that you are doing I don't think a better answer is possible.</p>\n\n<p>I'd suggest something different to what everybody is suggesting. Try to be as fast and efficient as you can, try to get feedback from your supervisor about how to achieve that and what is exactly the problem, that will probably be the best for your career.</p>\n\n<p>If your supervisor cannot be specific on the problems that (s)he vaguely points out and cannot advise on how to overcome them, then your supervisor is not competent at supervising/advising and you will have a good reason to try to switch to a different supervisor or finish asap or whatever is your best chance to get rid of your (incompetent) supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>Remember, don't assume your supervisor doesn't like you and don't assume any incompetence on either side. Try to find the cause of the problem and discrepancy in time estimations and try to find a solution. I can't think of a more constructive approach.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68524,
"author": "cgnorthcutt",
"author_id": 53993,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53993",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I once apologized to my advisor. He replied, \"Don't apologize to me - I don't care whether you do what you say you will do. Apologize to yourself. It's your own goals you aren't achieving, not mine. I am only here to help you achieve them.\"</p>\n\n<p>I start with this because I don't believe you should be trying to impress your advisor. You should be trying to impress yourself. Find a problem you want to solve, something that is difficult, but you are wildly interested in, and prove to yourself that you are one of the best in the world in your field. Strive for truth. Seek the hidden solution. Uncover mysteries. And in doing so, build up the skills relevant to your field.</p>\n\n<p>It is an old wisdom that someone will start to respect you on the day when you have proven to yourself that you no longer require their respect. Your advisor can be a great asset, but they are not a crutch for you to feel good about yourself... true self-worth comes from within, not externally.</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, I agree that it certainly brightens our day to be told a \"great job\" every now and then by the certain people in your life. I found a new level of scrutiny at MIT, where best is normal, excellence is mediocre, and good is frowned upon. A compliment can be hard to come by. \"Oh, you've just invented a new algorithm to solve an unsolved problem in Massive Open Online Courses? Nice. But did you hear about so-and-so right down the hall who just invented a robotic microchip that resides in your blood stream and is the next big thing in curing cancer?\"</p>\n\n<p>When you hear stuff like this, or when you feel like you aren't smart enough, or you feel like your advisor doesn't believe in you... you know what? Who cares!? You do you, but don't cheat yourself. If you know you can do better, be better. If you know you the problem is deeper, think harder. </p>\n\n<p>Learn to heed your advisor's advice. Glean everything you can from him/her. Watch how they work, and how they manipulate their environment to their advantage. Emulate them, iteratively improve on their methods, and then create a better version for yourself.</p>\n\n<p>If however, your advisor is actively affecting your career, by giving bad recommendations or not supporting you in collaborations or future jobs, you need to have a discussion with them. Your advisor should help promote your future, and if your relationship is parasitism or commensalism, you are both losing. </p>\n\n<p>Hopefully, that's not the case and assuming it is not, full steam ahead regardless of what your advisor thinks. Remind yourself that you chose to do this; and although you have to meet some criteria for achievement, grad school is very much for you. So use this time for yourself. Become the researcher you've dreamed of becoming. Don't lose the big picture of the leader you want to become. And above all, \"earn the right to be proud of yourself, first for yourself, then the world will follow\" - a quote from my advisor, Isaac L. Chuang.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68530,
"author": "Jessica Su",
"author_id": 53764,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53764",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your advisor is probably smarter than 95% of grad students in your department, so it's normal for him to think you are stupid. He's probably comparing your performance to how he would perform on similar tasks, so if he could do something in a week, he expects you to be able to do it in a week. Eventually he will supervise more students and lower his expectations, but since he is new it is natural for him to have higher standards.</p>\n\n<p>If you're already working as hard as you can, the best you can do is keep doing what you're doing, and be glad that you've found a professor who's so smart.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18819",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6683/"
]
|
18,821 | <p>I will be graduating my first Ph.D. student this summer. My student is quite strong and has done good work, and I am quite proud of him!</p>
<p>I do face one conundrum. He has expressed the hope that I would be there for his Ph.D. hooding and graduation ceremony. It seems like an utterly natural, totally reasonable thing to ask for. I was tenatively planning on being out of the country at the time, so I need to decide whether to cancel my plans to attend his graduation.</p>
<p>On the one hand, missing my student's graduation seems like the equivalent of missing your best friend's wedding. Or perhaps worse, missing your child's wedding, or your own. On the other, this seems to be very common. My own Ph.D. advisor was out of town for my graduation and I asked another professor on my committee to escort me in his place.</p>
<p>Is there any kind of consensus?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18822,
"author": "long",
"author_id": 8969,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8969",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Obligation? Unless through your institution's academic responsibilities there is a requirement to attend, then none.</p>\n\n<p>However, if you equate it to being on par with missing your own child's wedding, then I think you've answered your own question. </p>\n\n<p>You only get one 'first Ph.D. student'.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18823,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Congratulations on your first PhD student!</p>\n\n<p>I don't think there's any hard-and-fast rule about attending your student's graduation. It comes down to how much you want to be there, how strongly your student feels about you being there, and how compelling your other plans are.</p>\n\n<p>There are certainly some people who don't care much about this kind of thing. (I am one of those people; I gave my father wholehearted permission to skip both my high school and college graduation. Neither of us has regretted his absence from those ceremonies in the slightest.)</p>\n\n<p>Then there are some people who really care about graduations, and want the people who were instrumental in their success to be there. And you're right that it's a reasonable thing to ask for, if it's very important to the student.</p>\n\n<p>So, see if you can find out what category your student falls in. From your description (he \"hopes you will be there\") it could really be either one. If it turns out he feels really strongly about it, you can look into canceling your trip; if not, I don't think it's a big deal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18831,
"author": "Peter",
"author_id": 13722,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13722",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a phd student myself, and to be honest I couldn't care less if my advisor was at my graduation. The graduation ceremony is not something you should cancel any plans over. If you missed my thesis defense however ...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18836,
"author": "Nan",
"author_id": 13728,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13728",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Being hooded by my advisor was a really big deal for me. Without him, I wouldn't have gotten the degree. If your student as explicitly asked you to attend, I would do it- if you have a good personal and professional relationship with this student, your absence would be significant.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18821",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565/"
]
|
18,827 | <p>So I'm not sure what to do. I've been listed as a co-author on my first publication in X journal, with a decent impact factor. Now I just realized that my middle initial wasn't included on the first publication. </p>
<p>Can I start using my middle initial in future publications? I know it's only my first, but that paper could get plenty of citations in the near future. (just hypothetically)</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>Is there a way to link the 2 names? Could I link them if I publish again in that same journal, specifically an ACS journal?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18829,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You will probably <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10700/how-to-edit-name-on-existing-publications-after-a-name-change\">not be able to change your name on an already-published article</a>. (Is it already fully published? You can of course change things at the proof stage.)</p>\n\n<p>So the question is whether it makes sense to use your middle initial going forward. I think that yes. There are millions of \"John Smith\" out there, so it would be much better to be \"John Y. Smith\" so people can identify your papers among the many by other Smiths.</p>\n\n<p>The drawback, as you mention, is that people may not be able to link your very first article to you. Yes, that is not nice. But believe me, in ten years you will be much happier if people correctly identify your papers than if this one single article is linked to you (along with possibly a lot of other papers someone with the same name as you wrote, if you decide to leave out your middle initial in the future).</p>\n\n<p>Plus: literature databases are getting more and more sophisticated. I assume that things like missing middle initials should not be a problem for long in linking papers to authors. After all, later publications of yours will not only connect in terms of your name as an author, but also in terms of subject matter, collaborators, affiliations... All things that any decent machine learning algorithm can easily take into account.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18833,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In the modern day of vastly intelligent computer software and important internet presence, it is highly unlikely that a missing middle initial will be the cause of \"nonrecognition\" of your name. As Stephan wrote, a bigger problem is name confusion; it is definitely a good idea for you to start including your middle initial(s) in future publications. I'll answer here focused more on how to make sure the names are \"linked\". </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=k_bKV6gAAAAJ&hl=en\">My Google Scholar profile</a>, which is compiled entirely by a computer (my only contribution there was identification of duplicate entries and removing them), even picked up some of my undergraduate term-reports which I put on my website many years ago (and which are now no longer available). Of my published papers, I've listed at various times my name as</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Willie Wong</li>\n<li>W W Wong</li>\n<li>Willie W Wong</li>\n<li>Willie W-Y Wong</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>and I don't seem to have had much trouble*.</p>\n\n<p>If you want better control over the articles associated to your name, you can always register for <a href=\"http://wokinfo.com/researcherid/\">Web of Science researcher ID</a> and/or an <a href=\"http://orcid.org/\">ORCID</a> which are both designed to help alleviate the problem of name collision and name changes throughout the career of a research scientist. </p>\n\n<p>For fields which encourages the use of arXiv, the <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/author_identifiers\">author identifier</a> also helps group all of your pre-prints, and allows you neat things like <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/myarticles\">a Javascript widget for your own website</a> showing your recent pre-prints. </p>\n\n<p>For mathematics, the AMS maintains <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/help/getauth.html\">author profiles</a> (they recently upgraded this!) to which you can also submit corrections to include omitted paper or to exclude misattributed papers by other authors. (The AMS author profiles are only accessible through a MathSciNet subscription.)</p>\n\n<p>I am not that familiar with other fields, but you should look around to see if your scholarly society provides a similar service to help maintain a comprehensive publication record for authors. </p>\n\n<p>*With Google, at least. Microsoft Academic Search has some trouble coming up with my complete list of publications. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18827",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9662/"
]
|
18,846 | <p>Take, for example, that a student is nearing the end of their thesis project.</p>
<p>The supervisor has an idea for a new method that can help to verify the results of part of the project. He does not think much of the significance of the idea at the time, [writes up a document outlining the procedure] and passes it to the student to implement.</p>
<p>A week later, a problem arises. The supervisor questions whether the idea was in fact more significant than he originally thought - i.e. could form a paper on its own, and has realised that answering the students questions on the specifics of how to implement the said method would take up more time/effort then just doing it themselves.</p>
<p>So, how would the supervisor go about retracting the new project from the student? From the student's point of view, they would have a strong motivation to try and implement the idea that has been brought to their attention since it is directly relevant to their thesis work. Yet the supervisor does not want to be hassled by the student on learning the specifics (that would form the content of the paper), and does not want the student to claim partial ownership of the idea. The student has not yet produced any results using the method that has been passed to them.</p>
<p>The issues that I see are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>If the supervisor tells the student to relax and think about something else instead, they probably would not listen</li>
<li>If the supervisor works independently from the student to produce the paper (figures, text, observing trends), then the student could still claim that they were involved (?) since they would have probably started working on it too</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18847,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is hard not to sense some kind of \"foul play\" by the phrase <em>He does not want the student to claim partial ownership of the idea</em> and the phrase \"<em>just doing it themselves</em>\". Who are they? The senior professor, the PostDoc or a graduate student? If the idea was not good, the poor student should bang his head to make it worthwhile. If the idea is good then you somehow want the student out of it.</p>\n\n<p>The main question is why? If you write a seminal paper based on the idea, one more co-author would not hurt you. Why don't you want the student involved? He will provide help and you can explain to him that he is not going to be the first author and immediately all your problems are solved.</p>\n\n<p>Once the idea gets out of your head and into somebody's mind (and possibly his PC) it cannot be contained anymore. What will stop the student to implement it on his own? If he is fast enough, he may even do it faster than the busiest, more senior team members. </p>\n\n<p>I know I do not answer the actual OP's question but this is deliberate. I consider highly unethical the fact OP thinks he can freely change your mind, make people work on his ideas and when those ideas seem promising (which is partially due to the student's work - although he clearly denies this fact) he claims full ownership and decides who else should work on his idea. The only reason I see legit for this kind of behaviour is if there is a highly ranked conference approaching and the OP (by doing the work himself) might make it on time, something that will be impossible for the student to do. If it is so, then the OP may explain it to the student and implement the idea himself. All other possible reasons are either questionable or possibly unethical.</p>\n\n<p>If you treasure raw research ideas that much (and most of us do), I would suggest next time be careful who you share it with. When most people get an excellent research idea they only share it with the ones who will work on it. Once they share it, they should stick with these people, unless something unpredictable (work-related arguments, work relocation) happens. But even then, plan changes should be fully explained. And since from your previous questions I believe that you are possibly a graduate student, please do not start your academic career by questionable practises.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18848,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>With the way this question is framed, \"retracting\" the idea sounds both difficult and unethical. Based on the information given here, my advice, and the only ethical path, is for the supervisor to collaborate closely with the student on the work. If the idea is good, the pair should work toward a co-authored publication. This question states that, \"since [the student] has more free time on their hands [they] could potentially have some results first.\" In this case, it sounds like collaboration with the student is very likely to help.</p>\n\n<p>Working with students means teaching and mentorship. It means that supervisors are, \"hassled by the student on learning the specifics\" and it often means, \"answering the students questions on the specifics of how to implement the said method [in ways that] take up more time/effort then just doing it themselves.\" <em>This is part of the job of an academic supervisor</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, I completely fail to see why co-authorship and shared ownership of an idea <em>between a supervisor and student</em> is a problem. </p>\n\n<p>That said, one of the most important jobs a supervisor has is trying to decide when and what to delegate. It was the supervisors job to be more thoughtful and they need to deal with the consequences — whatever they are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18849,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Too late, you should have thought that more carefully beforehand. You cannot undo.</p>\n\n<p>Like it or not, this student is now your collaborator for this idea, so I'd suggest to get the best out of the collaboration that you can get. This means no races, etc. Try to give him chunks of work that won't require too many questions and interaction (if that's a problem) and try to publish asap, because you are collaborating with this person, but probably you are \"competing\" with other people in other places, who may be able to produce results faster than you.</p>\n\n<p>Next time, think about it twice before you share your next idea, specially if you are going to be so possessive about them. Now it's shared.</p>\n\n<p>If the problem is being hassled, you can postpone investing time specifically on that until the deadline for publication is met. Priorities are priorities. The student may not care after that or may have no questions. By your wording the problem doesn't seem to be that, though.</p>\n\n<p>We can only hope there are micro-contributions in the future so that we can trace exactly how much did each person contribute to something and have the provenance of everything with a personal granularity. Either good or bad, it's not happening anytime soon. I'd think this would be good, specially if it helps to collaborate smoothly, there are many open problems that need to be solved, the more we can collaborate (if done correctly), the more problems we will be able to solve in less time, in theory.</p>\n\n<p>“We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.” ― Winston Churchill.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18853,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The stated scenario sounds awful, and the clarification makes it sound even worse. When you start a collaboration with a student you're advising (I'm using \"you\" colloquially), you don't get to \"keep the good bits\". That's grossly unfair to the student who is after all attempting to learn from you. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, research is uncertain, and you can't always predict what ideas will become interesting. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Which is why rules for collaboration are set up first, and are not contingent on the quality of the (potential) results.</strong></p>\n\n<p>I understand that in this case, there's a worry about the student \"slowing things down\". But that's about convenience, not about doing the right thing. </p>\n\n<p>And I should say that because this is a <strong>student</strong> and not a collaborator, all rules should be adjusted to give the student the benefit. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18862,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only time I can imagine retracting a project from a student, is if continuing with it would be detrimental to them or to the university.</p>\n\n<p>Retracting in other circumstances is unethical. It's a breach of trust. And it's a fundamental failure at the task in hand, of being a supervisor of research students.</p>\n\n<p><strong>It is my job, as a supervisor of research students, to enable them to become better researchers than me.</strong><br>\n<sup>++</sup></p>\n\n<p>The first time I was told that, by a very wise colleague, I was shocked. I felt threatened. My students would go on to take my research, my grants, my future jobs away from me.</p>\n\n<p>Then I took a deep breath, had a think about what my role was, and realised he was completely right. And I accepted it, and now I revel in it.</p>\n\n<p>If it ever got to the point where I didn't want to do what I practicably can to make them better researchers than me, then it would be time for me to step down from that role.</p>\n\n<p><sup>++</sup><sub>(yes yes, I know, it's my job to enable them to be the best researchers they can be, insofar as it does not ask for impracticable demands from me. The phrasing above isn't perfectly accurate. But it does have impact, and it does punch home an important message)</sub></p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/02 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18846",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9680/"
]
|
18,861 | <p>I've discovered that every time my supervisor has cited any of the papers or technical documents I've written she/he would:</p>
<ul>
<li>spell my name incorrectly or forget to add my name</li>
<li>spell the article/technical document title incorrectly</li>
</ul>
<p>These are citation made in articles already published (!!) or at final stage (where she/he denied to make any effort to try to correct them). Althought this means she/he also loses citations of these articles she/he is doing mistakes only on my papers/technical documents, not with others. </p>
<p>I am obliged to add her/him in every paper as co-author, although she/he never engages in any discussion concerning any of the papers or phd. This is not someone that has a flock of PhD and MSc students under her/his wings, the number of students are really reduced.</p>
<p>How should I react to this? What should I do about it?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18865,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In accordance with the comments, I think you have two choices, get out or stick with it. Since you are determined to finish (no-one but you can weigh the choices) just try to do so and swallow the problems you describe. I am sure it is extremely irritating but focus on finishing and do not let your energy go to issues you cannot change. The sooner you finish the better. So, if you can, focus only on the work leading to your thesis. </p>\n\n<p>That advisors put their names on papers, is a separate discussion and one which has been dealt with here on academia.sx for many cases. Search on, for example, the <a href=\"/questions/tagged/authorship\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'authorship'\" rel=\"tag\">authorship</a> tag combined perhaps with <a href=\"/questions/tagged/advisor\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'advisor'\" rel=\"tag\">advisor</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, you need to assess what you do and how you best should spend your time to reach your goal, the PhD. If you feel you are drawn into things that are not productive for this goal, use the goal as a reason not to involve: \"I really must focus on my PhD, I fear I may not be able to finish in time otherwise\". Also, it sounds as if you have numerous publications already, so try to probe what is enough, if that is not already clear. Simply try to find the path of least resistance to get to the goal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18880,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Mis-citing articles (and worse, removing authors) is one of those crimes that academics take very seriously (and no one else really understands). If you were a collaborator, then repeated behavior of this kind would get your advisor in trouble not just with you, but with editors at the journals, reviewers, and so on. </p>\n\n<p>So you really should bring it up. </p>\n\n<p>How do you go about doing it ? Because it's your advisor, you have to be a little more gentle: some options:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>keeping it specific to each mis-cite</strong>: \"I noticed you cited my work, but you omitted my name: can you please fix it\". It sounds like you've been doing this already though. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>the technical solution</strong>: \"Here's a BibTeX file containing all my papers: you can use that for citing\" - this works only if your advisor uses some kind of citation manager to cite papers. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>the direct solution</strong>: \"I noticed that in this, this and this paper, you omitted my name from the citation. I'd really appreciate it if you could contact the editors and submit a correction: I'd like to get credit for my work\". </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In other words, keep the discussion focused on outcomes and actions, rather than intent (because a) it's hard to argue intent, and b) you're in a position of weakness)</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18861",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13760/"
]
|
18,863 | <p>A couple of months back, I reviewed a manuscript and recommended a Major Revision. Ten days ago, I received the revision for review, with a note from the editor asking me to expedite, since the review process had already taken a while (not due to me).</p>
<p>However, from both the initial decision letter by the editor and the authors' response, I see that my initial review did not reach the authors (I checked: my review is in the system). The other review, which <em>did</em> reach them, mostly raised points orthogonal to mine, so if I were to review the revision again, I would likely reiterate my original points.</p>
<p>I immediately notified the editor and expressed that I would be happy to re-review, but would appreciate a confirmation that this review would then actually reach the authors. No response. A week later, I wrote again. No response. That was three days ago.</p>
<p>To be honest, I am a little miffed. Not so much that my initial review, which I did spend a considerable amount of time on, was not forwarded - stuff happens. More that I am not getting a response to what to me appears a straightforward question. After having been asked specifically to move quickly on this.</p>
<p>At the moment, I am vacillating between either doing the review ASAP or waiting for <em>any</em> kind of response from the editor first, but this second option seems passive-aggressive to me. Additional info: I know the editor, we meet regularly at conferences. I know that since he has been appointed dean, he is drowning in work.</p>
<p>Questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Has this happened to anyone else? How did you react?</li>
<li>Am I overreacting? Should I just review and stop whining?</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18864,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I cannot say whether the situation is due to sloppiness or due to some technical issue but it seems odd and something that should not happen. I gather that you were in an electronic review system of some sort and then the review should automatically be forwarded. In a journal not working with an electronic system, something like this is more likely to occur but should be a one off mistake in any case. Problems like these, if they recur regularly, will likely sink the journal reputation in the end. you probably have some sense of the standings of the journal.</p>\n\n<p>The lack of response may not mean much and I would not over-interpret it. It is of course not a positive reflection of the journal.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I would recommend you to basically re-use your earlier review. Look through it after reading the paper and authors comments to see if anything can be removed. If you catch anything new that needs corrections, of course, add it. You have done the work once and unless the paper is completely rewritten with significant changes to discussion and conclusions, your comments still stand. You can only reiterate your verdict of Major Revisions, which should lead to a third round. I think, under the circumstances that would b fair, unless the authors fully comply with your suggestions, in which case the editors can use his/her discretion (depending on a second reviewers response of course).</p>\n\n<p>So bottom line: your initial review needs to reach the authors but with corrections for whatever has been changed. Unless you receive some explanation for what has happened from the editor, you have to draw your own conclusions about the quality of the journal and particularly the editorship. Try to form a well-founded opinion, whether you think the journal is worth your attention in the future. One mistake is reason for caution, but not reason for judging.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43185,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had this happen as a reviewer at a journal with a 3+ month review cycle. The journal BCCs the reviewers on the decision letter so I knew my review was sent. I also knew my review was sent as a PDF attachment and the other review and the AE comments were sent as plain text. The authors wrote a point by point rebuttal letter to the AE and reviewer, but didn't acknowledge my review, so I expected they missed my review.</p>\n\n<p>I emailed the AE within a few days of accepting the rereview that the authors seemed to have either missed my review or ignored it (including both typos and major concerns). The AE responded immediately (with 48 hours) saying to just review what I had. So I sent a review back that said \"The authors are either unable or unwilling to address my major concerns and therefore I recommend rejection\". After that review cycle, I received a 3rd version, with a rebuttal letter that apologised for missing my earlier review.</p>\n\n<p>I would not whine, but nor would I spend any time rereviewing. Just say that your concerns are not addressed.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18863",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140/"
]
|
18,866 | <p>Extensively using Google Scholar, I've realized that most of the articles belonging to publishers that limit access to material (i.e. ACM, IEEE, Elsevier) also have PDF versions available for free, and these files usually are hosted by universities or other aggregators like ResearchGate.</p>
<p>Is it legal for the university/organization to host a copy of an article, if this has been published on a conference or journal with paid access? Does it matter if the authors of the article belong to that university/organization?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18867,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer the question in the title: free access to an article depends largely on the version. It's almost always fine to post versions on your institutional page. Some journals do have embargo periods, during which you must refrain from doing so.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on the field and journal, authors may post one of the following on their institutional website:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>published version</em>: article as it appears in the journal</li>\n<li><em>accepted version</em>: manuscript after peer review but prior to journal editting/typesetting; typically allowed after the article is published (ex: <em>Nature</em>, <em>Science</em>, <em>The Lancet</em>)</li>\n<li><em>preprint</em>: manuscript before peer review (this is <em>almost</em> always allowed)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Many journals encourage disseminating accepted versions, including posting them to repositories like PubMedCentral.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, some fields make heavy use of preprint servers like arXiv to get work out to the public as soon as possible. This is particularly relevant for fields with long review times (maths, physics, ...).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18868,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>To answer the (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/revisions/18866/1\">original version</a> of the) question in the title:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are scientific articles of public domain?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>the answer is <strong>absolutely not, unless the relevant copyright holders declared it so or that its copyright has expired</strong>. Note that public domain is emphatically different from open access. </p>\n\n<p>To answer the question in the body:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it legal for the university/organization to host a copy of an article, if this has been published on a conference or journal with paid access? Does it matter if the authors of the article belong to that university/organization?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>the answer is <strong>it depends</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>What does it depend on? Very simply, the <strong>publication agreement</strong> or the <strong>copyright transfer agreement</strong> or the <strong>licensing agreement</strong> signed by the author when the article has been accepted for publishing. For example:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Here's <a href=\"http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/contribinfo/prep/license.xhtml\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the version for <em>Science</em></a></li>\n<li>Here's <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecopyrightform.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the one for IEEE</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/author-rights-and-responsibilities#author-posting\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Elsevier compiled a handy table</a> for their journals. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As David Ketcheson points out below, a great resource for checking the self-archiving and open access policies of is <a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Sherpa/Romeo</a>. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18878,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many universities now have institutional open access policies. Most of those policies assert a non-exclusive license to distribute research authored by university employees.</p>\n<p>Does the university's pre-existing non-exclusive license remain in effect when a restrictive copyright transfer agreement is later signed?</p>\n<p>This has been considered in great detail by Eric Priest in a study published in the <a href=\"http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1890467\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, Vol. 10, p. 377, 2012</a>. This seems to be the most authoritative work available on the matter. His conclusion is that the non-exclusive license granted by Harvard-style open access policies will remain in effect in such cases, at least under US law. This is based on a careful analysis of <a href=\"http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/205\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">section 205(e) of the US Copyright Act</a>, which reads:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>(e) Priority Between Conflicting Transfer of Ownership and Nonexclusive License.— A nonexclusive license, whether recorded or not, prevails over a conflicting transfer of copyright ownership if the license is evidenced by a written instrument signed by the owner of the rights licensed or such owner’s duly authorized agent, and if—</p>\n<p>(1) the license was taken before execution of the transfer; or</p>\n<p>(2) the license was taken in good faith before recordation of the transfer and without notice of it.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18866",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/695/"
]
|
18,871 | <p>I have two offers for graduate study within the UK and I am trying to make a balanced decision.</p>
<p>My offers are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Four year doctoral training centre at University of Oxford (approx. £14k/year)</li>
<li>Four year PhD at the Cancer Research London Research Institute (LRI) (approx. £21k/year)</li>
</ul>
<p>I suspect that the Cancer Research institute does not have a comparable international reputation when compared to Oxford. On the other hand, I've met the research group at the LRI and they seem nice. At Oxford I wouldn't be choosing my research group until after the first year. I already have significant ties to London and have been living here for four years.</p>
<p>What other factors should I be considering in order to make this a rational decision?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18872,
"author": "Reuben John Pengelly",
"author_id": 13766,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13766",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am answering this on the basis that I was making this same decision myself a year ago. </p>\n\n<p>Firstly, the LRI will be joining the Francis Crick Institute next year as it opens, which may end up being esteemed in it's own right if all goes according to their plans. It depends what you want to do after the PhD, if you want to stay in academia and cancer research, then it is the supervisor's esteem that is more likely to help you in the long run, as well as the impact of your papers. The label on the institute makes less difference as you go on (within reason of course).</p>\n\n<p>Have a look at the recent publications of the group, maybe see how many have PhD students on good author positions in good journals; that's what will get you a post-doc ultimately.</p>\n\n<p>The two being 4 year funded, the London one may be better financially overall. Integrated PhD programs (where you have 3 small projects in the first year, getting an MRes, then pick the final PhD project for 3 years, I presume this is the case for Oxford) in my experience tend to be more trouble than they're wort, unless you're not sure on picking a definite research project yet or don't have a Masters. </p>\n\n<p>The issues can come from firstly, not getting the project you were hoping for after the first year, after the MRes, but now you're tied down to Oxford (may not happen, but does all too ofter) and also you now have 3 years to do your PhD, not 4. Why waste time on multiple smaller sub-projects at the start if you have a clear idea on what you want to do for your final project? Of course, the corollary here, if you don't have a clear idea exactly what you want your PhD to be on, then integrated programs can be a godsend.</p>\n\n<p>My best advice on the rational decision front is don't. Relationship with group and particularly the supervisor is the main factor in a PhD, with a bad supervisor able to kill your career dead in the water, intentionally or not. </p>\n\n<p>If you have a passion for the research, and get on well with the group and supervisor then I would definitely go for that PhD. Lack of these both for 4 years will likely mean you either drop out, or have a horrible 4 years and then hate your research. </p>\n\n<p>I went for the lower paid, lower ranked Uni offer, and have no regrets. In fact, the higher paid one was industry funded, and they've since gone under, so I dodged a bullet there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18887,
"author": "L Platts",
"author_id": 9117,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9117",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Oxford is a small city with an atmosphere absolutely steeped in scholarship – some thrive in it; some find the pressure it induces extremely stressful. I would visit Oxford if you can and try to establish whether that atmosphere is for you. If you’re prepared to relocate, you’ll have almost no commuting time and may be able to live in college accommodation. It would be possible in such circumstances to concentrate very intensively on your work. You would be surrounded almost entirely by others doing the same. For some this is heaven, for others it is hell....</p>\n\n<p>In London it would be much easier to collaborate across institutions, and therefore to meet a wide range of researchers formally and informally, all of which will help enormously in coming up with good ideas for post-doc projects, if you want to think that far ahead. Living in London, it will be very convenient to attend meetings and seminars at the London colleges as well as to meet with policy makers etc, if that is important in your area. It also means that you can rely on the friendship network that you already have in place, something to bear in mind as you may go through a bad patch during your studies and it’s good to have an established support network. The first year in the new Francis Crick Institute is likely to be slightly disrupted as everybody settles in (think usual teething problems like no hot water for months, no telephones etc.) but possibly a tremendously exciting time.</p>\n\n<p>But agreeing completely with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13766/reuben-john-pengelly\">Reuben</a>, I would recommend taking some time to get to know your potential new supervisors and groups. Talk to former PhD students from the lab, try to go for a beer/coffee with some of the present students. The relationship with the supervisor(s) is absolutely vital. Try to work out what previous students go on to do – do they complete vaguely on time? Do they get good post-doc jobs afterwards? One advantage of going to Oxford is that it will give you one year to work this out, especially as you don’t mention wishing to work on a specific topic. But accommodation in Oxford is quite expensive, so £14k/yr may leave finances quite tight.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18871",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13765/"
]
|
18,873 | <p>My methodology is online ethnography. This methodology has certain limitations such as identity play, falsification, and artificiality of data.
However, its proponents have suggested some strategies for coping with these limitations and my study is based on them.</p>
<p>I am confused because I think the limitations section is concerned with limitations of a study that were not solved or accounted for, and that are to be avoided in future research.</p>
<p>So, should I discuss these limitations, that have alternative approaches or proposed solutions, in the limitations section?
Thank you</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18875,
"author": "Shion",
"author_id": 1429,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1429",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>With the caveat that this is discipline specific, you could discuss your questions in several places in your article.</p>\n\n<p>First, you can begin to nod at this briefly in the methods section of your article. Every methodology has some drawback or limitation and my advisers always told me to acknowledge this in the beginning. For instance, while doing semi-structured interviews, I admitted that my sampling was convenience and snowball based and restricted to 30 participants. However, I followed this up by citing 2 papers which talk about appropriateness of sample size in grounded theory approaches and theoretical saturation and why this is not hamstringing my paper completely.</p>\n\n<p>Second, one of the ways of validating qualitative studies from a methodological perspective is to look at issues of credibility, transferability etc. One of their solutions is to do member checks (especially for interview based studies) In one of my current projects, I did do member checks and talk about this approach as mitigating some of my methodological drawbacks in the <strong>Discussion</strong> section of my article.</p>\n\n<p>Third, you can definitely talk about this in the limitations section of your paper. There is no panacea to solving a human-centered research problem (and indeed various nuanced facets of every research project, however thoroughly investigated they might be are almost always incomplete) In the limitations section of my papers, I put down both theoretical as well as methodological limitations of my work and discuss potential ways to approach them in future work or follow up studies. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34703,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While I do not directly address your question, the following might help you to find a point of view that allows you to structure your work. Also note that I am from an entirely different discipline.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am confused because I think the limitations section is concerned with limitations of a study that were not solved or accounted for, and that are to be avoided in future research.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>With exception to the rare case that you can fully reduce the effects of a limitation of your methodology to a neglible magnitude, it remains a limitation and thus further work can improve on this aspect.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, a limitation of a methodology that is neither addressed by countermeasures nor argument (i.e., you can argue that the limitation’s effects are limited) is not only a limitation but a flaw – with some exceptions such as if that limitation only became apparent in hindsight or your main work is to explore the methodology rather than just to apply it. Any claims resulting from a methodology that has errors of fully unknown magnitude are worthless.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, unless your advisor or some other relevant person has dogmatic views on how your thesis is to be structured, your structure should be determined by your content and not vice versa. In particular, it may be wise to address certain aspects only once and thouroughly – and not in multiple places and in parts. For example, you may consider titling a section along the lines of <em>Limitations and how to circumvent them.</em></p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18873",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13102/"
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|
18,874 | <p>When I graduated from college in 2012, I was quite excited about my job (although it is a small hi-tech company.) My goal has always been to either start my own business or get back to school for PhD. Ultimately, be able to live a life filled with research, and learning. </p>
<p>I have been working for almost two years now. And before going back to school, I really want to publish a paper and make myself a better PhD candidate. And ideally this would help me better discover my field, gain confidence, and maybe discover assistantship opportunities. </p>
<p>I think I've found a quite interesting topic for a paper that also leverages my work experience in transportation technologies. The paper is about accident prevention and I am targeting a public health professor. I contacted the professor and I was not able get any response back yet. (It has been 2 days.) I am not sure about the right strategy to follow to communicate such idea and gain her interest. I wrote an email with 3 paragraphs and 350 words. And briefly tried to explain the possible research context and my intention in starting a PhD. But maybe I was just supposed to ask for an appointment? It is a wise way to sent a follow-up email stating how valuable I think this paper would be? and ask for an appointment? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18876,
"author": "StacyKonkiel",
"author_id": 13715,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13715",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many professors take a while to respond to emails. I would give it at least a week before you follow up with her.</p>\n\n<p>When you do send a reminder, keep it brief and polite, and send it as a forward of your previous email, so she won't have to go searching for your other message. Reminding her of why you think the paper is valuable could be a good strategy--if you do it in a way that's not heavy-handed and that you think is <em>true</em> (i.e., it's actually of value to her career aside from another line on her CV).</p>\n\n<p>It's always nice to give her multiple options for responding--you might include a line to the effect of, \"If you'd prefer to chat about this over the phone, I'm happy to schedule a brief call at your convenience.\" Saves her time from having to compose a reply email.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18895,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question doesn't specify how well-adapted the proposed research is to the particular public-health professor you've contacted. I think this is a key issue. Let me explain:</p>\n\n<p>Most academics have broad training, <em>some</em> expertise across a wide range of areas, and then are true masters (in some cases, the top ones in the world) in a much smaller range of topics. I considered at this point giving examples from my own experience to indicate what sort of things which are \"up my alley\" that would get me to respond quickly rather than to be interested in principle but respond only much later or never, but this ran into the following issues: (i) the examples would be meaningful only to mathematicians with some experience in number theory, which I think the OP is not, (ii) unfortunately every time I came up with what I thought was a description of \"my alley\", I could then think of someone who sent me work or questions in that area to which my response was inadequate or even non-existent! But I think there is a lesson here: when you send a paper (or a question or an idea) to anyone, it is always a bit of a crapshoot: you may well get absolutely no response, and the reasons for this may have absolutely nothing to with you or your work. In fact history is filled with examples of much more famous mathematicians rejecting -- or worse, ignoring -- much more important work.</p>\n\n<p>The moral of the above paragraph is this: you should cast a wider net. If there is one faculty member that you feel is the perfect person to get involved with, then you may as well contact them first, and the job of your message ought to be to convey to them why they are a perfect match for the project at hand (and that the project at hand may be worthy of their time). Even so, your perfect match may not see it that way or may simply be too busy to give you the attention you deserve. (Again, apologies to all the people who sent me good work or asked me good questions over the years to which I did not respond. I definitely respond to some of the correspondence I receive; I do not always have time to respond to all of it; and I sometimes make what looks in retrospect to be bad choices about what to respond to. In particular, something promising that I don't have the time to think about at the moment tends to get put on the \"answer later\" shelf, but my algorithm for addressing correspondence does not have a step which ensures that the answer will actually come later.) It is okay to write twice to someone when you think it is important, and the repetition can be distressingly effective: as I wrote elsewhere on this site, unfortunately for some types of correspondence I implicitly assume that if I only hear about it once then it cannot be so important. This gets me in trouble from time to time, but not as often as it should.</p>\n\n<p>More likely though there will be several people who could help you with your idea. The classiest move is to contact each of them individually and explain why their expertise is well-tailored to your idea. The chance that you hear back from any one person increases dramatically this way. And then you can get started with the person who you hear back from. In some cases this may result in getting emails later on from people who were interested but didn't have time to reply. Those, as they say, are the breaks. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18874",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13770/"
]
|
18,877 | <p>A prior student of mine is applying for a prestigious certificate in her field. She is asked to list relevant accomplishments. I was asked by the student to sign a <em>verification form</em> since I am in a position to do just that: verify the accomplishments. Upon reading the accomplishments, I noticed a misspelled word. It's one of those words that is commonly misspelled, and I suspect this will limit her chances of being accepted.</p>
<p>Should I mention this to the student prior to signing my name? I am torn between wanting this student to succeed and having the student be self-reliant.</p>
<p>This student is only a "student" in that she was in a professional development course that I had a hand in teaching. She is actually a practicing K-12 teacher.</p>
<p>There was some discussion about the nature of the misspelling. The two words confused were <strong>colleague and college.</strong></p>
<p>I suppose the term <em>self-reliant</em> was a poor choice by me in my original question. My question is more accurately stated as <em>Should I point out the typos when the student was not directly asking for such feedback.</em> It is not my intention to teach the student a lesson, as my question seems to have come across.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18879,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would point out the error, especially if you have a reason to believe it will be taken into account in some nontrivial way.</p>\n\n<p>I don't really understand why doing this goes against the student's \"self-reliance\". I point out errors of this kind in papers that I am refereeing, for instance, and when people read my own papers or course notes or whatever, they sometimes point out my own typos including spelling errors.* I don't think that either I or these other adult academic professionals are failing to show self-reliance.</p>\n\n<p>*: I do all my writing on a version of LaTeX with disabled spell-checking, so I have to spell my words correctly \"the old-fashioned way\". Mistakes do sometimes creep in. I could be setting things up better, but anyway the New York Times occasionally has spelling mistakes. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18881,
"author": "Steve Jessop",
"author_id": 11440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11440",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that level of \"self-reliance\" is a false goal. How far are you going to take it? If you saw her drop her wallet in the street, would you leave it there so that she learns self-reliance? ;-)</p>\n\n<p>If the student handed you something riddled with errors, expecting you to proof-read it before signing, then maybe there would be a problem and maybe you could teach a lesson by saying, \"there are 12 spelling errors in this document, but because you should know better than to leave it to me to proof-read, I'm not going to tell you what they are\". Assuming you believe that cruelty can be a kindness.</p>\n\n<p>A simple error doesn't say to me, \"this person unreasonably battens on others\" or even \"this person should be left to succeed or fail alone\". The rest of the application is OK, right? Self-reliant people still make mistakes. So I don't think there's a question about her self-reliance, it's about her spelling. Having one's occasional mistakes pointed out doesn't harm self-reliance.</p>\n\n<p>Suppose you <em>could</em> teach her a lesson by leaving the error in (perhaps wait until she's rejected and then casually mention to her that in your view it could have been because of the error). Would you <em>really</em> prefer her to be a better speller without a certificate, rather than a worse speller with one? If not you're almost morally obliged to help her. You may draw conclusions about my politics, but I question absolute self-reliance anyway:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Any man's death diminishes me,\n <br>Because I am involved in mankind,\n <br>And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;\n <br>It tolls for thee.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18913,
"author": "India Ashley",
"author_id": 13795,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13795",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should point it out to her seeing as she is a former student - on another note I'd like to point out that in your query, you wrote 'I was asked by the student to sign a this verification form ' - errors can happens to anyone :) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37218,
"author": "Inquisitive",
"author_id": 27985,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27985",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A misspelled word doesn't jump off the paper and bite the offending student. Because of this, learning may not take place as easily as it would in touching a hot stove.</p>\n\n<p>The embarrassment caused to the student by your telling the student about the misspelled word and how it could very easily be counterproductive to the student's goal might qualify as a very good learning experience that could lend itself to teaching self reliance regardless of the age of the student.</p>\n\n<p>It's in the tact of your approach. For example, I've seen some people offering help on the math and physics sites in ways that really approach berating levels. They may be very smart, but they have no clue how to interact with other people. And when I say \"no clue\", I mean they literally have no idea how arrogant they are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 182757,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, by all means tactfully point out the spelling error. As you would do for any friend or colleague. Be helpful, especially when it requires so little of you, for avoidance of potentially large disadvantage to the other.</p>\n<p>Also, "being self-reliant" can easily become a bad goal... thinking that no one will help you? And feeling no responsibility to help others?</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18877",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10371/"
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|
18,888 | <p>I am currently writing my master's thesis, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will not be very good. This is partly because I have been unable to test the system I propose in the thesis properly, because testing it involves test cases that has to be manually performed, and I simply haven't got the time/resources/mental sanity to do more than a handful of them.</p>
<p>The problem is that having little testing could be viewed as a large, weak point in my thesis, and is easily attackable when I shall defend it.
My thesis is about detecting malware that requires human interaction (hence the testing difficulty), and by looking at some indicators I can determine what is malware and what is not. But my fear is that these results won't be very generalizable because of the small sample size. So my question is then: <strong>can a master thesis still be good if the presented results only cover a laughably small sample size?</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18889,
"author": "Paul",
"author_id": 931,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Good enough to publish your results: Most likely no. Unless low sample sizes are typical of the research papers in the same field trying to collect similar data, you can't expect lack of results to be publishable.</p>\n\n<p>Good enough to still pass with your masters degree: maybe... It's up to your committee to decide. You need to discuss this with your advisor and committee members ahead of time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18890,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>can a master thesis still be good if the presented results only cover a laughably small sample size?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It might be, if you can show a significant improvement over existing methods for said samples. If you can't do anything special with your \"labour intensive\" technique, it seems to have little merit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18891,
"author": "Sam",
"author_id": 13778,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13778",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My Masters project (synthetic chemistry) didn't actually generate results other than failure and black goop (so nothing novel!) until the last two weeks of time I had in the lab, and even then, there was insufficient purity and quantity of my compound to do a complete 'standard' panel of analysis. It was the 4th year of an integrated BSc/Msci course, was graded including a viva and I achieved a mid 2.1. </p>\n\n<p>The main purpose of a research Masters, at least in chemistry, is to accustom you to 'proper' research methods, while allowing you to pursue something novel and to demonstrate your ability to conduct research to a sufficient standard. In my cohort there was typically a tradeoff between novelty of project and quality of results, where one forgave the lack of the other.</p>\n\n<p>As long as your thesis is written with an awareness of its deficits (aims far loftier/broader than the time/resources available sounds like a good start!) and you write good further work and conclusion sections where you tie this awareness in, making sensible conclusions and observations on the few cases you have achieved, I think it is definitely possible to write a good one! As Paul indicated above, you should discuss these concerns with your supervisor and possibly head of class (or equivalent). I am sure they will have dealt with someone with your concerns and circumstances before.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18888",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,892 | <p>I am making a statement in my dissertation based on a comment written in the Linux kernel source code. I would like to be able to reference this comment. At least I would like to be able to name the file to which I'm referring.</p>
<p>Is this (citing files in large pieces of source code) recommended?</p>
<p>What is the best way to go about doing this?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18894,
"author": "Matthew G.",
"author_id": 1165,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1165",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not uncommon in certain areas of CS to cite specific files. In your specific case, I would suggest that you include the git commit hash of the kernel.org sources in the citation, so that people can find the <em>precise</em> version your referring to. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18907,
"author": "gman",
"author_id": 12454,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12454",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>According to the <a href=\"http://integrity.mit.edu/writing-code\" rel=\"nofollow\">MIT handbook</a> in relation to writing code you should use the following when citing code.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Generally, the URL and the date of retrieval are sufficient. Add more details if it will help the reader get a clearer understanding of the source.</li>\n<li>If you adapted the code, you should indicate “Adapted from:” or “Based on” so it is understood that you modified the code.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The page link above also includes the following in relation to open-source material</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When you use code from an open source project, you need both to attribute the source and follow the terms of any open source license that applies to the code you are using.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Finally, as always with citing, you should check with your Department to see if they have guidance or a citation style-sheet.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/03 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18892",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13779/"
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|
18,898 | <p>This is a continuation of my previous question, <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18819/how-to-deal-with-advisor-not-thinking-i-am-smart">I believe my advisor doesn't think I am smart. How should I deal with this?</a></p>
<p>It just so happens that when I asked my prof for feedback, he decided to just drop me. Obviously I had asked for feedback when I saw some signs recently which indicated that he wasn't very happy. </p>
<p>Now what do I do? </p>
<p>I really liked talking to this prof. I was enjoying the discussions. I thought things were well. But he seems to think that I get stuck with simple things! He probably also thinks that I am overambitious (in the few instances that I have tried discussing some other topics with him). </p>
<p>I wrote to my prof asking him to reconsider his decision and reflecting on what could be the issues of his disappointment and what I could do to improve. Obviously he didn't reply. </p>
<p>I met the grad coordinator.
He has schedule another between with all three of us.</p>
<p>I wonder whether I should be optimistic about that meeting! </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18901,
"author": "ff524",
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"text": "<p>It's possible that you really <em>aren't</em> capable of doing the work, and that your advisor thought about this for a long time and decided that the kindest thing to do would be to drop you now, before you waste more time. </p>\n\n<p>It's also possible that you weren't really applying your advisor's criticism - for example, you weren't taking him seriously when he told you not to get distracted by new ideas, but to focus on making progress on your original research. Your advisor felt that he was wasting his time because you weren't listening to his advice.</p>\n\n<p>You should really talk to this professor's other students, and find out how they experience him as an advisor. If the other students get along just fine with him, and only you have this problem, then it's possible he just can't work with you.</p>\n\n<p>However, in that case, he should really have spoken to you about the possibility of dropping you <strong>before</strong> he did it. (Not just making comments about your work, but explicitly telling you, \"I can't keep working with you if this continues; this is what you need to do to show me you are making enough progress to continue.\")</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In any event, I'm going to answer this question as if you <em>are</em> a capable student, and your advisor is just unwilling to let you learn and work at a reasonable pace. (Obviously, I don't know you, so I don't know if this is true.)</p>\n\n<p>In that case,</p>\n\n<p><strong>If your advisor isn't prepared to deal with a student who is capable, and clearly eager to learn and improve, then you should really reconsider <em>wanting</em> to work with him.</strong></p>\n\n<p>There is a professor like this in my department - brilliant, great to talk to, and there is a lot one can learn from him. But he is under a lot of pressure to produce results (he's new, like your advisor). He is constantly making \"threats\" to get his students to produce work (e.g., telling them their funding the next semester depends on whether their next conference paper is accepted - although he doesn't follow through on these threats). He isn't willing to let students grow and develop as researchers - he expects them to work up to his standards, immediately.</p>\n\n<p>This professor's students are leaving him in droves. They are either leaving school with an M.S. (instead of sticking it out for the PhD), or switching to another advisor. As a result, he's only published one paper in the last two years (which is far, far below standard in his field).</p>\n\n<p>So, you should think about whether you really want to work with this professor, and consider asking the grad coordinator for another advisor. If this advisor is not a capable advisor, you will not be successful with him, no matter how brilliant he is.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>If you decide you <em>really</em> want to work with this professor,</strong> do <em>not</em> approach this meeting as a student who is begging an advisor to keep them on.</p>\n\n<p>Rather, come as a student who is <em>willing</em> to stay with this advisor, but understands that <strong>both of you need to change for this to work.</strong> He will have to give you a reasonable chance to learn from, and apply, his constructive criticism. In return, you will agree to take his advice seriously, work hard, and do your best to improve and succeed.</p>\n\n<p>Talk about how highly you value this professor's experience, and how much you want to learn from him. Explain that you take his concerns (about getting stuck with simple things and getting distracted with new ideas) seriously, and want to work on fixing those things - but that growth takes some time.</p>\n\n<p>And of course, if you <em>are</em> able to work things out, and you continue with this advisor, make sure to talk to him often about what he expects from you, and how you are living up to his expectations. Work hard to apply his advice and improve your research skills, and <em>make him aware of these efforts</em> so that he doesn't think you are ignoring his advice.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18903,
"author": "John Robertson",
"author_id": 6319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6319",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do not under any circumstances in any sense <em>force</em> someone to be your advisor that doesn't want to be. Your advisor has incredible influence over your success not only while doing your work, but afterwords, as he or she would be the most obvious person letters of recommendation should come from. </p>\n\n<p>Some advisors are of the \"throw them in the pool and see if they swim in my field\" type, others are more of the \"this is a sort of apprenticeship where I will guide you into my field\" type, and there are many other possibilities. Choose one that doesn't want to get rid of you.</p>\n\n<p>The last thing you need is to have the person who has the most influence over both your academic life and great influence over your post academic life to have grudging feelings about the whole affair.</p>\n\n<p>I end with an old joke, but one that maybe sums up my recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>\"A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.\"</p>\n\n<p>I don't really believe in that as a principle for lawyers or for myself, but I do think that trying to make the opposition situation work, where antagonistic feelings have developed, is going to be disastrous.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18922,
"author": "Pete",
"author_id": 13802,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13802",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider how the rest of the grad students in your group are faring and this professor's history with past students. If there are recurring problems with students, then you don't want to work for this professor. If there are no such recurring problems, then he is probably correct about your aptitude for this work <em>at this time in your life</em>. You are going to need to take a step back an re-evaluate yourself and what you should be doing right now.</p>\n\n<p>Hearing from the comments that you are his first student, my inclination would be to drop him if I was less than 1/3 of the way through my research. Being a brilliant contributor to his field does not mean he is a brilliant advisor. In fact, he is the most inexperienced as advisors can come, having never graduated a student. He has no context in which to judge you other than what he remembers what his graduate student colleagues were like at a different school.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18898",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6683/"
]
|
18,900 | <p>I am interviewing at several research institutions in the U.S. for a tenure-track faculty position all around the same time. I booked a multi-city flight to avoid having to fly back to my current hometown between each interview because that would be lame. <strong>I plan on asking the institutions for guidance on how to get reimbursed, but figured I would ask here about what I should expect or what is commonly done for this situation.</strong> As an example, say for three interviews, ideally each institution would pay a third of the cost, but each institution has its own rules and they are not bound to do what other institutions would in any case.</p>
<p>So, how do U.S. research institutions typically reimburse a faculty candidate's airfare costs for multi-city trips?</p>
<p>Related: <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/7484/how-to-buy-plane-tickets-for-job-interviews">How to buy plane tickets for job interviews?</a></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19002,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When looking for a postdoc and visiting multiple labs, I was asked to split the reimbursement for travel costs between the institutions. The exact details of how to split were left to me.</p>\n\n<p>Most institutions expect to fund the entire trip for faculty candidates, so I don't foresee any problems with you asking them to pay less than what they expected.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19003,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I once visited an institution where they asked me to get an itemized receipt from the airline that broke down the fare by leg. (This information wasn't on my original ticket so I had to ask the ticket agent at the airport.) They then reimbursed me for only the legs going to and from their institution.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, when multiple institutions are involved, you will still have to split intermediate legs somehow.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18900",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192/"
]
|
18,908 | <p>The dominant narrative on how research "should be" done is to begin with a literature survey and then make your own contribution.</p>
<p>But I get the impression that it often happens the other way around - at least in fields such as CS where the cost of knocking some lines of code together is low (compared to, say, a 3 year medical testing programme). Creativity knows no rules.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The obvious risk of this approach is that the research is subsequently found to be old hat, or better versions of the same thing exist already, or it commits an error already widely known in the field.</p></li>
<li><p>The reward, on the other hand, is that such creation might never have happened if the requirement of surveying the literature first was always met. (Indeed some grad students have been known to quit before finishing the lit review their supervisor asked for - maybe they'd have done better if allowed to exercise their creative nature first?).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So I would conclude that it's an acceptable strategy when the individual is happy with that risk/reward balance (provided they already know enough about what they're doing to have some inspiration in the first place, that is).</p>
<p>Are there other arguments/perspectives I've missed here?</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong></p>
<p>There are a lot of very good answers here and there is no one right answer. I'm not quite sure how to handle that. In my experience this is the kind of thing that tends to lead to questions being closed as "not constructive" on SE sites. I'm glad nobody has done so yet because I think the full range of opinions expressed below is a very worthwhile thing to read through. Thanks all for your contributions.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18910,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "<p>I would argue that it only becomes \"research\" when reading up on existing literature is involved. Basically, if inspiration hits you and you just fire up your IDE to test it, you are not aware if what you are doing is in any way novel. That's not really the nature of research.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> (I should add that even if something is not novel in a scientific sense, it can still be extremely interesting and cool to do - however, it will likely never lead to a paper)</p>\n\n<p>That is not to say that a researcher is never allowed to just follow her/his inspiration. It has certainly happened to me more than a few times that I had a crazy idea and just ran with it. Oftentimes, the quickly led nowhere and I just forgot about it. Sometimes, initial results proved interesting and <strong>then I went ahead and did proper research before going further</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit 2:</strong> I have just noticed that I did not actually answer your question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Research before surveying the literature - is it ever a good idea?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, not really. If you are doing \"research\" (in the sense that you are hoping to publish it, and not doing it out of personal interest, or as a training exercise, etc.), the only senseful way is to start with a literature review. One needs to keep in mind that in most fields, most of the \"low-hanging fruits\" (i.e., obvious ideas) are long solved. So just going ahead and doing something in the hopes that it may be novel has a significant error rate.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18915,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with your conclusion that it is an acceptable strategy when the individual is happy with the risk/reward balance. My supervisor used to always encourage his students not to do a literature survey but instead work on a concrete problem. Some students liked this approach, others did not like it and left to somewhere else within few months and still did very well in their research. I personally was undecided.</p>\n\n<p>An obvious reward of this approach is that you may be able to publish something interesting within a year from the start of your PhD study. On the other hand you may end up with a negative result that can not be published and thus you may decide to change topic.</p>\n\n<p>Spending a year or so on a literature survey may seem like a waste of time, however it can really help in the process of building an overall understanding of the field and boost your confidence and ability to discuss with more experienced people.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18916,
"author": "vzn",
"author_id": 12098,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12098",
"pm_score": 2,
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"text": "<p>A few thoughts. This is clearly a delicate balancing act by the individual and also an area of convention passed down from teacher to student in different fields. One of the main roles of an advisor is to keep the student on track and make sure they are not going off in \"unproductive\" directions. \"Unproductive\" involves extremes. The young researcher may be spending a lot of time experimenting without looking at the literature, or too much time looking at literature and not experimenting.</p>\n\n<p>A young researcher who spends a lot of time on an idea and then the advisor quickly shoots it down as previously explored may find his/her balance is slightly off and need to \"recalibrate\". But also realize this is a common scenario that has happened to all fledgling scientists, and even senior ones. Research and experimentation are a feedback loop which of course go \"hand in hand\". One must be continually/flexibly \"jumping between both worlds\" at all stages of development.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, each scientific field probably has slightly different conventions. Some fields are more empirical than others. Some are \"younger\", and yes there is some case to be made that computer science is a younger field than others, which means that the balance may be different in this field. Also, there is some case to be made that empirical research in CS is underexplored at this moment in the larger scheme.</p>\n\n<p>However, computer science is a somewhat unique field in that, yes, the individual may be able to do scientific experiments without expensive laboratory equipment independent of his research laboratory, on \"his/her\" own time, and gain significant understanding/insight toward their research thesis.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18917,
"author": "Andy W",
"author_id": 3,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To a certain extent this creates a false dichotomy. My mind is always turning with new ideas, and I may jot them down on paper and give then a bit of thought before I go and see if it is old hat with prior literature. The bit of thought may be a few hours of deliberation, or some simple experimentation or writing a few pages of a paper. </p>\n\n<p>You need a general knowledge of the field to be able to understand how to make a contribution. You then have an idea, read on that specific prior literature, and this will often refine your idea. The more specific your idea becomes the easier it is to find prior literature and see if/how it is different. It is not a one before the other - they are constant and reciprocating. </p>\n\n<p>The consumption of the pertinent scientific literature though is forever and endless.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18918,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Knowing the state of the art is necessary, as well as having a clear definition of the problem that has to be solved.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise the student can:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>make old know mistakes, as you pointed</li>\n<li>solve old problems that have already been solved</li>\n<li>worse than that, solve problems nobody cares about and where the solution is completely useless (specially in middleware that will not be used by any top layer or lower layer).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In short, it can be a complete waste of an arbitrarily long time.</p>\n\n<p>Whether this is done by the supervisor pointing at a few selected papers or the students reading in a uninformed way trying to understand what they got into is a different matter. </p>\n\n<p>IMHO, the supervisor should guide the student in the first years. A few minutes to make a reading list can save months of reading not-so-interesting things, being lost in the broadness and vagueness of a not properly defined state of the art/problem/area, and a lot of frustration and misunderstanding.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18920,
"author": "Ri49",
"author_id": 12609,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12609",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't entirely agree with the answer \"No\". This may be because my field is mathematics, though. Sure, not looking at literature beforehand means you are at risk of re-doing something that was already known and it's never nice to discover after spending lots of time working on something that it was already out there. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, when you come across what seems to be a good question, I don't think it's such a bad idea to start by asking yourself \"Can I answer this myself?\" and not rush immediately to see what other people have already done in relation to this question. I see a possibility of positive outcome to not being aware of previous results for a significant time (of course not to the point of being on the verge of publishing and discovering the day before submission a very similar paper...).</p>\n\n<p>As ff524 pointed out in a comment, \"if you are a researcher, [...] you already have some idea what's been done before\". If you find an interesting question and don't know about an answer, it may be because it does not exist, but it may also happen that it does and has been overlooked before. Maybe it came out at a time when it didn't meet the interests of the community, or it came from another community, or the communication on the result was not so good, or <em>it didn't look interesting because the strategy was inappropriate</em>. If you find this result early on, you will likely drop the question, not advertise it and the result (although of interest to the community) will remain unknown. If you start searching the answer without knowing about the previous result, it's likely that you will not follow the exact same path and that can be good.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Maybe your way is more \"natural\" and makes the result fit nicely in a developing theory that didn't include it before. It's not such a bad idea to provide a new way of looking at something, even if the result <em>per se</em> is not new.</li>\n<li>Maybe your way is more fruitful, in the sense that during your quest for the answer to the original question you will come up with new interesting questions which did not stem clearly from the way the result was previously established. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>It's still risky, but in research you constantly invest your time in stuff you don't know the outcome of.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18921,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While doing my Master's thesis my advisor said that (up to the wording):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It is better to spend the same time solving a problem than searching for its solution.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You learn more (compare: solving a problem in class vs googling for its solution) and more fun.</p>\n\n<p>However, the question is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>What is the time overhead (i.e. how much longer does it take to solve it)?</li>\n<li>Do you get the big picture?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If solving takes too much time, you may end up learning a lot but not doing new research. Also, without feedback (literature review or <em>even better</em> asking experts if the problem is novel and worth pursuing) you may end up with:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>solving already solved problems (perhaps with much more general methods) </li>\n<li>or solving problems no one cares about.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In any case, any sensible research strategy involves both. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18924,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Research before surveying the literature - is it ever a good idea?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If I reword that as:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Independent problem-solving before surveying the literature - is it ever a good idea?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Yes</strong>. I think in most cases it is a good idea to make an \"initial effort\" (the definition of \"initial effort\" depends on the scenario) to independently solve a problem before checking the literature. If you have not sat down and thought about the problem yourself, then:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>you may not readily understand the solutions (if any) proposed in the literature unless you've worked through them yourself</p></li>\n<li><p>you may not know the extent to which solutions are appropriate if you have not tried to apply your own ideas or thought of alternatives</p></li>\n<li><p>you may not know what to search for ... the core problem may not be as it initially seems but may reduce to something more well-known</p></li>\n<li><p>your own ideas on the problem may be influenced into the narrower-scope of what has already done (it might stifle creative problem-solving in the broader sense)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of course, it is important to avoid working on a problem for months without referring to the literature at any point. </p>\n\n<p><strong>But certainly for a student, I would encourage them to think about and frame solutions for a problem strictly before they do a literature survey!</strong> Once they show understanding of the problem and of some approaches then I think they're ready to read papers ... doing it in this order, they're much better equipped to recognise relevant papers and interesting approaches when they see them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18968,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<ul>\n<li><p>One point I don't see so far is that a quick experiment (in lab or in silico) can result in showing that the idea wasn't that great after all. And in that case, it is rather unlikely that literature says anything about it at all. </p></li>\n<li><p>Another point (rather in line with @Andy W and @badroit's answers) is that spending some effort of your own on the problem may be needed in order to find the relevant literature.<br>\n(I've had problems that I eventually solved myself, and where only the solution I obtained allowed me afterwards to find some relevant literature in a different field - simply because only the solution yielded successful search keywords)</p></li>\n<li><p>Of course, students solving old and known problems is often called \"education\" and considered necessary, not a waste of time...</p></li>\n<li><p>Last but not least, a few hours in the library often still make months in the lab necessary... </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40819,
"author": "Simon",
"author_id": 29446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29446",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had a discussion like this with a seasoned professor. I think the best and also simplest thing to do when tackling a new problem is to first figure out multiple ways you think you could solve it WITHOUT doing a literature review. That shouldn't take too long, and doesn't involve actually doing any research, just some thinking and maybe some basic reading (but not a literature review). Then, review the literature, at which point you'll see if your ideas have been tried before and \\ or have merit, based on your improved understanding.</p>\n\n<p>What happens a lot in science is that people acquire a lot of knowledge in a field, and then often creativity is stifled, as every solution to a problem is seen in the light of the existing knowledge. It's hard to think originally about a problem when you've seen lots of other attempts to solve it. I call this the 'burden of knowledge'. So I would encourage contemplating a problem yourself before seeing what other people have done. This may lead to an original line of inquiry. But preferably before you spend a lot of time doing real research, do a thorough literature review. You'll also find that contemplating how to solve the problem yourself will help you understand the efforts of others better.</p>\n\n<p>One more thing. In the field of mathematics at least, it has been commonly noted in history that some of the greatest mathematicians solved some big problems in their youth, before realizing that others had already solved that problem. I specifically recall reading this about Alan Turing, but he wasn't alone in this. Sometimes this may lead to alternate proofs that are more elegant or reveal other mathematics. For instance, Andrew Wiles solved Fermat's last theorem using tools that didn't exist in Fermat's day. So assuming Fermat did in fact solve his famous last theorem, then there is likely a much simpler solution which may reveal new mathematics. So sometimes solving an existing problem in a new way can be very valuable in its own light. That may be true even if your solution is not more elegant or more effective, if it's shows new lines of inquiry.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18908",
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|
18,911 | <p>I have seen question on here regarding a citation error in a paper here:
<a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12195/finding-a-mistake-in-a-published-paper">What should I do if I found a citation error in a published paper?</a>, but the nature of this problem is very different.</p>
<p>Basically, I came across an error in a paper (call this error 2).</p>
<p>I have previously contacted the author before regarding a different problem (call this error 1, say) in this paper, and I got no response. (That was what I still believe to be an unproven proposition, and is actually also related to this problem.) </p>
<p>The reason I decided to ask here this time is the following: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>I am highly confident about error 2.</p></li>
<li><p>Its correctness has a direct impact on my current research.</p></li>
<li><p>The mistake cannot be easily fixed. (At least it appears to me, for the time being). I have spent months on a related problem before revisiting this paper and realised that I have tried this same technique in problem, which did not work in my problem, which led me to check why it worked in his paper - and it turned out, it did not.</p></li>
<li><p>The result was probably the first/the only result of its kind in the literature and the paper is fairly important with 150+ citations.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What should I do here? I have previously contacted the author and I have no reason to believe he would respond this time. I want it to be correct/easily patched because of reason 2. This paper was published in 1997 so it has been a while....</p>
<p>EDIT: Precisely for reason 2, I would much prefer some way of getting the author to respond. </p>
<p>EDIT: I had a discussion with my supervisor. He immediately agreed with me it was a mistake. The thing is when we tried to use a similar technique for a different problem, we fell down the same trap about 10 times. At the moment, we have no fix and the mistake is serious enough that it takes away a lot of credit from the paper.</p>
| [
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Ask someone else</em> - your age listed in your profile suggests that you're a grad student. Have you talked to your supervisor about this? Even better, do you know someone in your own department that has collaborated with the paper's author?</p>\n\n<p>Put yourself in the author's shoes. He's probably bombarded with emails all the time from grad students he's never heard of, so unless you've collaborated before then he may not even read your email. An email from your supervisor or one of the author's collaborators is much more likely to get serious attention.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18926,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with Moriarty entirely. The first step is to get independent confirmation that there is an error.</p>\n\n<p>The second is to judge its severity and how it impacts on the conclusions of the paper.</p>\n\n<p>The third is to contact the authors directly and perhaps ask them to list or fix the errata on their homepage and on any pre-prints.</p>\n\n<p>Mainly my answer is to introduce the fourth option. Many journals allow for publishing reviews, comments or corrections on papers that have already been published. <a href=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5551138\">Here's an example of this in a reputable computer science journal (TKDE).</a> Particularly if the paper is highly cited and the error underlines grave concerns about its contributions, this option is recommendable.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal does not allow corrections, you may consider writing your own independent \"correction\" paper instead (as others have suggested), but this way, you may be expected to present new results, not just pointing out errors.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>But again, like Moriarty, I would highly recommend that you get the advice of a more experienced researcher, in particular before engaging in the fourth or fifth option.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18927,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would do the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Write up a rigorous white paper demonstrating the issue.</strong> This should be your first step, as putting the idea to paper will help you think of aspects you may not have thought of yet. If you can successfully convince <em>yourself</em> in a written paper that this issue is valid, then...</li>\n<li><p><strong>Present the white paper to your advisor.</strong> This has numerous benefits:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your advisor will critique your writing, which is always a good thing; you will become a better scientific writer.</li>\n<li>Your advisor can provide specific feedback on specific aspects of your argument by simply referencing what you wrote and providing counterexamples. This will make the process of convincing him that there is a problem much easier.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you can sucessfully convince your <em>advisor</em> that the problem exists, then it's time for..</p></li>\n<li><strong>Work with your advisor to reach out to the author.</strong> Working with your advisor will significantly increase your chances of success. You may also be able to progress to</li>\n<li><strong>Write up your findings in a letter or article of your own,</strong> depending on the nature of the issue.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Do note that you state that this paper has been reviewed and cited many times. While it is possible that you have found something everyone else has missed, your ideas will need to be iron-clad before anyone will even listen to you. I would spend the most time right now making sure you haven't made a mistake before reaching out to the author.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18935,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The main answer to your question is easy: <strong>talk to your advisor</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>I find it a little curious that you have not done this already. As a graduate student, you read a very famous paper (in mathematics, more than 150 citations is a <em>very</em> large number) that was written a while ago, and at the first sign of trouble you contacted the author of the paper. That is already a little strange: although both are possible, the probability that you, a relatively young graduate student, have misunderstood something in the paper (or are applying standards that are different from those of the field you will be working in, or some other similar issue related to the fact that you probably do not yet have expert level knowledge and experience in this field) is higher than that the author has made a serious mistake. Writing to someone that you don't know at all and who is much more senior than yourself and pointing out a mistake is not without risk: the risk is that you will be wrong and they will dismiss you in the future as a less than serious person. </p>\n\n<p>Your advisor is there exactly for such things: she is the person who is helping you transition from a neophyte to a journeyman to an expert, and she needs to see your mistakes and flawed reasoning in order to do this properly. Some outside expert really does not: they can wait to see the finished product that you become. Moreover, you are presumably reading the paper because your advisor wants you to, perhaps even because she directly told you to read it. Therefore a mistake in the paper is your advisor's problem as well as yours. Why are you holding that information back from her? You shouldn't.</p>\n\n<p>Having said that, I feel like the OP is getting a fair amount of advice that would be more appropriate in other fields than mathematics. Especially:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In mathematics it is very difficult to write a paper whose sole or even primary purpose is to point out a mistake (even if it includes a correction) in someone else's work.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a cultural reality of the field; it is certainly not entirely positive. In many other academic fields, one can \"score points\" by pointing out others' mistakes, and in some fields this is one of the best ways to score points. Mathematics is not like this: if you can get such a paper published it will \"take points away\" from the author and give you a certain amount of notoriety, but if this is for instance your first published paper then many people will look at you strangely, almost as if they expect you to make further trouble. (Again, I'm not endorsing this cultural practice; I'm just describing it.)</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, I would say that contacting the editor of the journal in question is maybe step 10 of a procedure that is mostly designed to terminate after one of the first 9 steps. You should do this only after you have exhausted every other possible avenue. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In mathematics -- very much unlike in some other fields -- it is prohibitively unlikely that an editor will publish any \"commentary/correction/erratum\" by you unless she believes that you are mathematically correct in the point you're making, and convincing someone with standing in the field like a journal editor that you are mathematically correct is largely what you're trying to do anyway. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Finally, while I barely know what a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper\">white paper</a> is and to the extent that I do I'm not sure it's the appropriate terminology here -- in content I do agree with @eykanal's suggestion: it will certainly help your advisor if along with communicating the surprising news that Famous Paper X is wrong, you can supply a written version of your arguments. This can be hard to do: explaining why a difficult argument is subtly wrong is one of the sternest expository challenges in mathematics that I can think of. It takes a lot to go from \"I don't understand the argument and find it rather unclear\" to \"I am convinced that it is wrong.\" By the way, in writing to an author it is a good strategy to err on the side of the former quotation. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18941,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer may be field-dependent, but in theoretical physics it is: <strong>write your paper</strong>. If the error is non-trivial, showing why something not works (or an counterexample) may be valuable. The same thing if the error is relatively simple, but most people are not aware of it.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes a critical flaw in one paper gives raise to a new field - see <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0205076\" rel=\"nofollow\">How the No-Cloning Theorem Got its Name\nby Asher Peres</a> (or for a longer story, <a href=\"http://www.hippiessavedphysics.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">How the Hippies Saved Physics by David Kaiser</a>).</p>\n\n<p>An <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00729622\" rel=\"nofollow\">erroneous paper</a> (with an error being non-trivial at this time) resulted in the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-cloning_theorem\" rel=\"nofollow\">non-cloning theorem</a>, and later - quantum cryptography, quantum information etc. The error (assumption that a machine could copy any quantum state) could be addressed by a few lines of an elementary proof there no such machine could exist.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18957,
"author": "Neil Strickland",
"author_id": 12638,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12638",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you can give all the relevant details in a reasonably concise way, then it may be appropriate to ask a question on mathoverflow.net. I would strongly recommend that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You prepare your question very carefully, and review and revise it several times before posting to ensure that it is as clear and complete as possible and correct in all details.</li>\n<li>You phrase your question as \"I do not see how this can be correct, please explain what I am missing\" (even if you feel very sure that you are not missing anything).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If your problem is in an area that is well covered by mathoverflow, then this should be effective. Either someone will explain what you are missing, or the relevant experts will become aware that you have uncovered a genuine problem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18995,
"author": "PatrickT",
"author_id": 11424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11424",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me share my personal experience in a vaguely similar situation: Back in 2007 and within a couple of months of publication I spotted a huge mistake in a paper published in a journal that used to be A class but is more like B class these days. I wrote a proof of the error, showed how to correct it, and sent it to the journal. It took over one year of back and forth between the editor and I to get him to admit he had published a profoundly incorrect paper and to publish my \"Comment\": but I'll say that I probably got lucky that he admitted his error, got lucky that he cared to correct it, got lucky that he read my correspondence, etc.. If my experience is any indication, it will be very difficult to get across to the editor(s). At some point, about 6 months into the exchange, when it was clear that the editor was assuming I was in the wrong (he never read the math bits), I wrote to another editor and asked him if he thought I could damage my reputation by insisting so much, and he told me not to worry and go ahead on the quest for truth (but there was nothing he could do to help). The bottom line is you will hurt several people's pride and could make some enemies. I personally couldn't care less, but I'm atypical. And if you looked at my career, you'd probably think twice about upsetting the editors of an influential journal. Whatever you do, all the best!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19028,
"author": "Chris Leary",
"author_id": 11905,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11905",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My advice is pretty much the same as everyone else's: talk to your advisor, go over the suspected problem point with him; if there is no resolution, reach out to others in the department (your advisor should do this).</p>\n\n<p>Having said this, I'd like to relate a few incidents from my own experience. As a graduate student, I independently discovered a result in number theory that did not appear in the literature. I was unaware of the significance of the result, but it came up in discussion with my advisor. He informed me that Professor X had found this result, but had never published it, and that I should not publish it, thereby \"scooping\" the (world-famous) expert.</p>\n\n<p>While working with my second advisor, in a different area, I read a paper by a major player in that area who had developed a widely used technique. I mantioned to my advisor that there was a point in the proof of that technique that I didn't understand and he told me that no one understood the proof, but all assumed it worked.</p>\n\n<p>Many years later, I now work in a different area. But while I was getting started in it I ran across a theorem in a book by a well-known expert in the field. What it said contradicted other things I had read. Not fully trusting myself, I reached out to the author who acknowledged that what he had written was not correct. He was very grateful for the correction and saved it against the advent of a second edition of his book.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, I wrote a paper which contained an error, an error I should not have made because I was familiar with a counterexample to the statement I made. No referee caught the mistake, and only one person ever wrote to me about it, and I am very grateful to that person. Everyone reacts to these things differently, but I did not take offense at the correction. Granted this situation is a bit different than yours, because the correction came from a well-known source, and not from a graduate student. I would like to think I would have been equally accepting if the correction came from a student. I was embarrassed to be corrected by an expert, whereas I might have been peeved to be corrected by a student. However, were it you who wrote to me, you would never have known my reaction. I would have thanked you for pointing out the error, and perhaps have apologized for making it. But that's just me, and I'm far from well-known in the field. So, I have no idea of what my more famous colleagues have to deal with on a daily basis. The paper in question has never been corrected to my knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>As I said, everyone reacts differently in these cases. Work with your advisor. The most important thing for you is to determine if there is indeed an error in the paper, and, if not, to understand why the paper is correct so that you can move forward with a correct grasp of what the paper established. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18911",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10156/"
]
|
18,933 | <p>I'm in the process of writing figure legends but realized I don't actually know what to include or what to exclude. I wrote them based on intuition and tried to copy what I've already seen but I was wondering if anyone had good suggestions or references for making figure legends for papers and reports in the biological sciences.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19001,
"author": "Ana",
"author_id": 322,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/322",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, the figure should contain a title which concisely captures what it's showing: 'Effect of manipulation A on measure B', or 'Level of A influences property of B', or 'B vanishes when A is larger than X', or some such. </p>\n\n<p>After that you would go on describe what the figure shows, as precisely as possible - go panel by panel and say what's on the axes (and in which units), what denotes statistical significance in the image (e.g. gray shaded areas), what the colors mean, that sort of thing. You can also write what the main statistical finding is, using just words (i.e. no p-values or similar).</p>\n\n<p>Those are the basics. However, take into account that some journals allow unsubscribed readers to see the title, abstract and figures of their papers. If this is the case, try to imagine what it's like to be able to read just the abstract and see the figure with legends, and build from there. See if an experienced reader can infer what your specific contribution is from this information only (in fact, many people will anyway just skim over the figures before deciding whether to read the paper). This often means that the figure legend should also include a mini-recap of the experimental setup or specific manipulations next to the finding it depicts, but the exact contents will vary depending on what you're showing. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62101,
"author": "hugke729",
"author_id": 47973,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47973",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The chosen answer suggests going through panel by panel and stating what's on each axis and its units or what the colors mean. You shouldn't need to do this: axes labels tell you what is on the axes and that's where the units should go (not in the caption). As for what the colors mean, that's ideally the purpose of a legend. </p>\n\n<p>I have a <a href=\"https://brushingupscience.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/your-figure-caption-need-not-be-half-a-page/\" rel=\"nofollow\">post about this</a> that goes into more detail about avoiding long-winded, procedural, and uninteresting figure captions.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18933",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11877/"
]
|
18,938 | <p>A prospective graduate student is coming to visit a program and does not have a place to stay. As is sometimes the case, the program is not funding a hotel for the student and it seems likely that it would be an economic hardship for the student to host themselves. Let's say that the student is accepted to the program so this is more in the context of trying to impress the student and get her to join the program (although I'd be interested to hear if a similar situation with a non-accepted student would be different).</p>
<p>Is it appropriate for a faculty member to try to arrange for a host stay with a current student in the department?</p>
<p>Would it be appropriate for a faculty member interested in working with the student to offer to host the student in a guest room in their home?</p>
<p>Are there other or better options?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18939,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Always follow your school policy on the matter, if there is one.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it appropriate for a faculty member to try to arrange for a host stay with a current student in the department?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's appropriate for a faculty member to ask current students if they can help, then tell the visitor, \"Here is the email address of a current student in the department who can help you arrange a host stay, if you're interested.\" </p>\n\n<p>Then let the visitor make contact with the student. Don't be pushy.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Would it be appropriate for a faculty member interested in working with the student to offer to host the student in a guest room in their home?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I vote \"no\" unless there's really no alternative - especially if the faculty member makes the offer directly to the visitor.</p>\n\n<p>I have seen something similar (students living in the guest room of a researcher in industry who they are working with for the summer). Those students apparently were OK with it.</p>\n\n<p>However, I have been <em>offered</em> this (visiting a professor in another country for the summer, he offers me a guest room in his home). I did not want to live in this professor's home, and it was mildly uncomfortable and awkward to turn down the offer. There is a power imbalance here that can be a problem.</p>\n\n<p>If you decide to offer a guest room in a faculty member's home, definitely do it through a third party (e.g., have a student contact the visitor and say \"Here are some possible hosts, including a guest room in this professor's home\"). This way the visitor can turn it down without having to worry about offending the faculty member.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are there other or better options?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If your school has a dorm with spare rooms (or if a nearby school has a dorm), this is a good option.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18951,
"author": "Nick Stauner",
"author_id": 10518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yeah, I'm afraid that's been the case at my alma mater more often lately due to budgetary issues...Kind of a pity we can't even afford to host prospective, accepted recruits when they come from out of state/country.</p>\n\n<p>What I've seen done is for the department staff to coordinate with the department's student representatives in organizing the whole recruitment visitation event, which has included making hosting arrangements for visiting recruits. Usually it has involved sending emails around to current grad students asking if anyone can host a recruit. Responses and outcomes have been pretty good from what I've seen. I think that's something of a small miracle, considering most grad students live rather modestly. I don't think I was ever in a position to host anyone, but it seems enough other students have managed to make it work that the department can get away with not supporting visitors' lodging needs financially.</p>\n\n<p>I'd expect faculty to have somewhat better accommodations available, judging from the few whose houses I've visited – much more spacious than any grad student's I've ever known. I'd also expect faculty to have a more vested interest in cajoling good recruits into enrolling, and also more interest in getting to know these students ahead of time. Faculty might have longer histories in the area as well, and therefore make better hosts and offer better introductions to the city outside the university. Some faculty are very busy, but some are tenured (insert joke about sea cucumbers here, but the implication that tenured professors aren't busy isn't to be taken too seriously), and no grad student has this luxury – they're all busy, or at least should be. For these reasons, I'm inclined to argue that faculty would actually make better hosts than grad students overall, if they could just be convinced to take that extra responsibility.</p>\n\n<p>However, I'm not sure a faculty member should host his/her own recruit. Personalities can clash in unpredictable ways when people share their personal spaces with one another, and a long-term advisor-student relationship is not one with which to take such risks lightly. People sometimes depend on a sort of professional distance in relationships with authority differences (i.e., superior-subordinate relationships, to whatever extent that fits the advisor-student scenario), and learn to regret lowering their personal boundaries through particularly bad experiences. These are easier to put behind oneself if one doesn't have to work with the other person continuously over several years thereafter.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, one wouldn't want to create an implicit expectation in a department that faculty should host their own recruits. Many people choose not to live in tidy, spacious, or peaceful places that a visitor of unknown sensitivities might need just to be able to relax and sleep. This is why it's important to request volunteers for informal hosting if it can't be done through a professional hosting service such as a hotel (or even a hostel). Some people are reluctant to host others for very good reasons, and shouldn't suffer others' judgment for failing to fulfill their expectations when they would be unreasonable. It's all too easy to produce a culture of implicit obligation inadvertently like this, so this justifies preventative precautions.</p>\n\n<p>@ff524's points are well-made on this matter too, and the dorm suggestion isn't a bad idea either, but from a recruit's perspective, I would prefer to be offered a room in a grad student's house / apartment / foxhole. Dorms tend to be dominated by undergrad culture, which at some universities won't make the best impression on recruits. There's enrollment-incentivizing value in being welcomed into a tight-knit, professional environment that gives a realistic impression of what life is like for other grad students, who presumably don't live in dorms (unless they're RAs). Staying with other grad students is a chance to talk about the university or the city over breakfast or dinner, whereas undergrads might make somewhat less useful company.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure whether I'm giving undergrads too much credit or too little in saying no more or less than this...Some dorms and undergrads could make very nice environments I'm sure, but others could be downright awful. It seems to me that there's much more risk involved in the dorm proposition than in having other grad students host recruits.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/04 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18938",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962/"
]
|
18,942 | <p>I'm 2 years out of undergrad and thinking about applying to some math graduate schools, specifically operations research and maybe financial engineering. I was a math major, with middling grades, and now I work in IT. </p>
<p>My question is this: it seems that even for not top-tier schools, a high GPA is crucial, as are great letters of recommendation, wonderful GRE scores etc. Why? If I'm willing to shell out 50k for grad school, and I've met the prerequisites, and I show an interest in the subject, why wouldn't a school want to have me? Is it purely so that they can claim they have a low acceptance rate?</p>
<p>In other words, if a grad school (again, not top 10 let's say) has a surplus of people who want to take that program, in a field like math, why not just hire as many professors as it would take to teach them? </p>
<p>I guess I don't get all this pressure to be perfect. </p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>EDIT: I am referring to masters programs in particular, where stipends are not as common.</p>
<p>EDIT: Ok, Pete and Paul's answers make sense, given the current set up of grad school. I can imagine a different set up, however, that would make it less competitive for students, more profitable for professors and more about learning than prestige. </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18944,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should not pay tuition to attend grad school, excepting possibly certain \"professional\" schools like medicine, business, law.</p>\n\n<p>That is, grad programs admit a number of students for which they have funding, and have faculty/mentoring support.</p>\n\n<p>Programs do not get tuition money back directly (as counter-intuitive as this might seem), but have to calibrate grad admissions to match the faculty they have ... the numbers of which are determined by essentially unrelated issues. But, approximately, programs will not admit you if they are not confident that you can succeed in their program. So you should not begrugde that judgement. And, srsly, such judgements are made with much experience.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, there is the issue of prediction of success, which is an element that did not enter in undergrad studies. That is, programs do not \"admit everyone\" and then allow people to fail. Nor is it just a matter of \"trying hard\". Beyond a certain point, there is an issue of natural ability. It is true that this is highly non-trivial to understand/detect/encourage. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, there is a considerable amount of disingenuousness in how we describe graduate programs...</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps reaction-comments from the OP could help refine useful answers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18945,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some points:</p>\n\n<p>1) The line that jumped out at me and probably most other mathematicians reading your message was \"If I'm willing to shell out 50k for grad school\". Stop right there. Most people who go to math graduate school get paid stipends; almost no one pays the full tuition themselves. It is a little unclear why you are so willing to do this: it certainly does not seem like a wise career move.</p>\n\n<p>2) Graduate programs have limited resources. If they admitted more PhD students then it might in the long run lead to more faculty, but this is an indirect and uncertain process. Moreover every graduate student is a huge outlay of time and effort on the part of the faculty, and while programs are not being ranked according to their acceptance rates (I don't know that these statistics are even reported), they are certainly being ranked according to their <em>completion rates</em>. Math graduate school is a challenging proposition, and a lot of people who enroll realize it is not for them. </p>\n\n<p>3) The requirements for getting into a decent math graduate program are not \"perfection\". (In fact, a \"perfect\" academic record may in practice mean that the student did not suitably challenge herself.) They are looking for an academic record that gives them confidence that the student will actually succeed in the program. If you admit a student who is merely interested and willing to pay but turns out not to have the skills and the drive to complete the program, everyone's time has been wasted, and lots of the student's money has been wasted. This is not a desirable outcome.</p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: Yes, the above remarks apply primarily to PhD programs. (In fact I didn't understand the meaning of MFE, and I thought that OR stood for \"Oregon\" rather than -- my next guess -- \"Operations Research\". It's best to err on the side of spelling out abbreviations on a site like this.) Master's programs generally do have lower entry requirements compared to PhD programs at the same institution, and yes, paying your own way is somewhat more common, although I would still not recommend it to any but the wealthiest students. There are in fact some good master's programs in mathematics that one could get into by making clear in advance that no financial support was being requested. </p>\n\n<p>To say more than this really depends on the department. Some places have extra resources for master's programs, but many do not: the master's program takes place alongside the more populous PhD program and is administrated and taught by the same faculty members with limited time and energy that they are trying to apply in the best possible way. Master's students who are not strong enough to receive funding may in fact be the ones who require significant extra effort to get them to finish the program. They may also require faculty to meet and discuss tough questions like whether or not they should be allowed to continue in the program. Speaking from my own experience: a few years ago I was largely open to the idea that anyone who has the appropriate undergraduate degree and coursework and is willing to pay their own way should be given a shot in our master's program. I do not feel that way any longer.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18942",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13820/"
]
|
18,950 | <p>I have recently received an offer from a group which pursues topics I find very motivating and whose equipment is above average for my field.</p>
<p>The salary offered is 50% of the German TV-L E13 salary, which I think is acceptable by academic standards. However, all other offers which I have received are 65% of TV-L E13, though all of these other groups pursue topics which to me are slightly less interesting. To give you a bit of background, 50% has been the standard for a long time, but since a couple of years ago most groups in my field are deciding to award their PhD employees 65%.</p>
<p>I am very motivated by my particular interests, and had the salary been equal for all offers I would have taken this one without question. Sadly, the situation being as it is, I am quite split. Additionally, the professor made it quite clear that I would also have to get involved in teaching (not all other groups were as forward about this) - which I do not mind in the slightest, but which I think would give cause for extra consideration when calculating a salary. Regarding the professor's interest, he seemed very keen to have me on board, but also very confident I would take his offer. </p>
<p>I would like to ask whether he could accommodate for 65%. But, since I am yet to decide, I would not like to lose the offer or put great strain on our future relationship if he refused. </p>
<p>The way I see it, academic culture treats monetary interest with a certain disdain, and I would like to ask you how I could best formulate my request.</p>
<p><strong>FEEDBACK: I have followed the advice offered here, and stated in an email to my prospective PI that I had received better paid offers, and that I would ask him if he could increase the pay, though I am aware of how difficult this could be for him. He took some time to reply (which initially gave me cause to worry), but apparently now he managed to arrange for 65%. I would encourage any of you to follow the advice presented here; and <em>do</em> try to negotiate as long as you do it <em>very</em> respectfully!</strong></p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18952,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
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"selected": true,
"text": "<p>One of the mods here is a professor in a german university, I think he is able to add a better answer or at least confirm or discard mine.</p>\n\n<p>Some considerations:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>As far as I know, many german PhD students, at least in CS, are actually employed full-time, which I assume means 100% TVL-E. In that sense, both 50% and 65% seem somewhat on the low side to me. At the very least, negotiating for 65% does not seem so unreasonable that it should offend anybody.</li>\n<li>However, don't be too disappointed if your negotiations go nowhere. I have heard from multiple people that academic salaries are oftentimes entirely unnegotiable in Germany (though not always)</li>\n<li>German PhD student salaries are internationally quite on the high side (also if you take costs of living into account), so even if you cannot negotiate, 50% might still be ok compared internationally. That being said, the question is always if the salary is enough for <strong>your standard of living / circumstances</strong>. If you have a partner and two kids, maybe 50% simply does not allow you to live. If you are alone and live in a dorm, maybe 50% is plenty.</li>\n<li>In germany, some amount of teaching is usually part of the job. That the one professor told you this before is a good thing. However, there is teaching and there is teaching. I have certainly seen groups where teaching load could add up to about 75% of a PhD student's work time. This is obviously terrible (independent of money issues). The hard part is figuring out whether this is the case in your specific group. The best way is to ask one of the current PhD students.</li>\n<li>Don't be too afraid that you may annoy your future professor. In my experience, the entire \"academics frown upon money issues\" is a bit of a show. The same professors who says such things at the same time have no quarrels at all negotiating their own contracts or department budgets. If your future professors gets annoyed by you mentioning that you have a number of better offers, you should likely go somewhere else anyway.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Now, for the actual negotiation, I would follow <strong>moriary's</strong> remark from the comment - simply mention (friendly and non-threatingly) that you are torn on accepting the offer, as you have counter-offers at 65%. As said, nobody should get annoyed by that. We are all adults, right?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18960,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two fundamentally opposing issues here. One is that</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>You will not get a higher salary unless you negotiate.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>while at the same time</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The only way to avoid the messiness of failed negotiations is not to negotiate.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You have to be prepared for the possibility that negotiations will not go the way that you want. So, really, the question is if the extra pay is so important to you that you are willing to walk away from the position if things don't work out the way you want.</p>\n\n<p>Funding for research groups in Germany can resemble a zero-sum game: faculty members get a fixed budget from the university, as well as a mostly set budget from funding agencies: they get a certain allotment of positions to fill, and get paid based on the salary needed to fund those positions. But what this means is that to give you the extra 15 percent of the position, they need to come up with the funding from somewhere. This may or may not have been budgeted for in the original proposal; if not, finding the money to do so can be quite difficult, particularly in non-science fields (where there may not be a large amount of third-party and industrial funding available).</p>\n\n<p>Even if the funding comes from the so-called <em>Planstelle</em> (or university funding), the issue is fundamentally the same: giving you an extra 0.15 position means that there's that much less for somebody else. So 2.0 <em>Planstelle</em> positions could be used to hire four graduate students at 50 percent, or three graduate students at 65 percent.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, some faculties may have guidelines on what faculty members can offer potential PhD students; it may be worthwhile to contact the person responsible for doctoral students at the department in question to see if this is the case here.</p>\n\n<p>However, unless the group is rather large, I'm rather pessimistic of the ability of the advisor to increase the offer. (If he could have, he probably would have done so, already knowing the state of competition in the field.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18967,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My 2 ct:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Who is funding the position? (I.e.: is the offer for a concrete project, funded by some funding agency)? If so, look up the funding agencies policies for PhD student funding (e.g. DFG recently changed the recommendation to 65%). </p></li>\n<li><p>Anyways, I don't think it will hurt to ask whether 65% are possible. After all, that is now the DFG recommendation. So you are not asking for an outrageous amount of money.<br>\nAnd, if they are not willing to increase the offer, they can easily tell you that this is not possible at the moment due to how positions are tied to projects or even that they don't do this in order not to have one highly paid student at the cost of some other student. (I've been in an institute where positions were more or less rotated among the PhD students in order to have roughly equal pay to everyone in the long run).</p></li>\n<li><p>Are you asking for better wage without more work or are you asking for more money, possibly for more work, e.g. because you need to feed your family. Particularly the latter reason may be a good point to tell during the negotiation (depending on where the position is - noone will believe that you'd be able to survive at 65% wage in Munich if you cannot do with 50% in Leipzig). </p></li>\n<li><p>There may be other ways to get more money, e.g. it may be possible to get paid the additional 15% if you are borrowed out to do teaching at some other institute for the respective amount of time. I've also been doing work contracts for university though my experience with (one) German university was that they took extremely long to pay (close to 6 months - seems rather usual: I've since heard that other universities have similarly bad reputation). However, this is IMHO only an option if you anyways think about running a free-lancing side-business - otherwise the burocracy will not be worth the hassle. </p></li>\n<li><p>Consider also asking whether and when you can expect an increase to 65%. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h2>Update (\"soft\" advise triggered by the OP's comments)</h2>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The comments look to me as if the moment for wage negotiation is already in the past: </p>\n\n<p>Prof: \"[blabla] at the usual pay.\"\nChimera: \"... which I take to mean 65% TVL-13\"</p>\n\n<p>Is the moment I'd have considered the point to open wage negotiations. </p></li>\n<li><p>IMHO a vague offer like \"usual pay\" needs to be clarified into some hard number - so pinning that to something more concrete is not necessarily blurting out. After all, \"usual pay\" could be anywhere from 50 to 100% TVL-13 (and formerly even from 50% WHK upwards - but I don't know whether that is still done)</p></li>\n<li><p>Maybe the most important point that comes to my mind now: <strong>Wage negotiation does not safe you from making up your mind about what you want.</strong> Quite the contrary: you need to know those <em>beforehand</em>, otherwise you'll have no footing for the negotiation.</p></li>\n<li><p>In any case, having messed up these negotiations (assuming you <em>could</em> have gotten the interesting project <em>and</em> the higher wage which we don't know) is an experience for life. It may be good to settle your emotions by writing it off as \"Lehrgeld\". Yes, 10 000 € net difference over the 3 a hurts (that pain will make the lessons learned last...). On the other hand you're probably going to make more expensive decisions (and even mistakes) during your lifetime (e.g. buying once during our lifetime new car instead of a used one will easily cost you more).<br>\nAt some point the most expensive mistake will be to keep fretting about this possible mistake instead of looking forward and trying to have a better next negotiation. </p></li>\n<li><p>I think there is a deep wisdom in the advise to practice job interviews and negotiations several times with jobs you are not really interested in getting before applying where you seriously want to go. Includes clarifying for yourself the lessons-learned (also by asking questions like this here).</p></li>\n<li><p>10 000 € hurt, but as others have menioned, larger important points aren't negotiable (e.g. how much time you'll spend for teaching) </p></li>\n<li>or can be negotiated independently of the 50% vs. 65% question (e.g. your prof may be able to throw in helping you to get an international research stay etc.). </li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The remaining thoughts are my very personal point of view. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The unknown confounding factors (\"Munich\" vs. \"Leipzig\", family or not) are too large here to give much advise. Obviously, with a job offer in Munich and a family to feed I'd negotiate more (possibly to the point of trying to reopen negotiations) than as a single applying in Leipzig.</p></li>\n<li><p>Personally, I'd say that the 15% are in general not sufficient \"pain compensation\" for me for taking an uninteresting position. Of course that wouldn't stop me from negotiating.<br>\nBut in order to weight this point you need to know that</p></li>\n<li><p>My personal experience (Germany, Canada, Italy) underlines rather strongly that the wage : costs of basic living are <em>extremely</em> favorable in Germany compared to other countries. To the point where I think that with few exceptions, even for students money problems are usually (exceptions being feeding a family in Munich - you get the idea) rather on the side of expenses than on the side of generating income.<br>\nBut take that as a very personal thing - your priorities may vary: I'm aware that I happen to </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>have inexpensive hobbies (not very interested in cinema and pub tours and instead hiking, wild camping, biking and having the beer & wine at our own camp fire/BBQ - and I don't need the alps that urgently if I have the Sächsische Schweiz or the Thüringer Wald just a few km away; also not feeling an urgent need to get to the Andes or the Himalaya as there are large parts of Europe still unknown to me). </li>\n<li>be quite good at repairing/renovating stuff</li>\n<li>enjoy cooking our own meals with friends which also happens to be much cheaper than the pizza service and still cheaper than the mensa. </li>\n<li>have studied in Dresden where rents were cheap, and now live in Jena which has crazy expensive rents compared to, say, Leipzig, which are however still low compared to about everywhere in former West-Germany. And to Italy (Trieste). </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Anyways these points gave me the independence even as a student to be rather free in the decision what job offer to take and to follow my interests. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>To put it the other way round: my advise is to make up your mind also how much this kind of independence (which can tremendously help your negotiation position) is worth to you. If you make up your mind now, you'll be settled when the more important negotiations come after the PhD. If you find out that you are not the person who is willig or able to go that way, that is perfectly OK as well. But it will safe you a lot of pain to know and act accordingly. </p>\n\n<p>(You asked for <em>safe</em> negotiations, not e.g. for successful negotiation or how to avoid basic mistakes during wage negotiation.)</p>\n\n<p>(And, just to let you know @TheChimera, of course I've also messed up job interviews. I believe everyone does at least once in a while.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18970,
"author": "rumtscho",
"author_id": 103,
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"pm_score": 1,
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"text": "<p>I agree with aeismail that negotiation is probably not going to work. He seems to know about universities; I work at a research centre from the Helmholtz group. At our research centre, some professors are already trying to get 65% for PhD researchers. But it is a matter which the board of directors decides once for the whole organisation, not something a single professor can decide for his/her chair. So, until the professors get the board to agree, it will be 50% for everybody. </p>\n\n<p>You can still talk to the professor, the ones I know are reasonable and open in salary matters and I haven't experienced a hostile atmosphere in talks involving money/responsibility/tasks negotiations. But there is a very high chance that he has no say in the matter. Besides, it is rare for a professor to have to fill a position quickly; if you don't accept the position, they can just wait for the next good candidate (and there are enough of them). So, I am afraid you probably don't have many levers, even if the professor sympathizes with you and wants to work with you. </p>\n\n<p>My advice is to try it (there isn't anything to lose), but don't get your hopes too high. </p>\n"
}
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| 2014/04/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18950",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13008/"
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|
18,955 | <p>I am a graduate student and going to assess my instructor in a month, with whom I was not very much satisfied. I had been writing the teachers' evaluation in past but didn't see a scintilla of improvement even after years in any attribute of instructor or course-material. Maybe other students were quite satisfied and I was just a statistical outlier. Apart from my disbelieve, what is the most effective way to communicate with your instructor via evaluation-sheet? </p>
<p>Thanks for any suggestions.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18974,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p><strong>What is the most effective way to communicate with your instructor via evaluation-sheet?</strong> </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In a word, <em>constructively</em>. </p>\n\n<p>If you are overly negative, there's a good chance you will be viewed as a malcontent with an axe to grind. If you'd like to maximize the chance for real improvement, avoid blanket negative statements. For example, instead of:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>This instructor was never available for consultation</em>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>try:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>This class would be better if the instructor was more available to students</em>. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(You send the same message, but with a more constructive – and therefore more credible – slant.)</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Also, you should be realistic in what kinds of improvements you may expect to see. In my experience, some faculty take student evaluations very seriously, some don't. Some probably don't even read them; the forms are only completed because department policy demands it. </p>\n\n<p>There's another important factor, too: the inmates shouldn't run the asylum. Some faculty regard student evaluations with disdain, and there may be legitimate reasons why. Sometimes professors who are easy graders get better evaluations from students, while more demanding professors get poor evaluations from students who are either lazy or else come to class with a sense of entitlement. </p>\n\n<p>Truth is, there are a lot of dynamics that go into this. Just from reading your question, there's no way to tell if you're a good student who unfortunately had a bad professor, or if you're a bad student who got their feathers ruffled by a very good (yet challenging) professor. </p>\n\n<p>A single evaluation won't have a huge effect either way, but, as I said at the beginning of this answer, I think your best chances for a positive impact comes by writing an evaluation with a more positive and constructive slant. In other words, try using the form to suggest improvements, rather than to harshly criticize. Such forms will be harder to dismiss outright.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18977,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18974/643\">J.R.'s answer</a> focussing on constructive comments, I would add that the comments are often more useful if they are <em>specific</em>, rather than general. A specific comment gives the lecturer something precise to focus on when making improvements. </p>\n\n<p>For example, stating that <em>the description of endoplasmic reticulm was unclear</em> or <em>the first part of lecture 2 went too fast</em> is better than saying that <em>lectures were unclear</em>. </p>\n\n<p>(Of course, these should be stated more constructively.)</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/04/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18955",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
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|
18,969 | <p>I am currently interviewing for tenure-track faculty positions at a number of top departments in my field. Despite getting some very positive feedback about my interviews, I have not yet received any offers. So far I have tried to avoid any "game playing," being very explicit with each department about where and when I am interviewing. Likewise, in follow-up discussions with hosts, I have been careful not to state any strong preferences for one school or another, mentioning that I still have additional places to visit (seems only fair!). I am starting to wonder, however, whether this approach was a mistake, especially given that others in my field are already receiving offers.</p>
<p>The question is, how should I proceed from here? Part of the issue is that I do not fully understand how and when offers are made, which leads to several questions:</p>
<p><strong>Question 1:</strong> <em>How often are offers made before the end of the interview period (i.e., before all candidates have been interviewed)?</em></p>
<p>I know it happens, of course, but how frequently? (E.g., as a percentage of all offers made by the department over a 10-year period.) A related question is</p>
<p><strong>Question 2:</strong> <em>If a candidate expresses that a school is her top choice, does it make any difference to the hiring committee?</em></p>
<p>In fact, can expressing this kind of preference actually <em>hurt</em> a candidate's chances? E.g., perhaps it makes this candidate look like a "sure thing," which frees the department to first make an offer to another, "higher-risk" candidate. In general, when is a good time to express such a preference? Finally,</p>
<p><strong>Question 3:</strong> <em>To what extent do different departments talk to each-other?</em></p>
<p>For instance, is there any mechanism in place to prevent candidates from "falling through the cracks?" E.g., one can easily imagine a situation in which lower-ranked schools don't make a candidate an offer because they expect she will get an offer from a higher-ranked school; subsequently, the higher-ranked schools make her no offer and she is left without a job. Likewise, if I express a preference for school X before visiting school Y, do I risk pissing off my hosts at Y?</p>
<p><strong>Question 4:</strong> <em>Do I just need to relax?</em></p>
<p>I am almost tempted to write an email CC'ing all the department chairs, providing a complete ordering of my preferences... they can duke it out from there. (Or simply tell me that <strong><em>none</em></strong> of them want to hire me!) In general, the whole game-theoretic aspect of this thing makes me a bit queasy. Wish some brilliant economist would design a mechanism that is fair for both departments and candidates alike. Right now, it definitely feels like a buyer's market.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18973,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
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"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 1</strong>: How often are offers made before the end of the interview period (i.e., before all candidates have been interviewed)?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I would say \"early offers\" only occur in exceptional circumstances. Universities have hiring policies and those policies require dotting i's and crossing t's -- paperwork and process -- particularly for tenured or tenure-track positions.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 2</strong>: If a candidate expresses that a school is her top choice, does it make any difference to the hiring committee?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Let me put it this way: you do <strong>not</strong> want to express that the school is not your top choice. The hiring committee are looking for a monogamous relationship. Talking about all the other schools you're going on first dates with isn't a great idea.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In fact, can expressing this kind of preference actually hurt a candidate's chances? E.g., perhaps it makes this candidate look like a \"sure thing,\" which frees the department to first make an offer to another, \"higher-risk\" candidate. In general, when is a good time to express such a preference? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This makes absolutely no sense. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 3</strong>: To what extent do different departments talk to each-other?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I guess you refer to the US? If so, I don't know but I would imagine there's very little communication on an inter-department level (though people in different departments may informally communicate). </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For instance, is there any mechanism in place to prevent candidates from \"falling through the cracks?\" E.g., one can easily imagine a situation in which lower-ranked schools don't make a candidate an offer because they expect she will get an offer from a higher-ranked school; subsequently, the higher-ranked schools make her no offer and she is left without a job. Likewise, if I express a preference for school X before visiting school Y, do I risk pissing off my hosts at Y?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This again makes no sense. A university is unlikely to avoid offering you a position because you might be \"too good for them\" or that you might get other offers (in the worst case, it only costs a university a couple of weeks to make an offer for a position that will last many years). </p>\n\n<p>A university may avoid offering you a position if you seem disinterested or if it seemed likely that you were using this position as a short-term stepping-stone to elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>Different departments are not going to compare notes. They are competing with each other.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 4</strong>: Do I just need to relax?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yep. Maybe ease up on the coffee and take up croquet or smoking or something else instead.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18996,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Congratulations for getting as far as you have!</p>\n\n<p>I think <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/18973/5962\">badroit's answer</a> is very reasonable. I had two follow ups and elaborations.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 2:</strong> If a candidate expresses that a school is her top choice, does it make any difference to the hiring committee?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It seems inappropriate, and slightly weird, to tell any school you are interviewing with where in your ranked list of preferences they currently fall. That's true for your top choice, your final backup, and everybody in between. Even if you are sure of your ranking, your preferences might change as you learn more about the programs and the particular offers.</p>\n\n<p>That said, if you are legitimately excited about the possibility of joining a school's faculty, you should express that interest. If you feel like the faculty at the department would be great potential colleagues, say it! If you think they have great resources, say it! If you love the graduate students or the city, say it!</p>\n\n<p>The comparison to dating with the goal of a monogamous relationship is a good one. Cultivating an air of disinterest seems unlikely to help and it's possible to show legitimate interest without being dishonest or leading people on. Everybody understands that you can be excited about one potential match, also excited about other potential matches, and that eventually you will have to make a decision.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Question 4:</strong> Do I just need to relax?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Sounds like it. It also sounds like at this point, you've done most of what you can and the next steps are basically out of your control.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18997,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've served several years on the faculty recruiting committee for my (US, top 10) computer science department, including three years as the chair. Protocols vary significantly between different departments, different searches, and <em>especially</em> different fields, so take my experience as a sample, not as a definitive answer.</p>\n\n<p>Faculty hiring is best thought of as a complex multi-player game of three-dimensional chess, using invisible pieces that occasionally explode, where nobody knows who the other players are or what rules they play by, and nobody wants to reveal too much information.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Question 1: How often are offers made before the end of the interview period (i.e., before all candidates have been interviewed)?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It happens, but normally only when one of the early candidates emerges as an overwhelming favorite, and that candidate has another offer with an inflexible (or already extended) deadline. But nobody wants to be forced into this situation. It's <em>really</em> bad form to interview someone for a position that doesn't exist.</p>\n\n<p>Some universities allow limited gambling with slots. A department might offer a position to candidate A, and then later make a second offer to candidate B for the same slot, under the assumption that at least one of them is likely to say no. If A and B both say yes, then both A and B get jobs. (I've seen this strategy go very \"badly\", with four low-probability offers made on the same slot, all of which were accepted. Gambling was outlawed for the next <em>n</em> years.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Question 2: If a candidate expresses that a school is her top choice, does it make any difference to the hiring committee?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Especially at universities that (a) forbid gambling and (b) do not let departments roll unused slots from one year to the next, departments do balance the desirability of various candidates against the estimated probability that they will accept an offer, to minimize the risk of not hiring anyone at all. (This scenario also tends to generate offers with very short and inflexible fuses, sometimes while interviews are still ongoing.) </p>\n\n<p>But just telling us that we are your first choice probably won't help much. We <em>want</em> to believe you, and we appreciate your effort in making that overture, but we don't <em>really</em> believe you, because lots of candidates have said that and then left us at the altar. And even if it's true, you really don't want the rumor that that you prefer us to reach someone else. Best to keep mum until you have actual offers.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, <em>evidence</em> that we are your first choice is taken very seriously. For example, if you receive an offer from somewhere else, especially from another top department, telling us in time to make a good-faith counter-offer is certainly better than not telling us until it's too late. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In fact, can expressing this kind of preference actually hurt a candidate's chances?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Question 3: To what extent do different departments talk to each-other?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Not at all.</strong> Different departments are competitors; sharing information is counterproductive.</p>\n\n<p>We do, however, gather as much back-channel information as we can, for example by scouring our competitors' web pages to see who they are interviewing and when. Sometimes I do hear rumors of the form \"So-and-so is about to get an offer from X\", but those rumors <em>almost</em> always trace back to the candidates themselves.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>one can easily imagine a situation in which lower-ranked schools don't make a candidate an offer because they expect she will get an offer from a higher-ranked school</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, yes, this <em>does</em> happen, although I suspect more often at the interview stage than the offer stage. See \"minimize the risk of not hiring anyone at all\". Nothing you can do about it. Let it go.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Question 4: Do I just need to relax?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, always. I recommend building up an immunity to iocaine powder.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19022,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's a saying in writing: \"show, don't tell.\" I think it's a bad idea to make any comparative statements between schools (exception: if you have an offer from one school, immediately contact the others to withdraw your application or say you would prefer an offer from them). It's much better to <em>show</em> how excited you are about a school, by praising them and showing them in the interview that you've done your research. </p>\n\n<p>If the interview's over, then I think it's good to say generic things in your communications with search committees and chairs, like \"I'm really excited about the possibility of joining your department,\" but I wouldn't get more specific than that. Always be honest, but often it's better to not say too much until things work themselves out.</p>\n\n<p>Incidentally, some <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Shapley\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">brilliant</a> <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gale\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">mathematicians</a> (with follow-up by <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_E._Roth\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">economists</a>) did design such a mechanism that is fair for both departments and candidates alike, and won a Nobel Prize for it (or at least the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, whose status as a true Nobel is somewhat debatable). If you would like to know why it will never be implemented in this context, <a href=\"http://sbseminar.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/more-on-matches/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">read this comment thread</a>.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/05 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18969",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9538/"
]
|
18,980 | <p>I usually try to get citation from publishers website and import it into a reference manager like endnote. I have doubt about the correct form of conferences/proceedings/transactions name in citation. As an example, the provided citation for <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6253489" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this paper</a> in IEEE format is this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>D. Bi-Ru and I. C. Lin, "Efficient Map/Reduce-Based DBSCAN Algorithm
with Optimized Data Partition," in <strong>Cloud Computing (CLOUD), 2012 IEEE
5th International Conference on, 2012</strong>, pp. 59-66.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It seems to be misplaced but as you could see in the "<strong>published in</strong>" section of IEEE webpage of the paper, the conference name is the same as this citation.</p>
<p>The same holds for proceedings and transactions.</p>
<p>Is this way of citation correct?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 18984,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Venue names are often inconsistent in such a manner. Even if you take your citations from a single source (e.g., <a href=\"http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/\" rel=\"nofollow\">DBLP</a>), you will sometimes find different names for the same venue across different years.</p>\n\n<p>When citing, the aims should be:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Give enough information for a reader to unambiguously find a paper</li>\n<li>Give enough information for citation engines to unambiguously know which paper is cited</li>\n<li>Present the citations in the format required by the publisher</li>\n<li>Keep citations neat and consistent in style</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>With regards to this citation:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>D. Bi-Ru and I. C. Lin, \"Efficient Map/Reduce-Based DBSCAN Algorithm with Optimized Data Partition,\" in Cloud Computing (CLOUD), 2012 IEEE 5th International Conference on, 2012, pp. 59-66.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This seems to meet 1–3.</p>\n\n<p>With regards 4, I would say it is not very neat. I would do:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>D. Bi-Ru and I. C. Lin, \"Efficient Map/Reduce-Based DBSCAN Algorithm with Optimized Data Partition,\" in IEEE 5th International Conference on Cloud Computing (CLOUD), 2012, pp. 59–66.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This reads more naturally, avoids repeating the year and uses an <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash\" rel=\"nofollow\">en-dash</a> for the pages (okay, the later is being super-pedantic).</p>\n\n<p>More correctly, you should probably have \"in Proceedings of IEEE ...\" but I always found that a waste of space.</p>\n\n<p>If you're fighting a page limit, it is common practice to just write the abbreviation for <em>well known</em> conferences within the community (e.g., \"CLOUD\").</p>\n\n<p>However you choose to format the venue, for the other conference/workshop citations, you should then include a similar style. In this case, all venues should include the edition (5th), the full title (International ...) and the abbreviation (CLOUD).</p>\n\n<p>(And on a side note, I highly recommend switching to LaTeX/BiBTeX and pulling your citations from DBLP if you have medium-to-long term plans for researching in an area of Computer Science.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 18998,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect that the reason citations are done this way (and now we're verging on <a href=\"http://english.stackexchange.com\">english.se</a> territory) is to allow for meaningful alphabetical ordering/indexing. </p>\n\n<p>In this case, the \"IEEE transactions on\" is the generic part of the name, and should not be used for alphabetical ordering/indexing. This is analogous to how in indices you'll often see things like </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Korea, Republic of</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>rather than</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Republic of Korea. </p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18980",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13855/"
]
|
18,986 | <p>It happens that some students offer sex for grade.
Just considering the fact that popularity of this strategy can strongly weaken the quality of education, administrators should take some actions to avoid this.</p>
<p>What should a department head do to control this problem in his department?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How to punish?</p></li>
<li><p>Who to be punished? Student or professor? Or both ?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am not asking about legal actions or university policies or discipline matters. I just wish to know What should a head/dean do in this regard to preserve the education quality.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19000,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>About hose situations, I have came to be witness of two situations (taking away the part that there is a consensus between the two parts to get involved in some sort of romantic/sex situation; so I am supposing before hand that there is no harassment involved). </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The lecturer or the student proposes intimate relations for a grade change</li>\n<li>The teacher and student were involved in a romantic situation, also in this kind of scenario I believe is the same as case 1. Just because I believe there would be a bias for the lecturer or favoritism for her/his romantic partner</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In any case, about your questions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>How to punish?\nThis is not an easy one. I have seen one case in a Faculty in which the Dean decided to keep the lecturer involved in a romantic situation, just because he was very good in the topic he was teaching. The Dean only talked with him, and after some advices it was like nothing happened. For me it was a big mistake, they should have at least suspend him for at least one or two terms. I said that because after this guy was dumped by the girl, he still continue getting involved with other girls in the Faculty, but being more careful about his behavior for not getting caught.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In any case, I believe that people involved in these situations should be, at least, punished with a suspension. It cannot be left unattended.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Who to punish?\nHere the situation needs to be taken with enough care, mostly for the part of the student. I mean if you make a public suspension to the student, and make public the reasons behind that decision; the student will mostly be facing harassment from their own classroom mates.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In this case, I believe to have a long talk with the student involved is enough, but the lecturer is the one who should be punished just because he is allowing that situation to happens and also if the is starting it, he is taking advantage of its position as a lecturer.</p>\n\n<p>Hope this could help you in taking a decision.\nGood luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19009,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Initially, like xLeitix, my response to this question was \"Say what?\"</p>\n\n<p>Then I did some reading. For those who are interested, here are some articles on the subject:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-167-25-0078/outputs/Download/b6c430da-1eb8-4e2f-b519-8f10bf2dad13\">Sex, grades and power in higher education in Ghana and Tanzania</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6612681.stm\">Kenyan tutor on 'sex for grades'</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://peacecorpsclancy.blogspot.com/2011/02/teachers-demanding-sex-for-grades.html\">Teachers Demanding Sex for Grades</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/mar/04/liberian-women-battle-sex-grades-universities\">Liberian women battle against 'sex for grades' at universities</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/410068.article\">Sex for grades in Africa's academy</a> </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Given this context: if sex-for-grades is sufficiently \"popular\" in your department that it can \"strongly weaken the quality of education,\" then you have a bigger problem then how and whom to punish the next time it happens.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What should a head/dean do in this regard to preserve the education quality?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In a department where sex-for-grades is common, you can't stop it by punishing it in an ad-hoc manner. You have to create a comprehensive policy; educate students, faculty, and administration about this policy; and then enforce it. </p>\n\n<p>If you don't have a university policy (or your university policy is not sufficient), you can create a school-wide or departmental policy, depending on the scope of your position.</p>\n\n<p>Your sexual harassment policy should <strong>clearly</strong> describe:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Exactly what constitutes sexual harassment,</li>\n<li>What the consequences will be for those involved,</li>\n<li>and (the most important of all), How to safely report harassment.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In addition, you should then take steps to educate </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Faculty, on how to protect themselves against sexual advances from students (steps such as: keep a strictly professional tone in emails and other communication with students, have meetings with students with office door open, etc.)</li>\n<li>Administration, on how to respond to allegations against students/faculty with sensitivity and discretion</li>\n<li>Students, on how they can report harassment without fear of retaliation</li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Who to be punished? Student or professor? Or both ?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As for <strong>who to punish</strong>: any faculty or administrative staff member who</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>solicits sex from a student in return for grades, or threatens to fail a student who won't have sex with them, or</li>\n<li>responds to an offer of sex for grades with anything other than a firm \"NO\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>should be punished. Of course, it <strong>must say so in your policy</strong> and you must make sure to <strong>educate faculty</strong> about this policy.</p>\n\n<p>Students are usually the disadvantaged group in this scenario, and punishing students could deter them from reporting sexual harassment. Therefore, I would advise against punishing students in most cases. I can think of a few exceptions, where it is appropriate to punish students: e.g., students who make repeated sexual advances, despite being warned more than once in an official capacity not to do so.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How to punish?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>depends entirely on what kind of punishment you can enforce, as a department head/dean. I have no idea what kind of power you have as a department head/dean in your educational system.</p>\n\n<p>Typically in the U.S. it would be handled at a higher level, as Nate Eldredge pointed out, because department heads in the U.S. don't usually handle disciplinary matters. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19010,
"author": "Magpie",
"author_id": 1248,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1248",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my university there is a rule which means markers are not allowed to have a 'conflict of interest' so if a professor is sexually involved with a student that is not against the rules however the professor would not be allowed to mark the student's work because it would be seen as a conflict of interest. </p>\n\n<p>I think it's fair for professors and students to get involved with one another as long as they are consenting adults but I do agree that if that happens it would be unfair on the other students for that professor to mark the student's work (as I am sure most people would) and this is why I think a rule against that would prevent unfair advantage (or disadvantage - relationships can go terribly wrong!) so a rule against marker conflict of interest is a good way to prevent that happening.</p>\n\n<p>If your institution does not have a rule about it, then I would say you need to accept what is done is done and learn from it because it is the responsibility of the institution to have rules about these things. You cannot really make it up as you go along because when you think about it, that is not fair either.</p>\n\n<p>One final point: A student making unwanted advances and a professor has made it clear to the student that he/she is uncomfortable with those advances this is a different issue altogether because that falls under the 'sexual harrassment' banner and is unlawful in many countries and most likely against the rules too. The best way to deal with that is sort of carry on is to support the lecturer if the lecturer was unable to resolve the situation after step one e.g of steps:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 1.</strong> professor speaks to student and tells them they feel uncomfortable about the advances</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 2.</strong> verbal warning from the students personal tutor</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 3.</strong> written warning from the school/institution</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 4.</strong> final written warning</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 5.</strong> Expel student</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists</p>\n\n<p><strong>Step 6.</strong> Inform Police.</p>\n\n<p>If the problem persists then the police would probably sort out a restraining order so just liaise with them and see what they can do according to the laws in your country.</p>\n\n<p>Obviously, if the lecturer is trying to get sex and offering better grades then the same logic would apply. That is sexual harrassment and if a student complained about that I would go through the steps but step one would be to not allow the professor to mark work of the student (and probably not any other student either) until the matter had been resolved completely.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/06 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18986",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
]
|
19,005 | <p>It recently occurred to me that probably more often than it should happen, while reading someones paper, they see a reference to a different paper, and just use the reference without looking. In my area, a common example is in referencing data, such as average human height, etc.</p>
<p>I came across this as I was looking for data on human dimensions from a somewhat smaller country that does not use English. I found 9 papers that all referenced the same data sheet. I then contacted the author of that data sheet and was informed that there is no online version (never has been), and the only print copy exists in that country. The author herself does not have this book. I'm guessing the only reason the other authors referenced the data was because the author of the referenced data wrote a paper that referenced her own data.</p>
<p>I am not interested in how to format these citations. I would like to know if it is appropriate to cite this information at all, or cite that someone else cited it. I am curious as I am not sure about the accuracy of the information. If I do cite someone else's citation (which i am 99% confident they never saw the data), it seems like I can just make something up myself. Is there a way to express that maybe this data is accurate, but that I'm not sure, since it is the only available source about that data? Or should I ignore it all together and pretend as if there is no data?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19006,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is there a way to express this (not as a citation format), that maybe this data is accurate, but not sure, since it is the only available source about that data.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>How about something like: \"X, measured by Jones in 1950, is commonly given as the value for Y (as cited in Smith, 1989 and Cutler, 1995). However, the original manuscript by Jones describing this result is not generally available.\"</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Or should I ignore it all together and pretend as if there is no data.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Don't do this. If X is cited often in the field, then by pretending as if there is no data, you give the appearance of <em>not knowing</em> your field. </p>\n\n<p>Whether or not you should <em>use</em> X (knowing that it is unreliable) depends on your purposes.</p>\n\n<p>If your work hinges on having an accurate value for X, then you definitely should not use X if you cannot track down a reliable source for it. (Nor should you make something up.)</p>\n\n<p>If you are using X just as a \"sane\" value for something, and it isn't central to your work, on the other hand:</p>\n\n<p>If you think you have a better value than X, and can justify why you are using a different value than everyone else in your field, go ahead.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, if you need a value, you should just use X (unreliable as it is). A bit of unreliable data that is accepted in your field is still better than a bit of unreliable data that you just made up with no justification.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19016,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Actually, \"there is no online version (never has been), and the only print copy exists in that country\" shouldn't be an obstacle - that's what inter-library agreements are for; univeristy libraries generally are able to get [a copy of] that book for you even it's not online and the physical copies are all located abroad.</p>\n\n<p>It's not conventient and does take time for it to arrive, but if it's widely cited but suspect, then taking a look at the original (and publishing what you find out) would be a Good Thing.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19005",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
]
|
19,008 | <p>I'm interested in stem cell, regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and genetics for reverse ageing. Since these topics are dealt with in one or both of medical school and school of science and professors have one or both of MD and PhD, I'm confused about my grad school prep. Also, I'm really not interested in clinical medicine, but I want to be a researcher throughout my life. </p>
<p>So, I think I need only PhD, but I'm wondering why some professors in these areas have MD?
Is it just because they decided to become researchers although they initially intended to work as a clinical doctor?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19012,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two main tracks of medicine: clinical (the \"standard\" medical practice), and research. Typically, doctors who work in the latter tend to pursue combined MD-PhD programs, and consequently have degrees in both a traditional scientific research discipline as well as medicine. </p>\n\n<p>It probably was easier in the past to make such a switch with \"just\" a medical degree; however, the increased specialization in the field makes it harder for a medical doctor to switch over to a research track without the increased training (unless he or she is working on the \"clinical\" side of therapeutic treatments designed in research programs).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19023,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've worked with a fair number of either researcher MDs or MD/PhDs, and myself have only a PhD, so I'll try to give my perspective:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Do You Need One</strong>: Probably not, if you're only interested in the scientific questions about what you are doing, and are not particularly concerned with it's direct application to patient care or the clinical setting. Basically, if there is a department <em>outside</em> a medical school that can house your research, you're likely fine.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Why Would Someone Pick One Up?</strong>: There are many reasons for a researcher to have a MD or an MD/PhD - they're interested in the clinical aspects of the research science they do, have seen their interests evolve over time toward more research and less patient care, or are in research areas that necessitate having the expertise that comes along with having an MD. There are some medical school programs that are more oriented towards producing new researchers than practicing doctors, and medical schools are <em>massive</em> sources of clinical research in the U.S. It's really not surprising there's a number of professors out there with MDs - my doctoral advisor was one of them.</p>\n\n<p>There's also some...field-specific traditions. For example, there are <em>tons</em> of MDs working in infectious disease research and epidemiology, because it spawns fairly naturally from \"Treat this weird infection\" to \"Why does this weird infection infected X people?\" to \"How do we stop this weird infection from spreading\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19073,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding why one would be interested in doing an MD/PhD combo:</p>\n\n<p>In my region, and I believe this generalises to the rest of Sweden, clinicians are required to do get some research experience. So for most of those MD-to-be, that's the regular entry to academia. </p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, if you are a clinician with a PhD on a field related to your clinical work, your chances of promotion towards higher positions in the hospital is significantly higher, apparently. </p>\n\n<p>Sadly, I do not have any references on the internet for the last statement, other than the word of my colleagues in the hospital (as well as friends who did medicine at the uni).</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19008",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10189/"
]
|
19,013 | <p>I plan to re-apply for a PhD in the US next year, but meanwhile, I decided to enroll in a PhD in my home country
I read the similar post: <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18081/applying-for-phd-while-enrolled-elsewhere">Is it a good idea to stay an extra year at my masters institution while re-applying to PhD programs elsewhere?</a></p>
<p>However, I am wondering whether you should admit/declare (in your application), that you are currently enrolled in a PhD program or it is better to hide this information from the US universities?
Thanks!</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19017,
"author": "gerrit",
"author_id": 1033,
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>No, you should not hide it.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Consider the alternative scenarios:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Unbeknownst to you, the supervisors know each other and find out that you are re-applying without informing either. This may leave you known as dishonest and cause lasting damage to your reputation.</li>\n<li>The supervisors do not know each other, and you do get the new position. Your old supervisor will naturally find out that you leave, and likely be annoyed (he/she will hopefully have invested time in you). As for your new supervisor... are you going to keep it a secret forever? Is the previous place so bad you would rather have a gap in your CV? I hardly think so. Eventually, your new supervisor will find out — which may again be detrimental to your reputation, because if you suddenly leave place A for place B, who knows if you may leave place B for yet another place, again unannounced? If I were a supervisor, I would be reluctant to invest resources (time, effort, money) in someone I'm not sure would live up to commitments.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The only exception one might think of is if your old place is so bad that the association would actively damage your chances. But as a PhD student, I think that's very unlikely. In fact, if you were at a bad place but realised it soon enough to change, that could be interpreted positively and the bad reputation of a former supervisor need not reflect badly upon you.</p>\n\n<p>So, no, in my opinion you should not hide that you are already enrolled elsewhere, ever.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19020,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I answered a similar question <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/14983/1010\">here</a>: <strong>No, you absolutely must not hide it.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The application will request your complete educational history, with official grades and records from each institution. At the end, you will be asked to sign a statement that everything is true and complete.</p>\n\n<p>Submitting an application that is false or has significant omissions is considered <strong>completely unethical</strong>. It's very likely that the institution where you're applying will eventually find out, and there can be extremely serious consequences.</p>\n\n<p>If they find out while reviewing your application, they'll reject it immediately, even if you would otherwise have been accepted.</p>\n\n<p>If they accept you into the program and then find out while you're enrolled, they may kick you out of the program, even if you're doing well. With a record of dishonesty, you will probably not get into another one.</p>\n\n<p>If you enroll in the program and finish your PhD, and they find out about the false application years later, they can revoke your degree. You will almost certainly be fired from whatever job you have at that time, and you will not work in academia again.</p>\n\n<p>So you really do need to include your current institution in your application. You'll probably also need a letter of recommendation from someone at your current institution.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19013",
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|
19,014 | <p>This happened with a friend of mine and I am asking this question on his behalf.</p>
<p>My friend was recruited for a sponsored research project in the university and offered a part-time PhD along with that. He is currently completing his coursework (2nd semester) which is pretty exhaustive. He has been working pretty rigorously and one of his poster presentation was accepted in a reputed conference within 6 months of work.</p>
<p>Since the coursework in this semester was tough, he wasn't able to give any tangible output in terms of publications or concrete results. Now, suddenly he has been asked by his advisor to resign. This has come to him as a surprise since he was expecting some scolding as his guide is known for being arrogant (and he is very reputed researcher in the field).</p>
<p>He is unsure whether to leave PhD or how to proceed and convince his advisor.</p>
<p>I believe he is pretty new (1 year of coursework) to the domain and since the project is pure research, he does deserve a chance. But I am unsure of how one should proceed in such cases.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT</strong> (based on queries in comment)</p>
<p>Part Time PhD: He was recruited as an employee for the project by the university. And also offered a PhD. The stipend comes from the project cost(funding agency) and not from university funds (as is the case for direct PhD recruits in my university).</p>
<p>Advisor being Arrogant: He is very knowledgeable and reputed but known for scolding students frequently.(Some faculty members also agree to this including my own advisor)</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19029,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is a difficult situation. Regardless of the facts of the matter, there appears to be have been a breakdown of trust/communication: either the advisor has been sending signals for a while that the person didn't pick up on, or the advisor is indeed pulling this out of the blue, which also signifies a breakdown of communication. </p>\n\n<p>Probably the best first thing to do is for the student to set up a meeting with the advisor to understand the advisor's reasons. It's possible that a face-to-face meeting might allow the advisor to express their underlying concerns in a more productive way that could lead to a concrete plan for activities. </p>\n\n<p>If that fails, or the advisor refuses to meet, the next person to involve is usually the chair of graduate studies at the department (or the equivalent). There is usually someone whose job is to oversee the graduate program and manage conflicts like this. They might be able to mediate a rapproachment between the advisor and student (or even find another advisor for the student). I've had to do this in the past when I served in this capacity. </p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: <strong>if the facts are as you outlined</strong>, then I think the student deserves a more reasonable explanation from the advisor as to why they're being terminated. Sadly though, in my experience I've often found that students ignore signals being sent to them, and that advisors are unwilling/unable to give direct and clear feedback. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19031,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Situation: FUBAR. I'm quite sorry for your friend. Good thing is: things can't get much worse. </p>\n\n<p>Now he is a student and the professor is reputed, if he resigns then they are both just human beings. These are two different contexts and your friend is, more or least, with one foot on each of them. With the insight of the second context and a potential imminent resign, I'd ask, from a person to another, \"why?\".</p>\n\n<p>If it's for the lack of results/publications, your friend should check why did that happen and whether that is going to continue in the future. It's not only a matter of doing and finishing a PhD, but also a matter of how worthy a PhD with few publications is in the end, considering the opportunity cost and all the effort and time that it is going to need. It may be a \"Pyrrhic victory\" and that is something very few people warn about (actually I haven't seen anyone).</p>\n\n<p>Your friend deserves an explanation. Please keep us posted.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand. This is a failure in communication, as @Suresh pointed. We only have one side of the story, your friend's, through a third person (you), so it's hard to know. But the description you make of the advisor is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>he is arrogant</li>\n<li>he makes things suddenly with no prior notice</li>\n<li>he doesn't provide arguments or explanations</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The best thing to do in such a situation (if possible, usually not easy) is to switch to a different supervisor, because that guy may be reputed and good at research, but he does not seem good (from your description) at dealing with people, managing them and advising in general.</p>\n\n<p>But again, remember, it's hard not to be biased when all the information that we have comes from a friend of one of the parts...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19035,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I generally agree with Suresh and Trylks advice. The relationship between your friend and his advisor is broken. That is a problem that your friend cannot avoid.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it is not only your friend's problem. It is his advisor's too and since he is the senior party, he is the one that needs to do more than your friend to fix it. I also do not get this \"resign\" thing. Your friend has a contract with the university, not with the advisor. It has also probably been assigned a committee for your friend's PHD that includes other professors except his advisor. If your friend is incapable for a PHD, again this decision is not entirely up to the advisor. It is the advisor that needs to prove your friend failed to meet the requirements of the project / PHD and your friend should not just \"roll over dead\" just because the advisor is not happy with him. So resigning is out of the question. If he has already a poster publication, did well in the required courses then I think the advisor will have a hard time proving your friend is incapable.</p>\n\n<p>So, your friend should ask his advisor what he can do better to make things work. He should follow his advice, be extra nice and work extra hard. But there is absolutely no reason for him to resign. If the advisor is right (and as powerful as he believes he is), he can always fire your friend. But he will still have to justify to his fellow professors why he took a promising student such as your friend (otherwise your friend would not be selected for a PHD) and failed to \"advice\" him. It is your friend advisor's failure as well and both parties should suffer the consequences.</p>\n\n<p>All this advice is based on your \"word\" that your friend did actually 90-100% the best he could. In any other case, where the advisor repeatedly warned your friend about potential improvements and your friend deliberately ignored him then he should just suck it up, take it like a man / woman and suffer the consequences. But if the advisor failed to effectively advice your friend, then this failure should be fixed by both parties and not simply by your friend resigning. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19014",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
]
|
19,018 | <p>I am a bit confused about the proper abbreviation of <code>Doctor of Philosophy</code>. I sometimes read that this person obtained his D.Phil from X University, while someone else obtained his PhD from Y University. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy#Admission_7">Wikipidia</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The University of Oxford also abbreviates their Doctor of Philosophy degree as DPhil but in other respects is equivalent to a PhD.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is it up to me to decide what abbreviation to use? </p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19019,
"author": "Chris Harrod",
"author_id": 13895,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13895",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No - it depends on the degree you were awarded.</p>\n\n<p>Most universities offer PhD degrees, with a smaller subset (usually UK <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_brick_university\">red-brick</a> universities & Oxford) that offer DPhils. Some of the 'new' universities of the late 60s-early 70s used to offer DPhils. I was awarded a DPhil at Ulster, but subsequent to this, they switched to awarding PhDs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19021,
"author": "dbmag9",
"author_id": 6899,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6899",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The awarding institution determines the abbreviation*; someone made a Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford is a DPhil, someone made a Doctor of Philosophy at Cambridge is a PhD, and someone made a Doctor of Philosophy at a university in Austria is a Dr.phil. (before the name, not after).</p>\n\n<p>*At the time awarded, as pointed out in another answer.</p>\n\n<p>Addendum: As Jack Orion points out, the abbreviation is of the Latin <em>doctor philosophiae</em>, which is why appears both ways around (Latin is more flexible in its word order than English). Many other degree abbreviations make their Latin origin more obvious (e.g. the MLitt for 'master of letters', <em>magister litterarum</em>; the LLB for 'batchelor of laws', <em>legium baccalaureatus</em>, with conventional doubling of the 'L' to indicate the plural).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19039,
"author": "Jack Orion",
"author_id": 13903,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13903",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Neither D. Phil. nor Ph. D. are abbreviations for 'Doctor of Philosophy', but for 'Doctor Philosophiae' or 'Philosophiae Doctor' respectively. Sorry to be pedantic, but when this is realised it becomes easier to understand why the Ph. D. abbreviation exists at all. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19018",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13248/"
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|
19,025 | <p>I was unable to find any information online about this. I asked a colleague who told me that there are no restrictions on who may review an article, although he thought it was very unlikely that an un-published person may be asked to review. I would like a general answer to this question; nevertheless, the specific context is in the following paragraph.</p>
<p>I am submitting an engineering research paper in the near future and the submission process <em>requires</em> that I suggest at least three reviewers. One of the reviewers I would like to suggest has not yet completed their PhD, although they have three publications that are closely related to mine. I know that it will be up to the editor to decide whether to contact this person, but it made me wonder if there are any specific criteria that reviewers have to meet.</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19040,
"author": "badroit",
"author_id": 7746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7746",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Who can peer-review articles?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Anyone competent enough to be asked in the first place.</strong></p>\n\n<p>For conferences (e.g., in engineering or computer science), peer-review is conducted by a Programme Committee. To be invited to be part of a Programme Committee (typically done by Chairs or Senior Programme Committee in larger conferences), you need to have a reasonable track record of research and a solid reputation in the area in question. I have seen PCs of reputable conferences in CS with many senior PhDs (I was in PCs myself as a PhD student).</p>\n\n<p>For journals, you are invited to review by a member of the Editorial Board. They would weigh your experience and track-record accordingly. Again, you may get asked to review journal papers as a PhD student (I was also asked to review various journal papers as a PhD student).</p>\n\n<p>Last but not least, you may be delegated a peer-review by someone who was asked to do a review (where that person was asked by the EB of a journal or as part of a PC for a conference). In that case, however, the responsibility for the quality of the review lies squarely with the delegator. In this case, a junior PhD student might be given a peer-review but with the idea that the delegator will check over it and discuss before submitting. (This is a good way to learn the process of peer-reviewing.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I was unable to find any information online about this. I asked a colleague who told me that there are no restrictions on who may review an article, although he thought it was very unlikely that an un-published person may be asked to review.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I agree with your colleague. The delegation of peer-review is left to the judgement of the EB/PC/Chairs. They will take into account seniority and research track record in their judgement. Formal restrictions would only serve to rule out qualified reviewers from an often already too narrow field. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am submitting an engineering research paper in the near future and the submission process requires that I suggest at least three reviewers. One of the reviewers I would like to suggest has not yet completed their PhD, although they have three publications that are closely related to mine. I know that it will be up to the editor to decide whether to contact this person, but it made me wonder if there are any specific criteria that reviewers have to meet. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I suggest submitting the name of the supervisor of the PhD student you think would be a good reviewer. The supervisor offers the editor a more senior name, should be knowledgeable in the area and if not, can solicit the advice of the PhD student in question or delegate the review entirely if appropriate.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>As per my comment (and as a side note since it is not directly asked about) I find the practice of suggesting reviewers for your own paper a little strange (though I have seen it before on occasion). First there's the obvious possibility of selecting one's friends or of prior deal-making (assuming the suggestions were taken into account ... otherwise why would they ask?). Aside from that, if I'm submitting to a journal in my area, I expect the editorial board to have some members that would be sufficiently knowledgeable about my topic to get the paper in good hands. Having to suggest reviewers calls into question (slightly) the competence of the EB and/or the relevance of the journal. In any case, if the journal is otherwise reputable, this should not hold you back from submitting. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19051,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add one small thing to @badroit's answer, there are two very common ways to get asked to be a reviewer for a journal or conference: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>know the editor or someone on the program committee </li>\n<li>submit an article yourself for review</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I've gotten more requests to review from my PhD supervisor who edited a journal and from journals and conferences I've submitted to. Journals are particularly prone to this in my experience--I've had review requests come in within a few days of my submission of my own article. Conferences tend to be delayed by a year such that submissions to the prior year's conference can generate invitations to review in the current year. This seems to be especially true if you've had a paper accepted.</p>\n\n<p>So, that being said, eligible reviewers tend to be eligible submitters. </p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19025",
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|
19,032 | <p>Is there any way/resource for finding the list of universities offering a specific degree?</p>
<p>I want to find which universities have a specific program (both undergraduate and graduate).</p>
<p>My target is the US and UK universities, but other countries are also useful (though, I think it is difficult to search because of different terminologies in different languages for a discipline).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19036,
"author": "LearningAsIGo",
"author_id": 13901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13901",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First you should decide what is your major. For universities in USA you can use websites like <a href=\"http://www.usnews.com/education\" rel=\"nofollow\">US News</a> or like <a href=\"https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search\" rel=\"nofollow\">BigFuture</a>. You can google for finding university offering specific courses and degrees about UK. I believe for US universities US News is the best website.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19037,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The UK graduate schools are officially ranked through <a href=\"http://www.rae.ac.uk/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Research Assessment Exercise</a> (being currently phased out to be replaced by <a href=\"http://www.ref.ac.uk/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Research Excellence Framework</a>), so you can get a full list of programs that are of any worth <a href=\"http://www.rae.ac.uk/results/selectUOA.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In the US, rankings are produced from time to time by the National Research Council. <a href=\"http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/Resdoc/PGA_044749\" rel=\"nofollow\">The most recent set</a> is from 2009. The methodology and reporting format are beyond weird, but at least the list of programs is useful (albeit difficult to navigate in the Excel file format; I found my area, statistics, under \"Physical sciences\", for instance, which is a very distant shot). The <a href=\"http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">1995 rankings</a> were done with involvement of real statisticians, so I trust them better.</p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19032",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
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|
19,034 | <p>One of the crucial skills of a scientist is to identify research gaps. Unfortunately, students rarely receive much formal training in this skill during their studies. How can one get better at identifying research gaps?</p>
<hr>
<p>Some problems that I have seen which make identifying research gaps difficult:</p>
<ul>
<li>The best problems are already identified or solved by other people.</li>
<li>Authors of publications sometimes avoid being overly critical of their own work, and try to phrase their publication so as to make it seem definitive, and avoid admitting that they failed to explain a phenomenon.</li>
<li>Some scientists are wary of being scooped, and avoid mentioning what they see as future projects in the discussion section.</li>
<li>Due to publish or perish culture, there is pressure to split research efforts into minimal chunks - such chunks may seem like they are steps along the way to a solution, but in reality, trying to work on the apparent next step is risky because the author is likely to scoop you.</li>
<li>High-profile journals such as <em>Nature</em>, <em>Science</em> or <em>PNAS</em> probably prefer papers which answer many questions, rather than presenting many uninvestigated open ends.</li>
<li>Lesser journals may have publications that have only solved part of a problem, but those may be buried under a sea of uninteresting publications. (also the lesser journals are much more numerous and harder to get abreast of)</li>
<li>It is easy to confirm that an idea has already been done, but it is difficult to confirm that an idea is truly novel.</li>
</ul>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19038,
"author": "Suresh",
"author_id": 346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/346",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Finding good research \"gaps\" is indeed a challenging and important task. It has different components that all require slightly different skills. </p>\n\n<p>Above all, a useful research gap is <strong>interesting</strong>, <strong>feasible</strong>, and <strong>unexplored</strong>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>interesting</strong>: I think this part goes without saying. But how do you determine 'interestingness' ? This is a complex mix of structural aspects of the field and community opinions, so it varies a lot from area to area. But probably the best way to understand what's interesting is by talking to people, asking them what <em>they</em> think is interesting, and <strong>why</strong>, and also understanding how even the basic questions in your field came to be deemed interesting (an advisor/senior researcher can often help with the latter). </li>\n<li><strong>feasible</strong>: It's not hard to list the \"top 10 open questions\" in your field. And for some researchers, <a href=\"http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~dahlin/bookshelf/hamming.html\">that constitutes their entire research program</a>. But that's not realistic for most people, and especially for students. Feasibility is about determining whether the tools exist to even make a dent on the problem. This requires a lot of experience in using different methods and understanding what they can and cannot do for you. It also involves thinking somewhat \"sideways\" about tools and problems, because it's likely that the obvious approach to an interesting problem has been tried. You will have to read papers very closely to find little gaps, or missing reasoning steps, that might suggest that a technique could get used. And you have to learn how to \"fail quickly\" when trying a new idea. </li>\n<li><strong>unexplored</strong>: While it might be educational to work on a new direction that has been explored before, you don't want that to be the fate of all your research explorations ! Here again, being plugged into your community and understanding what people have tried (or not) is also helpful. There are often \"folklore\" statements of the form \"Oh this doesn't work because...\". Sometimes it's true. and sometimes it's not. But it's best to understand what people have seen and what they're trying. Related to this is the idea of <strong>knowing your strengths</strong>: you'll accumulate a set of tools over time that you're an expert at. Make sure that you can use them: that gives you a competitive advantage. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>We get a lot of questions here about whether anyone can do research (even if they're not in a formal academic environment). The answer of course is yes. But where amateurs (in the sense of people not being paid to do research) can often slip up is in identifying gaps that are feasible and unexplored (finding interesting gaps is usually not that difficult to do on your own) because they're not plugged into a larger commmunity. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Update</strong>: In response to the edit, <a href=\"http://intelligence.org/2014/02/21/john-baez-on-research-tactics/\">here's an interview with John Baez</a> that directly addresses the first point (of all the good problems being taken). John Baez's other suggestions are very good as well, and form a nice 'counter' to the Hamming article linked above. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19044,
"author": "ntaj",
"author_id": 13911,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13911",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only way I know is to read, read, and then read some more. The more you know and truly understand about your field and other fields, the better you'll be at identifying gaps. There is no shortcut to this. It takes a lot of hard work and experience.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 89132,
"author": "Trisha Rhodes",
"author_id": 73171,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73171",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Gaps could be a hindrance when creating a change in practice because there is no research to support the change or the use of an intervention. A thorough review of literature should be performed to identify validity and reliability before considering implementing a change in practice. A critical part of reviewing literature is identifying gaps, and when they are found an outline should show those areas of research that is incomplete. Sometimes gaps are a help if further research information can be found on the topic. So, there is a potential for further study or independent research. Also, a researcher can produce their own interpretation and suggest how future studies may carry on or what actions could be taken to fill those gaps to improve the topic outlook.</p>\n"
}
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| 2014/04/07 | [
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|
19,041 | <p>Assuming I'm writing a review article and I'd like to use figures
after [1]" or similar? How am I expected to deal with copyright? Obviously a review article is going to use existing figures, more or less--that's the point. It seems from sites like IEEE that the expected practice is to pay, per figure, for each graphic used. Is that really how things work? Or is there some "fair use" clause that can be invoked?</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19045,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The rules vary widely by publisher here. It also depends on whose work you're \"copying.\" If it's your own graphic, then there's usually no issue associated with it. However, if it belongs to someone else, then you should either request the permission from the rights holder, or redraw the figure yourself (if it's a schematic, then this would eliminate copyright issues).</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, a journal or publisher may allow you to reuse people's work from within the same publisher's journals without fee. But again, this is something the individual publishers determine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19048,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Or is there some \"fair use\" clause that can be invoked?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Fair use exists in some jurisdictions (e.g., the US) but not others (e.g., the UK). The rules for fair use are somewhat vague, and most publishers would prefer not to rely on it. Talk to the journal that you're writing the article for, and ask them how they like to handle this kind of thing.</p>\n\n<p>If there is a practice in some fields of paying royalties for this kind of thing, then I'm not aware of it. Authors want their work cited in review papers.</p>\n\n<p>If the figures you want to use are from an open-access journal, then you should read the license of that journal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 87359,
"author": "Stockfisch",
"author_id": 6444,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6444",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually you have to obtain a permission (there are exceptions, for example if you \"redraw\"¹ content). Your publisher may request permissions for you! Here is a how to for the most common way, if you have to do it on your own:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Search for the title of the paper containing the figure you would like to reuse on Google (<em>for example: An RNA-Sequencing Transcriptome and Splicing Database of Glia, Neurons, and Vascular Cells of the Cerebral Cortex</em>)</li>\n<li>Identify the website of the journal and click on it (sometimes the first result refers you to a reference aggregation site, researchgate or personal webpage) (<em>in my example this would be <a href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/36/11929\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/36/11929</a></em> )</li>\n<li>Look for a button or link saying \"Rights and permissions\", \"Request Permissions\" or similar. Every journal has it at a different spot and sometimes it is hidden behind some floating \"Info box\" (Tip: Search for the words <em>right</em> or <em>permission</em> in your browser) (<em>see screenshot for the location in my example</em>)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/tO2vo.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/tO2vo.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></li>\n<li>Following this link you are usually taken to the Copyright Clearance Center on copyright.com which can automatically proceed most of your requests</li>\n<li>Follow the steps indicated at the Copyright Clearance Center, indicating how you want to use the content (in your case this would be \"Republish in a journal/magazine) (<em>in my example I have to identify the correct publication first, then enter the year of publication, and afterwards choose how I want to use it</em>)</li>\n<li>You will eventually get to a page where you have to select which rights you would like to procure (e.g. publishing worldwide, doing translations, modifying the figure and son on). Important here is also do select your role in this process too (on whose behalf are you requesting copyright) (<em>see screenshot for the categories to be filled in in my example</em>)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/J0uka.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/J0uka.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></li>\n<li>Afterwards a price should be quoted for you, which may be 0 if you are allowed to reuse without paying.</li>\n<li>Accept the conditions and terms on that page</li>\n<li>Print a .pdf copy of the confirmation for your documents. Usually they'll also send you an email. You will likely be asked by your new publisher to send them this permission statement.</li>\n<li>Make sure to acknowledge the publisher in the figure caption. Example: Figure 1: description of figure. From Crowell et al. 2014 (reference), with permission from StackExchange (publisher).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you cannot find a Rights or Permission link on the webpage of the article try the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the publisher of the journal in question</li>\n<li>Search on Google for the name of the publisher together with \"Reusing figures\", \"Permission and Rights\" or \"Permission request\" or similar. Major publishers usually have instructions on how to do this somewhere on their web page.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you cannot find that information either or if you have a specific question write to the publisher's permission department (most of the times you can find that email address on their website). From experience I can say that they are slow to answer and that they usually send you a generic \"please do it the usual way\" email first. Just write them again in that case. Consider that this takes time (they give 30 business days (~ 1.5 month) as expected answer time), so don't do it last minute.</p>\n\n<p>As <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/aeismail\">aeismail</a> mentioned there are good chances that you can reuse your own, previously published content and content published in the same publication you plan to publish your paper in, without to much hassle (write to the publisher's permissions department).</p>\n\n<p>¹meaning: substantially change so that it can be considered a new work, see also <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-4117/asset/homepages/2056-Copyright-permissions-for-Author-Guidelines.pdf;jsessionid=F465557C301501B450DB6F833C822173.f01t02?v=1&s=93f7916a0334309fb4837076b0a591dd51698fef&isAguDoi=false\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Figure reproduction, adaptation and redrawing by Wiley.com</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19041",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6074/"
]
|
19,047 | <p>In the US and UK higher education system, who is responsible for a program curriculum?</p>
<p>For example, if planning to modify the curriculum by adding an uncommon course, who should approve this modification?</p>
<p>Consider that the change is truly uncommon. Can the department head decide about it? or needs the approval of higher officials (such as dean or VP for Academics) or there are boards and committees to decide uncommon changes (for the sake of education quality assurance).</p>
| [
{
"answer_id": 19045,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The rules vary widely by publisher here. It also depends on whose work you're \"copying.\" If it's your own graphic, then there's usually no issue associated with it. However, if it belongs to someone else, then you should either request the permission from the rights holder, or redraw the figure yourself (if it's a schematic, then this would eliminate copyright issues).</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, a journal or publisher may allow you to reuse people's work from within the same publisher's journals without fee. But again, this is something the individual publishers determine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 19048,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Or is there some \"fair use\" clause that can be invoked?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Fair use exists in some jurisdictions (e.g., the US) but not others (e.g., the UK). The rules for fair use are somewhat vague, and most publishers would prefer not to rely on it. Talk to the journal that you're writing the article for, and ask them how they like to handle this kind of thing.</p>\n\n<p>If there is a practice in some fields of paying royalties for this kind of thing, then I'm not aware of it. Authors want their work cited in review papers.</p>\n\n<p>If the figures you want to use are from an open-access journal, then you should read the license of that journal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 87359,
"author": "Stockfisch",
"author_id": 6444,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6444",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually you have to obtain a permission (there are exceptions, for example if you \"redraw\"¹ content). Your publisher may request permissions for you! Here is a how to for the most common way, if you have to do it on your own:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Search for the title of the paper containing the figure you would like to reuse on Google (<em>for example: An RNA-Sequencing Transcriptome and Splicing Database of Glia, Neurons, and Vascular Cells of the Cerebral Cortex</em>)</li>\n<li>Identify the website of the journal and click on it (sometimes the first result refers you to a reference aggregation site, researchgate or personal webpage) (<em>in my example this would be <a href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/36/11929\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/36/11929</a></em> )</li>\n<li>Look for a button or link saying \"Rights and permissions\", \"Request Permissions\" or similar. Every journal has it at a different spot and sometimes it is hidden behind some floating \"Info box\" (Tip: Search for the words <em>right</em> or <em>permission</em> in your browser) (<em>see screenshot for the location in my example</em>)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/tO2vo.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/tO2vo.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></li>\n<li>Following this link you are usually taken to the Copyright Clearance Center on copyright.com which can automatically proceed most of your requests</li>\n<li>Follow the steps indicated at the Copyright Clearance Center, indicating how you want to use the content (in your case this would be \"Republish in a journal/magazine) (<em>in my example I have to identify the correct publication first, then enter the year of publication, and afterwards choose how I want to use it</em>)</li>\n<li>You will eventually get to a page where you have to select which rights you would like to procure (e.g. publishing worldwide, doing translations, modifying the figure and son on). Important here is also do select your role in this process too (on whose behalf are you requesting copyright) (<em>see screenshot for the categories to be filled in in my example</em>)\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/J0uka.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/J0uka.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></li>\n<li>Afterwards a price should be quoted for you, which may be 0 if you are allowed to reuse without paying.</li>\n<li>Accept the conditions and terms on that page</li>\n<li>Print a .pdf copy of the confirmation for your documents. Usually they'll also send you an email. You will likely be asked by your new publisher to send them this permission statement.</li>\n<li>Make sure to acknowledge the publisher in the figure caption. Example: Figure 1: description of figure. From Crowell et al. 2014 (reference), with permission from StackExchange (publisher).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you cannot find a Rights or Permission link on the webpage of the article try the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the publisher of the journal in question</li>\n<li>Search on Google for the name of the publisher together with \"Reusing figures\", \"Permission and Rights\" or \"Permission request\" or similar. Major publishers usually have instructions on how to do this somewhere on their web page.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you cannot find that information either or if you have a specific question write to the publisher's permission department (most of the times you can find that email address on their website). From experience I can say that they are slow to answer and that they usually send you a generic \"please do it the usual way\" email first. Just write them again in that case. Consider that this takes time (they give 30 business days (~ 1.5 month) as expected answer time), so don't do it last minute.</p>\n\n<p>As <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/aeismail\">aeismail</a> mentioned there are good chances that you can reuse your own, previously published content and content published in the same publication you plan to publish your paper in, without to much hassle (write to the publisher's permissions department).</p>\n\n<p>¹meaning: substantially change so that it can be considered a new work, see also <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-4117/asset/homepages/2056-Copyright-permissions-for-Author-Guidelines.pdf;jsessionid=F465557C301501B450DB6F833C822173.f01t02?v=1&s=93f7916a0334309fb4837076b0a591dd51698fef&isAguDoi=false\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Figure reproduction, adaptation and redrawing by Wiley.com</a></p>\n"
}
]
| 2014/04/07 | [
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19047",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
]
|
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